The best laid plans...

So much for planning ahead. We should be at a hunt test this weekend, but Page decided to come in season for the first time last week. Really, she's waited this long (she's nearly 16 months old), you think she could have looked at the calendar and seen our trial/test schedule and waited until July. We only had training in July!

Oh well! I'm sure if she really knew she was missing hunt tests and the opportunity to get nice fluffy ducks, she would be disappointed. So finishing that JH will have to wait for a while, and we'll push off her WC until a fall test. If all goes as planned/hoped, she should be out just before her agility debut the end of the month. Let's hope this first cycle sticks to the plan!

The good news is that after initially trying to rub the panties off by writhing across the living room floor, Page gave up and is quite content to look silly. She's better than Devon about wearing panties, because she can even be crated in her panties and not shred them (if you take your eyes off Devon for a minute, she's shredded everything). Once again I'm so very amazed at how different Devon and Page are. Devon, Ms. Perfect, is the shredder and Page, Ms. Bizzy, is the contented one. [On a similar note, Devon, the momma's girl, sleeps on the day beds or off somewhere in the room, and Page, all confidence and can do it on her own, is always as close to my chair as possible or even curled up on my feet.]

Page is even fine running in agility with her panties on, not missing any speed or accuracy in weaves or with her contacts. I've worked to be very consistent on reinforcing startlines and contacts. Her startlines look much better, and she's much quicker to sit and stay steady. Contacts are probably 90%, with her dogwalk contact looking the best. She's starting to creep down the A frame, stopping at the top or halfway down. I'm not making eye contact, but simply waiting her out. I'll probably have to go back to clicking when she hits the board, since I don't want this to become a habit.

Other than those little issues, I'm very pleased with the rest of her agility work. After going through a week of popping out of pole 12, Page seems to have worked through that and does all 12 at great speed. What I'm particularly pleased about in her Tuesday night sequencing class is that she's starting to realize I'm lining up obstacles in her path with my handling and she's starting to take them.

Like any green dog, Page had been curving into me when obstacles were a little farther out in front of her and she had to seek them out. Now she gets to look for what's next. If there's a slight push, she's now responding to it and taking the obstacle. Unlike most fast, green baby dogs, Page isn't overly obstacle focused but does want to play the game with me and look to me for instructions. She's also responding to rear crosses on the flat and forward moving front crosses, too. By far her best handling skill is wrapping a jump. She reads deceleration quite well in those situations.

And the biggest thing I can say about Page's agility training is she is months ahead of where I would expect any dog her age to be. She really is an amazing partner.

A great day of training

Yesterday the girls and I headed to the kennel club for training. Over the last 10 days, Page has accomplished not only a full-height teeter, but also a full-height dogwalk. Putting the dogwalk in my small building has been tight, and it takes up at least half of the building. My primary goal with this training trip was to see how Page's teeter and dogwalk held up in a new location.

My secondary goal was to see what I had from Devon. A week into her heat cycle, Devon suddenly stopped working. She didn't want any part of training agility or obedience at the kennel club or here at home. First we took a trip to the vet to make sure all was progressing fine with her heat cycle (which it was). Then she was seen by two different massage therapists. She was tight through the neck and shoulders, which was part of the problem. Finally, it was decided that this heat cycle was different than her past cycles and she just didn't want to work through this one. So she got two weeks off.

On Monday I noticed a change in Devon's attitude. I cannot tell you what was different about her, it just seemed like she was happier; and not so coincidentally she was finished with her heat cycle. Devon's change in attitude prompted our woods walk on Monday. On Tuesday, Devon pushed Page out of the way in the expen and wanted to work; so I worked her. She was absolutely back to normal wanting to work. She's trained obedience all week here at home, looking like she hasn't missed a beat. So my second goal for this training session was to see if Devon's training held up away from home, including agility.

Page's dogwalk

This was the first time I asked for full-height equipment away from home. I suspected Page wouldn't have any problems with the transition, but you never know. We started with the dogwalk. I asked Page to hop up on the downside of the ramp and give me her contact performance (2 on 2 off with a chin touch). She did this a couple of times without any problem.

Since she knew what was expected of her and had probably figured out which piece of equipment she was on, I turned her and asked for the complete dogwalk, and she performed it fine. The only difference in her performance at first was to walk or trot across the top of the dogwalk; she continued to canter the ups and downs.

Below is a clip from her second training session on the dogwalk. You'll see at the end of the clip one back foot slips as she gets to the top of the up ramp, but it didn't bother her. I gave her a third session on the dogwalk before we left just to make sure she was fine with the equipment, and she never showed any hesitation on it.

Page's teeter

Next we moved to the teeter. Again, I "introduced" it to her before asking for the full obstacle. I lowered the up end so she could grab it and bang it down and do her contact performance. After this, she turned and grabbed the board before it could go back up, banged it down and went up and over it (banging it again) and did the contact performance on the down side. After she was so confident doing this, I knew she was ready for the full piece of equipment.

Below is Page's second session on the teeter.

The A frame

Now if you're thinking, "Deb never mentioned she'd worked Page on the A frame," you would be right. The only time Page has ever seen an A frame (other than when she's watching other dogs run agility) was when she was about 10 weeks old. We put her over the contact equipment when she was very young when she knew her proprioception and knew her edges and ledges. This is done because we want to introduce them to everything they will do in their life (as appropriate) before they are 16 weeks old. If you look back at the clip, you'll see she was well supervised on her trips across the equipment.

You will also see by reading that clip that Page volunteered a full A frame before I could stop her. Well, yesterday after we finished the dogwalk and teeter, we were walking by the A frame and Page turned and took two acceleration steps toward it. The A Frame was lowered to 5 feet, and I had planned to start her on an even lower A frame and work her contacts. However, if she wanted to volunteer it, I wasn't going to stop her.

I said, "You want to run it?" And took a couple of steps that way, which was all she needed. In a flash Page was up and over the A frame no problem! As her Aunt Marcy said, "See wood, get rewards!" Yes, this girl has had lots of rewards for contacts lately and since she's so confident, she was just thrilled to find something else she might get treats for!

Below is her second session on the A frame. As you can see her contact performance transfered over without a problem. I didn't even have the plastic runners I've been using to keep her straight since I hadn't planned on her going over the A frame the first time. This proved to me she no longer needed those runners, so I've removed them totally now.

Page's jumping

I just started Page jumping in the middle of the week. This was only her forth day of jumping, so I knew I was pushing it a little to do it in a new place. We need more work and confidence in her job, because Page does like to limbo under the bar. The problem is she's so stinking flexible she usually doesn't touch the bar when she limbos! Below is her jumping and limboing!

In all I couldn't be more pleased with what Page gave me yesterday. She was in a familiar location but had never worked on the contact equipment in this building. Her contact performance was solid, even on a contact she'd never done before. On the dogwalk and the A frame she was consistently hitting the last slat or below with her rear feet. She's a little higher up on the teeter, but that's ok for controlling the board.

Her jumping could use work, but I knew that. In addition, she was doing very nice sends to a curved dark tunnel and looking for me on the exit. She also did a lot of nice table work. Page does need work on staying in position as I move when she's on the table. I've taught her an automatic down on the table, just as I did Devon. I decided to move forward with the automatic down even though there are agility rule changes under consideration with AKC that call for a positionless table. The automatic down will still be needed in USDAA if I trial her there, and it's a good thing for AKC even if it's just to keep her on the table regardless of position.

