A Back to School Reality Check

And so the week begins...our school's faculty was required to attend a three-day training for all teachers.  I wish I could say it was easy, but it was so difficult waking up prior to 7 a.m., eating breakfast at a pre-dawn hour, and having to actually get dressed in work clothes.  My summer hours have spoiled me, almost making me a tad lazy but rested and ready to tackle another school year and another group of kids!

One of our teacher "homework" assignments was to bring in an item of value to us.  I was torn between my Savannah Half-Marathon medal and my picture of Jefferson and his Gamblers Title ribbon.  But, I chose to share my story about agility because I knew it would be unique and grab people's attention.  

It is always interesting to explain to others the sport of dog agility.  And, yes - it is most definitely a sport.  Regardless, I am glad I chose to talk about our accomplishments with those who know absolutely nothing about agility.  They were impressed that he had earned so many titles (three) and looked liked he was "smiling" as he sailed effortlessly over the jump.  They did not know how long and how much effort those titles took for Team J-Dawg to earn.  They also did not know about our "NQ's" including various meltdowns, zoomies, off-courses, no-courses,and my favorite..."Eliminations" (Yes, Jefferson "crapping" on the field and my saying "crap" on the field!)  

By sharing our victories with non-agility folks, I was reminded that we handlers sometimes place too much pressure on ourselves and our doggies to perform the perfect run.  We should always be proud of our progress, no matter how small it may seem at the time.  Small victories lead to bigger ones down the road.  

Practice patience.  

                      Enjoy the moment.   

                                                       

                                                   Do what it takes.

                                                                    Fake it 'til you make it.

                                                                                                    Persevere.

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."  ~ William Arthur Ward 

Golf and Agility: The Mental Game

Not much new agility training again this week.  Jefferson has enjoyed his extra nap time!  It has been hot and steamy coupled with rainy afternoon showers.  Welcome to the rainy season in Charleston, SC!  We did practice a couple exercises Monday evening.  For the most part, Jefferson did well and read my movement.  The good news is that he was really excited to be back at the field; did not shut down, run off  but stayed focused on me.  However, one exercise that required me to "layer" the tunnel between me and an outside jump provided a challenge to us.  I was surprised that we had trouble taking the farther jump since he does work well from a distance; but we have only "layered" one time before so this is a skill we need to work on this fall.  

Since I was curious about how to better handle Jefferson in this type of challenge, I did read Linda Mecklenberg's info about "layering" obstacles.   I think our problem was that whenever I slowed down so I could make the turn around the tunnel, Jefferson read my movement as he should turn also.  So, in a way, this exercise showed me how well he does read my movement and that I need to be extremely cognizant of my body movement as we run exercises.  Mecklenberg did not recommend using "layering" if it is not needed to make a more efficient path to set up the handler for the next obstacles in the sequence.  Also, she said that "layering" should not contradict or take away from you and your dog's convergence skills.  Again, "layering" is yet another handling technique I would like to have in our arsenal as we advance to more challenging courses.

As for me, I have enjoyed a great day at the PGA Championship with my mom.  We endured all kinds of weather:  rain, thunder, lightning, heat, humidity and sun!  It was fun (and really expensive...$3 for a bottle of water!) and I enjoyed seeing some of my favorite PGA golfers including Padraig Harrington, Dustin Johnson and Geoff Oglivy.  (I was disappointed I did not get to see Adam Scott up close and personal...boo!!)  Somehow, I managed to get Phil Mickelson's autograph which is pretty cool - he was so nice and much skinnier in person!

What fascinated me the most about my day at the PGA Championship is how much golf is a mental game.  The PGA professionals had to stay "in the zone" to practice while thousands of adoring fans watched as they made long drives, amazing bunker shots and difficult putts.  But, many a PGA professional made a bad water shot at the 17th hole par 3 - probably one of the most difficult par 3s in all of golf.  Rather than let it get to them, they kept on going.  This was so inspiring to witness.  With one particular golfer, Padraig Harrington, he was the epitome of calm, cool and collected as he made his way to the 18th hole.  Yes, he had a great 17th hole but I could sense his air of confidence - not arrogance - when he walked past me.  He was definitely "in the zone."

So, as I continue to train and practice with Jefferson in developing our agility skills, I will keep working on my mental game to be "in the zone" much like the PGA Professionals.  

