Trials (preferably without the tribulations)

Happy, happy dance!!! Ian is home from Grammy's. :-D

This summer has wreaked havoc with my training schedule. First I missed three weeks of classes due to ME training for my part-time job. I got one class in after my training ended, then my instructor was away at agility trials. I got one week in after that, and THEN Elli went into heat; we went to one class but Ian's brain was lodged firmly in his penis. Then we missed another class altogether while Ian spent time at Grammy's house. Goal of entering Ian in Open at the Saccarappa obedience trials in September? That's a big ole kiss goodbye.

Or is it?

I picked Ian up after work yesterday, and we went to class an hour later. I figured we were going back to the drawing board for a lot of stuff -- rust, plus him getting reacquainted with his doggy friends. Sure enough, first exercise, he went down on his sit-stay. I -- AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUGH!!

*Ahem* Ian here. Now, while Mom is picking up what's left of that box of tissues (little sisters are SO handy to blame things on), I would like to point out, in my own defense, that Thom went WELL over the three minute mark. I mean, *I* know how long the sit-stay is supposed to last. Is it my fault if the guy WITH THE WATCH can't tell time?

Bad dog! *grabs keyboard and wipes the drool off of it* Now, where was I? We did the stays first, then -- *reads above* Ian! It does not matter how long the exercise lasts! You're supposed to stay until I release you!!

ANYway, he did the down-stay just fine. Then we broke out the jumps and the dumbbell. Retrieving has never been Ian's favorite thing, so my expectations weren't very high. First we did the retrieve on the flat. Perfect the first time!! I always stop the exercise once he does it right; I've found that if I try to drill it after he's done it correctly, he starts to overthink it, figuring he must have done something wrong, because surely the stupid human wouldn't want him to just repeat himself. Ah, the curse of the thinking dog...

So on to the retrieve over the high jump. Perfect!! This time with a ruler-straight front and finish to boot! Woo-hoo!

On to the broad jump. This is still iffy -- he tends to want to cut the corner. And when the jump is only 20 inches wide to begin with, that's cutting off most of the jump. But anyway, I set him up and sent him over. Hat trick!! He did that jump correctly the first time too!!

Dare I hope that we'll be ready for Saccarappa after all?