I'll probably put her over the dogwalk one more time in my building and then take it down. The building just isn't functional with the dogwalk up, and I need more room to train obedience with Devon. From here forward, I'll train contacts at the kennel club when I can until we get rid of this snow and I can get the contacts outside.

And now for Devon

Devon had a fantastic day of training. I warmed her up really well before we started working. I only asked for 3 obstacles in sequence at first, and she was very confident. Her weaves looked amazing, and I could hear her digging with her rear legs to power herself through them. One thing I've realized some time back and confirmed yesterday is that Devon works better for toys in agility than treats. I always carry treats with me, but she really enjoys the toys more.

We took a break and let someone else use the equipment while I worked Devon in obedience. Her heeling skills, as well as fronts and finishes, are really looking incredibly sharp. Devon makes me enjoy working obedience because she loves it so much.

To end the day, I wanted to get some video of Devon's weaves. For the second set, she ran a line of three jumps and the tire to get speed entering the weaves. I was really happy with how far in front of me she was and how much distance I got on the weaves. And yes, that's Page you hear in the background protesting it wasn't her out in the ring!

Page's agility foundation training

It is winter, and we've had snow on the ground for more than a week. My equipment is inside in pieces being stored, and it's been too cold to work VST. So, one of my winter projects is to work on Page's agility foundation.

When thinking about Page's training, I have reflected on my other dogs' training. I think I'm good at teaching my dogs handling and jumping. This is due to my foundation in the sport of agility through Linda Mecklenburg's Awesome Paws system that I learned through seminars and camps as I was beginning the sport. It was solidified through years of classes at Wild Weavers of Ohio and with private lessons with Jennifer Crank of Incredipaws.

After struggling to communicate weave poles to Devon, I found the 2x2 weave pole training method. I took Susan Garrett up on the challenge of 12 poles in 12 days, and Devon was weaving 12 poles in 9 days. She was right! This was an incredible way to teach weaving to a dog, and I will use it for training weaves in the future.

But so far I haven't been happy with the way I've trained my dogs' contacts. So my goal for Page was to have amazing contacts (as well as the handling, jumping and weave pole skills my other dogs have).

I knew I wanted a 2 on 2 off contact for the dogwalk and teeter. I like the results from the nose touch method, so I taught a nose touch to Page. But something wasn't translating in my brain until Lise Pratt (Page's co-breeder and owner of Suffolk Nassau Agile Paws) and I talked and she pointed me to a series of articles in Clean Run's October, November and December issues. These articles made it all click!

The series "Training a Two-on, Two-Off Contact" by Rachel Saunders put the nose touch and the 2 on, 2 off together for me. Rachel says in the introduction she had a nagging issue with the nose touch, and I did too. Her issue was why teach the a nose touch when you would eventually fade it. And while I see her point, the nose touch does give the dog something to do at the end of the board and it keeps the dog's head straight.

But my nagging issue came with transitioning a nose touch to a 2 on, 2 off. I couldn't figure out how the dog was supposed to figure out what they did with their nose translated into their feet on the board. And Rachel helped me out by saying she teaches the 2 on, 2 off and then adds back the nose touch. Yippee! That was what I needed to hear!

Page and I are now off and running on teaching her contact performance. (BTW, I already know how to proof her contacts because I have Rachel's Bridging the Gap dvd which I also like a lot!) He's a video clip on Page's 2 on, 2 off work. I'm at the stage where I need to take it on the road, which I was start doing Saturday. I also want her driving to the position on the travel board with me being in various positions. But so far I'm really happy with what I have.

I'm also doing a lot of plank work with Page. I took several articles written by Tracy Sklenar in Dog Sport Magazine on building a confident dogwalk and teeter and I've been working through the suggestions I found.

One of the big "ah-ha" things I've found is getting the dogs comfortable on the boards. Devon and Page both have outstanding proprioception (thanks in large part to Gaylan's puppy raising system). Even so, Page is the first dog that I've done this much plank confidence work with, and I love the results. Hoping on and off and turning around on low boards has given Page confidence on them. And when she has slipped off, it wasn't a big deal. She jumped back on!

I'm now working the up side of the board to a table. You can see the turns and the hop on/hop off we do, plus the racing up and down the boards. This is one of my aluminum dogwalk boards and it moves and makes a lot of noise since it's not braced below, and Page has no issues with it. I'll continue to work entrances from various angles on this higher board (I've already worked entrances on a board to a lower table and she did fine).

Finally, I've worked on the teeter. Also in the Clean Run October and November issues are two good articles on teeter training by Jen Pinder. I've used the two table method in class to teach the teeter, and I liked it. These articles update the method, and they dove tailed nicely with the 2 on, 2 off articles because both authors train the contacts the same.

What I did do differently is work the Bang Game first, before I had the 2 on, 2 off performance. Because the Bang Game was so unsuccessful with Devon, you can imagine my apprehension at teaching Page. I know this is the best way to teach the dogs; and I know Page is a completely different individual than Devon. But I was a little tense the first time I asked Page to do this game.

Page was fine with the Bang Game. The first few times she pushed the board down, my aluminum teeter made quite a racket. Page's ears flattened against her head, but that was the only sign of stress she gave and she jumped right back on the teeter again! Below is a clip from our last training session on the Bang Game. At the beginning of the clip, you see a very naughty Devon escape from the expen when I asked for Page. This is funny because I know Devon isn't really volunteering to bang down the teeter!

The next steps for Page are doing the 2 on, 2 off on the end of the teeter and then starting with the progression of the two tables.

Page is actually progressing more quickly through the contact work than I expected. She is also working on some recalls to heel and recalls to heel through standards in the various positions for the Awesome Paws Handling System. She's learning collection out of tunnels (and boy does she blast through tunnels). And she's learning control and stays with tug games.

I'll end this post by telling a story that shows how much Page loves to work. When I trained in the building yesterday, I worked Devon first. Page hates to wait her turn, and it's good for her. When I was finished working Devon and getting ready to step up Page's session, I realized I forgot the video camera.

So I let Page out of the expen, we left the building and we headed back across the yard. We got all the way back to the deck and I was opening the back door when Page realized we were going inside. She got a horrified look on her face, turn and bolted off the deck and raced across the back yard. She didn't stop until she was in front of the door to the building, and then she turned back to me with this crushed look on her face as if to say, "But MOM! You FORGOT to work ME!! I didn't get MY TURN!!"

Page would not come back to the house for anything but continued to stand at the door to the building waiting (I swear she was stamping a paw she was so irritated). I went inside and got the camera and came back out to work her. She was so happy that we were going back out to the building. What a work ethic!

Hoosier Kennel Club Agility Trial Day 3

Today was a MUCH better day! I was worried about heat and humidity, which was supposed to come in today. However, it stayed overcast much of the day which helped with the temps. We also had a nice breeze all day.

Today I also repeated what I did on Friday on how I handled where the girls were crated. I parked under some trees away from the rings near other doggie friends. It was cool and quiet back there. This is where I usually set up because Ian is so reactive in the crates/van. However, with the cooler temps and just the two Golden girls, I parked up by the rings behind our tents yesterday. I noticed both girls were awake and sitting up a lot yesterday, and I wondered if that had to do with the difference in Devon's speed.

