Puppy boot camp

Working multiple jobs (pianist, teacher, Wag dog walker, lecturer, composer/arranger, author etc.) makes it difficult to find training time for the pups. So, with a big cluster show coming up, the puppies are going to do 10-day boot camp which we'll document here. 

Day 1

Train the Trainer

Day 2 - begin station training

Training stations:
As a musician, I love to use music throughout life …. I love to clean house to Vivaldi or Salsa, I love to decompress with Blues or Bach etc., SO, each station except for #1 has its own music, of course!
1) Basic Skills = silence, (as we need to hear the clicker)
2) Workout = For treadmill work, what better song than "Too Fat Polka"?
3) Table = Too Sexy (we'll combine Table work with Down and Back)
4) Leash Work/Down and Back
5) Grooming = TBA (probably Miss America Theme Song!)

Here's the "workout video" we'll be using. 

Pickwick's Forever is Now (Princess Buttercup) - Training Session Day 2:

Pickwick's Thrill on Blueberry Hill (Lilly) - Training Session Day 2:

Day 3

Since Lilly and Miss Dior are going to be in the ring at the same time (Bred by Exhibitor), Jeff and I are going to try to start training together some. Lilly was all about hopping with him today and Miss Dior only wanted to look at me. Annie wanted NOTHING to do with the treadmill! In fact, Annie didn't feel like training today period lol.

Day 4

The hi-light of Westminster for us was definitely when Miss Dior got stuck under the tv stand! But we all had tons of fun cheering for Biggie pug (Macintosh's cousin!) even if he had to share the win with a fluffy Havanese. Today was a jam-packed day with 4 "other" (non-dog) jobs so, when evening came, and it was the last and only available time to train, we decided to watch the Westminster Toy Group instead …. and hope the girls picked something up just by watching TV (LOL). 

https://www.facebook.com/amy.a.mclelland/videos/10156915027579002/

Day 6

Rainy days and pugs do NOT mix. But, thankfully, I had an umbrella for the pups to do our numbers. Baths in the morning because HANDLING CLASS tonight with the Birmingham Kennel Club. (They have been on break most of the pups' training lives --- November-mid Feb --- so the pups haven't had any classes except the one when they were 4 months, right before the classes went on break.) SO, needless to say, they were not prepared. I was honestly a bit surprised how fearful and timid they were (Miss Dior was barking at all the other dogs … other side of the coin of fear) and all the pups' (except Annie who has had lots of classes and shows already) went DOWN. So sad. This means, we've got to up the outings game and we're going to attempt to get the girls out to ALL of the 8 available locales (and more if you include Brew Pubs!) …. 4 nearby pet stores, Home Depot, Lowes, Academy Sports, Another sports store. AND, I need to prepare some even more tasty, high-incentive treats for these outings. No photos or videos from the Handling Class since we were SO busy handling 4 dogs. Annie did great, though!