A fun time was had by all

Devon, Page and I packed up this morning and headed to Pawsitive for drop in classes. We had a blast! The girls ran great, and there were lots of fun folks for me to hang out with, too.

We had an interesting standard course set up. Devon ran the first class, and she was pokey off the start. I think it was a combination of two things; first, the start had her running toward the teeter and I think she was anxious about when she would be asked to do the teeter. She has been pokey at the start lately and I think it's concern/anticipation of the teeter.

Second, I had trimmed her nails this morning and just nicked one too close. It didn't bleed much, but once she started running it broke open and bled. I think her toe was a touch sore. Shame on me for not doing this the previous day as I had intended!

Devon's teeter confidence is so much better in places where she routinely trains. However, in the last two weeks she's gotten into the habit of bailing off the teeter the first time over it, then going up and over on the second and all subsequent attempts. Today she again bailed the first time but then went over confidently on all other attempts. This was very exciting because the teeter was different today, and she wasn't rattled by the change in equipment. So it's just confidence in new places we need to work on and not fear of the equipment. That's a good sign!

Devon is entered in Standard at this weekend's trial, but I don't think I'll run her. There's a very good chance she'll bail off the teeter on the first try, and with the 4-paw safety rule I must go on. I want to wait and trial her where I can give her multiple attempts (like in a FAST class) and have her succeed.

Page will be debuting at this weekend's trial. At 16.5 months, this dog is looking amazing. I never in my wildest dreams imagined she'd be ready before fall at the earliest. But she's handling challenges very well, and she's learning from my consistency on her small problems.

Page held every start line today, and most of them were right handed starts. She nailed every contact except the first time over the teeter. I anticipate that will be a tough one for her this weekend. The opening of the first course had two forward moving front crosses, and it was a challenge. I was thrilled that Page held her start, and we nailed front crosses.

Page's other recent challenge has been the table. Remember that I hadn't planned on trialing her until this fall, and I knew AKC was considering a table change rule. I've taught Page an automatic down on the table; I did that with Devon and I love the performance. So when the positionless table change came out for Sept. 1, I thought, "Great, I don't have to worry about a sit!" Oooops! Now I'm trialing.

So the first time I asked Page for a sit on the table, she looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "NO, MOMMA! A box is a down!" She wouldn't even sit for a treat! So the last 3 weeks I've been working on her going from a down to a sit on the table. Bless her soul, she has put that together this week! Her tables looked great today.

One of the other courses we ran was a JWW course with an awkward set of 6 poles. I am so glad we got to run this course, because I wish I had a video of the look on her face the first time Page went into 6 poles. She got the first two poles and then kind of fell out and blew by the rest of them, then she stopped and looked around like, "What the heck happened to the rest of the poles?!?!" I turned her around and we did them again and she figured out there were only 6 and did just fine.

The other funny thing about this course was after a pinwheel going to a second set of poles, Page went running straight out in front of the jump. Liz stopped me and said, "What happened there?" I said I hadn't the foggiest idea. Then she asked what I had said, and it was "GO." Then I said, "Well that's her weave command and it shouldn't have meant go flying out in front of me." Liz very calmly said, "Yes, and where did she go to?" DUH!!! She went flying to the other set of weave poles in front of her, and not the weaves 180 degrees behind her! How stupid was I that I didn't see that! Liz said she was doing exactly what I asked of her but couldn't figure out how to make the weave entrance.

Once I changed my handling to a rear cross on the flat and directed her to the poles I wanted and THEN said, "GO," Page handled the sequence just fine. Bless Liz! It's so handy to have someone to see these things! Liz was also considerate enough to remember some of us would see a broad jump this weekend, so she set one up and we did that, too.

In addition to Liz's wonderful eye and kind kicks in the butt, it was fun to see friends I don't see often. We got to share in Ada Mae's Senior Hunter cake, brought by her proud mom Jane. I was so glad we got to help celebrate their accomplishment. Ada was owner trained and handled by Jane, and I know they have worked so very hard together!

We're off to bed with visions of agility trials dancing in our heads! The bags are all packed and jackpot are ready to head to the trial site in the morning!

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.

Page's training update

EEeeekkkk! Where does time go to these days? I cannot believe it's been three weeks since my last post. Now to update Page's training.

Page -- agility

Page continues to shock and amaze me in agility. She learns incrementally from one lesson to the next. Weaves are a great example. I started training weave using the 2x2 method (I'll never use another method to train weaves). Page learned very quickly moving to 4 straight up poles. Then we trained at the kennel club one day, and I walked by the weave poles and Page dove in them and did 10 continuous poles on her own. Shocked, I asked her for the poles and she weaved all 12.

A week later at our lesson with Jenn at Incredipaws, she worked easily on two sets of 6 poles being rewarded in between the sets. Within a couple of days she was weaving all 12 poles. Here is a video of her last set of 6 poles before working 12:

I love her form in this video, and she looks even better today.

Our lesson with Jenn was great. Jenn started us with one jump to check on our foundation from the ground up, and we progressed to sequence 10 obstacles. I had already identified a few things to work on before the lesson, and I was very pleased that Jenn didn't find anything else I missed.

In addition to weave poles, I needed to work on Page's A frame contact. Over the winter I wasn't able to work that on a low A frame like I had her dogwalk and teeter contact performance. Once my equipment was outside, I was always forgetting to ask someone to help me lower the A frame. So I'd just work Page on the bottom of the A frame, wrapping her into her 2o2o performance.

A week after our lesson with Jenn, we were working at the kennel club when Page kept "asking" to do the A frame. She'd look at it and take a couple of steps to it, and then she'd look up at me like, "can I please??" Finally I said, "OK go do it." She ran to the A frame and I expected her to fly off the middle of the downside like she'd done before. Instead, she ran all the way down the A frame and straight off. I was so surprised she didn't fly off, but she still didn't do what I wanted so I just stood there and didn't react. Page looked at me and it was as if you could literally see the light bulb go off over her head and she said, "OH! Wait a minute!" She turned and wrapped herself back up on the A frame and gave me a perfect 2o2o with a chin touch and then looked back over her shoulder at me with a big smile on her face as if to say, "THAT'S what I was supposed to do, wasn't it!" Wow, talk about problem solving! From that time on, she has been sticking her A frame contact regularly.

