Well, today wasn't our best session, but Jonah still did well. We're dog sitting. Jonah was doing great, and he'd probably done 6 perfect repetitions when we started another run...and half way across the DW I realized Romeo was sitting about 3 feet away from the end. Yarg! I shouldn't have had him out there, I guess. Jonah did get in the yellow, but it wasn't pretty, and he lept over his little friend. Then, once I got Romeo out of the picture, Jonah's next run he lept! I was anticipating and clicked by accident. Strike 2 for me! After that, though, he was back to his normal accurate self. Hopefully that's just a little blip and we'll get back to our previous accuracy. I'm hoping to get new supports tomorrow.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
And Another!
We did our second running session at our lunch break today, and once again Jonah was 100%.
However, I also determined that I want to really secure this performance before I go on much farther.
I tried putting up a jump after the A-frame and tried to send him to that instead of throwing the ball. Well, he couldn't see the jump well and didn't know to look for it. I know I could change that, but there isn't a lot of space for the jump anyway. I think next time I try adding an obstacle I'll bring out the tunnel, which is hard to miss!
I also tried having him do the A-frame to the DW and the DW to the A-frame. He was successful, but looked a little more hesitant and unsure. I really am going to have to train a 'go on' command or something because, for the first time in our agility career, I reliably know I won't be able to keep up with him if he's full speed (which he has been). It's awesome that he's running so fast, but I can't rely on my speed now, and I need to work on turning commands and some sort of 'straight ahead' training. As I said, my yard isn't very conducive to a lot of this training, so I'm going to have to depend on working at DogStar and ARFF. For now, though, we can just keep going like we have been so he gets it really cemented. Most of all, I don't want him to lose his new found understanding!
However, I also determined that I want to really secure this performance before I go on much farther.
I tried putting up a jump after the A-frame and tried to send him to that instead of throwing the ball. Well, he couldn't see the jump well and didn't know to look for it. I know I could change that, but there isn't a lot of space for the jump anyway. I think next time I try adding an obstacle I'll bring out the tunnel, which is hard to miss!
I also tried having him do the A-frame to the DW and the DW to the A-frame. He was successful, but looked a little more hesitant and unsure. I really am going to have to train a 'go on' command or something because, for the first time in our agility career, I reliably know I won't be able to keep up with him if he's full speed (which he has been). It's awesome that he's running so fast, but I can't rely on my speed now, and I need to work on turning commands and some sort of 'straight ahead' training. As I said, my yard isn't very conducive to a lot of this training, so I'm going to have to depend on working at DogStar and ARFF. For now, though, we can just keep going like we have been so he gets it really cemented. Most of all, I don't want him to lose his new found understanding!
Another Perfect Session
Dogwalk training is fun when your dog is perfect! I think it's so interesting how it just clicked for him. I didn't notice him 'figuring it out'...it was just like one day he came out and understood. Maybe a vision came to him in a dream. However it happened, I'm thrilled. He's always well within the contact, too. There shouldn't be any close calls or missed calls by judges because we won't be making them think much--he's just solidly in the yellow. What a good boy!
Today we did another 8/8 and called it quits. I'll try to do another session this afternoon, but we're having people over and I have to finish a paper today, so we'll see how the timing goes. This weekend I'm going to see what I can do about getting new supports or adjusting the ones we have so we can actually get to 48".
Today we did another 8/8 and called it quits. I'll try to do another session this afternoon, but we're having people over and I have to finish a paper today, so we'll see how the timing goes. This weekend I'm going to see what I can do about getting new supports or adjusting the ones we have so we can actually get to 48".
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Last Class for a While
Jonah and I are going to take a session off from group classes so we can have some private lessons to get more repetitions in on the dogwalk. That meant it was our last group session for a while. Sad. I like our class.
