Training Problems

Before reading this post, read the header stating what this blog is about, and remember, it's partially about the people involved in the sport.  It's a place for me to vent, and it isn't always pretty.  I do my best not to mention names, because it isn't about anyone in particular, just the principles involved.

The way our dog club is set up, volunteer instructors who have put titles on their dogs and have time available, are our teachers.  They get to practice their own dogs too. This works out well enough, all things considered.

At the more advanced levels, however, instructors are more "coordinators" than teachers, making sure there are courses to run, suggesting sequences, and keeping the class moving along in timely fashion.  Instructors become reluctant to critique a fellow competitor's style, paticularly if that competitor has been in the game longer than they have, has a different training style, a different type of dog with different training needs, etc.

It's also an issue when a seasoned competitor brings a novice dog into a low level class, primarily for the benefits of socialization and learning to take turns with distractions, but has a training style different from the instructor's.  Competitors have firm ideas on how to train. They often ignore the planned program.

Which is why my second agility dog, Lucky Lucy, has thus far never made it through a single 6 week class without some kind of snafu.  Not that it's the instructors fault, it's just a situation.  Nobody knows my dog like I do.  Lucky, above all else, needs to improve her speed.  I don't give a fig if she misses a jump in a full course run, or if I misdirect her to the wrong obstacle, we are going to keep running to the end.  In my attempt to develop momentum, I don't stop for knocked bars or popping out of the weaves, except for incorrect entries.  I plan in advance where I will reward her by throwing her ball: to encourage fast go outs, to come out of a tunnel fast, race over the dog walk, not pause on top of the A-frame, or complete her weaves as fast as she is capable of.  More than one instructor, however, has had different ideas, wanting me to stop mid-run and correct any mistakes, or yelling at me as I run to stop and try something else.  I've learned to make it clear before the first class starts what I'm striving for with Lucky.  I'm willing to try new things, just not mid-run.  (This, of course, does not apply when training specific skills or short sequences, in which case I back-chain mistakes until they are right.)

Last night in Maxie's class, however, the instructor (who shall remain nameless because it isn't about a person but a principle) kept yelling at me during a full course run to stop and pay my dog.  "Pay your dog."  Pay your dog."  I got so discombobulated and Maxie got so confused, I started yelling at her to quit yelling at me, that I always pay my dog.  Which I do at logical intervals -- at the bottom of the see saw, on the table, at the bottom of the dog walk, and whenever we have trouble with a sequence, when I go back and practice it later.  It doesn't make sense to Maxie or me just to stop every 3 or 4 obstacles and throw down a treat.  That would be counter-productive and destroy his drive.  Even though my spots are exactly where she pays her dog too, she threw her hands up in disgust, turned her back and completely lost interest in us the rest of the evening.

In my view, she was way out of line.  Ridicule is NOT a valuable teaching tool.  At least, it doesn't work for me.  I came home wondering how an instructor might handle this differently.  What I'd suggest is:

1. Watch my runs and evaluate my team's performance.
2. Praise something I did right.
3. After my turn, or before the next one, make constructive suggestions and/or ask me to repeat the sequence in that way, if I want to.
4. If I choose NOT to do it that way, realize it's my decision.
5. Don't make derogatory comments about the student running to the other students who are standing around.
6. Keep it fun.  I don't go to class to be made to feel like crap.

Once in awhile, I'd like to give a fellow instructor a tip or two as they struggle with their own dog, but I tried that once and got my head bit off.  That was a year ago and the instructor still has the same problems.  Okay by me.  I did give one tip to a fellow competitor successfully, outside of class, and it's made a huge difference to that competitor's performance.  Critiques must be carefully timed, and never embarassing.

Okay, so I got that off my chest.  Now I finish packing and head for Monroe.   Three days of trialing and hopefully some Q's, or at least some faster course times.  I can't help but remember last year in Monroe, me with a torn calf, in pain, with others running (and Q'ing) my beautiful babies.

Upwards and onward,

Acorns Galore

What the mower, with vacuum attachment, left behind.

My agility yard has developed a new problem -- ACORNS GALORE.  We've always had acorns, but this year it's like hail hitting the house day and night, for weeks on end.  I've been thunked on the head a few times, too, and that hurts.  Squirrels are scurrying too and fro in massive numbers. One can hardly walk under the oak trees without skidding. The crunching nose is wierd.  Afraid they were dying, I called Naylor's Hardware and Johnny said no, it's just a nationwide bumper crop like few he's ever remembered.  In my 38 years at Old Hammond Hideaway, I don't remember anything like it.  When I Googled "bumper crop of acorns" I ran across this Boston Globe article and discovered it's a nationwide phenomenon.

Yesterday we tried mowing/vacuuming them up, but the mower just picked up leaves and left the acorns behind.  This morning I took some pix and put together my first Windows Live slide show as a way to explore the built-in software on my new computer.  After some experimenting, I found I had to upload the video to YouTube rather than directly to the blog, then embed it here to get reasonable picture quality.  It's a huge HD file.  The "for the web" file that uploaded here was horribly grainy, and this one seems to be messing up the contrast.  The acorns seem sunken in instead of protruding --not like the original photos.

A Giant Problem - Acorns Galore

Now what?  I can't very well rake 'em up, as the small acorns go through the tines.  John voluneered to push broom the entire area under the trees, about 1/3 of my agility practice yard, and bag them.  But, they are still falling like hail when the wind blows, so there's no point in all that work right now.  I'll have to confine my training to the grassy parts.

Which is doable if I move the weaves and carpets over there.  I hate to kill my good grass with the carpet, but I need it to practice my Weave Relays before the Lake Charles trial.  Unless I can improve Lucky's speed, no way she will ever get qualifying scores in Excellent B.  I also improve my MACH points with Maxie, and chances of QQ's if he doesn't pop out of the weaves.

Always something else to resolve.  Upwards and onward!

180's Out Of The Chute

It's hard to get your agility dog to do 180's out of the chute, even more so than the tunnel, due to its flexibility.  If you call them left, for example, while they're still in there, they tend to veer towards your voice and risk getting tangled in the fabric, especially the little dogs.  If you drive forward and try to scoop them up after they shoot out (pretty fast), they tend to run around you, or into you.  I've been trying to figure out how to handle this maneuver elegantly and efficiently, and I'm asking other agility bloggers to offer suggestions. 

