So the shaping with Sage on the contact board has been going very well. I have been experimenting with different ways to mark behavior and had the idea of trying one of those old fashioned clickers (the obnoxiously loud kind that nobody uses anymore). I had found one when I was cleaning out the closets several days ago and had set it aside to throw away. I use the quiet click (designed by Karen Pryor) and have never had Sage respond to these.
She did respond to the loud metal clicker! I wondered why I hadn't thought of that before (she has some hearing in her right ear and can hear higher frequencies - voice, herding whistles, etc.).
So last night we had a short session and it was much more productive. It didn't take her long to figure out the new marker.
I ordered two sets of 2 x 2 weaves (two weeks ago after the seminar). They are supposed to arrive today and so even though there is still snow on the ground (too icy to train outside), I'll be spending time training entries with both dogs in the sunroom with the 2x2's.
I am using the revised version by Mary Ellen Barry (which I learned from her during the Weaves session at the seminar). Its a slight modification of SG's method.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Puppy Breath?
Summit on his first hike at 10 weeks old
The breeding has taken place and now it's just a matter of waiting until puppies can be confirmed (sometime the middle of March). Hard to believe I just may have a puppy this Summer! I'm so very excited. And I know Summit will be happy to have a little Sable boy to play chase with.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Summit's winning runs at CKC and shaping session with Sage
No MACH this weekend for Sage. She was 50 percent with a dropped bar in jumpers on one day and two missed DW contacts. Summit also was 50 percent. He had two winning jumpers runs and took second in standard. There were appx. 84 dogs entered in the Ex. B 20" class and there was some very competitive dog/handler teams entered so I was pretty thrilled about the placements. Summit would have had a first place in Standard but for a dropped bar (the finish jump was in the middle of the ring and I pulled up quickly instead of maintaining my forward motion past the jump).
Here is Summit's second place Standard run. At 35.13 seconds, he was just 3/10ths of a second off 1st place. I'm very happy with this run. I do make him hold his contacts at local trials now so was really thrilled with his course time.
Here is Saturday's Jumpers run - first place. It was a really nice course. Sage qualified as well.
Another first place jumpers run. This was a very tough course. I had fun on it and liked the challenge of timing my lateral motion to cue both turns out of the tunnel (although I think I overdid the lateral distance a little at the first tunnel exit to the 180). Many dogs took the finish jump after exiting the tunnel the second time. Also quite a few dogs took the incorrect jump on the inverted 270. It really was quite a challenging course and I'm very pleased that Summit did so well. His time was 22 seconds.
I had a fun training session this morning indoors (back field is muddy and icy). I practiced extension RTH on the flat with Summit (by the 15th rep, he was starting to get it that he couldn't bump into me).
Then I started a shaping session with Sage on the contact board. She made me laugh several times. She immediately picked up that I wanted her to interact with this object. At first I marked and rewarded any contact with the board. Then I decided I wanted her standing not laying down on it. She laid down on the end (not marked), she scooted over and laid down in the middle (not marked), she then scooted all the way to the other end and laid down (not marked). She rolled over on her side (not marked), she put her head sideways flat on the board and held it there (not marked), by this time I was laughing so hard at all the behaviors she was offering all in less than a minute. Finally she jumped up and had her two front feet on the board. I marked that and threw the treat. This started her on a roll of figuring out which feet I wanted on the board (I eventually will want back feet only). Anyway, we ended the session with her now figuring out that getting on the board with all four feet and not laying down got rewarded.
Not sure if the retraining will hold up in the ring but I'm having fun playing the shaping game with her.
In the past, I've used timing and placement of reward to shape her behavior. Last weekend, I came up with the idea of using one of those old fashioned clickers (the really obnoxious loud ones).
Here is Summit's second place Standard run. At 35.13 seconds, he was just 3/10ths of a second off 1st place. I'm very happy with this run. I do make him hold his contacts at local trials now so was really thrilled with his course time.
