I’m doing about 15 minutes of agility basics with Devon every evening, and it continues to go very well. Last night she ran to the teeter and volunteered it with me 25 feet way and in front of it. I’m really proud of her. She’s actually having fun “showing off” that she can do it. I raised the new dogwalk to full height since she’s already going over the old one that is full height. Last night we ran from the A frame to both of the dogwalks and back and she had a ball. I’m also doing some foundation one jump work with her to review.
After our session, I raised the teeter a little more; it’s still not at full height. It should be interesting to see what she does. This was about the height it was when she slipped off of it a couple of weeks ago. We may spend more time here before it goes up again. Weaves start on Wednesday!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Ian had his first turn
I laid a short one turn track for Ian last night and ran it at 20 minutes. He started strong, but he continues to be a little erratic when he goes off the track. The turn seemed to stump him, and he finally came and stood next to me like he had no idea what to do. But when I took one step in the direction of new leg and said track, he put his nose right down and tracked on it. I’m wondering if he was indicating the new leg and I missed it. As I said, he’s so erratic that it’s hard for me to tell if he’s on the track or searching. His jerky movements were also pulling on my very sore back, as was the uneven terrain, so that may have also caused me to miss his less than obvious indications. We’ll just have to keep tracking so I learn his behavior. I think I lay a serpentine track for him on Wednesday and see what he does with that!
Connor’s latest track
Connor continues to be a steady, solid tracker, and he’s having so much fun. He struggled a lot on his first turn, but he did keep working and wagging his tail the whole time. He missed the article I gave him 20 yards after the turn, but when he finally got on the leg he was tracking strong so I didn’t fuss with it. He did the rest of the track just fine, and it was 380 yards. He’s also getting much better at article indications and finding the articles. I think I’m going to have a friend lay a blind track for us next week and then depending on how that goes get my nerve up to try certification again.
After I finished tracking Ian and Connor last night, I took Devon out to pick up Connor’s flags and play with whistle sits with her. We’re struggling a little with this concept. She was generally walking in front of me as I lined up on Connor’s first turn and started out in the direction of the missing article. I should have just called her into me and told her to track, because she realized there was a track there and found his article before I got near it. She was SO PROUD of herself! I played tug with her, told her she was brilliant and had a party for the lost article she found. We also got a lot of work in on sit whistles, and I think she’s getting the concept pretty well. We need more practice, but I’m seeing the light bulb turn on!
After I finished tracking Ian and Connor last night, I took Devon out to pick up Connor’s flags and play with whistle sits with her. We’re struggling a little with this concept. She was generally walking in front of me as I lined up on Connor’s first turn and started out in the direction of the missing article. I should have just called her into me and told her to track, because she realized there was a track there and found his article before I got near it. She was SO PROUD of herself! I played tug with her, told her she was brilliant and had a party for the lost article she found. We also got a lot of work in on sit whistles, and I think she’s getting the concept pretty well. We need more practice, but I’m seeing the light bulb turn on!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Devon conquers the full-height dogwalk
Devon didn't miss a beat having one day off from agility practice. She went out and ran to the teeter, volunteering it and looking great (and very proud of herself). We went over and did some one jump work, which was also successful. Then I asked for the A frame, and she seemed a little confused and refused it. I think I just turned her to the new obstacle too fast, and she didn't have time to prepare. After some encouragement, she got her stride and went up and over it several times. She even ran back over to the teeter to show me she could do that again too!
After some more one jump work, she actually went straight over to my old, full-height dogwalk and volunteered it! I was so thrilled because it has less support under the ups and downs, so they move a little. While this slowed her a little the first two times over it, she didn't let it bother her and continued to volunteer it! YEAH!!
I was thrilled with her volunteering the teeter and full-height dogwalk. Even better, she's showed no signs of limping after her first jumping session last Thursday. After contact work and additional one-jump work she gaited beautifully back to the house, so I think we've given her enough time to heal and she's really ready for agility again!
After some more one jump work, she actually went straight over to my old, full-height dogwalk and volunteered it! I was so thrilled because it has less support under the ups and downs, so they move a little. While this slowed her a little the first two times over it, she didn't let it bother her and continued to volunteer it! YEAH!!
I was thrilled with her volunteering the teeter and full-height dogwalk. Even better, she's showed no signs of limping after her first jumping session last Thursday. After contact work and additional one-jump work she gaited beautifully back to the house, so I think we've given her enough time to heal and she's really ready for agility again!
Praise the dog, slap the handler
I can not remember a weekend when Ian and I were 0 for 4 ... until this weekend. And even worse, of all the stupid things Ian has done (like falling off the dogwalk three weeks ago), I have to say I likely caused every one of the errors. I'm much more forgiving of my dog than myself.
