Cramming for Class

Remember when you were a kid, and summers were carefree and fun? I don't. If my parents weren't signing me and my sister up for summer school, they were buying textbooks for the next grade level so we could learn the material beforehand. And now... Are L and I turning into my parents?

Will you get mad if I say yes?

Badger's training class starts this Thursday. We've taken some private lessons, but this will be the first time he's had class with other dogs and their humans. We went ahead and signed him up for the intermediate level class instead of the beginner class because he already knows his basic commands.

However, one of the basic commands that was taught in beginner class at this facility was "go to mat and lie on it", which we've never taught Badger to do. So on Sunday night, we went to Target and bought a non-slip rug, and we've been practicing having him lie on it.

We've also been practicing down-stays with Badger and Mushroom to teach them to be calm around each other. We're hoping this will translate to Badger being calm(er) around the other dogs in his class.

I'm calm! I'm CALM!! I'M CALM!!!

I was going to take some pictures of Badger on his mat last night, but I forgot, so I snapped a few pictures of him this morning before I headed to work. =/

Good mooooorning!

Do you find yourself brushing up on training skills with your dog before the start of a class?

Oops! I forgot to post this yesterday. Stay tuned for an extra-special post tonight!