Delilah and I started a new class.
Rally.
I’ve heard so many people tell me how easily I could Title Delilah in the sport of Rally. Let me go on the record as saying Delilah could probably Title in Rally, I just wonder if I’m the right person for the job.
I’m not just self-deprecating (VBP.) Have you ever looked at a Rally sign?
Those are just a few of the NOVICE signs.
WTF?
The first night of class I stood and stared at the top two for about five minutes trying to figure out just exactly what I was supposed to do.
Delilah was no help, she was raiding the treat bag while I was reading.
Arianne came over to help us out and it took me most of the class to really get it.
We practiced heeling and stopping. When I’m heeling my dog and I stop, I expect my dog to sit.
And she does, she just sits in such a manner that her body is turned so she’s facing me. She’s not sitting by my side.
I asked Arianne how to fix that.
There’s a trick to this folks.
And the trick is this. Some of us (ME) keep our treats close to our sides because we want a nice close heel with our dogs, which is why Delilah tends to be facing me when I stop.
In order to correct this, when you stop, you actually move your treat hand away from your body, this will automatically correct the sit.
I kid you not.
Notice how my hand is a good distance from my body.
The other thing I’ve been doing incorrectly is holding the leash in my left hand. You probably already know this, but humor me for a minute, you actually have better control of your dog with your leash in the opposite hand of the side you are heeling on.
Why?
Because if I’m heeling my dog on the left with the leash in my left hand and my dog decides to lunge, my right hand has a way to go in order to grab the leash. If my leash is in my right hand and my dog lunges my left hand is already there and can quickly reach out and assist my right hand.
See why I think Delilah is doomed? I don’t even know the proper way to hold her leash, how can I give her the proper signals and set her up to succeed?
We’re participating in the Vocabulary Building Project blog hop, hosted by Texas, A Cat in New York, Savannah’s Paw Tracks, and Hey It’s Jet Here.
Check out the other participating blogs and see how you can increase your vocabulary.
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