I only came back to the van once this morning to put sunscreen on, and both girls were sleeping soundly. When it was about time for Devon to run, I moved the van up behind the tents next to the ring. Based on Devon's speed and performance today, I think this was the right thing to do.

The Open Standard course was a nice flowing course, and I thought it would be perfect for my plan to run fast and happy. Devon didn't want to sit on the start line, and I think it was because she wouldn't be facing the interior of the ring; you know how she has to make sure all her fans including the judge sees her on the start line!

I was patient and finally got a sit for the start. I took a deep breath and released her and executed my plan; and it worked to perfection! The run below is flawless. I was driving to my spots on course, but I was keeping an eye on her to keep her engaged. I gave her a beautiful line to the weaves, and she nailed the entrance and kept on going.

I also held my criteria on the table, and she looked less stressed. Yes, I lost maybe 3 seconds by making her lie down when he had already started counting when she hit her sit. Oh well! Devon was clean, earned her first Open Standard Q and was 10 seconds under time. Most importantly, she was really happy!

Since there were only 12 dogs in Open Standard and the Open JWW course was built and tweaked, we had a quick turn time to the next run. Devon was the second dog in the ring for this run. We walked up as they were getting in place and the first dog was on the line.

The JWW course was more challenging that the standard course, and I wanted to run it with several front crosses. I also knew from yesterday that by running with her from the start, I would have to precue all my front crosses so she'd know where we were going. Therefore, I knew I'd have to trust Devon to do her job as I pulled her through the course. As I walked, I made sure I knew where the spots were to keep her engaged as I turned.

We got to the line, and Devon was solid for the start and sat right away. However, much to my shock after she took the first jump, Devon headed to the left away from the second jump to the side of the ring. I was shocked and I was worried at first she was so stressed she didn't want to run. Then I realized what she was doing and what must have happened. The judge had been removing the numbered cone off the first weave pole and throwing it to the ring gates all weekend. As we walked up, I'm sure he did this again and my awesome little field dog marked the throw. She had to be patient until the first dog ran, but then she was going to return (i.e. retrieve) the cone to the nice man in the middle of the ring. Devon is so considerate!

Unfortunately as she came back to me, Devon back jumped the second jump for an off course. We wouldn't Q this course, but I was determined to work it (and now even harder) just as I had planned. Devon did an awesome job! She was tired and hot from her first run, but she did a fantastic job on this challenging course. I gave her a great line to the weaves, and she nailed the entrance once again. She was 4 second over course time, but she wasted more than that when she went off toward the cone at the beginning of the run. This is a "personal Q" in my book any day!

I learned a lot this weekend about me and my dog. Susan, you were right. I do need to trust her more to do her job. And because I'm running with her from the start, I also need to precue all my front crosses to give her the information earlier. I still need to watch for those wandering "environmental" moments and keep us connected, but she is ready for me to stop micromanaging her. I also learned that Devon does need her quiet time to rest so she can focus and be ready to run.

Devon is an awesome dog, and I'm blessed that she tries her hardest for me whenever I ask it of her!

Flying Paws Agility Run Thrus

Today we drove to Bloomington for Flying Paws Agility Run Thrus. This is a fairly new club, and they did a great job with the run thrus. We had fun and enjoyed great people. The whole crew got to go, and Ian and Devon ran. Connor got his required time out and thanks to Ana for giving him treats and telling him how smart he was. And of course Page made her presence known.

Devon is entered in her first outdoor trial next weekend. It's a 3-day trial, and she's entered in Open JWW and Novice Standard all three days. She only needs one more NA leg, so my goal is to get her out of Novice Standard and maybe a leg (or two!) in Open JWW. She was running really well this winter and the only reason her Q rate was low was a weave pole issue. We've fixed that problem, and she's working 12 poles easily now.

This run thru was going to be a good test of her confidence on equipment she's never seen before, especially the teeter. Devon has only been to one trial on completely new equipment to her, and she did a great job. However, we haven't trialed in three months, so I didn't know if she was still that confident.

I have learned during the last several classes that Devon wants me to run with her from the start. I can't lead out even to the first jump or she goes around the first jump. This is something I plan to work on, but I'm not ready to do it just yet. I do believe it's just a confidence issue and with more trialing and experience it will fade. Unfortunately with field work and VST ahead of her, she won't have an opportunity to be "immersed" in agility for at least another 6 months.

Below is Devon's very first run. It was a straight-forward Novice course. I decided the two potential problem areas would be the dogwalk and the teeter. The dogwalk is from Affordable Agility and has a PVC base. Devon is very environmentally aware, and she notices anything new or different with equipment especially the dogwalk. The teeter of course has been a problem area in the past, and it was a new teeter in a new place.

I worked hard to make this a trial setting. I packed up last night and this morning. I packed special jackpot treats (tripe and blueberries). We got up early and she only had a half ration of breakfast. I used our same trial pre-run routine: trotting, stretching, tugging and finally food right before our run. For food, I stuck with hot dogs from my right pocket. After thinking about the potential stressors of the dogwalk and teeter, I decided to put three pieces of steak in my left pocket. That was the side I would be on for her contact performances, so I put them in my pocket if needed but didn't show her in any other way I had them.

Devon knew the dogwalk was early in the run when I set her on the start line. In fact she almost went around the second jump because I made an assumption she'd take it. She committed to the dogwalk just fine, but I knew she because a little hesitant on the way up because of the PVC bases. There was also a U shaped blue tunnel under the dogwalk which caused her to slow even more on the middle. 

At this point I decided she had been extremely brave and deserved a reward for the dogwalk. It would let her know I had food, but I felt she did work hard and I should reward it. When she came down on the dogwalk, she was all ready for the tunnel, and the little bit of steak caught her completely off guard. She was thrilled, though!

The rest of the course was very nice, including the teeter. I knew when she hit it and went up she'd be fine. I rewarded her with two more pieces of steak and her tail shows how pleased she is! I did realized that when I praise her at the end of a run I shouldn't grab at her. She didn't like this and showed stress, so with later runs I asked her for an "UP" or just cheered her as we moved to the leash.

On Devon's second run, I selected the same course. She was much more confident through the whole thing and much faster. However on the start line, she looked for her videographer. When she didn't see him she looked around like, "Mom, we can't start until my videographer is here." You know how this girl likes a crowd!

Below is Devon's third run. I tried a different course and asked Leslie to act as judge. I thought I'd try a lead out, but it didn't work. I wasn't sent or confident in my presentation, so it wasn't all Devon's fault. I just have to accept right now we aren't going to get it. 

The rest of the run is very good except the from the tire to the double. We were running down hill and Devon started to curve into me after the tire toward the A frame. I did push her out with my left hand which she seemed to read, but at the last minute she started to come in again and I was slightly behind her. At this point I had to slow down and stop because I would have run into her and/or tripped over her. 

I work hard not to show Devon when there's a mistake on course, but this one I couldn't help. The resulting stress caused Devon to jump on Leslie (who I don't think was expecting all 60 pounds of Devon full force on her). Once I got her collected, she finished the run very well. 

