Practice, Practice, Practice

I live in an apartment.  It's bigger than a lot of apartments I've seen, but it's still an apartment.  We have no yard space to call our own (we're on the 3rd floor).  All this means my practice space is very limited.  I make do with what I have, though.  We rearranged the furniture not that long ago so now we have a decent open space.  I can set up my 3 2x2's (a set of 6 weave poles), one or two jumps, my wooden board (used for contact training), my plunger (used for handling practice), and if I get really creative I could probably get one jump with the weaves or wooden board or maybe even the board and the weaves.  Last summer I was lucky enough to use the backyard at my workplace for some outdoor practice with Gidget.  I was able to use all 3 of my jumps, my 12 in-ground weave poles, and my tunnel after work a couple times a week. 

Gidget earned her three novice standard qualifying runs required for her novice standard title in just three tries.  Judging by that, I don't think our limited space is holding us back.  Sure we may not develop some of the distance or speed that could be worked on with regular access to a larger practice space, but Gidget is no slow poke and for the moment I don't mind staying right with Gidget through a course.  It works for us.  Someday things will be different but for now we're happy with what we've got.