2011 Flashback: Devon's AX

I can’t let 2011 get too far in the past without a blog about Devon’s agility career. Agility has been tough for her, and a lot of it has had to do with training (i.e., it’s my fault). I took for granted the access to foundation training I had in Ohio, and I didn’t have it here. What I learned through Devon helped me create the agility foundation program I used with Page and now teach.

But Devon did come with a fear of movement and she’s very environmentally aware, so lack of confidence in her foundation along with those issues have caused training and confidence problems. And in Oct 2009, after earning her OA, Devon got spooked on the teeter in training and wouldn’t get back on it. It took her nearly 6 months to even start back with a board and a 1-inch dowel.

Then in June 2010, I pushed a weave performance one weekend during a 3-day trial when she was sore in her left shoulder (something she’s battled on and off for most of her career). That caused a weave confidence problem!

So 2011 was the year if we would figure out of Devon was really going to have an agility career. Other than tracking to finish her VST and some obedience training here and there, we focused on agility all year. And it paid off!

In 2011, Devon earned all three legs of her AX for her title, as well as her first MX leg. All three of her AX legs were earned at “home” training buildings. I had a slight worry that she’d never weave successfully away from home on the first try, when she earned her first MX leg in Zanesville, Ohio, proving me wrong! In addition to her first master’s standard leg, Devon earned three MXJ legs this year and a total of 30 MACH points.

While 30 MACH points in one year is certainly low, it represents a year of hard work for us. Most of her Qs and points came in the second half of the year. By December, Devon looked confident and happy in agility. Even though we didn’t Q all weekend in her last trial of 2011, I’m so proud of her attitude and performance. We’re getting there, and I can’t wait for next weekend when we get to step to the line again.

The one thing I have learned with Devon is it truly is a pleasure to step to the line with her in any venue. She is a happy willing worker, but she really does it so we can have fun together. When I remember that, magic happens!

Catching up: Field Spaniel Agility Trial

Goodness, I'm behind! Here's a quick wrap up of our last two agility trials. The Field Spaniel Trial was at a local venue, and it was lots of fun. Unfortunately the courses were very tight and difficult (as expected).

Page earns her first agility titles!!
Page was a very good girl, doing a great job on very tough courses. She Q'd in Standard on Saturday, finishing her NA. I was very pleased with this run. It was nice and controlled, and much faster than it appears on video! I'm still working to hold all of Page's contacts so she understands her criteria long term.



Page did her very best on this very on her Novice JWW run on Saturday, but the course was just too much. The only dogs that Q'd were moderate speed and/or small dogs. The big fast dogs had it rough. The opening was a 4 jump serpentine, with a 180 into the wall to the weaves. From the last tunnel the dogs had to change leads about 4 times over the last 4 jumps and take the last jump into the concrete wall (again). Page had done a lovely job, so it was too bad when the bar came down (my fault, but the alternative handling caused the next bar to come down with the next fast dog).


I forgot Page started the day with FAST and earned a Q on a pretty little run. I think it's funny how she was all "oh hello there hi!" to the ring crew until she realized there was a course to run and then she couldn't have cared less!



Page's first Open Standard run was one I wish I had back. I didn't handle this run well at all and it was a disaster. I think I was really annoyed when another bar came down. I wasn't annoyed with Page, it was the courses that were getting to me (can you tell I didn't care for the judge?). They were just practically impossible with a fast dog.

This run also shows a slight stress issue Page has with the table. This has come up once or twice in training, so I was interested to see it come out in a trial. I'm sure it's stress related; and it does prove that as confident as Page is, she can feel stress from me.




Thankfully this trial ended on a positive note for Page. The Novice JWW run was again a big challenge. It was very similar to the Excellent JWW course, so I knew the pitfalls. That yellow jump we had to work around in the close had eaten up more than a few dogs in the other levels. Page read my body language perfectly and slowed herself down and was very controlled for the forward sending rear cross. I know I was supposed to do all forward cues and no sending in Novice, but with these courses it was impossible!

Good girl Page!



Devon's looking better!
Devon had two wonderful runs in Excellent JWW. Devon nailed her weaves in competition for the first time since February! I was so excited I got her excited and she bounced out at pole 11. Then I didn't keep eye contact and she sailed over an off course jump, causing me to completely lose my place on course. If you could hear the audio a little better, you'd be really laughing at what I was saying out there. I so didn't care about that run except that Devon got her weaves!





