Agility training

BostonBanker

Active Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2006
Messages
8,854
Likes
1
Points
36
Location
Vermont
Yeahhh my Biggest Waste of Money seminar, by far, was with a person who has only ever had BCs. A person who has been extremely successful on the national and international stage and who is touted as an excellent educator. Who had no flippin clue how to help the non-BC/non-BC-like dogs in the seminar...in a class that was mostly non-BCs.
Mine was oddly not the seminar mentioned above. It was with a trainer who is also a judge, who I had heard would be great because "she doesn't just run BCs! She has a (breed removed because it might make the person too obvious)!" I didn't find out until after the seminar that she told a friend that she only runs the Other Breed at indoor trials, because the dog won't run for her outdoors.

The other sign of a good instructor (in my opinion, now that I'm in full rant mode) is that their response to "I'm not going to get there for the front cross" can't be "well run faster". How's about you help me figure out a way to handle this line that I can do? My favorite seminar person puts that out pretty much at the beginning of the lesson. "I will never tell you to run faster, because I will assume you are doing your best. We'll find a different way to make things work."
 

Laurelin

I'm All Ears
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
30,963
Likes
3
Points
0
Age
37
Location
Oklahoma
I am very glad our main trainer here started with malamutes and has trained many breeds (including a border collie but also Belgians, a cur, a sporting breed etc). My current trainer has only had BCs and wants to get something else to become a better trainer
 

Shai

& the Muttly Crew
Joined
Dec 14, 2009
Messages
6,215
Likes
0
Points
36
While we're complaining about BC people can I just say if I get one more comment about how papillons are 'like little BCs' I will scream. Lol. It seems like every compliment I get has to mention border collies and how my breed is like a toy version. Papillons are awesome because theyre papillons. And papillons in themselves are biddable and fun and many times drivey dogs. Border collies have nothing to do with it.
Oh that reminds me of a rant I put up on FB about a month ago lol....

Mini Rant of the Day

When my retriever kicks ass, it's not because she's like a Border Collie. It's because she's a Kickass Retriever. She is not the only Kickass Retriever out there. The many others are also awesome for who they are, not because of their Border Collie Relativity Rating.

I really like a lot of BCs and a lot of BC people but some of them, sometimes...

/rant
:p
 

DenoLo

New Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2012
Messages
401
Likes
0
Points
0
Location
MA
I'm going to use that phrase forever "cute, but not desirable". :rofl1:

ETA: nevermind.
The long story is that I was having a hard time keeping her focus at the end of the day, and for a few seconds she was all "Hi judge hi hi hi have we met??" and my friends were chuckling and the lady next to them was watching too and shook her head and said in an extremely annoyed tone "Cute but not desirable" Ooops.
 

DJEtzel

Active Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2010
Messages
3,267
Likes
0
Points
36
Location
Kalamazoo, MI
I didn't realize there was such an attitude/training difference between BC people and others! :eek:

My main trainer competes with two beagles, soooo...
 

DenoLo

New Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2012
Messages
401
Likes
0
Points
0
Location
MA
Backup's weaves are amazing!!! That's one thing we still struggle a bit with. Lola's are pretty good on one side, but pretty horrible on the other. (As in, she'll look up at me after each one and then walk into the next pole because she's not watching where she's going). But we're getting there.

She's really been super consistent the past few months in class. I've gotten more confident where I can run ahead of her and front cross and that just makes her run faster. We did some distance work too and I was surprised by how well she did. The bigger test I think will be run-throughs next week because she seems to do amazing in class, and either good or terrible in trials.
 

Shai

& the Muttly Crew
Joined
Dec 14, 2009
Messages
6,215
Likes
0
Points
36
I didn't realize there was such an attitude/training difference between BC people and others! :eek:

My main trainer competes with two beagles, soooo...
Most of the time there isn't. It's a very small but vocal minority. And a few of them happen to be some of the most visible people in the agility word, so their influence is felt disproportionately.
 

Laurelin

I'm All Ears
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
30,963
Likes
3
Points
0
Age
37
Location
Oklahoma
Most of the time there isn't. It's a very small but vocal minority. And a few of them happen to be some of the most visible people in the agility word, so their influence is felt disproportionately.
And good trainers are good trainers who tailor training to the dog in front of them no matter what that dog is.
 

