Take it to the Max!
Created | Updated Jan 13, 2009
Silver?
After weeks of practice and lots of training at home, it was time for our Silver award test. I was very nervous about this, and I think Max probably picked up on my tension. Even though I had started him off with the gentle leader on, he was still very frisky, and when I removed it at the official start of the test he was extremely boisterous indeed. We began with the theory questions, which I was quite happy about - what sort of things do you need to consider with children and dogs, and how should a dog behave in a car. Then it was outside for my least favourite exercise - the road walk. I read recently that hunting dogs in particular are very bad at walking to heel, simply because genetically they are programmed to be out in front sniffing scents and showing you where to go. But this natural science lesson was of little comfort to me as I struggled with Max around the route, with him very blatantly ignoring me, and pulling on the lead constantly. I was very dejected when we got back to the hall, and almost gave up and went home right there and then.
Not ready
Inside the hall, his exercises were not too bad - he left his treat on the leave command, stayed in a down for a minute, came when called, and came away from the pack of dogs when recalled. The only exercise he was asked to repeat was the controlled greeting - we hadn't practised this one, which I felt was a bit unfair. The examiner waited until I had him in a sit beside me, and then approached to chat briefly to me. Max wouldn't stay sat sitting, and got up to investigate this strange person. Which is of course not what is expected. Now at least the verdict of these tests is not "fail": rather they'll say on which exercises the dog is "not ready". Which in Max's case was the road walk (no surprises there) and the controlled greeting. And whilst my rational side knew it would have been a travesty for him to have passed given his tugging on the lead, I was still in tears at the end of the class (particularly when everyone else in both the bronze and silver classes all passed). I sniffled and tried to tell myself that that was evidence of what a good teacher we have, but I didn't manage to console myself very much.
Holidays
I tried to put the disappointment behind me as we packed for our 2-week vacation in Florida. Max was to go into kennels where he'd been before, and the owner is very fond of him. When dropping him off she explained that being their busy season they were full to bursting, including 'some of the rowdies', as she named them, and explained that she was putting Max in a pen at the back 'where he wouldn't hear any language he shouldn't!' We tried to not worry about him while we were away, knowing he was in good hands, and we couldn't resist buying him some Harley-Davidson goodies when we hired a Dyna-Glide for the weekend. He does look smart in his special skull and crossbones bandanna! (How come Harley have so much branded merchandising, right down to Monopoly sets and Zippo lighters, but not the one thing I wanted that our villa didn't have - a corkscrew. Can't you ride a Harley and drink Chardonnay, rather than Budweiser?) On our return to Blighty he was a bit bouncy when we collected him, but not at all sulky, and indeed slept very well and didn't wake us with the usual 4am barking session. My theory was that the kennels had been able to do what I had wanted to but been unable to put into practice due to neighbourly consideration - ignore him, so that he doesn't learn how to train me to respond to his call.
Golden boy
Back into the routine after holidays, we went to training class to catch up on what we'd missed. On our first night back, there were only three dogs - Max and the two labradoodles. This meant our trainer could have a good look at each of them and give tailored advice. He was suitably impressed at the improvement in Max's heel work, although it's not yet up to scratch. But the other exercises - a down/stay while I left the room, a down command given at a distance, and again with only hand signals - Max did beautifully, and when we were released from the class early for good behaviour I had a big grin on my face.
