A famous breakup line used on George Costanza
(Jason Alexander) in one of the Seinfeld episodes entitled "Lip Reader" is "It's not you, it's me." His date, Marlene uses it on George and that leaves him quite annoyed as that is "his" line. Sorry, George but I have to steal it also as I have found another situation in which to use it and that is in Liam's obedience class. After 4 sessions, I am starting to arrive at the conclusion that I must communicate to Liam "it's not you, it's me."The Basic Canine Obedience Training involves verbal cues, hand signals and body movements all at the same time. I cannot seem to put them all together. The simplest commands "sit," "come," " leave it, " involve body movements, hand gestures, clucking of the tongue, offering of treats
and verbal praise all in one motion. Doing all these motions at once seems to be beyond my capabilities. My feeble attempts have left poor Liam sitting
when he should be coming, laying down when he should be sitting
or just staring at me with an expression of confusion and pity from the top of the stairs
being able to put many motions together is what makes Derek Jeter
a great shortstop-he can think, move and communicate at the same time. Or think of Tiger Woods 
looking, assessing, processing and swinging while being watched and cheered by hundreds. These icons possess hand eye coordination of a sort that is way above what I can produce. I am now convinced that Basic Canine Obedience Training requires the same skill set as a Star Shortstop, A Golf Master, or an accomplished Dancer
Lesson #4 from Basic Canine Obedience Class
SIT STAY-Hold lead and treat in left hand up along side dog's right ear (make sure the dog has slack). Give stay hand signal with right hand (hand held flat, palm up facing dog, fingers pointed to the ground). Say "STAY", put food in right hand, leave on right foot, go arms distance away. Hold treat out at the dog's head level. Gradually increase time, give food and praise.
THE SALSA-Ballroom Dance comparison
Salsa steps: The salsa starts with tap left on the first beat, a step forward on the same foot, a rock back onto the right foot. And the sequence is finished by stepping back left to close.
THE SALSA seems much easier than SITSTAY. There are no treats to transfer. And no verbal praise to remember. No barking.
I keep trying, with no success.
Albert Einstein
is quoted as saying "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."Liam, It's not you, it's me
Woof, Woof
