With so many goals and activities between the three of us, I found myself the last couple of months a little unfocused and feeling like I was missing the target with one or more important training points. I needed a way to keep all of us and the varied training needs in order and headed toward the desired results. I messed around with a spreadsheet a long time ago, but honestly, I'm in spreadsheets all day Monday through Friday and it just wasn't motivating to sit down and key things out. I had some printed logs that can be kept for racing and such, but those didn't fit for agility and obedience. What to do?
I am a big user of journals for lots of things and now I'm using a journal to track all of us and all our performance training. Each day I note the activities separately for myself, Stetson and Edge for both morning and evening exercises. It has made it easier to track progress and set goals. On Sunday evening I go over the week and put down the goals for the upcoming week. It's always easier to stay on target with the bigger picture long term goals this way.
Each daily entry looks something like this:
9/21
AM (indoors)
Me: swim 30 minutes - felt great, went farther than last time out
Edge: brickwork - have got to up my criteria so he keeps moving
sit stay - need to start using collar and leash
body targeting - AMAZING, he loves it
Stetson: recall
around finishes - sharp but slow to sit
PM (outside)
Me: hill repeats - humid and in the sun
Edge: chute
ladder - ready for bars on the ground
weaves - no go, find a new method
Stetson: go outs - quicker sit, stopped rewarding anything slow
figure eights - very sharp and all attention
retrieve on the flat - good quick returns, not sitting crooked anymore and leaning over
It's so easy to go back over and review the previous six days on Sunday and line up targets each week. My intention is to set an endurance, strength and two skill goals for each dog weekly. I have weekly strength and endurance goals that will hopefully lead a healthy and strong me to the finish line in March. Of course things still get muddled sometimes and you have to reset or back up, but I don't seem to be getting blindsided by huge training problems right now. Hopefully this will keep me headed the right way!
The dogs are progressing nicely with their respective sports and I feel my strength is gaining.
The last two weeks have been loaded with great opportunities to play with the boys and get some super training in for myself too. The journal is a wonderful tool to assess progress and be able to note opportunities for improvement.
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| Edge getting some experience shopping at Lowe's |
I am a big user of journals for lots of things and now I'm using a journal to track all of us and all our performance training. Each day I note the activities separately for myself, Stetson and Edge for both morning and evening exercises. It has made it easier to track progress and set goals. On Sunday evening I go over the week and put down the goals for the upcoming week. It's always easier to stay on target with the bigger picture long term goals this way.
Each daily entry looks something like this:
9/21
AM (indoors)
Me: swim 30 minutes - felt great, went farther than last time out
Edge: brickwork - have got to up my criteria so he keeps moving
sit stay - need to start using collar and leash
body targeting - AMAZING, he loves it
Stetson: recall
around finishes - sharp but slow to sit
PM (outside)
Me: hill repeats - humid and in the sun
Edge: chute
ladder - ready for bars on the ground
weaves - no go, find a new method
Stetson: go outs - quicker sit, stopped rewarding anything slow
figure eights - very sharp and all attention
retrieve on the flat - good quick returns, not sitting crooked anymore and leaning over
It's so easy to go back over and review the previous six days on Sunday and line up targets each week. My intention is to set an endurance, strength and two skill goals for each dog weekly. I have weekly strength and endurance goals that will hopefully lead a healthy and strong me to the finish line in March. Of course things still get muddled sometimes and you have to reset or back up, but I don't seem to be getting blindsided by huge training problems right now. Hopefully this will keep me headed the right way!
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| Stetson practicing sits and downs at a local ball field |
The dogs are progressing nicely with their respective sports and I feel my strength is gaining.
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| Patiently waiting for me |
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| Ready to go! |
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