Updated USDAA Nationals page

Everybody has to eat right?  Once of my challenges while on the road with my dogs is finding a great place to eat.  I will probably update this info as I remember all the great little restaurants we have tried.  I have also included comments about the availability of shade parking for the pups.  http://bcagility.blogspot.com/p/cynosports-2012-usdaa-nationals-denver.html

Reaching a Milestone

My family and I went down to New Mexico for SWAT's USDAA trial. It was a fun trial. Nice and relaxed, great courses, and the weather was perfect.

One of the reasons to do the trial was to get Tip and/or Split more tournament Q's for Nationals. I was running Tangle too, but at this point it is about experience and mileage.

This trial was Tangle's first outdoor trial and one of the few times he had done agility outside other than my yard. I had to chuckle a little when I thought about this since Tip and Split had rarely practiced inside by the time they started to trial. Kind of a testimony on how much agility has changed and grown.

So, since this was one of his first outdoor trials I was ready for almost any reaction thrown my way. I had no idea if the environment would be more or less stimulating, if wind or heat would be a problem. Or if Tangle would just go with the flow and run well.

Tangle's first run of the weekend was Gamblers. Always a plus for me since almost anything goes and I can run a course that will warm him up for the day. He did a great job, didn't seem too stressed by the change of environment or even by the fact that the rest of the family was there.

Next we had Grand Prix.
It always seems like a fine idea at sign up time to sign all three dogs up for the same Tournament class. Then when I start looking at reality of the runs I begin to pick up on a couple of flaws in my thinking. I have to walk the course for three very different dogs, warm up the dogs, align people to hold the dogs while I run one--since, of course there is only about 8 dogs in-between my runs sometimes. The main problem really is that I find it really hard to be "present" for each dog and run. Anyway, made my bed…


Although I ran the other two dogs in Grand Prix, the real milestone was in Tangle's Grand Prix run. This course had some great sections and some subtle nasty spots. The one advantage about running multiple dogs on the same course is that you have multiple chances to beat the same course.  If you don't like the way that you hangled a section you can elect to change it with the next dog.
Tangle ran the course like a champ. Although we encountered several things on the course that either we had only practiced a couple of times (discrimination's) or had not worked at all. Because Tangle's foundation
is so strong I had more confidence in how he would handle the course.
Tangle came in second place in Grand Prix. The milestone was not the placement for us, and not the Q, but was that his speed and confidence had improved so much in such a little time that he was fast enough to get
second place. That is something we have been working on a ton. It was great affirmation that the speed and confidence training that we have been working on was effective!

If I knew then...nuggets along the way

 

As a part of the agility blog day we are all reflecting on "If I knew then what I know now"! I have had a month or so to think about this topic and all sorts of thoughts have gone through my head.   What should I focus on: handling, training tips, trialing, the journey, attitude. Really I could go so many places with this topic. 

For me, no matter which topic I choose, many of the nuggets that I cherish can only be acquired on the journey.  That is, they don't have the deep meaning if someone just tells you.  You have to live and experience the issue, problem, or the success.  So I will tell you "If I knew then what I know now",... knowing that perhaps the "tip" reminds you of something you have already learned or perhaps just holds a place in your mind, that when you encounter an experience it rings true as something you should remember.

Training
Train every skill in small increments, break it down as far as you can. Then break it down more.  You will get to the final behavior  so much faster.  This goes for young and experienced dogs.  It is especially true when you are retraining (fixing) a skill.

Handling
Learn to drive your dog, you are in charge, be ahead.  Train the skills that allow you to get to where you need to be.
 
Trialing
Be kind to those just starting out in agility.  The sport is very humbling, we all need support to get through the first several years (and longer).  
 
Attitude

• Never sacrifice what you love. Remember always what drew you to agility and be true to that love
• Success can and should be measured in ways other than a "Q".
• Never let success get to your head, and never let failure get to your heart
• Laughter is the best medicine for stress.

Most of all, don't forget to enjoy the journey! 
 
 

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

USDAA Team

Tangle (the baby) and Tip had a big weekend.  We packed up, drove 9 hours and did a USDAA trial in Lawrence Kansas with good friends and team mates.  And, let me just say wind, 20 degrees, 75% humitity is NOT my favorite weather combination!  For those of you who deal with that on a regular basis I am sorry.  My recommendations is Colorado.

(An exhausted Tangle after Team)

We decided to do that road trip to do USDAA Team.  There is only one team event here locally before Nationals (ironic since Nationals are here) and I really didn't want the pressure of having to Q in Team with just one try. 

Tip did a great job with team for the most part.  Sometimes she can be a really hard dog to run.   She has a strong mind, able body and sometimes just needs to run her own course (which doesn't end in Q's).  Other times she is a speedy little race car with tight turns and precision steering. 

