I had my first agility class since the summer last night. Coming off a 6+ month spell of no classes was, as expected, a little painful. But also a really nice relief. It's nice to get out there to run with your dog a bit.
Things that Cohen has decided over our period of absenteeism:
- The 11th and 12th weave poles are almost entirely optional
- It's faster to jump through jumps, not over them (thanks flyball!)
Things that pleasantly surprised me:
- Her directionals are actually coming along pretty well.
- Her speed and forward focus have improved greatly (thanks flyball!)
- I was actually able to incorporate a toy as a reward (more as a bridge than an actual reward, but I'll take what I can get!)
My new instructor says that she's going to focus on me running a bit straighter and smoother. Apparently I step into Cohen's path a lot over the course. I don't know if it's because I feel like I constantly need to flag her down, if I have terrible balance, or if it's a vestigial handling quirk I picked up somewhere along the way.
I'd been holding off on using this new instructor since she teaches Mecklenberg and up until now I'd been taught Derrett, but the facility I was using previously just wasn't up to snuff (slick floors, small space). I think I'm going to just try to go with the flow since I'm still so new to everything and see how the new system works with Cohen.
Anyways, that's my first class round up! Looking forward to getting back into agility over the summer!