What If...

I always have trouble deciding what course to set up.  Sometimes the multiple things that I need to practice aren't always easy to all get on one course.

This is the course I set up this morning.  First I ran the white circles.  My objective was to work tunnel discriminations, fast approaches to teeters, a rear cross to the dog walk, and fast lines to the AF.

The course wasn't too bad.  The largest handling challenge 7-8-9, just because of the change of leads for the dog.  The largest challenge for the dog was the line to the teeter.  My dogs have been flying off lately and this truly challenged them.  It allowed me also to continue my speed while they had to stay.

Being a lazy course builder I always like to get multiple uses out of a course.  Here are all the possible ways you can change sections of the course (take the black number instead of the while).  It changes the challenge and the cue combinations.

For instance, 13 through 21 (with the black 20), how would you get there?  Or do you have backside distance skills?  If you have a 2o2o AF, not too bad.  If you have a running AF you have to cut the line 14-15-16, does your dog have an independent teeter?

I love a challenge while still having to RUN!

Split

Split is back!

It occurred to me today that this weekend will be Split's first 2 day (almost all the runs) trial since 2/2011 when he was diagnosed with arthritis and an iliopsoas pull.  The doctors nor PT people were hopeful that he would ever be able to do agility again.  They just didn't think that he could come back strong enough.

It was really hard to come to terms with that news!

I set my mind on getting him rehab'ed with the goal that he would keep jogging with us and doing some "puppy" agility in the back yard for the rest of his life.  He needed to know that he was not forgotten or any less of a member in our house.

I think that this mind set was perfect for today's outcome!  I never envisioned that he would be as strong as he is today.

It wasn't until about 8 months ago that I realized that he really recovered well.  So I set my sights on getting him retrained and seeing were he could go.

While Split was injured but before I really realized it he began to develop some bad habits--mostly popping weave poles and wide turns.  Much like someone who has been limping for years, getting the problem fixed, you have to re-train the body/mind to stop compensating for a problem that no longer exists.

So, I believe that we have the weave pole issue much improved, his turns are much tighter for the most part, his AF has been converted to running, he has stopped (mostly) running a muck on course out of happiness and we are beginning to be a better team again.

He won't ever have a full trial schedule again, but really that is fine, I just want him healthy and happy. 

So, we will see what this weekend brings.  I don't care if we cue, I don't care if we place, I really don't care if he becomes a little too enthusiastic on course.  All I care about is that we can run together again and when the end of the day comes he still feels good and pain free.

I am happy to be running Split again and with a very conservative approach, hopefully we can continue for a long while!

I have trained in some crazy places!

Bloggers unite to talk about Backyard Training. 

When I think of backyard training what typically comes to mind is: training alone, working on very targeted skills, and working in smaller spaces in my backyard.  What kinds of courses and skills can you train in small places?

Then I really started to think about my "training program" (I will call it that so it sounds really official) and it occurred to me that I have done some things that people might perceive as crazy and I have trained my dog in places (and people probably did perceive me as crazy).  Really the whole world is your backyard and you can use it to learn/train/proof fundamental skills.  You just have to have a little crazy in you :)

First, let me say, I am an introvert.  Not just a little bit introverted, but a lot!!  But the thing that I have going for myself is I get possessed by my goals.  That possession/obsession tends to carry me through some things that I would otherwise find painful--like training in crazy places.

I find that the thing that drives me to do crazy things is proofing some kind of skill with my dogs.  Tangle has been the victim of this most often, but all three of my dogs are not strangers to the oddity of my ways.  With all of my dogs I am trying to bridge the gap between "he does it perfect in the backyard" and "he can do it perfectly in a trial".  Right?  The holy grail of agility dog training.

Does your dogs have a brilliant stay at the start line, but could not, for even a second stay in the kitchen? The skill hasn't been proofed in all sorts of placed or in all sorts of ways.

When I was trying to get Tip to have more independent weave poles I loaded a set of six in the car (now I would probably load 2 sets of 2x2's).  We went to a quiet park, to a noisy park with lots of people (where we gathered a nice audience), to a horse barn at the fairgrounds (while throwing tug toys at her), etc..You get the idea.  Tip does have very independent weave poles now, BTW.



