Too bad there is no picture!

When Grant got into the car after work today, we leaned towards each other for a hello kiss. Guinness was in the back seat and simultaneously licked my cheek! What a lover.

One year, 6 mos., and 4 days

My handsome boy! But he isn't smiling in these pix. He would rather be chasing bunnies than posing.

Shocking!

Tonight, one of our exercises was to have our dog heel beside us while the teacher held a long lead. I told Guinness, “Let’s go,” and took off, reminding him “side” a few times as we walked down an aisle. He heeled perfectly – even better than when I have a leash on him!

One of our weekly exercises is to put the dog on a sit/stay with a treat in front of him, then call the dog to come and "leave it." This is futile with Guinness, so the teacher kneels on the floor and covers the treat with her hand at the last second. This week, instead of making a beeline to me, he walked around behind the teacher, making a circuitous route to me. I think he thought – “If I trick her, I can grab the treat.” The humans went into hysterics.

What we don't do for our dog!

We had to leave Guinness at the pet hotel this weekend while we partied with our family at a great niece’s wedding. He turned 1.5 years on Saturday, so we ordered an extra Yappy Hour Treat for him on that day.

If he stays in one of the regular kennel accommodations, he barks at all the other dogs and comes home hoarse. So we pay the extra bucks for him to lounge in a villa where he has 4 walls, decorations, a 4-poster bed, and a TV tuned to Animal Planet from 7 AM to 7 PM. On his last visit, he ate the mattress, so they said that he either cannot stay in villa or we have to pay $40 if he ruins another mattress. They refused to move the bed out of the villa for his stay, so I asked if they would remove the mattress and I would bring a substitute mattress. They agreed to that plan. From a glass store, I bought a thick Plexiglas sheet cut to the exact dimensions, for $100. They said it worked perfectly! Since it barely takes any space, they found a place to keep it until his next visit.

Class Clown

Tonight was our second Advanced class. Again, Guinness was the clown of the class. From across the room, we were to tell our dog to “sit,” “down,” and “stay.” Scooby was first. With coaxing, he got through the routine while Guinness was following the commands immediately as given by Scooby’s master. Guinness was next. He was eager to please and win his treat. He was a bit overeager, but he did what he was supposed to do. Last was Snorts. She sat as was ordered, then stood again instead of lying down. Guinness did “sit” and “down” as Snorts’ master dictated. In this picture, you can see the hand of Snorts’ master begging her lie down, and you can see that Guinness is intently paying attention and already had obeyed Snorts' master perfectly.

Cesar's Way

This morning, when we dropped Daddy off at his office at the Garden, Guinness and I took a stroll through the rose garden area. Guinness was ecstatic! He had a wonderful time sniffing new things in new places. As we approached the main building to exit to the parking lot, he jumped over the wall into the fountain. Apparently, he was very thirsty. We had to enter the foyer dripping wet.

He stayed in his crate while I went to my hair appointment. As I sat all morning, I read more of Cesar Milan’s book. I have not totally bought into his method yet. I know that some things he says are accurate, but I don’t think I have the personality or will to be the “calm assertive” master he advocates that dog owners must be to have “balanced” pets. He says that dogs do not have the capacity to love. What?! I disagree! One of my favorite dog books is Moussaieff’s Dogs Never Lie About Love. Then I read the indicators that your dog is the dominate member of your family pack: 1 – he jumps on you when you come home from work; 2 – he dashes through doorways before you; 3 – he awakens you at 6 AM to go potty. Reading that was very disheartening. If this is true, we will never be the leader of Guinness’s pack. In fact, we have never been the leader of any of our dog's pack. When I take Guinness for walks in a park, such as the Garden today, I put him on a 20 foot lead so that he can have fun smelling delights, have a bit of freedom, and do some running to gain more exercise than if he were to walk at my pace. But I read that that is the wrong thing to do! That allows him to dictate where we roam, placing him as leader of the pack.

My contentment with my dog was damaged. As we ran errands this afternoon, I decided that I needed to make him be on a down/stay each time I left the car to prevent him from trying to jump out with me and to impress upon him that I am the boss. For about 15 minutes, I knelt on the driver’s seat forcing him on a down/stay in the back seat over and over again. Every time I let go of the leash, he reacted like a jack-in-the-box! My left arm became tired from yanking on his leash, and my voice turned raspy. If anyone noticed us, I would hate to know what they were thinking! Finally, I pretended I didn’t notice that he jumped up, and went in the store. At Home Depot, I allowed him to go shopping with me. He was soooo excited. It took all of my reserve strength to lure him to walk with me without charging ahead at top speed. Even when I thought I had him under control, twice as we passed a shopper, he managed to lunge at them for a kiss -- startling for them and embarrassing for me! I expected to be kicked out at any moment.

Senior Student

Tonight Guinness began Petsmart’s Advanced Class. On the way, he jumped around the car refusing to stay in the back since he knew we were going to school. At the front door, we tried to do a “Wait,” but that lasted only a few seconds before he joyously charged. He greeted his teacher with frenzied delight and was more than thrilled to meet a new class member, ScoobyDoo, a darling 1 year old black cockapoo. ScoobyDoo was shy, and not especially pleased to meet a wild and crazy dog. Guinness was attracted to the open trash basket with a coffee cup inside. While trying to retrieve that, he tipped over the water bowl and soaked his teacher’s pantleg.

Then the third and final class member arrived: Snorts, a pug and fellow Intermetiate Level classmate. Guinness was beside himself with excitement. Once class finally began, he eagerly completed each routine with relative ease – better than his classmates, as if he were showing off. First, we were to put our dogs on a down/stay with a treat one foot in front of them; the owner was to command, “Leave it,” walk away with back to the dog, and the dog was to remain in a stay position until released. Guinness was the first to do this exercise. He stayed for a while, then grabbed the treat after the wait was too long. The other dogs had to be coaxed to be on a down/stay, but, as Guinness watched each one, he shifted from “sit” to “down” perfectly as the other masters commanded, all the while with his eyes intently on the other dog’s treat. Scooby didn’t care about his treat and never did eat it. Guinness was obsessed by that uneaten treat on the floor. He finally seized an opportunity to grab it while the teacher was talking about the next exercise. There were numerous times during the hour when Guinness had the class in stitches with his antics. We did an “obstacle” course around the store, stopping at stations to obey the printed commands: Leave it; Sit/Down/Stay/Sit; Stand/Stay; walk fast and slow; turn left and right, then repeat the circle. Guinness was very eager to please, but also found it necessary to sniff under all the shelves as we passed by. At one point, he nearly knocked over an end stand to retrieve a green object on the floor behind it. The prized object was a cat ball – too tiny to be safe in his mouth. Scooby and Snorts both needed cajoling to perform, while Guinness and I raced through the course. Once he was down, Scooby didn’t want to get up, and his master pulled him across the smooth floor still in a down position. While doing the side-by-side “loose leash” exercise, Guinness ignored his classmate beside him, as he was supposed to, but was seaching elsewhere for some fun. He spied a boxer down one aisle and was determined to meet the new friend. He was running so fast that his paws spun madly in place on the slippery floor as I held his leash.

How he can be the most unruly dog in the class, yet be the most obedient during the lessons? What a character!