A Study of Weave Performance - Front View

It takes a dog between 3.5 - 6 seconds to run through the weaves, too fast to notice all the fine details of their footwork, especially if you are the handler/trainer. So, last year in Lake Charles I took video snippets of numerous Excellent level dogs taking the weaves at a trial, all running towards me.  I finally got around to compiling them into a slo-mo video to better understand how different dogs take the weaves, how a lack of consistent footwork slows them down and leads to pop-outs, and how even high achieving dogs who complete the weaves are sometimes inconsistent. 

Here's the 6 minute video of 26 Excellent Class dogs in a T2B run, slowed down to 40-50% speed.

Do you know how your dog weaves? 

Several things I noticed:

• Almost all dogs have the same rear foot action - a two foot hop, regardless what the front feet are doing.
• A few large one-stepping dogs only put down one back foot also, or barely touch the other foot down.
• All dogs push out of the last weave with 2 front feet.
• All dogs head check their handler as they leave the last space unless the handler is already ahead of them.
• Some dogs push the poles with their head or shoulders, to straighten their line, which probably improves their speed.  They leave the poles all aquiver.  Other dogs don't touch the poles.

Inconsistencies include:

• Leading into the space with the outside foot sometimes, other times with the inside foot.
• Both front feet land simultaneous sometimes, other times it's a stutter landing.
• One footing it sometimes, two footing it other times.
• One footing it on one side, two footing it on the other side, consistently.
• Even in consistent two steppers, they sometimes land on the outside foot first and the inside foot other times, or always land on the same foot first no matter which side of the weaves they are on.
• Some dogs combine all of the above within a single pass through the weaves.
• An inordinate number of dogs pop out at the 10th weave.  Why is that?

I want to learn how to improve footwork consistency in the dogs I train. Let me know what you think.  I invite discussion.  I've heard various things from various trainers, including

• Always practice on channel weaves except a week before a trial.
• Trainers close the channel weaves too quickly, before their dogs commit the performance to muscle memory.
• I don't care how my dogs weave, as long as they know they have to get through them.

Two stepping and one-stepping are both correct styles in my view.  Each dog will do the style that suits them.  And yet, we should be able to improve consistency and the answer lies in back-chaining and baby steps.  Hitting solid entries.  Susan Garrett's 2 x 2's is one way.  (Our club has a set.  Hardly anybody uses them.  It's hard to teach a class with multiple students on the 2 x 2's.)

Last year I posted a still shot study of the various front foot action, plus a slo-mo video of rear foot weave action.  You can view that study at this post.

Upwards and onward!

See Saw Puppy Training w Portia and Honey Bear

Michele and Honey Bear

My 2 working agility dogs were NOT introduced to the see saw in the following manner.  They did the low teeter for 6 weeks as our club teaches it, then it was gradually raised over several weeks.

However, still part of the Fat Tuesday experiment (previous post on Tunnel Relays) with training 10 year old Portia to train a puppy, seeing how long I could hold her interest, and seeing what I could get out of 5 lbs. of fearless Papillon from the first attempt, here's a composite video of what we accomplished over a 10 minute session.  I would not attempt this with a timid or overly rambunctious dog, but it worked out well for 4 month old Honey Bear (aka Winnie Pooch).



I do insist on a front entry as shown (with guide gates at first), a nose touch at the bottom to lower their center of gravity and get a solid "halt", and I require a release before they get off.  A side exit from the bottom is allowed, but only after the halt and release. 

As you can see, Honey Bear has no fear of the seesaw and ran right to the end on his first attempt.  This is not typical of most dogs I've seen in Intro.  He was, of course, running to get his Cheerio.  I am convinced that the placement of the treat at board level, creating a nose touch behavior within 2 inches of the end of the board, is why neither of my dogs have the fly off, get off, stop in the middle, refusal problems I see in so many other agility dogs.  Even with my experienced dogs, I still bend down and treat at the end of the board at least half the time in practice to keep their performance at its best.  Or, if I'm a good distance away, I click when they get to the end, then release them for a treat.

For more tips on see saw training with "around the clock" exercises, follow this link.

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,

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!

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!

Surprise Maxie Videos!

