Bella Class: Week 5

Last night was chilly but there was no sign of rain so Bella and I loaded up to go to class. When we got to trainer guys house however, it was dark and there was no sign of anyone else. I was only about 15 minutes early, my usual time to arrive. I checked the date on my phone, yep it was Tuesday and yes it was nearly 7pm. ‘Did I not get a phone call that class had been cancelled’ I began to wonder. I decided to wait around for a few to see if anyone else showed up. A few minutes later two other cars pulled up and parked, ok so I wasn’t the only one here...We waited another few minutes and finally trainer guy came out of the house. Whew! I didn’t hear his reason for not being out there but it really didn’t matter as long as he was there now and it had only just turned 7.

Unfortunately for Bell and I things didn’t go so well. She seemed to have ADD and I had PMS so it wasn’t a good combination at all. Last night was focused more on hand signals. We learned to train the down, sit, come and heel hand signals and how to train them. Bella was very antsy and despite my best efforts to remain calm I grew frustrated. She was doing well with her “stand” however, that was one that we really worked on in the beginning.

I did work on a new method I learned for teaching her to “back” and it seemed to work pretty well. We just need lots of practice. The trainer guy gave me a few new suggestions for teaching her to get closer and to move away so again we need lots of practice with those.

At the end of class we did a few heeling patterns. I was reprimanded for pulling on the leash too much, but again Bella had ADD and was not paying attention to me at all. She was more interested in everyone else and sniffing the ground. Trainer guy said the nylon slip collar that I was using isn’t a good choice because it doesn’t give a correction, it gets tight but doesn’t release so all I can effectively do is “choke that poor puppy out”. He gave me kudos for trying to move away from the prong collar but suggested I try a martingale style collar instead. He loaned me one to use for the remainder of class to try it out. It seemed ok so now I have to go get one of those from somewhere.

Overall class was rough last night and I realize that it was my fault for getting frustrated. I’m sure she was picking up on that which was in turn making her increasingly more antsy. I need to try again tonight with some training and work harder to keep it fun and positive for both of us.

The great news that came out of last night is that due to all of the rain and canceled classes; we get a free round of classes! Next week is supposed to be our last class that we paid for, but it is also the week his new classes are supposed to start. He said that due to this fact and that he felt bad for having to cancel so many times (even though it was beyond his control) he said that we can keep coming for that entire class and not have to pay! That is so awesome!!! Starting next Wednesday we are going to do the Rally Obedience class so this means we will get two nights of classes each week!!! I am pretty excited at that.