I have a plank (not painted or anything fancy).  Tangle I practiced his 2o2o in many different places.  In the front yard, back yard, at a trial, at a construction site.  You get the idea.  He can do his 2o2o with amazing distractions now.  And really, distractions are what is going on at a trial.

Tangle Tug Tour #3

One of my more recent "tours" was in the name of getting Tangle comfortable playing in strange places.  He was very good at playing at home (you know because you just play in your backyard and don't get the dog out).  He would NOT tug any place but home.  Tugging is essential to getting him warmed up and ready to drive through an agility course. So, I loaded my dog and a few of his favorite tug toys into the car.  We tugged at a quiet park, at the bank and Starbucks, at REI, and at 13,000 on top of a mountain.  Any place I don't normally play with my dog.  I wanted him to know that playing is important.

I proof start line stays on a soccer field.  No equipment, just me and the dogs.  I train it in a pack.  All three dogs are in a sit/stay, I start running, I call one of their names and give the release word "OK". The others must stay until their name is called.  There is motion, I throw toys, I use the other dogs as distractions.  Yes, I must ultimately proof in the agility ring, but if I can get close before I get there I am happy.  Agility rings at trials aren't frequent enough, are expensive, and you only get a few shots!  (Tip can do this skill hands down, but can't stay in the ring--why, because I didn't proof it there--ops).

So, really my point is that we are only limited by how we define "backyard".  Don't be confined by what is simply behind your house.  It is probably better for the dog in the long run anyway.

Retraining an AFrame

More than anything I wanted to put these thoughts down for myself.  One, to remember what I have done, and two, it helps me solidify my thoughts on this topic.

I decided about a year and a half ago (maybe more) that I needed to retrain Split from a 2o2o AFrame (AF) to a running AF.  He clearly didn't like the pressure on his shoulders and after 5 or so reps he would start limping on the front-end.  Plus, I just really like the fluidity that it gives my runs.

I tried many things and some I believe contributed to the solution and some didn't.

Split is a boy that wants to do the right thing, is very sensitive, and is a little (a lot) Velcro.   His personality is key in how I trained things.  It is hard to work with sometimes and almost always I have to adjust my plan.

The first thing I needed to do was "break" the 2o2o and have him run his AF.  I put the AF  down low so that it would appear different to him.  It took me about a week of practice every day to get him to start running it without hesitation (see doesn't take long to ruin criteria does it?).  When it was down low he would run it without a leap.  Once I started to move it up, he began to leap (it was probably less than 5 feet high).  I tried marking the correct behavior, but things didn't really improve.  He enjoyed leaping and sometimes would creep to make me happy.  He just didn't get it.

Frustration and many weeks later...

OK, so now he is leaping.  I decided to train him to hit a box on the ground, similar to Rachel Sanders box method.  I trained Split so he would run away from me, intentionally hit the box and keep running (to catch a ball or something).  Although I don't remember exactly, I think this probably took several weeks to get the behavior that I was happy with.  Once I had this I put the box on the AF. 

Fast forward many months...

When the box was on the AF he would hit it.  Trying to fade the box was murder!  Also, a gnawing feeling in me just knew he didn't really "understand" the criteria.  After all, how do you explain that to a dog.  Really, this is about muscle memory to a degree.

Frustration again, and a break from training this (after all, I wasn't getting a reward)...

While re-training Split on the AFI began to train Tangle on a running DW .  Let me just say, everyone should train a running dogwalk.  Not to get the end behavior, but because it teaches you and your dog so many valuable things (maybe I will blog on this some day).  Seriously, this is a fabulous experience but it does take diligence.

The training of the running dogwalk gave me a much deeper understanding of how to teach a dog to run a contact.  I learned details on how to progress through the process that I never would have learned retraining Splitty.  So, I put Split through running AF 101 school which Tangle was doing running DW 101.  I didn't want to retrain Split's dogwalk, just too much.  But, fundamentally all the principals that I learned with Tangle applied to Split and his AF.

AF went down low again, clicker came out, and the treat-n-train.  Another obstacle to overcome with Split!  Some days he would be afraid of the clicker sound and almost always the treat-n-train.  Back to the tennis ball!

In order to not make this a novel, basically I followed many of the steps that Sylvia uses for training a running DW.  Low obstacle, very little stimulation, low motion, lots of repetition, gradually increase all of those.  Always, jackpot and high reward for getting it right.  Training the AF was now Split's favorite game!