Trying to speed up my computer, I've been cleaning out old files.  Much to my surprise, I found some little videos of Max taken with an old Nikon Coolpix camera I had back in '07-'08 -- long before I got a "real" video camera.  Short snippets, I pieced them together yesterday for a nostalgic trip down memory lane.  These are the earliest moving shots I have of Max, at about 6-7 months of age.

First, our visits to Maxie's breeder, Barb Neuman in Ponchatoula, who let me play with her 15 paps and shared her knowledge with me about caring for this breed. There is a short clip of the first time I held Max, plus a later visit when I brought Max, Jonathan and Audrey to see the newborns, and a great photo of me holding Buddy, an AKC Champion and Maxie's grandpaw.

Then, Max playing with himself in a mirror at Sis's house in Houston. I found this one hilarious. Who says dogs don't see themselves in the mirror???

The annoying ticky-ticky-ticky background noise of the Coolpix reminds me why I wanted a different video camera, and of how far I've come since then.  Always good to realize the progress.  What would life be like these days without my video camera, filming our agility runs, training sessions, and the puppies?  I can't bear the thought of all those quality moments lost.

Comparing Max to Winston at this age, Max's culottes and tail are fuller and hair thicker, but his ear feathers are shorter.  Max seems stockier, maybe even fatter. His hair wasn't curly back then and I'm surprised how much longer it was on his back then than now.  When and why did Max get curly hair?

I will continue scouring the dark corners of my hard drive for more videos and share any I deem of interest.

I am grateful every moment for having the leisure time to do all of this labor intensive stuff.  It would not get done otherwise.

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!

Mother's Day Weekend Surprises!



Michele and Winston (5.5 months old)

 As I reported at the beginning of this blog, I didn't get Maxie until he was 6 months old, so I missed out on his early puppyhood.  I've been making up for that now, thanks to my cousin Lois's gift of two 8 week old Papillon puppies to raise and/or sell back in January, and by staying in touch with their new owners I am able to learn more about Papillon puppy development, how fast they grow, how smart they are, when their feathers fill in, temperament, training, etc.

The first surprise?  Kathy called me Friday morning asking if I would keep Winston over the weekend.  Her husband offered her a Mother's Day weekend getaway but the hotel didn't take dogs.  I had told both new owners I would  puppy sit "any time", and suddenly, it was time.  I leaped at the chance provided I could take Winston with me while I managed the Crawfish Boil on Saturday (previous post).  She said yes, I made a few adjustments to manage a puppy (set up the Xpen outside, put up a baby gate at the kitchen, put newspaper in Lucky's big crate where the puppy could spend the night, and a dog crate in the car), and within a few hours, I was a puppy mom again!

Winston at 9 weeks.

Winston (previously "Roku") seemed to remember us and all our dogs, and was properly indignant when fenced off in the kitchen or Xpen.  I quickly became confident to set him free, and he just ran with the pack like he had never left our house. They seemed to remember him, too.  WOW!  This brought back so many memories of Maxie's first weeks here.  I forgot how full of "piss and vinegar" little puppies are!

Knowing he would be picked up Sunday afternoon, I spent my Mother's Day morning doing a bit of puppy training and taking videos of Winston while I had the chance.  More on that in the next post.

Second surprise?  Nathan and Allison came over around 4 p.m. with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a tub of goose pate, and a lovely card.  I got to download Allison's ivideos of Jonathan's wrestling matches, which I uploaded to my family web album here.

Third surprise?  I called Jonathan and actually got him live, and we had a lovely chat.  He says he looks forward to seeing me this summer.  Boy, I am so looking forward to seeing him, though I have no idea what to do with a teenager.  He says "Just feed me.", but I think we'll take him to Avery Island, some plantation tours, maybe camping on a river somewhere. The phone book, I recently discovered, has a long list of tourist sites I've never even heard of.  We'll work that page over.  Sounds like a plan.

Okay, so now to post the training videos . . . . . . .



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 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,

Amite Agility Trial Thurs-Sun

Maxie: 6 runs, 3 Q's (two XS and one XJ), 2 1st places, 1 2nd place, 1st QQ, 87 MACH points
Lucky Lucy: 6 runs, 2 Q's (one each NA and NAJ), 2 2nd places, 2 Novice Titles: NA, NAJ

The RV Parking area, right up next to the arena.
My pop-up camper on the right.

