Friday, May 28, 2010

Tues. Nite Class

Tuesday night Ike and I had class. We missed the last two weeks due to the show in Maine and a sick dog. I was nervous because we were in the midst of a heat wave and my little black dog does not like the heat. The daytime temperature was 87 degrees, but class is at 7pm and it was definitely a little cooler. Class has moved outside for the season and the course had lots of fun elements.

Regardless of the heat, Ike was a rockstar! I neglected to write down the course map or bring my Flip (drat!). Kathleen did shoot a video of Ike on her Blackberry because she wanted to show me just how fast we were both moving. She said she didn’t think she had ever seen me moving so fast with Carmie or Bug and Ike was running in full extension. I definitely think it is the new way I am thinking about running courses and the things we have been working on the past few months with Ike.

Ike had a stunning running dogwalk almost all night. He really maintained great drive and speed for the majority of the class, even in the heat. I brought a rabbit lined pouch to toss and feed him treats from. It worked okay, but his beard got stuck in the Velcro and he acted a little leery of it once or twice. Kathleen recommended getting a small Tupperware container filled with treats to toss and allow him to eat from. A classmate happened to have one on hand she was willing to let me try. It worked really well so I will need to pick one up this weekend. I was also thinking I could buy some small jars of baby food and toss those – as long as I don’t hit my dog!

I did catch myself saying “Ooops” once and it was totally at me, not my dog. But how is he supposed to know that? (Demotivator!) I also caught myself saying “go, go, go” to Ike on the dog walk later in the night when he was slowing down. Kathleen commented that not only am I diluting the power of “go,” but I am basically just saying “c’mon.” I know, I know. Bad habits are so hard to break, it helps that I hear myself say it, notice it, and Kathleen reminds me NOT to do it.

During the last run of the night the next class had arrived and some people were walking around the field. Ike had just started doing a set of twelve weaves when he noticed a guy walking a big Doberman and stopped to look at them. Kathleen said she could see why trialing was tough for him – he gets very worried about other dogs. Ike space bubble is really quite large if he doesn’t know you.

It was a super class. Ike was so happy and engaged. I went into class thinking perhaps I should talk to Kathleen about taking the summer off after our class two weeks ago (Ike was hot, tired, and slow). Instead I have decided Ike either had an off night (we all have them) or was still tired from Gettysburg. He is enjoying class too much to stop, even if it is hot! ;-)

3 comments:

Sara said...

Yay Ike! We skipped class this week due to the heat. Good for you for going out there, and having fun despite the weather.

I just bought a new treat/tug dispensing toy that I am going to try with Oreo. Although, a tupperware container would have been a lot cheaper! LOL.

Diana said...

Wow, sounds like you guys rocked!! Yea. Diana

101mutts said...

Congratulations!
Is class still indoors? And can we see the video?