The Perfect Setup

Over the last few days, I set up two of the courses from the WAO.  I thought we'd do a little better than we did with them.  I was starting to question why I was even bothering to set these courses up since they are so far above our current skill level.  Then yesterday, I received a newletter email from Daisy Peel about goals.  Basically, by definition a goal (in the sense of a challenge) is something that is beyond your current capability.  Yep, these courses certainly fit that description.  Here's the first one we tackled:

 
Yesterday, I set up a jumpers course from the WAO, and I was totally taken aback at the difficulty Belle had in shifting from obstacle focus to handler focus.  Hmmm.  Time to do some training.  I looked through my binder of Backyard Dog exercises and Power Paws drills, and finally came up with an PP setup (May, 2009) that featured two straight tunnels with plenty of opportunity to bring a dog from obstacle focus to handler focus.  

I set up the course this morning using hoops since our problem stems from handling and training issues and not jumping.  Right off the bat on what was basically an obstacle focus exercise, we hit a snag.  Belle turned the wrong way upon exiting the first tunnel--I wasn't expecting that at all.  Just love it when I pick an exercise that is going to give us the chance to work on multiple skills!  Here's the video of us working it out: