We had an interesting start to the show weekend, it was the Bedford All Breeds Training Society in Luton. We were notified on Saturday that the 'Travellers' had moved onto the show ground. Note that that is not the term I would use for them, but If I start ranting about that then I won't end up talking about agility! Anyway, +Susi Cooper had a sore foot so couldn't run which meant I was running Doople at grade 4, Shadow at grade 6 and Winnie at grade 3.
The venue we moved to was very nice in the end. It was only a single day show but was very enjoyable. We spent a lot of the day helping out on a ring run by our training club, Watford ATC. It was good to spend a day with friends, it definitely helps when the weather's nice.
Doople after finishing 2nd in 4-5 agility
First up was me and Shadow running in the combined grade 6-7 jumping. We had a good start to the round but I only managed 5 jumps before I fell over! The grass was long(ish) and I was wearing walking boots (perhaps not clever). But I think I was the only person to fall over in the day so perhaps it was just me. We did still manage a clear round though with right-hand weaves, much better than last week. Next up was combined grade 1-7 agility which was an Olympia qualifier. I was running both Shadow and Doople in this class. Shadow ran well and was very close on some of the contacts but clear none-the-less. She ended up with 17th place, which is better than it sounds as there were ~180 dogs in the class! We were only a few seconds off the pace which I am actually quite pleased with, considering how fast the top dogs are. We finish with combined grade 6-7 agility. This again was a really good round by Shadow. Unfortunately I got a little confused on a turn and subsequently moved when I shouldn't have, Shadow was none-the-wiser so we carried on anyway. At the end of the round, I did fall over again though! Falling over in 2 out of 3 rounds is a little silly!
I was running Doople today which meant more work for me, but I do enjoy it. Doople is running well at the moment so it isn't very different from running Shadow. Doople's first round was the combined grade 1-7 agility, the Olympia qualifier. Doople was really up for it, she did a nice back of jump from a little distance which I'm pleased with. She's picking that up nicely which is good considering we haven't trained it very much. Next up was the combined grade 4-5 agility. I over looked the entry into the weaves so Doople ran towards the number. The entry was on a gentle arch past a jump and a tunnel, looking back I'm not sure she could actually see the weaves before she got to them. Later in the course was a trick part, out of the tunnel and then between two jumps into another tunnel. Doople listen brilliantly, went through the gap and into the next tunnel. Not many people managed it. Last up was combined grade 4-5 agility. This had a bit of a tricky start that perhaps could have been quicker if I'd layered the jump between 3 and 4. We had some tight turns and a pull through slalom to finish 2nd. I almost pulled Doople off a couple of jumps whilst trying to get tight turns, but she understood and kept going over the jumps.
Lastly we have Winnie. She still doesn't have much confidence in the ring so all we try to do with her is run around and have fun, the confidence will come with time. Both agility and jumping rounds were steady but I made the same mistake in both: I left her a bit too far behind when she got to a jump so she missed it. My mistake as she doesn't have the confidence to take the jumps from a distance in the ring. Training is a different matter, but such is life.
It was an enjoyable day that culminated in more clear rounds than eliminations, which is always a bonus. Shadow getting placed out of 180 dogs and Doople getting a 2nd place in agility are clear highlights. On to Nottingham for next week, just hope there are no pesky travellers!
This weekend were competing at the Godmanchester DTC show in Ely, Cambridgeshire. We were hoping for nicer weather than the previous camping shows but alas 'twas not to be. We had Doople running her first show at grade 4, Shadow running at grade 6 and Winnie running a couple of runs at grade 3.
It was a nice showground at an equestrian cross-country centre in Ely. The grounds were lovely to walk around with some massive cross-country jumps. I'll stick to dogs I think, closer to the ground! It was an average size show and we weren't camped too far away which makes the weekend so much easier.
