Ritter's First Day of School

I never got around to writing about Ritter's first day of (dog) school, so here goes.

It was difficult getting him into the car. Ritter didn't grow up with car rides, and what we know, very limited interactions with cars in general. It was a struggle getting him into my car. After a lot of pulling, pushing, luring and coercing, I finally just picked him up and deposited him onto the back seat.

It was his first time going on the freeway. Up until that point, the fastest Ritter had ever traveled was 45 MPH on wide boulevards. There's was a little more pacing and panting than usual on the 35 minute drive, but overall he did well and seemed to enjoy looking out the window.

It was difficult getting him out of the car. Getting him into the car was nothing compared to getting him out. Once again there was pulling, pushing, luring and coercing, but he managed to keep dancing around on the back seat and would then jump into the front seat. What happened next though really made me wish we had just sucked up some pride and copied the woman in the car next to us. Pick the dog up from the car to carry it out (though her dog was probably 15 pounds lighter than Ritter).

I won't dance around it: he peed on my perforated leather seats. I wasn't angry with him because what good would that do? He's already scared and anxious enough to let loose his bladder, no point in adding to his fears. The small confines of my back seat made it difficult to get in there and pick him up though. At that point I sucked up any semblance of dignity I had wanted to maintain, and showed the world just how little control I could exert over my mom's dog when I finally carried him awkwardly out of the car.

Once he entered the store he was fine, albeit his normal anxious self. My mom worried that Ritter wasn't learning anything while he hid underneath her stool. But really the in-store training is meant for the owner of the dog. I thought Ritter did well considering he was in a completely foreign environment.

After class we wandered in the store. He was very patient and didn't fuss at all, unlike some other dog we know. *cough*lilah*cough* While my mom and I were looking at a product, Ritter sat patiently near us. To my left I hear two young boys comment about a dog and start to run my way when their dad tells them to slow down and ask.

"Can we pet him?" they asked. Two boys between 5 and 8 stood about a foot away from us.

I said yes of course and they pet Ritter on the head and shoulder. The boys giggled and ran back to their dad who told them to say thank you. So cute. And Ritter, while not lapping up the attention, was dignified and gentle.

My mom also reported that a young girl who petted him commented on how soft his fur was, which is very true.

In the couple of weeks that my mom has bee working with him on the training, he seems to be doing very well. As long as you have some chicken to treat him with, I'm sure Ritter could even learn how to steer a car.