Graduation Post

So there was an important graduation over the weekend. Rusty, Leah's dog (and I guess he's mine now too) graduated from the intermediate obedience class at PetSmart. He has come a long way (I guess). It's hard to tell with dogs. Are they really learning or are you the one being "trained"? He doesn't freak out as much when he sees other dogs, and he can meet strangers without biting them. And, as you can see here, he can hell pretty well. I still wish he was better behaved, but he's leaps and bounds the best dog I've ever been associated with. My parents don't think he needed the class, but I think he did. Everyone needs improvement, right? Anyway, Leah worked pretty hard (but not as hard as she could) getting him ready for the big day. I think if we take him further in these classes we BOTH need to do more work with him. I'm not sure if I like the PetSmart training program. I don't like that all the classes take place in the middle of a busy store. I know the dogs need to be able to handle distrations...but even I get distracted when people are staring at me...making faces.

Anyway, don't get me wrong, the dog did great...I just can't remember too far back so it's hard for me to judge on how far he's come.