Just six more days and we will be back in the rally obedience ring. Freya and I didn’t trial at all in April, and I had hoped to get more serious training in during the month, but that just didn’t happen. We did get some practice time on full courses, mostly Level 2. I need to do some on-leash practice this week, since we are entered in four Level 1 runs.
We have made progress with the jump, but are not quite to the goal of full height plus me being able to do the run-by 6 feet to the right of the jump. Since we are entered in only one Level 2 run, I’m going to plan on taking the 3-point deduction for doing the run-by closer than 6 feet, and our jump practice this week will be focused on the interim goal of full height plus a run-by 2 feet to the right of the jump. As I’ve mentioned before, a 3-point deduction for being too close to the jump is still far better than the NQ we’d get for Freya running around the jump.
Other than that, this week’s training will be mainly about getting rid of any sloppiness.
Our left circles, turns and finishes are definitely in need of cleanup, and so are our pivots (left more so than right). I’ve also noticed somewhat of a problem with lagging on the cone exercises, so I hope I can get some cones at Sports Authority tomorrow.
I’ll also need to thoroughly review APDT rules. The drawback of trialing in three different rally venues, or maybe it’s just an issue for the easily confused like me, is that the rules are similar, but not exactly the same. There are things that can NQ you in one venue that are legal to retry in others, so I have to be absolutely sure that I’m thinking in APDT by Saturday. Then next Monday, I’ll have to switch gears to AKC to get ready for the next trial weekend on May 15-16.
So much thinking!
(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 25 of 30)