Obedience Class Week 5: Chester is no dummy

Obligatory cute Chester photo

This week I was running a little late to meet Chester and Adam at Obedience Class. Apparently people don’t know how to drive in the rain. When I walked into the building, ten minutes after class started, I immediately noticed that it wasn’t our normal instructor. Instead, it was crazy owner lady that I had accosted me in the parking lot. GREAT. Luckily, Adam was fine with being the handler for the whole class (usually we switch at break time).

Chester did REALLY well at class! Other than the occasional lack of focus, he did great. He really can’t be blamed much for that though because his spot was right in front of the wall that the people watching sit along. When he was supposed to be sitting, there were two annoying little girls right behind him that kept giggling and distracting him. He also got distracted when he saw me for the first time, as I hadn’t seen and greeted him before class because I was late. At break time I went and said hi and then took him outside. He was really excited to see me! Seeing that curly little tail wag never gets old!

Tonight they worked on “sit, stay,” heeling, “Go say hi” when a visitor is over, partner heel (walking side by side with another dog and their owner), and spiral heeling (around cones). Chester was awesome at all of them. I really think he’s improved a lot since coming to these classes. He was one of the best, and didn’t have any bad reactions to the other dogs or over excitements. I was very proud of the little guy!

I had the opportunity to observe the whole class, so I really noticed a lot about the other dogs and their handlers. One of the handlers was all proud of how quickly her and her dog could go through the obstacle course. She didn’t take it seriously and wasn’t even paying attention to her dog through the “spiral cone” exercise – instead chatting with the other handlers waiting in line. As a result, her dog wasn’t anywhere near heeling her. He was a good 2-3 steps behind. The instructor was busy with the other group so she didn’t notice to say anything.

I know this shouldn’t annoy me so much, but it did. I just hate all the smug people in the class that think their dog is so perfect – if that’s the case, then why are you here? She’s the same one I overhear saying every class that she didn’t practice with her dog during the week. We don’t always practice every night like we should, but we practice. How else will your dog learn? And it’s her annoying kid and friend that always are laughing at Chester when he makes a mistake. Ugh.

I think the biggest thing we have to work on is “stay” and “wait.” He gets distracted really easily and will break his “stay” or “wait” if tempted. Chester and I were practicing Wednesday night, and I had Adam squeak his favorite toy and bounce a ball to distract him while I tried to keep him focused. He was doing really well with staying focused during that, so I just think it needs more practice and repetition. He’s definitely not dumb, but he is still a puppy!