Pirouette-What we have to work on!
Pirouette is: Very fast, very obstacle focused, and very sensitive
These are the things I keep in mind when training her. I have found, in my last 2 trials, that she turns wide and does not refocus on the obstacle in front of her. I have to really work to bring her back in. Twice, in trials, she has missed the a-frame. At first I thought it was a-frame avoidance, is actually a lack of focus when she is running full speed and turning. That was evident in her UKI run; she was not pointed directly at the a-frame and missed it. The same thing happened at the NADAC Trial last weekend. We will try working on an RFP to see if that will bring her in.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Pirouette's Day at the UKI Agility Trial
Yesterday we attended a local UKI Agility Trial-my first time showing in UKI. It was a beautiful venue, at a horse farm on the outskirts of Sebastopol. My goal was to run her on different equipment, a different facility, and different footing, to help build her confidence. She comes across as being very confident and assertive...but she is also very sensitive.
I realized after setting everything up, and bringing her in, that this was the first time Pirouette had gone to a trial without either of her fur-sibs, Daisy Mae and Gunny. She was definitely worried for awhile, but finally settled in. It helped that two of my friends were next to us, and took time to pet her!
Her first class was Speedstakes, which is only jumps and tunnels. She took off over the first jump with with great enthusiasm...then had to sniff the river sand we were running on. Parts of her course were beautiful...and parts she missed. But the f\last 6 obstacles were spot on...and she was happy!
The second run was Nursery Agility, which is like standard without weaves or teeter. She was unsure of the A-frame and it took us several tries, but the rest of the course was great! she missed a couple of jumps near the end, but we just kept running!
If you want to learn more about UKI Agility, here is a link to the website:
Yesterday we attended a local UKI Agility Trial-my first time showing in UKI. It was a beautiful venue, at a horse farm on the outskirts of Sebastopol. My goal was to run her on different equipment, a different facility, and different footing, to help build her confidence. She comes across as being very confident and assertive...but she is also very sensitive.
I realized after setting everything up, and bringing her in, that this was the first time Pirouette had gone to a trial without either of her fur-sibs, Daisy Mae and Gunny. She was definitely worried for awhile, but finally settled in. It helped that two of my friends were next to us, and took time to pet her!
Her first class was Speedstakes, which is only jumps and tunnels. She took off over the first jump with with great enthusiasm...then had to sniff the river sand we were running on. Parts of her course were beautiful...and parts she missed. But the f\last 6 obstacles were spot on...and she was happy!
The second run was Nursery Agility, which is like standard without weaves or teeter. She was unsure of the A-frame and it took us several tries, but the rest of the course was great! she missed a couple of jumps near the end, but we just kept running!
If you want to learn more about UKI Agility, here is a link to the website:
Friday, July 8, 2016
Working On Connection - Relationship Building
Having a 1 1/2 hour commute (each way) gives me a lot of time to think...and a lot of that thinking is about dog training...my 3 dogs-Daisy Mae, Pirouette and Gunther- as well as student dogs. I think about the things I have worked on and what is and is not working.
Last night I trained my "baby dogs", Pirouette and Gunny. Tonight we went out again to train agility. Last night I did my usual warm-up with Gunny, the did jump-dogwalk-tunnel. He had no contact on the dog walk, and took off for the tunnel...only to go around behind it. I yelled "Gunny, COME", got him back and started again. That was not a good start. I was not happy with myself, and tried to figure out why I had no attention. I came to the realization that although we had warmed up, he was not engaged with me. How could I change that?
The first thing I did was load up on food and his favorite toy...the WUBBA! The second thing was to ditch the prong collar and put his leash on the buckle collar. Once we got onto the training field, I took the leash off completely. One big problem with Gunny is he wants to sniff...and then pee. Every time he sniffed, I yelled let's go and took off away from him at a run. I gave him a treat for coming back to me. After a couple of times he came immediately...and we played with Wubba. We did jumps in a half circle, then threw the toy...then went the other way. At first gunny only wanted to look at the toy...not the jumps. He had to start from a sit, with the toy away from him, and understand that the toy would "appear" after he did his job. We worked 3 sessions and he was awesome!
Sharing the hour with him was my Corgi baby Pirouette. She is very sensitive. If she thinks she made a mistake she tends to wander away and sniff. We did a lot of tugging with her tennis ball and throwing it for play. she worked stress-free and was fast and happy. Tomorrow she is doing 2 classes at a UKI Trial. I am hoping this session helped her stay engaged!
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