Agility class again this evening. Syn is getting higher and higher each week. I'm constantly astonished that she's able to control herself so well and then explode into leaping, running and jumping.

But. Last week the teeter was on the floor and only able to tip about an inch. That didn't bother her at all. This week it was up about a 8". I was asking her to walk over it as I walked beside her, but she was overcome by the joy of it all and ran ahead before we were ready. As she felt it dropping, she skittered off the side of the contact zone. She appeared not to have been affected by it, but the next time she bailed off several times. I started shaping her paws onto the solid end of the board rather than asking her to go the length of it. That went very well and soon she was sitting on the down end cheerfully taking treats while a helper lifted her end of the teeter up and down. Syn wound up riding almost the entire distance up and down without any problem at all (these people are good) and the next time it was our turn, she went over confidently, letting it tip and riding it down. Again I'm thrilled with her rate of recovery. I don't care how many things startle her if she'll accept my explanation that her minor fright wasn't a reasonable response.

Then there was the usual jumping over, running through, etc. I'm loving Syn's Look and Watch cues. It's lovely to be able to tell her to Look and have her snap to focus on the target on the other side of a jump.

Also my dog-in-law is in the same class but my daughter-in-law's out of town this week so I took Phoenix AND Syn to class and handled them both alternately. This proved much better for Syn, who has been flagging a bit near the end of the 1-hour class. Having to sit out parts of the class while I worked with Phoenix certainly brought Syn back with renewed vigour!