Agility training

SaraB

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Harleigh looks great!

Here is Backup tonight, we're making some improvements. Hopefully we can carry this over to other locations. He may be starting to grasp this... may... lol

http://youtu.be/ScsrjIZ9AnU
Looks good! Have you tried throwing the reward ahead of him? Helps shape the lowered head through the weaves, resulting in quicker weaves overall.
 

AdrianneIsabel

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I haven't because he has issues with possession so training goes much faster if I keep the reward (tug) right with me. However, when I was using food I always threw it. If I can get some consistency I'll start throwing and accept the extra time it takes for him to circle before returning.

I'm also trying to work on the possession but it's been a trial and error issue. :/
 
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Everyone look under your pillows for gold pieces. The impossible may just be possible.

http://youtu.be/8Rs2q3-4V9U
Aw, see, he wants to be a good boy, his lemur brain just has to figure out what you want! :D I can't wait to see him tear up a course.

Off topic a bit, but Nathan took this picture of Pan the other day....it's her lemur impression, lol.

 

AdrianneIsabel

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Aw, see, he wants to be a good boy, his lemur brain just has to figure out what you want! :D I can't wait to see him tear up a course.

Off topic a bit, but Nathan took this picture of Pan the other day....it's her lemur impression, lol.

omg... that is a great lemur impression LOL

I took this this morning.

Now, it's for my own knowledge since I've been training by myself a lot lately. No one seems to understand Backup and honestly a lot of people I train with don't like him. (sad face) I have a great trainer at my work who's helped me a lot with my handling of Sloan but she has told me honestly, and fairly, Backup is over her head. My other trainer usually just gets annoyed and drops hints about getting a border collie.

I have two supportive friends I train with but one is out of the country and the other is working double shifts at the animal hosp lately.

So... I learned in this video I need to be a lot faster with my directions, Sloan is so much more forgiving and Arnold and the terriers were never fast enough to even sweat it with. Also I need to support him a lot more, he's got a much shorter commitment zone to obstacles than Sloan does. I have also learned I really need to slow him down and refocus him when he gets in his panic running.

http://youtu.be/XlymiOsY3WA

Sorry it's such a distance but it's my phone propped against the wall atop the obedience high jump standard. LOL

Needless to say... we're ready for worlds. :p
 
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I honestly think he's going to be absolutely amazing in the future. I wish we could train together!

I noticed in the video that when he missed that last jump your feet and shoulders were pointing forward and he followed them. ;) Then when you went back to do that jump and he got it the next 2 times, your feet and shoulders were pointing in the direction you wanted him to go (at the jump). You really will have your work cut out for you with this guy....he's fast and very responsive to your movements.
 

AdrianneIsabel

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I honestly think he's going to be absolutely amazing in the future. I wish we could train together!

I noticed in the video that when he missed that last jump your feet and shoulders were pointing forward and he followed them. ;) Then when you went back to do that jump and he got it the next 2 times, your feet and shoulders were pointing in the direction you wanted him to go (at the jump). You really will have your work cut out for you with this guy....he's fast and very responsive to your movements.
Thank you! I am having a lot of fun finally with him and I think it is helping. Things aren't feeling as desolate anymore and I'm learning every time I step foot in the ring with him.

I rewatched the video with your advice and I totally see what you mean about my body direction, that helps a lot and I'll totally use that info.

He's very, very fast and doesn't think very clearly but I am noticing his thinking is getting clearer lately, slightly, like he can work for a tug now where as before the presence of a tug in agility just had him so flustered he couldn't possibly learn or perform. Fingers crossed things carry on the same way. He's a bit of a rollercoaster ride when it comes to training.
 

SaraB

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Yes on the being quicker thing! It's so tough when you have a fast baby dog that needs both the support and the speed, hard to find a good middle ground. Luckily though as he gains confidence you can concentrate more on the speed part and less on the supporting part and it gets easier!
 

Aleron

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Backup is looking really good! Definitely see a lot of improvement in him here. Some of the stuff you are struggling with here is pretty typical of inexperienced dogs and trying to work out the handling kinks. That stuff comes with time and practice, as does the better obstacle commitment. I think you're very much on the right track though!
 

nikkiluvsu15

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Last night at agility we were working on a lot of distance work and "angle" turns. She definitely worked her brain last night... this was her slow speed :p

I think she is finally grasping the turn command, but she still has some hitches every now and then.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8ta-jhmhkQ

Here is one time where I was sending her to an "out jump", she is weird with distance work sometimes. Sometimes she doesn't mind it, but other times she does not want to be far from me at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Z7jITY4kA

More "out" command work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGTG49ez0Gw

As you can see in this video, she still has trouble with turn/rear crosses at times. Other than that, I really liked this sequence she did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dys6mCPcx0A
 

Shai

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We just finished up our last trial and last class for the next 2 months or so. Plenty to do on break though and it's nice to be relatively unstructured.

Kim's still out of the game after twinging her back in May (not during agility). Hoping to get the green light to start conditioning her back up soon. She had a good year up til then and was starting to tick off the QQs and demand to run agility instead of just agreeing to run. Figures. Now I just hope she recovers fully and gets to play again.

Entered Webby in a trial as a lark...13 months since his last trial, virtually no training in between, first time on ExcellentB...and he QQs lol. Earned about 25 pts too...pretty good for Webby. Running mid/small dogs really is so much easier in terms of consistent Qing...more strides to play with.

Mira earned her first QQ a little while ago. Came close several times but little babydog errors or handler-in-twilight-zone errors left us with a lot of singleton Qs and placements. I was really stressed out for a bit there and it affected my running style quite a bit...head wasn't in the game. Back now though, much to Mira's joy. Hard to remember she's only 2 sometimes.

She fell off the dogwalk about 3 weeks ago at a trial. Bad tunnel-DW line...short distance and shot them out to the side...she was flying along and didn't get quite straightened out when she charged up the ramp and just never got her feet under herself. Made it halfway across the level section on sheer inertia before she had to bail (I prefer my dogs not fight it if they think they an't hold on)...fell, rolled, scrambling for purchase on the grass and jumped into the contact zone then looked at me like "YOU SAW NOTHING! LET'S GOOOO!!!!" Nutterbutt. Thanked the judge and left the course after telling her what a good girl she was for her nice contact lol. She ended up being fine but with her she wouldn't show an injury due to stoicism and adrenalin so scratched her for the rest of the day. At least she hasn't done her little teeter trick in a while lol.

Also ran my instructor's BC a couple times and am in love. One of those over the top super twitchy agility-crazed highly trained superdogs. So much fun.

Anyway there's our agility update...know I haven't updated in a while.
 
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nikkiluvsu15

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We had a great night at agility! Harleigh had a blast, as usual. I think her favorite part was getting hosed down before we got started though :p Crazy water lovin' dog!

Didn't get many videos tonight, but this was our first run of the night. This is an excellent course, I believe. Ignoring her little "crazy lab on the loose" in the beginning, I was pleased with it. We are still having trouble with her a-frame at times - ugh. Gonna start working on that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYOamEyAwJc
 

Laurelin

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Summer had her first for fun foundations class today. She did great for an old little dog. :p When she found out she was getting to have a turn playing, she did a pogo stick impression that made me smile. For some reason though today I kept noticing how grey her face is.

Mia and I worked on front crosses today and she did pretty good. She was kind of worked up and breaking stays a lot. We've been working stays so much lately an I am seeing some progress but they are just not Mia's strong point in any way.

And my instructor has started talking about how she wants a papillon now. :lol-sign:
 

SaraB

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We had a great night at agility! Harleigh had a blast, as usual. I think her favorite part was getting hosed down before we got started though :p Crazy water lovin' dog!

Didn't get many videos tonight, but this was our first run of the night. This is an excellent course, I believe. Ignoring her little "crazy lab on the loose" in the beginning, I was pleased with it. We are still having trouble with her a-frame at times - ugh. Gonna start working on that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYOamEyAwJc
Harliegh looks awesome!! I love her enthusiasm!!

Savvy's Running Contacts are progressing and he's on the low dog walk now!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151086024935850
It's looking so fantastic! I can't wait to see the completed behavior!
Summer had her first for fun foundations class today. She did great for an old little dog. :p When she found out she was getting to have a turn playing, she did a pogo stick impression that made me smile. For some reason though today I kept noticing how grey her face is.

Mia and I worked on front crosses today and she did pretty good. She was kind of worked up and breaking stays a lot. We've been working stays so much lately an I am seeing some progress but they are just not Mia's strong point in any way.

And my instructor has started talking about how she wants a papillon now. :lol-sign:
Go Summer!! I bet she'll love it. :) 99% sure Mia makes me want a papillon too.
 

AdrianneIsabel

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Looks good! Have you tried throwing the reward ahead of him? Helps shape the lowered head through the weaves, resulting in quicker weaves overall.
We're going back and throwing now. It's become too obsessive for him to blow the last set and come back with a "why you no give tug!?" look.

Ahhh a learning experience...

Here is B today on his 2o2o, we're getting a bit less creeping when we do the whole frame because of this so I'll keep trying for a bit. He seems to really be understanding where I want his stop on the aframe...

http://youtu.be/Ex3m9a5GVlg
 

SaraB

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We're going back and throwing now. It's become too obsessive for him to blow the last set and come back with a "why you no give tug!?" look.

Ahhh a learning experience...

Here is B today on his 2o2o, we're getting a bit less creeping when we do the whole frame because of this so I'll keep trying for a bit. He seems to really be understanding where I want his stop on the aframe...

http://youtu.be/Ex3m9a5GVlg
Using a non-reward marker will help solve that too! And as long as you keep failures low, it shouldn't diminish speed/drive at all.

For the 2o2o, it looks like he has a good understanding! To help them learn to drive into the 2o2o position I like to set a jump right next to the a-frame on the decent by the contact zone. I then ask the dog to jump from right next to the a-frame, over the jump and to land in the 2o2o position. Hope that makes sense, cuz I managed to confuse myself with that one. That way there's no confusion about sending up the a-frame and having to turn around when you do the whole frame.
 

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