My First USDAA Trial

We went to my first-ever USDAA trial today held at a training facility near us. It was a one-ring Starters/P1 and Advanced/P2 trial. We signed up for two of the first classes of the day - Gamblers and Standard. I had to get measured by the judge before I could run and that judge measured me at a whopping 15 1/2" tall! No way (I am officially 14" for AKC) but I was nervous and standing with my back arched. Good thing we weren't worried about a cut-off height or anything. Mom entered me in the Performance level so that I could jump 12" (like preferred in AKC).

First up was P1 Gamblers. Mom asked for advice in understanding the rules on the course map and then made up a plan. 1357 system means that jumps are worth 1 point each, tunnels are 3 points, contacts are 5 points and the weave poles are 7 points. I had to get 18 points (I think) in 30 seconds (I got 20) and then when the buzzer sounded, I had 16 seconds (I think) to complete the gamble (the obstacles on the other side of the dotted line and mom was not allowed to cross the line). She was shocked to see the gamble - jump, chute, jump - but she was more surprised at the result you'll see in the video!


After gamblers we waited less than an hour and a half and did the P1 Standard course. This course had a STC of 70 seconds and should've been a piece of cake for me but I decided to make it interesting by pretending not to know how to do a down on the table and cut the timing very close - LOL!

So I did well and everything - especially with the chutes - but I was not faster like mom was hoping I would be. I felt fine though. Maybe tomorrow will be different. I am just doing P1 Jumpers and Standard on Sunday. Today we were done and home by 11:30AM. Crazy, huh?

Grandpa came with grandma today to his first agility trial! He had fun watching all the dogs and really enjoyed seeing me run in person! It was awesome having them both there! And thanks again to grandma for more good video-ing! :)

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

BTCA Trial - Sunday

I ran JWW first again today. Mom stretched me before my run and she could tell that my right hind leg was tight because I wouldn't let her move it as much as my other hind leg. But I was moving ok and standing on my back legs and doing tricks so she wasn't too worried. I did a really good job in jumpers and ran clean but I was over time by 4 seconds so no Q.

As soon as we finished JWW, mom had to walk the standard course. She was really happy to see that like yesterday, the chute was towards the end when I am building up momentum because I can see the finish line and smell the chicken! Everything went well until mom forgot to front cross after #17 to block the weaves from my sight - I saw them and went to do them again - but mom was able to redirect me before the judge had a chance to start his dance! I went right into the chute - the fastest chute I have ever done in a trial I think! And then we were done! Guess what? I qualified and I got my AX!!!!!!!!! (This weekend was the first time I have Qed in STD since April!)

Here is today's video courtesy of my personal videographer grandma!

Now I am a total ExcB dog which is awesome but also means that I have to get faster or I will never Q again!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

BTCA Trial - Saturday

JWW was first up for me at the trial today! Mom walked the course more than usual to try to really have a plan and stick to it. We had a weird start because the leash runner disappeared and mom and I walked the leash over to the team that went before us. Then we got into position and off we went. Things were going well until #12 - the triple. I kind of tripped or stutter stepped before it but jumped it. Then as we approached #18 - a double - I don't know - I felt something stiff in my back leg and I refused to do the big jump and then missed #19 too and then just took the off-course for the finish.

When we left the course, people were asking if I was ok or was I hurt or something. You know mom - she was a little panicked. She had seen me trip before #12 but thought she had done something at the end to not indicate the jumps properly. We had Jenn's mom Susan look at me and she thought my right thigh muscle was tight. She showed mom how to do some stretches on me and said that in her opinion, I had a sore muscle but not a serious injury and could go on to do the next run. She said I would tell mom if I was hurt. And as a matter of fact, she said two of her Shelties had the exact same thing!

So mom decided to let me try the standard run. Silly mom forgot that the second obstacle was the DW but recovered in time to direct me to it. She thought she saw me willing myself over jumps (not just taking them easily) but I kept going and had no trouble with running up the aframe. It's impossible to see in the video but I did the chute - I very cautiously entered the barrel but came out pretty fast.

