Learning continues

Marley has attended his first weekly Puppy Play Time at the "local" Petco (it's in Sandpoint, ID, 70 miles or so from here).  He was fairly timid at first.  He's gotten so much better as he experiences more things; he was frightened of almost everything at first, but has gained confidence as we expose him to as much as we can.  There were 4 tiny dog puppies and a husky (or similar) when we joined the group.  The husky is so timid she didn't want to participate and hid behind "mama's" legs almost the whole hour.  Apparently she's done that for weeks.  Everyone is hoping she gains some confidence.  There was one puppy, not part of the session, that started crying in fear at the sight of Marley.  It looked like it might be a barely weaned German Shepherd or similar  type of

Shortly after the trainer put a fence across the play area, thinking to keep Marley & Willow (the husky) on one side and the braver little puppies on the other, Maya arrived.  Maya is an 8 month chocolate lab, full of energy.  She barreled right in and was convince Marley would play the way she wanted to play.  He did get brave enough to "check credentials" (sniff butt & such) and kind of play with her, but she has a lot of energy and he wasn't really sure what was going on.  The two of them were too much for Willow, so she went to the little puppy side.  She did sniff noses with one or two of them, but pretty much stayed under the bench, behind "mom's" legs.

Then Duke arrived.  Duke is a golden retriever, older than Maya, and even more energetic.  He pushed Marley to the point he cried and tried to hide with us.  The trainer said that it was 100% OK for Marley to let Duke (or Maya) know they were pushing him too hard - his puppy yips or snarls were a pretty clear message.  Duke didn't want to hear it and the trainer got a little physical (nothing mean, just very dominant) with him to slow him down a bit.

The trainer also brought a couple of the braver little dog puppies over into the big dog area to see how they'd do.  One was overwhelmed right away, the other was pretty confident. 

Even though it's 70 miles round trip, we need to make sure Marley can learn to get along with other dogs (people are no problem, as long as they pet him, feed him treats, etc) and this is a safe way to start since everyone there wants them to get along and there's a trainer to help with some of the things that are less intuitive for us.

So, what about Charlotte?  She's spending more time in the house now that it's getting cooler.  She's never liked being cold.  Sometimes it seems she only wants to come in, eat and leave, other times it seems she goes out just long enough to eliminate (or whatever she does out there) and wants right back in.  We won't leave food out for her, but we are going to make a really well insulated cozy refuge on the porch for her, for when we're asleep or gone - at least it will be shelter from the weather. 

Sometimes when she comes in she zips right past him, headed for the kibble or a hiding space.  Other times she comes in itching for a ruckus an starts right in jumping on him, getting really feisty and then the mayhem seems so real.  But, no blood, no fur, no screaming ... it must be fun.