I had a few general goals-
- no barking while other dogs were running
- focus and attention even when excited
- not taking equipment if not asked
- 270's
- a-frame at full height
- weaves
- start lines
I was very proud of him last night- during the first class where he actually got to train I kept him in a down stay when it wasn't his turn- there was no barking. I rewarded him for being calm, and staying. No spinning and panting. We warmed up with some heeling/running past equipment before each turn- he still will run out and try and take stuff, but will come when I call him- which is a pretty major thing for him. He finds agility highly rewarding without me :o)
Our first exercise looked kinda like this with a curved tunnel on one side. I worked just the circle of jumps with Boone- and then worked on decceleration with him- he doesn't really pick that up very well so we spent quite a lot of time on it. We also worked front and rear crosses. It's pretty amazing what you can do with four jumps!
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Then we worked on weaves and wow! is all I can say. I haven't done any weaving at home lately but he was a weaving machine- he had some great entrances and I even managed a front cross after the poles! On this station we worked on 270's as well.
The last station we worked on the a-frame. Backchaining, Backchaining, and Backchaining some more. I had it at full height with a small target plate mostly hidden by dirt. I would say we were 90% successful. The height of the frame is making him rock back to be able to get into position and not bounce off. After about 10 reps building up from a foot from the bottom to a foot from the top I ended on a tunnel, frame, tunnel, frame sequence where he stuck his contact both times.
He is really improving a lot and I notice changes every time we train. I entered him in almost a full trial for January. We have lots of training to do before then but with consistent work I think he'll be ready.
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