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Moving From Novice To Open


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Huge congratulations Zug Zug :( Woo Hoo!!!!! ;)

I am so proud of my little dog this morning. Not only did we pass at last night's trial (to finish off our Novice title), we scored 193/200 and won first place! :cry::):):) :cool: :cry: :D :laugh:

This was me driving home afterwards :cry:

It was a hot, horrible evening for the first few hours, and a lot of dogs were losing points in their heelwork. We lost 6 points (for lagging during the early bits). Then lost one more point in the recall (not sure what for) and everything else was clear.

Especially delighted with her stays. 2 reasons. First, we had someone come up right behind us with their dog 2 seconds before we entered the ring and their dog lunged at Zamba several times and she was very freaked out by that. I wasn't sure if she would concentrate at all, and it took me 3 tries to get her to calm down and sit at the peg - which never happens she was just coping with a big adrenalin surge. And also the dog next to her got up during the down stay and sat up, then stood up, then walked around a bit. But she stayed like a champion, no problems at all. We failed a lot of CCD trials for bad stays, so I was stoked with her performance last night.

Soooooo happy :shrug::)

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How did Pebbles go???

WOOHOO Zug Zug :cry: , knew you would have placed but wasn't sure where, told you I wasn't putting up with any crap from you :), HUGE congrats :):):cry:.

Well RubyStar it's like this Pebbles has an idiot for a handler :(, in the sit stay the steward said "leave your dogs" & I rushed the stay cue, poor Pebbles didn't know what I wanted & went down as soon as I stepped away :) :cool:, ah well next time.

Then to top it all of I found a lamb on the side of the road on the way home, picked him up & he was very dehydrated, we got some milk into him but unfortunately he didn't make it :D.

Oh almost forgot, YAY ZUG ZUG your a bl...y champion :laugh::shrug: ;) bet you'll be still smiling in 2 weeks at the next trial :cry:.

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How did Pebbles go???

WOOHOO Zug Zug :) , knew you would have placed but wasn't sure where, told you I wasn't putting up with any crap from you :rofl:, HUGE congrats :winner::cheer::laugh:.

Well RubyStar it's like this Pebbles has an idiot for a handler :(, in the sit stay the steward said "leave your dogs" & I rushed the stay cue, poor Pebbles didn't know what I wanted & went down as soon as I stepped away :doh::cry:, ah well next time.

Then to top it all of I found a lamb on the side of the road on the way home, picked him up & he was very dehydrated, we got some milk into him but unfortunately he didn't make it :(.

Oh almost forgot, YAY ZUG ZUG your a bl...y champion ;) ;) :rock: bet you'll be still smiling in 2 weeks at the next trial :).

A huge congratulations to ZUG ZUG told ya there was nothing too worry about. Bad luck Dova (Bl...dy sit stays) dont know which is worse laying down in novice where you can see it or sit stays in open when you dont know what is happening. see ya next trial lol

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How did Pebbles go???

WOOHOO Zug Zug :) , knew you would have placed but wasn't sure where, told you I wasn't putting up with any crap from you :rofl:, HUGE congrats :winner::cheer::laugh:.

Well RubyStar it's like this Pebbles has an idiot for a handler :(, in the sit stay the steward said "leave your dogs" & I rushed the stay cue, poor Pebbles didn't know what I wanted & went down as soon as I stepped away :cry::(, ah well next time.

Then to top it all of I found a lamb on the side of the road on the way home, picked him up & he was very dehydrated, we got some milk into him but unfortunately he didn't make it :rofl:.

Oh almost forgot, YAY ZUG ZUG your a bl...y champion ;) ;) :rock: bet you'll be still smiling in 2 weeks at the next trial :).

A huge congratulations to ZUG ZUG told ya there was nothing too worry about. Bad luck Dova (Bl...dy sit stays) dont know which is worse laying down in novice where you can see it or sit stays in open when you dont know what is happening. see ya next trial lol

After doing my first open stay last night for Ptolomy, I have to say, out of sight are much better in my opinion - at least you can breathe! If the dog has moved, then there's not much you can do. If you're standing there watching in Novice, you hold your breath and give your dog death stares not to move :doh:

Bad luck Dova :rofl: Those bugger sit stays!!! I'm sure next time will be the charm!! :)

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Nah RubyStar Open stays are especially bad when its your dog and your sitting on a title or sitting on a place at the Royal - hmmm just ask Ptolomy and Bedazzledx2 ;) . I can't remember how I managed to walk in upright on Ness's third open pass never mind getting through 5 minutes of down stay without passing out.

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Thanks all! I was so nervous last night I didn't even realise I'd forgotten to eat tea until about 11:30. No wonder I had a headache.

And yes Dova you did say you wouldn't take any crap from me and you are right Zamba responds so much to my body language and moving confidently is very important.

