Bella Obedience Class: Week 10

After skipping obedience class last week I was a bit worried about what I had missed, and being behind of the others; apparently it wasn’t too much, we were able to keep up with everyone else without any issues. There was a new dog there last night though, he looked like a little Chi/Doxie mix or something, he was an odd looking little fellow and apparently Bella agreed because at first she refused to take her eyes off of him and refused to cooperate with me! She just keep staring at him for some reason, not with any aggression just like she wanted to check it out and see what he was. Finally I took her to the other end of the yard and started drilling her on her heel work and some of the stuff she knows to get her attention back. After a few minutes of this we were back on track.

She is really developing a nice strut while we are heeling. I’ve learned to hold the treat in my hand above my waist so she keeps her focus in just the right place so she can watch me and maintain a great position at my side. She does this little strut that is hard to describe but it looks great when she does it! I’m really going to work on developing this further as it will look flashy in the Rally and Obedience ring and should score us some points.

She is still having some major issues with her stay. I had to hand her off to an observer while we did another partners exercise that required one set of dogs to maintain a down stay. But at least in Rally there really isn’t much need for the stay at first so I have time to work on that later. At least she seemed to not totally freak out when she was left with a stranger. That was probably better for her right now than trying to work on her stay anyway.

One of the main things we worked on last night was the recall. One by one Trainer Guy had us go out in front of the group, place our dogs in a sit/stay and walk to the other end of the yard before calling them to come. To my relief Bella waited patiently for her command to come and when I gave it she rocketed to me at a full gallop! That is really great because that is exactly what you want to see. Trainer Guy said he was really impressed by all of the dogs in class and their recalls.

Next week is our final class for this round of obedience. I am currently trying to decide if I want to try the Agility class that will begin the following week after Rally class ends or if I want to take a break to focus on the Rally stuff since we will be showing in that soon. On one hand I want to try Agility to see if it will help boost Bella’s confidence and I really don’t want to wait another couple of months for a new round of classes to begin. However, I also don’t want to keep throwing too much at her all at once. Still, I’m leaning towards taking the class, at least with Agility there shouldn’t be too much homework involved since we don’t have a course in our back yard. Rally class is supposed to end this week, but it is also supposed to rain tonight so I guess I’ll have to wait and see what happens. Either way I still have at least another week to think about the Agility class.