"Golf is a game that is played on a five-inch course - the distance between your ears."

~Bobby Jones

The Dog Days of Summer!

This past week, Jefferson and I have truly experienced the “dog days” of summer phenomena. 

Historically, the term “dog days” was coined by the ancients who recognized that Sirius (the “dog star”) rises and sets with the sun.  But, during July, Sirius is in conjunction with the sun and the ancients believed that the heat from Sirius was added to the heat from the sun resulting in a stretch of hot and sultry weather.   This time frame was about 20 days before Sirius’ conjunction to about 20 days after – roughly July 3^rd – August 11^th.  

According to Webster’s dictionary, “dog days” is defined as:  

1 : the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere
2 : a period of stagnation or inactivity 

 Indeed, it has been extremely hot and humid, temperatures in the mid 90s and humidity nearing 70% or more – weather certainly not very conducive to outdoor agility activity.  So, Jefferson and I (and kitty, Madison too!) have enjoyed a prolonged indoor stay, minus my daily two-hour mid-afternoon break to form a relaxing flotilla in my parents’ neighborhood pool.  Aahh…the good ole “dog days” of summer!  

But, I am starting to feel the boredom of the “dog days” period of stagnation or inactivity.  Jefferson’s only trick he has learned this week is how to give a “high five.”  Not feeling too much energy to teach anything else!  While vegetating on the couch, it has been energizing to have the opportunity to watch the 2012 Olympics; hearing the inspirational personal stories of athletes; awarding of gold medals; the playing of the national anthem; and especially the extreme athleticism of the swimmers.  During the men’s synchronized diving, former Olympic athlete, Greg Louganis was in the audience.   In addition to being a former Olympian, he is also a dog agility competitor at both the regional and national levels.  Here’s what Louganis has to say about dog agility:

Again, Greg Louganis echoes that dog agility is an active sport for both the dog and handler, and it is about “having fun.”  Of course, it sure is a lot easier to “have fun” outside when the temperatures are not in the grueling 90s!! 

So, with only 12 days left of my official “summer break” before school starts back, I feel rested and ready to begin training for fall trials.  This summer respite has been a good break for both me and Jefferson…. 

"A good vacation is over when you begin to yearn for your work."  ~ Morris Fishbein

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Jefferson as baby "Sonic"

I can’t believe it has been three summers since Jefferson came into my life!  I brought him home at 14 weeks old on July 25, 2009 and would have never guessed that I would love training him so much, let alone, compete in dog agility.  Wow…to think about how far we have come since the beginning is simply amazing.

First Visit to the Vet

He is my first dog and my first agility dog so we have been through quite a bit together.  We took Puppy Class at LCDA during the fall of 2009.  He did very well and was quite the wild puppy with so much energy and eagerness to learn.  Next, during the winter of 2010 we took another Puppy Class at the IOP Rec center.  He especially enjoyed rough housing it with all the other pups during puppy play time (but was still bit leery of the bigger pups).  After this class, we signed-up for Intro to Agility in the Winter of 2010 at LowCountry Dog Agility.  Little did I know what I was about to get myself into when we began our dog agility journey in the Spring of 2010….

Pre-agility jumping up on the couch the 1st day home.

We took as many seminars and training classes that I could find – we still do because it really helps me to learn from all the different trainers.  It adds a lot to your training to gain another’s unbiased perspective.  I have yet to go to a seminar or training session where I did not learn something that I could use in my training with Jefferson. 

We began trialing in December of 2010 right after he turned 18 months and it was (and is!) so much fun.  Our first trial was a complete fiasco – Jefferson ran around and did not complete a course.   For added comic relief, he even jumped over the fence running toward participants who were eating near the field!  But, still, we both had a good time!  Whenever I get discouraged about where we are today in our training, all I have to do is think back to that first time in the ring and recognize just how far we have come since that day.

Our 1st trial in December 2010 with my dad and mom

Now, he competes in a few USDAA Advanced events and one AKC Open event.  Sure, we are in Starters/Novice in the rest of the classes, but I am so very proud of our progress.  In fact, we have even improved since the trial earlier this month when Jefferson was stopping on course.  I have made a valiant effort to train a few different handling techniques such as how to handle pinwheels with different kinds of crosses (who knew that he actually was the fastest and most confident whenever I blind cross him…interesting!)  I have had some time to experiment with our on-course communication so it does not break down while we run a course.  I have learned that he needs to know way ahead of time where the next obstacle is he should take.  In other words, he is definitely an obstacle focused agility dog and my job is to let him know EARLY on course what obstacle is next.

