Do you think his leg seems weak in class or are you telling us what the trainer is saying?  If it is just what the trainer is saying I am wondering if the trainer is seeing it because he is expecting it.  If you are seeing it that is different.  Does he have to sit for a long time in class before getting up again?  Just wondering.

Debra & Angel Emily

Speaking from experience with doing Rally obedience work with Maggie over the winter.  She can only handle so much of it before she looses the "spring in her hop"….as witnessed by my sister and a friend of mine that I have practiced with before.  Obviously it's pretty hard for me to see when she's in heel position next to me….an observer can see more from afar.  But after it was mentioned to me, I then could tell when she started getting tired and started to labor more in her movements…  Does your dogs attitude change?   Is he pumped at the beginning of class but after a while, is he more settled?  Could be the settled you're imagining is him getting tired?

Have someone else watch him to confirm your instructors thoughts or better yet have someone else work him and you watch him at varying times during your class and see what you see.  Obedience work might seem like not much as far as physical work but it sure as heck is to a Tripawd!  At least Maggie thinks so and her body tells me so…

FWIW

Tracy, Maggie's Mom

Wow, thanks everyone for all the suggestions.

I see that his leg is weak in class, but I also see him out of class and he's fine. The instructor has asked me about it twice – but she also doesn't see him outside of class.

The class does involve a lot of sitting and/or laying down for Tres.  Maybe his leg is "cold" (not warmed up) from sitting/laying down for such a long period.

The floors are slick in this class – waxed concrete.  At the MIL's house, it is gravel, dirt, and grass – all high traction materials. 

The vet examined him a while ago (about a year ago), and said he was fine. I doubt its an injury because I take him to my MIL's house after class and he runs around and plays with the other dogs just like normal.

 I personally think it is because in all the exercises we do, he is 1) walking for very short distances – ususally 10 ft or less, and 2) he has to walk rather slowly. 

The instructor has suggested that Tres can take the loose-leash walking portion of the test on a different surface – but the only place is the lawn outside and there's just too many interesting smells for him that he has to sniff and pee on- too many distractions and we will flunk that portion of the test.

Thanks everyone!!! I'm so glad to have this community!

-L

Funny, I just posted about this today on Nikki's blog. She absolutely has a hard time on the indoor surfaces, even the carpet. For the most part to me it seems as if she is expecting to slip, and therefore is being more careful. Once she hits the outside though, she will run/play/horse around with the best of them…. Of course she does get tired more often and sit down, but even getting up while outside is much easier for her.. I really do believe it's more a "fear" of slipping than it is anything else…

My Maggie is fearful of slipping on slick floors too(hence why my house now looks like a patchwork quilt of various throw rugs on the hardwood and linoleum!).  But give her good footing and the fear goes away.  And she's not a fearful dog but being a tripawd now has brought that out of her…rightfully so! 

Tracy, Maggie's Mom