Wagger Days Cont....

Training classes have been going very well. Despite our good progress I've always been paranoid about Wally being "that dog" in class. You know the kid who is always getting sent to the principal's office? Carissa has been in school with one such kid since kindergarten. He is a great athlete, I bet in the dog world he would be some sort of pointer, you can tell he really wants to be "good" and he's adorable but ridiculously high energy. I think some of us are just born lacking the ability to get in line, not throw pencils and not poke the person next to us. Which leads me to "that dog". The owners of "that dog", roll into class a few minutes late most Saturdays at which time their 100lb yellow lab announces their arrival with a huge bark. They shuffle to their assigned seat trying to not fall over from the force of "that dog" the entire way as he wheezes from the pressure of the collar. He attempts to fraternize with the dog next to him, she is a pretty lady but socializing is not allowed in the class. Which reminds me I must write some details about our trainer and the rules. We have assigned seating!!!! Which is probably a well thought out plan for keeping some dogs apart. The lady forgets to zip her mom jeans each class. She does not put up with undesirable behavior from our canine companions. Disruptions to the learning environment by them is the equivalent of a girl walking in topless to an all boys school.. She would be the principal diving across the room to quickly shield the poor boy victims from the atrocity. The trainer quickly shuffles herself to "that dog's" spot and gives the lady lime juice for the barking, a rope toy for the boredom and all the while I'm wondering if "that dog" was tired now, what is he like before? The final straw must have been the owner of "that dog" refusing a halter which is a brilliant and very humane way to train your dog to lead with good manners if they are a predisposed puller. The owner even went so far as to just turn away and ignore a little. Our trainer must have had enough because I saw the lady shed a few tears and leave our dog class. She piled "that dog", and her daughter who looked rather sticky from some candy she was eating into her escalade and zoomed off. I never thought I would see someone get 86'd from dog class......... My paranoia around Wally becoming "that dog" lessened slightly because he's coming along very well.... I did however start to worry about pissing this lady off though.... I offered to sweep up the dirt I'd tracked in because I forgot to change from my garden shoes but she smiled nicely and said they'd had much much worse get tracked on the floor. I felt a little more relaxed but my eyes then happened upon the sign stating "A $5.00 fine will be assessed to all dog owners who allow their dog to "mark" the pole". Now I have a whole new worry, what if Wally decides to pee on that pole someday!!!!!!!!!