Monday, October 8, 2012
Finally!
Finally got ahold of the rest of the videos from the Sept. AKC trial the girls and I were in. Enjoy!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Useful Behavior
I've managed to teach Gracie a rather handy trick. When there's something out of her reach that she really wants, she comes back to me to sit in/near heel position and looks up at me as though asking permission. Assuming what she wants (usually something really worth smelling and peeing on) is something I'm ok with her having/checking out, I say "Ok" and walk with her to whatever the awesome thing/smell is.
This came about when I decided I had to stop Gracie's horrible pulling habits. We've used a combination of when Gracie pulls, I turn and go the other way rewarding her when she catches up to me, and stopping when she pulls and continuing forward when the leash slackens. The first one seems to be better at actually teaching a dog not to pull, but it was the second tactic that started Gracie asking for permission.
When I stop moving when Gracie pulls she normally turn towards me a bit or take a step back to slacken the leash. However, if there was something ahead that Gracie really, really, really wanted, she wouldn't let the leash become loose nearly as easily. I'd stand there with her struggling at the end of the leash until she became frustrated enough that she'd start to try stuff to get me to let her move forward. A sit is a super easy behavior, so that's what she offered. Eventually I started asking her to come sit closer to me. She'd sit near the end of her leash, looking back at me by this point, and I'd say, "No, you have to come sit by me." Of course she didn't understand the words, but I'd include a gesture to get into heel position so she'd know what I was talking about!
We've gotten in such a habit of this that in the last couple of weeks there have been a few times that I'd be distracted by my other dog and when I'd look back at Gracie, she'd be sitting in heel looking at me and then in the direction she wanted to go. Of course I release her and walk to the point of interest! I've even been able to ask her to wait while Gidget finishes her business before releasing Gracie. She's such a smart girl!
I love this behavior because it allows Gracie to communicate with me what she wants in a way that keeps us both happy. I'm not getting angry because she's trying to drag me to every spot some dog peed on, and she's not frustrated in not being able to reach something she wants. It's a win win!
Now lately I've been trying to think of ways to teach this to other people and their dogs and what other uses there'd be of this. In the level 1 class I help with we do a come game that involves toys and other interesting objects on the floor. When the dog shows interest in an object, you say their name, wait for their attention, and then say come. I'm thinking that if you don't say the dog's name and just prevent them from getting what they want, the dog should eventually offer a behavior in hopes of being allowed to get the object. Of course the dog needs to be an expert at sit, down, heel, or watch me so that the dog has behaviors to offer. It would also help if the dog is used to offering behaviors as opposed to being shown what to do. Treats, people, and even other dogs could also be used for this. Then you'd have a dog that's always asks permission!
I believe the idea here is essentially the Premack Principle. If a dog wants to do one activity (sniff something, eat a treat, great a person, etc.), the dog will do a less exciting activity (sit, down, heel, watch me) to get to do the more exciting activity. How useful is that?!
If anyone reads this regularly, I'd love to hear of other useful behaviors you've taught your dog. From an easier way to wipe paws, to bringing you a beer, or maybe just something that keeps your dog busy while you're working. Would also love thoughts on asking permission and other uses of the Premack Principle! Happy dog training!
This came about when I decided I had to stop Gracie's horrible pulling habits. We've used a combination of when Gracie pulls, I turn and go the other way rewarding her when she catches up to me, and stopping when she pulls and continuing forward when the leash slackens. The first one seems to be better at actually teaching a dog not to pull, but it was the second tactic that started Gracie asking for permission.
When I stop moving when Gracie pulls she normally turn towards me a bit or take a step back to slacken the leash. However, if there was something ahead that Gracie really, really, really wanted, she wouldn't let the leash become loose nearly as easily. I'd stand there with her struggling at the end of the leash until she became frustrated enough that she'd start to try stuff to get me to let her move forward. A sit is a super easy behavior, so that's what she offered. Eventually I started asking her to come sit closer to me. She'd sit near the end of her leash, looking back at me by this point, and I'd say, "No, you have to come sit by me." Of course she didn't understand the words, but I'd include a gesture to get into heel position so she'd know what I was talking about!