Devon's last run of the weekend was also very nice. I chose to run the very demotivating start with a rear cross to get some speed and motion into her performance and I think it worked really well. I'll have to remember that. She almost hung onto the weave entrance, but not quite. I was so busy watching the rest of her pretty run, I forgot to do my last front cross, so I had to make up the handling on the close on the fly. I think I did pretty good, if I do say so myself!

Derby City Agility Trial -- Devon

This weekend we attended the Derby City Agility Association's 3-day trial east of Louisville. It was a fun weekend with friends, and oh yeah I had to run dogs, too! While I probably am more focused on my runs when I'm trialing by myself, I did enjoy the fun times with good friends.

Devon had a good weekend. I decided not to run her in Standard at all, due to her teeter issues away from home and known teeters. I also pulled her from Novice FAST on Saturday since there was a teeter in the ring. I didn't want to stress her since I know she looks for that teeter as soon as she goes into the ring.

However, based on advice from Jenn Crank, I ran FAST on Sunday. I planned a "get in, get the points and get out" course that would be fun and motivational. As soon as I sat Devon on the line, I could see her ducking her head under the first bar and looking over it trying to see the teeter. She did see it in the back, but as soon as I directed her away from it on course, she started flying!

Devon did have fun on this course, earning 54 points in 17.72 seconds, for a Q and a second place finish.

Devon had three Excellent B JWW runs over the weekend. All three were very good, except for the weaves. I know I've got a ring/trial issue with the weaves. Devon hits the first pole and then walks out of them. This is what she did a couple of years ago when she wasn't sure how to collect. Now I know she knows how to collect because she's solid in practice/training.

I am asking her to redo the weaves in trials since I do want to have her give me effort. But asking for the retry is giving her stress in the ring. I also agree with a friend who suggested that because Devon is so environmentally aware, she may be having problems going between 22 inch poles and 24 inch poles. Most of our training is done on 22 inch poles, and she sees 24s in trials. I agree that weave spacing plays a part in the problem. This is just something I think we'll have to work through.

Saturday's JWW run was very pretty and it was a tough course. Devon went off course after jump 3. Before we started our run, we heard noise and movement behind the wall of the arena. When Devon went off course, I thought it was due to that noise; however when I look at the tape I realize she committed to that off course jump very early and I didn't give nearly as much indication of the turn as I thought. In fact, I think all my turns on this course were late for Devon. She commits much earlier than I ever realized. I think she's anticipating where the course goes trying to be helpful to me. That means I need to cue her a lot earlier than I am.

Sunday's JWW run was the best of the weekend. Devon was slow off the start, I'm sure in anticipation of the weaves. But she handled this course very well. Her weave entrance was very pretty, so it's really too bad she didn't hang onto them. I think my handling was much better on this course.

After many, many runs, I was really tired on Monday, and poor Devon paid the price. I was mentally not there for her JWW run. I didn't run the course as I had planned, and frankly I was lucky to remember it. Devon hung with me until an off course after the weaves. I'm not sure you can tell in the video, but after the weaves, she really blasted through the rest of the course. I could tell she was burning off stress, just like she did in her last run of the 3-day trial in June.

Agility Club of Indianapolis trial, day 3

Whew! I was completely exhausted by day 3. The girls did an absolutely wonderful job again on Sunday. I'll go in chronological order for this post.

Page, Novice JWW

This course was a bear. Later in the day I realized it was the Excellent JWW opening and closing bridged by a tunnel (at the end of the weave poles). I decided it would be a forward moving front cross drill for Page and I. I had learned a few things about Page on Saturday that I wanted to put in practice.

First, I realized she was rock solid on her start lines. Since she was steady, I wanted to push her and see if I could get a lead out to where I was comfortable. Page held her start line, and I liked the first front cross.

Generally the opening to the tunnel I was very pleased with. I wish she would not have had that first refusal, but she is a baby dog and those things happen. Page never let that tunnel bother her as an off-course option, which is remarkable for a baby dog who loves tunnels. That tunnel got a lot of extra work in Novice!

I never found a good way to run the ending after the tunnel. Even after a lot of study, I never found a simple option. Even the seasoned Excellent dogs had trouble there, and Devon went around the second to the last jump. It's too bad one of the last two jumps wasn't tweaked to make it doable for baby dogs. Even though we didn't Q, I still felt like this was a very good effort by Page.