Again, once I raised it to about 5 feet he began to leap.  Frustration set in!  This is when I began to put a stride regulator on AF between the change of color.  There are two things that this did   1) Split's stride would ALWAYS hit the yellow 2) it allowed me to get his performance on a higher AF to the point of frequent reward--key!!!  I ran the AF this way for probably a month.  Slowly adding more motion and other obstacles.

When I took the stride regulator off I had leaping back again.  Another round of frustration! 

But once I sat back and thought of everything I learned with Tangle and running DW the emotion wained and some constructive thoughts set in (I learned this process from training Tangle's running DW).  I removed my motion, stimulation and obstacles and left the AF high.  I began to reward Split for successes and not reward for failure.  Presto, I was beginning to get different results!

To me, the key was teaching him what success was (the look, sound, and my reaction).  That is, when he did something right what would happen and when he did something wrong what DIDN'T happen.  When Split got his AF right I would throw a huge party (not too much happy sounds because he is emotion sensitive I had to increment into this), throw the ball, and give a boat load of praise.  When he didn't get it right, there was no reaction, just walk back and try it again.

Within days I began to see Split adjust his stride to "get it right"! 

So, we are now several months into this break through.  We have done a couple of trials without any AF calls.  I still work the AF 4-5 times a week in a training mode.  Each session starts with little motion and increments into full motion and obstacles.

Can I call him "retrained"?  Nope, not yet!  But have we hit a major success milestone? Yep, we have!

P.S. There are a ton of thoughts out there on what the "proper" running AF performance looks like.  Leaping over the apex, almost touching their belly over the apex, only one stride on the downside, two strides on the downside and on and on.  I now have three dogs with a running AF.  Each performance is slightly different.  The answer is "it depends" and ultimately what can your dog do confidently and reliably matters!

Split's progress to date, http://youtu.be/vZiwfyocu2Y



Split and Tangle with stride regulator, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGrB8XgXS_Y

All-In-One Course Setup

After our recent trials I have collected several things that have made it on the training list.  It seems, particularly in USDAA that the course designs are changing and beginning to include some new elements.  USDAA has announced that this was going to happen, but in general regardless of the venue we tend to see trends in course design.

This setup came about in a very organic way.  I just set up "work stations" to practice a particular skill or obstacle.  As I have practiced this week this design kept growing on me because it was so versatile.

I have setup several numbered exercises, but there are so much more to be discovered.

Skills this design has allowed us to freshen up:

• Sending to backsides of tunnels (turns out of tunnels)
• Discriminations
• Tunnel / Weave - short collection distances, rear crosses, opposite ends of the tunnel, front crosses, and if you move the tunnels out a little you can do blind crosses out of the weaves, "not" the tunnel after the weaves
• Off set line of jumps. Irregular distances between jumps (scoping skills for the dog)
• Serps with obstacles other than jumps.  For example, dogwalk-jump-weaves, backside of tunnel-jump-dogwalk**
• AFrame in a fast line, backside of tunnel-Aframe
• Triple-turns, and at the end of a fast line, or alone 
• Very fast long lines of jumps
• Turns across the broad jump
• Slight angles onto contacts and manged (safety) dog walk entrances
• Send to weaves from the opposite end of the dog walk through the tunnel (yes, I saw this (actually AFrame) on a USDAA Starters course with Tangle)

I am sure there is so much more that I have not seen!  I think that this setup will be around for a couple of weeks since I have not explored all of the possibilities yet.

**I have seen several courses setup lately that have less than friendly contact entrances (several on novice courses).  In general I try to assist the dog by managing/shaping their entrance.  However sometimes either you don't see the bad entrance or it happens accidentally so I train my dogs to straighten themselves before entering a contact.  Post from Amanda Shyne seminar

Tangle's First Trial

Wow, is it that time already?

When I first started training Tangle I had no intentions of having him in the ring so soon. I wanted to take my time training him and enjoy the ride. Funny thing is, I did take my time AND am enjoying the ride. Tangle was just so quick to pick up on his training and I think with the third dog I am a better trainer.

So, here he is, first trial! Our goals were simple, have fun and keep everything motivating! I didn't care about Q's, wrong courses, dropped bars, just make sure it was fun!