Finkie_Mom

It's A Red Dog Revolution
Joined
Feb 7, 2012
Messages
1,794
Likes
0
Points
36
Location
Bensalem, PA
YAY WEBBY! I love that guy <3

I say this every time you post video of Backup, but I really just love watching you guys. His weaves are getting SO good!

I'm really just glad I haven't run in to anyone who says anything about my running a Finkie. Though we just started in Excellent, so I'm sure someone will say something one day. But for now, most people are first of all just plain confused as to what she is, and then when I tell them they usually respond with something like, "You don't see many of those competing, do you?"

In my desire to one day train agility (a LONG LONG ways away), I'm actually hoping that I can get the opportunity to run and train with (but not own/live with) some other breeds.

And LOL @ "Cute but not desirable." That never gets old :p
 

AdrianneIsabel

Glutton for Crazy
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Messages
8,893
Likes
0
Points
0
Location
Portland, Oregon
In my desire to one day train agility (a LONG LONG ways away), I'm actually hoping that I can get the opportunity to run and train with (but not own/live with) some other breeds.

And LOL @ "Cute but not desirable." That never gets old :p
I will send you a mal someday. :)

Thanks for the compliments and encouragement! Sloan was doing 12 and trialing but something fell apart with the move. Recently we found our way again but I never seem to video her work. Here is one where i am just practing my reward placement and trying to not crowd her.

[youtube]tGD96BDnok4[/youtube]
 

BostonBanker

Active Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2006
Messages
8,854
Likes
1
Points
36
Location
Vermont
Who's been following all the footing drama? Between the trial in California on the "sport surface" and Susan Garrett's dog's tumbles at regionals, my own little circle of agility is all abuzz with pronouncements of "I will never trial outdoors", "I will never trial in the rain" and more.

Where do you fall? Do you run only indoors? Only outdoors? Does it vary by the dog or weather? Have you ever scratched because you considered the conditions unsafe? Did you get/expect money back?

I personally trial and train both indoors and outdoors. I don't consider either one more or less dangerous in general. I've seen bad footing in both conditions. One of the most regular indoor sites in our region has footing frequently complained about. Some soft spots (it's matted, but must not be solid underneath), some dogs slip on it. I know some people who won't trial there, and some who will only run a certain number of runs a day on it. I've yet to see mat footing that is as good for my dogs as decent grass. Good indoor turf is wonderful (although I still see dogs slipping on it), although I've heard it isn't all created equal. I know a few people not attending the regionals next weekend in Pennsylvania because the turf there is notoriously bad.

I have once pulled from a trial; it was 38 degrees and snowing (outdoors, in late May). I ran gamblers, because I wasn't concerned about the footing as much as the snow on the (rubber) contacts, then pulled for the day and went home. I wouldn't have put Meg on the contact obstacles in that weather, because the snow was basically filling up the rubber.

Maybe I'm being selfish in trialing outdoors. I adore outdoor trials. Barring ridiculous heat or the snow, I'd rather trial outside than in. I don't like the tight crowds, the echoing barks, or the tight seating/crating space. I like my own tent, with my own chair and my dogs crated by themselves. My dogs seem to love running on grass. Meg in particular is very obvious to see how she feels about footing, because her sense of self-preservation is high. She's a raving nut on good indoor turf, a small step down on grass, and cautious on matting.

So, what are your thoughts? Do you think we cross the line into abuse running on slippery footing? How slippery? Does running in the rain = abuse?
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2006
Messages
1,341
Likes
0
Points
0
Location
Texas
Who's been following all the footing drama? Between the trial in California on the "sport surface" and Susan Garrett's dog's tumbles at regionals, my own little circle of agility is all abuzz with pronouncements of "I will never trial outdoors", "I will never trial in the rain" and more.

Where do you fall? Do you run only indoors? Only outdoors? Does it vary by the dog or weather? Have you ever scratched because you considered the conditions unsafe? Did you get/expect money back?

I personally trial and train both indoors and outdoors. I don't consider either one more or less dangerous in general. I've seen bad footing in both conditions. One of the most regular indoor sites in our region has footing frequently complained about. Some soft spots (it's matted, but must not be solid underneath), some dogs slip on it. I know some people who won't trial there, and some who will only run a certain number of runs a day on it. I've yet to see mat footing that is as good for my dogs as decent grass. Good indoor turf is wonderful (although I still see dogs slipping on it), although I've heard it isn't all created equal. I know a few people not attending the regionals next weekend in Pennsylvania because the turf there is notoriously bad.

