Spry is doing excellent on her 2rto dogwalk!! Last night she really sped up and learned to drive to the end. She is stopping with her paws ahead of her, not off to the side of the board, so I'm really happy! Now, I just have to learn to run faster! Doesn't matter much how fast she does the DW if it takes me 3 more seconds to catch up :) I need to practice being behind and doing a run-by. If I start and stay ahead, she stops, but haven't practiced passing her while she's stopped. Also need to start working FC at the bottom. It is 4 links higher than the lowest height... probably 3.5 ft or so? going to keep easing it up a few links at a time. Really don't want to mess this lovely behavior up! I did notice at least on the 1st one in the vid, she missed the up. I can't tell on the 2nd, haven't had a chance yet to slow it down and watch it on a bigger screen. But I'm not going to fuss too much - she drives ahead so well the LAST thing I want is her checking in with me right at the beginning and becoming uncertain.
Also worked on - tippy teeter - worked on one of BRAG's wooden ones, which creaks as it resets and it does scare her a little. Also worked on a metal noisy one, with a piece of padding under the downside so it still bangs but not as much yet. This one has chains which rattle when it hits. Took her by surprise at first but she in the end like it! So I'm going to keep working on that and then I'll use the 2 table method I think to teach her the teeter.
Also worked on jumping. Mom pointed out I'm looking for too much in terms of her collection - she is NOT panic and has a much bigger body. She is turning it, and doing well. I'm jumping her at 24" now, 22" seemed a little too easy and I was getting too much extension.
I ran Dexter as well, working on not being distracted! Had mom sit in a chair on the wall, he ran fine. Had her walk around, he did fine. Had her stand where we'd run by and he did get distracted once but then was OK. We'll get there!
4.30.2010
4.26.2010
USDAA Q's for DEXTER!!!
BRAG S/A trial this weekend. I entered dude in everything, so 5 runs Sat and 4 Sunday. Good news is that he didn't tire out with that many runs! Some were great, some were ok, one was AWFUL (well he didn't really give it any time to be anything but!). We realized Fada and Dex were one after another a few times in the run order. Well Dex is *obsessed* with her, and I knew wouldn't run if he knew she was right there. Sat Std - she ran, one dog ran in between, then us. I kept him somewhat hidden while she ran, but he's no dummy, plus it obviously smelled like her. I took him to the gate while the dog before us ran - a little, golden, fuzzy dog with a lady running - if you squinted you could have thought the two of them were my mom and Fada. Dex kept straining like "is it them?? It smells like them here, doesn't quite look like them, but it must be!". So he started out the course ok - tunnel. And then, prompt exit from the ring :)
But no problems with that on any other runs! He Q'd in the last two runs Sunday - Gamblers and Snooker. Gamblers was pretty good, snooker was pretty messy but somehow we made it in time. He had some great jumpers runs but got stuck at one place in each to be overtime. Saturday snooker was fun and fast, but got stuck on the teeter. Sunday standard was awesome - he was pretty speedy on his contacts and had lots of fun :) We're finally hitting our stride, or at least getting there!
Panic ran in P1 all weekend - good news, from reviewing the vids I think she's extending 50% of the time I think she should be. HUGE improvement!
But no problems with that on any other runs! He Q'd in the last two runs Sunday - Gamblers and Snooker. Gamblers was pretty good, snooker was pretty messy but somehow we made it in time. He had some great jumpers runs but got stuck at one place in each to be overtime. Saturday snooker was fun and fast, but got stuck on the teeter. Sunday standard was awesome - he was pretty speedy on his contacts and had lots of fun :) We're finally hitting our stride, or at least getting there!
Panic ran in P1 all weekend - good news, from reviewing the vids I think she's extending 50% of the time I think she should be. HUGE improvement!
