Another Comeback

Had another fun weekend of playing agility with the dogs. Everybody did well and came home with several Q's and placements. It was a weekend for me though of not worrying about the desired Q, or finishing another level, and just enjoying the dogs and their talents. On our only NQ of the weekend, Django and I did a few truly ugly things, but at the same time, we successfully negotiated sections of the course that I had thought would be challenging for us, so I forgot about the few seconds of sloppiness. Django also made me proud on his last run of the weekend, when he suddenly got the heebie-jeebies rights as we went into the ring and tried to bolt and leave at first. Apparently he got freaked out by a motorized wheelchair (which, he has seen a million times as it is owned by a friend and co-agility competitor, but for some reason it spooked him at that moment - I can't explain him; he's a sensitive little guy at times). Nevertheless, he summoned his courage, and ran a decent course and stuck with me. That's what I love most about working with Django. He isn't particularly high drive or tough, but he wants to be right and always does whatever I ask of him happily.

Maebe has done a complete 180-degree turn on her contact performance. Amazingly. After about a year of NEVER hitting a contact in competition, she has become our most reliable contact performer, and is almost rock-solid in her dependability. She turned in some blazing fast, brilliant performances with Lowell which were a delight to watch.

The best part of the weekend though was seeing Tristan run three courses on Sunday. Back in September, we came home (from my grandmother's funeral, no less) to find T looking stiff and gimpy again for the first time in almost a year. We rested him, took him to his acupuncturist, but everything that had ever worked was not working any more. He looked and moved like crap. I bought a Rally Obedience training book, pretty much figuring agility was over for him but maybe we could find something else to occupy his mind.

Last week though I decided to give chiropracty another chance for him before completely giving up on agility. He had previously had a very bad experience with a much-too-rough practitioner, but I had since gotten a referral from a very trusted friend for a new vet to try. He had a nice appointment on Friday, and so we decided to see how he was moving.

Man, if this dog hadn't been built so terribly, he would have been a superstar. He ran courses on Sunday that only Maebe beat him on in time. I believe he had the highest points for his Full House run, and that was without asking him to perform the 5-point A-Frame obstacle at all. His timing on his jumps is not great and he is really thinking, but he was running smoothly and safely, and was SO happy. It was like a half-day of agility put his overactive mind at ease again finally. Every time I watch Lowell and him run now, I prepare myself that there is the possibility that will be the last, but for now he looks like he might have a few more Q's in him still before retirement.

A funny "T" story from the weekend: T is our smartest dog - he is just operating on a different level than the others, I swear. He's also a touch compulsive and crazy, so on Saturday night at about 3 AM when we heard him whining in his crate and heard some rustling of the crate bars, we assumed he had drank too much water, again (he is a compulsive drinker, if given the chance), so Lowell got up and took him out. Three times. He would not go, but continued to whine when crated.

Frustrated and exhausted, we decided to try letting him sleep with us, figuring something was upsetting him that we had no chance of figuring out and we just wanted to get some more sleep somehow. He got up on the edge of the bed looking rather confused and perplexed. He laid calmly, but didn't relax and didn't curl up with us. Then we heard crate bars rattling again and realized that Django was the one fussing. Django bolted for the door when Lowell opened the crate, and apparently was having some digestive distress and was very grateful to get outside. Of course, Django is never wanting to make a scene, but was obviously sitting there uncomfortable and upset. Thankfully, Tristan notified us of the matter. We realized then that Tristan's confused look was really his continued disbelief at how hopelessly stupid we are, and he could not figure out why he was being invited into bed while we refused to attend to Django's needs. Sorry T. Thanks for helping the red dog out - glad you're looking out for the rest of the pack.

Pop Quiz

So, let's say that you are the owner of a young, high-energy sporting breed dog, and you decide to try out an intro agility class for fun. Let's also say that you kind of view class as a glorified dog park with playground equipment, and regularly let your dog run amuk around the arena and on the equipment.

Let's say that also in your class is a high-energy, adolescent Border Collie pup with a whole lot of herding drive, whose parents are working hard to improve off leash control. The pup has a tendency a couple times a week to do a brief "victory lap" of the class after an exercise - a practice that the owners are very much trying to prevent and stop. The pup is getting better, though is still not 100% perfect. The owners acknowledge the issue, made everyone in the class aware of this tendency, confirmed that it wouldn't be a problem with anyone before taking this pup off leash, etc.

