Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Una and me

In Una's obedience class last night, we refined some things we'd already learned.

This particular session, only four dogs were present. Una is one of only three dogs who have perfect attendance in class.

We started by working on "heel" again, and went around the gym having them do the command at different paces, starting and stopping. When we stopped, they were supposed to sit neatly next to us. Easier said than done!

For some reason, even though she'd been doing it perfectly at home, Una was distracted.

I suppose it's understandable, given all the distractions: the multitude of other dogs and other dogs' smells. She always starts off the evening with her nose plastered to the floor, more intent on what she's picking up than what I'm telling her. When we went fast, she even tried jumping on me, which she's never done at home.

She always chooses to do this sort of thing in front of one of the stricter assistants, the same one who chided me once for "letting Una walk me." She stopped me and gave me instructions, and I weakly asserted that "She's fine at home." The assistant said she understood; that dogs get distracted in class.

I suppose it's good, though, to practice in all sorts of circumstances, since Una has to learn to obey me, no matter what.

After the initial excitement wore off, she became very well behaved, once more the star pupil. We learned a new technique with "heel": making circles to the left or to the right. This was a challenge, I'll admit. It was harder to turn left than to turn left, because Una had to stick really close to me, since she walks on my left side. But after a couple tries, she seemed to get the hang of it.

Then we worked on sitting for examination. In this exercise, you have your dog sit and stay, and then a stranger, the instructor or the assistants, comes up and touches the dog on the head and back. Una did pretty good with this; one time, her butt popped up and I had to get her to sit again. Otherwise, she was patient and good.

When we weren't working on that, we were supposed to practice "sit and stay" with distractions. Una is getting really good at this, which is a good thing.

Then we got out our long leashes and worked on recalling them from a "sit and stay" position. Like last week, we concentrated on getting them to sit once they got to us. I misunderstood initially and thought they were supposed to sit without being given a command. As soon as I learned you could just say "sit," we did very well.

We did this several different times, in front of the instructor and one of the assistants, and they said she was doing well.

Then we recalled them from a "sit and down" position, and she did just as well. For a challenge, we then returned to recalling them from a "sit and stay" position. This is something that our instructor says she wouldn't normally ask of a beginning class, since it's so confusing, but she told us that our dogs are doing well enough to handle it.

Finally, the last thing we worked on was a one-minute "sit and stay" and a one-minute "down and stay." We gave the dogs the command and then got as far away as we felt comfortable. The instructor watched a stop watch and then gave us the signal to return to our dogs and release them.

Una did exceptionally well, except for one time that she tried to follow me, probably because we'd just been working on having her come to me after sitting and staying. She was anticipating I'd give her that command again.

At the end of the class, the instructor praised us for how well we were doing. She told us next week would be graduation and told us what to expect. There would be some lessons, and at the end we'd get a preview of the novice class, which involves more advanced obedience training, including some tricks like jumps. She said that if we want to, we can try some small jumps with our dogs.

Then she told us she'd recommend all of our dogs advance to the novice class if we want to. It's a shame, though, the timing doesn't work for me. The class is at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, which conflicts with my regular work assignments. As it is, with the beginner's class, I've been starting my assignments a little late.

Maybe there will be another opportunity down the line. In the meantime, I'll continue to work with Una and have The Gryphon work with her, so that she refines what she's learned and becomes a model citizen.

In related news, my sister was telling me that her dog, Emma, is now taking obedience lesssons. She's taking individualized instruction in her home with a trainer, because Emma doesn't get along well with other dogs and wouldn't do well in a class setting.

My sister said that in the first lesson, they worked on basic things like "sit" and walking politely. It will fun to see how well our dogs do the next time we get together.

More Musings on Una's Obedience Classes

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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