Bryer Graduates :)

Today was the big day!  My little boy graduated from Beginner Obedience School!  Bryer was extra excited today because I went back to work yesterday which means the little guy has to stay in his crate while Craig and I are at work - which does nothing but lets his energy build for 8 hours!  Of course he is going crazy as we are walking in because he just LOVES obedience school.  We had to give him a toy to keep him focused so the instructor could get through everything she needed to.  At the beginning of class we had a "test".  We had to show her that he could sit, lay down and shake on command.  Luckily, he did all of those things!  Then she just kind of talked to all of us and asked us how they were doing.  She then gave them all their "diplomas" and they each got a goodie bag! Bryer guy a ball that squeaked, we gave it to him, within 2 seconds he had ripped it to shreds!  Then we did the picture with the graduation cap!  Bryer LOVED the hat!  He wore it around for a good 5 minutes and could have cared less that it was on his head!  The other two dogs hated the hat being on their head!  The only issue that we had was that it was hard to get him to sit still for a picture - but - WE GOT ONE!  We are proud of our little man for graduating, honestly he has improved quite a bit since we started school.  If we could only teach him how to control his excitement then we would be good to go - I think part of that is being a puppy and a lab all at the same time!  He's just a happy boy!

Here are the pictures that I got:

The toy we had to distract Bryer with at the beginning of class.

Bryer showing off his shaking skills!

Trying to get a picture of our graduate!

The gift that Bryer got and shredded within 2 minutes.

Family portrait!

Bryer and his teacher.

The diploma!

On a bit of a side note, I did start working at the school today!  I am in third grade.  There are 5 other third grade teachers that I will be assisting.  They are currently working on a schedule for me so that my time is split up between each of them evenly!  The kids come on Thursday.  I'm pretty excited to meet them and see how things are going to go for the year!

Obedience School. Class #5.

Let me just begin by saying that I am very grumpy.  Yes, I am in a mood.  Stress induced grumpiness.  I'm sure that would come out in my blog today so I just figured I would warn you all.  Poor Craig.

So, I think Bryer could have skipped today's class and been just fine.  I really think he felt the same way as well because someone was not listening AT ALL today!  He starts acting like a hammer head from the very beginning.  Apparently he even forgot how to walk into the store nicely today - he was all over the place!

First task at hand was "doggy push-ups".  This is where you ask him to "sit", then "lay down", then "sit" repeatedly and only give him a treat every now and then.  This is to start phasing out the treats so he is not expecting them all the time (which he already does).  Bryer thought this activity sucked - he did it - but he didn't want to.

Then, the next task was to come when called and then sit when they got to you.  You might as well have said "go fly a kite" because Bryer was not listening to us AT ALL which didn't go well with me seeing as I was already in a mood!  He was just flat out ignoring us.  Then the teacher walks over to observe and the little fart does everything he was supposed to do just like he had been a perfect angel the entire time.  I could've killed him!

Next, we were learning to shake.  Which Bryer already knows and does perfectly.  So she says "Why don't we teach him to wave?"  All you do for this brilliant trick is ask him to shake, but then at the last minute you pull your hand away and say "Say Hi!!" and wave.  Craig and I really find this pointless, but we do it just to have something to do.  Then her next idea is to have Bryer crawl,which is kind of neat but there is no traction since the floors are tile so this trick really does not work.

That about sums up our class today - nothing funny, almost all pointless, and completely grumpy.

Next week he is supposed to graduate and he is supposed to wear a cap.  I said "Good luck getting that on him" and she said "Well if he won't do it we can always just hold the diploma in-front of him."  OH, NO WE WON'T!!!  I signed him up for obedience school so he could graduate and wear a graduation cap so if I have to lay on top of him to get that hat on him he will wear it and he will enjoy it and there will be a picture.

Look for the picture next week!

Obedience School. Class #4.

Before I start rambling on about our class tonight, I'm going to back up a few days first.

There is a pizza joint here in Cornelius that is having 'Customer Appreciation Month' so they have several days out of the month they give away free pizza, free cheese-bread and free wings.  The point of that story - Craig and I have been eating a TON of pizza, therefore we have a TON of pizza boxes that need to go to the trash can.  Craig and I have had a big helper lately.

