The Thrill of the Chase

Wow!!  What a fun weekend we had.  Friday was dedicated to Blake's Christmas present (sorry Blake, can't have you find out here either!)  Saturday, the Golden kids, Tiffy (Blake's chihuahua), and I packed for the weekend and headed to Harrah, OK for a running contact seminar by my friend Kelsey Kirkpatrick.  We had a blast at the seminar.  Kelsey did a wonderful job teaching all morning and then letting us work during the afternoon.  Jade is really getting to experience the thrill of the chase with our running contact reps.  Running and chasing are some of his favorite activities, so he cannot be more happy that this is part of his new job in agility!  He progressed from running on carpet to his current set up: 2 dogwalk boards against an 8 inch table.  I still have his carpet over the boards to remind him of his job- running!  Jade did fantastic.  He really amazed me.  He hits close to 100% as long as I don't throw like a girl!  His reaches are beautiful, and he hits with top speed.

After the seminar concluded, we hit the road again for Wichita Falls, TX.  It was cold and windy, but none of that seemed to bother Layla on Sunday.  She rocked the agility trial.  Layla got her 10th QQ and earned 30 points that day, including her smoking 14-point JWW run!!  I ran the jumpers run with all blinds to cue speed and extension in areas that called for it.  Layla just keeps getting faster and faster.  We are having so much fun, and we are a much more confident team then this we were this summer and before then.

Today, Jade and I worked running contacts.  We are enrolled in Silvia Trkman's December Running Contacts class, so we were working on some homework.  He is just an awesome boy.  I am so proud of him.  I used the same set up as I was using on Saturday (8 inch table, two dw boards, and carpet).  At first I was a little frustrated because Jade would jump off the table and run to the side of the boards to get the ball.  I figured that I had to point to the boards and delay throwing the ball so he would think more about his job.  I'm hoping to throw the ball sooner for our next session so I can get even more speed out of him.  Jade's hit were nice and deep and mostly rear feet hits (preferable).  The hits that I could not see as well turned out to be front foot hits when I slowed down the videos later.  Silvia Trkman says that rear foot hits are better because they are easier to see, but she still wants us to reward FF hits because the dog needs to be able to hit in many different ways.  The environment will not always favor one type of hit.  Jade did have a few misses when he jumped, but I found out that I should have just quit with him earlier.  When Jade gets tired, he tends to jump because his stride is off.  I adjusted his start point, and he hit again.  Jade and I will practice again on Thursday, and I cannot wait. We are having so much fun!!  All of Jade's exuberance for working got the better of him when he nailed me right in the lip as I was setting him up before one of his reps.  I guess I get what I asked for when I said I wanted a high drive dog!!

The Golden Kids and Tiffy at our hotel in Wichita Falls.  I was watching Tiffy for Blake's mom over the weekend, so she got to join in on the fun!

Sessions 1 and 2 from today