First Puppy Party a Bounding Success!

Those of you that know me know that I've been alternately excited and terrified about the puppy party that we held at my clinic this past Saturday. Excited, because I attended all these behavior seminars last October in San Diego and learned all these great puppy handling tips and tricks, and was very eager to share them. Terrified, because public speaking has never been my favorite thing.. even to small groups. For the love of Pete, just giving my little meeting notes aloud to my co-workers I have to control my stupid shaking voice.. and there's only 5 of them, and I know all of them! I kept envisioning myself in front of a group of puppy owners, trying to be enthusiastic and entertaining for two hours, and it would make my blood run cold.

For what it's worth, I felt much better as soon as we really got going. (Aside from the slight hiccough in the arrangements when only one puppy showed up at 10 on the dot.. everyone else was a fashionable half-hour or so late. So, after my initial Half-Hour of Doom, where I pictured myself just forcing chatter with poor Gabby's mom for 2 hours, or until she got bored and made an excuse to leave; all went quite smoothly. Our first puppy was a happy little Bichon, followed by a Westie pup (Lillian) and an adorable little Shih Tzu mix named Gracie. They played happily for a little while (see above video) before Schatzi the Rottie pup came in. Schatzi started out shy.. she wanted to play with people, not puppies! Before long, though, she was tagging along after the frolicking smaller pups. When Skyla the Saint Bernard pup made the scene, eyes were popping. "How old is THAT dog?" I was asked in awed tones. With a chuckle, I told the truth. "Skyla? She's about 5 months... and 66 lbs!" Skyla's a happy wiggler, though. She came in and sprawled on the floor, rolled over for tummy rubs, then followed the smaller pups around the play floor.

When the pups got a little too active, insistent, or tired, I would ask the owners to collect their pups and discuss handling exercises and training tips, or have a question & answer session. By the time we were done talking, the pups would be ready & raring to go for another play session. They were great to watch, too. If you ever get the chance, find a dog daycare business that has webcams in the playrooms... it's great fun to watch dogs being dogs, or in this case, puppies being puppies.. regardless of size. At one point, little Lillian the Westie was leading Skyla the Saint Bernard around with Skyla's leash in Lillian's mouth!

We had a friendly group of puppies, an attentive bunch of caring owners, and I think a fun time was had by all.. not just by me! (I think so because I did receive an e-mail from one owner thanking us for a great time at the party, and saying her puppy was already asking when she could back and play again!) I'm looking forward to our next puppy party.. and maybe by then.. I'll have my own puppy to bring!

Thanks to all the pups and owners that made our First Puppy Party such a good time!
Jamie Davis, Technical Nursing Staff