Bottom!

Had another good contacts class with Gracie.  We worked on the A-frame more, the dog walk just a little higher up, and the teeter with more tip.  The tables holding the dog walk up higher stuck out on one side and not the other so we could practice running close and with a tiny bit of distance (1-2ft.).  Gracie did great at everything!  She seemed the tiniest bit nervous on the teeter the first couple of times, but that cheese on the target at the end of the teeter was apparently worth it.  I did notice Gracie coming a little to close to the edge of the A-frame on the way down.  I think it was because of treats in my hand so I need to be careful about that.

I had asked the instructor for some extra contact help and she obliged, giving a very informative talk and demo on how to teach contacts.  A classmate whose dog has rock start contact behavior also gave me some tips.  The process goes like this:  First the dog has to know how to touch a target and want to touch it whenever they see one.  Then have the dog walk over a short board to touch the target with their nose and have their front feet on the ground (don't worry too much about their back feet yet).  Once the target touching at the end of the board is solid, then you can work on the back feet.  There are a couple of ways to teach the dog where they need to put their back feet.  If they know how to back up, you can back them onto a board.  My classmate said she would pick up her dog's back end and put her back feet on the board.  I'm a bigger fan of letting a dog figure it out more on their own, but do think this could help to start off.  Start the dog off on a flat board then start making it steeper to help the dog work up to the angles of the dog walk and A-frame.  In class we practiced having the dog jump onto the contact from the side near the bottom.  That way there's less speed involved but the dog can still work on generalizing the behavior to the actual obstacles.  This can also be practiced on stairs, a board, a board leaned against stairs, or just about anywhere that the dog can get their back feet a little higher than their front feet.  I've been using the stairs in my apartment building on our way outside and a board propped up against a foot stool (I'd make it steeper, but it's kind of slippery).  Finally, to add some speed it's best to work with two people (can be done with one if the dog will wait at one end of the obstacle).  The dog is held or waits at one end of the obstacle while the handler walks to the other end and faces the dog.  When the dog is released, it should drive towards the handler who can help them get into the proper position.  This should help prevent dogs from creeping slowly down the downside of the contact.  Ok, that wasn't the final thing, oops!  Finally (for real), you can proof the behavior by running past the obstacle while the dog stops in position and waits to be released, hang back til the dog is in position, or add some lateral distance.

Hopefully with all this help I'll be able to teach Gracie a great 2 on 2 off contact behavior.  Maybe I'll even change my mind about Gidget's running contacts (she doesn't stop at the bottom of a contact, just keeps running), she is gaining speed so stopping her may become necessary, we'll see.  Happy agility!

Long Tunnels!

Our second to last tunnels class was today and it was fun as usual.  We did a front cross similar to that of last week's except with two long tunnels.  No problem for Gracie!  Then we did more work with a straight tunnel and the chute, except the instructor held the dog at an angle to the tunnel and we'd release them into the tunnel.  We worked with the chute held up just a bit since Gracie wasn't quite to the point of running through the flat chute last week.  I ended that drill with a flat chute and Gracie took it no problem!  Gracie did have issues looking at the tunnel when I released her so she'd run to me and not the tunnel.  I just had to wait for her to glance at the tunnel before releasing her and that took care of the problem.  Next was some rear cross work with a short straight tunnel.  We'd start tunnel-dog-handler and the handler would flip the dog into the tunnel then turn and meet them at the other end so that the dog ended up on the opposite hand that they were flipped with.  No troubles for us here, except Gracie wanted to go ahead into the tunnel before I flipped her.

Lastly we had a mini tunnel course!  Nothing fancy, just two tunnels connecting to the front cross drill we did earlier.  The second tunnel was a yellow tunnel, one I remember Gidget having an issue with early on, and Gracie went in the first time and turned around and came back out.  I have no idea why... can I blame the yellow?  Anyways, no issue our second attempt.  We even ended the course with a rear cross!  Next week we're being tested with a full tunnels course.  I can't wait!  Happy agility!

