Sepp was an absolute ROCKSTAR!!!!
The trainer had us all go one by one, she would tell us what to do, going over everything we've been practicing the past 9 weeks.
We were the fourth pair to go. Sepp pretty much did everything I asked with the exception that when I asked him to sit without hand signals he played dead and then stiffly rolled over before sitting. At least is was cute ;) His drop on recall was very close to being on the line, but no dice even trying three times. We did the send away exercise as our very last thing and he was spot on, downed on the toy no problem. It was awesome!
One of the gals in class told me that he "really shined" last night. I can't say I am not ridiculously proud of this dog.
I will say I think my want for a GSD is officially over. There was a guy in class with one that was ridiculously hectic. The dog was screaming, whining, and barking while she was waiting to go. The guy kept clamping her muzzle shut, which of course she could just whine through and was totally pointless. This dog to me, was a very good example as to why straight compulsion doesn't really work. I mean, it's not that it doesn't work, but you have to keep amping up the consequence, not to mention the dog was just really stressed out and didn't appear to be really excited to work. As someone who has been judged by my dog's intense body language when we work I'm not trying to cast aspersions about someone else, however I got to see the dog working in real time and saw the guy get after her several times for 'misbehaving'. The dog and handler just overall didn't seem really happy and this isn't the first time I have seen them. This also happens to be the guy that Sepp ran up to the one time while doing agility.
When the guy actually went out and was working his dog, she was very vocal and had slow reaction time. You could see the way that the guy was working with her he was frustrated. To top it off I think this dog was seriously under exercised and probably should have gone for a 10mile run before coming to class. It was really just kind of painful to watch because I don't really feel like they were a good match for each other. I mean, I know the whining was obnoxious but at the same time I'm thinking, it's a GSD - whining and carrying on is what they do! He was so frustrated with her, trying to quiet her down... Which also made me really decide I like having a 'quiet' dog, who expresses his frustration in other ways, or less high pitched ways haha. Anyway it's important to mention this guy and his dog because what happened next was less than awesome.
The guy's wife took the GSD outside apparently, I didn't notice this. Loki the "king malamute", who as it turns out also has his NUTS, was taking his turn. The dog absolutely does not take his owner seriously, at one point she told him to down like 7 times, she playfully batted at him to down, to which he playfully batted back at her. I do not envy her. Anyway, there was a small noise outside of the door, we happened to be sitting about 10-15ft from the door. The room we train in is also the room we've done bite work in, so Sepp was immediately on edge by the door sound - however, he didn't bark he was just on the alert. Well, probably 60 seconds later the viszla in class lets out this HUGE warning bark! Of course that completely sends Seppel over the edge and he starts barking, of course this is happening as Loki is performing his obedience. Well I correct Sepp and he cries because he's all amped up. The GSD guy starts saying "shh, shh, shh" to my dog! I'm thinking "If it didn't work for you, it certainly won't work for MY dog, shut up!" I corrected Sepp again and he finally settled down.
*face palm*
I am so glad to be done with class and done with people being more concerned about what my dog is doing than what their own dog is doing.
Don't get me wrong, we had an absolute blast and I would love to take a class again. I just really am not going to miss all of the other people.
Tomorrow is Sepp's visit at Veterinary Surgical Center of Portland to see Dr. Munjar and decide what can be done with his painful hip.
Pic taken by Kay :)
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