Mika was popping out of 12 weaves consistently in training last week, so on Sunday I did the soundness test and discovered that she was limping very slightly, putting more weight on her front right leg than her left. Later that day I massaged her left side and found that when I massaged her left shoulder, near the elbow, she tensed up and lifted her head to look at me. "Ouch!" She also didn't want to go up the stairs that evening; she started walking up them (instead of running up like she usually does) and then stopped when she got in the middle and looked at me.
She'll be getting a complete break from agility for a couple of weeks. I'm hoping that it's just a little problem that'll go away after rest and more massage. I'm not going to overreact and think the worst like I did with Wall-e's lameness :) She did seem a bit better yesterday and today.
Today, a couple hours ago, I went to the field to work on Wall-e's dog walk. We're concentrating on the DW now instead of the A-frame because of the easier angle. Last week I back-chained the 2-foot high DW -- he was amazing! -- and today we started back-chaining the full-height DW. I'm using a food-loaded target at the end to build his independence. All 3 reps were great! He's giving as much speed as he's able; hard to get lots of speed when you're just using the down plank.
Then we ran a sequence to practice rear crosses. The first rep went well, but I slipped and fell in the middle of the sequence, haha, so we tried again. The second rep was good too. I just wasn't running fast enough and he didn't know where to go a couple of times.
Afterward, we trained sends to the tunnel. I should have accelerated more, which would have cued him to extend better. Oh well, I'm learning!
I might post a video of Wall-e's training on the weekend, we'll see :)
I hope Mika feels better soon. Diana
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about Mika's shoulder - hope it heals quickly! I really admire your ability to not overreact and think the worst (that's so difficult to do, isn't it?)
ReplyDeleteYes, please do post a video of Wall-e's training! Would love to see him driving to his target and running fast on that DW!
Oh my gosh, hope it is nothing too serious and the rest helps Mikas shoulder ;-(, funny those weaves can really point out any problems cant they? Glad you were ok with your fall....and hope you get to post Wall-E's training video!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to a video too! hint hint! ;-) I'm sure the rest will be good for Mika and she'll be good to go in no time.
ReplyDeleteOh, sorry to hear about Mika! I'm sure she'll appreciate the time of and hopefully she'll be back to normal really soon.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to a video of Wall-e's continuing contact training!
Oh, we hope Mika's shoulder is better now. Can't wait to see the video of Wall-e.
ReplyDelete