Almost!

Yesterday was an exceptionally good agility day. :) Wonder's magic pocket tug came in, and it's everything I hoped it would be! He LOVES this thing, won't spit it out for treats even!

Jumps went pretty well yesterday, we're still working on taking a line, he wants to be right by mama. I think we'll need to do some intensive one-jump work with it for a while. He very very rarely knocks bars anymore unless there is handler error (doh!) and is collecting much more. Yesterday we were doing a five series grid with a tunnel as an added challenge at the end. He seems to know the command, and I found that if I say "Go tunnel!" about three jumps in, he'll take the last two and hit the tunnel. If only all trials were like that! ;)

Weaves rocked yesterday too. I closed the channel down one more mark, and he performed flawlessly. I closed them down another so that the whole set is only one mark from straight, and he had a really tough time finding his entrance. Hopefully Robin can help me with that on tuesday. I opened the channel on the first pole just one more mark and he got it and did the rest of the set perfectly. What an amazing dog. :)

After that we putzed around on the course that was set up, and I found out we're a fairly decent team! There were two jumps in line at the start of the course, then a 90 degree right to the AF. I said, "What the hey, let 'er rip!" Set W up, good start line stay so far, led out to the AF and had him take the first two jumps. Took the AF fairly slow on purpose to hit contacts, then there was another 90 degree right to a jump. Little trouble there due to me having a brain fart, then a 270 left to the teeter. Took the teeter, then hit the pause table where he insta-downed (thank you puppy foundations!). The next series was an offset two jump set, then over a broader jump at a 90 degree right to the first two. Yikes. I led out to the last jump, got him over the first two, and we totally biffed the third. W was confused, but popped over anyway, I called it a success and we headed to the DW, good there, crap contact so we did it again. Hit his contact and got a GO TUNNEL command, which he did. Then we partied like animals. This...could be addicting. He loved it just as much as I did, too. Seriously, best dog ever.

Closing In!

We took yesterday off to go run around and play like goofballs, but back to the grindstone today! Jumps went well, varied height grid of 4 with turns. He's still slightly confused about heading one way, then turning back to take a jump, but he is learning that mom is bonkers and he must watch her. I'm pleased with it. :)

Weaves went even better than I expected. I brought the whole channel in one notch and he completed them flawlessly, no missed entry, lots of enthusiasm, just awesome. He did just as well on his off side as his on, not even one missed pole! I did one on each side and called it done, I want him to know that if he does it right, I won't bore him with it again.

Then we tottered around on the obstacles, he's working some good speed on the A-Frame and DW. I'm trying to figure out what method to use for contacts. He's having a super hard time slowing down on the A-frame without sliding sideways, and I don't want him to try and jam his shoulders down past the contact as a solution. Maybe a running contact for that? We can get some slow down on the DW, but I'm not sure I want to ask him for that, he's going at the speed he's most comfortable.

We had a bit of a regression with the chute, but putting him in a down stay and calling him through a few times completely remedied that. He seems to be making word associations with obstacles now, he's pretty sure he knows what a tunnel and a teeter are. He voluntarily does the teeter, numerous times when I'm not paying attention. Goofy dog...

Running around in circles ain't easy!

Last night was intended to just be an easy-going training night, needed to get my prox card to Kathy, do a few fronts (WITHOUT finishes!!!) and do some sits and downs. Well, we did all that, plus weaves and a quick line of jumps. Great night, right? W's sit needed to be corrected twice, but he was dog tired. I corrected him but didn't worry too much about it.

However, I decided we should do a few rounds with the CKC people in breed ring, just for fun. I want to learn how to handle a brand new (to breed) dog, watch the judge, stack and go with the general flow of the ring. Wonder was an ANGEL, holding his feet where I placed them and tolerating this crazy new game without too much disdain for mom, who had obviously lost her mind. I got some wonderful tips from Bob and generally worked my tail off, and by the end W was holding his stack for exam while mugging my hand, presenting well with good expression and trotting instead of pacing on his D&B. I however, was sweating bullets, panting and done for the night! Bob complimented me on really working my dog the whole time we were in the ring, and said that he was surprised I was a novice handler. :) What I really need to work on is MY body placement during the freestack at the end of the D&B and keeping W's show side to the judge. Thankfully this is a weekly thing, so maybe I can just keep stealing people's dogs to get a feel.

Wonder and I trained a little this morning too, mostly weaves and a few jump lines. I removed the guides from the weaves, and other than a few pop outs, W handled it perfectly! Yay progress! For the jumps, I set up a few bounces, and then did a varied spacing with varied heights. He knocked three bars the first time due to slamming into a 24" bar that was a little too tight. After a quick WTF, we lined up again and he decided he was NOT hitting those damn bars! He thought it through, placed his feet correctly and rocked it!

Before we left, we reviewed the AF and DW. He was pretty sure both at full height were going to eat him, but we shaped through it with no force, and he did the AF 2x and the DW once before I called it a day. He was having a tough time with the DW, so as soon as he got it we threw a party and I gave him his full breakfast and free reign with his tuggie. He always seems to remember what got mama hyped up and should do much much better next time. Here's hoping!