Winter begins...

Today we woke up to snow!  Not much, around 1/4", but snow nonetheless.  Which means, no more backyard agility for awhile probably :(  Penny wasn't so sure about the snow at first, and really didn't want to be outside in it until I remembered to get her boots out.  She wasn't sure about those either for a minute or so, but quickly got used to them and was running around sniffing and eating snow. 

Anyways, we were able to get some agility in yesterday before the snow at least!  We were mostly just messing around and having fun, since it had been quite a few days since we did anything due to the holidays and everything.  I wanted to try out our new tunnel, which was a birthday gift from my grandparents, and also work on some weave entries and going on to other obstacles from the weaves.  The tunnel unfortunately is not sturdy enough to use sandbags, it has to be staked so we won't be able to use it inside, but that's okay.  We should probably practice jumping anyways, which can be done inside easily.  Same with some small sequencing/handling practice.

I probably shouldn't have used the toy after jumps, though.  Forgot about that.  Oops!  I think I am starting to be able to see the difference.  When the jumps are at the beginning of the sequence, I think she jumps alright (:14, :41, and :50 even though I think my handling is to blame for that last one) but when they are at the end and she is anticipating the toy being thrown, it's more ugly (1:16, dropped a bar there too, no surprise)

Twelve poles!

So last night I finally got around to building more weave pole bases so now we have a full set of twelve!  I set them up in the basement to give it a whirl and they just barely fit :P  After only a handful of tries, Penny was weaving all twelve poles!!
 

Today I took the poles outside for a session so we could actually have room to throw a toy.  She did great!  This may be normal but I am pretty impressed with how quickly she picked it up.<3

We have also been practicing our fronts and finishes a bit.  I will have to get video of that sometime soon, but we've been busy!  Happy Holidays everyone!

First Match!

Penny and I went to our very first agility match (USDAA) on Saturday, down in Sellersburg, IN at Canine Sports Indiana/TNT Performance Dogs.  Jenn and Potion came too :)

Without further ado, here is some video!  Thanks Jenn for recording and editing for us!

First run we had some zoomies and sniffing, which I expected to happen but was much more controllable than I had anticipated.  This was our first time doing agility somewhere other than home or at class.  Really proud of Penny though, she got all of her 2o2o, except for the first teeter... this was also her first time on full height contacts, think she might have thought she was doing a dogwalk :P but she recovered well.  She also didn't drop any bars, had a nice speed, and really paid attention to what my motion was communicating to her, even though a lot of it I did wrong!  I'm perfectly OK with that though - I would much rather fix things on my end.

It was a ton of fun.  Can't wait to do more!

Match tomorrow!!

Our first match is tomorrow!  So excited.  But also a little bit nervous.  I am anxious to see how we both handle a trial environment.  I mean, yeah we have done Rally trials but I think this will be different.  Penny seems to enjoy Agility a lot more, so that should be a good thing, but on the flip side there is certainly a lot more for me to process!  I am going to try and put my worries aside though and just have some fun :)

Anyways, I knew we should probably brush up on contacts before the match and I'm glad we did.  It was a bit fuzzy at first but I think we will be able to do it tomorrow!

Practice

Haven't been doing too much yet this week.  Yesterday and today we have just been doing a bit of jumping/weaves in the yard.  I have been meaning to finish making the rest of my jumps, I have materials for four more jumps, so I will have six in total... but we have had a lot going on lately lol.  I should also practice some 2o2o before this weekend, but that I can easily do inside any time.  She struggles a bit with weave entries when the poles are to her right, so we need to work on that at some point, though it's not really a huge concern before the match.  I plan on just throwing her into 12 weaves on standard and seeing what happens, and not really worry about them other than that.  Hopefully we will be able to avoid them in Gamblers and Snooker.

Great class today!

