I mentioned about a month ago on my Facebook page about Clancy starting obedience class. So I just thought I’d share a bit about the first half of the eight week program.

There is a lady in our nearby town (well, it’s a 45 min drive away, but that’s “nearby” in our area) who has been teaching dog class to the local 4H kids for years. Each spring she does an eight week basic obedience class that is open to the public. I’ve been going for years, because there is always a dog around here that could benefit from the class. 🙂

It’s held at the local fairgrounds, but a couple weeks she swaps out for a different location to give some variety and make a different training environment for the dogs. One week we go to the local park, where there’s usually a softball game going on. And yes, she makes us practice our sit-stay and down-stay next to the field where kids are running and balls are flying. Which makes it a bit challenging for those ball-driven, kid loving kind of dogs. 😉 Then another week we meet at an area downtown. There is a plaza area between some businesses where we practice a while, then we do some heeling, sit-stay and down-stay exercises along the sidewalk and diagonal parking spots along the main street in town; which is always interesting with the various traffic going by and pedestrians out using the sidewalks.

Practicing our down-stay on the sidewalk downtown. This is more of a flop-stay in Clancy’s case. 😉

Making new friends is part of the process. 🙂 Seriously Clancy, I had a hard time telling which end was which in this picture! But I don’t have the heart to cut that beautiful puppy coat.

After some heeling exercises along main street, it was back to the plaza to try a little agility; small jumps and a couple different sized tunnels.

New friends come in all shapes and sizes!

Potty break. I wonder if Clancy had that old Bob Dylan song going through his head (Blowin’ in the Wind)? 😛

We’re back at the fairgrounds to do more obedience work.

“Am I doing this sit thing right, mom?”

Along with basic obedience commands like; sit, down, wait, stay, come, heel, etc, the dogs get to try new experiences like climbing up and down these stairs. And these are no ordinary stairs. They are metal grates and open, so it’s a bit unnerving for some of the dogs to try. Clancy wasn’t so sure himself. Usually by the second time through, the dogs are more confident.

Coming down. Good boy, Clancy!

Don’t they make a cute couple? 😉

Processing…..

Stay tuned for another update at the end of our lessons. 🙂