Secret did really well at the trial this weekend. There is one woman that she just never seems to warm up to, but other than that she did really well with everyone she saw. She even made a new friend with Marcia's dog, Krissy, while on a potty break outside. We won't tell Kaiser, as Krissy has always been HIS girlfriend. ;o) I find it interesting to note that Secret seems to be more comfortable with female dogs.
Secret got to work the gate with me a few times, but overall she spent quite a bit of time in her crate this weekend. Ever the trooper, she didn't seem to mind it a bit. There was just the one time when I got up from spending time with her and asked her to go back into her crate and she decided that she'd rather take my spot in the chair. She settled right in and all I could do was laugh. She knows where the good spots are.
We got some super nice short jump drills in after the trial each day. Secret's speed & confidence improves each day and her rear crosses are really becoming solid. I'm starting to move further away from the obstacles and sometimes her lack of obstacle focus creeps in (she's usually looking for the toy in my hand at those points), but for now I just keep running and we pick up the next obstacle. She's doing better with her long lines and didn't go around any of the jumps, so that's a bonus (especially considering how narrow some of my jumps are!).
Yesterday I included I tunnel in the set-up and was happy to see how fast she's starting to rip-roar through that! I was hoping to maybe have a chance to play with her on the Tunnelers course after the trial yesterday, but I decided to pass. I don't feel like I have any clout there anymore.... It would be nice to work her in new settings, though, so I'll have to come up with ideas as the summer goes on.
Because Secret had to spend most of her day in the kennel at the trial, I decided to bring her along to my parent's house for the family get-together for Father's Day. It was a good setting for her, with fewer people than usual and fewer children running around. She was incredibly tired, which made her a bit more shy than usual, but overall she did well. She wouldn't warm up to my aunt JoLynn for some reason, but she was curiously interested in pretty much everyone else. I think Secret has trust issues with anyone who approaches her with squeaky baby-talk and tries to hover over her.
It was a long weekend for everyone -- today they are all totally crashed! We are home now until July 10 & 11 when we head to Burnsville, MN for another NADAC trial.
OH! And I did hear from the photographer, Barbara, this weekend. She sent me a note to let me know that, indeed, it was one of the Springer Spaniels that was chosen for the photo shoot. No surprise there!
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