Penny was so awesome at Agility class tonight.  She did everything I asked her to do (including things I didn't mean to ask!), including sequences with 6 weave poles.  I'm so proud of her!  Now I just need to get a better grip on MY end of things ;)  Namely: 1) Not stopping dead in my tracks before weaves.  Bad habit I seem to have gotten into from only ever standing behind them while training them.  She did just fine with me running slightly ahead as she gets the entry so she'll be fine with it as soon as I learn to just KEEP GOING!! :P  and 2) Brush up on basic handling stuff, like when/where/how to cue turns, extension, and collection.  I have watched a bunch of different videos on this probably a hundred different times, and it makes perfect sense/I understand it all but for whatever reason when I actually go to DO a sequence, it all flies out of my brain.

We are going to a USDAA match in Sellersburg next weekend, so excited!!  Between now and then, I will definitely do some 2o2o work and *hopefully* some more short sequences with jumps and weaves.  (Depends on how the weather behaves, and also my job since it gets dark so early now!)  Oh, and re-reading the rules for Snooker ;)

A few things...

Firstly, I finally got around to actually sitting down and reading the 2012 AKC Rally rulebook and acquainting myself with the changes and new signs.  I admit, I was a bit scared to do it after all of the fuss on the Yahoo group.  But I really don't see what the big deal is?  I actually like the new rules (namely, no pleading and no luring!), and I think the new signs look fun!  Yes, they may be a bit more Obedience-based... but the sport is called Rally OBEDIENCE, am I right?  I personally think they sound fun!  A bit more challenging, perhaps... but no more than some of the other signs, I don't think.  Rally was meant to be "fun," yes, but it is also meant to be a sort-of transition sport into regular competition obedience, so I see no harm in making them a bit more similar.  The same basic concepts are still there: unlimited communication with your dog while you navigate a course of different tasks as a team.  Anyways, enough about that!

The second thing I wanted to talk about was the short training session we did last night: teaching "Stand" using Susan Garrett's hand-touch method.  I really like the concept, and when I watched the video I was very excited but I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when it didn't translate to Penny as well as I thought it would, lol.  She picked up on the hand touch easily, and already kind of knows "Stand," but she always swung her butt out.  I wasn't really picky about that, but next time I am definitely going to up the criteria.  Ideally I would like her to go into a stand without really changing position or moving at all.  Another suggestion I got that I need to try is holding my hand out away from me some more.

Lastly, I am a little more than halfway though Control Unleashed and I wanted to go through some of the exercises that I have been marking as I read, as things that I might want to work on.  Right now I am just trying to get through the book before I start tackling too much, but there are a few things I have started working on.

• Reorienting Points.  Penny already has a default behavior for most things she wants (namely food, lol): sit and eye contact.  I would like to translate this into crossing thresholds/doorways as well, that is not something we were ever very good about maintaining and she has run out the front door before so it's definitely something that should be addressed.  I think that once we work on Fronts a bit more, it will also be easier to add the reorientation.  She isn't crated so I can't really apply it in that sense, but I do think that I could use it for doors.
• Doggie Zen.  Tied into the above, really.  The hardest part about this, for me, is remembering that I should act as a "gateway" and expect my dog to think that she has to go through me in order to get something that she wants.  When you haven't always been into training so much, it's hard to get into that kind of mindset!
• Leave It.  Penny has a pretty solid "Leave It," when it's cued.  I definitely want to work more on an "automatic" Leave It, which again, ties into the above.  I would love to eventually have her at the point where she never picks anything up off the ground without looking to me first.  I practiced this a bit the other day while cutting up some treats (there is another entry about it, actually), because she likes to snag anything that is dropped.
  
• Go to Place.  At our Puppy class at Petsmart a long time ago, one of the exercises was "On Your Bed" so I think she was already a little familiar with this.  I worked on this for one session and she pretty much has it down that she needs to get on her bed and be in a "Down."  The next step I want to incorporate into this is a more relaxed Down, "Settle" as I like to call it, which  looks like this and will hopefully translate into a more relaxed state overall while being on her bed/mat:

(Yay for cute puppy pictures! hehe)

