We Are on Our Way!

This week’s training has consisted of my working on the front cross and my basic handling cues.  For instance, we had a very productive Advanced Handling class last Thursday.  We ran 3 courses – of varying degrees of difficulty – and were asked to circle our problem areas.  I am proud to say that we had very few circles; our last course being clean and fast (and just my working on cleaning up my front cross between jump 2 and tunnel 3).

Course #1 had a few problem areas. First off, I am successfully utilizing our start line stay (YAY!!..as a side note:  Double YAY is that we were successful during this weekend’s run-thrus with obstacle 1 being a chute!)  The first time we ran Course #1, we executed a great start line, but I had my shoulders pointing dead straight to the off-course A-frame so Jefferson eagerly ran up this obstacle.  Since we get agility-type “mulligans,” we started over and ran clean up until the weave pole entries at obstacle 11.  I had Jefferson on my left and sent him to the weaves, a skill he is normally great at executing, but a classmate and her dog were standing outside the ring, about 1-2 feet from the angled weave entrance.  Oh, no…but, despite the distraction once he went over and looked at them, I called him back and he nailed the weaves.  What a good boy!!  He then got his table (I treated him here) and finished the remainder of the course.  A couple of things I learned:  #1 - Make sure my shoulders are ALWAYS pointed toward the correct obstacle because Jefferson is going where my shoulders are pointed.  Period.    #2 - Dole out more timely rewards to Jefferson so I can accurately mark his desired behavior.

Course #2 was more challenging for us.  First off, beautiful start line and great DW performance.  But, I had difficulty correctly handling the wrap from jump #3 to tunnel #4.  This seems to be a re-occurring handling problem I am having so I need to better understand the fundamentals of handling a post-turn on course.   We had a knocked bar (so infrequently, so I must have done something weird here) at jump #6 and I awkwardly handled our wrap from around jump #7 to tunnel #8.  We did finish strong with a fast A-frame and Jefferson running ahead to take the 2 ending jumps.  I learned from this course that I need to re-learn how to more clearly cue Jefferson’s post-turns when wrapping jumps and how to execute a confident front cross.

Course #3 proved to be our most successful run of the evening.  For Team J-Dawg, the most difficult segment of the course to execute is from DW #6 to #7 tunnel – not because he does not understand a fast turn at the completion of the DW, but because we have a running DW so I had to get ahead to beat him to the end or at least on the downward side so he can read my outside shoulder turn to cue the tunnel.  So, I was ready to run and am lucky Jefferson has such a love for the DW that I can trust him to take it without my being right there next to him.  As he committed to jump #5, I sent him to the DW and moved laterally to give myself time to get near the bottom and cue the tunnel.  Yay!  I made it and he had one good-looking running DW – tunnel combination.  I momentarily forget where I was going because I was so thrilled with his speed, but I didn’t fumble too much and we finished off the course fast and clean.  What a GREAT boy!!  I learned on this course that I need to clean-up my front crosses and wear my running shoes and handle Jefferson from a distance so I can get in position to cue any obstacle or off-course obstacle at the end of our running DW.

What a great week!  We continue to improve and I am thrilled with our progress.  The re-introduction of a start-line stay has been smooth and confidence building for Team J-Dawg.  I have identified my handling deficiencies – the front cross and accurately cuing a post-turn to wrap jumps.  I have gone “back to the basics” and have been working on teaching Jefferson to turn into me for the front cross without going past the jump plane.  Although re-teaching dog agility fundamentals is slow going and not as “sexy” as teaching weave pole entries, this is our team’s weak spot.  Respect the PROCESS.  Enjoy the PROCESS.  We are on our way! 




"Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning."
~Benjamin Franklin