Progress..and Nerves!

I've posted about it pretty much everywhere else, but this weekend is Lexi's first trial since her injury/diagnosis.  I know that she is ready.  She's in great shape, is definitely light years stronger than she was months ago, and is completely healthy.  We haven't seen her limp since the very first occurrence back in July (knock on wood, of course)!

Also, this past weekend we took both dogs up to the building for extra practice.  At the end of the sequence was a straight line of jumps and I sent Lexi on ahead of me.  As she came over the last jump, she attempted to turn into me as she landed (since I was behind), she slipped and totally splayed out.  I held my breath...and she jumped up, barking at me!  Whew.  So needless to say, I'm quite worried about my little girl.  It's not like you can run her cautiously.  It's not in her vocabulary.

"Collection is for chumps!"

Since her return, she has also been a lot naughtier.  I felt like we were finally connecting when it comes to timing (mostly my fault!), and now I feel like I'm starting over.  She's also blowing me off a bit more than usual, I think because she is so amped up to be out there.  Her behavior off the course (or while waiting) has also deteriorated, so I foresee a lot more impulse control work (it never ends) in the future.  For example, I put her in a stay while we walked the courses in class last night.  She has a great stay, but honestly has a tough time while we're walking courses (who knows why).  But last night, she whined the WHOLE time she was staying.  That's unusual for her.  She also stood up once at the start line (which she does at home occasionally, but has never done in class).  I'm a bit worried about this and hope I can keep working it enough that it doesn't become habit.  Oh, and she also blew two dogwalks!  (That's like a bigfoot sighting, it happens so rarely!)  I was pushing for speed, and trying to alternate between asking her to hold and quick releasing, so maybe it was too much.

It doesn't help that it has been raining for the past week or two, and I've been working late so the dogs have gotten almost no training (and not as much exercise as I'd like).  They are a little over the top these days!

(I'll try to post the other half of this tonight or tomorrow...Bentley deserves his own post, too!)