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Hi Tracy,
These are Annie’s Week 2 shifting connection short sequences. Our videos are out of sequence because we spent a couple extra weeks on Week 2. I’m pretty happy with these sequences overall, but I think I’m getting barked at more than I really deserve to be. Also, on the first two front crosses/wraps, I’m not sure why Annie is ending up so far behind me. She seems to be focused on me. Is she just following my right arm? Maybe I should keep my arm close to the bar and not let it swing around so much?
I guess we are not hip to the latest trends, but that is changing! We don’t get out much since Annie is reactive. We train and compete at just one place and that’s how Annie likes it. We only happen to know Anna because she usually comes by once a year. Hopefully once we’re back to the old normal, she’ll come back and we can show off our new fancy European connection skills!
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“The backside is all about the opposite shoulder.”
So, THIS is the thing I never knew! But it makes me wonder, when do I get to point at the wing — or more generally, at the takeoff spot? Whenever Anna Eifert would come to town, she would remind me to point at the takeoff spot. And indeed, pointing at the takeoff spot has served Annie and me very well for years, but I can see where there is a lot for us to gain from Regular Connection (shoulder back). So my question is, can Regular Connection coexist with OMD-style handling where I get to point at the takeoff spot?
I actually tried out my new Regular Connection at a recent trial (even though we weren’t really ready to debut it) and Annie ran around a *lot* of obstacles. Easy ones, like the 2nd half of a 180. And she flew into *every* off-course tunnel. I desperately wanted to point at the takeoff spot, but how do you point and also keep your shoulder open to the dog? What’s a girl to do?
Here are the first of the Week 3 games.
Get Out – I was completely shocked that Annie read this, but she did!
Backside Slice
Annie did great when she was on my right side. She’s used to me pointing at the wing, so I was really impressed that she did these. We never got a good rep with her on my left though. First, she ran into the tunnel which is still set up from the Week 2 games. I rewarded that because I thought it was hilarious and I thought I possibly did actually cue it. After another unsuccessful attempt, I decided to boost my confidence by putting her back on my right. Our front-side reps were actually a little swervy on both sides.
Hmmm, it seems like we could really benefit from better tunnel exit connection. 😉 I’ll admit there are times after a run when I realize I never even saw Annie exit a tunnel. I have a nagging tendency to want to see where I’m going, but hopefully we can nip that in the bud, lol. Seriously though, I think this crazy connection stuff is going to be HUGE for us. And yes, I’m very interested in hearing your comments on our timing, but first I’ll clean up those tunnels.