Just got back from 4 days in Amite, about an hour from home. Spring breezes, clear skies, but still got into the upper 80's and I broke a sweat a few times.

I brought the pop-up camper. John followed me there on Thursday morning, we arrived around 11 and had 3 hours to set up then help the ring crew set up for the match at 4. He stayed thru Lucky's novice runs on Friday before heading home. Then I was on my own, including packing up the camper to leave on Sunday afternoon. I was the very last one to leave, except for Michele S. who mercifully stayed behind to help me. It was hot, windy, I had trouble getting the awning zipped up and was running on fumes by that point, just short of tears. When I got home I was totally exhausted. Michele S made a good point -- that the pop-up is good for "testing out whether I want to do agility", but if I decide I really do, I should get something more comfortable and easier to fool with. Also, she said motor homes don't really give much trouble if you use them regularly. The problem comes in with them sitting up.

PERFORMANCE NOTES:

Lucky with her Novice Title Buttons
and 2nd place Ribbons



LUCKY: We got a shaky start from home, leaving a few hours late because Lucky was throwing up and had diahrrea. I believe she ate some poison grass off the club's agility field on Wednesday night while fetching her tug toy from the grass. The field had been sprayed the day before. She was the only one of our 4 dogs who got sick, so it wasn't a virus. At any rate, she had an empty stomach on Thursday, half rations on Friday and more diahrreah, and she had NO BOUNCE IN HER STEP whatever. I lowered her jump height to 20" from the 26" she jumped in Mobile. She managed to get her 3rd leg and TITLE in Novice Standard on Saturday, though, so moved up to Open Standard on Sunday where she scratched horribly with a "Where The Hell Are You Going" kind of run. By Sunday afternoon, though, she was clearly feeling better, and managed to get her 3rd leg and TITLE in Novice Jumpers, too.  I took her photo when we got home, but never could get her ears up. She seems not very fond of her wearing her ribbons on her collar.

WILLOW:  Maxie did much better in the crate with Willow along, no howling or yapping, earning Willow the official title of "Crate Mate Extaordinaire". While she is virtually untrainable in doing anything but whatever she wants to do (which is eat, speak, and be close to me), she now has an important job at trials and does it very well.

MAXIE: As to performance, Maxie nailed the weaves 4 times, ran fairly fast and fairly smooth, didn't sniff a single time or run off to visit anyone, mostly paid attention to me, made very good time, QQ'd for the first time, and got double MACH points for 2 1st place runs. His success was helped by the fact that Gee!, a long haired dachshund with more experience and very fast, was not behaving well this weekend. Found out later his owner/handler, Sharon, had hurt her foot on Friday and Gee! must have picked up on that. Also, two other Papillons, Jet and Lilly, who usually smoke Maxie on time if they Q, weren't running this weekend. All that spelled good luck and placement for us.

PLACEMENT: Just goes to show there are all sorts of angles to placing, and it's not dependant solely on your dog's performance. Only Q's and Time are a pure measure of performance.

VIDEOS: I was not able to video the 8" Excellent dogs, as usual, but I couldn't video the Novice dogs either, including Lucky and me, Kimberly with Beau, nor Jane with Bean. John caught us on Friday, Kimberly came back all day Saturday to help with the videos, Nedra, Loralie and a new friend, Lisa Jones got us Sunday morning, and Tracey hung around til the bitter end on Sunday to, in her own words, "support our club's novice teams", which I greatly appreciated and she videoed us all with my camera. By the time the novice dogs run, see, most of the Excellent teams have cleared out. I find it odd that our instructors don't hang around to see how their own students are doing! If it was their child or family member, I bet they wouldn't even think of leaving.  Be that as it may, unless I get a willing video crew together, it's going to be impossible to film the 8" and 20" Excellent dogs shortly, when I have a dog running in each height category. I enjoy filming and reviewing everyone else's videos, but if I can't get my own dogs filmed, I won't be filming everyone else!

