We had a new trainer, Sherry, so Zenzi was cautious. Sherry was very respectful of Zenzi's shyness, and asked the other members of the class to respect it as well. This I appreciated very much. Amanda didn't do this, and everybody tried to treat her like a labrador retriever; this only made her more insecure. This class allowed Zenzi to really come out of her shell with people, and I was really glad to see it!
We did some name game, recalls, loose-leash walking, heeling intro, and the Puppy-Go-Round game. Zenzi was a super star for all of it, and all Pam kept saying was, "Wow! I wish my adult dogs were this attentive, responsive, and focused." I gleamed with pride.
Sherry kept asking things like, "Do you plan to do dog sports with her?" and "Are you interested in agility?" and "I bet Laurie [head trainer] could take her into the puppy sports class early..." Which is how I discovered there was such a thing. That's definitely on the agenda once the move is over.
The puppy-go-round game was really good. Zenzi caught onto the game really quickly: get treat from Mom for sitting and looking at her cutely, move on to the next person to her right, repeat, get treat, and continue around the circle. Knowing the structure gave her confidence to walk right up to people (the other 2 people in class own Princes, a papillon, and they were TOTALLY gothic people with black hair, dark baggy clothes, piercings everywhere, and the girl had green highlights in her hair.
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This post is late because of the move (sorry guys!), which is in its final stages. We have to paint, but all the stuff is here, and we're mostly unpacked. The dogs really like it here, and we had this moment already...
Dolce & Zenzi snuggle for the first time.
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