Cora put her hand over her mouth and looked at Mia, who was staring at the monitor with a shocked expression on her face.
“I’m sorry, that was really inappropriate! I have very strong feelings about him, obviously. Can I start over?” She didn’t wait for them to answer. “I feel that Boris Ershovich uses techniques that have a strong history in traditional dog training but don’t accurately reflect what we now know about the ways dogs learn. I appreciate his advice to exercise dogs more, but I think that the bulk of what he does is dangerous. His show flashes a disclaimer at the beginning telling viewers not to try his techniques at home. That says something. Iwantpeople to train the way I train.” She hoped her revised answer negated her passionate one.
Vaughn nodded. “Hm, makes sense.”
Mia scribbled something on her notepad.
“Do you have any experience on TV? Like, any interviews with local media? Stuff like that?” Vaughn asked.
“None. I hope that doesn’t disqualify me.”
“Not at all! You’re what they call a ‘fresh face’! That can be a good thing.” Vaughn smiled at her. “So now I want you to do some work with Honey. I’m going to feed you a few lines and I want you to say them back to me. Honey’s going to be next to you on leash, so try to interact with her as well when you say the lines. Makes sense?”
“Yup.” Cora’s nerves were kicking in. She stood and ran her hands down the front of her pants in an effort to dislodge a wedgie.
Mia walked Honey over to Cora and took the chair away. Cora looked down at the dog and nodded, as if sealing a secret pact with her.
“I want you to introduce yourself and then say, ‘Honey’s people have a big challenge; she jumps on everyone that comes over! I’m here to show them how they can change her behavior and make her the ultimate hostess! Are you ready to get to work, Honey?’ Then you can look down and pet her or something. Got it?”
Cora mumbled the words to herself and nodded. Memorization wasn’t her strong point.
Vaughn paused and looked down at the camera. “Okay, go for it.”
“Hi, I’m Cora and this is Honey, and she jumps on guests! It’s time to show her people how to make her a good hostess. Are you ready, Honey?” She reached rapidly toward Honey to pet her and the dog leaped away, startled by her abruptness. It was as if every bit of Cora’s dogsense had disappeared in an instant.
“Great!” Vaughn said. “Loved it, really good. Can you try it one more time for me, as a safety? Oh, and this time don’t forget to say ‘I’m hereto show them’ blah blah blah. We need to establish you as the expert.”
“Yup, sorry about that. I’ll do it again, no problem. Can you repeat it for me one more time though?” Cora felt the blush simmering in her hairline. She was blowing it.
Vaughn said the intro again with the exact inflection and cadence as the first time he said it. He sounded like an actor.
“Ready? Go!”
“Hi, I’m Cora, and this is my friend Honey. Honey’s people have a tough challenge; she jumps on everyone! I’m here to show them how they can change her behavior and make her the ultimate hostess! Let’s get to work, Honey!” She opted to kneel next to Honey when she finished the second take, and the dog stepped closer and licked her face. Cora laughed.
“Right on, that was great! Did you like that one, Mia?” Vaughn turned to her.
“Yup, awesome. Let’s keep going.”
Cora felt like they were rushing her through the process. Where was her applause?
“Now I want you to free form some instruction with Honey. Have you ever taught agility?”
Cora felt her stomach drop. She had never done any dog sport instruction. This audition was over.
“No, not really, but I guess the foundation steps for agility are universal. What do you want me to do?”
Ryan had taken off his headphones and was wheeling a large A-frame, a five-foot-tall triangular structure striped with a blue and yellow granular rubbery substance for traction, to the center of the room. Agility dogs were taught to run up one side and down the other, making sure to touch the yellow contact points at the base of the structure with at least one paw during ascent and descent.
“Why don’t you just play around with Honey and the A-frame? Show us how you would teach her to go up it. And just so you know, she hasn’t done this obstacle yet, so it’ll be new for her. We’re using different equipment with everyone. Brooke had her do the ... what is that table thingy called?”
“Pause table,” Mia offered.
A pause table was just what it sounded like: a low broad table, like a coffee table with the legs lowered, where the dog was required to take a five-second break between the high-speed obstacles. It was unbelievably simple to get a dog to climb on top the first time, and Cora tried not to feel bitter that Brooke had had such an easy obstacle.
Cora walked over to the intimidating A-frame. It was the first time she’d ever been near one. She unclipped Honey’s leash, and the dog did a quick lap around the room.
“Honey? Come over here, girl!” Her voice lapsed into her typical happy dogspeak pitch, and Honey zoomed back to her. She hoped they couldn’t see the sweat stains forming under her arms.