Here is Saturday's Jumpers run - first place. It was a really nice course. Sage qualified as well.
Another first place jumpers run. This was a very tough course. I had fun on it and liked the challenge of timing my lateral motion to cue both turns out of the tunnel (although I think I overdid the lateral distance a little at the first tunnel exit to the 180). Many dogs took the finish jump after exiting the tunnel the second time. Also quite a few dogs took the incorrect jump on the inverted 270. It really was quite a challenging course and I'm very pleased that Summit did so well. His time was 22 seconds.
I had a fun training session this morning indoors (back field is muddy and icy). I practiced extension RTH on the flat with Summit (by the 15th rep, he was starting to get it that he couldn't bump into me).
Then I started a shaping session with Sage on the contact board. She made me laugh several times. She immediately picked up that I wanted her to interact with this object. At first I marked and rewarded any contact with the board. Then I decided I wanted her standing not laying down on it. She laid down on the end (not marked), she scooted over and laid down in the middle (not marked), she then scooted all the way to the other end and laid down (not marked). She rolled over on her side (not marked), she put her head sideways flat on the board and held it there (not marked), by this time I was laughing so hard at all the behaviors she was offering all in less than a minute. Finally she jumped up and had her two front feet on the board. I marked that and threw the treat. This started her on a roll of figuring out which feet I wanted on the board (I eventually will want back feet only). Anyway, we ended the session with her now figuring out that getting on the board with all four feet and not laying down got rewarded.
Not sure if the retraining will hold up in the ring but I'm having fun playing the shaping game with her.
In the past, I've used timing and placement of reward to shape her behavior. Last weekend, I came up with the idea of using one of those old fashioned clickers (the really obnoxious loud ones).
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Mary Ellen Barry and Jennifer Crank Seminar
Well it was an intense four days! Both instructors were absolutely amazing! This was the first time I have chaired a seminar and was hoping things would run smoothly. I did have a few nights where I woke up in the middle of the night panicked that I would forget to take care of something for the seminar. I would run downstairs to my laptop and send myself an email with a list of items I didn't want to forget to do the next morning.
I learned so much. Although I have been applying the APHS system for over two years, watched the Foundation VOD, read all the handling articles, and worked through the DJS book with both dogs, there was still a lot of information I was missing or misunderstood. The two that really stood out for me was the blending of the arms (and dog not passing the plane) and the importance of the extension RTH.
Although I really worked the other RTH presentations with Summit (collection); I neglected the extension RTH since I misunderstood the importance and Summit extended just fine, thanks :-)
So we'll be working that one starting with it on the flat.
The feedback I received was that Summit collected well and had really nice turns while sequencing. I need to support a Forward Send longer (wait until I see his head turn over the bar) before I turn and leave. I am getting too far ahead of him on the course. I also need to rotate my shoulders more when I pick up an OA to cue a FC. He passed all the RTH drills with flying colors except for the extension one.
I worked Summit in all of the sessions. I did switch out with Sage one day to let her run. She did not have the foundation skills to handle the highly technical European courses but she did well on the Masters course work.
I also learned a lot in the Weaves session. Mary Ellen did a demo of her version of the 2x2's. I am mostly happy with Summit's wp entries but would like more independence. Once he's in the weaves, I can leave and he'll continue to weave to the end. However, he missed several difficult wp entries in Jennifer's European coursework sessions. So Tuesday morning, I ordered two sets of 2x2's and will work on both Sage and Summit's entries. Mary Ellen said if the dog already knew how to weave and you just wanted to train entries, that 2 sets would be sufficient. I also learned some good information on handling entries; mainly that you should be facing the direction your dog needs to move toward to hit the correct entry. This way the dog does not cut across your plane to hit the entry.
I have the dogs with me at work today. This afternoon we are headed to the National Western complex to set three agility rings for the CKC Cluster Show this Friday-Monday. My agility club is hosting the agility part of the show. After the rings are set, club members get to do run-throughs in the standard and jumpers rings with their dogs.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Another QQ for Summit and planning for the FRAT Seminar
We were down at the Black Forest this past weekend for a two-day AKC trial. The results are....
