A major heatwave has hit the Boston area and it's having an effect on our agility. For the last few days, I haven't wanted to do much with Jonah in our yard because he's sluggish and unmotivated. I just don't want him to associate agility with slow, uninterested work. So, he's had some time off.
We did go to our lesson in DogStar's airconditioned facility yesterday. Mostly Jonah was very good. He was excited and fast, but that came with a bunch of 'mistakes.' Here are some high/low lights:
-The do before us had been having trouble with a jump near the fence at the edge of the ring, so I pushed out to it more than I normally would. Jonah read my body language very seriously and jumped the fence! I was laughing so hard I had to take a minute to regroup. He was trying to do the right thing. Good boy.
-In his excitement Jonah missed one weave entry. It was a tough entry, but he's still been very good lately, so I didn't anticipate it. At another point I got a fair amount of lateral distance from him while he was weaving and he popped out around pole 10. I was encouraging him and I think sometimes I need to leave him alone more. Also, while it's good to test his independence, I shouldn't take things for granted in a trial.
-Jonah missed a couple A-frame contacts, also when I had lateral distance from him. He would turn rather than going down to the end and hop off before getting to the yellow. This is somewhat frustrating because I can't currently school an A-frame at home. I guess for now I should just babysit the contact a little--not be far away and slow down as he's coming down te ramp. Not where I'd like to be, but not the end of the world, either.
-Aside from those little troubles, Jonah was mostly very good. He was really moving and handled some tough jump sequences very well. good boy.
We did go to our lesson in DogStar's airconditioned facility yesterday. Mostly Jonah was very good. He was excited and fast, but that came with a bunch of 'mistakes.' Here are some high/low lights:
-The do before us had been having trouble with a jump near the fence at the edge of the ring, so I pushed out to it more than I normally would. Jonah read my body language very seriously and jumped the fence! I was laughing so hard I had to take a minute to regroup. He was trying to do the right thing. Good boy.
-In his excitement Jonah missed one weave entry. It was a tough entry, but he's still been very good lately, so I didn't anticipate it. At another point I got a fair amount of lateral distance from him while he was weaving and he popped out around pole 10. I was encouraging him and I think sometimes I need to leave him alone more. Also, while it's good to test his independence, I shouldn't take things for granted in a trial.
-Jonah missed a couple A-frame contacts, also when I had lateral distance from him. He would turn rather than going down to the end and hop off before getting to the yellow. This is somewhat frustrating because I can't currently school an A-frame at home. I guess for now I should just babysit the contact a little--not be far away and slow down as he's coming down te ramp. Not where I'd like to be, but not the end of the world, either.
-Aside from those little troubles, Jonah was mostly very good. He was really moving and handled some tough jump sequences very well. good boy.
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