At our puppy obedience school, there's this four-year-old Peekapoo named Toby who has, for the first three sessions, been the class dunce. He's older than the other puppies, but just can't seem to stop barking at this Chocolate Lab. Toby's mom has to take Toby to the bathroom as a time out. Frequently. She spent the first classes shuttling him in and out of there.

I was embarrassed for her. Poor thing, I'd keep thinking. She's clearly an unfit mother. She doesn't care for her pooch like we do.

After our fourth class, I am not so embarrassed for her anymore.

Our sweet Mabel was the class dunce this week. The uncontrollable crazy pup. She'd bark and yelp, lunge and jump. She just wanted to play, and every bad habit she's ever exhibited came out in a 90-minute period.

It was interesting to be the parent of the trouble maker. Neither Chuck nor I were particularly troublesome as kids. As adults, we don't break a lot of rules. Well, not any rules that shouldn't be broken, anyway. So to be looked at by the other parents as I was looking at Toby's mom felt, well, odd.

I don't think it's a serious problem with Mabel. She is typically quite obedient and painfully sweet. But she is also extremely spirited. She loves everything and everyone. Every person and dog she meets is her new best friend, and she wants to experience them, and she wants them to experience her. I don't think that's a bad thing. I look at some of the other dogs who are so calm and sweet and while I am partially envious, I also think that I'd prefer Mabel, who is truly excited for life. These dogs seem passive to new experiences. I'm glad our little hellion wants to experience it all.

Funny/awful moment from last night. At the play portion, Mabel was relentless and put on a leash because she wouldn't leave the other, quieter dogs alone. We were talking about raw food diets, and I mentioned that we were doing that. We'd tried kibble, I said. It was fine, but this was better.

"Not to be too graphic," I said, as Mabel strained on her leash, which was being held by the guy who runs the class. "But her poo is much better on the raw diet. Much less, and no odor."

Mabel took this as an opportunity to show the entire class what I meant. She squatted and poo-ed. Like that was a perfectly normal thing to do in the middle of the room. Even though she's been trained for weeks and hasn't gone number two inside in five weeks.

We think it might be because she was on the leash and couldn't communicate, amid all the excitement, that she needed to go outside.

We hope so, anyway.