I have once pulled from a trial; it was 38 degrees and snowing (outdoors, in late May). I ran gamblers, because I wasn't concerned about the footing as much as the snow on the (rubber) contacts, then pulled for the day and went home. I wouldn't have put Meg on the contact obstacles in that weather, because the snow was basically filling up the rubber.

Maybe I'm being selfish in trialing outdoors. I adore outdoor trials. Barring ridiculous heat or the snow, I'd rather trial outside than in. I don't like the tight crowds, the echoing barks, or the tight seating/crating space. I like my own tent, with my own chair and my dogs crated by themselves. My dogs seem to love running on grass. Meg in particular is very obvious to see how she feels about footing, because her sense of self-preservation is high. She's a raving nut on good indoor turf, a small step down on grass, and cautious on matting.

So, what are your thoughts? Do you think we cross the line into abuse running on slippery footing? How slippery? Does running in the rain = abuse?
I've been following it. It's silly. People need to have a little common sense.

We trial mostly outdoors, or under a covered horse arena on dirt. I have trialed indoors before on carpet. I did it mainly because Carrie and I had worked SO hard on focus and staying with me on course, so I wanted to test her. This show is the biggest in my area and is televised (the conformation part). I knew there would be a huge crowd and tight crating space. I jsut wanted to see how our focus work was coming along. She rocked it (as far as focus). The carpet was slippery. Carrie was pretty sure-footed and while she was reasonably fast she was good at slef preservation. The only problem she had was footing in the weaves. She was a two-footer/hopper and she slipped a couple of times in the carpet.

I never showed her there again. I didn't like the footing (thin carpet over concrete). I would never trial Zen there, he has no self preservation. I judge the surface and the dog's ability/experience. I have not had to pull from a trial yet for unsafe conditions. We have run in the early morning on grass with dew. Luckily that was a gamblers course, and I kept it flowy and wide open and didn't ask for any tight turns etc. If I felt that I couldn't make a flowy course I would have pulled. There were plenty of other runs throughout the day that would have been after the dew dried up.

This is a sport with risks. If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen. Agility is optional and if you feel it's unsafe, pull your dog. But please, let's not make new rules to force your (general you) idea of safety on MY dog. If I wanted to run in NADAC I would.
 

AdrianneIsabel

Glutton for Crazy
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Messages
8,893
Likes
0
Points
0
Location
Portland, Oregon
I think people just want to be paranoid, better than thou, judgmental, spoil sports. And that is my sugar coating.

Seriously, dogs get hurt. My dog runs into the couch, he skids around corners, he hurts his sister all of the time just existing. Sloan has a torn ear from going for the ball at the same time as my foster staffy. She has an injured shoulder/elbow from Backup slamming her into a jump. She has a jammed toe from running into an xpen chasing a ball. She has a dislocated dewclaw from god knows how. She had a broken tail from being shut in the door. She has a broken tooth from either biting the chain on the spring pole or slamming her egge too hard. She has had soft tissue damage on her chest from hitting a harness too hard. I am sure there are more injuries from wear and tear as well. Backup is going to the chiro tomorrow to be evaluated because I think all of his frantic splaying and skidding and crashing is catching up to him. None of this is ideal but none of this came from rain, nor other sleek surfaces.

I say you train your dog the best you can, you teach them footing, you teach them collection, you teach them impulse, and you pray for the best.

We work through worse spills in bitesports, flyball, and even dock dogs. I have seen dogs trip and fall head over into the pool, I have seen dogs clamp on the EV bar, I have seen dogs almost land on the pool rails. You don't stop what you are doing, you train better for next time.

I don't love SG, she's not my idol, I think she's nuts for posting that video and expecting any other outcome but I think people were down right hideous trolls in the comments. I think she's right about why she ran, what went wrong, and how she plans to train for this situation as opposed to giving up.

I don't know why anyone would run on that ice floor previous to the SG video. That was nuts, even for any sport, any dog, any reason.
 

Members online

No members online now.
Top