The first course had some nice challenges. Nothing too bad, but good areas to work on tightening lines, etc. The first tough spot was pulling him through a gap between two jumps that were about 10' apart. I called his name, and he was right with me. No problem. Then there was a discrimination, taking the tunnel, and then out of the tunnel a 180 turn back to the A-frame. The discrimination was no problem, but I worry about those turns to the A-frame because I'm afraid he won't get enough momentum to do his contact correctly. He didn't seem to have any trouble with it, though. His turn from the tunnel to the A-frame was nice and he was at least 6" into the yellow on the down contact. The next tricky spot was a blind at the end of the weaves with a funny angle jump to tunnel. The blind wasn't a problem, but he tapped the bar on the jump. It didn't fall, but Grace said I was over handling it, emphasizing the turn to the tunnel when he would have seen the tunnel anyway without me turning my body so much. I think she's right. I wouldn't have noticed that myself. The course's final jump line had some funny angles but he nailed them without any trouble. It was a really nice run, fast and clean.
The second course was a bit trickier. We got through it clean as well, but some spots weren't especially pretty. Here's the first spot that I screwed up:
The jump at 2 was not something you could take for granted. I either had to FC on landing side of 2 or BC the tunnel, picking him up on my left for 2-3. I tried both ways at various points, but I preferred the BC. Then I really wanted to push myself and see if I could get a blind or front in between 3 and 4. I did. They were both ugly. Since I had to wait a second to support 2, I was then late for the cross between 3 and 4. Sorry buddy. I also tried it with a RC on the flat after 4. That worked, but it definitely slowed him down. I never had a handling of this line that I loved. The rear was definitely the safe option. I might set it up again some time and see if I can't get a good blind in.
Here was the second icky area (look familiar? these obstacles just didn't like us):
We only got to run this segment once. I ran it as a serp from 1 to 4, and then put a FC between 4 and 5. 1 to 2 worked nicely, but 2 to 3 was a little funny. He jumped bigger over 2 than I would have liked, so I had to call pretty hard to avoid the backside of 3. Then my FC between 4 and 5 was late. I should have just reared 5. I guess I could have tried to put a FC between 2 and 3 and then another on the landing side of 3, but I think the serp was a better option--I just wish we had executed it better. I guess I really should set this up and practice.
At the end of class Grace had us run the sequence in the first map a few more times and she timed it for us. We were always within .1 second, and since it was timed by hand I don't know that I figured out any handling method was really better than another, but it was good to at least know we're pretty consistent :). I'd love to do more timing. It's fun to compete with ourselves!
The first course had some nice challenges. Nothing too bad, but good areas to work on tightening lines, etc. The first tough spot was pulling him through a gap between two jumps that were about 10' apart. I called his name, and he was right with me. No problem. Then there was a discrimination, taking the tunnel, and then out of the tunnel a 180 turn back to the A-frame. The discrimination was no problem, but I worry about those turns to the A-frame because I'm afraid he won't get enough momentum to do his contact correctly. He didn't seem to have any trouble with it, though. His turn from the tunnel to the A-frame was nice and he was at least 6" into the yellow on the down contact. The next tricky spot was a blind at the end of the weaves with a funny angle jump to tunnel. The blind wasn't a problem, but he tapped the bar on the jump. It didn't fall, but Grace said I was over handling it, emphasizing the turn to the tunnel when he would have seen the tunnel anyway without me turning my body so much. I think she's right. I wouldn't have noticed that myself. The course's final jump line had some funny angles but he nailed them without any trouble. It was a really nice run, fast and clean.
The second course was a bit trickier. We got through it clean as well, but some spots weren't especially pretty. Here's the first spot that I screwed up:
The jump at 2 was not something you could take for granted. I either had to FC on landing side of 2 or BC the tunnel, picking him up on my left for 2-3. I tried both ways at various points, but I preferred the BC. Then I really wanted to push myself and see if I could get a blind or front in between 3 and 4. I did. They were both ugly. Since I had to wait a second to support 2, I was then late for the cross between 3 and 4. Sorry buddy. I also tried it with a RC on the flat after 4. That worked, but it definitely slowed him down. I never had a handling of this line that I loved. The rear was definitely the safe option. I might set it up again some time and see if I can't get a good blind in.
