Tracey and I met at the agility field early last night to practice before Lake Charles. Lego took his turn before any extra folks showed up. Then Tracey worked Xanadu at 12 inches. That left Bern, Kazee, and Grace to practice at 20 inches.
Grace is handling so much better on the jumps. She is stretching out and not bouncing. Her weaves are improving. Elaine says it takes 1000 repetitions to really teach a dog something - we have a few hundred learning sets of weaves to go.
Bern did everything I asked including the tire and a few sets of weaves. He is slowing down due to age but likely has enough runs left in him for a few more agility titles.
Tracey's guys looked good. Lego is more steady as he ages. Kazee and Tracey are starting to work more as a team - lots of speed but now Kazee is running the course too. Xanadu is a beagle speed demon; however, she is very accurate in her running style.
All 7 of us listed above are going to take the Expedition to Lake Charles this weekend. Tracey and I think we would have more fun riding together tightly packed than each taking a vehicle. I'm excited about Grace running agility again since the herding lessons have focused her urges to herd all on the sheep such that I see much less of it at home or on the agility course.
I taught class using the seminar standard course. My class is really doing well. The dogs and handlers are working together as a team much of the time. Chester was feeling his terrier roots last night and was a bit unruly. However, if he gets leashed he behaves. We talked about making sure Chester is not even thinking about being at the top of the pack - he needs to wait for his dinner until given permission to eat the food from the bowl, he needs to wait to get permission to exit the house doorway to outside, etc. The class voted to meet next week even though Thanksgiving is the next day - these guys truly do have the agility bug.