As it happens, I can illustrate this problem with snippets from several videos I took during an Excellent Standard competition at the Kiln trial last month.  The course was designed by Judge Scott Chamberlain.  I've never encountered this layout before. While most dogs made it, much time was lost as they ran wide or even behind their handlers before committing to the next jump.  First, here's the layout:

Now, here's video I managed to snip of just that segment of the course.  (me and my papillon, Maxie, are first, then Lucky Lucy is 6th).  There were other variations and some NQ's as dogs got sucked in by the dogwalk or the jump after 3, or skipped the chute to follow the handler to H1:

Many succeeded but all lost precious seconds with the wide turns.  Does someone have a solution for this?  I'm hoping to hear back.

Upwards and onward,

Jump Training with Lucky Lucy

Jump training with Lucky is easy because she loves to retrieve.  Throw the ball, she brings it back.  Throw it over the 2 foot high garden fence, she puts 2 jumps in for every throw (there and back), and she will keep this up until your arm is worn out.  We limit her to 20 jumps a day a few times per week, and figure we could keep her in shape for years even if we were crippled in a wheel chair!  I finally got a video of this activity, and using slow motion, you can really see her powerful physique in motion.  It's amazing how much effort goes into a dog jumping obstacles.

Now if only I can transfer her enthusiasm for this game onto the agility course!

Upwards and onward!

Lori Drouin Obedience Seminar

I spent last weekend attending Lori Drouin's Obedience Seminar in Gonzales, hosted by our local dog club.  I brought my Sony Cybershot but alas, the supposedly freshly charged battery was dead.  I ended up taking lots of pix using Ganetta's camera, but she took those home.  I may never see them.  I hate that-- I so miss having and sharing my pictures.

Working on sit/stays; down/stays, come to heel.
Maxie is lying down in lower left corner, facing me.

Lori came in from California for the event, with her 3 shelties.  Cost:  $150/member, $200/non-member.  Another great benefit of club membership and such a good deal, turned out, all 20 participants were LCCOC members, as were the handful of auditing students.   There was no room for outsiders.  I brought Maxie and Lucky, who took turns in the training ring and they both did fairly well considering we are all untrained in Performance Obedience.

Maxie did OK, but I find I don't enjoy training a 7 lb 10" dog so close underfoot.  Lots of bending over to give treats, straighten his position, etc.  Lots of checking to make sure I'm not stepping on him.

Lucky at 45 lbs 21" is size-wise much easier to train, but she continues to find Obedience work boring.  She does some of it fairly well, but in the absence of physical stimulation (tugging, fetching, running, jumping) she finally just lies down, sighs, and won't budge.  Won't even go for a treat tossed at her.   I have to laugh when I hear people claim that Obedience work is "atheletic" because a jump and "go outs" are involved.  It is mostly about holding focus on the handler's face while waiting, sitting, staying, heeling, turning, finding a scent article, fetching the left, center, or right glove on command, or finding one article among many that has the handler's scent.  All that is fine, but just being honest, I can't bear to micro-manage my dogs' every body move all the way down to paw, nose and eye placement every single second.

The weekend ended with a Q and A.  A lady asked how to solve the problem of her dog breaking eye contact with her upon entering the ring.  Seems the little Papillon, when seeing the judge for the first time, breaks its gaze on the master's face for a moment to check out the new person.  Oops, points off for that.  They spent the next 10 minutes entering the ring, again and again, practicing total handler focus.  This turned me OFF.  I think it totally un-natural for anyone, dog or man, not to briefly glance around and survey any new environment they go into.

Lori Drouin, photo by Cheryl W.

That said, Lori is a good teacher.  Very organized.  Very knowledgeable.  A clear communicator.  Pleasant.  And chock full of information.  I did enjoy her tips on:

• footwork,
• figure 8's,
• proofing points on heeling,
• dumbell training,
• the "easy" cue,
• drop on recall,
• backchaining the right and left turns,
• early scent work training. 

 I took notes and will incorporate some of these as "structured play" activities at home, if only to stimulate my dog's intelligence and use for parlor tricks.

I especially appreciated her comments on how to curb "anticipation", which I can apply to agility training.  I don't want D to ever decide they already know what I'm going to ask for next, or when the exercise is finished.  In agility, for example, you always behave as if there is another jump after the last jump so both D and handler will run at full speed over the last jump.  You don't want D to slow down or quit before it's over. You don't want them to break their start line stay before they are released, so you frequently go back and treat for that in training, though never in a trial.  You want them to anticipate that a treat could always be forthcoming for staying put.

An 18 page handout was given, which I read through Monday morning.  It was all about CONTROL, using every conceivable means possible from food rewards to corrections to body posture to using dowels to get D doing exactly what you want, exactly when you want. So many, many control words throughout the document, it tired me to read it. 

Some think a dog heeling around a ring for 10 minutes in perfect sync with a handler, totally focused, is beautiful.  I think it's creepy.  If it takes that much work to "get it right, if only just this once", it is telling me it goes against the dog's grain.  We're supposed to be harnessing and accentuating their natural abilities, not seeing how much we can warp them into "perfect obedience". I'm not a "fit this square peg into that round hole" person.  If I want to fill a round hole, I'll get something round in the first place.

I'm perfectly satisfied with striving for Q's in agility, i.e., "perfect" scores, no deductions, which are possible even if the dogs take a few wide turns, forget to completely stop at the down contact, or glance to the side on their start line stay.  They can even earn championship status that way.

Today I came up with an analogy of what I consider "natural".  (It's not nearly as limiting as "If man were meant to fly, he'd have been given wings", but it does set some limits to what I'm willing to strive for):

• Building and maintaining a bridge using proper engineering principles results in a bridge that stands for decades -- that's natural.  
• Training perfect dog obedience behavior that falls apart the minute you quit training and you hold your breath every attempt to succeed --  that's un-natural.
• Taking advantage of a dog's natural willingness to please to the point of controlling their every move in exchange for a pat, some praise, or little morsel of hot dog, chicken or cheese -- that's pitiful.
• And saddling myself with the ball and chain of constantly finding fault with my canines, holds no appeal to me.  It would make me a slave to my own excessive expectations, never fully satisfied, and there is no way I am going down that agonizing road.

