Agility Full Week!

Tues. we had open contacts.  The dog walk, A-frame, and teeter were all set up, along with a tunnel to do between obstacles.  With Gracie, I worked on stengthening her contact behavior and adding a little distance.  With Gidget, I tried something new, I used a clicker and click everytime she ran through the yellow.  She seemed to be getting that and continued to do well on the dog walk the next day at open agility, but was jumping the A-frame contact zone at class on Thur.  Grrr!  We'll just have to keep working on it.

This was the open agility set up.  The black course was what was numbered when I got there and the red course was something I made up for fun. 

Black course: I did a front cross right away from 1-2.  I tried starting it with a C-set (sending the dog to the jump while your set up to easily get into position for your next move) and with a start line wait and both worked very well.  5-6 was easy for Gracie and her "bottom" but was fairly tricky with Gidget's running contact seeing as I can't race to get ahead of her without her jumping the contact zone.  With a few tries we were able to make a flip work.  Everything else was pretty easy, rear cross 11, use a solid pull cue to the correct side of the tunnel and keep the dog on the right til the end.

Red course: I worked this course out to help Gracie increase her drive for tunnels and jumps (she loves those contacts so much!), to work on "out," practice a jump wrap, and throw a front cross in there too.  I used an "out" command to send my dogs to 3 while I kept running straight for 4.  Jump wrap front cross over 6, then a front cross after 8.  It was fun and fast for both girls.

These are the courses for Thur. class.  Sorry, you have to keep track of another black and red course.  Gracie's class started a little different than usual as we had a different instructor.  All that was set up when we got there was a jump, the tunnel and the A-frame.  So that's what we practiced, just 1-2-3.  It was a nice warm-up exercise. 

Red course: A front cross was needed after 2, but the cross needed to be set up so that you didn't get stuck behind the wings of jump 3 which would pull your dog away from jump 4.  We had another discussion about using landmarks for crosses, finding something in the room (in this case it was a yellow cord and the seams on the floor) that you can see as you run your dog to use to find the location of where you want to cross.  This allows you to make sure that you're not going to run into anything after you turn, that your path is the best one for getting your dog where they need to go, and can help you visualize your run between walking and running the course.  Once set up properly, the pinwheel was pretty easy, though Gracie needed some extra support near the jump, likely because of the other dogs on that side of the ring.  A front cross worked best after 7, it allowed you to keep your momentum so your dog keeps their speed to the tunnel, and puts you further ahead to set up for the weaves.  Then dog on your left til the end.

Blue course: 5-6 was tricky on this course.  Most of my classmates did a front cross after 5, but I wasn't fast enough to do this with Gracie.  I did a rear cross over 6 which worked out just fine for us.

Gidget's Class

Purple course:  I sent Gidget out to the A-frame after 2, a front cross may have worked too, but it just didn't seem as smooth to me.  Front cross after 4 meeting Gidget closer to the tunnel exit than to jump 5 to help keep her path nice and short.  There were a lot of options for 7-11.  Most involved sending the dog out to 7, after that you could front cross after 7, then again after 8, take 9 and 10 followed by a front cross to 11.  Rear crossing over 8 poses an off course tunnel threat, but you could rear cross over 8, then again over 9, and front cross after 10.  You can always not cross after 10 and pull the dog to the correct tunnel entrance, but there's that off course chance again.  I ended up front crossing after 7, rear crossing over 9, and putting that front cross in after 10. 

Green course (last one!): I went for the flip after 5 which meant a rear cross over 6.  I thought I then had a nice straight line to 8 but Gidget kept going in the wrong tunnel entrance.  The instructor told me to throw in an "out" command after 7 and that fixed the problem.  Front cross after 8.  I don't remember which of the handling options for 11-14 I used, but I think I did this first one: front cross after 11, then again after 12, then pull to 14.  The cooler option would be to post turn from 11-12 so that the dog comes out of the tunnel on the opposite side of the A-frame as the handler. Most of the handlers could get ahead of their dogs doing this so with an "out" command the next obstacle was pretty obvious, then it's just a pull or a front cross to the correct tunnel entrance.

This week is a little less busy, just open jumping tonight, class tomorrow (possibly with just one of the dogs due to a pleasure walking class I'm taking to get the girls - mostly Gracie - to stop pulling so much on their leashes), then Gidget has a trial on Sat.  That will be our first time in Exc A and we're trying Time 2 Beat too!  Hopefully all goes well.  Happy agility!