Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Moments of Brilliance

That pretty much sums up our two runs at the AKC trial this past Sunday - and it's not just my phrase...I've been hearing it quite often lately!

I decided to enter Peyton one day at at trial in Tampa last weekend - mainly to give him the opportunity to run in a new location. He's been handling all of these new trial environments very well...much better than I would have expected.

We started with Standard and oh what a nasty opening! It was a very tight jump-270-dogwalk opening with the dogwalk on the left and an off-course jump on the right. I knew that the chance of him not taking one or the other was very slim so I opted for the off-course jump. :) He had some really nice moments in this run, including a great independent dogwalk contact, although I can't believe that he went to the table after I released him! Considering our table-woes, I can't really complain too much. :)



This was a one ring trial so we had quite a long wait in between runs - I think we ran JWW 6 hours later! I'm not sure if that had anything to do with our wild run, but it probably didn't help much.

I've decided that must Peyton think that the rules of JWW should be:
1. He who takes the most jumps in the shortest amount of time should win
2. Bonus points should be awarded for creativity in course execution


Actually the last half of this run was great! I should probably be annoyed when he decides to do his own thing, but it's really hard not to laugh at his antics. I'm sure there are some that think I should pull him from the ring, but I'm not sure that will solve anything. I guess I'd rather have the enthusiasm now and hope that (more) control will come with time and experience. It's really tricky when you have a soft dog that has the potential to shut down very easily.

4 comments:

Jenn said...

Steeler thinks he likes Peytons new jumper rules! :-) I am with you - I would rather have the enthusiasm and the only time I would consider pulling him out of the ring was if he was having a anxiety meltdown. I am sure more control will come with time and experience as you said! The dogwalk contact was great! and it is too funny that he then went to the table! Hmmm - been working on that lately?

D.K. Wall said...

We figure that 90% of success in any dog sport is that the dog is doing something fun. Once fun is clear, then the boundaries and rules can slowly be enforced until it is both fun and successful. So we think you are right to let Peyton have some fun and not dread going into the ring.

Lisa said...

We LOVE Peyton's new rules for JWW, especially the awarding of style points!! We've had a few runs where style points would have come in handy.

All kidding aside, I have to agree with your decision to not pull Peyton and dampen his enthusiasm. Coming from someone who has issues with that, I'd say it's much easier to rein that in later than to try to build something you don't have. We call Tess "Goldilocks," because when she runs, everything has to be just right...not too hot, not too cold, not too wired, not too tired. When the moon and stars align just right, she runs beautifully, but if not, we'll have gorgeous, clean runs and be a second or two over time. Arrrgh! Let Peyton have his fun and keep working on what you've been doing. He's made incredible progress just in the time I've been following your blog, and he's a smart boy and will continue to improve. We love watching him run and know he can give those BCs a run for their money!!

Kim said...

Perfect! Peyton says he'll be submitting his suggested rule changes to all of the agility venues for further consideration. :)

And I'm glad to hear you guys feel the same way...I do want him to have fun and be confident first.

Lisa, Peyton sends his love to Goldilocks! He says he likes cute, high-maintenance spotty girls. :)