At the end of our run, one of our friends said the judge did not call a refusal! Seriously? Wow! We checked my time and guess what? I qualified!!! Thank goodness for the little bit of extra time you get in Exc. A! We passed the judge in the hallway later and mom thanked him for not calling a refusal on the chute and he said that I never stopped moving! WooHoo! He was a nice man!

Here is the video (thanks to my grandma again)!

Since we've been home, mom has done some stretching with me and I have run up and down the stairs a million times following mom everywhere. So maybe it was just a flukey thing? We'll see. Hopefully I will wake up tomorrow morning all fresh and raring to go!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Training Challenge #7

I am posting about my training challenge for this week early so that the weekend can be all about my trial! Mom decided I needed a fun challenge this time since I am busy with a trial the next couple of days. And she wanted to increase the odds that I would do the chute tomorrow so we spent part of the afternoon driving to different places and just doing it! (Sara and Oreo did this same thing awhile back - sorry for copying!)

First of all, a gratuitous photo of me - hard to believe there is ever water here but some times there is:

First stop:

Back in the car to go to the next stop:

Second stop (looks a lot like the first but it isn't):

Third stop (ditto what I said about the second):

Fourth stop - Pet People store! I am a bit of a celebrity at Pet People and they were nice enough to let us bring in the chute!

Fifth and last stop:

I am happy to report that I had no trouble whatsoever doing the chute - I did it everywhere! So, ok, agility trial, here I come!!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

GRCC AKC Agility Trial Saturday

Today's trial was held in an indoor soccer facility that does not have air conditioning! It does not have ceiling fans! It has almost no doors to open! Can I tell you how unbelievably hot it was? Outside it was 90 but with the breeze it felt like paradise. Inside was 90 with no breeze!

And yet grandma and I were real troopers (mom, not so much)!

Exc. JWW was first for me (we got to the trial around 11:00 and I ran this course around 1:00). Mom watched a lot of people run it and when she walked it, she walked a sane path and an insane path (LOL). But she ended up running a sane path with me and I was fast for me and we Q'ed!


Then we waited about 2 1/2 hours more. We went outside for awhile and we even sat in the car with the air conditioning running. Mom kept wetting me down with water (I felt humiliated by that and only slightly cooler for a couple minutes).

The Exc. STD course seemed fairly straight forward to mom - she was relieved to see it started with a jump and the chute was not until later in the course. I started out ok but was a little pokey so mom ran the outside line at #5. Then I saw the chute coming (tricky discrimination between the tunnel and the chute for some dogs) and I almost went in and then after I formally got the refusal from the judge (LOL) I did the chute really fast! Hurray for me!! Mom was super happy too because I haven't done the chute in a trial in a very long time. Rest of the course was good! So NQ but for us, a good job!

And here's the video:

We're just not sure if we can or should go back tomorrow. It's not going to be any cooler. Mom was very proud of how well I did today even with it being so darn hot. But she says she felt sick most of the day and that's no fun. After we get a good night's rest we'll decide what to do. It's tough to decide - be happy things went so well today and let it go at that or go back and try again to build on how well it went today. Decisions, decisions. If only the building were air conditioned! LOL!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Training Challenge Week 3

I wasn't sure if we were going to get out for a training challenge this week. I'm having another bout of my IBS or colitis or whatever you want to call it when you get mucousy, runny poop! Mom tried to help me on Wednesday with more pumpkin and a tiny dose of imodium, but yesterday afternoon I still wasn't better and mom thought she saw blood in my poop. She took me to the vet and he didn't find any bacteria or blood but gave me an antibiotic and something called forti flora just in case. So I really didn't get a diagnosis but I am doing better today. NO poop now. It's always something!

So since I was feeling better and since it was a little cooler outside, mom took me to a soccer field to practice some agility. I had never been to this field before. It is surrounded by major roads (you can hear the road noise in the video). But there are trees that obscure most of the cars from view. After what seemed like an eternity, mom loaded up the car, we drove there, she unloaded the car, and then we gave it a try. I didn't have any trouble doing agility there but I did have lots of trouble coming out of the chute and seeing the weaves when mom was on my right! To be fair to me, we had never tried that skill before and I proved that it is going to have to be practiced. But I saw the weaves when mom was on my left!

