The Zoom Room!

For the last few years every time I've fostered a new dog I fantastized about taking the dog to agolity. I'm not sure why exactly, I guess it just looks like a lot of fun. And the two dogs I had prior to 2010 [Duval- our pit bull who has no interest in anything that requires activity, and Alex, who was just old and cantankerous ] just weren't good candidates.

Roo and I have visited the Zoom Room Hollywood a couple of times in the last year and have always enjoyed ourselves. So, when she started acting territorial while on our x-country trek, I decided she needed to enroll in a class that would challenge her both mentally and physically, as well as expose her to working around other dogs. Agility was the perfect fit. So I signed us up for an agility 1 class. Yay!

Day 1 of class was Sunday. We arrived early, and there was another class wrapping up in the training area. So, Roo had to hang out in the store, while the other class attendants arrived. This was good practice for her, though I started to worry I was going to use all of my treats keeping her focused on me before class even began! There was a litte Jack Russell terrier who barked at her as soon as she walked in. We managed to stay away from him long enough to remain calm. However, I noticed a couple with some huskies waiting outside the door, and had a feeling there was going to be a little trouble.

I love huskies- always wanted one in fact. And I bet they are awesome at agility. But I also know that huskies have a certain energy that a lot of dogs find difficult to handle. Sure enough when class started, those two dogs had a tough time handling all of the other dogs around. Which meant Roo had trouble, as did another mixed breed dog. And the Jack Russell was just being a typical Jack Russell. :) So out of 6 dogs on class, 5 of them were on and off losing it. Fun!

It was the class from hell and I truly felt for the poor trainer, who had lost her voice earlier in the day. Fortunately for Roo and I, they offered to move us into Monday's class which was much smaller. We attempted to sit through Sunday's class, but after 20 minutes, it was clear that having one less dog might make it easier. The gals at the Zoom Room said they have never had a class like that- usually it works out that they have one or two reactive dogs in a class, but not a class full of them!

So, we came back Monday night and joined Bonnie, a black and tan standard Dachshund, and Mouse, a Papillon/Terrier mix. We all admitted our dogs could be a bit reactive, but the 3 gals did very well together.

Roo loves the attention she gets in Agility Class! Actually she is a bit of an attention hog and would prefer to spend more time kissing up to the instructor than me. But when I ask she does what she is told. She is learning to sit and focus on her table. She LOVES the A frame and even tried to jump ahead and do the dog walk following the A frame even though we don't learn that til next week (show off!) She is OK at the poles- it will take time. And she was fine with the short tunnel and the tiny jump that we did.

The A Frame did get her all wound up when the other dogs went over- something about their scrambling feet and excited-ness got her barking, but we worked through it just fine.

When class was over, she did not want to leave..for real. Her noise anxiety surfaced and she did not want to go outside where she knew the traffic was noisy. And we had to push past a couple of people waiting for the next class.

Great news though- so far today (the day after class) she has not been afraid to go out for walks. She has come to the door 3 times already today- no shaking in her crate at the sight of the leash. We'll see what happens tonight....

And we look forward to class # 2 next Monday!

June 1st: Urban Pet Supply, Orange Bone, Tailwaggers and a walk along Melrose

Happy Wednesday! It's time for another day of travels with Roo. Today, we cruised around 3rd, Melrose and Beverly in the West Hollywood/Park La Brea area.
WE had an ambitious 5 stops on our agenda, but we only made it to 3 due parking issues and a walk that got a little bit extended. We'll catch those other 2 spots on another outing.

First stop: Urban Pet Supply. Right across the street from Pan Pacific Park, Urban Pet is a spacious store filled with all sorts of goodies for pet and their owners. Don't be surprised if you are "greeted" by Mr. Moon at the door. Mr. Moon is the black dog in their logo, with one ear up and one ear down (he is also in the photo with Zack, the owne, if you click on the link in his name). He laid about 5 feet from the door, staring out as if daring us to enter. Actually is a very nice old dog, but I think his presence reminded Roo of my dearly departed Alex, and so it took a few minutes for her to get the courage to walk by him.



The lovely young women working were happy to give Roo treats and very helpful. Roo was not on her absolute best behavior however, she barked at some labs who were coming out of a training session, and then again at a sweet bulldog entering the store. However, we caught up with that bulldog as we were walking to our next destination. Her name was Vee and Roo greeted her quite nicely on the sidewalk. We than ran into another pup a little further down the street, who also received a very calm sniff from Roo. All in all she was actually quite calm about the dogs we passed on the street today.

Our plan was to walk up to Orange Bone on Melrose. I had left my planner with the address scribbled down in the car, so I went from memory...which of course was wrong. We should have just made a left around the corner and there was Orange Bone. But we went for a nice little stroll down Melrose. Which, actually was a good thing for you. She strolled confidently along, navigating lots of people and bikes and waiters bringing food out to people seated at tables on the sidewalk.

