Tuesdays are my favorite day of the week now. In the morning, we have a class with Jane, who is one of the best instructors I've ever had. She takes the time to explain things to us individually. Even when she is criticizing, her comments are genuine and sometimes even funny! She makes me very relaxed. So much so, that I decided to work Shane over in the corner after class while the others were redoing the jump sequence. We went over contacts and did the weaves and not once did Shane even look like he was going to run towards the other dogs. I was feeling pretty good.
At behavior class Tuesday evening, the instructor had us all line up along one side of the driveway. Then she said to drop the leashes and walk away. Wow. I felt pretty confident about Shane, but not sure how the others would do. We walked about 50 feet away and then turned to face our dogs. Shane looked so happy. I was grinning from ear to ear.
Next the instructor started to tell people to release their dogs. Not me though. Next three dogs. Not me. Finally she said, all the rest of the dogs, except Shane. Whoa. He stayed there. She told me to go treat him. Wow. The emotions that ran through me were overwhelming. We did the exercise a few more times and my grin just kept getting bigger and bigger.
Next she had three dogs go to the end of the driveway while their owners walked to the other end of the driveway past all the dogs. While Shane was in a SitStay, the owners called their dogs who ran past Shane and he just sat there. She had all the other students release their dogs, but not me. Shane stayed the entire time. I was so overcome with happiness and it felt like a huge burden was released from me. I just broke down. He stayed still and I went back to treat him. I never thought I'd see something like that. True, there were no border collies in the batch and no agility equipment, but it's a start. I still get weepy thinking about it.
I love Tuesdays.
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