Week 2 - Review

Huh...?

*scratches head*

Yesterday was one of those days when I really kinda felt like I wasted my money - sad to say.

Have you ever gone from a small class learning whatever and gone to a really big class learning whatever and witnessed the teacher running around with her head cut off? That was exactly what it felt like. :O

We started off with heelwork - which was fun, except it was at a lower level than I'm used to. That was OK, because I knew that would be an issue before I signed up with this class. This is a lower level class than the one I completed back in December.

They were just practicing footwork when stopping, which uh-erm... (is boring).

Next we did figure-eights. We had a group of three where I stood, so I stood for the two other people and then grabbed my dog for our turn. By then the teacher was right there rushing us. She said she would stand there and watch. And she watched us go exactly ONE time around (as in I was just completing the eight) when she stopped me and told me "You did that really well" (which we didn't, Jacks was forging and I put my hand back to guide him back into place, mondo points off in show ring, OK?) and told me to work on keeping my pace up and regular throughout.

I was like OK and wanted to try again (as the other people did two times around for practice), but ACK! She moved on to the next exercise - which was still more practicing footwork with sits (boring).

Then the topper was when she wanted everyone to do fronts with the front machine. She leant me her front machine (which is a wooden board glued or nailed to three little blocks of wood) and proceeded to show me how to use a clicker to get him to TOUCH the surface with a toe or whatever. Jacks danced around the board (like I thought he would) trying to get at the food in her hand.

Then she told me to practice fronts - suggesting I could continue to work on the board or do them regular.

I felt like it would have been too rude to shove the stupid board aside after she leant it to us, and I figured I might as well make a show of trying to show Jacks how to get on it.

And my way of doing that btw is reverting to a 'force' (pushed the board up to a wall and stood on the other side with the treat in my right hand to lure him up on the board between me and the wall) and the already taught word 'hupp' (which he knows means I want him to get up on something). After three or four 'touches', he got up on the board.

The episode (including her doing the clicker 'touch' thing with my dog) took about five minutes. I was THINKING about moving on to do at least one regular front (far, far away from the stupid board), when I heard the teacher gathering everyone's attention and moving on to something else.

Oh!

And that something else was 'moving from the stand exercise back to the heeling exercise to set up and heel around the room'. Should have been fun, right?

It almost was, except I was flustered (still dwelling on the fact I didn't get to work on fronts).

He stood/stayed and then I released him and moved him out. Only I forgot the setup part and tried heeling him around the room. I was called back and did a makeshift setup and then heel. But it bothered me that we didn't do it exactly right. So I was hoping for a second try.

But yep - that was when she moved on to something else. Practicing fasts....

And later on she mentioned how she wanted people to think about teaching their dogs tricks to loosen them up between exercises. Then she came up to me and suggested I go on this website to teach my dog a hundred things to do with a box.
Which is fine, because I think teaching your dogs tricks is FUN. But I was trying to figure out why she made a special trip over to me just to tell me. My dog does tricks. *weeps* We aren't slackers in that territory. And yes, I'm thinking about going through our repertoire of tricks in next class. Just because. We aren't slackers. At. All.

*sits down and sulks*

And yes, I know this post makes me sound like one of those know-it-alls who complain about having to read Tom Sawyer (a book about a eleven year old) in eleventh grade (when you are sixteen and really want to be reading about people your age). <- Yes, I sulked-dourly about that too.

The good news is we did get stays in there and Jacks STAYED!!!!!!! <- Yes, line of eps are absolutely evocative and necessary.

I'm also thinking that getting him over to a fun match this week might make me feel a lot better. I MIGHT DO IT.

If my car is safe to drive to either X or Y (both locations which are nearly an hour away from my house).