Progress and training for Week 1 (July 2nd to July 8th) of preparing for the IFCS Team USA Selection Event
Overall, this was a very good practice week. Despite the fact that I was out of state for the beginning of the week on a judging assignment, and returned home to pick up my newest family member…a Beagle puppy named Fancy!
Because it so hot in Arizona this time of year, I have been unable to practice the IFCS courses on the same day that we set them up. However, that does not mean Popeye and I don’t get to practice at all on those days.
By the time a course is completely set-up in the morning, it may be too warm to run the entire course, but it is not too hot (yet) to do a few skills and drills. Ultimately, the goal in setting the challenging IFCS courses to run is not just about enhancing our teamwork so that I feel prepared to run the difficult courses with Popeye at Try-Outs, but also to find the parts that make me nervous so that I know what skills we need to work on first in order to improve my confidence.
Anyway, here is the first LIVE course analysis we did on our Facebook Page (if you would like to be notified when I’m going to do the LIVE broadcasts, be sure to check out the Facebook Page):
It took over an hour to build the next course Popeye and I ran this week….an IFCS Standard course from a previous year’s Try-Outs:
And here is the LIVE analysis from our Facebook Page of that run:
Each training session with Popeye is improving our teamwork and leaving us both excited for the next practice. He is a truly exceptional dog, and his training (by my Coach, Mom) makes him an incredible teammate. I am so very, very lucky to be able to experience this journey with him.