Flying Poodles

Training Contacts

I’m at a bit of a loss on contact training. Dancer got ZERO contacts this past weekend, other than the one or two where I made her repeat the contact. She went back to stopping at the top of the A-frame and doing a little sightseeing. She jumped sideways off the end of the dogwalk. Not pretty.

So yesterday I thought “well, we’ll practice contacts during our barn time.” Of course, in the barn, her contacts were fabulous. She didn’t miss a one, no matter what I did or where I was. I didn’t even need a contact plate.

Is this like weaves, where training skills don’t show up in the ring for six months or a year after you start? Is this something else entirely? Am I doing something completely different in trials (probably)? All of the above?

I’m thinking I should take her to as many fun matches as I can, and train there. But I’m not sure what else to do…