a Taj MuttHall Dog Diary: Trainin' For The Mad Rush of Agility Trials

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Trainin' For The Mad Rush of Agility Trials

SUMMARY: Boost jumps and table, Tika dogwalk. Or--not--
I was so inspired after our session with Nancy last Tuesday. I came home intending to practice 20 dogwalks a day with Tika--fast with a nose touch--and 10 tables a day with boost with various temptations, and 10 go ons, 10 rear crosses, and 10 straights a day with boost.

Came up with a great way of keeping track of my reps: I put out some old plastic microwave-dinner dishes under each end of the dogwalk, under the table, and near the ends of the jumping sequences. Filled my pocket with fingertip-sized pebbles (not the pocket with the clicker, not the pocket with the tasty reward treats), then dropped a pebble into the dish with each rep. So much easier than counting (I lose track) or trying to write it down (always running back to the notepad & pencil).

I did good on Wednesday. Maybe half that on Thursday. Too busy with other non-work things on Friday so no time for training. Busy all day Saturday, hardly even saw the dogs. Went up to Bonny Doon Sunday with the dogs so it was chores in the morning. Then this week, trying desperately to keep up my billable hours to pay for all this dog agility, on top of neglected chores, class on Tuesday, really brisk 6-mile/500-foot gain hike Wednesday evening (thank goodness the temps dropped a bit in the evening), and now it's Thursday.

Must do billable work.

Tomorrow must pack and prep for the SMART USDAA trial in Prunedale.

So it's SMART, then Bay Team, then VAST, those 3 weekends of USDAA in a row. Gah! I'm not worthy! ...I mean, not ready!

So--I have my notes, I have my dogs, I have my counting strategy--but, argh, no time, must work, must blog, must pack-- and it'll be another weekend without The Appropriate Practice Time.

I'd better dust off and assemble my Just Having Fun attitude, and maybe practice that a little, too--I can do that while, say, packing the car! Yeah, that's the ticket--

4 comments:

  1. Good luck and, yeah, have fun too.

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  2. It's been too hot to do any outdoor training (and forget hiking or even standing outside) since July so now that it's a little less hot and humid I'm back out there training every (almost) evening. Until next week when my field starts being used for classes on Monday-Wednesday evenings. So I can train Thursdays and maybe Fridays if I'm not traveling to the trial. So why is it that just when I need it the most, my training is curtailed and when I had all the time in the world (August) I couldn't go outside? I guess I'll have to figure out how to do more with less :-)

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  3. Well, at least you have an excuse. My yard has all the equipment available (although not all at the same time, and not really enough space for go-ons), and the weather has been quite mild all summer. So I'm just, er, lazy or something. "Concentrating on other priorities," yeah, that's the ticket.

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