Lucie was back at K9-5 this week.
She had been suspended…eh, too harsh a word, more like “on a break”, from day care since the move. She had been going after dogs as they were coming in. As punishment, she had a few time outs in the kennels…then she was relegated to hanging out in the front office with the staff (and consequently, separated from other pooches), and finally staying at home or going to work with Sylvain. (Well. the latter isn’t really punishment.)
Well, now that Sylvain is starting a new job next week and to also prepare Lucie for her upcoming vacation with Malinda (i.e. kennel in Novato), we decided that we’d better get her back into day care and to socialize more with other dogs.
I dropped her off as early as I was able, around 7.10a, and she was the third dog there. She wasn’t aggressive towards the dogs that were there. So, I left hoping that she’d behave the rest of the day.
I called K9-5 later that morning to checkup on Lucie. She was eating breakfast at the time, but I was devastated to hear that she had gone after two different dogs as they were coming in and that she had spent a few timeouts in the kennel already. (I keep forgetting to ask if they were specific breeds – to see if there was a connection.)
That afternoon, I looked into dog walking services and other options we had in the event they did kick her out.
When I picked her up that evening, I could hear her yelping, as always. I spoke with Sharon about her behavior, and surely enough, Lucie had returned to her “normal” and playful self that afternoon. It just happened to be an extremely busy day — they had 30 – 35 dogs in the “big dog” room! So, we’ll be back next week. Hopefully she’s learned her lesson.
footnote: Here’s a copy of her latest report card. (Yes, they give out report cards. It’s too cute!) This is THE first report card she’s received where the “high energy” paw was ticked. She’s normally a “middle energy” paw dog.
Don’t get me wrong, she’s the sweetest dog. :o)