I had planned the third run to be Devon's last, but I didn't want to end on that note. I decided to do that course one more time. Devon was very confident again knowing where she was going. I had decided to "give her" the A frame on this run, but she was also being considerate of me! She decided to run straight at the double even though I did cue the A frame. I adjusted in a split second and supported the double and she ran confidently onto the teeter and finished the course. 

The only thing I saw I didn't really like was a deterioration of her table performance. She is supposed to have an automatic down on the table, but it fell apart. I'm going to have to work the table more and reward the auto down.

Overall Devon had a great day; and  because of this run thru I'm confident going into the trial this weekend. She's a great dog who works very hard to do the right thing for me. 

Ian also played in a couple of runs. I ran the master's course they had set. Here is his first run, and you can tell we are really rusty as a team. He broke his start line, then went around the first jump when I lead out. Now in fairness I didn't give him the best direction, but he's a pretty seasoned dog and should have read it. There were also several tight turns, and I can tell I was a little late in cuing them and he wasn't reacting quite as fast as if we'd been working regularly.

Because it was getting warm and I had to work harder on Ian's runs (since the course was harder), I got pretty wiped out running him. I was there more to concentrate on Devon's runs, so Ian only got two times out in the ring. I think he enjoyed himself, and he was very willing to do more. He howled and screamed from the van when I was running Devon (the cacophony probably drove everyone batty for a minute!).

I should take a minute to talk about Page, who was a real trooper. She did some barking in her crate and not always when the other dogs were barking. At one point I told her "quiet" and she was. I let her wait a few seconds, then I tossed a piece of steak into her crate and told her it was a good quiet. I was waiting for her to bark again just so she could get a quiet and piece of steak. I've been reluctant to reward with food because I didn't want to "train" the problem. However, she continued to be quiet, so a minute later I tossed another piece of steak in and told her good quiet. From then on she only barked when the other dogs threw a fit (which was when I was running Devon).

Page also showed some "shyness" at a new object for the first time. This was extremely mild, but enough for me to notice. Thank goodness we have a nose touch! She shied at a short metal trash can with a plastic bag in it. I said, "Isn't that the funniest thing?" in a really high voice, and Page started to wag and go near it. I praised her, and she investigated it, most of the fear gone. I encouraged her toward it, and she offered a quick passing touch of it with her nose - and out came the hot dogs! That was it! She continued to nose touch it and even gave me a paw on it. The fear was gone and she had a good experience!

And what about me???

Devon wants you all to know she's still training, and she's still brilliant. She's been tracking several times in the last two weeks, which I have not blogged about. She did a wonderful 5 hour old track last Sunday. I had someone watching her who is learning about tracking, so I gave Devon a lot more vegetation than I normally would to show how dogs indicate turns on veg.

The track also had a section through a playground, and when we tracked, the playground was complete with children playing! I called to one parent to tell her what we were doing before letting Devon track through the playground. I wanted them to know I wasn't just walking my dog right through the playground! I really like these playgrounds, because they have shredded rubber tire mulch and are crossed with concrete walkways. 

Not only did Devon track right through this area, but she stopped to be petted by a mom (who I happen to know because we used to work together) and her son just as she entered the playground area. And halfway through, she stopped to say hello to another girl on the jungle gym. I was really proud of Devon for working through these distractions AND doing a track that was more than 5 hours old.

On Tuesday, Devon had an awesome agility class at the kennel club. I've been working drive to her contact position at home. I didn't think it was working very well. She wasn't as fast at home as I would have liked. However, she showed lots of drive on Tuesday. 

We ran a Steeplechase course for USDAA. Steeplechase is a lot like a Jumpers course, except it also has an A frame and you either take the A frame or the weave poles twice. In this course we took the weaves twice. Devon did a fantastic job in all her sequences. She drive very hard through the weaves, using her two footed hop footing. She also drove very well over the A frame. 

She did get a little more distracted on the last run. She had been there for 3 hours, and it was at the very end of class. The back garage doors were open with gates across them. From the middle of the building, Devon air scented something outside the building and quartered her way back across the building to peer outside. Since I'd seen a cat out in the back parking lot earlier that evening, I'm suspecting it was a cat or raccoon she smelled. Oh well, the down side of having a tracking dog!

It's fun to be Page

I have received a couple of emails that I haven't been posting any adventures on the dog blog this week. I apologize and promise to do better! ;-) We don't want a fan revolt! We value our readers! 

Page has had a busy week. On Monday after tracking and a 40 minutes woods walk, she got to meet my mom's retired teaching buddies. Page walked into my parents' place and up to each person to say hello. She's so confident! They kept asking how old she was and said repeatedly how good she was - better than most adult dogs they knew! I did remind them that she'd just been on a 40 minute walk!

Soon, we missed her but we didn't have to look long. My dad had come into the kitchen to fill a lunch plate before sneaking off to the den. Little Ms. Page, ever her mother's daughter around food, was sitting prettily next to him hoping for a treat from the counter top! Believe me, she doesn't get fed from the table or in the kitchen!

Page slipped away one more time to go find Reece. She really likes him, and he really likes puppies. They had a tail wagging good time before we had to head back home.

Golden friend Laurie got to see Page on Monday. As Page finished playing with Laurie, she turned and trotted away. Laurie busted out laughing and said, "Where did those LEGS come from!" Yep, Page has started growing, and it's not going to be pretty! On Monday, from the front she looks like a cute puppy; and then she would turn around and you saw a narrow puppy butt and the longest back legs you've ever seen! 

Page and Devon are fast friends. Devon plays "little momma" to her, correcting her when she needs it, watching over her and playing with her. Devon is Page's favorite friend and this week she tried to wrap Devon in her "binky" again. I think Devon got the upper "paw" this time.

Remember that old adage that kids play more with the box then the toy it came in? Well, Page discovered milk jugs this week. I usually set the empty gallon milk containers next to the trash can and wait until I take the bag out to take out the milk jug. Page ran into it on Tuesday evening, which sparked an awesome new game for her. Even Devon got into the act! 

After spending a day under my chair in the living room, the milk jug resurfaced on Thursday and continues to be the favorite play toy this week. Oh, and make sure you check out those back LEGS! How can you miss them???

On Wednesday we ran an "errand" to the Toledo, Ohio, area to pick up some agility equipment from Mark's Agility Equipment. Mark makes awesome agility equipment, and he and Robin are great agility competitors and wonderful people. My dogwalk, A frame and teeter are all from Mark, and I just bought a double jump, triple jump and three sets of 2x2 weave poles. 

Page and Devon came along for the ride. Both girls settled down and rode like the experts they are. They also pottied quickly when we stopped, and Page ate well on the road. It's wonderful to have two seasoned travelers even if one is only 11 weeks old!

On Thursday we headed north to get Devon's CERF. Devon was clear with the only remark being the distichia we already know she has. Dr. Krohne showed me how to pluck the eyelashes, and she said since Devon is so good on the table I could do this myself to give her more comfort.

Page came along for the ride. Both girls got to talk with a girl in a wheelchair in the parking lot. Devon is a fantastic therapy dog, and Page got to say hello, too! Page also got to go inside the vet hospital and say hello to the staff. She even got weighed (she was 17 pounds and most of that was legs).

