Carthage Day 2

Well, our standard run was pretty wild but after we blew the weave poles I decided to just take off running and let open up and have fun. Naturally she forgot about her contacts and took some off course adventures but seemed to have fun. So I decided to try the same thing in Jumpers. I just ran as fast as I could and the only thing I said the whole course was "weave." She did great but pulled to the inside of one jump. So my strategy for now is to just run the course like I expect her to be fast and trust that 1) catching up to me will be a big motivating factor and 2) she'll go out and do obstacles at a distance while I'm moving away from her, otherwise I"ll never get far enough ahead of her to make her want to catch me. I figure is she goes off course or messes up an obstacle it's probably my fault and a training issue and we can correct those things at home and avoid stressing her out at a trial-where it should be all about having fun and running fast. I mean we could struggle through a course and finish right at course time but that really doesn't do much good if your long term goal is to get a MACH. You need speed and points. Also I'm having her "Aunt" Cheri run her in some of her NADAC runs so she sees it's not all about doing something right for mom but getting to have fun with someone who only spoils her and never works her. I think we're on the right track but I'm just too impatient. I want it all fixed and fixed now-but dogs don't work that way so we'll just keep practicing and experimenting. The good news is that there is always another weekend.