ISO Kris - What? No class?

[K9 Owned]

I trotted over here expecting a Jarly class update.
Lunch bag let down.

[Krislady]

Here I am!

Been running like crazy trying to get ready for My Big Trip this afternoon - I'm heading out for NJ to get my mother-in-law Once And For All!

Anyway, yesterday's off-leash was . . . fairly successful.

We did more of the same - the stay, walk away thing. This time I did drop his actual leash, and it was No Big Deal.

We learned "finish right" - the dog is sitting in front of me, I tell him "around" and he walks AROUND my right side, behind me, and sits at my left side.

Not complicated at all, but there's a reason I was in the band and not the color guard.

We're doing a lot - I mean A LOT - of work with heeling. I guess it makes sense - Bob the trainer says that if you can't control your dog when he's 6 inches away from you, you'll never control him when he's across the room - or whatever.

So.

This week we actually had to SHOW the class what we've been practicing (heel, turn right while heeling, continue, about face, etc.) I still have a LOT of work to do with heeling - he will NOT look at me when he's tired.

Then we did a figure-8 heel - where, with everyone else, a person with a dog stood about 10 feet away from another person with a dog, and those two dogs were in a sit-stay, and a third person with a dog heeled around them in a fig-8 pattern.

We got got dog-free people.

I'm going to be gone most of the week - plan to be back Thursday pm, so my husband is supposed to be working with him for the next few days, then, hopefully, when I get back, he (the Jar) will have missed me SO MUCH he'll do whatever I want. And my husband, too, for that matter.

Gosh we have a lot of heeling work to do, though.

[K9 Owned]

Ok, I had a bad nights sleep and only just got up - yikes!
But Kris...is it wise to post that you are going to NJ to 'get your MIL once and for all'?

I'll be back when I can read straight because for us Canucks, New Jersey and 'getting' people sounds a tad 'underworldish'.

[Krislady]

Well, yeah, I guess I can see that. Especially when dealing with a mother-in-law, huh? This has been dragging on for TWO YEARS now. I'm gotta put an end to it!

And just in case anyone has any concerns, I'm a nice midwestern girl - raised in Wisconsin. Nothing untoward is going to happen to Jane - unless you count my feeding her proper food.

[K9 Owned]

Ah... I'm a bit more awake now. So now I take it that you are bringing your mil to live with you guys on a permanent basis. I'm sure she is a wonderful lady or you wouldn't entertain the idea Is she better with Jar now than she was? I imagine after living with him on a regular basis she may even get to the point of loving him.

Heeling.... that is imo the hardest thing to teach a dog to do with any level of consistency. A wonderful skill to have but go easy on yourself and Jar...it can take up to 2 years to get a dog to heel to competition levels. Chase was started very young and did it well but throughout his life that was the one exercise that we would review and practice on a regular basis.

We also started off with doing figure 8's around people not handler/dog combinations. I get the point because it requires that your dog gives you total attention throughout the exercise but it is throwing in a huge distraction quite early in the process. Just my opinion of course but with most exercises you start with no distractions live your living room then move to the back yard to proof it and then hit the streets. I got a couple of construction cones to use for practice. They are a good visual and also you don't kill yourself when you trip over them.

[Krislady]

K9 - I agree about the extra dogs being an added distraction for the heeling exercise. I think it's as much to give the dogs (and their people) practice with sit-stay at the same time. I am assuming they're not practicing with extra dogs at home! The cones - that's a great idea. Gonna have to see if I can swipe some next time I see road construction!

And no, MIL isn't coming to live WITH us - perish the thought!

She bought a little house about a mile from us - 2 years ago. She spent last winter there (that would be a year after she bought the place), then she went back to Jersey in March to "finish packing" the old house. Yeah.

I finally persuaded her that, rather than pay to keep two houses for ANOTHER year, she should maybe hire some help packing - so she's got a crew coming tomorrow morning, supposed to spend 2 days packing (we'll see about that), then drive her stuff up here the following day. Meanwhile, Wednesday, she's going to arrange to either sell her finally-empty house (hopefully - she's got a guy interested), or make arrangements with a realtor to sell it. Whichever. THEN, Thursday, we'll head back home.

I think I'm going to have my husband walk Jar over to Jane's house to meet me there when I get home - it'll be a nice surprise for him.

[K9 Owned]

I was just thinking that you are so much better a woman than I. I loved my MIL but would not have wanted her living with us.

As to the cones... if it gives you a rush or a feeling that you are living on the edge by all means steal them but I purchased mine from Home Depot.

[Saralaya]

Wow... miss a thread for a couple of days and miss a lotta drama! MILs being "taken for a ride" from NJ....... Jar having his "final exam" and everything!

Seriously Kris, best of luck, it's a difficult situation and I hope it all goes smoothly.....and if not.... that you just relax and deal with whatever comes your way.