“Percy down”

In an effort to make sure that I give some time each week dedicated solely to Percy love shortly after Mark departed I signed him up for classes with a local dog training school. 

We started dog training when we first got Percy in an effort to ensure he was fully socialised and understood the basics when it came to handling.  Percy absolutely loved it and was always a very smug performer when in class (sadly his obedience doesn’t always shine quite so fully when in the real world).  Mark’s crazy schedule last year mixed in with Alby still being so new and me either juggling the joys of motherhood or the worries about returning to work sadly put Percy in the shadows very slightly.  Once Mark left however I made a commitment to get him back into dog school and four months on I’m so pleased I made the effort.

Percy is enrolled at the ridiculously named “We Train Any Dog”.  However, it does what it says on the tin!  On Sunday mornings we spend an hour in a local town hall, Percy on the lead Alby in the pouch, practicing all sorts of different commands.  Usually by the 45 minute mark Alby has got bored of watching the other dogs and gets out of the pouch to wander around providing a new level of distraction and chaos to the hall which I’m sure the other six dog owners are thrilled about!

I am always taken by surprise at how astute and observant my son can be and his funny little ways this Sunday merely confirmed my own sense of amazement.   Instead of just pottering about the hall Alby kept squatting down, pointing to the floor and saying “De”.  He’d finish with a big grin, walk a few paces and repeat the process. 

Now, conscious of a story my mum recently told me about a 6 month old baby who’s mother had interpreted his babbling as “saying yes in the correct context” I realise that I may be reading far too much into this, but I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Alby’s first words are “down” as his actions completely mimicked what I and the others had been doing several moments before.

 

I’ve spent the past month trying to teach Alby a range of basic signs in an effort to aid communication between the two of us, but he seems to have scoffed my efforts turning his attention instead to communicating with Percy. 

I don’t know whether to be impressed, concerned or overjoyed.  Before my ego gets too big I feel duty bound to put this in the context of other happenings in Alby’s life which today included running up and down the hallway for ten minutes this evening holding a sock in one hand and a sock and a plastic sleeve for papers in the other alternatively bashing them together, hitting the sleeve with the socks, scrunching them all up together and cackling.  What’s more, despite having spent the past month trying to teach Alby a number of British Sign Language words to help us communicate properly it appears he has scoffed my signs for “thank you”, “more” and “all done” choosing instead to just copy those required for communicating with the dog. 

Concerned it is then.