Simon's First Agility Competition!
Posted by , Feb 25 2009, 04:40 PM
Simon's Agility Debut
Simon had a pretty exciting week! He had his first Group Agility Class on Tuesday Feb 10 and on Saturday Feb 14 he had his first run in AKC Agility competition.
It was a pretty scary having him entered in a trial where there were over 200 dogs entered, in an indoor building that has no room for people or dogs unless they are actually in the ring, and acoustics that seem to many dogs, to amplify the sounds inside the building. An added distraction is that there is a kitchen with a food table, right outside the Jumpers with Weaves ring, which has hot food that you can smell, which means the dogs know it is there from the other end of the arena.
So it was a pretty intense place to bring him out, but the reason I did it was because I wanted to know where we were in his development, and this would be a good test. It was either going to be a disaster, or turn out really well. The disaster, if there was going to be one, would be that Simon would just not want to play, and that he would just run off and ignore me, and do avoidance behaviors like sniffing the ground or running off to investigate what else was cool in the building, like other dogs!
I believed that he would do fine, as it seemed to me that in high intensity environments, like this building, Simon seemed more focused on me, and also more energized by being in such places. In my mind the odds were about 75% in favor of it turning out well. The downside of it turning out badly was significant though. It might mean that we could take months to get back to this point if Simon decided that it wasn't fun, or if something scared him in the ring. I'd been working for 4 ½ months to get him back to this stage since he had his terrifying experience/reaction to the Teeter, and his subsequent shut down.
I believed it would go well, but was quite frightened about what would be the outcome if the experience turned out badly from Simon's perspective.
Luckily, Simon's class was early in the day, so he wouldn't have to wait around all day, and then get his chance to run. I brought him out about 5 minutes before his run, did some focus work with him, played with him at a practice jump, and then brought him into to building when there were about 5 or 6 dogs ahead of him. He was paying attention pretty well, and did his tricks, spins, sits, downs, and back ups, with good speed, and enthusiasm.
When it was our turn, I led him into the ring. He was excited to go in, as there was all this room in there versus the crowds outside the ring. I led him to the start line, he was starting to survey the equipment. I sat him where I wanted him to be, and like a good boy he sat while I took off his leash, then I led out a few feet just past the first jump. He did look around for a brief second or so, and then I got his attention, and he held my eyes while I led out. As soon as I was sure I had him with me I said OK, and he was off like a shot!! He had a great run. Not his full speed, but he stayed with me the whole time, and when he missed taking a jump (called a refusal) he did so because I dropped a hand, and that means "come in", which is exactly what he did. The best part of this run was that when I was correcting the refusal, he had started to run off towards the bar setter in the chair, and when I called him he came right back and continued to work with me.
Simon had fun during the run. He was excited and happy to play. His tail was wagging, and he liked the cheers from everyone who watched and knew his story. After we left the ring, Simon had lots of special treats, and then we went for a walk and a run in the lure coursing field, just us two!!
Simon's run the next day was less stressful for me, as I knew he could do it, I just had to help him succeed. The problem with the course was that the weave poles were the second obstacle, and right after the weaves he would be looking directly at the goodie table right outside the ring. I handled the opening differently than I would have otherwise, just to help him stay focused on the course, and not all the food just outside the ring!! It was more handling for him by me, but I wanted to make sure he ran without getting distracted. The video was shot from the food/kitchen area, so you can see the goodies easily accessible to him!!
He did great, and handled the front crosses, and rear crosses that I did with him, and had a fast run of 20.92 seconds. Enough for first place. Simon was very proud of himself after this run, and proudly walked out of the building carrying his dental chew rawhide treat in his mouth, like a giant cigar. Simon was really happy through this run, stayed focused and although he has much more speed in him; he demonstrated to me and everyone else there, that he is going to be a very fast agility dog. He has a huge stride, is a good jumper, and turns very quickly. As a baby dog, running at almost 5 yards per second, this is very unusual. Particularly, at the 16 inch jump height.
