Intentional Training Sideswiped by Solicitor

Here are the three things that remain prevalent in my training habits since starting Agility Training: 1. Set up for success 2. Reward, reward, reward 3. Have a plan

Yes, well recently Gromit and I have suffered a series of not so serious set backs in our training for agility. He started showing some discomfort during class and I took him to a chiropractor for a bit. Just when we were heading into maintenance mode and I stopped scheduling appointments we hit a snafu. During our last appointment the chiropractor demonstrated Gromit's slight resistance to an adjustment in his rear right leg. Inside I was thinking - that poor guys is resistant to most touch I am shocked that he ever let you adjust him - sweet but touchy boy that he is...but when I watched I could not deny the fact that yes in fact he was more resistant to having his right leg adjusted than his left. Then she suggested that I have him assessed for hip dysplasia. We discussed how immediate the need might be and between the two of us, based on his current activity level we could wait until our next regular check up at the vet.

I left the office and could hardly drive home. My brain was spinning trying to think about Gromit and how I had seen his gait and strength over the years - he didn't seem like a dypslastic dog to me. I was stunned at the thought of Gromit with HD.

The ever sensitive Gromit stood over my shoulder breathing in my ear until I put the car into drive and took off, then he sighed and leaned into the back seat.

We had missed some classes over the summer and decided to do a make up agility class on an unusual night with a different class. I will always laugh remembering this class because there were only two other dogs in class that night - one was a Westie and one was a little wiry coated terrier - both dogs jumped 8" and both dogs had names that were used by many parents to name their children. Gromit, jumps 24" and was named after a claymation character. I guess that gives you an idea of how uncompact and not so tidy we are on the course.

When the other dogs finished the course and I brought Gromit to the start line, the gentlemen with the Westie said - "boy he is big." I remember laughing and saying something like "oh, my gosh, now that you mention it, he is kind of big."

Anyway, we ran the course but there were about six tunnels on this course. Tunnels are very difficult for Gromit but he tried enthusiastically to get through all the tunnels and over all the obstacles. He did a nice first round of the course. Then we did it again and for some reason he just pulled up and stopped on his way into a tunnel. I have this success thing in my head and I am sure he can do the tunnel so I encourage him by going back to the last jump and moving him over it and into the tunnel - again he pulls up short of the tunnel. He started to look away and then worse yet he slowly wandered away. I clapped my hands and called him back and used my voice to encourage and push him in the direction of the tunnel - finally he went in. When he came out we finished the course. I took him outside to give him a break. I thought his brain was tired or my treats were not good enough to get work out of him.

As we walked around in the parking lot outside of the school I could hear him dragging his nails on the ground. I look more closely and he was dragging his foot, his rear right foot and hobbling on it. How could I have missed this? I felt his thigh and it was swollen and warm to the touch.

Needless to say that was our last agility class for awhile. I took him home and iced his leg. I took him to the vet and she looked over both his hips and moved them in several directions. She too demonstrated the difference in the range of motion and I could see him visibly try to tolerate and then finally flinch as she checked the flexibilty in his right back hip joint. Finally she said she too suspected the HD and xrays were going to give us our best shot at determining the severity. I decided if this was her recommendation I wanted someone who knew athletic dogs and could help determine if we were done or if there was some in between - which I am leaning towards. So I called around and scheduled an appointment for Gromit with a vet that specializes in orthopedic medicine. When we arrived for our appointment, the vet was unavailable becuase he had broken his own bone in his foot. We are waiting until the end of the month.

In the mean time I have been doing different things with Gromit. I decided to train him on putting his toys into a box. Our dog yard is currently under construction so I pulled a box out to the front yard. It was Wed night at the Longfellow and a live band was playing. I figured we could do attention training if we needed to do that instead. There was a ton of foot traffic in the house. Gromit though, was fine with the toy box and the toys and the clicker training. He stayed with me while we tried to back chain the skills. I sat on the grass and gave him his toy, clicked and fed him cheese.

As we were working one guy walked up on the side walk and started talking to me. He had a tie and white shirt on and was overly pleasant. He told me he was from the south and that was why he talked so funny. Then he told me our neighborhood was like a salad - old people and young people. He mentioned several times that I had probably never come across someone like him. He was right but I doubt it was for the reason he was thinking.

Now anyone who has met Gromit knows that a stranger talking to me from the sidewalk might make Gromit go, well how can I best put this...ballistic?! I wasn't really interested in small talk. He asked me if Gromit was a GoldenDoodle - he isn't but I wanted this guy to keep moving so I said yes and hoped I hadn't offended either the Labradoodle or the Goldendoodle folks.

The whole time Gromit and I are looking, looking at each other, clicking and treating and I am praying that he doesn't stand up at lunge in the guys direction. I yell out that he might start barking and the guy yells back at me that he is not afraid of dogs. Yeah - well...everyone says that until Gromit stands on his back legs and is looking eye to eye with them. But I am not interested in anyone being afraid of him so I do my darnest to not put us in this situation.

The one thing I am pretty sure of is that Gromit would never intentionally hurt anyone, bark loud - sure, lunge - yep but if I let go of the leash he would run and sniff or at the most he would bark and then run behind me.

So while I am assessing the situation and trying to keep paying attention to Gromit because after all that is what I am asking him to do with me....the guy walks up on the driveway to shake my hand. I click and treat Gromit and warn the guy away telling him Gromit will bark. I try Gromit's technique and turn my head away without growling. The guy keeps trying to charm me. Finally, I tell him that is nice to talk with him but I am not going to give him any money. He wants to know why, after all as he sees it he is a handsome guy and I had not really heard enough about the program. He shows his sales pages where someone hand wrote in the feedback section that he was "gorgeous." I notice that at the top of each of his sheets are the five positive characteristics to possess to increase sales - numbered and typed...he has hand numbered an additional quality - #6 Handsome. He started up and then I said we were on a budget and he said he understood. He smiled and left.

Gromit and I were exhausted. That was the most intensive training either of us had done in a long time. I was working on not reacting and Gromit was working on....not reacting. Interesting combination - so much for the plan. We tried to get the toys into the toy box but alas, our best intentions were side swiped by magazine salesman who gave us an unexpected training session.