This fall my mom enrolled me in an obedience class at PetSmart. The class was for beginners and was made up of eight sessions. Our instructor Kat was so super fantastic I now call her sensei. There were five other dogs in my class: Abbey a Yorkie mix, Apollo a Golden Retriever, Dannie a Welsh terrier, Kopi a Sheltie mix, and Patches an Australian Shepard. I had so much fun getting to know my classmates and their humans.

Kat taught the class many different types of commands along with basics for good dog behavior. Although I knew most of the commands already it was fun to learn them again. My mom and Kat figured out ways to modify the commands so I could understand. There were only a couple that they could not modify for my special needs.

Some of the commands we learned in class were: sit, stay, down, come, wait, settle, and take it. Sit is two taps on my butt, stay is a hand flat on my chest, down is two taps between my shoulder blades, wait is a cupped hand around my nose and mouth, settle is a hand on my hip, and take it is when my mom has a treat in her hand and she opens it up after I have stopped sniffing for the treat.

Graduation day was the best because I got to wear the coat my grandma sewed for me. It was red corduroy with a black collar. She hand stitched my name on the collar and ‘will work for treats’ on both sides. My mom figured out that I really like treats and will do just about anything for them. My mom also stitched my Canine Good Citizen (CGC) badge that I earned this summer onto my coat. I like walking around in my coat because it looks good on me and all the cute girl dogs think I am very handsome in it.

My master could not make my class because he was traveling, but my foster dad Roger made it. I was so happy he was there. He loved on me when I was all done. I love it when we visit with Roger, because I get away with jumping, mouthing, nibbling, and licking him. Mom lets me get away with it cause I don’t get to visit with Roger very often.

Below are a bunch of cool photos from our graduation day. I hope to take the intermediate class that is coming up soon.

Take care. Kooper

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