We've gotten in such a habit of this that in the last couple of weeks there have been a few times that I'd be distracted by my other dog and when I'd look back at Gracie, she'd be sitting in heel looking at me and then in the direction she wanted to go. Of course I release her and walk to the point of interest! I've even been able to ask her to wait while Gidget finishes her business before releasing Gracie. She's such a smart girl!
I love this behavior because it allows Gracie to communicate with me what she wants in a way that keeps us both happy. I'm not getting angry because she's trying to drag me to every spot some dog peed on, and she's not frustrated in not being able to reach something she wants. It's a win win!
Now lately I've been trying to think of ways to teach this to other people and their dogs and what other uses there'd be of this. In the level 1 class I help with we do a come game that involves toys and other interesting objects on the floor. When the dog shows interest in an object, you say their name, wait for their attention, and then say come. I'm thinking that if you don't say the dog's name and just prevent them from getting what they want, the dog should eventually offer a behavior in hopes of being allowed to get the object. Of course the dog needs to be an expert at sit, down, heel, or watch me so that the dog has behaviors to offer. It would also help if the dog is used to offering behaviors as opposed to being shown what to do. Treats, people, and even other dogs could also be used for this. Then you'd have a dog that's always asks permission!
I believe the idea here is essentially the Premack Principle. If a dog wants to do one activity (sniff something, eat a treat, great a person, etc.), the dog will do a less exciting activity (sit, down, heel, watch me) to get to do the more exciting activity. How useful is that?!
If anyone reads this regularly, I'd love to hear of other useful behaviors you've taught your dog. From an easier way to wipe paws, to bringing you a beer, or maybe just something that keeps your dog busy while you're working. Would also love thoughts on asking permission and other uses of the Premack Principle! Happy dog training!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Heel? What's That?
Gidget and I participated in our first AKC obedience trial this past weekend. I was super nervous! Thankfully there was a friendly face at the novice ring (thanks Cyndi!) The judge was super nice too. We were a little too ready to go, the judge had to remind me to wait to enter the ring til she called me in, oops! Gidget seemed super excited, maybe she was just more awake in the morning, or she may have been very interested in leaving the nearby exit door. Whatever it was, this was not the same dog I had at our walk through held in the same location, same ring even, a while back. That dog lagged and sniffed, this dog forged and wasn't even close to heeling half the time. She completely ignored a halt too. Between the on leash heeling and the figure 8, the judge suggested I loosen up the leash some (she really was nice and helpful). I wasn't used to how Gidget was working with me, plus nerves, so the leash had been tight for most of the exercise. The figure 8 went a tiny bit better, Gidget got the halts, the leash was looser, but it still wasn't very pretty. Skipping to the off leash heeling (get the bad stuff over with), it wasn't pretty at all! She even left me by a good 10+ feet in the direction of the door. In all this ugly heeling Gidget did have a few brief moments of being right on, where I truly felt connected with her. When I say brief though, I really mean brief.
On to the good stuff! Gidget's stand for exam and recall were perfect! I didn't think to check to see what our score was so I don't know that they were really perfect, but in my eyes they couldn't have been any better! I just remember thinking, "Look how straight she sat!" during our recall.
So after all that messy heeling I thought for sure that was an NQ, but it was time for the stays. The sit stay was going just fine until I was about one foot in front of her on the return, she stood up. The down stay was one more perfect exercise! Next time I'll have to remember to send her positive thoughts through both stays, "Good Gidget, stay right there, good girl..." I'm sure that's why her down stay was perfect!
The judge read off the qualifying teams after the stays... we were the only ones to NQ :( Not that I was surprised at this point. The judge came up to me afterwards and asked if I knew why we didn't qualify. I thought for sure it was the horrible heeling, but no, we had qualified for the individual exercises, lots and lots of points off, but qualified. No, it was that Gidget had stood up before I got back into heel position during the sit stay! One tiny little thing had kept us from qualifying. Though had we had perfect stays, I would have questioned a Q.