.... Sage STILL needs one more double Q for her MACH. She was 50 percent for the weekend. Nice runs but was called for the dogwalk contact in both Standard runs.
Summit won Standard on Saturday with a smokin' time of 36 seconds! He got second in Jumpers for a double Q. Now we are down to just 4 QQ's to finish qualifying for Nationals.
Sunday, I pulled Summit off a tunnel (yes, I can pull off a BC from a tunnel) by dropping my arm and moving laterally too soon. Darn! I have done that before and even walked the course with that little song in the back of my head (do not drop arm and move laterally before dog has committed to tunnel). When he got to the teeter, it was not slide to the end and wait for release but slide to the end and BANG and GO. Sigh... he's been pushing his teeters lately in competition. So he got his NRM and I thanked the judge and we left the ring.
That afternoon I asked David to help me get the teeter out of the snow bank but the bottom 1/8 of the board is frozen in a solid block of ice.
Sunday afternoon I just played with jumpers since neither one of my dogs Q'd in the morning. I decided to try different challenges with each dog.
Sage: lateral leadout, move laterally away from the poles about 5 feet while she's weaving. She Qualified with 3rd place.
Summit: lateral leadout (I dropped my arm too soon and pulled him off the second jump), extreme distance from the weaves (WooHoo! I started moving laterally when he was half way in the poles and was able to get 30 feet away by the time he exited). Pushing for speed (I know... I just wanted to see how he handled the pressure - he dropped one bar and had one wrong course).
I could have run the course with Summit to qualify. It was a nice course, we could have run clean but I really wanted to proof our training. I learned a lot on that run.
I've been very busy finalizing last details of my agility club's annual 4-day Seminar. It starts this Friday and we are having Mary Ellen Barry and Jennifer Crank out to teach.
I am participating in all 4 days of course!
I'm signed up for the full day Masters handling with Mary Ellen on Friday. The full day APHS Foundation/Basic Skills session with Mary Ellen on Saturday. The half day APHS handling (masters level) with Jennifer Crank and half day European style coursework that afternoon. Monday I have another handling session with Jennifer Crank and then a half day weaves session with Mary Ellen.
I am going to have some tired dogs by the end of the four days. I'm looking forward to learning a lot from two great instructors who use the same handling system that I do.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
We can train!
I went out to the field this morning. Although there is still a sheet of ice and snow between the backyard and the agility field, the upper part of the field has dried out and I have enough space to set up some jump drills. I will need to keep the dogs on leash until we pass the snow/ice section though. Luckily, the pause table (which is where the dog not working waits his/her turn) is free of ice now.
I left the 15' curved tunnel where it was and moved jumps around so I had a three jump sequence to the far end of the tunnel and a single jump to the left of the last jump (to form a 180). I plan to practice forward Sends (180 degree wrap over the jump before the tunnel) and lateral Sends (90 degree turn left over the jump for the 180 sequence) and sometimes cueing extension over all three jumps to the tunnel. This will be good for both dogs.
The area where I had the bounce grid set up is mostly free of ice. I won't be able to do the full drill (three-jump bounce grid, 15 feet to fourth jump, 20 feet (extension) to tunnel and then reverse back), but Summit will at least get to work the three-jump bounce grid.
Of course, I'll also be working basic RTH exercises with Summit over one jump in the ongoing process of reminding him that collection and round jumping is highly rewarded.
The weather is supposed to be fairly nice this weekend so I plan on getting out to the field for lot's of training.
I left the 15' curved tunnel where it was and moved jumps around so I had a three jump sequence to the far end of the tunnel and a single jump to the left of the last jump (to form a 180). I plan to practice forward Sends (180 degree wrap over the jump before the tunnel) and lateral Sends (90 degree turn left over the jump for the 180 sequence) and sometimes cueing extension over all three jumps to the tunnel. This will be good for both dogs.
