The reason I haven’t been posting lately is that my plate is too full.
Most of that is a good thing. My students keep me incredibly busy during the day – making sure they are on task and grading everything as quickly as possible.
Some of my day is flat out frustration. We have been living in a construction zone since last April. They have been working on our HVAC since then. In fact they were welding in front of my door most of the time through July and August. Here’s the deal though. We have great ventilation and temperature control in the halls, NONE in our rooms. I actually do for a few minutes in the morning, but then it quits, and doesn’t pick back up. Unfortunately my room faces South with a huge bank of windows. So it gets incredibly hot. I didn’t think it could even GET this hot.
Also, the parents keep pulling into my parking space WHILE I have a turn signal on, signally I’m turning left. Today the parking lot was restriped and I had to count and while I was doing that, mom in truck pulled in front. I wasn’t near as upset about that one as I was the previous oblivious parent. I keep wondering who they are actually going to run over.
We can’t lock ours. They replace nice heavy doors, with hollow doors which have windows. We have to wait for the district lock smiths to make keys for the doors. They are usually pretty quick but can’t start until all our doors are installed. We have some that are still missing, we don’t know why.
Training two dogs keeps me busy too. Right now, I have two classes with Dulce (but one of those is ending next week), and one class with Macy. Technically I have two, but I gave up on the second one. Too far away and too frustrating, as they use a totally different training method.
Which brings me to the main reason I’m blogging. People keep giving me reasons to stress out. Example, I show up at the local training class and am nailed as I am coming in to sign in and told my dog has to wear a diaper. Yes, they pee in the class, I am still having trouble figuring out their schedule but have discovered that if I go into a class, the dogs needs to pee within the first 5 minutes of class and that walking them around doesn’t work. I have to actually do a couple of obstacles first.
So last night, we did about 5 minutes of training, I went outside and she peed right away. To play it safe, I took her out two other times.
However, I’m not thrilled with that place. Their idea of climates to be keeping the doors open. If I wanted to breath outside air, I’d be at an outside facility (and have my name on a waiting list).
The instructors are lousy. The first instructor I stopped going to there, cannot think outside the box at all. I have beagles, to train them, you have to think outside the box. I’d already tried any of her ideas and they didn’t work and I was looking for new ideas. Also I wanted someone who actually taught, not one that set out a random course, sat on her butt, and told us what we did wrong. Again, all her ideas were stuck soundly in the box.
The second instructor I worked with for months, and then discovered what I had already suspected, my dog couldn’t do common household stuff, like stays and walking on a leash. Dog can walk like a conformation dog or walk in the park but not anything between.
I can’t decide if she can’t follow a lesson plan or can’t write one. The result is the same.
Their third instructor is a great instructor except her husband is stationed oversees and when he comes home, she disappears without warning. I don’t blame her, but I want to go to class.
I really like their fourth instructor and I am currently starting next week, signed up with two classes with her. However, the second instructor told me last night that my dogs had to wear a diaper if I trained there.
I AM NOT RUNNING MY DOG IN AGILITY WITH IT IN A DIAPER.
If that is insisted, give me my money. Please, they are dogs, I pick up after them. Oh, and why don’t you get on dogs that drool all over the place? Isn’t that as bad?