Zeus Has His First "Bad Boy" Moment

It's partly my fault, this incident, but I was still surprised. I gave Zeus his lunch without standing over him -- I went about 8 feet away to do a little work while he inhaled his food. Just as he finished eating, our two male cats wandered by and -- zoom! -- Zeus was bounding around trying to play with them. Ben took off and got away, but Cal was trapped in a corner near the pet gate. I went after Zeus, and in the split second the puppy's attention was turned, Cal took off down stairs. I wasn't within grabbing range when Zeus took off after him. The stairs USED to be an impediment so I didn't think to close the pet gate.

So, I get to chase one excited puppy down the stairs and into the kitchen. Once there, I clapped my hands together sharply and said "Bad Boy!" Amazingly enough, Zeus took off back UP the stairs. I emphasized with some more claps (remember, puppy attention spans are all of 10 seconds long), but he was no longer impressed by the time I caught up with him and began scouting all over the upstairs room. I finally grabbed him and put him in his crate (stairs are no easy feat for me!) so I could recover.

I know these weeks will be full of tests, but I like to think the loud clap and "Bad Boy" might make some sort of impression our our pig headed poodle.