Braved the chill and got out for some training tonight.
Lu was lovely to play with, pretty zippy for her which was nice and I’m making a point to reward more, and to be more fun when I reward. I haven’t hit the ‘magic button’ yet, but I think we’re getting there. Did a little sequence from Foundations that was designed to try blind crosses, rear crosses and front crosses. It was the former 2 that I was interested in. Since it wasn’t a course with big wide fast bits I used my very low bars and she coped well, not doing any huge monster leaps. A couple of typical Lu-bounces but… y’know, I sometimes think that that’s just her, and with experience she’ll learn that extension is more fun and more efficient but right now she’s my rabbit, she always is. Anyway, I handled the blind cross on the pinwheel badly and made her go wide, but the best thing was that she did the rear crosses. I’m very, very happy. Because I was thinking about our big open courses here in Australia and that a lot of the time, even in Masters, you need a rear-cross in order to get where you need to be. But she can do it, so I’m happy. But I don’t know if the video is worth sharing so it can just sit in YouTube for now.
Her RC was pretty terrible again though. I don’t know what’s happened. Maybe she’s just still not as comfortable with the height. I found a spot at the end that worked nicely and put a cone there so maybe next time I can start here from there. Just at the moment she feels ‘wonky’, like her strides aren’t regular and sometimes her legs get all mixed up. So… we’ll just keep trucking along here, and if I really don’t see any improvement soon, even from good starting spots, I suppose I either drop the heights, or give her a month-long break when I’m in Europe (going to happen anyway).
The star of the night though was Mal. I set him up from a really good distance, going through 2 bar jumps (no bar), over the DW, over another bar, and to a bowl of food with some kibble. And let me tell you, I’ve never seen him so focused, determined and fast. The first 2 reps just about blew my mind. I left the sound on but probably cut out me going “WOAH MAL WHAT THE?!?!” he just had a ball tonight. It was super fun. Apparently starting from a couple of jumps really helps him. Even when the up-ramp was bouncy, he doesn’t care, he wants his biscuits, NOW!!! (this is the benefit of never feeding your dog. They get very hungry and very driven. Good training tip, there). (Not really)
So enjoy the video of my rocket dog of the night. Lu doesn’t get hers posted because it sucked and anyway I chopped out all the NRs so there’s only like, 3 or 4 good ones.
Gold star to you, Mal.
No star for you, Lumen. Pick up your game. (not really, I love her, we’re just in a “running-contacts-downward-spiral” at the moment.)
Ok I lied. I’m uploading her video but I’m putting it under a cut. I feel a bit ashamed of it, even though it’s not that bad (mostly cos I got rid of most of the bad bits)… I’m just feeling a bit low about it all.
Life, iLumenated 
Can you throw earlier for Lumen? and yeah ‘less vertically’ …. but I can’t seem to do that so…;). Don’t get despondent! That’s a command! Because I am currently totally stuck at 88cm height DW. It’s been weeks, with the same starting spot and holy crap I am getting impatient!
Mal had the biggest grin on his face
I can throw earlier. I try and throw when I hear her feet hit the up-ramp but sometimes I forget.
At least 88cm is more of a ‘real’ height 😉 I was wondering whether I should put some carpet on the edge onto the ground too or even do what you’re doing and ‘remind’ her about running on a flat plank first then put it on. Hmm.
Mal had the best time ever. He’s such a dork- he was running to a little yellow bowl with some kibble. Food obsessed much? 😉