Devon, Excellent A Standard

This was a really fun course, and Devon was ready to run it. I think Devon did a fantastic job with this course, except for the weaves. Since she was feeling fine and gave me no effort, I made her do them again. Of course, she popped out at pole 10 to do the teeter! I'm so thrilled with her confident, happy teeter, I didn't mind.

After the teeter, Devon put on the afterburners. I'm not sure it comes through on the video, but she was moving and I was barely in control! She was 11 seconds under SCT and that was with a second attempt at the weave poles! You can see with her speed she doesn't bother to hit the A frame contact. But I really enjoyed her burst of speed because it meant she was having fun and really enjoying herself out there.

Devon, Excellent B JWW

Very quickly Devon was up in the JWW ring. This was quite a technical course, so I worked very hard on my handling. I thought we did a great job with a very difficult course. Again the weaves bit us in the butt; can you tell what our homework from this trial is? I will not fault Devon for missing that next to the last jump. I made an assumption she would take it and I didn't support it fully.

Page, Novice Standard

I saved the funniest video for last! But before the clip, I'll continue with things I learned about Page this weekend. On Saturday night as I was thinking back over Page's JWW run, I realized why she struggled with the forward moving front cross/going around a jump in two places and didn't in the third. Page has always favored her right lead over her left lead. In fact, when she first started jumping, she would only turn right around the jump which clued me in that she was only using her right lead. After 3 days, this went away.

On Saturday in JWW, the two jumps Page went around where when she was on her left lead. When she was on her right lead, she was comfortable with more lateral distance and less support from me. I used this knowledge when I walked the Standard course, and I made note to work extra hard to support jumps when she was on her left lead.

The next thing I realized is that she hadn't missed a weave pole all weekend. All our weave entrances had been off-side until the last run. The tunnel, jump, teeter, weave, broad jump section of the Novice course looked to me to be more difficult than it presented on paper. If I was running Devon, I would have picked her up on my left out of the tunnel and pushed her to the jump, working her on my left through that section.

But Page doesn't push well and I knew I'd have to support that jump. She would also be blasting through that tunnel, and I didn't think I could get into a good position to support that jump if I picked her up on the left. Since her weaves were so strong, I decided to pick her up on my right and rear cross into the weaves. I could support the jump-teeter combo and if she didn't get the weaves I'd just turn her around and try again. My plan worked well!

Even though I made a note to support jumps on her left lead better, I missed one before the A frame. It didn't really matter because of the table...

Be careful what you train. On Sunday, Page wasn't going to sit on that table for anything. I knew by the look on her face when she went down she was staying! This is the entertainment factor in the video. The only way this video would have been funnier is if you could have seen Judge Christie Bowers jumping up and down and acting just as nutty trying to get Page to sit as I was. Luckily I've only signed her up for one more day of AKC agility before Sept. 1. And if it's a sit on the table that day, I'm taking it as a training run!

Summary

It was a long weekend, and this is our only trial between the end of February and the end of August. When I considered whether or not to do this trial, it seemed silly to spend the money on the entry when it was our only agility trial in a 6-month period. However looking back, I think it was a very valuable snapshot on what we are doing well and what we need to work on for the next 4 months.

Devon's biggest accomplishment is her success on the teeter. I know I cannot take this obstacle for granted for a while, but she was very confident in her runs. I plan to continue taking her to a few other locations in the next two months to train. I'm also looking forward to the CPE trial the end of August before some fall AKC trials. The more trial experience she gets with the teeter, the better!

I also know that the other reason she did the teeter so confidently is that her "self esteem" was high. On Friday she was "special dog" because I didn't bring Page; she had me all to herself. This is very important to Devon. She was spoiled as the most important dog to train from the time she walked in the door until the day in April 2009 when Gayle secured Page into the crate next to her. As much as Devon likes her little sister, she doesn't enjoy spitting training time with Page. I will need to do a few "Devon only" trials to keep her attitude up.

I need to go back and work weave entrances. I think that Devon's shoulder being out and sore began this problem about 10 days ago, but now it's created a small training issue. I doubt I'll have to work hard to get Devon's weaves back; she has nice weaves. But I will need to make an effort.

Generally for her first weekend in Excellent Standard and her fifth weekend in Excellent JWW, I think Devon is doing a lovely job! We are well on our way to becoming a seasoned team! I'm looking forward to fall trials with Devon.