Saturday in Standard I thought he was committed to a tunnel and I stood up to get into position for his exit; and he saw the chute out of the corner of his eye and turned to question if he was right. Handler error and his only error on course. We kissed 9 points goodbye there.
Saturday's JWW run I said tunnel the first time when he was in the air at the jump before the tunnel. I said tunnel two more times with increasing volume as he was headed towards an off course jump and screamed tunnel so loud the entire building heard it right before he sailed over the off course jump beside the tunnel. Then he took the tunnel and finished the course. We lost 4 points on that one even with the extra jump. Even worse, on the way to the crate a phrase ran through my mind: "The verbal is the least reliable cue you can give your dog." Oh yeah. I run Ian silently with only encouragement and no obstacle verbals other than weave and tunnel. I have a feeling my body was pointed directly at the off course jump he was locked on. Bad handler, with help from the dog.
This morning's Standard run was the worst handler error yet. I wanted to get a lead out from the table. I knew it was risky. I knew a twitch from me would pull him off the table. He had nailed all the hard parts including a demotivating start of pinwheel to weaves, rear cross to the dogwalk (he least favorite approach) and the judge standing 3 ft from the teeter on the opposite side as me and he still did the teeter. I heard "...2 and 1 and" from the judge and I see Ian lean forward on the table AND I JUST STOOD THERE AND LET HIM COME OFF! I could have turned and at least kept him on the table and only lost a couple of seconds as he re-sat and the count ended! Of course, that was his only mistake and most everyone thought we Q'd. Only 3 dogs Q'd out of all the 24 inch dogs and Ian would have placed. UGH!!! We lost 9 points on that run. BAD, BAD handler; very good dog!
And to top off our weekend, Ian ran a flawless, fast JWW course and dropped the bar on the third jump from the end. Can I tell you he's dropped maybe 8 bars in his entire career! This judge was wheeling very tight, and most of the fast dogs were earning at least 2 fewer points under her. Ian ran that course in 34.02 seconds and the SCT was 39. Even though Kim saw the jump from the perfect profile angle and said he took off way too early (which was his error), I had just said "GOOD boy" with an emphasis on the "good" and I think he thought I was pushing for speed. I was just so thrilled with the run, that I was trying to keep him going. UGH!!! I think we were even on that one.
So to the shock of most of my friends who couldn't believe the consistent team of Deb and Ian was 0 for 4, we packed up and came home. Connor had a great weekend, and Ian had some very, very pretty runs that he deserved to Q on had it not been for me. I pulled a hip muscle Saturday during one of my runs, and my back spasmed this morning, so I could barely walk when I got out the of van once we were home. Some "Icy Hot," three Advil and a 20 minute nap later, I was ready to groom dogs, work Devon in agility, do laundry and make dinner. While my back and hip are still killing me, at least moving around seemed to help. Now I'm headed to bed to forget about Ian's weekend.
Saturday in Standard I thought he was committed to a tunnel and I stood up to get into position for his exit; and he saw the chute out of the corner of his eye and turned to question if he was right. Handler error and his only error on course. We kissed 9 points goodbye there.
Saturday's JWW run I said tunnel the first time when he was in the air at the jump before the tunnel. I said tunnel two more times with increasing volume as he was headed towards an off course jump and screamed tunnel so loud the entire building heard it right before he sailed over the off course jump beside the tunnel. Then he took the tunnel and finished the course. We lost 4 points on that one even with the extra jump. Even worse, on the way to the crate a phrase ran through my mind: "The verbal is the least reliable cue you can give your dog." Oh yeah. I run Ian silently with only encouragement and no obstacle verbals other than weave and tunnel. I have a feeling my body was pointed directly at the off course jump he was locked on. Bad handler, with help from the dog.
This morning's Standard run was the worst handler error yet. I wanted to get a lead out from the table. I knew it was risky. I knew a twitch from me would pull him off the table. He had nailed all the hard parts including a demotivating start of pinwheel to weaves, rear cross to the dogwalk (he least favorite approach) and the judge standing 3 ft from the teeter on the opposite side as me and he still did the teeter. I heard "...2 and 1 and" from the judge and I see Ian lean forward on the table AND I JUST STOOD THERE AND LET HIM COME OFF! I could have turned and at least kept him on the table and only lost a couple of seconds as he re-sat and the count ended! Of course, that was his only mistake and most everyone thought we Q'd. Only 3 dogs Q'd out of all the 24 inch dogs and Ian would have placed. UGH!!! We lost 9 points on that run. BAD, BAD handler; very good dog!