Photosphere taken from the middle of the rings
First up was Shadow in her combined grade 6-7 jumping. This was a very easy course to start with which is good to get your confidence up with. It was basically a helter-skelter but useful as a warm up. We got a clear round but no where near the placings. Next up was the combined grade 4-7 agility. Shadow was running forward well but lost a lot of confidence doing right hand weaves, she looked like she had never seen them before. I went back to do them on the left and she shot straight through, a little bizarre as we train both sides equally. Next we had combined grade 4-7 helter-skelter, another good blast but Shadow was running a little slower as it was raining but we still managed a clear round outside the placings. After a rather heavy 20 minute down pour spent inside the scorers tent, we had the team event, I'll more about that at the end. We finished the day with graded 6-7 agility. Shadow was a little steady again as it had been raining earlier but a good round. Very steady through the right hand weaves again but we managed to complete them leaving us only 0.1s out of the placings!
In terms of results, Sunday was the opposite of Saturday for Shadow. We started with the pairs running with +Susi Cooper and Doople. It was another interesting start to the course and again it was our friend Ray Burke's course! It started with a jump and two parallel side-by-side tunnels, in one then the other then back between the two and into the weaves. Needless to say there were a lot of dogs, mainly spaniels, going through the tunnels a few too many times. We both managed that but Shadow again lost her confidence in the weaves so we ended up with faults. We followed this with graded 6-7 agility. It was a very tricky course with open spaces. We managed it well with only a couple of wide turns but unfortunately Shadow missed the A-frame completely! I was running passed after a long gap and stopped working the equipment, so she followed me around it. If that wasn't bad enough, I basically did the same thing in the combined grade 4-7 agility as well! This time I tried to cross in front of the A-frame but wasn't quick enough so I pulled her around with me. Apart from that she was really going for it. Our last run was graded 6-7 jumping. This was a fairly tricky course with a tight start followed by large open spaces. We finally managed a placing picking up a third.
Doople started the day with combined grade 4-5 jumping after a nice leisurely morning for her. For once it wasn't me getting eliminated after the first couple of jumps, this week Susi takes that title, and on the first run too! Susi didn't turn enough on a pull through so Doople back jumped. It was good afterwards though. Next up was combined grade 4-7 agility, the same course Shadow ran in and managed a better round than Shadow too finishing with a clear round. Finally, after me standing in the queue in the rain while Susi and Doople wait inside the scorers tent, the heavens opened and dumped what felt like a years worth of rain. As the judge was now running for cover I abandoned my place in queue, along with the rest of the queue. 20 minutes later we were back out and, sort of, ready to go. We weren't sure how Doople would run as she doesn't like the rain, but it had stopped and Doople ran quite well despite the slippery surface. As half of the class had already run in dry there wasn't much hope for a place but a clear round none-the-less.
Sunday started in much the same way as Saturday. Doople had one early-ish run in the pairs. I won't repeat myself, but Doople ran a good round and was let down by her pairs partner (yes I am talking about myself). This was followed by combined grade 4-7 agility. For some reason, despite my poor efforts with Shadow in this class, I ended up running Doople as well. I didn't make the same mistake twice though! Doople ran well for me although I did get too far in front for the weaves so we ended up with faults. The final round of the weekend was graded 4-5 agility. This was a good course and there were a lot of people making silly mistakes. Doople ended up with a third place which was brilliant.
Last but not least was Winnie. Winnie is still lacking a lot of confidence in the ring. At training she is running well and is really enjoying it, but at shows she doesn't have the same drive. That will come with experience which is why we only run her a couple of times over the weekend. She was running forwards and jumping well, albeit slowly. She is cantering the dog walk now in the ring which is great, a lot of time can be lost if dog is slow as it is 36 feet long. I got caught out in the rain again before the ABC (anything but collie) jumping. Susi took Winnie to stand in the secretary's tent while I went in queue in the what felt like hail. It passed after a few minutes though. On Sunday Winnie was even slower than normal. We're not sure if she was stiff from a cold night's sleep, or whether she was still mentally fatigued from the previous day. She is physically very fit but mentally she gets tired quite quickly. Susi ran her for the final day, by which time we were making up our own course to keep it straight and simple.