Maxie and Lucky, I'm delighted when you front and finish on que, but I don't care if your butt is 2 inches off to one side.  I won't be getting out the dowels and tapping you into perfect alignment because, for one thing, I don't want to carry those dowels around.

Upwards and onward!

Jonathan's 14th Birthday inspires New Training Goals



Michele, Jonathan, John

Yesterday (Friday) afternoon/evening we set aside time to celebrate my grandson's 14th birthday.  Jonathan lives in Metairie (about 90 miles from me), and is so busy now with school and wrestling, even on weekends, I don't get to see him very often.  He's about the closest thing, next to my dogs, that makes me go mushy.  We always have a grand time together. He always inspires.

It was our customary foursome: John, Jonathan, Audrey and me. And as a family tradition, we always go see the latest Harry Potter movie together whenever it comes out - perfect timing for his birthday this year.





John, Jonathan, Aunt Audrey in front of the Prytania Theater



So I looked around New Orleans and found that only the Prytania Theatre off St. Charles and Jefferson was playing this movie in 3D, at 5 p.m.  Never heard of the place.  We arrived at a tiny, old red brick theater on a residential street, with no parking lot (every patron uses the parking meters right on the street!).  So I was fairly sure it would be a disappointment.

NOT SO! 



Concessions, Jonathan, John, Audrey

While the Prytania is a single screen theater with a small lobby and small concession stand, with not even one single video game, it has an interesting brick architecture, brilliant red wool carpets and a reasonably sized auditorium with reasonably comfortable seats.  The screen and sound were perfect, and a large wooden stage in front of the screen brought back nostalgic memories of my days working for Ogden-Perry Theatre chain (Gordon Theater, Broadmoor Theater) in my youth.

Beautiful chandeliers.  Very friendly staff.  I talked with a local patron who said it's the only theater she ever goes to, walks there from her house and catches every movie that comes in.  Neat.

Staircase to the balcony seats.

A staircase with hand painted posters on the walls leads up to an old-fashioned balcony, a step back into yesteryear for sure.

Harry Potter, The Deathly Hallows, Part 2, Where It All Ends, in 3D was awesome.  It did not disappoint.  It was faithful to the book.  It ended on a high note.  We left feeling victorious.  Just the kind of movie I like.

A few more theater pix



Main Entrance to Prytania Theater
(L-R) John, Jonathan, Michele

 

"A Streetcar Named Desire" sidewalk art, in front of Prytania Theater, w. Jonathan



Michele and Jonathan

Afterwards, Jonathan chose sushi for his birthday dinner, and we found The Basil Leaf on S. Carrolton, with the trolley cars going by in the rain.  The food was not that special, but it gave us a cozy place to give him his birthday cards, chat and catch up on all the latest gossip and news before rushing him home to pack.

His Dad picks him up at 10:30 this morning for a 6 day cruize to Cozumel.  Lucky them! Then school starts, and he'll be too busy again to see much of me.  No more time to attend agility trials with me, either, which he says "isn't his thing anyway".  This makes my heart hurt, for I had so hoped to share my favorite passion with my favorite person.  At least he is very devoted to his wrestling (which isn't my thing either come to think of it, but I would go watch him), so he is in the gym almost every day and already 3rd in State in his weight category.  Hopefully, wrestling will teach him to strive for excellence and acquaint him with the thrill of analysis and going all out.  It pleases me to think so. His team got their asses stomped this weekend competing with other teams from all over the US.  It gave him and his coaches some new training goals.


It got me focused on my new training goals - I promised to "turn over a new leaf" beginning today.  I have 2 weeks 'til the Hattiesburg trial.  2 weeks to learn to run again (after 8 weeks of limping with a very sore calf and other people running my dogs at the last trial I attended in Monroe).  2 weeks to remind my dogs how to run a course and follow my guidance.  My first run this past Wednesday night teaching class, wasn't so good.  Neither of my dogs were focused, missed ques, knocked bars, ran off sniffing.  And I realized I've built up a heap of fear around re-injuring my leg.  I have to let go of that fear, build up my confidence.  So I picked up all the sticks in my agility yard this morning, committed to run my dogs every day for at least a few turns, and walk on my treadmill 30 minutes a day, if only in 10 minute increments.  The heat index of over 105 degrees daily and high humidity of 30-70%, makes going outside (even at 6:30 a.m.) an unpleasant task.  10 minutes out there and I'm feeling clammy and trickling sweat and my dogs are panting.  But we've got to work through this if we want those green and blue ribbons, and those titles by the end of the year.

Maxie, 2010, NA and NAJ Titles

I've got to think RIBBONS.  Boxes and boxes of RIBBONS. Some dogs like food.  Some like tugging and chasing toys.  Some trainers like Q's, improved time, or just "running with their dogs".  Me, I'm wild about RIBBONS, especially the blue ones (1st place) and the purple ones (2Q's in a day)!  That's my #10 reinforcements, and I never have this picture of Maxie's early successes (6 runs, 6 Q's, 6 1st places) and my elation over them very far out of my mind.  We're a much better team now, but the challenges have gotten harder, competition stiffer, the ribbons more elusive and with all this summer heat and rain plus my calf injury, the training sessions have been very infrequent. BAH!

Upwards and onward!

Online Courses/Tutorials/Communities

In her recent post, Susan Garrett claimed to be the first dog trainer to present a dog training course via online tutorials (Improving Your Mental Game, Recallers, Puppy Peaks).  I don't know if that's true, but there is no doubt that online tutorials of any kind are a new phenomenon (last 10 years), great for distance learning, and can reach a world-wide audience. 

Thru the Cajun Clickers Computer Club, another club I belong to that's doing great work in our community, I now work with some very dedicated volunteers bringing computer literacy to hundreds of local folks. One of CCCC's recent projects is to encourage members to take advantage of the thousands of Online Tutorials available, mostly free, and to guide them through the process.  For it turns out, many people won't complete tutorials on their own -- they are more successful with shared experiences.  At home they get stuck on one point they don't understand, don't have anyone to ask questions to, and eventually give up.  I think that's why Susan Garrett sets up online "communities" for each course, so her students can talk about their problems, brag about their successes, express gratitude, and share what they know.  Online communities, videos, audio, and contests make the online learning process feel more "human".  Smart move, Susan!

