Back to School

 This week we headed back to school. Both girls to their different classes and boy did I notice a difference. Zoe got restarted with the agility classes, boy is she fast! I will be hard pressed to keep up with her. Apparently it's all about timing and that's something I need to work on. Zoe can do the obstacles but only if I tell when does she do them well.  So I need to be able to tell her while she's in the air, or still in the tunnel what the next obstacle is so she knows where she's going next.  Harder to do than you would think! Practice makes perfect I've heard.

 Sassy started back to school in a proofing class through our club. She needs to study a little bit more but I did see a huge step forward this last class. We were doing the drop on recall when another class member came zooming right by Sassy just as she dropped! Well of course she popped right up but stayed connected with me enough to go back down when I asked. But it gets better! Not only does the zoomer get her on the first pass but on the way back to her handler, Sassy once again pops right up, stays connected and goes back down on command. Good girl, exercise done.Whew says Sassy, that was hard!

 Zoe has also been researching tracking. She did an awesome urban track last Sunday as you all saw. We went to a friends place for a field track. Was a bit more than Zoe was ready for. We found out the biggest difference between Urban and Field tracking is where the dogs nose is. In Urban there seems to be a lot of air scenting happening. This does not transfer well to the Field where the scent stays closer to the ground. We had a 4 corner track with lots of incentives (good thing too). As we want to get into a Field trial coming this spring we have a lot of work ahead of us. But I know that Zoe with throw herself 100% into the game and come out a winner in the end.

Sassy also started a new class under a new trainer. We're working on a little more connection when doing our heel free exercise. Sassy came away from her first class today with a whole new appreciation for watch me! And I learned some new ways of maintaining that connection.


So on to another fun filled week, Zoe to tracking with her nose and not her eyes. And Sassy learning to watch with her eyes!
Phew lots for me to remember and to keep straight between the two. Cause you know what works for one doesn't always work for the other!