As I said earlier, Shadow ran in the team event, the Dog Vegas Chase the Ace qualifier. We ran with Juliet, Maureen and Heather from the Poodle Club so it was good to have a full team of small poodles. Susi and Doople have already qualified in a different team so couldn't join ours. Team classes consist of 4 dogs and handlers and is a batten relay race, only the batten is held by the next person to run rather than running around the course with it. The faults for each dog accumulate to give the overall team score with the timer running continuously from the first dog starting to the last dog finishing. The team with the fewest faults and fastest time wins. We were all a little steady as we were caught out in the 20 min downpour. We all ran very well with all of us going clear. You could feel the tension as Heather ran last after the three of us had gone clear. Getting four clear rounds in a team event is quite rare, out of 25 teams only two teams managed a full set of clear rounds. That left us in 2nd place and qualifying for the final!
It was a good alround weekend with some good runs from all dogs. The good thing about the weekend for Shadow was that we didn't miss a single contact, not counting missing the equipment! Improvements are still needed though, particularly with the weaves. Doople was still running well, we now need to work on more complicated turns as she is moving up the grades, especially teaching her to go round the back of the jump. Winnie just generally needs to work on her confidence in the ring, as long as things don't go drastically wrong she'll get better.
Next weekend we have a one day show in Luton, at least it's just around the corner.
Another weekend, another show. This weekend we were outdoors for the first time this year. The show was held at Shuttleworth Park, Biggleswade. The setting is in a very large grounds with lovely old buildings around, not to mention a grass runway airport with a road running across. We had Shadow running at grade 6, Doople running at grade 3 and Winnie running in anysize over medium jumps.
After our last camping trip over Easter we were hoping for some better weather, or least no frost. The ground was damp and soft but not undrivable, which meant we could at least park up easily. The sun shone on Saturday morning but disappeared in the afternoon with rain setting in for the last few runs. Sun was sunny but a strong wind blowing meant that some small dog agility course removed the dog walk to save the dogs from being blown off as happened to Shadow at a show last year. The show was very large with 11 rings in total, circa 1500 dogs running over the weekend. Small dog classes normally have around 50 dogs competing, here we had 150! So it was a little larger than a normal show we attend, so need to keep an eye on more rings.
Doople and +Susi Cooper on the start line with their wind swept look
We'll start with Shadow. After our fantastic running over Easter I was looking forward to this weekend, but the results were very different. We started with grade 1-7 agility, which was a fairly straight forward course for us. Unfortunately, Shadow had forgotten what to do at the bottom of the dog walk, i.e. touch the bottom. This was a real shame after not missing a single contact in 3 days over Easter, but it was the first time we'd run outdoors since last year so that could be partly to blame. She also lost a lot of confidence in the weaves last week so had to build those up again this weekend. We followed this up with grade 4-7 jumping. This time it was me who made the mistake on a pull through, I step forward into the gap so she carried on going over the nearest jump. Grade 4-7 agility was similar to the earlier agility round with a missed contact at the end. You'll see in the video that I was nice and still at the end of the dog walk but Shadow already had her sights on the finish line. We finished the day with grade 4-7 jumping in the rain. This was a slightly untidy round with a near refusal, but we did manage to finish clear.
It was nice to wake up on Sunday and not have icicles hanging from the caravan. We started the day with grade 4-7 agility with our friend Ray Burke as the judge. I could tell at first glance which course was Ray's as the start was ... unconventional. Starting with a tunnel is perfectly legal but very rare to see. We had no problems with that part of the course, with Shadow did avoid the end of the dog walk contact again. We had to wait until after lunch for our next run which was 4-7 jumping. We had a very good round but Shadow missed the last couple of weave poles. We followed this with grade 4-7 agility. This was another slightly messy round but the dog walk had been removed due to the wind, so that was one less thing to worry about! We managed a clear round with some impressive wide turns that I should have controlled better. We did manage right hand weaves which I am pleased with after training last week. We ended with a nice simple 1-7 jumping round. When I start a sentence with 'nice and simple', it usually means I did something wrong, and I did! I got lazy at the end of the run and basically ran off passed the jump and Shadow followed me, it had been a long day!
