11/26 Linda Lesson - Good lesson, I am very happy with it and what we learned. Key items to work on:
1 - Work on Panic's motivation (didn't think I'd ever say that!). Jazz her up a lot before runs. Teach her to drive around turns (not just turn tight, but turn and DIG) and then catch up to me! Related - ensure contacts are solid when hyped up!
2 - Run faster/keep motion forward. Think about when I want Panic to turn tightly vs me driving into pocket further to keep her speed up longer, resulting possibly in wider turn. She adds strides as soon as I begin decelerating. Panic modulates her speed based on mine, so I need to keep moving fast.
3 - Work on helping her to feel comfortable and confident in leaving out the extra stride she often leaves in before a jump. Use ground bar if necessary.
4 - Make sure to give NTO commands as early as she can see the obstacle, so she will know a) extend and head towards it, and b) when I do not give NTO commands when the obstacle is ahead of her, she will know not to take it since I didn't give the command (consistency is key)
I think that's mostly it, good lesson!
Dexter YABTC 11/28-29, Washingtonville
So, so, so, so happy with this trial! After the fiasco in Dexter MI a few weekends ago, I kept trying to convince myself that my dog wasn't a total freak, that it was a fluke, giving all these reasons it happened etc... but I wasn't convinced. It was very tough to have confidence going into this weekend. I ran him in JWW only, and it was AWESOME! Kept him crated in the car because crating was limited and figured away from the cacaphony of the indoor area would be better. Well, Saturday at one point I took him out to potty and BANG gunshot!! Oh no. Dex was terrified :( Freaking out, pulling on leash trying to get AWAY. I brough him inside and crated him there, in case the gunshots continued. I didn't want him to be stressed in the car the whole day. He did calm down, and was fine in the building after a bit. Whew. Happily walking around, even being a jerk to other small dogs (not acceptable, but does mean he feels comfortable). Okay, I can breath again.
So, we run Open JWW. Not a Q, but I was thrilled!! He ran fast, happy, and confident. Problem areas were: Weave Poles - twice he weaved 6 and then popped. Oops. Also went wide and around me/got distracted on 2 FCs. Oh and also before the WPs he visited ring crew - something he's never done before! I honestly think that, and the FC issues were because he is feeling more comfortable and able to look around and see what's going on now. watching the video, on the 2nd FC problem, he looks at me as I cross and then says "eh, I think I want to go over here". Not sure it was my handling causing the problem.
Sunday - crated him indoors again, worked out great. AWESOME run!! No Q again but that's ok - he stayed with me and focused almost the whole time. Again WP problems (worse than Sun, and he was definitely looking for things to be distracted by here). After WPs he looks around and says... "Hey!! That's my daddy filming me inside the ring!" and went to say Hi to Andy. I honestly couldn't believe I was able to get him back, but he came back and focused on me and finished the course with a bang! Very fast, was able to do a nice RC on the flat which he handled beautifully, and overall very nice run :)
I think his runs this weekend showed a HUGE amount of potential, and we just had baby dog mistakes. Hopefully my freaky little dude is not going to make a return visit :) We are definitely staying AWAY from Dexter MI for a few years with him. No reason to stress him or ME out that much. If I could read his little doggie brain maybe we'd be able to work through it, but I really don't want him associating that level of stress with agility, even if he's only there to hang out.
Will post vids later, as well as some nice Panic pic that Andy got.
11.25.2009
Training session at the BRAG building
Great time training at the building last night! Took all four pups down.
Fancy - just ran some stuff, she did fine on jumps, but was slippy on the WPs (long toenails and hair were not helpful though), and took a flying leap onto the DW which made her fall off (not high up)... she was ok but I wonder if depth perception is becoming a problem. Will NOT be running her in any standard, just jumpers type stuff now.
Panic - worked on DW - at first she was getting the contacts but NOT my desired performance... reminded her what to do and she did great. Also worked on lateral distance on WPs including layering a jump between me and her. Awesome job.
Spry - worked on the box, great job. Is now looking forward when I send her to it instead of standing in the box and turning to me. She is continuing through. I worked on running with her and recalls through it as well. Even when she is set up far behind it and I am far ahead, she never jumped it. Good girl. Added it before/after a tunnel. She got it fine when it was before the tunnel, but then had a tough time getting her in the tunnel. wasn't able to do it running with her, had to recall and be AT the tunnel to show it to her. But no misses on the box, she just needs to learn to look for the next thing. But of course, we've only been doing one thing at a time so she thinks "ok I did it, where's my reward?". Hey I don't mind a dog not charging forward for what's in front of them! Same problem when we did tunnel first, very tough to send her to the box. I think in this scenario I need a curved tunnel instead of hte straight one we were working - I was def too far behind after she came out of the tunnel so she was really really looking back at me. Also worked on 2RTO using the baby DW board. MUCH more successful than the slippery board I have at home. She was doing well, getting that she needed her front paws off of the board but I was pretty certain not getting that it was the back paws ON the board that mattered. You know what I mean, she was putting her front paws on the ground and thought that was the trick, not maintaining those rear paws near the edge (even though she was, by coincidence). FINALLY she came off and backed up though to put them back on :) GOOD girlie!! From that point, she def got it. I worked too long with her though and she started to get distracted. With her for now I need to keep sessions short, and if she does wander, calling her back has NO affect on her. Literally she acts completely deaf (ok white headed dog, don't freak me out!). So, when she does, I need to run the other way with my tuggy and play when she comes back. Momma = best playmate. Hmmm I hope she doesn't need "tough love" at home, that's just no fun.