The area where I had the bounce grid set up is mostly free of ice. I won't be able to do the full drill (three-jump bounce grid, 15 feet to fourth jump, 20 feet (extension) to tunnel and then reverse back), but Summit will at least get to work the three-jump bounce grid.
Of course, I'll also be working basic RTH exercises with Summit over one jump in the ongoing process of reminding him that collection and round jumping is highly rewarded.
The weather is supposed to be fairly nice this weekend so I plan on getting out to the field for lot's of training.
As the picture of Summit suggests, I cannot wait until Spring!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
DSA AKC Trial
We were at a one-ring trial this weekend at a venue that is seven minutes from my house. It was a great trial with a great judge and a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Sage was 50 percent each day. I would like to say we had just one thing wrong in the classes we NQ'd in but actually, we had several wrong courses. Unusual for us and at first I was thinking, "Oh no! I have fallen victim to the "one more double Q for our MACH" syndrome. But after really analyzing the courses (this judge is known for nice flowing courses that let the dogs really open up and extend), I realized that they were a bit too wide open for Sage. I ended up having to handle with a lot of lateral distance from her and we had several disconnection points on course. I found this observation interesting and realized that as a team, Sage and I do much better on tighter more technical courses where I can really handle close to her. She reads my lateral motion cues much better when I am closer to her. So she NQ'd Saturday morning in Jumpers, then WON Standard that afternoon with a smokin' time of 38 seconds. Sunday - NQ in Standard and then Q'd in Jumpers that afternoon (6th place I think).
Summit had an awesome weekend. He did very well on these courses. There were a lot of wrong course posibilities which were a non-issue with Summit. Saturday morning he had a great Jumpers run that would have won the class but for one dropped bar. Saturday afternoon he Q'd with 3rd place in Standard with a time of 41 seconds. I was really making him hold his contacts and he did a great job of that. I found it amusing that so many people came up to me later after the results were posted and wanted to know how Sage could have beat Summit by three whole seconds. Well when you watch the videos, you will see how (hint: contacts).
Sunday Summit won Standard with a blazing time of 37.18 seconds. That afternoon he placed 3rd for a double Q. The first double Q he needs for 2011 AKC Nationals (5 more to go).
I am so thrilled to see that Summit and I are becoming more consistent. My goals have been to trust the training and make sure I uphold criteria in the ring, and perfect my timing.
Speaking of training....
I can't believe it's been two months now since I have trained my dogs. The snow has partially melted off the field but the water is not draining well and between soggy muddy grass and sheets of ice, I have not let the dogs out in the back field at all; not even to play. But we've had a couple of private handling sessions and the first week of February, we have my agility club's 4-day seminar. I am co-chair of the club's seminar which has been a lot of work but not only did I get to select the instructors, I will also get to participate all four days.
Anyway, although I'm a little nervous about not training, I haven't really seen any issues in competition - so far.
Here is the video of Sage's 1st place Standard run on Saturday.
And here is Summit's Standard run (3rd place)
Summit's Saturday Jumpers run (one bar)
Summit's winning Sunday Standard run (not holding contacts)
Summit's Sunday Jumpers run (3rd place. 1-4th places separated by 100ths of a second)
He stumbles a little at the end (second jump after the weaves).
We have this weekend off from competition. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some training in. It's supposed to snow though. Maybe we'll just go hiking.
Summit had an awesome weekend. He did very well on these courses. There were a lot of wrong course posibilities which were a non-issue with Summit. Saturday morning he had a great Jumpers run that would have won the class but for one dropped bar. Saturday afternoon he Q'd with 3rd place in Standard with a time of 41 seconds. I was really making him hold his contacts and he did a great job of that. I found it amusing that so many people came up to me later after the results were posted and wanted to know how Sage could have beat Summit by three whole seconds. Well when you watch the videos, you will see how (hint: contacts).