Greg and Shadow
Doople had a significantly better weekend than Shadow, but then that wasn't hard. Doople ran the same 1-7 agility course as Shadow and had a better result finishing with a clear round. She was running forward well as she has been all winter. We had a long wait until Doople's other rounds as they were at the end of the day. In the first grade 1-3 jumping Doople was really going for it. Susi had some good changes and the turns were tight resulting in 7th place. Bearing in mind the were over 100 dogs in the classes, any placing is great. Places are typically 10% of the number of dogs entered. Doople had a few refusals in the grade 1-3 jumping as +Susi Cooper turned too soon for her, and she got distracted at the last jump. The grade 1-3 agility was a fairly straight forward serpentine that Susi and Doople ran well and finished with a 4th place, just outside the trophies.
Doople had a lie-in on Sunday as she wasn't running until lunch time. She started with a fairly simple grade 1-3 agility and ran well picking up a 6th place. This was followed by another grade 1-3 agility in which Doople ran well again. There was a wide turn going into the tunnel and the see-saw was a bit slow as Susi crossed behind, but still managed a placing 9th place. Doople stops a little earlier on the see-saw when Susi crosses behind, so we need to work on driving her forward towards the end more. Next up was grade 1-3 jumping. This had a fairly tricky start for grade 1-3 with slalom worked up then down, but it was made easier by having a good startline wait. Susi started well but got in the wrong place slightly and had to shoo Doople over the jump. They both made up for it and ended with a clear round. The final round was the same grade 1-7 jumping that Shadow faltered in, and Susi must have been watching too closely as she proceeded to do exactly the same thing! Not the best way to end the show but the rest of the running was good.
Susi and Doople
We also had Winnie running at the show. We ran her in anysize classes over medium height jumps to work on her mental stamina and concentration as well as building up her confidence in the ring. On both days we had an agility round and a jumping round. In the first agility Winnie was a little distracted with what was going on, especially when it came to turning but was still clear. She was concentrating more in the jumping but I ran past a jump and a flat tunnel so she missed them. In the agility on Sunday she was much better and far more confident. Again, in the jumping she was looking like she enjoyed herself more. She did manage more clears than Shadow in the end!
Greg and Winnie
I also ended up running a friend's dog in the last class on Sunday, 1-7 jumping. This was Gladys Tomb's Benji. It was good fun to run another dog a Benji was quite happy as he got to run. I didn't realise his wait wasn't very good though so we were eliminated after two jumps, which I have to do at least once in a show!
It was an enjoyable weekend especially being outside in the nice spring weather. We were both shattered after the long walk to/from the caravan as we were camped a few minutes from the rings. Our next show isn't until May at Godmanchester so we have time to practice weaves and contacts.
Easter is a good time of, especially as it brings a four-day weekend. It also means the start of outdoor shows for the year, that is under normal Spring weather conditions. This week we had Doople running at grade 3, Shadow at grade 6, Storm at grade 3 and Winnie at grade 3.
We decided that after spending most weekends last year in a tiny, old caravan that we would treat ourselves to a new caravan this year. We got a not quite so old 4-berth Bailey Pageant. We were looking forward to going but then it happened ... snow! At Easter! Not what we were expecting in the week leading up to the show. We found out from the show organisers that the show was still going ahead. The show had been moved to the indoor riding arena and camping had been moved to the car park. This made getting in and out with the caravan easy but we did have to sacrifice a garden for the dogs. Nether-the-less a big thank you to the show organises and Solihull Riding Club for keeping the show going despite the conditions.
Caravans lined up in the camping area/car park
Knowing that the conditions would be cold and miserable we stopped off on the way at +GO Outdoors Official to pick up some essential supplies, i.e. another gas bottle. This proved inspires as the heating was on for most of the weekend as the temperatures in the morning dropped as low as -4C.
