Reving Up

It's very strange looking forward to Mondays. Really, Monday is not a day I look forward to, except we've got agility class on Monday now! This is our last chance to practice on a full course before the 2x4 trial this weekend at Wet Creek.

Since Baxter is my first agility dog, it goes without saying that he's unfortunately my guinea pig as well. He runs, but there could be more drive for the game. He loves his jackpot rewards at the end, but that doesn't help me in the middle of the course with the tricky handling when I'm trying to get some speed back after that serp/backside combo of doom or to speed him up through the weaves so I get a qualifying run in that Steeplechase round. So we're working on it. Focus for work, increasing toy and tug drive, rewarding after short sequences to build value, more building value and building positive triggers that get him hyper and over the top (or in his case, at least up.)

I want this kind of enthusiasm!

I don't have any particular goals this weekend besides enthusiasm. He's a steady little dog, I just want to see if I can get more excitement for me/the game. This is the first time Baxter will be in Master Standard. Times are tighter and no more screw ups allowed on the weaves. It's also a "prep-for-Regionals" type trial with only standard, jumpers and gamblers rounds. I'm going to assume it's going to be a little intense with the people who are actually going to Regionals. I want to handle the course right. I want him to be enthusiastic about the game and get his weave entries.

I'm hoping for a good weekend. Our last 2x4 weekend trial (back in Dec) was fantastic so it'd be awesome if we rock it again =) Baxter could potentially get 3 titles this trial, but rather than obsess and stress on that I just want to have fun and have him more in tune with playing with me and not just being a cookie-devouring-monster!