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2×2 weaves – 2/28/25
This was Lift’s 3 session with 2 straight poles (spread out over the last week). You can’t see it but all that clattering is a guy up on a ladder fixing the lights right by the entrance to the ring. Lift barely glanced at him on the way to the ring and got right to work. We haven’t done much with weaves yet, but I have discovered that my basement training room is too small for this so good thing the backyard is almost dry enough to work out there.
USDAA this weekend – My plan is FEO with her favorite furry lotus tug. Short sequence, toss toy, leash, out to party. There’s no food box and I don’t want to dilute the “toy is a predictor of treat coming up” bit by asking for a 2nd short sequence after tossing the toy just yet (esp not at OTR which is newish to her). So if the P1/Starters course has some less than optimal parts in it, I’ll just make my own short course up instead. (And I will certainly say something about Kaladin’s masters courses if the Coursebuilders don’t get to the judge first)
Lift’s countermotion was as good as or better than Kaladin’s yesterday! But he got a refresher with more toys thrown back to his landing point so it’s under control.
Lead out/leash stuff –
She is not comfortable with me slipping the leash off (or unclipping it) when she is in a sit so she will pop up out of it. I’m not sure I want to ask her for a sit and then have her pop up as I take the leash off and then ask for a sit again after her shake. Or did you mean cue her more or less into position without asking for the sit until after the leash is off? I could get her more or less at my side with the leash on, take it off and let her shake or whatever, then cue sit. I think I’ll also experiment with having the leash on up to the lead out spot to see if she gets less spinny/barky when it’s off for a shorter amount of time before I ask for the sit. (not necessarily getting her lined up next to me before I take the leash off) Or maybe I’ll see if she likes leash on to the spot, cue spin (to give her something to do in motion), leash off, (shake if necessary), cue sit. So many options!Khamsin, Kristin and I are sharing ring time on Friday. I should have entered Lift on Sunday instead of Saturday but Saturday had a better class schedule for her. The weather should be nice and the backyard is drying up so she can decompress zooming around with Kaladin in the afternoon.
2/25/25 Fusion class
Today’s class layout was Casey Keller’s Masters Agility course from last weekend. Lift even did a few parts of it (minus weaves & contacts). And today Dawn was channeling her inner very loud Snooker Judge voice (LOL).
Lift was raring to go but I also wanted to work on start lines a bit more so I settled for some crooked sits as a step up from the spin and go routine.
Worked on some backsides and balancing with front sides and tighter turns out of the tunnel. I need to remember to pause in the leadout so she has time to process before I release her.
Lift’s 2nd turn was the last of the class and we were running a bit late so there is plenty of activity as the new class was coming in.
I left Lift at home during Kaladin’s seminar with Karen Childs. There wasnt’ going to be much for breaks and I thought he deserved some focused time with me without the bratty little sister tagging along.
Looks like Lift is either 1/3 or 1/2 of her classes this Saturday so that should ease her into running at On the Run. I do plan on doing more USDAA with her in the future so I have my measuring form printed out…and should probably just stash it in my bag so I don’t forget it.Fusion Class – 2/18/25
I almost skipped class on Tuesday since she had such an exciting weekend and we weren’t able to go for a walk on Monday since the windchills were so bad (like neg 30), but I went because she was getting stir crazy. (I think some of it was definitely because she needed a decompression walk after the trial excitement but had to settle for shredding a paper towel roll instead) I did ask her for some harder things (layering and such) since your message about the easy stuff came in after our class. I did have food in her lotus tug and I also did a bunch of tossed food rewards. Also tried to be cognizant of her choosing to push her head into the leash loop at the end vs me putting it over her head as she approached me which I noticed from the trial videos that I was doing in her NFC runs.
Rep 1
Brilliant at the layering! You can hear her barking before we go into the ring -didn’t have much time to get her acclimated inside before her turn but she is getting better at handling that.
