Week 6

March 1, 2008

Serpentines, yippeee!

After last weeks difficulty with threadles, serpentines are a welcome relief. Something we can do! Maybe not well, but at least do.

I have to be aware of Apache's committment point. If I turn away too early, then he happily continues off without coming in to take the jump. If I linger too long, then I end up blocking his way and bars fly.

I need much more practise with this skill set, to really have a strong understanding of his committment point and when exactly, I can turn away with him still taking that jump.






In the beginning, I faded too early and Apache came with me. In the past I would have held my arm out doing this but we have been working on not using our arms as much. Save them for gambles. The next time, I stayed running straight for longer. Notice that I am still rewarding Apache with some food when doing a threadle. Everyone cheered because it is so rare for us to leave all the bars up. Linda threw the toy for Apache because we are trying an experiment. I carry a toy with me but only reward with it a little less than half the time. The rest of the time, someone else tosses a toy for him. We are thinking maybe he is bringing the bars down anticipating his reward.

I forgot to recharge my battery, so there isn't much video today.