During run-thrus this past Sunday, Jefferson did SO WELL and I was very proud of him.  It was extremely hot (he does not normally run in the heat) but he eagerly ran for me.  He stopped after the 3^rd jump, almost heading for the off-course double, but I got him back on track and he kept on running the rest of the course up to the weave poles.  The first time in the weave poles he popped out at the 10^th pole.  I did not get this on video, but I’m fairly certain he was following my movement.  But, I said “Nope” in a neutral tone and we went back around to the entrance and had a “do over."  He successfully completed the weave poles the second try!!  And he was fast too...Yay!  This is great progress for us since he normally does not allow me to “correct” any of our mistakes during running a course. 

A pooped pooch after a hot day of agility!

So, I am thrilled with how far we have come in our dog agility journey and excited about where the journey is going to take us next.

"Always concentrate on how far you've come, rather than how far you have left to go."   ~Unknown

Do You Like Green Eggs and Ham?

After much thought and reading TONS of dog training materials online and on my Nook, I have devised a training protocol for Jefferson.   Much of Susan Garrett’s training blogs, and even quite a bit of her “Recallers” training really made me think and reassess my training.   In fact, I have developed a bit of an analogy between Team J-Dawg’s agility performance and my feeling much like “Sam I Am” from Dr. Suess’ “Green Eggs and Ham.”   

If you are not familiar with the storyline, here’s a brief synopsis taken from Wikipedia.  A character known as "Sam I Am” (This would me ME…the handler!) pesters another character (this would be Jefferson….the doggie) to taste the bizarre-looking titular dish (this would be agility). He declines, claiming to dislike the delicacy in question. However, the persistent Sam I Am (ME) will not cease following him (Jefferson) around and trying to encourage him to try the green eggs and ham (agility), asking him (Jefferson) if he will sample the dish (agility) if he does it in various locations (like a boat or a house) and with an assortment of dining partners (like a goat or a mouse). At the end, the disgruntled character (Jefferson) gives in to the nonstop nagging of Sam I Am (ME) and tries a bite of green eggs and ham (agility), which he finds he does indeed like.

So, from all that I have read, I have gained much insight and my take on the situation is three-fold.  First, I believe that much of our difficulties lie in the gap of my training – more specifically – obedience training.  While the sport of agility does not require the rigid heel positions as obedience or rally, it does require that your dog has focus on you, the handler.  One simple fix I have in mind is to retrain the “Come” when called command.  Jefferson blows me off whenever I ask him to “Come;” so I am re-training using a different word, “Here” and using lots and lots of goodies for whenever he comes “Here” to me.  Whenever I watched our videos from the CPA trial, he was wagging his tail a few of the times he stopped on the field during a run as if to stop to play a “come and chase me” game.  At a trial, I end-up participating in this game and then we run out of the ring earlier and he gets to his treats.  In other words, he is getting something out of this unwanted agility behavior of stopping during a run.  Inadvertently, I have been rewarding the behavior that I do not want.  Here is a video from this Sunday's practice run-thru, but whenever Jefferson runs off, I am successful in getting him back to complete the course because I do not go "play his game."

Madison wants to know why that darn ole dog gets so much attention!

 Secondly, I am working on gaining much of his attention and having him in the state of mind to be “On” for training and focused on me.  Whenever I think about the truly successful agility teams, they are the ones whose dog is focused on the handler way before they enter the ring for their run.  In fact, the dog and handler team are “On” prior to even getting near the ring.  So, I have read training materials about being able to turn your performance dog “On” and “Off” in order to have a good run.  Finding the balance between having a dog that is too revved up and one that is not revved up enough is a fine point of which I need to do a lot of work.   I plan on using food and toys to continue to get Jefferson “On” for whenever he runs.  Likewise, I want him to learn to recognized when it is time to turn "Off" from agility or training.