Rep 2
Didn’t have as many distractions during her run, but really happy with how focused she was coming in while the rest of the class was busy walking right by her to leave the ring. Worked on a few backside slices (hard to see but I’m tossing cheese down in her landing spot) Totally didn’t connect with her at 2:15 and she decided that was a blind cross moment.
She doesn’t have any ring time until class next Tuesday. It is supposed to hit 40 this weekend so I’m hoping the snow melts. Kaladin gets to do a seminar with Karen Childs tomorrow night, but there wasn’t a session I wanted to put Lift in so we’ll be figuring out what we can do in my indoor space.I did enter her in 2 classes (P1 Jprs & Snkr) for 1 day at the USDAA trial next weekend.
Oh yeah – I totally took a step to towards the broad jump as I came out of the FC. But yes, huge win that she just bulged wide and then did the tunnel without any commmentary (physical or verbal)
USDAA judge is Jan Skurzynski who is a “user-friendly” judge in my book!
Poor Lift & Kaladin – they would have really benefitted from a nice hike in the woods today but it was just too cold (even in our book) to be out for more than 5min at a time. They did get to chase the frizzers in the backyard for 5min and Lift got to shred a paper towel roll, but she’s still coming down from the excitement from the weekend. I was thinking about skipping her class tomorrow to let her brain settle down but it’s going to be even colder (windchills of neg35-40 tomorrow during the day) so I think I had better take her to class instead of trying to amuse her at home.
NFC Debut Day part deux – 2/16/25
Today Lift got to run first in both of her classes and they were earlier in the day so a nice step up in activity from Saturday afternoon when she was the last dog of the day.First run was Nov SS where she did all the things that I cued and we even got a sit (I did ask for it twice because she looked at me like I had a 2nd head when I asked her to sit the first time). Next time I need to remember to pause and take a breath before releasing her. (Don’t want to muddy the waters and ruin our nice lead out!) She thought the thrown lotus tug was way better then when I kept a hold of it on Saturday. She got confused running to her leash at the end since I did run her right by the food box but she quickly ducked back out of it and over to me for her leash.
Second run was Nov Jumping where we did a short sequence and then ran for the leash and out for our party. I had told the barsetters not to bother with changing the broad jump and then had to laugh when she went wide and checked it out.
She was tired enough after this to actually fall asleep in my lap while I was scoring even with all the human & dog traffic going by. Dean commented that this was by far the best debut he’s seen. (Min had a very successful one in terms of focus and doing a mini course but she was still in her “very bouncy” stage because she wasn’t quite convinced she should be driving hard down lines yet). I told him this was the debut that had the most preparation!
The photographer said she did get a shot of Lift coming straight at her from yesterday’s run!
Tomorrow is going to be a lazy day (maybe with a short jaunt to run around the yard. I’d take her for a leisurely walk except that the high is neg 4 for tomorrow.
She is entered in an OTR UKI Trial in 5 weeks (2 classes, 1 day). I’m undecided on whether to enter her in a USDAA trial at On the Run in 2 weeks. (it closes on Wed 2/19). She has been to OTR to spectate and to do brief stints in the warmup jump area (which has the new turf), but she hasn’t been in their big ring. Plus she would be jumping P8 and there’s no food reward box so I would probably do something like her 2nd run today with a short sequence while holding her toy, toss it at the end, leash & out.
Lift’s NFC Debut!
She was brilliant! Dean brought her to the trial mid-afternoon and we left her in the car while Kaladin ran Ch SS. (and I ran a rent-a-Beardie). Then we swapped them and let Kaladin chill in the car while Lift hung out at the scoring table and acclimated. It was a fairly large B/N SS class so I had time to do some pattern games (using the little dusting mop mini snuffly things) around the ring and played some games with her at the practice jump and then she hung out with me while I was scoring the class. While the trial was a pretty hopping & noisy affair earlier in the day, things had started to calm down towards the end of the day. I actually amped her up a bit a few dogs before she ran since she seemed too calm.She stayed focused even with the leash runner right where I wanted to start.She ran the outside of the tunnel on the first loop. Not sure if she noticed the photographer behind the tunnel but I called her name and she came flying down the line. Didn’t want to grab the lotus tug but I also didn’t throw it. I had a friend drop off the turkey at the NFC box after we started and Lift thought that was really yummy. So proud of her rear cross to the finish jump. It’s a bit hard to see over the tunnel, but she ran straight to the leash with me and pushed her head through the loop right away.
