Tuesday, November 3, 2009

HOMESCHOOLING PUPPIES

So apparently not only am I meant to be homeschooling my kids....guess I am going to be homeshooling my pups! Humm, hope I am up for that and I hope I have learned enough to continue my journey with new training partners and instructors! There are a few more classes at PawPrints so I can be weaned off having a good instructor-Deanna is an excellent instructor, but they do not have classes all year. Unfortunately I think PawPrints is going to be changing instructors next session at to someone I do not think is going to mesh with my dogs so those classes will not be an option if Deanna has to move ;-(. My other ultra wonderful instructor who has worked with us for two years doing privates, has been a terrific friend has fired me as a student-LOL, and I am super bummed about this turn of events-the field we were using became unavailable and I think she was pretty much done teaching all of us. I hate when things have to change. I am nervous about continuing to train Lizzie, who can not just pop into any type of class. Mostly I will miss having my instructor around who has been a good friend and training partner as we both trained our dogs together. It is just always fun to work with a partner with the someone working on the same goals, with a lot of the same challenges, and of course I learned a ton about handling from her. OOH well, it will all work out. I am just feeling a bit sad about it today, but now everyone should watch out because I am going to be on the lookout for more training partners, and I have talked to a friend from the Acton classes and I think we are going to set aside a night every week to work together. Without my privates and the classes in Acton the week feels like I have so much time. On the plus side I am not missing the driving and the time I spent behind the wheel every week!!!! Guess like all of life, the only thing that remains constant is that everything changes eventually!

ON TO TRAINING:
Diana http://4dogcraziness.blogspot.com/posted her work on the back yard sequences from Clean Run, in the November issue on page 8-the courses are posted on her blog. She made it look like so much fun I decided to set it up myself. You know looking at the tapes, she has such a pretty little backyard she is working in, with the fall leaves, and then I look at my dirt....oooh well-guess I am feeling bad for myself today. LOL.
I have three dogs that can do agility so I thought, hummm, how fun would that be to try to work out the same things with three different dogs with three very different styles and timing that is totally different for each dog. I did the first exercise with Liz and wanted to try it with a front cross instead of just doing a 180, and then that made me need a rear cross, then I ran it like the magazine showed it, then I ran it with Breeze, and then little Chloe who has not done agility in awhile. I did a lot of practice with her on serpentines-way back when- and she just read jump 2-3 as a serpentine, so I had to go into the pocket and wrap her to get her to take that jump from behind, and guess if I was going to trial her we would have to do a lot of training on that-it is weird when ever she sees two jumps side by side she just ignores me and does serpentines, LOL. Doing that little wrap instead of a front cross made me have to do a rear cross with Chloe, but it all worked. Somehow on Chloes tape I did not get all the jumps in the frame, ughgghg.

It was fun to try to run this sequence with three such different dogs. Liz runs like a freight train, she is very fast and sometimes almost too responsive and you have to be very clear and fast, Breeze is fast but not as fast and she just feels different to run and Chloe, boy she alternates between being very velcro and slow and then all of a sudden will just take off and totally ignore me, so it always makes it interesting to run her, LOL, she is a cutie.
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5 comments:

Sara said...

Hey, no grass & leaves, means no mowing or raking! LOL. That exercise does look like fun. I'm going to have to try it too.

Bummer about your class.

Sam said...

What a bummer about your trainers. I'm kind of at a crossroads, too, when it comes to class. I'm a little sick of all these excellent B courses, and I'm afraid it's going to make Marge feel bad (maybe it already has been and that's why we've had some trouble at class) and that it's going to leave holes in her training. I don't know whether it's best to stay with my instructor, who I like, or to find someone who is working on some easier stuff...

Chris and Ricky said...

Sorry to hear about your lack of class and trainers but at least you have homeschool experience :)

It was fun to watch you run the sequence with three different dogs. Guess we'll have to set that one up too and join in on the fun!

To add to what Sara said the dirt yard also never gets covered with snow or ice :)

Diana said...

I think your yard is great. No leaves to slip on if they are wet. No stupid nuts to twist your ankle or hurt your dog. Hey the grass is always greener, or rather the dirt is. Lol
You did a great job with those sequences. WhooHoo. Diana

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

LOL, well, the grass might have nuts, and leaves and be slippery when wet but it sure does look pretty in pictures, LOL.