Baby Steps

Last night was agility class night, and it was just Bandit and I this time, since Marc didn't feel like going. A lot of it was review stuff still, but we did get to go over the whole dogwalk this time, which was new for us. Bandit just flew over that thing.

We have two instructors in the class - Dorothy, who taught our SPCA classes and knows us, and Steve, who's new to us. Steve totally thinks Bandit is a girl. Even after I say "Good Boy!" after an exercise, he still refers to the dog as "she." A lot of people still think he's a girl even though his name is Bandit. I didn't think it was really a girly name, but I guess it is. Or maybe people think we named our girl dog "Bandit" like some people name their daughters "Charlie." Who knows.

We made some progress on socializing yesterday too. There's a lot of little kids in this class, and one of them is this 6 year old boy. We were in line behind them, and the kid was squatting and petting another dog. Bandit actually went up to him and sniffed his ear. I had a good hold on his leash, but I didn't want to pull him away and make him think it was a bad thing to do (I'd been popping treats into his mouth every time the kid had walked by). And he did fine! He continued to sniff the kid's head, and the boy was really good, he stayed still and let Bandit sniff him. I thanked the kid afterwards. A few minutes later, Bandit even let the kid pet him on the head, which is HUGE for him and kids. I've never seen him let a child that small touch him before, nevermind pet him on top of the head. He also let a strange man pet him on the head too, and this guy was even standing. I think being around other dogs definitely helps him feel more confident and at ease. It was really nice progress!

It was pretty late by the time I got home, but Marc waited for me for dinner, and we went and ate at Denny's because we were lazy. Then it was TV for a bit, and time to snooze!

Marc told me this morning that I was singing the Chicken of the Sea song in my sleep. I don't remember dreaming about tuna. Wierd.