Bryer really seemed interested in the pizza box one day so I let him have it.  Usually he will carry things (his toys) just a few steps and then drop them and forget about them.  Not the pizza box, he trots down the sidewalk so proud of himself and carries that box all the way to the trashcan!  It's the cutest darn thing I've ever seen!

Now, onto our obedience class.

I've now decided that Craig and I need a great dane.  I mean why not?  New home, crazy dog, baby on the way, why not throw a gargantuan dog in the mix too?

The goals of today's class are as follows: dog socialization, loose leash walking with leave it and come when called.  We know that we have dog socialization in the bag, Bryer is great with other dogs.  The other two things we were a little skeptical about. 

For dog socialization the instructor brought her great dane named Hazard.  He's nine months old.

He and Bryer were total BFF's!  It was great for Bryer, someone who was actually bigger than him!  They met each other and sniffed for a bit.  Then Bryer mounts up and starts humping.  Great!  He's going after the teacher's dog - which is a male.  Oh goodness.  Then, my favorite part is the fact that Hazard jumps up and wraps his Godzilla size paws around Bryer's neck and jumps on him!  FINALLY, Bryer gets a taste of his own medicine!  Do you think Bryer cared?  Not even one iota!  Bryer just jumped right back on top of him!  They played for the longest time.  They were biting and jumping all over each other, Bryer's head ended up covered in Hazard spit!  Eventually Hazard's owner pulls him away so she can begin class. As she is talking Bryer and Hazard keep inching closer and closer together.  Bryer eventually gets close enough to Hazard and our goofy dog starts licking this dog in the mouth.  What does Hazard do?  He opens his mouth and lets Bryer go for it!  Have you ever?  They are two peas in a pod!

 If you look right above Bryer's back you can see Austin laying down.  He was the odd man out at today's class because he wanted nothing to do with either Bryer or Hazard!

Craig and I were so wrapped up in watching these two play that we forget to pay attention to what the instructor is telling us to do - oops.  The last thing we hear is "Okay, lets start walking!"  Crap!  Craig and I both turn to each other and ask the other one if we knew what was going on, we had no idea, we had to ask!  I guess Bryer gets it naturally!  :o)

Bryer did shockingly well with his two tasks today.  He walked well on the leash and left things alone when we asked him to!  They also gave us a 20ft leash and when we called him he came!  I was wondering if they traded out Bryer for some good dog while I wasn't watching!  

While we were practicing this gentleman spots Bryer.  The man and Bryer are at opposite ends of the aisle and the man starts making a big deal about Bryer.  He comes over and meets Bryer and Bryer does surprisingly well.  Then Bryer jumps up on him and starts licking this man right in his mouth.  What does the man do?  Freaking smiles, SO HIS MOUTH IS KIND OF OPEN, and lets Bryer continue to lick.  VOMIT!  Bryer ate a dead mouse the other week but I was almost more repulsed by this than I was the dead mouse!  

Then as we continued walking around the store, I got distracted.  There was the most precious 3 month old Bulldog puppy riding around in a cart.  I had a cow!  Little Mary Beth came out in me and I had to go meet this puppy for a while, I offered to trade the puppy for Bryer but the lady wasn't up for it.  I wouldn't blame her!

Who knows, maybe obedience school is working for Bryer?  That would be so nice!  Next week we are going to learn Shake.  Oh wait!  Bryer already knows it!  Sa-weet!  We are totally going to show off!  :o)

Family Sunday

The ABC Family had a nice Sunday today!

We started out with a nice pancake breakfast (just Craig and I, Bryer had his usual dog food).  Then we got dressed and took our little buddy to the park!  He was so excited and ramped up - he loves the outside!  He cried the entire car ride over there because he was so excited!  He started out his journey at the park by swimming in the lake with Craig!  We like to take him swimming before venturing into the dog park because that helps him lose some of his energy!  After his swim we hike on over to the dog park!