It worked out great. Simon was very happy. He loved all the attention and the good treats, and best of all, I kept him focused and with me when we were running the course.
In the end, it couldn't have been a better experience!!. At the end of September '08 (a few months ago) I was almost ready to give up training him. I just didn't see that he was going to have what it took to ever get in the ring and do what he did. I'm so glad that I didn't quit on him. He worked hard to get to where were are now, and what we have done together to get to this point has changed our relationship. We're on the same team, now. He knows he is special to me and comes alive when we are working together.
Here is a link to the video of his runs. Visit My Website
Doing this with Simon over the Valentines Weekend, was one of the best experiences I've ever had in Agility!
Simon Is Starting to Work
Posted by , Jan 30 2009, 02:09 PM
Hi
Simon, Al, Gracie and I just got back from 5 days of agility training devoted to Simon. A friend who lives on the Olympic Penninsula has a great training facility, with both an indoor arena and an outdoor agility field. She invited us to come and stay in her guest house and work with Simon for a few days, so I took her up on the offer.
I couldn't be happier with how things turned out. We arrived on Saturday Am and Karla (my friend) had set up a fun run with a bunch of her students for the afternoon. We were indoors, with strange dogs, equipment that Simon hadn't seen before, and it was pretty chilly. In the high 30's. The whole day was set up so that Simon would be the focus, and the environment very similar to a large class/agility trial environment. There were 13 dogs, some of which were pretty reactive so Simon knew to keep an eye on them. Music was blasting over the PA system, and some of the dogs were pretty nervous, and had been known to ignore their owners and wander off and cause problems with other dogs. A little dangerous, but I made sure that I kept my eye out for potential problems and made sure that everybody was kept safe.
I had 5 runs each with Simon and Al. Just jumps, tunnels and weave poles, and he did fantastic. He stayed with me the whole time, was happy to play, and didn't get stressed by any of the dogs, or people. He loved the whole experience. I was able to get him to run sequences that we havent' been able to do at home because we don't have the room, and without any previous experience running the sequences on the courses that were designed, he understood the basics and ran through every run with lots of enthusiasm and only missed a couple of jumps during the whole afternoon.
I had a distinct feeling before this experience that Simon would get more focused in a stressfull situation, and that is exactly what happened with him. He gets very animated, and focused on me when we get into a situation where there is a lot of activity, and excitement.
Everything he does, he does with much more energy, and precision when put into this type of environment.
The next 4 days I intermittently worked with Simon both indoors and outdoors, on the contact equipment. 3 or 4 fairly short training sessions per day, followed by long walks or naps or play with Karla's 2 Border Collies, and Jack Russell Terrier. We worked a lot on the teeter, which he is getting more and more comfortable with, and was able to overcome his caution about facing a new teeter, which moved, sounded and felt different than the one he uses at home. I still had a squeeze chute on each side of the teeter while we were away, to make sure that Simon didn't bail off the teeter once he had committed to it. I have the teeter at almost full height (39") and full height is 44" to 48". He still doesn't like the teeter coming up behind him as he exits it, but what I'm more concerned about is making sure that he understands the correct path to enter the teeter, so that his footwork is consistent, and that he doesn't have an opportunity to misstep and scare or injure himself on the edge of the teeter if his leg slips off to the side. He is getting a bit tougher about things when he either bumps himself, or scares himself, but is still very soft. My job is to keep him working without him scaring or injuring himself for the next little while. As he continues to work, he will toughen himself up and hopefully will not react so strongly when things go awry. He'll eventually learn to "Man-UP".
Simon's running A Frame is excellent with a success rate of 90% or more. His Dog walk is good too. He never misses his contacts, but I will expect him to increase his speed with this obstacle as he gets more experience on it. Simon's table is awesome. He understands "down" is the default position, and gets into it quickly and holds it. I can lead out from the table and he holds his position.
He learned the tire while we were away, and although he went under it a couple of times to start with, he sees it as a jump now, and I just tell him "over" and he runs and jumps through it. He understands the "chute" (aka as the collapsed tunnel"), and although he has dodged it from time to time, comes out of it very fast, and doesn't seem to mind it at all. He loves the tunnels.
