Great Run Thru

We went to run-thrus at the Georgia Dog Gym. It was a really good day. The weather was in the 70's and sunny. We kept ASCII crated under shade when he wasn't running. ASCII isn't thrilled with heat...that black fur soaks up the sun. There were two courses mapped out. One was an easier "victory lap" kind of course. We did that first and ASCII did great until the last two jumps. It wasn't his fault of course. I was out of breath and couldn't say "Over!". That little pause while I tried to get one breath was all it took for ASCII to decide I didn't know where we were going and decide to go his own way. I should have at least pointed or something.

The second time I tried the long course. It had a few tricky turns. I had ASCII out for a little while before the run and was worried that since it was warm, my big black dog wouldn't want to run. So I tried to pump him up before the run. I ran out to the start line with him and played with him as we went.

It worked! I'm not always good at keeping him pumped up. I get wrapped up in the course and forget to make it fun for him. When I don't do that he'll shut down and go sniff clover or decide to make a bee line for the teeter. This time he was happy when we got out there. He was happier about doing agility than he'd been in months. He did everything I told him to do perfectly. I was so happy about his performance that I forgot where I was going and cut out the whole middle of the course. That was OK though. We still ended the day on a high note.