I signed Tangle up for all the runs, figuring I would only run him each day until his novice brain exploded. After all, first time in the ring you never know exactly when that is. Never did explode! Tangle was mentally in the game the whole weekend. I am still amazed. Actually, he came home and still wanted to play.

Tangle ran jumpers, standard, gamblers, snakes and ladders (game with tunnels, weaves, and contacts), and North American Challenge. He was not the fastest dog out there, but he knew his job for sure! He stayed at the start line, stayed on course, and kept all the bars up! Good boy! We had several sequences that we had never done before, but he handled them beautifully! He has never turned into a tunnel from a contact, he had never turned from a tunnel to a contact, and has never had to cross one end of a tunnel to take the opposite end.





So, what do we need to work on? He had several occasions where he didn't fully go into a 2o2o at the end of the dog walk, he leaped the AFrame once, and he was cautious always trying to do the right thing. I am not concerned about the contacts, he does know his job, we just need to proof a couple of other things in terms of contacts.

What I want most for Tangle is that he gets to the point where the game is so addictingly fun! That is what we will work on!

p.s. His stats for the weekend were 9 runs, 9 Q's, several firsts, and qualified in the Intern class for DOCNA Nationals next year in Denver.

Nothing in Life is Free

NILIF is a phrase my dogs know well. Me being the bad dog owner that I am I don't practice it 100 percent of the time, but enough. It is Tangle's turn this week to work for ALL of his food (not that working sucks for a Border Collie really).

I admit, I am not the most exciting handler right now. I am moving at a snail's pace and planning courses or exercises that don't require me to move much. Chasing me on course is one of Tangle's favorites. But, my lack of ability is no reason to blow me off for sure! We were on course this morning and Tangle decided that most of the rest of life was randomly more interesting. It wasn't a stress reaction, it was that I was boring. Usually, I think that I am way more entertaining for him, at least my neighbors tell me I am (crazy dog lady).

So, today his meals were fed by hand. Interesting, we worked the teeter and the dog walk a little since he hasn't really been on either obstacle for a month of so. I was AMAZED at how fast both obstacles were once he figured out he got handfuls of a meal while in the yellow zone.

Tonight we had a high school soccer game, Tangle got to do tricks for most of the game, and greet small children for food. He did an awesome job focusing on me instead of the running kids kicking soccer balls. This was mostly "Train to Maintain", but it went along with the theme of the week!

What fun getting to spectate!!

Yesterday Split's biggest admirer Rachel came over to run him for me. I asked her to run him in an upcoming trial for me so she is trying to get her Border Collie shoes on! Rachel normally runs a Lab/Catahola mix Evie. Evie is a medium speed, steady, love her mama kind of dog. So, for Rachel to run Split takes some adjustment. It was awesome, she is getting the hang of it very quickly. She needs to retire so she can get a Border Collie :)

It was so fun for me to not only help her figure it out, but also to watch my dog run. Spectating was great. Split is fast and graceful and I don't get to see that when I run him. I absolutely loved just watching. I gained an appreciation for the work that Split puts into the job and learned a thing or two along the way. Thanks Rachel!! I would highly recommend this to everyone.

This morning I worked Tangle and Split. We worked on Nancy Gyes' Alphabet drill "a", discrimination's, and independent obstacles. I was super pleased with how both dogs did. In the jumping drill we focused on 270's and coming through the gap. Both dogs did a great job with forward send and come through the gap (270's are old hat to both).

This morning was Tangle's first introduction to no motion discrimination between the tunnel and the dog walk. At first, not surprising Tangle would take the DW no matter what the cue. Well, which obstacle is more highly rewarded? So, I set him right in front of the tunnel, said "tunnel" and rewarded with tug. Lights went on "ah, we are not working just the DW today". We then progressed very quickly through the process. I kept setting him back further so both obstacles were an option. Each time I didn't move and just called the obstacle name. He was BRILLIANT! Next I would send him over jump #1, and call an obstacle name. Again brilliance! The only thing that I need to work on is the speed of the dog walk. When I sent him and had minimal motion myself, he was slower. I will work on that, but to be honest it is really rare that you ever have a course that dictates that skill, the handler is always moving somewhere!

