Gregory Goes to (Puppy) School

Gregory

This is typical Gregory (pardon the dark picture.)   He is normally a happy, attentive, obedient pup with loads of energy.   Last night in puppy school, he was a completely obstinate teenager.

Let me give you some background:  

Gregory has separation anxiety.  His first few days and weeks here were challenging for him when he had to be left in his crate.  We worked all that out, with some help from Jenn Kyzer of Dog Talk Richmond after I made a teary phone call to her when I thought I had "broken my dog!" No, nothing physical or even mean - he had decided to pee on our den carpet (which needs to be replaced, but still!) and I took the opportunity to leap at him with a stern "NO!" and reach for his collar to take him to the door - you know, guide him outdoors where to pee (for a dog) is "YES!!"  He'd only been with me for a day and I'd made sure he had every opportunity to pee outside, until now.  Housebreaking training set into motion.  

Except. 

Gregory was scared half to death.  Seriously.  He ran from me, peed some more and was a total wreck.  I couldn't get him to come near me and he ran past me when we went outside.  I became a total wreck.  He was so sweet and I felt so badly and I didn't know what I had done wrong.  Well, Gregory is sensitive.  Very, very sensitive. To shorten this part of the story, Jenn talked me through some steps to take, I did and we all love one another again.  Gregory still has moments when he's unsure, but I have learned to talk and correct Gregory in a very low voice.  He responds, and that's what matters. 

This is all connected.  I promise. 

Gregory came from a foster home on a farm, where he was raised with his mama dog until 5 months old and had access to the outdoors from his kennel.  He was confined, but not in a crate.  He was also always with his mama.  It was no small wonder he bonded with me instantly.  I became his mama.  And the first time I tried leaving him in a crate was the worst thing in the world to ever happen to him.  Even more worse than the time I yelled at him when he peed on our smelly old carpet!  He began to yell.  Scream, really.  oh geez.  This won't be fun.   Jenn had come over the day after the pee incident and helped me with techniques to use with crate training.  Eventually, that all worked out, too.  And work is the operative word here, because I really did have to work at the training techniques continually.  

What really helped was when I went out of town to Atlanta, Gregory had to stay somewhere, so Jenn offered to keep him and continue the crate training. That was a well-timed god-send. 

So now we're into March and it's time to take Gregory to puppy school.  I've taken all my dogs to puppy school since adopting Gracie 16 years ago.  It's as much for me as for them.  The first night Gregory practically sleeps through the entire class.  There are 4 pups in my class, all much smaller than my big ole houndy-dog.  One is so tiny he could eat her, but all are sweet and they play well.  The humans are all kind souls, so it's an easy class to be in. 

The second night, Gregory is o.k.  He is learning commands and also a little bored.  By the end of class, he's once again napping.  Or rolling over to show us his cute belly.  He makes us all chuckle.  He shows no intention of leaving my side, but is interested in the other dogs. 

Class 3.  This one is busier than the previous nights and Gregory is doing well with commands.  He actually learns hand signals as quickly as verbal.  He doesn't respond so much to treats.  He takes them and spits them out.  Unless it's given by the instructor.  Then it's the best thing ever.  He's inconsistent with commands, which is totally my fault for not working with him daily the week before.  But, he knows them and that makes me happy.  He naps again before leaving class.  

Class 4.  I'll start with this: I was out of town, with Gregory, and did not practice as I should have.  However, when I asked him to do anything, he did.  He began walking with me off leash.  He responded to hand signals.  Wow, I was impressed.  Bright dog. 

So we go to class and I'm confident my Gregory will do just fine.  Why wouldn't he? 

Indeed, why wouldn't he?  And I'll never know, but he had his teen-ager on and that was all she wrote.  He wouldn't listen to me.  Wouldn't make eye contact.  Wouldn't sit, down, come, much less learn the new commands.  He spit out my treats (this week was hot dogs.)  I asked JD, the instructor, to try with him.  Per-FECT. Seriously.  I tried using her treats.  Nope.  Not gonna happen. They are apparently magical when given by her, but not from me.  You know how kids reach an age where you take them to school and they want to be dropped off a block away? Or they want to eat at their own table at a restaurant? Because being seen with Mom is the worst thing ever?  Well, Gregory, (seriously he did this,) after about 40 minutes of being insolent, walks to the end of his leash and just lays down.  As far away from me as the leash would allow.  As annoyed as I had been in class, I couldn't help but just chuckle.  This is a dog with separation anxiety, who usually lays as close to me as possible and won't let me out of his sight, who only wants to make me happy so I don't ever yell at him like "the pee incident."  I didn't know whether to be hurt or proud.  I settled for amused. And am hoping this is a very short phase. 

My boy is growing up!