The teacher at PetSmart told us that we need to put Cooper in social situations.  Mike doesn’t really believe in bringing dogs to events, restaurants, or other places, so when Shannon asked me to go to East Metro Park, I was pretty sure that was not somewhere that would be off limits.  In all reality, I don’t really want to deal with Cooper in the car, so I’m kind of OK not taking him anywhere.

Shannon’s dog, Pete, quickly taught Cooper how to get on the picnic table, which doesn’t really go with our policy of staying off the table, but I guess it’s not that big of a deal.

The two of them quickly tolerated each other, and had a lot of fun checking out ducks and exploring the area.

Cooper is pretty good, so I let him off the leash, which is really against the rules, but there wasn’t anyone else around. Shannon got to witness first hand how lazy Cooper is when he just randomly decided to lay down right in the middle of our walk.

After his park date, we took him to his puppy class.  Cooper hasn’t been in three weeks.  We were starting to think he may be a puppy school drop out.  We happen to go back to class on graduation night, but the teacher let us stay and take the final exam.  Cooper PASSED! Not only did he pass, I thought he was the valedictorian.  He sat, stayed, rolled over VERY SLOWLY, and did all the other tricks she required.  I was very proud of my baby!!! It was very cute. He got a certificate and got to wear a graduation cap for some pictures that really didn’t turn out. The teacher is going to let us retake the class and make up the classes we missed, so by the time we finish, he should be a well trained dog.