Second Puppy Class for Zenzi

Here's quick summary:

• Review touch and name recognition
• Sit to greet a friendly stranger (and me!)
• Off (which turned into on/off for us)
• Explore an agility target loopy thing
• Explore a workout blow up bean-shaped ball thingy
• Explore a PVC ladder (laid upside down)
• Explore an agility tunnel
• Calming massage

She was much bolder about seeing other puppies, greeting people, etc. today.  She was a little overwhelmed right at first, but overcame it much faster.  The trainer's dog was working on a down-stay on a tie down on the other end of the room, but started barking frustratedly shortly thereafter, and it put all the puppies on edge, so that was the end of that.

When we reviewed touch and name, it was super easy.  Zenzi doesn't mind distractions AT ALL if you possess treats and praise and a happy attitude.

When we did sit to greet with me, she was superb instantly.  I haven't formally worked on greeting, but her auto-sit kicked in and she knew the game right away.  Then we all traded puppies (there was a total of 4 of us today).  Zenzi was a little anxious about me leaving and playing with another puppy, but cheered right up when the strangers had clicks and treats and happy faces.  When I could sneak a glance, she was very happily engaged with whomever was working with her. :) The other puppies were, of course, adorable, smart, and fun for me to work with.  I did notice that there was a child in the room, who was not allowed to greet the puppies out of safety for the child, and Zenzi really wanted to go visit the little girl.  I'm glad of that, and can't wait til her 3rd round of shots to go to pet stores and meet kids lots and lots.

Off was so interesting.  Zenzi only lured her front paws up onto the chair maybe 3x before figuring out I was just going to ask her to get off and wouldn't lure up anymore.  We used another novel treat, but that only lasted twice.  So I taught her On first, then Off.  After three reps of that, she offered On, Off, then looked at me for her treat.  Our classmates looked over in awe and amazement.  One lady actually poked her husband while we were doing it and she said, "Honey, watch this!" and pointed in my direction.

Going through the target loop for agility was a piece of cake.  She loved having praise/pets parties afterward, and would offer to go through it at that point.

Getting up onto the bean was impossible for little Zenzi, so I had her do On from both sides before lifting her up from that position and onto the bean.  She was wobbly, but curious, and smelled and walked around on it before offering sits and downs.  When she was about to jump off, I hoisted her up and placed her on the ground to practice On again.

When we got to the ladder, she loved that thing.  Very first exposure to it, she walked all up in it and around the legs.  Running through it was a breeze with luring, and we got to the point where she would actually run through it if I just pointed her at it and ran alongside.

The tunnel was a little scary at first, but she came right to me.  Amanda, our trainer, called her back through to the other side, and that was it.  Zenzi knew the name of this game.  She ran through to Amanda, ran back to me, turned right back around to go through the tunnel again to Amanda, repeat.

We didn't get any actual puppy playtime today, but that's fine.  She worked around other puppies, and throughout the activities of the class, actually pulled to go greet a few of them.  Definitely more confident in that department, so it's nice to leave her wanting way more interaction for next time. :)

The massage was HILARIOUS for Zenzi.  All the puppies were really hyped from doing the exploring of equipment, so it was hard for everyone else's puppy to calm down.  I say everyone else, because Zenzi took literally 3 strokes from me while she was hyper/happy, and laid down frog-leg style to snooze with her chin on her front paws.

It was a really good class.  I'm so proud of Zenzi's progress already!