I have a choice of 3 classes tomorrow. She’s entered in SS, Jpg & Snkr which are the 2nd, 4th and 6th classes of the day. She would be first on the line in each class since it’s small to tall. My plan is to run one, maybe two depending on how it goes.
Lift was brilliant at the seminar this morning and Casey measured her at exactly 12.75in so she is a UKI 8in dog!
My plan for Nov SS tomorrow is to find 2 short sequences (running off the start) so that we can run to our Happy Hour in the NFC box and then run to the leash after the 2nd one.
Fusion Class- 2/11/25
This was our last agility training session before the seminar with Casey on Friday and her NFC debut this weekend. I had treats in my pocket and in her furry lotus tug both times.
1rst session –
Took a bit longer than usual to re orient to me after we walked in so waited and then tossed a treat when she did turn back. Had some feelings at the start but then sat when I asked her to, Did her first long jump (took a bit of a look and collected to add a stride but jumped it nicely). She was noticing the rest of the class coming in to set bars near the end and then I didn’t cue the right turn to the tunnel well at all so she kpet on her line and went right up to Dawn (who had just set a bar to 16in) and had to stare at her for a bit. I purposely stayed in the ring a bit longer to test her on whether she noticed/cared about the BC coming into the ring on the far side but she was fine.2nd session –
I liked our “setup” for the 1rst sequence here. Followed me in, did her bark and off we went. I think I want to do something like that for her first NFC run. Check out about 1:30 where Dawn accidentally got more in our way than we intended and Lift ran right by her as she was trying to get out of the way!
LOL! I almost wrote a comment about how I hope there is a tunnel close to the entry so that I can cue a bark and spin and then run. (ideally it’s a slightly curved tunnel so that I can get to where I need to be for where we are going next)
yes – on the left turn out of the tunnel, my verbal cue was late and the physical cue was pretty non-existent for what she could see. I was worried about pulling her off the tunnel with the a-frame there but I don’t think I needed to be.
With the line-ups where she was still standing. I was pretty sure she wouldn’ stay in a stand based on how her freeze it games have gone. And I gave her 50/50 odds on whether she would sit if I cued it. So planning on no leadout for the first rep in the first run and we’ll see how it goes from there.
I saw the rabbit fur lotus balls at Clean run but wasn’t sure how to attach a bungee to it. And Lift has been meh on any kind of lotus toy that doesn’t have fur – there are a lot of fabric/canvas ones out there that I found.
Fusion Ring Rental
Khamsin was out of town and Reacher is recovering so we had to settle for Kaladin’s barking as our distraction.First session was with no treat in the lotus fur tug. I like how she orients back to me after coming in the ring but lots of feelings about lining up (not sure if it was the lack of treats or just because). However she ran what I had planned and is doing well going back out after getting the treat in the box. Got a line up on the 3rd rep so clearly we won’t be asking for a line up in our NFC debut on the 15th since I am pretty sure we won’t have time (or enough brain cells) to do more than 2 mini sequences.
Second session we worked on tunnel exits and I did put treats in the lotus toy. We did much better on the 2 tunnel line here compared to class last week.
I’ve been looking for another fur covered lotus toy on a bungee off and on for weeks and finally realized I bought the one I have from Fusion! (Ordered from Paws Made in the UK) Good news a special order going in tomorrow. Bad news they won’t get here for a few weeks. I haven’t had good success with other kinds of toys for agility in public (and limited success with some wing wraps to a toy at home), but I only have 1 lotus toy and I would like to use it for part of the seminar with Casey on Friday. So should I make sure I really clean out any crumbs after the seminar and still use it as my bridge to the food box?
