Only Fools Rush In.... to Front Crosses

I think I'm falling back in love with agility. I am having SO much fun with Cedar! We had our group class yesterday, and it was neat to see how much progress she's made in the past month. We are now able to successfully run pretty complex mini-sequences (8-10 obstacles or so) and we're working on contact equipment as well. She does NOT like the teeter... I'm hoping to borrow a tip board from a friend so I can work on it with Cedar using the clicker. I am confident that this is something we can definitely get past.

She learned the chute in about 30 seconds, and wasn't afraid of the fabric or the noise at all, which surprised me. I'm so proud!

Her jumping is coming along really nicely, too; our instructor, Mary, says that Cedar has really nice form. I'm really happy to hear that, as I have spent a lot of time working on developing her into a good jumper. It's nice to see the training start to pay off! She very rarely drops bars-- and with her speed, that's pretty rare! She is one of the fastest dogs I've ever been around. I think she'll be a lot of fun. Her 2x2 weaves are coming along nicely as well, but I need to stick with it and train them consistently. I'm so bad at that ;).

In our last run of the day, the course required a front cross about halfway through. I was worried that Cedar would be going too fast for me to make it to where I needed to go in time to make the cross. After a few fumbles (I may or may not have tripped over my own feet and fell down... just saying)... we NAILED it! It was so awesome! Yesterday, I learned that I can trust Cedar to commit to obstacles at a distance, which really helps me to be able to keep up with her :). She is so focused and driven in agility, plus she loves it, which helps things along. I don't see any of the panic that herding brings out in her when we do agility. Maybe this is what Cedar is meant to do? Only time will tell :).

I am hoping--tentatively--that we will be ready to trial this summer or fall. However, I don't want to rush into trialing. I want us both to be totally ready before taking the plunge, though... with Cedar, half the battle is making her feel comfortable and confident. I don't want anything bad to happen that would freak her out. I guess that means lots of proofing!

I really need to get some pictures...