Agility training

chelsey

New Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2013
Messages
32
Likes
0
Points
0
I have been training agility with my mal Wiley since last November. I had previously done some agility and low level trialing with my aussieX Zoe, and then had started training my first toller Piper who passed away tragically last summer. I knew I was going to need some extra guidance with Wiley, so I started auditing Silvia Trkman's Agility Foundations course, which was so fabulous that I changed my auditing spot to a working spot.

It's been a bit of an up hill battle teaching him to be sensitive to the bar, and use his body smartly, he's sort of a go for it now think later kind of dog, but we have worked lots on thinking in drive, proofing bars (taking single jumps while I try and distract him with a toy or purposely poor handling), and he's finally finally started to pick his feet up and take responsibility for the bar. Lots and lots more work do but... it's coming...

Recently we completed Justine Davenport's (Canadian agility prodigy) online handling foundations class. I watched videos of her dog at the 2012 Canada Cup and I decided I needed to train with this girl, so when I heard about her online class I was thrilled. We've done a couple seminars with her in person on her Ontario tours, and she is great to work with. The first seminar I did with her Wiley had been doing agility for 4 months, and we were just starting to piece things together, and he was insane. It was the middle of January and it was his first time in a facility large enough for him to fully extend in sequence (our indoor options around me are cramped). He managed to get himself tangled in a PVC jump wing (with the 5" wing gap stuck around his waist - he didn't notice until he didn't fit in the tunnel) trying to turn tight. So funny, so typical Wiley.

Anyways, here is a video of a course we did last night (we being Panzerotti, our friend Janie and myself). It was a jumpers course from the recent Canada Cup tournament. A little bit messy in the handling but our teamwork is a work in progress. I hope to debut him in AAC this September. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5gqmGvkSgc
 

Beanie

Clicker Cult Coordinator
Joined
May 17, 2006
Messages
14,012
Likes
0
Points
36
Age
39
Location
Illinois
I posted Payton's fun run video to Trkman's class last night because I was in another one of my HE'S HORRIBLE IT'S GOING TO BE A DISASTER I'M THE WORST DOG TRAINER EVER moments. She said he looks to be paying attention to what's going on, which is good because sometimes I think he's not paying any attention. But she agrees that he lacks forward drive and focus. She recommended going back and doing more restrained sends.

I'm trying to come up with a good battle plan for the next few weeks as far as what to train and when. I want to keep working on contacts, but we don't need contacts until August 10th, and we need good jumping and weave habits by the 20th of this month. I don't want to NOT work on contacts because then I'll be like "CRAP I DON'T HAVE OUR CONTACTS DONE." I truly need to prioritize his jump work above all else which I have been bad about. It's the most important skill but the one I've worked on the least in the last six months or so. We also need to keep working on weaves. But of course I agree that he needs better sends and I really want to work on that too, probably with a tunnel to start...
And I don't want to OVERtrain...

*rips hair out*
 

Shai

& the Muttly Crew
Joined
Dec 14, 2009
Messages
6,215
Likes
0
Points
36
I am kicking myself for not bringing my video cam to our last agility trial. Really, really wish I had Mira's runs on video, especially standard. You know those moments where everything comes together and you just move completely in concert with your dog? We had that kind of weekend, and it felt great. Tough course with interesting technical elements and she made it feel easy.

I am really terrible about videoing. Simply terrible.
 

Flyinsbt

New Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2012
Messages
886
Likes
0
Points
0
Location
Portland, OR
I am really terrible about videoing. Simply terrible.
I'm bad too. I just hate asking people to video for me, though I don't mind when other people ask me. :confused:

The trial I most recently went to (on the 4th), I got lucky because we happened to have a video service there. I wasn't going to buy any videos, but I was showing the Excellent/Masters Standard course map to some people and they were interested in the video. So, I contacted the video guy and asked for it. Which all is really just a segue to share the video, because Tess makes me smile. ;)

[YOUTUBE]GtuFse1jtXc[/YOUTUBE]

I almost sent her off course twice, and she just kept trekking on with a smile on her face. :) Not our best time, but that's what happens when you forget where you're going.

