In my quest to have more handling or maneuvering choices, I have been working on independent contacts for the dogs. While having trained in agility some 6 months behind Chloe, Scout isn't doing too bad but his learning curve has seemed to changed when I started to add some distance away from hiim. So I am going to have to babysit him a bit longer as he is locked onto my leg in which he can not pass me.

So the task today was the mainly the dogwalk and to break the montony, I added a tunnel on each end with a jump. The dogs are still working on 2o2o  (2 legs on the ramp and 2 legs on the ground) and once they get they get titled in Novice, I am probably going to switch to running contacts. Expounding further, I used two bait plates on each end of the dog walk to help the dogs focus on the end of the ramp and instead of me.

The routine started with them showing their 2o2o and then I would put them in a down stay on end and I would be on the other end. I'd say the command and they would come at fast speed and hit their 2o2o. After each success, I would start to move back and continue to get them to perform. With Scout I made as far at the middle of the down ramp. He was starting to get confused because he was so far in front of me. So I had to moved back up and end on a positive note. Then I decided to run the sequence and throw in a weave or two and that ended his session.

Chloe's session progressed further and I actually stopped the exercise since I didn't want to push my luck. I actually ended up at the midpoint of the dog walk which I lowered down to 18" or so because I wanted Scout to get comfortable running on it. She seemed to get the idea and the next session, we'll continue until I reach the starting point. After her DW work, I ran the same sequence as Scout and then did some teeter work. 

Good sessions.