4.23.2010
Spry's jump training, teeter intro
Last night worked on jumping w/Spry at the building. I realized why she's diving. I moved too quickly somewhere in the process... she is fine with straight back on the takeoff side, but only when I'm pretty close. if I move back a little more, she opens her stride up and extends over the jump. so, I need to work more gradually me moving further from the jump and me at different angles.
Also introduced the teeter last night - I am just sitting on the ground by the down side and holing the board slightly off of the ground, clicking for her jumping on/getting on the board. i wasn't going to ask for 1rto right now, just confidence on the board, but she gives me 1rto everytime anyway :) The first time I went to do this, I was sitting and getting the board ready, had it probably 12" off of the ground and she just jumps right up! Not afraid of the motion or bang. She *is* however afraid of the noise this particular teeter makes as it's resetting itself. It's a wooden teeter and kind of creaks/groans. She doesn't like it!
Also introduced the teeter last night - I am just sitting on the ground by the down side and holing the board slightly off of the ground, clicking for her jumping on/getting on the board. i wasn't going to ask for 1rto right now, just confidence on the board, but she gives me 1rto everytime anyway :) The first time I went to do this, I was sitting and getting the board ready, had it probably 12" off of the ground and she just jumps right up! Not afraid of the motion or bang. She *is* however afraid of the noise this particular teeter makes as it's resetting itself. It's a wooden teeter and kind of creaks/groans. She doesn't like it!
4.22.2010
Latent learning
WOW!
Vid #5 is the last session I did with Spry on Tuesday. Yesterday, I decided to work her for a few minutes. My in-laws whippet, Juneau, was visiting and was in the yard. I figured he'd just chill somewhere and not get in the way, yet be somewhat of a distraction (we need to work through distractions!!!) so I left him out. Well, he followed me around the whole time, and half of the time was standing in the way right in front of the WPs. I was going to move him, when Spry says "HEY you're in my WAY!" and in a very agile fashion goes around him and flips into the poles from a fairly drastic angle, and DOES them! now granted, there are only 3 poles and they are channelled, so it's not like she did 12 poles or anything, but she did the macaroni and didn't just fly out of pole 2! I was so pleased. She continued to impress me with her skills - I was probably 10-15' to the side of the poles and 5' or so back from where they started, and I kept trying to go over there to line her up, but she'd see me take one step, and FLY over to them, nail the entry, and do all three. WOW. We haven't even WORKED on entries whatsoever, and after our last Tues session I thought she had a rudimentary sense of "always enter with pole on left shoulder" but it was kinda sketchy. She *totally* gets now how to enter with me on either side. What a fantastic doggie.
Of course, I didn't film it :)
Vid #5 is the last session I did with Spry on Tuesday. Yesterday, I decided to work her for a few minutes. My in-laws whippet, Juneau, was visiting and was in the yard. I figured he'd just chill somewhere and not get in the way, yet be somewhat of a distraction (we need to work through distractions!!!) so I left him out. Well, he followed me around the whole time, and half of the time was standing in the way right in front of the WPs. I was going to move him, when Spry says "HEY you're in my WAY!" and in a very agile fashion goes around him and flips into the poles from a fairly drastic angle, and DOES them! now granted, there are only 3 poles and they are channelled, so it's not like she did 12 poles or anything, but she did the macaroni and didn't just fly out of pole 2! I was so pleased. She continued to impress me with her skills - I was probably 10-15' to the side of the poles and 5' or so back from where they started, and I kept trying to go over there to line her up, but she'd see me take one step, and FLY over to them, nail the entry, and do all three. WOW. We haven't even WORKED on entries whatsoever, and after our last Tues session I thought she had a rudimentary sense of "always enter with pole on left shoulder" but it was kinda sketchy. She *totally* gets now how to enter with me on either side. What a fantastic doggie.
Of course, I didn't film it :)
4.20.2010
Spry - is she diving? And trial vids from weekend... Panic got a Bye!!