Page showed me some incredible things this weekend. She never went off course. She always looked to me for direction, which is remarkable for a 16 month old high drive pushy pup. Page knows this is a team of two sport, and she's all for it. What a privilege it is for me to run her!

Page never missed a weave pole, even with very challenging off-side entries and a rear crossed entry. Her performance in the poles was off, but I know that's totally due to there only being 6 poles. I can't wait to move her into Open so she can see 12 poles.

Page's start line was completely solid. I never once thought she would break. All the hard work on her start line criteria paid off this weekend. It's so nice to know I can get that lead out I'll need. I will need to maintain this skill and be ever vigilant.

Page stepped up on day 2 and nailed all three of her contacts. Even though she missed her correct performance on the teeter and dogwalk on Saturday, she did get the A frame. The fact that she improved her performance on day 2 once again speaks to the remarkable dog she is. That said, proofing contacts is our big homework assignment in the next 2 months. I want her contacts to be more solid to a verbal release regardless of my movement.

Finally, I'm pleased with Page's jumping. She is over jumping, which I've been assured will fade quickly with experience. She doesn't over jump in training, so I'm comfortable. I do need to really think about where I need to be to support jumps for her so she can gain confidence, especially on her left lead. While this is a longer term goal for us, I can still set up jumping drills and work that left lead.

This weekend told me Page is set up to have a fun fall of agility trials. We have work to do, but at least she has the foundation in place and she's a very willing partner, holding up her end of the bargain. What more could I ask for?

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!

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!

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!

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!

Greater Lafayette Kennel Club Agility Trial

Whew! This 2-day trial ended a busy week for us, which included two days of field training in Ohio on Thursday and Friday (more on that to come). The girls and I got back Friday evening to unpack the SUV of field training and cold weather gear and reload it for an agility trial.

I was thankful to only be running Excellent JWW, which was the second class of the day. I didn't have to get up early! But I am a member of this club, so I had some duties to accomplish when I got to the trial site each morning.

Saturday Excellent JWW

Devon ran a flawless course; she did everything I asked of her ... including when I cued the first tunnel about 2 steps too early, causing her to go into the wrong entrance. I knew it when it happened; while I gave her a call and rotated my shoulders, I didn't try too hard to call her off of it. She was searching for direction and I gave it to her and she committed.

According to the judge and AKC it was an NQ, but it was my fault, so I celebrated a perfect run with my girl. She doesn't care about ribbons or qualifying scores! I got a lot of compliments on her last line of jumping. I cued extension and boy did she read it!

Sunday Excellent JWW

Today's course was shorter but more technical. I love technical courses when I ran them with Ian. I'm still not as sure with my handling of my baby dog, so I didn't jump up and down for joy at the challenge our judge presented us today.

But I planned my run and stuck to my plan. Front crosses to pull speed and give good direction. There was another dratted tunnel where we had to pull to the far end. I was determined to cue this one correctly!

This was a lovely run! Even though I can pick it apart (which I will), it was still a clean run and Devon's first AXJ leg! Yippee!!

Now for the critique! Both days Devon showed startline stress by scratching, and she was slow off the startline. On Saturday's run she recovered nicely. Today Devon was distracted on course and wanted to disconnect several places during the run; I worked hard to keep her connected. I wonder if the disconnection was stress due to the more technical course that required lots of side changes. I'll have to keep track of this in the future.

I wonder if the scratching/stress at the startline was simply four weekends in a row of trials. I was exhausted, and I'm sure Devon was too. Plus we had two days of field training outside the two days before the trial this weekend.

Devon's course time was fast on Saturday, running 4.49 yards per second (YPS). Today's shorter more technical course dropped Devon's speed a little to 4.04 YPS. She's still well above where she was this summer, and she's looking confident.

I was thrilled about Devon's weaves this weekend; they were lovely! She was a little slower than she has been, but after last weekend's struggles that's to be expected. I know these weaves are 22 inches, and I know she does well on 24 inch weaves. Since last weekend's weaves were 20 inches, and that answers the weave question for Devon. Last weekend wasn't Devon's lack of skill at weaving; it was her lack of experience on various weave spacing.

Finally, I think we're all looking forward to taking the next 6 weeks off from trialing. We have a seminar to attend in a couple of weeks, but other than that we'll be sticking close to home and training. We've had a busy fall beginning with 5 weekends of hunt tests, then lots of tracking and tracking tests followed by 4 weekends of agility trials. It's time for a rest!

