Getting Connected

We've had a month off trialling over September, which is something that I do with all my dogs every year.  With the amount of trials cancelled this year and the small number that we've entered, I probably didn't really need to do it, but I'm a creature of habit in regard to what trials I like to run.  Plus Ivy and I are still feeling our way as a team which is to be expected.  

As a quick summary, Excellent Jumping is very much all over the place, largely due to me either getting where I need to be or, well ........ not. (Sorry Ives)  We either have a brilliant run or it's a total train wreck - there doesn't seem to be too much in between at the moment.  Novice Agility is usually a pretty good run, with the curse of just 'one little thing' still plaguing us. Lovely run for 1st place at Hastings at our last trial with just one bar down.   It feels as if we are going for the record of the most 1st places in Novice Agility ever without actually qualifying, LOL.  Patience, we will get there when we get there and I am in no hurry.

 It was good to take the month off  to look carefully at our runs and then to pinpoint what we need to work on- sometimes if I keep entering trials it all starts to blur into one which I don't want to happen.  The lessons from our mistakes are the most valuable ones and I want to act on them, not just ignore them because I don't  have time and then find I keep on making the same mistakes over and over. 

Plus it gives me time to get some updated photos of Miss Feral - beautiful as ever, in my eyes anyway.  Oops - photo overload ahead.   Warning !

One day we might get a photo where her mouth is closed, but that day hasn't happened yet ! 

Taking time off has also meant that I can lock myself away inside over the holidays, be lazy, read a book, make some more tug toys and enjoy listening to the rain ........ with 4 wet dogs. Today is good as there have been brief periods of sunshine where they actually got to have a walk.  (Although I suspect it won't be 'today' any longer by the time I actually get around to finishing this post. ) Yesterday was scary with torrential rain, defeaning thunder and the sky lit up with lightning for a few hours. One almost deaf Cattledog who really didn't notice, one Border Collie who couldn't give a toss and two Kelpies both trying to sit on my knee. I usually don't mind storms but it was a bit freaky at times.   The Royal Show was closed down for the afternoon and I don't think that has ever happened before.

In regard to agility, I signed up to do Daisy Peel's Mental Management and Goal Setting course online - this is definitely an area I want to learn more about.  So far it hasn't disappointed and it's really forcing me to move outside my comfort zone and think about training and competing in different ways.

One of the exercises that we did related to startlines - when we had our 'twisting episodes' earlier this year, I thought a lot about the criteria I wanted for Ivy's startline and even developed a POA for how I could deal with the sideways movement I was getting.  Although we have made excellent progress in training through this issue and I am pretty happy with her startline in general, I have never really given much thought to what I actually do when I enter the ring, set her up, and then leave her.

Most of us work pretty hard to get connected with our dogs before we go into the ring, but how do we keep connected once we set them up at the startline and walk off?  What about actually entering the ring and getting to the set up point?  I have to admit I am jealous of the set up in the US where it is permissable to take your lead off and throw it on the ground, rather than have a person come and hover over you waiting for your lead.  Although I don't think Ivy even notices, there are some dogs that are put off by this - my kelpies included- and it would be nice if it was one part of the startline procedure that didn't have to happen.  Then we have this ridiculously formal procedure where we have to wait for the judge to ask if we are ready, indicate we are and from this point on you cannot touch your dog.  Then most of us do the 'sit-stay-march away' thing without looking at our dogs - so in between getting connected with your dog outside the ring to leading out and turning back to our dog ......... are we still connected to the same degree or has the startline procedure killed all the work we've done outside the ring?  Something I will be thinking about over the next few trials and experimenting with a couple of different things.  My goals for October - apart from staying connected on the startline - are testing out all the things we've been working on over the past few weeks -  to trust our training, to get to where I need to be, to give information to Ivy on time and to run like hell ! 
Wish us luck.