I'm happy to report that on Friday morning when we woke up, Page's front legs had grown! She's now just as tall in the front as in the back! Of course, she looks like a puppy on stilts, but she'll look worse before she looks better! And those new long legs are a little hard to control on the stairs. This morning her feet got going a little too fast, and she slid down the last few stairs landed like a bean back completely sprawled at the bottom. Good thing I have extra padding over the hardwood at the bottom of the stairs.

Here's the last video clip of the week. I didn't start the camera in time, so I'll try and get a better clip in the future. However, this is Page running in from the back of the yard after hearing her come whistle. She hasn't forgotten what that means!

Full-sized contacts for a smart little girl

Gaylan's Golden Retrievers has one of the best puppy raising systems around. These puppies come home knowing all their proprioception (knowing where their limbs are in space) and their edges and ledges. How many adult Goldens don't know they have back legs? Well, Page and Devon before her, knew exactly where their legs were when they came home at 9 weeks, thanks to all that woods walking they did. 

While the puppies are still sponges before they are 16 weeks old, we try to expose them to everything they will see in their adult life. It makes the first few weeks of puppy raising very busy, but it's well worth the effort down the road. 

Three years ago when I brought Devon home, I stuck with the advice of not introducing full-height contacts until she was 1 year old. That was probably the single biggest mistake I have made with her. Devon could have done all her contacts well before she was a year, and we probably wouldn't have gone through the teeter fear we had to overcome.

With Page, the advice I sought out (and I fully agree with) is to get these puppies on full-height equipment in a controlled experience before 16 weeks. I won't drill the contacts or repeat them every day, I just want Page to have a good experience at an early age. 

Monday night was Page's first trip across the full-height dogwalk, teeter and A frame. She had no problem and trotted across all of them. I had friends here to spot her on the equipment, so she was very safe. Today my friend Holly came over to play agility with her Golden Retriever Ripken. Before she and Ripken played, she helped me take Page over the equipment one more time before we lowered it for additional training for Devon. Holly also manned the video camera for us.

Page says, "The dogwalk is fun! And look, I even tried to run! And I hate my leash!"

My teeter is full of water, so it tips very slowly!

The plan was to put her on the top of the A frame and go all the way down it just like we did on Monday. However, Page had different ideas. She did a 180 and climbed right back up and over the A frame this time! 

So we decided if she wanted to do it, she could do it again. The first time up was better than the one we actually got on video.

So, that's all the full-height contact work there will be from Page for a while. Hope you enjoyed it!

Maybe if I just hit the chair harder....

Last week I posted about Devon foot touching the chair for cookies at the kennel club. This week we did the same routine of obedience practice, I teach for an hour, and then Devon has her class. Devon did great obedience work, even sending to a foot smack to a white lattice ring divider. 

Toward the end of Devon's agility class, I was once again sitting in a chair wanting Devon to lay down as the other dog on our side was working. Once again, little miss industrious started foot touching the chair. I decided not to reward, since it wasn't what I wanted and I was starting to get visions of Devon foot touching everything expecting a cookie (really not a bad thing, but...). 

Without the reward, Devon decided that I clearly just wanted her to smack the chair harder. So she set to work smacking the legs of the chair so that her toenails were ringing off the metal chair. It was really funny, and since she wasn't looking up at me I was smiling. Then I looked over and another person in our class who was waiting on her team's turn was watching Devon and laughing. I can only imagine what Devon looked like with her head stuck under this metal folding chair as she was smacking the bar across the back legs with all her might. She said, "What is she try to get under that chair?" I laughed and explained what was happening. Devon is not a stupid dog. Finally we had another turn, which ended the abuse of the chair!

We had the AKC Agility Nationals Finals course set up for our class. The advanced and intermediate classes ran the course, but the novice dogs (Devon's class) did not. Because of adjusting for a doorway in the building, the tunnel/dogwalk discrimination wasn't as hard because the jump prior to the dogwalk had to be shifted so it gave a much better entrance to the dogwalk. 

Devon had another fantastic evening of practice. She never missed her discrimination and drove through all her sequences. She easily nailed the ending half of the course with the two jumps to the weaves. In fact everything we threw at her with the weave poles she did perfectly and she worked hard all the way through them. I was really proud of her!

Welcome Spring!

Today was the first day of Spring! We had a beautiful day here in central Indiana. The sky was clear and blue, but the temps were a little chilly. There was frost on the deck and in the yard when I took the dogs out for the first time this morning. I had a brisk walk into the church for exercise class. I even wore a coat and gloves to start out Devon's first weave session. The coat came off early in the session, but the gloves stayed on! I'm just glad we didn't have snow like they did in NYC and many other places on the East Coast!

So on this first day of Spring, it was only appropriate that the agility equipment sprouted up in the back lot. Well, sprouting sounds like there was little effort, which isn't true. Thanks to my Dad who was a willing helper this afternoon, we got the equipment out of the building and all the contacts put together. I was impressed it only took us an hour to get this done! 

Connor and Devon supervised and helped by cleaning rabbit poop out of the lot. Connor also assisted by being the first dog over all the contact equipment for the year. After I secured the bracing under the dogwalk so it didn't move as much, Devon took her first tour of the contacts for the year. It only took her a couple of times to get the hang of the teeter again. I see more teeter work in her future!

After exercise class this morning, working the dogs this afternoon and moving the equipment outside, I decided I could set up sequences tomorrow! I'm a little sore this evening ... nothing a little ice cream and strawberries and an early bedtime won't cure!

Happy Spring!

Today's weave training and other adventures

Devon discovered exactly what happens when she shows too much energy in the morning - she gets to go work! I got home from my exercise class and Devon was wound. A great time to get in a weave session before training later this afternoon! So out to the agility yard we went.

I put two sets of 2 poles first, then a set of 6 then the last set of 2 poles. This was a little tricky since the bases are quite different. I angled the first base so the first two poles were easier for Devon. I wanted to work those tough right entrances. 

Devon was ready to go and she nailed the first attempt from a low challenge area very well. As we moved down the entry arc to the higher challenge entries, Devon started occasionally entering with the first pole on the right. Just when she got the entry correct, she'd pop out at pole 10. I couldn't reward that! 

I'm sure the reason she popped out here was the difference in the weave bases since she hasn't shown this behavior before. After this happened the second time, I removed the 6 pole base and just worked these tough weave entrances on three sets of 2 pole bases. There was no reason to fight two battles, and what I wanted to work on was her entrances! Although I totally believe in teaching the dogs on 12 poles and moving to 12 poles as soon as possible, I see no reason to work 12 poles if you're having an entry problem. As this session demonstrated, there are other problems that crop up on 12 poles, so why battle two separate issues and end up not being able to reward at all?

OK, off my soap box and back to her session. Devon worked very hard on these right hand entrances. She was close to an 80% success rate, and she was able to get an 8:30 entrance (if the first pole was in the middle of the clock and the poles ran to 12) successfully. Although she didn't want to come back to me very quickly when she failed, she was pulling to get back to the poles and try again. I was really pleased with her work ethic.

This afternoon, I headed to the kennel club for members' training. I was able to have the building to myself since I went so early. A full 1.5 hours to work all three dogs in that building is priceless to me; well worth the price of the membership! 

