I graduated my Older Puppy/Beginner class tonight. The holidays took a heavy toll on the students – only a few made it through the 11 weeks (normal class is 8 weeks long, but 3 classes got preempted by holidays).
I am exceedingly proud of the students who held out to the end. Their dogs showed incredible improvement. Tonight they wowed me with their loose leash walking, sits, downs, stays, and general good manners.
They have additional reason to be proud – two of the under 1 year old crowd passed their AKC STAR Puppy test. We also did an AKC CGC Evaluation for some of the students tonight – one pass and one very close miss. Just a tiny bit too much joy at greeting the other dog. She’ll nail it next time, though.
Teaching classes is an honor and a great pleasure. I’m delighted with how hard people work with their dogs. It’s a joy to help them learn more about training and all things canine.