Sunday Summit won Standard with a blazing time of 37.18 seconds. That afternoon he placed 3rd for a double Q. The first double Q he needs for 2011 AKC Nationals (5 more to go).
I am so thrilled to see that Summit and I are becoming more consistent. My goals have been to trust the training and make sure I uphold criteria in the ring, and perfect my timing.
Speaking of training....
I can't believe it's been two months now since I have trained my dogs. The snow has partially melted off the field but the water is not draining well and between soggy muddy grass and sheets of ice, I have not let the dogs out in the back field at all; not even to play. But we've had a couple of private handling sessions and the first week of February, we have my agility club's 4-day seminar. I am co-chair of the club's seminar which has been a lot of work but not only did I get to select the instructors, I will also get to participate all four days.
Anyway, although I'm a little nervous about not training, I haven't really seen any issues in competition - so far.
Here is the video of Sage's 1st place Standard run on Saturday.
And here is Summit's Standard run (3rd place)
Summit's Saturday Jumpers run (one bar)
Summit's winning Sunday Standard run (not holding contacts)
Summit's Sunday Jumpers run (3rd place. 1-4th places separated by 100ths of a second)
He stumbles a little at the end (second jump after the weaves).
We have this weekend off from competition. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some training in. It's supposed to snow though. Maybe we'll just go hiking.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
First AKC trial of 2010
Well no MACH for Sage this past weekend but she was 50 percent with nice runs. Sunday she had a gorgeous Standard run in the morning but I rotated out of my FC too soon at the A-frame and pulled her off the contact. That afternoon she was clean (6th place) in Jumpers.
Summit also did well and won Jumpers both days. He had a wrong course tunnel in Standard on Saturday (jump, 90 degree turn to A-frame/tunnel discrimination). I had too much forward motion towards the jump and cued extension and he landed right in front of the tunnel opening. The rest of the run was nice though. Saturday, he left the teeter too early and was called for a contact. I guess I better brush the snow off my teeter and remind him of the criteria for teeter performance - or maybe not. I was pushing the lateral distance on the teeter. His A-frame and DW were flawless.
Here are Summit's two first place jumpers runs.
I'm not too happy with my bending over while cueing the 180 degree turn at #4. Need to stand up straight! In case you're wondering what I'm doing with my vest as I lead out.... Summit had released himself early in Standard that morning (released as soon as I got to my leadout position and turned around) so I was going to train a startline stay in jumpers (we would leave the ring if he didn't wait for the verbal release). As I left him at the startline, I noticed my vest was unzipped and flopping around. I found this irritating and knew I could not run a course with a flopping vest so I was attempting to zip it up as I lead out but couldn't get the zipper aligned... so I guess that was pretty good proofing of his startline. He didn't move until I released him.
Sunday
I was a bit out of position as he exited the tunnel so had a wide turn to the weaves. Both these courses were a lot of fun. I really like it when judge designs a course that has a combination of tight sequences followed by wide-open sequences where you can really let the dog open up and extend.
Next weekend we have a small one-ring AKC trial at a nice venue seven minutes from my house.
The judge is known for great course so maybe Ms. Sage will MACH.
Summit also did well and won Jumpers both days. He had a wrong course tunnel in Standard on Saturday (jump, 90 degree turn to A-frame/tunnel discrimination). I had too much forward motion towards the jump and cued extension and he landed right in front of the tunnel opening. The rest of the run was nice though. Saturday, he left the teeter too early and was called for a contact. I guess I better brush the snow off my teeter and remind him of the criteria for teeter performance - or maybe not. I was pushing the lateral distance on the teeter. His A-frame and DW were flawless.
Here are Summit's two first place jumpers runs.
Saturday
I'm not too happy with my bending over while cueing the 180 degree turn at #4. Need to stand up straight! In case you're wondering what I'm doing with my vest as I lead out.... Summit had released himself early in Standard that morning (released as soon as I got to my leadout position and turned around) so I was going to train a startline stay in jumpers (we would leave the ring if he didn't wait for the verbal release). As I left him at the startline, I noticed my vest was unzipped and flopping around. I found this irritating and knew I could not run a course with a flopping vest so I was attempting to zip it up as I lead out but couldn't get the zipper aligned... so I guess that was pretty good proofing of his startline. He didn't move until I released him.
