Training Party Tricks

You ever had one of those training sessions where you really feel connected to your dogs, and they are responding to everything nicely?  Even though you were working hard skills, it seems like you are training party tricks?  It is pure joy.  It is those training sessions that keep me going.

Tangle and I have been working really hard on new skills.  Our practice sessions have been intense, I have stumbled more than I have handled perfectly.  It has been hard.  Is it worth it?  Sure it is.  But I do have to take some time out like we did today.

I love working individual skills.  It relaxes me and it feels like I am training party tricks rather than useful agility skills.  My dogs love it when I am relaxed as well :)

I didn't film everything we worked on, but here is a sampling of the work.  I worked a reverse spin off the running dog walk with Hoot.  A friend and I were talking about turns of a RDW and a reverse spin came to mind.  I think it worked really well.

Again, I was chatting with someone regarding proofing weaves.  It occurred to me that I had not worked weaves into fences in a while and probably should.  So, of course, I had to raise the bar a few more notches and work a discriminations at the same time.

Tangle and Hoot were rock stars!!

She has a heart of gold

I love this little dog.  She has a heart of gold and the work ethic that won't quit.  She always tries to please.

This was our practice today.  Our training agenda was based on things that we have worked on lately, but that weren't going as well as I like.  Also to work areas where I felt like my trust wasn't as strong as it needed to be.  This video has Hoot's whole practice on it, I didn't just edited it to show the good parts.   I need to post things like this for myself.  I want to be able to look back to see what we were doing when, and also to always remember that we have skill in spite of the days that seem bad.

The dog walk is in a position on the field so that one way she is running downhill (right to left) and the other running up hill (left to right).  Her hits were good but not as solid as I had been getting when it was level.  So I decided to see if we could get that improved.   Downhill was to a tunnel and uphill was to a jump upright.  The up hill is not as deep, but in all, I am very happy with this session.

Next is a sequence that we did yesterday.  There were a few knocked bars, and lots of really wide turns.  I had been getting a bit lax in rewarding and working really nice turns so that was my goal.  We handled with front crosses and blind crosses.  I felt like this practice helped me move along the continuum of trust as well.

The last item we worked on was weaves.  As I remember all the different ways I need to proof weaves we work on those.  I try never to do too many weaves in a single session.




Hoot was my little rock star today.  I love it when you put time between your bad practice and next practice and everything seems to sort itself out!

All things Split

We went to a USDAA trial this weekend (Wasatch Agility).  I ran both Split and Tangle, both were awesome and gave me a lot of things to be proud of.

Funny how sometimes you have a moment however that gets you thinking about where you are and where you have been.  A friend was commenting after Split's Standard run that he really doesn't want to get out of PII.  We have been trying to get out of PII for ever and now we are finally down to just one little thing always.  My perspective on the run was much different since I am VERY FAMILIAR with the road we have traveled.  Only having one issue on course is AMAZING to me!

It was my fault!  I didn't pull Split off the field soon enough when he was injured and he associated many obstacles with pain: teeter, weaves, AF, tight turns, etc...  So when he came back one of the reasons for the re-training was to let him start to have fun and rewards and begin to love the obstacles again.  Not an easy road.

So, I have re-trained a 2o2o to a running AF, a 4 on DW to a running DW, trained him to turn tight again, re-trained the weaves and am working on the teeter and the table.  I have a lot of experience re-training and should now write a book on what works and what doesn't.

These are Split's runs from this weekend.  Having traveled the road that we have, I would say this dog is fairly resilient and amazing!  We will make it, and he will get his Q.



This morning I was working Running Dog Walk turns.  This is the course that I set up.  I am trying to perfect my handling of the RDW.  I am trying to give Split the most information I can so that he can do his job correctly. 

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!

Deposits in the Agility Bank

I was on a trip back east with my son recently and had a chance to catch up on a fair amount of agility reading--Clean run, reviewing foundation articles, and a few small books.

One of the books that made an impression on me was "Click and Play Agility", by Angelica Sneinker.  She had a lot of really good information in there in general, but one concept hit home.  Now, I don't remember if it was something very specific that was said, or just one of those concepts that rang other bells in my head. Or if it was a combo of all the things that I read on the trip.

 It was the concept of 50% of your trials should be training trials.  That is, you are true to your criteria (startlines, contacts, dropped bars) and don't let things slide.  You take the opportunity to proof what you train (huge lateral motion away from the weaves).  You make "deposits" into the agility bank and a solid foundation.

I have been practicing this concept for a couple of weeks now.  I was at a trial this past weekend where I did just this all weekend.  Let me tell you, it actually feels great to walk a course, plan ahead exactly where you are going to test your training and do just that.  It feels even better when your dog holds up his/her end of the deal :)  But if they don't you are perfectly prepared to handle it well. 

Startlines - At the trial I worked several start lines.  1) put my dog into a sit-stay, started running away and then released  2)  sit-stay, walk out and then walk back and reward (only with praise in the ring)  3) stand-stay, lead out a fair distance, turn around, smile and talk to my dog, then release.  You never know when all of these skills come in handy and one thing I have learned in agility is you want to be confident that you have the skill when you need it.  This is by far the most challenging skill for Tip and Split (startline stays).  I didn't push either one to the point where I KNEW they would fail, I just took it to the edge.  Tangle, who has a solid stay, got tested much more.