Dexter - only specific skill we worked were WPs. He is getting quicker in them and popping out. So, very positively, I bring him back to the beginning and try again. He did a good job keeping up enthusiasm for all of our little sessions. I also ran some mini-courses with him, AWESOME contacts!!! He did jump high on the AF once but I didn't reward and we did it again and he fixed it. Good little man. Teeter was perfect all night!!! No hesitations etc.
I think for dude, I need to have my mom come down with me with Havoc or something. Somebody else with dogs other than my own. Give him something to "worry" about, so we can work on confidence on the contacts in that situation.
Linda lesson for miss Panic tomorrow, can't wait (but I hope our contacts are ok tomorrow... I don't want to spend my time fixing mistakes on those and not our handling!). And up to Washingtonville for Youngstown All Breed for vending and Dex running this weekend! I pulled him from standard, so he will be doing JWW only... of course not until like 430 each day :( Can't wait to see how he handles this show, he has always been fine at Washingtonville (granted, as a spectator!)
Fancy - just ran some stuff, she did fine on jumps, but was slippy on the WPs (long toenails and hair were not helpful though), and took a flying leap onto the DW which made her fall off (not high up)... she was ok but I wonder if depth perception is becoming a problem. Will NOT be running her in any standard, just jumpers type stuff now.
Panic - worked on DW - at first she was getting the contacts but NOT my desired performance... reminded her what to do and she did great. Also worked on lateral distance on WPs including layering a jump between me and her. Awesome job.
Spry - worked on the box, great job. Is now looking forward when I send her to it instead of standing in the box and turning to me. She is continuing through. I worked on running with her and recalls through it as well. Even when she is set up far behind it and I am far ahead, she never jumped it. Good girl. Added it before/after a tunnel. She got it fine when it was before the tunnel, but then had a tough time getting her in the tunnel. wasn't able to do it running with her, had to recall and be AT the tunnel to show it to her. But no misses on the box, she just needs to learn to look for the next thing. But of course, we've only been doing one thing at a time so she thinks "ok I did it, where's my reward?". Hey I don't mind a dog not charging forward for what's in front of them! Same problem when we did tunnel first, very tough to send her to the box. I think in this scenario I need a curved tunnel instead of hte straight one we were working - I was def too far behind after she came out of the tunnel so she was really really looking back at me. Also worked on 2RTO using the baby DW board. MUCH more successful than the slippery board I have at home. She was doing well, getting that she needed her front paws off of the board but I was pretty certain not getting that it was the back paws ON the board that mattered. You know what I mean, she was putting her front paws on the ground and thought that was the trick, not maintaining those rear paws near the edge (even though she was, by coincidence). FINALLY she came off and backed up though to put them back on :) GOOD girlie!! From that point, she def got it. I worked too long with her though and she started to get distracted. With her for now I need to keep sessions short, and if she does wander, calling her back has NO affect on her. Literally she acts completely deaf (ok white headed dog, don't freak me out!). So, when she does, I need to run the other way with my tuggy and play when she comes back. Momma = best playmate. Hmmm I hope she doesn't need "tough love" at home, that's just no fun.
Dexter - only specific skill we worked were WPs. He is getting quicker in them and popping out. So, very positively, I bring him back to the beginning and try again. He did a good job keeping up enthusiasm for all of our little sessions. I also ran some mini-courses with him, AWESOME contacts!!! He did jump high on the AF once but I didn't reward and we did it again and he fixed it. Good little man. Teeter was perfect all night!!! No hesitations etc.
I think for dude, I need to have my mom come down with me with Havoc or something. Somebody else with dogs other than my own. Give him something to "worry" about, so we can work on confidence on the contacts in that situation.
Linda lesson for miss Panic tomorrow, can't wait (but I hope our contacts are ok tomorrow... I don't want to spend my time fixing mistakes on those and not our handling!). And up to Washingtonville for Youngstown All Breed for vending and Dex running this weekend! I pulled him from standard, so he will be doing JWW only... of course not until like 430 each day :( Can't wait to see how he handles this show, he has always been fine at Washingtonville (granted, as a spectator!)
11.24.2009
Trick Training
This past weekend, Andy and I took Dexter up to Wooster. We were going to night #1 of the Al van Wie Basketball tournament with my dad and grandpa, and the next day we were taking Dex to a CERF clinic in Tallmadge, OH (1 hr from Wooster but 2 hrs from our home). On Friday night, after we went up to bed and took Dex with us, I decided to teach him a trick with some of his kibble as treats. He has never learned roll over, so we went for that one. WOW did he learn it quickly!! He wasn't very happy with me "helping" him roll by putting my hand on his shoulder and applying pressure, so I just had to lure him with the treat... he turned his head and looked over his shoulder and then flipped his head the other way a few times, then all of a sudden he rolled! So HUGE jackpot and praise (I didn't have a clicker so we were working on verbal/physical praise and treats only). He seemed to realize that's what we wanted, and with the lure continued to roll pretty much every time after that! We left it there, but I was so proud of my little buddy.
