Ad Libbing

I had my DH set this practice course up last week.

The layout provides a lot of opportunities to work on a little doggy NASCAR, tight turns and wraps, and turning at a distance.  Yesterday I finally had enough energy to get the tripod out and film my practice with Belle.  I also brought out Dusty for the first time in seven weeks.  Normally, Dusty is like a red tornado on the course.  But he seemed to be really inhibited by my lack of motion.  Unfortunately, I forgot to start the camera rolling again for his workout.

Here's the video of Belle from yesterday:

Course Analysis: Finding the Sweet Spot

I have spent the last few weeks reviewing my NADAC courses.  My goal has been to find a sweet spot on each one from where I could possibly handle the entire course without having to move more than a few feet.  Yesterday, I had the opportunity to do this with a non-NADAC course at the home of my friend Cathy, who teaches agility near Freeport, Illinois.

This is an approximation of the course that Cathy set up yesterday:

I gimped through the course a couple of times to determine where the key control points were.  I was pretty sure I could handle everything above the 50' line without having to go beyond the 40' line.  Now for the rest of the course.

The #3 tunnel was the first challenge.  I wasn't sure I could get Belle into the closer end from a distance.  I felt her momentum might make the further end a more logical choice to her.  However, that proved to be no problem.  On the other hand, I was so pleased when she took the correct entrance to the tunnel, I failed to call her in a timely manner for the turn to #4, and she was well on her way to the DW before I realized my mistake.  On our second run, I tried using an off-side arm instead of a push to indicate the tunnel, and Belle stopped and looked at me, as if to say "What???"

The other challenge for me on this course was to get the 270 at 18/19.  On our first run, I couldn't get there to apply enough pressure to keep Belle out of the gap between the two jumps.  On my subsequent runs, I adjusted my starting position so that I was close enough to that gap that I could apply the needed pressure.

My first choice of lead out positions was A, but on subsequent runs, I discovered that B was better choice since I was better able to get out of Belle's way for the second jump in the first serpentine.  The only spot where I had to hustle a little more than I was comfortable hustling was for the 270.  I was able to direct Belle through the entire course without having to cross the plane of the serpentine going any further up course than the 40' line.

I did make an important discovery.  Six weeks is too long to go without doing a full set of weave poles.  Belle popped out at the #10 pole more times than I like to even think about.  Guess when I have my DH set up my next course, I'll have to make sure there is a full set of weaves set up nearby for practice.


 

The Garden

Despite the fact I haven't been able to weed my gardens over the last seven weeks, they are doing pretty well without me.  The flower garden in front of the house looks very pretty this year with an abundance of foxgloves.  Last year, this same garden exploded with the red poppies in the lower left corner just in time for Memorial Day weekend. 

I was hoping to go the the 4RK9's NADAC trial tomorrow, but I'm just not mobile enough yet, and my ankle keeps swelling up like a balloon.  So I guess hang around the house and try to get some weeding done.  With all the rain we've had over the last two and a half days, they should come out the ground very easily.

I Can Walk Again -- Sort of

It's been almost six weeks since I had surgery to repair my broken ankle.  This morning, my orthopedist cleared me to start walking on my left leg.  Aside from the fact my ankle is too swollen to flex, I'm doing pretty well.  I mowed the agility field, and my DH set up a real course for me.  Today was a Midwestern rarity--95 degrees, but with low humidity and a nice stiff breeze.  It was actually quite tolerable outside, especially, in the shade.

I believe this was one of the sample courses that was available on the NADAC Yahoo list at one time.  I added the jump in red so that I would be able to come up with more variations.

I discovered I cannot move backwards in the splint--I nearly fell on my butt trying.  As soon as the swelling goes down enough to get my foot into a shoe, it will be hasta la vista to the boot.

During my six weeks of lawn chair agility, Belle really learned what "turn" means.  In the video, you can see several times when I say "turn," and Belle turns more sharply than I had intended.  Once I finally figured where body cues alone were sufficient, it went much more smoothly.  I also found out that "come" does "mean take an obstacle closer to me."  Rather it is the opposite of "turn."  I'm planning to change my "come to me" command to something like "front" so that when I want to recall Belle, there is no doubt in her mind what I want.