In a sop to our traumatized dog sitters, who were quite unhappy about the poor behaviour displayed by Goofy while we were away, I have signed her up for some more training classes, as well as a regular once a week session at doggy day care.
I was gratified to be able to get a slot at the latter at such short notice, which includes pick up and drop off. Today was her first day. The van arrived just before I was due to leave for work, so that worked out well. I took her out on the lead, and she was all good until she spotted the stranger lurking on the stairs. On advice from the driver, I handed over the lead and left them to it. As I was riding off on my scooter I spotted the dog still looking supremely distrustful, although she’d been lured a couple of metres nearer the van by the way of treats and blandishments.
My husband was worried she’d bite people in her anxiety, so I was quite nervous when they rang me later in the morning. Luckily it was just to give me an update that everything was going fine. She was slowly thawing to both the staff and the other dogs. I even got a report card, as I’ve paid the extra for training and a walk in addition to the bare basics daycare.
3/5 is surely a pass, although the photo of the puppy in the ‘basics’ section suggests she can barely do stuff she was meant to be able to do last year. Never mind. Maybe she’s going for ‘most improved’, a technique I’ve used myself from time to time.
The other benefit, on top of being assured that nothing is going to be destroyed in the house today, is that the two schnoodles get a bit of relief from Goofy’s rather relentless nature. It’s a win-win. Money well spent.