Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Houseguest And The A-Frame

My sister came to stay for a visit last weekend and Theo was just in heaven.  She was just getting over a cold and Theo just loves snuggling with the infirm.   She got to see what I mean when I talk about Theo snuggling my legs.  It's great, isn't it?  She also got to see that I am not exaggerating when I say he gets a bit psycho on our runs in the morning.  He was definitely a little bummed to see her go, but luckily he perked back up in time for agility this week.

It was my first time in the more advanced class.  By the end of it I learned that Theo is ready, but I still need a lot of work.  Theo is just a lot of handle.  He get so excited in class that he barks pretty much for the entire hour straight.  Then, when it's his turn to run the course, he won't calm down enough to even sit down and wait for me to give him the command to run it!  It's pretty cute.  He's so excited, in fact, that he runs the entire course at full speed.  Full Corgi speed is quite fast (compared to my oh so slow human speed), and I'm supposed to keep up with him!  When he would miss a jump or run past the a-frame, it was because I wasn't keeping in front of him to direct him to the next obstacle.  My trainer (and the rest of the class) kept yelling "run, [julo], run!" Phew!  It's so much pressure on me!  Thankfully the other students are nice and encouraging, rather than judging, so I try not to feel too self concious.  I always got a round of applause when I could finally rein in Theo's enthusiam enough to finish a couse.

Also, Theo's taken to making up his own courses.  He pretty much starts as soon as I take his leash off, then he just runs and jumps over whatever suits him, then once I can finally get him back to the starting point, we can begin "my course".  It's hilarious.  I told him "teeter" at one point last night.  He ran past the teeter, over the a-frame, back the other way over the a-frame, then over the teeter.  As my trainer said, he just needed a little a-frame for courage.  Hehe.  

One of the other students was nice enough to break out her tools and tighten up the teeter totter.  Last class Theo was terrified of it, but now that it's nice and stiff, he likes it a lot better.  That's good to know.  If he ever starts getting iffy with it again, I can just suggest she tighten it back up again.  Of course, it's so tight right now that I actually have to help push it down because Theo is too light to move it. 

It's really great to see how excited Theo gets running the courses.  He is definitely having the time of his life.  I think we'll have to keep doing agility for quite some time.  I've even piqued Husband's interest with my descriptions of Theo's crazy behavior.  He might actually come watch one of these nights.

9 comments:

ClassyChassy said...

It's always fun to get hubby involved or at least mildly interested in the things we do with our animals! Full speed ahead!

betty said...

LOL; I want to come and watch! sounds like a fun time! I know corgi speed; it is hard to keep up with when they want to run

hope you have a great weekend (I sent you an email thanking you for the info you sent; I'll pass that on to the people looking for a corgi; not sure why anyone would want one of these corgis, though, they are so cute but sooooo stubborn and of course spoiled :)

betty

Kelly said...

If your husband comes, you HAVE to make him take a video of Theo running the course! I really want to see it!! :)

Have you done off-leash classes with him before agility? I am just wondering how long it took him to listen to you w/o a leash on and how that transition went.

The Pink Geranium or Jan's Place said...

It sounds like you are having a blast!! I don't know if we(corgis and mom,here) could do it. I think I need to be more in charge, as they appear to be the ones in charge around here!!

Jan

Cathy Santarsiero, "The Christmas Corgi" said...

Sounds like your little Theo is having a grand time! Agility is really a fun sport for our Corgis.

Unknown said...

Oh Theo. I still need to get lucy in a class!

Ivy@PaperElixir said...

Ha ha, awesome that he's enjoying himself! :D And I agree that when they run, they RUN. I've tripped over a stake (that holds the tunnel down) trying to keep up with Bryson and fell flat on my face one time... I think we humans are the ones that need the agility training :P

JuLo said...

Kelly, LOL! I'll see what I can do about a video. Even in summer the sun is down before 8:30, so I don't know if it would really come out. But at least you could be able to hear his psycho barking. Hehe.

Betty, I know what you mean! I know a guy who wants a Corgi, and he already seems to know that they're bossy little trouble makers! He's crazy. I still need to do that post I've been meaning to do on what living with a Corgi is really like. Hehe.

Ivy, agility class is completely instruction for the humans. Hehe. At least my class is. When Theo doesn't do an obstacle right, it's because I did something wrong. It's amazing how directing him with the right hand or keeping my shoulder straight or calling the next obstacle in time really does make a huge difference with how well Theo runs the course.

Spectater said...

What do you MEAN, he "perked back up?" I want to hear that he runs down every morning expecting to see me and when he doesn't, he cries for a solid hour!

Kidding. Snuggling with the pup was muchos fun. See you in a couple weeks!