Miss Tulip did it! She graduated from beginner puppy obedience! It was a very exciting moment in all of our lives. While she is not the best behaved dog I have ever encountered, she is actually pretty good most of the time. She sits all the time, including sometimes when you just look at her and she thinks you maybe want her to sit. She lays on command AND will stay laying for up to 30 minutes [mostly without protest]. If you had the [some maybe would say dubious] pleasure of meeting Tulip before puppy school, you know this is progress indeed!
Still no retrieving of tennis balls and she has developed a pogo stick habit which can be annoying and is quite difficult to curb, BUT I received the nicest compliments about her last week. First, she and I were walking to the park and she stopped and sat at the corner like she's supposed to before we cross a street. A woman was crossing the street towards us with her dog. Instead of creating a dog-dog introduction in the midst of Mag, I decided to test Tulip's patience and obedience. The dog approached, came all the way over and sniffed Tulip and she STAYED LIKE A CHAMP! Her little bottom bones stayed glued to the ground and while her tail was mightly protesting, she stayed sitting and just gazed up at me the entire time, waiting upon my release command. The woman with the dog exclaimed 'Wow-your dog is so good! That must have taken a lot of work!' It did, but it was worth the compliment!
Then, the next day, 2 of the hairstylists from the salon next to our house were sitting on their stoop. I was walking with Tulip and the girls stopped me and said 'You know, she has gotten so good! We used to die laughing everytime you walked by because she was such a tiny little thing pulling you so much it looked like a comic come to life. Now she just strolls along next to you and even sits and waits next to the car while you unload groceries or books!' Now this was seriously high priase because they really did laugh at us all the time. And rightfully so, because the sight of a baby Tulip pulling me around would have made me laugh too! And considering they see us walking/running with her at least twice a day, if not many more on the way into the car and such, they are pretty good judges of her improvement!
That said, she is still her lovely minxy self, still causing trouble at every possible turn!
Still no retrieving of tennis balls and she has developed a pogo stick habit which can be annoying and is quite difficult to curb, BUT I received the nicest compliments about her last week. First, she and I were walking to the park and she stopped and sat at the corner like she's supposed to before we cross a street. A woman was crossing the street towards us with her dog. Instead of creating a dog-dog introduction in the midst of Mag, I decided to test Tulip's patience and obedience. The dog approached, came all the way over and sniffed Tulip and she STAYED LIKE A CHAMP! Her little bottom bones stayed glued to the ground and while her tail was mightly protesting, she stayed sitting and just gazed up at me the entire time, waiting upon my release command. The woman with the dog exclaimed 'Wow-your dog is so good! That must have taken a lot of work!' It did, but it was worth the compliment!
Then, the next day, 2 of the hairstylists from the salon next to our house were sitting on their stoop. I was walking with Tulip and the girls stopped me and said 'You know, she has gotten so good! We used to die laughing everytime you walked by because she was such a tiny little thing pulling you so much it looked like a comic come to life. Now she just strolls along next to you and even sits and waits next to the car while you unload groceries or books!' Now this was seriously high priase because they really did laugh at us all the time. And rightfully so, because the sight of a baby Tulip pulling me around would have made me laugh too! And considering they see us walking/running with her at least twice a day, if not many more on the way into the car and such, they are pretty good judges of her improvement!
That said, she is still her lovely minxy self, still causing trouble at every possible turn!
