More jump grids for Spot

In Thursday's class, Spot was the only one there! The weather was iffy and traffic horrible, so I was 15 minutes late.

We warmed up, did some contacts and some weaves. We did 2 sets of 2x2s, and he did very well. He's definitely improving.

Then we did some jump grids. First we did a 2 jump grid with a single and a double, which we raised and lowered. Then we tried some with me running with him, which he did fine with.

Then we did a 5 jump grid, starting out all at the same level, then changing the height of every other one higher, then back down. I also did some running with him on this one.

Finally we did a grid with 5 jumps. The first 4 jumps stayed the same distance away from each other, but the fifth jump we moved closer and then further away. This was to teach him to evaluate distance and figure out how to determine a set point. We also wanted to see how much of a distance he could bounce jump. We got it to about 12 feet.

Overall Spot did very well. He's a natural jumper. He actually would sometimes not wait for me to give the ok. He would self release and take all the jumps.

The next step will be setting up turns.

Serpentining the tunnel

So in Spot's class on Thursday we worked on some serpentine handling. We worked on serpentining the tunnel entrance and exit. I don't think I've done that with a tunnel before. I've done it with the A frame or dogwalk. So we had to send the dog to the tunnel, then call and feed with the outside hand, then send again and throw the reward toy. The timing was hard! But Spot got it.

We also worked on weaves again. I used 2 sets of 2x2 poles. Both pretty open. Spot did better than I thought. I tried not to send to the poles, but instead position myself so that he would take the poles on his own. Surprisingly he did better on the right, which is the off side. I'm happy that he is making progress. If he can get weaves, I can enter him in level 2 standard.

We also did the jump grid again. Spot did some grids with jumps at various heights so he could work on collection. He loves to jump, so much that I had to have him held back at the start. He has some good form, I think part is natural and part is from flyball, which we did a few years ago.

I sent in 2 entry forms for upcoming trials. I am hoping to get into the trial Feb 13th at All Dogs Gym in Manchester and the Bo Gee trial at American K9 Country in Amherst. But All Dogs is always tough, and I messed up sending in the Bo Gee entry. I sent it in postmarked by the 18th, but they were doing first received by the 18th. I only entered the Friday classes, so hopefully I will get in!

Spot agility January 14th

So, Spot had agility class last Thursday. I decided not to take Shelby, since she doesn't have any competitions coming up, and hopefully Spot will get into either the next All Dogs trial or Bo Gee trial.

This class we did some work on weave poles. Spot isn't great at them. He could do 6 poles if they were open. When we closed up the first set, he missed them and went to the second set. He gets so hyped up, it's like he just doesn't see them. It doesn't help that we don't work on them at home, but I just don't have enough space.

Next we did a jump grid. This is where you set up 4 jumps at a low height in order to encourage the dog to bounce through them. This means landing and taking off right away without a step in between. Like flyball jumping. This helps the dog learn their optimal take off point and learn how to jump more efficiently. The first time we tried it, we had 2 jumps. Well, Spot took off and jumped both at once! Once he understood, he did really well. He had no problem with 4 jumps. Some dogs don't plan well, and by the time they get to the 4th jump, they are off balance.

Then at the end we did a small sequence. Part of the sequence was a rear cross. I feel like Spot's rear crosses are suffering the longer we train. Like before, he just charged ahead and didn't care, but now he's actually paying attention, so he sticks with me. So I need to do some rewarding for going ahead.

Bissell MVP Contest is starting

Bissell is starting their MVP contest again. You can enter a photo of your dog each week, and then people vote. Your dog could end up on the packaging!

I entered Spot, but voting doesn't start until next week.

New Year's Day Agility

Wow-can't believe I haven't posted in a month! We had a little break from agility class, but New Year's Day Spot and Shelby both had a session.

In Spot's class, we are up to running courses of 16-20 obstacles now. It feels weird because to me he is still a beginner! The course we did opened with 2 jumps in a row, then a jump diagonal to the right, then left to the A frame. I opted to handle it on the right, and call Spot to me, then send over the jump and handle the tunnel on the right. I did that rather than the front cross, because Spot is so fast, and I just don't have the timing down right. My instructor didn't really like the way I did it, because I used the Linda Mecklinburg system of calling to heel position, and I didn't cue the turn well, and Spot slid, which can be danerous. So to make it work, I ust needed to cue like a serpentine, so Spot knows the turn is coming. I did it a second time, but tried a rear cross, which Spot usually does well, but he was super slow this time.

The second section of the course was A frame to a tunnel underneath on the left, then weave poles, a jump with a 180 to the dog walk. I ran the A frame on the right, and then did a front cross to the tunnel and the weaves on the right, to the jump and dog walk. That worked fine, but my instructor suggested doing a post turn-type move off the A frame to make it easier for me to run to the other side of the A frame to get the weave poles. That did work better!

After the dog walk, it was a left turn, over 2 jumps, to a tunnel, then a 3 jumps in a pinwheel, to the final jump. I ran it so that I was past the jump after the dog walk when Spot was hitting the contact so I would be able to call him over the jump. That worked well and he held his contact. The sequence went well, until the pinwheel. I tried to send, and Spot missed the last jump. For some reason, I feel like I should send whenever posible, because it's more advanced or something...when in reality, running with the dog works better.

For Shelby's class, we had the same course, but in different order. We added a tunnel after jump 3. Then we went to the tunnel under the A frame, the A frame, then a jump, and the dog walk the opposite direction from the first class. We worked a lot on how to handle the tunnel/A frame combo, like rear crossing the tunnel, running the tunnel on the right and flipping to the A frame, front crossing the tunnel, etc. The end section was the same, so I actually skipped out, since we had been there more than 90 minutes and I had to go get ready for the party.

We talked a lot about matching your stride to the dog's stride, and I have to say, it worked. I felt like Shelby and I were more connected somehow. Like we were running the whole thing together, I wasn't sending her to go run and standing there. Shelby seemed to be having more fun too.