RV CULTURE: The RV'ers outdid themselves every night. After all the teams went home and the crew had laid out new courses for the next morning, out came dish after dish of food, the RV'ers and some crew gathered around a rectangle of cafeteria tables in the atrium, and the laughter could be heard for 2-3 hours after that, from all the way out in the parking area. I was invited over and over to attend, by Joe, Michele S, and others, and I made a brief appearance on Friday night for a few bites, but I was so darned exhausted on Saturday night I couldn't even lift a spoon to my face, much less walk back to the arena. I was asleep by 9 p.m. and didn't regain consciousness until 5:30 a.m. Apparently there is a strong RV culture I didn't even know about -- people who camp out routinely at the shows have created a strong agility family. Sometimes the hosting trial crew provides a few dishes, games, etc. I don't think our club does that, but the RV'ers all invited me to take the initiative in Port Allen. I think I'll bring them a pot of my chili, but just on my own behalf.

STAMINA: I am utterly astonished at the stamina these agility regulars have. I mean, up at the crack of dawn to set up courses, reset courses all day, run several dogs, solve problems, after the last run and everybody else leaves, show up to lay out courses for the next day, then party for hours afterwards, day after day. And all with the greatest good cheer. Then poor Michele S, the Trial Secretary, after all the other RV'ers have left, stays behind for an extra half-hour to help me finish packing up my camper and hitch it to my car. That girl has incredible strength and speed, always good natured and sweet. I couldn't get over how fast she works. Even at her age, I don't remember being that fast. But she made me realize how slow John and I move these days, especially me.

Trial Site Summary: See here.

LESSONS LEARNED:

At one point, while walking a course, some of us complained to the judge about an obstacle being directly in the path between two other obstacles. It seemed it should be moved to the side a few feet. She explained that Agility was a test of handler's awareness as well as the dog's ability to follow, and she refused to move it! This compared to last week, when the judge moved a see-saw out of the way so handlers would not trip over it as they rounded the corner.

On one run, after the last jump, Maxie and some other dogs ran out the gate and could have been disqualified.  It is important to continue to direct your dog away from the gate opening after they complete the last jump, and if they do appear to be running out, call them back sharply.

GOALS MET:

• Lucky's Novice Titles, but not quite at Maxie's record of 6 Q's in 6 runs. Lucky made 3 Q's in 6 runs for Novice Jumpers, 3 Q's in 5 runs for Novice Standard. This in 2 trials, Mobile and Amite. I also got her measured for the 2nd time, so she should get her permanent jump height card from AKC within a few weeks.
• Maxie is on track for 2011 with an equivalent of 1 Q in each category at each trial (of course I would prefer we did better, but this is my minimum goal). We've done 3 trials: New Iberia, Mobile, Amite, and he has 3 MAX Q's, and 3 MAXJ Q's (10 needed for each Masters title). As a bonus, he now has 1 QQ, and 87 MACH points, which count towards his MACH titles. I don't have any goals set for qualifying for Nationals 2012, which requires 6 QQ by later this year.

NEW GOALS:

• Lucky: Two more trials, 12 more runs, 6 Q's at least, 2 Open titles. Improved speed. Placement.
• Maxie: Try to exceed the current average of 1 Q per trial per class. Try for QQ's and MACH points. Improved speed.
• John and I want to attend a Nationals Championship, not to compete but just to see how it is. I've heard the dogs at those levels run so fast and so accurately, it puts our local standards to shame. I want to see if that's true.
• Continue to improve my stamina.
• Ditch the camper. Get an RV. While the camper is cozy and comfy as can be and I love being in it, it takes too long for one person to set up and take down. It's best if set up in one location for a week, with no rush to vacate or fear being left alone in a strange place

 Upwards and onward!

Mobile Agility Trial - Maxie and Lucky

Maxie 6 runs, 2 XJ Q's, one 4th place
Lucky  6 runs, 4Q's 2 NJ, 2 NS, 4 1st places
Videos posted here.


This was Lucky's first AKC trial, and Maxie's 2nd Excellent B trial. Each dog did 2 runs each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, meaning I did 4 runs per day for the first time, 12 in the whole weekend, plus a match run with Maxie on Thursday. Dogs ran small to tall all weekend, Maxie ran first thing in Excellent, and Lucky was the very last dog to run each day in Novice. So 3 long days for us.