Yesterday afternoon, I took Dex to work on his wobble board (much improved) and on roll over with fading the lure. He was really gettng it. I think it's going to be hard to move from me sitting next to him to standing up, but he is really getting it. I also taught him to "wave". His "shake"s were pretty low down so I had to shape him to lift the paw higher, but it was so easy. He is SUCH a smart little boy, and really lights up with trick work. I need to do it more often obviously! He truly had such a good time and I could really tell he was loving figuring things out. He's so funny too when he does things, he does them very deliberately. For example when Panic shakes or waves, her paw is frantic all over the place - doing the right thing but she is so FRANTIC while she does it and desperate to get her reward. Dex is more like "ok, I need to put my paw on your hand - lift the paw, move towards hand, annnnd done". It's cute. He's not slow - still very quick response, just a totally different approach than panic.
I also worked with Spry, first on 2o2o on a board on teh ground (the board is too slippery, need to apply some texture!) and also on teaching her to shake. She mostly wanted to lick my hand but once lifted a paw a little bit so "click" and jackpot... and she got it pretty quickly after that.
I was actually very proud of Panic last night too. I worked on spider dog, and weaving between my legs. I can't remember the last time I worked on tricks with her that I didn't get very frustrated. She is, as I mentioned above, kind of frantic about these things. She has become too crazy and not really trying to think about what she's doing or figure it out. And ends up a) diving for her reward too hard and scraping my knuckles with her teeth which KILLS, b) barking VERY loudly and incessantly, or c) just going through her repetoire of existing tricks instead of trying new things. BUT last night, she was awesome and thought about things, and NO barking :) She did start to get frustrated at one point and rolled over a few times (which is her least favorite trick, so when she tries that I know she's at the end of her string) but I got her back on track.
Tricks are fun!
Yesterday afternoon, I took Dex to work on his wobble board (much improved) and on roll over with fading the lure. He was really gettng it. I think it's going to be hard to move from me sitting next to him to standing up, but he is really getting it. I also taught him to "wave". His "shake"s were pretty low down so I had to shape him to lift the paw higher, but it was so easy. He is SUCH a smart little boy, and really lights up with trick work. I need to do it more often obviously! He truly had such a good time and I could really tell he was loving figuring things out. He's so funny too when he does things, he does them very deliberately. For example when Panic shakes or waves, her paw is frantic all over the place - doing the right thing but she is so FRANTIC while she does it and desperate to get her reward. Dex is more like "ok, I need to put my paw on your hand - lift the paw, move towards hand, annnnd done". It's cute. He's not slow - still very quick response, just a totally different approach than panic.
I also worked with Spry, first on 2o2o on a board on teh ground (the board is too slippery, need to apply some texture!) and also on teaching her to shake. She mostly wanted to lick my hand but once lifted a paw a little bit so "click" and jackpot... and she got it pretty quickly after that.
I was actually very proud of Panic last night too. I worked on spider dog, and weaving between my legs. I can't remember the last time I worked on tricks with her that I didn't get very frustrated. She is, as I mentioned above, kind of frantic about these things. She has become too crazy and not really trying to think about what she's doing or figure it out. And ends up a) diving for her reward too hard and scraping my knuckles with her teeth which KILLS, b) barking VERY loudly and incessantly, or c) just going through her repetoire of existing tricks instead of trying new things. BUT last night, she was awesome and thought about things, and NO barking :) She did start to get frustrated at one point and rolled over a few times (which is her least favorite trick, so when she tries that I know she's at the end of her string) but I got her back on track.
Tricks are fun!
11.23.2009
She is!
Mom is in Vegas this week, so Andy and I took Neat and Fada in for their ultrasounds.
Joanne saw two Fada pups! This means there are at least 2, could be more. It's very difficult to distinguish pups on ultrasounds, and they really aren't used to determine how many, really just "are they or aren't they". She will have her x-ray sometime after she is 50 days pregnant, and that's when we'll know how many for sure.
Yay for pod puppies :)
Joanne saw two Fada pups! This means there are at least 2, could be more. It's very difficult to distinguish pups on ultrasounds, and they really aren't used to determine how many, really just "are they or aren't they". She will have her x-ray sometime after she is 50 days pregnant, and that's when we'll know how many for sure.
Yay for pod puppies :)
11.16.2009
I *think* she is...
...pregnant, that is. I am fairly certain Fada AND Neat are pregnant. Fada should be due Dec. 24. Ultrasound next Monday to confirm, then an x-ray closer to due date.
Panic Statistics and goals
I was looking at some of my agility stats today...
Panic's first trial was 4/27/07. She currently has 96 Qs in USDAA.
She hit 25 on 2/10/08 (9.5 months)
She hit 50 on 1/18/09 (took 11 months for that 25)
She hit 75 on 7/18/09 (took 6 months for that 25).
We got our 96th on 10/25/09 so that was just over 3 months, although our next trial isn't until Dec 12/13 so basically minimum 5 months for the 4th set of 25 legs.
I think it's interesting to see how that plays out... I'm not surprised that legs 26-50 took longer than 1-25, given that we were in Advanced and that's where I think we really came together as a team, but it was a process where we were feeling each other out! I think our speediness in getting the most recent legs has to do with entering DAM team where you can get a lot of Qs that count only towards LAA. 7 out of our last 26 legs have been from DAM team.
