This week, Fluffy Bear was away on a business trip, so I had to take the pups to Doggy Day Care.
Day 1:
We park outside Doggy Day Care and I slowly, slowly open the back of the SUV, sticking my hand in and saying "Wait. Waaaaaait.... WAIT!"
Yeah, not so much.
Puppy Girl wriggled out of the car and jumped down, running into the road.
This is a five lane road, a major road, and it was full of morning rush hour traffic.
I have a mental picture in my mind of the moment she reached the second lane, her leash dragging behind her and my realization that she was going to die. I heard someone scream her name, and it was me.
A thought that Fluffy Bear is going to hate me if she dies flashed through my head.
And my next thought changed the situation.
"Don't chase her," my brain said, "take a tip from Victoria Stilwell and make her chase you."
And so I turned, ran to the door of the Doggy Day Care and, thank God, Puppy Girl followed me.
I left the SUV open, my purse in the front seat - I just didn't care - and got the two dogs inside.
It was only when I got back to the car that I started shaking, and burst into tears.
Day 2:
This time I was prepared. I parked in parking lot on the side of Doggy Day Care, slightly away from the street.
Why didn't I do this the first time? Because it belongs to another business and we aren't supposed to use it. But, I figured, fuck it.
When I opened the back of the SUV, I had chicken snacks in my hand. I managed to keep both dogs in the car till I had their leashes.
I get dragged into Doggy Day Care - this time Puppy Girl knows where we are going and, like her older brother, she wants to get there as fast as possible.
I managed to control them relatively well, until the young lady who takes the dogs into the back came out. Wanting to get to play with his friends NOW, Puppy Dog pulled on the leash, going around the back of the desk. Everything was caught on the leashes, and went flying, including this poor young lady's coffee.
Two staff jumped at me, grabbed the leashes out of my hands and took the two dogs back to their different play areas (because Puppy Girl is young, she goes in with the puppies).
It was so embarrassing!
I offered to replace the coffee, but was told no, it's OK.
I left as soon as I could.
Day 3:
I managed to get the dogs in OK, but when I collected them, one of the staff decided he would make Puppy Girl sit before he handed the leash to me. She knows how to sit - we've been to training class. But all training goes out of the window inside the doors of Doggy Day Care.
He signaled at her, he said sit, he gently pushed her butt down. She sat for a millisecond.
He did it again. She barely sat again.
And he wouldn't give up.
On and on and on and on.
Eventually, she won.
I grabbed her leash, pulled Puppy Dog with me and we practically ran out of there.
Thank God we start our second training class this week...