I Spy Progress....Tues. Nite Agility

Last Night Carmie and I had a good class. I would venture to say the best one in a while. I did not attempt one front cross! I did not do a front cross between 4 and 5 or between 11 and 12. (I expect to regress next week.)

I did a rear cross going into the weaves! The first time I blew it by not stopping my motion enough and allowing Carmie to get ahead of me. After that we were successful. Very interesting.


I find I have more success in class if I think throughout the day about what I want to accomplish. I kid you not. Yesterday, all day, I kept thinking, “Let her get ahead of you. Make her move. Go Slow.” And I was much more successful!

I didn’t worry about the serpentine at all. I reserved all my anxiety (needlessly) for the rear cross into the poles.

The first run-thru the first set of poles had all the cages on. The second set had cages only on the left side. During the second run-thru the first set had cages on the left side (and the second set was the same as the first run-thru) and as we ended the course the dogs could really build up some speed. I was SO pleased that Carmie nailed the entrance.


In other news, I must have been reading Katrin’s mind because I was thinking this week I really need to teach Carmie “down” on cue. How sad is this? She is a good little worker and I have never spent the time to teach her to “down.” I planned on reinforcing Carmie’s sits and working on down between runs. Then I saw the table in yesterday’s course and Katrin’s request for a down on it. Hah! Serendipity, I guess.

All in all a good class. I do wish I had brought my camera last night. I do not think I have ever seen the barn so muddy. And there are lots of dogs with pantaloons in class (3 Aussies and one AA)! What a mess. Carmie looked like she was wearing brown boots by the end. Needless to say she got a bath when we got home. She was NOT a happy camper. Lucky for her I didn’t decide to torture her and make her sit for 10 minutes with White on White on her furnishings. Wouldn’t that have been cruel!?