I recently completed my first free online tutorial, Powerpoint 2007, from GCFLearnFree.org, and after about 9 hours of watching videos and doing assignments within the program, I ended up with an ability to put together a pretty good Powerpoint presentation.  The course was interesting, well organized, graded by an instructor, plus I will receive a Certificate of Completion that counts for Continuing Education Credits.  I look forward to signing up for their Excel 2007, Word 2007, and Windows 7 classes.  I had the additional advantage that John is taking the Powerpoint course too, a few lessons behind me, and it is funner with us both working the program.  I will one day attempt to insert a Powerpoint presentation into this blog.

I also have the advantage that Phil C, the CCCC Education Director and a good friend, is setting up some Wiki pages, another relatively new internet phenomenon, also free, for his Online Tutorial students to enjoy their own online community around these courses.  I'm helping him fiddle with that, too.  Whew!  So much to learn.  So much to do.  So much new stuff coming at me, it's like standing in a peach orchard at harvest time.   So much fruit you don't know where to start picking. It boggles the mind.

Upwards and onward!

Varied Handling - Back Side Jumps

A really well-trained agility team can perform any sequence in a variety of ways.  While one technique might turn out to be optimal, advanced teams should have an arsenal of moves committed to reflex.  First, it keeps the dog guessing and focused on the handler. Secondly, you never know when you might need to do something different than planned, including having someone else run your dog like I did in Monroe last weekend.

To this end, after my students have more or less mastered Handling Fundamentals, I get them handling each sequence in 2 or 3 ways.  So far, so good.  But this video, by Steve Schwarz, Agility Nerd, tops all I've ever seen.  With only 2 jumps and a tunnel, he musters 11 different ways to send his border collie over the back side of both jumps. It also demonstrates clearly the PUSH and the PULL.  It's called Double Back Side Exercise and can be practiced in a tiny space. The tunnel can be replaced with a see-saw, the bar jumps by other jumps.

I hope others will set this up and let me know how it works. WARNING: Steve makes everything look effortless. When I get around to setting it up for myself, I plan to video myself, perhaps getting a laugh or two.  I do so wish to be funny. :-)



Upwards and onward!

Preparing for Monroe Trial

It's Monday, I leave on Wednesday for 5 days in Monroe, and I'm not the least nervous about my packing.  This makes me nervous!

Perhaps I've finally got the drill down, or have I just gone blank?  Let's see. 

• Monday I pack my gear, charge all batteries, make ice.
• Tuesday I pack the dog's gear, trial paperwork, maps, shop for food, confirm hotel reservations, etc. 
• Wednesday I pack the car, gas up, check tires, etc. 
• Thursday I pack the coolers and take off.

Only this time I'm leaving on Wednesday, a day early, the car is in the shop til Tuesday afternoon, the A/C is out in the den so I'm waiting for the repair man instead of packing.  I've got to get everything done in 2 days.  Still, no nerves.

It may be because now I keep all my equipment gathered in one place.  To wit, I've simply commandeered the dining room table, the first flat space I come across when entering the house, and that's where I keep everything "dog".  It's an eyesore, but absent a convenient closet to store everything, I gave up appearances for convenience for 2011, and that was a major step forward in organizing this dog agility obsession of mine. John hasn't complained.

Still, I've got a hint of a toothache so I should be nervous about that.  And, I got a really bad charlie horse last week, which flared up tonight at practice, so bad I couldn't run either dog.  So I'm hobbling off to the doctor tomorrow to see what to do about a "sports injury", and call the dentist for some antibiotics and pain killers to see me thru the weekend.  For some reason, I'm not even upset about all that.  I should be in tears.

Since I couldn't get in my last planned practice tonight, I asked Sandy R. (who runs both her dogs in the same classes as I run mine), to try and run Maxie.  You always hear people say "Oh, my dog won't run for anyone else!", but from watching Sandy's videos in the past, I already knew we use mostly the same handling signals, and I surmised Maxie would run with anybody carrying his treats around.  And so he did!   He ran very well for her and much faster than he does for me.  It was a joy to watch.  Sandy came back breathless and amazed at Maxie's speed!  In exchange for running Maxie for me, I gave her my next turn to run Tango, her daschund.  Maxie and Tango usually vie for placement at local trials in the 8" class, but now we both see Maxie can easily outrun Tango.  The sad fact is, Sandy can outrun me!  Looks like it's true, then . . . . . the dog keeps pace with the handler.

After that success with Maxie, I asked her to try running Lucky at 20" on the other course.  I had her tug with Lucky a few minutes, then run with Lucky's tug toy in her hand, and they both zipped around like they had been running together forever.  That, too, was a joy to watch.  Lucky ran fast and sure (it was cool and breezy out).  Sandy says "STOP"  where I say "HALT",  she says JUMP where I say OVER, she says A-FRAME where I say UP, but it didn't matter to either dog.  They understood exactly what to do based on the body language and hearing any kind of "oink" coming from their handler.

Oh well, enough of this musing, I really must go serve dinner, kick back and watch Twilight Zone with my sweetheart, and put a hot pad on my calf.  I'll think about packin' tamarraw!

Upwards and onward!

Backward Front Crosses

A few weeks back we set up a course with a very unique sequence that ran best with what I am calling "backward front crosses".  It was my first experience with this maneuver, felt very weird at first, but worked great.  It's a maneuver where the handler is moving forward thru the sequence while walking backwards and sidewards the whole time.  I tried my best to capture it with CR Course Designer.  Since that experience, I have incorporated a few more backward front crosses into my routines, and it feels fairly normal now.

It definitely takes getting used to.  It messes with your mind at first, and I haven't noticed many handlers in competition videos moving backwards more than maybe 1 step now and then.  But the dogs don't seem to question it.  They respond beautifully.

Learning, learning, learning, always, always, always, moving

Upwards and onward!

"Pick-Up" Handling Maneuver

The "PICK-UP" is another maneuver I sort of made up myself.  It is very reliable at getting D past a wrong choice, particularly on green dogs.  It's an exaggerated "Here" (includes both arms), with the addition of a running/throwing action towards the next obstacle.  Not quite a post turn. Not quite a pull through or a lead out pivot. A pick-up is when, while running a course, you need to guide D through a tricky turn sequence, so you lean forward with both hands extended, as if grabbing the dog's head, only you are 3 feet away, "pick up" the dog and throw them into the path of the next obstacle.


