Someday I will make a post that is not puppy-centric. Today is not that day.
Darwin had his first puppy kindergarten class last night. There were a total of six dogs -- two 3 month old pit bull mixed puppies (that looked like littermates), one four month old pit bull mix, one 4 month old chocolate lab, one 3 month old puppy that I think the owners said was a "British Cream Golden Retriever." He was a little puffball (with no manners at all, omg), and Darwin.
Okay, allowing for puppy-parent bias -- he was the best-behaved dog in the class. Seriously. He was also the only one that already knew "sit." *is proud* The chocolate lab was a total spazzoid, barking like crazy, and pretty much out of control. Darwin just kinda sat there and looked at her like, "Seriously, wtf is your problem?" (At one point the instructor gave D a treat, and from that point afterward, she had his full attention.)
He got up now and then and wandered under my chair and what have you, but mostly he sat and just... behaved. Before the class he had an opportunity to play a bit with some other dogs -- a 9 month old Aussie female, a 2 year old black lab, and a 4 month old yellow lab -- they were goofing around and playing and it was so damned CUTE. What was so funny was that all of the dogs were bigger than him, and the yellow lab kept pinning him over and over again, and every time he got up and lumbered toward her like, "What? You didn't EVEN win! That was just practice! Bring it on!"
There was one moment during the class when Tora and I felt a little uncomfortable -- we were supposed to go around in a circle and introduce our dogs, and it turned out that all three pit mixes and the chocolate lab were adoptions. We get to Darwin, and I do my spiel, and mentioned that, yeah, we got him from a breeder near Gainesville, and left it at that.
At that point, the instructor said, "It looks like he's got show lines in him rather than working lines. That should make him even easier to live with as he gets older." And, okay, yes, he does come from a long line of show dogs. No arguing that. But we were really self-conscious of it after the other owners were like, "We rescued so-and-so from the pound!" Like somehow it made us bad human beings to have NOT gone to the pound first. So there was a little bit of weird guilt there, but we got over it, because, show-lines or not, he really behaved himself very well.
Needless to say, by the time we got home, he was one sleepy puppy. He had a trip to the park (which the receptionist at the vet's office later lectured me for, because he hasn't had his final shots yet, and she didn't listen when I told her I didn't take him to a DOG PARK -- I took him to a park where people power-walk, which did wonders for socialization, in my opinion. But she's kind of a bitch, and just pursed her lips at me. (I'm starting to think about switching vets -- the doc himself is kind of patronizing, and his receptionist grates on my nerves. ...And the doc also keeps calling Darwin "she," which... no.)
Not sure what the etiquette is for switching vets because you're starting to think your doc is a bit of a prat. (Also, can you make appointments just to speak with vets to see if they're jerks or not? If I'd talked to this guy before taking Darwin to him, I'm not sure I would've gone back. But Mom takes HER dog to him, and she thinks he's awesome. I dunno. I got turned off when he called Darwin's infection by its super-long fancy medi-name, and didn't offer any clarification as to wtf that meant. I asked, of course, but the moment made me bristle a little.)
Or maybe it's the PMS. Hard to say.
Okay, allowing for puppy-parent bias -- he was the best-behaved dog in the class. Seriously. He was also the only one that already knew "sit." *is proud* The chocolate lab was a total spazzoid, barking like crazy, and pretty much out of control. Darwin just kinda sat there and looked at her like, "Seriously, wtf is your problem?" (At one point the instructor gave D a treat, and from that point afterward, she had his full attention.)
He got up now and then and wandered under my chair and what have you, but mostly he sat and just... behaved. Before the class he had an opportunity to play a bit with some other dogs -- a 9 month old Aussie female, a 2 year old black lab, and a 4 month old yellow lab -- they were goofing around and playing and it was so damned CUTE. What was so funny was that all of the dogs were bigger than him, and the yellow lab kept pinning him over and over again, and every time he got up and lumbered toward her like, "What? You didn't EVEN win! That was just practice! Bring it on!"
There was one moment during the class when Tora and I felt a little uncomfortable -- we were supposed to go around in a circle and introduce our dogs, and it turned out that all three pit mixes and the chocolate lab were adoptions. We get to Darwin, and I do my spiel, and mentioned that, yeah, we got him from a breeder near Gainesville, and left it at that.
At that point, the instructor said, "It looks like he's got show lines in him rather than working lines. That should make him even easier to live with as he gets older." And, okay, yes, he does come from a long line of show dogs. No arguing that. But we were really self-conscious of it after the other owners were like, "We rescued so-and-so from the pound!" Like somehow it made us bad human beings to have NOT gone to the pound first. So there was a little bit of weird guilt there, but we got over it, because, show-lines or not, he really behaved himself very well.
Needless to say, by the time we got home, he was one sleepy puppy. He had a trip to the park (which the receptionist at the vet's office later lectured me for, because he hasn't had his final shots yet, and she didn't listen when I told her I didn't take him to a DOG PARK -- I took him to a park where people power-walk, which did wonders for socialization, in my opinion. But she's kind of a bitch, and just pursed her lips at me. (I'm starting to think about switching vets -- the doc himself is kind of patronizing, and his receptionist grates on my nerves. ...And the doc also keeps calling Darwin "she," which... no.)
Not sure what the etiquette is for switching vets because you're starting to think your doc is a bit of a prat. (Also, can you make appointments just to speak with vets to see if they're jerks or not? If I'd talked to this guy before taking Darwin to him, I'm not sure I would've gone back. But Mom takes HER dog to him, and she thinks he's awesome. I dunno. I got turned off when he called Darwin's infection by its super-long fancy medi-name, and didn't offer any clarification as to wtf that meant. I asked, of course, but the moment made me bristle a little.)
Or maybe it's the PMS. Hard to say.