The final thing we needed to work on was the rear cross on the flat. This is a tricky one for Page, and it continues to be a work in progress. The other thing that makes the rear cross on the flat tough for Page is how much she prefers her right lead. It makes turning right easier for her and turning left more difficult.

So with all her foundation under her belt, Page was ready to being sequencing. She started classing 8-weeks earlier than I expected. She's easily handling the challenges presented in her first two weeks of class, and I'm learning more things we need to work on as we go.

Page's latest list of homework includes reinforcing startline stays and contact performances. Page loves agility and she's quite fast. She's getting pushy on startlines and contacts. I haven't had a dog like this since Reece, but over the years I've sat on the sidelines and watched many good handlers let their contact and startline performances go for the sake of the almighty Q. Now that I'm the handler with the pushy dog, I can see how easy it is to let that criteria go when your dog is so fast. It's going to take a lot of willpower to make Page honest and hold her positions through proofing, but it's something I need to do for long-term success (versus the short-term rewards of early Qs).

Our other area of homework is becoming a team, which will be an ongoing process. I'm already pleased that Page does read my body language and motion. She is beginning to understand to take the obstacle in front of her, but she's not solely obstacle focused. Getting forward motion out of her isn't hard, but I can tell reading lateral motion will be a work in progress for some time.

In all, I'm very pleased with Page's agility training. She's easily 3 months ahead of my earliest predictions for her. Now it's up to me to keep working on handling drills and consistent criteria for startlines and contacts.

Page -- field

Page's field training has been intense during the spring. She has done lots and lots of pile work to build her worth ethic and deliver to hand. It's paid off! She now enjoys pile work, thinking it's fun. When she ran into trouble with large bumpers, she only worked large bumpers. She did pile work through heavy cover and changes of cover. She did pile work through lots of decoys. And she did pile work with ducks.

After a visit to Mitch's in late April, we did pile work on water. Page handled this very easily. In training she still wants to drop the bumper or duck at the edge of the water to shake off and then she'll come in to heel and deliver to hand. I've been working on this with a "hold" command and meeting her at the water's edge, but attrition hasn't totally fixed this. It's something we'll continue to work on.

Page is ready for transition, and I have sent her to more than one bucket once. Her lining is fantastic. However, with hunt tests coming up, I'm going to hold her where she is and not throw anything new at her. Page's water set ups looked great this month, and she lines her marks regardless of what is in her way. I'm pleased with her courage and marking ability.

Devon's first MXJ leg

Really? It's been almost 2 months since I've posted to the blog? Wow, time flies.

Even though it's been a couple of months ago, I want to get the video up of Devon's first MXJ leg. It was at the Gem City Agility trial in Lewisburg, Ohio, on Friday, February 26. I was working in the other ring when I saw them walking my course. Unfortunately when I asked if someone else could take over, none of the people in the area knew how to scribe. Great! I scribed the last dog standing up and then raced to the other ring.

The judge was starting to fire folks out of the ring but she said those with conflicts and workers to continue to walk. I wasn't too worried even though I had not checked in, because I figured they would leave Devon in her "A" running order at the end of the 20 inch class since I'd just moved up. Imagine my surprise as I walked out of the ring past the first dog coming on line to check in and realize we were up in 8 dogs!

I should have just moved Devon down and taken a breather. That would have been the sane thing to do. But I didn't stop and think. I ran outside, switched my shoes, grabbed Devon from the car, pottied her and in we went. By the time I was in the door, we were next in the course. I had a second to review the course and then we were on the line. I had my back to the ring crew and heard a timer box say, "GO" but it was so quiet I thought it was for the other ring. Then I could practically hear crickets chirping. I turned to see the judge shrug and raise her arms as if to say, "Hey, I'd really like to judge you if you'd ever get off the startline." At that point what little composure I had was gone!

Devon bolted off the startline and I knew there was no way I'd get in that front cross I had planned after the second jump. It was onto Plan B, and I really didn't have a Plan B. Actually, Plan B was all rear crosses, and remembering the course when I was on the opposite side of jumps than when I walked it. Thinking fast and running hard, we pulled out a clean run for Devon's first MXJ leg and first 8 MACH points!

While this was a fast and furious run I'll remember forever, it did show me two things that have given me a lot to thing about. Devon nailed this course with rear crosses. She was driving forward and moving fast with me out of her way. I had to do that last front cross near the end of the course because I knew I wouldn't remember the course if I couldn't get it in. Devon noticeably pulled up and slowed down after that front cross.

I have always known Devon runs faster when I'm rear crossing and out of her way, and Friday's course showed it. I wanted to try something similar the next day. But on Saturday, I didn't like the flow of the JWW course. It seemed awkward for me. I was determined to rear cross, and the course called for it.

I don't think Devon really liked this course either. Before the video starts, I actually pulled her off a jump so we didn't Q this run. I felt it was slow and sluggish, but when I checked her time, we were still more than 5 seconds under SCT. Not a fast run, but not bad.

After looking at this run and seeing how Devon noticeably slowed toward the end of the run on a rear cross, I think the key with her is staying out of her way. She doesn't like me jammed up with her on jumps. I will have to work on driving with motion and being out of her way.

I also think a very short warm up time is also a key with Devon. On Saturday we had a much longer wait at the gate, and she was a different dog going into the ring. While I like to be prepared, Devon doesn't need a lot of time to think about her job; she just needs to go do it.

