Greyhound Training Camp Dec 2017

As I've started Frye in agility competition, Jen and I have been talking about me coming down to GA for a "Greyhound Training Camp."  Since I was driving back through from the Invitational, we made it work to get together for 2 days to train together and give each other some tips.
Frye getting ready for training
Jen set up the courses for both days.  On day 1 was a JWW course.  The challenges for me were that she had a lot of wingless jumps and they were 4 foot as opposed to 5 foot jumps.  So yes, as expected, Frye missed many of those jumps, running around them as she drifted on her lines and didn't collect herself up.  I also need to work on my front crosses, 
Jen ran Maddie and she ran really well.
Jen also ran Riley, who is currently retired, but ran this exercise like the pro she always was.  Look how much fun she is having at 11 years old.
And here is Frye, needing a few tries to smooth out the run.  At the end, I work a front cross exercise over the wingless 4" jumps just to get her comfortable turning her body over the more narrow jumps.
On Day 2 we worked a STD course.  Again, Maddie ran well. 
Frye was great on her contacts, but I had a heck of a time getting into position to get a front cross on the serp jump after the Aframe. However, when Jen took Frye, she was brilliant.  We concluded that Jen does a better job running backwards in her front cross than I do.
Jen asked me if I do a lot of blind crosses and I said that I rely heavily on blinds.  Mostly in order to keep the dogs in extension to get more speed, and to be able to get out of the way quickly on a big striding dog.  So I shared with Jen some of the blind cross timing techniques I've learned and she worked those with Maddie.
And finally, as you can expect with a good trainer like Jen, you see the focus on the relationship with the dog as an important component. So at Greyhound Training Camp, there was time left for play as well.
All in all, it was a successful training camp for these wonderful Greyhounds!



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