So given this information, I can see we have made a lot of progress, and that he is really starting to come along. It's been very slow, and gradual, but he's definately starting to love doing agility with me, and sees it as a good game. This is all very positive, which is nice to say, given that in the early fall I was almost ready to stop training him. He's worked very hard, and so have I. I'm proud of him.
I've just entered him in his first AKC agility trial, and he'll have 3 runs in an indoor arena in early Feb. 2 JWW runs in Novice B and 1 run in Novice B FAST.
This coming weekend there is a fun run where I train with Al, and Simon will get a chance to go play in an environment, that has been both good and bad for him, although the last few weeks he has been very happy to go into the building and do little bits of work with me. I'm expecting that the "vibe" from the real agility trial environment will energize him and keep him focused on me. I'm not expecting him to loose focus and wander off. I'm expecting that he will want to work and play with me.
I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing with him. Keep him excited and happy, and try to get more interest in him to play with toys. Eventually weaning him off food as his primary reward, and replace that with a toy/play reward. He's starting to show the treats that he is getting, and I don't want to get him too fat!!
A Mystery?
Posted by , Nov 13 2008, 03:38 PM
Simon is working his way back to confidence. He's had a couple of occassions where he has shut down on me, and although I have some ideas on what causes him to go into his shell, I am not certain on the cause or causes. It's still a mystery.
Last weekend at a dog trial, there were three practice jumps set up outside. All kinds of dogs were in the area, and they had all made sure that they had peed somewhere to mark it. It was a doggy bathroom with agility equipment (jumps) in it. Simon was happy to work at the first jump we were at, which was one on the edge. When I took him to the middle jump in the center of activity, I could hardly get him out of the crate to play. Then my friend Barb Davis, who is famous in the agility world as she has won national championships, and been on the AKC world Team 6 times ( a record) came with me and watched us do a few jumps where we started out on the first training jump. Simon did fine again. Then Barb started to work with him and had him all excited to play agility and happy to work with her. It was so cool to see him running and jumping and being happy with a complete stranger in a very distracting environment. How could 50 feet make such a difference?
On the 11th I took Simon to where Al and I train, and we had the arena to ourselves. Simon got to play first, and although I had been sick with a bad cough/cold for 2 1/2 weeks, we had a lot of fun. Simon played, was happy to go through tunnels, over jumps, through weave poles, and did this with Al in his crate in the middle of all the activity. After about 20 minutes of play and good treats, I put Simon in his crate and started to work with Al. We ran and ran and did all the equipment and the teeter a lot of times. Simon watched and was very vocal that he wanted to come out and play again. So I put Al away, and worked with Simon again for a little while. Very happy, and no avoidance behavior. He wanted to play/work with me. Simon was torturing Al now, and I thought poor Al had suffered enough to have to watch Simon having all the fun with me, so out came Al, and it was the 3 of us. The jumps were set to Al's height (12 inches) and we did agility as a threesome for about 10-15 minutes. It was a blast, as Simon and Al would have to hold their stays at the start line while I led out past the jumps, each one watching the other to make sure that they didn't cheat, and trying to watch me at the same time. I'd release them, and Al would usually be first over the jump and by the second jump Simon would be ahead. I would put them into the weave poles, and always did it when Simon was ahead, as he is faster than Al, and I didn't want him coming out because Al was in the way. This was good for Al too as he had to really charge to try and keep up to Simon in the poles, and his focus was straight ahead of him and not once did anybody come out early!!
Through the tunnels over jumps through the weave poles, treats, treats treats. It was lots of fun. I could barely breath near the end, and both dogs were thrilled. It was the best 1 hour and 15 minutes I have ever spent with Simon while doing agility.
I'm encouraged by all this, but still don't understand his triggers for what shuts him down.
At the trial this last weekend, I took him into a building crowded with barking dogs and lots of people, and although he has never wilted in that situation, I expected that he might. Instead Simon got totally energized by what was going on, totally focused on me, and ready to play and do all his tricks. I know I could have taken him out into a ring and done a Jumpers with weaves course with him and had his attention and all his energy. He would have had fun.
