Teacher’s Pet: Who Cares If You Won, Was It Fun?

Hello hello, and welcome back to Teacher’s Pet, a column on all things training!  Every other #TrainingTuesday, Brussels.Sprout, will share his how-tos for learning new tricks, updates on his own adventures in agility competition, and his favorite tips for helping you and your pup bond over training.

This edition of Teacher’s Pet is more of a life lesson from a 5 lb. pup than a training tip, but either way I’m pretty sure it’ll get you to smile.

This past weekend Sproutie and I were in Chicago visiting family, and entered a local trial so my mom could watch us compete.  We loaded up the car, drove two hours and settled in for a long day of watching the advanced agility dogs before the two afternoon Novice classes started.

Now, there’s something you need to know about Sprout, and it’s he goes bananas over new textures under his paws.  I mean, here he is meeting a beach. Pure joy.

So when I arrived and saw this trial venue had turf flooring – something Sprout has never seen – I knew we may be in for a ride. Things started out strong in our first run.  He took the first four obstacles with confidence, but when he popped out the other end of the tunnel…

… he was in zoomies mode, and zoomed himself right over to the exit of the arena.  Game over.  No big deal – he zoomed a bit at his first dirt trial and grass trial, but then focused on the task at hand, so I figured now that it was out of his system we’d have a great second run…

Please excuse the shoddy footage – that’s my mom laughing so hard she can’t hold the camera steady.  And that’s also me in the background shouting WHEEEEEEE!!! as he starts to zoom.  I technically should have focused on trying to get him focused, but TBH I couldn’t resist cheering him on.  See, as you may know, Sprout has been working through some trial stress issues.  A few months ago, he was so overwhelmed he wouldn’t even move off the start line.  To see him so happy and excited, despite being at a new place away from home, was a big win for us.

So that was it!  After the zoomies, we loaded up the car back up and started the long drive home.  Sprout looked so smug when we buckled him into his seatbelt.  Like he was so proud of himself for his agility “performance.”  And guest what? So were we 🙂

Did you miss the last teacher’s pet? Click here to see more!

Brussels Sprout

Sprout is a perpetually pouty, 2 year old smooth-coated Brussels Griffon. This tiny little tastemaker loves sweater weather, brunch, giving back to less fortunate dogs, and teeny-tiny tennis balls. He is passionate about lengthy naps and higher education, with dreams of one day becoming an agility champion.