Happy Howl-i-days and Meowy Christmas!!

Party time!

Team J-Dawg is still working on front crosses and lateral movement.  But, this week we have not been running agility too much.    We attended the LCDA Christmas party on Sunday and had a great time.  Thanks to the “Pup-a-razzi” for taking such great pictures of us having fun this weekend.

At the party, we pretty much just ate, socialized with friends and ran our doggies in a fun game-like course of jumps and tunnels for one point and A-frame and dogwalk to double your points.  It was a fun run!  We just made up something and ran with our doggies.  What I was so excited about was how FAST Jefferson ran with me and took my direction!  And, the temperatures were in the mid-70s in December…YAY!  Jefferson seemed to be having such a blast running with me and I had a great time too!  

Mom and J-Dawg aka "Santa Paws"

Next, we performed the 24 weave pole challenge.  During his first pass through, he was slow and belabored when he ran and seemed to be thinking,”why am I doing THIS?!” But, not to be discouraged, at the end of the 24 weaves, I sent him into a curved tunnel and called him back to complete the weaves in the opposite direction.  And he successfully completed all 24 weaves, nailing his entry!   What a good boy!  The 24 weaves were still set-up at the field last night, and Jefferson nailed them again but this time faster.  Of all his obstacle performances, I am probably the most proud of his weave poles because I taught these to him.  He does well in getting difficult entries, knowing how to collect to enter the first pole.  At trials, he either does all the weaves, or decides he “doesn’t want to do them” today.  All or nothing.  We are a work in progress...The good thing is that he recognizes all 12 poles as one obstacle, much like a jump or A-Frame.

A "possessed" J-Dawg with Dad

This blog is short today because I do not have much time to write.  With school getting out on Thursday for the holidays and all the additional commitments I have had over the past weekends, afternoons and evenings, I have had no time to neither address my Christmas cards nor make it to the post-office to mail my Christmas packages.  As much as I love agility and writing my blog, I am going to take a hiatus until 2013 when I can share and reflect about our continued Awesome Agility Adventures.

Happy Howl-i-days!!

 

And....Meowy Christmas! 

Hey...don't forget about me!  I WAS here first...

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more."
  ~ Dr. Seuss in "The Grinch"


 

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Front-Crosses...

Hey, fat man...where's my cookie?

  With a little less than two weeks remaining before Christmas break, I knew it was time to take Jefferson to get his annual picture taken with Santa.  Although he was not very happy to sit on Santa’s lap, I did persuade him with a few doggie biscuits and some verbal praise…”good boy!”    We have had a bit of a down time since our last trial (December 1^st and 2^nd) and have only run a couple sequences and courses.

Mmmm...good!

On Tuesdays before the Intro to Agility class, I have been religiously working on the basics – front cross, sending laterally, and start-line stays.  Nothing too very “sexy” agility-wise, but definitely necessary to help us learn to better communicate during our runs.  Learning the basics has really begun to pay-off with our performances in class, run-thrus and trials.   "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Front Crosses" (sung to the Bing Crosby Christmas Classic below....)

Thursday night, we had a Master’s Level Standard course set-up to run.  It had 19 obstacles so we ran the first 10 and then the second half before putting both sections together.  I was quite proud of how well both Jefferson and I performed in class. 

Here is the course map:

The first thing I have begun to do whenever I walk a course, is to identify what Jefferson sees when he is running.  Next, I determine how I will handle the course based on the path I need to steer Jefferson in order to be successful.  This has really helped me gain confidence in what I am going to do in order to give clear communication to Jefferson.  The first challenge was to execute a front cross between jump #3 and jump #4 in order to take out the off-course A-frame (#7).  Since I have been working on increasing my distance from Jefferson, I was able to send him to #3 and get my front cross in so as to avoid the A-frame.  This left no decision up to Jefferson – “Yes, I want you to go with me over here and NOT up that A-frame!”  It worked like a charm and I was so pleased.

