The girls went to their second UpDog trial this month. Kenna continues to play puppy rollers. UpDog rules stipulate that dogs cannot chase/catch thrown discs until 12 months of age, because for safety reasons young dogs should not be leaping. Primarily this is to protect growth plates until they close, similar to why we do not jump full height or learn weave poles until a certain age in agility training. Rollers are also a great way to incite the chase instinct, and also teaches the dog how to track and grab the disc as rollers are far more predictable than throws.
Kenna is showing some very good disc drive at this young age. She is, naturally, more focused when we work at home than at the trial where she gets distracted easily by all the people and the new things in the environment. Still, when she did pay attention she showed some very good disc drive. And she was not the only puppy to get distracted by something that was not a disc. Another puppy picked up one of the pylons and ran around with it for the majority of his run. (Kenna also picked up a pylon, but fortunately it happened after her second run when she was already off the clock.)
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