irony.

so i enrolled in the wild and crazy puppy obedience training class. it was long overdue. it was the first class last night. there at rancho tapo park, in the fading sun and falling night, cold brisk air nipping at our noses and chilling our toes as if they were champagne, the eager attendees listened on with wide open ears and bugged eyes, hanging onto every word jeri-lynn said, hungering for the knowledge that would help us make Lassies out of all our pooches. the trainer boosted our morale, gave us one of those pre-football game coach talks, i.e. 'You can do it!!' talks, all the while mixing in success and sob stories of those who had come before us, as well as tips and homework and supplies we needed before next week when we'd bring our wild and crazy pooches.

the irony of it all made me chuckle. the techniques jeri-lynn would be teaching us were basic behavior modification techniques, known in my work world as ABA (applied behavior analysis). these essentially apply to all basic animal behavior, from the beast that shares my pillows to the incorrigible children i worked with. the services my agency provides is based on the same techniques i had paid jeri-lynn $65 to teach me in 8 weeks. i touted my expertise in these techniques in my professional life; after all, people came to me to explain the underpinnings of how and why these techniques worked with the people we served. yet here i was, looking to a most likely HS-educated lady with imploring eyes, begging her to teach me the same things i am an alleged expert at.

isn't it ironic?

so i did some homework last night. we're supposed to teach our dog to sit on our left side and to wait at the door. i think my dog is beginning to learn Sit. either that, or her butt got tired and i gave her cheese and turkey for it.