Title Number 2!

Gracie competed in another CPE trial yesterday.  We were entered in Level 1 Fullhouse, Level 2 Standard, and Level 1 Snooker.  Fullhouse was first.  My goals were fun, fast, and easy and we succeeded in all 3!  This game is a fairly easy point collecting game.  You need 3 regular jumps (1 point each), 2 circles (tunnels, chute, or tire - 3 points each), and 1 joker (contacts, weaves, double jumps - 5 points each).  Then you keep doing obstacles to get enough points for your level.  The lay out lent to a very Gracie course.  You'll see what I mean.  We got a 1st place Q, second place was a small 1 point behind us.  That Q got Gracie her CL1-F title!  Here's the video:

Next up was Standard, our first try at Level 2.  It's very similar to AKC novice courses so I wasn't too worried.  The only concerning spot was a dog walk/tunnel discrimination, but we managed that just fine!  I even threw in a blind cross after a tunnel - had to try it in a trial at some point, and that seemed like a great spot.  It was a beautiful run, a lot of fun too!  Unfortunately I only have video of the last obstacle and a half, not really worth posting.  Another 1st place Q!

Last was Snooker.  Man can this game be confusing.  My mom took a good shot at it first without much success which of course got me a little concerned.  Her course plan had looked great to me too!  I was pretty happy with my plan, though I had to make a small change when I walked it as the maps and the actual course are never quite the same.  I was amused that everyone tended to take the same easy, boring path (repeating the same "other" 3 times).  My mom and I both avoided that.  Our three red - others went just fine.  I had to have Gracie back jump an obstacle after our last "other" to get the 2 obstacle.  I didn't like doing that but it worked out just fine.  We got through 5 in the closing sequence and then Gracie started to take the A-frame instead of the tunnel under it like she was supposed to.  So we got whistled off.  I had noticed Gracie seemed a tiny bit more stressed when we entered the ring than she had the rest of the day.  I didn't blame her, it was the last run of a long day!  There were 2 games between Standard and Snooker.  She stuck with me very well considering, besides a quick sniff of the table and the draw of the A-frame (she does love her contacts!) so I can't complain.  We did get more than enough points before we were whistled off and got a 2nd place Q.  Here's the video:

I was very proud of Gracie!  She's come such a very long way from her first trial back in January.  She's entered in an AKC A-match in a couple weeks at a new location.  I figure a very small trial (35ish dogs) will be a great way to introduce her to a new location.  I'm looking forward to it!

At the trial yesterday, I got to coach my mom through a rather tricky jumpers course.  It had a back side jump and a serpentine and some just plain tricky spots.  It was fun helping her, and even more fun to see her take advice I gave her in one spot and apply it somewhere else.  She'd be such a fun student to have as she tries hard and is very willing to try new things.  She said she learned more from me in 5 minutes than she's learned in classes all year.  Not saying much for her instructors, but you do what you can in a smaller city.  Says a lot for my instructors that I could help her so much!  Maybe she'll come visit me regularly for lessons! 

That's all for this report.  Gidget is in an AKC trial this next weekend.  She's been a little iffy in class lately (to be discussed later) so we'll see how it goes.  Happy agility! 

Look What We Can Do!

I've decided that I need to keep a better video log of my training with the dogs.  I'm not off to a great start so far as I just had the girls do most of what they know and videoed it all in one day.  Hopefully I can get myself to start videoing at least one training session a week for both dogs, then I can actually keep an accurate visual record of their training.

This video starts with a bunch of obedience stuff, sits/downs/stands, heeling, and come.  Nothing fancy, but the girls are very attentive and know their stuff!  Then the tricks!  Gracie knows more tricks than Gidget, because I'm a bad trainer and train the dog that's easier/more fun to do trick training with more than the other.  I'm trying to fix that though.  I did leave a couple things out, namely Gidget fetching, and both of them fetching over a jump.  Left out a lot of basic obedience exercises too.  That's ok, I'll catch them eventually.

Now to the video.  Please note that the boots I throw on for one trick are to protect my toes from Gracie's toe nails.  They are not some special part of the trick, nor a fashion statement (it would be a horrible statement!).  I was just too lazy to put on real shoes.  Here's the video:

The "Cover Up" trick is my new favorite trick with Gracie, it's just too cute!  And she's already starting to generalize that one to other "blankets" as you can see in the blooper.  It took quite awhile to teach that.  She seemed to pick it up better with long breaks (nearly a week!) between sessions of teaching that trick, but she eventually got it!

The next trick on our list is play dead.  So far the hardest part is getting Gracie to have enough self control to stop her roll in the middle.  Gidget's working on recognizing her back feet.  Basically I'm doing 2 on 2 off type stuff (which is what led to Gracie's hand stand) with her just for fun.

I think trick training is important for a lot of reasons.  For Gracie it improves her confidence and her focus, not to mention it's great brain exercise!  For Gidget it's more of a bonding thing, something for just the two of us.  There can also be great physical and proprioception benefits that are great for agility.  Most of all it's just plain fun to show off all the cool tricks your dog can do!  Happy agility!