Let's say that with 15 minutes remaining in a class session where the pup has exercised much more impulse control and had much improved focus and recalls, the BC suddenly decides to make a break for it and do a lap of the class. The BC notices your dog, and they start play-bowing at each other. Do you:

A) Stand calmly holding your dog and wait for the owners who are hustling over to scoop up their dog?
B) Reach down and hold the pup's collar and hand him back to the apologetic owners? or
C) Say, "well, she's been wanting to play all night" and proceed to drop your dog's leash, so that the two dogs can engage in a wildly fun, protracted game of chase all around the training center, while the BC's owners wonder how the hell they are ever going to catch their young dog whose brain has now gone into full-blown, ecstatic herding mode and is oblivious to anything else in the world?

Three guesses how last night's class ended.

Yes, my fault for not having this training issue solved yet. But it was improving every week as he learned that the fun happens when you do the exercises with mom, and that going and looking for your own fun isn't very successful. Of course, now that he had about the best reinforcement he could have for running off, I fear we may be back a few more rungs on that training ladder. A bit frustrating and I was not a happy camper after that. I suppose I did stupid things as a first-time trainer also, but that was one of the damnedest decisions I've ever seen a classmate make, no matter how novice.

After a well-timed, lucky pounce enabled me to retrieve my Noodle, we went to the back of the room and did Crate Games for the remainder of class, in order to do some impulse control work. Tonight we are headed to the park with a long line and lots of freeze dried liver and his favorite tug toy (well, second favorite - his loofah dog toy was unrecognizable after last night's class and so had to go to the dog toy graveyard like so many before it).

He does try so hard to be right. We'll get there.

My Two Biggest Challenges (By Cadence):

1) Supressing my incredible herding-drive urge to run large circles around the agility class filled with moving dogs and people.

2) Being the only adolescent boy in a class filled with pretty girl-dogs.

It's hard out there for a Noodle, but I still managed to hold it together for 90-95% of the time last night. Mom has to admit that I sure try awfully hard to do the right thing despite my biology.

CATCH-2 Django

When Django earned his CPE C-ATCH agility title this past July, I was very content and proud. He is the first dog that I have earned a major title on, and I was satisfied with our accomplishments, was enjoying our teamwork together, and did not have any big ambitions for any titles beyond that. I knew that as long as his health allowed, we would continue trialing and hopefully that may mean more titles as I hope to still have many runs left together with him, but I was done striving. Instead, I decided to focus on being the best team we could be.



If Django is anything in the agility ring, it is honest and forgiving. Consequently, I've been able to "play it safe" a lot of the time in ways that I couldn't with a very high, fast dog like Maebe. Django and I have a lot of clean runs and get a lot of Q's, and even place a decent percentage of the time, but I know I was babysitting to his weaknesses rather than training and improving them. I felt myself doing this especially as I was grasping for those last few C-ATCH legs back in the spring and summer, and I knew that wasn't really the type of trainer that I wanted to be. Plus, I wasn't really challenging Django to meet his full potential.



After we earned his C-ATCH, I decided to stop worrying about qualifying, and instead to test my training and challenge him. I stopped finding ways to avoid off-side weaves at all costs, I ran faster to encourage him to drive harder towards me through the course, and I tested how far I could be from obstacles.



I pleasantly discovered that we kept Q-ing. In fact, our Q rate increased and we even had a few perfect days of trialing in the past few months and began placing consistently, often even taking first. He also was getting faster, and not petering out by the fifth run of the day. We got three traditional Jackpot legs in a row, which was previously unheard of for us. Suddenly, I found we were entering this past weekend's trial needing only one more Standard leg for a CATCH-2, and having two opportunities to get it that day.



So, old habits die hard, I found. I approached the trial feeling very relaxed and unconcerned about finishing the title, but as I walked the first course, I started to feel my nerves get a bit rattled. The course was a nice one that we should have done well. But, I found myself worrying about his A-Frame contact so got right to the end to slow him down to hit it, then promptly forgot what I was supposed to be doing next. In the half-second pause I took to re-orient myself, Django got tired of waiting for direction and took an off course jump. I apologized to him on the course for screwing that one up, then just had fun as we finished up the course.



The second run went much better. I took a deep breath before leaving him at the start line, and the opening went very smooth. Once we got past all the tricky parts though, and were almost in the home stretch, I did shift back into baby-sitter mode, and did some awkward handling to play it safe. But, he earned his Q and still took first place even with the time I took to over-handle the last few weaves and jumps. All in all, it was a nice run and I was very proud of him.



I'm happy to be back in "non-striving" mode though. We ran the last two classes of the day using the "no hand-holding" philosophy again, and he ran fast, clean, and had some brilliant weave entries. In doing so, Django taught me another important lesson - that once the training and team-building effort has been put in, you need to trust your dog, and in effect, yourself.



