Wahhhh?!?!? Last class? No, say it isn’t so. I wish I could just find a long term class for Mississippi. It’s not that we are learning a giant amount of information we didn’t know already, I just think Mississippi is better focused in a class setting plus I like getting out of the house and doing productive doggy things with her. Last night we ran through our practice of passing other dogs, walking on a loose leash, coming when called, and sitting quietly. We also did a funny game of kickball, which would have worked well if Mississippi wasn’t more interested in the base cones and ball more than she was the actual game. We introduced Mississippi to a couple of statues (she’s terrified of most inanimate objects). We got our certificate of completion and I got an ice cream. It was a fun class and I’m sad it was so short. The funny bit is that I smashed up our pretty certificate between leaving class and getting to the car. I had stuffed our certificate in my jacket to protect it from rain and as we were leaving class, Mississippi completely freaked out over a dog that was playing fetch nearby. She was outta control, barking and pulling and making a scene. As I dragged her by her leash away from the excitement, I crushed our certificate. I had ice cream in one hand, treat bag in the other and was struggling to get her to focus back on me. It wasn’t until we were out of site of the other dog that I could get her to contain herself. All of this was in full view of our lovely teachers. Yes, we need more practice!
I know the following video is super dark. It’s in a bar and our dog is black, what can I do? It’s footage of Mississippi at the Lucky Lab Brew Pub in SE Portland. As you can hear, there is lots of commotion in the background, dogs freaking out, food being delivered, people laughing. Mississippi did so well. She sat for a good part of our pints and was uber charming to everyone. I was distracted by someone who was talking to me and she seized the opportunity to jump up onto the bench of our neighboring pub goers. Um, embarrassing! But anyway, we love our weekly beer and I think we’ll make it a regular thing. She is really starting to pick up on the whole sit-quietly-in-public-places thing. Her attention span still only lasts about as long as it takes us to drink one pint but I think soon we’ll be able to get completely sauced without her making a fuss! Kidding! If you told me four months ago that I would soon be enjoying beers in public places with my crazy dog, I would have laughed. It’s pretty amazing to me how far she has come. We just need to keep exposing her to new places and situations.
I think Tricia at Rockin’ Roxy’s is planning a leash walking class soon with her dog trainer sister. I’m going to sign up for that and look into the agility class at Happy Go Lucky.
Thanks Gail at Happy Go Lucky for a great class.
Thanks Lucky Lab for being the best pub ever.