Agility Club of Indianapolis Trial

This weekend was the Agility Club of Indianapolis trial. This was our first trial back from Devon being in season, and she only had one class since coming back. The nice thing about this trial was that the Excellent classes were first, so most folks cleared out for the Open and Novice courses. As with most of our local trials, we were among friends, but we did miss Agile Gold who didn't make this one.

Saturday's run

Big dogs ran last on Saturday. The Excellent JWW was nice and flowing; I usually like Jeff Ipser's courses a lot. I only saw two areas of concern for us. The first was the final pinwheel after the weaves. After building up speed over the double, the dogs were staring at the off course jump #1. Jump #15 was hiding behind a post. It would only be visible to the dog if the handler cued the dog to turn after #14. The next area of concern was jump #18 after the second time through the straight tunnel. It was a very flat 180, so I knew I'd have to support jump #18 and not move on too early.

I hate that first run after we've had a break from trialling. As much as I try not to, I do get nervous. Because Devon and I are still a green team, I'm still not totally confident and that makes me nervous.

I think on Saturday we were just a little out of sync. Devon tugged well up to the ring area; but after she stopped tugging if I wasn't actively giving her treats for tricks, she would start scratching, which I knew was stress. I tried not to let it make me anxious and didn't crab at her for it.

Devon started the run a little sluggish, but we worked through the opening well. My first mistake came at the last weave pole. These were 24 inch poles and she's only seen them a couple of times. As she was in the poles I could see she was adjusting her stride from her usual striding for 22 inch poles to the 24 inch poles. I thought we had the poles and stepped laterally just a split second too soon and Devon popped out of the last pole. She wasn't fully committed to that last pole.

I didn't react and pushed forward with the run. However, I made a second mistake on her commitment point with the turn from the straight tunnel to the #18 jump. I even told myself each time I walked that course to stay by the wing for her until she was committed, and I can see by the video I didn't support it long enough.

I always hang onto my mistakes longer than I ever do if the dog makes a mistake (probably because if my dog makes a mistake it's lack of training which is my fault). It was a nice course and Devon ran it well; but I made a couple of small errors and one I even identified and still screwed up! I will say the other thing that struck me in watching the run is that Devon did speed up when I relaxed and started pushing for my position after we'd NQ'd. That tells me her speed has a lot to do with my nerves. Here's the run:

Sunday's run

I felt better Sunday after a good night's sleep. Big dogs ran first, and Devon was the very last 20 inch dog to run. We had another beautiful course, and this one had an interesting close. The line from 15 to 16 pushed slightly to the right before the course turned back to the left. It was a deceptive push with off course potential on either side.

Most of the big dog handlers were walking it with a rear cross, but I didn't want to be stuck behind the wing of the triple way too far behind my dog to make the turn back to 17. Even if you got the #17 jump, you were risking the dog turning back to you because you were behind and taking the off course before reaching 18.

With a front cross before 15 you still had to get around the jump standard for a slight push for the triple. During the walk through, I finally decided on the front cross on the landing side of 15. It showed the dog his path and with the tunnel it gave me enough time to get to where I needed to be.

The 14-17 sequence was the problem area for the big dogs as expected (as a side note very few of the small dogs struggled here because there handlers were able to show the pull and still get around the triple to support 17). Very few big dog handlers did a front cross; most chose the rear. A lot of people got the off course to #3 if they didn't show enough pull to their right. A lot of people got stuck behind the wing of #16 needing or choosing to do the rear on the flat after the triple and got hung up before 17. Those who did do the front cross after 15 just squeaked it in.

Needless to say after watching all the 26-20 inch dogs, I was concerned for my plan. But I decided to run my plan, trust my dog and push to be in the right location. I wasn't nervous at all for this run. And I told Devon all the folks around the ring were there to watch her. She always loves to perform for a crowd, and of course all the little dog handlers wanted to get at their walk thru! I even had to hand Devon off as the dog in front of us went to the line when I realized my shoe was untied. That threw Devon a curve right before going into the ring.

I ran with Devon off the line, and she loved it. We had a much better start than Saturday. My front cross before the 180 was late, but Devon handled it well with minimal affect on her speed. Devon was prepared for the 24 inch weaves and handled them beautifully. After the tunnel, I hauled it to my front cross spot, and I know I broke my connection with my dog. However, Devon was perfect and followed my direction and nailed this section of the course. You can hear my yell of satisfaction when she landed after the triple!

What a beautiful run! Not only did this run win the Excellent A class, but Devon finished her AXJ on it. When I looked back, Devon earned her AXJ with three first place finishes and earned two of her legs on Jeff Ipser courses (I also finished Ian's MACH on one of Jeff's courses, so he's lucky for us).

And once again I was reminded that when I'm relaxed and concentrating on getting to where I need to be (i.e. getting my job done for the team), Devon does her job just right. As someone said after watching Sunday's video, "You guys both looked like you were having fun out there." We were!

CISSC Agility Trial

Devon is back to agility trials after a 6-week holiday break. This is a fun local trial. It's small and mostly everyone knows everyone. The only thing I don't like is the change in the running order this club made back in November and repeated this weekend. They ran all standard and all JWW classes together. So both days Excellent exhibitors had to sit through Open and Novice before running their second class.

Don't get me wrong: I'm very supportive of Open and Novice dogs and handlers. In fact, one of the biggest reasons I don't like this running order is because of the pressure on the Open and Novice dogs and handlers. The building is congested with dogs and people, and many very nervous first time green teams are being watched by seasoned old-timers. Open and Novice dogs and handlers are much better served when the building is quieter and there are fewer dogs when they run. It just makes a very long day for all dogs and handlers - not to mention parking is terrible!

