Last night we went to the Quad Cities for Thursday night run-thrus. I think this was the third or fourth time I had the opportunity to try out Belle's running A-frame on an A-frame that has slats. I was discouraged last night because I didn't think she did all that well. Luckily, Ed came along and videoed so I was able to study Belle's performance in slow motion.
Before the run-thrus started, I was able to run Belle over the A-frame several times. She actually did quite well with just the PVC box in place. However, she did dismally with just the bumper because I placed it about four inches too low, forcing her to put in a stride before it and one or two after it before hitting the yellow. (I guess if I wanted Belle to run down the A-frame instead of doing it in two jumping strides, I stumbled upon a good place to put the stride regulator.)
After the run-thrus, I tried again with just the stride regulator and she did quite well. Unfortunately, my videographer was busy chatting, and there is no video.
During the run-thrus, I didn't use either the PVC box or the stride regulator. Belle hit the yellow every time, but took extra strides in the blue. I also discovered that I have not been putting in enough effort on the running dogwalk. After Belle leaped over the yellow three times, I had to place a hoop at the end to ensure that she would hit the yellow.
This morning, I set up a course that would allow us to practice both the A-frame and the dogwalk. I placed a stride regulator on the A-frame and added a hoop about three feet out from the bottom. I decided that if Belle would truly prefer to run down the A-frame, I was willing to go that route. She surprised me with three perfect two-hits-on-the-down-side. Unfortunately, the dogwalk was not nearly as good. Hopefully, if I move the exit hoop closer the next time we practice, Belle will run through the yellow instead of jumping from it.
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