My Dog is SOOOO Smart!!

Last night was our first night of Agility Classes. Bella LOVED it!! I am so excited about the future in agility with her. She definitely needs the training, but I think this just may be her thing! Our thing! Something she and I can do together to build up our confidence! Towards the end of the class, Bella was starting to trust me more and more with leading her through the first few structures on the course. She’s always trusted me, but she likes to do her own thing when she’s on leash. But last night, she started to “get it”. She started the night out with her tail between her legs, and stood right next to me, almost as if she were afraid to move. She was so nervous that she wouldn’t even take a treat from me. Over the course of the hour though, she slowly but surely let go of some of that nervous energy, and was actually going up to people and wanting to be petted by them. The instructor does not want us to let our dogs socialize with one another so that the focus on the time with the dog and the owner and allowing that time to be focused fun with the two of us. The dogs will lose focus if they are too interested in the other dogs around them. Bella did not bark, cry, whimper, snarl, hide, or any of her other notorious reactions. She was so well behaved, and I was so proud of her! I think she knew how proud I was of her. Towards the end of the class, she was becoming more confident and as we crossed over the tall ramp structure, the downward side of it, Bella’s tail went from still tucked, to up and wagging.
I’m so excited to work with her on all of this!!! Maybe one of these days she’ll win a ribbon or compete in agility trials or something! :-) I’m not going to get my hopes up, but I cannot wait to see what the future holds with agility!
I love my dog!!!