Go the Distance

This weeks theme at training was DISTANCE. And I had a GREAT night.

Distance is one of my favorite things to teach. I love to see the dog think for themselves. Distance is one of those things that just take tons of repetitions, and proper placement of reward- there is nothing fancy to teach it- just practice, practice, practice! Our students last night, and tonite did great with these exercises, and will be rockin' the gamblers class in no time! Just remember- reward your dog OUT THERE- not at you.... :o)

Boone was pumped to be out there, and was tugging, and eager to play. He gave me some great distance and we worked on out, and go ons. His Go Ons were great, and he drove down a row of jumps no problem. His outs were also very good, and he moves away with just a little pressure. We also spent some time on Weavepoles- he is getting very, very consistent and only missed two entries. He has a good rhythm, and can find his entrances on his own. We ended the night with a bit of contacts- Jolayne helped me with the teeter, and we did three fast repetitions. He is improving a lot on that. He was such a good boy. I am very, very happy with how he did tonite- he didn't flake out on me, and had fun the whole time.

Wicca did very well with her go ons and her turns. Her turns are getting so good- we are able to do them out of tunnels, over jumps, and out of the poles. Her weakness is out- she doesn't respond to the pressure, and will just keep driving straight. This goes back to the "old" days when OUT didn't have a definition. We need to work on this and I have some good ideas to play around at home. We also did some difficult weave entries, and "hidden" tunnel entrances. She was a good girlie. We ended on some contacts, and I got the trusty target and clicker out to reinforce her 2 on 2 off.

It was a great night, and I am feeling pretty confident about the next two trials coming up...