Start Line

Sarah and I ventured to Medicine Hat for the day on Saturday- I had Wicca entered in just three standard runs. Sam is still figuring out the weave pole thing so until he gets it he won't be running much at trials anymore....

So- our first run was pretty bad. Wicca was frantic at the start line- didn't knock the first bar however....She did blow the contact on the dowgwalk- so i made her do it again- she ran the first half of the course pretty well after that. -And then she blew the wall...so I picked her up and ended the game. Wicca was a little annoyed I think....
I have been playing around and testing different things at trials- we have our warm up down pat and it seems to work fairly well.. We do heeling, attention, weave through legs, over a few jumps, stretching and stays.
The next run (Std#2) I took her lead off before we got in the ring and took advantage of a timers delay and set her up and made her wait- I walked away- and rewarded the stay, came back to her and released her and played with her. and then set her up again. It was amazing! I did it two times before they were anywhere near ready for me and we actually had a solid start line! It was a good run- except for the dogwalk and wall contacts she didn't stick- (I made her redo them...) but otherwise I felt good about it. She took my direction really good- and wasn't too frenzied.
Std#3- I did the same thing at the start- no leash up to the line, down, stay, release and reward, set up- lead out and Go! It seemed to work really well. This run was a bit better- She still broke her contacts but she was very controlled- and listened really well- she even almost had perfect weaves! She blew past the entry but the second time I sent her in she went in no problem....

So I think some key things I learned-

Long Warm Up- which is hard sometimes with her being the first dog.
No rushing at the start line....
Leash off before I get her in the ring- I am confident she won't leave me and take off onto equipment.
Be confident in the lead out....

Sarah had a great day with Bird- his first time in Masters Standard and he Q'd Bang, bang, bang...to get his MAD! What a great guy!

Gyp and Wicca got to have some girl time and played well together for the most part- Wicca is pretty selective as to who she'll interact with- she's very much a dog snob....

-amanda