LOVE AMONG THE RUINS

The remains of the day.

We have a new puppy, hence the long stretch between posts. This missive, by the way, doesn't contain any Earth-shaking tips on DIY except for a photo of the ingenious door that Paco devised to keep Henry (said puppy) from gaining access to the rest of the house without supervision. Even then, he is a very willful child and not easy to corral, which is why he has started Puppy Training classes as of last night. He and I went to learn together, Henry to learn how to sit, not bark or bite and to generally behave himself. I went to find out if this is even possible given his tenacious personality and penchant for drama.

The little propeller-type device swivels when you want to remove the barrier.
That doesn't happen very often.

First a brief background: we adopted Henry from a lovely, very kind-hearted couple east of here who suddenly found themselves the parents of 10 puppies. Sister K saw the listing on Facebook and alerted me since she knew I wanted to adopt. I say "I" because while Paco had given his blessing, this was still my endeavor and would be" The One Responsible" in terms of feeding, training and general stewardship. I was ready for the challenge; how hard could it be?

 

Eight weeks old and such an angel you've never seen.

 

I have heard it said that between having children women forget how painful childbirth is  because if they did remember they would never have more than one. This can also be applied to puppies (and kittens to a lesser extent). While there was no physical pain involved on my part when we adopted Henry, still and all I forgot how much effort (and reward) comes with the process. Soon after bringing him home I exchanged texts with a close friend (who has four dogs) about the havoc unfolding at our house. She suggested I watch "Marley and Me". I said "But wait, doesn't Marley die at the end of the movie?" and she texted back "Yes, but in terms of the chaos he creates as a puppy it may give you some comfort." I still can't get past the death part, though, so will have to watch "101 Dalmations" instead.

So back to our first training session. There were about 6 or 7 adorable puppies as well as their (mostly) frustrated parent(s). We were all handed special leashes and little clickers (which I still can't seem to operate). It was loud and distracting and difficult to hear Miss Patty, our instructor, over the din of barking. Henry's barking, to be specific. He was, in training parlance, "Over-stimulated". That was an understatement of epic proportion. Henry barked, jumped, bit and chewed, everything he does at home on a daily basis. Miss Patty turned to me and quietly asked "Does he always act like this?" and I answered (eyes staring at the floor) "Yes." Then she took his leash from me and promptly put him in Time Out. This was 5 minutes into the session and it was downhill from there. I apologized to the class for the disruption but everyone just nodded their heads knowingly as if to say "we feel your pain". Maybe so, but their puppies were not in Time Out. This is what it looked like...



Henry is on the other side of the door. Sob.



 

Class continued and things went swimmingly until Henry was allowed to rejoin the session. This lasted about 5 more minutes before he was back in The Joint, doing time for bad conduct. Needless to say, we missed most of the class, or rather he did. I was busy taking notes and trying to learn for both of us, my mission to work with Henry at home after his Over-Stimulated self had calmed down. Towards the end of class Miss Patty turned to me (with Henry still in T.O.) and asked if I could stay after class. Oh no, please Baby J., don't make me. I have dinner (and wine) waiting at home and I haven't been told to stay after class since second grade when I dropped a little purse mirror and the shards of glass drew blood across Miss Skelly's boney white leg (my horrid, sadistic teacher). I had no choice but to agree and waited dutifully until class ended and everyone had filed out (with their newly-mannered puppies in tow, leaving us to contemplate our fate).

Miss Patty (starring disapprovingly at both Henry and me): "This behavior simply won't do and will prevent me from teaching the class."

Me: (eyes once again staring at the ground) "I know, I'm so sorry. I had no idea he would be so unruly and disruptive."

Miss Patty:" If I don't see a big improvement by next time I will have to... (dramatic pause, during which I held my breath. I have never been kicked out of a Puppy Training class. How humiliating)...switch him to private lessons." She quickly followed this by saying there would be no extra charge (thank goodness; I was already over budget on my Puppy Project). I gave a sigh of relief and promised to work with Henry so that next week he was no longer creating havoc and chaos.

When we got home last night after class (20 minutes late), Paco and Chester (our yellow Tabby) were waiting for us on the front porch, wine at the ready. After explaining our plight Paco laughed so hard I thought he was going to fall off the steps. He said "I figured that was what happened. So I guess Henry acted out?" "Yes, to put it mildly", I said, "we have some work to do before next week" which was another epic understatement.

One thing to note, which I mentioned to Miss Patty as we were leaving class, was that I, too, was put into Time Out my first day of first grade for talking and general unruliness. Having not attended kindergarten and being the youngest (read spoiled ) child, I had no idea there were rules governing ones behavior. So perhaps this trait somehow found its way down to Henry (by osmosis?) and we share a common Thread of Unruliness". I think I understand Henry a bit better now after last night. Meanwhile, I have to go release him from Time Out.

 

Please stay tuned...

Gigi