What a sweet moment...tears to my eyes

Just got off the course at Cynosport a couple of hours ago...but wanted to write about this run before the final results come out.

Tip being 9.5 this is her last Cynosport.  I am going to retire her, whatever that means.  Probably she just won't trial as much, but will still be a part of the pack workouts on the agility course, and daily runs.

Tip and I ran Performance Grand Prix today.  The course was built for speed for sure.  Being a 9.5 year old girly, didn't know how she would hold up against the competition.  Still don't until the results are out.




But running this course, running it clean and being a "team" with my girl brought tears to my eyes when I was done.  It was a very, very sweet moment to "end a career" and to have for Cynosport 2013.

When I left the building Tip was still in 4th place.  There was one more group to run.  But, it doesn't matter, we both put our best into this run and it felt great!!

I designed this course because I needed the practice!

I am learning more and more that practicing agility is to get me the experience that I need to handle my dogs.  Probably 20 percent of our practice is for them.

 My dogs, especially Tangle know what to do when I give them the proper instruction. Now Tip does snipe sometimes, but I forgive her since 1) she was my first agility dog and my learning curve with her was steep  2)  Until I gained enough experience to feel some confidence in what I was doing I put her through about a dozen handling systems.  It is a wonder she knows what to do (must be one smart dog!).

I put this course together this morning with a couple of different objectives in mind.  Again, practice for me.

Objective 1 - To practice running Tangle, then Tip, then Split all in a row.  Since I trial all three dogs, I need to get better about switching between them.  I am trying to get more practiced with my visualization, make it more real so that it affects my performance in a positive way.

Objective 2 - There are elements in this course that were taken from judges who will be judging at Cynosport.  I wanted to work those challenges.

Objective 3 - Put all the obstacles out there so my dogs would see them all before Cynosport.  The broad-jump is missing, but I worked that in a different session.

 

The opening was fairly straight forward, ran it a couple of times after the initials runs.  I got the tightest turn on 2 when I lead out half way between 1 & 2 and did rapid decel.  All three dogs got the DW/Tunnel discrimination, just used out-walk-it.  #6 was interesting, you could easily get a refusal on that jump depending on the dog's ability to send.  I got a refusal with Split, but Tip and Tangle were awesome.  

7-8-9 I had an error in judgement.  Thinking that I wanted to be on the triple side of the AF, I FC'ed on the landing side of 7 with Tangle.  I did get the tunnel, but bar 7 came down and getting the triple was not pretty because he turned back toward me.  I must have thought I was superman and would be there :).  So, better to handle that sequence on the DW side and rear-cross the triple.  That was actually a great decision because the dog had a clear line of sight from 6-7-8, then turn toward you after the tunnel and a "jump-switch" gets you the jump and a beautiful turn.

10-11-12 was no problem to my surprise, but I did have better commitment to the weaves when I could be slightly ahead of the teeter when the dog was released.  If you can't do that, you better have a very good verbal discrimination!

12-13-14-15-16-17 I learned several things and was reminded of a couple.  1-give the dog more yardage, when you absolutely have to be ahead (rc to the backside of 14).  2-dogs have no clue what to do with a hill-billy** jump when they see it from the side.  The most successful handling strategy was to send the dog to the weaves, layer the tunnel, stay about 1/2 down the tunnel, calling their name so they turn toward you, let them shoot out beyond the plane of 14, rear-cross on the flat, send into the tunnel, run like hell and shape the approach to 16, deceling also so you get the turn for the AF.  Again, run like hell to 18.  You would get a tight turn out of the tunnel if you were down there to catch them but then you are behind when they need you to shape the approach to the hill-billy jump.

All-in-all, I learned some thing, I blogged what I learned and hopefully will retain that knowledge to use it in a competition!!

**Hill-billy jump (not official name) is two single jumps placed 12-18 inches apart to form a double.  I have the winged jump on the back.  All three dogs thought that they should slice between the two jumps.  Interestingly, no bars were dropped, no dogs were hurt, they were amazing.  If the dog had hit the jump, my jumps fall apart by design!

Fun drill - good skills

I wanted to work on our tunnel skills this week.  I have noticed that we are getting courses where it requires us to go to the non-obvious side of the tunnel at times.  Also, Tangle and I just needed to "play".  No tight course, just something where we can both run, but still improving skills.

 

I ran the whole circle of this course each time.  Varying which end of the tunnel that I would cue, or even if we took the tunnel. 

Things to watch:

• How soon the dog commits to the tunnel vs a jump
• What is the difference in your cue for the far end of the tunnel vs the far jump (so running past the tunnel)
• Does the dog have drive all the way to the close end of the tunnel, far end, and jump.  If not, you are either unclear or not timely.

A life long pursuit - being a better listener!

I ran across this blog the other day, Training Border Collies, one post in particular really hit home for me, Psych 101.  What she had to say was very insightful and very true.  Each dog is different and you have to be able to read them to connect with them.

I suppose I am this way because I am the youngest of six, or maybe it is because of who I am.  I approach all interactions whether it is people or animals by trying to read them.  I try to interpret their reactions to me and the world.  I try to "listen" with every sense that I have.  I do a lot of observing.