Well, back to the fun part! I really enjoyed hanging out with Kathy and Emma. I think I saw Emma was at least 10 seconds under time in one of her JWW runs! Amazing! And Zoe and Terrie are hot in Excellent B! And we got to see several folks make their agility debut this weekend: Sammy and Columbus, Laurie and Dusty and Steve and Archie. All three teams did fantastic for their first time out and some even earned ribbons! Teresa and awesome beagle Jordon have been bit by the bug in their second trial and promise to make it a 2-day affair in February. Let's see if they can talk the others into the same thing (Laurie). I had a lot of fun standing behind the ring reminding Novice teams to breathe and connect with their dogs. Thanks to Kathy who took on video duty for Novice on Sunday!

Now for Devon's runs. I thought we were a bit rusty on Saturday. We ran in the afternoon, and Devon had a busy morning here at the house. I only gave her half her breakfast as usual for a trial, but since she ran in the afternoon I probably could have given her a full meal. Plus I'm sure she did not nap in the crate. Considering she shredded another crate pad, I know she wasn't napping (why oh why do I continue to feel sorry for her and put them in her crate)!

The error you'll note on the video clip is that Devon popped her weave poles. She has been doing that in practice off and on, so this didn't surprise me. But she hasn't popped them in a trial at this facility. I realized as I turned her around she was worried about the moving shadows on the ground from the Big Ass Fan. I was pleased she did the poles correctly on the second try.

Devon also ticked the double after the chute pretty hard. I was surprised the bar didn't come down. I'm sure this was because she wasn't as prepared for it coming out of a chute. It worried her, and I struggled to keep connected with her on the next two front crosses. I made sure I stopped and connected so we could keep that teamwork.

I felt Devon was slow on course, and her time reflected it. I was concerned she may be sore or need an adjustment with all the rough play she and Page do. I decided to not worry too much and see what she did on Sunday.

Sunday proved to be a much better run for Devon. The running order was tall to small and JWW ran first. Devon was eager to run, and she tugged up to the back of the ring, which is a first. I got worried when Devon started stress scratching at the start line, but once she was on course she only ran faster and faster.

I didn't know how the rear cross on the 180 would work, but she read it beautifully with a nice line. She handled the send to the landing side front cross on the next 180 well, too. I was really pleased with the very tight line she gave me after that front cross into the weaves. There were two places through there where she gave me a couple of sniffs, which had to be stress, but she didn't seem to break stride. She had very nice weaves, which were a little slow but accurate.

I almost didn't get that last front cross in. As I was rotating I knew it was the wrong choice. I also could hear Kathy in my head saying we'd get a wide turn if we drove too hard and showed too much extension getting into position. That was true! But Devon saved it, and we had a lovely run. This run earned Devon her second AXJ leg and a pretty blue ribbon.

Although Devon's speed was good, it was not as fast as she has been. I still think she is likely sore and in need of an adjustment. I also continue to wonder what handling works best for Devon. As this Sunday run shows, Devon runs very well when I'm out of her way and giving her space. She can handle tight turns, but she doesn't seen to like them as well (note the sniff on the collection before the weaves and the slow down I felt on Saturday). It makes me wonder if she thinks she's doing something wrong when I completely decelerate showing that much collection.

We are still a very green team. Now that we are executing pretty well, I'm going to try and pay more attention to what handling she prefers and give it to her. I like her running happy and fast, even if we don't always Q!

Illiana Collie Fanciers 3-day trial

We spent the 3 days after Thanksgiving at the Illiana Collie Fanciers Agility Trial in Merrillville, Ind. I've attended this trial at least twice, and I really like the location and judges. Crating never seems to be a problem, and there are good vendors.

Friday Excellent JWW

This was Devon's first attempt at Excellent JWW. There were nearly 100 dogs in the 20 inch class, and Devon was about 3 dogs from the end. Even though we were the first jump height, it was a long wait!

Due to a technical error on my part with the camera being set wrong, we don't have a video of this run. It was a really nice run. Unfortunately when Devon turned to the weave poles, there was lots to look at, including a chair sitting in the goal area, the goal area itself, the empty room behind the goal area, and the numbered cone. By the time Devon got all that looked at, she couldn't possibly make the weave poles!

I restarted her in the weaves, but she went in at pole 2 and then weaved them out. Because she did most of them well, we went on.

The other thing I found with this run is because I ran the shorter path on the inside, I could focus on Devon. I could see when she was starting to lose her focus on her run and look elsewhere and I could stop my motion and give her a name call to keep us connected.

Considering Devon nailed everything but the weave poles, I considered this run a success.

Saturday Excellent JWW

This was another fun, fast JWW course. After a long wait on the start line, Devon was a little slow off the line, but I was pleased not to see any stress in her. Except for only a little hesitation, she read the rear cross very well. Devon also had a little hesitation at the first tunnel. These two tunnel entrances were actually very straight forward, and I wondered if Devon thought they should be harder than they were.

I thought I had Devon lined up for the weaves pretty well, but she blew by them giving me little effort. I turned her around, and she again gave me no effort in the weaves. This aggravated me. After two weekends of beautiful weaves, Devon suddenly wasn't weaving and not giving me effort. I considered making her do them again (you see me hesitate), but then decided not to pick a battle over the weaves in a trial when she's so green.

We went on, and it was a good choice. She runs the last line really strong. I had originally planned to put a front cross in two jumps before the end, mainly to prevent the distraction of the ring crew for Devon. After watching 90 dogs run this course, I decided a pull would be the better way to handle that since the few that tried the front cross barely got it in. Since I only walked the pull once, when I disconnected from Devon to check my location on the course, she did what I expected and was distracted by the ring crew.

In all, I wasn't very happy with this run. It was the worst she'd run in the three weekends, and I was unhappy that she didn't give me much effort at the weave poles. I was probably a little hard on Devon, because the opening and most of the closing was lovely and fast.

Sunday Excellent JWW

The third day, and this was our second 3-day trial in a row. I wondered what Devon would do today. On Saturday evening after the trial, I tracked both Devon and Page. Devon did a lovely job, but Page was too tired and I ended the track early. I woke up with a headache, and Devon took her own sweet time doing her business that morning. She got to spend about 30 minutes walking around the area of the hotel, so I think she had a lovely morning!

