A little Agility last night! Yay!

Well after teaching last night I ran Hoaxey in Nics class. We worked pull throughs which I am really weak on but Hoaxey did them very nicely! What a good girl! We finished off with some contact work and sequences.

I am very pleased with how her contacts are coming on. I have dropped her target behavior at the end. A desision I didn't make lightly but I felt that she was feeling pressurised in FP. I know that it isn't her it is me being a poor trainer somewhere, but seeing as I wasn't so sure how to change that, I decided the best plan of action is to drop her target behaviour and make sure her end position in sound. I also have decided to have her stopping a little 'longer' off the plank (rather than front legs tight to the contact). It is due to a discussion I had with Toni about Hoax and Minx and we found that both dogs stride better through the contact, faster and more confident with a longer position. Since making the above decisions Hoaxey has got faster and much more accurate aswell. I think a dogs conformation can make a difference to how the stop. Hoax has quite straight shoulders and she was slowing down with her weight over them which isn't healthy for her. Asking her to stop longer allows seems a physically easier task for her. The target originally built up all the understanding and value I wanted for her FP so did it's job well. She is happy to complete the equipment with my lagging behind or running past. I have now started throwing her toy and 'teasing' her off the contact a little and she seems to really understand all this and performs well still. I have to be cautious not to throw the toy to early otherwise her focus seems to shift from her job and she stops early on the contact!?!? Odd but just something I have to deal with.

Hoax weave entries are coming on well now and her confidence has improved 100 times as has mine. Now we need to work on me leaving her in the weaves which she is still very weak on. We did all the independance stuff in channels but somewhere along the transistion to straights I lost it. We are lucky to have a big enough garden to fit weaves in with space around so I can practise this,... but dont tell Nic as he doesnt want us ruining his lovely grass :)