Here's Django's title photo, courtesy of Raymond Dutton. As always, Django is not real sure what all the fuss is about and is just wondering when he is going to get his cheese.

Things Learned in Foundation Agility Class Last Night

By The Noodle (aka Cadence)

1) Tunnels are awesome.
2) Schnauzers are awesome.
3) While the Buja Board is fun, and I get lots of cheese on it, it is maybe best not to pounce on it like I'm doing my best lion imitation.
4) I have rear feet and need to pick them up when walking through the ladder.
5) Sometimes tunnels are closed at the end but I can still get through.
6) Schnauzers would probably be really fun to herd.
7) Even though the table at class looks exactly like the table at home that I have gone on dozens of times, it is best to give it a full inspection before getting on it for the first time.
8) Mom starts swearing and almost falls if I try to run in front of her at top speed between two obstacles.
9) I can do two obstacles in a row without turning and herding Mom, causing the aforementioned swearing (unless she is really, really late).
10) I could stare at a schnauzer all day.
11) I will be much faster than Django and Mom is not going to get away with the sloppy handling crap she can get away with with him.
12) If I run over to say hi to the pretty Border Collie mix twice in a row while she is doing jumps, my Gentle Leader gets put back on and I have to sit calmly for a while and look at Mom.
13) Mom really better learn to handle.
14) Schnauzers are almost as fascinating as kitties.

This Was The Type of Weekend We Had . . .

Which was very nice for a change. :-)

In Which Django Learns What Those Poles In The Ground Are For

It is a small wonder that Django has proven to be such an honest agility dog given the on-and-off patchwork of classes and lessons that laid his foundation training in the sport. When Django came into our household, Tristan was approaching a year of convalescence for his knee problems, and Jade was making it clear in no uncertain terms that while he was a stellar flyball dog, he would only do agility under his own rules and conditions, thank you very much. I had the agility bug though, and wanted a competition partner, so hoped to quickly get Django up and running. Fate had other plans for a while though, and his education had a lot of fits and starts. We had become disenchanted with the instructor we'd been going to who seemed to be resorting to throwing water bottles at dogs as a training method. We chose to go to another instructor who we enjoyed, but who at the time only taught a class slightly advanced for Django's skill level. We faked our way through it as best we could . . . but then we bought a new house and moved, I broke my arm, etc. Finally, a couple years ago we were ready to really enter competition with him. With only one little issue.

He remained rather flummoxed by the concept of weaves. If he concentrated real hard, and I stood right next to him and showed him the straight path to the entry and didn't rush him, he could slowly wiggle his body back and forth through a set of six poles. If he were on my left side, that is. If he was on my right side, he would come to a grinding halt at the first pole and stare at it perplexed as if he had absolutely no idea what to do with this strange white stick in the ground.

We took some weave classes, worked weaves in the backyard, and within the past year got to a point where I could usually pretty much count on him knowing what to do with the weaves. He still would pop out on occasion, and really was better if he was on my left. He wouldn't drive ahead or out to the side to find weaves by himself so I really needed to be there for him. I would risk off-side weaves if I really had to but usually tried to find ways to set him up as best I could. And he did not weave fast, by any means, in a trial.

So, sometime this fall apparently somebody abducted this dog and managed to train him what I had been unable to in the last 5 years or so.

We entered a CPE trial this past Sunday, and saw that the first run of the day was a traditional Jackpot that involved a set of weaves in the gamble. I figured chances were slim to none of him hitting weaves at that distance and angle. So no one was more stunned than I was when he became the first dog of the day to qualify, hitting the weaves perfectly, and actually kind of fast. As I gathered up his leash, I asked him "Whose dog are you? Because mine doesn't weave like that. When did you learn how to do that?" He was pleased with himself as always, but was not telling.

After that performance, I decided that, dammit, clearly the dog knows what to do and I have just been babysitting and hand holding way too much. So I planned to run the rest of the day's courses in the most efficient way possible and not worry about managing his weaves. I did off-side weaves at least three times. I sent him ahead to find the entry on his own. I didn't slow down and let him think about how to do them. Every time he nailed them. Charged ahead, found the entries, single-stepped the poles, kept driving through them, didn't look to me for guidance . . . and he finished the day perfect in all five runs with three first places and two seconds.

It pleases me to no end that at this age and after this long, Django is still continuing to improve his skills and is actually getting faster and showing more drive. So, to whoever had been training my dog behind my back, many thanks!!

Having some video upload issues at the moment that should hopefully be resolved later this week, so hope to have a few of the runs up eventually. His Standard and Snooker runs especially made me very proud!