Demanding little man

After two days of rest/very light training, we returned to the training hall today. It was our first proper training since the double show this weekend and we had some repair work to do after the weekend. 

Xmas was not quite ready to compete with his new routine yet, but I want to try to get him to the Danish Championship this year, so I had to get some placings. I gave it a go and we were successful - we came home with a 1st place on Saturday and a 2nd place on Sunday. But it came with a price..... the last two weeks I have rewarded everything lots to put a lot of motivation into every move. It meant that going through the routine with no rewards two times in a row during the weekend caused frustration in Xmas. So today Xmas' was very demanding - he wanted food and toys and he expected to get it easily without much effort. The frustration was still just under the surface. 

This was expected and a result of the last weeks training - trying to force things through faster than a normal learning curve allows always has side effects, so today we worked on impulse control, on listening and on working through challenges rather than just moan about it being difficult. Xmas was a lot calmer again, when we finished. I do expect it to take a few weeks before we are back to where we were. That's ok though. We do now have a couple of months before he is competing again. 

My picture is Xmas' who is waiting for my OK before he jumps for the toy.

Tango worked on accuracy when doing right side heelwork. Our right side got a bit messy during the weekend.

And Gollum just went through his routine with focus on accuracy. He worked well this weekend.

See you tomorrow
Emmy and the Hazyland Boys