Spry Jump Training:
Ok after watching this video, I think she's diving. I'm not 100% sure of what diving is, so bear with me here. But she looks pretty much OK to me when she turns to the left, but it's worse when she turns to the right. I can also see I was standing in the wrong place for the RTH stuff, I needed to be directly opposite her on the jump, not offset. If she is diving, then I will work more on me to the side of the jump from a distance so she really has to work to curve 180 degrees and it shoudl be hard for her to dive.
Any thoughts please?
here are two vids from this weekend. I brought Dexter in before A Snooker to observe, because I noticed they were using the buzz on the etimer, not the beep, and sometimes the buzz freaks him out. Well, we were sitting there pleasantly during the walkthrough and he was being a silly guy like normal, and all the sudden they turned music on LOUDLY. He flipped out. Good news is he was pretty much back to normal before the run. He was still a little stressy as evidenced by running around jumps - 3a was a tough angle but I think no excuse on 6a in the opening. And he got stuck in the 5 tunnel in the close for some reason - I think someone had peed there. Great! Overall I am happy w/this run, he did have some moments of really moving.
The whole reason for our trek from Harrisburg, where we were on Saturday for the Podengo Specialty, to Indianapolis for Sunday, was to try to get a GP Q because I had none! We keep NQing for one silly thing or another. Well, it was worth it! I was worried bc she blew her DW in relay (which I entered as a warm up), but she nailed it in GP and ran quite lovely for a 1st place and my first ever bye!! I couldn't have been more thrilled with her. except for the lack of startline stay, of course! I guess if I ever tried to enforce her stay at a trial it might help, huh? Anyway, the vids:
Dexter Snooker:
Panic GP:
Ok after watching this video, I think she's diving. I'm not 100% sure of what diving is, so bear with me here. But she looks pretty much OK to me when she turns to the left, but it's worse when she turns to the right. I can also see I was standing in the wrong place for the RTH stuff, I needed to be directly opposite her on the jump, not offset. If she is diving, then I will work more on me to the side of the jump from a distance so she really has to work to curve 180 degrees and it shoudl be hard for her to dive.
Any thoughts please?
here are two vids from this weekend. I brought Dexter in before A Snooker to observe, because I noticed they were using the buzz on the etimer, not the beep, and sometimes the buzz freaks him out. Well, we were sitting there pleasantly during the walkthrough and he was being a silly guy like normal, and all the sudden they turned music on LOUDLY. He flipped out. Good news is he was pretty much back to normal before the run. He was still a little stressy as evidenced by running around jumps - 3a was a tough angle but I think no excuse on 6a in the opening. And he got stuck in the 5 tunnel in the close for some reason - I think someone had peed there. Great! Overall I am happy w/this run, he did have some moments of really moving.
The whole reason for our trek from Harrisburg, where we were on Saturday for the Podengo Specialty, to Indianapolis for Sunday, was to try to get a GP Q because I had none! We keep NQing for one silly thing or another. Well, it was worth it! I was worried bc she blew her DW in relay (which I entered as a warm up), but she nailed it in GP and ran quite lovely for a 1st place and my first ever bye!! I couldn't have been more thrilled with her. except for the lack of startline stay, of course! I guess if I ever tried to enforce her stay at a trial it might help, huh? Anyway, the vids:
Dexter Snooker:
Panic GP:
4.13.2010
Spry's training last Thurs
I didn't have a camera last Thursday because we had already packed everything up for the Friday CATC trial, but what an AWESOME session we had!! This was nice because the week before was pretty frustrating - she was so distracted.
We got the table up to 16" for the DW 2rto. She is doing beautifully. This week I am going to do the tunnel to the DW board at 16". If she can do that well, I'll move up to 24" and then after that we should be ready for big DW not set to full height. She loves doing 2rto, I am so happy I made the switch.
I also was working on jumping, and we are up to page 13 in DJS - step 5/diagram 11. We will work diagram 12 tonight hopefully and hopefully will also work on steps 6 and 7 this week. I was amazed at how much she can curve her body when I'm on the takeoff side. She really gets it.
