Clean Run - November 2016 - 9


selling out of the trunk of his car, a fancy pronged affair with
medieval neck-poking spikes. That pretty much did it in for me
for dog training, one class was enough. We just muddled along,
Timmy was content to do whatever I did and that worked
okay for us.
Ruby was something altogether different. She came from exotic wild jungles, she could swing through trees by her toes.
A wonder woman who could run for miles without taking a
breath, especially if she was chasing a motorcycle or on the
scent of a fish guts pile. Her spiderman skill of reaching the
top of our refrigerator in a single bound was breathtaking. If I
tried the can of pennies thing, it just made her jump higher. I
needed professional help.
Our feed store had classes with the
most popular teacher in town. Every
Saturday morning, she creaked into
the parking lot where class was held,
driving an old Ford Econoline. She'd
climb out like an ancient gunslinger,
armed with a spray bottle of vinegar.
"Works like a charm," she cackled in
her gravelly two-pack-a-day voice. The
van doors opened to a load of stacked
up crates, and the first dog to utter
a bark got an eyeball full of her spray
bottle. Then silence. I'd never seen anything like it.

The teacher had a lot of secrets to dog training. She'd been a
champion obedience trainer since Herbert Hoover and had
yellowy white hair firmly cemented into the shape of a lemon
meringue pie, with a little sun visor poking out the front. She
ran a tight ship. Most of the class was spent heeling in little figure eights while she barked out orders from a patio chair. Everyone had a turn being an eight, while somebody else heeled.
The dogs were stored on little squares of carpet while they
waited their turn, leashes tied to the fence.
The theme of the class was pop 'em good with the choke
chain. There weren't any cookies, although she did have a jar
of cat food onboard the van for exceptional behavior. I think
everybody was scared of her, dogs and handlers both. The biggest bonus of class was a baby tunnel,
wedged against a wall. A spin through
the tunnel earned a piece of cat food,
definitely our favorite part of class.
Ruby did all right, especially at running
through the tunnel for the cat food,
but she didn't like to lie down. The exasperated teacher took her from me
once, grabbing the leash in her gnarled
claws. "You gotta pop 'em good," she
croaked, trying to pull Ruby down to
the asphalt.
She pulled and yanked, yanked and
pulled. Ruby held on like a sack of

MOVE-iT !
®

Tired of dragging your A-frame to move
it while simultaneously ruining your turf?
Can't move it by yourself? The Move It! is a
revolutionary device that allows one person
to move an A-frame without any lifting.

Roll one home TODAY!

See the full line of
NoseTouch.com innovative products:

www.nosetouch.com
888-711-PETS (7387)
Also available at:

www.cleanrun.com * 800-311-6503
November 16 | Clean Run

9
http://www.NoseTouch.com http://www.nosetouch.com http://www.cleanrun.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - November 2016