Here was the second icky area (look familiar? these obstacles just didn't like us):
We only got to run this segment once. I ran it as a serp from 1 to 4, and then put a FC between 4 and 5. 1 to 2 worked nicely, but 2 to 3 was a little funny. He jumped bigger over 2 than I would have liked, so I had to call pretty hard to avoid the backside of 3. Then my FC between 4 and 5 was late. I should have just reared 5. I guess I could have tried to put a FC between 2 and 3 and then another on the landing side of 3, but I think the serp was a better option--I just wish we had executed it better. I guess I really should set this up and practice.
At the end of class Grace had us run the sequence in the first map a few more times and she timed it for us. We were always within .1 second, and since it was timed by hand I don't know that I figured out any handling method was really better than another, but it was good to at least know we're pretty consistent :). I'd love to do more timing. It's fun to compete with ourselves!
What a dog!
Man, the running dogwalk was frustrating for a while, but now I feel like we've got it! Still, I want to be cautious not to get too excited--I'm sure we'll take a step backwards somewhere along the way.
Today I put the dogwalk up to what used to be its full height. I measured it, and it's just under 40". I was worried, because this is a good bit higher than the last time we were running, and that was a few days ago thanks to the rain. So, I started Jonah just on top of the down ramp, from a stop. He lept. Ugh. I tried moving him back a couple feet so he'd have one running stride. Jackpot. Then I thought, what the heck, and I let him run the whole thing. Jackpot. And again. Jackpot. Jackpot. Jackpot. Jackpot. Jackpot. Jackpot. Jackpot.
Eight in a row, and then I called it quits. What an awesome boy. I'm so stinking proud of him. I hope we can hold onto this kind of performance, because it's amazing! I can't wait until I try it somewhere away from home. It's going to turn some heads, for sure.
Also, I need to figure out what I'm going to do with my supports. I'd like to figure out a way to raise it so it's at least 45", but I haven't figured out just what I'm going to do yet. For now, though, this is pretty good. Yay Jonah!
Today I put the dogwalk up to what used to be its full height. I measured it, and it's just under 40". I was worried, because this is a good bit higher than the last time we were running, and that was a few days ago thanks to the rain. So, I started Jonah just on top of the down ramp, from a stop. He lept. Ugh. I tried moving him back a couple feet so he'd have one running stride. Jackpot. Then I thought, what the heck, and I let him run the whole thing. Jackpot. And again. Jackpot. Jackpot. Jackpot. Jackpot. Jackpot. Jackpot. Jackpot.
Eight in a row, and then I called it quits. What an awesome boy. I'm so stinking proud of him. I hope we can hold onto this kind of performance, because it's amazing! I can't wait until I try it somewhere away from home. It's going to turn some heads, for sure.
Also, I need to figure out what I'm going to do with my supports. I'd like to figure out a way to raise it so it's at least 45", but I haven't figured out just what I'm going to do yet. For now, though, this is pretty good. Yay Jonah!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Welcome to the Club
Today Jonah and I had a big adventure. We joined an agility club! (well, officially they have to vote on us, but we paid our money and got the unofficial approval)
It was a rainy day so I didn't do any running dogwalk work, but we went to the ARFF field for our evaluation.
When we got there there were probably 8 dogs or so out in the field. I parked and left Jonah in the car while I went to see what the situation was. Sue was there so we chatted a bit. Joan, the person I was supposed to meet, was busy doing another evaluation. Lots of the other dogs were running around loose. Two dogs were running at once, with no barrier in between. There were horses on the other side of the fence. It was a bit of a hectic environment!
Our saving grace (for us) was that the other dog getting evaluated was having a tough time. I felt really bad for the handler. Apparently the team competes in AKC excellent, but only trials outside. The dog was very high and having issues with reactivity. They were on the far side of the field, and still the dog was very stressed. I'm sure the human was stressed, too. It wasn't a great situation, but I at least knew that Jonah would be better than that.
