Academy Days at Peaceable Paws...

I am here at the end of day 4 (of 6) of my Peaceable Paws Level 1 Academy and I am so incredibly blessed, honored and enthusiastic about being able to work, not only with Pat Miller, but with her helpful staff and the other 7 wonderful students in my class.

I am working with this little guy:



His name is Bean, and he is a 5 year old chihuahua mix. He is just so sweet, and I couldn't have picked a better choice of dog. Of course, leave it to me to pick the one labeled "difficult" to train...but we are diligently working to understand verbal cues without lures or prompts. Today he got his first few verbal "downs" and I couldn't be more proud. He is walking beautifully on the leash, which he started out a little scared of, but once we get going he does it perfectly. I will be so heartbroken to say goodbye to him on Saturday...I had hoped to take him home with me! Hopefully, though, he will find a terrific, loving, positive home where they will constantly give him fun stuff to do and lots and lots of snuggle time.

As I write this it is almost 1:00 am, and I just finished my third quiz. It is definitely time for bed, but if you want to see how it is going, Pat has been blogging about it - with pictures! - on her site, which is here.

While I will be excited to get home and start marketing my newly honed skills and talents, I will be sad to say goodbye to the whole experience. Is it tiring? Yes! Very! But would I do it again next week? Yes! Definitely!