Gabby Goes to School

A while back I wrote about my hound Gabriela and her "issues."  


So, I decided to take her to one of Jenn Kyzer's classes. We have made such great progress with our at home work, it's time to socialize a bit.  Alas, the only class that fit my schedule is puppy class.  Oh lordy, sorry Jenn, no slight meant, but GEESH I had forgotten how boring puppy school can be.  


Don't get me wrong, I think every puppy needs a puppy class and the humans need it more.  A good instructor covers a lot of territory.  Not just commands (like sit, stay, wait, etc.) but she/he will also talk about health, playtime, feeding, etc.  Jenn is a thorough instructor.  


While the instructor verbalizes all this information, the pups are actually learning to sit quietly (or as much as a puppy can sit quietly) and the humans are also learning how to handle their pups when they get bored.  Was that stated?  Well, no, it's actually one of the subtle benefits of a class.  But lordamercy me.  give me Patience.  

This is what Gabby would much rather be doing. 

So in the meantime, my little anxious houndy-hound is not a happy camper.  She's nervous, likes only one of the puppies so far ( a cute little Boston Bull) and I'm trying to let her get near, but not too close to the others to see how she reacts.  Growling is not a good thing.  But pups have E-N-E-R-G-Y.  And now Gabby doesn't like that.  Which is hugely ironic because it's what causes her such anxiety much of the time...her OWN energy.  Ha.  She can dish it out but she can't take it so well.  anyway, it's why we are here, the 4 year old dog in the puppy class.  To learn to socialize without being deathly afraid. 

Ok, here is a sample of the first class for me and Gabby.  We are all gathered in a loose circle in an outdoor parking lot.  Pups are chewing on leashes, wiggling, laying down,  trying to play with the pup next to them, etc.  So we do this exercise called "settle" where we basically wrap our arms gently around our dog, pull them to us with a thumb in the collar and say settle.  Hmmmm.  well, Gabby is 4 years old.  She is settled.  She has no clue why I want to hold her in public.  It's weird, mom.  But she lets me and then she sits.  So I let go and she stands and backs away.  I hold her, say "settle" she sits.  I let go, she stands and backs away.  Gabby believes that sitting is the magic answer to everything so duh, she sits to get out of it.  I'm baffled.  So I hold her.  Repeat the above.  Until I get tired.  In the meantime Jenn is talking about   - I don't know what.  (sorry again Jenn)  


Now that I am standing and Gabby is by my side, being the polite girl she is, a woman walks by in the road behind us.  I hear a growl.  uh-oh.  "shhhh....it's ok."  growl.  "shhhhhh...."  The woman has a hat on.  double uh-oh.  growl.   "shhhhh..."  Thankfully a plane flies overhead (we're near the airport as the crow flies) and Gabby sits down and pulls her neck back, looking up to see if the plane is going to fall on her head.  Oh yes, she really does not like things in the sky.   But, it gets her mind off of the hat lady.  yay.  


Next we do sits.  Well, we have that one down.  Then we do "look at me."  Eye contact.  Now here is a challenge.  No way on earth Gabby is going to look at me.  I don't care how much food she gets, she isn't gonna.  Nope.  So I give up.  in class.  and after a bit more talking from Jenn we are done.  ugh.  


This week I have been practicing "look at me."  Gabby learns very fast when she feels safe, so she's eyeballing me like crazy.  She always looks me in the eyes when she wants something anyway, but now I'm training her to look at me when I want something.  Huh...so far so good.  But will she do this in class?   


We'll see what happens next.