I'm A PAL

It's true! I am a good little buddy to almost everyone I meet. I'm a veritable charmer! However, now I’m also a PAL of a different sort: In yesterday's mail, my foster mom received letter from the American Kennel Club welcoming ME into their Purebred Alternative Listing Program. What that means is that the AKC concurs that I am, indeed, a Sheltie (as if there was any doubt - bark, bark, bark), and that I can participate in all kinds of performance events, though I'm really only interested in agility, obedience (now that would be something, wouldn’t it?) and maybe herding some day. Woo Hoo! I am set with my own PAL number. AKC here I come!

Speaking of agility, I had a breakthrough of sorts this week - and a well-timed one, I might add, given how frustrated I made my foster mom at that agility trial in Rochester last week. But that's ancient history, and I'm so glad my foster mom was willing to give me another chance! 

This week, my foster mom decided it was time to get me into an agility class - as a student - to see if I can behave around other dogs when I have something better to do; to show her that I like doing agility more than I like being a dork around other dogs. 

Before starting the class, my foster mom had a plan:

1) pick a small beginning class with non-aggressive dogs and understanding owners;

2) allow me to meet each dog (sniff their butt) before class AFTER I calmed down and only if the each owner agreed;

3) have someone standing in an opportune spot ready to squirt and scold me if I tried anything naughty;

4) give me HOT DOGS as rewards (Yum. I love hot dogs!).

Well, I am happy to report that things could not have gone better in my first agility class. Before we started our exercises, I got to meet Mira (a Portuguese Water Spaniel), Moka (a Lhasa Apso), Madge (a RAGOM "graduate"), Chloe (another small Sheltie), Milo (a Rat Terrier), and Tuula, (an English Springer Spaniel). What a great group of dogs, and I liked ALL of them! 

Once I finished greeting everyone, I could concentrate on class and doing the tunnel, the jumps and the ramp. What fun!  Zip here, race there and a fast guy like me was done. Darn that my turn was so short; I could have worked all day! But I guess it would have been rude not to let the other dogs have a chance, so when it wasn't my turn, I waited, albeit impatiently. 

But get this: I got to be a DEMO DOG during class because I am such a good jumper. Can you believe it? Me? In front of a group of dogs, showing them how to do something? Talk about awesome! I could tell my foster mom was super proud of me, and I needed only one squirt from the water bottle to remind me to behave. Miracles do happen!

It's a good thing Dr. Julia Tomlinson at Twin Cities Animal Rehab Clinic gave me a full physical evaluation yesterday and the thumbs up for doing agility because I'm going to try really hard to have a long and successful career. She did say I need to stay skinny, and I think I can do that because I am a pretty active little guy! But I do love those hot dogs. Do they come in a "diet" version?

I may be chewing on a bone, but I’m dreaming of agility!