Swiss Lick Swissies

Wordl…oh, wait! I have words today!

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 | Ozzy | No Comments

I know, I know. You are so disappointed. All you really wanted was a picture, and instead you get me yammering away. But I have to talk today. You’ll get pictures another time, I promise.

Last night (aka Tuesday) was Ozzy’s first puppy kindergarten class! Puppy K is new to us. We’ve never done it before. We’ve always just gone right into basic obedience using a friend as a trainer. But we decided to switch things up this time. So Ozzy is enrolled in an eight week class at…gasp…Petsmart!!!!

I’ll be honest, I never thought I’d enroll any of my dogs in a class at Petsmart, but what the heck. I was not overly pleased with any of the places I tried with Indy. One of them was a friend (who does great work, but I don’t think his approach is right for me or Swissies in general) who is a professional trainer. The other was the place 1.5 hours away in Rockford (they weren’t bad – just too far away). And the third was the facility that we tried for the Cautious Canine course. I was originally considering a class at a daycare/boarding facility that is walking distance from our house, but I kind of balked at their steep prices ($200 for 6 classes). So, when I took Ozzy on his first fun trip to Petsmart and met the trainer (not intentional), I checked it out.

This store has a separate training area in the back of the store. It is completely private – so not in the middle of the store with distractions galore. The trainer is nice enough, I think. She initially thought Ozzy was a Beagle, but quickly realized the error, so she is somewhat forgiven. (Although I reserve the right to give her crap for that down the line.) And this is puppy k, which is mainly for socialization. So, regardless of my preconceived notions about training at Petsmart, we’re trying it.

Our class is a good size. We have THREE Chihuahua puppies, all owned by the same people. They must be strong people with a lot of time. There’s a gorgeous GSD puppy that is just a little older than Ozzy and about the same weight. I think they are going to be great friends. And there’s a dog breed I’ve never heard of – the Boykin Spaniel, which is the state dog of South Carolina. There are ten dogs total, but I’ll probably talk about them another time.

Everyone introduced themselves and their puppies, and briefly mentioned issues that they have with their puppy. Every single one of them (except us) seems to have some major issues with biting. Makes me feel really lucky – Ozzy is a great little guy and doesn’t have issues. Yet. He is mouthy, but he is not a biter at all. I hope he stays that way.

I had initially tasked Dan with taking a few pictures. To be honest, there wasn’t really an opportunity. We’ll see what happens in coming weeks – we have seven more classes, so we should be able to get something, right?

Happy Wednesday!

Tags: Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Ozzy the Swissy, Swissy