Sunday, March 13, 2011

Mia-belle's Awesome Weaves



Another pirated post from Jessica's blog.  Again, why recreate it when Jessica explains it so well.  Jessica is a complete novice to agility but her background in obedience training and learning about how Mia-belle learns and what drives her is educational for all of us, plus it's just pretty darn cool!

Mia, Grayhart's Special Request, CD, RA, NSD, CGC

So...I know I have a lot to learn about handling...especially in agility.  Mia has a ton of drive, is really fast, and jumps big...which makes handling her a challenge, especially for a novice handler.  She does not like to slow down or stop when she's running a course.  So if I mess up at all and don't tell her where to go fast enough (or if I get mixed up in the course), she will often make her own decision as to which obstacle to do next.  With all of that said, I am beyond thrilled that she weaves 12 poles and does so pretty independently.  I'm gradually working on guiding her less and less until I can send her into the weaves by herself.  Last night in class, despite how fast she was running, she hit her entrance to the weaves beautifully.  However, her speed and enthusiasm sometimes catches up with her and she popped out after a few poles.  Mia is young and still learning to control herself.  The good news is, I just started her over at the weave poles and she weaved all 12 beautifully.  In time, we will get there.  All of these things that make her a challenge to handle are also what make her so much fun to train and watch. 

Patience, patience, patience:)

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