Naturally, during name recall he did well, even with a little poodle trying to distract him. He bounded to me like Sebastian did at that stage.

We had a session on teeth, and he chomped on his malt toothpaste covered toothbrush. Then my little master thief stole Ashley's tooth brush to chomp on hers.

During question/answer session, Jennifer was discussing how to discourage nipping. Remove your arms from them, tell them no bit and stuff some "ok" chewable in their mouths. If they nip at your pants as you're walking, keep a toy on a leash with you to distract them from your clothing.

During the talk, mellow Cinnabar just laid stretched out. When the little toy on the leash came out, he sat up. As Jennifer set the toy down (about 3 feet from us), Cinnabar trotted over and grabbed it, brought it back and munched happily, oblivious to the chuckles around the room.

I gave my "dodging the bullet" story about Cinnabar gulping a steak bone whole unknown to me. He pooped it out whole - the thing was 3 inches long & a little over a 1/4 inch in diameter. Marrow bones only for him. That let Sharon launch into a discussion about not giving them anything smaller than the size of their mouth.

Then we did ears. My mellow boy just sat there while the stuff was squirted in, and I used the cotton ball & gauze. The only issue was that he wanted to eat the gauze. We're the fortunate ones in this class, as all others are floppy eared (either long or furry) and they've got to do ears at least once a week, for some twice a week.

Also talked about the humid weather, and not leaving the dogs out in it. Seems all the pups in the class are spoiled and will be spending their time in air conditioning - as it should be!!

Cinnabar was up next. Jennifer to him to the other end of the room and he sat there looking at her, until I called him and he bounded to me. Good boy! He got the liver treat for that. The rest of the class did ok, with many detours before they got to their moms or dads, but did get there.

Next week we do nails. I've done Cinnabar's twice already, and will probably do them again prior to next week. He's decent about it, as he is finally with brushing. He started out as "the exorcist" twisting his head around to chase the brush, but after 3 days, settled in to the routine. Which is a good thing because he's a lot fluffier than Sebastian and will need even more grooming.

During the final free-for-all had to ask a little boy not to push on Cinnabar. He told him to sit and then pushed his butt down. Then Cinnabar laid down and he was pushing on his stomach. When I told him not to push on him, he looked straight at me and said "I didn't do that". Confirmation: 4 footed kids, are much better than 2 footed ones!! You all know how I feel about human kids, so "nuff said".

Ok, but then, one pup's dad, told Cinnabar to sit and pushed on his butt to do it. I said, he will sit, but we don't do it that way. He didn't acknowledge me (but he also didn't the first class when he told someone that Cinnabar was a husky, look at the blue eyes, and I said, green eyes and a Malamute). He seems like an ok person, except that he gets weird when his opinion is challenged. Anyway, I called Cinnabar away from him and that was that. I prefer they work on obedience with their own dogs, and not mine for some silly reason :)

Once it was all winding down, I had Cinnabar come with me to see Jennifer to show her his sit/stay, which he did. I corrected him with "eh-eh" once, and held him to it for about 30 seconds. Not bad for 3 months old (last night) and told her that I do that when the boys get rowdy, I get the treats and we work on sit/stays. If they're really out of control, then it's the vinegar bottle sprayed at them. That really works, except Sebastian is trying to like it. Not a surprise, since he tried liking the tabasco sauce I put on the deck to keep him from chewing.

Talked to Sharon about Sebastian acting out. He's doing great on our walks, and with many things, but he's growling for no reason. Sometimes, no one is near him, he growls, gets up and beats the crap out of a toy or starts on Cinnabar who gives it right back to him. The issue is him growling at me, when I touch his paws or for no reason. I say, "excuse me, who do you think you are" and tell him "in" to go in his crate (which he has done obediently since he was little). Nope, ignoring that. Ok, snap the leash on and in he goes. That worked once. Now, snap the leash on and he lays down. So, I get a couple liver treats, give him the "place" command which he does, then throw a treat in his crate and say "in" and then he goes. The thing is, once I give a command, he must follow it AND I've got Cinnabar watching so I can't make a mistake (monkey see/monkey do). I asked her if she agreed with my methods, and she said yes. She said he's definitely goes through a rebellious phase, not uncommon at this age, and flipping me the dew claw big time.