In the Groove

Today I had a great time training at the agility field. It was productive, fun, and it felt great to actually be working on some agility. It seems like I haven't really trained my own dogs in a while! It was nice to just train my dogs with a group of people, and get some good feedback. As an instuctor I usually train by myself, and rarely get any feedback at all....

We did a few handling sequences that Sarah designed- they were tough, and had some interesting handling challenges. Both girls did really well, and I was able to remember the way. lol! I also worked on contacts and distance with Pixel. She needs the work on both. I was able to send her through a set of twelve poles away from me- which felt great. We also worked on the teeter, aswell as some directionals at a distance. Her gamble skills are improving! Contact wise we did lots of backchaining. I am seeing improvement in understanding. But I know that it is not likely to be as good at a trial. What I should do is NOT run her at a trial on contacts until they are 100%, but that is harder to do than say.... I am okay taking the step back each time I trial her, and am realistic about my expectations. It will just take us longer to get solid contacts is all.

I only did the handling drills with Wicca- nothing extra. Her contacts and weaves are pretty solid, and she is a great gamble dog. I was happy with the handling exercises though- she was responsive, and listening. Two great things. :)

Brit came out and did some teeter games (the bang game)for the second time ever- she did great! She is not afraid at all of the movement or noise, which is great and thinks it's a fun game. She is having trouble staying on though- and more often than not slid off the side. This is due in part to her weak rear, and in part of her understanding what I want- she isn't bracing herself. We have lots of work to do still on muscle building.  We also did a few table games (tug-but stay on, and fast downs) And we did targeting off the dogwalk for the first time. I have been doing plank work and have made it all the way to the end of my progression chart- time to put it on the big dog stuff (or so I thought). She did pretty well. We did five reps- only three were perfect though, so I am going to do more plank work before putting her back on the full board. I find with contacts that if you skip ahead, or don't break things down enough that you often end up having to retrain the whole thing later on. (Pixel!) So this time I am making sure that I am 100% sure on my criteria, and my dogs understanding. I taught contacts to two dogs, (Wicca, and Boone) so I should be able to teach it to Brit to my satisfaction. :)

So yeah, a great few hours at the agility field. Tomorrow we are doing some Scenthurdle and Obedience, and we will do a bit more agility on Monday. Gotta love long weekends!!!