Obedience Run Throughs
I'm ashamed of how long it has been since I've been able to get to an obedience run through. Both tollers need practice applying our ring games to more of a trial environment. But I took advantage of one pretty close to home tonight to do exactly that!
With Vito I was impressed with how quickly he was able to offer focus outside the ring and ask to work. The environment certainly felt "lighter" than most run throughs before an AKC trial so I'm sure that had a lot to do with it. When it was his turn I told the ring steward we were going to do our own thing. I started with a ring entrance, leash removal hand off, and then immediate play. I repeated that a few times, leaving the ring briefly in between reps and loved that Vito was extremely pushy and super focused. The last rep I did a bit of heeling and transitioned with play for a short recall. It was exactly what I wanted for his trial experience.
With Zumi I did a bit more actual work. I kept the judge in the ring and started with an off leash heel pattern before playing with her and leaving the ring to start rep #2 where I repeated the plan. She had great energy and overall I was pleased. I did discover that she definitely noticed the adjacent open ring with a stolen glance on an about turn and more of a stare on the final halt when she heard the dumbbell land. Things to work on before her next attempt!
It was also great timing as I'm running my online Ring Confidence class right now! I just released the lecture on what to do at fun matches :)