We had fun but really only practiced for about 5 minutes! It was hot in the sun and mom didn't want to overdo it since I have not been feeling 100%. She complained all the way home about all that work loading and unloading the car for only 5 minutes of practice. Mom is such a wimp!

If I am feeling up to it, mom and grandma and I are going to a trial tomorrow and Sunday! It is only 20 minutes from here in a soccer building - but last time we were there it was very hot inside and so we're worried about that. If it's too hot we may run once and come home. I am going to meet up with a blogger friend named Sagira who lives in town and we actually belong to the same club but we met through blogging! It will be fun to meet Sagira and her mom and dad in person. Her dad takes great photos so hopefully we'll have one to share with you!

Stay cool everybody!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Tuesday's class

At least today's class started out better than last week's! Mom didn't have to get all mad at me because I was less sniffy and a little more focused. Was that because class was about forward motion front crosses? Who knows. We reviewed FMFC at the jump and on the flat.

Some random thoughts: beginning agility dogs need to be taught not to go past the handler's outside arm (inside arm sends forward but outside arm signals a turn). I was taught at first with a mish-mash of ideas so I never learned to not go behind mom or to turn with her outside arm. An exercise on the flat is to have your dog walk in a straight line next to you and you have a treat in your outside hand and the dog never goes past your outside hand. Also a handler needs to be very clear to always go past the plane of a jump to do a FMFC (the shoulder turn and the outside arm can begin on the take-off side of the jump but the cross is performed past the plane of the jump). This is important so that the dog does not confuse the FMFC with the backy uppy. With the backy uppy, the handler stays on the take-off side of the jump and motions the dog over the jump and back next to her. (confusing to write this out). And last, the shoulder turn is the most important part of the FMFC (even more than the outside arm).

(If anybody thinks we got any of this information wrong, please always let us know!)

We did a sequence where we had the aframe and then a jump almost straight ahead but we had to jump from the back side of it and that was tough! The handlers had to get ahead and keep an eye on the dog to call the dog around to the back with a FMFC on the flat and then over the jump.

Jenn put the chute out for me to practice before my trial this weekend. I am happy to report that I went through it all three times (the first time with a little hesitation and the second and third times no hesitation at all)! Jenn suggested that mom make the barrel part of my chute here at home look different. So we came home and mom really tried to disguise it - boxes, a chair, sandpaper in the barrel, my bath tub mat in the barrel(she thought that would scare me since I only see that mat at bath times), a dark sheet, a pool noodle - nothing she did affected me at all!

(Sorry about the poor video - mom even let the camera tilt down half-way through and cut off part of the picture. )

Any way, mom believes now that my problem is not the chute at all but just a lack of confidence at trials or in new environments. So we have to do more of our training challenges and just hope that our confidence grows!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Training Challenge Week 2

You'll never guess where we went for my training challenge this week --- my terrier neighbors' backyard! Yes, all the way across the fence. You know how they always say the grass is greener? Well now we know it's true!

Seriously mom has wanted to try me with agility over in the terriers' yard for quite awhile now and she finally asked the terriers' mom if we could. We had the yard to ourselves for this challenge - didn't want it to be TOO challenging. We took a couple jumps and my chute over there and just did some easy stuff. Mom was surprised because I acted like I do agility over there all the time! And of course, she could barely keep me out of the chute! We did jumps and the chute and then we practiced two-jump sequences - we have been working on 270s because I like to cut in between the jumps. So we did some of those - watch me as I hit the bar with my legs and do a face plant in the grass! (I was unfazed but the fixed bars my jumps have are not a good thing). I am a daredevil (think Miley would be impressed? I hope so! LOL!).

Happy Father's Day to everybody's Dad! Hope you all have a great day!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Today's Class

Class was fun today - only three of us showed up so it was almost a private lesson! We are nearing the end of this session so we did longer sequences. I was really into sniffing the floor and looking for food and swiveling my head this way and that while I was running just to make sure I didn't miss something on the floor. Jenn says mom needs to practice with me on that - putting stuff on the floor and getting me to ignore it. Great - take all the fun out of it for me!! LOL! Mom actually had to give up on the handling and run some crazy outside lines to get me to focus at all! The best news of this morning however is that I did the CHUTE every time! (Mom says why today and not all weekend?)

