A few weeks ago in class, Shane slammed into the A-frame with his shoulder, so I took him to the chiropractor. I told her about the Early Take-Off Syndrome, so she took a look at his eyes and noticed a rough patch on his right cornea. Curious. She also told me that Shane carries a lot of tension in his shoulders. She's a horse woman and told me that if a horse has a stiff shoulder, they tend to lunge forward when they jump rather than arc. Shane has a tendency to do that as well, so I have to work on relaxing his shoulders. She said something that is still rattling around in my head. "Not every dog has the build to be a champion." So even with the best intention and training, sometimes our bodies just don't have it. I'm just glad that NADAC has so many things you can do without jumping, so we'll still have fun.
Irony
One morning on my walk with Maggie, a woman asked me if I was training someone's dog or was she mine. I said she's mine and then she asked me "didn't you used to have two shelties?" I had to tell her that they passed away. It's funny that I've gone from being the woman with the out-of-control shelties to the woman who trains dogs.
Perfect 10
A few weeks ago, my trainer asked us to rate our walks on a scale of 1 to 10. I remember answering "1" several months ago, but this time I felt more like a "6." Shane still went nuts around his trigger houses. The other day, I put on the Easy Walker and we headed out. It was a perfect walk. Shane stayed by my side the entire time and did not react once. The smile on his face staring up at me just melted my heart. I finally got a "10."
Leave It
My new favorite command. Shane turns on a dime.
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