:rofl1:
 

Beanie

Clicker Cult Coordinator
Joined
May 17, 2006
Messages
14,012
Likes
0
Points
36
Age
39
Location
Illinois
Restrained sends to a tunnel with Payton today and he did great!! We're only in my parent's backyard but we were almost completely across the yard width-wise and he was sending to the tunnel with joy. I only did them from that distance twice, once at the end of our session and then again after we finished jump work because I wanted him to blow off steam after the jumping.

We did set point, straight line grids, straight line with height, and progressive grids today. I was worried about the progressive grid because we did it right after the straight line and straight line with height grids, but he did amaaaaaazing. Like it wasn't even a challenge. It was beautiful and I was so proud.

Tomorrow more sends and weave poles again.
 

Shai

& the Muttly Crew
Joined
Dec 14, 2009
Messages
6,215
Likes
0
Points
36
We had out last night of classes yesterday. Came much too fast...only a 4-week class, and we missed one night due to me traveling. Our first class in almost a year so yeah.

Anyway Mira's class was great. Typical modern course design, so including varying degrees of int'l elements. Mira was on fire and having a blast yet also focused and efficient -- I completely adore working with this dog.

Kim's class was interesting. Kim's been more or less out for 14 months and is just starting to get to play again. I hadn't realized how much my handling style had evolved and changed in that time until I started running Kim again lol. She is also more likely to get the bit in her teeth and shoot into wild bounding zoomies (six years old, what?) especially after so much time off. We had several monents where she was doing one thing and I another, lol. Mostly ran clean and fast but it certainly didn't have the smooth feel of Mira's runs.

But she did a lot of good things and she's really only in the class to get familiarized with running agility in a group environment again (vs. Mira with whom my goal is to shave strides and seconds). So there was a lot of play, a lot of positive feedback whenever she made a good decision, and lots of support and speed and partying.

Webster isn't in a class but he came along and did party tricks and "helped" me set courses, so he wasn't left out :)
 

Sekah

The Monster.
Joined
Feb 6, 2011
Messages
1,339
Likes
0
Points
0
Location
Toronto
I've been lazy/distracted/preoccupied and haven't worked on Cohen's jumping yet. Unsurprisingly, it continues to be a problem. We have another Aussie in our class, and while he's a relatively green dog with motivation issues, it's fascinating to compare his jumping style to Cohen's. In his, he actually tries to not hit the bar. Crazy! On top of her other issues, Cohen launches herself at jumps from a couple yards away and hopes for the best. I tend to sit her way back from the start line to give her room to collect properly for the jump, but nah, she'd much rather fling herself at it from where I left her.

I think we have some work to do! It's really our jumping issues that continue to hold us back. (Wrap, what's a wrap? I'd much rather jump this in FULL EXTENSION!!!)

Cohen is still a super fun agility partner and I'm very pleased at how she's doing. Just need to take the time to polish her up a bit. We're going to a trial on Sunday morning. We're signed up for Snooker. Definitely not going to have a problem with that, with all our bar knocking and wrapping problems, no siree! /sarcasm

I think we'll have a blast. :)
 

Beanie

Clicker Cult Coordinator
Joined
May 17, 2006
Messages
14,012
Likes
0
Points
36
Age
39
Location
Illinois
Sitting her far back might be part of the problem - with Auggie I set him close enough to the jump where he could take just one stride, then jump. Basically the beginning of every course was a set point exercise. In fact I just realized I do it with Payton and Georgie too, not intentionally, I'm just used to setting Auggie up that close so I still do it...

I forgot I never posted my jump building instructions. I did some googling and found a post AllieMackie did on her blog that shows the same way I build mine, haha:
http://alliepets.wordpress.com/tag/pvc-agility/

The sizes I use are a little bit different though. I cut two 4' (48") pieces, one for the base and one as the bar. My uprights I cut at 26" since my guys only jump 16" at the max, but for bigger dogs you can certainly go taller. And my feet are only about 5" or 6" instead of 10", but it's usually because I'm cutting scrap for the feet and just making do with whatever I have left, LOL.


For my jump cups, before I bought jump cup strips, I clamp a T upside down (with the T part going towards the ground) in my vice and use a saw to cut out about 1/3rd of the back. This way I can snap it onto my uprights. Then I cut a little over half of the T part off so the bar can sit in it nicely and still pop out easily.
But for jump work it's a lot easier if you have jump cup strips, because you change heights between grids. I dealt with sliding my snap-on cups up and down for Auggie for a long time, but when it came time to get Payton, I decided it was time to get the strips because the baby would be using completely different heights than Auggie. So I made the investment from Clean Run to get the strips. (In fact, I remember the morning I was going to get Payton, I was sitting outside in the yard attaching all the strips to my jump uprights...) You can certainly do it without on a budget though! A 3/4" T is only 33 cents here so even if you made three or four sets for a jump and left them on so you could easily switch between jump heights, you're still a ways away from the cost of the strips. =P
 
Joined
Jun 5, 2010
Messages
257
Likes
0
Points
16
Age
29
Location
Georgia
Managed to grab some clips today of our little session. Worked the dogs on serps and planned to do some threadles, pinwheels, and short sequences, but never ended up switching. This was pretty much Karma's first session since her spay and she rocked it! Abby was awesome as well and Twister was well Twister...

[youtube]a3TNzhjLr2Q[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3TNzhjLr2Q
 

Laurelin

I'm All Ears
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
30,963
Likes
3
Points
0
Age
37
Location
Oklahoma
So you're keeping Karma right? She's awesome!

Twister made me LOL.



Anyone have any last minute advice/do/don't do? I already think I'm going to write on my hand TAKE OFF THEIR COLLARS lol.
 

BostonBanker

Active Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2006
Messages
8,854
Likes
1
Points
36
Location
Vermont
Anyone have any last minute advice/do/don't do? I already think I'm going to write on my hand TAKE OFF THEIR COLLARS lol.
That is the main reason I use slip leads at trials! I would totally be the person who forgot. Along the same lines, empty pockets/check for treat bags. I saw someone at their first trial who did such a great job preparing, was working so hard to get their dog focused and listening...and ran their whole run with their treat pouch flapping on their shorts. Whoops.

But seriously - don't panic. That really covers it. Do everything you can to make sure your girls come out of the weekend feeling like they were rock stars, regardless of what happens in the ring. There will be a million more trials. This is the one and only time you get to go to the start line for the first time with them. I'm going to be keeping up with a dozen people at our regionals this weekend, but I think I'm more excited to hear about your girls! Be sure to keep us up to date.

This was pretty much Karma's first session since her spay
1) I love Karma! and 2) I love your front crosses!

We are a whopping 3 days into our Agility University course, and I LOVE it! I was so stressed that it wouldn't click and I just wouldn't like doing online stuff, because Recallers just wasn't for me. What a cool way to get to work with the trainer/s I love, but have so little access to otherwise. I think the huge amount of personalization/one on one stuff is what makes it different for me. I've now turned into that freak who is driving all over town videotaping stuff with my dog. I'm waiting to get arrested or something. We've got two trials I'd already signed up for (next weekend and the one after), but otherwise I'm going to hold off on trialling right now, and really focus on getting the speed and focus I want from Gusto. I'm more excited and inspired than I've been in a long time!
 

DenoLo

New Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2012
Messages
401
Likes
0
Points
0
Location
MA


Man, what a difference a haircut makes! A week ago, Lola was struggling a lot in the 90 degree weather, and I completely intended to take a break after this round of classes was over. She was casually speed-walking the courses, panting, and just not really into it.

Then she got a haircut over the weekend, and this week's class was like a new dog. The first course we were doing great and she had some flashes of crazy speed for her, but then she decided she was SO CURIOUS about what inside the numbered cones so that kinda ruined that.

Second course she was running almost at full speed, all my crosses were in time and flowy, and we were just totally clicking. I don't think I've ever seen her maintain that level of speed and motivation though a whole course before.
 

Laurelin

I'm All Ears
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
30,963
Likes
3
Points
0
Age
37
Location
Oklahoma
Does this help? It looks like you can print the info off their website and take that with you if you don't get your cards in time:
http://www.usdaa.com/article.cfm?newsID=803
Yeah that's what they told me. I keep getting paranoid I won't be able to run lol. I also just hope Mia doesn't freak and get nervous. We will see. I dreamt last night that we were already tere and trialling and they told me Summer was too skinny. I also hope Mia does ok with getting measured. We practice at home but she freaked when one of my trainer tried to measure her.

I need slip leads. I also realized I don't have a lawn chair.
 

Members online

No members online now.
Top