This was our first class in the next level: Advance class. And man, these dogs and dog owners are on another level – we have much to learn!

Heel work

We started with heel work, with people walking in opposite directions, like crossing traffic. At first this was passing person to person, so the dogs weren’t so distracted; and then this was passing dog to dog.

Artemis was the worst because obviously she had never met with these dogs in this class before. And there were two other spaniels, so she was like “Oh my God, let me sniff them all”!

Down stay

Next we did stay in a down position, which I think Artemis did really good considering the other dog owners kept saying “stay” to their dogs repeatedly, whilst I didn’t. The trainer said to progress to the next stage we should just say “stay” once and not need to say it again.

It was a very long down stay, so Artemis did get up for a little wander and I had to go back to ask her for a down stay.

Sit stay plus distractions

Then we did a sit stay. And then we stood next to each other’s dogs to create a distraction, which was new and odd.

As this was my first time in Advanced class, the trainer asked me to watch the next step. The trainer said to the others: “run away”. So all the dog owners ran to the other end of the field – and the dogs stayed where they were!

The trainer then went round stroking the dogs to distract them from their sit stay. With Artemis though, the trainer only went close to her and didn’t stroke her. Artemis’ tail started wagging when the trainer was getting close to her, so the trainer knew she couldn’t push Artemis that far just yet.

Novice recall

Next we practised novice recall, where the dog runs directly to you. Artemis has done this before, so was absolutely fine.

Angled recall

Then we did angled recall. This is where the dog runs forward and then turns 90 degrees to sit directly in front of you, so you start off standing sideways to the dog.

This was Artemis’ second time doing this and she was pretty good. The trainer advised to stick my leg out so Artemis goes round my leg to come in front of me.

Finishes

Finally, we practised finishes.

English finish, where the dog goes around you anti-clockwise.

Then German finish where the dog is in front of you and then comes to the heel position.

Artemis did pretty well in both finishes.

Conclusion

So Artemis is not the worst in the class. But man, are these dogs and dog owners on another level! A totally different energy in this class.

In the previous classes, when a dog and dog owner would do their trick one at a time, the others would just casually watch or chat. In this class, all the dogs and dog owners are working, so less chit chat and more focussing.

Perhaps this is the environment Artemis and I need to up our game. But yes, a little intimidating, but still enjoyable and learning lots – bring on the next class!