Back from training!

We are back from training today down in Columbus, Indiana. It's kind of a long drive, but both Gracie, Mum and I think it was well worth it.

Mum worked with Gracie first and tried to get her to do a full course. Well, she was sniffing and crazy wild all over the course, barely paid attention to Mum. So Mum had to carry her off the course. Then Gracie ran right over to the corner and poo'd. What?

Now Mum always poo's and pee's us before we go into training, and even tried to get Gracie to go this morning, but nooooo; she wouldn't have of either. But I guess running around and doing some jumps and stuff gave her the urge. Once she was done, Mum took her out to do some backchaining of the course. Dog, she looked like a pro out there. Drove me crazy!! She was fast, accurate, driven - kind of like a different dog in Gracie skin. Good girl!

Then it was my time and we worked on some gambles. The first one was really difficult - chute, jump, then an out turn to the teeter then way, way out to the tunnel. Well Mum found out that I'm not good on the teeter in a gamble, so that's something we're gonna work on. Then, we did another gamble - tunnel to the frame and then chute, with Mum having to layer the weaves. I was about 15-18 feet from Mum and did it like a pro, even made my contact. Woo Hoo, I got bunches of treats for that.

Then it was Gracie's turn again. They worked on sending Gracie to the table, then added in a jump before and another jump before. Gracie was going out really well, even when Mum didn't go but half way from the first to the second jump. Good girl, again. They are going to work on sending more at home this coming week.

Then it was my time again. And Mum wanted to work on my weave speed. Sometimes I'm real fast, sometimes not. She want my weaves to always be fast. Now I have to say I'm real accurate with my weaves, even when Mum gives me bad entrances. So we tried some experiments. The first one we tried worked like a charm.

Our friend put a treat on a foot stool about 4 feet out from the end of the weaves. Mum showed it to me and took me to the other end of the weaves, sent me into a tunnel, then into the weaves. The first time I pulled out. So they set up just six weaves. I got the idea then, so they immediate put back in 12 weaves and I barreled my way through them to get at that treat.

Mum wants to keep working on this at home, but without another person to 'guard' the treat. So we practiced Mum putting the treat on the 'target', showing me, and then taking me back to do a jump or tunnel before the weaves. I did great, and kept my speed for about 6-7 times in a row. Yee haw!!! And Mum didn't have to stay with me at the weaves, she was about 5-6 feet out parallel. Cool! I kept my head down and really focused on the end, instead of focusing on Mum. That's key!

Mum then ran Gracie through the entire course and she only went to sniff once and quickly came back to Mum. She did great! Really nice weaves, very enthusiastic frame, and gorgeous chute.

Great time, great fun, great running, and great treats. We had a blast today. Came home and we snoozed for a couple of hours. Now I'm out to herd some birds - see ya!