I decided to take a pulse check on where Tangle was when working around the other dogs. I put the other dogs in the yard which is right next to the agility field. I was fully prepared to have to back down and lower the distraction at the first sign of trouble. First I warmed Tangle up with recalls, he did awesome, 100%. OK, I ramped it up a little. Next we did flatwork, at a walk first and then at a trot. Tangle did awesome, never once ran over to see where the other dogs were.
Interesting to me, he completely understands following body motion and really has since day one! That is his natural talent for sure. I didn't fully appreciate it until I watch a couple of other puppies work and it wasn't the same level of understanding.
Split starts barking because he is getting left out, still Tangle is with me.
Next we did cone work, first single cone just for food and then two cones for food and then toys. I did both the stand in the middle, send, FC, and send to the next. Then the stand a send to one with forward motion and the other with lateral motion. Tangle's sends were beautiful today. On average I was sending him about 12 feet or so. He would drive out, round the cone with the same speed, accelerate into the turn and speed back to me. His speed is beginning to pick up which is awesome. He does still "offer" the cone to me without me asking. He just gets a "good boy", but no huge reward. In the long run I don't want him offering obstacles. I want him to wait until he has been queued.
We ended the session with a great game of table, Tangle's favorite game. This time I threw him a little twist and asked him the lie down a couple of times before I would start the game.
Never once did Tangle get distracted by the other dogs who by this time were barking and whining (that is a whole other training topic).
Next to work out was Split. I warmed him up with the extension and collection work. That boy is so awesome. Totally understands his foundation. I wonder if the herding has something to do with it. Both boys are very herdy and both are awesome at the foundation work. Next we worked small sequences with contacts in them. Split was awesome. He hit his contacts 100 percent of the time. I ran past, front crossed, stopped and started again, he remained through it all on the DW. His running contact was a little slow, but accurate. Speed will come in time. I worked some turns out of tunnels with Split for fun. RC before he goes into the tunnel, does he come out running in the correct direction? Boy did awesome. Lastly we ended with weaves-fetch which he loves. I worked on speedy entries, and some lateral motion. Seems like 24 inch poles have made all the difference in the world!!
I won't leave Tip out. She did really well except for waiting her turn. :)
