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Luna had her first day of canine training yesterday. She barked all the way there and I am pretty sure I am deaf in the right ear now. When we walked into the training facility, the guy checking us in called her “crazy pants”. She already has a nickname and it’s fitting.

The cats did not believe me when I shared that she would be away during the day for the next three weeks. They scoffed at me, called me a liar and hung close to the gate that separates the lower level from the kitchen. I told them that she would be well-behaved after this. Oreo, our resident alpha-bitch, squinted her eyes at me which meant, they will believe it when they see it. That’s fair. Oh, and to answer the question, I do talk to my pets and it isn’t weird.

I didn’t want to be the first parent to arrive for pickup, but I also didn’t want to have to wait. Decisions. I was the second one there and the instructor brought out their dog to the lady that arrived before me, explained what was worked on and demonstrated the technique. My turn was next. Not going to lie, I was a little nervous. Did Luna behave? Is she trainable? Is she the smartest dog in her class? Will they refund my money if she is too crazy? Now you are probably thrilled you don’t live inside of my head.

Anyway, he asked who I was picking up and I told him “Luna”. He said, “There are two. Which one is yours?”. I responded, “Which one did better today and I will take that one.” Kidding. Maybe. No, I am, kidding, that is. He chuckled and went to retrieve her. The lesson involved the command of “wait”. He told me that she did beautifully with basic commands and she is very eager to learn. Yeah! My girl is amazing. Don’t tell her I had doubts.

She came home and dramatically dropped herself to the floor. Exhaustion was her companion. I am not sure that I have ever seen her this quiet. At one point, I was convinced I broke her.

This is my first time at the training your dog rodeo. We have taken pride in our ill-mannered dogs, but Luna’s issues are beyond what we can handle. I already feel like we can see progress and honestly, it’s kind of nice to have a dog that actually listens to me.