Seeing Stars

My terrier and I completed a six-week obedience class. I've had terriers for about 20 years now, but this Wee One is the smartest. He proved it again by the end of the class.

By the way, I also get more comments on him than any other dog ever. He's literally stopped traffic more than once. No, he hadn't run into the road; I was walking him on the sidewalk, cars stopped, the drivers rolled down their windows and yelled out questions about him, and the backup began honking.

So last night, the instructor put us through our "clicker paces," and then whipped out a stopwatch: Time to compete and see who did their commands the fastest. The winner of each step, would get a star. My 8.8 pound Parson Russell terrier blew away the competition. Here's a rundown:

Position changes: Wimsy 24.31 seconds (beating the second-fastest time by nearly 10 seconds; the pooches did sit, down, and stand repeatedly and in random order given by the instructor.)

Stay: Wimsy 46.28 seconds (beating the runner up by 14 seconds)

Distance Stay: Wimsy (I walked as far as I could walk at the end of a long paddock.)

Recall: Wimsy 2.47 seconds (He was a blur!)

Leave It, with an open hand: Wimsy

Attention: Wimsy 8.82 seconds (more than a second longer than the #2 dog)

A sweet chocolate lab beat him on three events, but by the time the competition was over, Wims' head was full of stars. He'd finished first in all the other events. This dog is as brilliant as he is cute.