Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Weaves & Contacts

While we have a little break from classes, I'm taking some time to work on Peyton's contacts. It's not that they are *bad*, it's just that I think I've been a little fuzzy on my criteria and he isn't fully understanding what I'm expecting from him. Unfortunately I don't have an a-frame at home, but I do what I can at home with my baby dog walk and the teeter. I'm hoping to get him over to a friend's house a couple times of week to work on the a-frame, which is probably the obstacle where his contacts are weakest.

Contacts are one of those things that can haunt dog and handler teams their entire career...that's why I'm hoping I can get them where I want them now, and hopefully any issues that come up in the future will be easier to manage. That's my thinking anyway. :)

Also, now that Peyton has speed and confidence in the weaves, I'm going to start working more on challenging entries and do some proofing to make sure his weaves are independent. He's a fun little weaver...I love watching him.

And since I can't focus completely on him while I'm running, I have a few little video clips to share. Warning - they are not at all exciting, or even good quality, but I like having a little archive online that I can reference and see how we progress. Note, some of the clips are very dark...that's just because my little camera doesn't do so well in low light.



4 comments:

Unknown said...

You guys look great and Peyton looks so happy working. I have a super long greyhound that just started learning weaves, Peyton gives me something to look forward to. I must say my Dan will never look that wonderful or fast.

Kim said...

Aw, thanks! But never say never...I've seen big dogs with really nice weaves...and small dogs with not-so-nice weaves. :)

I think the key is keeping weave training short and fun. It should be a highly rewarding *game* that our dogs love to *play*.

And I'd love to see some greyhound weaving video sometime! Hint, hint!

Unknown said...

I'll try to post some video next tuesday after class. Our weaves aren't so much a weave yet but a strait line between poles.

Kim said...

Oh that would be fun! :)