Panic has a chance to hit 100 Qs at the Pawsitive Partners trial in Indy in Dec, although you can only enter 3 runs a day so we will have to get 4/6 (and two of our runs will be Gamblers, which we are not so good at!)
Looking at some other stats, our Jumpers YPS average is hovering right below 6yps. I'd like to get that on the other side of that line... Standard YPS is right below 4yps, that DEFINITELY needs improved. But we do have a faster table now which will help!
I have a Linda lesson coming up next Thursday. I have been trying to figure out what to tell her we want to work on. I think she has great tight turns. Where else can we speed up? Her WPs are slow compared to the BCs. Also I think she needs to open up more on straight lines, but I'm not sure how to help her do that. Hmmm.
Panic's first trial was 4/27/07. She currently has 96 Qs in USDAA.
She hit 25 on 2/10/08 (9.5 months)
She hit 50 on 1/18/09 (took 11 months for that 25)
She hit 75 on 7/18/09 (took 6 months for that 25).
We got our 96th on 10/25/09 so that was just over 3 months, although our next trial isn't until Dec 12/13 so basically minimum 5 months for the 4th set of 25 legs.
I think it's interesting to see how that plays out... I'm not surprised that legs 26-50 took longer than 1-25, given that we were in Advanced and that's where I think we really came together as a team, but it was a process where we were feeling each other out! I think our speediness in getting the most recent legs has to do with entering DAM team where you can get a lot of Qs that count only towards LAA. 7 out of our last 26 legs have been from DAM team.
Panic has a chance to hit 100 Qs at the Pawsitive Partners trial in Indy in Dec, although you can only enter 3 runs a day so we will have to get 4/6 (and two of our runs will be Gamblers, which we are not so good at!)
Looking at some other stats, our Jumpers YPS average is hovering right below 6yps. I'd like to get that on the other side of that line... Standard YPS is right below 4yps, that DEFINITELY needs improved. But we do have a faster table now which will help!
I have a Linda lesson coming up next Thursday. I have been trying to figure out what to tell her we want to work on. I think she has great tight turns. Where else can we speed up? Her WPs are slow compared to the BCs. Also I think she needs to open up more on straight lines, but I'm not sure how to help her do that. Hmmm.
11.12.2009
2010 USDAA Nationals
Right now, the 2009 USDAA nationals are taking place in Scottsdale, AZ. I have heard this is a FANTASTIC place to have the trial at, especially now that it's gotten so huge. I attended nationals the 3 yrs they were in Cleveland (I think 97-99). It was still pretty small-ish then, with maybe 4 rings? Maybe 3? I don't remember. But there was other stuff going on, but not much. Now it's 6 rings of agility with Dock Dogs, Freestyle, Frisbee, Lure coursing, Flyball, etc etc etc also happening. So, it's gigantic! This means that they've had a really tough time finding somewhere else to hold nationals that would accomodate all that, plus tons of RV parking. So, it's been in Scottsdale for about 6 years. Unfortunately that makes it really tough for people out here and further east to get there.
I was going to go next year, where ever it was going to be held. Panic is hopefully going to be in her prime and I think it would be a blast.
Well, announcement made at the banquet... it's going to be in Philadelphia or Louisville!!!! Obviously L'ville is much closer for me, 3.5 hrs but Philly isn't bad at 7.5 either. Cannot wait!
I was going to go next year, where ever it was going to be held. Panic is hopefully going to be in her prime and I think it would be a blast.
Well, announcement made at the banquet... it's going to be in Philadelphia or Louisville!!!! Obviously L'ville is much closer for me, 3.5 hrs but Philly isn't bad at 7.5 either. Cannot wait!
11.11.2009
Fada pregnancy?
The ultrasound for the girls is Monday, Nov. 23. Bummer of it is, I'll be out of town, so have to have someone else take them. : ( I hate missing it and will be anxiously awaiting results. Of course, I'll be in Vegas, with the time difference, so likely sleeping when results get phoned to me.
Last night at Mary's class
Dexter was pretty good! We ran standard first. Weave poles were great - he is starting to find the entrance now. I really should actually *train* that to really help him, but he seems to understand it anyway. He had good tables, which is something that had been deteriorating but we worked on in the past week. His DW and AF were great! It's funny, used to be given an AF/tunnel discrim there was NO WAY to get him up the AF. And it really shut him down to realize he chose wrong, and then he'd pout. But now, he always takes the AF! I guess you can tell we'd been working on contacts. But the good news is, that when it's the tunnel and he chooses the AF, I bring him around to the tunnel and I don't know if he can tell he chose wrong or not (I hope not, bc of course it was mommy's fault) but he is not shut down at all. So he ran really really well.... until the teeter. He ran it quickly, it tipped, and THEN he turned around and walked back down. which menat it had to tip *again*. Silly dog. Couldn't get him to complete it. *sigh* Next run in std we just skipped it since I pulled him from standard at YABTC. I think I'm going to do teeter w/him at home and nowhere else for the next few weeks at least.
In JWW he did well although I felt he was slow. I think he's not jumping right. He is crouching slightly before each jump. I don't know why. I want to get him CERF'd on the 21st to rule eyes out. He just got checked by chiro yesterday, no problems. I will try to get a vid of it and post it here.
