a hike in the woods

I realized recently that its been forever since we took the dogs for a hike. Unfortunately in the Seattle area there are very few areas that are safe for off leash romps in the woods. Sometimes the dog park doesn't cut it. I love watching the dogs bound through the woods, alternating between full speed running away from us and then racing back to check in.

I also realized that our new little whippet boy has never done this. You wouldn't know it - he hiked with us like he has done it a million times. He stayed with the pack and did well with his recalls along the way. His focus/obesession with Indigo is annoying most of the time, but it situations like this its kind of nice to know that he won't go running off to chase something. He would way rather keep an eye on Indigo.

Today we went to Issaquah and found a great trail with lots of up and down hill parts. The dogs ran fast and hard and slept for a solid 1/2 hour after.

Im all over the place

Okay my big plan was to spot doing box work and still with wall work and then I talked to someone who knows way more than I do. The suggestion was to continue doing wall work, but also do box work with a box. And don't do wall work with a ball.

I moved the props around again and used a tug that Pax has more drive for. This worked really well! He had a few box turns with the ball that I was really happy with! He is still double-hitting about 1/2 the time, but overall he is looking a lot better.

Our plan for the moment for practice is lots and lots of boxwork and maybe work up to some full runs soon.

OUR TRAINING SESSION LAST NIGHT

pax box work update

I keep trying Pax on the box and its definitely a bit of a mess. Lots of double hitting and crumpling. In so many ways he is advanced....he is able to do all the jumps perfectly and isnt distracted by anything. This tempts me to push his training beyond what he is ready for. I think I really just need to focus on wall work only and leave the box for a few months. He is only 9 months old and has plenty of time to learn his box turn. I need to keep reminding myself that it is worth it to take a step back and train him slowly.

It is very different for me to train my own dog, compared to other peoples dogs. Especially in flyball. I have been fortunate to have dogs that are ready for the game before their bodies are ready. We will be going to the Touch N Go seminar this month and have a working spot for Pax. This should be really helpful for figuring out which direction to take his training

Even with our break from box work, expect to see Pax debut sometime this summer!

Here is the train wreck