Thursday 9 July 2009

Tuffley Show

Now before I read Susan Garrett's most recent dog training blog entry, I probably would have said Tuffley wasn't very positive as shows go. After all, Ella and I only managed 1 clear round the whole weekend and it wasn't placed as I'd taken my time setting her up for a correct weave approach. But Susan reminded me what I love about my training and most importantly, what I love most about my dog.

So here's the review of our Tuffley weekend. She gave me some great rounds - fast, accurate contacts, great responses to directions, and lots of speed and enthusiasm for her job. A pleasure to watch, never mind run! She also gave me some valuable information about her understanding of her weave poles, and has cemented the belief that I need to re-train in order to get the performance that I'm after. Being disappointed in her is not an option, I'm a better dog trainer than that and we will succeed!

With the exception of this evening I haven't done any training with her all week and we have this weekend off as it's our children's Naming Ceremony on Sunday. So I've focused on making the ceremony perfect for them and let Ella and I relax this week. Next Monday we will begin re-training the weaves with the 2x2's with the help of our friends Lel & possibly Martin & Hazel Tait. Any failures we have next week will be positive ones because they will help define the correct response that I want from her in her weave poles.

So today I'm grateful for my beautiful baby boys, my wonderful husband, family & friends, and my two fantastic dogs. Looking forward to Sunday and sharing our joy over our children with all our family & friends too!

No comments:

Post a Comment