I was feeling kind of emotional when we were all done. Sure I was a little bummed, but I think it was really just the relief of it being done. I had been really really nervous! More so than Gidget's first agility trial I think. Anyways, I was kind of in a hurry to get out of there, but was pleasantly surprised that two strangers separately stopped me to ask how we did and encouraged me to stick with it. I've always heard that obedience crowds can be iffy, I'm really glad I got to see the really good part of the crowd!
So lots for Gidget and I to work on. Especially need some sit stay proofing and lots of heel work! Hopefully some more walk throughs in new locations will be in our future. Happy agil... er... obedience!
On to the good stuff! Gidget's stand for exam and recall were perfect! I didn't think to check to see what our score was so I don't know that they were really perfect, but in my eyes they couldn't have been any better! I just remember thinking, "Look how straight she sat!" during our recall.
So after all that messy heeling I thought for sure that was an NQ, but it was time for the stays. The sit stay was going just fine until I was about one foot in front of her on the return, she stood up. The down stay was one more perfect exercise! Next time I'll have to remember to send her positive thoughts through both stays, "Good Gidget, stay right there, good girl..." I'm sure that's why her down stay was perfect!
The judge read off the qualifying teams after the stays... we were the only ones to NQ :( Not that I was surprised at this point. The judge came up to me afterwards and asked if I knew why we didn't qualify. I thought for sure it was the horrible heeling, but no, we had qualified for the individual exercises, lots and lots of points off, but qualified. No, it was that Gidget had stood up before I got back into heel position during the sit stay! One tiny little thing had kept us from qualifying. Though had we had perfect stays, I would have questioned a Q.
I was feeling kind of emotional when we were all done. Sure I was a little bummed, but I think it was really just the relief of it being done. I had been really really nervous! More so than Gidget's first agility trial I think. Anyways, I was kind of in a hurry to get out of there, but was pleasantly surprised that two strangers separately stopped me to ask how we did and encouraged me to stick with it. I've always heard that obedience crowds can be iffy, I'm really glad I got to see the really good part of the crowd!
So lots for Gidget and I to work on. Especially need some sit stay proofing and lots of heel work! Hopefully some more walk throughs in new locations will be in our future. Happy agil... er... obedience!
Monday, September 10, 2012
Really Good Trial Day!
The girls and I participated in an AKC trial in La Crosse this past Sat. It was an all around really good day (with room for improvement)! Unfortunately my camera batteries died part way through the trial so most of the videos were on my mom's camera. I have to wait til the end of the month to get them and will add them to this post then.
Exc A Std was up first. The teeter was at the end of the course and the course looked really fun. I was thinking, "Finally a chance at another Exc A Q!" Gidget rocked the course, a great attitude, did everything I asked of her, but her darn handler had to go and do a couple really sloppy front crosses. Bad handler! I believe it was the first of those sloppy front crosses that got us a refusal. So NQ for us.
Gracie's Nov Std course was up next. We had a bit of a long wait before we could start, long enough for Gracie to get a tiny bit distracted anyways. I love in the video you can see her attention snap back to me with just a couple shakes! I don't know if it was the long wait or just nerves of the first run of the day, but Gracie wasn't quite ready to play with me when we started. She had to go check out the teeter first. She put one paw on the teeter (which the judge apparently didn't see) then came back to back jump the second jump before continuing on for a perfect rest of the course. 1st place Q!
Exc B JWW was next! The course called for several front crosses (especially since I don't care to do rear or blind crosses with Gidget right now) and I was determined not to have a single sloppy cross this run! I focused on my footwork and placements during my walk through. I gave myself a bit of an attitude change too, trust that Gidget will do what she's supposed to do and focus more on doing what I'm supposed to do to help her succeed. So when I said "Ok" at the start line, I took off watching Gidget out of the corner of my eye, and got to my spot for my first front cross. I'm sure it wasn't perfect, but it was a whole lot better than my crosses in the standard course. I kept it up and we made through the whole course perfectly! The only kinda not so great thing was that Gidget took the weaves super slowly. Oh well, 3 more points for us! Will add video when I can.