Sounds violent, but of course it isn't.  You are just exaggerating your motions a bit, in a way D clearly understands and responds to. 

I am teaching this maneuver using the diagrams below, and after the students do it it a few times, it improves their performance.  It feels graceful, like a dance, and makes the run more fluid.

  No flatwork needed.  It is so intuitive for D that when they see both your arms outstretched together, and you inscribing an arc, they just follow it.  It's a very powerful signal.  It is intuitive enough for H that it only takes a few times to master, and once practiced a bit, everyone's performance becomes more fluid.

TRAINING:

Upwards and onward,

"HERE" Command

"HERE" is a command I use to mean, "Veer off to where my finger is pointing, right now".  It differs from the "COME" command in that HERE always implies a "moving come", mainly used on the agility course.  It's a type of "CALL OFF".  You and the dog are running a course, you need D to make a sharp turn around a jump post (as in a threadle), or out of a tunnel, or to avoid taking a wrong course.  You are essentially asking them to look for you, collect (slow down), and change course a bit from where they logically think they should go.  It is somewhat similar to Steve Schwarz's Verbal Leash

The hand motion is unique -- an outstretched arm with index finger pointing to the ground while the body bends down and forward.  D is trained to respond immediately to that index finger pointing towards the ground.  I've seen handlers on video actually snap their fingers as they point.

You see this command being used at high level competitions, but nobody ever taught it to me.  So I made it up myself, and it works great.

I've drawn up a few simple example sequences where the HERE command is useful.  Notice, neither of these examples call for a front or rear cross, but both call for a slight change of direction.

The HERE Command is easy to master and highly intuitive.  In fact, it is so intuitive I have seen experienced handlers, as their dogs take a wrong course, yelling "Come here, come here, you goofball idiot dog."  and they fall to their knees and begin pounding the ground where they wanted the dog to come to."  And their dogs come right over to see what the new game is!

I presented HERE in last Wednesday night's classes, to 5 students, and once practiced a bit, both dogs' and handlers' performance became more fluid.

TRAINING: I train the HERE command with large visible tasty treats, 3 in each hand (kibble won't do, cubes of white bread works great because it shows up in the grass). Sit D. * Walk 10' away. Begin running sideways to D, call HERE, point to the ground with the hand closest to D, look intently at that spot with your whole focus, and when D reaches where your finger is pointing, drop a treat on the ground. Sit D again. Repeat from * on both sides, going both ways. Interject a jump. Send D over a jump, then run backwards a few steps, HERE, point to ground, D makes a b-line for your pointed finger. D becomes convinced that treats are falling out of your finger and he quickly learns to pay close attention and get there very quickly.
Begin dropping treats intermittently, about half the time. When you don't drop a treat, continue running just as D's nose drops towards the ground looking for that treat. He will forget the treat and follow you, hoping for another chance to score a treat.  End the sequence with another HERE, and be sure to treat this one.

Upwards and onward!

Walk New Dogs Together (Fooh/Max Video)

Here's a precious little clip I found a few days ago, "Maxie and Fooh Fooh's First Play Session".  A little history is in order for this one.

When we brought Max home at 4.5 lbs, Fooh Fooh HATED him.  Growled.  Snapped.  Lunged. What you might expect of a 40 lb., semi-wild Dingo, used to being the only dog in our household.  We thought "OMG how will this ever work?"  We kept them in separate parts of the house, in different yards.  At night, Max slept in our bed with his leash on my wrist so he wouldn't jump off, Fooh slept in his accustomed place on the floor at the foot of the bed, now leashed to the dresser so he couldn't jump up.  Watching TV at night, Fooh was leashed to John's arm, Max to mine, or Max was in a crate with Fooh circling around, growling.  After a week of this with no improvement, we had resigned ourselves to living this way permanently. Seems ridiculous now, but there it is.

Then I got the bright idea from Cesar Milan, The Dog Whisperer, to walk the dogs together each night.  He says they form a pack by walking together.  At first, John was up ahead with Fooh and me trailing 6' behind.  Then Max and I circled wide around and took the lead.  Gradually, on each walk, we shortened the space between them and within a few days, after 10 minutes, they could walk side by side, me with an ever watchful eye and ready to jerk Maxie out of Fooh's snapping jaw any second.

Within a week of doing these 20 minute walks through the neighborhood streets, they walked like chums from the start of the walk and I finally felt confident enough to put them loose together in the living room.  This little clip (Maxie about 7 months, 5 lbs.) captures the result:

Now, 3 years later, all my dogs roam loose together in any room I'm in, unless there is anything resembling food around.  Fooh is very jealous of food.  I still separate them when I leave the house, and of course, I still never leave Maxie or Willow outside alone, with or without the big dogs.  They look too much like prey to the hawks and owls that frequent our air space, a fox or two have been sited in the woods before, and the big dogs can play rough.

I now believe totally in walking new dogs together to get them to accept each other quickly.  When I start up a new class, first thing I do is have all teams walk with me around the perimeter of the field.  By the time we've gone around just one time, all the dogs seem to be friendly, focused and settled in, not to mention warmed up and ready to learn.

Upwards and onward!

Creole Coursing Club of Louisiana

A new "Creole Coursing Club of Louisiana" is starting up, with a huge practice field at the home of Deborah Bahm in Bush, LA, about 1.5 hours out of Baton Rouge, near Covington.  They are having their first AKC sanctioned CAT (Coursing Ability Test) on June 18th, and are holding several practice sessions before hand, free of charge, to prepare dogs for the test.

I've decided to involve Lucky in this activity, first to see how she courses, but mostly to give her a chance to run flat out for 600 yards or so.  I have no idea if she can do that. I agreed to join the club, as there is no fee for the first year.

Our first practice was yesterday, Sunday 5/16, from 10-1.   There were no trees in the field and the sun was hot.  I was unprepared for that, having no sun block, no canopy, no hat, no crate for Lucky.  I did have our water, treats, chairs, and an x-pen which I used to create a shaded spot for her.  There was no shade for me.  I managed to borrow some strong Sun Block for myself or I'd have burnt to a crisp.  Need to get some of that, and carry my 10' x 10' canopy with me next time.

Idea:  An umbrella attachment for my Ozark Trail chair!