Poor Lucky, such a sweetheart, endured without complaint 4 days of either being crated, on leash, controlled in the ring,  confined to hotel room at night, with only about 15 minutes of playing fetch with me in the grassy areas if no other dogs were around.  As soon as we got home she cavorted her muscular self around the back yard for 2 hours, wildly running, leaping, chasing imaginary squirrels, shaking her toys.  I have to figure out a better outlet for her to enjoy some personal freedom at trials.

I had Lucky (a 20.25" height dog weighing 40 lbs.) jumping at 26", which she cleared with a several inches to spare, but I caught a lot of flack from people concerned for her shoulders and ruining her career with long-term injury. This concerns me too, of course, except that she's been jumping 2 foot fences since she was 10 weeks old and jumps 5' fences now, several times a week. The arguments that impressed me the most, though, were Susan K, with her boxers, who said that just because Lucky "can" jump high, doesn't mean that's the best competitive style for her. This was further confirmed when Lucky NQ'd on an otherwise qualifying jumpers run, due to the extra time it takes to jump higher. She missed qualifying by 3 seconds. She could have made the time but for a run by at the first tunnel, and a stop before taking one of the final jumps, but there was no time cushion for such mistakes.  These considerations decided me to jump her 20" in Amite in 2 weeks and see how that goes. Tracey calls 20" an "unfortunate class" due to so many entries at 20" and only 4 chances to place. Lucky was the only dog entered at 26", so naturally if she Q'd, she won 1st place!!! And everyone knows how much I love those placement ribbons!  Susan K, on the other hand, says "placement" means nothing toward titling.  All that matters to the seasoned competitor is the Q's - accuracy + time.

Maxie's performance was less than stellar! 2 Q's out of 6 runs. The NQ's were mostly small errors, only one screwup per run. He nailed 5 of 6 of his weaves, but ran behind me to the A-frame I was blocking on one run, on another I called tunnel and he was going straight for it, almost in it, when I mysteriously blurted "OUT", and he obliged by swerving around the entrance! Why I did that I have no idea!  On another he ran past a jump then turned back and took it backwards.  His videos are posted here.  At least he didn't sniff the ground, visit the bar setters, or pee on the tunnel this trial -- a huge improvement.  Lucky, in fact, was amazinging focused on me most of the time, which was clear in the videos.  She had one "stare-out-the-window" moment while in the weaves, but finally completed them.

Trial Site Summary:
 (I've decided not to clutter up this blog with this detailed information.   I'm starting to keep a separate page called Trial Site Summaries (see link on upper right hand column) on all the sites I've been to, including photos and videos.)


Suffice it to say, I stayed alone at the Red Roof Inn, and find staying alone much more restful than having a roommate.  I need down time to rest, reflect, and process.


Michael and Maxie

Michael Loftis' photography booth was right next to me and and did a brisk business all weekend.  I myself could hardly wait to see the photos of Max and Lucky, and will certainly purchase a few. Besides which, they were wonderful neighbors. It was my first trial with Maxie and Lucky together and I thought they would keep each other sufficient company in side by side crates, but when I took Lucky away to compete, Maxie went into fits of howling.  Of course I was away and didn't hear it so Michael and his wife, who own a papillon, ended up babysitting Maxie quite a bit. In fact, Maxie and Michael took quite a shine to each other and I often found him holding Maxie on his breaks, Maxie slobbering him with kisses, etc.  They make a striking pair.  Took this snapshot with my 2G iPhone.  No flash.  Not bad!

Judges:
Friday: Michele Fletcher, nice courses, not too difficult. She was very pleasant, very fair.
Saturday and Sunday: Blair Kelly, impecably dressed in white starched pants, white shirt and tie, blue jacket. I liked his loud voice and whistle so we didn't miss our cues or briefings (some judges barely whisper), always positioned himself in the middle of the ring so he was often in video camera range. Nice curvy courses, not too difficult yet sufficiently interesting.

