So we’re well on our way to trying to have Photon meet as many people as she can in the next month or so (to aid her socialization with people). This morning—as we previously arranged with Jon’s teacher—Photon visited Jon’s class at school (she came incognito, wrapped in a blanket, as we weren’t sure whether school administration would appreciate us bringing a dog in). There, she absolutely delighted Jon’s classmates, most of whom looked as though they were ready to ask their parents for a dog by the end of our visit. I’m guessing that this puppy session was just as good for socializing the kids to dogs as it was to socialize Photon to kids.
This evening marked our first “puppy pre-school” class. It’s a very basic obedience course for young puppies, allowing them to meet other puppies in a controlled situation. Talk about organized chaos! Lots of barking, lungeing and puppy distractions (we were instructed to use a HUGE hunk of whatever treat we were using to focus the pup on us). Photon was very good in the “sit” and “come” exercises, but not so hot at leash walking (we’d practised the first two already; had never done the latter).
Some of the students. Photon and I are at back right.
Photon (and Laura) performing “sit” and “come”.
However, she definitely found her (seldom-used) voice and was one of the more vocal ones there. She also found her calling as a real instigator—she’d yap yap yap to set a couple of other pups off, then high-tail it over to another group. I hope this new-found mouthiness doesn’t transfer to home life!