We were already signed up for Novice again in 2 weeks (and yes I think I'll probably still have a smile on my face). Now that I can relax a bit, I think we'll take a gamble on our retrieve in the ring and see how that works out.

Here is a video of today's updated version of the 2 food game to make up for no videos of the trial ring.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Zamba's last ever Novice trial last night. Poured with rain just before the trial. Given she is such a hopeless sniffer, I went in with moderate hopes at best.

We did as planned and tried the dumbbell in the ring for the first time. We actually did ok (surprisingly) with 34 for the heelwork, 27 for the SFE (moved 2 paws), full marks for the recall (her favourite thing) and 27 for the dumbbell.

Same problem with the dumbbell retrieve. All good until she stopped too far out in front of me. I could reach her to get the dumbbell, but only just. She was even further out than in training, so that def needs more work.

Anyway, 188 out of 200 and 3rd place. Very happy with that. Got her measured for Open too - 380 at the withers. She didn't like getting measured one bit - 2 men and a big stick leaning all over her.

Update on our Open training:

Heeling - going well - working on bringing her in closer to my side

SFE - usually good

Drop on Recall - well the building blocks are all there and she does it but still travels a bit - working on a faster drop

Retrieve Dumbbell on Flat - good overall - stops too far away from me

RD over jump - as above - same as above

Distance Control - good at 3-4 metres - slowly building distance

3 min Sit Stay - ok but she has started to whine while I'm away so needing to give her more reassurance and backing off the length of time for a while to try and get this under control

5 min Down Stay - doing 4 mins - also occasional whining so working slowly with this one too

So we're off to work on fronts with dumbbell and the stays.

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Congratulations Zug Zug :laugh:

And hope you have some success fixing your dumbbell presents - have been trying to do the same thing myself with Riv :) Can I ask what you've been doing to try and fix them?

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Ness has suggested some scoot fronts with the dumbbell, and also throwing the treat backwards between my legs so Zamba has to follow it straight through and behind me to get her reward. Zamba is enjoying both of these two games, but I have only just started doing them with the dumbbell so early stages yet.

To be honest I think the penny is yet to drop that what I actually want is straight and close fronts. Maybe I'm being too slow with the clicker. Also I find that I get a bit involved in the game and sometimes I have clicked things that weren't right, without even realising that's what I've done. So I need to be more precise in what I am rewarding, I think.

I am also varying the hand I use to reward, because Zamba tends to angle towards my right hand.

Last night she stopped WAY out in front - much further than in practice at home. So that confirms that I need to focus on fronts a bit more in training.

Any other ideas we could try?

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The other one I didn't suggest last night which might help is also working presents with you sitting in a chair. If you have your legs slightly open in a v-shape and sit at the front of the chair you can encourage a nice close present.

ETA. Zamba tends to angle towards my right hand.

Where are your rewards stored when you train? Have you tried passing a reward from your right hand around behind your back into your left hand and rewarding with the left hand.

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Any other ideas we could try?

If none of what has already been suggested works you might want to try rewarding from between your knees. This seems to be the only thing that has worked with River and given that he and Zamba are about the same size it might work for you guys too and shifting his focus to my knees seems to be making a difference.

He managed a much improved present today so we've made some progress but still need to keep working at it.

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I had Pebbles entered in the Southern Trial in 2 weeks but now she's got her title I can't put her in CD & she's no where near ready for open, so she's been scratched & I entered Izzi instead :thumbsup:, have to :cry: Izzi's a herding dog so we'll probably do an in, round n out, but look forward to seeing you all there :).

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So who's going to join me for the mock trial at Dover in April? Zamba and I will go along and give it a tray in Open class, and see how we feel.

As for us, we have a few challenges shaping up in our training. Mainly how to get her to drop on recall from further away, change position from further away, and sit without stressing when I'm a long way away.

Does anyone see a pattern here? :banghead:

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So who's going to join me for the mock trial at Dover in April? Zamba and I will go along and give it a tray in Open class, and see how we feel.

I'd like to give Pebbles a go in open but will need to do some REAL serious training, can someone give me a run down on what I have to do :laugh:, heel off lead of course but what's after that ? Might even give Delta a try in CCD, she's never been anywhere or done anything so probably wouldn't try the stays.

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So who's going to join me for the mock trial at Dover in April? Zamba and I will go along and give it a tray in Open class, and see how we feel.

I'd like to give Pebbles a go in open but will need to do some REAL serious training, can someone give me a run down on what I have to do :laugh:, heel off lead of course but what's after that ? Might even give Delta a try in CCD, she's never been anywhere or done anything so probably wouldn't try the stays.

Heel Free

Stand For Examination

Drop on Recall

Retrieve on the flat

Retriever over solid jump

Optional: either broad jump or change of positions

3 min out of sight sit stay

5 min out of sight down stay

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