I put this course together this morning. Actually my goal was to keep Hoot off the AFrame and I figured I would just work tunnels. With Tangle, I ended up working tunnels and the AFrame.
For small spaces this course has a lot of skill work to offer.
White square - I worked come to hand, and discriminations. It was very fun to work cueing for the AF vs the tunnel. #4 I worked from the landing side so independent weaves are a great skill to have.
Black square - #3 was a bit challenging to get, my direction of motion needed to be perfect. #6 I ran as basically a serp.
White Circle - #4 I ended up doing a lap turn.
Black Circle - Kind of straight forward
Have fun and let me know if you discover any other courses in this setup
I finally got to take Hoot out for a spin "officially".
I have a slightly different approach to the beginning of Hoot's trialing career than I have had with my other dogs. With Tangle, I trained him in the back yard, then signed him up for classes in one place, did some tours of different dog walks and AF's and then he went head first into trialing. All the classes. If you think about it and count up all the differences from a back yard to a trial, it really is a lot to ask of a dog. Tangle is a great dog. He never lost his head, but was careful and never wanted to make mistakes.
Hoot is a different dog. I have trained her from the very beginning as high as I can get her. It was clear that she would be that highly stimulated kind of a girl and I needed her to know how to deal with it. We went to several fun runs in the last six months, gradually asking her to do more and more. She did a UKI trial, but with toys in the ring and it was only jumpers. So, this past weekend we did AKC kind of "for reals". Although I have to admit I used the off course I was allowed in standard to reward good performance on the AF :)
I was really proud of her. She was way beyond my expectations in Jumpers and beyond my expectations in Standard.
I can't believe the challenges the judges gave novice dogs with the running dog walk. And Hoot was successful on her hits both days!! The first day was the DW to a table, she stuck it as best she could. The second day was broad jump to the DW (we talked to the judge and had her move it further away from the DW, ended up being 20 feet from landing to the DW and a slightly less nasty angle).
She got all of her contacts, weaves (only with a re-try), held startlines and her table performance was awesome. Really what more can I ask?
So, coming out of this trial, what is next?
I will work on her teeter a bit more, work the sequences that we had refusals, continue to work the tire with speed and continue to work my timing with her.
Agility is a blast, if it weren't, a lot of us would be doing something else!
But let's face it, when there is something that you really want in agility, it is a lot of hard work! Really hard work! Most goals in life are that way. If it were easy, you would already have it right?
You have to really, really want it. You have to keep your focus on it and your commitment toward that goal. Some days it is easy because you make progress and some days are exhausting and hard and uphill!
The first such "project" that I had in agility was with Tip, when I finally realized that if I let her run a muck on the agility course I will never, ever accomplish anything. So, the process of learning to handle and getting the mess under control was huge. It was partially huge because I didn't know how to do it so the journey was a lot of uphill climbs.
The second project, getting Tangle JAZZED to play agility and not to worry was both physically demanding and mentally challenging. I worked physically hard to get that boy to just love tug! And to be honest, now I am a bit afraid each time I tug with him. He is so strong and not gentle AT ALL! Mentally, I had to stay engaged with him always, be cheerful, and be jazzed for him. If you have ever had to do this, then you know, you are mentally exhausted by the process. But, in the end, it is worth it and Tangle takes very little effort to get him jazzed. I had to really want this transformation in our relationship.
My current project, changing my handling style is hard every day right now. In the beginning, the project was driven by Hoot, who is a combo of a flying monkey and Ferrari. I have to be on my game or it will not end well. But now, the project has other drivers and Tangle is benefiting from it in spades. I know all the hard work will be worth it.
This project take changes in how I physically and mentally run. I watch video of myself EVERY DAY! I am on a constant quest for exercises that will test and challenge what I am trying to do, I check my decisions every day to make sure they are in line with my goals. I never take my eye off the ball. This takes devotion and time.
Every day I am physically sore, I am mentally exhausted, but some days I get to be really proud of what I am accomplishing! It will be worth it!
So, if you have something you really, really want--commit to it. Find those few people who will support you and be honest with you, and never let you settle even when you are down, sore, or discouraged. It will be worth it!
I had been thinking a lot (ok, I always am, that is who I am) about goals and objectives. I am really trying to change my mental game. I know that if I can get my mental game changed the physical part will follow!
I made a list of handling objectives that I really need to focus on for each run. I suspect that I will continue to tweak this list, but for the moment I am ready to publish it.
I had to really think about this. Part of my list is constant and part of my list can change with each run.
Party at the End
The constant part of my list
Be in charge of the run
Communicate through actions: showing lines, turns, collection etc..
Have calm and focused energy
Smile when you begin
Party at the end
The part that changes
What is the Performance
objective for the run (hold contacts, trust at the weaves, cue and
go). All of these I want to do all the time, but if I am trying to
improve on something, I pick that thing to really focus on. I can't
focus on 20 things to improve in one run or even a weekend.
