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Sharon writes:
Two summers ago, my female Airedale,
Biscuit (then 3 years old) and I signed up for our first Agility class. We entered the covered horse arena together that Tuesday night, Biscuit straining at her leash – seeing at least 30 new 4-legged friends she could make! There were Shelties, Aussies, Corgies, Jack Russels, many smaller mixed breeds, and then there was Biscuit, topping out at around 70 pounds. She was at least 3 times the size of any other dog in that class.
Tuesday nights quickly became Biscuit’s favorite night of the week. She knew when we made the turn to the ranch just how much fun lie ahead. She’d pace back and forth across the back seat of the car in anticipation of what was to come. Not only could she see her friends, and get lots of bits of cheese and cooked liver as treats and rewards, but she took pride in learning new tricks and seemed very pleased with herself when she accomplished a new skill. You could just feel her smiling all the way home! It was PURE FUN!
Then came the Tuesday that we were supposed to teach our dogs how to crawl. The instructor positioned us all in a very large circle, dogs to our side, and explained that we needed to get down on one knee, and entice our dog through our open leg with a piece of cheese, which would force them to drop to their “elbows” and crawl. The instructor looked at me at the end of the explanation, paused, and then pointed
to me and said – “ Except you over there with the Airedale, she’s so big I doubt she’ll be able to do this, so why don’t you wait this one out?”
Little did she know…..!
I looked at Biscuit out of the corner of my eye, raised my eyebrows ever so slightly and said, very softly, “Wanna PLAY?!!” Biscuit took the hint! BAM!! The dust flew! She hit the ground hard in the traditional Airedale Bow, pendulum tail wagging hard! One small piece of cheese got her through my open leg in record time. She knew this game well!
The instructor’s mouth dropped open, the class burst out laughing and Biscuit got a full round of applause from everyone there. If that wasn’t Biscuit’s favorite Tuesday class, it certainly was mine!!
Tuesday nights quickly became Biscuit’s favorite night of the week. She knew when we made the turn to the ranch just how much fun lie ahead. She’d pace back and forth across the back seat of the car in anticipation of what was to come. Not only could she see her friends, and get lots of bits of cheese and cooked liver as treats and rewards, but she took pride in learning new tricks and seemed very pleased with herself when she accomplished a new skill. You could just feel her smiling all the way home! It was PURE FUN!
Then came the Tuesday that we were supposed to teach our dogs how to crawl. The instructor positioned us all in a very large circle, dogs to our side, and explained that we needed to get down on one knee, and entice our dog through our open leg with a piece of cheese, which would force them to drop to their “elbows” and crawl. The instructor looked at me at the end of the explanation, paused, and then pointed
to me and said – “ Except you over there with the Airedale, she’s so big I doubt she’ll be able to do this, so why don’t you wait this one out?”
Little did she know…..!
I looked at Biscuit out of the corner of my eye, raised my eyebrows ever so slightly and said, very softly, “Wanna PLAY?!!” Biscuit took the hint! BAM!! The dust flew! She hit the ground hard in the traditional Airedale Bow, pendulum tail wagging hard! One small piece of cheese got her through my open leg in record time. She knew this game well!
The instructor’s mouth dropped open, the class burst out laughing and Biscuit got a full round of applause from everyone there. If that wasn’t Biscuit’s favorite Tuesday class, it certainly was mine!!
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