We had another great JWW course. Devon gave me just a little lip lick on the line, which was her first sign of start line stress in three weekends. I didn't notice it until I uploaded the videos on the computer, and you see from the start she doesn't seem stressed.

Devon read the pull after the triple like a pro. The third bar of the triple came down a lot, so I was pleased with the opening. Even better, after jump 5 in the pinwheel, you hear me give her a loud name call and hand clap. That was because she was landing facing the judge, and I didn't want her to go say hello. She didn't even flick her head that direction, so I was super proud! The rest of that line into the tunnel was just terrific.

Now we come to the baby dog moments. She came shooting out of that tunnel and saw me really far ahead and came right in to me. This was really my fault. I should have supported that jump better for her, but I was so worried about making that front cross. Devon was a good girl and came with me even though she went around two jumps.

We again had to make two attempts at the weaves, but Devon did go into them and give me effort so I was happy. After the weaves, I didn't trust my baby dog enough and didn't show her enough lateral motion on the 270 for her to get the landing side front cross. Poor Devon does give me a couple of head shakes through here to show me her stress.

We ended the course nicely, and Devon didn't go see the ring crew too badly after the last jump. In all, I think this was a nice run for a green team! P.S. Devon is sporting a new pink leash, which I bought for Page. It looks really good on Devon, and if it breaks in better than her purple one has, Devon will be running in it along with Page!

Overall I was thrilled with Devon's performance this weekend. She had some really lovely fast runs. My goal going into this month of trialing was to keep her speed up. I think we've done just that! Devon is now running at 4.5 YPS or faster. Ian's average JWW run was 4.22 YPS, with only five career runs over 4.5 YPS. That means I'm having to learn to run a faster dog than I've ever run before. Combine that speed with being a green team, and I don't think our mistakes are really all that bad!

The second thing I know about this weekend is that the weave pole spacing was only 20 inches. I found that out last year, and I remember it took Ian 3 runs to get his footwork down on those poles. Devon hasn't run on 20 inch poles in a long time, and she's a green dog. She doesn't have the experience Ian would have to stay in the poles and adjust. Since Devon's poles were fantastic the previous two weekends, I want to see what she does on "home territory" this week in class. I think if I don't make the weaves an issue, they won't be. However, I think some extra weave work over the holidays wouldn't hurt!

One final note on our runs. I tried a different warm up routine with Devon on Saturday. I don't notice that Devon relies a lot on her warm up routine, but I do have very consistent routines in all of our sports. Devon's weakest run of the weekend was Saturday. I went back to the "normal" warm up routine on Sunday, and she did much better. I was also able to get tugging into the ring area on Sunday and clear up to the practice jump. This was new, and it showed me she was very comfortable on Sunday.

Devon, OAJ -- Central Indiana Shetland Sheepdog Club Agility Trial Day 3

We ended this trial on a great note! After two days of beautiful runs, Devon did one for me today. She qualified with a clean run to finish her OAJ, with a second place (8 seconds under SCT) and 0.27 seconds behind a Border Collie.

Devon has continued to improve with every run. Her weaves were incredibly solid today, and she was fast. I led out to just past the first jump, which was new for us. When I said, "OK" to release her, I saw Devon lift straight up to come off that start line, and I knew I was going to have run RUN!! That push was a little harder to get in today than it was on Friday! No worries about her going around the first jump any more! I'm seeing none of the startline stress I saw the last time we trialed in June.

I was worried about the tunnel entrance because of yesterday, but Devon read it correctly. I heard her flying through the tunnel and knew I had to get into place to cue collection for the turn to the weaves just over the next jump. Devon handled that weave entrance like a pro and I think her weaves were faster today than yesterday.

After the weaves, you had to pull 90 degrees to the right with an off course jump pretty close in front of them. As I walked the course I knew I could show no forward movement and depending on how fast Devon came out of the weaves, she could catch me flat footed. I wanted to do a front cross two jumps after the weaves; but when Devon came flying out of those poles in the correct direction, I knew I wasn't going to make it. Looking at the video I think I might have made it, but it would have been close and I would have risked the off course.

The rest of the course was lovely, with me pushing for a front cross and then almost running into a post doing a pull to the finish. There were lots of compliments for Devon coming out of the ring! And I had a couple of people say I made that run look effortless. HA! I'm pushing for every step out there, and that wasn't easy! I'm just glad I have a fantastic partner!

Central Indiana Shetland Sheepdog Club Agility Trial Day 2

Today was an earlier day since JWW was first, followed by Standard. Since we're still in Open JWW, I got to work big dogs for Excellent JWW. It was great to sit in the ring and watch what was working and what was a train wreck. Unfortunately it didn't help me much. Judge Scott Chamberlain is being sneaky! He's nesting courses so there are hardly any actual jump changes, but he's making the path completely different from Excellent to Open.

As challenging as the courses have been over two days, I have really enjoyed them. I don't mind a challenge, and the dogs do get to rip on Scott's courses. Today's Open JWW was no exception. When I looked at the opening the first option I saw was to run the dog on left and rear cross the weave pole entry. The other option included a two-jump lead out push or a front cross after the second jump or a straight push (all variations of the same handling).

After walking the course, I decided on my initial thought of a rear cross into the weaves. This is something Devon handles well and has done in competition before (in June). I felt it was also my best option for getting speed off the startline by running with her.

Next, the course required a front cross after the weaves. Again a skill Devon does well, but then I realized I was doing two of the hardest handling moves at the weaves on an Open dog. Oh well, we'd see what she could handle!

The only other concern I had on this course was the front cross with an off course tunnel in their face. Even though I didn't like this option, this was similar to what the Excellent dogs had. The handlers who chose to pull and then rear cross the jump before the tunnel struggled. The dogs didn't read the rear back to the tunnel and thought they were going forward to a jump, causing a very wide and ugly path for the dog. I didn't want to potentially shut Devon down with this handling because I was concerned even if she went wide she would think she was wrong.

