#kozuka

If Miyu wants to become a dog trainer, the first thing he really needs to do is to train his own dog, Singe. Singe has been in the back burner for far too long. It’s been six episodes since he last got focus. I know that focusing on other dogs is to help Miyu grow as a dog trainer, but it would’ve been best for him to get to know his dog first before learning about other dogs. Well, better late than never, I guess.

Singe is very rambunctious and mischievous. I’m not sure if all toy poodles are like this as puppies; I wouldn’t know because I adopted my two mini poodles when they were already adult dogs. However, the tsundere aspect of Singe is something I see in one of my dogs. She acts cold and tends to bark a lot towards others but is super loving and doting towards me. So, yes, poodles can be tsunderes. However, I do like that Singe is behaving like an actual dog and not a personified version of a dog. It’s hard work to raise one.

Though, I do think that the problem with Singe’s behavior lies with Miyu. Miyu is very hasty and impatient, which is why he’s trying out different methods to get Singe to learn commands quickly. All he needs is to realize that he needs to take time to bond with Singe in order for him to become obedient. I do like that Miyu isn’t shown to be perfect most of the time. He’s still new to the world of dogs and has his strengths and weaknesses; his impatience and over confidence are said weaknesses. For strengths, Miyu’s strongest quality is that he’s very observant when it comes to people and dogs. However, watching him trying to command Singe was hilarious and a bit sad. Miyu really does want to get along with Singe, but his dog is a tsundere. I think the hilarious part is when Miyu starts speaking cutely to Singe after it listened to him for the first time. Fortunately, his talent for observation helps in that he understands how Singe behaves. All Miyu needs is to calm down and be patient; once he learns how to do that, he and Singe will be the best of friends.

Niwa is surprisingly a lot nicer in this episode compared to past episodes. While he still calls Miyu an idiot every now and then, he’s not as harsh as he was in past episodes. He dishes out all the informative dog knowledge and then actually praises Miyu for knowing how commands work. I do wonder how much longer it will take for him to be genuinely nice to Miyu.

It was nice seeing the other dogs from the past episodes; though, Ricochet and Mrs. Miyake don’t make an appearance here. I even learned something new! Apparently, Eguchi’s dog Leo always lays down with its hind feet sticking out; that pose is called the female dog pose, apparently. I never noticed it until it was brought up, but my female poodle Angel always lays down like that. Niwa explains that dogs lay down in a position it feels most comfortable with. That’s true because both of my dogs lay down differently, but I left them alone like that because I assumed it was what made them comfortable; I’m glad dog whisperer Niwa agrees with me.