I decided to work Devon on the 12 poles for the first time in this building. Based on her success on Tuesday with 6 poles and her success yesterday on 12, I was sure she could do it. I first asked for the weaves alone, and she was strong and confident on 12 poles. Then I asked for one jump to the weaves. It was a right hand entrance on the edge between a low challenge and moving into the high challenge. She missed the second attempt but came back strong.

Next I back chained two jumps to the weaves. Devon was very successful, so I asked her to take one jump after the weaves before her reward. Next I asked for a three jump pinwheel before entering the weaves with a low challenge left entry. Success! Then I turned the pinwheel around so she had a high challenge left entry; again we had success! Finally, I worked the first two jumps again to the weaves, but ran it on the left and then with a rear cross; these were also successful, including when I front crossed coming out of the weaves. 

To end the session, I did a sequence with two jumps to the weaves, front cross at the end of the poles (and I purposely front crossed early so she'd see my rotation while she was in the poles), pinwheel to the teeter and three jumps back out. Her weaves were perfect. I could not have been more pleased with her success on these sequences! 

She also worked through her teeter issue and was very strong working it today. In fact, she kept volunteering the teeter and I had a hard time getting her back to working other equipment! After a short break where I worked Ian and then let Connor have some fun, Devon came back out to work another set of sequences which included the A frame and dogwalk. 

I set a nice flowing course that included a "backy-uppy" out of the tunnel over a jump before racing to the A frame. I worked the backy-uppy separately, which was no problem for Devon with her one-jump, recall to heel foundation (Ian had a little more work to do before he read it). Then I back chained it with the tunnel before having Devon do the sequence leading up to the backy-uppy. I rewarded her and then put it all together. 

Devon handled this section equally well, and she stuck all her contacts. She had a very successful agility training session. I gave her another break and then worked on some obedience in the small training ring. She did a lovely job heeling and working fronts. It's nice to have mirrors to see her progress! 

And not to leave Ian out. He also had a great agility session. It's incredible how much faster he is when there's no one around. He's a different dog! He was moving so fast, I was running as hard as I could to keep up with him. It was such fun to let loose and really work him. At this point, I was very glad for my exercise class that I've been taking for a month. The muscle tone and flexibility I've gained saved me today.

Connor also had his big adventure today. I took him out on the floor with me as I was resetting bars from 24 back down to 20 for Devon. Just like last week when I let him into the barn at Pawsitive Energy, he ran around like a crazy puppy. He wagged and ran. In fact, once he jumped over a bar still set at 24 inches. He still has beautiful jumping form. He sailed through a tunnel and up the A frame all on his own, but he put on the brakes when he saw the 24 inch double. He looked back at me as if to say, "Hey mom, can you get over here and fix this? It broke my flow!" Funny how being 9 years old suddenly makes the yellow contact zone on the A frame more appealing! 

The only down side of our training session came when Devon had an accident before she started her second agility session. She likes to "boing" or jump straight in the air from a stand when she's excited. It looks something like what an Aussie or Border Collie would do, and she jumps so high she can look you in the eye or give you a kiss on the cheek (and I'm 5'6"). 

Devon was so excited to come out of the crate the second time to work (after watching both her brothers work), that she was boinging. On the third jump, she hit a table behind her with her behind, about three inches below her tail. Luckily her tail was tucked or it would have been very bad; however it was bad all the same. When she landed, her legs crumpled under her and she landed pretty hard. She kept her tail tucked when she got up and you could tell it hurt. I let her walk it out and moved her to the padded agility flooring and walked her out to make sure she didn't have an injury. As she moved, she recovered and actually volunteered obstacles, so I continued training. 

Tonight she got a traumeel, because I'm sure she's sore. I'm going to walk her out and stretch her very good before we do any training tomorrow. I'm sure there's another appointment with Dr. Bonnie in her future! She's exhausted after two good agility sessions and "helping" this afternoon with equipment. As usual, I'm sure she'll sleep well tonight. She deserves it after the great training day she had.

GCDOC Agility Trial, Devon's runs

This was officially the first weekend where Devon was at a new place on new equipment. I entered her in FAST on Saturday just to get her on the teeter. I had a feeling she would do well, and she did just fine. 

Generally, I was very pleased with her attitude and her desire to work. As I mentioned in an earlier post, she did stop tugging as soon as we moved from the crating area into the arena with the rings. She also started sniffing the dirt at that point too. I did forget that she hasn't trained on dirt in about a year. Thankfully she was less distracted than she could have been. She's really starting to enjoy the work in agility.

Our warm ups were mostly shorter than I anticipated. Devon was the first 20 inch dog in every class. The most 24 inch dogs we had was 3 with the least being none, so once she was the first dog on the line. She handled all of it well. 

I'm also doing a better job with her on the start line. Every time we go to the line, Devon wants to make sure the judge sees her, so she looks at the judge and wags her tail. I'm now putting my hand in front of her face and asking for a sit. This is working well.

Saturday Novice FAST

Our goal for this run was to get on the teeter successfully. Devon was really wired for this run, so I knew I'd have a lot of speed from her. I selected a minimal lead out and a push to the broad jump. I knew this was risky, but I was very happy with how she handled it. After the teeter, I pulled her off a jump, but you can see she wasn't committed. That was a mental note to me to support the jumps better in her upcoming runs. 

Enjoy the new A frame performance on the dirt. Agile Gold asked if we changed our stopped contact criteria to a nose touch. I had to laugh. Although it looks like we did, Devon was simply taking advantage of an opportunity for a good sniff of the dirt. She went on to my next request, so I decided to let it go.

I walked the course staying behind the send line for the gamble and also stepping in. I wasn't sure what Devon would do, and I didn't want to pull her off the first obstacle. As you can see by the video, I shouldn't have worried. She sent very well and I was well behind the gamble line. We were over time by a lot, but I didn't care about the Q and considered it a great run.

Saturday Novice JWW

I was happy with this run too. Devon handled the front cross well after jump 3 and even pushed into the tunnel when I had to hold my ground a little. You see her shooting out of the tunnel past the next jump. What you can't see on the video is that she was stressed. Something spooked her either inside the tunnel or right as she exited. She had her head turned away from me and the course and she was looking over her shoulder beyond the ring gates. 

Everyone who saw her run agreed she was spooked by something, but no one could figure out what it was. I was very proud of her that she shook off this stress and came right back to work. The over run of the front cross was simply how I had to handle it without any pre-cue to her of the turn. 

When I asked for the weaves later in the course, she took that opportunity to go check out what was going on outside the ring. I immediately gave up on that weaves and asked her to come back to work, which she did. She wanted to go around that double, but I wasn't going to allow it and gave her a pretty firm jump command. That was all it took to get her back to work and finish the course in style.

I was pleased with how Devon worked through her issues on this course and maintained her work ethic. A couple of people who watched thought she looked very happy, too.

Saturday Novice Standard

Devon held up extremely well for this final run of the day. She was still excited to work even though it had been a long day with three runs. 

I was very pleased with the opening and my front cross. She never looked at the off course A frame. She sent around the circle very well. Her A frame contact was much like the FAST class, but she did look up and actually acknowledge my presence so I released her. 

