It's been a bit hectic in the agility class lately because we lost MH. Last week (week 19) was her last class with us. Her husband couldn't take the FW at Aramco any longer (let's just say that if you prefer to work in an environment where merit and hard work are rewarded, this is not the place for you) and accepted a position with another oil company located in Cairo, Egypt. They managed to escape before the golden handcuffs were locked in place--sometimes people stay, hating every day they go to work, because they can't afford to leave! But the H's got out before that happened.
I am bereft. I have no idea how I can run these classes without her sharp eye and gentle suggestions. Having a large-dog handler as a training and teaching partner really brought a fuller dimension to the sequences I set up and the exercises we would run on them. It became a habit for me to set up the equipment then watch MH run her two PWDs on it. Her success or failure allowed me to properly adjust everything so that the sequences would work for our intrepid little group of handlers. Plus she was always ready with a new approach to solving a handling or training problem. The classes will not be the same.
In recognition of her leaving, I designed a special course for week 18, borrowing the idea directly from Nancy Gyes' extremely successful "Alphabet Drills" in which she created training exercises based on the letters of the alphabet. MH's dogs were named Austin and Dallas so I designed some short sequences based on the letters a and d.
The handlers generously contributed money and for MH's last class we were able to present her with a $200 gift certificate to Clean Run. There were definitely tears all around at the end of that class!
In a nod to MH's preference for NADAC, I set up a more open, flowing course than usual for her last class with us. She was able to run both of her dogs in numerous variations of this exercise. It might be the last time she gets to do agility with her older dog. Very sad.
I designed this particular sequence around a gently curving jump chute with the goal of getting the dogs and handlers to commit more fully to jumps. A lot of them fail to cross the plane of a jump, instead coming to a stop right next to it, with the totally expected result that their dogs stop too! We had some decent success with the chute although few of the dogs could do all five jumps in a row.
This particular sequence was so fun that I set it up again this week for our last class and had the handlers work some of the variations to challenge their skills. And I deliberately set out to challenge them too, asking for front crosses, RFPs, serpentine handling, wraps, jumping with collection, jumping with extension. It was a fun class to end our session with.
Today was the last agility class in KSA until late September. I am so utterly blessed to have had the opportunity to play agility for 20 weeks. I wish we had a longer agility season here but with limited facilities and the hideous weather, I really don't have much choice.
Looking forward to the fall, I will begin contact training with a contact board first on the ground then propped up on the table, which will have a spiffy PVC frame lifting it up to 12 inches. I will also build a wobble board, testing it with Azza first, of course, and drag that out there. And I hope to get some more PVC parts when I'm in the US this summer and build four jump wings to help start the handlers on distance work.
So I have grand plans, even though I have to be very patient to put them all in place!
I am bereft. I have no idea how I can run these classes without her sharp eye and gentle suggestions. Having a large-dog handler as a training and teaching partner really brought a fuller dimension to the sequences I set up and the exercises we would run on them. It became a habit for me to set up the equipment then watch MH run her two PWDs on it. Her success or failure allowed me to properly adjust everything so that the sequences would work for our intrepid little group of handlers. Plus she was always ready with a new approach to solving a handling or training problem. The classes will not be the same.
In recognition of her leaving, I designed a special course for week 18, borrowing the idea directly from Nancy Gyes' extremely successful "Alphabet Drills" in which she created training exercises based on the letters of the alphabet. MH's dogs were named Austin and Dallas so I designed some short sequences based on the letters a and d.
The handlers generously contributed money and for MH's last class we were able to present her with a $200 gift certificate to Clean Run. There were definitely tears all around at the end of that class!
In a nod to MH's preference for NADAC, I set up a more open, flowing course than usual for her last class with us. She was able to run both of her dogs in numerous variations of this exercise. It might be the last time she gets to do agility with her older dog. Very sad.
I designed this particular sequence around a gently curving jump chute with the goal of getting the dogs and handlers to commit more fully to jumps. A lot of them fail to cross the plane of a jump, instead coming to a stop right next to it, with the totally expected result that their dogs stop too! We had some decent success with the chute although few of the dogs could do all five jumps in a row.
This particular sequence was so fun that I set it up again this week for our last class and had the handlers work some of the variations to challenge their skills. And I deliberately set out to challenge them too, asking for front crosses, RFPs, serpentine handling, wraps, jumping with collection, jumping with extension. It was a fun class to end our session with.
Today was the last agility class in KSA until late September. I am so utterly blessed to have had the opportunity to play agility for 20 weeks. I wish we had a longer agility season here but with limited facilities and the hideous weather, I really don't have much choice.
Looking forward to the fall, I will begin contact training with a contact board first on the ground then propped up on the table, which will have a spiffy PVC frame lifting it up to 12 inches. I will also build a wobble board, testing it with Azza first, of course, and drag that out there. And I hope to get some more PVC parts when I'm in the US this summer and build four jump wings to help start the handlers on distance work.
So I have grand plans, even though I have to be very patient to put them all in place!
No comments:
Post a Comment