Thirdly, I have learned from reading many different training books that instead of focusing on the “Bad” behavior, I should be focusing on training the “Good” behavior that I want.  Instead of trying to psychoanalyze my dog to determine the “why,” I should read his trial behavior as an opportunity to identify gaps in my training.  Much like the character in “Green Eggs and Ham,” Jefferson (and me too) need to learn to work through our stressors and be able to run an agility course no matter the environmental or social stressors.  I have already worked on distractions during last night’s Weave Pole Issues class.  Since he does not have any real weave pole issues, I took him off leash and had him walk with me around the field for about 15 minutes.  He stayed right with me – attentive the whole time – while I treated him and asked him to perform various commands.  I was so pleased with how well he did with this spontaneous exercise.  We will be working this behavior quite a bit!  

 

I like green eggs and ham!
I do!! I like them, Sam-I-am!
And I would eat them in a boat!
And I would eat them with a goat...

 

I have thought a lot about how much our non-agility behavior is manifesting itself in the agility ring.  We will be working on our basic obedience in hopes that this will make us a more proficient agility team on the field. 

"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. "
 

~Aristotle

Challenges

Well, this weekend’s Carolina Piedmont Agility trial was one of the most discouraging events in which Jefferson and I have participated.  While I was not at all preoccupied with “Q’s,” I was expecting Jefferson and me to at least run ONE course together.  One out of fifteen isn’t too much to ask?  Apparently, for one Cocker Spaniel and handler it is….

We were eliminated in nine out of fifteen runs.  We only received 3 ribbons because there were two or three entered in our classes.  I was really surprised he did not run with me because on Thursday night’s
For Exhibition Only run, he got his weave poles, stayed with me, and caused me to have absolutely no reason to doubt our upcoming trial performance.  So, after months of our training and working on running a course as a team, we are officially back to square one.  

Here's a sample of our meltdowns:

On the positive side, our problem is not primarily my handling our Jefferson’s obstacle performance; rather, his not running a course with me  - refusing to run is more like it.  He would start out great, running fast and performing the obstacles, until, BAM…he would stop in his tracks and refused to go on.  Until you have a dog that does this, it is so hard for anyone to understand how that feels.   He has had very good practices over the last several months, only shutting down after a bout with diarrhea.  I have officially tried different pre-trial routines and none has really made any difference.  We don’t practice for a week; we practice the day before; I don’t feed him breakfast; I feed him breakfast; he gets steak as a reward; he gets peanut butter; he does tricks for me; he doesn’t do tricks for me; he gets brought out right before his run; he stays out a long time before his run; we enter a couple events; we enter five events; the list goes on and his running for me is still as unpredictable as ever.

 

 After this emotionally exhausting weekend, I have seriously been considering not running him in agility anymore.  When do you give up and throw in the towel?  It is interesting to me that I like to run and even have completed three half-marathons.  I am a runner – an extremely slow one, but I really enjoy the personal satisfaction in training my body to run 13.1 miles to accomplish my goal.  I am keenly aware that I am not in competition with the Kenyans – even more – I am not in competition with my thinner, faster friends.  I am aware of my physical limitations and have accepted that fact.  Instead, I am proud to run and finish any race I enter.  Even if I finish last, I am far ahead of the person who stayed in bed that morning.  

But, with dog agility, I have not accepted our team’s limitations and am still trying to compete with the “Kenyans” and my thinner, faster friends of the dog agility world.  It would be one thing if I knew that Jefferson did not possess the technical agility skills.  He does.  While my handling is not the greatest, I do pretty well for a beginner and understand how my body’s motion works to give my dog information about how to run a course.    The thing is, I KNOW that we can do it and CAN run great together as a team.  We do well in practice.  Herein is the extreme frustration of not being able to transfer that behavior to a trial. Truthfully, it is pretty embarrassing to always be the dog and handler who make a fool of themselves at every trial.  He is so darn cute and cannot hide in the sea of shelties.  We stand out like a sore thumb!  

A few good-meaning people casually asked me if I had considered “getting another dog.”  OF COURSE NOT!!  Did my parents exchange me for an Asian child prodigy whenever I did not turn into a piano virtuoso!!??  Keep those “working” breeds.   I want to run agility with MY dog and I want him to WANT to run with me.  

I have started re-reading a few good dog training books such as "Don't Shoot the Dog!" to refresh my training repertoire.  We have a lot of work to do!! 

“Don't give up! It's not over. The universe is balanced. Every set-back bears with it the seeds of a come-back.”
― Steve Maraboli