[Dailydrool] Pierre got laughed at AGAIN!!! - long again

Sun Sep 18 17:32:30 PDT 2011

Today was part  two of the Pet expo, and Pierre and I arrived at 8:30 am and stayed till 6 pm.  To say the boy is tired is an understatement.  He is in my bed right now, in deep REM, paws paddling, nose twitching and making gurgle and harumph noises.  He was a very good boy though, and he is too tired to tell it, so I will narrate for him
When we arrived first thing, only Ginny, his trainer was there, struggling to put up the tent.  There was an extra empty x-pen, and Ginny encouraged me to give a try to use it for Pierre rather than putting him in the car while we worked.  It was his first x-pen experience, and he settled right into it.  We are getting one, now that I know it works for him.  Ginny and I got the tent up, tables up, and as things were falling into place, a couple of more volunteers arrived.   There was an area near the tent for "run throughs" for people who want to test their dogs in agility.  The elements were simple, a few jumps, tire, weave, tunnel, table.  There were also three scheduled demos in the main arena at which time the props needed to be moved, and after the demo, moved back.  
On the first demo, Pierre was about the same as yesterday, slow, distracted, not jumping, going under the tire rather than through, and the crowd really fell for him.  He really does tunnel and table well, and he made somewhat of an effort on the weave.  The crowd laughed when Pierre aimlessly knocked down the 4" jumps, but really cheered him when he did his tunnel and table.  The show off that he is, while he is acting all slow and low energy, he gallops hard to the table, the last element, and it is where he gets his reward.  Before the second demo, I put Pierre in the car for a little while so I could assist with the set up of the demo ring.  It was cool, and he stretched out into a nap right away.  When I went to collect him for his turn, he didn't even want to get out of the car, and he snarked me when I grabbed for his leash.  He likes to be a bully sometimes.  For this second demo, I armed myself with a hot dog, thinking that would jazz Pierre up, but it just made him miss obstacles all together.  I did table mid routine this time, and he absolutely refused to get off it, till I tugged his collar a bit, then he did tire ok that time, tunnel weave and back to table.   When I put his leash on, he was getting a little nippy, so I could tell he was really starting to get tired.  But the crowd really adored him, laughed and applauded, and he has made a name for himself.  When I took him to the food court on a break countless people knew his name.  One guy told me he videoed Pierre's first run, and I pray that doesn't show up on you tube.
It is not that Pierre had to work hard, but maybe like his reaction to the horse show, the stimulation is the over load.  Most of the time we were under the tent, and he had plenty of water.  He was getting high quality treats through out the day, but I tried to keep it from being excessive.  We did short walks when necessary.  He was loved and admired by so many, and he was wonderful to strangers, letting all, including little kids pet him.  He dropped and rolled for belly rubs, got more laughs and admiration.  A reporter from a local paper asked permission to photo him and write about him.
Demo 3, the end is near.  The crowd had thinned, but the roar of laughter was a large as when the crowd was full.  I thought I would do the run on leash this time, but Ginny told me to take it off.  He was just so slow and deliberate, it was just so funny even to me, and the expressions he was making were hysterical.  Ginny was the announcer, and she "got it" announcing that Pierre is a media star and he doesn't like to rush through his moments of limelight.  He wants lots of photos taken of him, and he wants to please the crowd.  He did a few elements, I didn't put him on the table mid run, he knocked everything down, including the tire, but he did his tunnels and table.  When he got out of the last tunnel, he had a deliberate pause.  Just stopped dead in his tracks, and I am waving the hot dog at him, calling come, table, come, table, and then all of a sudden he had a light bulb moment, and he blasted to the table at lightning speed.  All on his terms, all on his terms.  Again, another round of laughter and applause, and then he grabbed the sleeve of my sweatshirt and started tugging on it, and did the same when I had to readjust the jumps to 8" for the Cairn terrier (and a small one at that), and then as we were leaving the ring, he started tugging at my pants, and I am grateful he didn't pull them down.  What a boy.
By the way, he only had 6 agility classes, and Ginny trains him for obedience.  I stopped agility after the first 6 because of time conflict, and I may go back to some, but just low impact elements, not for competition.  He has a short attention span, and even during the obedience classes, he cannot complete an entire class without going outside for a break at least once or twice.  Same when he did agility.  He would do one run through, but by the second or third, he was running for the exit.  I always started with low impact treats, and as he was losing interest got a better treat.  
So long as it stays fun.  I am not pushing anything on him he doesn't want.
Healing drool to all in need
Jackie and the herd

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