DoglessDogShow

Sailor here. Mom went to a dog show over the weekend and as she was closing the gate to my dog yard, I gave her the most woeful look. SHE FORGOT THE DOG! She had explained beforehand that I had to stay home because dogs are allowed at dog shows only if they are being shown. I was hoping she�d change her mind, but this was not to be. For consolation, I dosed in the sun and remembered my dog show days when I gaited around the ring and got treats and won ribbons. Just as I was running out of memories, Mom returned home smelling enticingly like collies and Siberian huskies, grooming spray and liver treats, a new leather tab for my collar, and tuna fish.

�Was the sushi used for Siberian bait?� I asked, remembering Zoe�s latest adventure in the pet store.

�No, Sailor, � Mom told me, �It was lunch.�

Oh.

Mom sat on the floor, took me into her lap, and told me all about the Obedience classes at the dog show. She was especially interested in seeing how things were done in Nervous A since her goal is to enter me in the Nervous A class sometime this year. She said that I knew how to do all the exercises; we just had to refine our approach. Then she got out the clicker and treats.

Oboy! I love clicker training! She put me in a down-stay and waited. I waited. No click, no treat. I jumped up and took a bow. No click, no treat. I lay down. �Good dog,� she said, but no click was forthcoming. I wagged. No treat. Then, discouraged, I rolled over on my hip. Click! Treat! After only three tries, I figured out that Mom clicked and treated me when I rolled onto one of my hips. She also clicked and treated when I rolled onto the other hip. Mom laughed and when she said, �Roll,� and I rolled onto one of my hips. Jackpot! Whoopee � this was really fun. She says that she will teach me to tuck and roll so I will be steadier on the long down-stay. I looked at her in surprise.

�You�re going to upholster me?� I asked with some trepidation.

�Sailor, not exactly, � Mom said. �You�ll have to wait and see. It has something to do with your paw, but I�m not going to teach you the Tuck until you�ve mastered the Roll.�

I think I remember something about the Tuck and Roll, or was it the Roll and Tuck, at dog school last Saturday. Mrs. Dogs-On-The-Inside demonstrated this with one of her flat coats and Mom thought it was the neatest thing. Mom says the Tuck is the next installment in my training; I guess I will have to just wait and see how this transpires.

Not so surprisingly, the other fallout from the dog show was dog hair, mine. It�s falling out. I seem to be shedding a lot lately since the weather has changed. Getting out the spray bottle and long pin brush, Mom brushed me within an inch of my life, especially my kilt, an exercise of which I am not too fond. She used to call this part of my fur my �trousers,� but I pointed out that �kilt� is a much more dignified name for fur of Scottish heritage, so kilt it became. I guess all those gorgeous collies at the dog show inspired her. I could do with a little less inspiration and a bit more treats myself, though.

Mom told me that she was excited because not only do I know the Nervous A exercises, but I know some of the more advanced ones, too. I can do the stand for exam and the moving stand for exam perfectly. These are my favorites. They�re Mom�s favorites, too.

I know the signal exercises, too, but only at close range. With these, Mom says we�ve had a problem adding distance because adding distance is, well, adding distance and it�s difficult. She finds me creeping toward her on her hand signal Down when she increases the distance. I know this exercise so well that I know precisely how far from Mom I need to be. Mom says this isn�t exactly the idea. She says that this distance has to be increased, so she will slowly teach me to stand and sit to her signals while she backs up in small steps. Since the signal is given from about 40 feet away and if I learn to stay in the same spot to stand and sit at the rate of six inches every week, Mom says it will take me about a year and a half to get it.

Can you believe how Mom�s brain works? Mine was swimming just listening to her; then she threw all this math into the equation and further boggled my mind. Where does she come up with all this? She does like to measure things, to be sure, but I think she�s going to get a bit bored and tired with these six-inch increments. Maybe this is why she has been giving me signals when I stand on the curb. Maybe I will fool her and not creep by leaps and bounds.

Rubbing my ears, Mom said she made some new friends at the dog show, shook hands with some really important collie people, and traded funny Obedience Trial stories. Her favorite was the story about the basset hound who was sent on a directed retrieve, I think she called it, to pick up a glove. He ran to the correct glove, but instead picked up his ear and brought it back to the handler. Imagine gales of laughter here.

Mom�s second funniest story was about the miniature Poodle doing the retrieve over the high jump. I forget what this exercise is called. The Poodle�s handler threw the dumbbell over the jump and sent the Poodle to bring it back. The Poodle jumped over the jump, picked up the dumbbell, returned over the jump, and came to a perfect front. Instead of giving the handler the dumbbell, though, she suddenly wheeled around, jumped back over the jump carrying the dumbbell and returned it to its original position on the far side of the obstacle. More gales of laughter.

Mom has started re-reading Morgan Spector�s book, Clicker Training for Obedience. She reads avidly with great purpose. She mumbles and nods, makes questioning sounds, hums and whispers, �Aha.� She gives me piercing looks. She herself looks analytical and seems to be in her problem-solving mode.

I think Mom is going to run a tighter ship around here for her Sailor. I am not sure if I�m going to like it.

Sailor who thinks he is tight enough already, unless cookies are involved