Plan the Work and Work the Plan
09 Aug 2024
Wednesday night I got scolded by both my instructor and by Snap!‘s rehab vet in class! 😖 It was Snap!‘s second week back in class as we come near the end of rehabbing his back injury (still no weaves yet). I had run Spark in the prior class and it was Snap!‘s turn.
Well, we get to the teeter and I didn’t even realize I used Spark’s “Touch” verbal cue for Snap!” So Snap! slides full speed into a perfect 2o2o at the end, slamming the board down, and his butt is lifted 2’ off the ground as he stayed in position. “Touch” was his old teeter word that I haven’t used in years… Snap!‘s verbal cue is “bah bah bah” which is a 4on for the teeter with him laying down.
So I got scolded for multiple reasons:
- I used the wrong verbal cue for Snap!.
- That 2o2o with the teeter bouncing his rear end in the air was definitely not good for his back.
Lots to unpack here, but the real issue was my head wasn’t really running Snap!. I’ve become pretty comfortable running Spark while Snap! has been on the sideline for 2 months.
I hadn’t made a conscious effort during my walk to use all of Snap!‘s cues I’ve always stressed this to students when teaching: during the walk you want to use all of your cues - physical and verbal. I had done a kind of lackadaisical walk of the new course. I also didn’t go through a full “simulation” of my run (again with all the cues) before we ran.
So I earned my scolding and hopefully it will help me and you remember to prepare for every run for each dog whether at practice or a trials.
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