Agility training

http://agilitymach.hubpages.com/hub/What-Every-Beginning-Agility-Competitor-Should-Know-Tips-for-the-Rookie

Love this blog post.

In other news, Gusto killed it at agility tonight. We were back inside the training center (not a good place for either of us usually, but the class moved indoors 5 weeks earlier than we were told it would ). He was able to stay in his weaves while I moved out laterally from about pole 8 to get in place on the other side of a jump for a front cross. Go 'To!

Hey I know that person! And I met that puppy a couple weekends ago!

Oh God, I just started crying so hard at this part:

If I could only teach other agility people one thing... that would be it.

That was the line that got me. Because I am finding myself, once in a while, falling into the "this is just too **** hard; I can't do it again" frame of mind with Gusto. Nothing he does is that bad, it really really isn't, but he is certainly not the type of dog I thought he would grow up to be. I have to watch Meg videos and remind myself over and over and over that it got that good by struggling through so much. Gusto and I will get there too, and it will be so very worth it.

I love Kristen and I love her dogs. It's a bummer Mia and I had to drop out of her classes (but I really do love where we ended up now too).

I think that's a very good blog post.

I really liked reading that post - thanks for linking to it, BB

Glad you and Gusto had a fun class.

I have no other agility experience to compare to, but I often find myself thinking similar things with Kimma. But then I remember how HAPPY she is when she's really, truly running, and realize that it's all worth it.

Hope Cara has/had a great class

YAY Penny!!!

Love that post
Thanks to my blog, I've been making a serious point to get more video of the dogs running. I am a pretty shitty handler so it's actually a really big help to me to be able to watch myself& realize that the Border sucks because of my late/ early signals. I knew that anyway ..but seeing it play back makes it so much harder to deny.

[YOUTUBE]MgVnLQaFVZU[/YOUTUBE]

Briar nailed the entire thing, naturally. Penny nailed the weaves, her blind cross& the threadle. That threadle rear cross pretty much hates her though& we never get it.

Anyone else watching USDAA Nationals? Performance Grand Prix finals just finished up, and tomorrow the live feed for much of the day looks like it is on the Grand Prix semi-finals. Lots of cool dogs and handlers I'm excited to see, and some local people who make me feel less than six degrees of cool!

We had a lot of fun at our first class. My fears about Cara being unable to focus appear to have been completely unfounded, Cara was worked up for five minutes or so and then she was just on her focusing game. I couldn't have asked for more from her. <3

Our training company did a little demo at a shelter fundraiser today, that we participate in every year. FREEZING cold to be showing other folks how to play agility (we walk people through the course for a small donatoin) but it was fun, and was good practice for a trial environment, since there were about 100 people/dogs there while we were demoing. We had a few students run the course and I (with Recon, Frag did it last year) and my co-worker and boss all ran it as well. Recon didn't miss a beat, though I was being retarded because I was so nervous at how he would do. XD I think I called obstacles the wrong names at least three times, something I've never done before.

This is the course, a simple figure eight with two crosses. We ran it forwards practiced, then the three of us that train ran it backwards without a practice run. We all did better backwards, of course.

agility by DJetzel, on Flickr

And the boys.

Untitled by DJetzel, on Flickr

What a good girl Cara is!

I wound up not entering the trial I really wanted to go to in November. After Tristan's latest attempt at dying, I need to get some vet bills paid, and I also have decided that I don't want to run Gusto in any masters level classes yet. He's only moved up in jumpers so far, but is pretty close in a couple of other classes, and not far off moving up completely. I may trial the first weekend of December, although I don't like the schedule for that trial as much.

November is seminar month instead. We got news today that we won the lottery to get into the Monique Plink seminar our club is hosting in a couple of weeks (it overfilled the first day of entries, so they had to do a drawing), and then we are taking off after Thanksgiving dinner to do a LONG drive for a Tracy Sklenar seminar that Friday. I'm super excited - both are trainers I've worked with before, and both are absolutely fantastic at creating drive and focus and happy dogs along with great handling/obstacle skills. Every time I've worked with either, I've left happy and motivated. A great start to a winter with a lot of time and opportunity for training. Hopefully come spring we will feel ready to bust into the masters ring!

Our first agility lesson is today!!!!!!!!

And it's cancelled because of the bad weather. And I don't think I can go next week!!!! Argh!!!

Ive been waiting. For. Ev. Ar!!!!

Bah our private lesson went poorly. Of course. Mia ROCKED last week and this week she was not into it at all. I guess we will see how tomorrow goes when we're at our normal class time and then I'm resting her the rest of the week before the trial. I ran her hard yesterday and it's hot out today and sunny so I'm hoping that's our issue. She is so finicky with the weather... We've only been practicing at dusk/night and it's been cold lately so I think she was just not having it. Plus it was during her normal nap time.

I'm figuring out that it seems to be a rule that the weeks before a trial go GREAT and then the week of the trial it all goes to hell. lol

I've got to get my dogs better conditioned though, we've slacked a LOT lately.

Summer did REALLY well though considering the heat.

General rule here is a bad practice before the trial = great trial.

