We went to our first puppy class today, which was just for human students. It was basically an in depth talk about what the class would cover and raising any individual issues about our dogs that we might want to cover. It is a relatively full-on course, as in it is not just puppy playgroup, there is a fair amount of training involved. I think this is going to be really good for us, for several reasons:
- The class is actually being held at our local RSPCA, in an enclosed are between the cat section and the dog section. So, Ben will have to learn to focus on me not just around other dogs, but with the distraction of hearing dogs he can't see, and hearing cats as well. Not to mention the loads of birds that nest in the area.
- The teacher is wonderful. Very friendly, a no-question-is-too-trivial attitude. I am the only one in the class who is clicker training and although she admits she has never done it, she is perfectly happy for me to use it with Ben during the class, which means less confusion for him.
- One of the "lessons" is Ben and the other puppies getting used to a totally unfamiliar adult dog, so the instructor will be bringing in her own dalmation for that. I feel good about that because it will be a weird situation and at least I know she will have total control of the dog.
A big part of the course focuses on care and grooming of the dog, getting them being used to being touched, not just by their owners but by other people.
I mentioned that so far the only thing Ben seems to be stressed by are cats. She said that was absolutely not a problem - she is going to find the most docile cat they have there right now and at the end of the lesson next week the cat and Ben can meet each other there. I think one of the reasons they stress him is that the only cats he's met are pretty mean and think my backyard belongs to them, so they see Ben as an intruder.
There is a pretty wide age range within the puppies, from 10 week old Ben to a 6 month old GSD...so he won't only be encountering puppies his own size.
Aaaand the best part - one of his littermates is in the class as well! It will be really interesting to see what his brother is like now.
Looking forward to this!
Kate