The class was specifically about how to turn at nonturning obstacles - weaves, contacts, curved tunnels. Lateral distance does not cue a turn and lateral motion in and of itself does not cue a turn - the handler uses deceleration or body language (like shoulder turn) and/or verbal commands including the dog's name if necessary. For instance, if the sequence is dogwalk, straight to the tire, and then left end of a curved tunnel (with the right end of the tunnel straight in line with the tire), handlers will try to just run with more lateral distance from the dog when the dog is doing the DW and tire and expect the dog to go into the left end of the tunnel. But their forward motion is cueing extension and it just propels the dog into the right end (straight in front of them after the tire). So the handler should run closer to the dog on the DW and then begin lateral motion away as the dog goes to the tire and then can use exaggerated shoulder movement to help show the dog the left end of the tunnel. We also talked about how the handler's motion should not affect the dog while they are doing a nonturning obstacle - so if the handler does move laterally away from the weaves for example, the dog should stay in the weaves and complete them before turning away. We practiced deceleration at the chute to get the dog to turn back to the handler (rather than running with complete forward motion which should suggest to the dog that the next obstacle is straight ahead).

Jenn says that my performance of obstacles has gotten faster - like my DW and weaves - but that I need to get my ground speed to be faster. Anybody have any ideas about that? I am a fast dog when I choose to be!

Dawn wanted to know how my cousin Wilson was this weekend. He was bored because he had to stay at home while we were at the trial! And then on Friday when we got home, it rained and we couldn't play outside. Plus I was tired! Other than that, I guess he was good! :)

Some thoughts from the trial though - it was our first overnight trial experience and even though we didn't stay in a hotel, mom was really happy with how I dealt with it all. I rested well at Wilson's ( usually I don't), I didn't get any stress-related IBS, and I was happy and relaxed at the trial venue - I did tricks and even tugged on my leash a little bit. Definitely Q rate is not what it's all about!! (Although we don't mind Q's at all)!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

This Weekend's Trial

On Friday we headed down to a trial near my cousin Wilson's house (it ended up being only 10 minutes from his house - very cool!). Aunt Laura came and kept us company and also video-ed all my runs for me - thanks Aunt Laura!! Meredith (Laura's daughter so she's my human cousin) came to see me run on Saturday. She gave me good massages while we waited for my turn!

There's really not that much to say about the trial days - it was a good venue and a smallish trial and we were done by 2:00 on Friday and 1:00 on Saturday. I felt pretty relaxed there and did tricks and tugged on my leash a little bit. I was slow in my STD run on Friday and didn't feel like going in the chute and then mom messed up my Q in JWW that day. On Saturday, the STD course started with the chute and I sure didn't feel like going in there then so I skipped it and the rest of my run was pretty good. Mom held it together in the JWW and ran fast around the outside to motivate me and we Q'ed (finally a Q) but just barely made time. Here are the course maps and the videos from each day:

While we were gone, my new 2X2 weave poles came! They seem really nice - heavy bases and well made. Mom set them up and I tried them a couple times. We put them in the grass and didn't stake them and they didn't move one bit. We're really excited to practice with them and to see if I can speed up my weaves away from home now!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

AKC Puli Club Trial Sunday

Second day of the trial today! Mom, grandma, and I got there at noon and that was of course way too early. But we sat and watched a lot of the Exc JWW and got to see some really outstanding handlers and their dogs. Mom had the course memorized before she walked it. We almost had a conflict again - mom got us moved up in the JWW so she wouldn't miss the walk-thru for Open STD. Our JWW run went great! Mom actually ran it like she walked it (she thinks) and it worked well and kept me moving. We Q'ed and got 2nd place and our AXJ title!

After that exciting run we went over to wait for our Open STD run. This course started out similarly to yesterday's - a few jumps and then the chute. Today mom made sure she didn't run past the chute and coaxed me in - I went in and didn't get called for a refusal. Then we were going along just fine and I decided it would be cool to do the chute again!!!! Mom veered to the right and I went left and I completely shocked her and she yelled, "Ricky!!" and saved me from the chute but I was not thinking about jumping and knocked the top bar of the triple. Oh well. Mom says although we didn't Q (or get that last leg in Open but who's really counting - ha), she is super proud to think that I wanted to repeat the chute of all things! I am gaining more confidence every time I run now and it's not a bad thing to stay in Open a little longer. Once we get to EXC STD we can't make any mistakes and we have to run faster to make time. So waiting is a good thing! (PS. We just found out that the standard course time was 71 and my time was 66.83 - so I was well under course time! Yay! That's major progress!)