Panic, let me just say, was kicking SERIOUS butt last night. She had fantastic contacts, some tight turns off of them as well. I am now finally being able to get some more lat distance on poles to position myself further down the line to get a FC or something in that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. Table was good. Stays were perfect. In STD and JWW I even ran her back to back to challenge ourselves because it means our 2nd run she was really high, and in the past her mental state wouldn't have been conducive to good contacts etc. She also is really awesome now with sends. As long as I give her the right signals she goes and then off I go and she is having some truly awesome tight turns (which we SO need because of her short stride length!) I am so proud of her, she is doing so well. Hopefully it continues improving! We are going to Nationals next year. No trials for Pan pan until Paws Partners in Dec. Can't wait!
Spry update - about 8 months old. She was 17" and 25.5 lbs when we got her at the end of August, she is now 18.75" and 32lbs. She is doing great! I finally taught her "down" and now we are just working on verbally differentiating between down and sit. She is learning to work for a tug toy which is actually going MUCH better than I anticipated. And boy is she STRONG! She could just about tug my arm off. And she doesn't have very good aim when leaping, mouth open wide, for the foot long rope toy. Those teeth hurt when they knock your hand!!
In JWW he did well although I felt he was slow. I think he's not jumping right. He is crouching slightly before each jump. I don't know why. I want to get him CERF'd on the 21st to rule eyes out. He just got checked by chiro yesterday, no problems. I will try to get a vid of it and post it here.
Panic, let me just say, was kicking SERIOUS butt last night. She had fantastic contacts, some tight turns off of them as well. I am now finally being able to get some more lat distance on poles to position myself further down the line to get a FC or something in that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. Table was good. Stays were perfect. In STD and JWW I even ran her back to back to challenge ourselves because it means our 2nd run she was really high, and in the past her mental state wouldn't have been conducive to good contacts etc. She also is really awesome now with sends. As long as I give her the right signals she goes and then off I go and she is having some truly awesome tight turns (which we SO need because of her short stride length!) I am so proud of her, she is doing so well. Hopefully it continues improving! We are going to Nationals next year. No trials for Pan pan until Paws Partners in Dec. Can't wait!
Spry update - about 8 months old. She was 17" and 25.5 lbs when we got her at the end of August, she is now 18.75" and 32lbs. She is doing great! I finally taught her "down" and now we are just working on verbally differentiating between down and sit. She is learning to work for a tug toy which is actually going MUCH better than I anticipated. And boy is she STRONG! She could just about tug my arm off. And she doesn't have very good aim when leaping, mouth open wide, for the foot long rope toy. Those teeth hurt when they knock your hand!!
11.09.2009
the weekend...
Well, this weekend of trialing was definitely a 180 from our first! We got there Saturday morning, and I brought Dexter in. He was scared silly! I walked him around a bit to try to loosen him up. He started doing a little better, then got charged by some dogs in crates. Oh great. I have to say the behavior of dogs there this weekend was pretty horrific. There is no way I would have crated Dex in there even if he wasn't very anxious - it certainly would have really freaked him out. VERY loud and lots of charging and angry barking.
I left him in the car during Ex JWW and STD and brought him in again during O Std to walk him around. Did ok but still scared. Then it was our turn to run in N Std. I was mad at myself bc I double checked w/the judge that she'd give us 5 mins between walk through and 1st dog. She said yep, and since we were teh first dog, I wasn't going to get him until the walk-through was done. Well the walk through finishes and they're calling for him NOW. So I rush, don't get treats, and am now anxious. The judge (the ever so nice Anne Riba) told me to relax and take my time. So I got his cookies, but the damage was done, he felt my anxiety and stress. First obstacle was tire, he ran around it and left the ring.
For OJWW, we actually got one jump! And then he left the ring.
After Saturday's trial was over, I brought him back in and walked him around the nearly empty building. He opened up a lot.
Sunday, didn't even bring him in until the excellent people were gone. He was more relaxed for N Std. Did the first jump, ran around the chute (I kept going), did the broad jump, saw the AFrame and said nope, and left the ring. Well, actually headed that way but I was able to stop him and scoop him up.
Open JWW, he was feeling much more relaxed before hand. Even was getting some tail wags!! I was able to walk him in the ring (instead of carrying) which I wouldn't have been able to do in any of the other runs. I was trying to act as normal as possible. It started with a tunnel, which I didn't know if he'd be scared of the curvy dark thing or be ok with it. Turns out he was fine. He actually did pretty well compared to the other runs! He started to leave a few times, but I called him and he came back. I was very happy that he had the bravery to do that. We kind of made up our own course, but for the most part he did what I wanted. Didn't do all the weaves but did some. Certainly not what we looked like at North Olmstead, but I am so happy he was able to make this progress throughout the weekend.
Now the million dollar question, WHY ws he so scared?? I'm really not sure. I sure would love to have been able to read his mind.
Theory 1: This is the building we got him at - he was petrified that weekend, maybe his little psyche remembers and is traumatized there?
Theory 2: This building is a little darker and more echo-ey than similar buildings (Washingtonville - where he is fine), maybe that made the difference.
Theory 3: As I said there were a lot of angry dogs in crates here. He could have felt that energy.
Theory 4: He is a sighthound afterall!
I am sure it's some sort of combination of them all.
We are entered at YABTC in a few weekends. I'm pulling him from standard and leaving him in JWW. We'll see how he does, I'm hoping we'll not have a repeat experience! It really upset me that he felt so scared. It sucks to see your dog feel like that. And we've worked so hard on his confidence. He still needs some time though, he is still a baby dog after all.
