Friday, February 12, 2010

A disaster of a training weekend leaves me with....

The Good (ish), the Bad and the Ugly.... yup, it's true!

Miss Sophie was the star of the good this week. She was great at Rally Obedience class (compared to week one when she threw up and week two when she decided my friend's dog Buddy was  to be hated). One little growl at Tetley the cocker who got a little close for her comfort to her treat bag; poor Tetley had no idea! But, she worked for me and we learned some "stuff". Soph and I are prepping for a trial, against my better judgement, so we are working on straightening out her formerly great fronts (that she now consistently thinks should be "get in") and stand on command. She still swings her bum around in front of me when she's standing, but hey, she's getting the concept.



The Bad and the Ugly... I refuse to call myself the ugly, although that very well might have been closer to the truth! Anyway, flyball was a hot mess for Spike and I. He loves to do the run and understands the concept of flyball, even the "race" part as he HATES being beaten to the box. But, passing, well passing is hard. We were working on this with Rumble, a delightful Border Collie who was very good at ignoring Spike and I through the process, content to do his thing. Spike however has a meltdown when he can't see me, causing him to jump lanes, and miss jumps. Of course, when I say "jump lanes" it really wasn't- he did the run, then ran into the hallway at our training building, which happened to hold two other dogs and owners. Sigh.  End result- me having a complete utter meltdown! Sorry Karen, our lovely coach!  I howled after this practice as I am frustrated! Spike COULD be great- he's smart, he's fast, he just is scared to pass and I was overtired and frustrated. So, I cried. Sigh. I'm usually as stoic as a lab.


Of course, agility was a mess too. I was feeling much better by agility class, but it WAS a challenge. I am not exactly in the best of shape to be running courses yet, and we did a 14 obstacle run. I was tired after class. Spike was tired before class. Anyway, first few tries, he blew his contacts and missed a jump. Then, he crossed my path TWICE, nearly taking out my knees. And, he lacks forward drive (shocking, I know, considering his scaredy pants passing experience, as he needs to know where I am!). Our final attempt at a run, he grabbed a course marker rather than taking a jump- I think by that point, he was tired, frustrated too and was telling me he didn't fully understand what I wanted.  And, I left class thinking we have SO MUCH work to do. So, I am buying and making a little more equipment for the yard and Spike and I have been working lots this week to get him running forward. And LOOKING FORWARD.


Who you looking at??

On a sadder note, Gemma is on trial. I kinda miss that pup. But, I am taking a break from fostering until April... I need to get through this heavy course I am taking at the University before I can sacrifice anymore sleep to puppies not belonging to me! Good luck Miss Gemma, I hope they fall in love with you completely!

No comments: