What advice would you give?

If this wasn't my dog, what would I say to a client that I'm coaching?

It's been on my mind a lot lately. Some things are coming together nicely ... but others?! Wow. I know how frustrating it feels on my end. It can't feel any better on her's.

I've started to write this post multiple times, and then something would improve so I'd just let it go.

But really, truly, honestly. Things aren't improving that much. She is young and super sensitive, but is she learning the things I want her to learn right now? Is she learning what I want her to learn about trials and the competition ring?! I don't think so.

I strongly believe that when the dog does something "wrong" they're just telling you that they don't understand and you haven't proofed this enough yet. It's a conversation between you and your dog. Well, she's certainly been telling me loudly enough that she can't do this right now for whatever reason. That's on me, not her.

Dragging the dog to Disneyland is just pointless. I can manage to a point, but once that leash comes off and there are no rewards, I don't get to manage anymore. It's all her. I've missed a crucial step along the way somewhere because that connection keeps falling flat.

She'll make me a much better trainer in the long run, and I have the tools I need to work through this, I just need to start and keep the ball rolling. So that's where we're going. Hopefully she'll be in season for the next trial that I have her entered in, because she certainly won't be going into the ring. From there on out, no trialing.

The plan;

1) Relationship building through play
2) Engagement
3) Focus
4) Cookie jar games

Fun matches and training at the barn can continue, but the focus needs to come off of agility behaviors and zero in on the missing link, engagement.

Shauna Oliver Seminar

Last weekend ( Jan 6 & 7th) Nike and I did a couple seminars with Shauna Oliver. I cannot say enough good things about Shauna or what we were working on, I just wish she was closer!

Saturday we had a working spot in Master Gamble in the afternoon and I audited the Starter Gamblers session in the morning to get some more ideas on how to teach things and how Shauna specifically teaches things.

Nike was the youngest dog in our Master Gamble class, but I'm glad I signed up at that level. We have the beginnings of a lot of the Starter skills - I just need to proof and build distance on some things like switch out of a tunnel and back chaining on LONG sends. Also commitment on the verbal out, go, switch etc without needing to name the obstacle after.

We worked 6 different drills ranging from simple 3 jump or 2 tunnel drills to more complex gamble sequences. By the time we were done the dogs were fried. I'm glad I didn't have 1 dog signed up for 8 hours of seminar! For being a fairly novice dog, I like to think that Nike held her own. We have some decent skills and a fairly decent independent backside. Just need some polishing and then proofing!

On Sunday we were signed up for Masters Handling since my training partner and I talked about where our dogs skills where vs what we had covered in a foundation handling seminar earlier in the year with Shauna. However, when we got there I was horribly intimidated. Nike was the youngest dog in the group and she was the only dog not running Masters level AAC.

THEN we walked the course, which was a international level/handling course. Something along the lines of the SUSO courses I've practiced with the boys but never have run a full course with Nike - it's always been broken down into pieces for her.

It was lovely, but technical and there I am with my baby dog and no back up plan. All things considered, we didn't do half bad. Nike was significantly more focused for this session than the one the day before. She held a start line and it is apparent that I have trained the skills - they're just not proofed enough for a course of this level.

She understands the threadle however my forward motion is an issue and commitment on ugly angles without me flicking is also an issue. So proofing. But hey, at least I have a trained threadle - that's about 1/2 the battle. She does have a pretty good switch and clearly understands it, I just need more distance and more obstacles instead of just off a contact into a tunnel.

I need to trust my training and my dog and commit to handling instead of chickening out at the last minute. Just do it, and if she doesn't get it right, go back and work it!

Also consequences. If she leaves work, walk her down until she connects, then pressure off. If she leaves twice, work someone else. This did seem to be making a difference in this seminar, so fingers crossed.

Insanity, or Is It?!

I've posted this quote before and I'm sure we've all heard it said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

Sometimes though, your journey brings you back to a point and maybe it isn't insanity to give that one more shot.

With Spencer, the first obstacle he learned was the weave poles - mainly because that was and is one of Baxter's weakest obstacles/skills.

Baxter was trained with channels and with Spencer we had just discovered Susan Garrett/Say Yes and the 2x2 method.

2x2's made sense to Spencer. Weaves are one of his strongest obstacles/skills. I'm certain that it helped that he REALLY wanted his toy, but teaching him 2x2s was super easy.

2x2 Weaves

Now fast forward to Nike. We didn't start doing much with the weaves until she was around 9 months and at that point in time I was just having her run down a wide channel to a target plate. I wasn't actually teaching weaves, just getting her accustomed to the pressure of the poles and teaching her it was nothing to be concerned about - so we didn't do it often at all.

After she turned 1 year old I started working on teaching the 2x2s ... but she was having none of it. She did not care what I had. Did not care about the poles at all. Just really wasn't getting it and VERY much wanted to flank the poles not run through them - even when we were just trying to build value for interacting with one 2x2 base.

So, rather than fight with it, I left that.

Channel weaves, open to closed

She'd already had exposure to channels, so I moved on to that method and started closing the channel. Problem is, when you have a herdy dog who already wants to flank things, she might or might not hit that entry, but she sure was not going to collect and get that second pole.

So, instead of fighting with that, I left that method as well.

Next we tried "windows." Windows are similar to guides but instead of not letting the dog leave, they are just a "window" that sticks out from the pole on the side the dog ISN'T supposed to be on. I love these because they help the dog understand the weaving motion, but the dog is choosing to stay in. It's also not as aversive as guides/xpens to those dogs who are touch sensitive.

Channels with plastic guides - not how I want to teach ...

Nike did like windows, and she figured how to hit the poles and stick in them even at speed. The problem comes when trying to fade the windows out of the picture. You slowly start removing windows in the middle, leaving the end windows (entry and exit) to help the dogs be correct.

Learning weaves with the "window" method

First time in the weaves using windows

However, as soon as I'd fade a window out, it was like she'd never seen the weaves before in her life and was not generalizing the motion through the poles with the windows to poles with no windows on them.

So now we're back to 2x2s. This time though, I've cleaned up my mechanics a little and my baby dog has grown up a little. We've also discovered the joys of chasing toys and playing fetch, which probably helps.

I've also gotten a little smarter in how I train. Spencer would keep trying even if he wasn't being rewarded because he really wanted that toy. He has pretty awesome resilience to disappointment - as long as you don't put any pressure on him. Nike has zero resilience to disappointment. If she gets something wrong (tries and is not rewarded) more than twice, she is probably going to leave work and go sniff/find something better to do. So sessions with her are very short and she is rewarded for coming back to me to try again.

So far this seems to be working, so I'm hopeful.

It is definitely a paradigm shift to take responsibility for EVERYTHING and not have any pressure on the dog. If nothing else, Nike is certainly greatly increasing my skills as a trainer.

Sayings evolve for a reason, so I guess even if I haven't gotten the dog I thought I wanted, I am getting the dog I needed - and sometimes it's evolution, not insanity if some time has passed!

Ups and downs

Nike and I have finished with the 6 week "confidence building agility class" and have had 3 brief experiences at agility trials.

It's been a bit of a roller coaster.

The nicest thing about the class is Nike already has these skills and it was a small class of only 3 dogs. So lots of working time. And we look like rockstars. Mostly because the other 2 people in the class are new to the sport and so are their dogs and also, because we already have these skills.

So often we get to demo the skill and go first in the working order - which is fine with me.

However, class is also helping uncover some things. Despite "knowing this" Nike is very, very soft and start lines are not happening right now. I resorted to putting down a mat to help her with the start line. Now she can do the "wait" behavior. Which I find interesting. Without a mat though, as soon as I leave, she leaves - either releasing over the jump or just wandering off and leaving work entirely.

Doesn't help that we usually have to set up that start line within a couple feet of a kenneled dog though - and then expect our dog not to have a problem with that, because Nike very much does have concerns with turning her back on the reactive dog and pretending it isn't there. I can't say that I blame her.

We're working on solidifying a start line routine and using that as a start button behavior. If I can't get it, then she isn't going to work well and I'll just end up skipping my turn - which hasn't happened yet since she is very good if I have rewards.

With the actual trials runs that she has done I've done many FEO runs, so I still have rewards, just not food - but it's a whole lot more difficult to get her to focus.

We're not "trialing" right now, but in small trials I am working on getting her ring exposure. Just one or 2 runs to work on confidence with no expectations.

The first trial felt so promising and her first run was a little out of control but still good. So it's a little disappointing that it feels like we're going backwards.

Agility training is going to take a bit of a back seat to some other classes I want to work on with her. Namely some relationship building Fenzi classes I have gathering dust in my library and possibly some group rally or trick classes taught at the facility I teach at.

Happiest little gang of dogs field running this summer. I find it interesting that they self sort into this arrangement since I didn't actually pose them.

Confidence Building

Something very much on my mind.

Alicia, an agility friend I had the privilege of meeting and training with last winter summed it up very well in this blog here: Are you Nagging Your Dog?

If it is not exceedingly clear to Nike how to earn reinforcement, then she has zero patience to work through something. She does not work through confusion - she'll leave.

So:

Ignore the bad, celebrate the good and of course, the dog is never wrong. If she gets something wrong, stop on something she can do and and reward that.

Build the dog up.

In an online class with Sarah Stremming, she talks about a dog stepping to the line with their human partner and giving 110% playing the game with reckless abandon. Never take for granted what you are asking the dog for.

That focus, the relationship and the trust necessary for that are built. They're nurtured and grown into that. Sometimes it's like a delicate flower that needs some pretty specific needs met to grow and thrive. Other times maybe (due to the dog's desire to do-the-thing) more like a weed that seems to thrive in very desolate conditions.

The dog is always right. They are trying. When they get it wrong it is a direct reflection of your training (or coaching.) Pay the dog!

So:

As we embark on this chapter of Nike's career and start to test performance with some agility trials, remember this. Do not correct mistakes on course, build confidence. Do not worry about anything but the dog beside you and making her feel like playing this game with you is the best thing in the world.

Run fast, give it your all!

Be brave, you can do this!

Fly high! The journey will take your breath away.

No matter what happens, it'll be fun!

Fabulous Flea

After not getting a puppy from the litter that I was (sort of) on the list for, I've been in a bit of a panic about dogs and agility.

I really want a puppy to teach all sorts of new stuff to. AND I want a puppy to start bringing along to be an agility performance dog as well. Baxter is getting older, Spencer has his issues. Even if I brought a puppy home tomorrow it's 18 months to 2 years before that puppy could potentially trial and lets face it, I don't know if both my boys (possibly EITHER of my boys) will still be competing then. I want a dog who wants to play the game with me!

I often ask a friend of mine about various sport type breeders while researching. She's been in the dog game a while now. Her Mom breeds, she breeds, she also plays sports and has lived out east. Long story short, she's got a lovely little Jack Russel Terrier who would be a good agility dog and has great structure that she isn't going to have time to train and run in agility. But she knows I was looking for a puppy and wondered if I'd be interested in playing with her.

It's a little weird training a dog you don't live with. The plus side is that Flea already is an adult, and has some foundation on her plus has other sport background already too. It'll take a little longer to get to competition ready, but half the fun is the journey (and I can re-learn how I want to teach things to a puppy - BEFORE I have that puppy!!)

She's such a fun little dog to play with! So far I really do like "terrorists" though she is quite mellow compared to most. I love how she bounces, can bend like she's made of rubber and has attitude. Not much hurts her feelings, which is a nice change! She's also the "right" height. Measuring about 13.5" which will put her into the 16" Regular category in AAC.

Good girly sitting like a dork!

Mental Game and Opinions

I've always been a little bit sensitive about peoples opinions of my dogs speed and our performance. With teaching agility now I feel even more pressure about it, even if it is mostly pressure from myself not necessarily from others.

When I first got into agility I didn't enter seminars for the longest time. Not until Baxter was running in Masters, so that our being "qualified" to be there wouldn't be questioned. He isn't an "agility breed." I worried that presenters might not spend as much time with us because he isn't borderline out of control, or a herding breed. Or that maybe we'd be written off as "needs to motivate dog more" (aka What are they even doing here?!?!)

2013-First ATChC with my first agility dog. So qualified to be there.

2014-Second ATChC with the Baby Dog - not so little now! Also qualified to be there.

My dogs are not blindingly fast. They aren't crazy, driven, nearly out of control. They don't inspire a lot of "HOLY THAT DOG IS FAST" and "OMG I WANT A DOG LIKE THAT" in people.

I worry that people will judge my ability as a trainer on the basis of how "awe inspiring" my dogs are. Some in fact, have.

All this runs through my mind when I run my dogs now, in classes or the other weekend at the trial. It shouldn't. It's going to stop. Now.

All that extraneous noise in my head is getting shoved into its own little box of "doesn't matter."

Everyone. I mean everyone, can make a mistake and have a bad or off day. If we do, we do. It's my journey with that particular dog. Unless you live with me and that dog, you can't know what we've gone through to get there.

Our first Regionals, 2013. 6" Specials Regional Champion

Our first Regionals, 2013. 4th Overall in 10" Regulars

It doesn't make me less qualified to teach.

I know that my dogs understand the handling choices I want to use. I KNOW why I want to use a particular handling move. I understand lines, lead changes, collection, extension and deceleration. I know how and why I want to train something. I can coach friends with the crazy fast dogs and help improve their performance. I can even run their dogs successfully! That isn't the temperament of my own dogs, but I challenge anyone to take a dog with Spencer's issues and be successful with that dog!

So while my dogs are not awe inspiring when we run, we are consistent. Baxter didn't take second overall at Nationals in 2013 by being the second fastest dog in the ring, he did it by being consistent and not making a lot of mistakes.

Spencer didn't beat World Team caliber dogs and place 4th in Standard 1 at that same Nationals in 2013 by being the fastest. He did it by not making any mistakes and running nearly 20 seconds under SCT!

Fast alone doesn't get you anything. Raw talent without training and practicing just gets you a faster train wreck when the wheels do come off. Those fast dogs? Most of them come that way. It's part of their temperament the way scared and sensitive is part of Spencer's. Just a different set of problems.

So if you want to judge, nothing I say will make a difference.

But the proof, well THAT is in the pudding.

Note: Ribbons, titles and placements are not a measure of worth. But they do infer a certain amount of skill in training to attain said ribbons, titles and placements. By no means are they everything, but by the same token, they are something that says I have some skill in training.

Our very first Nationals. Leduc 2013. Second Place Overall 6" Specials

Spencer's first Nationals. Leduc 2013.                                                                                                                                               I entered him in Regionals on a lark, because Baxter was going, never expecting  him to qualify for Nationals ...

Nationals 2013; Leduc. 2nd Overall, 6" Specials

And We're Back

Life, 2 jobs and 3 dogs can get a little crazy and stressful, so blogging falls a little by the wayside.

But, we're back.

It's been some interesting times.

Our awesome trainer Kim & HyperHounds moved to Kelowna in April. So we're working on finding a new agility alternative.

Baxter's been in to the emergency vet twice in 2 months. In March we went in after he was vomiting for a little over 24 hours after stealing a lick of salsa off the coffee table. Not sure if the salsa was the culprit or what the deal was, but it ended up not being the obstruction that I was afraid it might have been.

Then 2 weeks ago it was for the eyes. They were watery and sore looking for the Olds Trial, little bit of green discharge but super sore looking where the whites were all red and bothering him a lot. Again, nothing really conclusive as the culprit. His eyes were good, no scratches etc. but ears were hot irritated as well. Maybe seasonal allergies or just allergies period, so some eye drops to help with the irritation and some benadryl for 5 days.

Baxter also came up lame on Saturday at the Olds trial, April 19 & 20. Knocked the first bar in the first run (Jumpers) and then when we were walking after the run I noticed him limping a little on his front left. So that was it for him for the day. Seems to be a shoulder/muscle thing, not a foot thing. So we're going in to physio to get that looked at. (Same/similar issue that I took him to a chiro vet to have looked at last May and was told his front end was fine, uh huh.) Sunday he seemed fine, so I let him run and he still looked fine at the end of the day.

Spencer's first day at Olds was great, he was happy and a little more confident. Fun times - which is what I am working on with him. Confidence.

On Sunday however they turned Steeplechase into a fund raiser for an agility friend who was doing Shave for the Brave. Which is totally awesome. However, the runs were to music and while setting up the PA system for it there was a lot of really loud popping noises. I didn't notice quick enough that it was upsetting Spencer since he was in his kennel. He wouldn't come out of the kennel, so I had to pull him out and carry him out and bench him in the car. He wouldn't even walk once we were in the parking lot, just was a puddle of terrified on the ground. Completely shut down.

I pulled Spencer from Steeplechase (Baxter ran fine and he's the one who has some mild noise issues at home with fireworks and thunder) but for his remaining 2 runs Spencer was distracted, stressed and not into playing the game at all. Couldn't get him to do his bounce or bark tricks that help improve his attitude. Nothing. He looked bad enough in the final Jumpers run that the Judge actually came over after the run to talk to me about his skipping/knee issue.

This sums up how life feels right now.
Mostly right, some extra junk cluttering stuff up and something always going wrong.

So lately agility has been all about the stress and not so much about the fun. Or at least I'm struggling with focusing on the fun stuff.

Baxter forgot how to weave in Olds. After working on his contacts all winter he LAUNCHED his DW contact from about 1/2 way down the plank on Sunday (yep, that'll definitely help those front end issues ...) Wet Creek flooded for 2 months, so no practice there. Snow JUST quit falling (it's May and there was snow on the ground last week) to open up Wet Noses for practice. No agility classes until I find another trainer/group I want to work with. Worried about Spencer's knee more now after the last trial. Spencer's behavioral issues have been problematic lately, so worried about him and his fearfulness - which doesn't help his stress and fear either I'm sure.

Yep. Just a little stressed about the dogs and dog sports in general lately.

Not really a play bow - captured mid "bark" trick. This is my little dog!
My happy, sassy, bad little black dog, not all cringing and terrified =(

Positive first post back after a hiatus right?!? But on the bright side, it can only get better from here.

Justine Davenport & Jessica Patterson Seminar

This past weekend was the Justine & Jessica Agility Seminar put on by Kim/HyperHounds. 

When it was first announced I dithered, to do or not to do. I just wasn't sure. First I was like, No, thanks. Then maybe. Then I registered but had a few misgivings initially. Lots of thoughts ran through my head "It's all about "international" handling. I don't know that my dogs will work with that kind of handling/that hard of a course, what do I need all of that for?! I don't think it is right for my dogs"

Shake off those preconceived notions and lets get to work!

Let me just say that never have I ever been so glad and grateful  that I did something before! I had a working spot in the morning session and then on Saturday I audited the afternoon advanced session. Having the foundation building blocks and then seeing them put into practice in the afternoon session was a absolute light bulb moment. I think it helped that the afternoon advanced session was a little less advanced than the morning advanced session. But it was absolutely perfect for me.

The explanations from both Jessica and Justine made a whole lot of things in agility make sense, bits and pieces I've picked up from here and there and heard/tried to follow without knowing the whys. It's like a puzzle missing half the pieces and all of a sudden now I can see the final picture. OH, that's what you meant about turn my shoulders!! This handling WILL work with my dogs. It will actually HELP my dogs. I can teach the skills with nearly no equipment in my living room!

I'm so excited for the possibilities and I ended up bouncing out of there after Sunday super excited for the things I need to train instead of plodding out of the seminar with a list of things I need to work on. So awesome!

I worked Spencer (mostly) with Baxter there for backup in the Foundations/Beginner seminar. I've done work with the dogs on some of the skills they teach. We know backsides, we do multiwraps, we're working on tighter turns etc. Other things like how they train threadles and handle threadles are new.

Spencer worked for me. A little hesitant and stressed (the demo dog, Jessica's BC was eyeing him up pretty good from about 10 ft away from where we worked our little drills) but he worked through it. He was awesome! Baxter was awesome as well. I pulled him out for blind cross drills on Sunday and he did amazing. People commented that I must do a lot with him - HAHA - I don't blind cross anything but a tunnel with Baxter! Or rather, I didn't. Makes me rethink some things now, he does actually read them really nicely in the drills. Probably past time to actually put the foundation training in and see how well they might work somewhere else.

Some of the things we were shown, like how to use a blind cross correctly was just amazing. There were 2 jumps set in a 180 about 2 feet apart, we had to pull our dogs through that gap in the middle and every single dog, even the most novice dog who'd never seen agility equipment in his life understood the handling and came through the gap, not even looking at that second jump.

Both Justine and Jessica were SUPER nice and handled/tailored advice to people/dog teams individually and equally. Toy or food, doesn't matter. BC or a slower less motivated dog, doesn't matter. Everyone got advice to help them and no one got brushed off. 

I also loved how a lot of the stuff we were shown in the foundations class has a "Susan Garret/Say Yes Dog Training" feel to it. I've done a bunch of her stuff as well and really like it. Since the group of them worked together and trained together to come up with this handling system, there are parallels to other things I've worked on, which makes me feel a whole lot more comfortable with the whole thing.

It's also super awesome that these talented ladies live about a 3 hour drive from here and not across the country. Now to practice and teach these skills so that when they come back we can play on the hard stuff!

Back on Track

I'm not sure who is more excited, the dogs or I. After almost a 4 month break from any formal agility we're shaking the rust off and getting back into the swing of things.

Monday night classes started up in the barn again 2 weeks ago and have been a absolute riot.

First class was awesome - I almost face planted when I tripped in the sand and then almost impaled myself on a jump standard messing up a front cross. I wish I had video to post of what a gong show it was!

After that near disaster I figured I should probably hit the training field one more time before the snow flew. Just to work the kinks back out of my handling so I can run and tell my dog what to do at the same time! So out to Wet Noses we went. The boys were SO excited to be playing. Baxter especially is super enthusiastic and happy to play after some of the relationship and enthusiasm building things we've done on break.

Second class went much better. The boys also didn't play fetch for a hour during the day before class so Baxter actually ran, did single stride weaves and was pretty darn quick. Spencer is doing awesome as well. Still some odd baby dog moments but I'm doing all that I can to build enthusiasm and confidence with him. Currently out of the 3 runs we get in class, Spencer gets 2 - first and last. I've been starting him at 6" and then jumping him at 10" for his second run. He seems happier at 6"? I might just drop him to Specials and be done with it. There really is no reason to jump him 10" especially with his knee.

We FINALLY actually attended a trial as well! As a warm up before we get back into full weekend trials we hit the Oct Wee Wed at WetCreek, running Master Standard and Team Relay.

Happy boys

Spencer was funny, but happy and confident running FEO at 6" Some more silliness on course where he didn't listen to handling and blind crossed me to take a off course a couple times. But I can work with that. I'd rather the confidence to take something of his own accord than for him to be worried that he's wrong.

Baxter tho, he was on fire! Such a happy boy! Standard was a nice, fast run, with single stride weaves 4.21 yps - WITH weaves. Fastest course/best yards per second yet!

Running goobers @ Summer Lake 

It was really nice to have people come up to me after and remark on how much faster he has gotten. Hopefully we can keep it up. He doesn't have the best structure for weaves with the longer back and short, stubby legs. But we've worked on speeding them up and making sure he has good core strength so that he hopefully doesn't hurt himself either.

Team relay was also really nice, although we didn't end up qualifying. Fun thing I haven't thought of before though - if the dogs have a huge height discrepancy  (like 26" and 6") you shouldn't end up with the dogs taking off course jumps (hopefully!)

Getting excited for the CAA November trial next weekend!

Laters!

It's a dogs life

 It's a hard life being a dog!

Busy weekend and LONG day. We're all tired out.

First flyball practice for Spencer and strange teeter practice as well at our last practice at Dignified Dogs. Both of which went well. He's finally mastered the box turn picking up the ball. It's been a lot of baby steps and its nice to see it come together. He was also able to run with the heater blowing on him, which is a huge deal for him.

Then agility practice out at Wet Creek. 

Baxter was nailing his hard, fast, nasty weave entries and not popping, so I'm just not sure what the melt down was at the trial last weekend. We were doing 2 sets of 6 today instead of 1 set of 12, but he was consistently popping on the 3rd pole at the trial, so who knows.

Somehow the "barn" dog walk has broken, so no running contact practice today. Hopefully it'll be replaced and just not left that way. The dog walk is kind of important to my training plans!

More teeters and chutes for Spencer. Performance is a little hit and miss. Teeter isn't bad, but he is a little concerned about the drop and rocks back once it starts to pivot. Chutes is the same thing. He'll do fine and then refuse it again for no apparent reason.

Winter is hard, especially when training agility so we're going back to the basics and going to focus on little obstacle drills and enthusiasm instead of sequencing. Easy stuff. One jump drills, flat work for crosses and handling. Not too much to give them a bit of a break for the winter, but with walks being difficult with the snow and the naked dogs I need to do something physical with them to keep them in shape for the winter!

OMG I found this toy for you, play with me!

Me too! Don't worry about Penny, she doesn't want any!

Magical Monday

Ahh yes, a return to looking forward to Mondays. It's a strange feeling. I'm sure agility Mondays have some special magic that non-agility Mondays are lacking!

Stop bothering us. This Monday sucks, there is no agility today!

With his leg issues still unresolved Spencer was benched this Monday, so I had to pull in my backup-alternate-Chihuahua. Well, I didn't "have to" but I thought it would be a decent opportunity to see what she does.

After her recent bout of attentiveness practicing at Wet Noses, and then at Wet Creek I was curious how Penny'd do in a class with even more distractions. Other dogs to bark at, people to wiggle at, a whole new environment. PLUS horse poop!

The idea is if she will actually work with me in a class I might think about training her enough to trial sometime (she has no weaves and not a whole lot of ground work foundation.) Especially if Spencer is eternally gimpy but isn't doing anymore damage to himself - I'll drop him to 6" so its easier on his leg. Then I could have "Team 6 Inch Specials" and we'd be pretty much the whole 6" class in a trial!

Chihuahua's (or at least Penny) aren't going to set any speed records, but it's pretty darn cute to watch those tiny dogs scramble up the A-frame and do agility like the "real" dogs. I like to think that if I can teach these guys to do agility I could do a really good job with a high drive agility breed, different challenges though, that's for sure.

Penny did pretty darn good in class for the amount of work I've put in with her (ie: not much since the foundation classes over a year ago ...) No chute bobbles. Mostly good on the jumps - she likes AAC's 6" MUCH better than CKC's 8" She had some troubles with the Aframe which is sanded. I don't think she's ever been on a sanded one before so she didn't get enough momentum and the slats are pretty far apart for a toy dog to get much traction. She was doing it after a couple of tries though!

Baxter was lovely again as well. Beautiful weaves in deep sand. Some start line issues, but then again in a trial I hardly ever ask him to hold a start line. We have been doing running starts for over a year. I started with them for enthusiasm and just kept it since I don't need much lead out to stay ahead of him. Good to practice them though, easier to do a LOP (lead out pivot) instead of doing it on the fly and risk sending them over the wrong obstacle. More a issue with larger dogs with a bigger stride, but still.

I am such a good, fluffy dog!

Our class is relatively small, which means lots of time to work on stuff. The other dogs in class are young/new as well, so I don't feel so out of place with Penny or Spencer. Sometimes it's hard feeling like you should still be in something with your unusual size or breed, especially if you're struggling.

They make me appreciate Baxter a whole lot for all the things he does right (and wrong even, since the wrong is pointing out my failings not his!) He should be fairly good at what we're practicing! We've been training in agility for over 3 years now and trialing for 1. We're still learning to work together, and I make noobie handler mistakes with him, but we're finally starting to click as a good team. I think I've finally got my mind wrapped around not being stressed, still running the course as best I can "competitively" It's fun to run, I don't worry what will motivate him or stress him out because we've kinda been there and done that. It's nice and fun, and sort of comfortable.

He's just a good dog who tries for me. I absolutely adore him, especially on cold days like to day when I'm home sick and he is snuggled up leaning against me.

I am a good dog laying on my bed hiding with the blankets.

Sometimes you have to hide somewhere else, but I am still a good dog!

Tomorrow is Spencer's vet appt and then this weekend is the CAA Remembrance Day trial, hopefully both go well. Our Flyball team has some other people who will be there on Sunday, so that is cool too! I might even bring my camera to the trial and get some pictures that don't suck.

Ups and Downs

It's been a interesting week and a bit, that's for sure.

First, we didn't get into the TT's Halloween trail, which was a bit of a disappointment. That was Baxter's "first" weekend trial last year. I even tried seeing if just Spencer could get in. Nada. I know, these things happen, but it's never fun to find out you got wait listed. I was looking forward to hopefully getting Baxter's MADC and a new club's title ribbon for the collection on my wall!

All dressed up, but no where to go

However allaying the disappointment, Monday night after the trial heralded a return to agility class. Something to look forward to! It's back in the Hebson Arena (super fun to find if you haven't ever been there, NOT!) I was interested in how Spencer would do in a new place. Especially a new place with mice/cats making regular appearances and horse poop to distract him from paying attention to me.

On the plus side, once we (I) braved the horrid fog that was as thick as pea soup and made our white knuckled way to the arena, Spencer wasn't too distracted to work. On the down side, the footing in this arena is different than any other surface we've run on before. It's regularly used as a riding arena and is quite loose/hard to run in sandy dirt. Spencer sometimes has a hitch in his stride where he skips with his right hind leg. This was VERY apparent at Hebson, due to the footing I think.

Dr. Google and some experienced dog people think it might be a luxating patella (slippy kneecap) which I knew was a congenital health issue, but I didn't realize that it isn't uncommon to develop it later in life as well. Several different vets have looked at him and no one has ever noticed him having issues, but because of the severity of it on Monday I want him checked out again to determine what exactly is up with him. It doesn't seem to bother him, but it sure bothers me!

Why do you keep looking at my leg lady?!

Baxter was also very happy to return to classes. Slightly less happy to share my attention with Spencer but still a very good boy. He did awesome and nailed his weave entry and was quicker to complete them. It was apparent enough that our instructor commented on how we must have been working on them over the summer. It was great to see my hard work paying off!