As if all the agility this weekend wasn't exciting enough, tomorrow morning we start a new handling class taught by Jenn Crank! We are super excited to be taking her class and we will tell you all about it. For now I have to rest up - a dog's work is never done!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Wednesday class, cold weather, tRicky T-Day, and a Friday trial

What happened to October - blue skies, pretty leaves, indian summer, dry air? We have skipped October this year and gone straight to November - rainy, cold, windy, gray. I don't mind it that much although we don't go outside like we used to. But mom is whining about the bad weather all day long!

Last night we went to our Wednesday agility class (we missed last week because mom had to rehearse Beethoven #9 - whatever that means). We ran a full course last night - and it included the chute which is always very good practice for me. Since our last real post we have been practicing with the target and getting me to take off at the start. And we have been practicing short sequences (three or four obstacles). Mom is trying to keep practices short and fun and not daily and she tries not to let me know I did anything wrong (that's the hardest thing for her - she STILL catches herself making me redo something from time to time)! It seems to have paid off because I ran pretty fast and happy last night. I even did my fastest away- from- home chute! By the end of the course, mom forgot where she was supposed to go but we just kept running fast and she let me do whatever jumps I wanted. I was super excited when we finished and I got lots of chicken to prove how well I did!

After the run-thru we split up into two groups and did smaller portions of the course. I was still happy until my second-to- last go - I came out of a tunnel really fast and caught sight of another dog out of the corner of my eye. I took my mind off what I was doing for a second and flew at a jump and slipped and knocked the bar. It spooked me a little - mom checked to see that I was ok and then put me back in the tunnel and I finished the sequence. Then when we tried our last little exercise, I refused the aframe and mom stopped me and had me do it again (see, I told you she forgets and makes me redo stuff!!!) I did it the second time. But mom, always the worrier, is hoping that getting spooked won't have a lasting effect on me.

Today is tRicky T-Day so we put together a little video showing my new cane tricks! And there is bonus footage of my stand in the corner trick - mom stands farther away from me now and just says, "Corner" and off I go. We are trying to generalize the behavior to other corners but it's not working yet!

Tomorrow we are traveling a little more than an hour to a trial at a new location for us. It's another artificial turf surface place. Since the barn where we used to trial is still not usable, we are forced to seek out other opportunities. Well, an hour is not a very long drive. Grandma is going to go with us to keep mom company. She has never been to an agility trial but she loves dogs and we think she's going to have a great time! The schedule looks good for us too - I run my Open JWW at 10:00 and then just have to wait for Open STD but we think I may get to run that around noon. That would be great!! So our goal for tomorrow is to blast off from the start line and to run happy (with no sniffing before obstacles!!).

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Playing agility

Last weekend when we were at grandpa and grandma's building the dogwalk, we took a little break and set up one jump, the chute, and six plunger weaves in the backyard to just have some fun!

Hope you all are having a great last weekend of the summer!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Our not-so-exciting week

Now to tell you about our not-so-exciting week! On Monday mom took me to the schoolyard (an elementary school near our house where we walk sometimes) to try my new chute. It went well and I didn't have any problems doing the chute there.

Tuesday was supposed to be our handling class. We arrived at the class time (9:30AM) and the instructor told us class had been changed to 11:00 - lack of communication - since we live 40 minutes away, we couldn't just go home and come back later. So she said we could just practice on our own. It was fun to have the agility field to ourselves, but mom was sorry we missed the class. She likes structure and everything! We did some dogwalks - nothing spectacular there - and the chute - but I refused to do it the first time and mom was majorly bummed out. She got out our target and then I started doing the chute for the target. I did do it a few times without and then mom tried one last time and I refused it again. This chute problem is just crazy!!! We only stayed about 30 minutes because we both got worn out and hot.

