Penny goes to School - week three
Previously: Week One, Week Two
Penny was well enough to attend the third training class last night.
We had quite a busy day before that -- in the morning we went to our vet for the second part of her Lyme vaccine. This time she was treated by Dr. Shea, who chooses to believe Penny is named for her and not the stadium, since she is a Yankee fan. (Penny's "official" name is Penelope Shea; we are fans of the Mets and wanted to honor the stadium's final season when we re-named her. During the visit I also learned that a certain manager of our favorite team brings his dogs to the same veterinary practice.)
Before Dr. Shea was ready to give Penny the vaccine, her assistant noticed a tick had attached itself to Penny's neck. I don't know how I missed it -- I brushed her very thoroughly the night before. I was grateful they found it and removed it, because I know it would have been extremely difficult for me to do it, even if I had help.
Then it was time for the vaccine. The assistant was holding Penny still for the shot but suddenly Penny squealed and jumped -- we thought from the vaccine. But when we looked at the doctor we realized she hadn't even gotten started yet! She had only just touched Penny! She must have remembered the last one and reacted in anticipation. It was too funny.
At the end of our visit the doctor trimmed Penny's nails for me. She was overdue to have them done and I was just trying to time it right so she was too tired to resist and I wasn't too tired to see straight. Penny complained a bit, but the doctor set her straight. Penny was giving kisses when it was all over, so it couldn't have been that bad.
Before our appointment, we had practiced Watch Me and Sit while we were outside and in the waiting room and Penny behaved much better than the last time we visited. She was a little anxious, but not out of control. After the appointment, I hoped she'd be just as good. There was a little dog in the waiting room when we left the exam room and Penny could not contain herself. She barked non-stop, so I had to put her in the car while I paid for our visit.
There is a pet store in the same shopping area where our vet is located; since we were there anyway, I thought we'd walk around the building and meet some people and spend some time inside the store, socializing. A nice man heard her barking and offered her a biscuit. She took it, didn't eat it, but stopped barking at him for a few moments. Progress? We entered the store and disrupted their relatively calm atmosphere. Penny barked at the people and the other dogs and I worked at distracting her and getting her to Watch Me. It worked for a few moments at a time. After about half an hour I'd had enough, so we bought a bag of biscuits and went home.
Keli was waiting for us at the door. I could tell she wanted her share of the attention. So after I had some lunch, we all got ready and went for a walk together. The wind was blowing like crazy, but those two didn't care. I wish I had some sort of remote control camera that I could use to record them on these walks, because there are moments when they walk in unison, side by side as if they were two horses pulling a carriage (but with loose leashes). It is too funny!
Finally, it was time to get ready to go to Penny's training class. We arrived early so that we could walk around and socialize again, and maybe get some of the barking out of her system before class. Maybe I was tired or she was too tired, because I had a really hard time distracting her from barking at the people this time. And there was another barky dog that she could hear on the other side of the store.
Class began and we learned we were going to work on Take It, Leave It, and Drop It. We also worked on Down. These are all words I've been teaching her since she arrived here in Westieland, so I thought this was going to be a good week. All I had to do was keep her quiet. But she just would not stop -- she continually looks at the other dogs and barks.
So one of the instructors took her into a separate room -- the "bad girl" room -- while the other instructor continued teaching the class. It's just another room separated from the main training room by glass doors. They stayed in there until Penny stopped barking. Then the instructor came out with Penny, but she started barking so Penny went back in. After Penny was quiet, she opened the door again, but as soon as Penny started barking, she closed it. This was repeated at least half a dozen times until Penny was calm enough and I was put back in control. And throughout all this, the other dogs and their owners were learning the new cues.
Once she was quiet and under control we were able to work with Penny on the class assignments. And she did very well with each of them. The methods used to teach Take It and Leave It are a little different than I learned with Keli's training class, and Down has a slightly different hand gesture and an extra step. But Penny performed each of them at least once correctly before class ended.
We were all exhausted last night and this morning. Look how Penny was sleeping -- was she too tired to get all the way in? Or does she just like to sleep that way? A few minutes later she was in the opposite direction, with her back knees and toes inside the bed and her body out on the floor. Too bad, I missed that photo op.
And because Keli insists on getting her share of the attention, here's where she snoozed -- still one of her favorite places:
Next: Weeks Four, Five and Six
Penny was well enough to attend the third training class last night.