Spencer had a vet appointment with a rehab vet on Halloween to get his leg issue sorted out. That was the quickest I could get him in unless I wanted to wait over a week. The downside was the appt was for 5 and TT's Whee Wed trial that Baxter was entered in wants the first dog off the line at 7 - not a whole lot of time.

I figured it was more important to get Spencer checked out, and if we missed Baxter's first run it wasn't the end of the world. We got to the clinic really early, like 4:40ish, so we could get the first time paperwork and questions out of the way and still see the vet by 5.

Apparently I neglected to pay Murphy off so that my plan could go off without a hitch. The appointment before me was late getting there, since I doubt they only schedule 15 min between appointments. Then that dog needed extra diagnostic tests. THEN the owner got bad news (thin walls + waiting boredom = lots of overhearing.) So at 5:45 I went out to the front desk and asked to please reschedule since I had been waiting an hour by then. Which was annoying as I had to take time off work to get the dogs to make it to this appointment to begin with.

Cue panic that I'm not going to make it to Wet Creek in time for the trial! We made it though, with some time to spare, and no, I didn't break the sound barrier speeding to get there either.

So you'd think after our stellar Monday night class that we'd have some great runs, right? Maybe a couple Q's? Yep. Nope! Murphy strikes again and Baxter won't weave. First run he was good, just popped out early on the last pole. Ok, maybe I pulled off and didn't support them to the end? Rev him up, start him over and he does it great, maybe he just needed a reminder that yes, you do need to do all 12 poles here.

2nd run was team. This time he popped out of the weaves 3 from the end. Oookkkaayyy .... Put him back in, and babysit. Pop, 3 from the end again.

His jumpers run though, was lovely. His handler was just a noob and I didn't support/cue a jump properly so he missed it. I didn't think the angle was that odd while walking it, but several other dogs had the same issue.

Ah well. On the final up side. Today was time change. I love my dogs. No one moves in the morning until I go to get up. It's great. The dogs and I can sleep to noon or get up at 6 am, LOVE it! After the emotional roller coaster of a week, I needed the hour!

No! It's not up time yet!

Motion Component Games and Teeter Work

We're still here! I may not be blogging (mostly because I have run out of pictures and hate my camera but can't get a new one) but we're still practicing.

It's somewhat un-nerving to be out practicing agility in the "country" (at Wet Noses last night) and have the coyotes start up howling sounding like they're just beyond eyesight in the adjacent field. If it weren't for the fenced agility field we would have been outta there then and there!

Motion component games have been a huge part of Spencer's training. What is a component game? It's making a component of a behavior into a fun game away from your finished behavior so that the dog LOVES to do it. Then, when you chain it all together you get a more enthusiastic response and a better finished behavior since hopefully your dog didn't learn (or more accurately, you didn't teach) anything you didn't want to see as part of the finished behavior.

Take for example the weave poles. If you teach by luring a dog through the poles you build several things you don't want to see into the performance;
1) Your body position is what tells the dog what to do and the dog's job/criteria are very unclear to them.
2) The dog learns to do the weaves very slowly and it is difficult to speed them up as you have built this into the performance.

As well, if the wheels should fall off somewhere down the road, you can work on particular games away from the finished behavior to "fix" it instead of rehearsing that behavior you don't want to see repeated. Bailing off the teeter before the pivot point anyone?!

But, back to Spencer.

He can wobble disc with the best of em, okay, well maybe just the best of thechihuahuas. Both extension (front feet on one disc, back feet on another) and compression (both sets of feet, same disc.) He can even balance on 2 discs stacked on top of each other.

Upping the ante with a travel plank on balance discs also poses no problem. Walk up it, walk down it, turn around in the middle of it. Not a problem!

Small ghetto wobble board, nary a issue. He'll bounce onto it and then spin around to grab his tug toy. I need a larger one though - this one is a little too small.

Confidence running full tilt across a plank, fantastic. I have a hard time beating him across the dog walk - he loves it!

Now for the hard part - the teeter. Last night was all about the teeter. With a high table under each end to reduce the motion, we practiced driving across the pivot point into end position. Super high value food rewards and then break to have a party with yellow ball. He noticed the pivot but didn't bail off of the teeter.

I also made a point of interspersing the teeter work with dog walk and a frame work. The frame to just mix it up, but the dog walk to make a point that it is NOT like the teeter. I've seen a lot of teeter nervous dogs end up with issues on the dog walk since they look similar. Not a problem though!

Since he "noticed" the pivot, the drop was reduced. What I should see before I up the difficulty is no fear across the pivot. Since he noticed, it's back to more extreme wobble board work before we work that particular teeter game again.

Slowly we're working our way through the content of the contact course.

What I'm happy with is how he will still work his way through something, despite being worried or stressed. This is the second time this week he handled stressful situation well and bounced back from the worry to continue working with me - which is huge! I couldn't believe how well he handled crazy barking dogs on Sunday, and being handled/held by a "stranger." He was concerned, but we moved away from the action a little bit and he would offer play and tug if I really worked for it.

Just about a Year

Or it would have been had I posted this on time! So it's like a year and a month - whatever!!

Baxter started trialing and got his first Q last year on 31-Aug.

