Slurpie Nursery Class

Slurpie missed out the socialisation aspect till he was about 4.5 months old due to some vaccination and health reasons. As such although we had been successful in training him in the basic commands covered earlier (Sit, Down, Stay) we were contemplating signing up some puppy classes just so he gets to socialise with other puppies/dogs.

tiny slurpie barking at the husky

We realised the very first time we brought him out that he gets intimidated by almost everything that moves and strange noises. We also recognised his fear barking with ears pulled back whenever he meets another dog. The barking no doubt stressed him out since he kept feeling fearful, it also made us stressed as we have to keep trying to calm him down, hold him back as he tries to lunge and apologise to everyone whom he barked at.

We tried to bring him out at every opportunity. Walks around the estate and the neighborhood park, East Coast Park (lots of obstacles: cyclists, runners, screaming children, roller bladers, bbq smells, shrieking teenagers, other dogs phew!), dog runs etc etc. We were trying to get him immuned to all the various strange sights and sounds that he does not experience at home. However we also wanted him to have actual socialisation with other dogs in terms of playing and not just the usual sniff and goodbye 5 mins greetings on such walks.

So we signed him up for a puppy orientation class. $180 for 4 x 1.5hrs lessons with 4 other puppies. The other puppies were younger than Slurpie, mostly about 2mths old and of cos as expected, ours was as usual the most vocal of the lot. He tends to bark as he approaches another pup/dog but once he gets a chance to go nearer and sniff he will stop.....until they run about or jump on him =P

Poor little Slurpie was made to face the wall on the first lesson for about 15mins as he kept barking when he saw 4 other pups and so many people confined in the room. Haha actually it really cracked me up when the Trainer's helper carried him and stood in the corner with him turned so he faces the wall. He seemed so pitiful hearing the other puppies playing but yet unable to see even though he tried to turned his head.

The lessons taught what Slurpie already knew: recall, sit, down and basic grooming. But the trainers told everyone to just let the puppies play even if they are rough or slightly agressive so each will teach the other what is wrong behavior. It was really good cos we saw a more agressive/untrusting pup slowly learning to join in the play, the merry little pup who learned to growl when required to defend herself and of cos our blackie who learned there are other puppies too in this world and how to play with them. None of us owners were overly protective like the people we meet on walks. We kept an eye in case of real danger but generally we realise our pups can all roll and tumble, growl and make up with no love lost. So what we really got for the $180 was a nursery play group for Slurpie and his first graduation photo:

P/S: the trainers were wonderful patient and nice people but the all love and treats method with ignoring bad behaviors approach really did nothing much for Slurpie who already had some bad habits. perhaps if he had gone earlier before 3 mths...but for us we needed another school of thought that would help Slurpie curb his fear barking problem. We are attending one now, 2nd lesson so far....will update progress!