Both of the girls had class last Thursday. I brought my camera and had a classmate tape Gidget's runs. I should have had someone tape Gracie's runs too because they were pretty decent for how new she is to the game. I had to refresh her memory on the teeter and by the end of the class Gracie had both her contact behavior and all 12 weaves down! I love agility classes with the girls! Here's the video.
There were a couple things I didn't mention in the video. There was another way to get a straight safe A-frame entry. You can start with the dog on your right and send them out to the A-frame. This follows the curve of the course and causes the dog to straighten their entry as they run with their handler. After the A-frame, just scoop the dog into the tunnel, keeping her on your right and continue on. I had the chance to try three options with Gracie. Our first try I had her on my left and kept her running with me (no lead out) as I straightened our path to the A-frame. It worked but caused Gracie to be slower and wouldn't work if she had more drive for the obstacle than focus for me. Next I tried the lead out option shown in the video. Obviously that worked with both dogs but I don't usually like to do long lead outs in trials (they're still good to practice in class for when I really do need them though). Running with Gracie on my right worked really well too and I was excited that she got the tunnel/contact differentiation.
The other thing I noticed after watching the video a few more time I noticed that on Gidget's second bad weave entry that my right foot is pointing into the poles and not at the entry. I'm not sure that this was the sole cause of her missed entry, but I'm sure it didn't help.
On Monday I took Gracie to an open contacts class. She really needs work on the teeter. That's a hard behavior to build and keep when you see a teeter less than once a week. Our first turn up I overestimated her memory of the teeter from the Thursday before and she flew right off after charging at it full speed from a tunnel. We managed some improvement but I'll have to show it to her carefully every time it's out til she gets a hang of it. She did wonderfully on the dog walk though, it took a couple tries but she got her contact behavior down pretty quickly. I think it was after class she even offered 2-on-2-off on a set of stairs without me asking! We did have a dog walk entry issue coming in at an angle from the tunnel. I talked to the instructor about how to teach a dog a straight contact entry, especially when the dog is faster than you. Without any props the best bet is to make sure to face the dog's path instead of just racing along side them. This is good to do with any turn, it supports their path and helps show them where to go. Some props that could be used would be a cone, sending the dog out around it so that they then have to run straight to the contact. You can also use gates or boards on either side of the entry to force the dog into a straight entry. I'm still not sure which option is best to actually teach the dog the straight entry.
Well that's all for now, class again tomorrow! Happy agility!
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