Guess Who's a Canine Good Citizen????

When we got to my Gilroy class tonight (we missed last week) Janet had to fill out paperwork for me to take my CGC (Canine Good Citizen) test, which was being given to my whole class.  Janet said it was a good thing she didn't know in advance, or she would have been a nervous wreck.

We figured it would be a good opportunity for us to find out what we needed to focus on so we'd be ready the next time the test was given.  But guess what?  I PASSED FIRST TIME AROUND, AND WITH FLYING COLORS!

Janet's so proud of me that she won't shut up.  She's told Mr. Bill and called Scott on the phone.  Then she told me I had to update my blog and share.  Frankly, I'm just glad I have soft blankies in my crate in the house.  I've scooched and wadded and piled them up so I can sleep soundly and warm all night long.  AAAAhhhhhhhh.......nighty-night!

Bone Jour!

Janet asked Bill to get me a bone from the butcher, and he brought me THIS.  

We didn't expect a mastadon femur!  My eyes got HUGE when I saw it----the first night, I was so excited that Janet had to take it out of the kennel so I would eat my dinner.  At first I couldn't figure out how to pick it up.  I spent a couple of days getting the physics right so I could move it around easily.  Even though Janet now latches my kennel door whenever I'm not inside, I like to hide this FABULOUS bone by wrapping it up in my blanket.  I don't want some darn cat coming in and sniffing at it and getting cat-cooties all over it.  I've now learned that "Meaty Bones" biscuits are not the real thing.....they're OK, but my horizons have definitely been widened.

It's gotten cold here, and I don't like it.  Even though it's inside, I hate sitting on cold concrete in my Wednesday-night class---and lying down is even worse!  I've been spending some of my daytime at home in my sleeping crate inside the house.  Boring, but at least it's warmer.  When it's wet I don't even want to go for a walk.  I've always turned my nose up at these dogs I see in sweaters and boots.....but maybe I'm secretly a little envious?

So the really big news (even bigger than my bone) is that I have now been to a dog park!  Bernie and Bosco and Janet and I had been to the one in Gilroy one day, but we were the only ones there.  It was still hot, and we didn't feel like playing on gravel.  But last week we went to the Morgan Hill dog park and it's all grassy (and you know how much I love grass) and there were a bunch of other friendly dogs and owners who made me feel like I could trust them.  So Janet let me off my leash, and we dogs ran and played and jumped on each other like a pack, and had GREAT fun!  Unlike Bosco, who acted like he'd never met Bernie before in his life, I checked in with Janet a few times and laid down in front of the bench to observe everyone else's behaviour.  Janet says if it doesn't rain that we're going back again on Friday, so I'm looking forward to running with the pack again.  And by the way, Amelia, I wasn't BOSSY at all!

Janet's making me work on down-stay and sit-stay forEVER.  She says I have to be able to do that for my Canine Good Citizen test.  I already know I'm a good citizen, but apparently I have to prove it....sigh......



Bone?  What bone??



Oh, LOOK!  Here's my bone!
I wonder who wrapped it up in my blanket???



Three-Month Anniversary

It's been exciting around here lately.  Janet's smooth child, Scott, got married on September 30th to Megan.  I love her too, so I'm glad she's officially part of the family now!!  While everyone was out of town, my Auntie Trudi came three times a day to walk and feed me.  Trudi knows a lot about dogs and I'm really comfortable with her.  I slept in the doghouse inside my big kennel all night long.  Janet thought I might bark at night when I didn't get to sleep in my crate in the house, but the neighbors told her I was very well-behaved, even when they had a late-night party right on the other side of my fence.

Last weekend Janet had something called an "Open Studio" where a bunch of people came to look at her garden and the pottery she made.  Let me point out that no one asked if this was OK with me.  Saturday was all right because it was only people, and even Trudi's mom came and met me.  But Sunday there were a lot more people and some of them brought their dogs right into MY SPACE!!!  I'm fenced up in my kennel trying to be a good greeter, and here are these strange dogs walking around in MY YARD, going places I'm not even allowed to go and peeing on MY PLANTS.  I didn't care for the whole scenario one bit, and I spoke right up and told everyone so.  Janet told me they were customers and guests and we both had to just suck it up and be quiet.  Not my idea of a good time.  I still haven't quite gotten over this insult, and I'm making sure Janet knows it, too.

