At obedience class last night he was perfect, performing his heeling around obstacles like a pro and with many distractions all around him. Now, this normally wouldn't be too surprising, as he is very smart and willing to work most of the time, except our practice of the necessary skills the three weeks prior had been very spotty ("Heel," "Park it"). (We haven't even developed 'heel' as a command yet and are still working on the appropriate positions before I introduce the word officially).
But last night, it was like some lightbulb went off in Darwin's head, and, in spite of Mom's obvious training failure these last few weeks(because of lack of time with graduate school demands and giving time to play instead - though I suppose we get in a little training while we play, just not 'heel' and 'park it'), he performed like a pro.
Plus, he always does it all with a great big happy smile on his face (see above).
*Note: I realize that this image does not depict a heel on the correct side. We were in fact not performing a heel but walking by the camera so Grandma could catch his movement.
*Note the second: So, I was correct about last night being the last obedience class for this session. However, the instructor extended it a week, so we will actually be doing our graduation walk next week, right on the heel of my finishing my midterms. I was very grateful for the practice last night, however.
-Mel, Corgi-keeper
**Photo by Diane Hargreaves
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