On Wednesday and Thursday it rained almost non-stop! We tried some more free timing for Ludo's tricky t-day but had no luck. All I ever offer to mom is scratching at or licking the box. Like I said before, I am not clicker trained or used to shaping. I like to be shown or told what to do! So any way, we didn't make a trick video this week either. But we did practice weave entries with our plungers in the house and that was pretty fun!






On Friday we went to my favorite park and tried the chute there. Mom even took one of my jumps and so we did jump, chute or vice a versa. It went really well (except for when I ran off to greet a dog that was walking by - mom was not happy and I got in trouble for that!). I flew through the chute like I never have a problem. Now mom says she'll have to get creative and take me and my chute to places I have never been before.

Yesterday it rained most of the day again! The flowers and the grass really need the rain but staying inside all day is boring to me!

Have I told you that I have two domestic ducks as neighbors? The college kids who rent the house diagonally in back of us raised 6 ducks this spring. They kept two of them (we try not too think to much about where the other 4 went) and while we're pretty sure it is illegal to have ducks living in your backyard in the city, we have enjoyed having them around. They like people and dogs and if we go out into the backyard or if our neighbor and her dogs go out, the ducks start quacking and quacking and come to see us! Mom thinks it sounds like they are laughing. The sad part is - what's going to happen to them? You're not allowed to release domestic ducks into the wild and there aren't many people who want ducks. So we don't have much hope for them having a long and happy life. Poor ducks!

Well, guess that's about it for now! Today's weather is nice - no rain so far - so we had better get outside and enjoy it!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

My Own Chute!

Grandma made me my very own chute today! We had a nylon laundry hamper and cut out the ends and then attached about 10ft of nylon material to it. Grandma did all the cutting and sewing and everything! She and mom had me try it out right away at Grandma's house and I did it. Then we came home and dad video-ed me trying it out in my backyard!

Looks like fun, doesn't it? Now mom is going to take me and my chute all over so I can get used to doing it in new environments. Hopefully I will be cured of all chute paranoia!

Thank you so much Grandma!!!!!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Still practicing

Yesterday we set up our "dogwalk" - it's the up plank and middle part to a very mini-dogwalk and then our 8' teeter board with a hoop-type thing at the end to make me stay on the plank instead of jumping off. First we ran the DW with a target about 3' from the end. Then we did it without a target. Then we added a jump before and after the DW but keeping a straight line off the DW. We took video (9 minutes of it) and mom tried to edit it in WMM. The WMM froze and she lost all the editing work she had done so NO VIDEO!! Here are some snapshots we took from the video so you can see the set up. Does anyone think this "dogwalk" bares enough resemblance to the real thing to be helpful to us? I ran it quite fast.

Today we went to our 5th handling class. I haven't been posting much about this class. It is good and mom learns something every time we go, but for me the sequences or drills are mostly too short and I don't get going enough. However today we worked on front crosses (always good at motivating me) so the jumping part of class went well. Below is a photo of the set up for the drill:

I wish you could see the colors of the jumps so that I could explain the drill more easily to you. (maybe if you bigify?) I'll try any way. Start with the orange jump in the bottom left-hand corner of the photo then do the yellow jump right above it then take the 180 to the right and front cross in front of the red jump between the two people and then back to the orange (first jump). All of the drills start with the same three jumps - orange, yellow, 180 to red and then always front cross after red but then second time take the purple jump (to the right of the orange) and third time take the blue jump (closest to the right side of the photo) and last time take the teal jump (farthest away in the photo to the right of the instructor). So the point is to place your front crosses where it is best to get the tightest turn to lead your dog to the next jump. It was pretty fun and we set it up in our backyard to try tomorrow. If we can we'll post a video.

The rest of the class wasn't too great. My DW was still so slow (even with the work we have been doing), and much to mom's dismay, I wouldn't go through the chute at all. There was no wind blowing it open today and I just didn't want to run through that shiny, hot nylon material. Now mom is saying she may have to buy me a real chute. Has anyone bought one?

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

PS. Ok, that's good - at least you can bigify these photos and kind of make out the jump colors. I wasn't sure how it would work because we used Flip video and made snapshots from the video. Seems to work pretty well!