And to top off our weekend, Ian ran a flawless, fast JWW course and dropped the bar on the third jump from the end. Can I tell you he's dropped maybe 8 bars in his entire career! This judge was wheeling very tight, and most of the fast dogs were earning at least 2 fewer points under her. Ian ran that course in 34.02 seconds and the SCT was 39. Even though Kim saw the jump from the perfect profile angle and said he took off way too early (which was his error), I had just said "GOOD boy" with an emphasis on the "good" and I think he thought I was pushing for speed. I was just so thrilled with the run, that I was trying to keep him going. UGH!!! I think we were even on that one.
So to the shock of most of my friends who couldn't believe the consistent team of Deb and Ian was 0 for 4, we packed up and came home. Connor had a great weekend, and Ian had some very, very pretty runs that he deserved to Q on had it not been for me. I pulled a hip muscle Saturday during one of my runs, and my back spasmed this morning, so I could barely walk when I got out the of van once we were home. Some "Icy Hot," three Advil and a 20 minute nap later, I was ready to groom dogs, work Devon in agility, do laundry and make dinner. While my back and hip are still killing me, at least moving around seemed to help. Now I'm headed to bed to forget about Ian's weekend.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Connor's having fun at 16 inches
This is the second weekend Connor ran in preferred at 16 inches, and he's having a BALL!!! I just entered him one day, and I haven't run him in three weeks since the last trial. They started the Standard ring with Ex. B 26 inches at the same time as the JWW ring with Open. Terrie who was running Zoe and I had the same conflict, so we ran the first two 24 inch dogs, threw our 24 inch excellent dogs in the crates, grabbed our open dogs and headed to open. I got to the ring with about 4 dogs to go until our run. The other thing that made the morning so stressful is that I took a wrong turn going to the show site and went way out of my way. I arrived at 7:25 a.m. and first dog on the line was 8 a.m. and I had to set up crates, etc. UGH! I only got to walk each course 2 times before I had to get dogs and never saw a course map.
However, Connor ran great! I got a nice lead out and he made the first front cross well, so I was really pleased. He rear crossed into the weave poles and was flying but checked his speed and made the entrance. I well timed hand cue at pole 10 saved a clean weave performance, and we were off to the races again. I had a split second of total blank on the course when Connor was in the tunnel, but luckily remembered where he was supposed to go and we nailed the course! A clean run and 10 seconds under SCT.
About 5 hours later and 15 degrees warmer in the building, Connor ran Standard. The opening was the same as Excellent, and I knew coming off the A frame would be tough. There was a triple which started a pinwheel to the right off the A frame and you had to put a cross in somewhere before that triple but still make the contact. Connor did his contact and I was able to front cross. He also hung in the weaves with another well timed hand cue at pole 10 by me. I was so thrilled when he again turned in another clean run, 12 second under standard course time (he didn't go down on the table right away!).
Kim and Sally watched the Standard run, and they both thought it was lovely. While Sally has no history with Connor, Kim has seen the good, bad, ugly and REALLY ugly with Connor. She said it was one of the best runs she's ever seen him have. I agree. This is back to the old Connor at the beginning of his career. He's really having fun, and I am too. He's focused and not a bit of stress.
So Connor earned his final leg for his OAJ and his first OAP leg. I've already emailed the move up to Excellent A JWW for next month's trials. I think he'll have no problems since he was clean in Ex. B at full height many, many times but just over time. It will be interesting to see if I can get him back in Excellent Standard. He's running so well in Standard right now, and I never would have believed it.
However, Connor ran great! I got a nice lead out and he made the first front cross well, so I was really pleased. He rear crossed into the weave poles and was flying but checked his speed and made the entrance. I well timed hand cue at pole 10 saved a clean weave performance, and we were off to the races again. I had a split second of total blank on the course when Connor was in the tunnel, but luckily remembered where he was supposed to go and we nailed the course! A clean run and 10 seconds under SCT.
About 5 hours later and 15 degrees warmer in the building, Connor ran Standard. The opening was the same as Excellent, and I knew coming off the A frame would be tough. There was a triple which started a pinwheel to the right off the A frame and you had to put a cross in somewhere before that triple but still make the contact. Connor did his contact and I was able to front cross. He also hung in the weaves with another well timed hand cue at pole 10 by me. I was so thrilled when he again turned in another clean run, 12 second under standard course time (he didn't go down on the table right away!).
Kim and Sally watched the Standard run, and they both thought it was lovely. While Sally has no history with Connor, Kim has seen the good, bad, ugly and REALLY ugly with Connor. She said it was one of the best runs she's ever seen him have. I agree. This is back to the old Connor at the beginning of his career. He's really having fun, and I am too. He's focused and not a bit of stress.