I was concerned about pulling her off the tire since I wanted to do a front cross after the next jump. I wanted to test her understanding of a forward send with lateral movement, but I wanted it to be successful. Frankly, I shouldn't have worried so much. I think I handled that just like I did for Ian's run and she handled it just as well as he did! What a girl! I'm really proud of that lateral distance I got. 

Devon did go a little wide on the front cross, but her table performance was perfect. Her teeter was also solid with an odd approach to it. The funniest part of the run comes after the panel. She knew the tunnel was next, but she also saw the dogwalk which is a favorite obstacle. She holds on just so long, and finally has the baby dog moment and takes off for the dogwalk. She doesn't touch it and did come back to me for the tunnel. She even gave judge Jeff Ipser a look as he's calling the refusal that seemed to say, "Hey you! Put that arm down!"

After the dogwalk, the course turned to the weave poles and then one more finish jump. We had been so successful, I decided to take her off the course after the dogwalk and not worry about a set of weaves I knew she wouldn't do. It was the best call, and I think this was one of the best runs she had this weekend.

Sunday Novice JWW

This was the class where we were first dog on the line. Thanks to videographer Christie for getting this great angle! This was a tough course, with the same opening for all three classes. A pinwheel off the opening is really demotivating for Excellent level dogs, so I wasn't really surprised by the sniffing after the second jump. 

Devon thought about taking off, but recovered quickly and after taking the third jump she looked fantastic. I was very pleased with our rear cross on the take off side of jump 8. Her send into the tunnel with my deceleration and lateral movement was also a success from previous runs. 

At the weaves, she made the entrance and I moved on. I was surprised to see her slight head flick like she was planning to dive back in and weave. However, I'm glad I moved on instead. This was a very nice run.

Sunday Novice Standard

The final run of the weekend. Although this run was much earlier than the day before, it had been a long weekend. This run was 2 hours after I had finished with Ian, and I have to say I was really ready to go home. However, I knew Devon probably would enjoy the run. 

I do think this was Devon's worst run of the weekend, although it wasn't horrid. She came off the start line a little slow. She didn't hit her 2 on 2 off contact at all, but made the turn to the double. She also blew her dogwalk contact, and I have a feeling that was not only sniffing, but also because she saw the weaves. I did ask for a reattempt at the weaves, and she gave me the entrance, so I went on.

Devon did crouch more on the teeter than she had in the runs the day before. I'm wondering if this was because she was aware of the judge calling the failure to perform the weaves near the teeter as she was right at the pivot point. 

From the teeter, the rest of the run was beautiful. Her table performance with her automatic down and then to a sit was perfect. She pulled well into a difficult entrance to the tunnel. In fact I almost pulled her off of it. And she turned to the board jump as she was shooting out of the tunnel with me at quite a bit of lateral distance. 

Devon not only got treats, but she also was able to get some pets from some visitors who came to watch. They thought she did a really great job, and she really enjoyed meeting new people. It was a wonderful ending to a long two days of trialing!

GCDOC Agility Trial, Ian's runs

Ian had four lovely runs this weekend. He ended the weekend with three Qs, but I'm not unhappy with anything he did on the course. We have had an incredible 2 months of trialing, and I've really enjoyed running him. He is responsive to everything I'm doing on course, and he's more relaxed than at any time in his career.

Saturday's Excellent B Standard

There were 19 dogs in our class. The course was 173 yards and SCT was 61 seconds. Ian ran the course in 52.6 seconds and was one of only 5 dogs who qualified (a GSD took 1st followed by three Border Collies and then Ian).

It was a lovely flowing course, with a difficult weave entry. Ian came off the line so fast, I wasn't sure I was going to make the push into the the third jump. Luckily he read it beautifully. He just did a lovely job on this course. He was so fast across the dogwalk, I wasn't sure I would make it to the end for the front cross. His weaves were the best of the weekend, and the did the sharp 45 degree turn back to the tunnel very well. 

Saturday Excellent B JWW

There were again 19 dogs in our class. I cannot remember the Q rate, but the course was lovely and flowing. It was 148 yards and SCT was 39 seconds. Ian ran it in 35.32 seconds. His weaves were nice, but not all single tracked. He was still confident. I almost mishandled a very straight forward tunnel entrance. I made sure I didn't do that again. Generally, this was again a very nice run.

Sunday Excellent B Standard

There were 24 dogs in our class. I didn't write down yardage, but I know SCT was 66 seconds. I've debated a lot about what to say on the blog about this run. I will say Ian had a lot of reactive stressors before entering the ring. He was spooked by two dogs and two people for various reasons. We also were a part of an encounter with two children not managing their dog around reactive dogs waiting to run. 

Finally, with all this stress, we had to wait a very long time before our run. There was a tunnel on course that was taken by the dogs twice that they could not keep in place with sandbags. Big dogs hit this tunnel with full speed twice, dislodging sandbags and moving the tunnel on every run. So between each run, more than one person was out rebuilding the tunnel. You'll see on my run I wait on the line for more than 25 seconds as they tweak the tunnel.

So as much as I tried to manage Ian's stress level, it was high when we entered the ring. It didn't take much to push him over the edge. All it took was the judge walking toward him as Ian was moving between the teeter and the table. I wish this judge had recognized the stress signs in my dog before he did. By the time he backed off, we had incurred the refusal at the table, NQ'ing us. I was too firm with Ian calling him to the table because I was mad. I realized I needed to move to help him and once I did he got on the table. In hindsight, I also should have stayed with him at the teeter, as I knew at the time he was stressing and slowing down.

I can't say I'm really proud of my actions as a handler. I let my frustration in the moment get the better of me and I forgot my dog training. However, I share the run because the whole of the run minus the table was really beautiful. I commend my dog for bouncing back and finishing this run to perfection, including a very lovely set of weave poles where I pushed him by getting a lot of lateral distance. There was a time not too long ago where Ian would have left the ring. Instead, he showed a lot of heart and finished the run in style. This is really a Q in my book any day!

Sunday Excellent B JWW

There were 23 dogs in the class. It was 160 yards long and SCT was 43 seconds. Ian ran the course in 41.41 seconds. Although Ian's speed wasn't there, he did a lovely job considering his morning run. He was far less stressed before the run, and he was happy on course. I have a feeling he was aware of the judge at all times due to the morning run, which likely affected his speed. However, his skills were solid and it was a good run. 

I was very glad Ian and I could end the weekend on a positive run. It will be a while before our next agility trial, and I was hoping our last run would be good.

Agility Club of Indianapolis, Devon's Sunday Runs

Devon had two absolutely beautiful runs today. If she would have performed her weaves, she would have had a 2nd place in Standard to Emma and a 1st in JWW. However, we had the same weave issue as yesterday. 

Novice Standard

I was interested to see what she'd do with the new contact equipment. Would she decide to be worried or would she think it was no big deal? As I was expecting, it was no big deal. With the exception of the weaves, she handled this course very well. She nailed her contacts, although she got distracted by some dog's spit coming down the A frame -- never know when someone might leave a cookie! She also handled a rear cross into a tunnel, basically a serpentine, very well. 

I was complemented by a fellow exhibitor on how well I supported her teeter performance and made sure to praise her. I asked if this person knew Devon's history with the teeter, and she didn't. It was nice without that knowledge to have my handling and support of my dog recognized.

