My Little Schoolgirl

Béla recently completed her 3rd dog course. She has yet another diploma, and has won yet another end-of-class challenge. The first challenge she won was a Sit-off. This was was a freaking obstacle course, WITH various focusing tasks thrown in! Nothing can shake her.

The class she just finished was coined 'Middle Management', a class designed for dogs that are young, in between 1-3 years, basically suffering from the 'Terrible Two's'....

The first class I enrolled her in was the highly-suggested Beginning Behavior course, located in the adoption center she hailed from. The second class, Agility - was also highly suggested, per people at various dog parks who witnessed her flying through the air.
*I would like to note that the wonder of those who have seen her fly is...er, noteable. One guy filmed her on his phone, from afar - and then told me he was going to play it off as his own dog!

Enrolling her is always exciting, as I cannot know what behaviors will come out or what useful information we'll leave with.

Attending class with her in the classes is always heart-stopping. I'm nervous, for both her and myself. I would like to come off looking smooth and suave as a parent/trainer, and I'd like her to look calm and accomplished.

I wonder how she feels when we jump in our jank car, heading somewhere other than an open green space. Does she think, 'Aw, mom, do we have to?', or is she happy to socialize and showcase her abilities?

As a youngster who was forced into some classes and begged herself into others, I am no stranger to the classroom. In my childhood, my mother enrolled me into the following classes/clubs:

Karate
Cooking
Swimming
Gymnastics
Ballet...& Tap...& Jazz
4-H
Sign Language
Brownies -- into Girl Scouts -- into, yes -- Junior Girl Scouts.  (That sash was FULL when my time there ended.)

Obviously, one or two of those sucked more than the others. The swimming thing didn't take. The whole hanging with livestock thing is but a bad memory. But my mom made sure I knew...if I wanted to do the good stuff, I had to put my time in with the geek stuff as well. No dance if I didn't go to 4-H that week. So every Wednesday, I pledged my hands to greater service, my heart to greater loyalty (oh God!, it's all coming back!).............so that I could shake it on the subsequent Monday and Tuesday.

I have enrolled Bela into the classes for the same reasons I believe my mom enrolled me.
I want her life to be so big! I want her to encounter so many different people [dogs], situations, places and things! I want her head to spin with the variety and spice of life!

While the classes are costly and time, too, is not free - I will continue to enroll her in various courses, over the years. I may have her dabble in dock-diving (I swear she would be so good!), try her hand at Tricks 101 and...maybe even take a paw-painting class.

(I'm kidding on that last one. I don't think such a class exists. If it does - people are more whacked than I thought.)