Messy Agility Runs

Had class with Gidget last night and our runs were less than pretty.  I was a little late, which didn't help, but I was still able to walk the course.  Though I thought the course only went to 14 when it actually went to 16 so I had to change my plans while watching others run.  Other than that we just seemed off.  I do think I need to improve my working relationship with Gidget.  I'm able to work with Gracie for at least a couple minutes before all her meals because she loves her kibble so much.  Gidget doesn't care about kibble as much, I think she only eats it so that Gracie can't get it.  Thankfully their training treats are actually a super soft balanced diet dog food.  It comes in a log and I cut it into discs which I freeze until I need to thaw them and cut them up into little treats.  So I plan on switching part of her meals over to this food so that I can actually practice with her at meals. 

A specific thing I think I need to practice with her is something I learned off of Susan Garrett's Success With One Jump DVD.  It involves teaching a dog to find their line at the start line instead of staring at the handler.  I noticed that Gidget was definitely looking at me and not her first jump as we started both of the courses we ran last night.  And what did she do after the first jump?  Go to the wrong obstacle of course.  Both courses started with choices after the first jump.  In the first course the A-frame was the correct choice but she took the tunnel and in the second course the jump was next but she took the teeter.  I can't think of any better way that I could have told her where to go.  I had my opposite arm up, pulling her towards me and the correct obstacle, I called her name, I was facing the correct direction - body and feet!  I just don't know what else I could have done.  Had she been facing the direction that I sat her instead of staring at me though, she would have been more likely to see that correct second obstacle and taken it.  That's all I've got for theories on that one.

I had a lot of notes from class yesterday but the rest of them are a little simpler.  I did a front cross between 6 and 7, though I did consider a rear cross, the front cross seemed faster.  It was a good thing I chose that too because a couple of the handlers that chose rear crosses ended up with dogs in the tunnel after 8 instead of going to the tire.  The front cross positions the handler nicely to keep the dog away from the tunnel and A-frame and take a nice straight line to the tire.

We had a little trouble with the weave entrance at 12.  Gidget and I were just going too fast!  I need to remember to slow down a little sooner and smoother to send her to the weaves.  Also I need to remember not to watch my dogs, as pretty as they are, while we're running.  I need to be looking ahead to the next obstacle, or in a straight away like that, to the end obstacle so that my dogs are getting the info they need and don't feel like they have to check in with me.

13-14-15 is very serpentine like!  Just starting it with a front cross between 13 and 14.

5-6 and 11-12 both involved front cross wraps which I need to work on!  Can't go past the jump, stand up straight, and practice from different angles. 

Lastly!  A front cross was a good idea for 14-15 because a lot of dogs went to the tire when the handler tried to turn the dog to the left into the tunnel. 

Ok, that's the end of our sloppy class night.  Hopefully next week will go better!  Happy agility!

Teeter Time!

At Gracie's contacts class last night we actually got to use a real teeter!  There were stools under each end of it so that it didn't tip more than 10 inches, probably less, but it was still a real teeter!  The goal was to get the dogs to drive to the end of the teeter.  To do this, our instructor got out a target and a can of aerosol cheese.  Boy did the dogs love that!  Gracie had no trouble hopping up and running to the end of the teeter, even tipping it all on her own (the instructor would catch the teeter at first to ease the dogs into tipping it)!  My biggest problem was trying to get her off the teeter and away from the target that smelled like cheese.  Definitely going to use that as a high value reward to work on other issues.  The can would be fairly easy to carry on walks. 

We also got to use the real A-frame at a lowish height.  They put a rug on the up side so that the dogs avoided learning to scramble up the A-frame.  The instructor took a treat and put it at the bottom of the downside to encourage them to run straight down the middle of the downside and keep their heads low.  I'm still struggling with Gracie's "bottom" behavior.  She just doesn't seem to get it and I'm not sure how to clear it up for her.  I can get her into the position with little problem but the only spot she'll offer it without getting off the obstacle is on the wooden board here in our apartment, and even then that's only half the time.  Definately need some help with that.