Split has a ton more experience for these discrimination's, but it never hurts to just backup, simply, and practice the basic skill. He did great.




The handicapped sequence for today was working on sending to a tunnel, taking a jump with me in a lateral position (closer to #4), and then an independent weave. I only worked this sequence with Tangle and he did stellar. I am always amazed at how well he does.

Running A-Frame - Tangle and Split

I have three dogs with running A-Frames! Tip is awesome, fast, and reliable. It was a gift from God, I don't think I really contributed to the success of that one. Split has had a 2o2o, running, 2o2o, running, etc. So, now he is leaping, but I am determined to make it reliable. Tangle's A-Frame was trained first with a running dog walk and then the skill transferred to the A-Frame. There is one thing nagging me about his performance however and that is his back feet. They hit, but I want them farther into the yellow.

So, I had a little time a couple of weeks ago to surf YouTube and see how people were training running A-Frames. I ran across a site (ops, don't have the link) where a gal and her BC had put together a really nice running A-Frame. The stride regulator was put on the yellow line. I have to confess that I had never thought of putting it down that low. All the conversations I had about where to place the stride regulators was up high so that they would extend their stride, there by putting them into the yellow.

Placing the stride regulators up high produced mixed results for me with both Split and Tangle. I actually think that it made Split leap a little bit more.

I have been playing with the regulators down low for a couple of weeks. I really think that they are getting the stride into the yellow a bit more and have shored up the reliability of the performance for Split.

We will see if they hold up through time and even more importantly, once they come off will I be left with a better A-Frame performance?

Feels like kindergarten again

This blog is mostly for myself! A marker in time if you will about where we are and what we are doing.

Today's session with Tangle today was great, but there are certain things that running/training a green dog teaches or reteaches you. Experienced dogs, like experienced people have the ability to say "I know what you said, but I will do what you really want". Green dogs say "OK, I will do exactly what you told me".

We worked on several things today and more than once I was educated by my young dog!

Start lines - I have a tendency to push slightly out laterally as I am beginning to run forward. Tangle is reading this as lateral motion and will come around the jump since he is not obstacle focused yet. I need to make sure that I have my weight moving forward and give the jump command!

Start lines - I know about this gotcha, but am still guilty in certain situations. When I am asking for a lateral start, that is my lead out is just to the side, not forward I move AS I release the dog. I need to move and then release. Tangle was releasing on motion.



Start lines, contacts, and the table - I need to use my release word and then the obstacle name. I want it very clear what releases him.

Straight line of jumps - I need to remember to give him the jump command! Older dogs don't need it, but Tangle still needs it. He wants to be right and that helps reassure him that I do want him to take that jump! I also need to be mindful that he can't drive the pace, it is I who has that job.

Just to mark where we are on our other obstacles at this point:

Teeter performance - Tangle has started to identify the tipping point of the teeter instead of just driving to the end. We need to go back and do the following exercise to help him focus on the 2o2o and not the tipping.:
--hold the end of the teeter up, hold Tangle, and have him drive into his 2o2o position while the teeter is up and then let it drop.

Dog Walk - We have made the conversion to a 2o2o (2 feet on, 2 feet off) at the end. Tangle completely understands his job and is doing it really well, but I want excellent! I need to incorporate some drive to the end exercises. Again, focus on getting to the end as soon as possible. When he had a running dog walk we didn't need to work on this.

A-Frame - What can I say, it is awesome! It is still a running contact and I intend to keep this one running. He runs it at full speed, just clearing the apex and drives to the bottom. So, we will just continue to raise it.

Specialty jumps - time to introduce them! Tire, winged jumps, double, triple, and broad jump.

In general Tangle is doing an excellent job. His speed to good, watches me well, thoughtful and quick to learn. What more could I ask really!

A-Frame performance

I have heard this advice several times and in several different disciplines "Find a great performance and emulate it"

I just started to train Tangles A-Frame and thankfully I have the performance to emulate right in my backyard (literally). Tip has a beautiful A-Frame. Fast, efficient and really consistent. I want Tangle's Aframe to be like hers.

Video comparison


I ran both dogs on the same configuration this morning as a way to evaluate the differences in performance. Let me say immediately I honestly don't believe that I can train Tangle to be just like Tip when it comes to the AFrame. The dogs have different structure, temperament, and drive. But can I get close? Yes, I believe that I can.