That being said, between Bosco and all the well-behaved students in my training classes, I'm starting to get over my cautiousness around nice dogs.  Today Janet and Trudi introduced me to Tobin, her 2-year-old yellow lab.  We took a long walk that ended with us side-by-side and being very friendly with each other.  He's very handsome-----not as hunky and mature as Bosco, but definitely a lot of fun.

Janet says this Saturday we have to skip all the "Pit Bull Awareness Day" get-togethers because we're going to an "agility event", whatever that is.  If it's like at my Gilroy school when we sometimes get to walk up on ramps and jump over little bars, I think I'll like that.  On Sunday we'll be back at Bad Rap class, which I've had to miss twice because of my people's activities.  If I'd been consulted, I would definitely have traded that stupid open studio for a training session with Tim.  It sure will be nice to see a bunch of good-looking square-headed dogs again!!!

Progress Report

Today it rained in Bad Rap class!  I guess there's just nothing I like about blacktop.  I already knew I hate sitting on it when it's hot, and it turns out I also hate sitting on it when it's wet---plus it gets my pretty white feet all dirty.  We did lots of spins and weaves today in Tim's class.  As long as I didn't have to sit, I really enjoyed the exercises.  On the way home I chewed a hole in my "indestructible ball".  SCORE!!!

In Gilroy class on Wednesday night, we did an off-leash "sit and stay" exercise.  Janet got very upset when I turned it into a personal romp through the entire building, running as fast as I could around the room until the teacher caught me.  (Apparently I wasn't supposed to do that??)  The next day, Bill installed a zip line that follows the sidewalk all the way across the back of the house.  Janet clips my leash to the cable and makes me do "off-leash" lessons on it.  I'm not happy about this.  I put my ears back and hang my head down, so Janet must know I'm not happy about it, but she doesn't seem to care.  Really?  I have to be on a leash when doing "off-leash" lessons?  That sucks.  On the up-side, I am getting extra treats while I'm doing this stuff.

Janet found me, Bernie and Bosco a terrific new place to walk---the levee in Gilroy.  It's wide enough for me and Bosco and our two people to walk in one "lane".  In the other lane there are lots of friendly folks and dogs walking toward us.  People ride bicycles and pull wagons with babies in them, too.  It's never boring.  One time we met some teenage boys who had found a little snake I thought it might be fun to play with.  They were a little intimidated by me at first, but they warmed up after Janet introduced me.  Bosco always enjoys the squirrels, but he says he likes me best.

By the way, Bosco knows our car and gets overly excited whenever he sees it.  Bill took our car to Bosco's house the other day without me, and I was told that Bosco looked all around inside the car and then laid down next to it waiting for me to jump out.  He's taking this "socialization" thing pretty seriously. And I have to admit that since he came into my life, I've become a WHOLE lot more comfortable with other dogs!!

Two-month Anniversary

I've been out of the shelter and living in Gilroy for two months!

Besides my Bad Rap Pit Ed classes in Berkeley, I've started going to school once a week in Gilroy.  The rules are the same, but the dogs are very different.  For instance, last week I met Abby.  I didn't think she was a dog because in my experience, dogs have big shovel-heads and stocky bodies or they have lots of hair and tall pointy ears and bushy tails.  Abby doesn't fit either of those descriptions; Janet says it's because she's a greyhound.  We kept looking and looking and sniffing and sniffing each other----she was just as curious about me as I was about her.  I guess she's never been around a dog that looked like me, either!

My friend Trudi who is going to walk me if Bill and Janet are gone was in our class with a black lab puppy who wanted very much to play with me and Janet.  I don't like Janet talking to other dogs, so I have to jump on her if she pets someone else to make sure she keeps loving me best.  But I think I will eventually learn to like other dogs besides my best friend Bosco.  I even wagged my tail the whole time we were in class on Wednesday so everyone there would know how friendly I am!!  A few of the people still didn't believe me, and they kept their dogs far, far away.  Janet says I just have to be the most well-behaved dog in class so they'll respect me even if they never learn to like me.

Janet hasn't been lettng me play off-leash because I decided last week while we were working with the flirt-pole that I didn't have to come back to her when she called.  So right now we're just going on walks and practicing all our walking lessons.  I miss chasing my Squeaky Kong in the park, but since I chewed it up I can't play with it anyway.  Janet has been spending a lot of time on the computer reseaching dog toys, and she got me a black Super-Kong.  I like chewing it, but it doesn't squeak.  I DO miss that squeak...

