Sunday, August 28, 2011

Running A-frame: The Beginning

Due to being stuck inside thanks to the storm, I did the online view of Rachel Sanders' Reliable Running A-frame video from Clean Run.  My internet was apparently not good enough to get great picture quality, but it was really good to have the full review of her method.

It's a well done video and I'm excited about the method, although there are some tweaks I may make for Jonah.  I definitely recommend the video.

I wasn't going to go do shopping, but I did grab the PVC base from our table.  After some cleaning, I brought it inside and began some of the ground work.  Jonah's become pretty good at shaping and we got so he would go in the box very easily.  One of the things that i found difficult about Rachel's system is the step from shaping 4 paws in the box/walking through the box to getting a consistent 'pounce' bounce through the box.  She did suggest that, if it wasn't going well, you could elevate the box.  We did that (about 8"), and at that height Jonah was excellent.  Now we're in the process of slowly lowering the box.  We've gotten down to about 4", but at the lower height he starts to break down into just trotting through.  Thus, I've had to go back and forth a little on the height.  That said, it's only our first day working with the box.

Moving forward, Rachel suggests waiting to move to the grid until the dog is consistent bouncing through the box.  I'm thinking the grid may help solidify the box performance, so I may move to that sooner.  We'll see how things go!

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