Novice JWW

This was also a very lovely run. I really drove her off the line, and she responded by picking up speed. After two long, long days, she was sluggish at the start. I was able to get two front crosses in before and after the pinwheel; and contrary to yesterday, she didn't even blink at the ring crew today. While the first front cross wasn't as good as the one on Saturday, she read it and we didn't get a refusal or knocked bar. The second one was really in flow, and she had to really read what I was doing an not push off the jump. I was so proud of her for that one! You can hear my, "YES!" on the tape!

About those darned weaves

Well, clicking entrances has worked at home, but it has not transferred to a class or trial situation. In class this week, she was nailing her performance on 12 poles, but not getting the turn to pole 2 and going from 1 to 3 then weaving out. I believe that when that got her no rewards, the result was the stress in the trial. 

I've decided to give her 2-3 weeks off with no weave work. I'm hoping this break will relieve the pressure. Then I'm going to retrain weaves with the 2x2 weave pole method from Susan Garrett. There are several folks here locally that have used this method and really liked it. I reviewed the DVD last night (thanks to Agile Gold for letting us borrow their copy) up to the point of 4 poles. This method is different enough, that I think it will do the trick for Devon. 

I clearly need to do something different. What I have been doing isn't communicating to Devon either what she's doing wrong or how to fix it. She's frustrated and so am I. Based on past experience, I just need to change my method a little, and I'm sure she'll have the light bulb moment.

The very good news is that Devon still thinks she's "all that." I was pretty sure based on her lower stress level today that she wasn't souring on the game of agility. Susan confirmed that for us during her massage session at the end of the day. The princess reigned from the massage table looking beautiful and endearing with her new purple octopus in her mouth (courtesy of ACI). I don't know how she does it, but everyone who walks by  must stop and come back to the doorway and smile and comment how beautiful she is. She knows how to work a crowd! Silly me for worrying about her frame of mind!

My recent train of thought

After last weekend, I’ve spent a lot of time reviewing videos not only of Devon, but also elite handlers and their baby dogs. Repeatedly I’ve been reminded that baby dogs are just that – they are babies. They have moments of brilliance and moments that resemble a train wreck. It’s been nearly 5 years since I’ve had an agility dog at this stage, and quite frankly I’ve forgotten what it’s like.

I want to say publicly how VERY GRATEFUL I am for the emails I’ve received this week saying how great Devon looks in agility. I really needed to hear that because it made me go back and review her runs and pull out all the brilliant moments and stack them up. It didn’t take me too long to agree – she looks fantastic! She has some incredible skills for a girl who wasn’t even doing a full-sized teeter 5 months ago (and was still having fear issues with it).

These thoughts led me to examining what I want to focus on in each training session; what skills are solid and what skills do we need to improve. Further, I’ve been thinking a lot this week about out long-term and short-term goals and prioritizing them. For instance, I told Linda at HY-BAR that my obedience goal with Devon this year was earning her CD. Linda’s response was earning Devon’s CD is very doable; BUT since we want some nice scores (and we believe she’s capable of them), we don’t want to rush her.

Then along comes yesterday’s post on Susan Garrett’s Dog Training Blog. Susan may have written this for one of her students, but the One who looks after me was whispering in her ear that I needed this post right now, too. I need to remember that sometimes you’re Winning When You Lose and Losing When You Win. I could have held Devon’s contacts longer last weekend, and I had a start line issue, too. So, because my goal for Devon is a MACH, we’re going to settle in and focus on all her basic skills now. I can’t wait for tonight’s agility class!

Devon's agility weekend at Lafayette

Devon and I had moments of utter brilliance, and then we had ... well, moments. Sunday's runs were definitively better than Saturday, quite possibly because of the massage this morning. She was very sore in the rear and mid-back. Susan was able to work all this out, and after a massage and a long nap, she really ready to run!

Saturday, Novice JWW

We didn't "need" this leg, as Devon finished her NAJ at a trial a couple of weeks ago. I'm keeping her in Novice because I feel her weave entries need to be more solid, and I'd rather work on entries with 6 poles than 12 poles. I was anxious to see how our clicking en traces over the last couple of weeks worked ... well, this weave performance didn't show we'd done any work! 

The first three jumps into the weaves were fantastic. The weaves were not good, and she never did weave all 6, but she finally got her entrance. We had a collision after a front cross when she wagged at a steward, but then we got it back together. The ending was incredible, with me taking a big risk for that rear cross over the jump and turn away from me over another jump. I walked it with two front crosses, but decided on the rear because it was a skill we would need, and what better time to practice?

Saturday Novice Standard

Once again, this run had moments of utter brilliance and complete lunacy. The run to the chute was lovely. She started with a tunnel (something new) and nailed her A frame contact. However, out of the chute, she went around the panel. Ok, I can turn her around, and she went around it again! Now my little stressed girl wants to do something right, and there's a dogwalk (one of her favorites) in front of her. So we go up and over the dogwalk. Yeah, we're brilliant, and back around to where we were (and I made her take the panel on principle). 

As a friend of mine commented later, this is where Devon should have been done. I'd completely shut her down (bad, bad mom), so I expected slug girl for the rest of the course, with the hardest element to come: a 90 degree left turn into off side weaves. 

However, Devon is a very, very good girl!! As soon as she came shooting out of that tunnel, I knew I had her back. And sure enough, the rest of this run was to die for! Go ahead and rewind this clip a couple of times to admire those PERFECT weaves, then a front cross onto the teeter. What a girl! And you can hear the crowd in appreciation for those weaves. That got me several nice comments from the gallery.

Sunday Novice JWW

This is probably Devon's career best (so far) run! It was flawless with perfect weaves in sequence. She was running strong and confident. And, as a friend observed, so was I! I'll be running this one through my mind a lot tonight, too! It was first place run in just over 21 seconds. 

Sunday Novice Standard

This run had the makings of the same as her JWW run, and with a couple of issues it was an incredibly strong run. She went around the first jump, mainly because my lead out was too far for the baby dog. But once turned around, she sailed out onto the course, with a wonderfully fast, confident run. She almost slid off the table, but saved herself (you can see the dirty look she gives the end of the table to the ground). She has an auto down on the table, but because she was too close didn't do it. I didn't force the issue; the purist in me says I should have, but she did her darnedest to stay on and did. She clearly knew the more important of her jobs (to say on the table!). However, it gives me warning as I see I've let her contacts creep a little ... The only thing was the darned weave poles again! 

Weekend analysis

I have to admit being very frustrated with having to throw away two otherwise beautiful runs on those stupid weaves. I shouldn't be frustrated, but I am. I just wish I knew the magic answer to getting them to be like her two perfect runs all the time. However, after much reflection, and some very nice friends to listen to me, I'm probably expecting way too much too fast. This is only her third weekend in standard. She has absolutely lovely teeter performances after worrying for so long about that obstacle. And her weaves are coming along very well. 

I'm also leaning toward not correcting her in the weave any longer at a trial. I don't like this shut down I'm seeing. It's not helping either of us, and what I did like about her two perfect performances was how fast she was at them. I don't want to shut down that good speed in the weaves at a trial (Ian's a perfect example of that). So, I'll continue to work entries here and in class, but I think I'll just trust her at trials.