Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Putting it Together with Carmie

Yesterday in Carmen’s class Katrin had set up the equivalent of a NADAC Novice Regular run; except in place of the a-frame we had the teeter. The reason for the regular run? This weekend will be the very first agility trial a whole slew of MACT students. How exciting is that!?

My personal goal going forward with Carmen is to add more distance to my handling. I have asked Katrin for some exercises I can practice at home and to nudge me in class. I am going to try very hard to start incorporating more distance. Both CPE and NADAC have classes that require distance handling (Jackpot and Chances) and I don’t really want to stay in Novice/Level 1 forever! ;D And if I ever venture into other venues there are classes with distance challenges there too.

To that end I attempted to add more distance to the handling of last night’s pinwheel. The first attempt was a bit lame, but Carmie tried hard to figure out what I was getting at. Such a good girl. It got much better with the subsequent attempts. I need to remember to control my movement, not move too far ahead, and trust my dog. I have gotten MUCH better about holding physical cues.

Carmen nailed her teeter performance again. I think we are over the fly-off at Erin’s. Hooray! Her dogwalk was faster than I have ever seen it! Her weaves were excellent – no blow-bys!! It was a set of six weaves with one cage removed. The lack of blow-bys is huge – she has done them before even WITH the cages on.

She repeatedly did not see Katrin’s tire. I wonder if it was kind of in the corner and blue? She nailed the tire every time this past weekend at the trial. It was in every class/course.

I am really happy with last night’s class. I feel like Carmen is moving faster and trusting me. I tried some new things both with distance and consciously attempting to use my shoulders more for direction in turns. It feels good to be stretching my comfort level. It certainly helps that Carmen is a very responsive partner!

No comments: