Walter’s Joyful Journey, Week Two at School

Photo credit: National K-9

Doc says that her favorite thing about dogs is that they embrace the moment. We don’t worry about the past, stress about the future, or feel guilty about taking a nap after a busy day. No, I can find pure joy in the simple things like sniffing the grass or playing fetch with the tennis ball and that is exactly how I am approaching my second week of training at puppy school. I am having the time of my life.

Now don’t get me wrong, I miss Doc, but I am focused and on a mission. I want to become the best therapy dog that I can be so that I can help Doc’s patients and anyone else that needs to cuddle with a dog to ease their troubles. That is why I am trying to be a very good student and learn everything I can from the nice trainers at my school. To tell you the truth, learning new things is a lot of fun and being told by my handler that I am a “Good Boy!”  is the icing on the cake. So, with that being said, I am going to share with you the latest report they sent to Doc about my progress.

“Today we continued to fine tune his commands around various distractions. During these workouts he did an awesome job staying focused on his handler while completing his commands in a timely manner. We have started to implement his restraint skills with people interactions today and he is a Rockstar!”

I was so proud of this report that I almost forgot that they told me that Doc will pick me up next Monday. I will be so happy to see her, but before we leave, we will do an hour’s lesson together so that she is up to speed on what I have learned. Then we will come back for a few weeks for some more lessons to make sure we are working well as a team. You know, communication is the key to any good relationship.

Until next time, I hope you embrace the day and find joy in the simple things.