When Joan finished with that dog, she came over, introduced herself, and said I could go get Jonah. Well, it turned out he was pretty excited too! First he had to go through a gate between three dogs. He barked. Great, I thought, what a way to start. Once we were beyond that, though things got better. He was pretty amped and was not excited about sitting still while I talked to Joan. Soon enough she took us to the equipment.
There was a low dogwalk (which will be awesome for our training in the future!), and she asked us to walk across it. Jonah was still on leash, so I jogged a little while he went up and over it. He gave me a nice 2o2o. We went back the other way and the poor little guy was about to explode. Mom! We don't walk over agility equipment! Joan had us do the teeter. Again, it was funny to be on leash and walking, but he did fine. Next she walked us over to the A-frame. I got up the guts to ask if I could take him off leash, and she said that was fine. Good thing. He did a lovely A-frame, and I'm not sure how we could have done it on leash.
I put him back on leash and he was really wanting to run. This isn't how we do things, he said. Joan was clearly just pleased that we were not as difficult a case as the previous dog, and said we passed with flying colors. She gave me the membership form but said we could play a little bit before I filled it out. We did the first 5 obstacles of a sequence, but people were walking on the rest of it. He was good and clearly just happy to be running. Then I just toyed around with the contacts and some jumps. We didn't do much, but it at least took a bit of his edge off. Then I put him back in the car, filled out the form, and we were done.
It was a bit of a strange experience, not knowing what to do, and all. I'm sure I'll feel out how to handle it all. I was just thrilled we passed. It's close, a fantastic deal financially, and should give us a chance to practice some stuff and meet people. I'm thinking I might look to get a pop up crate so he'd have a place to go away and relax among the busy atmosphere. The car is rather far away. We'll see how things go. It will be a great place to practice our dogwalk. There was another person there who's going through Silvia's online contacts class now. It would be good to get her insight.
It was a rainy day so I didn't do any running dogwalk work, but we went to the ARFF field for our evaluation.
When we got there there were probably 8 dogs or so out in the field. I parked and left Jonah in the car while I went to see what the situation was. Sue was there so we chatted a bit. Joan, the person I was supposed to meet, was busy doing another evaluation. Lots of the other dogs were running around loose. Two dogs were running at once, with no barrier in between. There were horses on the other side of the fence. It was a bit of a hectic environment!
Our saving grace (for us) was that the other dog getting evaluated was having a tough time. I felt really bad for the handler. Apparently the team competes in AKC excellent, but only trials outside. The dog was very high and having issues with reactivity. They were on the far side of the field, and still the dog was very stressed. I'm sure the human was stressed, too. It wasn't a great situation, but I at least knew that Jonah would be better than that.
When Joan finished with that dog, she came over, introduced herself, and said I could go get Jonah. Well, it turned out he was pretty excited too! First he had to go through a gate between three dogs. He barked. Great, I thought, what a way to start. Once we were beyond that, though things got better. He was pretty amped and was not excited about sitting still while I talked to Joan. Soon enough she took us to the equipment.
There was a low dogwalk (which will be awesome for our training in the future!), and she asked us to walk across it. Jonah was still on leash, so I jogged a little while he went up and over it. He gave me a nice 2o2o. We went back the other way and the poor little guy was about to explode. Mom! We don't walk over agility equipment! Joan had us do the teeter. Again, it was funny to be on leash and walking, but he did fine. Next she walked us over to the A-frame. I got up the guts to ask if I could take him off leash, and she said that was fine. Good thing. He did a lovely A-frame, and I'm not sure how we could have done it on leash.
