You know that road to hell? Yup, I made great progress on paving it this past month. My good intentions fell by the wayside as I got both discouraged and lazy in the latter half of the month.
Wanna know exactly how many training sessions I did with Maggie & Sadie after the last post on training roll over? Zero. Zip. Nada. (hangs head)
I don't wanna say that I gave up but that's sorta what happened. Maggie got as far as I expected, which was to willingly lay on her side and lift a foot in the air. For her, this is great progress. A rolling over dog, she is not.
And then there's Sadie. I love her to bits & pieces but totally don't understand how she can get something one day and look at me like I've never ever worked on it with her the next day. The good news is that once we moved on to roll over, she seemed to start to understand January's training challenge Back Up. So maybe once we start March's challenge, she might magically start offering a roll over? A girl can wish.
At least there's Hurley. The genius makes me feel like I'm the World's Best Trainer. It's a great ego boost! He's a roll over god.
So on this leap day, we leap forward to March, leaving roll over in the dust. Good riddance, roll over! Hello, twirl! Why twirl? Because I truly believe this one should be easy for Maggie and after the last 2 months, girl needs a break.
2012 Training Challenge Standings
January "Back Up"
Hurley: Stellar
Sadie: Getting There
Maggie: Oh you want me to hop? I can do that!
February "Roll Over"
Hurley: I roll like nobody's business.
Sadie: If there's carpet, a lure and a tent, you got a 1 in 10 shot at me doing that crazy roll over thing.
Maggie: Good girls don't roll over. It's uncouth!
Dogs are so patient of our good intentions gone wrong.
ReplyDeleteTwirl is a fun one! Roll over can be hit or miss- some pups just aren't cool with it!
ReplyDeleteIn a million years, I can't imagine ever getting Honey to roll over.
ReplyDeleteIt's so great that you're sharing your experiences with us. I think it's so important to be reminded of the individual skills and characters of different dogs when we're doing training.
It also makes me feel better about myself. I have terrible math anxiety and poor skills. And yet, in my job, I have to do financial calculations for home buyers every day.
Yes, I can learn to do these things if I work really hard. But like rolling over for Maggie, I'll never be a genius at it. :)
On the other hand, it makes me a good teacher when my students are intimidated by the financial aspects of buying a house. After all, I understand exactly how they feel. :)