Blood, sweat, tears, and more

[AdrianneIsabel]

...have gone into getting this dog this far. I mean, seriously, if that saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is true I'll be a gosh darn superhero if I ever get this Lemur in the ring.

I am however exceedingly happy with this. Tonight was Backups first agility class and I did it as a last minute, "eh, can I throw him in and see how he does?" drop in. The first two runs were painful, or first run, maybe it was just one but it felt like 6 or 7 and I swear people were glaring and snickering at me.

However, we kept trying and seemed to work the kinks out. We have a long way to go but I'm really happy with even this progress. He's so fast and messy that he slips a lot (on every surface) and he needs jumping skills, more directionals, and weaves, but hey, if you said 3 months ago I could do a short jumpers sequence with him I'd call you a liar, so... yay! yay for liars!

[anna84]

Aww I really do love this dog. In pictures he seems so excited and happy about everything .

If you don't mind that I ask what is the difference between Sloan and the Backup that makes her so much easier to work with? I know you've written about how intense and high drive Sloan can be but she seems to be progressing much quicker. I'm pretty interested in this breed, in theory only they're too much dog for me, and curious about the different temperaments and such

[PWCorgi]

GO LEMUR GO!!

For the record: Ryan asks me multiple times per week, sometimes every day, if we can have a Backup. The answer is absolutely no, but he keeps asking. Videos of him though, make me absolutely fall in love.

[Beanie]

I think you are way too hard on Backup LOL. Or maybe on yourself. Maybe both.

I didn't see any slipping in that video, but have you tried using rosin? People just buy one of those rosin bags baseball players use and slap it against the paw pads a few times. There's also a spray some people use but I don't really like it much. Rosin bags are only a couple of bucks, I would give it a shot and see if it helps.

[SaraB]

Like I said in the agility thread, you guys are going to be a great team!! I've seen far, far more spazzy mals.

[AgilityPup]

I think he looks REALLY good! I'd maybe work on some easier level stuff and just straight lines to get him really driving forward. BUT looking at him, he looks like he's not really running full out yet and I bet he'll be whole heaps of fun when he does!

Honestly, you made the video seem like he was gonna be a mess, lol, but he looks really good! You should be proud!

[AdrianneIsabel]

Originally Posted by PWCorgi

GO LEMUR GO!!

For the record: Ryan asks me multiple times per week, sometimes every day, if we can have a Backup. The answer is absolutely no, but he keeps asking. Videos of him though, make me absolutely fall in love.

hahaha, with the work I've put into this dog no one really understands how troublesome he is. That said, I'll sell him for 6 cookies.

Originally Posted by Beanie

I think you are way too hard on Backup LOL. Or maybe on yourself. Maybe both.

I didn't see any slipping in that video, but have you tried using rosin? People just buy one of those rosin bags baseball players use and slap it against the paw pads a few times. There's also a spray some people use but I don't really like it much. Rosin bags are only a couple of bucks, I would give it a shot and see if it helps.

He slips after the yellow turning into the front cross, this was honestly though a very slow tired run for him which was what I was trying for. I made an effort to mellow him out in order to work him more easily. He, and a lot of borders at my work, have trouble on these floors unfortunately. I know some people use grippy spray which I may need to try for him.

Originally Posted by anna84

Aww I really do love this dog. In pictures he seems so excited and happy about everything .

If you don't mind that I ask what is the difference between Sloan and the Backup that makes her so much easier to work with? I know you've written about how intense and high drive Sloan can be but she seems to be progressing much quicker. I'm pretty interested in this breed, in theory only they're too much dog for me, and curious about the different temperaments and such

Sloan is a thinker, completely. Backup is a "do-er", he gets frantic, panics, and does stupid things because he doesn't think. For example in bite work if you correct Sloan she gets pissed/frustrated and we have to walk a fine line as to not demotivate/confuse her too much. Backup however you can correct the crap out of with a prong and he'll still go-go-go, you can't say he's not driven but he's hard to ask to think. Shaping with him has been a travesty, Sloan you can barely lure or just stand with her and she'll start offering behaviors, Backup will start to panic by stress panting, dancing with his front feet, spinning, barking, and slamming into you.

Originally Posted by SaraB

Like I said in the agility thread, you guys are going to be a great team!! I've seen far, far more spazzy mals.

Thanks, that means our work is paying off and we're hiding our spaz well. hahahaha

Originally Posted by AgilityPup

I think he looks REALLY good! I'd maybe work on some easier level stuff and just straight lines to get him really driving forward. BUT looking at him, he looks like he's not really running full out yet and I bet he'll be whole heaps of fun when he does!

Honestly, you made the video seem like he was gonna be a mess, lol, but he looks really good! You should be proud!

Thanks, we're definitely not doing this stuff regularly but it was an impulsive trial run. I wanted to see how he would react to a class setting in general and how he and I would handle a short course that I did not set up for us. He hung in there pretty well which gave us the much needed confidence boost I needed.

He's not running full out because I am asking for more control now, I can't run him when he's running full out. I presume someone else could but I'm just not that talented yet.

Seriously, I am starting to feel much better about him now, this helps. Maybe I've been so used to failing and losing it with his spazziness I didn't notice when he started to improve.

Believe it or not I've had too many trainers tell me to basically sell him and get a better dog, he's confusing, fast, rough, and frustrating but I do think if we can someday figure things out we can have a lot of fun together in this sport.

[Panzerotti]

Originally Posted by AdrianneIsabel

Believe it or not I've had too many trainers tell me to basically sell him and get a better dog, he's confusing, fast, rough, and frustrating but I do think if we can someday figure things out we can have a lot of fun together in this sport.

For sure!!! As I've mentioned here before, Pan and I did not like each other from the time I got her at 9 weeks until she was about 9 or 10 months old. Last summer I traveled all over the province for French Ring training and was told time after time to send her back and get a good dog, I totally know how it feels. I was extremely tempted at times because I had waited like 8 years to get a Mal and ended up with a puppy that I didn't even like or connect with.

Fast forward 6 months later and while she may not ever be a great FR dog, we've worked through our issues, I now love her and we work great as a team. Look out for us at the AAC nationals next year!

[jenv101]

The more blood, sweat and tears you put in, the greater the rewards in the end

I can totally relate - my two are difficult in their own ways too - Aura is ditzy, and Riley gets stressed out very easily, and is hard to work when he gets that way. We'll get there someday though!

[Taqroy]

Originally Posted by AdrianneIsabel

Seriously, I am starting to feel much better about him now, this helps. Maybe I've been so used to failing and losing it with his spazziness I didn't notice when he started to improve.

I do this with my dogs all the time. I'm so focused on what they're doing wrong, I fail to notice what they're doing right. It's hard. FWIW I think he did pretty good.

Originally Posted by AdrianneIsabel

Believe it or not I've had too many trainers tell me to basically sell him and get a better dog, he's confusing, fast, rough, and frustrating but I do think if we can someday figure things out we can have a lot of fun together in this sport.

O_o This seems like a really negative thing to tell someone that's working with their dog. I get that the sporting world is different and maybe this is just my perspective from outside of it but...wow.