Great class!

Wall-e had his fifth agility class yesterday. Wow...fifth class already...they all went by so fast! Only one more to go.

Anyway, Wall-e was showing TONS of drive yesterday! We did a few short sequences (most of the dogs are already doing great with all the obstacles). Wall-e follows my handling really well already for a green (inexperienced) 9 month old!

The first sequence was a line of four low jumps (set just far apart that the big dogs bounced them), a left turn to an S-shaped tunnel, then a jump. I led out in front of the line of jumps. Wall-e bounced the first three jumps in the line (which is especially tough for him because he tends to jump round) and did 1 stride in between the third and fourth jumps. I did a front cross as he was going over the last jump, and he zoomed into the tunnel. I rewarded him after the tunnel, and then there was the jump, and the sequence was done. Good boy Wall-e! He ran it perfectly!

The second sequence was the same, except with a tunnel added at the end. The instructor told us to do a front cross at the exit of the S-shaped tunnel instead of at the entry. Oh boy...well, I tried to make the front cross, but Wall-e was just so darn fast through that tunnel that I almost collided into him! Whoops. Now I know that I can't use front crosses with him unless I can get into position ;) Oh well, he was a very good boy!

The third and final sequence was the same as the last one, except that a straight tunnel replaced the line of jumps, and the jump after the S-shaped tunnel was removed. So, three tunnels! I decided to do a rear cross at the entry of the S-shaped tunnel instead of a front cross at the exit. Wall-e raced through the first tunnel, made the turn to the second tunnel and galloped in. As soon as he was inside the tunnel I rear crossed him, but green as he is, he turned around and came out of the tunnel the same way he went in. "Oh, I guess I'm not supposed to take this tunnel if she's running away from it!" I sent him back in the tunnel and ran to the third tunnel, calling "Wall-e!" He raced over and blasted through the tunnel, banking the inside curve. Wow. Talk about fast! He was probably faster than Mika in all three of the sequences! :D

Wall-e is sure to be a really fun and really fast agility partner. I can't wait until the field opens (which should be soon, because the snow is rapidly melting!!) so that we can train more often. :)

~Nat