Agility Training Talk Thread

[Lisey]

Well Book and I started agility tonight and had a great time :D He is very sleepy tonight.

He loved the flex tunnel for some reason - was really keen to run through it - not as keen on the plank (don't know correct name for it), was a bit sooky with that one :)

Am looking forward to next week!

[The Spotted Devil]

Yay! Glad you both enjoyed it! The dog walk needs lots of skill and confidence - slowly, slowly :) I like to teach them to jump off a lowered dog walk - once they know they can (but don't get rewarded or punished) their confidence improves and they concentrate on getting in position at the end for their reward.

My lot were on the go from 5pm until 8.30pm and are really tired. Started with agility training, then were my demo dogs for Puppy Games plus a big gallop at the oval

[Lisey]

Yes it was slow :) one foot forward - treat - another foot forward - treat lol. He didn't need dinner tonight. Quick to run down it though!

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

My dog just LOVES being up high. dog walk, scramble, sand dune, balcony. Hard to keep her off them... flat out too. My main problem is stopping her from taking flying leaps from the top.

Another dog that started on those the same day as us, was completely freaked out by our club dog walk... we had to put the plank flat on the ground and play games on it.

[Lisey]

There is nothing I can really do at home to practice the dog walk with him is there?

I'm excited to go again! Wish it was Thursday already :D

[Podengo]

There is nothing I can really do at home to practice the dog walk with him is there?

I'm excited to go again! Wish it was Thursday already :D

If you're training a 2 on 2 off end behaviour you can practice that at home :)

[Lisey]

Ok so I'm still learning - is that how they get on, walk along it and then go all the way to the end and not jump off ? :)

Practicing on and off properly without the height?

[Podengo]

Ok so I'm still learning - is that how they get on, walk along it and then go all the way to the end and not jump off ? :)

Practicing on and off properly without the height?

The end behaviour is what they do at the end of a contact obstacle in the "contact zone" (the different coloured bit at the start and end of the contact). There are a few different contact behaviours that you can teach, but a really common and simple one is "two on two off" which refers to the dog having two rear feet on the contact gear in the contact zone, and two front feet in the grass. You can teach this with any raised surface really, and transfer it to the contact gear later on.

[Lisey]

Thanks! I appreciate it :)

[Podengo]

Edited August 5, 2013 by DiscoDobe

[Lisey]

Sweet - I'll watch these tonight.

[megan_]

hind leg awareness and core strength also help with the dog walk. You want your dog to run fast without falling off - he needs to be aware of his back legs and have a strong core to ensure they don't fall off. This doesn't come naturally to many dogs.

Another thing to teach is contact entry. As you get more advanced you want to be able to run towards a contact at a 90+ degree angle, send the dog and run in a different direction. Many dogs will short cut and jump onto the obstacle over the colour - this is a fault and is dangerous too. You can start this by teaching your dog to run around a noodle (a 1/3 pool noodle, vertical stuck over something sticking in the ground). You then put the noodle next to the contact and your dog goes around the noodle to find the right entry.

Another thing that is controversial though is to teach your boy to be super confident on the dog walk by turning on a low plank (on command only). Some people don't like this because they worry their dog will turn around while on the dog walk. However, I haven't seen this happen and if you do it on command only your dog shouldn't do it at other times.

[Lisey]

Oh wow - so much I can be doing that I would not have thought of myself.

Thanks all.

[RubyStar]

I taught contacts at home with a puppy and a cardboard box lid. Clicker, treats, and shape puppy to put both back feet onto the lid. Transferred very well to the actual equipment :)

[Podengo]

*head desk* weave entries are doing my head in! Don't know what I did, but I broke Elsie's weave entries! And we have try outs for Nationals very soon (not this coming weekend but the one after) so hopefully I can fix the problem by then! If not by then, well at least by mid October as I don't want the hundreds of $$$ spent travelling to nationals to be a complete waste! So hope I can fix them soon!!

[Tassie]

Don't you hate it when you break things.

Have you tried just working entries with 4 poles - working around the clock and building lateral distance - as in 2x2. The way I was shown, you work dog on left .. reward down the reward line past the end of the 4 - quick break, then work RH coming back. You get a lot of entry/lateral distance reps in a short time without wearing the dog out - and dog gets a high reward history. Obviously you need to go to 12 every now and again.

I discovered a big hole in Rory's training in his first agility trial on Sunday. His weaves as a separate exercise, or with one jump either end (all I can fit in at home) are pretty good - he was taught 2x2. BUT - I need to do heaps more work on them in mid course, when he's approaching them at warp speed - getting him to collect and think about his job. :D Another thing to add to the list :laugh: .

Good luck with the try-outs. :)

[Podengo]

Don't you hate it when you break things.

Have you tried just working entries with 4 poles - working around the clock and building lateral distance - as in 2x2. The way I was shown, you work dog on left .. reward down the reward line past the end of the 4 - quick break, then work RH coming back. You get a lot of entry/lateral distance reps in a short time without wearing the dog out - and dog gets a high reward history. Obviously you need to go to 12 every now and again.

I discovered a big hole in Rory's training in his first agility trial on Sunday. His weaves as a separate exercise, or with one jump either end (all I can fit in at home) are pretty good - he was taught 2x2. BUT - I need to do heaps more work on them in mid course, when he's approaching them at warp speed - getting him to collect and think about his job. :D Another thing to add to the list :laugh: .

Good luck with the try-outs. :)

I think that's the exact hole we have in our 2x2 training... Mid course! Yup we're back to 4, working the arc down and back. I need to throw the toy faster though, Elsie really gets the reward line concept and as soon as she is out of the last pole she bolts full speed in a straight line down the field, further that I can throw LOL.

[RubyStar]

Mid-course weaves seem to be our biggest reason for bombing out in a trial

[The Spotted Devil]

Ah - I've pulled Em out of agility for a bit and just concentrating on jumping. Does the most amazing weaves in training but becomes very unsure in a trial - partly because my handling changes I expect and she hates being crowded. Lead out from the table to the tunnel beyond the weaves, for example, and she nails them. Freak :laugh:

[Tassie]

:laugh: TSD - Em sounds like Kirra - hates being crowded anywhere. My worst nightmare is a course layout which forces me to be closer to the weavers than madam likes.

Your mention of the table reminded me of another thing I have to work on with the man - he was really good with the table as the second obstacle on one run - took the decel and landed it nicely and dropped. But the next trial, when the course was reversed and the table was the second last obstacle - not so much. :laugh: He did try to decel, and as he was toppling off the table on the other side, tried desperately to hang on - and did hop straight back up onto it on his own accord - so I guess that was an encouraging sign that he did remember what he was supposed to do.