First morning of camping and a nice frost covering
Anyway, enough of me babbling about the weather, we were there for agility so that's what we did. I'll start with Doople. +Susi Cooper and Doople continued their good run of form at this show. Doople's first round was a combing grade 1-3 jumping. This was a good start to the weekend with Doople running forward very well. Her next round, graded 1-3 agility, was a not quite as good. Susi pulled Doople off on a turn and then Doople missed a contact. I think that's 3 or 4 shows in a row now, tut tut! Susi realised that she missed so did put her back on the contact. This proved a good thing to do as the next run, combined grade 1-3 agility, Doople came first! An excellent result meaning that Doople is now Grade 4. After Doople's slow running last year in the Summer we weren't sure if Doople would ever win out of grade 3 but she did. The round was a little messy with Susi being a bit slow on a couple of turns but managed and won the class.
Doople in preparation
Sunday started just as cold as the previous day. Doople had graded 1-3 jumping first. Doople was running really well but unfortunately missed the weave entry. She still managed a second place even with 5 faults. The combined grade 1-3 agility followed. Doople had another really good round as she was pushing herself forward and was rewarded with a second place. They finished the day with combined grade 1-3 jumping. Doople put in another clear round but this time wasn't fast enough for a placing, but Susi and Doople continued their good running.
Monday carried on where Sunday left off. Doople had combined grade 1-3 agility first. Again this was a lovely round, culminating with a dog walk then jump to finish. The judge spent about 30 seconds deciding whether or not Doople hit the contact. I'm not sure which part of Doople he thought hit the contact but the round stayed clear and Doople finished second, only 0.1s behind first place. Next up was the combined grade 1-3 jumping. Doople managed a good round but missed the weave entry again. And finally Doople ended with graded 1-3 agility. By this point all of the dogs were starting to look fatigued. Doople was still running forward well but when asked to turn right she went left, the jumped off the dog walk contact sideways. Susi was trying to turn in front of Doople at the end of the contact but this put her off and she leaped off sideways. A very good weekend for Doople though: 1st x 1, 2nd x 2, UnPlaced Clears (UPC) x 2. Well done :)
Susi and Doople
Shadow was next up. As usual in her first round she was fired up but perhaps a little to much so. It was graded 4-7 agility, she ran off the end of the dog walk, careered across to the next jump but she should have gone the other way into the tunnel. She made it to the tunnel eventually but to the wrong end. Next up was combined grade 4-7 jumping. Shadow ran really well in this round and with a handler than runs the correct course could have finished high up the placings. I realised a fraction too late that I had gone the wrong way, doh! That's one mistake for Shadow, one for Greg. Next was combined grade 4-7 agility. A good round from Shadow that finished with a fourth place. This was only our second KC show at grade 6 so I'm quite pleased with any placings. We finished with combined grade 1-7 steeplechase. I liked this course as it was quite technical, but it was really a steeplechase course. Beggars can't be choosers and we ran really well. Shadow just isn't as fast as a lot of dogs in a straight line so we often don't stand a chance but we went clear.
It's a hard life being Zazu when your bed's too small
Sunday was one of the best days running I've had with Shadow in a long while. We started with combined grade 4-7 agility. We had a really good round with only one slightly wide turn and some brilliant running contacts. We finished third overall which is an improvement on the previous days fourth. We then had graded 4-7 jumping. This was great and we finished in first place, our first at grade 6. Only 3 more wins to go to get to grade 7! To move up most grade you need to have a 1 agility win or 3 jumping wins. From grade 6 to 7 you need to have 4 wins with at least 2 in agility rounds. Our last two rounds of the day were combined grade 4-7 jumping, in which we finished third, and the Easter Egg'ility Challenge, where we also finished third. Four placings in a day was a very good result.
Monday got off to a good start with combined grade 4-7 agility. It was a very good round where we finished second, only 0.6 seconds from first. This was followed by graded 4-7 agility where we went one better to record our second win of the weekend. We had the combined 1-7 helter-skelter next. This was another straight course but I had the opportunity to try layer a jump. This is where you keep a jump between you and dog in order for you to be in a better position (see the video towards the end). Shadow was a little hesitant whilst layering but she managed it both times so it was good training. The final round was combined grade 4-7 jumping. Shadow was starting to lose concentration by this point. We only missed the weaves and she was still running forward so I can't really complain.
