Back to Obedience

I almost forget to write about our second trip to obedience class. The first one went well but I had a lot of stress in my life so I lacked focus and it really came across in our performance. Chili knew I wasn’t myself, and took advantage whenever she could. Not this time, this time, I was ready. My head was on straight and I was ready to have fun. That’s right, have fun. Obedience doesn’t have to be about ‘showing the dog whose boss’ or ‘taking control’. Once your head goes in that direction, I think you’re starting in the negative. Start from fun, and go from there. You’ll both get more out of it.

We had a lot going for us in this class. We were focused; it stayed light out till late so we could work outside; Connective Training is located by a school where there are obstacles, things to jump on, and a field; and best of all, we had a great trainer and a great group of people and dogs. The trainers’ style is key to a great class. Michele has a calm way of dealing with incidents and challenges immediately, without any negativity. She makes every experience a learning experience for everyone. She also realizes that we’re all different so she doesn’t try to apply the same set of rules to everyone.

Chili loves to perform. She realized ‘it was on’ and she gave it her all. I forget sometimes just how trained she is overall. I find when I’m working so closely with her, I don’t see her focus and sharpness anymore. I think she’s being good but I’m missing just how good she is. One of the evenings Michele used her as a demo dog to demonstrate what she was about to teach us. I was in awe watching them. I didn’t want the demo to stop. You could see how much fun Chili was having. She was tuned into everything Michele did and everything she asked. The sharpness of her body movements was beautiful. I was so proud of her.

On another night, we switched dogs. I took a moment to watch the other owner working with Chili. At first the owner was a little tentative. Having 80lbs of Boxweiler enthusiasm running towards you can be intimidating. However, once she saw that it was all positive, again, it was great to watch them. I really do love working with Chili and I really do love watching other people working with her. You get to see things from a whole other perspective and it’s so rewarding. I think it’s great that she can happily work with other people and not just me. She should be comfortable with others.

I hope I don’t ever forget the value of working with my dog. Life and routines sometimes get in the way and somehow there doesn’t seem to be time for anything else. Although going to training, any kind of training, is great, even 5 or 10 minutes just working on obedience in the driveway will do. One thing I can count on is Chili. She’ll always remind me that we’re not working together enough and pull out The Bratty Dog when life starts to distract me.