Agility @ Howard's Place

This afternoon Crystal and I went to Howard's place to play with the dogs! Howard has a lot in El Campo that he has set up as his personal agility field. It is fantastic. He has everything we would ever need to practice.

We showed just before 2 and didn't leave until 4:30. We didn't spend the entire time practicing, most of the last half we spent visiting with him and his wife Jennifer, who by the way is very nice. :)

Howard had a nice course picked out for us to practice, so we set it up and started to play.

Pyper went first, doing really well (especially since I forgot the course! haha) The course had some nice challenges in it, but mostly I wanted to practice our rear cross, weaves and 2 on 2 off touch. Pyper had a really good time! Hallie also got to play, she did the course really well, it still amazes me how much further she is then Pyper was at this stage in her training....so fun! Also would like to add that it is official....Hallie is doing 12 poles! Woohoo. She still has a long way to go but the had part is over, she has the concept down now we just need to start proofing.

Howard ran Sean, Skinner, Dana and Fox. All very different dogs but all very sweet. They each have something special when it comes to agility, and they have all come a long way. Way to go Howard!
I can't wait until our next visit to Howard's Agility Field!

Here are some picture for everyone to enjoy! :)

Hallie's Weave Pole Training Continues

Well last night at class Hallie did so well that I decided it was time to finish her weave pole training. We hadn't practice any while Crystal was away in Canada, so it has been well over 2 weeks. This morning we started again.

I started with 2 sets of 2x2's set at 2 and 8, so a slight angle. I started working with her @ the top of the spectrum, nice and easy. She remembered the drill in no time flat! So I worked all angles both sides, so she had to practice entering from either side, as each side is different. This is what this mornings session consisted of.

I pose a question to anyone who reads my blog. Have you ever looked a weave poles from the dogs view? They look very different depending on where you are; for example, look at them dead on, all you see is one pole! Tricky if you ask me.

I came home for lunch today, so I decided to take the opportunity to work with Hallie a bit more. Started with the poles @ 2 and 8. Did a couple practice runs. Then I added the 3rd set of poles. All 3 set @ 2 and 8. I had her go through the first 2 sets then I rewarded, then I had her go through the last set. Next I tried all 3 in a row, BINGO! She was one it! We practiced this from all angles both sides. She had a couple of hiccups but that is too be expected, if she did it perfectly from the word go....I wouldn't be training it! :)

Then tonight after work I did one more session. Started off with all 3 set @ 2 and 8. Then I closed them up to be a straight line! She did them perfectly.

I am finding that Hallie is very different then Pyper. Pyper is very fast to learn things but she will sometimes deviate because she thinks she knows best. Hallie on the other hands takes a bit longer to learn but ones she gets it she is on it! She understands the job and completes the task! AMAZING! I love it!

Hallie seems to get excited easily which can be distracting for her. She seems to loose focus if she gets too excited. Just something we need to work on.

All in all I am REALLY pleased with her progress. At this rate she will be doing 12 poles by Monday's class. That is our goal!

Pyper's first Standard Q!

Well today Pyper got her first ever Standard Q! It wasn't a masterpiece but it was pretty good. This was the AKC trial in Fort Bend. Pyper also ran JWW, also a good run, but we had some bobbles which gave us 15 faults. Hope you enjoy the video, sorry they are fuzzy, there was a finger print on the lens....oops. Thanks Amy for taping for me!

Sunday was also a great day! First run was JWW, which was really good. I tried a couple rear crosses. We captured it on Martine's video camera so when I can get it from her I will post it.

Second run was another Standard, last run of the weekend. In my opinion it was really nice. Check it out. Thanks Jamie for tapping for me!

Leash!

This afternoon I thought it would be fun to teach Pyper to get her leash. I have been having some troubles with Pyper leaving the ring during trial so I thought it would be good if I could get her to pick up her leash @ the end of runs. This way she would have a job to do before she could leave.

So previously we have done some work on "pick it up" so teaching "leash" was actually kind of easy. I started by clicker training her to touch her leash. Then I clicked if she touched it with her mouth. Then I clicked if she picked it up with her mouth. Within about a minute she was picking it up and bringing it to me. Good Dog.

Next step was to send her to the leash and get her to bring it back. At first she didn't really like to carry it but she go over it. :) During this entire exercise I was rewarding with food rewards. Just the way Pyper likes it.

The last step was to get Pyper to tug on the leash so it would be rewarding for her to bring it to me when I don't have food rewards. This was easy since Pyper already knows how to tug. We played tug on the leash for a minute or so. I strung all the steps together to get Pyper to go get her leash, bring it to me, and tug!

What fun.

USDAA Crosby - October 31st - Happy Halloween!

Well this past weekend was a huge success in my eyes. Pyper and I had 5 runs all weekend; 2 Standard, 2 Jumpers and 1 Speed Jumping (which is a competition that all levels compete in).

First run on Saturday was Jumpers. We started off a little rough but we cleaned it up nicely in the second half of the run. Well except the very last jump...where I fell on my butt! :) Glad I have it on video so I can share with everyone! ENJOY! Oh by the way, We Q'd this run.



Second run of the day was Speed Jumping. This was a Great run! This was Pyper's very first time attempting and completing 12 weave poles in competition. She was fantastic. We dropped a bar (# 7) which took us over time, the dropped bar added 5 seconds to our time. If the bar wouldn't have dropped we would've move to round 2 on Sunday. No big deal! We still had a great run!

Last run on Saturday was a standard run. A bunch of first times for Pyper in competition in this run. First Table, First Chute, First Teeter, First Tire. All in all I think she did great. She missed the contact zone on the A-Frame which gave us 5 faults, but still a good run.

Sunday morning we started with Standard. I think I blocked Pyper's view of the weave poles so that made her struggle on her entry? But we would've been ok except when she missed her 3rd last pole and I went to bring her back to start again, she entered the poles backwards which gave us 5 points. This was my bad, I should've called her around to my right. Oh well. Again I am really happy with this run.

Last run of the weekend, Jumpers. Probably our 2nd best run of the weekend, over the Speed Jumping run. With a little work on Rear Crosses we should be in great shape for the next trial. We Q'd in this Run.

Accomplishments for the weekend: Pyper successfully completed 12 weave poles, table, chute, broad jump, tire, and teeter, all of which were a first for her in competition! Great job Pyper.
Lessons learned this weekend. Pyper and I need to really concentrate on our contacts. Think we are going to work on 2 on 2 off method for the teeter and the dog walk, and a running A-frame. Also need to work on Rear Crosses.
Take aways. This weekend I really started to get comfortable in the agility world and started to see the big picture. I really concentrated hard on trialing the same as I train, meaning I made myself follow the same rules that I train by; trying to stick my contacts, don't get jumpy and release too soon. I also discovered that I love that USDAA provides course maps; I believe it helped me run the course better. I also made a point to concentrate better. I see all of this as success!
Besides great runs. We had a really nice weekend watching our friends run their dogs. Renee King ran Hamlet and Cisco, Jackie Bludworth ran Jill and Pete, Elizabeth Blanchard ran Demo, Dodge and Roxie, and sorry Blake but I had a hard time keeping track of who you ran.
We also had the honor to watch Linda Mecklenburg run her dogs this weekend. Linda is a VERY accomplished individual in the sport of agility. Her handling system is one of the top handling systems used in the US today, and just happens to be the handling system that Renee is teaching to me. This weekend was a great opportunity for everyone to learn from a GREAT handler. She ran Wonder and Super in all classes. What a treat!