Agility trial weekend, part one!

This past weekend I headed back down to Boise for my favorite trial of the year, Boise Agility Runners and Climbers' (BARC) fall NADAC trial.  This trial actually marks me and Cedar's two year anniversary of competing in agility!

Thanks to The Sprinkler Bandit for all the pics!

Once I get all my videos uploaded, I'll do a more in-depth post about the trial itself. So today, I'll post about the other fun stuff Ember and I did on our "vacation!"

Who, me?

I had the privilege of staying with my friend and agility instructor for the trial weekend. Not only was it great getting to hang out with her, but it was fun getting to play and train on her agility equipment :P.

Got scope? 

Both Cedar and Ember got in some really good training this weekend.  It was great to see that all the training I've been doing with Ember in my tiny backyard translate so easily to bigger spaces, longer sequences, and more distance.  She did some really awesome and exciting work with me. She read my front/rear/blind crosses beautifully, jumped like an absolute star, and even started to get some good distance the more we worked at it. She is so awesome and such a team player :)

In addition to working on sequences with jumps and tunnels, we also started her on 2o2o, the teeter, and did the first little part of 2x2 weave pole training. She doesn't turn a year old to the end of the month so I won't be pushing the weaves with her just yet, but it was fun to see her start to figure it out and really drive out and find her entries. What a good girl.

She certainly has toy drive, which makes training her a lot easier :P

The first night we were there, Mary had us practice our 2o2o position on a board with some wire guides to help her practice the proper position. Ember was a little bit rusty, but caught on really quickly to what I was asking her to do. Within a session or two, she was running full tilt down the board and slamming into 2o2o with tons of enthusiasm. What a good girly!  After she was solid on that, we moved to the teeter. She did really well with it overall, even though she found it a little bit scary. After just a few sessions, she would do a half-height teeter and hit/hold her 2o2o position with enthusiasm. She was a little bit unsure about the tipping, but got better every session. 

One thing I really love about Ember is how much of a thinking dog she is. She will try something, and if it doesn't go great, you can see the wheels turning in her head. The next time we try it, she does better.... or at least will try different things. She is really great that way... and it sure makes training fun. She isn't afraid to offer different behaviors to try and figure out what I want her to do. She seems to really enjoy training with me. 

And yes, the feeling is mutual :)

Later this week:  posts about the agility trial, Cedar's training, and a fun day involving pizza, photography, yoga pants, and a certain Giant Red Bambi.