I Put A Rottweiler In His Place; Things Are Said

I have learned that going to Petsmart to "expose me to the doggy populace" is going to be a regular thing. Last night, I loaded jc and Cindy up in the car and we went back to Petsmart. I was doing pretty well, ignoring other dogs, strolling through, and generally raising the class of the establishment with my presence.

At one point, I was laying down and the humans were standing at the end of an isle, and other dogs from a class were going up and down. I was cool with that, and would glance at them, make sure they knew I was confident they were inferior beings, and then ignore them. All was well, and I kept getting my ears rubbed, which was nice.

Then this fat Rottweiler walked by, gave me some stink-eye, and turned towards me. I jumped up and did my "Don't you mess with me!" bark (which is nice and deep, and makes me sound like a bad-ass). We were asked to move somewhere else... And it wasn't even really my fault! That lady didn't tell her fat dog to behave and just kept baby-talking to it. Ugh!

Since we had to move, we went back to strolling around the store, and I met some more people that petted me and told me how nicely behaved I was. I don't jump on people, and typically stand or sit down so they can pet me. When I sit, it makes it easier for them to reach my ears :)

I did end up barking at one other dog that surprised me when it cut right in front of me, so jc and Cindy decided it was time to leave. I'm supposed to go to Doggy Day Care on Thursday, and I expect jc will take me up there again.

*woof*

Shocking, I Tell You, Just Shocking!

As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been to Doggy Day Care a couple times for socialization. I still keep trying to open a can of whoopass when I've got a leash on, but when I'm with people or running free among other dogs, I'm cool. This weekend, I had a rather shocking experience.

You may recall from a post a ways back, What I Learned At Camp Diana, about what happened at Petsmart. Last weekend I went to some peoples house that have fifteen Rottweilers. They show them in Europe (I've never been there, even though I'm German), and do some training. Tommy, the trainer, says he can fix this problem with me.

We showed up at the house, and Tommy had jc turn me loose into the backyard. I sniffed around, peed on a tree or two, and just checked the place out. A few minutes later, this one-year old Rottweiler comes ambling over, and she and I do the doggy dance greeting. We got along, and after a couple minutes, I even tried to get her to play with me. It seems they wanted to see what my reaction was, which was basically none at all. So jc snapped a leash on me, took me to the front yard, and brought her out again. I didn't do anything except sit there, grinning like an idiot.

Since they're expecting a reaction from me, I tricked them! I didn't do anything. Tommy brought out another Rottweiler who was huge! He said things to German to him, and he sat, laid down, went and got a ball, and a bunch of other stuff. Sticking to my plan, I did nothing. A few more dogs, and still I sat there :) I think jc was pretty proud of me, but they knew it wasn't that easy, and I'd still act out when I wasn't supposed to.

Tommy said we should go up to Petsmart, so we loaded up and went there. He also put something around my neck that made a noise now and again for reasons I can't really figure out. I decided Tommy should hold the leash when we went into Petsmart. As I started to lead him through the door, he gets me a headlock between his knee and door frame! WTF? I'm supposed to lead, I'm sure of this. Apparently not, according to him. I'm suppose to walk beside him. He kept stepping in front of me so I couldn't pass him. Clearly, this human is going to need some training.

I saw some other dogs and start intently staring at him, and he'd say "Uh Uh!" and jerk my collar, then steer me away and praise me. I'm told I'm being "rewarded" when I ignore the other dogs. It could take a bit to get this straight in my head, I'm thinking. So I stare at this one dog, he says "Uh Uh!" and I ignore him, and I get this shock on my neck that scares the living poo-poo out of me! I rear up like a horse trying to get it AWAY! I don't like that one bit, and someone is gonna pay (but they don't know that yet).

We play this game for a bit, and every time I start to stare at a dog, I get yanked, steered away and praised. Tommy says jc's timing is off on getting this right, and just needs practice ("Training the dog is easy, it's training the human that's hard". Ya think?!?).

At least lots of people stopped to tell me how handsome I was, so it didn't *completely* suck...

*woof*

I Attend Doggy Day Care; I Get Whizzed On

Hello again, faithful followers! As you may recall, I had turned my blog over to jc so he could tell you about DINKH, who is now named Tango. At last check-in, Tango is doing well, and should have started his Immiticide injections by now. Hopefully all is well with my GSD buddy!

From previous posts, you know I have "issues" when I have my leash attached to my human and I encounter another dog. I'm told this isn't really acceptable, and it prevents me from attending some interesting sounding events such as Pawfest and Woof Stock. Since I am by nature a social dog who loves people, I figure it's time to get over this problem.

To that end, jc enrolled me in Doggy Day Care at Camp Woof. Both he and myself are proud to say I did most excellently, and the staff really liked me! jc likes the fact there's a web-cam he can watch from work and make sure that I'm on my best behavior and that I'm not being molested by some ill-mannered mutt.

After jc dropped me off, the staff took me back through the introduction area. This is a fenced area where I can sniff the dogs already in the room, and they can check me out without any issues. I was in there a couple minutes, and then was introduced into the room. We all sniffed around, made introductions, and then pretty much ignored each other. I spent a lot of time milling around, and didn't really find anyone to play with. I guess after I go a couple times, I'll get comfortable enough to start playing with the other dogs.

Nothing very interesting happened on the first visit, although there was one of the girls in the room (there's always at least one human in with us, and sometimes as many as four) that I really took to. I followed her around for a bit, and she kept petting me, so I figure we're friends now.

I stayed about 8 hours and jc came and picked me up. They folks there allowed as how I was a really nice dog (I am), and didn't have any problems. jc told them that he suspected I was just fine with other dogs when I wasn't on a leash, and as we all know, I love people, so nothing new there.

I've been a second time, and while it was pretty similar, something untoward did happen. I was sitting there minding my own business (really!), thinking Sherman thoughts, when this dog snuck up behind me and WHIZZED on me! Just peed on my back leg. None of the kennel staff noticed, but it turns out jc was watching me on the web-cam, called the place and demanded I be bathed. Good human! He also told them how this other dog was running around trying to hump every other dog in the room, too! I'd say *that* dog has some issues. At any rate, he didn't bother me any more after that.

I'm told I'll probably be going to Camp Woof about once a week for a little while, for socialization, and maybe so I can get some play time in with other dogs, and get worn out a little. It's only late May, but it's already so hot that I really don't want to go to the park in the afternoon. Of course, if someone didn't go work every day, he could take me to the park in the morning. Although if he doesn't go to work, I guess he can't buy me dog food, so maybe that isn't such a good idea...

*woof*