Dog Olympics

Today, I, Louis the 8 month old Newfie puppy, graduated from Basic Obedience. For the last day of class we had super fun Dog Olympics. There were four events: Heeling, Sit Stay, Recall and Down Stay. There were 14 dogs in my class including a Rhodesian Ridgeback, Labrador, Schnauzer, Golden Retriever, Irish Terrier, Standard Poodle, Rat Terrier, Pekinese, 2 Australian Shepherds and a few mixed breeds. There were some smart and talented dogs in my class - most of them were older than me.

The first event was Heeling. If it had been just regular heeling I would have won the Gold for sure. My attention is really good. I look at Mama 99% of the time (no lie) and I sit immediately whenever she stops walking without being signaled in any way. Also, I can do about turns really tight and super fast. But unfortunately, we were supposed to be having "fun" and it was a game of musical cones instead of a test of heeling skill. We lasted until the 9th round, but suddenly we were left without a cone to sit beside so we were out of the game without a medal.

The second event was the Sit Stay. This one was skill only...no games here, thank goodness. I sat forever as my mama continued to move farther and farther away from me. We were so focused on the exercise that we didn't even notice the other dogs quietly leaving the ring after they had broken the stay. The teacher was yelling random commands like "Come" and "Down" to try to confuse us, but I didn't fall for those tricks. Finally there was only one other dog left. The teacher clapped his hands really loud and the other dog immediately jumped to his feet. I didn't budge because Mama had told me to stay. After that Mama walked to me, released me and gave me a chunk of hot dog. She was saying something about me winning the Gold and being so proud, but I was just thinking how about some more of that yummy food.

The third event was the Recall. We had to stay at one end of the room with the teacher while our people walked about 80 feet away. Mama and I were first up. When she called me I ran as fast as I could to her. When I got close she told me to sit and I sat perfectly straight in front of her. Then she gave me the around signal and I trotted behind her and sat very straight beside her. Then I got my delicious hot dog. I'll do this all day long for food...plus it is pretty fun. The teacher announced to the class "There's your competition" after we did our run. And it turns out that I had the best run of all the dogs. I won Gold again!

The fourth event was the Down Stay. It was basically a repeat of the sit stay with lots more distractions. I was very, very good and stayed until all the other dogs broke their stays. I didn't budge until Mama released me. So, I won Gold AGAIN!!! More importantly, I got a big chunk of hot dog for that.

Me, the triple gold medalist, Wilbon's What a Wonderful World
(I look a little bit sleepy because I just put a lot of energy into winning these shiny medals)


I humbly accept my gold medals ;-)


Now not so humbly I will tell you all the truth. I beat Katie's record. She got two golds and one bronze when she went through this. The teacher asked Mama to remind him what Katie had won. Then the teacher (who only has male dogs) said "Well you know Boys Rule." Mama says they don't though, so I guess I'd better listen to her. After all she is the one who trained me and gives me all those yummy pieces of hot dog.

Here I am getting handsome before class...