Sunday
I was a bit out of position as he exited the tunnel so had a wide turn to the weaves. Both these courses were a lot of fun. I really like it when judge designs a course that has a combination of tight sequences followed by wide-open sequences where you can really let the dog open up and extend.
Next weekend we have a small one-ring AKC trial at a nice venue seven minutes from my house.
The judge is known for great course so maybe Ms. Sage will MACH.
Friday, January 8, 2010
MAD Summit
Well the dogs and I took the entire month of December off from competition. It was semester break at the University too so I had a lot of time off from work. We spent most of that time hiking and running at the South Mesa, West of Boulder.
I was a bad blogger and a bad trainer (we didn't train at all). But the long break was good for the dogs and I think having time off from agility is good for them physically as well as mentally.
I did end up doing a 1/2 day Stacy Peardot-Goudy seminar with Summit. The seminar was in a nice indoor heated facility with soccer turf. As usual, Stacy set up a wicked European-style course.
So this past weekend was our first trial of the year. Three days of USDAA with DAM team. Summit's team qualified with 6th place which is not bad considering one of our teammates E'd in Team Relay! So Summit has his DAM team Q for 2010 Nationals. He had a nice GP run but missed the wp entry and had a wrong course on a very technical Steeplechase course (only 8 out of the 50 dogs entered made it into the finals). He also Q'd in Snooker (we only got as far as #5 so no Super Q), Second place in Jumpers, second place in Standard, and then Stacy and I won Masters relay by two full seconds!
The best part of the weekend though was Summit earned his MAD!
This weekend we have a two-day AKC trial. Maybe Sage will earn that last double Q for her MACH!
Goals:
Since we are STILL not sure where USDAA Nationals will be in 2010 (maybe the East Coast), qualifying for the AKC Nationals is a priority this year. Sage is qualified for 2010 but I decided not to take her this year.
I would like Summit to earn his ADCH this year. It depends on how many USDAA trials we travel to since there are only 6 trials locally (within the state).
Sage only needs one more Super Q and a Gamble Q for her ADCH. It would be nice if she could earn her ADCH this year too. Gambles are difficult for her though.
I was a bad blogger and a bad trainer (we didn't train at all). But the long break was good for the dogs and I think having time off from agility is good for them physically as well as mentally.
I did end up doing a 1/2 day Stacy Peardot-Goudy seminar with Summit. The seminar was in a nice indoor heated facility with soccer turf. As usual, Stacy set up a wicked European-style course.
So this past weekend was our first trial of the year. Three days of USDAA with DAM team. Summit's team qualified with 6th place which is not bad considering one of our teammates E'd in Team Relay! So Summit has his DAM team Q for 2010 Nationals. He had a nice GP run but missed the wp entry and had a wrong course on a very technical Steeplechase course (only 8 out of the 50 dogs entered made it into the finals). He also Q'd in Snooker (we only got as far as #5 so no Super Q), Second place in Jumpers, second place in Standard, and then Stacy and I won Masters relay by two full seconds!
The best part of the weekend though was Summit earned his MAD!
This weekend we have a two-day AKC trial. Maybe Sage will earn that last double Q for her MACH!
Goals:
Since we are STILL not sure where USDAA Nationals will be in 2010 (maybe the East Coast), qualifying for the AKC Nationals is a priority this year. Sage is qualified for 2010 but I decided not to take her this year.
I would like Summit to earn his ADCH this year. It depends on how many USDAA trials we travel to since there are only 6 trials locally (within the state).
Sage only needs one more Super Q and a Gamble Q for her ADCH. It would be nice if she could earn her ADCH this year too. Gambles are difficult for her though.
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