Gracie joined our family last Sunday. Today she attended her first basic obedience class. We took her to C & E Dog Training Center in New Hope, MN. What an awesome place! Connie and Ed came highly recommended and I am so glad we followed the advice of many dog-loving friends!

Bones has gone through basic obedience … twice. Not his fault. Both times I ended up having surgery for one reason or another so wasn’t in any shape to continue with the training. This time we got smart! Gracie goes on Saturday mornings so Perry can go with!

Once we get Gracie going Bones will attend the “advanced puppy obedience” to refine his skills – this class is also on Saturday mornings.

Some day (hopefully sooner than later) both Bones and Gracie will be participating in Rally Obedience trials! I’m hoping that at the very least they can both participate in the GMSPBHC Specialty held at the beginning of June in the Novice class.

Gracie’s first class was rather uneventful. Ed (our trainer) spent a lot of time explaining things, taking questions and talking about the bad habits of puppies. Once the hand-on (or should I say paws-on) part of the class began she wasn’t as excited as Bones usually is at class. Next week we will need to make it more fun to keep her interested and wanting to participate. To be fair she did do well! She pulled minimally during the heel and didn’t take too much prompting to do a sit. Down seems like it’ll be a no-brainer!

Here are a few pictures from day one.

"I'll just watch mom - she keeps playing with other dogs!"

"No pillow around here, huh?"