Ooooh, arty
Which is a shame because at the start of the hike a front moved through and the cloud formations moving through the mountains were amazing. Unfortunately all my shots were way overexposed. I was able to fiddle with a few but this was the best I could do.
Big Bluestem Trail
Later in the day we went out to the practice field for a short training session. I've been working my way through a Backyard Dogs article from Mary Ellen Barry from Oct. 2008. Weaves and tunnels and serpentines and even a threadle-fun. It's taken me 3 practice sessions to get through all the exercises though to be fair one practice session consisted of 1 rep then I had to flee for the car because a fast moving storm with rain and crazy high winds surprised me. Then session number 2 involved sharing the field with a friend's Aussie puppy so I was more focused on making sure Strum behaved than I was on the exercises. He was such a good boy, so focused on me and wanting to play at agility rather than obsessing over the other dog. I can't even remember how the exercises went because I was so pleased with his behavior. I know I sound like a broken record but it took me forever to get him to a point where he could even be in the field while another dog was training let alone off leash and doing agility himself. The puppy did really well also, came over only once I think and Strum barely batted an eyelid. We've had a couple sessions now with other dogs (mostly pups/young dogs) in the training field doing their thing while we do ours. SO happy to finally reach that point. I don't completely trust him and I'm sure things would be different with a high drive dog racing around a course but it's a start.
It's been a month or so since our last trial and I'm hankering to get in the ring again but it's 2 weeks until our next trial. I've been putting in a fair amount of practice and I'm eager to see how it'll transfer to the ring.
I dunno, I think they look pretty neat. Especially love that last one, with the funky tree.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on Strummer's behavioural progress -- so rewarding to see it all come together.
Some cool pictures there Elayne - you have so many nice places to go right near your house.
ReplyDeleteWe've got the 3day AKC at Latigo coming up after Thanksgiving - it's been since the beginning of Sept. since we did AKC, and I ended up pulling Rip from that one due to his cut pad. Guess we wont be seeing you there by the sounds of it.
No, we don't do AKC, Strum's not even ILP'ed. Next 3 trials for us are all at Boulder County Fairgrounds-DOCNA then USDAA then DOCNA. I love that 20 minute commute. Thanksgiving usually means a hike up at Rocky Mountain National Park, no agility for us.
ReplyDeleteSorry about Rip's pad. Hope it's not too bad and he heals up soon. Or maybe you meant it was cut in Sept. If that's the case then good luck at Latigo.