Report Cards - 2009

Uh Oh… time for report cards.

Actually, given the hit and miss nature of their tuition over 2009, they didn’t do half bad. Not sure how interesting this will be to folks, but as I’m trying to keep better track of things, here it goes…

(click on the image if you want to see a readable version)

Beau: Beau’s report card is pretty much as I would have expected, mostly because he already knew the Primary School Curriculum except for the Just For Fun activities.

Family Dog and Core Studies - As I’ve mentioned before, he’s a great family dog in the house and his grades reflect that - straight A’s for both! Of course, as a six-year old dog, you would expect him to get A’s there!

Just For Fun – A. I haven’t posted what I mean by that yet, but it’s basically tricks, both useful and not. In the last few months, Beau has learned bow, roll over, how to push a door closed with his nose and how to pull a tissue out of a box (squeaked in under the wire on that one!)

Citizenship – Oh dear… Beau’s Achilles’ heel if there ever was one, despite his Canine Good Citizen Certificate. I didn’t really try to work with him on any of these, and not surprisingly he didn’t get better. Sometimes we just need to accept the dog we have, and my dog treats everyone as his Long Lost Best Friend. I suppose there are worse things than a dog who loves everyone.

Extra Curricular Activities – Yes, he got a ‘D’ for (lack of) eating and playing… the key problem being it must be done in public. I spent several years trying to “fix” this before Zachary arrived, sort of fixed the food problem with much effort (although I let it slide after he “retired”) and now I’m content to accept the dog I have. At least I knew he’ll never knock anyone down just to get their food or a toy!

Zachary: Zachary’s report card, also covering 2009, takes him from a 9-month-old puppy to just shy of two years old. Not surprisingly, I saw much growth in all areas during that time. He’s been in dog classes for pretty much the whole time - from a long run of Family Dog classes, to Agility, to Tricks for Fun, to Rally. What a busy boy!

His grades aren’t as good as Beau’s, but he hasn’t been working on this stuff for six years either.

Core Studies: A’s – although he still has troubles with attention. Ah, youth.

Family Member: Mostly A’s, with those that aren’t being a product of him being an active young dog still working on self-control. The jingling of a leash turns him into a whirling dervish, he squirms when being groomed, wiggles and paws while in the car, and loves his Uncle Beau so much that it’s sometimes hard for him to hear me telling him to give it a rest.

Citizenship: He’s actually pretty good. He’s not a pro at loose leash by any stretch of the imagination, but I can walk him on a thin leather leash hooked over a few fingers. He picked up one B as I just recently discovered he goes up short flights of stairs by taking them in a single bound – oops, my bad, never worked on that but it’s on the list now.

Extracurricular Activities: No problems, all A’s.

Just For Fun – He learned to weave between my legs, walk backwards, bow, push the “Easy” button, spin, shake, pull a laundry basket, unload the drier, and pull a tissue from a box. Not bad… not bad at all!

As the New Year dawns they move on to Middle School. I’ll try to post the curriculum in the next few days. I’m struggling with the wording/content of single line (under Extracurricular Activities) and once I settle on what I want, up it goes.

Happy New Year!