Foundation Training Update

I finally shot some video of our foundation class.  We've mostly been working on front crosses for the past 2 weeks for the handling portion of class.  Last week we had some more A-frame familiarization and this week some running on the low dogwalk.  Tess was spayed a week ago Thursday so she sat out this past week's class and missed the dogwalk practice but did get some A-frame exposure last week.  It was her second time on the thing and this time she made it maybe 2/3-3/4 of the way up the up ramp.  Her first time on it she only got on it on the bottom, maybe took a step up so this was some improvement.  Ruby runs the whole thing no problem though if we put a food bowl down she'll run past the A-frame to the bowl when I release her.  This is a common issue with her for all equipment.  She still doesn't get that she has to do the thing before she gets the treat.  Or probably she does get it but she's going to chance it anyway and run straight to the treat.

Last week the heater was on for the first time and poor Tess freaked out the moment she walked through the door and turned right around trying to go back out.  I spent some time tossing treat balls around for her until she finally calmed down enough to do a tunnel and a jump.  For her second turn she was finally able to work the sequence.  Though the instructor turned the heat off right away and never turned it back on.  Not sure what she'll do this winter when it needs to stay on.  And if she's going to compete indoors in the winter she'll have to get used to the sound of a heater.  But maybe she doesn't have to compete.  The hurdles she has to go through before she'll be able to sit on a start line are considerable.  All I can do is see how she goes and keep working with her and if she never sees a competition ring then oh well.

Tess Video



Miss Ruby was awesome, she came out and ran her sequences no problem.  Well, other than my problems.  I'm thinking more about foot placement, especially for those front crosses, and how I place my feet when I turn and go.  The old way I've been doing things is clunky and inefficient and often sets the dog up on the wrong line.  So my self-imposed homework for this week is to work on the various types of front crosses without the dog, just me and some jumps. 

Ruby's Videos

Last Week




This Week



I also need to work on more obstacle commitment with Ruby, especially at the tunnels. 

Tess will be back at class next week, we'll see how she does with the heater.  Silly freaky dog.

This is the same snow from a few weeks ago, it's sunny out now and the snow is long gone but I haven't shot any new photos lately so these will do for now.