Why is one place different than another. What is the trigger?
I'm thinking that I will try him out in December at a local agility trial just before I take Al to the AKC Invitational Agility Championships. See how he handles it. If he isn't interested, I won't push him. If he is, then I'll make sure he has a fun fun time, while he's on the course.
I never realized Simon was sooo Soft.
Posted by , Oct 22 2008, 01:27 PM
It's been a tough couple of weeks. Simon has taken a huge step backwards, and it is very very surprising to me.
I haven't seen it before, and I don't think I missed it, but right now he is a very very very soft dog. It doesn't take anything for him to become a tortoise and go into his shell.
I've had him at class twice and at two agility trials, and although he is getting better and more comfortable I have to manage the situation very carefully as he begins to get frightened and shut down.
The good thing is that he still wants to play at home, and that he still loves his crate, and that he will play with me when we are at home. The behaviors he had while at trials and at class have mostly vanished, although they are improving.
An example is that two weeks ago at a trial, long after everyone had gone, I brought out his crate and took him to the practice jump and asked him to take the jump from the crate and then return to the crate. He bolted from the crate and ignored the jump and blew off my recall, so I had to go fetch him. He was not excited and it seemed he wanted to ignore the game. I eventually got him working for me, but I had to be very careful not to push, and ask more than he felt he could give me.
Last week at class he played a few crate games with me, and was in the building less than 10 minutes total in several small visits. When one particular person began to work her dog, he couldn't have been clearer, that he wanted nothing to do with the place. I took him out and he spent the rest of the class out in the car.
This weekend more improvement, and he was ringside with me at a trial, and happy to play crate games with me and be with me. On the Saturday evening I was able to do single jump work with him and the crate, but he was only about 75%, which in this case is good, as the weekend before he was 0%.
At class again on Tuesday he was happy to go into the building and be in his crate and play crate games of going in and out of the crate, doing lefts and rights, and sits, and tucks, and backing up. He went in and out of the building a bunch of times, and each time he was happier outside, but not as frightened inside. I just have to be very careful with him now until he works through this.
At home he's getting fed his meals near the teeter and as he eats I'm on the end that is up in the air, and I'm moving it up and down right beside his head as he is in his bowl. He is wary of the teeter, but every day he seems to be more accustomed to it moving, and the speed that it moves is being increased gradually. I'm letting it free fall down towards him as he eats and catching it just before it hits the ground, and he seems to be OK with that. I'm also lifting his end up pretty quickly and he has pretty much stopped shying away from it. So that is a good sign. I haven't asked him to go over it again, although he sat on it yesterday and today as he arrived out in the yard to play and eat.
It's discouraging to see him so timid, but I believe we can work through this. My plan to start to trial him in December is definately off as he has to build more confidence in places other than home, and trust that nothing is going to happen to him.
For the next few weeks, Simon will do no wrong. Whatever he does is going to be rewarded, and I'll see how that works out.
Simon's Terrified of the Teeter Now?!
Posted by , Oct 9 2008, 12:32 PM
Up until this week Simon has done awesome. I haven't done a lot of teeter work with him, but he was running over a full height teeter and holding his stay when it banged down. Because of his progress and focus I started a couple of weeks ago working more on the teeter. Simon was playing the bang it game with the teeter dropping about 16 inches down to the ground and was doing fine with it. He doesn't like it going up though, and once he leaves the teeter he gets a little fearful and hustled away from it during his exit as the teeter comes up. He doesn't mind the drop but he hates the teeter coming up behind him. My teeter at home is a little heavy so it comes up quicker than competition teeters (which could be the problem). Anyway over the last couple of weeks I had Simon running over the teeter at just over half height with no problems. I thought it would work if he exited and had to do something else it would help, so he would go off the teeter, and get a couple of jumps to do afterwards, and the teeter would bang down as he was clearing the first jump or on his way to the next one. This seemed to be working and was fun for him.
