A little hard to see in this video, but I could barely keep up on the first four jumps!! He was straining on the start line to go! Then I make a terrible back cross at the serpentine and nearly collide with him. Oops, a month ago that might have melted him down to mush, a wringing his tiny paws in worry, barely able to work after that, not trusting that I won't step on him or bonk him in the head. It happens. It used to happen a lot. My heart would sink, his tiny little pumpkin head would melt into a liquidy pumpkin mash, only good for making pie, not running agility. I am only human and these things happen. Bad handling, bad decisions mid-course, it happens. OK, maybe it doesn't happen to all my good handling friends, all champion and going to the Nationals and shaving micro-seconds off their times, but it happens - to ME! With my tiny paw wringing puppymill bust Spurminator. However..............watch this video and see what happens!! We nearly crash, I try like heck not to worry about it and make it like it is no big deal, ask for the next jump with a back cross (huh? we don't do back crosses well, so ask for ANOTHER???), which he does beautifully, my plan to then reward the heck out of him, but NO........off he goes and does his weaves. Like ALL his weaves, he goes to the end!! I snap out of my stupid, frozen, worry bubble I am stuck in and run to reward his good effort. Good man, wanted to work, wanted to be right, worried some, but un-wrapped his tiny paws from his bubble-of-worry, put on his best little monkey pants and did a nice set of poles!!!!
We then go back, start over, I do a fairly nice front cross which sets him up nicely for the next back cross to the weaves and look how fast he weaves!! Charging into the tunnel after that for a lovely finish!! This all would never have happened a month ago. The Spurminator has made a change! Bubbles-of-worry last for only seconds now. Not days. Maybe he IS ready for the BARK trial in October?
No comments:
Post a Comment