Gracie rocked her JWW course! My favorite part was sending her to the tunnel from the previous jump, then sprinting over to the landing side of the next jump to be ready for a front cross. It's so fun to be able to do that! 1st place Q and Gracie's first AKC title! Will add video ASAP!
Last of the day was Time 2 Beat. I was tempted to pull Gidget from this one because we had to do the teeter twice. I'm glad I didn't, not that we had any success at the teeter, but her attitude was wonderful for the rest of the course. I did get Gidget to do the teeter the first time it was up in this course, but it took some work and time. We ran out of time the second time we got to the teeter and she refused to go near it. I should have thought to end our run after the first kinda successful teeter and ran off to party, but I didn't. Future plan for teeters at trials: if we see the teeter a second time in a trial day (she has little/no problem with the teeter the first time she sees it, she just doesn't want to do it again), when she does it successfully run off and have a party!
Gracie rocked the T2B course too! She was the second fastest qualifying dog! She even did 12 weave poles (first time seeing that in a trial) without an issue! I think she actually did 12 better than she did 6. I think this bodes well for us for when we get to Open! She's really turning into quite the solid partner! T2B videos to come too!
Man, I have to wait til the end of Oct. for our next trial?! How will I ever survive?! Oh yeah, a new training building, more classes, the Canine Good Citizen test, an obedience trial, and CAT! Can't wait! Happy agility!
Exc A Std was up first. The teeter was at the end of the course and the course looked really fun. I was thinking, "Finally a chance at another Exc A Q!" Gidget rocked the course, a great attitude, did everything I asked of her, but her darn handler had to go and do a couple really sloppy front crosses. Bad handler! I believe it was the first of those sloppy front crosses that got us a refusal. So NQ for us.
Gracie's Nov Std course was up next. We had a bit of a long wait before we could start, long enough for Gracie to get a tiny bit distracted anyways. I love in the video you can see her attention snap back to me with just a couple shakes! I don't know if it was the long wait or just nerves of the first run of the day, but Gracie wasn't quite ready to play with me when we started. She had to go check out the teeter first. She put one paw on the teeter (which the judge apparently didn't see) then came back to back jump the second jump before continuing on for a perfect rest of the course. 1st place Q!
Exc B JWW was next! The course called for several front crosses (especially since I don't care to do rear or blind crosses with Gidget right now) and I was determined not to have a single sloppy cross this run! I focused on my footwork and placements during my walk through. I gave myself a bit of an attitude change too, trust that Gidget will do what she's supposed to do and focus more on doing what I'm supposed to do to help her succeed. So when I said "Ok" at the start line, I took off watching Gidget out of the corner of my eye, and got to my spot for my first front cross. I'm sure it wasn't perfect, but it was a whole lot better than my crosses in the standard course. I kept it up and we made through the whole course perfectly! The only kinda not so great thing was that Gidget took the weaves super slowly. Oh well, 3 more points for us! Will add video when I can.
Gracie rocked her JWW course! My favorite part was sending her to the tunnel from the previous jump, then sprinting over to the landing side of the next jump to be ready for a front cross. It's so fun to be able to do that! 1st place Q and Gracie's first AKC title! Will add video ASAP!
Last of the day was Time 2 Beat. I was tempted to pull Gidget from this one because we had to do the teeter twice. I'm glad I didn't, not that we had any success at the teeter, but her attitude was wonderful for the rest of the course. I did get Gidget to do the teeter the first time it was up in this course, but it took some work and time. We ran out of time the second time we got to the teeter and she refused to go near it. I should have thought to end our run after the first kinda successful teeter and ran off to party, but I didn't. Future plan for teeters at trials: if we see the teeter a second time in a trial day (she has little/no problem with the teeter the first time she sees it, she just doesn't want to do it again), when she does it successfully run off and have a party!
Gracie rocked the T2B course too! She was the second fastest qualifying dog! She even did 12 weave poles (first time seeing that in a trial) without an issue! I think she actually did 12 better than she did 6. I think this bodes well for us for when we get to Open! She's really turning into quite the solid partner! T2B videos to come too!
