We finally get to tell a story that so many people have been waiting to hear ..... although pictures will not be available!
We have been taking Kika to puppy classes and puppy playtimes at a local dog training school. She enjoys the playtimes much more than the classes. In the classes she is very distracted, she will not listen at all, so we assume she isn't paying attention. Then when at home during practice, she performs the task perfectly!
Kika seems to be more of a morning girl, so she really isn't at her best in the evening when the classes occur. On nights at home without classes Kika is normally powering down for a nap at the same time her classes start. Her distractions at puppy classes are compounded by the fact that the same room space is used for puppy play time, where Kika has a GREAT time meeting and playing with everyone (puppies and people alike). She obviously has decided that the room is only suitable for her preferred activity - PLAY.
It's been a little frustrating as we move to her next level of puppy classes as we have explained to the instructors that she is; a) a Ridgeback and therefore a very independent thinker, and b) really full of spunk. The instructors respond with statements like; "Do you know how many dogs we have trained?" While we appreciate their confidence, we feel unnecessarily dismissed - This is not our first puppy experience. Surely we should have some reliable perspective on the matter. We were not yet experiencing the "fun" of these classes that keeps being promised.
As part of these next level of classes we were to attend an orientation class without Kika. We had a mixup with dates so while we were in the orientation session, we realized we should have been in class with Kika...ooops...
We have been given the course outline in orientation and I've spoken with Kim, so we know what we missed in the first class. For the next week, we work really hard to catch up. The first lesson is name recognition and recall, she's already good at that. The next lesson is called the Relax, I think it's a little complicated for a 5 month old puppy, but we give it a try. You have your puppy on a leash and sit in a comfy spot with some treats, ignore your dog and wait for her to lie down at your feet. Kika is a very clever girl and did figure it out. She is performing the Relax for us at home. So, on class night, off we go, feeling rather confident!
That feeling soon evaporated. She got into the classroom and promptly lost her mind. She's decided that the room should only be for her playtime sessions, so she can't understand why the other puppies are ignoring her and not playing. She's no quitter though, and the more other puppies refuse to play, the harder she tries to make them.
It was shaping up to be one of the longest hour of our lives, the class is brushing up on the Relax and adding to it. Kika meanwhile, is doing the exact opposite. The assistant instructor comes over to help us out, to no avail. 40 minutes in and Kika is still barking and spazing out, she has laid down only once and is otherwise being very disruptive. At one point she is so bored she started to chase her tail and bounce around in circles. The other ten puppies in her class are labs and dobermans, who are all following commands perfectly and I think shooting dirty looks our way. They are using clickers to train at these classes. Every time a clicker goes off near her, she is expecting a treat. This is really adding to her frustration level. Kika had all her commands down pat with verbal and hand signals and so this change to clicker training is starting to undo what she already knows. This clicker use perplexed us, since over time the program graduates to .... yup, verbal and hand signals.
Finally, a short break during which the instructor assures us that none of the dogs perform the move the first time ...right... Class is back, the instructor gives Kika to the assistant to work with. She places them in the middle of the room and groups the other dogs and owners around them. Something about Kika being a "good distraction". It was painful to watch, another 10 minutes of barking and poor behaviour - even for the "experts". She then added howling and winding her leash in figure eights around the instructors legs and pulling, attempting a form of calf roping. I wasn't really watching at this point, I was taking note of the exits and wondering if anyone would notice if we snuck out, when I happened to glance Jims way and noticed a "look" come over his face. That can't be good, I thought and peered through the crowd to see what was going on...
At this point the head instructor had moved to the centre of the room to give more instruction, all eyes were on her, the assistant and Kika. It was at this moment Kika chose to fully express her frustration with the situation, once again proving she is unafraid to take matters into her own paws......... Oh God, Kika is humping the instructors leg!!! It was a very authoritative; "you're not the boss of me" kind of action. Taking the opportunity for a teaching moment, the head instructor proclaimed that the best way to handle this type of situation is to step into the dog. Mistake - it seemed Kika thought, well if you are going to offer it ...so she promptly humped her leg too. Needless to say, they kept us after class. I was horrified, Jim started laughing first and even seemed a little proud of his girl ... "Well, she certainly humped some of the smug off them!"
Remarkably this is something Kika had never done previously and hasn't done since. We were trying to look on the bright side - we had wanted her to learn something new in class...
Here she is, doing her best to look innocent ... needs a little more work. I think she looks a little too pleased with herself.
It's Christmas Eve, and for the second time Kika has climbed into Tionas favourite chair and curled in for a nap. Again, very appropriate. Christmas Eve was Tionas birthday. Tiona loved Christmas, she got spoiled more than usual. Special treats and lots of presents to open. She always opened the food gifts first and left the toys for Griffy. 
Here;s Tiona,the 13yr old veteran in action. She's wagging with excitement because not only is the present a jumbo bag of cookies, they are her favourite .. Marrowbones.
Sunning herself and taking a breather between bouts of gift opening. She got an air mattress to spare her the strain of going up and down all our stairs - and boy did she decide this was the good life!
Santa Claus is coming to town...perhaps not after seeing this picture! Kika always has something in her mouth. And in shreds on the floor.
This has good and bad .... it is now confirmed that Kika is a Daddy's girl at cuddle times. I can deal with it ... she's just so cute.
