The Sailing Scholarly Pup

Hi everyone! Sorry for my negligence in posting over the past week. Between my dad having surgery last Tuesday (all is well!) and my little brother turning 15 (getting his permit AND almost killing me driving the same day...) I've had quite the hectic week with no time for baking. There was, however, time for Gus! My family had signed Gus up for a six week puppy training class just to make sure we were doing things right with him --nothing too fancy just Petsmart. Last Friday marked Gus's sixth week and thus his graduation (if he passed his test). My mom and I had grand plans to prepare Gus for his test by thoroughly wearing him out prior to taking him to class, but it appeared that the atmosphere had different plans. The good old Florida summer thunderstorms are in full force, and we were restricted to staying in the house prior to Gus's test due to one of them paying us a not so friendly visit. Usually before class all of the puppies get to play with one another so we arrived extra early (a record setting 15 minutes!) to make sure Gus was able to get some of his pent up energy out. Well a new training class had started that week and was still in progress when we arrived which saddened Gus immensely. Long story short: we were left with a VERY ADD pup who was not too keen on listening or obeying any of our commands. Thankfully (no idea how it happened...ok he didn't do too badly but still...) Gus passed with a 98%! It definitely helped that he gained extra credit points for being able to shake and roll over (he's such a smart little boy!). At the end of the class, all of the puppies receive diplomas, goodie bags, and get to have a picture wearing their graduation cap (which is an entirely new story of Gus disliking things on his head, chin straps, and sitting still). Below you can see Gus's before and after pictures. The first is him on his first day of school (lunch box included...) and the other three are my failing attempts to capture Gus in his graduation cap.

We get two weeks off and then Gus starts his intermediate level classes (which will finish right before I go back to school) so in the mean time Gus decided to have some fun. My mom gave him a boat as his graduation gift (ok it was a pool raft, but I just wanted to not what a pampered pooch he is), and Chris and I were excited to get him in! Gus seemed to enjoy it greatly and looked incredibly adorable sailing around. We're planning on getting him an eye patch to go along with his pirate ship!! Check out some of the highlights of Captain Augustus's first sea voyage!

By the way, all of you Chi O's out there please take note of the fact that the boat is red and yellow AND there's a skull and cross bones on the sail! How cute is that? I have a little Chi O pup! Stay tuned for some baking entries coming soon (and stories about my second job: tutoring my absolute FAVORITE little kid EVER)!!