Tangle also did a great job.  A 19 month old border collie running Master's courses, he did awesome.  None of the runs were his personal best, weaves were an issue for some odd reason, but at the end of the day his head was still in the game!  I am grateful to his two team mates who knew going into the day he was a baby dog and all that brings.  They did a great job carrying the team and we got a Q.

Although Team can be fun because it is a team event--multiple people running your dogs, working together, combining your results all for the common goal of Q'ing.  We decided that the problem with Team is that you don't always trust your training.  Above all you don't want to have an off course in Team.  Knocked bars, missed contacts, refusals are just points against you.  An off course is an elimination and very costly to the team's goal. So we were all running our dogs very conservatively, handling to ensure no off courses, and making decisions to take a refusal or missed contact instead of get an off course.  The saying for the day was "Why train your dog when you can just micro-manage them".  :)  T-shirts might be made.
Tip and her team mate both did a great job. Our runs might not have been our best, but got the job done in the end with a Q.  Again, we are both more than capable of absolutely beautiful runs under normal conditions.  Team doesn't bring out the best in the handler/dog team and at the end of the day just be happy you get the job done!

Although we met our goal, running the dogs on Saturday (not Team runs) was awesome.  I could go back to trusting my training, running the course how it needed to be run.  After all, I was the only one with a Q at stake :)

Snippets from Tangle's runs

A Beautiful Day in Colorado

It seems the more you get into agility the more certain things start to happen:

• You drive by an expansive field with beautiful green grass and you think "that field needs agility equipment"
• You see a huge barn in the winter and want to move your equipment in
• Your backyard gets filled with your "toys"
• You pay attention to exactly how long your dogs legs or torso are
• You can describe in detail how your dog moves
• You learn more than you wanted to know about K9 rehab
• You have tried every treat or toy ever made for a dog
• You have more film footage of your dog than your child or spouse

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day here in Colorado, high of 62.  Deciding that we needed to be outside I took the dogs for a run.  Light warm breeze, light layer of clothes and three border collies all racing nowhere really fast to see who could win not sure what.

Not really wanting to go back inside to work, I decided to get some slow motion video of the dogs.  

I have been intensely curious how my dogs move.  I am trying to understand the mechanics about how each of them runs a little better.  I want to glean a little more about what they do well physically and where they need work.  So, today I started with ground speed.

I overlaid the three dogs and then showed them individually, first Tangle, Split and then Tip.  

Things that were interesting to me:

• Tip uses a ton of energy when she is running, watch how her head moves
• Tangle, of all the dogs has the smoothest top line when running
• Split won the race, today he was faster.  This surprised me since Tangle usually does.
• Tip and Tangle both have uneven reach when comparing their right and left front legs.  Need to stretch and help them with that.

Yep, took video of myself as well, but that isn't going public :)  I have a few things to fix in my stride as well.

Obstacle colors on agility equipment

Warning...short rant

I was at a USDAA trial this weekend.  The club had a break away tire--good for them.  However, the tire was striped, dark red and dark blue, with a dark red frame. 

The design of the tire started to get my attention when I noticed a large number of dogs faulting the tire.  So, I watched the ring that had the tire in it.  Depending on where the tire was placed, the faults would rise.  When the dogs were jumping through the tire and the tire blended with the background colors, the faults were even higher.

From a dog's point of view red is seen as brown'ish, blue can be seen in a truer form. So, next to the indoor arena dirt, is this tire really standing out enough for dogs to be able to judge what they need to judge?

Now, I am not a trouble maker if I can avoid it, nor do I want to get involved in political battles, but this became very important to me when one of my dogs head planted into the bottom of the tire (when it was against a non-contrasting background).  He saw it too late!!  He has never crashed a tire in his life.

I do believe that it is the handlers job to train the tire, and I have done that with all my dogs.  None of my dogs typically fault the tire and I tend to handle very conservatively around the tire.  That is to say, no blind crosses, no front crosses if I can avoid it.  So, this commentary isn't about handling the tire.

I am trying to bring this issue to the club's attention!  Put contrasting colors on your tire!

In researching (to make sure my facts were straight) dog's vision I came across several articles which you may find interesting. 

Interesting articles on what dogs see…
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/200810/can-dogs-see-colors
http://www.vetinfo.com/dogsee.html
Several articles in Clean Run, Jan 2009 and Feb 2009 on dogs and their vision.

What I also discovered and found a little disturbing is that at least in the "bigger" venues (USDAA and AKC), none of them have color or contrasting color requirements on the tire (or any other obstacle).  Really?  Interesting and to their credit, DOCNA did

 Now most clubs and tires that I have seen tend to be contrasting colors, but there is no regulation to govern contrasting color hence making this tire illegal.  Are we confortable with dangerous?

"It should be wrapped in several contrasting colors to make it very visible to the dog"