The puppy party was held at my vet's, and there were about seven of us puppies there. A dog behaviourist explained to our people some of our behaviour, and how to look after us. In the meantime we were getting used to seeing a lot of other puppies!
I was the shyest of them all, along with another little puppy who has adult dogs in her house. See her there on her own in the corner, way away from everyone else?
The dog behaviourist explained that it's quite common for puppies who have adult dogs in their homes not to know how to react to other puppies all of a sudden. They know how to interact with adult dogs, but have forgotten how to play with puppies.
Our people were shown how to handle us in a manner that makes us feel calm and relaxed.
They were taught how to check our ears and eyes for any problems, and also our paws and teeth. And then all of a sudden they put some gunge in our mouths!
That was a bit weird.
It did taste nice, though, whatever it was. Apparently this is called brushing teeth. I'm not sure about this at all. It felt so strange.
We had some more time to get used to each other while the behaviourist explained all kinds of doggie behaviours - like how we shake our head after we have played with someone and switch onto doing something else. It was quite funny 'cause I hadn't realised I was doing it, but now that they mentioned it, I saw that I, and all the other puppies do it, too! There was this flapping of ears every now and then in the room as someone switched from play mode to calm mode.
This Golden Retriever girl was probably the most lively of all of us. She seemed really interesting, but I was too shy to get close to her, so I just watched her from a distance.
The behaviourist asked me to demonstrate with her how to teach 'sit' to a puppy.
Our people were taught not to give us a treat if we try and reach up for it.
They were told only to give us the treat when all our four paws are on the ground. Boring, eh?
I knew all this already, so I was more interested in watching others learn.
(Actually I was hoping that I would get some of their treats...)
After a while I plucked up the courage to go and say hello to some of the others. (I'm told that people are more subtle in their ways when they go and say hello to new people.)
And after I'd done that, I felt confident enough to go to the Golden Retriever.
She was sooo cute!
And it seemed that she liked me, too!
Well, that's what I thought - but then, I turned my back, and see what she was doing! Flirting with other puppies! Shocking behaviour, don't you think?
Well, never mind. It was fun, all the same. And I can't wait to go again next week. I'm sure I will be much more confident next time.
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