He did fantastic!! He has unending ball drive, so once he realized this was all to get a ball, he was all for it.
The instructor is GREAT. She is the one who has rescue JRT's so she's used to "terrier attitude" and enforces
respect for my dog, not fear of him.
Even with tennis balls all over the place, people playing with their dogs and dogs running the jumps I actually got him to do a little heeling and focus work to get his brain back in his body.
Our only problem is the Visla owner who is a little out of her element. They are going to talk to her a little about paying more attention to where her dog is. We didn't have a "near miss" but we had a "this might be very bad" moment.
The woman who was holding the tennis ball at the box was funny. She would't hold it for him to grab out of her hand. I told her he would not bite her (on purpose) and she said she knew that and wasn't worried.. but his mouth is
so big.
They decided to put the tennins ball in the box and he did it twice by hitting the platform to get it. No problems there!
I realize in those classes how great our breed is - I have not had a problem with Riggs or Ruby in any of the half dozen or so classes we have taken. They want to figure things out, try stuff and have a good time. One of the dogs was so nervous about the box that he pee'd right infront of it and wouldn't touch it. Then here comes my steam roller of a dog who was pushing the box backwards with the woman
sitting on it!
They think he will be fine in class, since he is so focused on the ball. Their only concern is a ball getting loose and having him go after it at the same time as another dog in a race. They said if I decide to try and compete with him that we would try every senario we could think of to get him used to things and know what he's supposed to do.