Handling 3 - Week 1
Riot had his first agility class of the session last night. We’re taking Handling 3 again because the sequences are challenging and we can always use more work on handling.
Riot rocked the first sequence. I didn’t have his head after the first jump — need to keep your eyes on the dog at all times. But after we restarted, we ran the sequence flawlessly. The next sequence was a bit more of a challenge. There were two jumps in a row with a straight tunnel perpendicular to the path between the two jumps. My trying to balance Riot not taking the tunnel and indicating which way to turn after the second jump was not very good and we ended up repeating the opening multiple times. I was having trouble keeping up as Riot raced through the tunnel and wasn’t in a great position to send him over the next jump.
Our next two sequences, kind of the same thing. The first one was really nice and the second one I was a mess :( I was completely uncoordinated and my timing was way off. Poor Riot. Diann was able to take him through the sequence just fine (proving it definitely was me and not him). And I could have been more thrilled with how well he worked with her. It was a threadle through the first two jumps that ended with a front cross to the last and I just couldn’t master it. I’ve done threadles before.
I think I’ve mentioned this before but Riot can be VERY tuned into motion — that window where you can cue him and have him perform appropriately can be very small. Half a second too soon and he’ll pull off the jump, half a second too late and you don’t get the collection you wanted. When you get it right it’s a thing of beauty, but when you don’t, it’s a bit chaotic.