I left him in the car during Ex JWW and STD and brought him in again during O Std to walk him around. Did ok but still scared. Then it was our turn to run in N Std. I was mad at myself bc I double checked w/the judge that she'd give us 5 mins between walk through and 1st dog. She said yep, and since we were teh first dog, I wasn't going to get him until the walk-through was done. Well the walk through finishes and they're calling for him NOW. So I rush, don't get treats, and am now anxious. The judge (the ever so nice Anne Riba) told me to relax and take my time. So I got his cookies, but the damage was done, he felt my anxiety and stress. First obstacle was tire, he ran around it and left the ring.
For OJWW, we actually got one jump! And then he left the ring.
After Saturday's trial was over, I brought him back in and walked him around the nearly empty building. He opened up a lot.
Sunday, didn't even bring him in until the excellent people were gone. He was more relaxed for N Std. Did the first jump, ran around the chute (I kept going), did the broad jump, saw the AFrame and said nope, and left the ring. Well, actually headed that way but I was able to stop him and scoop him up.
Open JWW, he was feeling much more relaxed before hand. Even was getting some tail wags!! I was able to walk him in the ring (instead of carrying) which I wouldn't have been able to do in any of the other runs. I was trying to act as normal as possible. It started with a tunnel, which I didn't know if he'd be scared of the curvy dark thing or be ok with it. Turns out he was fine. He actually did pretty well compared to the other runs! He started to leave a few times, but I called him and he came back. I was very happy that he had the bravery to do that. We kind of made up our own course, but for the most part he did what I wanted. Didn't do all the weaves but did some. Certainly not what we looked like at North Olmstead, but I am so happy he was able to make this progress throughout the weekend.
Now the million dollar question, WHY ws he so scared?? I'm really not sure. I sure would love to have been able to read his mind.
Theory 1: This is the building we got him at - he was petrified that weekend, maybe his little psyche remembers and is traumatized there?
Theory 2: This building is a little darker and more echo-ey than similar buildings (Washingtonville - where he is fine), maybe that made the difference.
Theory 3: As I said there were a lot of angry dogs in crates here. He could have felt that energy.
Theory 4: He is a sighthound afterall!
I am sure it's some sort of combination of them all.
We are entered at YABTC in a few weekends. I'm pulling him from standard and leaving him in JWW. We'll see how he does, I'm hoping we'll not have a repeat experience! It really upset me that he felt so scared. It sucks to see your dog feel like that. And we've worked so hard on his confidence. He still needs some time though, he is still a baby dog after all.
11.06.2009
Going back to Dexter...
This weekend will be Dexter's first time showing in the place he was named after!
I never explained in this blog how Andy and myself ended up with the little pod.
Last year, towards the end of November, Andy and I went to Dexter, MI to vend at the Canine Combustion Dog Agility Club AKC trial. When we got up there, our friend Charlene Wiglesworth was also at the trial. I had met her a few times before, so I went up and said hi, and realized she had a new puppy. The puppy was the CUTEST little ball of energy. Her name was Calypso, and she just stole my heart. She was so outgoing and seemed like she loved life. I had never met a smooth podengo before, and I loved her look. I played with her for a while, fawning over her the whole time. At one point, Charlene says "You know... the breeder has a male littermate left still... and she lives very close to here!"
I was frozen for a minute. As much as I liked little Calypso, honestly at that point getting one (and certainly getting one that DAY) had not really entered my mind. I loved my mom's little Fada, but was LOVING running Panic at 22" and wasn't that interested in getting a small dog. But Calypso was so charming... I think I hemmed and hawed about it long enough, and Charlene called up Carol Sowders. She was home and would be out in a bit with the pods! Oh my.
So, she gets there and unloads Brawny who was very similar to Calypso in body type and coloration - shorter and longer (well probably just shorter so they look longer) with a kind of darker mask over the tan. He was also very outgoing. And then she unloads the other pup, who had no name. He was a red colored one (think vizsla) with a stunning white irish marking pattern. He was longer legged than the other pups too. However, he was terrified. In the x-pen, Calypso and Brawny played and played, and asked to be picked up by the humans. The nameless pup sat in the corner and looked quite concerned. Of course at this point, I was interested in Brawny! Well, turns out at the time there was a concern he might have a problem eating/swallowing (although now we know he was fine and just eating too fast). However I didn't want a dog with a known health issue, so that was out of the question. I felt sad for this scared puppy, and pulled him out of the pen and held him close. I sat on the floor, with him in my lap. I didn't get any licks on the face or tail wags, but he did seem to get a little less nervous. At this point I was set that I was not getting one, after all I didn't need a pup that was that shy.
Andy was done filming whatever class was going on, and came over to meet the puppies. He played briefly with Calypso and Brawny, and then picked up the nameless pup. He cooed at him and petted him and held him for a while. I shared my feelings that I wasn't sure about it and this puppy. However, after I held him for a while and Andy did the same, there was just something about this little guy that was hard to let go of. Charlene also shared that when she got Calypso, she was similarly shy and after a month, you would never have guessed it. Against my better judgement, I talked to Carol and we decided we'd take him home and see how things went. If within a month he didn't come out of his shell though, we'd give him back. If nothing else it would be a good socialization month for him.