Lessons Learned:

1. My running and stretching exercises have definitely improved my ability to run faster and stagger around less.
2. Maxie needs Willow as a crate mate. It appears Maxie won't tolerate being left alone. No problem, as Willow loves coming along, isn't much trouble, and does fine if left alone in the crate while Maxie runs.
3. Lucky needs practice with jump chutes to lower her trajectory and lengthen her stride.

4. Solid down contacts are an absolute MUST, and must be trained for from the very beginning. No dog, even Maxie size, should ever be trained to do a running contact. I saw too many dogs, including Lucky, NQ due to a contact fault. Michael Loftis photoed many spectacular see-saw fly-offs at this trial. Here is only one example.
5. I tried doing Sat and Sun videos in SP instead of HQ format. Didn't seem to make a bit of difference in upload speed or quality. It's all still crappy. I'm asking Santa for a better video camera.
6. Maxie will not sit or down on the rubber topped table. Thank goodness they changed the rule to a 4-on about the same time those rubber tops came along. Anyone who thinks dogs can't feel the surfaces under their feet, think again!
7. The popular notion that "it's ALWAYS the handler's fault", is wrong. Sometimes the dog gets it wrong, as witnessed this weekend by some perfect handler executions that the dog misinterpreted or wasn't paying attention.

STUDYING THE VIDEOS:
After uploading and watching so many agility videos, I have begun seeing a pattern that I had not noticed before -- elusive movements, a certain cadence, the invisible cord holding a team together or, if broken, causing it to fall apart. I began to realize why I have been bothering to do all the fricking work involved to take, upload and label all these videos. It isn't because the people I video will ever appreciate it. The truth is, it isn't primarily for them.  The truth is, money simply can't buy enough lessons and seminars to teach me what watching these videos over and over has given me. It's like art or music appreciation lessons. The untrained eye or ear simply can't see the subtlties, the nuances. It takes thousands of repititions to begin to understand, on an intuitive level, to internalize, what makes a team work well.  I see an accelerated improvement in my own performance because of internalizing this information.

I sometimes get Chinese Takeout when too busy to cook, and I always grab the fortune cookies and save for opportune moments like coming home from trials and trying to assess what happened.

TODAY'S FORTUNE COOKIE:
"Failure is the path of least persistence."
JOHN'S FORTUNE COOKIE:
"Failure is a dress rehearsal for success."

So appropo, and so odd how we both got messages about failure, in light of all the NQ's Maxie and I have gotten so far in 2011 (9 out of 12) and witnessed this weekend. One thing, these agility folk don't let their failures stop them, so I feel I'm in excellent company.

Upwards and onward!

Papillon Puppies For Sale!

Roku (9 weeks old, male)

Update! 
Puppies are sold!

Roku and Jitsu - temporary names we are using to identify 2 purebred AKC Papillon puppies I have for sale, littermates from a litter of 2 with champions in their bloodlines, from The Pines Papillons, breeder Lois Horan, whose website is http://www.thepinespapillons.com/

Photos can't do justice to these scampering little personalities, but show their markings pretty well at 9 weeks old. The video below will give you a taste of their liveliness, alertness, and adorable antics.



Jitsu (9 weeks old, female)

Recently married and about to take a trip, my cousin Lois gave me these babies on 1/26/11 to either train, start my own breeding program, or sell.  Since I have no desire to breed dogs, and have 4 dogs already and 2 that I'm actively training.  I can't keep them.  So I am looking for new owners who can provide really good homes for these little jewels.

By Lois's professional assessment, at this age neither puppy shows any faults that would prevent them from conformation showing.

After a week at my house, I finally got a day warm enough to put them outdoors for more than a few minutes.  See video below:



Here are the particulars:

Birthdate: 11/25/10
Color:  Red and White (both puppies)

Pedigree (3 generations back):