Now for a not so happy note... I took the girls for a walk today.  The trail wasn't plowed so it was quite a workout for me and the girls pulled more than normal since I couldn't walk as fast as I would on a clear trail.  I still enjoyed the majority of the walk though.  That is until the end.  We were coming around the last bend before we could see our building again and I could hear someone yelling for their dog, but I couldn't tell where they were.  Well we got around the bend and here's this little puggle like dog charging towards us, leash dragging behind, owner struggling through the snow trying to catch her.  I knew the dog was coming to see my dogs and there wouldn't be much I could do to keep Gracie away from her.  So I picked Gracie up.  This worked for a short while, but then Gidget's leash got tangled around my legs (she didn't seem to mind this loose dog) and the other dog barked.  Gracie started growling and barking and squirming.  I could just barely hold on to her.  The lady finally caught up and grabbed the leash, just in time too because I couldn't hold Gracie anymore.  She flew out of my arms and I held her in one spot until the other dog was further away and Gracie had calmed down.  I hate it when this happens, thankfully it doesn't happen too often, but it's still no fun what-so-ever.  In our reactive dog class it was suggested to teach our dogs to sit behind us when this happens but I can't think of anything that would keep Gracie there while some strange dog is bouncing around us.  Then there was the throwing food option, I'd have to have a steak (or just something bigger and tastier than what I normally carry) with me to get most dogs to look away from trying to meet an exciting new dog or person.  I'll have to keep working on better ideas.  Happy agility!

Serpentines and 270s, Oh My!

I took both girls to a jumpers class last night.  We started with serpentines (3 jumps in a line that have to be taken in an "S" like pattern).  Once Gidget was focused and I started her in the right direction, this was a no brainer for her.  However, serpentines are very new to Gracie.  We broke it down into two jump sets for her.  Out over one jump, back in over the next for a treat by my side.  She caught on very quickly.  A couple of times she thought we were done when we had a couple jumps left and she tried to run off to her kennel.  I can't complain about how much she likes her kennel, it is amusing though.  Luckily she turns right around when I call her name.  Next 270s (2 jumps at a 90 degree angle where the dog has to make a 270 degree turn from one jump to the next) were added into the mix.  Both girls handled this with no problem at first.  When they changed the course so that it was two right angle serpentines with a 270 at the corner, I handled it just fine in one direction but kept screwing it up in the other direction.  Gidget's barking sounded very frustrated with me by the third or fourth time we tried it.  In order to do a 270 the handler's body needs to face the dog's path, more specifically, the gap between the jumps.  I was attempting to do this but just couldn't get it right.  I'd turn too early, or get too close to the second jump forcing myself to turn, I even tried using the wrong hand a couple times.  I just couldn't get it.  When Gracie's turn came up, I managed to not completely mess up after so much practice with Gidget, but it still wasn't pretty.  Thankfully I have super smart and understanding dogs!  Happy agility!

Two Totally Different Dogs

It always amuses me sometimes how different my dogs are.  I've always known every dog has their own personality but I don't usually get to see the little differences in other dogs I've met.  Gracie scarfs down her food as soon as you let her, Gidget has never been that big of an eater.  She loves treats but, until we got Gracie, half the time she wouldn't eat her meals.  Now she does eat her meals just slowly, chewing each kibble carefully.  Gracie will walk right through a puddle, Gidget usually leaps over a puddle or finds a way around it.  Gracie will sniff something and move on, Gidget will sit and sniff the same spot for as long as you let her.  Gracie prefers to curl up in her chair or maybe a few inches away from you on the couch, Gidget curls up on you whenever possible.  There are plenty of other differences, but you get the idea.  I love my girls and all their little quirks... well most of them.  Happy agility!

Tunnels, Tunnels, and a Rear Cross!

