Contact!

Finally some sunny days on the horizon. Since my newly established routine, I have been more diligent about going out and training according to my little plan I thought of weeks ago while it was still dark in the mornings, wet and cold.
So now that my yard is finally snow free, I pulled out all my agility equipment out of the storage room and set out all the contacts. The dog walk needs to be redone, the wood is rotting, but it is also very old, as I bought it about four years ago and it was already used.
One of the to do things for this summer is to actually change all the wood on it. Last year I did the teeter and built the A-frame. I figure the dog walk in itself shouldn't be any different than the other two combined.

Riot has been doing very well. Every week she matures more and more and does things that amaze me. She's wicked fast and turns on a dime. Yikes. I hope she settles in growing, cause this hovering around 16in and small change is just to nerve racking. Gotta make sure she knows how to stand relaxed, cause this tippy toe shit will end her USDAA career.

And no, for those who will suggest that there is always Performance, I am not thrilled. By the time Riot is ready to enter the competition scene, I will have my two other dogs in Performance as well. In an area where there are barely a dozen of Performance dogs total, three of them would be mine and at the same jump height. Total insanity - not happening.
So for now we just play and wait and hope and measure every day!!!!

Back to the fabulous weather and all. All contacts are out. Banshee's running A-frame training is progressing great. Got some cinder blocks and set up the dog walk at knee high for Riot.
She's taken to booking down the whole length in no time and quite likes running on the wobbly planks. She's such a monkey.

Here's a video of the teeter training progression over the last few weeks and her first session on the dog walk.
I gotta get in shape and fast. That little turkey butt will give me the run for my money.
The plan is to have running dog walk and a-frame of course, but stop on the teeter, well sliding teeter I hope.




All the other puppy steps are going well too. She loves playing on the balance disk, now can stand on her hind legs and balance. Really likes the ladder and I have caught her out there walking back and forth all by herself.
She's definitely very jealous when I work the other dogs so I play that card sometimes too.
Unfortunately screaming in the kennel while in the backyard is not really all that conducive to maintaining friendly relations with the neighbors, so we keep that to an absolute minimum.
Playing Crate Games by Susan Garrett has helped tremendously with her self control and putting her drive in focus.

This weekend we will be playing at the UKI funmatch; new agility venue making its debut in the US. Hopefully it will take off in Utah and that the local folks will embrace the variety and new opportunities and show their support. It sounds like a lot of fun stuff that they offer so I am hoping it is here to stay.
It is going to be in the low 70's and I can't wait to pull my sunblock out.