Speaking of squeaks, when we were out in the garden the other day, I saw a rat eating berries off the vine growing on the gazebo!!!  I pulled my leash right out of Janet's hand and chased the rat, but it went through a tiny hole and under the fence.  Ever since, whenever I'm in the garden I keep my eyes glued to the spot where I saw it, just in case I see it again.  While she's brushing me in the morning under the gazebo, I sniff around and tell Janet about everywhere the rat's been the night before.  It likes to sit in her chair and eat berries and climb up and down the vine's trunk and walk across the wall.  Janet won't let me chase it because she says I do too much damage in the garden (remember my nickname, "Wrecking Ball"?)  But do I REALLY look like I would do any damage???  Don't you think I just look like the mellowest pibble ever???

Seriously...

I've had a couple of experiences this week that reminded me just how lucky I am.

Bosco and I were out on a walk through my neighborhood when a couple of Golden Retrievers bounced out of their open garage and started jumping all over us.  They just wanted to play, but you know what blondes Goldens are----and they won't take "no" for an answer.  Janet kept trying to get them to back off while they sniffed us and jumped on us and crawled under us and got tangled in our feet and leashes.  These idiot dogs were relentless.  And they kept following us down the street.  Finally Bernie asked a boy to knock on the door and ask if the humans could please get their dogs under control.  I was getting close to giving them a piece of my mind.  But I knew I had to keep my cool---otherwise I could just visualise the headlines, "Pet Golden Retrievers attacked by Pit Bull".  Janet kept reassuring me that I was doing all the right things.  After it was over at least I got lots of praise and treats....

Next I experienced bully prejudice first-hand when I went to check out a local trainer's class.  All the dogs in this drop in session obviously already knew each other.  There wasn't another bully-type in the group.  When I walked in quietly on my leash and we sat down at a reasonable distance from the other dogs to give everyone plenty of space, one of the human handlers said, "That animal's just a biting machine".  I thought that was totally uncalled for.  I managed to ignore the Boston Terrier that kept barking and trying to get me in trouble.  I already knew how to do almost all the training exercises, and I never made a sound.  But I was pretty much glued to some part of Janet's body the entire session.  It was really stressful.

So I'm looking forward to a quiet walk in the country tonight with Bosco, and my class in Berkeley on Sunday where I'll be with people and dogs who appreciate me for who I am.  I can't thank Bad Rap enough for giving me & Janet the tools to deal with these situations, or thank BACS and its amazing volunteers enough for all the love and support they gave (and continue to give) me.  I'm a VERY LUCKY DOG!!

Called Up!

When we lined up for Bad Rap class today, Donyale told us to go to the advanced class!!  She warned me that I might get sent back down to the minors, unless Tim (Racer, not my Uncle Tim from the shelter) approved.  So I really had to step up my game!  I got into a lovely down-stay for Janet, and let her walk all around me and even step over me.  Then we went to the center of the area in two lines and greeted other handlers and dogs and I was PERFECT the whole class.  OK, almost.  When I was in a down-stay and Tim came over to distract me, I popped up two out of three times.  But was this test fair to me?  I think not.  The man keeps HOT DOGS in his pockets!!  What kind of sadistic dog-trainer would do that???  I thought I had the rest of the exercises nailed, but on the last greeting, the other dog got snarky so I got snarky back.  I won't even tell you what she said, 'cuz Janet will probably say "that's no excuse".  But---other than those two ever-so-tiny infractions---I was PERFECT.  And I do get to come back to Tim's class next week!

Bosco and I have had two more dates out in the country.  We now walk so close together that we can touch each others' sides with our noses.  At the end of the second walk, Janet and Bernie kept us on our leashes, but they let us have some private time.  We kissed---it was so romantic!  I think I could fall for him---he really knows how to treat a girl.  Sigh.......  Here we are watching turkeys together.  Or maybe deer.  At this point I don't know which is which.  But isn't this guy a HUNK???

Bill cut me a nice piece of carpet that covers the space where I'm supposed stay when we're traveling.  I quietly amused myself all the way to Berkeley today by chewing my Squeaky Kong into little pieces.  Janet says the back of her car has become "The Place Toys Go to Die." 


I have to admit it would be nice not to have to spend 90 minutes on the road before I have to do all that hard work in class.  So we went to watch a dog-training session this week at a school close to home.  We're doing a "drop-in" this week, so we'll see how that goes.  Of course we'll keep going to Bad Rap, but Janet seems to think I need more training.  I don't know why.