Biggles finally started puppy classes last night and I baked a sardine cake for the occasion.

We were last to arrive and all the other pups were getting to know each other as we walked in. He was the youngest and littlest there, but it didn’t phase him for a second. He ran around saying hi to everyone, tail waggling like mad. He was very popular with all of the children.

He’s every bit as confident as Beanie was when she was little, but a lot more noisy! He barked to let everyone know he’d arrived; He barked at everyone he met; He barked when anyone paid attention to him; He barked when no one was paying attention to him; He barked when anyone appeared to be having more fun than him! But basically all the barks meant one thing – I’M HERE – PLAY WITH ME!!!!!

After the introduction we had a handling session. The idea of this is to make sure that when your puppy grows up he doesn’t mind having his teeth brushed, his ears inspected or his nails clipped. And it also makes your vets life a lot easier if your dog is happy to be handled.

Biggles doesn’t mind being handled at all….

…all he cared about was getting hold of that sardine cake that he could smell in my pocket!

Finally we were to give our pups a nice long cuddle. A lot of the pups weren’t happy about that but Biggles was in his element – as always he rolled onto his back with his little eyes pleading me to give him a tummy tickle! He’d stay like that all day if you let him.

Next we swapped pups so that they got used to being handled by lots of different people:

The beginners were all taken into a corner to learn the basics. As Biggles is such a clever little boy (and we had been practicing) the trainer used him to demonstrate how to sit, down and stand. Biggles did very well, but as the trainer handed him back to me he quietly suggested that I work on bite inhibition for next week – it seems that along with that tasty sausage Biggles was nibbling a bit of juicy human finger as well! :)

Finally the class ended with a little recall practice. Biggles did very well and came running the moment I called – he probably didn’t run the fastest, but he definately had the cutest recall :)