You Can All Him "Doctor Scotty" Now.

'Cause he just got his PhD in Advanced Awesome.

Yeah, he was worried. There were times when he just wanted to bark at the top of his lungs and pounce on the closest dog. But he didn't. Because he knew he wasn't supposed to. And he kicked ass.

Things he had to do:

• Meet a stranger without straining at the leash, jumping up on them or nuzzling their crotch. (Yeah, he can do that when he needs to.)
  
• Having a stranger hug him tight, mess with his feet and tail, and pet him roughly. (He didn't like the tail part, but he was patient about it.)
  
• Walk through a crowd of people, including wheelchairs. (No problem.)
• Walk on a loose leash, stop when I stop, and go when I go. (Psssh. We can do that in our sleep.)
  
• Sit on command. (Kindygarden stuff.)
  
• Lay down on command. (Um, slowly.)
  
• Sit and stay while I walk away. (Oops. A little wiggling at the end there. And he was so good at this!)
• Sit and stay, and then come when called even though he's getting petted by a friendly stranger. (Okay, but it seems rude to just leave her there...)
• Walk at my side while we meet someone with another dog on a leash. No crossing over to socialize. The point is to ignore the other dog. (As if! Scotty didn't cross over the invisible line of doom, but he really, really wanted to. And he whined like a baby.)
• Help diffuse an angry situation by staying calm while two people argue, and we encounter a third. (Scotty was a little freaked out by this, but tried to maintain. The evaluator noticed his stress.)
• Walk past a toy without taking it. (The "leave it" drill. We nailed it!)
• Act nice and gentle while being offered a treat. (He said "no thank you," but nicely).

Can you believe he passed? I know, me neither. Actually, he got a "Predictable" rating, which is passing, but not passing with an "A." It's like being a "C" student.

But then, do you know what they call someone who graduates last in his class at medical school?

Doctor.

That's right, baby.