Man, I have to wait til the end of Oct. for our next trial?! How will I ever survive?! Oh yeah, a new training building, more classes, the Canine Good Citizen test, an obedience trial, and CAT! Can't wait! Happy agility!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
CPE Trial!
I entered both girls (Gidget was last minute decision) in a CPE trial in La Crosse on Sun. I had some extra cash on hand so I could enter Gidget and I thought it'd be a good warm up trial for our three AKC trials coming up at the same place. Gracie was in need of just 2 Qs to finish up level 1, so that was our goal for the day (on top of the usual: keep nerves under control and have lots of fun!).
Wildcard was up first for Gracie. I had screwed up our first attempt at wildcard, but I had a map and a good understanding of what we needed so I wasn't going to screw us up this time! The choices were (a or b) a tunnel or weaves, a single jump or serpentine, and a single jump or double jump. We went with the tunnel, single jump, and double jump. It was definitely Gracie's best run of the day. Here's the video:
Next up was Standard for both girls. Levels 2 and 3 had the same course and there was only 1 or 2 dogs between Gidget and Gracie (Gracie was first). Ahhhh!!! Gracie was a little off for this run, nothing major, and maybe not even noticeable while watching. I didn't have her lined up quite the way I wanted so she ran past the correct tunnel entrance at the beginning. Then she ran around a jump later. She was a tiny bit slower here than in her first run.
Gidget's standard run, was clean, but not very pretty as far as her energy went. I didn't blame her. I didn't have much time to sit and relax/pump her up before the run and the turn from the A-frame to the tunnel underneath was rather demotivating. The good thing that happened was that she took the dog walk on our second try! She went past it at first, but I called her back and did our start line "ready, set, ok!" and she did it! With some enthusiasm too! I will have to keep this in mind for our AKC trials.
Gidget was in Colors next. It was a nice short course with no contacts. I had time to sit with Gidget before this run. It went way better! Sure, still not her usual in class speed, but pretty darn good for trials! I tried to remember to keep moving, even when she was in a tunnel, and to stay with her instead of sending.
Last for the day was Jackpot for Gracie. I was pretty nervous about this one at first, the rule book made it sound very confusing! It turned out to be pretty easy though. Gracie was obviously tired at this point but was up for some more fun! We made an attempt at distance weaves, but she popped out, not a concern at this point. We got plenty of points.
The girls got 1st place Qs in all but jackpot, Gracie got a 2nd place Q there. It helps when there's not much competition (make that no competition except in jackpot). Gracie got her last two titles to finish out level 1 so she is now Grace O'Malley CL1. Next year we'll work on finishing level 2! Happy agility!
Wildcard was up first for Gracie. I had screwed up our first attempt at wildcard, but I had a map and a good understanding of what we needed so I wasn't going to screw us up this time! The choices were (a or b) a tunnel or weaves, a single jump or serpentine, and a single jump or double jump. We went with the tunnel, single jump, and double jump. It was definitely Gracie's best run of the day. Here's the video:
Next up was Standard for both girls. Levels 2 and 3 had the same course and there was only 1 or 2 dogs between Gidget and Gracie (Gracie was first). Ahhhh!!! Gracie was a little off for this run, nothing major, and maybe not even noticeable while watching. I didn't have her lined up quite the way I wanted so she ran past the correct tunnel entrance at the beginning. Then she ran around a jump later. She was a tiny bit slower here than in her first run.
Gidget's standard run, was clean, but not very pretty as far as her energy went. I didn't blame her. I didn't have much time to sit and relax/pump her up before the run and the turn from the A-frame to the tunnel underneath was rather demotivating. The good thing that happened was that she took the dog walk on our second try! She went past it at first, but I called her back and did our start line "ready, set, ok!" and she did it! With some enthusiasm too! I will have to keep this in mind for our AKC trials.
Gidget was in Colors next. It was a nice short course with no contacts. I had time to sit with Gidget before this run. It went way better! Sure, still not her usual in class speed, but pretty darn good for trials! I tried to remember to keep moving, even when she was in a tunnel, and to stay with her instead of sending.