We're still working on adding distractions, but she is getting better. We did some work while mom was running Fada. She did go visit Fads a time or two, but towards the end stayed with me.
We got the table up to 16" for the DW 2rto. She is doing beautifully. This week I am going to do the tunnel to the DW board at 16". If she can do that well, I'll move up to 24" and then after that we should be ready for big DW not set to full height. She loves doing 2rto, I am so happy I made the switch.
I also was working on jumping, and we are up to page 13 in DJS - step 5/diagram 11. We will work diagram 12 tonight hopefully and hopefully will also work on steps 6 and 7 this week. I was amazed at how much she can curve her body when I'm on the takeoff side. She really gets it.
We're still working on adding distractions, but she is getting better. We did some work while mom was running Fada. She did go visit Fads a time or two, but towards the end stayed with me.
AKC weekend #2, and frustrated
Panic ran at CATC this past weekend, she did great! I was able to be there Friday to help w/vending, but didn't know I'd be able to have the day off so Panic was entered Sat/Sun only. We finished up our NA and NAJ on Saturday, and got our 1st OA and OAJ legs on Sunday. I was a little bummed out to have our first non-100, non-1st place run, but it was so totally my fault! In O JWW, there was a line from the tunnel which was tough if you stayed on the one side due to the amount of convergence followed by them having to diverge from you... and I thought we could do it all on one side instead of switching sides between two of the jumps. But I didn't show her the last jump well enough, and she did glance at it, but I was already moving away laterally so she came with me. Good girl. So we got a refusal, but fixed it smoothly and Qd with a 95. I was also not very happy with my handling on Open standard (vids below, btw). I wanted to FC before the chute, but she broke her stay so I waffled. I think I could have still made it, but instead I kind of stutter stepped to the chute, so she was very slow to start out. If I had just driven to the end of the chute I could have gotten a FC in before she came out and already been on my way to the teeter.
Even running on a turf she does not slip on, even at 16", she is *still* stutter stepping to collect at most jumps. It's most evient in our Sat JWW video. Can you helpful people please watch it and see if I'm cuing this somehow?
Look at this vid from April '09:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eUEGe72PZk&feature=youtube_gdata
Look at her GO! Wow, I didn't realize how much it had changed. I don't know what happend to slow her down and have her start collecting so much vs how she ran here.
I really need to re-read the end of DJS and work those exercises with her.
Even running on a turf she does not slip on, even at 16", she is *still* stutter stepping to collect at most jumps. It's most evient in our Sat JWW video. Can you helpful people please watch it and see if I'm cuing this somehow?
Look at this vid from April '09:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eUEGe72PZk&feature=youtube_gdata
Look at her GO! Wow, I didn't realize how much it had changed. I don't know what happend to slow her down and have her start collecting so much vs how she ran here.
I really need to re-read the end of DJS and work those exercises with her.
4.11.2010
panic's runs from CATC this weekend
Finished her NA and NAJ, got 1st open std and jww legs. fun courses
4.10.2010
4.05.2010
Thoughts on panic's 1st AKC trial
We went up to Dexter, MI for the Bouvier des Flandres club of Southeastern Michigan's AKC trial this past weekend. Panic was entered in N Standard and JWW both days. She did go 4/4 with four 1sts, and ran pretty well. Start line stays were not stellar and she didn't stop a single time on the DW... although it was a *beautiful* running DW both days. If we can compromise on always stopping in class, and then "misbehaving" at a trial by running all the way through I'm ok with that. But if her trial running starts to morph into leaping we're in trouble...
It was weird being up in Dexter as exhibitor only, not vending at all. It was *nice* being able to sleep in on Sunday! We didn't have to be to the building until noon or so, so we slept until 9:15 uninterrupted! Can't believe the dogs let us do that. Luckily not many people at the hotel, so I don't think we had anyone on either side of us to make Dexter go "woof" like he usually does.
