July 17, 2008 - Wipe out!
"Man down! Man down!"
Yes, I was the first one in the class to eat dirt. It also happened to be the first time I volunteered to do a demonstration. Picture this...
Following lunch, the class met in the large training building to practice name recall. For the demonstration a dog is tethered to a cable that spans the length on the training room. The dog and handler (Mika and me) stand in the middle of the room. A helper (another student) stands about 50 feet away. The helper calls the dog by name in cheerleader fashion: "Mika, Mika, Mika!" Hopefully the dog will respond and come running to the helper and receive lots of clicks and a treat. Then, the handler (me) calls the dog back: "Mika, Mika, Mika!" Click and treat.
After a couple of turns back and forth, the instructor tells me to run backwards as the dog comes to me. This makes the dog have to travel a greater distance to reach the handler. As instructed I began running backwards, cheering the dog on and clicking the clicker with gusto. One moment I was cheering...the next I hit the floor!
I think my ass hit first, then my head, then my feet. Upon impact I bounced off the rubber flooring and my legs flew over my head, then rocked back. Next thing I knew my dog was climbing on me, full of exuberance. I mistakenly thought she was happy to come to me when in fact it was all the treats that spilled out of my bait onto the floor that brought her such joy.
After that the instructor said, "Um, why don't you not run backwards next time." Yeah, ya think?
There are video cameras all over the school, with at least 3 in the large training hall. All I can say is the footage of my fall better not end up on the Internet!
Yes, I was the first one in the class to eat dirt. It also happened to be the first time I volunteered to do a demonstration. Picture this...
Following lunch, the class met in the large training building to practice name recall. For the demonstration a dog is tethered to a cable that spans the length on the training room. The dog and handler (Mika and me) stand in the middle of the room. A helper (another student) stands about 50 feet away. The helper calls the dog by name in cheerleader fashion: "Mika, Mika, Mika!" Hopefully the dog will respond and come running to the helper and receive lots of clicks and a treat. Then, the handler (me) calls the dog back: "Mika, Mika, Mika!" Click and treat.
After a couple of turns back and forth, the instructor tells me to run backwards as the dog comes to me. This makes the dog have to travel a greater distance to reach the handler. As instructed I began running backwards, cheering the dog on and clicking the clicker with gusto. One moment I was cheering...the next I hit the floor!
I think my ass hit first, then my head, then my feet. Upon impact I bounced off the rubber flooring and my legs flew over my head, then rocked back. Next thing I knew my dog was climbing on me, full of exuberance. I mistakenly thought she was happy to come to me when in fact it was all the treats that spilled out of my bait onto the floor that brought her such joy.
After that the instructor said, "Um, why don't you not run backwards next time." Yeah, ya think?
There are video cameras all over the school, with at least 3 in the large training hall. All I can say is the footage of my fall better not end up on the Internet!
posted by Shannon @ 7:17 PM
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