Further, I had no idea what to expect.  Lucky was first carted 400 yards away from me in a golf cart, and when released was not at all interested in chasing a kitchen trash bag tied to a string.  She wasn't upset, but she made it her first priority to locate and lope right back to me.  Several dogs did this.  She didn't chase the lure, so didn't run flat out as I was hoping she would.

Realizing the bag held no value for her, I took her off to the side and put her rubber dumb bell into a Wal-Mart grocery bag and began tugging with her, then throwing the toy (wrapped in the bag).  After a few tries she got the idea of fetching her bagged toy and bringing it back to me, and the bag's crinkly sound plus it flapping around her face didn't bother her any more.  Then we tried running her again, and she chased the bag for 100 yards or so.  But she didn't run fast. 

On the curved course she showed little interest, so I tried running after the bag with her. She ran happily along beside me, but not after the bag.  By comparison, Amanda's 11 month old Whippet chased the bag at rapid speed all around the circle on her first try.  2 of 3 boxers seemed keen on chasing the bag, and ran pretty fast, as did a few others, but several other dogs besides Lucky didn't seem to catch on.  So now I'm tasked with how to build value in the bag.  Noel advised to fill a bag with chicken gizzards, throw it and let Lucky discover the prize inside.  Guess I'll try that next.

All I really want to do is condition her to run fast and build her stamina with longer runs that agility provides.  The CA title would be nice, but isn't my main interest.

Directions to the site:  Take I-12 to Covington/Mandeville exit (Hwy 190).  Go North into Covington (4.5 miles).  At the Y (near the Walgreens, just before the overpass), bear right, then slight right, then slight left onto LA 21 (Military Road).  This road is unmarked.  Go several miles to LA 1083, turn left.  Go 2.4 miles to Fauntleroy Road.  Go .3 miles, turn left onto Chat Blanc Lane .3 miles to the end, which is 23456 Chat Blanc Road.  You'll see a gate with a greyhound and a rabbit cutout on it.  Open the gate and close behind you.  Follow the driveway left to the back side of the house, turn right and park under the shade trees near the whippet runs.  There is a bathroom in the trailer behind the brown picket fence, but bring your own toilet paper.

Upwards and onward!

Puppy Recalls and Tug Training

PUPPY RECALLS:  Per the video below, it's easy to train a very young puppy to do a reliable recall.  I start with 10 Cheerios, wait until the dog is away, then call "Dogs Name, Come", while holding out the Cheerio where they can see it.  When they come to my extended hand, I give the treat.  Then, no more treats until they go away again.    At first they offer other behaviors, but quickly catch on they have to "go away" before you will call them back for a treat.

After this is working well, vary it up by extending an empty hand, eventually not even extending a hand.  Just call "Winston, come".  After they come, immediately reach for the cookie and give it.  They quickly learn to hang around for the treat without seeing a treat, or a hand.  After awhile, they learn to stay at your side while you walk over to get a treat somewhere else, like on top of the TV.

Vary the locations for this training, indoors, outdoors, from across the yard, from another room.  Eventually you just keep a pocketful of treats handy, and do a single recall, several times a day.  Maxie, my 3.5 year old Papillion, now routinely runs to the far side of our yard, sits looking at me, waiting to be called.  Sometimes I call.  Sometimes I don't.  Sometimes I treat.  Sometimes I don't.  It amazes me how much mileage I can get out of just the hope of getting a plain old Cheerio. A cheap treat, low cal, and dissolves down to nothing.

DESENSITIZING PUPPIES:  Working Recalls is a good time to also be desensitizing a puppy to being petted, fondled, squeezed, grabbed in various places, etc.  Papillons especially can become a bit skittish and snappy if not accustomed to lots of varied handling.  With proper training, they can be handed off to just about anyone, lunged at by children, poked and prodded, etc., without excessive fear.

TUGGING PRACTICE:
Tugging is fun, bonding, and great conditioning exercise, especially good for developing strong neck, shoulder and back leg muscles, but it is also an important motivational tool in agility for getting the dog warmed up, revved up, focused on you, and ready to run a course with enthusiasm.  As much as possible, owners should encourage their puppies to tug. One very cheap tug toy for small dogs is a knee-high stocking.  You can buy a pack of 12 of these at Dollar General for just a few bucks, and each one lasts through several 5 minute sessions.  They tuck neatly into a pocket without any bulk, stretch far out, give good resistance, then recoil back to you when the dog lets go.  Here's Winston doing this exercise with me.  Notice how he loses interest when I let go, indicating he is really playing with ME, not with the toy, which is the case with most dogs.

NOTE:  I am partially taking these videos of Winston because I don't have any videos of Maxie at this age, and I want to track how Papillon's develop, when their feathers start filling out, how their features and markings change.  Thus the comments on Winston's tail, nose, ears, etc.  I am sorry to have missed Maxie's early development. I might have one old YouTube video of him playing with FoohFooh.  I'll look that up tomorrow.

Upwards and onward!

Weave Relays

Weave Relays are a great way to build a dog's muscle memory for running the weaves at top speed, and I try and put both of my dogs thru this exercise at least once a week.  It's a lot of fun and gets them all revved up.

So, here's 2 videos, one of Maxie doing Weave Relays With 2 Trainers, then another of Lucky doing Weave Relays With 1 Trainer.  Maxie's 2 step is perfect for his small size.  Lucky, a larger dog, has also chosen to be a 2-stepper, which is fine by me. In the interests of time and file size, I cut out about half of the repetitions from these videos, but they do not tire from 10 to 20 reps.  They are actually disappointed and fuss at me when I say "Game Over".  My dogs stay interested because there is food involved.  I don't give a treat every single pass, but most of the time I do.

Trainers at both ends should stand back several feet from the opening, and change their position along a left/right line, so their "send" is given from different spots and the dog has to enter from a variety of angles.  If the dog messes up, don't give a treat, just send them back through for another chance to earn a cookie.  After they catch on, you don't even need to send them.  They just go.  And go.  And go.

2 TRAINERS

ONE TRAINER:

 

Not shown in the video, this exercise should be handled from both sides of the weaves, and as the dog's love of weaving increases, introduce a jump before and after, etc.

