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| MOM SHOWS OFF Part 2 |
| Mom said we were entered in Sub-Nervous. I thought about this and concluded that that was just where we belonged. She was Nervous, I was Sub-nervous. My goal was to dispense with Nervous entirely, but Mom wasn�t cooperating. Wasn�t this an obedience match? Didn�t Mom have to be obedient? Things brightened up considerably when Mom broke out the cheese. She and I took a few school turns around a shady path, but, still uncertain about Mom�s state of mind, I lagged. I felt hesitant. I felt unsure. Cheese helped only a little. Mom was still nervous. I overheard Mom say she worried about my long sit. She took me to the shade and sat me. She walked to the end of my leash and tugged me forward. I tugged me backward. She tugged. I tugged. That got me cheese. Then she walked behind me and just stood there, daring me to move. I didn�t dare. This sit was easier than last week when she let Zoe into the yard for my long sit and I had to stay put while Zoe jumped on me and played Growly Spithead on my ruff. �Number 16,� the tent man barked. We hurried over to the tent. �My name is Sailor,� I corrected him, sniffing by and following Mom into the ring. Mom says we got off to a rocky start, but the footing was grass and clover and a few bees, not rocks. She was not with it at all. �Heel,� she said, informing Alpha of the Clipboard what we were going to do first. I could smell Mom was nervous, and I didn�t want anything to jump on us from behind, so I figured out how to guard the rear and heel at the same time: I lagged. I was so clever. Mom was not pleased, however. I wasn�t supposed to lag. As I bumped into Mom on the left turn, I sniffed her pant leg and realized what we were doing. I came up with the perfect thing to say so Mom could relax and I could do my stuff. �Mom, this is just exactly like Dog School,� I panted, looking up into her face. Well, it wasn�t really like Dog School. A Mrs. Do You Have Any Questions had replaced Mrs. Dogs On The Inside, but I didn�t want Mom to know that. My ploy worked. Mom smiled, her shoulders came down, her stride lengthened into a good imitation of the one I have no trouble keeping up with, and she started having fun. I relaxed, my stride lengthened, and I did a great imitation of perfection at Dog School. We heeled and turned and sat and heeled and about-turned and sat. �POST!� barked Mrs. Do You Have Any Questions. Two women named Post ran into the ring and we heeled around them. Mom was obedient. I was great. And I was a joy to behold on the long sit. Mom said later that that 20-year sit at Mrs. Dogs On The Inside�s last dog school class really polished my sit-stay. I had to agree, but really, a 10-year one would have worked just as well. Our turn in the ring was over too soon. Mom was thrilled with me. I was thrilled with myself. And I was very pleased with Mom; she really got herself together in the nick of time. She received 157 � points out of 160, losing the 2� points on heeling when I lagged and then ran into her pant leg on the left turn. Our second foray into the obedience ring came after lunch. Mom�s lunch, that is, not mine. I don�t get lunch any more, and started to grumble about that as I sniffed her banana with envy. Mom pointed out that cheese made a great lunch and I had eaten enough cheese in the Sub-Nervous ring to qualify for half a lunch. The rest of my lunch, she said, was to come after our next class. �Sailor,� Mom said, upbeat and confident, �let�s have a great time in Nervous A.� �Oh no, not Nervous again?� I asked �Haven�t we gotten past that yet?� �The easy stuff will be off lead,� she said, �just like in dog school.� Great. The Recall, Front, and Finish would be so much easier naked. So would the Stand for Exam. This ring had a different Alpha with a longer pedigree than the last one. Her name was Mrs. This Is Novice-A Do You Have Any Questions. I wondered how she was able to register THAT name on her AKC form. �Shhhh,� Mom whispered, �Here we go.� (to be continued) |
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