Dog Socialization Class

Does everyone remember the Doggy Dip & Dive this summer? The local group trying to raise money to build a dog park had a fund raising event at the community pool. I was so excited for Kozmo to be part of the event and then there was the little incident where he wanted to hump the cute dog Kia and made her poor human jump in the pool fully clothed. Although it makes for a fairly entertaining story and no one was hurt, as Kozmo's human I'm still a little embarrassed.

So the same group is doing a wonderful thing for dogs and having Dog Socialization Classes held in a gymnasium that also doubles as a local skating rink. Its a weekly one hour event where dogs are able to run indoors, play with other dogs, and hopefully learn valuable socialization skills. When I first saw this advertised I really wanted to take Kozmo. Although it iss a 34 mile drive one way to the park. I wasn't going to take Kozzy until I saw a facebook post from the dog park advertising the socialization classes and a photo of my sweet Kozmo taken at the Dip & Dive was this groups Facebook profile photo.

I realize this may sound crazy to non-dog people, but I left work, drove 25 miles home, packed up Kozmo and drove an additional 34 miles south to Dog Socialization Class!!

We walked into a gymnasium with 12-15 other big dogs running and playing. We saw Sonny, a dog from our agility class. Several dogs from the Dip & Dive were there including Marley, a sweet chocolate lab who can smell Kozmo's treats in my pockets and follows me around. Koz was instantly running around the room trying to take everything in at once.

Typical Kozmo wanted to run after every ball. He really doesn't understand that sometimes humans are throwing balls for their dogs and not him. On the one hand I feel bad for the other dogs because every single time Kozmo is the fastest dog and gets the ball first. On the other hand, as Kozmo's human I love to watch him run fast and am so impressed with his athletic abilities.  

I noticed one of the other dogs lifting his leg and peeing on the tunnel. For a brief moment I was really happy that my dog didn't pee on the tunnel. Not to worry, within 5 minutes it was MY dog who stopped under the basketball hoop to poop. None of the other humans seemed the least bit phased. I was embarrassed. 

Having learned from our experience at the Dip & Dive I tried to keep a close eye on Kozmo and kept calling him back to me. Clearly we need more practice and more obedience training. Once he was running with the other dogs he acted like he couldn't hear me. When I noticed Koz drinking some other dogs water I got out our water bowl and showed it to him. After some hard playing and catching Koz trying to hump a sweet little dog named Vanessa I made him take a time out. One of the lessons I learned from the Dip & Dive was to not let Koz get too tired, too over stimulated and start to lose focus. 

We stayed for 40 minutes of the hour long socialization. In 40 short minutes Kozmo managed to get into a growling thing with a Bull Dog, twice, tried to hump Vanessa and Sunny who is a male dog, pooped on the floor and deflated the large pink ball. I decided not to give him any more opportunities to get into trouble. The goal is to be allowed to go back for 7 more weeks of socialization class.

Overall, I think he did well. We need to keep working on recall and being able to get Kozmo's attention when he's really excited and off leash. Next week I will also take some balls for the other dogs. Someday Kozmo is going to grow into an awesome dog. For now, we are working really hard.