Speed It Up
This same relay game can be played with 1 or 2 trainers over the dog walk, the A-frame, a tunnel, a jump-tunnel-jump configuration in a straight or curved line.  Even puppies catch on quickly to this game.  I call it "Speed It Up".  One day, I'll create videos of these:
Dog Walk Relays
A-Frame Relays
Tunnel Relays

Upwards and onward!

Jump Wraps

There are many ways to perform a sequence, as evidenced by this "Jump Wraps" video put together by Steve Schwarz.  The video also demonstrates how it's always important to "have the dog's head", holding onto that "psychic leash" I blogged about last fall, which became the basis for my Handling Fundamentals class. You can almost see the leash in this video.

Steve can back wave his dog over a jump while facing the other direction, and he's not afraid of the blind cross either.  Furthermore, he shows that even a border collie can be made to collect, to run at a measured pace rather than full out, using closely placed obstacles and short sequences.

Check this out:



Exercise 1.  I set the first sequence up at my Wednesday night Intermediate Beginners class, thinking to further train all the various maneuvers, but it never got traction.  Not sure why.  We moved on to running segments of an Excellent jumpers course, because it seems students at the lower levels want to run and have fun with their dogs more than they want to train specific handling skills, do their flatwork, etc.  My fear is that bad habits develop this way which can wreck havoc later on if they decide to compete.  It's hard to strike a proper balance in a 1 hour class.

So, I've decided to share this video and blog post with my students, maybe inspire and encourage them to set up these sequences in their own yards and practice on their own time. Most of them have some jumps and weave poles at home, and they can substitute another jump for the tunnel.  There are 7 different handling maneuvers in Exercise 1.  If they did 10 minutes a day without a dog, then 10 minutes with a dog, in no time they would be experts and having more fun pursuing titles than they can even imagine right now.

Upwards and onward!

Brandon Trial - Sat Sun

Maxie, 4 runs, 3 Q's (XJ 2nd place, XS 1st place, XJ 2nd place), 1 QQ, 42 MACH Points
Lucky, 4 runs, 1 Q (XS 2nd place)
Videos are posted (see links right column).

Maxie, Lucky, Willow and I attended my 5th trial for 2011, in Brandon, MS this past Easter weekend. The mood was festive and several ladies wore Easter garb between their runs and told stories of previous Easter trials and how they've decorated their bonnets over the years.

Pulling out of BR around noon Friday, I heard a thunk under the left front wheel about half a mile down the road and the car began pulling hard to the right. I turned around and went home, called Sherwood Car Care and they said bring it in. I offloaded the dogs, went, they put her on the rack and said "don't drive her out of town". So I went home and unpacked my Grand Marquis with its clean windshields and ashtray, dusted floormats, filled tires, and full gastank into John's Grand Marquis, with its dirty windshields, un-checked tires, littered floor, and half a tank of gas, and made it to Brandon 2.5 hours later than I expected. I refused to interpret this as a bad omen. I had a second chariot, after all, and had built in a 4 hour cushion for unseen circumstances.  I do that these days because I can't take rushing any more, and because at my age there should be "no surprise to surprises".  It all worked out.


Lucky's crate left, Willow and Maxie's right,
With cooler, duffle bag, a tray for my table, and chairs arranged
on my 5x7' brown carpet, that's our little weekend home, tightly
squeezed in amidst a sea of others.

I set up my crate space on Friday, then went to the hotel to offload, then Nedra and I went to an early dinner at a fried Catfish shack a few blocks away. $8  Delicious! Mark Ostrich joined us so we learned more about his training and dog club activities in New Orleans. It made me appreciate our club having a field of its own, regular classes, a core of willing instructors, and 24/7 field privileges for qualified students.

Fewer of our club members (Nedra, Kay, Loralie, Tracey, Sandy and me) showed up at the trial due to it being Easter weekend, not the usual gang that hangs together.  With various personalities missing the dynamic was different, which I found interesting. 

Also, the trial was smaller, the days ended by 3 p.m., so everyone was willing to hang around for the last runs of our Open and Novice dogs (Lucky, Trea and Toozie). Since Toozie was the last dog to run on Sunday, Kay kept telling me I didn't have to stay, she understood we wanted to get on the road, etc.  Which gave me the opportunity to explain to her I really truly don't want to miss any of our "doggie debuts".  I find them thrilling, even more so when I contemplate comparing them to videos of these teams 3 years from now.  As in "from this tiny acorn a giant oak grew". Or, "from this wild unrully unfocused dog a highly coordinated champion emerged."  And equally, "from this gangly, eratic, confused student a competent, graceful, sure-footed handler metamorphosized!"  It doesn't happen overnight.  Newbies need to know that.  I need to keep reminding myself, so I don't get discouraged.
Gas prices, $3.65/gallon, make these agility trials more expensive! It took $55 to fill up my tank and I heard many people talking about laying off of trialing for awhile.

Trial Site Summary: (see Trial Site Summaries link, right column)

Our Runs:
The runs all weekend were Small to Tall, so Maxie was the 4th dog to run each morning. I had to be there by 7:15 a.m. to settle in, which was not a problem -- for the first time I felt totally alert. I was able to memorize the courses quickly, without maps, and didn't feel nervous on my turn. Maybe I've finally got the "early morning" issue resolved: Lights out by 10:30. Take half a sleeping pill. Get up at 5:30, plenty of time to do my morning rituals without rushing.

Maxie: When I'm sure of where I'm going on course, Maxie follows pretty well.  There were no great challenges.  He made good time, as evidenced by his 42 MACH points, i.e. 42 seconds under SCTs (Standard Course Times), an average of 10 seconds under SCT per run.

Lucky: Can't say the same for Lucky.  On Saturday she was running fast, jumping low, and I was sometimes handling at a distance!  She hopped thru the weaves, too, never popped out.  Even at that, she was from 1 second under SCT to 5 seconds under SCT.  On Sunday she ran some, loped some, and walked some, resulting in running 2 seconds over and 9 seconds over SCT.  This is way too close, even at her best.  She HAS TO RUN FASTER and MAKE TIGHTER TURNS. PERIOD!

