Doing things at a Snails Pace...doing things slowly

LOL, lately I feel a lot of pressure with my progress toward my goal with Cricket. No one else is putting the pressure on me, but gosh I feel like a Loser with a capital L because we are not trialing yet. We could in all honesty do some jumpers runs...I think it would go pretty well, probably much better then I imagine. My Aframe is taking FOREVER, we are marching forward and progressing but definitely at a snails pace. I am happy with what we have but boy I know I have not put that on the fast track. Crickets brothers are trialing and doing fantastic, but we crawling around at our own pace.

WHY? Why does it always feel like we are a bit behind? Hey we are really making some hugely amazing progress with LOTS of tricks, and lots of foundation exercise, I really am loving the Sylvia Trkman puppy class even though we are a bit behind even with that,... I am working on all three dogs and working on quite a few easy things and it seems like a lot of hard things. Some tricks surprise me when we can get them in one session and some tricks look so easy to me....but then it takes us forever to get them done, LOL.

None of this bothers me so much that I shifted into the fast track, I still just really want to savor our training and our relationship and have fun. It is the pace I am enjoying, but I still feel guilt, guilt for not being more driven. It is almost summer and to start trialing right now....most likely I will end up at trials in the middle of the summer sun....I remember one of the last trials I did with Breeze, the one she was injured in--it was 118 degree heat wave and we ran at 1:30 pm three days in a row,it was not fun.

So I LOVED reading this from the daily OM that was in my email today--such appropriate timing. Anyway, you can call me slow, you can call me lazy, but I feel like I am in hyperdrive toward some other goals,...it feels like my goal SHOULD be to hurry and get trialing with the AMAZING CRICKSTER...but guess I really want to explore a lot of other training and that has sort of taken over -but I really hate that I feel guilty about how time seems to be flying by.. ;-) .. is so silly because who besides me even cares what we are up to? LOL. So I am sure not cutting down any of the people out there that are working hard and will have their dogs trialing the day they are eligible,....I am envious of those people and maybe with my next puppy ;-), but for now -guess we have our own little pace and as long as we are having fun....guess that is the whole point of dog training as a hobby...having a good time with your dog.

http://www.dailyom.com/

Take time to slow down, rushing never gets you anywhere but on to the next activity or goal.

Life can often feel like it’s zipping by in fast forward. We feel obliged to accelerate our own speed along with it, until our productivity turns into frenzied accomplishment. We find ourselves cramming as much activity as possible into the shortest periods of time. We disregard our natural rhythms because it seems we have to just to keep up. In truth, rushing never gets you anywhere but on to the next activity or goal.


Slowing down allows you to disconnect from the frenzied pace buzzing around you so you can begin moving at your own pace. The moments we choose to live in fast forward motion then become a conscious choice rather than an involuntary action. Learning to slow down in our fast-moving world can take practice, but if you slow down long enough to try it, you may surprise yourself with how natural and organic living at this pace can be.

I am sure the rest of the article can be read at the link-but you get the idea of what they were saying

;-).

MORE AFRAME PRACTICE: I AM CONFIDENT WE WILL GET IT ONE DAY ;-)


CAVALETTIS: Sylvia Trkman said she included Cavalettis because the dog needs to step over the obstacle one leg by one thinking about where his feet are in relation to the object. Jumping would be very easy but your goal is stepping over obstacles of different heights and different distances. A nice rear leg exercise and is especially good for dogs who run with their hind feet close together-which helps with running contacts if you are teaching those. Cavalettis teach the dog to move more efficiently and smoother.

Cavalettis are one of the things Breeze should work on, it was on her list of rehab exercises. I like Sylvia's idea of using boxes or bowls, or what ever, it makes it very portable and easy to change the spacing. Just a quick video of Cricket working on hers. ;-)
CRICKET WORKING ON CAVALETTIS FOR SYLVIA TRKMANS PUPPY CLASS ;-)


Liz and Breeze are also working on Cavalettis but they are sort of a mess--but that brings me back to the start of this post--I will embrace the journey :-)!