Because the class of about ten puppies is for ages 8-20 weeks, Pita was one of the youngest and the third largest puppy there. She was also by far the most shy! The puppies all had time to play before we started working on PITA (knowing her name), SIT, and DOWN. While all the other puppies jumped and ran, she hid between Alan or my legs (or another person's!) or sat underneath the table and watched everyone. We encouraged her to play, but the puppies did it for us. They came over and tried to sniff her. She sat still and let them until she decided to start running from them, which the other puppies thought was great fun and she became the play toy. She did well considering she did not growl, bite, or have her tail completely between her legs. Once we all got in a circle and started working on training, she decided that she was big now and barked at the dogs next to her, but if they got close to her, she became shy again.
She did very well with the training, but took a chance with the teacher to finally get DOWN before she did it with us. Of course she did well with the training though because she LOVES hot dogs, which are her treats for extra good behavior.
At home, she is doing well with going outside to relive herself because she knows that she gets hot dogs for that. If she goes inside, then no harm done because she goes on the paper, but going outside is even better! We also are working on CRATE with her to get her to go inside her crate and have that be a positive experience. She has that down pretty well and it became useful when Alan was carrying a large piece of furniture and told her to go in her crate! One more command she is understanding and practicing is DROP IT. When we play, she loves to play tug-of-war, but that doesn't get her very much exercise, so DROP IT is good because we can throw the ball again instead of prying her mouth open. It also comes in handy when she steals a shoe or sock, starts to run away, and hears DROP IT, she does! Our Pita is a quick learner.
Her favorite new activity is going out on walks. On Wednesday, she got her second round of vaccinations so she can now go out on walks and not get kennel cough or other not so fun diseases. She does a mixture of weaving between your feet and chasing after people, other dogs, and leaves. We'll see what her favorite season is in about a year, but so far, she loves fall because of the fact that there are leaves dancing in the wind and she gets to chase them everywhere. She is very good about making eye contact with you on the street if you call her and refocusing. We go on two walks a day and she is great in the house because she is so tired. She also is sleeping much better through the night.
Another new activity is sleeping on the shelf of the bench by the front door. Since she is too big for under the couch, that is the next largest 'small place' for her to hang out. It's adorable!
It was a busy week (Pita grew three pounds) and we look forward to going to the dog park this coming week!
that's so cute! i hope you're feeling better jenn!
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