heeling schmeeling

thursday night classes... aka tire rah out night :)
did three classes again, added in the drop in rally class since if i am daring, i will be bumping him up to advanced rally at the harrisburg shows next week and we need the practice, especially after the "i am askeered of jumps" episode last week, i couldnt let that be our last jump experience in the ring...

rally wasn't bad. the first course was a blend of novice, advanced and excellent but with no jumps- he did very well and did all the exercises as needed, even the call front without having to step back, without any issue. all off leash, yay.

second course, they added in a jump and thankfully rah had no issue with it. his attention was a little more sporadic because we had the dogs for the next class (novice) coming in, but i was able to get him back just as i would have to in the ring, without any real loss of points except for right after the jump, as predicted, when he goes right past me and i have to reign him back in. i guess i will have to settle for that right now rather than the alternative, which is controlled but risk him hitting the jump and freaking him out.

rested for novice and he just watched... berlin slept.

stays were ok - rah held 2 min 45 seconds while quest did db retrieves outside the gate right behind him, but broke at the very end when quest kept hitting the gate and shaking it right behind him. i dont blame him, its hard and its rah's biggest fear - to his credit he went right back and held his sit. 5 minute down was just fine, yay rah rah. hopefully novice sits/downs will be a non-issue, keep all fingers and paws crossed...

open came and we started with recalls simultaneously with other people - games, drops, full recalls - rah did well, came in pretty straight and for the most part was straight. if i am too close to the gait he will come in avoiding it and go off to the opposite side a bit, so i will have to keep that in mind but usually i will never be that close. i didnt play too many games - i dont do them with him, his big game is actually the wait game - he gives me wonderful attention when i leave, its more that he never wants to hold his wait, hes always poised and ready to come on the drop of a hat and i need to reward his waits more than his recalls :)

then we moved to individual exercises. rah did a nice figure 8 using the little hint that linda told me wednesday night, and i worked them for about 10 minutes straight - he was tired, but he gave me some nice pieces i was happy with. moved to high jump, did some cookie marks and a few full db retrieves and ended on a tough retrieve where the db was all the way to the left and rah chose to do the right thing, always a hard thing to do!

rah did two perfect broad jumps, and i didnt ask for more than that - just maintenanced the pieces.

finally got to heeling and i was tired by then, but rah was ok - nothing super spectacular, but it wasnt terrible either, i just dont remember anything that sticks out in my mind :)

started utility with his scent articles - because ive been working not enough, hes still on week 2 of ATC but he worked the full pile flawlessly, so im moving him up to week three after he works the pile this weekend 1-2 more times.

then we moved to directed jumping - he did well with the high jump, which hes fine with - i have to remember to make my command firm and prolonged, i cannot drop my hand. teri said i can start to move him in a bit this week, and back a bit. ill do that tomorrow...

he didnt want to do the bar at all, but thats because its the same jump that attacked him last week. she did a restrained jump and he was fine with taking that.

go outs are funny- hes so ridiculous with the look that he never understand yet that cookies come from heaven (teri) so he waits for me to put them there, then he loves them. but im a flexi-tard so she took him off the flexi and had me do them with just a tab, which he was much better with, he did them from half the ring (15--20 feet or so?) so good for rah. im going to have to work him intermittently between directed jumping i think, with him forgetting i put cheese out on the gates so he can understand when i tell him look, that the cheese is there...

then gloves - rah was meant to do gloves. i give him that mark and he starts to quiver he wants it so bad i set them up about 15 feet apart each and worked them each in succession for about 5 retrieves each from a distance of 10 feet and he was able to retrieve them each without any problem, so i was worried for nothing!!!!!

god, i love a natural retriever. and im glad i worked that stupid mark game so heavily. guess i should work on teaching it to the puppy more...


tonight i worked fig8's for 30 minutes outside in the driveway (in crocs -not recommended because they really hurt your feet!) and rah REALLY did well, im so pleased, so very pleased with how he did. by the end i had such wonderful position out of him...

i gotta get to training the puppy, i feel like she should be much further along than she is...