Shadow Goes to School

The first day of school is often cause for celebration and pictures. And so it would have been for us, had our little one not peed on his way out the door and refused to get into the car willingly last weekend.

Due to the low immunity of all puppies, Shadow hadn't interacted with another canine -- aside from glimpsing the neighborhood poodle and Samoyed -- since leaving his siblings a month ago. But with his 12-week vaccinations finally in his system, Shadow joined a local canine "kindergarten" group late last week in order to get comfortable with other dogs (and to learn a little obedience while he's at it).

Chris and I were excited to see how he would react to four other puppies, and it took less than a second for Shadow and a tiny Yorkshire terrier named Elmo to hit it off. Tails wagging, noses sniffing, backs arched to pounce at each other... they were either instant enemies or instant friends (both look the same to me at this point in my puppy motherhood).

Having missed the first class, Shadow was initially far more interested in getting to know his new buddies than learning to walk on a leash or "drop it." But crazy puppy mode eventually subsided, and the troublemaker blossomed into a straight 'A' student, earning compliments galore from us, from other parents, and from his beaming new teacher.

Shadow didn't come in a fancy car or designer wardrobe, but he left his first day of "puppy kindergarten" with a slightly larger brain, quadruple the number of friends, and quite possibly a bloated ego (and tummy).