This weekend, the puppies had homework to do. They learned "this way" in class on Thursday, and we were supposed to practice it with distractions. Specifically, we were supposed to go to the beach and practice since there are plenty of distracting things on the beach- like birds and dead fish, not to mention the seaweed and seashells. The puppies didn't realize we were going to do anything other than just play in the yard today, and were not very motivated to do homework.

We were all a little tired in the first part of the day, so it was naps all around, but in the afternoon, the weather was just too nice to stay home. So off we went to work on their homework. The puppies surprise us sometimes with how observant they are, and today Mr. M surprised us. We don't usually wear our normal shoes in the house. We wear our house shoes, or the shoes that we use to take them outside. I put on some normal shoes to get the car ready to go, and Mr. M noticed them as soon as I walked out of the bedroom. He looked at my shoes, smelled them and started wagging his tail frantically. He knew right then that we were going somewhere. Once the harness bag came out, they all got excited.
When they realized that we were headed for the beach, they got super happy. Miss M started whining a little in the back once she saw the water at the seawall- she loves the beach and couldn't wait to get there.

There were plenty of distractions to practice their homework. Mr. M found a dead fish and immediately picked it up. He was so proud of his treasure, and so disappointed when we made him drop it and move on. There were plenty of distracting people that we had to walk past, and even a dog that was off-leash and decided to come running up to our puppies. That dog's people were not too far away and had to come over to us to get the dog to leave our puppies alone. Dad fussed at them and told them that their dog was supposed to be on a leash.

It was a very good day at the beach. The puppies had a great walk. There were plenty of distractions, but there were plenty of fun things to smell and see that were okay to smell and see. 
As an aside, before I had dogs, I used to hate it when I would go somewhere like the beach and then almost step in dog poop that someone had left behind. Now that I have dogs, I hate that even more. Seriously. You may like your dog and have to deal with its poop, but nobody else wants to deal with your dog poop. Whenever we go out, we keep waste bags handy so that we can pick up after them. It takes a little bit of effort, but it's not that difficult. You just pick up the poop with a bag and throw it away. How hard is that? We passed quite a few little poop piles on the beach today. I suspect that they were from dogs belonging to tourists or inconsiderate people from the city who think that nature is one big puppy toilet. I think that we should be taught more about respecting nature in school.

You never know what you are going to find when you go to the beach. You half expect the usual suspects: seaweed, jelly fish, crabs, dead fish, etc. You don't expect cowboy boots just sitting around in the parking lot. I'm not sure how it got there all by itself, or where the other boot is. I wonder if its owner even realizes it is there. It should have been our first clue that there would be  more distractions at the beach than normal.

We weren't planning on taking the puppies to the beach until tomorrow, but the weather was nice and they were all relatively calm this morning, so we decided to go ahead and go. It was probably good that they were in a calm mood because we saw all kinds of things they haven't seen before.

Our puppies are very good at noticing when things are different. The boot was definitely something they hadn't seen at the beach before. After slowing down to check out the boot, we continued on to the beach. We went a different direction than we normally go, and they perked right up when we saw a very large, very dead fish on the sand. They really really wanted to check it out and we really really didn't want to let them. So we kept on walking, much to their dismay, 
We saw a jelly fish that they wanted to play with- thankfully just one of the big squishy not so stingy kind. Usually we get the Portuguese Man of War type with the long blue tentacles that stretch behind them that will still sting your feet if you step on them in the sand. This was not that kind, which was a good thing since Miss M and Miss S were both licking it before we realized what it was.
We saw quite a few fish carcasses/ frames this time, and a couple more squishy jelly fish. There was vegetation that had washed in that Miss M and Mr. C both tried to carry along with them for a while. We saw several dogs- some of them not on leashes, and a few people. We didn't take a break to dig in the sand because we wanted to get back to the car before the sun started going down. It was in the upper 50's, but we knew that once it was dark, it would cool down quickly.
We paused briefly at the picnic area for Mom to take a picture, and then we were on our way. It was a fun day, and the puppies wore themselves out trying to check out all of the distracting things on the beach. They fell asleep in the car and didn't wake up until we were home.

Being on a leash is not the same as being on a leash with a person on the other end of it. I firmly believe that as a pit bull owner, you should keep your dog on a leash at all times if you are not in your own yard. I say this not because I think pit bulls are inherently vicious or that they cannot be trusted off-leash. I say this because I think that there are a lot of people who can't be trusted around pit bulls and who are just looking for an excuse to take out their own aggression on your unsuspecting dog. 
That being said, sometimes you can have one of those moments where you just shake your head and ask yourself what just happened.
We had one of those moments last time we took the puppies to the beach. Mr. C and Miss B love the beach. They had been there about three times already and know the smells and sounds of it. So, when we arrived at the beach, they were ready to go. We got the littles out of the middle row seat and were standing there with them on their leashes getting everything put away in the car so that we could take the big puppies out and head over to the water. Normally, when we open the back, we are both standing there to get them out, but Dad opened the back without making sure that Mom was right there. Before he even knew what had happened, both of them flew out of the SUV and started running toward the beach. Mom turned around just in time to see them running through the parking lot toward the path over to the beach, dragging their leashes behind them. 
Apparently, we haven't worked with them enough on coming when called with distractions present. We watched in horror as they trotted quickly away from us. We followed them, but they knew right where they wanted to go- and it wasn't the parking lot. We watched as they trotted together out of the parking lot, across the street, down the boardwalk and over the dunes. Once we got across the street with the littles, Mom handed their leashes to Dad and took off running after the big puppies. By the time she got over the dunes and through the vegetation, she saw them all the down at the water's edge. There was a group of people gathered on the beach for a nature lesson, but Miss B and Mr. C weren't interested in them. They wanted to go to the beach. Mom called them and they both came running with big pit bull smiles on their faces. They came running over, tails wagging, as if to say, "Look, Mom. We did it all by ourselves." As soon as they got to her, Mom quickly grabbed hold of their leashes. 
The park ranger who had been leading the nature lesson came over, and Mom apologized profusely for them running around without a person on the other end of their leashes- which were still firmly attached to their harnesses. The park ranger was very understanding of their high energy nature and was just glad that Mom and Dad were there.
The whole experience was a wake up call. You can't get complacent. Miss B and Mr. C are very sheltered. Mom and Dad work hard to keep them out of situations that have the potential of not ending well. The people that they get to visit with are people who Mom and Dad think won't hurt them or try to trick them into doing something that will get them in trouble. As a result, Mr. C and Miss B think that everyone they see wants to say hi to them and get puppy kisses. They think that the beach is really just a separate part of their own back yard. They know all about the beach, so of course Mom and Dad would let them run free- just like the regular back yard, right? Mom was tempted to load them back into the car and drive them straight home, but the innocent, happy look on their faces changed her mind. They seemed truly proud of themselves for going right where Mom and Dad wanted them to go.
We've decided that we need to change how we get them out of the car. Opening up the back without having them sit and stay first is apparently a bad idea. Usually, we tell them several times to sit-stay as we open the car and then grab their leashes right away. Not doing this was a mistake. We have also decided that we have to work harder on their training. We were training quite a bit at first, but somehow the training kind of slowed down. So we need to pick that back up again.
Having a leash on is not the same as being on a leash with a person on the other end. Even the most diligent puppy parent can have lapses in judgement or moments in which they aren't paying as much attention as they should be. It has to be an ongoing campaign to stay focused. Puppies are full of energy and are curious and mischievous by nature. You have to be one step ahead of them and be quick to intervene when they look like they may get out of hand.