We managed to hit every one of our contacts in 6 agility rounds which is amazing. Every one was a running contact and about as quick as we can manage. We ended with a large haul of rosettes: 1st x 2, 2nd x 1, 3rd x 3, 4th x 1, UPC x 2. Very good week end for Shadow.
Greg and Shadow
With Storm we had a mixed weekend. There were some really good moments and also some really bad ones, quite a few of them were handler errors so I will own up to those. The first round was graded 1-3 agility. This round was really to let off some steam. Storm was listening but her legs wouldn't stop running. In the combined grade 1-3 jumping we knocked a pole and came out of the weaves. I need to stay still on the turns to avoid knocking poles and keep up with Storm in the weaves without pushing her. Next up was the combined 1-7 steeplechase, the same course run by Shadow. We put in a very good round albeit a little messy on some of the turns. I could stay ahead of Storm all the way round without racing her so she knew what was going on. We didn't manage a placing but were only 2 seconds off the pace. The final round of the day was the combined grade 1-3 agility. This was a messy round by me. I pulled her off a jump by turning too soon, was too close to the jump and moved too soon again whilst trying to cross behind, and kept moving on the final cross behind.
Greg and Storm waiting patiently
Sunday was much the same, but with fewer clear rounds. We started with the Easter Eggility Challenge, a nice simple agility course, we got eliminated. Storm decided to turn the wrong way off the A-frame contact, that'll teach me not to stop her on the contact. Next up was graded 1-3 jumping. The start of the round shows Storm doesn't curve over the jumps very well, rather flies over then worries about turning. I need to try to turn her earlier without making her crash the jump. Then on the slalom I was in her way for the middle jump so she hesitated and took the pole down. The combined grade 1-3 jumping followed and Storm was running much tighter on the turns. At the end of the slalom I was moving off from the jump rather than controlling the turn and she took another pole. Unfortunately I made that mistake quite a few times. We finished up with combined grade 1-3 agility. We had some good tight turns, but questionable contacts and failed weaves.
Monday was our final day. We started with combined 1-7 helter-skelter. I was pleased with this round as I managed it without moving too far and let Storm do all the work. We finished clear but outside the placings. The next three rounds were pretty disastrous. By this point in the weekend Storm was mentally exhausted and wasn't really paying attention any more. We had a jumping round where she missed the start jump and the weaves, an agility round where she was just a away with the fairies, and the final agility round which was too bad, but we missed contacts and couldn't do the tyre.
Greg and Storm
Last but not least is Winnie. This was Winnie's first show at full height since her injury last year. We weren't really sure what to expect but we just wanted her to around and have fun. The agility round on Saturday was a bit too much to start with but she jump and do the A-frame. On Sunday we did jumping, she much better in this but we just kept it to straight lines to build her strength and confidence. Finally on Monday we had another agility round. This was an improvement again but we need to do more work on the tyre.
Greg and Winnie
All in all is was a good weekend with many placings. We have a lot to take away and work for the coming shows. Storm is to be spayed this week so she'll be out of action for a while now. Heres looking forward to our next show in a couple of weeks, hopefully minus the snow.
After 6 weeks off from agility we finally went to a show this weekend. Storm, Winnie and Zazu had kennel cough so unfortunately we couldn't go to any shows or training. We only started training again last week so it was always going to be a 'fun' show! Doople was running at grade 3, Storm at grade 3 and Shadow at grade 6.
We went to the RVA DTS Indoor show held at Houghton Hall Equestrian and Alpaca Centre, near Huntingdon. We have been there a few times and hadn't seen any alpacas. So I was pleased when we turned up and saw herds of alpacas in the fields, it's the little things that count! The weather held out in the morning but the heavens opened in the afternoon and it poured with rain. Fortunately, the show was indoors so we didn't get too wet, only running to and from the van with the dogs.
Susi and Shadow waiting inside out of the rain for the next class.
