Monday, January 18, 2010

Outreach Day 2

Day two of outreach was just as good as the first. The main focus was on Contacts and Weaves. I did the whole first part of the day with Boone as he needs most of the help with Contacts.

We started off timing all the contacts, and the weaves...then added challenges and compared the time. This was to see what was the weakest handler position for the dog. Boone is a "stand by me" kinda dog- I already knew that before the seminar. :o)

I worked Wicca in the weave portion and she had a really hard time with entries...some of it is my timing of course, but most of the entries she missed were straight ahead, on side entries. I don't think at this point much is going to change this- although I will shape those entries more at a trial...

On the handling front I had an AH HA! moment regarding commitment point...it changes. Duh. If Wicca is moving fast it is going to be farther from the obstacle than when she is unsure or slower than normal...drawing the imaginary line in the dirt really helped me with my timing on some lead out pivots...

Overall it was a pretty good weekend- there was a lot of really good review, (you can never hear the word consistency too often!) and my dogs had fun. Boone had a bit of a melt down and let me know when he was done (poor guy actually pee'd on the dogwalk in a 2on2off position...talk about stage fright!) but I was proud that he did as much as he did! Wicca was good, and I just really need to work on my timing, and my memory...the weave sequence just about killed me...

It was very nice to not feel completely overwhelmed after outreach- that must mean I am getting it finally right?

2 comments:

TAG ALONG said...

I'm glad you have figured out your timing on lead out pivots.. SO now you can explain more and teach me..:o)

Elf said...

Wow, peeing on the dogwalk is pretty extreme! Poor guy--you sure it just wasn't a full bladder?

I think the overwhelm is ok; better than feeling like you've wasted your time, and your hindbrain will remember some of the stuff and it will pop out when you least expect it.