15 January 2019

Sue and Bruce Go To School: Week 2



Last week it was about the basics for the puppies - sit, down, touch and responding to their names. I practiced twice daily with Sue and she has mastered the touch (she gives your hand a good nudge with her nose), sit and down are going really well. Responding to her name is sometimes a bit of a challenge but she's only three months old so I'm not panicking just yet.

Last night was about play and how to use toys as rewards. Sue was hyper from the moment we arrived and didn't settle the whole time, while Bruce was sitting on Emma's lap, taking it all in. Sue had also been rising quite a... well, smell on the car journey there and yet I couldn't get her to do anything outside. I took her outside midway through the class and still, nothing. It wasn't until I had just returned to the hall and was talking with one of the other owner's that the dam broke. And, well, golly, there was a lot of poop from one tiny puppy. It was a veritable explosion of poo and the smell... Thankfully I had some help getting the floor cleaned up and I scooped up what I could.

Bruce, kindly, did his business outside.

As you can probably tell, that little event eclipsed the evening slightly, but I did manage to get some more pictures of our classmates. This is Cal (whose owner, it turns out, is very good to have around while you're dealing with a poo crisis), the American Cocker Spaniel. He's the first of his breed I have seen in the flesh and he's a very good boy.





Then there's the GSD (German Shouting Dog, as I called him) who deserves the Most Improved Award. Last week he was so nervous he was stood at one end of the hall, barking at the puppies at the other end. This week he was able to join the group and meet the puppies and even got in a little playtime with Sue. He's called Cooper.



While I was taking these photos I had my glamorous assistant Emma to hold onto Sue. She had her hands full!



Speaking of Sue, her ears have sunk! Where before they were sticking upright, they're now folded in half and sit like Bruce's.



Bruce handled the busy environment better than he did last week. He's improving too.





The class trainer is a lovely lady called Sue, so of course I had to get a picture of the two Sues together.

5 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank goodness! We would have been stunk out!

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  2. Oh dear! But you're not alone--Barley and Rye have both pooped in class before and neither one of them was a puppy!

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    Replies
    1. Oh my! (That does make me feel a bit better, though.)

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  3. Oops, maybe it was all the sheep nuts :)
    Still gorgeous with those ears.

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