Practise, practise, practise
0 Comments Published by Gussie on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 4/16/2008 06:44:00 PM.
A sunny afternoon – and it’s my afternoon at home!
So of course Jake and I carry the portable kit to the park. It’s beautiful – nearly spring, buds on the cherry trees, lots of people pushing buggies and walking their pooches, kids swarming all over the playpark, a little boy playing with his three, yes, three Yorkies. Jake and I headed into our usual out-of-the-way corner, the one which isn’t too boggy or churned up by football boots. It’s absolutely fine practising in our local park. We're laid back about chatting to interested passers-by (usually the ones with kids or their own dogs). The distractions are great practice though I wouldn’t do it if I wasn’t sure of Jake’s recall and it certainly wouldn’t work if he was a dog who liked to join in football games.
We practise with the equipment I can carry – which is two lightweight jumps and a set of matching weaves. We usually manage to do a fair bit with that small amount of kit. Today I had three ambitions -
1. Practising my swivel turns on a pull-through - as recommended by Gary at our club practice on Sunday. For me, much easier in one direction than the other. We're getting more fluent, slowly. (And I'm practising my part of the manoeuvre around the house, to the the surprise of other family members).
2. Heheheh. Practising not always taking the obstacle right in front of one’s nose. Jake did really well at this, though I did catch him out the first time. Keep your eye on me, son!
3. Finally, we kept the fun one 'til last - practising accurate entry into the weave at speed. Worked like a dream in the park, even with me standing by the weave to cue Jake to start. Oh, it’s soooo different in the ring!
So of course Jake and I carry the portable kit to the park. It’s beautiful – nearly spring, buds on the cherry trees, lots of people pushing buggies and walking their pooches, kids swarming all over the playpark, a little boy playing with his three, yes, three Yorkies. Jake and I headed into our usual out-of-the-way corner, the one which isn’t too boggy or churned up by football boots. It’s absolutely fine practising in our local park. We're laid back about chatting to interested passers-by (usually the ones with kids or their own dogs). The distractions are great practice though I wouldn’t do it if I wasn’t sure of Jake’s recall and it certainly wouldn’t work if he was a dog who liked to join in football games.
We practise with the equipment I can carry – which is two lightweight jumps and a set of matching weaves. We usually manage to do a fair bit with that small amount of kit. Today I had three ambitions -
1. Practising my swivel turns on a pull-through - as recommended by Gary at our club practice on Sunday. For me, much easier in one direction than the other. We're getting more fluent, slowly. (And I'm practising my part of the manoeuvre around the house, to the the surprise of other family members).
2. Heheheh. Practising not always taking the obstacle right in front of one’s nose. Jake did really well at this, though I did catch him out the first time. Keep your eye on me, son!
3. Finally, we kept the fun one 'til last - practising accurate entry into the weave at speed. Worked like a dream in the park, even with me standing by the weave to cue Jake to start. Oh, it’s soooo different in the ring!
Labels: Agility
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