Agility,  Rio

February Kind of Day

Rio’s beautiful running Aframe has disappeared, and I’m pretty sure it’s because I’ve been rewarding the launches on the dogwalk. Oops! Still, time to test the theory and see if I can put the stop back in. So far so good, we only did a few reps this week at training but she’s getting the idea. Just hasn’t quite controlled the speed yet.

Which is the story of our training at the moment! Controlling the speed is tough, and I’m finding it hard to get the timing right. It’s also hard to get the “bubble” right; Dylan had a big personal space bubble and he didn’t like me up in his face, whereas Rio just doesn’t care. Her bubble is smaller than her body, judging by how willing she is to run into me.

12 weaves are looking good, and her entries are coming now as well. We need to do some more work on building her independence, I’m not sure she’ll stay in if I run ahead and leave her. No rush, the weaving plan is working well so far.

I’m also quite excited because I’ve got a training day spot provisionally booked! My first training day with Riobean! I haven’t really been confident enough to take her anywhere before now, because maintaining her focus for extended periods has been tough. But she’s been doing really well lately, and this isn’t until the summer. I’m also very picky about which trainers I want to learn from!