Below is our run. Devon handles the weave poles like a dream! Unfortunately I was slightly late on my front cross near the tunnel and Devon was already fully committed to that tunnel way before she took off for the jump. You can see she does look at me before going into the tunnel, and bless her buttons she knows exactly which jump to take and in which direction when she comes out of the tunnel! What a good girl! After I got situated, we finished the course very strong. The rear in the close worked fine, but I felt like I could have had time to do a front cross. Unfortunately with the pole and how tight the jumps were through that section, I think a rear was my best option.

What a great run this was! Yes, I would LOVE to get a Q ribbon and get out of Open JWW, but I could watch those weaves all day! Devon is just looking so strong, and it's giving both of us confidence. This was my goal, and as long as she's looking good, I'll continue to be happy.

Oh, and day two of the mesh crates is still going just fine. We had a couple of problems with Page's toys mysteriously disappearing from her crate. Surprisingly they showed up in Emma's crate. Hummmm. However Sadie the Golden showed up when Emma was out and Page's bone took a tour of the building with Sadie. After Sadie gave it up (with a little persuasion), it went back to Page's crate.

I think the girls got Emma back, though. After she left, Devon and Page grabbed her toy off her crate and it made a tour of the building and parking lot on the way to our van. Never fear, it's back safe and sound on Emma's crate tonight! What will these Goldens think of next??

Bearded Collie Club Agility Trial

On Saturday, we drove to Lewisburg, Ohio, and Circle G Arena for the Bearded Collie Club's Agility Trial. I only entered Saturday, because Page was entered in a TDX test in Chicago. Of course, with her pass last weekend, we allowed someone else to take her spot, and we didn't have the pressure to get home to rest.

Because of the running order and not entering FAST, I got to sleep in and didn't rush to get to the trial. It's been almost a year since I've trialed in Ohio, and it was wonderful to see all my old friends.

Devon's teeter fears have returned in the last 3-4 weeks (more on that in a future post), so I pulled her from Standard and just ran JWW. We have not trialed in 5 months with hunt tests and tracking tests. Devon has become a very confident agility dog in that time, running Excellent/Master level courses with ease. I was excited to trial this weekend to see if her confidence in class transfered to the ring.

Our Open JWW course by Lisa Rieves was a course I liked. When compared to Excellent JWW, it had the same opening (1-6), the same entrance into the weaves (8-11) and the same close (11-18). The Excellent dogs ran the course well, and several big dog handlers came out smiling and said it ran well.

I saw two options for handling the opening. Option A had dog on right from the start with a landing side front cross after 3. Option B had the dog starting on right and doing a take-off side rear cross on 5. Either option had me doing a landing side front cross after 6.

For the close, I again saw two options. Option A was a landing side front cross on 14 with a pull to the finish. Option B had a rear cross on the flat after 15.

Based on the Excellent dogs, the start was demotivating for most dogs, with an opening pinwheel and the dog headed right into the ring gate off 1 and 2. A landing side front cross on 3 worked well for a solid, seasoned dog who trusted their handlers and for fast drivey dogs. However, that bar on jump 2 came down a lot or dogs pulled off jump 2 as handlers moved in the opposite direction to get into position on jump 3.

The Excellent dogs handled the close very well, so either a front cross on 14 or a rear after 15 worked. Hummmm, what to do? Based on her history, Devon has preferred me to get out of her way and rear cross at trials. It's not my comfort level, but I need to support my dog. So after walking it several times, I decided to rear cross on the take-off side of 5, front cross on the landing side of 6 and rear cross on the flat between 15-16.

Now that my handling was decided, I reviewed my only goal for the run: to stay positive and see a very fast drivey run like I've seen in class. This is why I'm trialing Devon in JWW even when I'm not running in Standard. I want her to learn trials are fun and she needs to run fast. I don't want her to feel pressure and slow down to a crawl.

Analysis of our run: Devon was in fine form going to the line. Although she stopped tugging the minute we walked in the building, she was really pumped. She loved the high value treats (steak and ham) and was foaming at the mouth for more. Jostling outside the ring when I set our stuff near where they posted the results only to find my way blocked three times didn't faze her. And we went in a dog early when the dog in front of us who had checked in wasn't at the gate. Again, Devon wasn't bothered.

Devon sat quickly at the line with none of her past startline stress. She was ready to go. She was slower off the start line than I expected, which was probably caused by the demotivating start I had already identified. I was glad I decided to continue to support her through jumps 1-3 and not pull off for the landing side front cross.

However, I think I showed a little too much motion and acceleration through 3, 4 and 5 because there was no stopping Devon! She was flying and didn't pay any attention to my lateral motion to cue the take off side rear cross and took 14 as an off course. Oh well, the qualifying score was gone with that off course, but I still needed to reach my goal of staying positive and having a fast drivey run.

Devon came back to me with a good attitude at jump 7 and did a lovely job into the weave poles. The off side entry wasn't easy. On the video you hear Kim complimenting Devon's weaves, and they did look fantastic. All the work we did this spring and the confidence she's gain in classes over the summer has really paid off.

In the close I probably should have done the landing side front cross after 14. First, I was standing still to get the rear cross, which always means you would have had time for the front cross. More importantly, with me behind her, Devon was able to focus outside the ring and get distracted, causing her to miss jump 17. Kim's comment of "devil" was pretty accurate!

Overall, I think I met my goal of staying positive and getting a drivey run from Devon. She was happy out there, and her tail was wagging clear to the end. While I saw a lack of focus a couple of times (not surprising because she is so environmentally aware), I didn't see stress of slowing. Even better, she was more than 9 seconds under SCT even with the off course. That's a great improvement in her speed!