Both dogs' weaves were faster with the daily practice I've been putting them through at home, tossing treats ahead as Maxie exits the last pole, throwing a tug toy for Lucky, building drive and muscle memory.  I followed through with my plan not to "dread" the weaves, to just put them in and trust them to take every pole, kept my distance. But this needs improvement and broke down once as Lucky came to a stop at pole 10 and almost lost her Q.  I reached in psychically and pulled her nose through to the finish.  It was by a thread that she Q'd.  By a thread.  The audience sighed relief when she made it through. And Maxie popped out at weave 10 on his first Sunday run, then ran the first 6 and walked the rest on another run. The videos will show me what I was doing wrong.  My dogs can weave fast.

Lucky's jump chute training is paying off already, after just a few reps. She jumped lower and broader and ran faster, though not consistently. Still, I was pummelled rather brutally (just after her Q on Saturday - odd damn time to pummell someone) for not cheering her on, that she looks tired and uninspired in the ring. I raced back to the hotel, even skipped dinner, to check the videos of how uninspired my dog is, and found the observations were exaggerated. Other than still yelling "over" at every jump (i.e., I still don't trust my dogs to automatically take what's next in the sequence), I cheer them on no more or less than most people including my critic (excepting Tracey, the cheerleadingest person at every trial). Good lord, I'm so busy concentrating on finding the next obstacle, picking up my feet, not falling on my face, etc., it's all I can do to say "here", "over", "come on".  Lucky isn't unhappy, she just has that hang-dog look, and running agility for her mamma is NOT her greatest thrill in life.  It's mine!  But then, playing fetch and tugging with her for hours is NOT my greatest thrill in life.  It's hers! So we trade favors.  She runs like a maniac if she isn't hot or tired, and if I have a tug toy in my hand.

Lessons Learned:

• People's observations aren't necessarily accurate. They don't know all the factors being dealt with.   A woman who seems to run like a clutz might well be a polio victim who was told she could never walk!  Then "look at that clutz" becomes "wow, look at her run."
• The "butt push".  One lady's dog took the wrong end of the tunnel when she pointed to the correct end with her arm, but bent over in such a way that her butt was pushing to the path of the other end.  Dog ran behind her behind and took the other entrance.  I couldn't believe it when, discussing this with Nedra, she called it "the butt push" and said she had been warned against this at a seminar!

Goals:

• I'm tired of "barely got that Q" runs.  I want flawless Q's.
• Lucky didn't get her Open Jumpers Title. No problem. Next time.
• Lucky needs to run faster -- keep up the jump chutes and weave pole practice. Get her involved in Lure Coursing.
• More practice on rear crosses.  Too many push offs and near push offs witnessed and experienced.
• 3 more XJ Q's for Maxie's MXJ title
• 5 more XS Q's for Maxie's MX title
• 3 more 2Q's (at least) for Maxie by October, making a total of 6, qualifying us for an invitation to AKC Nationals, leaving 14 for next year.
• Sign up for the next trial.  Monroe?  Birmingham?  Definitely not Galveston, which is unairconditioned and will be hot.
• More practice on front crosses.  I don't do them, but need to.
• Get the LCCOC crawfish boil organized for Mother's Day weekend.
• Plan next session of classes for Intermediate Beginners.  Nice group of novice competitors developing there.

With all the videos I'm taking, last week I conceived the idea of putting together an e-book called "What Can Go Wrong In The Ring", with hundreds of snippets.  I ran the idea by a few people, who liked it. All I need is a good video editing program.  Still haven't found it.

Upwards and onward!

Jump Chutes (Continued)

Lucky takes the 5th jump in the chute.

I first discovered and blogged about Jump Chutes last year, tried to measure my dogs to see what "body type" they are, and of course, mine don't remotely fit the 4 types described in The Clothier Natural Jumping Method, so all the charts Susan Clothier gives about calculating your dog's stride and how far apart to set the jumps to train proper jumping style were pretty much down the toilet. I played with it awhile then got discouraged.

Lately I've set up a few jump chutes for my students, including Lucky, and today I am revisiting the book, setting up my video camera and trying to determine how Lucky really jumps. She jumps so high, I would like to teach her to jump lower, which should improve her course time on competitive runs.

Stride is briefly defined as the distance between one takeoff point and the next takeoff point, and is ideally, according to Clothier, Body Length x 3.

Bounce is briefly defined as taking no strides between jumps, dog just lands between jumps and immediately bounces over the next jump, supposed to be Body Length x 2.

I took Lucky's measurements again: 22" long, 20" high, 11" ground to elbow.
If I take the closest ratios Susan gives for those dimensions, Lucky is:
a rectangular dog, elbow at 11" from ground, which is greater than 1/2 her height at withers.
Lucky's Stride is supposed to be, more or less, 22"x3, or 66", or 5.5 feet.
Lucky's Bounce is supposed to be, more or less, 22" x 2, or 44", or 3.6 feet.
(with different body styles, you might have to add + 1/3 to body length to get the right footage).

With this intel, I should set 5 jumps in a straight line, 2 strides apart, or 11' for Lucky.
Lucky bounces over 5 20" high jumps set at 8' apart, and has to work to slow down and collect between jumps. So did all my students' dogs. Same at 9' apart. At 11' apart, Lucky easily bounces over each jump but still holds power in reserve. Trying to determine when she would begin taking a stride between jumps, I moved them to 12' apart. She still clears them in a single bounce, but she jumps with much less clearance than the foot or so she usually clears her jumps, which I caught on video today. The first time, she knocked 2 bars, the rest of the runs she nailed them all perfectly, which indicates she learns as she goes, and has at least a 12' extended bounce stride, which is 6.5 x her body length. WOW! This video was her 3rd pass, with a little tugging reward at the end. In it, she shows just the right amount of clearance for efficiency and speed without knocking bars, and jumps very rhythmically. She covered 60 foot of ground in about 4 seconds/about 5 YPS.  In her 6 competition Jumpers runs to date, she is averaging about 3.4 YPS.

Aside: How stupid of me to be training in my wooden clogs. I can barely walk!  Could easily twist an ankle! Yet I was too lazy to go put on my tennies for just 10 minutes of training. Shame on me.




After a few weeks of this, I am to add "oxers" (double bar jumps), which is supposed to cause her to put a stride in between, improving her "impulsion".  I still don't know her capacity and probably, neither does she.  (NOTE: Susan recommends training jump chutes no more than 3 days a week, 3 reps, 2 times, with a 10 minute break in between, so this will take awhile to find out.

Upwards and onward,