After I'd had my pup for a while and had improved enough that I thought I could handle it, I started Agility classes with my dog. It'd be a great way to channel his energy and intelligence into something constructive, and I'd be able to start conditioning myself to run again, even if just in short bursts. We took classes with a friend from the dog park.
As I'd expected, he did really well. I know that sounds like horrible bragging, but he's smart and athletic, the two main ingredients of Agility. He was cruising through the class impressively- until he got bored and decided to be a rebel.
We were doing little runs of the beginner course, consisting of a little jump, a table, and a tunnel for the last. He'd been through all these obstacles several times already, so he knew what was going on. Our first turn came up, and we did it without incident. I was feeling pretty smug after that, confident that this was going to be so easy for us. It was only our first class and already he'd mastered the course!
The other dogs went through, and our turn came up again. I was confident we were going to give another masterful performance. I feel like I sort of know how parents feel when their offspring accomplish something. Perhaps my dog felt he had to knock me down a couple pegs (which, to be fair, was totally true).
We breezed through the jump and the table, no problem. We were almost home with a perfect score! Approaching the tunnel alongside my dog, I firmly gave the command "go tunnel". Instead of going through the tunnel like he'd been doing all night, however, he jumped on top of it.
Despite my best efforts to calm myself, I couldn't help a little laughing fit (along with everyone else in the class). In an attempt to finish the course, I asked him to get off the tunnel and go through it. He sat down on top of the tunnel, staring at me. He looked so darn proud of himself that I had another giggling fit. Eventually I managed to direct him off the tunnel and through it. Everyone in the class cheered when we managed to get through to the other end.
I went to move to the back of the line to wait our turn again, but my dog had other ideas. As if to say that he had conquered this obstacle, he lifted his leg and peed on it, which is a big no-no in Agility class. I don't know why I thought this was so funny, it just seemed so ridiculous to me at the time. I burst into more laughter, and, to my relief, the teacher and other students laughed along with me as I dragged my dog away from his conquest.
He went home that night feeling content, having crowned himself the King of all that he surveys.
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