Gracie had a good class today.  The instructor was super nice and set aside a special spot for Gracie and the other reactive dog in the class so that we could focus more on what we were supposed to be learning and less on managing our dogs around the other dogs.  It made class much easier and more enjoyable.  I was able to send Gracie to her kennel from 10-15 ft. away and she had to go around a barrier to get to it, and the only way I could practice that sort of thing is with few to no other dogs around.

Lets see, first we worked with a straight tunnel to the chute.  Gracie's still not ready to go through the chute with the fabric down, but we're getting there.  A small chute is definitely on my wish list.  I've seen one that would actually fit in my apartment.  It'd be so nice to be able to practice that more often.  I know Gidget struggled with it for a long time, hopefully it won't take quite as long for Gracie.  Next we did some post turn and front cross review going back and forth between two cones.  Then we moved on to a similar exercise between two small curved tunnels.  That was fun, but those post turns can sure get dizzying.  We did a short sequence of a long slightly curved tunnel with the two short curved tunnels.  It was to start the dogs on long curved tunnels and practice a front cross between the second short tunnel and the long tunnel.  Gracie did well, I just have to remember that she still needs a little more support than I'm used to with Gidget.  I pulled her away from the tunnel entrance trying to set up quickly for the front cross a couple times.  Gotta keep those feet pointing to where the dog should go until their committed then I can move to set up a cross! 

Somewhere in there we started on a rear cross, first without a cone, and then with one.  A couple of posts ago I mentioned my confusion on why I should or shouldn't turn my dog away from me.  This class cleared that up a tiny bit.  We taught this turn away as an intro to the rear cross.  The dog starts by your side, you turn them away from you, and you turn towards them so that they end up on the other side.  Both dog and handler turn in the same direction but the handler is crossing the dog's path behind the dog so that the dog ends up on the opposite side that they started on.  With a cone, the dog starts between handler and cone, turns away from the handler towards the cone, the handler turns toward dog and cone (without going around the cone), and ends up with the dog on the opposite side.  So that's why I learned this turn in foundation with Gidget and the way I use it now is still a rear cross, it's just hard to see it that way.  So in the weaves class on Mon. I was on one side of the weaves with the next obstacle on the opposite side of the weaves.  At the end of the weaves I tell Gidget to turn toward the next obstacle and I turn that direction too, crossing behind her so that she takes the next jump on the opposite side of me from the way we did the weaves.  A rear cross!  It seems kind of exciting to me that the turn move I've been doing is just an almost 180 degree rear cross.  Hmm... I hope this paragraph makes sense to me when I read it again years from now.  Guess we'll see!  Happy agility!

Class with Gidget

Had another fun class with Gidget last night.  I think I can actually draw this course out, no numbers though.  We did 3 different courses on this set up and the numbers would just get too confusing!  I cannot remember the first course for the life of me.  I do remember that the run went really well and the only thing we were really working on was going fast!  Gidget even had a decent speed over the teeter which she normally takes rather slowly.  The second course was the only one we really messed up on.  It started with the tire-weave-table-broad jump-chute.  I think my feet were pointing at the wrong pole (one of the actual poles instead of the imaginary 1st pole that usually gets her started perfectly) for the weaves and Gidget missed a pole or two, then I had trouble getting her restarted.  All this got me flustered and I wasn't ready for the front cross after the broad jump.  We pulled it off but it wasn't pretty.  We also messed up the end just a bit.  The end was teeter-jump-jump-tire which involves a nice little wrapping front cross around that second jump.  Our first attempt had Gidget back jumping over the jump.  Oops!  The instructor noted that I should not move past the jump.  It's more of a moving send to that jump then call the dog back around without going past the jump.  This worked perfectly when we redid the jumps.  The last run was a nice big clockwise loop starting with the tire and skipping the table, but instead of doing the tire again, the course turned in to the jump near the teeter then ended with the chute.  I used a front cross to get Gidget in the chute.  It worked, but again felt clumsy.  I wish we had more time in class to try things a different way, or sometimes just to improve a tactic.  I would have tried something different - rear crosses - in both the 2nd and last courses.  Oh well, at least I know it's something I'd like to try and can hopefully do so in future classes.  Happy agility!