And Devon also did me a huge favor by listening to my request and reading the calendar. Devon was due in season Dec. 1 by the calendar. I asked her to wait until Dec. 7 so we could get through these trials, then she could come in and be out before our next set of trials. She's not in yet, but I'm certain she will be shortly! What a good girl she is!

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??

Central Indiana Shetland Sheepdog Club Agility Trial Day 1

Our first 3-day agility trial in months! We got to sleep in on Friday since we were only running Open JWW and the trial started with FAST, then Standard and finally JWW.

We arrived around 12 noon with lunch (including a yummy Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake from Steak 'n Shake - I love this time of year!!). I am trying an experiment this weekend. Both Page and Devon are in mesh crates. Since Devon has eaten her way out of one as a puppy, I've kept her in metal crates for 3 years. But recently I tried mesh crates at a run through and they worked fine. I had the van with me so I had metal crates available if something went wrong. But so far so good!

Devon had an absolutely beautiful run. It was a challenging course, but I decided to stick with my goal of getting fast, drivey runs regardless of Q rate. I also decided that I would handle Devon as I would a seasoned dog. I can trust her. She knows her job, and she's confident.

The opening was ideal for a two-jump lead out push. However, I never did those in competition with Ian. Even though he could handle the skill, he was insecure sitting on the startline so far away from me. Instead I would lead out and just do a push.

Leading out past the first jump is risky with Devon. In the past she's been insecure about being left and will come around the first jump. So my plan was to get at least to the jump standard and then run like heck! It worked like a charm! What a good girl!

Next were two pinwheels both needing front crosses. Devon did this very well. She wanted to disconnect in the second pinwheel, but I never let the connection slip away.

Devon's weave entrance was beautiful, as were her weaves ... until she comes out and visits a bar setter. I was so shocked to see her come out of the poles, and halfway to the bar setter I think she realized she wasn't supposed to do that. To keep her from worrying, I didn't react and got her back on course to a lovely finish. I had been worried about that tunnel entrance in the close, but Devon a fantastic job with it.

So in spite of Devon's brain fart in the weaves, this was a fantastic run. And both girls spent the whole day in mesh crates with no escaping! That makes set up and tear down easier!

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.

Free Friday training

The kennel club offers free member training on a couple of Fridays a month. Today was one of those days. I was able to go up early in the day, and I had the building to myself for 2 hours. What a great way to spend a Friday afternoon!

After I ran the boys, I brought Devon in for a couple of agility sequences. The course that was set up was the same one she ran this week in class, so I did some sequences that we didn't do earlier this week. Devon was very strong in her weaves, and I was pleased with her work.

After I ran Devon, I let her stay crated in the building while I trained Page. I have done some work with Page putting her through standards here at home, so I thought I'd do that in a new place. They also had the 8 inch table out, so I thought I'd play with that, too.

Devon has an automatic down on the table, and I really like it. I've been planning to teach Page the same thing, but she was slower in learning the down than Devon was. But now that the down is coming along very well, I decided to try the table today. Yes, I know I should really teach things at home first, but why worry about silly things like that!

The clip below is the second session that day on the table. You can see she picked up the concept in no time; she's very smart. I pushed the session way too long; but she was so stinking cute, I couldn't help it. This pup just makes me laugh all the time! BTW, the protesting in the background is Devon. She is jealous when her sister works!

Next we worked sending Page through the standards. I was really glad to work this here on different jumps and with the cone and other distractions. The next time I'm able to work in the building, I'll add in the wings on the jumps. I'm very proud of her work here. And as a side note, I set the camera on the 16 inch table, and Page jumped up on that one to do her automatic down, too!

The final agility exercise I worked on with Page was a tunnel. Once again I should probably introduce these things at my place first, but the tunnel was handy and she volunteered to go through it! The next time someone comes here to the house, I'm going to have to have them help me put Page into my tunnels.

Page also went into the obedience practice ring to work her walking on a loose leash, sit, down, and leave it. She's finally getting the leave it concept, which is good.

After Page's session, I brought Devon back out for some obedience work. I think her obedience is coming along very well. She still sits a little wide from me, but she's very straight and her gait changes are beautiful. Below are two clips from her obedience session. The first is her "get close" where I'm asking her to work close beside me in heel. The second is just some heeling practice.

I had four tired but happy pups on the way home!