After a break from training due to first me being broken and then Merlin grazing his paw, we finally were back at Broads this Tuesday. Running two dogs over the same course is always interesting as it reveals their different strengths and weaknesses, and shows up the areas I need to work on. Merlin was pretty flawless, as might be expected from an experienced dog, though he did show up my dodgy handling.
Course 1 – Merlin
A tricky push round at the start and having to avoid a jump at the end to find the tunnel did not faze Merlin. I front crossed the jump before the weaves as Merlin is not good at rear crosses and I had plenty of time to do so.
Course 2 – Merlin
The second course involved push rounds. I was trying to tighten Merlin’s turns and was pleased with his ketschkers as I remembered to drive him into them. I tried the push rounds two ways. The first time I sent him around the left wing of the jump straight after the tunnel, the second time I sent him around the right wing, which gave me time to get into position for the next sequence.
Course 1 – Sparrow
This course pretty much blew Sparrow’s brain. It took four attempts just to get her to do the first push round because the weaves were so tempting. However her drive through the weaves with me rear crossing could not be faulted. She fluffed the ending and just could not resist going over the start jump again. We worked on this individually and she did eventually grasp that she didn’t have to take the jump just because it was there. Bless her!
Course 2 – Sparrow
In contrast Sparrow took course 2 in her stride. Two sets of ketschkers, the first perfect, the second time I let my drive arm drop. She had a little trouble with the push rounds, but we worked on my timing and position and she did them perfect in the end (but not on camera).
Team Jackson 
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