Guess what?  I'm a student!  I started Basic Obedience a few weeks ago.  I have been home schooling with Spring and Lyle, and I do pretty well with most of it.  The bosses thought it would do me good to enroll in a class, though, to see how I do in an unfamiliar environment.  They thought it would be good for my confidence. 

I'll admit I do get a little anxious sometimes.  I like having Spring and Lyle around to show me what to do when I'm unsure of myself.  That's how I learned to bark like crazy at the doorbell and how to pull on a leash.  They're good teachers.  But at class, it's just me and Gunner the hyped-up Pointer and Maggie the cupcake eating Boxer (last Thursday she ate 10 of them, and their wrappers, before coming to class.  I like Maggie just fine.)  Gunner wants to maul me.  Not in a "I'm going to eat you" kind of way, but in a "hey angel, I just wanted to check your tags to see if you came straight from heaven" kind of way.  I don't like him at all.

Anyway, last week we were working on Bring It, Drop It, and Take It.  Our instructor (who is the best, or at least I thought so until the Drop It demo, but more about that in a moment) had squeaky toys for us to borrow and practice with.  I took the squeaky toy, but I really didn't think it was polite of her to ask for it right back.  So I wouldn't give it back.  Then she thought it would be good to show the class how to practice Drop It with food.  She brought me a big cookie and gave it to me.  Well, I'm no dummy.  I took it, of course, and I saw that Gunner and Maggie didn't have one.  No way was I giving it back.  NO WAY.  My eyes got big.  My legs locked.  I was shaking.  I've got most of this huge cookie in my mouth and my instructor is holding the other part.  Not pulling, just waiting.  I am drooling.  I am not letting go, no way.  The boss ma'am and the instructor put tasty treats in front of my nose.  No give.  More tasty cookies on the floor.  Nope.  The boss ma'am puts tasty meaty treats on my tongue.  More drooling, no dropping.  The boss ma'am calls me a stubborn little beastie.  Spring would be so proud of me.  Eventually the very patient instructor finally yanks the cookie out of my mouth and I am cookieless.  I do get to eat it eventually, but now I understand what class is all about.  Learning about Life.  And Hard Knocks.  And how to swallow faster.

Speaking of Hard Knocks, meet these guys.  They're at the Benton Franklin Humane Society and they need a home.  Kind of makes my Hard Knocks pale in comparison I suppose.