Our Consistent Handling System, Part 3.

All right. Today we were going to work on directionals in the yard using the tunnel with Gustavo. And he found bugs in the tunnel. And I am supposed to be more motivating to my dog than the other things on the field and than the frolicking border collies and then we hit this snag with crawling pincher bugs. Something was not clear enough to him. And he really, really, likes those bugs.


So we decided to come inside and watch the basic Foundation Video some more because clearly we need that. Today's section was on Wait and Stay, while the computer played the DVD with more tips on Front Cross timing.


And I was thinking how weird is it to be a sunny day, and my day off, and I am inside with the video machine on? Doesn't that seem wrong, like sort of lazy? Is dog agility a leisure activity? Is it a hobby? A sport that mostly ladies like, although here I am watching a video by my agility boyfriend, a Man? Making one or the other of us the Other? Should we be reviewing this from a feminist perspective? Wasn't it just yesterday I used I tried to explain it and might have even been using signs and signifiers, which are very, very, SERIOUS tools, not for a hobbyist ever to try. And are of course, from the French, not even the English. We don't even know if Greg Derrett likes stuff from France like post structuralist theory. I betcha he likes french fries at least.


And the whole crux of this involves play. Getting the dogs to play but in a very, very SERIOUS way so that they do not screw up at the Dog Show, which is really a trial, which again sounds very SERIOUS, because there is a Judge, who is in charge of the scales of justice, making sure there is a balance, usually a balance between good and evil but really a balance can be any kind of dichotomy. Crap. And wasn't it Derrida that always was talking about dichotomies and pairs, but NEVER Master's Pairs where you get to run carrying a dog toy? And how come I keep running into Derrida who is like the MOST confusing guy ever, when I am just trying to explain easy and clear and consistent handling? Like I can't even read Donna Haraway's new book, which even quotes Derrida but always in the context of dogs and Donna, she's a wicked front crosser, whenever she can with that speedy dog of hers.


And then after all that, this is what the real dogs were doing.


And this.


Oh boy. Are you guys beginning to see why maybe it is we don't quite have those ADCh's for everybody yet? Thank god I'm not trying for a PhD at the same time.