Carol/Pogo says:

Sarah, thanks so much for the feedback. I got a lot from your comments. For one thing, I won’t try rear crosses that have a fairly straight line after, in a competition. Or if I HAVE to, I’ll go into it knowing that Pogo is likely to turn sharply away from my pressure of crossing and to plan for that. I also really liked your ideas for “making it easier” like moving the jump, or encouraging the correct line to the jump by rewarding the line, rather than the obstacle. These are good ideas to store away! It looks, from the way I edited the video, like I kept pushing Pogo but really, we took lots of breaks, walked on the farm where we train, did other things that he knows well. So those repetitions were over an hour. But I can see on my face and by my body posture that I was frustrated so I should have stopped for the day. I think Pogo “over thinks” when I repeat: “oh, you didn’t like that? maybe you’ll like this?” He’s my first poodle and he’s different from my sheltie and my pap. More emotional. Watching the video, I see how hard he is trying and I wished I’d let it go. We are going to try USDAA agility at home in December and I want to feel like we are “ready” so I guess that is why I “wanted to get it right”. A front cross is a pretty basic thing…