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.

USDAA Nationals, here we come!

One of my goals this year was to qualify for USDAA Nationals with Tip. It has been an interesting journey to get here. Many lessons learned which is always a good thing right?

To get to Nationals you have to qualify with 2 Q's in the events you want to compete. The events are Team, Grand Prix, and Steeplechase. Tip earned her Team Q in January. In my view this feels like the hardest to get since you and your team mate have 5 runs a piece and you have to run all of them well. I didn't run the other tournments figuring I had the rest of the year to qualify for those. Lesson #1 learned--don't put things off if you can avoid it.

Tip was injured in March which took her out for about 12 weeks. During those 12 weeks there were several USDAA's that she could not compete in. It feels like there are not that many USDAA trials in our area and we missed many of them. I honestly wasn't sure if Tip would be able to run ever again, let alone make it to Nationals.

After Tip began to run again and it seemed clear that she would be able to do at least a couple runs a day (more on that later), I re-evaluated our goal and decided to stay on track for Nationals. That meant qualifying in the other two events in two trials! Very agreesive, but what did I have to loose?

Tip got one of her Steeple Chase Q's in July. First place with the most spectacular run we have ever done. It felt like one of those dreams where you just knew you weren't going to loose. I knew it was a winning time and run! She ran a marvelous Grand Prix run as well, but the judge called her on a contact (she GOT it many witnesses say). One more trial to get two Q's...

This past weekend, Tip got her second Q in Steeple Chase finishing her qualification for that event. The run was good, but she had to redo two weave polls which cost us in time. She got 4th, but still Q'ed. I can't even say her Grand Prix sucked because she didn't even take enough obsticles to call it a run. I don't dwell on the bad, so I am not going into much detail. Bad start...wrong course, just leave it at that! What I would do differently...get her focus or don't go on course, if she won't hold her start, don't start!

So, going into Regionals we are qualified so all we have to do is vi for position. If she Q's at Regionals she earns a 'buy' into Nationals' semi-finals. This would be a huge leg up.

In terms of Tip injury...she ran the whole weekend looking great. 4 runs per day.

Stay tuned....

Couldn't resist this photo of Split (yes, he is fast)

Amazing trial weekend

We did a NADAC trial this weekend and had some amazing things happen!! Sometimes it is not all about the Qs.



I went into the weekend knowing that I would have to train Tip's startline stays. She has been blowing them off for a year or so, but I only train one major thing at a time and the dog walk had been getting our attention. It took us three runs, she blew it, and walked her back and asked her to stay. The rest of the weekend was awesome, no broken stays! Only three times--amazing for us. Took a year for her to stay at the end of the dog walk.



Typically Tip and I have at least one crazy run over the weekend. She has a bee in her bonnet, gives me the finger and goes where she wants. There was NONE of that. Again, amazing. Wondering if it was because I was also running Split. Jealousy works in mysterious ways. Wonder if it is the flatwork that we have been doing. Maybe the wild runs are her way of blowing off stress (the stress that her handler can't steer her)?

Split improved an amazing amount over the weekend. Our first run of the weekend he was glued to my side and would spin when he didn't get the info quick enough. We have been mostly doing practice type drills and his lack of drive through the course caught me off guard. I decided to not worry about the Qs, but to see if I could get him to drive through the courses better. Every run, every thing he did got a PARTY! One run he was going way off course and intinct had me call him like I would Tip. From that point to the end of the course he spon on EVERY obsticle. I realized that when I needed his attention if I called him like I do Tip, he looses confidence. I put the happy face on how I called him and that made an amazing difference.

All in all I was very pleased with how much I learned about my dogs!