Training Pixel

Pixel is so fun. I brought her to the big kids class on Tuesday night at the arena. We worked on lots of little things, and had a pretty great night. She is not distracted by anything- barking dogs (even Tag!) don't bother her and the horse poop isn't that interesting. Her jumping continues to be great. Even with a lot of speed she is careful about the bar. I am so thankful for that you can't even imagine.

Her dogwalk is coming right along and I am happy with what she is offering now in her 2on 2off. I can send, run past, and of course run with her and she will stick it until released. She is doing the whole dogwalk now, and was able to safely find the entrance even with speed from a tunnel.

Her teeter is awesome, I am so happy with it. She is running all the way to the end for a half drop, and then a gradual drop to the floor. The teeter games have totally paid off and she is very confident on the teeter. I predict that in a few weeks she will be doing the whole thing by herself.

Last night was her actual class, and again she did very well. We worked on pinwheels for the first bit. I have done pinwheels before with her so she understands to look for that middle jump. She did go much wider on my right side which is interesting, and kept going around the third jump. I ended up having to stop, turn, and say her name to get her over the bar. To the left was fine every time. Strange.

We also did weaves- a 2 pole station, and 6 poles with gates. The two poles she did awesome on. She is able to find her entry from just about anywhere and really drives ahead looking for them. The 6 poles with gates she has only done a few times so was a bit confused at first- I think that she will be a dog that takes a while to find a rhythm that is comfortable for her. The gates are great for that as it is pretty foolproof for them at this stage.


We ended on positional cues which teaches the dog a few things- one, to look at the jump before being released. two, to take the obstacle in front of them when released. and three, to proof your release. The release is not movement, an arm, a handstand, or anything else. The release is a word.
Pixel did really well at this, although we have done this before without a jump so she had the general idea. It is so neat to see the wheels turning on the dogs who don't understand at first to look ahead. It is hard to explain the set up, and the process so I cut/paste from our notes so you guys could see what I am talking about. Last night the Handler remained in the H1 position, and the dog moved through D1-D3. Next time the handler will also move.

To say I am happy with Pixels progress would be an understatement. I think she is going to be great one day. :o)

P.S- the credit goes to sarah for the design of the positional cue thingy.... :o)