For the rest of that day, he sat with me at our vending table, on my lap, and I also walked him around some at the show. He was pretty frightened, but by the time excellent was finished and there were few people left for Open and Novice, he was looking a little more brave.
That night on the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a Pet Supplies Plus and picked up some essentials for him like a leash, collar, food bowl and some puppy/tiny toys. And of course, his first coat :) After being frozen for a few seconds in the coat, he actually walked surprisingly well in it. And it was very cold outside!!
At the hotel, we opened the crate... and he didn't want to come out :( We finally were able to lure him out with some McDonald's french fries. He sat on the edge of the bed while we crouched on the ground next to the bed so we were eye to eye. I got some cell phone pics to send to my (somewhat shocked) mom (see the pic of him to the right... how could you resist that face?), and tried to get him to play a little. He did play some with his puppy toy, and I got my first kiss from him that night too :)
By morning, we were totally in love with this little guy. I'm not sure if we named him the first day or the next, and I'm not sure what our original name for him was but we didn't like it. We were pondering other names, and I realized we were in the city of Dexter, and that was really a pretty adorable name for such a little guy. So Dexter it was. The next day he opened up a little at the show, and actually did play with his sister some at the site. I was able to get this video of them playing, although he mostly just scratched his collar when we turned the camera on.
There's much more to when we got him home etc, but long story short, once out of the scary echo-y building he was much less scared. It was clear that our "trial" period would be permanent, whether or not he came out of his shell. It did take him a while to come around in strange situations and he still gets a little nervous sometimes. But, he is such an awesome little dog. He makes us laugh every single day. He loves with his whole self, and every morning, afternoon, and night, is just SO excited to see his people. His wiggly tail propelling him high as he bounces up on us. His little belly when he flips over for rubs and stretches out as long as he can. His giraffe neck when he's stretching out after a nap. His penguin waddle when he wakes up in the evening (when he is inevitably sleeping while we watch TV) to go get a drink of water. Although he was certainly not the puppy anyone would have recommended for a performance home based on his personality when we met him, we couldn't be happier with our little dude. Love you little man!!
I never explained in this blog how Andy and myself ended up with the little pod.
Last year, towards the end of November, Andy and I went to Dexter, MI to vend at the Canine Combustion Dog Agility Club AKC trial. When we got up there, our friend Charlene Wiglesworth was also at the trial. I had met her a few times before, so I went up and said hi, and realized she had a new puppy. The puppy was the CUTEST little ball of energy. Her name was Calypso, and she just stole my heart. She was so outgoing and seemed like she loved life. I had never met a smooth podengo before, and I loved her look. I played with her for a while, fawning over her the whole time. At one point, Charlene says "You know... the breeder has a male littermate left still... and she lives very close to here!"
I was frozen for a minute. As much as I liked little Calypso, honestly at that point getting one (and certainly getting one that DAY) had not really entered my mind. I loved my mom's little Fada, but was LOVING running Panic at 22" and wasn't that interested in getting a small dog. But Calypso was so charming... I think I hemmed and hawed about it long enough, and Charlene called up Carol Sowders. She was home and would be out in a bit with the pods! Oh my.
So, she gets there and unloads Brawny who was very similar to Calypso in body type and coloration - shorter and longer (well probably just shorter so they look longer) with a kind of darker mask over the tan. He was also very outgoing. And then she unloads the other pup, who had no name. He was a red colored one (think vizsla) with a stunning white irish marking pattern. He was longer legged than the other pups too. However, he was terrified. In the x-pen, Calypso and Brawny played and played, and asked to be picked up by the humans. The nameless pup sat in the corner and looked quite concerned. Of course at this point, I was interested in Brawny! Well, turns out at the time there was a concern he might have a problem eating/swallowing (although now we know he was fine and just eating too fast). However I didn't want a dog with a known health issue, so that was out of the question. I felt sad for this scared puppy, and pulled him out of the pen and held him close. I sat on the floor, with him in my lap. I didn't get any licks on the face or tail wags, but he did seem to get a little less nervous. At this point I was set that I was not getting one, after all I didn't need a pup that was that shy.
Andy was done filming whatever class was going on, and came over to meet the puppies. He played briefly with Calypso and Brawny, and then picked up the nameless pup. He cooed at him and petted him and held him for a while. I shared my feelings that I wasn't sure about it and this puppy. However, after I held him for a while and Andy did the same, there was just something about this little guy that was hard to let go of. Charlene also shared that when she got Calypso, she was similarly shy and after a month, you would never have guessed it. Against my better judgement, I talked to Carol and we decided we'd take him home and see how things went. If within a month he didn't come out of his shell though, we'd give him back. If nothing else it would be a good socialization month for him.
For the rest of that day, he sat with me at our vending table, on my lap, and I also walked him around some at the show. He was pretty frightened, but by the time excellent was finished and there were few people left for Open and Novice, he was looking a little more brave.
That night on the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a Pet Supplies Plus and picked up some essentials for him like a leash, collar, food bowl and some puppy/tiny toys. And of course, his first coat :) After being frozen for a few seconds in the coat, he actually walked surprisingly well in it. And it was very cold outside!!