Beginning Intermediate class 7

We went to our last class of beginning intermediate agility last night. Next month we will be moving on to the advanced intermediate class. We sure did learn a lot in the two sessions of beg.inter. that we went to. Last night was divided into three sections - weaves, contacts and teeter. We started off in weaves - I did some pretty fast weaving for me on those silly weaves with the bars in between the poles. Too bad we can't use stick in the ground poles in the class! Then in contacts, I slowed down. I took the aframe when mom was really showing me and telling me to take the tunnel - so I didn't run hard enough to get the momentum I needed to get up the aframe. That made me have to scrabble and claw my way up there - and then after that I didn't want to do it any more. Mom never really knows what to do with me when I sort of shut down. I'm not sure what to tell her either. We also had the chute in this section and I just didn't feel like going through it, unless the instructor held it open for me. So she worked with us on this and after quite a few repetitions, I did do it. She told mom to change the chute we have at home to darker and heavier material and practice with that. Then we went on to the teeter. We practiced getting more speed - mom tried to get me to run to the pivot point and she gave me a treat there and then I got another at the end. Cool - two treats! It did motivate me to get the teeter to tip.

During the next couple weeks mom has some ideas of what she wants to practice with me - as much as the weather will allow - she wants to figure out a way to get me to run with her to the first obstacle in a sequence. I am mostly very slow to get started (more so in class than at home). She wants to keep working on the chute - she already tried a new one with me this morning using a dark green flannel sheet (I went through before she was ready for me and got all tangled up and had to be rescued but it didn't phase me and then I did it a whole bunch of times after that - go figure - don't know what to tell you, mom!). And we are going to keep working on front crosses to speed me up - mom has to keep finding ways to put them in. Luckily we can go to open practice the next two Wednesdays and get in some good use of the equipment at the club. Also we are planning to make a few more jumps so that we can set up more complex jumping sequences in the backyard.

It's pouring rain outside - our morning walk has been postponed - mom doesn't mind walking in light rain but heavy rain is another story. Guess we're lucky it's not freezing rain and/or snow?

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Agility class 6, etc.

Thursday night was our sixth class of this session. We actually ran a course during this class. So during the first 30 minutes, we split into two groups and practiced some parts of the course. Then during the last half of the hour, we ran the course. It was really fun. It started with tunnel, dogwalk, chute, then front cross and two jumps. They had a different chute out there than usual and I forgot my new "king of the chute" mentality and I only did it when the instructor held it open for me...sorry mom! Then we did aframe, tire, weaves, tunnel - and then I sped up. The tunnel went to a triple and mom started running full out and I went with her! After triple was teeter, table, 180 jumps, another 180 jumps and then broad jump. Our instructor came right over to us and told mom that we should stop doing 2o2o for the dogwalk and teeter (we were already not doing it on the aframe). She thinks I won't bail on my contacts and she says if I start to, we can just put the 2o2o back in since I know it so well. Cool! Now I won't have to come to a dead stop in the contacts and maybe I'll be a faster dog. She also reminded mom to keep looking for places to put in front crosses to motivate me more. So we did pretty well over all except that I did a little sniffing when I should've been following mom...sorry mom!

Yesterday mom took me to run in the park even though it was only 20 degrees! There was no wind and the sun was out! And the sun is hardly ever out in Ohio in the winter. We had fun and surprisingly there were quite a few people and their dogs there.

Today we practiced in the yard - it was much warmer outside. We practiced teeter without the 2o2o - I rode it down and as I approached the bottom mom just said ok and we kept running. I liked that! We also did table - we don't practice that much and some times I am a little slow doing my down or sit. So mom made sure she really rewarded the fast responses.

We are working on a lot of new tricks too. Every evening after dinner, mom gets out the cheerios and we practice the new stuff - handstand, hide under a blanket, open the door, take and hold the dumbbell (not really a trick but we may need it for obedience some day), and shake head no. Some things are getting better, but they are all works in progress, that's for sure! We really love kikopup's YouTube channel and all of her videos on how to teach tricks. She really inspires us!

This week we have Wednesday morning practice and then our last class of the session on Thursday. Then we have a couple weeks off and start the advanced intermediate class in January! Can't wait!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Class 4, more practice, and cold weather!