I have many observations about the side-by-side performances, but I would love to hear what others have to say before I taint the waters. I have no doubt that others will observe valuable things that I have missed!! Please, comment away!!

Current Successes

It isn't often that I have an opportunity to write about an awesome trail with one of my dogs. Tip and I had an awesome trial today! We have more and more great runs, but we don't often come together for an entire day!

I will just take a moment to reflect so that I can look back on this day!

Tip and I did a NADAC trial today. We had 6 runs, 5 Q's and all of the placements given were first with one second! But more importantly than statistics is how we felt. We were a team today! We both read each other well, where Tip was unclear she glanced at me for clarity, but most of the time I held up my end of the deal and gave her the information before she needed it. We trusted each other today!

Days like this are even sweeter because of the journey it took to arrive here. When you feel great like this, it feels good to reflect on the tears and frustrations along the way. We both learned from each other and arrived upon today!



Another success this weekend was training with Tangle. You know, really, I always enjoy training with Tangle and we haven't had too many frustrations and all of them have paled in comparison to Tip's and my learning curve.

My husband helped us do restrained recalls on the teeter this weekend. It was just the tool that I needed! I wanted to turn the teeter into a game and this was the ticket! Here is the video of our training. His speed and love for the teeter up until this practice session was equivalent to the first teeter on the film. Not bad at all, but he is thinking too much. Yes, I want a thinking dog, but I do not want a worrier. To my eye, the speed and drive for the toy only increased with each teeter. It is this love and drive that will keep Tangle from thinking too much on the teeter and get into the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx_Qpbz-Nm0

Not to leave Split out of the mix today. He is doing great. Still in rehab for his hip flexor pull, but starting to return to activity. I currently have him doing 6 jumps at 12 inches, a few weaves, a few dog walks and really low A-Frames!

10 treat training

Confession Time!

I think that I have heard this since I started agility, "get 10 treats, go out and train, and when the treats are gone, you are done". Well for various reasons I never felt that it was important to adhere to that. Probably mostly since I have a border collie personality and until I am dead I will keep working :)

Well, since Split's news I have been thinking a lot about this statement. It might really be the perfect amount of training for him. A couple of really great reasons, it limits how much strenuous physical activity I will give him, makes me focus my training with him since I have to be so very limited, and it seems very possible now that I don't have to drive 45 minutes to train for 3 minutes (I just go out back).

So, this afternoon I did 10 treat training with Split! (I actually had a little more than 10 treats just because if I want to super reward I have the ammo.)

Our theme was "drive forward".

He did three magnificent tunnel to dog walks for me (better than I have seen in a long time), a couple of straight three jump sequences, and two tables.

We ended the session, he was still happy, confident and not limping!

P.S. I have begun to think lately that dogs have a finite number of runs in their life, we can choose to use those up in 3 years or pace ourselves so that our dogs run with us their whole lives.

Misc agility stuff going on

Today I worked with all three dogs this morning and went to a fun run tonight. This gave me split agility focus disorder today. BTW, this is my first IPad post!

Thoughts #1 - the training of Tangle in the next five months
Tangle had an awesome training session this morning. He is really coming along, focusing on the task at hand and beginning to add speed (yeah, I am a speed junky). I introduced a plank today. I just want Tangle to run the plank, drive off the end and get his treat. My goal today was just to get him trotting the plank beside me. I want him to stay on the plank until the end and go to the food dispenser. In the end he did a fine job and I actually had a little more speed than I anticipated. I will try to post the video.

Second we worked on rear crosses. We are doing these with a jump upright since I have not thought of a suitable substitute. We made improvements, me on giving him the correct cues and he in turning away from me. We worked up to being about four feet from the jump.

Lastly we worked on cone work. We are doing figure eights with the cones and sends. Tangle had great speed today and was turning very tightly. We also worked with lateral sends and cones.

So, were are we going in the next five months. Well, here are misc thoughts that will be put in a timeline soon. I will probably start jump training when he is ten months. His growth plates should be mostly closed by then. Between now and ten months I will work on his dog walk contact to almost fun height. Just not a ton of repetition. We will work with LM presentation positions and small sequences that involve those. Weaves, not until ten months too!

