Saturday, February 19, 2011

Rain, Rain, and More Rain

We have gotten wet over and over again the last few days.  So not surprising that we should continue the trend today.  It wasn't too bad though.  My timing was good.  Not like last night when I had the dogs on the field during the absolute height of the downpour.

Practiced long sends with Gata to a "Field Closed for Restoration" sign in the field ;-)   The goal is to get her running fast and straight every single time I send with no hesitation, looking over her shoulder or circling.  I know when this started and think I understand why it started but am not exactly sure the best way to get rid of it.  I don't know whether I should be marking the undesired behavior(s) and calling her back at that point or just ignoring those behaviors and rewarding her for going long and fast. 

Since she tends to get better faster with more repetitions, presumably due to increased confidence, I think I will simply reward her for getting there and hope that her growing confidence diminishes those other behaviors.  It's not a big problem but it shows up every now and then and not just for this exercise.  So I know it reflects confusion on her part.  It usually occurs when I see something that I thought was clever or someone convinces me to try something a new way.  Gata likes her routines.  I guess we all do :-)

Tor just got to do more puppy stuff.  Lots of long rewards for both dogs to wear them out quickly before it started to pour on us again :-)  What can I say?  I'm a wimp and I'm tired of having cold, wet feet :-)  The dogs will survive the rain and a few fast workouts.

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