Kindygarten

So class was, well, interesting. We started out really good, minus the part when Rowan thought the Portuguese Water Dog was a stuffy and latched on to a chunk of hair on his butt. Both puppy and puppy owner took it pretty well, and we continued to let them play once Rowan realized the pup didn't have a squeaker ;)

We spent the first 5 minutes or so with the pups on their backs in our laps. Rowan liked that and was pretty good. He is getting so big now though, that these kinds of maneuvers are a little difficult for me. He has to weigh over 30 lbs now. So next we learned a new trick, spin. I never thought it could be useful, but its been raining a lot here and its an excellent way to dry off them muddy paws! Then we did sit and down, which he already knows, and did both very well even at class! He was the demonstration pup even. He did really well with a stranger.

Then came the incredibly embarrassing part, the recall. At home his recall is still a little iffy at times, so at puppy school it was 100 million times worse. They split us up in two groups, one to distract while the other tried to get our puppies to come. So there I was rolling on the floor, screeching, falling my arms, clapping my hands, I even did the squirrel sound, in front of 8 other strangers, who looked at me as if I had just escaped an insane asylum, to no avail! Rowan just stood there like stone looking off into the distance at the screeching boxer pup in the corner. He didn't even make eye contact with me until the instructor had him literally 2 inches in front of my face! Then he was like "OH HI MOM!! NICE TO SEE YOU!! YAY this is fun, look I came can I has a treats!" Of course all the other pups did magnificent and trotted happily over to their owners when called. So we have been assigned homework and will be working on that very diligently...

Lastly, we sat in a really small circle and passed the pups around saying the breed and name of the pup to the next person as you passed. When I got my pup back he was a Rhodesia Razorback named Roland :) It was funny to watch Rowan go around, because he is so much bigger than all the other pups. Everyone was turning purple from lifting his big butt and saying "oh my, he's a BIG boy" when trying pass him off. He was a good boy though and didn't wiggle too much and showered the crowd with LOTS of kisses. Overall it was a really good experience for the both of us, and showed me what I really need to work on, off leash stuff.

The naughtiness must have been payback for taping his ears. It was only for a day, now they are all back to normal!