Weaves and Contacts

I've had a couple of rather busy weeks and can now just barely remember Gidget's weaves class on Mon.  I do remember the set up: one jump, 12 weave poles, and one tunnel.  We focused on two things (that I remember anyways): flips and front crosses.  To flip your dog to an obstacle, you have to teach your dog to turn away from you* and towards the next obstacle.  In this case it was weaves to the jump or weaves to the tunnel.  I'd be on one side of the poles with the next obstacle on the other side of the poles.  At the end of the poles I tell Gidget to "turn" with a little flick of my finger in the proper direction and she should turn away from me and go take that obstacle.  I usually name the obstacle after saying turn too, "turn jump" or "turn tunnel."  Our first attempt at this didn't work so well.  Gidget seemed confused and turned the wrong way.  The second time was beautiful though, a perfect turn and dash off to the tunnel.

The front cross work was mostly a reminder to find landmarks to help place your turn properly.  It's pretty easy to trip over obstacles or pull your dog in the wrong way if your front cross isn't set up properly.  So find objects that you can see while still being able to see your dog and use those objects to help you know where to turn and set up properly.  It was a decent class.  Any chance to get Gidget through 12 poles is always appreciated.

Gracie's contacts class last night was fun.  We had a little issue early on with everyone trying to get in line for their turn it was difficult to get Gracie out of her kennel without her reacting.  Our instructor informed my classmates of the issue I and another women with a reactive dog were having.  It got a little easier after everyone realized they needed to be aware of where they and their dogs were so other dogs could get past. 

There was an A-frame and a dog walk set up to start with.  They were a lot shorter than normal and the A-frame was up on wheels and each side of it had different textures.  All the dogs had a great time running over these!  We were even able to raise the A-frame a little after some practice.  Gracie's contact behavior isn't the greatest (we're working on 2 on 2 off), but I think we made some improvement at class.  I started saying "bottom" a little earlier and she'd slow down a bit and glance back at me like she knew she was expected to do something.  She got pretty close at doing the behavior on her own but wasn't quite there.  Hopefully we'll get it soon.  The instructor hasn't offered much instruction on how to teach that, but I think her focus is more on building the dogs' confidence on the equipment for now.  They threw in the tipping board that was introduced last week toward the end.  Gracie crossed it just fine, no more concerns about the bang!

Gidget's class tonight!  Happy St. Patty's Day and Happy agility!

*I've been reading Susan Garrett's blog and she talks a lot about not teaching your dog to flick away from you, that it's a bad thing.  This confuses me quite a bit because I learned back in Gidget's foundation class to teach her to turn away from me and it's very handy in the right situation.  Will have to work on figuring that one out.

Advances in Tunnels

Had another fun tunnels class with Gracie yesterday.  There wasn't much new stuff, but we did some good building on what we've learned.  The fabric for the chute was actually attached to the barrel.  We held the fabric up so that it looked for tunnel like and dropped the fabric as the dogs ran through so that they got used to feeling it on their back.  Gracie started out really well, but then got hesitant after a few tries.  I'm not really sure what happened, but the instructor thought that part of it was that I wasn't sending Gracie straight into the chute.  I was letting her drive to what she likely thought was a tunnel but when she gets to the entrance she can't see as much as she would be able to if it was a tunnel.  This easily could have thrown her off a little.  I switched places with the instructor so that she was holding Gracie and I held the chute fabric and called Gracie through.  A few tries of this seemed to fix the majority of the issue and we ended with a couple good chute runs with the fabric held up.  Maybe we'll get her through with the fabric all the way down in the next week or two!