Tuesday he was excited to go to class and I was bringing him in to class through the door, and just as we got in the building Jef (my instructor)ran his dog Voucher over the teeter right in front of us (5 feet away). There was a huge bang, and it scared the crap out of him. He also may be a bit afraid of Voucher and other BCs now as he was nipped by one a few weeks ago at a trial. So the combination of a BC and the teeter right in his face and the power that Voucher has over it, was terrifying to poor Simon. At the time I didn't realize how completely freaked out Simon was, so I took him over to the far end of the building (maybe 50 feet from the teeter) and tried to do some work with him that he loved. Going from his crate through the weave poles and back to his crate. I lost him, he heard the teeter and ran off to get away. I got him back, tried again, and he did sad slow weaves and then slunk off and I lost him again. I picked him up and took him out of the builiding; realizing only then, how upset he was. Normally he is totally enthused and energized to be there and he was hating it. I took him out to the car and then moved the crates well away from the Teeter (50 ft) and I left him in the car for maybe 15 minutes. I brought him back into the building and he was very very aware of the teeter as we came in the door and he was really wanting to get away from it, and I took him to his crate, and he really didn't want to get in, although he finally did. I treated and played in the crate with him a few times and he warmed up a bit, but he was definitely off. It was Very sad.
When I ran Al, Simon usually is barking and barking and barking to the point where I want to kill him. He was so subdued that he only did a little moaning and a couple of yelps when we ran. I was rewarding him a lot for being in the crate throughout the class, and he came around a bit. For the hour and a half class Simon was in and out of his crate, getting lots of attention, but he was subdued. No sparkle. After class I decided to try and work through it, and set up a small sequence at the weave poles again, and wanted to have a good experience for him to leave the building on. He was ready to go and I released him from the crate and he was about 75% of usual, and then through the poles and over a jump and into the crate, but without his usual drive. Tried it again and it was better and then, Bang in the distance, and Kathy Sheeran (the owner of the arena) and her BC Bug hit the teeter. Game over, Simon freaked and I lost him. I had to leave on another sad note. Simon couldn't wait to leave a place that he was previously so excited to be in.
I'm bummed that this happened. My instructor says reward heavily at the teeter, feed on the teeter. I've started to feed near the ascending end of the teeter. Simon is in his bowl of food on the ground with the teeter about a foot away. I move the teeter up and down slowly as he eats with his face toward the teeter. He's very cautious and has looked at me several times as to why am I moving the damned teeter. I'm trying to eat here. He's also shyed away a few times, but nothing like what he did in the arena.
The hardest test yet!
Posted by , Oct 6 2008, 06:16 PM
Simon has had a few more "tests" in the last couple of weeks. He has passed them all. Ok, one of them last Saturday was a little too much to expect of him.
We were at an agility trial, and the trial was indoors, but they didn't have room inside the building for the practice jumps that they have for competitors. They put it outside. The test for Simon was that the practice jumps were in the only grass area near the building, and it doubled as the potty area for a lot of the dogs that were competing. There were over 300 entries. If anything will distract Simon it is where dogs have gone potty. He has to investigate and mark over every spot it seems. So this was the test.
After Al and I had finished for the day, I brought Simon out, and took him to the practice jumps, and wanted to see what would happen. All his senses went off, and as soon as he was released from his sit, he couldn't help himself. He left me, and went over to sniff about 10 feet away. He was in a trance. He didn't even notice me until I had quietly slipped his collar over his neck and picked him up. The ground was covered with dog scents everywhere I'm sure, plus there were dog treats everywhere on the ground around the practice jumps, as people are pretty sloppy with their treats before they go in to compete, plus there were several dogs within 25 feet, and people and dogs walking around further away. It was distraction central. It couldn't get harder for Simon.