We had quite a busy day before that -- in the morning we went to our vet for the second part of her Lyme vaccine. This time she was treated by Dr. Shea, who chooses to believe Penny is named for her and not the stadium, since she is a Yankee fan. (Penny's "official" name is Penelope Shea; we are fans of the Mets and wanted to honor the stadium's final season when we re-named her. During the visit I also learned that a certain manager of our favorite team brings his dogs to the same veterinary practice.)
Before Dr. Shea was ready to give Penny the vaccine, her assistant noticed a tick had attached itself to Penny's neck. I don't know how I missed it -- I brushed her very thoroughly the night before. I was grateful they found it and removed it, because I know it would have been extremely difficult for me to do it, even if I had help.
Then it was time for the vaccine. The assistant was holding Penny still for the shot but suddenly Penny squealed and jumped -- we thought from the vaccine. But when we looked at the doctor we realized she hadn't even gotten started yet! She had only just touched Penny! She must have remembered the last one and reacted in anticipation. It was too funny.
At the end of our visit the doctor trimmed Penny's nails for me. She was overdue to have them done and I was just trying to time it right so she was too tired to resist and I wasn't too tired to see straight. Penny complained a bit, but the doctor set her straight. Penny was giving kisses when it was all over, so it couldn't have been that bad.
Before our appointment, we had practiced Watch Me and Sit while we were outside and in the waiting room and Penny behaved much better than the last time we visited. She was a little anxious, but not out of control. After the appointment, I hoped she'd be just as good. There was a little dog in the waiting room when we left the exam room and Penny could not contain herself. She barked non-stop, so I had to put her in the car while I paid for our visit.
There is a pet store in the same shopping area where our vet is located; since we were there anyway, I thought we'd walk around the building and meet some people and spend some time inside the store, socializing. A nice man heard her barking and offered her a biscuit. She took it, didn't eat it, but stopped barking at him for a few moments. Progress? We entered the store and disrupted their relatively calm atmosphere. Penny barked at the people and the other dogs and I worked at distracting her and getting her to Watch Me. It worked for a few moments at a time. After about half an hour I'd had enough, so we bought a bag of biscuits and went home.
Keli was waiting for us at the door. I could tell she wanted her share of the attention. So after I had some lunch, we all got ready and went for a walk together. The wind was blowing like crazy, but those two didn't care. I wish I had some sort of remote control camera that I could use to record them on these walks, because there are moments when they walk in unison, side by side as if they were two horses pulling a carriage (but with loose leashes). It is too funny!
Finally, it was time to get ready to go to Penny's training class. We arrived early so that we could walk around and socialize again, and maybe get some of the barking out of her system before class. Maybe I was tired or she was too tired, because I had a really hard time distracting her from barking at the people this time. And there was another barky dog that she could hear on the other side of the store.
Class began and we learned we were going to work on Take It, Leave It, and Drop It. We also worked on Down. These are all words I've been teaching her since she arrived here in Westieland, so I thought this was going to be a good week. All I had to do was keep her quiet. But she just would not stop -- she continually looks at the other dogs and barks.
So one of the instructors took her into a separate room -- the "bad girl" room -- while the other instructor continued teaching the class. It's just another room separated from the main training room by glass doors. They stayed in there until Penny stopped barking. Then the instructor came out with Penny, but she started barking so Penny went back in. After Penny was quiet, she opened the door again, but as soon as Penny started barking, she closed it. This was repeated at least half a dozen times until Penny was calm enough and I was put back in control. And throughout all this, the other dogs and their owners were learning the new cues.
Once she was quiet and under control we were able to work with Penny on the class assignments. And she did very well with each of them. The methods used to teach Take It and Leave It are a little different than I learned with Keli's training class, and Down has a slightly different hand gesture and an extra step. But Penny performed each of them at least once correctly before class ended.
We were all exhausted last night and this morning. Look how Penny was sleeping -- was she too tired to get all the way in? Or does she just like to sleep that way? A few minutes later she was in the opposite direction, with her back knees and toes inside the bed and her body out on the floor. Too bad, I missed that photo op.
And because Keli insists on getting her share of the attention, here's where she snoozed -- still one of her favorite places:
I can't believe she still fits in there! I'll bet her backside hangs off the edge.
Next: Weeks Four, Five and Six
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