So Connor earned his final leg for his OAJ and his first OAP leg. I've already emailed the move up to Excellent A JWW for next month's trials. I think he'll have no problems since he was clean in Ex. B at full height many, many times but just over time. It will be interesting to see if I can get him back in Excellent Standard. He's running so well in Standard right now, and I never would have believed it.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Devon vs. the Teeter, rounds 2-5
Well, after a great round 1 with the teeter, things haven't gone so smoothly. On the second day of the teeter, Devon was hesitant. Then when she thought she was at the tipping point, she started to tip it, but then rocked back. When she did this is moved back and you could tell she was frustrated. It was if she said, "I thought I understood and now I don't and I don't want to play your game anymore!" I got her back working it, and then her rear foot slipped off and she was done. Someone came to the house, and I had to stop. I hate stopping at a point like that, but it was probably for the best. Round 2 went to the teeter.
I gave her a few days off with the hunt tests, then it was back at it this week. I lowered the teeter back to about 16 or less inches. After a little encouragement, she went over it once, but that was it. I got a leash and very neutrally put it on her and asked for the teeter again. She did go on it but didn't want to go to the tipping point. I never pulled her with the leash, but if she leaned like she was going to bail off, I put enough tension to hold her on the board. This was enough to tell her I wasn't backing down and she had to do the teeter. She was successful several times with no pressure on the leash. Round 3 was a draw.
The next evening, she didn't want to do the low teeter at all. This was frustrating to me since she was very successful the night before. However, I stayed neutral and headed for the training bucket with the leash. All I had to do was have the leash in my hands and she went to the teeter and did it fine! In fact, the little stinker was going over it with me standing in any position around the teeter, including in front of it! She just needed to know I was going to insist that she do the scary teeter. Round 4 went to Devon!
So tonight, we went back out to the teeter. She did awesome! She was volunteering it with me at any position, including 5 feet of lateral distance away! She was also standing up pretty straight. Up until now Devon has been doing a belly crawl or leaning way down to get it to tip. This is actually causing problems for her because when she leans, she throws her weight back and the board sometimes rocks back to the starting point (which caused her issues the week before). Now that she's getting more brave, she's having more success with the tipping point because she's standing up. You can tell she's really working hard to understand where she has to put the pressure to make it tip. Connor was very much like this as a young dog, too. He would press his feet at the tipping point and actually stare at it like he was concentrating really hard. Of course years later he's quite confident and happy with the teeter which is where I know Devon will be someday. Round 5 clearly went to Devon!
We have a plan of continued teeter work with jumping thrown in next week and weaves later in the week. I'm going to gradually raise it up and see if we can make progress over the next month. I've also ordered another teeter that's aluminum like most of the trial teeters. Mine is an old steel base with a solid wood plank. I'm sure it moves more slowly than the lighter weight aluminum teeters, so after she concurs the old teeter, we'll move her to the new one and then "take the show on the road" and start renting other people's equipment so she generalizes the behavior. We have a plan!
I gave her a few days off with the hunt tests, then it was back at it this week. I lowered the teeter back to about 16 or less inches. After a little encouragement, she went over it once, but that was it. I got a leash and very neutrally put it on her and asked for the teeter again. She did go on it but didn't want to go to the tipping point. I never pulled her with the leash, but if she leaned like she was going to bail off, I put enough tension to hold her on the board. This was enough to tell her I wasn't backing down and she had to do the teeter. She was successful several times with no pressure on the leash. Round 3 was a draw.
The next evening, she didn't want to do the low teeter at all. This was frustrating to me since she was very successful the night before. However, I stayed neutral and headed for the training bucket with the leash. All I had to do was have the leash in my hands and she went to the teeter and did it fine! In fact, the little stinker was going over it with me standing in any position around the teeter, including in front of it! She just needed to know I was going to insist that she do the scary teeter. Round 4 went to Devon!
So tonight, we went back out to the teeter. She did awesome! She was volunteering it with me at any position, including 5 feet of lateral distance away! She was also standing up pretty straight. Up until now Devon has been doing a belly crawl or leaning way down to get it to tip. This is actually causing problems for her because when she leans, she throws her weight back and the board sometimes rocks back to the starting point (which caused her issues the week before). Now that she's getting more brave, she's having more success with the tipping point because she's standing up. You can tell she's really working hard to understand where she has to put the pressure to make it tip. Connor was very much like this as a young dog, too. He would press his feet at the tipping point and actually stare at it like he was concentrating really hard. Of course years later he's quite confident and happy with the teeter which is where I know Devon will be someday. Round 5 clearly went to Devon!
We have a plan of continued teeter work with jumping thrown in next week and weaves later in the week. I'm going to gradually raise it up and see if we can make progress over the next month. I've also ordered another teeter that's aluminum like most of the trial teeters. Mine is an old steel base with a solid wood plank. I'm sure it moves more slowly than the lighter weight aluminum teeters, so after she concurs the old teeter, we'll move her to the new one and then "take the show on the road" and start renting other people's equipment so she generalizes the behavior. We have a plan!
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