Another beginner class this evening. We dedicated the evening to greeting people with 4 on the floor. Well-trained people help a lot. Poor baby, he’s just BURSTING with love! He seems to understand why people are turning their backs on him, he just never expects it to happen.
He was a little upset because he didn’t have supper before his 8 PM class. We did some hand Zen, and then I tossed a big piece of wiener on the floor. Boy howdy, that was tough. He was HUNGRY. After a few minutes of work he could walk by it within grabbing distance. He kept looking back at it longingly, though he knew he couldn’t have it. I tossed a second piece down 2 feet from the first one. That was funny because then he was very confident in his Zen of the first one but was right back to the beginning on the second one. Eventually he could walk by both.
We practised the Name Game, then walking toward other students and calling them back to us before they met. He’s better at sitting near them or watching them go by than he is walking toward them and remembering to control himself.
I started tossing treats through my legs. I figured I’d better teach it to him now before he gets big enough to give me pony rides as he goes through. He liked that. Then I did a few minutes of shaping the rays for a front. It only took him a few reps before he realized I was looking for eye contact as well as position. Clever boy.
Finally, I worked some Yes Floor, tossing a treat and having him stare at it and lean toward it on the collar before letting him go get it. The Zen treats were still on the floor, and he ignored them completely. On the way out I told him he could have them and he was a little doubtful.
Excellent class.