Some Days You're Hot and Some Days You're Not

Alas, I did not do well at flyball practice today. We were practicing a potential "B" team, with Dusty, Gizzy, Spoiled One and Spoiled One's Partner in Crime. Well, first we tried the line up with Dusty, Gizzy, Partner in Crime and Spoiled One. Gizzy is a cute little orange cattle dog sheltie mix. She probably runs about a 6 second run. Partner in Crime runs closer to 4 seconds. Partner's handler kept releasing too soon and having way early passes. So we switched Partner and Spoiled One.

I used to be good at passing with Spoiled One. Really. Not today. Spoiled One was passing Gizzy way early, when she was still on the jumps. Gizzy would end up veering completely out of the lane to avoid a potential collision, and it wasn't her fault - I kept passing way to early. And I knew it. And I tried to fix it, but I kept doing it, over and over. It was so frustrating, because Gizzy needs to keep her confidence up and being railroaded by the two biggest, most rambunctious dogs on the team isn't the way to do it.

I'm so frustrated with myself. I think I've gotten used to Spoiled One automatically slowing and adjusting for the oncoming dog. Gizzy is just so much smaller, he wasn't bothering to adjust for her. And, I just couldn't get out of the rut of making the same mistake, over and over. Hopefully, I can get back in the right zone again. Maybe, if I change my release point to the 3rd jump, instead of the first.

On the positive side, another dog, a little cattle dog/border collie (I think) was really showing some speed on recalls! She even beat Weasel a couple of times. Now, if we can get her to have the same drive to the box, she ought to be a little speed demon.

We may be going to Hurricane! I really hope so. At a U-FLI tournament, we can run the green dogs in singles and pairs and reduce the stress levels on their handlers. In a NAFA tournament, it's all or nothing, and we may not be able to field two solid teams with alternates, yet.