I had the good fortune of getting on an earlier flight and here I am. The unfortunate thing is that I had to fly rather than drive and so all the dogs had to stay at home. Geoff is home and most likely stranded for the next couple of days as the forecast is for up to 3 feet of snow! It is supposed to be 70 degrees on Monday so by the time I get back the remnants of the storm will a few puddles and probably a lot more damage to the exposed insulation in the roofless portion of my building!
The structural engineer was out on Tuesday and according to the latest report the building is repairable so now we just haggle with the insurance company and hopefully get it done before too much more damage.
Today with the weather being what it was there was no training to be had for the pups but there are definitely more thoughts to share from yesterdays session, other than just how incredibly spoiled SoBe is :-)
So, the Merger man is really starting to get it together or grow up or something, he he not only ran a much faster dog walk yesterday but he was putting together simple 3 and 4 obstacle sequences. I do not do straight line sequences with baby dogs, i always incorporate turns so that I can keep up and make sure I am directing the dog, giving timely cues, etc...
Merger was sending to a jump, wrapping back to another jump, front cross to a tunnel, what a good boy!
The send was very impressive as he went a good 10 feet away from me to pick up the jump, he is definitely starting to try out his big boy underpants!
Merger is definitely getting the hang of the pounce off the end of the teeter board that SoBe just wanted to assault!
So, I was in California this past weekend competing in a 4 day USDAA event that I try to get to every year and Mergers mom Gina was there, she was amazing! I have only seen her run a couple of times before this trial and I have to say she was fantastic! I can only hope that the big boy runs close to as fast as mommy! Speaking of big boy, we measured Merge at the trial this past weekend he is 22 and 3/4 inches tall! He is a very powerful young man, I see a very long stride in his future and another reason to get in better shape.
Vandal got to play at Kathleens yesterday as well, and play we did :-) I am still taking it very slow with Vandal but we are working on the 2on/2off position as well as lots of body awareness stuff. Vandal is a champion at perch work and loves to balance on the inflatable balance pad and the peanut ball, he should certainly end up with a strong core.
I am still riding the fence regarding what to do with SoBe's dog walk contact, OK I think I have really decided what I want to do I am just a bit frightened of taking the leap.
Yes, I really want to do a running dog walk as well as A-frame with her. This is for a couple of reasons, I really like the fluidity and of course, the speed.
Although it is truly harder to train a running contact than a 2on/2off once you have it, you do not have the same type of very fragile criteria to maintain, or not :-)
Hmmm... what to do?
If I decide to pursue the whole running contact theme again I do need to have a very good plan for transitioning from the full stop to the running. I have taught a cue for the 2on/2off behavior that will need to change for the running contact so that I do not confuse SoBe or lose the ability to use that cue in the future. There is also the fact that I use the same cue for the teeter, more things to think about! I do love dog training, you are forever thinking, planning, improvising, what a rush!
I will try to get some video of the metamorphosis of SoBe's dog walk and some stuff of Merger. Cross your fingers for nice weather for the seminar.
1 comment:
Would you be willing to share your method for training the running contacts? Stride regulators plus ? or maybe the 'box' method?
We're getting lots of rain/slush here so far in the NCO area.
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