We went to the field to teach class tonight. That seems like an oxymoron.LoL I dont feel like I know enough to be teaching people but Im not being paid . I am doing the best I can so hopefully it all works out. Its been very hot. I think is was 94 degrees today. I tried running Miley before class. She did really well but was wiped out pretty quickly. I set up the beginning of the course from this weekend. I left my book at home so I just pulled it from my head. She was much faster then this weekend. Her yards per second on the jumpers course was only 4.5 yards per second this weekend. I knew she was slow. Anyway, when I ran the course tonight I handled it much more aggressively. I really tried to pay attention to how I did things and how it felt. Way different then this weekend. No wonder my dog misses jumps. Why do I handle so differently at a trial. I dont feel like Im worried about people watching me but that must be it. I know Im already thinking about it for this weekend. Students from class will be there. If they see me run crappy , they may think, "Why are we taking a class from this person. She cant even run her dog". I know I hate going to social events. When I have to go to a party for my husbands work, ugh the worse. The whole time Im thinking, "Can we go yet". I just want to get out of there. So really what is an agility trial. A big social event. ( lets really screw with my head, LoL)
Im still working on the running a-frame. I have the grid set up but the distance is only 8feet from the last jump to the end of the box. I need to get it to 9 feet. So I will slowly increase the distance. Otherwise she looks good. I had to change from just throwing a treat to throwing the whole bait bag because it was too hard for her to see the treat. Then she started tracking from my hand to the treat instead of looking where she was going and slowing way down. Once I changed to the bait bag her speed increased. I did run her on the a-frame tonight. I didnt say touch because I dont want to ruin her touch command on the dogwalk. Only one time did she jump off but she still hit the contact. Will see what happens this weekend.
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18 hours ago
8 comments:
That's great that you're figuring out what makes your runs get better or worse :)
Thanks for telling us about the cowhock thing. I never realised Miley had it too. I've been reading and it seems cowhocks do not have a correlation to HD. But I think when Eva's older, we're going to have to get her hips and heart xrayed.
94 degrees! That's crazy! Sounds like you've got a lot of thoughts about things, I'm sure everything will all come together. Good luck this weekend!
If you happen to figure out how to run with the same feeling at a trial that you have in training, please let me know your secret. I think it's something that everyone struggles with to one degree or another. I doubt that makes you feel any better, but at least you're not alone!
I'm horrible at social events too. Strange, since I stand in front of 25 students everyday! For some reason, that's different.
I don't think your students will think less of you. I've watched lots of teachers run dogs, and their runs were far from perfect. I didn't think any less of the teacher. In fact, I admired them for having to face hurdles, just like myself.
Yes, I agree with Marie - no matter what, it's incredibly difficult to run the same at a trial as in training. But please don't worry about people watching you - everyone is so caught up in their own minds and fears, etc. that they really could care less what other people look like (I think). Mom says she is always trying so hard to remember the course that she doesn't have room in her head to worry about people watching - LOL!
running the same in practice and competition is really hard to do, not letting other things mess with your mind, I know how it is. I sure see a difference with Miley though when you really just get into a course and attack it with confidence, so hope you can just run with Miley and shut everything out this weekend. I would not feel worried about the students, around here we have a lot of competitors that are on the world team, and a lot of people that have won the huge competitions and watching them with their newer upcoming dogs has made me feel so good about what happens with my dog that is just starting to understand trialing....it has taken a lot of pressure off how I feel we should do and made me relax and enjoy the process a lot more then I would have, because all of those dogs have the same problems I have seen in Miley, that I see in Breeze, that I see in Liz-well, LIz seems to have a few extra problems some days, LOL....and all the other young dogs that I have been watching-so good for the students to know that no one ever walks out there, especially with a young up and coming dog and aces it every time-they will have a lot more fun with agility knowing that in my opinion. You know an aweful lot, and heck if you were perfect and ran perfectly every time then it would be boring, and what would be the point? LOL. I bet if you talked to your students away from the field they would be in awe of how much they think you know..and if you have a mistake this weekend, that is not going to change because you do know a lot.
Training is easy. Handling a fast dog in competition is HARD! I can have the most awesome runs with Summit and then have runs where I make a strategy or execution mistake. I have seen our local Nationally ranked handlers make lot's of mistakes with their young, fast dogs. It's all part of learning how to be a better team. Miley is fast and driven and not an easy dog but she will make you the best handler :-)
Best wishes to the two of you this weekend! I hope it just goes wonderfully! Don't worry about anyone else, I think we all have those fears, and after doing a whole ONE trial, I realize that I wasn't really watching anyone seriously, I was too worried about my own course. You know way more than you give yourself credit for. I hope it all comes together this weekend!
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