Better training session today =)

Today was better. I need to try not to get all freaked out and bent out of shape when Red has an "off" day. We all have off days, right?

Anyway, I've figured out that he works better before any walks or off-leash runs. The more energy he has, the better. This knowledge will come in handy for our trial - this means no walk that day, and minimal standing around and warm up before going into the ring.

Today we worked briefly (for like, 10 minutes, if that) on
- Fronts
- Finishes
- Moving down
- Heeling

I used sliced hotdogs and a squeaky little soccer ball as rewards. And of course, an upbeat attitude and lots of praise and smiles. He liked the hot dogs, but he liked the ball more. I think he is transitioning from food motivation to toy motivation. Which is fine by me - less smelly crap to carry around! =)

The fronts still need some work, but they aren't horrible by any means. Not crooked enough to be counted out of position by Rally standards, but they would lose points in traditional obedience.

The finishes are coming along MUCH better! Good and straight, and not sitting on top of me. I'm really pleased with his progress on those.

The moving down definitely needs work, so I will incorporate that into our future training sessions as much as possible. I have to lure him down and even then, it's not a super-quick down like I want.

The heeling is good, with good attention. The right turns are nice, but the left turns still need work.

I'm pretty confident in all the exercise signs for Rally, except maybe the left turns and moving down. I've found a potentially good exercise to try to train Red to pivot with his back feet while leaving his front in place. Someone on the yahoo group sent me this link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=97QQHLjpWJk which looks very promising. I started to try it with Red yesterday, but he wasn't quite "getting" it. However, I used a cardboard box at first that slid when he tried to get on it, so I tried an overturned litterbox on the driveway, which was a little better but not great. I think tonight I will put a textbook like the one in the video on the carpet in the house and see how it goes. I think this will really help - that and using the dowel to direct his rear end around. If we could just get these left turns to be tighter, and the moving downs to be quicker without so much lure - we would be good.

But anyway, I'm in a much more encouraged mood than I was yesterday. Part of it because of Maylissa's comment to my last post. I think I just really needed a hug and some kind words of encouragement, which was really helpful =) Thanks M.T.!