Here's the Standard run from our double Q on Saturday.
And here's the gravity-defying dog walk run from Sunday. (Thank doG he has an excellent sense of balance ... and that he didn't fall off and get hurt ... or that I didn't have to catch him in mid-air, which would have meant ME getting hurt!)
I was really happy with Phoenix's start lines, contacts and weaves in all six trials. But that table, oh boy. I asked him for a down, he gave me an elbows-up crouch, then I ask for a sit. Poor guy, I don't think he has a clue what I want and I'm not doing a good job with enforcing criteria.
Personally, I can't wait until Sept. 1 when the table rule changes. I think I'll spend the rest of the summer working on an auto sit. Have tried for two years to master an auto down and it's just not happening for us. In training, about 90 percent, in trialing less than 50. So maybe it's time for a new approach. We're spending too much time dawdling around on the table and neither one of us are happy about it.
Thanks to all the Team Orange members who video'd us this weekend!
Good job!! Apparently Phoenix's nails are just a bit too short on one side :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat videos! That dog walk was crazy. Good thing he's got such strength and balance.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the dog walk in the first video. Because of the glare, you can't really see the obstacle so it looks like he's running across the air.
I've been doing an automatic sit too, and have gotten nothing but complaints about it. From other trainers, not from Layla. My thinking was that, she "downs" significantly faster than she'll sit up. The complainers are saying that when I get to USDAA (which I'm not certain I'll even be doing) I'll be wasting time because it's always a mandatory down, and soon AKC you can choose, so just pick the down. Imagine the horror of someone choosing for themselves what's best for their dog?
Loved the videos, and congratulations again on the Q's!