Fusion Class 2/4/25
She’s doing a lot better with noise from spectators and with people moving around the ring. Also I am liking her jumping at 8in.Rep 1 –
No treats in the lotus tug, but I did have cheese in my pocket. Also turkey in the NFC reward box. I felt like she was a bit less into the toy when I tossed it after she realized there wasn’t a treat in it. However still great about running to the reward box and then back out to work. We didn’t have much decompression time before our turn but did manage to lie on her cot while I swapped my shoes and then did a snuffle mat and some pattern games on the way to the entrance gate. I wanted to try lining her up without using treat tosses but she had some feelings about that and then it was too much when Beth came in close to get the leash so when she came back after I called, I did toss a few treats for tricks and then got her to spin and took off.
Rep 2
Treat in the lotus tug this time. Started inside the ring a bit more to take the pressure off a bit but with jumping towards the gate to add some difficulty and she was brilliant. Also was ready with the pattern games &tricks as Beth came in to get the leash so that went much better. I did get a leaping lizard moment when I was asking for the back of a jump, but she was way more tolerant of my inadvertent Yays instead of marker cues and she was really good about circling back around (kinda in a flow) to get the tight right turn out of the straight tunnel the 2nd time. (I think I was pretty late with the cue the first time and was facing towards the left a bit which is probably why she turned to the left out of the tunnel the first time).
Not on video, but I took her into the ring a dog after our 2nd run because the rest of the class was walking a different course for their 2nd turn. She was brilliant with me taking the leash off, asking for a line up and then re-calling to me with a tossed treat followed by a run into the reward box while handlers were busy walking by. This time in the reward box, I had her bark after she gulped her treat and before running out again. I think that little “yup I, ready to go again” bark worked well since she had a speedy line up (no barking) the 2nd time even with a handler walking by a few feet away.
She did tag along with me to the MAC UKI trial at OTR last weekend. Spent some time in the car, some time being good in a crate, some time barking in the scoring room (whether Kaladin was in there with her or not), did a great session on the practice jump on their new turf (using turkey) while a class was walking, and had some puppy play sessions in the back room to let off steam with her new best buddy, Kim Otis’ 10month old cocker girl, Hobbes. (yes -the deal with her husband was that she could get another dog if he got to name it). I’ve got Fusion ring time booked on Friday & Sunday and will probably use it for some 2×2 or channel weaves (sadly it got cold again and snowed a bit but last week I was able to do this outside twice), some RDW mat work and doing some backside slice drills. I was thinking about going back to wrapping a wing/cone and then moving up the line to the jump and gradually moving across the bar more. After that she has a class next Tuesday and then Casey is here for the seminar next Friday.
Yes! I think the cheering & noise jazz her up. That’s the most speed I’ve seen from her in a group setting. Hmmm. I think I know just the person with a young dog to invite to join me for a ring rental since her husband also does agility and is a good sport about being roped into things.
3rd line-up – We’ve done the freeze dance at home when she offers a stand, but usually she offers a sit. I thought I’d see if she wanted to freeze in the stand but clearly not!
NFC times – yup I was looking at the timing of that first session from when she crossed the first jump and 3 reps with that many obstacles is probably too long for a 50-60sec NFC run. I was pretty efficient with the food reward box, but she’s going to need time to regroup before the next mini sequence. I am thinking 2 reps with the first one not starting near the gate or with doing a trick like a spin and running off the start (her behind the back start might not be ready for an actual NFC run just yet). Then for the 2nd rep, taking a pause to see if she needs to shake or bark and if she looks good, maybe asking for a line up and a very short lead out.
Backside issues – yes – definitely something to address separately to balance her back towards not always assuming it’s the front of the jump. I was trying really hard to keep the connection on the 2nd time for sure and she was convinced it was the front. However like you said – she kept doing agility and there wasn’t any leaping lizard moments.
