I stink as a handler!

Ella and I joined Donna and some friends at Capitol Park in Augusta yesterday to do a Rally course run through.

We chatted for the first 45 minutes, which was fun, and watched Ella gently correct Stella, a young rambunctious Corgi who wouldn't leave her alone. Ella then came out of the x-pen and we had an enjoyable few minutes watching Stella and Luna, a tiny sheltie, wrestle. Luna pretty much kicked Stella's butt.

Then we set up the course. That was easy.

We did a walk through. That was easy, too.

We watched a couple of others do the course. Piece of cake.

Then it was our turn.

The first real sign was number 30. Halt and Walk Around Dog. I cued Ella to sit with a verbal (sit) and a hand signal. She downed. O-K. Try again. Verbal: sit. Hand signal. She downed.

Well, let's go on to the next sign. Serpentine Weave Once (#24). That was easy.

Next sign was a right turn. Now to Halt, 1, 2, and 3 steps Forward (#25). Cued sit and she downed. Took a step, cued sit and she downed. Hmmmm.

We left the course (so I would not get frustrated). Donna and I spent a few minutes working with Ella and determined that she was paying attention to the hand signal and that I had inadvertently backchained a down from the sit. In other words, Ella and I has been doing so many practice sessions where I would cue her to sit and then immediately cue her to down that she would sit and then down, whether I asked her to or not.

After about 5 minutes of practice with the clicker, we tried the course again. Much better. I would give Ella the verbal cue without the hand signal and she started to do as I asked.

Donna said that the second time we ran the course, we would have Q'd (qualified). There was one sign that we really need to work on more and that is #16: Call front finish left halt. I had to lure Ella the first few times that we practiced. Tonight we will practice with the target stick.

We have a bit of work to do and 10 days to do it in. But mostly, I have to become a better handler, get over my ring nerves and breathe.