• Training a Relaxed Stay.  Again, this ties into the above.  (Gosh, I really love this book and how each new thing builds upon something else!)  The idea here is to mark behaviors that are linked to a relaxed state of mind, such as blinking, heavy eyelids, and deep breaths to condition relaxation.  I think this is something Penny could really benefit from.  Unfortunately, she has the "Border Collie stare" down pretty well and hardly ever blinks when there is food around, but it is something that I definitely want to remember to work on and keep in mind, as these are things that could be rewarded in any circumstance (at home, at class, at a trial, whatever.)
• Start Line Stays.  I had marked this on the book as something that Penny would need a LOT of work on, but she has started to prove me wrong!  Last week at Agility class, I would put her in a start line stay and then quickly "walk" the course (more like just go through the movements, because they aren't huge courses that require a whole lot of walking or anything).  While I was moving about, flailing my arms and spinning around doing crosses and other crazy things, she stayed.  I was SO impressed!  Of course it's not something that I will throw out the window completely (she did break the start line on me once if I recall correctly), but I just wanted to mention that it has already gotten better without doing any intentional work on it.  I am hoping that this is something that is starting to come with experience for her.
• The "Look at That!" Game.  In the book, this is something that is geared towards dogs that are reactive of other dogs.  Essentially, you countercondition the dog's response to seeing other dogs by rewarding them for looking at other dogs.  Sounds crazy but Leslie McDevitt explains it so well.  This also in turn creates more handler focus because the dog eventually starts to offer the "look" as a behavior.  It also teaches the dog that it is OK to examine and take in its surroundings, which helps lower stress.  Even though Penny is not usually reactive towards other dogs, I believe that I can apply this principle in situations that cause her stress.  Penny can be an anxious dog, and when she hears things/sees things that she is unsure about, she responds by baying loudly, barking, growling, raising her hackles, etc.  A good example would be last week's Agility class. We were the only students so it was relatively quiet.  The owner of the facility, Marie, pulled up and the sound of the car door closing sent Penny into a fit of baying and barking.  When Marie walked in the door, Penny flipped out and immediately tried to run over to her and check her out (not in an aggressive way by any means, but she was definitely way over her threshold!)  I finally regained control of my dog and while Marie and Jenn were talking, I tried playing the "Look at That" game with Penny.  Every time she looked over at Marie, I would click & treat.  I am not sure if I was applying the game correctly in this situation, but I felt that it was helping her calm down and I was getting her focus back.

That is as far as I've gotten for now.  Phew!

So many shows!

There are a ton of nearby shows next year and I need to start thinking about what I might enter... so I am going to make a list!

• January 14-15, AKC Agility @ Pawsitive Partners (Indy)
• January 21-22, AKC Rally in Lafayette, IN
• February 10-12, AKC Rally in Indianapolis, IN (state fairgrounds)
• February 11-12, USDAA @ Pawsitive Partners
• February 18-19, AKC Agility @ Pawsitive Partner
• March 2-4, AKC Agility in Lafayette, IN
• March 17-18, AKC Rally @ Louisville Cluster/Beezerfest!
• March 24, AKC Rally in Noblesville, IN
• March 31-April 1, AKC Rally in Beech Grove, IN
• April 7-8, USDAA @ Pawsitive Partners
• April 7, AKC Rally in Noblesville, IN
• April 8, AKC Rally in Muncie, IN (2 trials)
• May 5-6, AKC Rally in Fort Wayne, IN
• May 12-13, AKC Agility @ Pawsitive Partners
• May 26-27, AKC Agility in Lafayette, IN
• July 7-8, USDAA @ K9-Athletes?, in Indy
• August 18-19, USDAA @ Pawsitive Partners
• December 15-16, USDAA @ Pawsitive Partners

... aaaaand that is only including AKC events through May (nothing past that is listed yet).  Wow!  Looks like we will have lots of options, so that is great!  Gotta love keeping travel costs down ;)

Good thing it's not shorts season...