We were there pretty early this morning so as we enter there was only one other dog.  It was a huge german shepherd.  Bryer sprints right over, smells her, then mounts up (this is his new thing lately, I hate it and wish he would stop, BOYS!)  Of course she yells at Bryer, then her owner says "Yea, she doesn't like that because she has bad hips."  Craig distracts Bryer with a ball and the dog walks over to the shade and lays down.  Why bring your dog to the dog park if she's to old to play and is just going to be grouchy?  The longer we stayed the more dogs came.  Bryer had a blast as usual!  We stayed until he was completely exhausted and then we strolled back to the car.

We got to the apartment and decided to give him a quick bath outside before bringing him up! This bath went so well - he just stood there because he was so tired!  It was fabulous!

Craig and I showered and headed out to run a few errands.  We had to go to Babies-R-Us!  We picked out a crib and picked up an outfit and baseball rattle for Jimmy-John!  The outfit is just precious!  It's a short-sleeve white onesie that says "Mommy's Champ" and a long-sleeve brown onesie that says "Daddie's Allstar" and it has brown and white striped pants with a football on the butt!  I LOVE IT!

When we got home, Craig wanted to have "Family Time"!  This is code for:  Craig is tired and wants to lay down for a bit and wants Bryer and I to join him.  Well, this was Bryer's once in a lifetime sweet moments!  Craig lays down on the bed on his back, I lay down next to Craig putting my head on his shoulder.  Our goofball dog walks up and lays down on Craig's other side putting his head on Craig's other shoulder!  It was the sweetest thing ever!  Bryer just laid there for the longest time - he was licking Craig all over which made me want to vomit!

Now we are just going to relax the rest of the day and get ready for the week!  Sounds like a pretty fabulous Sunday to me!

Obedience School. Class #3.

Today marked the half-way point of Bryer's schooling.  Has he changed much?  HA!

We got to school today about 20 minutes early, so we did our usual stroll around PetSmart to try and wear him out a bit before class begins.  We ran into a few dogs and people before class, one dog growled at Bryer, the other wrestled with him.  We go in the ring to look to check it out while nobody is in there.  There were two toys laying in the floor that they were using for a class that is right before ours.  Bryer walks in, picks up both toys in his mouth and walks right out.  Just like he owned the place and those were his toys and nobody else's.

The tricks we were learning in class today were:  "Take it", "Leave It", "Drop It".  Well - we are a ROCKSTAR at "Take It", and yes, it's literally what it sounds like.  You offer your dog something and he takes it - we finally succeed at something from obedience school!  Next we try "Leave It".  In order to do this I had a special treat that the instructor gave me and I had to hide it in my hand, let him smell it and try to get it, then say "Leave It" while I try and distract him with a different treat - once he looked away from my hand he got the treat.  He actually didn't do too bad with this one, except for the fact that my hand was completely covered in spit!  Then we try "Drop It".  In order to do this we get a rawhide.  Well, Bryer is so distracted from being in class he won't even pick up the rawhide - therefore we cannot "Drop It".  The instructor then brings out a big bin of toys.  Bryer is in doggie heaven.  Bryer ends up with 5 different toys, and the other two Prima-donna's won't even take one toy.  We try to practice "Drop It", and he does it every now and then, but he does not want to give up his new fabulous toys.  He completely soaks four of them in spit and then covers them with black hair - I'm sure PetSmart really appreciated it!

Bryer's other two classmates were mentioning how they've tried to teach their dogs to catch, but they just can't quite do it.  Well that sure triggered Craig.  Then he and his son had to show off a bit!  Bryer's favorite toy that he was playing with was a yellow rubber squeaky ball so Craig and Bryer had to play catch just so everyone could see how athletic our wild man was!  Craig was a proud father..

I'm not really sure that obedience school was everything we thought it was going to be.  I think an hour is way too long for Bryer's attention span.  He does well the first few times we try and do a trick, but then he gets bored with doing stuff for treats and just flat out ignores me and Craig.  I think he thinks the instructor is some type of treat God because he will do anything for her - but when Craig and I try and get him to do stuff he doesn't even acknowledge that we exist.

This class was kind-of lacking in humor, Bryer was too focused on his new toys so he couldn't perform for the crowd tonight!  Stay tuned for next week - he's supposed to be hooked on to a 10 foot leash and Craig and I are supposed to call him and he is supposed to come to us - that should go just swell!