Miko the WonderDog & Moxie: Moxie's debut

On 10/28, the Moxerati made his agility debut at a fun run at WAG. Fun runs are for practice only; they aren't competitions. I wanted to see how he'd do in a completely new situation, and I wanted to see if he'd be any more comfortable on NADAC style slatless contacts (specifically, the A-frame) than he seems to be in practice at Ace. His A-frame performance is a mystery -- he's so fast and so fearless about everything but that. I thought it might be something physical -- his shoulders, perhaps, but he's been x-rayed and all looks normal. I ask myself if he's worried about "stubbing his toes" on the slats ... one reason for wanting to try the slatless equipment. (And a reason to give him a pedicure, too.)

Slats or not, his A-frames weren't exactly stellar, but all in all I was extremely pleased with his performance. He had never run a full course before; the most we'd ever done in class was maybe 5 or 6 obstacles at a time. I had no idea whether I'd have any control over him at all! As you can see in the movies below, control wasn't our strong suite, but we were able to correct our mistakes pretty easily, and a good time was definitely had by all.

One of the things I was working on specifically was his start-line stays. He's not supposed to move off the line till I tell him to, and he's so eager to run that it's hard for him to sit still. Another focal area was solid down-side contacts on the teeter, dog walk etc. If it looks like he's just standing there, half-on, half-off while i dance around and pretend to run away, he's doing exactly what he's been trained to do -- wait for me to release him.

Something I *should* have been working on, and will work on in 2 weeks when we go to another fun run, is getting myself properly positioned as we run the courses. He's so much faster than Miko -- I kept finding myself in the wrong place, except that it would have been just the right place for my other dog! Gotta work on the timing...

Jumpers, round 1 ... a little wild!