Today is the first day of school for Sym. Or rather, it was the first day, since as it turned out all we had to do was check her name off a the new students list (she’s at a different school this year). We were home by 9:30, haha.
She picked out a first day of school outfit even though it wasn’t a REAL day of school. It was cloudy and cold this morning and she looked fall-appropriate in her coat, dress (yes, that’s a dress) and tights. Now it’s sunny and hot outside so I guess it’s good she wasn’t there all day or she would have sweltered her face off. Which I did already, pushing the dang double stroller back up the hill from her new school. I am not looking forward to going down there and back every afternoon, but at least I’ll be getting a fantastic workout, haha.
In a few weeks Georgie will be starting school as well, and it can’t come soon enough. She sort of fell into an obedience vortex this summer- there were no puppy classes at all and she was too young for the basic obedience. It sucks that we couldn’t do this earlier, because let me tell you, she has become quite willful. I haven’t been able to take her to the dog park since on our last visit on Saturday morning, she escaped and took off! By the way, THANKS A LOT, Vancouver Parks Department, for installing a fence at the dog park with bars so widely spaced that little puppies can slip right through them. Luckily the farmer’s market was on so the street was closed but I was secretly FREAKING OUT that she’d run up to the end of the block and get hit by a car. Then, last night she refused to come get her leash on to go for a walk, but when I opened the door to check the weather she snuck past me and ran off into the backyard. It’s fenced, but the gate at the front has a gap under it big enough for her to get out, and it was quite late/dark, so more terror of puppy loss ensued.
She hasn’t learned to “come” when she’s called yet (this is my fault, I know) and when she pulls her escapes it’s like a fun game where she wants to be chased, so you sort of have to a) wait for her to come to you or b) trick her into coming to you with a stick or toy or something. She is especially loathe to let me catch her, so I have to get Taylor and random strangers to help me. I’ve been working really hard to try to teach her to come but it’s hard because the other dogs always want to know what I’m doing so they come over and it distracts her, and if I crate them they start moaning and it distracts her. Even Claire wanders over and get in the way! The humans in my life are also no help, since if I’m at one end of the room saying “Georgie, COME!” and then Taylor or Sym or one of the daycare kids starts saying it from the other side of the room… well obviously it confuses her little puppy brain! I also get very frustrated and start sweating and itching after only a few minutes. To tell the truth I’m getting frustrated and itchy just typing this out so I guess I’ll stop.