Day 259

Sanity did a better than average job of helping me teach a week 5 lesson this morning. It was for the former wild Doberman male that started just six short weeks ago. What a total difference in this fellow. He is doing great and his owner is so very pleased with his progress.

One of the things Sanity did a good job with was the stand. Not the stand for exam that is done in the obedience ring, but one that is way more important. The very one that used to be a problem all of a sudden stopped being a problem and is looking good. I'm talking about the stand and brace and the stand and pull. In the first case, she has to come straight up from a down position into a full and solid stand so I can use her shoulders to push my self up into a standing position. In the second case, she has to come straight up from a down at heel and move to a position that is in front of me and sideways. Then she has to lean away from me as hard as she can while I put my hands on her shoulders and hips and pull myself up into a standing position.

In both cases, Sanity did what was needed without a single mistake. Wonder of wonders, she didn't dump me on the ground just to see what would happen. It was a great demonstration and one that helped put the stand into proper context for my student. She will have to work on getting her boy to be way more stable before she can start with the brace or the pull part, but now she has a goal.

Then when the lesson was over she was kind enough to put out articles for me. Sanity actually went out and picked out the correct article two times in a row. And this with the wind a'blowing and the other dogs trying to get in the way. I will continue to work with three articles for the time being.

In class, the best thing happened. The new meds I am taking made it possible for me to work in Diane's class for almost the entire lesson. It was totally wonderful. Sanity and I have so much work to do where heeling is concerned. Her recalls and stays and retrieve on the flat are all in good order. Since the class was working on the UKC version of a recall it meant the dogs had to be introduced to the jump. They were all running around the room and taking the jump with their dogs. No way could I do that, so one of my very best students offered to handle Sanity for me. I said yes and off they went to do the running and jumping. We all agreed that he really looked good with a Doberman beside him. Best part, she handled the change of handlers with great aplomb and then had no problem doing a recall over said jump.

Of course, when it came time to do articles, her attitude was why bother? But we managed to muddle through.

Tyler, or should I say whiner? Since he was stuck on the sidelines he thought he would just practice whining. I think he will be practicing sideline sitting a lot for a while. Patience and silence are not his strongest suits just yet.