Weaves - I sent to the weaves, I charged full speed (that is, I didn't collect even though my dog had too), moved away laterally, and rear crossed weaves.

Dogwalk - All my dogs have a 2o2o contact performance.  I ran past the end while they stayed, I let them get ahead and arrived late (testing Independence).

It is amazing the pride that you feel as your dog begins to show you that your training has held up!  The one item that was a challenge for all three dogs was a dogwalk with a tunnel as the next obstacle.  Of course they can resist the tunnel in the backyard, but not at the trail.  All three dogs broke once and I had the opportunity to take them back and train the criteria (NADAC).  The next dogwalk and then tunnel, all three stayed!  Good dogs.

Just as a side note to all of this, I once took a seminar from Carry Jones who said that she proofs the weaves in all sorts of ways, however in competition if it is a tough entry, she always helps her dog get the entry.  This made sense at the time, but now I am not sure that I agree.  If the dog knows that you are always helping under difficult situations, isn't that training the dog that you will always help?  Don't you want your dog to be independent no matter what?  That way, when you really need the skill you can depend on it being there?

As another side note to this topic, I worked this idea in class last night.  I found that I needed the work, not the dogs.  There were certain things that I didn't have a solid skill or muscle memory to depend on when working these skills.  One in particular was leaving the dog in the weaves and recalling laterally over an odd angle jump.  Not hard to learn, but I had to think too much about it.  My point being, proofing builds skills in the dog and YOU! 

Just do it!  Put deposits into the agility bank, you WILL need to make a withdrawl later when it really counts!

Weave Entries

20/20 hind sight is a beautiful thing!

Tangle has been struggling with his weave entries over the last several weeks. Not sure what happened since they were AWESOME before my injury. I say "before my injury" since I suspect that my injury had it's impact on Tangle. The weaves being one of the casualties.

Before the injury I was able to move with Tangle, meet him at the end, and have a huge game of tug. I didn't do this all the time, but obviously enough that it made it really fun and worth the challenge to hit entries. While my motion was still very limited, just throwing a toy at the end didn't seem to be enough for him.

So, over the past week, I went back to just 4 poles, worked entries, threw a HUGE party if they were correct! When I first started this approach, Tangle was getting his entries but thinking way too much. Slow, methodical, and not having a ton of fun! I am not sure what made me realize this, but I started to tug with him at the end of the weaves and I saw a dramatic shift in his motivation to hit the entry and to drive through the weaves! Sometimes you don't realize what you are doing to motivate the dog. You have to retrace your steps, examine every motion and figure it out.

All of dogs have switched from time to time what motivates them. It takes me a day or two, but eventually I catch up and realize that I must shift the reward to the "reward of the day". This is exactly what was going on with Tangle's weaves. This morning Tangle was back to being "on fire", hitting his entries, driving with passion through the weaves and tugging for his reward.

When given the proper motivation it is amazing the speed at which Tangle can hit his entries and drive through the weaves!

Weaves in Sequences

Tangle graduated from 6 poles to 12. We have been working on building value for the entries and all 12 poles. Weaves are a hard thing, I don't want to do too much weaving with him, but you have to do some to build the value.

In order the build the value quickly, I brought out the big guns toy for him. The "ball"! I don't practice much with the ball since the reward is always being thrown away from me, but I don't mind in small doses. With most of his other toys, I can choose to either reward by my side or in the case of an independent obstacle I can reward away.

So, prior to today I just did the classic "around-the-clock" proofing of the 12 weaves. Today I decided to put them in short sequences to measure our progress. I have seen with my dogs that when you put the obstacle in a sequence it sometimes changes the picture. In the case of the weaves, it really changes the picture. The dog generally has to add scope to the weave performance as well. That is, look ahead to gage his jump, land and collection, but without starting it at a sit-stay which allows him a ton of time to see what is ahead.

I am not pushing Tangle in any of this. My goal is to set him up to be successful and build confidence. Challenging him will come later.

I am proud of Tangle, he did a really great job. This video isn't just the best of all the performances with him, it is all of them. Notice, he didn't miss a single entry, even when my handling was less than desirable :)

Proofing Tangle's Weaves

Tangle is now a year old! Happy Birthday Tangle!

I trained Tangle on 2x2 weave method, but followed Mary Ellen Barry's article from Clean Run vs Susan Garrett's method. I first worked Tangle on the 2x2 at about 10 months. I just did 2 poles and worked strickly on entrances. I didn't really want him weaving that young. The reason I decided to work entrances that young was to capitalize on the young puppy learning. I have noticed that with all my dogs, what they learn first is what they do the best. So, with Tangle in his first year I did a lot of introductions, but really no perfecting of skills.

We picked up weaving again at almost a year and progressed through to 12 weaves. I never worked weaves more than every 3 days or so and 5-6 repetitions.

This morning we decided to work a little bit on weave proofing. We haven't really worked on this yet with obstacles. He started out a little less confident, but by the end I was really pleased with how his confidence built.

