Little funnies

I have realized I don't have time to post a novel or put this in proper story format right now, so I am going to just post Benny thoughts as they come to me.

Thought #1:
Ben began obedience school a couple of months ago. I signed him for classes at Petsmart (for the second time. The first time I got a refund because I decided to find a new home for him!) and off we went the first weekend of January.

Upon arriving at Petsmart (on a Saturday at noon) I realized maybe we should have picked a less busy time. Ben went nuts seeing all the other dogs and people. Worst, there was an adoption agency set up right outside of where classes are held with lots of dogs. I don't mean they were outside, like normal. They were RIGHT IN FRONT of the "classroom." Ben could not take the temptation of standing outside the room with so many dogs around and not playing. Thus, he took off toward the nearest rescue pup, a yellow lab mix named Andy. As he went from 0-60 in 5.2 seconds, he yanked my arm (with the leash firmly gripped n my hand) nearly out of its socket, racing across the tile floor to meet a new buddy. Upon reaching the dog, he promptly stopped, butt-sniffed (of course!) and commenced playtime. They wrestled for a minute, long enough for me to recover and chat with Andy's handler about him.

Within a minute or two, though, Ben's collar popped off. Maybe it was the strain of us pulling on it in opposite directions, or maybe it got loose during his playime, but whatever the case, it came flying off suddenly, in the middle of Doggy Central and in front of all these "dog pros." Upon realizing he was free, Ben took off again, careening around the circle of dogs and people gathered about, making the rounds of introduction by sniffing booties (human and dogs alike), and causing me to then chase after him, much like one trying to catch a sopping wet cat.

Needless to say, the instructor saw what she was in for before classes began. He was, by far, the most in-need of training of his classmates. Unfortunately, due to a car accident last weekend on the way to Petsmart, he has yet to graduate. I will see him do it though! We didn't go through all that for nothing!

Thought #2:
He is hilarious at the lake. We went yesterday to Falls Lake, and he ran and ran and ran till he was exhausted. As soon as he got off the leash, he sprinted off through the woods to the beach area, which is filled with heavy, reddish sand. Of course, getting filthy is priority #1.

I found some sticks to play fetch with. I threw them in water, getting progressively further and further from the shore, till he had to swim to get to them. However, being that he is not much for swimming, Ben stood on the shore and barked at the sticks for a full 5 minutes. He barked, and hopped straight up and down, and ran around in circles (in and out of the water) going nuts that he couldn't get to the stick. Finally, after I continued telling him "Get it! Go on. Just get it!" he was sufficiently egged on enough where he plunged into the water, forcing him to swim out to the stick and retrieve it. There's that Lab in him!

He's becoming more and more of a joy to have around, as he is learning when it is playtime and when it's not. So, one year into his life, he's starting to live up to his real name: Blessing.