I am not trying to be a dog whisperer.  As a matter of fact, I don't really even like that term. I just have figured out that I get way more information by reading every form of communication then I do by listening to just words.  I guess I am an information junky.

What I would like to achieve is that my soul is so quiet and listening so intently to my dog that I can hear my dog's soul as well.  I know, sounds kind of hippie like.  That is OK.  Hippies brought about a revolution is America :)

Tip taught me that my attitude influenced our runs.  She is a very drivey dog who reacts to my nerves by getting even more wound.  I eventually learned that I needed to always be calm with her.  From the moment I get her out of the kennel to run, through the end of our run.  If I am nervous it only compounds our problems.

Tangle reminded me that I need to be calm, but happy.  He reacts to the energy in his environment and begins to display all calming signals he has at his disposal.  I learned that I had to play with him in these environments, teach him to relax and enjoy the moment.  It taught me more deeply to enjoy the moment.  Dogs are wonderful teachers, if you are willing to be the student.

Split is right in the middle of these two.  Sometimes he gets more wound, but once he reaches his tipping point, he shuts down. 
 
This statement from that very same blog also hit home, this describes Tip and Tangle perfectly.  Tip being the one who needs a truancy officer :)

"For now – both are a lot of fun to work … different dogs – different issues – different year and yet “all so familiar”. I seem to spend 1/2 my life as a cheerleader and the other 1/2 as a truancy officer :@) "

I want to spend more time observing and listening than training!

So you can't read a course map without your glasses anymore?

Today's blogger event is about Aging.

"Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young." - Theodore Roosevelt

I am not an expert, nor do I want to become one!  But, I am an unwilling participant and so are my dogs.  All of us are trying hard to beat the odds, and deny that age is affecting us.  I have no idea if I am doing it well, I haven't done this before.  I have no wisdom to fall back on, no prior experience.  So I am going along for the ride, without a seat belt and hanging my head out the window so I can get the full experience!

Seriously, I find with human or K9 the hardest part of the aging process is doing it gracefully, both mentally and physically.  I think the mind ages slower than the body most of the time, and trying to keep the mind learning while you are being gentler on the body is an art worth learning.

Things that I have learned on my aging journey.

• Practice only 10 minutes at a time and make that time really count
• Spend more time watching your videos, learn what you do well and what you need to improve, it will make your 10 minutes really count
• Reward often, both yourself and your dogs.  Loving what you do can actually help block pain.
• Exercise helps reduce pain in people and dog's with arthritis. Keep it moderate but do it.
• Spend more time building your relationship with your dog, laughter is the best medicine.
• Not all training has to be done on actual agility equipment, be creative, it stimulates the mind and helps keep you young.  It can have a lower impact on the dog.

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Playing with a sequence and Non-Traditional Starts

I was involved in a Facebook conversation the other day.  It was prompted by a comment on how people were handling a certain start at the USDAA Rocky Mountain Regionals.  It was not the first time I had seen courses with this kind of a start (similar, not the same) and I decided I wanted to play with it.

I first started to play with this course with a somewhat traditional start.  That is, sit your dog in front of the first jump lead out.  More on that in a minute.

Traditional Start

I ran this sequence with all three dogs, it always gives me a great idea how things are REALLY going to work.

There are a number of ways to run this sequence.  The handling option that people were commenting on was a Lead Out Pivot, pull through the gap of 2-3 and send over 3.  Of the dogs that I watched this didn't work really well.  Most dogs didn't know they were turning back to the handling after 3, and in general the LOP was not very smooth (smooth = dog knows where he is going).

The options that we were discussing were:
1. push to the backside of #2, push to backside of #3, and tuck in for a blind after 3.
2. push to the backside of #2, handler goes in between 2-3 to front cross and send over 3.
3. push to the backside of #2, handler goes in between 2-3 and does a k-turn over 3.
4. Lead Out Pivot, pull through the gap of 2-3 and send over 3.

#1 - This options was amazingly difficult to get to the blind cross in time.  I could do it, but I was living on the edge and the bars were at risk because of the rush.
#2 - This worked fairly well but I felt like I got a fairly wide turn at 3 going to 4.
#3 - This worked the best.  Dogs read it well, I didn't have so much rotation myself, got a tighter turn at 3 and was ahead to handling a turn at 4.

The Traditional Start 
I was messing with this course for a while.  I found that I could get the job done, but I wasn't as far ahead as I wanted to be.  I had to wait to commitment to the backside of 2.  I tried a running start with the dogs and that went a little better.  The momentum helped me get an earlier commitment, but if I cut over too soon Tip would follow and take the front side.  Also, if you dropped your arm, the dog would take the front side.



Bottom frame is the traditional start, top if a running start

Non-Traditional Start
On the map I put a jump on the course before #1.  I started the dogs there with a running start, the landed a little deeper, my motion COMPLETELY supported the backside and I found that I got ahead better to support a push and k-turn.  In filming this with Coach's Eye it wasn't quite as fast but I am confident that I can work the turn over #2 a tad bit more and get things faster.  I would probably opt for this start in a trial because I would spend less time managing commitment points and more time staying ahead.

So, at least for the moment I am in favor of running into a backside, and thinking outside the box to see if a non-traditional start will give me an advantage!

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!