There has been a ton of X-citing things going on with X. Since we are a small team we are not able to practice on a regular basis. We don't always have access to do full course work. If you are in the same situation do not worry! We have found that when we switch up our training from week to week it's a lot of fun. We have fun and the dogs don't get bored. Here are a few things that we do. We try and do box work once or twice a week. Then on either Saturday or Sunday we try and do some kind of jump training. Lots of chase recalls and power jumping going over more then four jumps. It's great for conditioning and it's also great to get the dog's jumping rhythm down. Allowing you to make sure that the dog is taking off at the right place etc. If we do our power jumping on Saturday then on Sunday we try and do something really fun to help with conditioning. Like hiking or just a fun romp at the park. We fit in full course work when we can (again, thank you
FNA for allowing us to practice with you guys!!) but we have found that with all the other little things that we do in between has really helped progress the dogs faster in their full course work.
Anyways, on the the fun stuff! Our green dogs have been having a blast lately. I will try and give you a brief update on how they are doing.
Stare is our resident Border/Whippet cross. We like to call him Stare Bear, he is all hugs and kisses. He is intense like a Border Collie and has the speed of a Whippet. Stare ran the full course for the first time last Friday. Since we don't always have access to full course work we broke down all the steps for Stare before putting it together on the course last Friday. He did not let us down. He ran clean, held his box turn, held his ball and fired out one hell of a return! We are also very X-cited that our new three stride technique worked. Good boy Stare!
Dragon is the coolest Whippet ever! Everyone that meets him will agree with me. He is a lean red racing machine who has springs for legs! You can just tell this dog has heart. I have been calling him Whippet Boy Wonder since he was a pup and he sure lives up to his nick name. He tugs like a beast and does whatever you ask of him with enthusiasm and of course tons of heart. He went over jumps for the first time this weekend and blew us all away. We were all amazed with his grace and speed. He literally blew Nicole away. She was the one letting go of him and she got a face full of dirt and grass! Way to go WBW!!
Drastic the Maligator is doing great with her conditioning. With her wall work and jump work she will be back in action in no time. She is getting stronger and stronger each practice. We will start box work with her very soon. Can't wait to see this crazy girl back in the lanes. Her striding looks fantastic over the jumps. Drastic is such a "sweet" girl!
Psycho my red merle boy is very much enjoying himself and I am having a blast running him. He is getting more confident each time he hits the course. Seems like when you are starting a new dog there is so much to worry about. Like striding, rotation, take off, ball holding, that you sometimes forget to just enjoy the partnership that you have with your dog. Each time I work Psycho or any of my dogs for that matter I try to remind myself that we play flyball to have fun with our dogs. Keep it positive and fun. Psycho ran the full course with another dog in the other lane for the first time this weekend. From the video you can just see how much fun he is having. It really makes me smile. :-)
It's 2010 and we are X-cited for what the new year will bring to our new team.
I met Teva yesterday and was very impressed with this little girl. She is full of spunk and determination. She tugs like a little hellion. Holds on with all her might even through lots of distractions. She tugged with me, a stranger she just met while her mama walking by her several times and she also held on while her BC brother walked by. That's a lot to ask of a 7 week old pup! But she did it naturally and with ease. I loved that she liked to bring the tug back to me. When I let go of the tug she brought it right back for more tugging. We have high hopes for the newest and littlest team member of X. Congratulations Kathy on your new baby girl! Thank you Bonnie for an X-tremely talented little pup!