Dee & Snackers do Obedience

The day dawned bright and sunny with a crisp salty breeze. Deidra was up early and ready for a long busy day. That business happened to be getting Sir Snackers to an obedience class in the local rec because she had had it with his daily nonsense. She had taken Arri recently and it had... not gone well, but the hound had at least vaguely picked up some notion of what was considered good hound behavior. Snacker's deeply needed some more one on one time, and she needed to learn how to communicate with him better.

The hound in question was snoring loudly on a tattered rug by the cooled fireplace. He twitched, a bit of drool escaping his large maw. Dee rolled her eyes and went back to readying her pack. It was going to be a long day. She gathered her bottle of water and various items, and ever so carefully lifted the large bag of treats she had bought for the occasion. The slight rattle of the bits shifting brought Snackers to immediate wakefulness in a blink though.

"Oh.. well you're awake that's perfect timing!" She said brightly, shoving the bag hastily into the pack and buttoning it quickly. Out of sight out of mind right? Snackers narrowed his eyes and sloooowly got up, stretching and yawning and smacking his lips like a grumpy old man. He huffed when he saw her pull the lead and collar from the hook by the door.

"You have to wear it... you really aren't supposed to be running around town without it you know." She chided the surly hound as she buckled the collar around his neck. He made a grumping noise but then distracted himself by nosing at her bag while she was kneeling down to attach the lead. There were definite treat smells in there. It was not enough distraction to get the lead attached though and he easily slipped out of reach each time she tried to attach it. Finally, she resorted to shaking her bag with the treats in it and he followed her without the lead. "You win again mutt.." she muttered in annoyance.

Dee walked along with Snackers trailing behind her, sniffing at everything he could get his scruffy nose on. Whenever he started to stray off or fall behind, she gave the treat bag a shake. Once or twice she even had to let a little treat kibble fall to the street, which he would immediately scramble to gobble up.

They arrived at the community center where the class was being hosted, and Deidra was immediately filled with anxiety and dread. Everyone had their hounds on leads and many were already sitting or at least waiting patiently with their handlers. It took several treats to even get Snackers in the door, but once it was closed she knew his chaos was contained in the building. At least for the time being.

A stout freckled woman was in the middle of the open area energetically chatting with some of the handlers. After a couple of moments, she finally interrupted herself to address the class.
"Alright, excellent, I'm so happy we had so many new hound handlers sign up! This is Basic Obedience, or Hound Handling 101 as I like to call it! But I promise there are no quizzes!" she laughed a contagious laugh, but Dee was not feeling any less worried.

"Ok let's start with the basics. You'll have to forget anything you think you know about canine companions. Hounds are a very different beast!" As she talked she walked the room, pointing for handlers to move to marked spots so everyone was equally spaced. "I'd like for you all to stay in your marked areas, this will help minimize distractions for now. We want to focus on you bonding with your hound...." The trainer paused at Sir Snackers blocking her path, lying half asleep already. Deidra held up the lead embarrassed.

"I try to lead him and he just falls over like a dead thing. I didn't want to drag him here... and he's so fat..." She could feel the flush creeping up her face. The handler chuckled, "Yeah he looks like he never misses a meal that's for sure!" She took the end of the lead and hooked it to Snacker's collar, and then placed the handle end firmly around Dee's wrist.
"He has to be on a lead for now, but don't fret, I'll help you. I've busted worse lazy-leaders than this fellow!" Her confidence was reassuring. "We will start with a trust-building activity and you two can be our example!" The short woman cried happily and clapped her hands. Dee gulped and nudged Snacker's with her foot. Thanks a LOT mutt.

As the trainer explained the activity, she continued to move around the room, helping people with unruly hounds and giving pointers. Of course, she had to keep returning to help Dee. Snackers perked up when he found there were treats involved, and actually sort of halfway participated. But Deidra had a suspicion he had evaluated the situation and was only doing the bare minimum for treats and praise. It was clear very little of the day's teachings were getting through to his unruly tiny brain. Oh well, it was a good bonding experience and she enjoyed spending the day with her hound and other handlers, even if she still had to bribe Sir Snackers home with sausages from a food cart...