We worked on front crosses with a curved tunnel and post turns with a straight tunnel.  Gracie did well at these and I think I have them down too.  The instructor did suggest that I not send Gracie to the cone for the post turn, but instead keep up her speed and run with her to the cone and turn with her.  This will help her build her drive so that eventually I won't have to send her so much but use her drive to get her to do the needed turn.  After practicing on one tunnel, we sequenced the three tunnels together with cones between each one to practice front crosses.  Seeing the dogs actually run a sequence was pretty fun and a lot of them had some really nice tight turns around the cones.  Can't wait for next week!  Happy agility!

This Week in Classes

Gracie had another fun contacts class on Wed.  The goal of class was to get the dogs used to different surfaces, movements, and sounds.  There were some boards propped up on tables so that they resembled a low dog walk, except one of the sloped boards was at a right angle to the other two.  There was a small wobble board on a bigger toy so that it wobbled a lot.  Finally, there was a mini teeter board, a teeter sized board that only tips a few inches and makes a decent bang noise.  Gracie did great on the mini dog walk and wobble board and was showing a good beginner understanding of her "bottom" behavior, 2-on-2-off, though we still have a lot of work to do on that.  She had a little trouble with the mini teeter board.  I didn't think the bang would bother her much, so little does bother her.  It did throw her off a little, but a couple treats as soon as she banged the board and she was flying over it.  They did put an A-frame panel in place of one of the boards on the mini dog walk toward the end of class.  It was just to get the dogs used to yet another surface and width.  Gracie did have one paying too much attention to me issue.  We were heading toward the mini teeter board, she didn't look ahead and tripped right over it.  I need to remember to tell her something is coming up.  Just after this though, she did look ahead to see the mini dog walk and drove towards it on her own.

Gidget's class had a nice jumpers course set up.  Our goal for the night was speed and our first two runs were very speedy!  Our instructor even sounded impressed!  It was fun running full out with Gidget.  She did really well too, got her weaves perfectly on her first try, didn't get thrown off by my excessive front cross (now I seem to be using them too much), and followed me pretty darn well.  I had to remember certain places to decelerate a little, before the weaves and for pinwheels since she has to run further than me.  I could tell that a few runs wore us out a bit as we were making a few mistakes on our last run, a little slower, missed weaves, nothing major, but noticeable.  I'm going to try to take up running with the dogs this spring/summer so maybe that will help our endurance.  It's been a long day, so hopefully I've remembered the important stuff.  Time for some rest!  Happy agility!

Trial Report!

Alright, I'm finally ready for Gidget's trial report!  Gidget and I participated in a local AKC trial on Saturday only.  We ran in Novice B JWW and Open STD (our first Open run ever!).  It was bright and early in the morning and I am so not a morning person.  We did pretty well anyways.

The JWW course was fun and actually had a tunnel in it!  I knew I had to use some front crosses on this course and was glad I'd been practicing them a lot lately.  I had a few options for placement of the FCs but I think I picked two pretty decent spots, one after the second jump of a pinwheel (this course had 2) and one before the turn to the straight away to the finish.  Watching the video, it looks like I didn't have my opposite hand up as early as I thought I did, but it worked anyways.  This video misses the very beginning of the run, a couple jumps and a rear cross to the weaves, but I'll hopefully have another view soon that catches it all.  We ended with a clean run, 1st place (out of 3), and our novice jumper's title.  Gidget's name is now Ali and AJ's Gidget NA NAJ!

We did not qualify in our Open STD run.  I was unsure of what I should in the tire-jump-A-frame sequence.  My initial instinct was to do a front cross after the tire, and I wish I would have stuck with it.  I saw too many people planning to do the sequence without a cross, I walked it and for some reason thought it was better.  That ended up setting me up to pull Gidget right past the A-frame.  Refusal number 1.  The next issue came with me wanting to try something, not really new, but a little more difficult.  There were 2 jumps turning to the left with a pole right about where a handler might want to be.  So I thought I'd try to layer the pole.  It may have worked, but the first jump faced the exit door which I think distracted Gidget.  She ended up coming around the far side of the second jump.  Refusal number 2.  Other than these 2 oopsies, the run was pretty decent.  I was very excited that Gidget did all 12 weave poles on her first try!  I can learn from my mistakes, work on layering, and get a first open leg in both JWW and STD at our next trial!