So, some random thoughts on the weekend:
1) I try not to get wrapped up in ego things, but it kind of bugs me when people up there seem think I'm an agility newbie. We filmed up there a few times before getting Dexter, and I'm pretty sure some of those people think Dex is my first agility dog... of course the only trial I've run him at there, he acted like a total *freak*, so I'm also an incompetent newbie :) I know I shouldn't let people's opinions or thoughts bother me, but I definitely did get some satisfaciton out of running Panic up there, who hopefully makes me look like not so much a newbie!
2) I did get asked "why after having the purebred dogs (Peanut & Fancy) did I choose a Canine Partner?" - well the short answer is I had just graduated college and a shelter dog is much more affordable :) But the implication behind the question was definitely, why would I get a dog I couldn't do AKC with?? Of course, AKC has never been my choice venue...
3) The judge annoyed me - on Sat Std (the first novice class of the weekend) they asked who had the Canine Partners (UGH let's PLEASE stop calling them this!!) and I raised my hand. So, most of the briefing was directed straight at me. No one asked if this was my first time at an AKC trial, and there were plenty of Nov A people there so...
4) she (the judge) also really irritated me because she would tell in the briefing how "with 20 yrs of experience, trust me, do NOT fix your weave poles, just start them over, it will get you in trouble!" well, I'm sure some people now think that's the rule, that you can't fix the poles, you must start over... Seriously, don't tell me how to train/run my dog! also she said if our dog jumps up on us, like to lick us in the face, while running, we will be DQd. I'm not an AKC rules expert but this seems bogus to me! Sure, if they are biting at me or my clothes, or I am impeding my dogs path (perhaps to my benefit) I see it, but not for a goofy novice dog jumping up at me excitedly!
5) ok back to the ego thing. Did I get a little bit of a smug grin on my face hearing the reactions to panic running? To still getting the fastest time in the class even when I fell on my face during a run? .... yeah, I did :) I know, we're in Novice now, and Panic is fairly seasoned so honestly, unfair competition. But still, I can't help it.
disclaimer - I have both mixes and purebred dogs, love them both. I know not all AKC people think mixes are lesser beings, and many AKC people do not think AKC is the center of the universe. blah blah blah, no offense intended by this post, just my observations and thoughts!
OH one more thing that cracked me up! On Sunday, the gate steward, who I really like (from what I know of her) said - "You know what the problem is with this Canine Partner thing? You don't know what dog you're looking for when you're trying to get them all lined up!" Haha, yeah, because 20 BCs in a row are a lot easier to tell apart!
It was weird being up in Dexter as exhibitor only, not vending at all. It was *nice* being able to sleep in on Sunday! We didn't have to be to the building until noon or so, so we slept until 9:15 uninterrupted! Can't believe the dogs let us do that. Luckily not many people at the hotel, so I don't think we had anyone on either side of us to make Dexter go "woof" like he usually does.
So, some random thoughts on the weekend:
1) I try not to get wrapped up in ego things, but it kind of bugs me when people up there seem think I'm an agility newbie. We filmed up there a few times before getting Dexter, and I'm pretty sure some of those people think Dex is my first agility dog... of course the only trial I've run him at there, he acted like a total *freak*, so I'm also an incompetent newbie :) I know I shouldn't let people's opinions or thoughts bother me, but I definitely did get some satisfaciton out of running Panic up there, who hopefully makes me look like not so much a newbie!
2) I did get asked "why after having the purebred dogs (Peanut & Fancy) did I choose a Canine Partner?" - well the short answer is I had just graduated college and a shelter dog is much more affordable :) But the implication behind the question was definitely, why would I get a dog I couldn't do AKC with?? Of course, AKC has never been my choice venue...
3) The judge annoyed me - on Sat Std (the first novice class of the weekend) they asked who had the Canine Partners (UGH let's PLEASE stop calling them this!!) and I raised my hand. So, most of the briefing was directed straight at me. No one asked if this was my first time at an AKC trial, and there were plenty of Nov A people there so...