So I carried him over to the practice jump, put him down, gave him a treat of string cheese, took off the collar. Told him to sit, and then when I released him, he did it again!! This time he went to a different spot about the same distance away, and I went over and got him the same way. This time when I had him on leash I took him to a tree and said go potty, and he did, and then we walked back to the practice jump, I treated him, and then took off the collar while he was in a sit, and then said REAAAADDDY!!! to get him charged up, and released him. He took off for the jump and turned on landing and came right back to me looking for a reward, which he was rewarded heavily for, and then he wanted to work. We had a few minutes (maybe 3) at the jump where I progressively moved him further from the jump, and me further from him, and in the end he was doing the jump from 25 feet, turning and coming back to me. He ignored everything. What a good boy.
At the end of the day, I had Simon's final height measurement taken so that he would get his permanent Height Card from the AKC. He didn't like the measuring device at all, and it took many attempts to get him to stand for it, as he wasn't liking it at all. His height was 16 ¾ inches at the withers, which will allow him to jump at 16 inches as his regular height in AKC and CPE. In USDAA he will have to jump 22 inches, which not going to be a problem for him either as he is a beautiful jumper (jumping long and flat). When Simon competes it will mostly be in AKC.
I am shooting for an early December indoor trial as his debut, but that date is going to be flexible, depending on what happens in the next month.
I am so glad to see his progress, and all the attention I'm getting from him. He gets totally energized when he sees dogs doing agility now. He wants to get out and do it. When we are watching from the gallery, he is on my lap, and is watching what is going on in the ring with all his attention. It's like watching someone who is watching a tennis match. He follows what is going on in the ring and moves his head back and forth as the teams move through the course.
Awesome!
Posted by , Sep 24 2008, 10:37 AM
Last night after Simon had to watch Al taking class from his crate, he got a chance to play. There were essentially two classes in the building at the same time. My class which was breaking up, and the next class which was beginning to assemble.
I planned an 11 obstacle sequence that I wanted to try with him. Pottied him, set his crate at the start, got him ready, and then released him after a one jump lead out. He charged out of the crate. There were probably 10 people and 10 dogs within 15 feet of him to the side, and if he wasn't interested in doing agility, there would have been plenty of entertainment there for him. Simon ignored all that, and came charging out of his crate at full speed, took 3 jumps in a straight line, then had to do a hard 90 degree turn to the right to go over another jump, and then a hard 180 degree turn into a tunnel. Out of the tunnel and a race about 30 feet to another jump where he had to do a hard 180 degree left turn into 12 weave poles, then a jump, another hard left turn, and another jump, a hard left turn, 2 more jumps in a straight line and then into his crate.
He did this at full speed three times and never went off course, and stayed focused each time. Everybody in the building was watching, and they started cheering and yelling for him. Each time we did it he got a little faster. He was thrilled with himself, and when I took him off the course he jumped up onto Jef Blake's Lap (his instructor) and Simon gave him hugs and kisses. Then he pranced around feeling proud of himself. His weave pole entries were awesome, and his speed through them was like a fast Border Collie's. His ground speed is incredible. No wonder everyone there was excited to see that. They've all been wondering about Simon and when they were going to see him run!!
Progresss!
Posted by , Sep 24 2008, 10:20 AM
Sunday was another yucky day. The clouds were just above your head and it rained most of the day. Al had a bad run in the rain in the morning, hiding out in the first tunnel on the course, and although it was a little dark and damp in there, it seemed better to him than being out in the rain. Since there were two more tunnels on the rest of the course, I knew I had my work cut out for me, and decided to cut the course short, run a few obstacles near the end of the course and get him happy and dry. He flew around the last part of the course. In the afternoon he had a great run, but on the second to last jump he turned his head just as he approached the jump and his timing was off, and he crashed through the jump, knocking both bars down and shaking himself up a bit. After checking him out, he took the last jump and was rewarded with his "guts" ( a toy stuffed with turkey) and then a nice lunch which was waiting for him at the car.
