Ember, the S.T.A.R. Puppy

Today, Ember had her first S.T.A.R. puppy class with the Columbia Basin Dog Training Club. I got there early because I wanted to give her time to get used to the new environment. She was a little nervous at first (didn't want to come out of her crate, and really wanted to go back to the car when we were walking around), but she relaxed after a few minutes. By the time we were ready to go in and start class, she was calm, relaxed, and focused. Just what I like to see!


We got to work pretty much right away. We started by doing some loose-leash walking around some strange-looking objects on the floor (a goose decoy, a baby stroller, etc). Ember would sniff everything politely and then look up and make eye contact with me. What a good girl! She did great on her loose-leash walking and was very happy and focused. We also played around a little bit with her 2o2o on a box that was on the ground. She was awesome! I was glad to see that she has generalized that behavior to be able to do it in different environments.

(Doesn't she have the most beautiful tail?)


We also worked on coming when called, stays, greeting other people and dogs, and some other stuff. The instructor talked a lot about basic dog ownership/training... stuff I already know. So I spent most of my time focused on Ember and keeping her engaged and interested in what we were doing. She was very, very good. I was so impressed. I had anticipated her being much more fearful and cautious her first time out, but she tackled this challenge with her trademark enthusiasm and trust in me. I just love this puppy. Can you tell? ;)


At the end of the class, the instructor paired off the puppies and attempted to do some free play time. Unfortunately, the puppy Ember was paired with was a bit aggressive, so I decided to take her out of the situation. Hopefully next time we can find her a more appropriate playmate. I don't want to scare her. If there isn't another suitable puppy for her to play with in the future, I think I'll just skip this part of the class. She doesn't need to learn to obsess about chasing other dogs anyways. The instructor really liked Ember a lot, and, without being too cocky, I'd say she is one of the best puppies in the class. I'm so glad!


After the puppy class was over, I put Ember in a crate because I had volunteered to assist the class after Ember's. It is a CGC class, with the same instructor as the one who teaches Ember's class. This is a good foot in the door for me, as I would like to start teaching classes for the club. As it turned out, only two dogs showed up for the CGC class, so I got Ember out to help the other dogs get more used to walking in crowded environments. She was great again, if a little tired (obviously, hah). But we did some more loose-leash walking, focus work, demonstrated how to charge the clicker and shape eye contact, and even got in some tugging/retrieving play at the end. We were both relaxed and having a great time.


I can't wait for next week!