Our next trial won't be until the end of April, I can't wait!

Jumping RX

I took both girls to a jumping class last night.  That was a challenge.  Switching the girls in and out of the kennel went well at first, but either Gracie got worked up by another dog near by or she was sick of sharing "her" kennel because she started going after Gidget.  Gidget wouldn't stay while I worked with Gracie so she ended up tied to a railing where she behaved really well.  So, once they're in the same class on a regular basis, I'll be getting a second kennel.

The were 6 jumps set up in a big oval, basically two connected pinwheels, with a jump in the middle parallel to the middle jumps of the pinwheels.  We practiced front crosses, rear crosses, and post turns.  Both girls did really well.  I think Gracie missed only one jump the whole night and only messed up one rear cross, she was pretty awesome (away from her kennel anyways).  Gidget was awesome too of course.  I did try to work on distance with her, and layer a pole which didn't work so well, but we have this great new big building so distance and layering will come, it'll just take a while.  Our instructor also mentioned that I need to work on getting Gidget faster.  She's capable of it, I'm just too gentle/easy going with her, especially when I'm trying to get her to do a specific move.  The last thing Gidget and I did was take all the jumps in a circle as fast as we could.  It was fun, now I just need to bring that into other agility tasks.

I did fail at getting that trial report on here.  I have a few minutes to get the videos up now, so hopefully the report will be up tonight, tomorrow for sure!  Happy agility!

Big Weekend!

I have lots of stuff to post about from the weekend; a class each for Gidget and Gracie, and Gidget's fourth trial!  I'm going to start with the classes and try to get videos up and such for the trial post tomorrow.

Gidget's first full agility class in the new building was fun.  The course was big and I probably won't be putting full drawings up of them anymore.  I will do a partial drawing of the section I had trouble with.  The first two courses we ran ended with a jump-tunnel-tire sequence.  Came at the jump from either the dog walk or weaves (above the jump in this picture) with the dog on the handler's right side.  A couple fast people rear crossed the tunnel and made a mad dash over to rear cross the tire too.  I practiced a nice front cross, opposite hand raised and all, aimed for the tunnel then rear crossed the tire when it was the final obstacle, and front crossed after the tunnel when there were a couple more obstacles.  The first two runs went really well for us, this section included.  The third run was a little more tricky.  It involved tire-tunnel-jump-Aframe then more obstacles that curved to the left after the A-frame.  My first attempt I rear crossed the tunnel then tried to get Gidget to wrap the left (lower) jump standard for a post turn and I could run on the left (upper) side of the A-frame.  The angle I was running at (along with recent rear cross practice I'm sure) pushed Gidget around the wrong standard so I tried to front cross and continue over the A-frame as planned.  This threw Gidget off and she struggled to get over the A-frame.  After the rest of the run the instructor pulled us over to where she was sitting on the far side of the jump, lined up with the A-frame and asked me which side of the jump made sense to have the dog wrap.  My initial thought had been right, my attempt had just failed.  Then she asked me which side of the A-frame the handler should run on.  The way the course curved made me want to be on the left like I'd done, but there was less in the way and more of a direct path on the right.  So she had me try it again, front crossing the jump, staying on the right (lower) side of the A-frame, then doing a front cross after the A-frame the continue the course.  This worked out much better, except that I had trouble catching up for the A-frame front cross.  I saw a couple class mates rear cross the jump after the A-frame, which may have been much easier for us, but I didn't get to try that.

