dogdude Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 (edited) I have been very lazy regarding training since December and finally got motivated yesterday to give Oscar a short workout with a view to debut him as a trialling dog early this year. It was 38 degree heat, and he appears to have lost his balance a bit since the break. But all things considered, I was more than happy with his work. A little more polish on both of us and we should be right. :rolleyes: Oscar 16 Feb 2007 Edited February 17, 2007 by dogdude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoemonster Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Oh the link doesn't go through, it asks for password etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoemonster Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 I'll come back and see it later! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdude Posted February 17, 2007 Author Share Posted February 17, 2007 Sorry bout that! Have fixed the original link. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesomil Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Nice :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoemonster Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Looking good!!! :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoemonster Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Ok, you got me inspired, now I'm off to the park, with my tripod and camera to video some work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 woooohoooo great work! Are you working towards a title? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdude Posted February 18, 2007 Author Share Posted February 18, 2007 (edited) Thanks for the positive feedback everybody! Also hoping for some negative as I have not trialled for some time! It is so much easier to see what's happening with a video clip. I noticed I was being very lazy with my hand signals, good thing the dog was on the job! SAS: Yes, I am hoping to debut him in novice as soon as the hot weather passes, maybe April some time. I still need to get him neutered and VCA registered under the associate banner as he was given to me by someone who bought him off a backyard breeder. Edited February 18, 2007 by dogdude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsD Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 (edited) Thanks for the positive feedback everybody! Also hoping for some negative as I have not trialled for some time! It is so much easier to see what's happening with a video clip. I noticed I was being very lazy with my hand signals, good thing the dog was on the job!SAS: Yes, I am hoping to debut him in novice as soon as the hot weather passes, maybe April some time. I still need to get him neutered and VCA registered under the associate banner as he was given to me by someone who bought him off a backyard breeder. Hand signals were a bit sloppy but not too bad, I've seen alot lot worse, at least yours weren't desperately elongated, which is a good thing . You only slightly drifted in on him in one halt, the rest of the time you stayed fairly straight, probably the thing that jumped out at me the most was you looking at the dog constantly. I know that people tend to do that when they are practising/videoing etc as you often want to see where your dog is, but it can become a hard habit to break & can lose you marks in the ring or even be seen as a second signal & if you do it enough with the wrong judge especially in the higher classes, you may up NQing (as you probably already know ). Apart from that pretty good, he did get a little in front of you at one stage of the figure 8 & you had to go around him on one of the posts but not too drastic & personally I'd rather see that than a dog lagging around the posts. His sits & drops etc were fairly straight albeit a little way out from you, but shouldnt be a problem. All in all, nice work . Edited February 18, 2007 by MrsD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdude Posted February 18, 2007 Author Share Posted February 18, 2007 Thanks for your comments MrsD. Have taken them on board. One of the problems developed over the break is a slight forging problem. Should be an easy fix. What does worry me is his habit of sitting and dropping slightly wide, occasionally on a slight angle with the sits. Its annoying because of the fact the problem is slight, but there. I think the problem is a result of his antisipation of reward in the learning process, and something that is a work in progress at the moment. During the learning of the heeling process, I rewarded with my left hand with dog in perfect heel position. I think his mindset may have changed when taught to retreive and recall with dog being rewarded while out in front initially. I did not remember a problem before this, so I will experiment a little to try and change things. I also think the slight forging is an extension of this problem. I am happy that this is more of a sign of over exuberance than a negative one though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsD Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 (edited) You're welcome DD, as I said, I'd rather see him forging & getting ahead of you than lagging, so we agree on that one. My old dog used to always be a dog that was slightly ahead of heel position & now Jarrah keeps his head right by my side I find it difficult to adjust & keep thinking he's lagging badly, but in reality, there's not any difference . The time that the forging was most obvious as I said was in the figure 8, firstly when you went into the fig8 (perhaps you could come in at a slighly more angled approach towards that 1st post to help him get in position before you have to turn that first post?), then each time you were circling that right hand (as Im watching the video) pole, as I mentioned you are walking around him as he is pushing you out & then once when crossing the middle he gets in front of you, but comes back nicely as you circle the left hand side post. Try doing lots of left hand circles & left turns with him & perhaps take you path a fraction wider around that right peg (ie when he's on the inside of you)in the fig 8 so that you arent cutting him off as much (does that make sense? ) The being wide thing I think can just sometimes be