It's been raining all day, but I am trying to look on the bright side: perfect opportunity to stay inside and work on Obedience!  Tonight I came home from work with that in mind, and started to cut up some treats.  Naturally, Penny was right there waiting, in case I dropped a piece... and sure enough, I did, and she snatched it right up.  Ah-ha!  Another training opportunity, I thought to myself.  So I took another piece and deliberately dropped it on the ground as I said "Leave it!"  Sure enough, she left it.  I picked it up and fed it to her.  We continued playing this game while I finished cutting up treats.  Each time I dropped a piece, I waited a bit longer to say "Leave it."  By the end, I could drop it and not say anything at all: Penny would hardly even look at it, just glance out of the corner of her eye, then look at me.  Good dog!

Next we worked on Front and Finish positions.  Or, "Come" and "Heel" as I am going to call them - an idea stolen from Jenn!  I want to be able to say "Come" and have her come to me and sit in front of me, no matter where she is in relation to me.  We worked on shaping this a little bit last night at Agility class, so she had a good headstart and caught on pretty quickly.  Once she knew what I wanted, I added the cue.  Right now I am not being too picky with my criteria... as long as she is an arm's length from me and mostly straight, I click & treat.  We can tighten up the position later.  Next we worked on Heel position.  Out of curiosity, I cued her verbally and she spun her butt around so she was next to me!  She wasn't even close to being straight, but I rewarded her for the effort anyway lol.  In conclusion, I do believe she understands what "Heel" means, even if we aren't moving.  So that's promising!  We then did a few Heel, Come, Heel, Come, with some Downs and Sits mixed in to make sure she wasn't just performing a routine and actually listening to what I was saying, and that went pretty well!  Not perfect, but it's definitely something that I think will improve.  Yay!

Lastly, we ended with something fun, a new trick we've been working on...

 

 Almost got it!  :)  It's a good thing it's not summer, or I'd probably be getting a lot of, "Are those... paw print-shaped bruises?!"  Why yes.  Yes they are.  ;)

Snooker?

Tonight, Penny and I were very lucky to end up having a private lesson with Jenn since none of our classmates could make it.  We worked on a number of both old and new things: the broad jump, sequencing, weave pole entries, obedience positions, and the most fun?  Snooker!  But, first things first.

Broad Jump.  Practiced clearing the jump with enough collection to curl back to find the Front position, without clipping any corners.  Started off with just one section of the jump, and gradually added them on.  Penny did really well with this!

Sequencing.  Penny did great!  And even I made less mistakes than I normally do ;)  I think I am finally starting to catch on.  I am really impressed with her ability to read me, though.  I will never cease to be amazed at how much dogs pick up on even the slightest of body movements.  We had some very nice pieces, and her start line stays were FABULOUS (she stayed even while I was flailing about, practicing my handling before actually running the sequence), so overall I am very proud and happy!

Weave Pole (Six) Entries.  Not bad.  Better than I expected they would be, especially for being the first time weaving in the new building.  We got a couple of good entries but it definitely became harder for her when the jumps were moved closer to the poles, and at tighter angles.  She also got away with only weaving five poles a couple of times, bad handler!  I don't normally throw food but Penny was uninterested in toys tonight so I had to up the ante.  It was pretty funny when she would weave four poles, then stop and stare at the wall and/or ceiling, expecting string cheese to come flying out.  She's special, lol.

Anyway, I know what our homework will be... as soon as it stops raining!  I suppose I could also set up something inside, but space would be tight.  It might work though.  We shall see.

Obedience Positions.  Before tonight, I kind of thought that Penny knew what the verbal cues "Front" and "Finish" meant, but I quickly learned that she really doesn't.  No problem though, that's my fault: I got away with not really training them for Rally.  At least I now know how to approach training them correctly!  I also definitely never taught "Heel" as a position (rather, an activity), so that is also something I want to start.  Once she is thoroughly understanding verbal cues, and if we can get past stress/anxiety in new environments, I think Penny could have no problem with competition obedience!

Snooker.  I kind of knew what this was about, but finally really learned the "rules" of it and actually got to play around with some course design tonight and I must say, it is totally fun!  In two weeks we are going to a USDAA match down near Louisville, and I am so excited to try it there.  Actually, I'm just excited for everything really: it will be our first time working in a trial environment, on full courses, etc. so it should be lots of fun and a great opportunity to learn.