I am still trying to figure out this latest phase of baby-d's life. I have gotten alot of really great advice and am trying assimilate it all. Unfortunatley, while I can scale back training (what little i do), we have the "fall agility season" coming up which means at least two to three weekends a month of three day agility trials. I really want to use these trials to get into B as per my year beginning goal. I still have very small tiny hopes of maybe getting qualified for nationals in 2013 since it will be in Tulsa which is only 5 hours away from me, BUT i am putting NO pressure on him to achieve this goal. I also am entering a big new phase in my life, AKA I don't have a trainer 30 minutes away from me anymore to teach classes every week and do private lessons, so I am little bit nevous right now about this whole situation. Granted, I will be able to still communicate and see her occasionally for seminars, but it has been so nice to know if I am having a big issue, I could always come out and deal with it fairly quickly. I am also having huge flashbacks of harley. Harley was not good at handling pressure and fell apart and I don't want this to happen to my baby. It started with his table performance and then bled into contacts and start lines. We never set harley up to learn how to deal with frustration or failure. We never taught him to deal with thinking through problems and how to offer behaviors. Totally my fault, did not have the knowledge base I have now and that is not his fault at all, but he has paid for it. Don't get me wrong, he is much loved and is now my running partner, but we did enjoy at one time doing agility with him and still would if he wouldn't stress so much. In a way, I think teaching baby-d to be more of a thinker has been good but it has also been bad. I think sometimes when he senses my frustration (which i try to hide but sometimes quite frankly can't) he starts offering behaviors. Last night we were doing a really hard rear cross with a turn off of several off course options back up the a-frame (past an off course tunnel right next to the a-frame). It was a tough one and we of course had to attempt it a few times before we were successful. Well, we had another sequence that went the other way to another tunnel and he got it wrong the first time and then after that seemed to offer the first behavior instead of just watching my body movement and my verbals. I have wondered if that is what has been happening, confusion for whatever reasonand just offering of something instead of just listening and watching. I have several runs and several training runs taped or watched by someone else where nothing about what i was doing with my shoulders, feet, arms or mouth told him to do what he did.
I also need to get him neutered. He has been such a good boy up until this point that I just am not sure that this is what is playing into this equation, but it could be. All of the dogs we train with are fixed and he has been around in heat females and has never offered any attention other than maybe chattering his teeth or drooling at their pee. I have no desire to breed him, was just keeping him intact to get his measurements. he is good to go in AKC, just needs that last USDAA measurement. Now I know at this point he is probably not going to grow anymore, but I have to get one dang more measurement for USDAA because one judge measured him at 21. The other two are in the 19s, go figure. I am sure he is done growing and nothing would happen, BUT i want to be in championship with one dog, just once. I loved being in performance with miller as it was the right division for him, but I think Deuce is more competitive and a good size and should be in championship. Anyway, maybe it would just be easiest to get him neutered and get his hips x-rayed at that time. I like giving the breeder as much info as possible on progeny for their breeding programs so doing it more for heidi than my info.
Anyway, these are my thoughts as I am bored at work. He is my baby and I love him so dearly, and I hate to see him stressed or not loving what I love. If ultimately he does start to hate agility, we will look at other venues, but I think we can get through this. I hope to look back at these blog entries and know that it was just a phase and nothing more.
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