Yesterday we finally got a reply from one of the six (!) dog trainers and schools I’ve emailed, and luckily it was the one closest to us (it’s in Bexleyheath). They could inform me that they had a puppy group the same night, next week and then a puppy class that starts on the 1st of August.
So we went along, I think there was 10 puppies in total, with their owners and some kids. Most people had their partner with them or kids, which was good. Marvel was a bit sneaky on the way in, body lowered towards the ground and waving back and forth a bit. Then when we got inside the big room where it was held and he saw all the dogs and people he figured it was definitely safest to be between Steve’s legs! Next to us there was a little JRT bitch and they sniffed each other, and on the other side was a 21 weeks old Akita, she was massive!
It was like a stone fell from my heart when he warmed up (after about five minutes) and started being excited about the people and the other puppies instead of lurking around the edges. They were all on the leash so no bashing about was alloved, they got to greet, sniff, check each other out and be happy, but we walked away as soon as there was any barking or they got a bit overheated.
He did so well! I’m very happy and proud, Steve and I spoke about it in the car on the way home and we are definitely gonna go next week too. Nothing better than seeing the tail in the air, wagging happily.
Marvel absolutely fell in love with the Akita girl, she was nice and laid down to play so that the smaller dogs would come over and greet her. I think they would have had a blast if they were off the leash together, hehe.
It was nice to see that he was nice to the other dogs to, he wasn’t a bully and he wasn’t insecure.
We signed up for the puppy course in August, so that gives us a couple of weeks to get to know each other better and just generally make him more comfortable with everything.
Marvelicious 