Learning to Speak Puppy: Doppler and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Outing

Doppler and his new toy

Today, Doppler and I had the worst outing. A horrible, terrible, no good, very bad outing.

We went to Giant because it’s my dad’s birthday today, and I wanted to make him a little something special. Before I go any further, I just want to wish him a happy birthday. He’s pretty awesome. Happy Birthday, Dad!

I took Doppler in to Giant just to quickly grab a few ingredients. I planned on keeping it really short—just a quick grab, pay, and go. And in reality, we really weren’t inside for very long. But it felt like forever. Doppler walked inside nicely enough. He even walked into the first aisle like a pro.

And that’s when it started going wrong. Doppler started pulling toward every single person and nothing I did made a difference. It still wouldn’t have been a horrible outing, but then the barking began. Doppler got frustrated while I looked for my almond milk and barked several times. He barked multiple times while we were waiting in line, and then he barked and grumbled repeatedly while I checked out. To make it worse, everyone in the store ignored him when he was quiet and kept saying “Oh, what a cute puppy!” while he was barking.

It was terrible and I’ve never been happier to leave a store.

However, I know that I’m at least half to blame for this horrible, terrible, no good, very bad outing. First off, I should never have taken him in with me. He had a difficult day at work. He wouldn’t settle under my desk, and barked and put up a fuss every time one of my coworkers stopped by to talk with me. I should have known that an outing would be too much for him.

Second, I didn’t have any power treats with me. Just boring old kibble. I should know better than to venture out in public without power treats, especially after the puppy has had a tough day.

Third, I should have spent more time helping him refocus every time he got distracted.

Well, I learned my lesson. Next time I’ll be prepared. Even though it was a terrible outing, I was still able to find at least one positive thing. Doppler sat on cue almost every time I asked him to, and although it was the only positive thing he did, it was still something.

Doppler has made lots of other progress. He’s finally understanding “stay.” He learned the cue “kennel,” and will now go into his crate on cue. He met a cat and didn’t terrorize it. He had his first bath and didn’t get me soaking wet.