Yippee Tippi!!

Hi everyone, Tippi here.


I’m a GRADUATE!!! We had a “mom & me” commencement weekend, because on SATURDAY, my mom got her MBA. And then TODAY, I got my certificate for Intermediate Obedience. I’m attaching some pictures.

It was fun. Myla had a bit of a rough day and I had to growl at her for a moment; her mom needs to work on her “big” voice…Because after that growl, *I* got my mom’s “big” voice and I straightened right up. What happened was that Bobbie, our teacher, let me “give a speech” and I got a whole cracker to myself. Well. There’s some serious scraps of treats on Bobbie’s cart because I was “hoovering” them up like crazy even when mom told me to “leave it.” So Bobbie gave me a piece of the bone. Myla wanted it. I didn’t want to share. My mom said I don’t have to share food, but I do have to be polite – not sure what that meant, but I lifted my lip and growled at Myla. She’s only 6 months old and needs to mind her elders.

Me and Shallot ready to graduate

Shallot’s owner asked if I could sit next to her for our class picture, because Myla was snapping at Shallot. Shallot and my mom played, and don’t you know – Shallot got her FACE into my mom’s treat bag and snagged a treat. Now, Myla does that, but she’s a GSD with a big old nose – Shallot’s tiny, but she did get the treat, and I think she was laughing! My mom kept laughing because I guess it looked like I was going to sit ON her! Shallot and I did a really, really long “stay” – almost 10 minutes, waiting for Myla to get it together. I finally just laid down because my butt was getting sore sitting on the concrete floor!

It was very crowded in the PetSmart. Lots of dogs getting pictures with Santa and again, I really WAS “just saying hi” to the cats. They weren’t interested. Not even a hiss or anything. Bummer.


So our “Advanced” class starts in January, and then I’m going to take my CGC. Then I’m going to work with mom for Therapy Dog training. I think I may have to wear a jacket that says, “Don’t bother me, please – I’m in class” because lots of people wanted to say hi. I had a bit of a problem, because I really wanted to say hi back. Somehow, I think it was the full moon – mom kept saying I wasn’t “focused.”

Me with my graduation hat

But we did all the stuff we had to do and I got my diploma. And as you can see, I wore the funny hat. My mom has one just like it, but *I* have a red tassel. I think that means I’m special.

I'm also going to put a picture of our whole class on here. I'm not sure what happened to Elphie, the golden retriever, but no matter. The 3 of us are going on to Advanced and Bobbie says that it'll be good for Shallot and Myla to be in the class. They need the work and they need to mature, Bobbie says. I guess that means I'm already mature.

Our Graduating Class

Bobbie would like Shallot and me to take the "Tricky Dog" class. My dad thinks Quinn would be better at that, but maybe we could take it together. I'm already "pre-loaded" with some tricks. I can sit up, shake and speak. I used to "high five" but if I can get treats doing a shake, I figure I can just keep doing that.


Your friend, Tippi