Oh man!

We had our obedience fun match today. When I arrived - I thought early - for the Open class, they were 1 hour ahead of schedule so I was next. I figured we aren't even close to competing in Open, not even in Novice for that sake, that it wouldn't hurt to put Moto into the ring cold. He did OK, in fact did some pretty nice things. But he still needs "seasoning" as he was distracted by a barking dog on the ROH and for no reason whatsoever jumped sloppily on the BJ. Then, on the long sit he did the famed Sheltie Slide. A quick correction and he was fine the remainder of the stays.
Then on to Novice - Blitz was first. We didn't train yesterday so I made a huge mistake, which was too long of a warmup. He was wonderful. But once in the ring he plodded alongside me. I had to give him a correction which I hate to do, but it worked and he was great after that. When it came to stays I saw that he was struggling. The judge allowed me a little extra time to make sure he was comfortably situated for the 1 minute sit. He did it and the down just fine but it was a good lesson and a frightening reminder of the toll his disease takes.
Moto was unspectacular in Novice. I believe he needs a bit more compulsion training.
So with the specialty coming quickly I have the following training plan: Blitz gets the next 2 days off to rest. Moto and I will train regularly, but he'll have the microprong on. He needs to get it ingrained in his mind that he needs to try, all the time. Blitz will be trained 2-3 times a week, five minutes max. His last session will the the Wednesday before the specialty. Then on Friday, we'll warm up 30-60 seconds before we go into the ring. What I have is what I have....hold on and hope it's a good ride. If it's not, it will be my fault as I've overtaxed him.
Moto will be in Rally which is a good thing. It will be quite some time before he is ready for the "real" ring.