I couldn't believe the difference that made for Meg this spring/summer. We had so much heat early on this year that I let her skip a lot of hikes, and started to think she was slowing down as she got a little softer. Beefing up her running made a huge difference for her.

Last run of the last class of Cynosport just ended. What a great weekend of agility to watch. Big take aways for me:

1) Stopped contacts are not the death of good agility. There were multiple dogs in the finals producing FASTER runs with stopped contacts than those with stopped contacts. And they weren't even early releasing. I want to amp up Gusto's acceleration off his contacts, because that was incredibly impressive in a lot of dogs.

2) I really, really need to learn to do better front crosses. I run Meg from behind so much that I never really learned them. I think I get the right spot most of the time, but I don't get out of them fast enough. I think. Throw that on to my winter project list, along with speed off the contacts, learning blind crosses, and teaching Gusto to wrap tighter.

3) Independent weaves are wonderful things. We have already been working on those, and it needs to continue. The ability to peel away and get in position for crosses was huge in some of those courses.

I just want to get out and play agility NOW!

Bah another bad practice with Mia and it's worrying me. But then I get her home and she's normal acting? I ran her over my equipment and she was flying like usual but over the jumps at the field? Eh... no, I'll just trot and go around some obstacles. I don't know what has been going on with her today and yesterday but it has me very worried.

She did puke halfway through class today so I don't know if she was just not feeling well?

I keep battling with myself on whether to A) scratch her this weekend and B) consider quitting or taking a break with her. I just wish she could tell me what her deal was and if she's hurting somewhere or if something at the field scared her or what?

I know I shouldn't jump to anything after two days in a row of bad practices and months of great ones but it worries me.

On the other hand Summer had two freaking fantastic practices. It makes me sad though, I have so much more fun running Summer than Mia because I don't worry with Summer. *sigh*

Anyways, if I need to scratch Mia at least I can still run Summer.

Don't scratch her. You entered... you paid your money. Run her. See what happens. Get video if you can so you can take a look at it.

Sometimes our dogs are just PITA dogs and there's no easy answer to why. Taking a break is a possibility, but since she's entered I would run her and have somebody video her and look at the video.

Mia seems like she's sensitive - sometimes the ballsy, loud, obnoxious ones are sensitive too. And to a point she might always be, or with time and experience she will overcome it. P has some sensitive stuff going on too, but the more I trial him the more I think he will overcome it. He will gain more love for the game and more exposure and I think it will work itself out. Auggie definitely had some of this stuff when he was a novice dog, thinking back on it. Weird things would make him go "huh" and could throw him off his game - he was just more subtle about it than Payton. But now, I mean... I don't think there's a darn thing I could shove at Auggie to throw him off when it comes to agility. It just happened with more time and more joy for the game.

Play with your dog... have fun with her!

Summer is so darn easy. She is totally oblivious to almost everything in the world so in agility she is just having pure fun and joy. There is never a doubt in my mind that Summer will run and run at her top speed. Summer is just plain FUN. I like that a lot lately. If only she wasn't so old.

I have no idea what Mia's deal is these last two days but it seems to be related to the field specifically. At home and at the park she's her normal crazy self. Mia is VERY sensitive at times. And she notices every. single. thing. Environmental stuff is a bigger issue and even at home she's just not as happy of a dog as Summer. Summer is blissfully happy happy and Mia is not... She's bitchy and moody and spooky and hard to deal with. And just last week my trainer was telling me Mia is phenomenal and very talented then this week she doesn't run.

Mia did get a burr in her foot yesterday too and she HATES them. At the park she is very worried at areas that have burrs so that thought has crossed my mind too.

Oh dogs... causing stress all the time.

Between our runs I had her do some tricks like jumping over my arms and she was totally into that and drivey but then we'd go to the jumps and it was like... meh....

I'll try her at least Saturday and just see if she does better. It's indoors so maybe it will be better?

So I worked with them just a bit inside, in the back yard, and front yard for just a couple jumps each time. Mia is very hesitant in the back yard but if I set her up, she will play. She doesn't want to leave the porch though. She is acting very much like in class where she's just not wanting to. In the front she is much more engaged but still not at 100%. Inside she is at 100% and FLYING.

It is in the upper 70s and very humid today.

Is part of it the grass? She's gotten a lot, lot,lot of burrs this summer and recently at the park. She seems very unsure about certain areas of the park and will be very slow and deliberate about stepping places. She acts like burrs kill her- she HATES them (or anything in her hair really). She will sprint at certain areas of the park though so I'm not 100% convinced. Most the sprints lately have been where she's seen a rabbit or squirrel and honestly I've been having to coax her to sprint at the park on the grass. On sidewalk though she will. Indoors she will on both tile and carpet.

Our field at the club is on the grass as well. Connection maybe?

What else could it be? Maybe it's not as even as the indoor arenas and she's having footing issues? I'm not sure.

If I really work to keep her engaged it seems better and if I don't let her get to the porch/concrete because then she doesn't want to step foot on the grass again.

This weekend is on dirt so maybe that will go better than I fear.

I'm so proud of Cara. This is the little dog I was worried wouldn't be able to focus!

[youtube]65OBCbVhl6I[/youtube]