Morning! I got home and knocked right out. 🤣
Today we started with the retrieves in the hour or so before I needed to go to one of my boys’ school programs. The RoHJ was a little rocky, but interspersed between a few ‘No Birds’ I feel like we got five good retrieves. I let Riley get a little sloppy by the end so we did do a solid dEC and then I tried to finish on a high note.
RoF is where I feel the real magic happened. This time I was a little quicker with my ‘hand-over-hand’ and the dEC from the beginning. The third and fourth pickups were (from my perspective) SOLID. She grabbed the dumbbell by a bell on the last pickup but when I adjusted it when she got back to me she was lightening making sure that thing did not hit the ground. (Note the handler’s happy dance after that first really good pickup 😂)
I couldn’t work where I wanted to during school, and after school Graydon and I had a dinner date with some of his extended family, so I zipped over with her around 6 pm to try out the Vickster’s test. We did LL until I could tell her ‘work switch’ had flipped, then some fast paced heeling before I hit ‘record.’
I feel like she did… okay. I’m having some trouble with lagging and heeling wide, and her stays struggled a bit, but I’m… meh… confident there is a pass in there somewhere.
I’ve decided that since this is somewhat of a condensed program I want everyone to see how I am correcting/guiding Riley, so I can be corrected/guided as necessary.
One last thought: I was thinking as I was writing this about how odd it is that Riley struggles with our evening sessions, like she is worn out at the end of the day. Then as I added that last video I started considering some (or many of) my sloppy mechanics during the session. Lightbulb moment: Riley may or may not be worn out by the end of the day, but this handler certainly is. And as her handler’s mechanics get sloppier, so does the she. It is almost like she takes my sloppy mechanics as permission to be sloppier, herself.
💡💡💡💡💡😄
Kat/Riley 10/1 update posted!
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Pass!
What did I see and deeply appreciate ?
*KAT, your CONSISTENCY, quiet laughter, genuine praise and steady working, as Riley's handler, to 'help her succeed'. Bravo🎉
* Riley's eye contact and her desiring to work FOR you and WITH you.
* In every exercise, I see vast improvement in Riley. Her Stays are awesome.
* Palm Pilot Cheat Sheet🤭
* Timing. Kat, your timing on corrections is stellar! Riley doesn't take it personal, instead, she's like, "Oh, yeah, THAT'S the way we do it😚."
* The Ah-ha💡 understanding that sloppiness in the handler only begets sloppiness in the dog.
ALL IN ALL📢
SO WELL DONE🔊
BRAVO📣
Oh, thank you, thank you!
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