Tired dogs!

Well, I think Greg and I found the formula for a good night's sleep. One hour of strenuous hiking at Gambrill + 1 hour of puppy kindergarten = 7 hours of continuous sleep! Last night was our first session of puppy kindergarten with the puppies. I was so excited to see the other breeds of dogs that would be there! It's a very small group, so the boys have a good number of new playmates (not too many to be overwhelmed). Since our boys are so high-energy, we thought it would be a good idea to take them on a decent hike to tire them out a little bit before class. We headed back to Gambrill and did the green and black trails again, since we knew it would take about an hour, and that was all we had time for. Right away the boys were on the go. I think we ended up doing as much trail-running as we did hiking this time! Jackson immediately found a stick to carry again, which is shown in one of the photos in this post. Greg and I always comment on how differently they walk- Lance walks with his tail way up high and kind of trots along. Jackson is the complete opposite. He has this sly kind of walk, and his tail is never up. But when he gets a stick in his mouth- that tail goes right up as high as Lance's. It's so funny and so cute. Lance tried to share Jackson's stick with him for a while during the hike without much success. Both pups were panting pretty hard (it takes talent to do that with a stick in your mouth!) so we stopped for a few water breaks for them along the way. L&J can drink straight from a bottle- we just stream the water out for them to slurp up. We stopped at the overlook on the black trail for a few photos and caught some funny moments. I love how the boys have their tounges sticking out in all the photos we took- it's too funny.

After our hike, we headed over to Buckeystown Veterinary Hospital for puppy kindergarten. The whole group had met two weeks ago, but this was without our pups. As I mentioned above, I was really excited to bring the boys this time. When we got out in the parking lot, the first puppy we saw was a 3 1/2 lb. mini dachscund. It was adorable but definitely made me a little nervous. I was thinking "Lance and Jackson might pick up that little girl like she's a chew-toy!" As the other owners came in with their pups I was relieve to see mostly bigger dogs (I only remember a few names)- a lab (Tess), a sheepdog (I think?), a pit-bull and another golden named Striker (who is just two days younger than our boys!)

We practiced a couple of commands and tricks with the boys for the first half of class. Greg had Jackson and I took Lance. Both were pretty good at learning the commands (they'll do anything for a treat!) but seemed to get distracted after a while. I definitely look forward to trying these tricks out at home, as it will be a lot easier when the dogs aren't bound to a leash. After we finished with that, we moved onto "play time." Cari (the trainer) divided the pups into two different groups. Jackson got paired with the pit-bull, sheep dog and Tess. Apparently, the pit-bull was clearly the boss, and Jackson was afraid of him! He even piddled a little on the floor! After that, he didn't leave Greg's side.
Lance was in the group with the mini dachsund and Striker. I was excited that he was able to play with Striker, as they were the same breed and similar size. Right away, Striker came bounded over to Lance and wanted to play. Lance was not interested and ran away! I guess Striker was a little too rough for him- though he wasn't trying to play anywhere near as rough as Jackson and Lance do at home! Lance was, however, interested in the mini-dachsund. He didn't really know what to do with her though- just kind of sniffed her and followed her around. I think that Jackson and Lance might be a lot more confident when they're together- but when they're not, they shy away from other dogs. This is definitely why it's important for us to separate them often to build their confidence and have more successful training.
By the time we got home from class, it was 8 pm and we ate a quick dinner. We put the boys to bed at 9:30, and they (thankfully) let us sleep through the whole night! When I went downstairs at 4:45 to leave to go teach Spin class, they were still asleep in their crates! So, I think we found the winning combination for a full night of sleep- Thursday nights will be great!