Sorry I'm behind with posts. I have another exciting one coming soon. I started an internship last week, so between school, the internship and job applications, things are kind of hectic. Thankfully next week is spring break!
Anyway, here's a look at our goals from February:
1. Get at least one Q at the USDAA trial. The Standard Q would be extra valuable!
We got the one Q. It wasn't standard, but I'm still basking in the glory of it, so I don't even mind that we didn't get the Standard Q. The gamble was HARD, but Jonah rocked it. So many dogs couldn't get it, but he proved his big dog status. I was so freaking proud. Of course, the Standard course after the Gamblers Q was kind of frustrating, but he rebounded and ran well at Riverside last weekend, so I'm thinking it was just a silly fluke. Bottom line: we got an Advanced Gamblers Q, a feat I had assumed would take several tries. I know we should be able to get pretty much any Advanced Standard Q, so we just need to chip away at them.
2. Get at least 2 Qs at the CPE trial. If I don't get the Colors Q I might cry.
Yes! Jonah went 3/3 and ran very well. The only slight concerns were that he ran through one of his DW contacts and he got distracted when the course went right next to the in-gate. These are slight worries. Overall it was a great day.
3. Get video of one day's courses, whether at class, run-thrus, or one of the trials.
Yup. Dave came to run-thrus and got some video. More is always better, but this was not too bad. Hopefully I can get some more soon.
4. Set up at least one gamble a week to practice on distance skills.
I'm not sure. We did a fair amount of gamble practice, but I don't know if it added up to once a week. As I said, things have gotten fairly busy. Also, now we have snow so we can't do much. It's not worth shoveling as it's supposed to warm up soon, so I just need to be patient.
5. Bring in the table and work on a fast down with a solid stay (at least now that we're out of starters we only need a cumulative 5 second count, not a consecutive one!).
Yes. This has been a pretty big success. He does his table to get every meal, and I practice with him at various points throughout the day as well. It's good.
6. Get to the point where Jonah understands the wrap exercise where he should turn inside the tree/cone/marker. Also have him be consistent in turning the correct direction when I send and pull, FC, RC or Ketschker.
I was good about this early in the month but then moved on to more gambles and having Dave do fast sequences with Jonah. We still need to work on wraps and recall to heal stuff.
So, it's already a few days into March but here are some things I'd like to accomplish:
1. Finish our level 3 title! We only have one shot this month, which will be this weekend. I would really like to just finally be done with this.
2. Aside from the colors Q, we'll have CPE attempts at 2 standards Qs, a jumpers run, a snooker run, a wildcard run and a jackpot run. I'd hope we would get 5 of those 6 Qs. Things can always happen, but I think we should be able to get 5.
3. We have our USDAA trial next weekend where we'll have a Standard, a Jumpers, a Snooker and a Pairs run. My goals will be to have an uneventful pairs run and at least 2 of the 4 Qs. The standard would be good since we need those and we missed our last one. If he managed to get all the games, he'd have a leg in each Advanced game and all he would need would be the Standards. It seems crazy that Masters could be on the horizon!
4. Put up the contacts! There's snow now, but in a week or so I'm thinking it should be safe to put them up for the season. Fun!
5. Continue to work on wraps and recall to heel. This is one of Jonah's weaknesses but I really don't think it needs to be.
6. Attend our first seminar! We're going to a gamblers seminar at the end of the month and I'm very excited! This was one of our goals for the year, and it looks like we'll get it out of the way this month.
Anyway, here's a look at our goals from February:
1. Get at least one Q at the USDAA trial. The Standard Q would be extra valuable!
We got the one Q. It wasn't standard, but I'm still basking in the glory of it, so I don't even mind that we didn't get the Standard Q. The gamble was HARD, but Jonah rocked it. So many dogs couldn't get it, but he proved his big dog status. I was so freaking proud. Of course, the Standard course after the Gamblers Q was kind of frustrating, but he rebounded and ran well at Riverside last weekend, so I'm thinking it was just a silly fluke. Bottom line: we got an Advanced Gamblers Q, a feat I had assumed would take several tries. I know we should be able to get pretty much any Advanced Standard Q, so we just need to chip away at them.
2. Get at least 2 Qs at the CPE trial. If I don't get the Colors Q I might cry.
Yes! Jonah went 3/3 and ran very well. The only slight concerns were that he ran through one of his DW contacts and he got distracted when the course went right next to the in-gate. These are slight worries. Overall it was a great day.
3. Get video of one day's courses, whether at class, run-thrus, or one of the trials.
Yup. Dave came to run-thrus and got some video. More is always better, but this was not too bad. Hopefully I can get some more soon.
4. Set up at least one gamble a week to practice on distance skills.
I'm not sure. We did a fair amount of gamble practice, but I don't know if it added up to once a week. As I said, things have gotten fairly busy. Also, now we have snow so we can't do much. It's not worth shoveling as it's supposed to warm up soon, so I just need to be patient.
5. Bring in the table and work on a fast down with a solid stay (at least now that we're out of starters we only need a cumulative 5 second count, not a consecutive one!).
Yes. This has been a pretty big success. He does his table to get every meal, and I practice with him at various points throughout the day as well. It's good.
6. Get to the point where Jonah understands the wrap exercise where he should turn inside the tree/cone/marker. Also have him be consistent in turning the correct direction when I send and pull, FC, RC or Ketschker.
I was good about this early in the month but then moved on to more gambles and having Dave do fast sequences with Jonah. We still need to work on wraps and recall to heal stuff.
So, it's already a few days into March but here are some things I'd like to accomplish:
1. Finish our level 3 title! We only have one shot this month, which will be this weekend. I would really like to just finally be done with this.
2. Aside from the colors Q, we'll have CPE attempts at 2 standards Qs, a jumpers run, a snooker run, a wildcard run and a jackpot run. I'd hope we would get 5 of those 6 Qs. Things can always happen, but I think we should be able to get 5.
3. We have our USDAA trial next weekend where we'll have a Standard, a Jumpers, a Snooker and a Pairs run. My goals will be to have an uneventful pairs run and at least 2 of the 4 Qs. The standard would be good since we need those and we missed our last one. If he managed to get all the games, he'd have a leg in each Advanced game and all he would need would be the Standards. It seems crazy that Masters could be on the horizon!
4. Put up the contacts! There's snow now, but in a week or so I'm thinking it should be safe to put them up for the season. Fun!
5. Continue to work on wraps and recall to heel. This is one of Jonah's weaknesses but I really don't think it needs to be.
6. Attend our first seminar! We're going to a gamblers seminar at the end of the month and I'm very excited! This was one of our goals for the year, and it looks like we'll get it out of the way this month.
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