Opportunities

So my last post was about our "wins" from our previous trial (over 2 weeks ago now!)  Here are a few opportunities from my point of view, and then my husband's.

My Opportunities:

• Run.  Be Confident.  Trust Your Dog.  In so many videos I am standing, waiting, jogging, or worrying about the dog's performance.  I have to trust that my dog knows his or her job.  And if they don't, then I have to go back to train more.  But, this has to be the biggest difference in how I run in training and how I run in a trial.  
• Timing and Clarity of Cues.  I really need to work on my timing.  I tend to give directions too late, and then make up for it by giving them too early.  I think the more we work on this, the better we will get. 
• Stay Positive and Have Fun!

Jonathan's Opportunities (he came up with these):

• Be an Active Participant in the Run (Be Less Passive).  More often than not the dog controls the run, and not him.  He wants to dictate the pace of the run.
• Take Control.  (see above!)

Inside/Outside turn comparisons

Several weeks ago in class we did an interesting exercise.  We were presented with a few tough sequences from some "famous" courses, and were asked to perform them two ways.  Once, turning the dog to the outside, and once turning them to the inside.  Prior to running, we were asked to guess which way the dog would be faster.

As a key to the worksheets, the circled answer (where it says "fastest") was our guess.  The times written were the actual times for each sequence.  (Note: click on photo to see them larger)

Bentley p.2:

Lexi p. 2:

A few observations:
Not surprisingly, Lexi was faster to the outside every time.  I was 3/4 in guessing correctly.

I was surprised, however, to see that Bentley was faster to the outside a couple times.  We have a tendency to turn inside with him much more often, but I'll definitely be rethinking that.  I'm guessing it's because it's harder for him to speed up again once he slows down and collects for turns.