Gracie spent the weekend boarding since we had dogs visiting and I didn't want the stress of dealing with her and other dogs on a trial weekend.  So when I went to pick her up and take her to class, you could tell she'd been couped up because she was a little distract.  Thankfully, no incidents and she was able to focus enough to get her work done.  We worked more on outs and added a go with a post turn and a front cross.  "Go" sends the dog ahead of you and "out" sends the dog off to your side.  For the post turn, you send the dog from one side, turn as the dog goes around the cone, and call the dog back to the same side.  For the front cross, you send the dog from one side, turn as the dog goes around the cone (never taking your eyes off the dog), and call the dog back to the opposite side.  The handler turns the opposite direction for the front cross than they did for the post turn.  Post - turn with the dog, front - turn towards the dog.  We also did more chute work, getting the cloth down to the ground so they can't see out the other side.  Gracie had no troubles with this!  Then we worked on a short curved tunnel, sending them back and forth from both the inside and outside of the curve.  Lastly we put the tunnel together with a "go."  Dog goes through the tunnel, send the dog with "go" around the cone and bring them into your side.  It was a pretty simple class (for Gracie and I at least), but it was good practice, and good lessons.

Trial results tomorrow!  Happy agility!  

Contacts!

Gracie's first contacts class was a lot of fun!  It was so much easier handling Gracie in a bigger building.  There is a separate area for crating reactive dogs so I don't have to walk Gracie close to other dogs she may not like.  We started the class by walking the dogs back and forth over a 1 ft by 8 ft board painted kind of like a teeter with yellow contact zones on each end.  Grace did pretty well, but of course she pays too much attention to me and not enough attention to where her feet are.  Remembering to reward low while she was still on the board did help with that some.  Then there were two square wobble boards, they moved and made a little noise when they hit the ground, that we had to get the dogs to sit, stand, and lay down on.  Gracie was a pro at this, she'd fly onto the boards! 

Next we tried a tricky proprioception (knowing where the feet are) exercise.  There were small square stools, maybe 1 ft by 1ft or less, that the dogs had to get both front feet, both back feet, or all four feet on.  Gracie caught on so quick that I think she may have done this before.  She had all four feet on the stool in no time.

Then it was back to the boards, but this time we put the stools underneath the boards to work with an incline.  This actually made walking on a board seem easier for Gracie.  I would think that the board being off the ground keeps her thinking about her feet a little more so she doesn't fall off.  Again we were rewarding low and starting on the two on two off contact behavior.  Last thing we did was put two inclined boards together so the dogs could go up and down the boards.  We walked them back and forth, then the instructor held the dogs at one end while the handler went to the other end and called them over the boards.  Gracie cheated her second try and hopped off, so no reward for that even though she came when called.  We knew she could stay on the boards so we made her try again and she was successful!  I can't wait to see her on an A-frame and dog walk, but it will be a few classes til we get to that!  Happy agility!

Weaves!

I took Gidget to our first weaves class in the new building last night.  A couple things I learned last night:  When pulling Gidget away from an obstacle it's best to not be moving much at the previous obstacle.  The sequence we were working on was jump-jump-jump-weave, but the first jump sent the dogs straight towards another set of weaves.  So I had to pull Gidget away from the weaves and turn toward the second jump.  The first couple times I tried I was moving with Gidget as she took the first jump and she went straight to the weaves.  By not moving, I signaled her to check back in with me after that first jump and I could direct her where to go.  Another sequence involved a front cross after a jump (I realize now that this set up was rather similar to the jumpers course that Gidget and I didn't qualify on because of my bad front cross) and the first time I tried I pulled her to me as I turned and she didn't take the jump.  Had I raised my opposite hand slightly, cuing the jump while letting her know a turn was coming up, before turning, I probably would have had more success.  I didn't get to try this, but I saw a classmate do it nicely.  My second attempt, I did make sure she was committed to the jump before turning so we were successful, but I think it could have been smoother.

This is a big week!  Gracie starts her contacts class on Wed.  Gidget has her first full class in the new building on Thur.  Then Sat. is Gidget's next trial and my birthday!  I'm excited!  Happy agility!