Hearts and Diamonds

Chapter three

I followed Roxy up to the mountainous forest. She had a large backpack on, which I was wondering what it was filled with.
"Where are we going?" I asked, Diamond clambering up the hillside in front of me.
"You'll see!" Roxy replied and slowed as they reached a flat part of the mountain. She led me through some trees and into a clearing.
"I found this place a couple days ago. It's great," she dropped her bag and told Rusty to stay with it. He was very well trained.
There were some tree stumps and large branches in the clearing. Roxy picked up the branches and lay them over the stumps. They made good jumps. She collected some small cones from her bag and laid them out in a line, with spaces in between.
"It's an agility course," she told me, with a smile, and went back to her bag. She pulled out a packet of dog treats. Diamond almost pulled me off of my feet when she saw them.
"Woah!" I pulled her back. "Sit!"
"No, not like that..." Roxy picked up a treat and pointed down "Sit," she said, softly. Diamond lowered her haunches and sat down. "Good girl!" Roxy smiled and kneeled down. She gave her the treat and began to pet her reddish fur. "You have to reward them, or else they won't want to do it,"
"That makes sense, I guess..." I nodded. Roxy gave me some of the treats.
"Watch this..." She held one treat and got Rusty to follow her. Diamond and I watched. She walked past the jumps and Rusty sprang over them. He could jump high for a small dog.
Next, Roxy and Rusty came to the cones. The dog instantly knew what to do. He weaved in and out of them, nimbly. She feed the little dog a treat and they padded towards Diamond and I.
"That's was so cool!" I admitted
"It's not that hard, especially when you've been doing it for a long time," She smiled "Maybe you and Diamond could try,"
"Okay," I held a treat in front of her "I'll keep her on the lead; I'm not sure she'd come back if I let her off," Diamond followed the treat to the jumps. She took one look at the first jump and knocked the branch over with her muzzle.
"It's okay, just keep going!" Roxy encouraged. I tried to led Diamond over the next jump. This time she stepped over it, as if it weren't there. I ignored that and carried on. Next, Diamond skipped around the jump. I pulled the lead closer to me and sighed. This was not working. Diamond wouldn't even sit for me, let alone this.
"I can't do it. She doesn't listen to me at all..." I called over to Roxy. She walked over to me and thought for a moment.
"We could start smaller..." She nodded "Weaving in between the cones is pretty difficult; it took me a while to train Rusty that. The jumps are easier but maybe you should train her some simple obedience first..." She gave me some more treats. "First, we have to teach her to sit. Then, stay and recall,"
"Okay..." I nodded "Like, this..." I pointed down, just how Roxy had done it. "Sit!" Diamond looked at me, with a tilted head, and then sat down. She had taken longer to do it for me then Roxy but she did do it.
"Okay, now walk back and forth and every so often tell her to sit," Roxy smiled. I began to walk in a line, going from one end of the clearing to the other and back.
"Sit!" I turned towards her and pointed down. Diamond sat down.
"Perfect! Now, try without the hand gestures," Roxy yelled, Rusty sitting beside her. I walked for a little while and then tried to catch Diamond off guard. "Sit!" I called and Diamond obliged. I feed her the treat and she licked my hand. "Good girl!" I praised. Roxy smiled and walked over toward me.
"That was great!" She smiled "Next, you've got to tell her to stay when she's sitting. Once she's sitting, take about seven steps backwards."
"Will you hold the lead?" I asked
"If I held it, then it would be cheating..." Roxy told me "I'll stand beside her. If she tries to runs off, I'll grab her. It's fine, don't worry..."
"Alright," I nodded and turned back to Diamond "Sit!" I told her. She did as I said and so I dropped the lead down on the ground. She didn't seem to notice.
One step... She was still sitting
Two steps... I was sure she'd move
Three steps... I watched her.
Four steps... Not a single movement
Five steps... She watched me
Six steps... Statue-like paws
Seven steps... My feet went still too.
"Diamond!" I called. To my complete and utter surprise, Diamond did as I asked. She padded over and stopped by my feet.
"See! I told you it wasn't that hard!" Roxy smirked.
"I guess not," I smiled "I guess not..."