Teething. So much teething. All the teething. All the time. It’s a good thing he’s cute.

Training has improved by leaps and bounds. He moved on to Level 2 Obedience this weekend after two sessions at his new school. It should be smooth sailing until we level up once more, at which point we’ll be facing our ultimate nemeses: distractibility and impending teenagehood. AHS is set up beautifully for what we need, and their trainers are a joy to work with! The ability to attend class multiple times a week is exactly what we need. He’s already starting to get into the groove and his neutrality is growing.

On Monday January 6th, Waffles accompanied his kid to her swimming lesson at the Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute and got to roam the quiet halls — quiet as far as the decibel levels were concerned, but not as far as busy foot traffic goes! He did 10 minutes of formal obedience work and then got handsomely rewarded for lying down or sitting down and being calm (and bored.) He saw dozens of people in wheelchairs of all sorts go by, walkers, canes, seniors, kids, adults… you name it. He was a calm boy through his entire hour there, and also spent some time outside watching busses, vans, people, and cars go by.

One thing I like to do with young puppies who are barely beginning socialization in places like these is teaching them the “middle” command — standing, sitting, or lying down in the “middle”, between the trainer’s legs. Some puppies find it comforting and safe to be blocked off from both sides, their tails and legs are tucked, and they feel secure in watching the world go by. It also keeps people from rushing up to us going “PUPPYPUPPYPUPPY” — they immediately recognize the dog is being trained, and if I need to I can quickly put the puppy behind me by stepping in front of him. This can be super helpful when someone with a pet dog walks by and lets their dog try to interact (“he just wants to say hi!”) From the puppy’s perspective, all this helps reinforce the bond with his or her handler — these guys are little, and close to the ground! The big world can be scary! But knowing your handler has everything under control takes away a lot of stress and allows you to experience new and strange things while feeling secure.

A note on training positions: I teach all my dogs to walk on my left for both the formal HEEL (dog shoulder lined up with handler’s knee) and LEAD ON (end of ribcage roughly lined up with handler’s knee); on my right as BY ME; and MIDDLE (my walking middle command is “WALK IT”, which horrifies agility handlers who often use it as their command for the dog walk obstacle!) When pups are older, I teach the MIDDLE command as “ON MY SIX” which has them facing backwards, paired with silent lean “alert” to people walking by close behind, or approaching. (It’s very useful for dogs for the deaf, service dogs for people with out-of-the-norm startle reflexes such as in PTSD, people with debilitating vertigo spells triggered by sudden movements, and people with TBIs.) We practice loose leash walking (LLW) with a 6ft traffic lead that has a metal ring in the middle. I sometimes clip the handle midway so I can sling the leash across my body and work hands-free. There’s no way to hide a faulty LLW if you’re not holding onto the leash! We also handle the old fashioned way, with the leash in a thumb lock hold.

In the land of quirks and features, Waffles seems to be a huge fan of music — thank goodness as there’s a lot of it in my house. We’re working on not trying to climb up onto the piano bench when people are playing. Otherwise, he enjoys his kid’s cello practice and his dad’s violin practice. He does think the ultimate fun is popping up from under the grand piano when his Auntie Jodi and Mama are playing the piano together.

This week’s training plans are fairly simple: More of the same. He has three classes scheduled at school (two level 2, one level 1 for the neutral socialization and distraction exposure as those classes tend to have more rambunctious doggos attending!) and some socialization training in busy places including the Rehabilitation Institute. We’re also working on sound desensitization and startle responses by playing around with spoons in pans and buckets and making a racket.

Puppies this age go through phases where they’re scared of odd things, including things they were totally fine with before — it’s totally normal and okay! Never force or flood a scared dog to “face his fears” just let them explore in their own time and own way. I love that Waffles tends to investigate after he gets startled by something new. He bounces back very quickly and moves on.

Have a wonderful week everyone! We’ll report back on our adventures.