Sire THE PINES GOOD TIME CHARLIE Birthdate: JUL-21-2004 wt. 6.5 lbs, Red and White Points: 1 major and 11 points toward 2nd major	Sire CH.COQUINA'N'CAPRICE U MR LUCKY (CD)	Sire CH.NILKO DU MAS DE LA REVELIER (FRANCE)
		Dam CH.HALLMARK'S SAVANNAH ROSE
	Dam THE PINES N CAPRICE FANTASIA White and Black	Sire CH.CAMELOT'S WHITE MAGIC
		Dam CH.THE PINES CAMEO ROSE
Dam GOSSAMER WING TALIA Birthdate: Mar 29, 2007 wt. 5 lbs. White Black and Tan	Sire NIGHTFIRE'S ESSENCE TO WIN (GERMANY) White Black and Tan	Sire EMERAUD VOM SCHWABENHOF (GERMANY)
		Dam LINDATORPS AHLIZA (GERMANY)
	Dam THE PINES CALAMITY JANE White and Sable	Sire CH.THE PINES PRINCE OF ARGYLL
		Dam SHELTONS ANNIE OAKLEY

As you can see, these puppies have a solid pedigree and may have potential as show dogs/breeders, thus are eligible for AKC Full Registration to the right owners. Dew claws are removed and they are up to date on all shots, with vet certification that they are in good health. All paperwork for AKC registration will be filled out at time of purchase.


Back of head markings (Jitsu on left, Roku on right)

How To Purchase:

Interested parties,
call Michele at 225-978-8688
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Will not ship.  Must pick up.

First short video I took of Roku and Jitsu at play in their Xpen, a week earlier than the video above, puppies considerably smaller:

  

A few weeks later, and I've been working with the puppies every day, and link here to another blog post, with more photos, illustrating that both these puppies are quick, smart and eager to learn.
The Guessing Game

Brags Page, Website Management

As aforementioned, I am the webmaster for the LCCOC website.  In 2009 I installed a Guest Book set up as a Brags page, where club members could post their dog's achievements. I wanted visitors to see how active our club members are and how successful in putting titles on their dogs. Further, it would be a more permanent and visible record than merely reciting a brag at the monthly meeting, and then POOF, it's gone and forgotten.  Most club members have no idea what other members are achieving all year long.

I spent many hours setting up the page, then invited members to use it, for themselves AND to help promote our club.  A few did, entering summaries for each weekend trial they attended, but this quickly became cumbersome.  Too many entries to read, and too hard to follow any one dog.  No good.  So I asked members, a few weeks back, to post a one-brag-summary of each dog's achievement for 2010.  I posted my own Maxie Brag as an example.

Alas, I only got one response.  So much for team spirit.  The sentiment seems to be "who has the time".  True, many of our club members are at trials most weekends and working during the week, yet I fear the page's emptiness makes it look like our members don't have anything to brag about. That won't do.

I reviewed a bunch of other dog club websites, and in each case where they have a Brags feature, the page is nearly empty.  Apparently the "post it yourself" plan is not the way to go.  So I'm trying to figure out new ways to get the job done.
Each year our members are asked to turn in their dog's new titles for the year so the club can present them with an award, either a plaque or a crate tag, at the Winter Party.  I wrote elsewhere in this blog about receiving my first plaque and how proud I was.  I'm not sure all of our members respond to that program, either, but a considerable number do, so I'm investigating posting that list to the website.  I'll make a presentation to the Board of Directors and see if that flies.

Some of our members wonder why I knock myself out doing stuff like this: videoing our team members' performances at trials, matches, and events; maintaining web albums, etc., while they are discouraging me with comments like "you'll tire of it soon".  Likewise, they can't believe I "waste my time" trying to maintain a Brags page.  My take on it is that it beats doing cross-word puzzles, watching game or murder shows on TV, shopping for clothes, having my nails done, hanging out in bars or cafes, or chit-chatting.  I'm not a small-talker, but I like people.  I like being active.  I need projects.  I enjoy studying the learning process.  Plus, "supporting positive effort wherever I find it" is one of my life-long mantras, and beats sitting around noticing all the things-gone-wrong in this world. I'd be drowning myself in the bottle if I had nothing positive to focus on, no one besides myself to pay attention to.  I seek out positive achievers, then do what makes me happy, which is promoting those achievements, even if it makes me sad that few appreciate it. 

Why we lavish so much attention on our dogs, with most of the humans around us bravely enduring but slowly dying of emotional starvation for lack of personal attention and positive reinforcement, I have no idea. As for me, I love to spoil unspoiled people (especially now that I have the time), believing that I may still be assisting humanity in some small way to move

Upwards and onward,