Darn. I shouldn't have looked at the official score sheet. I also shouldn't have asked for Odie's rank because holy hell, grade consciousness is kicking in! Odie has worked real hard in this course. We went to locations we've never covered before (LGV mini soccer field, Filinvest 2 clubhouse, Filinvest Heights basketball court), and went to the park across the training venue even if it wasn't a class day. Maybe the caretaker kept thinking, WTF WHY IS SHE HERE? I've also spent LOTS of time exporting and editing videos, sometimes nodding off to sleep (READ: Durations). I experimented with different dog treats and was a grilling/boiling/baking machine for a time. Safe to say it's the hardest we've worked so far.
Doc Marose said each session should be made up of two combinations, but we should try to go through the entire list. So I went through the entire list to avoid confusion in our homework chart. Besides, Odie seemed like he was up for it. I know a couple of combinations didn't go very smooth though. He got really distracted by the pebbles in the patio!
The front yard video was shot at midnight that same night. Odie was wide awake and kept barking that night so I decided to have him do homework to tire him out and get him to sleep so that I could sleep too. In some of the shots, I would shush him whenever he barked because I was scared that the neighbors might complain. Half the time, I was shushing him and whispering my verbal cues! Oh, and that white thing on the wall? This is what it looks like up close:
I made a cheat sheet to lead me for the first few tries! I also put it on the wall in the patio video but it wasn't seen on camera. I had no choice but to stick it somewhere because Odie's sure to pick it up and tear it apart if he sees it on the ground.
Combinations: Max & Toby's Place from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.
Combinations: Louie's Place from Pauline Gaerlan on Vimeo.
Personally, I'm impressed that Odie wasn't as distracted as I imagined when we shot the outdoor videos. Cars and trikes and motorcycles passed by but he didn't run towards them! I did have mini heart attacks though when a vehicle would pass by and I was ten steps away from him. When we started, he kept going after the long line again. I got nervous at first because I thought we wouldn't get to shoot outdoors because of that. Fortunately, he switched his focus on me and the line just... blended with the ground, I guess.
I shot one of the outdoor videos at 6 AM today, and I didn't know that the rest of the neighborhood lets their dogs out to roam freely at this time. Did they agree on this? I don't know. But oh my god, it was so frustrating! I even saw one neighbor hitting her puppy with a stick! I wanted to hit HER with a stick! Thankfully, all the other dogs seemed to have felt my desperation so they went to different directions, all far from where Odie and I were.
I shot one of the outdoor videos at 6 AM today, and I didn't know that the rest of the neighborhood lets their dogs out to roam freely at this time. Did they agree on this? I don't know. But oh my god, it was so frustrating! I even saw one neighbor hitting her puppy with a stick! I wanted to hit HER with a stick! Thankfully, all the other dogs seemed to have felt my desperation so they went to different directions, all far from where Odie and I were.
So I guess that's it for our homework videos for Basic Obedience (Intermediate) class at Pet Centrics! I'm really thankful for everything that Odie and I learned in this course. It really helped that we had deadlines this time, as well as a maximum number of locations, because I didn't have to keep guessing if I've done enough or if I needed to step up. It's nice to have clear goals. I do feel bad that I didn't get to check every box in my homework chart. But over the last six weeks, I learned more than I originally intended to, I have a puppy who's growing up to be quite a disciplined boy, I have human classmates to share separation anxiety with (I seriously want to follow through in a more relaxed setting, at least for the summer!), and we have a reliable teacher who is very patient in answering even our most bizarre questions.
I can't wait for Odie to graduate a third time! I also can't wait to rest, and then bounce back and learn even more. All the time I spent meeting deadlines both for my work and Odie's homework came with early mornings, sleepless nights, a messed up body clock. In spite of he difficulties, however, I'm one happy camper!
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