Our very first run was perfect, nice and smooth. Though I did cut it a little close on the blind cross after the chute! I'm still not super great at judging when it is safe to use a blind.
We knocked a few bars and went around a few jumps on the next runs so did not qualify.
Last run of the two day trial, I think Indi's brain was tired. She started out well and then wanted to play. She jumped up at me to try and bite my hat strings and just didn't cooperate on a few sections of the course.
Here is that video. It is entertaining!
Overall I loved her enthusiasm and I know she enjoyed herself, as did I! I haven't worked that hard on making practice JUST like a trial in that her reward comes after we leave the course, after we put the leash back on. So that was new for her. I used a tug toy to warm her up which she actually wasn't crazy into like she is in practice and I used food as a reward at the end. In practice I have been using a combination of ball/tug/food but to be honest, mostly ball since it is her favorite. She has a lot of drive for the obstacles themselves in practice and I think it has transferred fairly well into the trial ring.
Neither Amber nor Rye would ever accept a tug toy as a reward in a trial environment, it was always food. With Indi's tug drive in practice I thought she would for sure play with me as a reward but we haven't got to that point quite yet apparently! And a ball tossed to her while she is on leash is just....underwhelming...
She is so much fun to train. It is a high, running with her.
We have one last show for the summer coming up this weekend, wish us luck!