I am SO happy with how far he has come and how we've grown as a team. I'm pretty happy with me for sticking with the sport as well and growing as a person/trainer. Granted, Baxter isn't as difficult a starter dog as some people have had, but it's easy to start out with something and then decide that it really isn't for you.

I love it when there are photographers at the trials! I got one of each of the boys @ Medicine Hat! Photographers Album

Aside from guarding the hotel room, he was fantastic at the Flashing Canines trial last weekend. We came home with 2 Q's; his first master standard and his first master snooker. But, he tried in all his runs AND he hit all his weave pole entries and didn't pop out. I also got fast weave poles (we can get single stride weaves at home and are working on transferring that to other venues) in his qualifying master standard run. The things we've been working on are improving!

We had a couple little bobbles here and there, what I'll refer to as "baby dog" (and possibly baby handler) mistakes. I front crossed on the flat to push him onto the dogwalk and instead of going up the dogwalk plank he went beside it in a standard run. He missed a jump because I drifted a little bit laterally away from it in one jumpers. Then we both buggered up a backside of a jump in the other jumpers. But we're getting there. I have a happy dog who wants to work for me in a trial. THAT is what I care about, the rest will come with polishing. I didn't get lost on course either, which I am happy about!

Notice I don't mention either of our gamblers runs though. Those were just sad. First run I tried the mini's on, and he wasn't terribly successful. Not only did he not want to work away for the mini, we also didn't get the super awesome main gamble either. 3 jumps, 2 tunnels, 4 multi directional obstacles. It was like a gift!

So. I changed my plan after some advice. Stop worrying about the mini's. Plan a nice speedy path to wind him up instead of struggling in the first 40 sec which is going to pretty much guarantee me a melt down in the final gamble. Ok. Makes sense. I think we did better in the second gamblers run - except for Mr Excitement jumping a dogwalk contact >< That final gamble was hard though, out to 6 weaves, twice and some jumps, only a handful of dogs even got to the weaves, only one did the gamble correct but over time. We weren't any of those dogs!

So I need to break down distance work to not such a distance I think, and get it solid there. In our distance class we took I usually had to step over the line to get Baxter to read the handling right. If that's what it takes in a trial, that's what it takes. I'd rather step over the line and help him get it right than for my handling to be unclear and teach him not to trust it. That's the plan for now anyway. Gamblers is going to be the hardest thing for us to master, but I knew that right from the beginning when it took forever to even get our first gamblers Q's.

Even though he is doing good in agility, I'm thinking about dropping him into veterans once he turns 5 in January. It still feels like a little bit of a cop-out right now, but if he needs a couple extra seconds to qualify when he's trying I don't think I'm going to stay in specials until he's 7 just to make the a point of doing it "the hard way." I guess I'll see in Jan. We're in Steeplechase this Wed and I'm curious to see if he will make time or if he'll still be over.

Toys. Fading rewards and Building ring behaviours.

We had a great time today spending most of the day out at Wet Noses. Spencer and I are starting to click as a team in the face of distraction, which is good, because he's entered in his first trial in 2 weeks!

It will likely be the last outdoor trial of the season and may be a *little* bit early to begin to trial Spencer. However, I want him to have a good experience at his first couple of trials and outdoors is easier for him. Less weird echos, not so crowded. No dogs that attack the front of their crate when you walk by benched right by the entrance to the arena. Outdoors makes things easier when you're a soft, fragile little dog!

Spencer is also comfortable enough (at Wet Noses at least) to full out play tug with me. The kind of toy obsessive tug that I get at home when my little guy isn't worried about his environment.

What I'm working on right now is fading out the toy being on my person or at least visibly on my person. When we run courses or when we work drills, I usually am holding his toy. So he KNOWS it's there. He doesn't track(stare) the toy as he works, which was a nice side effect of training weaves by 2x2's, but he's anticipating earning it. When he can't see it, he's not as sure about working.

Baxter didn't do this, but then he was training for much longer and I primarily used treats with Baxter, only using his cherished ball to teach that burst of speed at the end through the finish line. Treats build value in a behavior, but toys build drive for it. With Baxter I've had to work on re-building his toy drive due to the focus on food rewards. With Spencer I am working on keeping both toy drive and motivation for food intact during training. Not focusing on the "easy" one to the exclusion of the other.

We've done a lot of small handling drills and double box work so he's used to frequent rewards to create enthusiasm and drive for the behaviors. So I'm lengthening the sequences we run before he earns his toy. We're not up to running a full course without a reward yet. If we're not there by the trial, that's fine, I'll just do partial courses and then have a party with him.

I'm also juicing up nose touches as a rewarding behavior. They're already pretty rewarding, but now I randomly jackpot them as well. Why? So in the event my soft little dog shuts down on a agility course, I can ask for a hugely reinforcing, easy behavior that he loves to do.

Yes, it will get us (me) faults for touching the dog, but it can be my "toy" on the course until we can get off of it to get his reward. It will also enable me to positively influence his frame of mind to get one more obstacle done with focus and enthusiasm so we can get outta there and not reward shut down or other stress behaviors by just leaving. As the truism reads, plan for the worst and hope for the best! It's also just plain fun =D

Just passing by

Where'd it go?

Tongues