At the hotel, we opened the crate... and he didn't want to come out :( We finally were able to lure him out with some McDonald's french fries. He sat on the edge of the bed while we crouched on the ground next to the bed so we were eye to eye. I got some cell phone pics to send to my (somewhat shocked) mom (see the pic of him to the right... how could you resist that face?), and tried to get him to play a little. He did play some with his puppy toy, and I got my first kiss from him that night too :)
By morning, we were totally in love with this little guy. I'm not sure if we named him the first day or the next, and I'm not sure what our original name for him was but we didn't like it. We were pondering other names, and I realized we were in the city of Dexter, and that was really a pretty adorable name for such a little guy. So Dexter it was. The next day he opened up a little at the show, and actually did play with his sister some at the site. I was able to get this video of them playing, although he mostly just scratched his collar when we turned the camera on.
There's much more to when we got him home etc, but long story short, once out of the scary echo-y building he was much less scared. It was clear that our "trial" period would be permanent, whether or not he came out of his shell. It did take him a while to come around in strange situations and he still gets a little nervous sometimes. But, he is such an awesome little dog. He makes us laugh every single day. He loves with his whole self, and every morning, afternoon, and night, is just SO excited to see his people. His wiggly tail propelling him high as he bounces up on us. His little belly when he flips over for rubs and stretches out as long as he can. His giraffe neck when he's stretching out after a nap. His penguin waddle when he wakes up in the evening (when he is inevitably sleeping while we watch TV) to go get a drink of water. Although he was certainly not the puppy anyone would have recommended for a performance home based on his personality when we met him, we couldn't be happier with our little dude. Love you little man!!
11.02.2009
Podering contacts (non Podengo)
I have been thinking lately about what sort of contact performance I want with Spry. Regardless which I choose, I want to start work with her on it fairly soon - whether it's teaching her 2RTO behavior or how to run a board on the ground.
Here are my thoughts. My first thought was to teach her running. With Panic I taught 2RTO and then later converted to running. We are starting to now get pretty consistent with that, but it would have been MUCH easier to train running from the get-go. We still have lots to work on though, including turns off of the contacts. that needs improved a lot. If I do running contacts with Spry, I want to teach her that from the beginning. Here is a list of pro's and con's for each:
Running Contact Pros:
- She will be competing with BCs and any milliseconds saved can be important
- Avoids any conflict of the dog wanting to run and getting frustrated when they have to slow down/stop
- Physically easier and nicer on the dogs body than the shoulders slamming into a stopped position (biggest problem on the Aframe)
Running Contact Cons:
- She may not be the best at tight turns. At this point it's hard to tell because she's still gangly, but her "type" is kind of lab-like and I'm afraid she'll have a hard time making tight turns... which means running could be difficult with something like an off-course tunnel facing her at the bottom of a contact obstacle.
- Time consuming to teach, and I don't have any contacts at home so I have to go to the building frequently to teach them.
- What if her stride is not natural for this?
Stopped contact pros:
- Easy to teach 2RTO behavior at home with short board
- Much more reliable, even with a perfectly trained running contact dog.
- Easier to re-direct after contact
Stopped contact cons:
- Not as fast
- Can be rough on dog's body
I guess the only big reason to do a running DW is speed really. Linda Mecklenburg's Wonder is just breathtaking to watch on the DW. However, I don't have the time or resources Linda has to work on running DW training. I think while writing this post, I may have convinced myself to do a stopped DW and Teeter, and running Aframe. Maybe I will teach a running A-frame, while at the same time working on 2RTO behavior, and if I see that she very easily and well understands to go ALL THE WAY DOWN with running, I might try it on the DW. I don't know!!! Any suggestions anyone?
Here are my thoughts. My first thought was to teach her running. With Panic I taught 2RTO and then later converted to running. We are starting to now get pretty consistent with that, but it would have been MUCH easier to train running from the get-go. We still have lots to work on though, including turns off of the contacts. that needs improved a lot. If I do running contacts with Spry, I want to teach her that from the beginning. Here is a list of pro's and con's for each:
Running Contact Pros:
- She will be competing with BCs and any milliseconds saved can be important
- Avoids any conflict of the dog wanting to run and getting frustrated when they have to slow down/stop
- Physically easier and nicer on the dogs body than the shoulders slamming into a stopped position (biggest problem on the Aframe)
Running Contact Cons:
- She may not be the best at tight turns. At this point it's hard to tell because she's still gangly, but her "type" is kind of lab-like and I'm afraid she'll have a hard time making tight turns... which means running could be difficult with something like an off-course tunnel facing her at the bottom of a contact obstacle.
- Time consuming to teach, and I don't have any contacts at home so I have to go to the building frequently to teach them.
- What if her stride is not natural for this?
Stopped contact pros:
- Easy to teach 2RTO behavior at home with short board
- Much more reliable, even with a perfectly trained running contact dog.
- Easier to re-direct after contact
Stopped contact cons:
- Not as fast
- Can be rough on dog's body
I guess the only big reason to do a running DW is speed really. Linda Mecklenburg's Wonder is just breathtaking to watch on the DW. However, I don't have the time or resources Linda has to work on running DW training. I think while writing this post, I may have convinced myself to do a stopped DW and Teeter, and running Aframe. Maybe I will teach a running A-frame, while at the same time working on 2RTO behavior, and if I see that she very easily and well understands to go ALL THE WAY DOWN with running, I might try it on the DW. I don't know!!! Any suggestions anyone?
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