caused by a number of factors, some of which you can't fix. But remember the rules state heel position is "as close as is practicable to your left leg" so there is always some leeway with the distance between dog & handler. You will get penalised for the dog being too close & crowding as well, there has to be a happy medium. edited to fix italics Edited February 19, 2007 by MrsD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoemonster Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Would they consider that to be too wide do you think? Ed is abit like that on his drops mainly too Dogdude, I want more vids of you 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdude Posted February 19, 2007 Author Share Posted February 19, 2007 Thanks for your comments again MrsD. The problem with the figure 8 I think is partly due to the transition from human to skinny little post. It is hard to get your bearings when going from one to the other because of the difference in widths of the posts. Neither of these problems should persist very long as I have just resumed his training after a long break, and even after todays training he is looking better already. Another reason that I thought of, (slightly wide heel position) is maybe my dogs best vantage for focus? (due to the stumpy nature of the Stafford). I have taught him focus towards my midriff to chest area, IMO best area that signals change of pace. My previous trialling dogs have been taller, with no width evident in their heelwork. I bought another dumbell yesterday as I had lost it since late November. I was suprised to find his first session with it this morning was faultless. Shoey: I will endeavor to post some more clips soon to be scrutinised by those in the know! I love to get opinion from outside the ranks because it is unbiased. You cant get reliable feedback under competitive conditions other than a few quick comments from a judge. Only thing that pisses me is the time that takes to upload them. I have ADSL that loves to drop out with a few minutes to go while uploading. Took me nearly two days of trying to get this one up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsD Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Another reason that I thought of, (slightly wide heel position) is maybe my dogs best vantage for focus? (due to the stumpy nature of the Stafford). I have taught him focus towards my midriff to chest area, IMO best area that signals change of pace. My previous trialling dogs have been taller, with no width evident in their heelwork. DD I agree with this (which is why I said sometimes you just cant fix it ), I have the same thing with my sheltie & Im sure its a matter of size. Also I find with him because he's so small & I really have to bend over to positively reinforce I find he tends to come around in front a little as well because he likes to see my face when I bend down. Also agree with the peg & the difference between it & a person but if you watch where you are going instead of the dog you should be able to sort that out pretty easily. Just make sure you give yourself that bit of extra room around that right hand peg with him on the inside & it will make a big difference. And yes, after a long break I often find similarly that my dogs are a bit erratic in their position, glad to hear he's improved so quickly . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoemonster Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Oh man the video upload is slow as! Yesterday I had mine 70% done and I clicked on the screen by accident and lost it and had to start again, I was so pissed! Maybe it is something about the shortness of the staffords that means they do go out a bit wide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 I love how cheerfully you walk dogdude! Nice and bouncy!! Maybe too much arm swing? I think that the going wide may be to do with the forging in front. During the figure 8 turns because doggy is a bit in front you did contact with him a bit and he sort of bounced wide. Especially in the last turn out. He sort of also got squished a bit coming out of the last turn. Why I think this is that on your walk back he has come in closer to you again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdude Posted February 20, 2007 Author Share Posted February 20, 2007 Appreciate your comments JulesP Yes, he did bounce off me at one point in the Figure 8, not an ongoing problem though, just got "caught with his pants down" He adjusted pretty quickly. His general heelwork is done at a good distance from me, but seems to sit and drop a little wide sometimes. I did take a risk by filming his first workout after the break, but it was the first time in ages that we were "kidless" so I had a camera person. Dont have a tripod. I will try to post a longer pattern next week so we can make some comparisons. Hopefully we should see a differnt dog with any luck. I managed to borrow the clubs broad jump last night. He had his first intro to it this morning with good success. I may post a clip of him learning that, and maybe doing a retreive on flat if circumstances permit tonight. Will take me a day or two knowning my crappy ADSL. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 It was nice work. Have you tried heeling along quite close to a fence and practise the drops/sits there? (Dog between you and the fence obviously!) That sometimes helps with a dog that swings out crooked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdude Posted February 21, 2007 Author Share Posted February 21, 2007 Hi JulesP No, I dont do any heelwork along fence lines, but I will do some fence work during his next heeling workout. Here is a couple more quick clips taken last night and this morning. Learnt alot from watching once again. On Broad jump I was shocked to hear myself merge his name with a command, No idea why I done it! This is the dogs second session learning broad jump. During retrieve I gave a strange flashy hand signal and moved my other hand too. Dog was less enthusiastic than normal this morning cause it was so muggy. We spent all of 2 or 3 minutes training this morning. Oscar learning broad jump 20 Feb 2007 Oscar retreive on flat 21 Feb 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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