2nd session with poor lost Henry – I did start tossing food for her but not soon enough.
She’s going to tag along for this weekend’s UKI trial up at OTR, but she’s not entered. I’ve got 605 runs to get through as show manager this weekend plus the excitement of a hotel stay on Sat night so that I can go out to dinner with Merritt and not worry about driving home (slight potential for a bit of snow) after that. The Casey Keller seminar is in 2 weeks on the 14th with the trial on the 15th & 16th. Right now she’s entered in 2 classes/day, but guessing we wont’ run all of them, esp with the seminar on Friday morning.
Fusion class – 1/28/25
Got to class early today so had the opportunity to practice waiting longer before our turn. Snuffle mat, hanging on the cot and pattern games before the first rep. Added in some engaged chill (perched on my lap as I was kneeling) before the 2nd rep.
Dawn P (teaching) and the class (including some of the boarding staff who came to watch during a lunch break) really came through for me with making it more raucous. LOL
Rep 1
No treats on me or in lotus tug. Practiced using it as a predictor of the NFC box. Gave her a chance to re-focus on the jump on the first leadout. I think she needed a shake/cued bark or a moment on my 3rd line-up. However aside from missing the backside slice, she had no issues taking all the cued obstacles, putting her mouth on the toy or leashing up at the end.
Rep 2
Had treats on me and in the toy for this one. Dawn really outdid herself this one with the obnoxious gate steward act. It was a bit too much for Lift right at the beginning (she really wanted to help Dawn go find “Henry”, but we re-grouped and I just had her spin and go.
Hi!
No videos that I wanted to post as we’ve done mostly 2×2, RDW mat work and “The Pet Tutor is not as exciting as you think” work, but it’s all going well.I trained by myself at Fusion on Friday morning and figured out how to turn on the music streaming service (whatever it is – I don’t do apple devices!) so we at least had background music on fairly loud (plus Kaladin chiming in to protest his incarceration). I made sure to give her more time to settle and reconnect on leadouts before releasing and it went well with some short sequences testing turns out of tunnels and some layering.
AFter a few sessions at home (also watching Kaladin since she loves to mimic him) of crunchy Os in Pet Tutor and more exciting treats on me, she seems to be much better balanced about sending to the PT and then turning back to do something by me or to do some thing without the PT before me triggering it again. I was working on her directional cues with it in 1 direction and tossing treats for the other. I did two short 2×2 sessions tossing cheese and discovered I can’t hit the dish worth beans (or i hit it and it bounces out). Then she got confused looking for cheese in the dish and missed where it actually was so I picked up the dish and just worked on marking and tossing as early as possible so she wouldn’t head check. We’re up to around the clock at 2&8 and will be trying 1&7 next. I think I’ll try putting the PT back in so that she has a good target to focus on. I can’t remember – were the channels a track to try concurrently or should I go further with 2x2s before trying some channels? (Fusion has both and way more room than I do inside at home)
In regards to pacing:
This is an on-going thing that we’ve been keeping tabs on with her rehab sports med vet and massage therapist. She has a tendency to pace especially if she eases into a trot from a walk/amble. If I slow her down a bit and then ask her to move forward she often starts up in a trot instead of a pace. (Fingal was the same way and he wasn’t built at all like her so go figure). When I first noticed it months ago she was out in her pelvis and sacrum (likely due to rough housing), but that was addressed and hasn’t come back. She actually stopped pacing for a while right after her spay and Dr Julia was saying she often sees that anesthesia can reset things. Lately it’s come back intermittently even though we’re not finding anything that is causing it in massages. (her last adjustment was in december 2 weeks after the spay). She just got cleared for full balance/fitbone work again so we’ve picked that back up.I’ll ask the class on Tuesday to be more rowdy! I think I will also start asking her for more complicated handling in the group environment so that her actual NFC run(s) can be super simple at 4in and basic.