Last for the day was Jackpot for Gracie. I was pretty nervous about this one at first, the rule book made it sound very confusing! It turned out to be pretty easy though. Gracie was obviously tired at this point but was up for some more fun! We made an attempt at distance weaves, but she popped out, not a concern at this point. We got plenty of points.
The girls got 1st place Qs in all but jackpot, Gracie got a 2nd place Q there. It helps when there's not much competition (make that no competition except in jackpot). Gracie got her last two titles to finish out level 1 so she is now Grace O'Malley CL1. Next year we'll work on finishing level 2! Happy agility!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Random Stuff
There are a few things I've been meaning to post about recently and haven't gotten to them. So I'm posting them all together now.
Gracie has mastered "Bang" at least to the point that I care about. She doesn't look dead in the slightest. I could work on things like keeping her head on the floor and closing her eyes, but don't feel like it right now so that will have to be a future project. Anyways, here's a video of me training the behavior and the final (for now) product. I love the training part of the video as she starts offering random behaviors in hopes of finding the one I want. She likes doing handstands but normally does them against a wall. She tried offering some anyways which highly amused me. Might have to turn that into a new behavior sometime soon.
Currently Gracie is working on "Sit Pretty." She started offering the air kicks for that too. Gidget is also working on a play dead behavior!
Speaking of Gidget, agility is going very well for her. I have some video from an outdoor class before our last trial when we were really just getting some good work done with tossing Froggie (her toy) and trading it for a treat. She was showing some major improvement. She's continued to improve since then with her only issue of skipping jumps. I wish I had video of class this last Thur. She was spot on! Happy, fast, and not a single obstacle missed! Ok, maybe there was one bobble, but we were able to go back and fix it without hurting her attitude at all! I honestly don't remember what the bobble was, but I do remember fixing something with her. I guess the memories of all the good she did in that class have squeezed out the memory of any mistakes.
Gracie has mastered "Bang" at least to the point that I care about. She doesn't look dead in the slightest. I could work on things like keeping her head on the floor and closing her eyes, but don't feel like it right now so that will have to be a future project. Anyways, here's a video of me training the behavior and the final (for now) product. I love the training part of the video as she starts offering random behaviors in hopes of finding the one I want. She likes doing handstands but normally does them against a wall. She tried offering some anyways which highly amused me. Might have to turn that into a new behavior sometime soon.
Currently Gracie is working on "Sit Pretty." She started offering the air kicks for that too. Gidget is also working on a play dead behavior!
Speaking of Gidget, agility is going very well for her. I have some video from an outdoor class before our last trial when we were really just getting some good work done with tossing Froggie (her toy) and trading it for a treat. She was showing some major improvement. She's continued to improve since then with her only issue of skipping jumps. I wish I had video of class this last Thur. She was spot on! Happy, fast, and not a single obstacle missed! Ok, maybe there was one bobble, but we were able to go back and fix it without hurting her attitude at all! I honestly don't remember what the bobble was, but I do remember fixing something with her. I guess the memories of all the good she did in that class have squeezed out the memory of any mistakes.
Gidget and I went to an obedience walk through recently. It was at the same location that she'll hopefully be in a trial at in Sept. The lady that ran the walk through said we'd qualify. She did do very well considering it was our first walk through in a new location. We still need to work on a straight sit after recalls and our heeling was not very pretty. She seemed to be too distracted to completely focus on me. She stayed with me, but lagged behind sniffing instead of looking at me with her usual smile. So this month we will be working on heeling in new places. Hmm... how to fit that into my schedule. We've managed one trip to Petsmart so far and will be doing another one today. We've done some work outside and in the halls of my apt. building. We're traveling the next two weekends so that should give us some good opportunities to work. Sept. will be here much too quickly!
Our schedule for the rest of the year:
Aug. 25: Gracie is in a CPE trial in La Crosse
Sept. 8: Both girls are in an AKC trial in La Crosse
Sept. 22: Gidget's first AKC obedience trial!
Oct. 20: Both girls will run the CAT, first time for Gracie!
