Obedience - FAIL

[ownedbycats]

I took Sunshine for her second to last obedience lesson on Saturday. To get to the door of the building you have to go down a hill, then there is a strip of grass between you and the porch. To the right of the door is a strip of grass about 10 feet wide, a row of trees, and then the river with little chunks of ice floating in it. It was the first time we has gone down the hill with snow on it. At the bottom of the hill were 3 ducks two together and one closer to us, between us and the building. We got halfway down the hill and Sunshine just couldn't take it anymore. She tore the leash out of my hands and took off after the closest duck. It was an escaped black and white domestic duck I've been told is a Muscovy. The Muscovy didn't fly, it waddled off, with Sunshine following behind straight into the river. I barely have time to collect my wits enough to call my dog to come, she gets halfway to me and spots the other two Muscovy's still sitting there and takes off after them. Back to the river go the ducks and back to the river and in goes Sunshine, up to her shoulders. Granted, she again came back when I called her but she and the leash were both soaked and dripping. And she had burrs stuck so deeply in I had to wait and chop them out when we got home so she is looking a little funny until her fur grows back out. I spent the entire obedience lesson wishing I could pretend the dog on the other end of the leash belonged to someone else. It was almost worse when she did so well with most of the lesson (aside from barking at the instructor's puppy)