I wonder if our past experience with rear crosses working so well in trials had more to do with me staying out of Devon's way (i.e. not micromanaging her) and trusting her to do her job than the rear cross itself. I think I should trust her in trials and push for more seasoned dog handling, which includes landing side front crosses. We perform them well in class when I push and trust her, so it's time for me to relax and work them in the ring. We'll have lots more practice, because we have three weekends of agility coming up!

Agility club of Indianapolis Trial on Sunday

Wow, I have a great dog! JWW was our first class. Edie Allyn gave us an awesome flowing fun course. It was a blast to walk and I knew it would be fun to run. She also plugged her MP3 player into the speaker for the timers, so we had fun music to walk to! I love exhibiting under Edie!

I thought the opening was a straight forward two jump start to a front cross; but off the start, Devon was tentative. After the first jump she headed for an off course jump, which I called her off of but she went around the second jump. I started to go on, but then I realized we were in Open so I had one refusal. I wanted to Q; I'll admit it. We've had so many beautiful runs without a Q, I wanted that green ribbon.

So, I turned Devon around to get that second jump. It wasn't pretty, and she was stressed. She almost went off course again, but I got her straightened out and at least flowing again. I think at this point I said, "Ok Devon, we're back on track! Let's go!" and we did! I can't remember a time when Devon ran so confidently. She did an incredible job with this course, and I was no where I had planned to be.

It wasn't a pretty score, but she did Q and earn 3rd place for her second OAJ leg. Even more impressive to me was that she was only 3 seconds over course time with all the fussing around we did at the second jump. That means she was moving really well!

I was intimidated by the Open Standard course because it look really challenging to me on paper; it was a lot like the Excellent course. I was also completely wiped out before we ran this course. The two days of working had hit me by this afternoon. I have to say with all the work Liz and Annie did to help me in the JWW ring, it wasn't a tough job. And have you ever been to a trial where you had to turn away workers? We had so many workers! But being on my feet and watching the ring and rearranging schedules took it's toll. I was really glad we ran 1.5 hours earlier in Standard today than we did yesterday.

Once again Devon came through. She was hot and tired, too. And the batteries for the timers failed between the 24 and 20 inch dogs, which delayed her run. Those two things were minor, because worst of all I was micromanaging her on course. I knew it, and I couldn't help it. But I have a great dog who ran clean, did an awesome teeter and sprinted to the finish without even looking at the off course tunnel.

This clean run gave Devon her OA in four trials in two weekends. I'm so very, very proud of her!

I learned two things this weekend. First, Devon is a great dog who knows and LOVES this game. She's really starting to have a good time out there. Second, if I relax and run her, Devon runs great and fast. If I micromanage, she slows down into "being perfect" mode. I definitely want more of the great fast runs, even if they come with no green ribbons.

This is our last weekend of trialing for a while so we can concentrate on field training and tracking for the rest of the summer and fall. We'll still keep up with weekly classes so we can be ready for late fall and winter trials. I can't wait to start this girl's career in Excellent and start relaxing into an awesome team!

Agility Club of Indianapolis Trial on Saturday

Devon was AWESOME today!!! I was so pleased with her two runs, I was just busting with joy all day! In JWW, I have to admit I had some nerves. I hate this since I know it affects Devon. It's hard not to have a few nerves for the first run of a weekend, and since Devon and I haven't been partners all that long our teamwork is still building.

The opening of the JWW course had a very tricky weave entrance; it was the same for the Excellent dogs. You had to really trust your dog to have independent weave entrances for this one. Not only did I trust her, but I thought the line was better using a rear cross, so for the first time in competition, I rear crossed the weave poles. Devon nailed the entrance and never hesitated in the poles!

In fact, Devon stayed in the poles even though the photographer was shooting away and his shutter was really loud. The photographer pulled out at least two Excellent dogs with seasoned handlers, so I was especially pleased with Devon's focus. This was an area I worried over before we ran, but I decided Devon would have to work through these distractions, and I wasn't going to fuss over it.

I saved a near off course before a 180 in the back of the course, but I didn't save another one in the front of the course. I saw her head off, I thought I had her redirected and I took my eyes off her and she went off course. Bad mom. However, Devon was in good company with these two off courses, because I saw lots of Excellent level dogs end lovely runs at the same places.

I worried that Devon would worry when she found herself out of position relative to me when she landed over the off course, so I told her was brilliant. I thought later that I'm sure there were those outside the ring that thought, "That stupid handler just rewarded her dog for being wrong." Yep, I did because I want her to always think she's right! And after the class, the judge made a point of saying that I had a wonderful run with my dog.

Devon ran JWW at 8:30 a.m. and she didn't run Standard until around 3 p.m. It was a long day at a busy trial, and I had a headache and was very tired for her Standard run. To backtrack a little, last night we had severe storms and a tornado warning, so all four dogs and I spent about 20 minutes in the half bathroom below the stairs before going to bed. Then just as we were settled, Connor decided to throw up on my bedroom carpeting. So I got to bed after 10:30 p.m. and had to get up at 5 a.m. and leave the house at 6 a.m. I worked as chief ring steward for the JWW ring, so I wanted to be set up early so I could concentrate on my job.

So when it came time to walk and run the Open Standard course, I was worried I wasn't concentrating enough and I was too relaxed. Apparently this was just the ticket for Devon. She absolutely ran this course to perfection!

The two tunnel entrances were very challenging, and she never even looked at the off course ends of the tunnels. The triple, jump, tunnel sequence after the table was also a very tricky angle, and Devon made it look easy. And you have to check out those weave poles! In addition to nailing the off side entrance, Devon actually gets into her two footed stride at the end! Devon was the last 20 inch dog to run and she was the only clean run in the 20 or 24 inch jump height! She was 10 seconds under time, too, and took first place! This is a fantastic run, and it's her second Open Standard Q in three tries!

Devon ended her day with a massage from Susan. Susan thought her muscle tone and coat were great, likely due to a combination of the new raw diet and the field work she's been doing.

