Putting the wind up Polly!

Polly's rebellious streak came to the fore during this week's obedience training session. Chilly wind whipped across the field as Kevin put us through our paces and although Polly was eager to take part (and actually did quite well in some of the activities -including the scary collapsible tunnel and heel walking, yay Polly!) it seemed the wind had also whipped up a case of the 'right herberts'.  (As kids, me and my sisters were often referred to as 'right little herberts' by our Dad to sum up our mischievousness!)  So when Poll decided she would rather be doing something else, or would prefer not to return to the car between segments, she simply plonked herself down on her belly and refused to budge ... she wouldn't even be lured with treats, the little monkey!

Butter wouldn't melt!

That wasn't madam's only misdemeanor either!  Whilst practicing 'sits, stays and recalls', a drill Polly usually manages reasonably well, she took an unexpected change of direction part way through one recall, deciding she would prefer to invite herself to play with the dog next to us, rather than complete her recall to me.   Much to my surprise, I found myself in a rather inelegant sliding tackle as I lunged to retrieve my naughty miss - thankfully each of my creaking bones remained intact and all I sustained was a slightly bruised ego ... bottoms up eh?!

The odd thing was, as I was tramped back to the car at this, the end of our seventh session, pondering whether this week had been a backward step for me 'n Poll, one of the more advanced dog owners I haven't seen for a couple of weeks, said how lovely it was to see Polly progressing and how she looks as though she knows what she is doing now ...  

So, hopefully between us we are taking steps forward, even though I can't always see it at the time.  One thing's for sure though, as Polly matures, I can clearly see her working hard to fathom what I want from her ... but it reminds me of when my kids were teenagers, even though they may have tried to understand me, whether they decided to do as they were asked usually depended on their mood that day!