First obedience class

I came home so frazzled I ate a bowl of chocolate ice cream with a beer. There was good and bad. It's a small class, just four dogs & four people. That was good. I cannot imagine how jittery I'd have been with a crowd. The teacher was a substitute (thank god) who talked like a rushing babbling creek overflowing it's banks and running under tent flaps. I felt like a moron, frozen in place, waiting for a signal (okay we'll start the exercise now) that had apparently slipped by me unnoticed. I was not processing information. Right after hearing the instruction not to give a voice command more than once, I'd set about repeating one, couldn't stop myself. Charly did better than I did. Am I senile or what?

Her assistant, a tall young smiling soft-spoken guy, was a lot better at communicating. He was observant, unhurried, helpful, noticed my confusion, and cleared it up gracefully. I had trouble remembering sequences. They use methods a bit like circus tricks in the effort to avoid ever saying "no" to a dog, positive reinforcement only. It will probably be good for me to develop that skill, but I'll be slow at it.

We did a bunch of stuff Charly already knows (sit, down, stand, come) and "watch" (call her name & if she doesn't turn, put the treat at her nose and direct her nose by moving the treat), which we didn't know. The class was nearly over before we got to loose-leash walking. For the exercise on training the dog to walk on a loose leash, I was instructed to hold the leash at my left hip with my right hand, a treat in my left hand, and reward Charly any time she stood at my left on a loose leash, to move a step or two and reward her again if she was still there, not to move at all otherwise. First of all, I have short arms and am fat. My right hand just barely reaches to my left hip and the position kind of binds me up. Then, since my treats are always in my right pocket, I have to switch that around, which requires also switching my cell phone to the right pocket. She also has a favorite way to fold and grip the leash. By the time I have addressed all these issues and listened to the instructor's stream of chatter on sundry subjects, the exercise is basically over. Then we did a related one, having the dog sit for a treat about every two feet to keep his/her attention, constantly changing direction. By the time we got it almost figured out, it was over. Off we went, to practice from a homework sheet.

Gee, I can hardly wait 'til next Thursday :(

Today, more brilliant sunshine & blue sky! I took Charly to dog park using the leash & prong collar, and every time she pulled I just stopped & backed up & voiced a negative sound. When she didn't pull, I praised her. She was doing pretty well until we got almost to dog park & met a pup on a leash. The usual frenzy ensued, including the now almost standard outcome of me tangling with her rapidly spinning body and falling over. So embarrassing! And after all that, there was no one in dog park.