Thursday, March 10, 2011

Mia weaves 12 poles

So...I know I have a lot to learn about handling...especially in agility.  Mia has a ton of drive, is really fast, and jumps big...which makes handling her a challenge, especially for a novice handler.  She does not like to slow down or stop when she's running a course.  So if I mess up at all and don't tell her where to go fast enough (or if I get mixed up in the course), she will often make her own decision as to which obstacle to do next.  With all of that said, I am beyond thrilled that she weaves 12 poles and does so pretty independently.  I'm gradually working on guiding her less and less until I can send her into the weaves by herself.  Last night in class, despite how fast she was running, she hit her entrance to the weaves beautifully.  However, her speed and enthusiasm sometimes catches up with her and she popped out after a few poles.  Mia is young and still learning to control herself.  The good news is, I just started her over at the weave poles and she weaved all 12 beautifully.  In time, we will get there.  All of these things that make her a challenge to handle are also what make her so much fun to train and watch. 

Patience, patience, patience:)

Here she is in our backyard weaving 12 poles

3 comments:

  1. Impressive! Mia-belle is just awesome!

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  2. She looks GREAT! One suggestion (just to throw it out there!) is to let her learn to drive forward through the weaves more and learn to look ahead. This is something I struggled with with my Sylvie because she was always watching my hands and popping out. I def. learned my mistake fast with Vera, though! Does she like toys or bumpers? Or toys with cookies in them, maybe? I would start using your hands less and when she gets to the last pole, throw a toy or cookie or whatnot so she's looking ahead and not at you- it'll help in the future and your knees and body will thank you when she's not beating you down the line then running into you!

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  3. Sorry, that was supposed to be "when she's beating you down the line, then turning to run into you!"

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