Obedience class 1: It's not the heat, it's the humidity

 Photos: Jack, after more than an hour of obedience. In hell. I mean, just the temperatures. The class was fine.

He was way out of his weight class and was stalked by a Poodle of Unusual Size (Princess Bride? Anyone?) but managed to act like a gentleman for the whole time.

I felt a little like a slacker mommy, of course. Trainer Larry would say, "Now does anyone already know Down?" and hands would shoot up. There was a man using hand signals to get his dog to sit.

Seriously. And if Jack and I had met at 8 weeks instead of 8 months, he would probably have been further along but I've been working on making him act dog-like since he moved in. Now it's time to work on obedience.

We worked on Heel, Sit, Down, Stand, Auto-sit (where you're heeling, walking along, and when I stop, he sits automatically), and answering his name, all very valuable. Jack plays right along until we get to Down.

Jack doesn't do Down.

He also doesn't appreciate having to work for his morning cheese. He's used to being handed things because he's pretty. Now I want him to be smart and pretty. We've got a long road to go. And not much time to get there.

He was funny. There were barkers and lungers and leapers and growlers...and then there's Chill Jack, just watching it all go on around him. Eleven other dogs were in various states of attention while Jack was stretched out on the mat, just chillaxin.  It's funny. Unless you have a medal on your mind.

We'll be working on some homework this week.