The order of the classes at the show was a bit strange as all the grade 1-2's were first, then grade 3's etc. This meant that Doople had 3 runs, then Storm had her 3 runs followed by Shadow's 3 runs. Usually they are all mixed together so that the runs for each dog are spread throughout the day. This didn't cause any problems, but Shadow wasn't very pleased about being left in the van all day when the others kept going out to have their go. She very much believes that she should be first!
Doople was the first up with grade 3 agility. She ran well and was really pushing forwards. Unfortunately, she missed a dog walk contact ... again! I hope this isn't becoming a habit but she has done this a few times now. Her time was very respectable though and would have put her in 4th place. Her next class was grade 3 jumping. Again, this was a good round with Doople running forward well. +Susi Cooper made a mistake at the start with the slalom so they were eliminated. Second time through was much better so we just need to practise those more. Doople finished with grade 1-3 steeplechase, which is fast flowing course without any weaves or contact equipment. They tend to favour very fast dogs so we don't tend to do too well. Doople ran round as fast as she could and ended up 8th, which is really pleasing.
Susi and Doople
Storm was up next. We weren't expecting too much from Strom as we haven't trained for a while. She gets a bit excited and tends to just run! We started with the grade 3 agility and she was actually very well controlled. We had a good see-saw and dog walk, the A-frame wasn't as good but it'll do for now. She did mess up the weaves a couple of times but this was mainly due to excitement. Needless to say we were eliminated. The grade 1-3 steeplechase was next. We started with 5 offset jumps which is trickier than it sounds. I could stay ahead of Storm the whole way around with too much running and Storm responded really well. We ended up 7th out of 181, so not too bad. We had about a 20 minute break then went into the grade 3 jumping. This was one of those rounds that is best to forget! There some good points, like getting the weaves first time, but generally she was just not listening too well! I need to remember to put her away in between runs to let her calm down and rest, even if it's only for 20 minutes.
Greg and Storm
Last but not least is Shadow. She was not impressed at being left in the van all day so I wasn't expecting much from her first round. And I was right! First up was grade 6-7 jumping with a nice controlled pull-trough slalom to start. We did manage 3 jumps before being eliminated so better than previous shows! Next up we had the grade 4-7 steeplechase, so she could have a blast and just run flat out. We ended coming 8th which is quite respectable. We finished with grade 6-7 agility. This was tricky but fun. We were doing well, missed a dog-walk contact, didn't get faulted on it, promptly got eliminated on the next jump, doh! I tried to turn her the wrong way and she ended up back jumping. It wasn't the way I walked it so I'm not sure why I did it that way.
Greg and Shadow
Not a bad first show back after 6 weeks. We only managed clear rounds in the steeplechase but each dog did get a placing. Our next show is at Bretford over Easter for 4 days. I'm not sure it's a good idea with the weather we have been having recently but we've just bought a new caravan and it has heating! So all will be fine ... as long as it doesn't snow.
We have recently started a new clicker training class with Zazu. This a distance learning course at http://www.lolabuland.com/. Every couple of weeks we have new tricks to learn. We film our attempts at the tricks and send videos of them to the trainer. She then looks at the videos and gives us tips and advice on how to improve.
For those that don't know what clicker training is, it is a method for teaching dogs tricks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clicker_training. Basically, you have a 'clicker' and a pile of treats. The clicker is a small device that clicks when you press the button. The idea is to condition the dog so that when they hear the click they receive a treat. So when trying to teach them new tricks, you use the click to tell them they have done right, then give them a treat. Using the click is more accurate than using words to let the dog know that they have done something you approve of.
We are given 5 tasks every two weeks to work on. To start with we had to condition Zazu to the clicker by clicking and treating lots. The hardest part about starting is getting the dog to think. The whole point is that the dog has to think about what they have to do to get the treat. When we started with a touch lid on the floor, Zazu would just look at, sit, squeak, and walk off. We had to show him a little then give him a treat. After a few goes he would go back on his own accord. He the learnt to try things out to get a treat.