In the afternoon, I took Simon out for two training sessions about an hour apart. There were lots of distractions, and he did great. Stayed with me the whole time, and really had fun. I was sending him out to the practice jump from over 30 feet away, and when I released him he would run full speed out to the jump and I'd yell left or right, and he'd jump, turn the correct direction and come running back to me, where he'd get heavily rewarded with treats and physical contact, and praise. He loved it ,and was very happy to be doing it. After 5 or 6 repeatitions of this the training was over, and he'd hang out with me and watch the agility competition. 2 minutes of training and a a long break, and then another short training session.
Rain! Yuck
Posted by , Sep 20 2008, 10:22 PM
Had an agility trial today. Al has been feeling great so I d ecided to go and run him. It poured rain!! Summer was very short here this year. Less than 2 months and it's back to rain. Yuck.
I took Simon to the practice jump and started to work a bit with him. I didn't have the crate around and I regretted it. There were 250 dogs there and Simon was all excited to go and smell where everyone had been.
When I thought he was ready I took off his leash and he did a sit stay for me and then when I released him it was to much and he ran past the jump and ignored me and ran to a chain link fence where the marking started. I swear his eyes were going to start rolling around in his head. He didn't come when called, still sniffing, and I got over to him and picked him up. Carried him back to where we started and put the leash on him. Then I tried it again, and this time he started to work for me. I was able to send him out to the jump from over 25 feet away, and yell left or right and he would turn that way on landing and come back to me. He really got into it, and was tested mightily as a Sheltie on a Flexi leash got to within about 5 feet of him during a short period of the session. Simon ran right by it to get back to me and I was really proud of him. In the past he would have stopped, smelled it, on all the good spots, and possibly tried to hump it. For him to ignore it and run to me while we were playing our game. was very encouraging.
I'll try it again tomorrow, and have the crate nearby in case I have to yell in the crate. If I yell that I think it's better if I actually have one.
Al earned another QQ getting a 2nd place ribbon in Jumpers with weaves today. Very wet conditions and one competitor slipped and tore his ACL in his knee and they had to call 911 and take him to the hospital.
Busy Week
Posted by , Sep 18 2008, 06:11 PM
Simon had a busy few days, and I'm happy he got some time with me. 3 training sessions in a week. Good thing gas is cheap. 
Today we went to our private lesson with Jef Blake and worked on speed (drive) and some more advanced handling. Simon ran faster than he has ever, and really stretched out over the jumps. He's a beautiful jumper, and doesn't overjump like a lot of Igs. He just glides over the bar no matter how high it is. He jumps just high enough to get over it and then gets to the ground quick and is running in full stride.
We worked on supporting him while he is going one direction and me another, and keeping his focus on where I'm going instead of where his momentum is going. He's a great student and catches on really quickly, and although his crate was right in front of him several times as he ran through the sequences, he came with me and ran away from his crate, when I passed by it on the way to the next jump. It was funny the first time, because he scampered into his crate and then realized that I hadn't said "crate" and then came blasting out to catch up to me.
I'll try and video his preliminary jump work and post it when I get some to show.
Another good thing was that there was a dog barking and yelping a couple of houses over from us while we ran around our course, and Simon acknowledged that he heard it, but never waivered in his committment to working with me. All he did was rotate his ears for a portion of a second.
He's really funny in his crate now too, as he gets excited, and is looking out of it to see where I'm going and then he tries to figure out where I'll go after that. You can see his eyes moving and his head bobbing around to try and figure out where we are going to go. Just like border collies always do. Then he holds his stay in the crate as I rev him up by saying (in a low voice) RRRrrreeeeeAAAADDDDDDY???!!, and I crouch down and pound the ground with my hands a couple of times to tease him and show him we are going to play. Then I wait a second or 2 and then I say "OK!!", and he's off out of his crate at full speed. If he comes out early (before I say "OK"), there is no reward of doing agility with me (although I'm quietly happy that he would break his stay to go do agility), and I say back in your crate and he tears back into it, and we start again, which is always successful. The fact that he wants to get out and go, but stays because I ask him to, is really a good sign to me.
He's a good boy, and with all the attention he is getting from me, he is reciprocating with lots of love rubs and attention to me when we are together. He is very interested in anything I do. He likes being special.
on Simon's First Agility Competition!