I put him back on leash and he was really wanting to run. This isn't how we do things, he said. Joan was clearly just pleased that we were not as difficult a case as the previous dog, and said we passed with flying colors. She gave me the membership form but said we could play a little bit before I filled it out. We did the first 5 obstacles of a sequence, but people were walking on the rest of it. He was good and clearly just happy to be running. Then I just toyed around with the contacts and some jumps. We didn't do much, but it at least took a bit of his edge off. Then I put him back in the car, filled out the form, and we were done.
It was a bit of a strange experience, not knowing what to do, and all. I'm sure I'll feel out how to handle it all. I was just thrilled we passed. It's close, a fantastic deal financially, and should give us a chance to practice some stuff and meet people. I'm thinking I might look to get a pop up crate so he'd have a place to go away and relax among the busy atmosphere. The car is rather far away. We'll see how things go. It will be a great place to practice our dogwalk. There was another person there who's going through Silvia's online contacts class now. It would be good to get her insight.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
May Goals
I can't believe it's May. May is an exciting month for me. In 11 days, somehow, I will have finished three papers. Then I will graduate! My program has been a little bit bittersweet for me. I went in pretty convinced I would be a professor, but my experiences at Harvard showed me that it really isn't the career path for me. I've learned a lot, but most of all I've found that I'd be happier in another setting. I still don't know exactly what my career path looks like. Research is really exciting for me, and I have a passion for issues of poverty, but nonprofit jobs can be hard to find and don't tend to offer generous salaries. I'm so lucky to have Dave with a steady job, but I had always imagined myself as a hard working breadwinner. The feminist side of me (which, granted, I didn't have much of before I went to Harvard) is somewhat uncomfortable with the idea that I could be supported by my husband while I waltz around doing social service work. Anyway, I know this blog isn't about me, but it's an interesting time.
The best news is that, for the summer, I have a fantastic internship doing research for a grassroots mobilization project. AND...I get to work from home! Jonah is thrilled.
That also means that today I have to give notice at my current job, something I always hate doing.
Oh, and did I mention I have to write some papers?...
Anyway, April was a busy month, too. I wrote 37 posts, an all time high. I hope no one minds the short dogwalk updates. I know they're better with videos but I can't find that darn tripod. Yarg. Here were our goals for the month:
1. Start our running DW!! By the end of the month, I want to have worked through the carpet stage and the flat plank stage, and be starting to put it up to a ramp. This in itself will be a big goal!
Yes!! We're at 30" and Jonah has done three perfect sessions in a row. Until a few days ago I would have told you that progress is really slow, but something clicked and now I'm really thrilled with how things are going.
2. It would be really, really amazing if we could finish our Level 4 standard title this month. That means going 5/5. It's unlikely, but would be a huge success, and would mean that our nationals runs for standard would all be at level 5.
No. This was a bit of a disappointment, but I knew it would be difficult to do. I did not expect that we would miss 3/5. That's pretty bad for us. One slip and fall off the dogwalk, one teeter flyoff and one missed discrimination. Humph. Now it will be a bit of a tall order to do 3/3 at nationals, so I may go to Gemini and try to pick up one beforehand. Oh well, sometimes things don't go well. I also have to be prepared for our Q rate to go down once we first introduce running dogwalks at competition.
3. Finish Jackpot Level 4. We'll have two tries.
Yes. We needed two tries thanks to my stupid greed (I tried to get more points and ended up over time). In the one we missed, though, we did get all 3 jackpots. In the one we got, it was a challenging one that few people achieved. So, our distance work is looking decent. Hopefully nationals will be a traditional gamble so I won't be tempted by greed.
4. Finish Wildcard Level 4. We'll have two tries at this, too.
Yes. Unfortunately we needed both tries at this as well. In the first one he had a moment of Dad-distraction which led him to an off-course jump. The rest of the course was lovely at least. Sunday's wildcard that we got was pretty good, although it lacked a little pizzaz.
5. Get Jonah to be able to tug away from home. I don't know if we'll get to tugging at an agility location, but at least at Willards or a field or on trails will be a start.
