Moving Back

Zio has been doing really, really well on relearning his box turn. I put the jump in that is 15 ft from the box and he didn't miss a beat. Later, we started lining up about 20' back from the jump and he continued to "hit it" with all four paws up on the box like that's all he's ever known. Then I tried moving back as far as a could (about 55 ft total from the box) and he punched the box instead of doing his turn! I moved 15 ft closer to the box and he only got three legs on the box. Phfffft! :P

From 10' away, he was back to all four on the box. Back to 35' and all is great. At 55', three feet on the box. ugh! We ended the evening with all good ones from 35'. If I didn't have tournament in 2 days, I'd practice without the ball at distance until he realized that getting the ball has nothing to do with reward right now. With the weekend looming though, I guess I'll mix in a few more turns without the ball and see if I can eventually back him up to 55-60' with the ball.

I made a 10" practice jump board, but I think he has enough on his plate to learn right now. After this weekend, it's back to doing more without the ball.