The past few months have been so busy! Summer? Vacation? Huh? What? Right. It's been like that.
She's still puppy-nutball-enthusiastic when visitors come over and when she greets strangers - a very disconcerting experience for them, surely, to have this blockhead jump up and down with her tongue lapping the air while her butt goes into helicopter mode. (One of these days, I swear she's going to get airborne.)
I have learned to keep a tight hand on her lead when we're walking in town. At home, tie-downs have helped a lot especially if visitors obey my rules about not touching her until all 4 paws are solidly planted on the floor. It's awfully hard to ignore such a whole-hearted appeal for attention accompanied by unbridled joy when you walk in the door. I confess. I'm a sucker for that funny face and the "I'm soooooo happy to see you!" attitude that Poppy displays every time I enter the room. It's not so great when she scares the daylights out of an unsuspecting neighbor or passerby.
It was in recognition of her strength, size, exuberance, youth, and an automatic undeserved reputation that I decided to put her through obedience classes. But not just any obedience class. I was determined that if I was going to put the time, money and effort into a class it would have to be the one BADRAP offered.
As a BACS volunteer, I'd had some experience with the class - it's a tremendous gift from the BADRAP folks to the shelter - that helps shelter dogs learn good manners and thereby become more adoptable. Every Saturday or Sunday, depending on the prevailing schedule, you can see a dozen shelter dogs working with volunteers. It's amazing! I was fortunate to be able to participate in several sessions and took home what I learned to share with Poppy. What a blessing! We learned some very valuable lessons and by the time it was our turn to be trained we were ready.
More after graduation!