Yes. This has been going quite well. He did actually tug at the trial this weekend before his standard run. The result: a teeter flyoff. Oops. But if we suddenly had a problem of too much motivation, I wouldn't be too upset. At least it's a change, and he's having more fun. Of course, the two runs after that run he was much more his chill self.
So now the month of May.
1. 2 Qs at our USDAA trial. I've entered 2 Standard runs, a Snooker, and Steeplechase (all S's).
2. Full height running dogwalk. Ambitious, but if things keep going the way they have been, I think it's doable.
3. Practice discriminations and contact-to-tunnel turns.
4. Work on teeter performance so he's faster and also doesn't consider flying off.
5. Keep tugging. I'd like for him to tug at both DogStar and the USDAA trial.
I'm looking forward to a great month. I should actually have some time to work with Jonah and get him in good shape for Nationals. Now if it would only stop raining...
The best news is that, for the summer, I have a fantastic internship doing research for a grassroots mobilization project. AND...I get to work from home! Jonah is thrilled.
That also means that today I have to give notice at my current job, something I always hate doing.
Oh, and did I mention I have to write some papers?...
Anyway, April was a busy month, too. I wrote 37 posts, an all time high. I hope no one minds the short dogwalk updates. I know they're better with videos but I can't find that darn tripod. Yarg. Here were our goals for the month:
1. Start our running DW!! By the end of the month, I want to have worked through the carpet stage and the flat plank stage, and be starting to put it up to a ramp. This in itself will be a big goal!
Yes!! We're at 30" and Jonah has done three perfect sessions in a row. Until a few days ago I would have told you that progress is really slow, but something clicked and now I'm really thrilled with how things are going.
2. It would be really, really amazing if we could finish our Level 4 standard title this month. That means going 5/5. It's unlikely, but would be a huge success, and would mean that our nationals runs for standard would all be at level 5.
No. This was a bit of a disappointment, but I knew it would be difficult to do. I did not expect that we would miss 3/5. That's pretty bad for us. One slip and fall off the dogwalk, one teeter flyoff and one missed discrimination. Humph. Now it will be a bit of a tall order to do 3/3 at nationals, so I may go to Gemini and try to pick up one beforehand. Oh well, sometimes things don't go well. I also have to be prepared for our Q rate to go down once we first introduce running dogwalks at competition.
3. Finish Jackpot Level 4. We'll have two tries.
Yes. We needed two tries thanks to my stupid greed (I tried to get more points and ended up over time). In the one we missed, though, we did get all 3 jackpots. In the one we got, it was a challenging one that few people achieved. So, our distance work is looking decent. Hopefully nationals will be a traditional gamble so I won't be tempted by greed.
4. Finish Wildcard Level 4. We'll have two tries at this, too.
Yes. Unfortunately we needed both tries at this as well. In the first one he had a moment of Dad-distraction which led him to an off-course jump. The rest of the course was lovely at least. Sunday's wildcard that we got was pretty good, although it lacked a little pizzaz.
5. Get Jonah to be able to tug away from home. I don't know if we'll get to tugging at an agility location, but at least at Willards or a field or on trails will be a start.
Yes. This has been going quite well. He did actually tug at the trial this weekend before his standard run. The result: a teeter flyoff. Oops. But if we suddenly had a problem of too much motivation, I wouldn't be too upset. At least it's a change, and he's having more fun. Of course, the two runs after that run he was much more his chill self.
So now the month of May.
1. 2 Qs at our USDAA trial. I've entered 2 Standard runs, a Snooker, and Steeplechase (all S's).
2. Full height running dogwalk. Ambitious, but if things keep going the way they have been, I think it's doable.
3. Practice discriminations and contact-to-tunnel turns.
4. Work on teeter performance so he's faster and also doesn't consider flying off.
5. Keep tugging. I'd like for him to tug at both DogStar and the USDAA trial.
I'm looking forward to a great month. I should actually have some time to work with Jonah and get him in good shape for Nationals. Now if it would only stop raining...
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