The second challenge for us was smoothly running the sequence #9-13 (weaves-chute-jump-jump-table).   Thank goodness Jefferson has independent weave poles so that I was able to send him to the chute and move laterally to front cross the #11 jump after the chute. Whew!  It makes me tired just thinking about all that running!  But, what a difference it made in our execution of this difficult sequence.  By being able to get in a well-placed front cross, I set him up for a straight line to the jumps and table (#11-#13).  Yay!  What a good boy.  Jefferson even stayed “down” on the table.  So far, so good….

The last big challenge for us was the last three obstacles –dogwalk (#17) – angled front-side jump(#18) – wrap jump (#19).  The reason this was difficult is because Jefferson has a running dogwalk and the best handling move for me was to front cross AFTER the dog walk in order show him the angled jump and wrap to the end.  Again, I am fortunate that Jefferson has an independent dogwalk and will perform it without too much needed support from me.  I sent him to “Walk-it!” before jump #16 while I hauled tail to make it to the end of the dogwalk to front cross in order direct Jefferson to take #18 in the correct direction. Cha-ching!  We did it and was I ever so proud!!  Actually, I was more proud of ME for making it to the proper position for the front cross. Front crossing a running dogwalk is no small feat, even for the most agile and lithe handler!

We are really coming together better as team and running more confidently and FASTER!  Whew…me going faster is something I really need to WORK on (or should I say…”Work out?!”)  Heck, with New Year’s Resolutions quickly approaching, I recognize that I need to get faster in order to better communicate with Jefferson during our runs.  I am so glad he is running faster!  Bring on the Gatorade and the gym membership!

Thanks for having faith in me, Mom!

"Energy and persistence conquer all things." ~Benjamin Franklin

There's No Place Like Home!

Today’s Dog Agility Blog Action Day topic is about “Backyard Training” and how handlers train their doggies in the sport of agility.  I live in a condo and have no “backyard” in which to practice.  Luckily, I do belong to a dog agility club and have unlimited access to a field with equipment, including rubberized contacts, a break- away tire, safe jumps, and quite a bit of “running space” for my dog, Jefferson, to let loose from time to time.  

But, much of my training has consisted of my working on fundamentals in my living room.  When we first learned the weave poles, my father made me a set of “weave-o-matics” out of PVC pipe for a Christmas present.  Every night, for one week, I would watch Jeopardy and send Jefferson through our homemade weave poles during the commercial breaks.  Yep, this is how we first learned how to perform the weaves before we took our performance to the practice field and competition grade weave poles.  

Another obstacle we regularly practice is the "table" using my ottoman in the living room.  I remove the cheese sticks from the refrigerator and we work the "table" at least once a day (or more, especially before a trial).  I rev up Jefferson, saying "Are you ready?" and practice the table by running fast down the hallway with him before asking him to jump upon the ottoman, aka the "table," much like he would be required to perform during a trial.  Then, I count to five, lead out and release him to continue his running through the house with me while we play with his tug toy.

Some additional training we perform in my condo includes “start line” stays, impulse control, taking the leash on and off and sends.  Examples of games we play daily include our playing tug, throwing and retrieving a ball, running to a target, and restrained recalls every night before bed.  But, probably the most beneficial training we do indoors involves my playing "warm" and "cold" using operant conditioning, marking the desired behavior with either a clicker or with my voice by saying "yes."  I have taught him to bring his leash to me, lay on his doggie bed, touch the vacuum cleaner, weave between my legs and even push a walker with wheels!  Operant conditioning has been especially helpful to us since I am working on Jefferson learning to want to work with me and readily accept mistakes (made by both of us).

 

Overall, I believe that your doggie's relationship with you and training you execute outside the field, whether it is in your backyard - or in my case, the condo - transfer into the quality of the agility performance you and your team achieves during a trial.  

Team J-Dawg had some great runs during last weekend's trial, earning two Q's (the first time we have earned multiple Q's in a weekend).  I am so proud of our working better together as a team, and attribute much of our success to my dedication in working on growing our bond outside of the agility ring.  

Here is our first place Advanced Gambler's Q:

 

 

And 2nd place (24.22 seconds!) Starter's Jumpers Q:

 

"There is no such thing as a difficult dog, only an inexperienced owner."

~Barbara Woodhouse