Friday, November 27, 2009

Latest Obedience

I am resting Wyatt from agility.  His back and/or hip seems to be starting to bother.  This is typical for this time of year.  He is starting to run around the occasional jump.  He also feels tight in his back and rear quads. 

I've been thinking about next steps for his "freezing" issue at the start of Drop on Recall.  Watching the video, he did seem to be looking at me.  Previously, I did see him looking around at that time.  He always comes on the second command to "come", which makes me wonder if I have inadvertently taught him to move on the second command when we are in the Open ring.  He came fine in novice.  That makes me wonder if I need to practice in a ring setup for open.  Maybe he is not sure what to do since it looks a little like directed jumping in utility.  There is a match coming up in early January.  Of course, it could also just be stress when trialing or an umfamiliar person standing next to him or some combination of the above. 

I am thinking of starting to trial  Patriot in open.  He is pretty good except Drop on Recall, which needs work.  Even though he is not as driven and fast learning as Wyatt, his confidence is better, which usually means he is slower, but more dependable once he does learn the routine. 

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