BRRR....it's COLD! We are having January weather in November! When mom and I walked this morning, the temperature was 24 but with the wind chill it was 9!! I love it! I say, "Bring it on!" But mom is freezing all the time. So we don't go outside very often. I don't get it - why is it that we are outside all day in the summer when it's 80-90 degrees and I am so hot I can't stand it, but now that the weather is so nice, we spend all our time inside?

Wednesday morning practice went well again this week. We set up the chute in the small ring like last time and practiced it starting with the material folded up a little and progressing to full-length in no time. Mom was happy to see that I was still willing to do the chute and last week wasn't a fluke! We also did well in the big ring on the course.

Last night was our agility class 4. The most exciting news to report is that I DID THE CHUTE in class too - different building, different chute, but I still did it! Hurray! As a matter of fact, mom had trouble keeping me out of it. We were supposed to do a sequence where mom blocks the path to the chute so that I would take a nearby jump and I went straight into the chute! Not what we ultimately want, of course, but mom was very happy to see my enthusiasm. We also worked on some difficult weave entries - a jump at an angle into the weaves, a lead-out push to the weaves, and a jump straight on into the weaves where I had to collect and mom had to make sure to stay out of my way. In the contact section, I did my fastest dogwalk yet - I was actually moving so fast that I had trouble stopping my momentum to do my 2o2o and ended up running right off the end of the walk! I was not used to moving so fast! Our instructor said that I look like a different dog!

This afternoon mom set up a little agility course in the house. We had a tunnel in the kitchen, 6 plungers we got at the Dollar store for weaves, a jump, and a short board for a mini dogwalk. It was really fun! Mom would have me walk-it and then send me into the tunnel while she stayed in the living room, then over the jump and through the weaves while she stayed on the other side of the couch. It ended up being a good distance challenge (I'll be ready for novice FAST in no time!!!). We wanted to take video but we couldn't get the tripod far enough away to get a good view. So we took photos instead to show you our set-up.

Hope you all have a great weekend! Mom says if the temperature is above freezing tomorrow she'll take me to the park! I'm keeping my paws crossed!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Agility this week

So today is rainy and cold and perfect for sitting down at the computer to do a little blogging. We had a great agility week! It started on Wednesday with my chute success. At Wed. morning agility practice the building is split up into two rings - a big one for the course we build and a smaller one where we can practice obedience or jumps or something. This week we dragged the chute and a couple of jumps into the small ring so that mom and I could work on the chute without worrying about a time limit or other obstacles. First mom folded up the chute material about half way and then she put a couple of cones in it to prop it up just a little bit. Then she put a jump in front of the chute and we tried jump to chute. Since mom didn't have to stop to hold the chute open, she ran right past it and called me to come through. And I eventually did it. When she thought I was pretty comfortable with this stage, she took a cone out and then took the other cone out. Then each time I went through I gained more confidence and got lots of praise and treats. Mom gradually let out the material and before you knew it, I had gone through the chute with the material all the way out several times!!! Mom was jumping up and down, cheering me on and giving me jackpots! It was very exciting! After that we went over to the big ring and practiced short sequences on the course. I was really having a good time. I flew over the jumps and a frame and wasn't bothered by the noisy teeter at all. And then later we tried the chute again - this time with a jump before it and after it - and I did it all!!!! We're very excited to try again next week.

Then on Thursday night we went to our third agility class of this session. We didn't get to try the chute there because it wasn't one of the obstacles that was out for us this time. First we started with jumps and mom working on her front crosses. Then we went to contacts. We did more a frame/tunnel discrimination. And dog walk. Well, my instructor was so impressed with my improved confidence level that she told us right there and then that we were ready to move on to the next class level after this session!!! Hurray! There are several classes we could chose from - advanced intermediate, a handling class, or novice courses. Mom is thinking advanced intermediate might be good - they split the room up into two bigger sequences (instead of the four sections with small sequences that we have now). Any way, our instructor also told us she thinks we could start doing trials and she predicts we would go straight through novice and get into open with no problems! This was all very exciting news!!! Then we went on and practiced weaves and finally we ended up with teeter and jumps.

So I had a great agility week! Mom and I are going to work on the chute again this coming Wednesday and once we think I can do it reliably, we will try run-throughs, a show and go, and then maybe a trial in February!!!

Gotta zoom!


Ricky