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Dog Days of Autumn

Dexter is progressing quite well with his crate training. We had a little bit of a problem on Monday, as it was his first day in the crate for more than an hour on his own. When I came home at lunch to walk him and play with him, he was just fine, but when I tried to coax him back into the crate when lunch hour was over, he wouldn't budge. They recommend that you not force your puppy into the crate, so I didn't. I ended up staying with him for another two hours, and going for another 40-min walk with him. It's a shame you can't use the government's Family Related Leave for puppy training. I took the hours as "vacation" instead. It has occurred to me that I am really not using my "vacation" leave for relaxing, calming sorts of endeavours, i.e., climbing a mountain and alleviating a puppy's separation anxiety. Oh well.

When I finally did manage to get him back in his crate, I returned to the office to try and make up for some of the time I had spent away. I was still worried about him though. He is so small. And lonley. But when I got home, he was just dandy. I couldn't bear to leave him again that day though, so I called my gym and cancelled my appointment with my trainer. Instead, Dexter and I decided to explore the off-leash park in Rockliffe where all the rich doggies go. I brought his frisbee along (come on, you must have known I'd be teaching him how to play frisbee), and we had a lot of fun chasing after it through the long grass.

Yesterday, we went back to the off-leash again, and this time we met up with another doggie: Rembrandt, an oversized 4-year-old Golden. He was very friendly, a bit of a pushover, really, and spent a good 30 minutes letting Dexter try to "herd" him. When it was time to go back to the car, Dexter picked up his frisbee and carried it with him.

I decided to take a little detour on our way home. We headed over to PetSmart, to sign the little guy up for some puppy classes. On the way in the door, we ran into two other dogs. A very large 7-month-old Bernese and a weird-looking dog that the owner called a "Noodle". Dexter showed quite a bit of interest in the other puppy, and not so much in the noodle. We filled out a registration form to start classes on Tuesday, October 11, at 6:30 pm. The classes last for 8 weeks, so we will be done in time to move to Pembroke, when we can enroll in a more advanced class. I am quite sure that having already mastered so much (frisbee carrying, crate training, pooping outside, peeing outside almost all the time unless I lose track of time, and learning his name), that Dexter will be graduating with honours.