Back to Work & Loving It!

I got to see my kids again. Twice, actually.   And Mom worked up a really cool lesson plan for both days.  The idea was to let the kids read some of a book called, "The Kid's Book to a Happy Puppy.", or something like that.  They were supposed to read about how to handle a dog (Me!) to make the dog feel happy and loved.  (What could go wrong with a subject like that?).  Then we would move on to giving commands and training me to do a trick.  (There are some I don't know too well yet.  Like I'm not real good at staying in a sit or down for more than about 3 seconds.)

We all sat in a circle with the kids around me.  One of them would read and I would sit near the reader.  That was to encourage them in case they would be afraid to read.  They were almost all of them pretty eager to read to me.  I think that had something to do with how adorable I am.

I wish we could take pictures.  It was so cute how they all tried to cuddle with me while we did the reading.  But I found some pictures that give you the idea of how it felt.

And did I enjoy it?  You better believe it!

It was kinda sad, though.  Because except for one of the boys, all the others had a hard time reading words that were more than 4 letters.  I could tell Mom was a little thrown off.  We only managed to read two pages in the half hour.  In fact, she stopped the reading and instead, Mrs. Joy (she's the neat gal who helps Mom when we go to school), read a book that had 50 Ways to Make Your Dog Smile.  She would read one way, and one of the kids would practice it.  Like rubbing me behind my ears.  MMMMMM, this was even better than reading.

But I knew Mom was a little surprised and disappointed.  So we talked about it, and decided for the next time to make some index cards with the things she wanted them to know.  They would still read them, but she used easier words than the book.  She said that they really needed to practice, and they needed to feel that they did well when they would read.  So the next time, that's what we did for the first half of the class.  And during that time, they learned how to give me a command.

But THEN, we had a real fun surprise for the kids.  (And it wasn't bad for me either!)  The kids got to make treat bags so they would have treats ready to give me when they would give me a command.  Mom brought golf socks that didn't have matches.  (She had a lot of them thanks to me!  (I ate a lot of golf socks when I was younger.  But only one from each pair.)  She would roll them over in half and then attach them to their pockets with those clips they use for lots of paper.  It was pretty cool. 

She also showed them how to make a different kind of treat bag with the bottom of a water bottle.  Those were better than the socks because they would stay open and be easier for the kids to get to the treats.  (And the faster to give them to me.)  But they weren't as pretty as the socks.  Mom has lots of colorful socks.

Little Rosa was really creative and she wrapped her sock around one of the water bottle bottoms.  Now she had a pretty treat bag that stayed open!  Mom was pretty amazed that she thought of that and gave her a big hug.  I gave her a big kiss!

But the best part was the ending.  They all had a turn to give me a command.  Either Sit, Shake or Down.  Then they would give me a treat from their treat bags.  I got a little confused and sometimes I did all three - just to be sure.  I think they were going to give me a treat whether I did it right or not!

I think my kids are really liking me now.  And I really like them.  I kissed as many of them as I could. 

Hope you have fun things to do like I do.

Love, G