[Judi W]

When they rebooted the server, I believe they had to use a backup copy so some of the more recent posts weren't on it.

Training the dog: I attend classes with my dogs during the hours I am not teaching. Yes, some of the instructors are more stimulating than others, but that makes no difference. The instructor is not the one to be smiling approval into the dog's eyes, or giving a correction, I am. I am the one with the leash and I am the dog's partner in this training thing. We can do things either the easy way or the hard way, but they will take place. A dog that chooses the hard way usually changes its mind when it becomes clear that the name of the game is "obedience" not "if you feel like it". In the classes I teach, I will sometimes find one of these goldbricking dogs and after being given every opportunity to get a work ethic, I will recommend some serious corrections and/or going to a pinch to add emphasis. It is amazing how a sandbagging goldbricker can learn to pick up its feet and move when it has been explained that the work is not optional. No, they don't get their little spirits broken. In fact they end up being happy workers belonging to much happier handlers. If you don't care how the dog works for you, then the dog has no reason to care. Brisk, happy movement changes attitudes. Physical action and position affects the mental state. The dogs that are dragging around usually belong to handlers that start dragging in their own body movements and it perpetuates a nasty circular behavior cycle. We even have Chows moving happily and briskly for heaven's sake, surely one should expect no less from a Rottweiler, a breed with a heritage of working. The secret is remembering that it is called "obedience" not "if you feel like it". In the long term, a dog that knows what is expected of it is a happier dog and certainly a more welcome dog.

Now, confession. When I entered my "best girl" (Rottweiler) at the age of 12 in veteran obedience, although she was very perky and quick sitting, she didn't do the fast time. We chuckled at her because as an old hand she knew the "normal" was coming up soon. She was beaten for first place by an 8 year old min. Schnauzer.