4) she (the judge) also really irritated me because she would tell in the briefing how "with 20 yrs of experience, trust me, do NOT fix your weave poles, just start them over, it will get you in trouble!" well, I'm sure some people now think that's the rule, that you can't fix the poles, you must start over... Seriously, don't tell me how to train/run my dog! also she said if our dog jumps up on us, like to lick us in the face, while running, we will be DQd. I'm not an AKC rules expert but this seems bogus to me! Sure, if they are biting at me or my clothes, or I am impeding my dogs path (perhaps to my benefit) I see it, but not for a goofy novice dog jumping up at me excitedly!
5) ok back to the ego thing. Did I get a little bit of a smug grin on my face hearing the reactions to panic running? To still getting the fastest time in the class even when I fell on my face during a run? .... yeah, I did :) I know, we're in Novice now, and Panic is fairly seasoned so honestly, unfair competition. But still, I can't help it.
disclaimer - I have both mixes and purebred dogs, love them both. I know not all AKC people think mixes are lesser beings, and many AKC people do not think AKC is the center of the universe. blah blah blah, no offense intended by this post, just my observations and thoughts!
OH one more thing that cracked me up! On Sunday, the gate steward, who I really like (from what I know of her) said - "You know what the problem is with this Canine Partner thing? You don't know what dog you're looking for when you're trying to get them all lined up!" Haha, yeah, because 20 BCs in a row are a lot easier to tell apart!
4.04.2010
4.02.2010
Dexter's Wild Weavers CPE vids
Fullhouse - awesome run w/mommy screw up (didn't get 2 round things)
Wildcard - not so pretty!
Snooker - not too bad, baby dog mistakes
Jackpot - looking for distractions, but stayed with me!
Wildcard - not so pretty!
Snooker - not too bad, baby dog mistakes
Jackpot - looking for distractions, but stayed with me!
training and class last night... ups and downs... more downs!
Well yesterday was warm, about 80. I think it's affected my dogs' brains!! Spry and Dexter were all "ehhhhh it's too hot!" which in Dexter manifests as being slow, and in Spry manifests as toooons of panting and getting herself too overwhelmed and worked up to work.
I practiced with Spry before class... what a mess! She was very, very distracted, and I had a hard time getting much good out of this session.
Dexter, in class, ran off to my mom each time we ran ("but she smells like Fada!!"). And was kind of pokey.
Panic was the opposite, kind of INSANE! I was jumping her at 16" to prep for AKC this weekend. She was *blasting* out of a chute full speed ahead and taking an off course jump with nary a glance my way, even with my body language and my *yelling* loudly her name, telling her TURN TURN TURN TURN.
There were a few ups though. Dexter - did the teeter and the AF great! good boy. Panic - great DW stops! Spry - ... well she's a happy dog!!!
Off to Dexter this weekend for Panic's 1st AKC trial. Should be interesting!
I practiced with Spry before class... what a mess! She was very, very distracted, and I had a hard time getting much good out of this session.
Dexter, in class, ran off to my mom each time we ran ("but she smells like Fada!!"). And was kind of pokey.
Panic was the opposite, kind of INSANE! I was jumping her at 16" to prep for AKC this weekend. She was *blasting* out of a chute full speed ahead and taking an off course jump with nary a glance my way, even with my body language and my *yelling* loudly her name, telling her TURN TURN TURN TURN.
There were a few ups though. Dexter - did the teeter and the AF great! good boy. Panic - great DW stops! Spry - ... well she's a happy dog!!!
Off to Dexter this weekend for Panic's 1st AKC trial. Should be interesting!
4.01.2010
Grrrrr
really, really, *really*, beautiful day yesterday! Perfect for training pups outside!!! Really wanted to work miss Spry on her stuff again... however, I ended up on the phone w/ATT & Apple alllllll afternoon long! I guess a tower is out in our area or something (they think) so we are not getting any service at our house. took *hours* to figure that out.
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