Eventually I pulled out the handy iPhone and realized my mistake, and back we went to Orange Bone. Let me tell you what I love about Orange Bone- they sell puppies.... from shelters!!!! That's right, so all those people out there claiming it's so hard to get a puppy if you aren't buying from a breeder or a puppy mill pet shop, take a stroll by the Orange Bone. That had some gorgeous, playful Rottie mix pups in the window who were dying to play with Miss Roo, and lots of small breeds available inside the store. (also, for the record Roo came from the shelter as a 4 month old puppy- she wasn't the prettiest as she had mange, but it was easily treated and she is gorgeous and happy now!). Anyway, Alex at Orange Bone was super nice and I enjoyed chatting with him until he had to get back to work because a herd of puppy shoppers entered the door.

Our final stop of the day - Tailwaggers NEW location on Fairfax. Great staff at Tailwaggers- when Roo poked her nose into the back she wasn't shood away but welcomed and then asked if she wanted a treat (to which she replied, yes, of course!). I have to work on "shake" with Roo though, because she does it for me but when others ask her for it she seems to think they want her to lay down.

By this time, we were both quite thirsty, and wishing we had time to stop in for a drink at The Fat Dog which was right next to Tailwaggers. But we had to get home and attend to Roo's big brother Duval, so we skipped the pint at The Fat Dog- next time!
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Spot! D.O.G. Boutique, Animal Crackers and The Healthy Spot

Today marked day ONE in Roo's new exploration of the LA's best pet spots. We targeted the area around The Beverly Center, making four stops along the way.

Our first stop: D.O.G. (dee-og-gee) Pet Boutique:
346 N. La Cienega Blvd.
West Hollywood CA 90048
Owner Christian Bryan Velasco is a very friendly, outgoing owner who was happy to visit with Roo and chat about his store and products. They have a great selection dog supplies, Designer dog clothing, dog couture, dog toys, dog carriers, designer dog collars and leashes, pet furniture, swarvoski collars, for small dogs and large dog, all the finest upscale items for your pampered dog and puppy fashion needs and much more. They also have some awesome looking (and tasting!) baked goodies for the pups. Roo was VERY interested in these. Roo met the owners two small dogs and was on her absolute best behavior here.







Our next stop: SPOT! Los Angeles: 534 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
The folks at SPOT! were quite busy today so we didn't get much of a chance to chat with them. They had an amazing selection of high quality food, and I overheard one of the ladies speaking with a customer abut the food and she was quite knowledgeable. While we were shoopping around we discovered a tower of balls- Roo's very favorite toys- so we had to walk away with a couple. We purchased a red bouncy rubber ball with the SPOT! logo on it (whihc sadly rubbed off within a few minutes of play) and a planet dog ball which promised to give 20% of the proceeds to help homeless animals. Roo tested the red ball, and though it doesn't have the bounce she usually likes, I loved the visibility of the ball. From time-to-time something spooks Roo and she loses the ball, and this could be spotted far far across the park.
Roo was pretty good at Spot!- paying no attention to the little one we saw when we came in. it was only when a happy-go-lucky lab puppy rounded a corner unexpectedly after his grooming session did she let out her mean dog bark. But she quieted right down with a little correction from me.
SPOT! Los Angeles does carry my favorite martingale collars- they can be quite hard to find in stores and I often end up ordering online. These are the nice nylon webbed martingales that slip over the head- no buckles which can break.
(planet dog ball)
(SPOT! ball before play)

(SPOT! ball during play)

Stop #3: Animal Crackers: 8023 Beverly Boulevard, Suite 1
Los Angeles, California 90048

We met Kevin at Animal Crackers who was delightful. Once again, I was extremely please with the wide variety of good quality foods. For those who like the "baked not extruded" Flint River Ranch- this is one of the only stores I've seen carrying it. No wonder people travel from great distances to get to this store. While we were there one of the regulars came in with her little boy named Oscar. Roo loves kids and was just crazy about him. You can see her looking longingly at Oscar while I tried to snap a photo of her.



Stop #4: The Healthy Spot

8525 Santa Monica Boulevard West Hollywood, CA 90069

The Healthy Spot was also quite busy when we stopped in. The day care area was full of well behaved dogs- they were being so good that Roo didn't even notice the room full of little ones. She was also quite good about the little dog that we followed in. She barked once- but it was more a "I want to play" bark. We spoke to a couple of associates who were quite busy running around helping shoppers and grooming clients. We checked out the supplies- lots of high quality foods and treats her, and a great selection of collars. Also we found this stack of crate liners/beds made from recycled bottles- this we LOVE!

All in all we had a great day and mission accomplished! We introduced ourselves to some great pet places in the heart of LA, AND Roo worked on her social skills.
Stay tuned for next week's hotspots!