Freestyle class #2

Class was lots of fun. I'm not sure why, it just is. The instructor is very nice and supportive. We practiced everything we worked on last week. We had to, one by one, show each move and she gave us tips to improve the move. The one thing I didn't get was ,when doing the heeling and then you have your dog turn out away from you, that you need a different word for turning out left and turning out right. I was just saying " out" for both sides. But when you are performing your dog may be in front of you. So you need a word like "out" for the turn out to the right and then maybe "rout" for the turn out to the left. (You can use none sense words) . This week we added a bow to the tricks. I need to make sure to get Guiness's elbow on the ground before treating. We also practiced giving his paw. Guiness's knew how to do this but only with his left paw. I kept trying to get him to do his right and he was getting confused. He started backing up. So the instructor say to use this. Click and treat and say "back" to teach your dog to back up. If your dog starts offering something else , just go with it. Back to the paw trick. Once your dog has it, then start to get him to touch his paws to your feet when you lift them up. We also practice teaching the dog to move away from you and toward you when in heel position. We are terrible at this. One thing, my dogs don't really know how to heel. I hate teaching it and I'm terrible at making the dog understand what to do. But maybe one day I will be successful. The class is now all shelties because the lady with the lab decided it wasn't for her. At the end of class Guiness was very tired. He jumped in his crate and went right to sleep. When we got home Miley gave Guiness an ear full of barking. And not the kind of barking that says, " I'm so happy to see you". She was mad.
Miley has been off this week. When Ive been trying to get her lined up at the start line, she been circling me and not coming in. She hasn't done this behavior in months. I'm not sure what is going on. She did that Sunday and today. Today she ran as fast as she could just to run. Not really paying attention to anything she is doing. Flying off her contacts. Ugh. Im not sure what to do. On the other hand, Guiness has been coming on some of the morning walks again. Yea!!