Training April 8th

I set out the ramp and I did 10 reps each for Canon and Cheddar running down the ramp once in the morning and once in the afternoon. For Cheddar I set 6 weave poles at the end so she could run off the ramp and then go to the weaves and hopefully keep her speed up. For Canon I just let her run. I had to place two jump stands with a weave pole across the top to act like a hoop so both dogs would keep their feet down for the contact zone. It worked well. Hopefully I can remove the hoop after some repetitions.

After second set of reps on the ramp, I took the dogs to the park and set up a novice jumpers course there that started out with a pinwheel or almost like a big loop. I ran Cheddar on this and she was able to get some confidence and go pretty fast. I want to reinforce my handling of her in the tighter jumps and the loops so I can be a little more trusting and handle from a distance.

for Canon, I was amazed at her ability to let me steer her. She turned when I cued her and did very well. The only one she did not always get was the out jump of the pinwheel. I had to step into her some and work with her on it. I started out by back chaining the course. That helped her to learn that she was going to have to move at my cue. It was a good practice. I am amazed. I want to get a stop watch so I can record their speeds going through different phases of the course.

I did work with Canon on her weaves some. I want to work on her entrances a bit more before I get her doing anymore than 3 weave poles. So far, she has not gotten it in her mind that this is a set of poles. I am going to have to be consistent with her on this and work everyday on it until she gets it.