The Spirited Graduate

Whew! He made it, and with pizzazz! I was in NC, so Grant had to attend the final class alone with Guinness. Grant, uttering a prayer, entered the building with fear and trembling, anticipating what might occur. But Guinness was on cue and a ready disciple. There were eight exercises to be evaluated. The initial ones --“Sit and Accept Praise,” “Sit Stay” for 1 min., “Down on Signal” – were perfect. Then came “Down Stay” for 3 min. He broke his stay, but others did also. In our yard and at class, Guinness is an angel with “Leash Respect.” They graded him as “Needs Improvement.” They must have seen his leash disrespect as he entered the building! “Look At Me” is a cinch, and he did OK with “Walking On Lead.” He is so cute trotting like an Arabian horse beside Grant. The final test was “Random Recall” with the dog sitting in one corner of the room while the handler stands upright in the opposite corner of the large rectangular hall. Guinness was the last dog to perform. Most dogs were leash free for this exercise, and the majority became distracted thus did not complete the recall. As Grant set up Guinness in one corner, the teacher snapped a lead on him and whispered, “We need to be able to catch him.” Grant positioned himself in the far corner, and loudly summoned with determination, “Guinness, Come!” He rocketed directly to Grant, dropped his rear on the floor, looked into Grant’s eyes; Grant proclaimed, “Yes!”; fed him, clipped on his leash, praised him again with “Yes!” and treated him a second time while the entire room cheered. The teacher complimented Guinness while removing her lead. Loudly enough for the entire class to hear, Grant annunciated, “Oh ye of little faith.”