I do not yet have the photos of Rio flying over the A-frame so I have no ‘action’ shots from our agility trial but I do have some amazing photos of Rio sleeping.
We worked hard on teaching Rio to have an ‘off switch’ and I suspect the whippet in him has helped tremendously but goodness does this boy have the most amazing off-switch ever.
Here he is chilling with the door of his crate open while a dog was tugging and warming up right in front of his crate.
Rio was so relaxed that he was able to sprawl out on the ground and sleep–again, he was right next to the ring, with dogs running, dogs warming up and all sorts of craziness.
I’ve really worked hard on creating this settled behavior and it is paying off like crazy in these types of environments!
That is incredible! Just as incredible as your success inside the ring, in my opinion. I don’t think Shiva and I will ever get to this point. Right now I am just holding out for her turning 12. Maybe then she’ll learn how to relax.
I think a lot of it has to do with the work I did with him as a puppy AND the whippet in him. Shayne is much more like Shiva in that she doesn’t settle. I have a “relax” on cue which means for her to flip onto her hip. While she’s in a more relaxed position, she is certainly NOT actually relaxed. For her, she has to either be in a completely covered crate OR in my lap…though she’s getting much better being crated with dogs nearby.