The first week we had 5 tasks:
1. Recall
2. Not looking at treats
3. Feet in a box
4. Touch pad with feet
5. Frog legs
Here is the video of Zazu training the basics of these tricks. It's quite long but shows how Zazu has gone from nothing to starting to understand the tricks.
1. A recall is fairly self explanatory, get the dog to come back!
2. This is requires a pile of treats on the floor with the idea being the dog to not focus on them. When the dog looks away from the treats or at you, the they get a click and a treat. Zazu picked this one up quite quickly. It is a good start to clicker training as they can get lots of treats by not having to do too much. It is a big start to condition the click-treat reaction.
3. This is trying to get all four feet in a box. We started with a big box and progressively get smaller until the box is only just big enough for his feet. We are down to a lunch box size now. We would start by clicking every time he showed any interest in the box, then for putting a foot inside, then for getting all feet inside. This did take a few days to get his feet in. We reduced the size of the box to a lunch box size and went through the same routine, all be it a it quicker. It did still take a while for him to get all four feet in as he had to think about what he was doing.
4. The touch point followed a similar routine to the box, clicking whenever he showed interest in the pot lid, then for one foot, then two feet. He did get there with two feet on a Tupperware pot lid.
5. This trying to get the dog to stretch out their back legs whilst lying down. We haven't had much time to do this with Zazu.
He is working nicely now and has started to think about what he is doing. It took him a while to get to that stage but a bit of perseverance helped get him to a point where ha can now learn.
Today me and +Susi Cooper went for another training session at Little Revel End. We hired the kit for 30 mins as there were a few things we wanted to train with Zazu and Storm.
We started training Zazu with a few jumps in a row. He is still bunny hoping over jumps so we are trying to get him to stretch forwards more. We are also trying talking to him less to let him think about what's going on. He was starting to get better after a few runs of throwing a toy full of treats forward. This also helps him to focus forward rather than running at our pace. We then moved on to the dog walk. The first time across he was looking back at Susi but ran down and got his treat. After that he flew across not looking back at all to get to the frog. Lastly we moved on to the A-frame. He scrambled the first couple of times then decided it was quicker to run round. We went back a step and just the the A-frame and it reminded him what to do. he ended up with good A-frames and contacts.
With Storm we were mainly going in to train contacts. We had decided not to use any touch points as we wanted to simulate the environment at a show. Normally at training she has good contacts as she runs down to the touch point. With the touch point gone, like in the show environment, she jumps off the contact as there is no point in stopping. We started with the A-frame. The first few times she flew off just like at a show, which is a good start as we know she is running with a similar mind set to being at a show. I put her back on gave her lots of treats and praise. The treats came from me so that she wouldn't just run off. After a few attempts she was coming down and stopping at the bottom. We moved on to the dog walk ad we started with a similar problem, but after a few attempts again she was beginning to stop. I would also walk around a little with her staying on the contact and giving her treats after. This makes it easier when you get to a show so that you can get into position before releasing them from the contact. We finished back on the A-frame going in the other direction coming out of a tunnel. She was much sharper this time. I need to remember to run slightly beyond the end of the contact to get her to stop in the 2-on-2-off position. This is where the dog has their front two feet on the floor and their back two feet still on the equipment. Getting the dog to stop in this position makes sure that they have hit the contact area whilst still being under control.
I also did a few jumping exercises. We had a couple of issues at the beginning of course where Storm would follow the line of my feet. If my feet were pointing slightly to the side in the direction I wanted to go next, Storm would miss the first jump and run in that direction. This was also the case mid-round if I turn too soon. To combat this, I set her up in front of a jump, walk to the side and point my feet away slightly. I would then say 'go' and throw a ball in the direction I wanted her to go. This is to show that I want her to follow the line of my arms, if I'm pointing towards a jump, I want you to jump it. After a few attempts she was always moving forwards no matter where I was standing. A few more sessions on this and we should be in much better stead.
I think I've managed to talk for longer about our training session than we actually spent there! It was a good session, we will probably be back there next weekend to continue the good work.