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!

Hoosier Kennel Club Agility Trial Day 2

Hummm....I'm not sure how I feel about today's runs. At first I was going to say I wish I had today to do over again, or I wish I had yesterday's day today. However, after reviewing the videos on a bigger screen I'm not sure today was all bad.

I was very laid back and relaxed before our first Open Standard run. In fact, I was so relaxed I think I made myself nervous! For some reason I felt rushed and funky before our run. I shouldn't have. Devon tugged and warmed up really well, and I knew the course.

In the opening I had an out-of-body experience where I looked down on myself and wondered why I was shouting commands at Devon like a boot camp drill sergeant. Apparently the message got to my brain, and I did start telling her she was brilliant.

When I walked the course I thought that A frame would be too tempting for Devon. I thought I had pulled her out far enough, but I see I pushed her right back at the A frame. At this point I made the decision to turn her around for the tunnel. I shouldn't have. I should have gone on to the weaves and chalked this up for a training run. When I did aim her for the weaves she had a refusal and was stressed.

After the weaves we got it together for a lovely run. Her teeter was again awesome! I didn't push the automatic down on the table, and I probably should have held my criteria. However, I could tell by the head shakes I was getting at the end of the run, Devon was stressed.

I knew the refusal and the off course cost us time. However, I found it interested that Devon was more than 15 seconds over standard course time. As I watched this run, there was 14-15 seconds with the off course and the refusal. That means at her speed, Devon would still have been over standard course time if she had run this course completely clean. Right now I know Devon's not the fastest dog in the world, but she is cantering through this entire course. Needless to say I know why many dogs weren't making time in Excellent today. Only one dog out of all the jump heights (15 dogs running) qualified in Open Standard today, and that was our buddy Ripken and handler Holly.

My goal for Open JWW was to have a happy fun run. Devon had to run this course within 20 minutes of the Open Standard course, and it was getting very warm. I debated using a front cross after the triple into the 180 or a rear cross in the 180. Because a rear cross on a 180 went badly in class this week, I didn't try it today and opted for the front cross. Devon didn't have much warning on it since I didn't precue it so she went wide before the 180. Bad handler.

From this point I thought the course went pretty well. Devon clearly thought the people in the tents just south of the ring where the weave poles were had something great to eat. She air scented something before she went into the tunnel and at the weaves. And I didn't help by giving her a horrid line to the weaves.

We were over time on this course by 9 seconds, mostly from the wide turn after the triple and the refusal at the weaves. If Devon had run this course completely clean she would have made time. Pretty frustrating. However, I was in very good company; there were no qualifying scores in any jump height in Open JWW.

Tomorrow the runs are all about having fun and trusting Devon a little more to do her job. Because I have to run with her at the start, I'm going to have to trust her rear crosses. I do have to stay connected with her because she's distracted outside; but I have to balance that with not micromanaging. Generally, I need to lighten up and realize we're going to be in Open for a while, which is fine with me!

Hoosier Kennel Club Agility Trial Day 1

This was Devon's first outdoor trial and only the second time she's trialed on equipment brand new to her. I've been taking some classes outside for the last couple of weeks and (no surprised to me) she's very distracted outside. I wasn't really sure what I'd have today!

We had a beautiful sunny day in the mid-70s. The breeze was just right to cool things off. I'm realizing I need more sunscreen tomorrow! This kennel club is primarily a conformation club, and they run this one agility trial a year. It's not run like any trial you've ever experienced if you're a season agility person, so you just have to sit back and enjoy it! That's what I've learned to do since it's 10 minutes from home and I get to enjoy my own bed at night.

First up for Devon was Open JWW. This was Devon's first time in Open JWW, but I was confident she could handle it. The opening was straight forward, but there were a few interesting little traps on course especially for green dogs. Both tunnel entrances had off course jumps only a few feet away.

Although I wanted to be in front of Devon pulling her through the course, I decided on two rear crosses for better flow. Both accomplished their goal; however the second one almost caused an off course. Devon felt my motion but because she was distracted she never checked in and continued forward. A hard call saved the off course, and I hate doing hard calls with her. I can see I didn't follow it up with high praise, which I'll have to make sure I do if I'm in that situation again. To Devon's credit, she didn't melt with the hard call and we finished in fine style.

Devon Q'd this course and took 1st place for her first Open JWW leg!

Novice Standard was immediately after Open JWW, and with so few dogs in Open and Novice, it was a quick turn around. The opening to the A frame was very tough for a baby dog. It was two jumps spread very far apart along the ring gates to a 90 degree turn to the A frame. To accomplish the proper line, the dogs had to slice the first two jumps. After the A frame was a pinwheel with an off course tunnel in the distance to a tough angle teeter entrance with the A frame calling their name. After the teeter, I thought the course ended fairly easily.

Devon was picture perfect on this course! Her teeter was very confident, even with the duct tape at the end to hold down extra weights. You'll see I did a good job of praising her on the teeter. Her table performance was also very strong. Her weaves were lovely even with the refusal. Although both videos look like she didn't see the weaves, I think her refusal on both were more about her being distracted. Both times she gave me lovely weaves on the second try.

Devon Q'd this course to finish her NA with a 1st place ribbon! She's moved up to Open Standard tomorrow!

Shattering the myth

I have to share one of my pet peeves. It is the myth that you use front crosses with slow dogs and rear crosses with fast dogs. In my career with Ian, I've had many people tell me they could never do front crosses like I do because their dog is faster than Ian. 

Congratulations to Denise Thomas and her dog Zippity for winning the Challenger round of the 2009 AKC Agility Nationals. I heard what a magical weekend they had from many mutual friends, and I'm really proud of them. Below is Denise and Zippity's winning run from the Challenger Round, and it is one of the best examples of pre-cuing front crosses I've seen. And please note: There is only one rear cross on the whole course, and I think Zippity is a heck of a lot faster than Ian!

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!

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!