This was Freya’s first class in quite a while. Weekend trials and a minor injury in March kept her away from her usual Saturday classes, and weather and work kept her away from any weeknight classes or lessons. April is supposed to be a serious training month to prepare for trials in May and June.
Today wasn’t a great start, but it wasn’t horrible either. Our practice course today was an APDT Level 2 course designed by one of the judges some of us will be trialing under the weekend of May 1-2. This course used Send Over Jumps – Handler Runs By, so we got some much-needed jump practice. Freya’s jump height is 16″ but today’s jumps were done at 8″ and 12″ to keep it easier and more fun, for her, anyway.
For APDT, the handler must pass by 6 feet to the right of the jump. For UKC, the distance is 2-3 feet and for AKC, it is not explicitly specified (not that I could find in the rules). When I was farther away from the jump, it seemed that Freya was more likely to try to go around it. My plan right now is to get to where she will take a lower jump every time with me passing by 2-3 feet away, and then work on moving up to her full jump height. Then we will work on adding distance between me and the jump. In APDT, if the dog refuses the jump by going around, it is an automatic NQ with no retry allowed; there is a 3-point deduction if the handler passes by less than 6 feet away from the jump. So it’s obviously way more important to make sure she never refuses the jump.
I’m also finding myself at a point where I have to really do a better job of remembering the differences in rules and performance of certain exercises between UKC, APDT and AKC. Even though there are way more similarities than differences, there are enough important differences that could mean the difference between qualifying and failing at any specific trial.
We have a lot to do this month!
(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 10 of 30)