sore feet and a full brain.

Kiersten Lloyd came for a full weekend of Seminars ...
Friday Night - Shop for stuff for Seminar, get the building ready 6 - 8, Supper with Kiersten - 8 -10
Saturday - Obedience Seminar 9 - 5, run home for 15 minutes to drop dogs off ...
Saturday Night - Lecture and Presentation 6 - 9
Sunday - Agility Seminar 8 - 5
Sunday Night - Supper 6 - 8
So, I'm tired.

*BUT* I got a lot of great info!

Obedience, for CDX:
1. Heeling: Kaleb is a pretty great heeler, I just need help, being calmer with my body. Slow pace IS, long slow steps, not slow choppy. Go in with confidence and have K ready to WORK.

2. Practice fronts with dumbbell before I go into the ring, as well as quick drop on recalls, to keep it fresh in his noggin.

3. People laughing at Kaleb is never a good thing, he lives for it, don't encourage the class clown ...

4. Broad Jump, step out when turning, rather than a step back.

5. Keep practicing hard throws over high jump. Use **right hand***, not left, so I don't bean my dog in the head.

6. Out of sight stays this weekend had no barking, but he did get up as I was getting to him ** look past him**, not at him.

Hopefully we'll get in the ring soon and have a crack at that CDX ...

Agility Agility Agility:

My agility goals with my dogs lately have been to push the limits, run hard and go for it, trust my training. My deceleration and lateral movement has improved. I need to work on getting Gyp tighter on turns, she tends to push out a bit too much. I've been pushing my start lines with Gyp, and can now lead out to just about anywhere, I just had to teach her that - go figure. Her obstacle discrimination has improved greatly, Kaleb needs this work all the time, where as Gyp and Jane don't need as many reminders on discrimination, they tend to pick up on my verbal more than he does, he has more "tunnel vision" than they do.

Know your dog.

Jane:
Soft but an Independent thinker. Fearful yet confident, and very willing to please me and generally she wants do the right thing. So depending on the situation and stress in it, I may get any variation of these combinations, which can be a challenge. She is SO QUICK to learn, can learn something in two or three times, but will challenge you and push the limits. She is very accurate and careful, and I can push for a certain level of perfection with her. She doesn't tolerate a ton of repetition, and gets easily bored. She is THE "What's in it for me dog". BUT she knows, she gets what she wants, IF she does what I want. Training her is VERY fun, and even at 8.5 hasn't really began to show her age, she is a true terrier.

Kaleb:
VERY strong willed, but wants to please and NEVER gives up, whether it be good or bad. He is amazingly smart and sensitive to my emotions and body movement, more than any of the others. I'm calm, he's calm. I'm uptight, he's uptight. He can take A TON of pressure, physically and emotionally. Every physical therapist that has worked on cannot believe the physical pressure they can apply to him, without him flinching or being overly bothered by it, and emotionally he always has an excitement level that usually is so noticeable others around him can feel it - usually by leaving welts on their legs from his tail. I wish he had a little bit more off an off switch, but not at the cost of sacrificing his drive. So, I'm stuck with a fairly obnoxious dog. I honestly worry that he is going to give himself a heart attack. When he is on, HE IS ON. Underneath it all he is my big overgrown puppy - on speed.

Gyp:
Smart. Totally willing. Eager. Soft. Soft. Soft. Challenging this dog, is my challenge. She is so quick and never challenges me, just wants to do what I want her too. It is MY job to make sure what I am telling her is correct, or before I know it, I have taught her something I didn't mean too. I have had to let her be bad, silly and a wee bit naughty, to build confidence, she can now handle a correction and will be sassy with me, which is great, she'll even growl at me when tugging, and she likes when I smack her sides and grab her legs. She anticipates my every move. Gyppie is always willing to work and always give 110%, but she didn't come that way, I've had to work hard to build toy and food drive, I knew from the moment I saw her, she was something special. I have been able to push the limits with her in a very short time as far as my training goes, she is the kind of dog that makes me look like a better trainer than I probably am.