Cobalt: An Exhausting Week, Part 3

I should have mentioned last time that the agility preschool we're taking cobalt to is run by Who's Walking Who, and located at Urban Dog on Parliament, near the Distillery District. The course is called "Puppy Gymboree", and Cobalt finished it yesterday. We also have her lined up for "Total Recall" (recall training) and "Family Dog" (full obedience class -- heel, stay, etc).

The Gymboree glass before our week off, one of the dogs, a tiny bulldog named Lucy, was even less energetic than usual. Lucy's owner said that it was because Lucy'd been to the Urban Dog "Playcare" three days in a row, and it had tired her out completely.

Since Cobalt was especially rambunctious that day, we got to thinking that maybe some of that Playcare would be good for her. On Thursday, we took her in to be evaluated -- all the dogs in Playcare have to have full vaccinations (plus kennel cough), as well as a quick "personality test" to see how well behaved they are, and finally a session in the room with the other dogs (who get brought in one at a time) to see how she gets along. Cobalt passed with flying colours, so we booked her for a half-day of Playcare on Friday, so we could relax a little.

Urban Dog keeps a web cam on the Playcare room from 9am to 1pm. Follow the "Web Cam" link from their home page and pick the Small Dog room. While we relaxed at home, we had this up and watched Cobalt romping with the other dogs. She spent a lot of time under the bed in the middle of the room, occasionally darting out to wrestle with the other dogs.

When we went in six hours later to pick her up, the staff told us another dog, a Jack Russell terrier, had been in for an evaluation, and he'd spent almost the whole time under the bed with Cobalt, wrestling. When we noticed the name on the terrier's application -- Romeo -- we realized it was another dog from the Gymboree class. In fact, now that Cobalt's in Playcare regularly, she's spending time with at least two of the Gymboree dogs, Romeo and a little fluff-ball named Eli. She loved wrestling with them in the class, and now she gets to romp with them all day.

The plan worked, by the way -- at the end of the day, Cobalt was nicely worn out and mellow. We've now put Cobalt into the Playcare on Mondays and Thursdays, and I can see her running around the room on the web cam as I type.

Next up, a rude, but cute, awakening and more off-leash parks.