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Welcome to The Levi and Cooper Chronicles. I'm the 'Cooper' and my baby brother is the 'Levi.' We're not siblings in the literal sense of the word. He's a miniature schnauzer and I'm a miniature poodle but our differences go far beyond our breed. You see, I'm the famous angel dog who blogs from the Rainbow Bridge. Well, not famous down on earth but up here in doggie heaven all canines get to do whatever we like and I like blogging. We dogaroons up here can also gaze down through the magic water under the bridge and keep tabs on our humans. Isn't that cool! After I discovered the magic water, I decided that little Levi---who got adopted into the family shortly after my departure from earth---could use a guardian angel. When he blogs he types in pink and when I put my two cents worth in I type in blue.
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Saturday, July 12, 2008

Second Puppy Obedience Class

Levi's second obedience class went well, especially the first fifteen minutes when Mom and Levi practiced the 'settling' exercise while they listened to the instructor lecture. One of the things the trainer stressed was the importance of interrupting puppies at play with little obedience tasks and then letting them go back to play. The theory is that as puppies grow into adolescences they will be less apt to ignore or avoid owners when they are playing with other dogs or headed toward danger if they have learned that obeying their humans does not necessarily mean an end to having fun.

The second fifteen minutes of class was a combination of play time and grabbing a puppy by the collar---anyone's puppy---and having him or her do a couple of 'sits' before releasing the tyke to play again. It was a mass of humans and four-legged kids running around, the puppies having a great time and the humans looking like they were in a catch-the-greased-pig contest. Well, not quite THAT bad but you know how I like to exaggerate.

The third fifteen minutes of class was demonstrations on how to teach the 'stay' and 'down' commands followed by the last fifteen minutes of demonstrations on how to start puppies walking on a leash. The instructor used Levi for the demonstration and he did wonderfully. Can you tell I'm a proud big brother? The idea was to only go 2-3 feet at a time and then stop, 'sit' before going again. If the puppies pull on the leashes then the humans are suppose to turn and go the opposite direction.

A few days after the class Mom was feeling so confident that she had Levi under control while walking on a leash that she decided to take him and Dad out on a nature trail near by. How hard could it be to push a wheelchair and heel a dog at the same time? Harder than it looks, she decided. There were so many things Levi had never seen before---bicycles, joggers and other family pets not to mention the dam, river, swans, ducks, poison ivy, bugs and grass taller than him. The ragtag trio only got about a quarter of a mile along the river before turning around and coming back. Poor Mom, now she's resigned to taking them both separately until Levi masters ignoring distractions while practicing his obedience lessons.

Well, I've got to go find my angel brother. He's taking me a Zen Living class. It sounds boring to me but Jason says tonight's discussion will be particularly interesting. They're going to discuss, 'do dogs have a Buddha nature.'

"Of course we do!" I told him as soon has he had finished barking out the title.

"You may be right," Jason replied after a long, drawn-out pause. "Or you may be wrong. But answers giving without meditation are unacceptable." Then he winked at me! I can never tell if he's being serious or pulling my leg. All I know is he's one of the most respected angel trainers up here---even if he does talk in riddles half the time---so I listen when he speaks. ©

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11 comments:

Lacy said...

w00f's levi and angel Cooper...looks like puppy training iz going pawsome fur levi..pssst angel cooper, ya wanna haff a poker game tonite at the bridge??

b safe,
~rocky~

Georgeous said...

Hi Cooper, firstly, enjoy the meditation. I'm sure you've done it many times on the earth realm, but, there is always more insight to gain. I often get given time to 'reflect' on my actions...
Secondly, Levi will learn all about you're skin folks being the 'leaders' of the pack at a young age doing the play distraction/settle, so, by the time he's an adolescent, he'll be one of those perfect boys I hear my Mum talk about. (as she takes charge trying NOT to let me, the behind boy, do as I like)
Love 'n' Sparkles to all at the bridge.
George

the many Bs said...

it sounds like little Levi is doing good in his training. we knew he would. he's a smart kiddo and he wants to be a good boy, right?!

walking in the park with tons of distractions sounds like a good challenge. we wish our mom would do that with us. sadly, we are relegated to the dog park - just kidding - we love that place.

woofs!

River said...

Hi Levi & angel Cooper! Thanks for visiting my blog. My mom majored in languages in college and finds it fascinating and wonderful what your mom does for your dad. Puppy class sounds great--very logical for little doggies.

love & wags,
River

Latte said...

Levi, hope you can learn not to be distracted fast so that your little pack can go for nice long walks soon :)

Molly the Airedale said...

It sounds like Levi's training is coming along nicely!
Your mom will get the park walks figured out. Give her a wee bit more time!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Abby said...

Hi, Cooper & Levi...

Sounds like both Levi's Puppy Training & your Angel Training is going well...

Hope Levi is ready for those family walks really soon...

Abby xxxooo

Anonymous said...

I wish we could get our dog to learn from the puppy classes we took her and she just yelled the place down

Joe Stains said...

It takes a while, I am nine and I still don't ignore distractions :)

i said...

Sounds like Levi is going to have loads of fun with his classes there! Can't blame him though, parks are always full of wonderful things to discover.

Anonymous said...

Hi Levi and angel Cooper, I'm soo glad that Levi has came on leaps and bounds with his training.
You Cooper are sooo pawsome always looking out for Levi.

lots of licks

xox