Agility Dogs

Xena had another AWESOME comp Saturday night. 1st Open Agility, 2nd Advanced jumping, Q in Pairs. Just love this little dog to bits.

LAUGH!!! Just get out and play with your puppy. Then all of a sudden in the middle of mucking around do somthing formal, then go back to your play time. I'm finding the more I do that the more I get dogs that are super charged when we are training and just get switched on by doing what we do. :) ETA - along with what hte others have said. I helps to build in distraction as well because training becomes more exciting than whatever else might be out there.

Woo had a good time tonight. :)

:). At the start we went right back to 5 or 6 15 second sessions. Then we built up to now where we can work for as long as I want really - 6 long years with tho! It's about building pressure and giving them a rest before you break them. Always finish with them on a high. (Hence 15 seconds) Also don't focus on the job too much. It's about rate of reward as well. Ficus in that and fun!!!

Thanks and no problem. The boy with the big head is one of the least confident dogs I know. Up until he was just over 2 he would pee himself when a large person approached him. He just LOVES it and all the shaping stuff has really built him up to the point where most people are just amazed when he has a 'CK moment'. Today he loves everyone - I think our shaping exercises have played a big part in his transformation.

:) Thanks. I think they must almost be the most photoghraphed dogs in the world. My next puppy will likely be called EOS. (As in Canon). The fitballs have a few uses. They are a great for shaping something that really doesn't matter - so brilliant from a training perspective. They are great for balance and core strength as well. We use all different shapes and sizes and ask the dogs to do different stuff on them. Because they move under the dogs they have to hold their core quite strong. It also gives them confidence on obstacles that may not necessarily be so stable under them. Finally - it's great for teaching them to understand where all their feet are and to be able to use them independently. My currently project is to shape one foot on each of 4 different fit pods. :) I've attached another couple of pics showing how the puppies use them.

Just cos......:)

Xena's gamblers run from the weekend. She had plenty to say about it. :)

Glad you wrote that dancinbcs. Unless the neighbor had asked if they could lean over the fence I would be super grumpy about them doing that. And if they had asked I would have removed the dogs first. I just wouldn't be putting my limbs into someone else's garden if they had a dog. I wouldn't walk into a garden or stick my fingers through the fence. Has common sense totally deserted everyone? This. I was trying to think of a polite way to word this - I've got no doubt that two of my dogs could do the same if someone was hanging over the fence - especially if they were using 2 stroke pruners. It's rare a week goes by that I don't have a hole in my hand from one of the three dogs.

Interesting observation.......about words. I've always used Greg Derrett and always moaned about the fact that Xena is sooooo forgiving and if I'm late she'll turn herself inside out to squeeze over a jump or into a set of weaves or whatever while CK just completely ignores late cues and does the obstacle that he has picked. With words all that has changed. Last night I was late with a couple of cues and he almost bent himself in half to get into a tunnel or to go around a jump a couple of times. AMAZING. I'm more and more realising the virtue of movement based systems, when they are team with really well taught virtues. I didn't think I'd ever say it, but.......

That's a great video. Just a thought - are you using your puppy's meals for their training or is the food additional - they are only tiny so maybe they aren't hungry?

My boy got a present yesterday. :) The dogs all love it - we had a great time doing set point exercises with it. As well as throwback front crosses and Ketchker turns. Hope everyone else had a good weekend.

Great to see you guys having fun. :)

Wow 99/100!!!! Awesome. The movement based stuff is really what Susan Garrett is teaching, but I'm finding more and more I'm reverting to a hybrid if Greg Derrett, Susan and Linda Mecklenberg. Lol. Woo loves it.....earlier information and keeps me ahead of her at all times. Training her in drive to understands her Susan words is really helping too. I've resisted but I can't argue with results.

Last night was the first time ever that Mr CK was our super star. He had one moment where it all got too much, but otherwise he was the boy I wish could come to play every week! And to top it off both girls were great without bothering the judges too much. Lol Woo in particular is looking better and better with a more motion based handling system. The distance was just a little hard for her. :)

Mildly annoying. It's even more annoying to be told that because we don't have kids we have dogs. I have dogs because I want dogs and I have kids because the world doesn't need any more grumpy turds like me. ;)

:p they might be if they could get in there.

Thanks everyone - we'd love a little more room, but being inner city it isn't likely to happen. People just can't believe that our yard has not been destroyed given that we have 3 border collies living in it. :laugh:

This inspired me to have my own little bit of fun at home. My guys work for their meal every morning. One of their favourites is to go up into the yard and do a piece of agility equipment. :) Has worked wonders for their gamblers.

AWESOME. Looking forward to seeing you guys there. Also - these things take time. Don't beat yourself up if you don't get it sorted on the first night. :)

:laugh: Thanks - to be honest I've been thinking about doing it for a while, but when I saw that one I just had to do it. The hardest part of it all has been to get the youngest dog (the first one) to run up into the yard and do the PNU on her own. Their gamblers runs have all improved! ;)

WOW - things certainly have changed. IMO it is the change in course design that is forcing so much innovation in our handling systems. We are still a little behind the rest of the world in this regard - our courses for the most part are still pretty straight forward. However, more and more we are seeing super complex challenges, followed by super fast section followed by another complex challenge (like a push to the back or threadle at the end of a row of jumps or after a puppy canon straight tunnel). For the vast majority of us systems like Greg Derrett's that rely on handlers being in position are just not a reality. When you look at Susan and other top competitor's dogs in the US and Europe (I know Susan is from Canada, but....) they make most of ours look like they are in a trot - everything is done at speeds ours only use when they are chasing something they shouldn't be! Whether its Susan or Silvia Trickman or someone else the goal posts have definitely moved.

I was helping a lady ad ADCQ last night who had a fear of this sort of thing - I could see that the dog had the potential to do it but we managed not to allow it to happen. So, question for you....... When you get your boy out of his crate do you clip his lead on and wander over to where you are going to work letting him have a good look around the field? OR Do you get him out of his crate, start to work with him immediately, put his lead on and then work him over to where you are going to work, do what you are going to do and then work him back to the crate? (MASSIVE level of reward be it toy or food the entire time he is out of his crate?) What I saw with the dog last night was that when he was allowed to look around and think about other cool things in his environment he was more likely to think about running off than when he was occupied/engaged the entire time. So.....rather than coming out of a tunnel and looking for what to do next (we were only working tunnel) he would come out of the tunnel and look for his handler. This might mean having to shorten the sequences you are running or rethink where you set up for the class. Hope that helps. I guess what I'm trying to say is maybe look at this not as a recall challenge, but as a challenge to keep Hudson engaged so you don't need recall.

I'm loving training my dogs more and more every day. One of the best things about it, other than the fact that they are such amazing animals is that it lets me indulge my other passion - photography. We had a little bit of a play with some video on the weekend. Hope it makes you smile.