I
can't have too many things on my list so I worked on statements that
really carry a lot of power for me. "Be in charge of the run" is better
for me than "run aggressively". The word "aggressive" has a tense or
uptight implication. "In charge" is more fluid, conscientiously
competent and consistent with who I am.
This past weekend I worked on getting better about
"being in charge". We weren't perfect, but I was really pleased with my
improvements. I want to say that I took chances, but I didn't. I was just better at being in charge and showing my dogs what I wanted to happen.
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!
Every dog is a different training experience and as I have already mentioned I am trying different things with Hoot. I hate doing the same thing over and over again, even if it is successful. I always want to at least tweak my process. Optimist that I am, I know that even the most perfect process can be made better.
I decided to go back to the channel weaves with Hoot. Tip and Split were both trained with channels and Tangle was trained with 2x2's. I liked both methods. I felt like the channels taught the dog foot work and speed a bit better, and 2x2's taught entries better. Channels with Tip and Split were hell to get the last inch closed. Seemed like I was working hard and it took at least a month or more.
With Hoot, because I was taking Silvia's foundation class I decided to start with her method, which is channels.
I started Hoot on channels. They were wide open and she didn't wiggle her body at all in them. We worked all the entries, speed, sequencing through the next several months or so and only about once a week (probably less). I have to say, mentally I wasn't really serious about teaching them since I knew that I wouldn't start closing the weaves for a long, long time! I am in no hurry with Hoot and weaves aren't the funnest thing we work on.
So about a month ago I started closing them figuring it would take months. We did them only in sequences, never more than a couple of times per session. Like I said I wasn't really into teaching them.
About 5 days ago I started teaching her 2x2's. She was having trouble with really acute angle entries. Figured 2x2's would be a nice tool to help with that and it lessens the amount of poles she has to do. Again, what do I have to loose right? Holy cow, she got 2x2's in a couple of days and we were up to 6 weaves.
On a whim I closed the channels (they were about 2 inches open) just to see. Holy cow, she weaved!!
I don't think that it is because Hoot is super special smart, I really think that all the hard work was done with the channels still wide open and then the 2x2's bridged the gap for her.
I think that I am now sold on channels in the beginning. I can teach all the harder skills without being hard on the dog's body and then use 2x2s just to teach the closed pole concept.
Never hurts to have more tools in the bag of tricks!
I am no jumping expert, but I am a student of jumping. By that I mean, I want my dogs to have good form and understand their job so I seek out knowledge in those areas.
Tangle is a great jumper. I have been told my many that he is "gifted" or a natural. But, what does that mean? I am not really sure, but when contrasting him to Hoot, I didn't really have to teach him anything at all. He takes off from his rear, he has an even arc over the bar, he turns over the bar, he judges distances between jumps very nicely, it is effortless and he doesn't knock a whole lot of bars. He has always been that way.
In contrast, Hoot has been different. She is not a bad jumper at all, in fact she is a fairly good jumper by that definition. But, I have had to take moments and help her slow down, use her head and figure out what I need her to do.
With Tangle I used purely Linda Mecklenburg's Developing Jumping Skills. He jumped 4" bars but never anything higher until I was ready to move him up to full height. Then I followed DJS's methodology. Do I think this was the secret to Tangle's talent? No, not really. It is a great method, don't get me wrong, but I strongly believe that I was working with a natural jumper.
With Hoot I decided to do things a bit different. Why? The best answer I can give you is that I wanted to see if some other method worked. I loved DJS and found nothing wrong with it. The only thing that I thought I wanted to improve upon is giving the dog, from early on, the skills to judge take off distances from bars at speed.
I took Hoot through Silvia Trkman's Foundation Class. In that class you gradually raise the bars as the dog ages. The dog never really has to jump from it's rear until the bars are close to withers height. In the beginning Hoot knocked a lot of bars--a lot! So I started her on some DJS one jump work at 12". I know, I know, I wasn't staying with the methodology, LM is probably reading this and silently berating me, but that is OK. When we slowed things down, she had to think and got rewarded for not hitting the PVC, engaging as much rear as possible and turning on take off, she suddenly began to really understand what I needed her to do. She also got valuable experience on the mechanics of what she needed to do.
Each time I raised the bars I did this. She has had her moments when screaming around the course has become more important than anything else. But, again, we slowed things down, worked together and it became clear again what I needed her to do.
So, now she is at 18" and almost 15 months. Tangle was already jumping full height by now. I am about to embark on going through the whole DJS book with her at 20/22" inches. Her jump training won't be done, but this will be her most in-depth lesson to date.
She already understands all the foundation handling, she understands it is her job to keep bars up, so at this point I want to focus on turning, scoping out where the bar is and how she needs to take off.
Stay tuned, it will be a while before we know if my experiment worked. :)
