Jump Start

This is just a jump start update to keep me from continuing to stagnate. It's been a while since my last post and I find the longer I wait, the harder it is to post.

2 weekends ago we went to Carmel for an agility trial and I had such a great time. The location was gorgeous and the weather was wonderful. Of course my face got fried the first day because it was sunny but cool enough that I didn't think about sunscreen. I woke up in the middle of the night to get a drink and when I looked in the mirror I almost screamed thinking a demon from hell was looking back at me. My face was bright red, it almost glowed.

Icon had a great weekend. He qualified in everything and won everything except for snooker and gamblers where he finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Apollo's weekend wasn't quite as good since our 'running contacts' are now getting to the phase where he is missing more often than hitting. But we're practicing a lot at home (well we're practicing the DW, not really the a-frame) so I'm hoping that it will eventually translate to trials! But if not, that's fine.

Apollo has actually improved in leaps and bounds on his running dw over the last week or so. I've had a very hard time 'breaking' his 2o/2o behavior but lately he's been running through (not even trotting!). I now have a jump after the dogwalk and before the t&t. I'm going to try a tunnel next, although tunnels aren't very reinforcing to Apollo since he has to duck to go through.

Rampage is also still working on the running DW. He's doing really well but some days he'll miss few, or at least be very high in the yellow. It's not that he's leaping from the end, his stride just carries him over the yellow at times. I'm still sure that I will not be keeping with the running dw for competition and I'm continuing to train the groundwork for a 20/2o, but the running dw is still so much fun!

My plank is up to 40" right now. I'm 8" away to the full DW plank height but I have no clue how I can get there and keep the plank stable. I'm very tempted to buy a full sized dogwalk (and came very close to it!) but I really don't have enough room in my backyard for it... Anyone want to buy the house next door we can take down the fence and have a huge back yard?

I knew this was going to happen! My jump start became a novella. And I didn't even talk about my new godpuppy, Kahve! Or post photos! Well, next time :) He's adorable in a way that only boxer puppies can be, though.