Oct. 27: Another AKC trial in La Crosse for both girls.
Nov. 17: Last agility trial for us for the year, AKC in La Crosse.
Dec. 1-2: Suzanne Clothier seminar!
I think we'll be busy enough! Happy agility... and all things dog related!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
My Dog Has Wings
Gidget, Gracie, and I participated in the NWGA AKC trial at Soccerblast this past Sat. This was a big deal for Gracie. Not her first trial, but it was her first trial with over 300 dogs and location she'd never seen to boot. There was some raised fur when we first got there and stepped into the busy potty area. The rest of the day went very smoothly for her... outside the ring at least.
Gracie's novice STD run was right at the beginning of the day. It was a nice course, so easy she could run the first half all by herself as I struggled to keep up. Gracie stresses very very high! She was nervous and her nerves turned into speed. I knew she was nervous to start with as she wouldn't sit at the start line. She jumped over the dog walk contact, not like her but not surprising. Did anyone there hear the big gasp shortly after 8am? Yeah, that was Gracie flying off the top of the A-frame. I could not believe it. I was shaking my head at the thought of the moment for hours later. There was no sign of injury so we continued. After her flight she jumped on and off the table, no fault called but I know it happened (again not really surprised). The table and the weaves, which were next, allowed us to calm down and collect ourselves (we needed all 3 tries to get the weaves). She finished the course beautifully with a big cheer when she did the teeter perfectly. It was an interesting run, but my goal for the day was to get her in the building and to each ring without issue, and in that we succeeded! We took a good walk after this run, I was certain her acrobatics required it. Another sign of nerves from Gracie - she wouldn't pee on our walk.
Gidget's JWW run was next. We took a very chill approach to entering the ring. Instead of trying to get her pumped up, I leaned back and relaxed talking to Gidget and telling her we were just out to have fun. She looked nervous while we were waiting, but once we got going she looked great! She's no speed demon in agility, but she was happy! She wasn't poky or concerned, she just ran! She did run right past a jump, but we're still getting used to our new routine. We'll deal with how to fix mess-ups without losing her good attitude soon. I did also forget a cross and lead her to a wrong jump. Oops! I was pretty darn happy with her run overall!
The STD ring was running behind and the JWW ring was running ahead, which meant ring conflict for me! They kindly bumped Gidget up so that we were done just in time for me to walk novice JWW and run Gracie. Gidget's STD run started nicely besides a bad handling decision on my part. Without a lead out I wasn't in position to send her out to the third jump so she ran past it. Starting on the other side with a cross after 2 perhaps or a pull to the correct tunnel entrance would have worked better. Someday we'll have a lead out again, but we have other stuff to continue working on right now. Gidget did the teeter nicely, weaved with a good attitude though she skipped a couple poles, but then we got to the A-frame. She wouldn't take it, I didn't push her to take it and continued on to keep her pumped up. She stayed pumped up and I ended up timing a front cross badly leading to another refusal from the judge (I thought he was a lot more strict with refusals than many judges I've seen, though it was a bad cross). The jumps went smoothly but then we hit the dog walk. She stepped on then hopped off (ugh!) so we moved on to end well. No more chute issues for us! Just plenty of other issues.
Gracie's novice JWW was last. It was quite a long wait for Gracie and she calmed down significantly! She had even peed when I took the girls out before Gidget's run! Gracie sat and gave me a shake before at the start line (yay!). She had nowhere near as much speed as her STD run, but I wasn't about to complain about that. She did a wonderful job on the course, even getting her weaves in the first try! She did have to go say hi to the judge and his strange hat but got right back on track. We finish with a 3rd place Q!
The girls and I had a really good day! Sure, only one true Q, but there were too many good things happening for both dogs to care about those. The only thing I'm going to change with Gracie is to add some exercise before her first run of the day to try and reign in her focus and a little bit of her speed, just enough so I can keep up or at least be able to get into position to direct her. Gidget's next issue to address is the dog walk and A-frame. My theory is that she's worried she's going to do the teeter again even though she does the teeter well now. The A-frame was before the teeter at her last trial and the dog walk after, she did the A-frame then but not the teeter. Not sure what I can do for this issue besides adding value for all her contacts. Advice would be appreciated.
