Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Stella Quirk-The First Graduating Puppy Class of 2015

Wrapping up our last night of class and celebrating Stella’s Graduation was a huge accomplishment for Stella the quirky collie! 

Over the past few weeks Stella has been working very hard with homework every night from anywhere between 20 and 40 minutes to improve on her concentration and listening skills for her obedience class. Sometimes she made it impossible to see she knew what she was doing in class due to her sheer excitement in class over all of the friends she could play with but she knows her stuff. In fact, we are fairly certain because she had been trained at home in the things taught in class it may have been too easy and frustrating for her when she is in constant need of stimulation. 

All night our final night of class Stella was on her best behavior even with dad and grandpa there as potential distractions. We had a slight hiccup when her pal Bella and her mom had to go outside to go to the bathroom after an accident. She drug me to the door and sat with her nose against the window of the door until she could see them and once they were back in the building and she checked to make sure they were OK with a slight bump of her nose we were able to continue on as we were instructed. Because of Stella’s intense herding instincts and need to have everyone in her sights, this was not opposed by the trainer thankfully. After many rounds of healing, halt/sits, several turns and stays we went into the stay and leave (all the way on the other side of the room) Try one, Stella was having a hard time of wanting to go greet everyone who said come even though it was for THEIR pup not her. Try two, the trainer held her leash lightly to correct her if she tried to follow me; she tried to follow the other handler instead. Try three however, she sat, stayed and FOCUSED on me! For those of you who know Stella and all of her quirks, you will understand how much of an accomplishment that in itself was for her in a room full of other dogs and people she wants to play with and keep watch over. We were then put back into Healing when she suddenly stopped and did the one thing every puppy parent dreads, she did the squat that number two follows. Without hesitation, I scooped her up into my arms and RAN with her to the door and outside as fast as I could with a nearly 50 pound pup. Needless to say, we didn't fully make it outside before the first bit hit the floor. We did make it in time for her to finish outside and head back in to join the class as they were doing another sit and stay during which she had had enough and started to get lippy with me.  We ended the night with her grumbling and barking as she army crawled to try to sneak away from me while she was supposed to be in her stay position. Here again, the trainer knew what I was dealing with and to keep her quiet dubbed her as the distraction for all of the other dogs who were fully focused. Ha Ha! We handed out yogurt dipped doggy treats to everyone while the trainer handed out our graduation certificates.

Along the way we made several very good dogie friends, Bella the Yellow Lab and Gus the Corgi (I totally believe Stella has a crush on the handsome little fella, I mean who wouldn't right?) The chemistry between the three of them is absolutely amazing. They are so playful yet careful for little Gus. 

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