Saturday, October 20, 2007

Oh, morning just comes too early. I set the alarm but hit snooze a few times so I didn't get Wyatt as worked down as I should have. It had started clearing up last night. Saw the stars for the first time since it seemed like ever. We did a little early morning hunting but came up with silch.

Today at agility we practiced sending our dogs. I really was not with it but got better as we went along. I am still working on getting Wyatt to be quiet. It is frustrating as I cannot hear what the order of obsticals is to be. I can tell D is getting mad so the frustration builds. I can show Wy the bark bottle and he shuts up on the side lines but out in the arena I have to work hard at keeping him quiet. A sit or down wait with me walking a few steps away works pretty well. I did a lot of tap where he needs to put his nose on my hand. I also started close anything to keep that little trap shut ;)

There are so many things the dogs read off our body position. I have a tendency to stop when I get to ahead of him and he thinks we are changing directions. I also need to keep my hips point at the obticle until he commits. Must become better at reading dog body language too so I know when he is committed. With the rain we weren't able to practice plus I had a few things going on last week. This week I have a little video camera class that I am getting to attend for free. I am looking forward to that. Hoping to walk away with a few pointers. I am going to throw Wy's travel board in the truck when we go to the barn so I can practice our two on two off contacts. He stuck pretty well on the A-frame today. I also received some clarification. I can walk away and say BREAK at the same time. I thought I was not to move at all when I say BREAK. Today I was also taught to give the dog a better line meaning say he is in the 2 on 2 off position and the tire is to my left I step forward to get him going in that direction and then say tire. If is say it when he is on the obstical he can't see it - he sees the side of the frame not the opening. This helped a lot. I wish I had more area to practice.

Josie was a muddy mess today. I started at the top and worked my way down. Her feet were dry enough them to get most of the mud off. I rode her up the barn - we actually made more of a straight line today. She is back to pinning her ears at her reflection. She was a little naughty with horses going towards or along side of us but at least kept going. I have her walking out pretty nicely on the buckle. I picked up the trot and darn if I didn't notice her off at the trot when on the right rein (clockwise circle with my right on the inside). She actually bobbed her head a couple times. I didn't do much at all after noticing that. Gosh darn it!!! I am going to give her a few days. Between the mud and twisting her shoe she must have done something but I can't pinpoint the exact trouble. Will give her a few days and then call Dr. B. Not happy about this at all.

The pups had a great time playing with Laney the female German Shepherd. This play included getting extremely wet and muddy. I went into the barn and said gee I don't know what happened but I had nothing to do with it ;)