Tuesday's class

We were on our way out the door yesterday when we got the call that our class had been canceled due to weather! No, not again! We had freezing rain and some snow the day/night before but although our neighborhood streets were very icy, we assumed the main roads would be fine. Guess not.

Any way, back to those few nice days from last week (before everything was covered in snow yet again). We made a video of the 180 exercise from last week's class. It didn't go all that great - I was not very fast and mom's handling was not very good - but at least you can kind of see what the exercise was and we can remember it for practicing in the future.

Mom and I don't make fancy edited videos much any more - we just stick it up on YouTube - so here is what we tried to show you -

First we did the 180 with a backy uppy a couple times (mom didn't mean to do the rear cross or anything before the 180 but due to poor planning she was on the wrong side of me).

Then we tried the serpentine version.

Then we did a couple with double front crosses (my favorite).

In class we did a curved tunnel to the DW and then into the 180. At home we just used that straight tunnel but it didn't propel me forward like it should have.

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Tuesday's class

I went to class yesterday even though it was my birthday and I would've rather just been out chasing squirrels or something. Mom says I am still young enough to learn new things so off to class we went.

Class was about backy uppys, serpentine recalls to heel, foundation recalls, and double fronts with some obstacle discrimination thrown in. We warmed up at one jump with the BU, SR, and FRTH. (abbreviations by me). Mom chose to use the triple and double jumps for me just to get me more exposure to them. I did fine and did knock any bars or anything.

Then we had to do sequences that included those handling skills. The first one was jump to aframe but there was a straight tunnel next to the right side of the aframe. Mom knew I would want to take the tunnel and while most people started with a lead out and the dog on their right and just said, "Frame" and the dog went up the aframe, mom ran with me on her left and tried her hardest to block my access to the tunnel (planning to rear cross me as I went up the aframe as there was no room for her to get around the right side of the tunnel). Well I could not be thwarted and took the tunnel any way! Yay for me! I love tunnels! And it WAS my birthday. Then I did double, triple and I was supposed to look at mom and run by the big gaping obvious right end of a curved tunnel and follow her around to the far-away left end of the tunnel. Mom called my name and I blew past her and into the wrong end. But I was very happy about it - I had a huge grin on my face (and I have to say again it was my birthday)! Jenn was NOT happy about it and she said to mom (and I quote) "He is extremely unresponsive to his name!" Well. So there.

I also ignored mom on a serpentine recall involving a 180 and preferred to go and do the chute! Yes, somehow the chute and I have become good friends!

At the end of class we did a timed experiment to see what would be the fastest way for each of us teams to handle a 180 - backy uppy was first, then serpentine, then the double front. It was fun and of course I was fastest with the double front. This will be a good exercise to try again in our yard and to video for you guys some day! We will try to remember.

After class I got to go to my favorite pet store and they gave me lots of treats and I got a new bully stick - I love to chew on them and they are really helping to clean my teeth! Also they had a Nino Ottosson Dog Magic game out on the floor of the store and I got to play with it -

I had it figured out in no time and had a blast moving those silly bones out of the way and getting the FOOD underneath. Mom was glad she didn't have to bother to buy me a new toy!

It has finally warmed up around here - today was 59! So most of the snow is gone and we just have a little ice in the grass where the sun never shines on it to melt it. Our yard is all soupy muddy puddley now. But in the very back of the backyard the ground is drier so mom set up my table with a straight tunnel right next to it and we practiced jump to either table or tunnel and sometimes mom called me off - and guess what? I was responsive to my name! Ha! It felt so great to be outside doing agility again. AND our daffodils are starting to peek up out of the ground. We know winter is not completely over but this is such a nice and welcome break from all that snow and cold!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Tuesday's class

Serpentines and lateral sends were the theme of yesterday's class. I jumped 8" but there weren't any doubles or triples in the set up for us to try out. We warmed up with some serpentine recalls to heel over one jump. Mom was glad we had been practicing those at home so we had no trouble. Then we did a weave exercise with lateral motion. Jenn had the handlers start close to their dogs at the entries and then move laterally away as the dog continued weaving. She moved the lateral distance farther and farther away but my weaves are super independent ( sorry but I have to brag a little!) and it was no problem for me!

Then we moved on to the actual sequences with serpentines. We discussed single-sided handling and side-change handling. A general rule is if after the serpentine you are heading to any obstacle that is on the same side as the serp entry, then single sided makes sense. If you need to go to an obstacle on the other side of the serp, then side change may work better - so a FMFC. Think about the tightest line possible to help your dog get through the serp. So recalling him at his jump height from the bar and good lateral motion can create tighter lines. The good lateral motion involves having a good send to the first jump in the serp. Handlers need to remember to keep their shoulders straight while moving laterally until the dog commits to the jump. Finally, the single-sided serp handling is a trained skill for the dog and it is appropriate to say the dog's name before he commits to the second jump (I think I have that part right?).

Besides traditional serpentines, we practiced doing the first two jumps and then having the dog come through between the 2nd and the 3rd. It's hard to explain but we made a video and here's what we tried to do:

1. Lead out, single-sided to pull through between the 2nd and 3rd jump of the serp

2. No lead out, regular 3 jumps single-sided serp

3. No lead out, pull through

4. Lead out, double front cross bringing dog between the 2nd and 3rd jump - this is a safer option and is what we would do in a trial

5. No lead out, double front cross

6. Serp from the other direction (sorry you couldn't see the weaves at the end)

I don't understand why the video is the correct size in the preview but when I publish the post, the video is too big. Silly. Sorry but to see the video properly, you have to double click on the center of it and watch it at YouTube.

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Monday's Class

Yesterday's class was about forward motion front crosses again and also something called a double front cross which we had never ever done before! Jenn sent a sub to teach the class and she did great! She's super nice and really knows her APHS!

One thing for the handler to remember about the double front - get both arms up and cueing! This is weird since sometimes inside arm is blended into outside arm but it's not usually BOTH arms at the same time. I guess a double front is when you move from one front cross into the next so seamlessly that it looks like one motion and not two separate front crosses. Of course this is impossible to visualize so we'll have to try a video - not sure we even know what we're doing but maybe you all can tell us if you see it and we are doing it wrong! (We had to wait all day yesterday and today for it to stop raining again so we could make a video! - Remember -we are new to this stuff and are just trying to learn it all so we don't claim to know what we are doing for sure but showing us trying in the video is easier than explaining in words!)

Jenn had the chute set up for me so I could try it and I refused! Typical, mom says. Mom is very frustrated by my chute/shoot performance or lack thereof. After begging me, I finally did do it and then did it lightning fast several times for big turkey pay-offs. I honestly don't know what my problem is - I am just playing around with mom's head (and it's working - LOL!).

Gotta zoom!

Ricky