Saturday, June 23, 2007

Gra-ju-ay-shun Day

Graduation Day, Intermediate Training, 2007-06-23Pappy and I ran into Louise's owner at the dog park this morning, and she said her intermediate class at Petsmart was graduating today. Argh. I had forgotten that my intermediate class was supposed to be graduating tomorrow, and I made plans to go to my father's for brunch. I decided I needed to have a proactive makeup class by attending Louise's graduation instead.

Kat, the instructor for both dog training classes (irony noted), is pretty relaxed about hopping between classes and I had done a makeup class before. Strangely, Louise never showed up. I don't even think I'm being particularly biased when I say that Pappy breezed past the other dogs in all the tests. He is brilliant of course, and calmer than average, but mostly he just likes food. Perhaps you guessed from the penetrating gaze in his graduation photo that a treat was involved.

Kat was encouraging all of us to continue training towards the Canine Good Citizenship Test, which is offered by our dog park. Pappy could blow through the tests, except that you can't use treats. What the heck are they thinking? Pappy's first commandment is "will work for food".

8 comments:

Gus said...

Pappy looks quite handsome in his academic regalia. I'm sure he would breeze through CGC. Maybe you are the one who is depending on the treats, and Pappy just eats them to humor you. That is what Gus says is his reason for eating everything in sight. Do you think I am being conned?

Molly the Airedale said...

What a sweet photo! I love it!

Love ya lots,
Maggie

Roxie, Sammy, Andy and Shermie said...

Oooohhh, education always makes a doggie much more interesting. What is Pappy doing next weekend? (wink)

Roxie

Oscar's mummy and daddy said...

Oh Pappy, you look so great in your graduation photo - well done!

Licks
Oscar x

Nat said...

Gus's Muzzer,
My suspicion is that the treats are a pretty big factor, since performance varies widely with the appeal of the treat. You been had.

Roxie,
Dog park? Let's say 8AM?

Maggie & Oscar,
Pappy's rewriting his resume to take into account his new credentials.

3dogcache said...

Congrats Pappy. You look very stunning with that cap and tassle being held over your head:-)

Enjoy, 3dogs

MJ's doghouse said...

wow pappy..you are such a scholar..i never went to school...I am kinda ashamed..but my mom gives me the treats for doin nothin...so what is the point really...except i sure would like a graduation bandana...

Nat said...

3Dogs,
Oh regional coordinator for Petsmart training, you might want to invest in replacing the little elastic straps on those mortarboards. They are a bit worn out.

MJ,
Well, we were pretty lousy at doing our homework. Thankfully Pappy's enough of a natural to get his sheepskin. If you want a good example, you may have to head over to Ferndoggle's blog.