I am really pleased with his footwork and entries. I see no hesitation at all. He did an excellent job of transitioning from the weave to the jump as well.

I will continue to work this type of proofing, probably throwing 12 weaves in the mix once a week or so.

A game of chase is all it took!

Tangle is a thinker when it comes to agility. He does not like to fail and sometimes over thinks a problem. These kind of dogs are great to have, but you have to be really careful in a couple of ways with them. 1) Don't let them fail too many times. If they can't get it on the first couple of tries, break down the task. (good practice anyway) 2) If they start loosing interest you can almost be guaranteed they are thinking too much and the fun factor has to be ramped up! Don't let them think too hard!!

Compare this with Tip, who is a do'er! I don't think Tip has ever shut down on me. She is ALWAYS game to play and then play more. She would work until she drops dead. BUT, it is harder to get her into a place where she is thinking "hum, what does she really want". I have to control Tip's excitement level a lot more when training something new. Food when she is learning something new, toys only when she has got it down cold.

So, I introduced Tangle to channel weaves this morning. He has been taught to weave six poles with 2x2 weaves. The channels were a completely different obstacle to him and it was NOT obvious what he needed to do to perform them properly. I noticed very quickly that he was thinking too hard and beginning to shut down. Well I believe strongly in ending on a positive note and it became apparent this was not going to happen.

Stop, breath, and think "how do I end this on a happy note"? C H A S E!!!!

Tangle's favorite obstacle right now is the AFrame. So, I incorporated the AFrame into a game of chance to just get him "do" and not "think" any more. It turned out to be a great decision. I ran him over the AFrame (favorite obstacle), threw the squirrel Frisbee (favorite toy) and while he was getting that, I ran in the different direction and hide behind the shed (chase, favorite game). I had a completely different dog on my hands!!! The speed, intensity, and joy out of Tangle was amazing.

After I had him completely engaged again, we went back to the weaves. First time ran all the way through the channels--we ended there, on a positive note!

Now, I will say as I write this I realize my mistake in introducing the channel weaves. I had them slightly open and I think that is what confused him. I should have started with them closed and then opened them as he gained confidence on another set of weaves. First time I have trained weaves this way and we all live and learn.

Never overrate foundation

Every once in a while I gain a deeper understanding of why foundation is so important! I have been watching Mary Ellen Barry's (MEB) new foundation DVD. Fabulous addition to the library and she is just an amazing teacher.

I was working out the dogs today and I think that I could spot every foundation skill that either I didn't work on or I short-cuted. All three dogs!! Something MEB said on the DVD is that she spends a ton of time on foundation skills, perfects them, so that when she is teaching agility equipment she is not fighting the lack of any other skill! HUGE!!!!

Examples from today's' practice:
Tangle - Although he isn't even 5 months old and I have not finished his foundation by any means, I can spot what I need to work on more. I started out with just a little circle work at a slow trot. He didn't know that he was suppose to stay with me. It was easy to remind him, but I need to incorporate some specific training that helps him understand that better.

Split - he is a really strong flanker. He always wants to be slightly ahead and turn into me. Again, I need to go back to foundation work and teach him the value of being at my side. Also, Split has zero forward send to a tunnel. The nice thing about that is that I have to be moving in order to get him into the tunnel. However, if I start off with some motion and send him 5 feet he should be able to get into the tunnel without looking back at me.

Also, Split has lost/never had a strong enough understanding of the weaves. We went back to almost square one today and worked on weave entries. I was going to click/treat it, but Split would not take food today--interesting. So, instead I clicked and threw the Frisbee. We worked with just 4 poles and worked my way around the clock from 9 to 3 on the entries. Once we got past either of those he could not get his entry anymore. We will work that. I also noticed that he is dependant on my motion. I need to think about that and decide how independent I want that performance. Ie, I am moving forward in the general direction he needs to go, but I should be able to peel off laterally. I don't want him doing the weaves if my motions is going against the flow.

Tip - Tip was my first dog and I will always give her credit for that! She has adapted to so many different techniques, it is amazing that she can be successful on course at all. Tip does not have a good balance of obstacle/handler focus. She is way more obstacle focused. Probably because I was when I taught her! We need to review her permission to take an obstacle! Her start line stayed sucked today as well and I have been working that as well. Need to go back and work impulse control work with her.

The Official Party

Well we broke in our new property right. Invited several friends over from agility, BBQ, and some beers. Most everyone brought at least one dog if not more. In total we had about 12 dogs on the property and not a dog fight to be had!


We of course had to celebrate with a whopping round of "Beer" weaves (explanation later). Except in this case it was GnT weaves. We had three dogs in the weaves at once. Didn't quite manage anymore 1) our timing was slow 2) the dogs required certain 'space'

Gnt Weaves - Handler must sit in a chair with a beer/GnT in hand. Send the dog on verbal command to the weaves. The dog must complete the weaves, then a ball or Frisbee is thrown as a reward. This is a great thing the practice. Teaches the dog to drive through the weaves independently of the handler. GnT in hand assures no interference from the handler.