Let's Try Puppy School Again.

Just a shy boy trying to overcome shy boy problems.

It's time for round two motherpuppers!

Grimm and I finished his basic obedience course in May, and I've hemmed and hawed about taking Reaper ever since. Last week I took the plunge and signed Reaper up. We started this past Wednesday, and I think I'm actually excited to see where classes take us.

My goals for Reaper are vastly different than the goals I had for Grimm, and I'm curious how that's going to affect my experience this time around. Grimm is super social and hyper and easily distracted. Reaper likes other dogs, but doesn't feel the same need to be with them. He's also scared of new people, so that's going to be a big obstacle for him to overcome. Reaper will generally do tasks just for my praise and affection, which might be really nice to see.

To be totally honest, I'm not sure I know how Reaper reacts to the world around him aside from the fear he shows other people. It's been the thing I've been trying to stay focused on with him since he came home. I've been fortunate that he's only been aggressive once, and he was literally backed into a corner, so I know what to avoid with him in that sense. And I think I do a solid job of advocating for him in most situations. But I've never truly watched him in public to see if he focuses on me or not. I don't ask him to do any kind of obedience in public, because in my mind I'm already asking so much of him to just exist there.

I wonder sometimes how much of his fears are my own doing. I didn't take him out anywhere or work on socializing him consistently because he was already shy. I was scared I'd push him to far or too hard and ruin him completely. I told myself that there was more time to do it and work on socializing him, but the time kind of got away from me. Next thing I knew he was a year old and only slightly less shy.

I've taken him to the park a few times, and in general those have been successful outings, but they're few and far between. I learned that I like the structure of being somewhere every week for a class that has an agenda with someone monitoring my progress. If I'm left to my own devices, things just don't get done. My undiagnosed ADD brain just can't seem to create a schedule and stick to it. Rather than be frustrated by that, I'm just going to lean into it and realize that I need an actual class.

But anywho, back to Reaper and his first class.

How I Expected Things To Go V.S. How They Went:

I'm trying not to have any real expectations for class with Reaper, since having high expectations is kind of what ruined things for Grimm and me in the beginning. However, if I really had to, here are some things I could definitely see happening:

1. Reaper scared peeing in class. It doesn't happen super often, but when it does it sucks because scared pee is the absolute smelliest of the pee.

   1. He did not scared pee at all! Big fat win!

2. Reaper needing to be in the separate room to start. I'm okay with this if it's what happens, but I think I'd push for us to really try being in the room with everyone since the big thing I'm working towards is him being responsive and somewhat comfortable in public situations.

   1. We did spend a lot of time creating distance from the other teams in class. The back room Grimm and I were always in feels comfortable for me and gives me a lot more space to maneuver. Reaper was also way more interested in playing with the other dogs than I expected, so that distance was helpful.

3. Reaper refusing treats. He does this to me at home sometimes, so I'm not going to be surprised if it happens in a stimulating environment.

   1. He did refuse them some of the time. Turns out he's not easily tricked by rolling his kibble in hot dogs. I'll keep working to find out what counts as "high value" for him.

4. Reaper will bark/awoo at the trainer when she comes to check out our progress. He likes space, and part of what I'm going to try working him through is having people closer to him. They don't have to touch him or interact with him, but I'm going to try to get him to the point where we don't need a six foot buffer between us and everyone else.

   1. Y'all, HE SNIFFED THE TRAINER. I didn't see that one coming. He did bark and awoo at her, but he was definitely interested in her. I'd already told her about him during Grimm's sessions, so she was very aware that he was scared and didn't want to be approached. She completely ignored him, and he came around on his own time. I'm sure we'll have to keep working on this each class, but I was very pleasantly surprised.

5. I'm taking us to Starbucks after our first class. I don't care how well it goes or how much of a shitshow it is, we are getting Starbies because we're doing something new and scary together.

   1. We went, he stuck his head out the window to see what was taking so long to get his pupcup. We also split a butter croissant, because that's how we roll.

Our Class Goals:

The goals for Reaper and me in class need to be more fluid than the ones I had with Grimm. Being super rigid and unyielding didn't do either of us any favors last time. So here we go:

1. Reaper will not scared pee every class. Hell, I'd love it if he didn't do it at all, but baby steps. I don't care if this means he scared pees 5 out of 6 classes. Just not every single class.

   1. I wrote this before we went to class, consider this goal nailed!

2. Reaper will allow at least the trainer to be within 6 feet of him without reacting. 5 feet and 11 inches counts man. Lofty goal: he lets her hold his leash.

   1. He did it. We'll keep working on it and see where we can get.

3. I will learn what Reaper is willing to work for. Is it affection/praise, are there particular treats, is there a toy he wants? I will figure this out.

   1. Still a work in progress. His toy was intriguing, but not enough to get him to stop woofing at the other pups. Hot dogs were good, but somehow still not high value enough. My affection is works really well 90% of the time.

4. I will find one reason to be proud of Reaper and myself every class. I beat myself up a lot during Grimm's classes, and I don't want to make that mistake again.

   1. First class: proud that he sniffed the trainer, proud that he was excited about seeing other dogs, proud that I made it through class and didn't want to try or quit once.

5. We will come out of this a better team. Better how... I'm not sure, but better.

   1. I'll keep you posted on this one. Something felt different, but I'm not sure what yet.

For now, I think that's more than enough to get us started. Keep your eyes peeled for more class updates! As always, thanks for reading this tail, and here's to many more.

Danielle & Reaper

P.S. If you're curious about our set up for class, we got this biothane waterproof multi-way leash with detachable traffic handle from Evergreen Dog Co, and it came in handy. I clipped his traffic handle to his harness to work on heeling (or holding him back from jumping towards other dogs, and I turned the rest of it into a hands-free leash to make handling him and giving treats during class a bit easier.