Disc Dog Goals for 2012

I have been meaning to put up a list of goals for the 2012 disc dog season. My hope is to look at this at the end of 2012 and see how well I followed through and maybe check it throughout the year to remind myself of what we are trying to do. These are new goals or things that I still need to really work on. I will go in order of seniority.

Me:

- Avoid injury by not over practicing, despite sometimes wanting to practice for long periods of time. Keep it to 1-3 times per month at the park for 30ish minutes.

- Don't throw anything short of the maximum point line in toss/fetch. Past 40 yards is normally my target.

- Work on getting a better air bounce and skip that can be used in routines confidently. I can execute the throws, but not in any conditions and with confidence.

- Be confident for the dogs and give them the best chance to excel and have fun. For them, having fun is running, jumping and catching discs. Put the disc where they have a chance to catch it every time.


Tooney:

- No injuries. She couldn't compete most of 2010 due to injury and came back big in 2011 with some great performances and wins. It took half the season for her to get her stamina back, but she's as good as ever right now.

- Continue doing her exercise ball at least every other day, preferrably 4-5 times a week to keep her strong.

- Keep it fun for her. If she is still running and happy at the end of every round, then I'm doing the right thing.

- Get Jenn some chances to compete with her. As Tooney is getting older, Jenn's opportunities to really play with her are less and less. Tooney is the dog that really gave Jenn the chance to do well in agility, so she deserves more time with Toons. Jenn will never ask to have a round with her when I could be playing with her, but I have to do my best to get Jenn some opportunities. She is at the age where competing with two people is not possible, so we need to manage her play time wisely.

- Here's a lofty goal - set a masters division record at our Skyhoundz Regional for either freestyle or toss/fetch points.


Enzo:

- Whatever Enzo does pretty much is golden to me. In my mind, he can do no wrong. (yes, this is a goal... the goal is to continue to think this way)

- Continue to put the discs in a place for him in toss/fetch that show him off and rack up big points. I feel so fortunate to have finally developed the rhythm, teamwork and skills to do this with him. Don't lose it!!! He was good in 2010 and awesome in 2011.

- Come up with more unique throws/tricks for freestyle. I don't want to make a higher % of tricks in my routine - just replace some I already have by big improvements to the trick itself or to the flow of the trick into the next sequence or from the previous sequence. Also consider replacing entire trick sequences if I am able to come up with something completely novel.

- Do more traditional types of things that people do to make their dogs look good. One thing I never did with Enzo was a distance multiple. (short, medium, long rapidly). I am doing this now. This is a skill neither he nor I had in the past. We do now. He looks great doing this. It's traditional and so many people do it, but there's a reason. Dogs look great catching lots of discs quickly and running/jumping. He does all of those in 1 sequence that lasts 5 seconds at most, but is a huge impression to everybody watching. Maybe do more things like this in the routine, but without losing my ingenuity.


Slayte:

- Stay on the field for the entire round. Keep his interest up, especially when it's hot out or he's showing that he may be distracted. Focus, fun and energy are the ingredients required.

- Improve catching ability. Hopefully he learns on his own, otherwise maybe try some softer discs that won't bounce of the teeth as easily if his timing is a bit off. He tends to either not bite the disc deep in his mouth or he closes his mouth before he gets to the disc. The result is the disc bounces off his teeth.

- Try to put up a few big scores in toss/fetch because I know he can do it.


Wow - that is a lot of stuff.