Dinwoodie Janis

What's a law student to do?  How do you make good use of the books that you pay hundreds of dollars to peruse after the semester ends?  Well, here is what you do with Trademarks and Unfair Competition by Dinwoodie.

Remember Gloria?  Vixen's owner?  Well, she leads our Rally Obedience class and, after some long, thoughtful conversation....the type which could only be appreciated by dog trainers who strongly believe that behavior can be shaped, not forced...the type of conversation which could only happen between dog trainers and not dog owners or between a trainer and an owner...the type of conversation in which nobody had to wear a different mask, we made a decision.  

We decided it would be great fun to teach Butley to walk backwards in a circle, counter-clockwise.  Why?  Well, why not?  Actually, because it is an impressive move that looks impressive and is equally hard to train (as opposed to some stuff that looks great but is not difficult at all to train.)  

How to get this done?  We are starting by teaching Butley that he must keep his hands in one place:  on top of the rag covered (to capture his drool) Dinwoodie Janis book.  Then, he must use his back feet, somewhat sidestepping, to circle the book...the whole time keeping his front paws on Dinwoodie Janis.  

I'm sure at this point you're thinking: I KNOW YOU HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO.   And you are correct.  However, it would make for a really nice addition to the Hokey Pokey.  The "turn yourself around" could be done by walking backwards in a counter-clockwise circle instead of a spin or a twirl.  

And here is where the difference between, say....professional actors and professional dog trainers...starts to show.  The dog trainers can think of a zillion things to do with the actors' dog.  The key will be transferring all that knowledge back to the actors.  

Can it be done?  Can actors pretend that they are not really dog owners but, in fact, dog trainers long enough to be tolerated by the dog trainers themselves?  We're gonna find out!