Only 4 trials left for us for the year. One CPE for Gracie and 3 AKC for both girls. I may add in a 4th AKC trial for Gidget but I haven't decided yet. Happy agility!
Gracie's novice STD run was right at the beginning of the day. It was a nice course, so easy she could run the first half all by herself as I struggled to keep up. Gracie stresses very very high! She was nervous and her nerves turned into speed. I knew she was nervous to start with as she wouldn't sit at the start line. She jumped over the dog walk contact, not like her but not surprising. Did anyone there hear the big gasp shortly after 8am? Yeah, that was Gracie flying off the top of the A-frame. I could not believe it. I was shaking my head at the thought of the moment for hours later. There was no sign of injury so we continued. After her flight she jumped on and off the table, no fault called but I know it happened (again not really surprised). The table and the weaves, which were next, allowed us to calm down and collect ourselves (we needed all 3 tries to get the weaves). She finished the course beautifully with a big cheer when she did the teeter perfectly. It was an interesting run, but my goal for the day was to get her in the building and to each ring without issue, and in that we succeeded! We took a good walk after this run, I was certain her acrobatics required it. Another sign of nerves from Gracie - she wouldn't pee on our walk.
Gidget's JWW run was next. We took a very chill approach to entering the ring. Instead of trying to get her pumped up, I leaned back and relaxed talking to Gidget and telling her we were just out to have fun. She looked nervous while we were waiting, but once we got going she looked great! She's no speed demon in agility, but she was happy! She wasn't poky or concerned, she just ran! She did run right past a jump, but we're still getting used to our new routine. We'll deal with how to fix mess-ups without losing her good attitude soon. I did also forget a cross and lead her to a wrong jump. Oops! I was pretty darn happy with her run overall!
The STD ring was running behind and the JWW ring was running ahead, which meant ring conflict for me! They kindly bumped Gidget up so that we were done just in time for me to walk novice JWW and run Gracie. Gidget's STD run started nicely besides a bad handling decision on my part. Without a lead out I wasn't in position to send her out to the third jump so she ran past it. Starting on the other side with a cross after 2 perhaps or a pull to the correct tunnel entrance would have worked better. Someday we'll have a lead out again, but we have other stuff to continue working on right now. Gidget did the teeter nicely, weaved with a good attitude though she skipped a couple poles, but then we got to the A-frame. She wouldn't take it, I didn't push her to take it and continued on to keep her pumped up. She stayed pumped up and I ended up timing a front cross badly leading to another refusal from the judge (I thought he was a lot more strict with refusals than many judges I've seen, though it was a bad cross). The jumps went smoothly but then we hit the dog walk. She stepped on then hopped off (ugh!) so we moved on to end well. No more chute issues for us! Just plenty of other issues.
Gracie's novice JWW was last. It was quite a long wait for Gracie and she calmed down significantly! She had even peed when I took the girls out before Gidget's run! Gracie sat and gave me a shake before at the start line (yay!). She had nowhere near as much speed as her STD run, but I wasn't about to complain about that. She did a wonderful job on the course, even getting her weaves in the first try! She did have to go say hi to the judge and his strange hat but got right back on track. We finish with a 3rd place Q!
The girls and I had a really good day! Sure, only one true Q, but there were too many good things happening for both dogs to care about those. The only thing I'm going to change with Gracie is to add some exercise before her first run of the day to try and reign in her focus and a little bit of her speed, just enough so I can keep up or at least be able to get into position to direct her. Gidget's next issue to address is the dog walk and A-frame. My theory is that she's worried she's going to do the teeter again even though she does the teeter well now. The A-frame was before the teeter at her last trial and the dog walk after, she did the A-frame then but not the teeter. Not sure what I can do for this issue besides adding value for all her contacts. Advice would be appreciated.
Only 4 trials left for us for the year. One CPE for Gracie and 3 AKC for both girls. I may add in a 4th AKC trial for Gidget but I haven't decided yet. Happy agility!
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