Fun Match

Went to another fun match today. I was kinda worried because I haven't been working with Red AT ALL - not even so much as going for walks - since we've been so busy working on the house. So he's been bouncing off the walls for the past few days... and I figured he'd be pretty psycho for the fun match.

He wasn't that bad actually. I signed up for 2 novice runs this time - but only decided on the second after we did the first one... I was not too pleased with the 1st run at all. Heeling was laggy and sloppy, and the sits at the halt were horrible. The stand for exam was the best thing, really. He fronted crooked on the recall again. I think the no attention during heeling thing is really an issue. I think the bumping and stuff would resolve if he would pay more attention to what we were doing.

EDITED TO ADD VIDEO
Here's the video:




The long sit/down was awesome - gave me eye contact the whole time, and didn't even think about going down on the sit like he sometimes does in practice.

The 2nd run was much better. The heeling was more focused and the sits at halts were MUCH better. The figure 8 was about the same as far as bumping goes. Still came in a bit crooked on the recall. Supposedly he sort of lifted a foot when I came back around for the stand for exam but I didn't see it. But I was happier with the heeling portion. I got some advice from one of the experienced handlers there about how to make the about turns faster and have him keep up with me better. My footwork needs A LOT of work.

Michelle really thinks I should start spitting treats for the heeling focus... I guess I'll break down and try it with cheese, but ugh... I don't want to! *whines*


Homework:
- Start spitting treats
- Practice footwork
- Practice fast non-laggy about turns