Good Medicine

Well, since I posted about Lucy's frisbee talents and aspirations, I wanted to spread the word about what Mr. Ricardo has been up to!

This weekend, Ricky and I were so excited to attend our first Therapy Dog Preparation Class.

Fermin snapped a photo of us as were were about to be on our way!

The class is held at different places- sometimes the bookstore, sometimes a park, and sometimes, Dog City Training Center, which is where Ricky's class was this Saturday.

Ricky and Lucy had taken a Puppy Headstart class there when they were just babies.

Lucy and Ricky's first class at Dog City Training Center

Back then, they were the smallest, and the youngest in class.

Back when Ricky was the little, new kid on the block

I'm pretty sure Ricky remembered the place because he was so excited when we first got there!  For a second, I thought, "Uh oh.  These people are going to think I'm insane that I think my dog could ever be calm enough to be a therapy dog."

But within just a few minutes, Ricky realized what was expected of him now that he was an older, and wiser kid in class. 

Although Ricky is no longer the smallest dog in class, he is still the youngest.  The instructor was talking about how a dog knowing a few tricks is fun for the people that therapy dogs go out to visit.  She went around our circle and asked people if their dogs knew any tricks.  A few of them said they knew "shake", or "down", and were working on a few others.  When she came to me, I said, "He knows "beg", and "say your prayers", ..." and then I found myself just sort of trailing off and not finishing my sentence.  BECAUSE it would have been one, big, super long, run on sentence.  I realized then, I think for the first time, that Ricky knows so many tricks!  So many that I would've felt embarrassed to rattle them all off.  Like a bragging parent.  Anyway, I am bragging now.  And for that I sort of apologize.  But OH!  My boy is a smartypants!   

The class was so fun.  All the stuff we worked on, like being calm around other dogs and people in close proximity, just felt like fun games!  We played a dog version of musical chairs, and a game where we had to stay in either a sit or down position on a tic tac toe grid with other dogs all around us. 

Ricky did great.  I was so proud of how well he did on his first day!  I know someday soon he is going to be a great therapy dog. 

Day 1- Therapy Dog Prep Class

Day 1- Puppy Headstart