Congrats...

Soon his picture will be on this wall too...

Winston! Yes, tonight was another big night for our little guy. Tonight he had to take his intermediate test at puppy school. Normally I would not be too worried, but since he just spent 4 days at the puppy hotel I was.

Chris and I went and picked Winston up around 10 today from the puppy hotel. I wanted Chris to go with me to pick him up...so we had to wail till between his appointments. Winston was so excited to see us, I thought his little tail was going to wag right off! After we calmed him down, it was home to train, train, train!

I spent most of the day reviewing all our tricks. I did all the ones I could do with out help. Many of the tricks in this class call for 2 people (one to do the trick, the other to distract!) There were 2 that I really was concerned about.

1. Put him in a sit stay, then leave the room!
2. Have him sit and stay at distance, then call him....he has to lay before getting to me.

The reason the first one is a problem is because he doesn't like me to leave the training room. He will do the trick fine at home...over and over again. But something about being in class and leaving the room, he dislikes it. The second one is basically a problem based upon space. You see at home we practice, but don't have a large space so he lays right in front of me. There in class the room is larger so he doesn't want to sit til right before me. I tell you...its a mess!

However, long story short he did it! He did all the tricks, which were around 12, well enough to graduate. This is just amazing, because now we can move on to the next class. My sadness is that Angela our wonderful trainer is only going to work weekends from here on out. We worked something out with her and will start in July. I am very excited about this class because it will help Winston prepare for the the "Good Citizen" test. Why? I would really like to spend my summers doing something productive....I mean pool time and sleep in is great! Therefore I would like Winston and I to be a part of the dog therapy system. If and when he passes this test then we will be a step closer to this. The advance class will prepare us for it better than anything else can. There are many things Winston will have to accomplish the list is at the AKC's website: http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/training_testing.cfm

Yes....we are one step closer to a happy therapy dog! GO WINSTON!

On our way to class.

Winston getting his diploma!

time to smile with your cap!

Winston with his diploma, report card, and new bed!