Thoughts #2 - two older dogs
I have been working contacts with both dogs. They both have been fairly solid on the teeter at home. Split's DW has been excellent. It was time to up the training. Teeters at the fun run, about fifty percent. Splits DW seventy five percent. K, needs work again.Split on teeter

Agility skill inventory

Yes, I know, I have been writing a bunch about Tangle lately...

We went over to the agility field early today to work out 'the boys'. I wanted to have a few moments to work on the fundamentals of Split running AFrame (we have a trial today) and Tangle's basics. With Split, I got out the box on the ground and did some target work with that. Then we did some AFrame work, cleaned his performance right up!

Tangle:
Let me say that most of the behaviors that I am working on are not the final behavior. I am in the mode of building tools that I will use later to put the end behavior together (hopefully, very quickly).

Teeter work - Tangle was more excited to get on the teeter today. Quicker to get on and get back on if he moved off the contact. The things that I am trying to remember: bring him around or send onto the teeter, reward at the end quickly with a party, feed low, release with 'ok' and I move after he does. The teeter right now is just being used to get use to motion and perhaps a little of the end contact behavior. It is about 6 inches off the ground. The command right now is "slam".

Table - The table is completely flat. We are working on tugging on the table. We do the ready-set-go game, race to the table, once he is completely on, I begin madly playing tug with him. If he comes off the table the game stops until he is back on. There is no command to this behavior. I am going to use this later on to introducing tugging at the bottom of contacts. I want him to be very comfortable with tugging on equipment (and perhaps chairs in my house etc). Also, this game will lead to his table performance.

Flat Work - We are just working on the six presentations of LM's flatwork. Tangle is awesome at them since most of it is natural behavior.

Flat Work with a hoop - I introduced this today. Tangle did awesome coming through the hoop to all the presentations. The one thing that I noticed was he does not have an understanding of 'stay' when the hoop is present. When I put my hand out in prep for the RTH he would come, not when I released him. I went back to see if that was the case "on the flat", and it is not. The hoop made some kind of a difference to him. Fun!! We worked on the stay command in the presents of the hoop.

I have been working for the last month on 'stays' with and without motion, walking, running etc. He does great with those. Just proof that you have to really "proof" your behaviors.

Running AFrame

I have decided to retrain Split's AFrame. Two reasons primarily: 1) since he is not as motivated as Tip he tends to slow down and make sure he does it right 2) his reluctance at approaching the 2o2o spot makes me think it is painful or at the very least uncomfortable on his shoulders/ankles to hit that spot. If we work the AFrame a lot I do see a slight limp--not good.

We started about 2 weeks ago with the "hit-it" game. I have an old pause box that I use. I ask him to run, put a foot in the box and keep running. After he gets a foot in the box I throw the frisbee. At first my distance was minimal from the box. Now I get to be about 20 feet away and send him to the box. I will alway run with him straight into the box or laterally send to the box.

In general I am happy with his understanding of the game. He is almost 100 percent on hitting the box. However, I would really like to see more amperage in the game. This is my first challenge.

Today, I filmed Split and Tip's AFrame. Tip's AFrame speed will be my goal for Split. She has a phanominal aframe with speed and accuracy. Not sure how I got that but glad that I have it.

Times:
Split-1.86, 2.15, 1.85 seconds (running start)
Tip - 1.19,1.18 (running start and running contact)

Next steps--lower the aframe and begin to race Split!

Day 2
Started out the day playing tug, which Split is reluctant to do on the agility field. I used a tunnel, got him charges and finally he would grab it and tug. Then we just did some 2o2o AFrames. He seemed faster, but I didn't time it.

Next and this is the first time I have put the box on the contact. We just hit the box, jumped off and tugged. Next we ran the Aframe, hit the box and tugged. After a couple of repetitions Split went back to stopping. Repetition is not his friend. Even though I was rewarding him, he tends to think that it wasn't right. After this I mixed it up with other games.

Times: 1.22,1.58.1.57 - these were quick release.

7/13 - Split is gaining more confidence to run through the contact. He actually looks happier and not as worried about performing the contact. New found confidence, new found problems. He has now upped his percentage of jumping from the yellow instead of striding through it. He does hit the yellow, but it is not the behavior that I want. Time to brain storm again...

