Apple Goes Out to Eat!

In honor of Apple's graduation and his upcoming birthday (Jan. 29) we took him on his very first trip to a dog-friendly restaurant. The particular restaurant we chose was Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar & Restaurant, because in addition to allowing dogs on their patio, they also have a dog menu that you can order from. 

Steven and I have been planning this event for a long time. We decided we wanted to take him out to eat for graduation when he first started the class in October. Even though his graduation was delayed, it worked out pretty well to go in January because we could combine the celebration to include his birthday as well.

We let him wear his birthday bandana a little early!

Apple's first restaurant experience went very well. For most of the evening, we were the only ones out on the patio, so there were no other dogs to distract him. He was very good about having to be tethered for a while, and I brought plenty of things in my Dog Mom Apron to distract him when he had to wait. 

Ready to eat!

I had a black bean and cheese quesadilla, Steven ate a hamburger, and Apple had the Canine Kahuna, a grilled chicken breast cut up into chunks with a dog bowl of ice on the side. The whole meal, including chips and salsa, was only $18.84, which is a completely amazing price for two people and a dog, especially downtown. The dog meals are really cheap--the Canine Kahuna was $2, and the dog dish of ice was free, so there is definitely no cost deterrent to bringing your dog out to Lucy's for a fun night out on the town.

Apple enjoying his "Chilly Pup," a dish of ice

Our first dog-friendly restaurant experience was definitely a good one. It is really exciting to go somewhere that actually provides food for dogs, as most dog-friendly eateries just allow them on the patio to sit and wait while the humans dine. Apple is probably not ready to go to a super-crowded human-food-only restaurant like the super-popular Freddie's, but I'm sure we will be making our way back to Lucy's in the future to work up to more challenging restaurant situations.

If you have a dog (or even if you don't), you should definitely check out Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar & Restaurant at 506 West Avenue in Downtown Austin. The food is great, the price is incredible, and your dog can eat out in style.

Apple Graduates!

I am very pleased to announce that Apple finally graduated from his training class today! Today's class ended up being a lot harder than I expected. but he did amazingly and passed the test in order to get his certificate, and many more dog treats!

Actual graduation pictures with diploma in hand!

 During today's class, we did some things that Apple had never even done before. We started off by doing basic commands in the training space, and practiced heeling off-leash, and then we went out into the main part of the store. One thing that is kind of awesome about training in PETCO is that there are so many distractions in the store that it provides a very good indicator of your dogs behavior in a "real world" environment. We walked him around on the leash, and I must say, I'm going to upgrade his walking and on-leash behavior grades from B's to A's, because he was so well behaved!!!

One of the new things we did was that our trainer had us put him in a "stay" in the store and then one of us would go off and hide somewhere and then call him, and he had to not only remain in the "stay" while we were gone, but he also had to come find us. The final test was for the trainer to take him out alone in the store and leave him in a "stay," which he actually was able to do! People (and dogs) were walking around the store, and Apple was just chillin' on the ground, being a model citizen. Some of the people were (understandably) a little shocked to see a big black dog just lying on the floor unattended, but he did exactly what he was supposed to do and stayed in his spot.

Another amazing thing he did today was "stay" in a "down" position while the trainer laid food all around him in a circle. Apple is extremely food motivated, so it is really a feat for him to lie still when there is food all around him. Then, she would tell him which ones were okay to eat and when. Sometimes he ate the wrong ones, but by the last time, he did it perfectly!

We are going to be taking Apple to a restaurant that serves meals to both humans and dogs in honor of his graduation and his upcoming birthday. I will be sure to post about our experience!

Graduation "Deferration"

Today, Steven and I took Apple to his training class at PETCO for what we expected would be his graduation. We even took some pictures beforehand to commemorate the event:

Yes, sometimes I humanize my dog. I'm a Dog Mom.

I wondered to myself if it was bad luck to take the graduation pictures before we had the certificate in hand, but I reassured myself that I too took preemptive grad photos and I ended up just fine. Maybe I should have thought again. Apple's trainer forgot about our class and went out of town....so we had our own personal training session (which he aced) and then left with some free treats and another week to wait for graduation day.

Apple first started taking a training class at PETCO in October. He got to start in an advanced class because he already knew the basic class commands, and he was doing really well. In four weeks, he had mastered many commands such as "wait," "leave it," "down," "stay," etc. Then, two weeks before our would-be graduation date (November 11) our trainer stopped working at PETCO and we had to wait for the new trainer to be certified.

The interesting thing about the new trainer is that she was waiting on her PETCO certification, but she already had experience training attack dogs. We finally got to start with her in December, but the holidays delayed our graduation even further, and the month-long break we had to take from class caused Apple to regress a bit in the areas that we didn't fully master. Because of that, we attended more than just 2 more classes. We did 3 or 4 before we got the green light to graduate today. 

I should be happy though, because Apple is ready to graduate, and he will be ready next week, too. The main thing he had to work on with the new trainer was loose-leash walking or "heeling" which he was terrible at, and was completely necessary because he is so heavy and strong. There have been many times I thought he would pull my arm out of the socket pulling me on his leash. By doing a combination of different tactics from pushing him up against a wall (not so fun) to luring him with treats (much more fun) we finally got him to walk appropriately and he is much better behaved.

He has learned a lot of valuable things in the class; its just too bad we had so many delays to actually finishing it. Luckily, the class is really inexpensive as far as training goes. We paid $99 once for the class and the extra sessions were free for us.

In honor of his graduation, I wanted to give him some "grades" in this blog. Even though we don't have the certificate today, I am still going to do it.

Basic Commands: A
Walking on Leash: B
Off-Leash Behavior: A+
On-Leash Behavior: B-
Intelligence/Games: A
Attention Span: B-
Mouthing Inhibition: B- (note: not aggressive biting)
Barking: B
Ability to Settle: C
 
He is very smart and responds to commands very well, but he still needs some work in areas that require him to be focused and calm. That's his main problem in areas like barking and mouthing/bite inhibition--when he gets worked up or excited, he has difficulty controlling himself, but a lot of that comes with age. He never bites out of aggression, but gets in states sometimes where he tries to mouth at us and is spazzing out on the ground because his gums hurt and he can't control himself. 

I have been noticing occasional glimpses of better self-control from him with his 1st birthday coming up soon. However, I have also noticed that he is getting increasingly protective of us with age, so barking has recently become more of a struggle than it was before. 

Hopefully, Apple will be an official graduate next Sunday. I'll keep you posted!