7/14 - I lowered the AFrame more today. I need to get him running the entire obsticle. I think if I can do that he will catch on very quickly. He is a 'learning' dog. He know that when we train I am trying to communicate something to him. Reading http://www.silvia.trkman.net/ to get some ideas on how to get the running performance.

Good Dogs!

We had a great practice this morning. Only two bars down for Tip and they were my fault. Split did an excellent job with collection.

We worked on the first two exercises of the World by the Tail posted on clean run. Happy to report, all the problems were mine which is the way I like it. Dogs were listening and following really well.

This course went well. I put a FC between 4-5, 10-11,11-12. With Split the FC was essential between 11-12, otherwise he extends. Need to work on lateral motion with him.

This was the second course:

I had a hard time working this course. The movements that I needed to do just was not nature. The green path showed the way I ended up running this course as well. I kinda made up my own course. We will work on this one again.



After we worked these I worked on contacts and weaves. Split and I have been doing a "hit-it" exercise in preparation for moving him to a running AFrame. He always gives me a four on the floor and does not like the 2o2o. Since he is a completely biddable dog I am included to believe that he is telling me something and that the 2o2o hurts him. Hence, moving to a running. This exercise I believe is going to have the added benefit of helping him with independant drive. Since he must seek out the box, jump in it and run, this encourages more independance than I typically see from him.

Splitty and the A-Frame

Well, I made the decision to move Split back to a 2o2o A-Frame. Not really happy about it, but I just could not figure out how to communicate the running contact with him (familiar problem from Tip's dogwalk).

Split is such an honest boy. Once he figured out the new rules, he is trying his best to comply and stop at the end. He and I just need to put some practice and many configurations on top of the knowledge and he will be as good as gold.

Last night I introduced front crossed at the end of the A-Frame. Threw him off a couple of times, but then was right with me and waited.

Interesting side note...in watching the contact 360 video, Amanda had a side note about the release word. Split will NOT release on his release word at the end of the A-Frame. He needs the movement with the word (he doesn't release on just movement thankfully).

Amanda Shyne, some notes

Training the dog walk, reinforcing the Independence in the contact
Charge ahead
Stay behind
Move away laterally
Release the dog either in motion or totally still. Reward, backup, run ahead and then release
Can be anywhere and send the dog to the target at the end of the contact
do it with speed
two jumps at the bottom of the A-frame. Dog jumps and gets into position

Approaches
put two dowels (or jump uprights and fade to dowels) at the start of the contact, about a foot away. Have the dog approach and line up straight. Reward before the dog gets on the contact. You are rewarding that the dog lines up straight. Train from all angels and speeds. Can do on a flat board.


A release word is a command. They dog must move upon the release word. Interesting, Split does not do this unless I am moving. So release is two things at the contact the word and motion

If you are throwing a toy to keep the dog moving forward, you have to keep moving yourself (a LM principal)

Teeter
Games...
Be at the end with a tug (standing to the side) , have the dog charge onto the teeter, and tug with them

Back from vacation...

We are back from vacation! In that week I decided not to think about two agility problems that I have been dealing with, one for each dog. Sometimes when I let problems sit for a while the solution comes easier.

I have been wanting to watch the Amanda Shyne video on contacts (http://www.agilityvision.com/dvd-contacts-360-amanda-shyne) to see if I could ferret out some ideas for Split's A-Frame. He is a long strided dog and will either jump over the contact or touch it with his back feet. The back feet are perfectly legal, but judges don't always catch that he touched the yellow. I haven't gotten any new ideas for Split, which is leading me to believe that a 2o2o might be the only answer right now. I am not a fan of 2o2o on the A-Frame because I think it is hard on their shoulders if they are speedy (yes, I am aware of the methods that people teach so that the shoulders don't get pounded). I have complete faith that if Split understood what I was asking he would do it. He is very biddable.

Incidentally, Amanda touched on dropped bars and gave me some ideas for Tip's issue of dropping bars. Amanda does jump circles with her dog Dilly. She runs them from the very center where she does not have to move that much. Then she runs them very close to the jumps, this creates more motion on her part which is what the dogs have trouble handling. This is true for Tip as well. In thinking through this it makes sense. Once the dog runs clean, you move a jump. It helps them gain experience in different jump lengths which can also create dropped bars.

I will begin to incorporate this into my training plan.