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Remote Reinforcement – 10/31/24
This was yesterday’s Halloween edition where I inadvertently dressed to match my dog. We had done this before earlier in MaxPup but not recently. She remembered it so I added in a small trick before heading back to the treat. Is it important that I give her the treat when we get back to it as opposed to her grabbing it? She’s waiting so I just picked it off the footrest and gave it to her. After the snuffle mat she decided she did want to play with her tug toy so we went a bit longer and mixed up the leash on and off while playing.
Oooh – I have to email Casey soon about seminar topics. I will be sure to ask for a young/novice dog handling session. Each session will be a half day so I could do that with Lift on Friday, leave her at home to chill out on Saturday and then try some NFC on Sunday.
Cups/Classics/Festivals can have NFC toy runs but no food box.
Yes! Claudette was under her coat and right on the withers. Tari originally measured at 14.5in and into the 16in USDAA class. I didn’t care since 14in wasn’t a USDAA jump height cut off at the time. Then they changed the cutoff (back when they had 14 & 18in jump heights) so I got her re-measured when she was 7 or 8 when she had dropped down in her pasterns a bit. I got her really skinny and lifted up her top coat and trimmed the under coat over her withers (so she didn’t even look funny since my trim job was disguised). I also got tips from Bonnie Griep on flyball measuring and trained a really solid stand. Then I ran her all day in 90 degree weather at 12 performance and then brought her into the building to get her measured. Told her to stand, lifted up the top coat over the withers to show the judge and then stepped out of the way – 14in exactly and by 2 CMJs! That 2in made all the difference as she finally got her ADCH jumping Ch 14 instead of 16.
Yeah – Min had absolutely no typical hypo thyroid signs. Her coat and weight were fine. Really the only thing was being slightly more mellow than normal (hard to measure until you look at it in hindsight) until it finally caught up with her and she just stopped on course.
I love trialing at CSZ. Such nice turf and so much space for crating. (Plus I started out running at TCOTC where they have massive I beams every 20 or 30 ft in the ring so 6 poles at CSZ is easy peasy) And good hiking on the way when you don’t have to work on a Friday!
10/30/24
This was from yesterday. I’d originally planned to take yesterday off and try the sequence today, but the weather didn’t comply (80 earlier this week and 3 in of slushy snow in time for the trick or treaters tonight. Since she had a class on Tuesday, I let all the dogs shred a cardboard egg carton and paper towel roll plus chew on bully sticks after I set the course. Then we did the sequences and did more bully stick chewing after. We’re heading off to Canine Sports Zone tomorrow for the MIAC ISC trial. Hopefully stuff will be melted and not too sloppy when I get back.
Pulled her off jump 4 in the first rep but kept going and made sure to show lots of connection for the end so she was happy about the BC after the tunnel.
Ended after the 2nd rep and even got some tugging with the lotus tug after I’d put her leash on.
I think we had chatted about this before, but Min was slighly hypo-thyroid and had low B12 levels that was diagnosed when she was 7 I think. She had normal bloodwork in April but in mid September she stopped on course at a trial and just stood there. I was panicking that something was seriously wrong or that she had a tick borne disease, but got her into the vet the next day and after we got her on a low dose of the thyroid meds and the cobalamin injections, she was back to normal in a few weeks and in time for the Open. In retrospect she was showing lower energy levels over the summer but it was subtle because she was always pretty lazy in class and super mellow at home. I emailed the vet today to ask if we should check Lift’s thyroid too when we do the Addison’s test. Her potasssium came back as normal in her recent CBC but on the low end of the scale.
In her class from Tuesday, some people were doing the Agility League so the timers were out. When it beeped I remember thinking that it was a good experience for her to hear it. I’ll see about rounding up some ring crew the next time we go back.
Freezing at the start – I do think it’s a “can’t process right now” moment. She did it at end of MP 3 and I just gave her several weeks off anything agilty and then it went away. I also am not consistent about whether I release her with ‘break” or the obstacle cue and ‘break” is stronger for her. So I think if she’s busy processing, she’s more likely to stay put when I use “jump” instead of break. I’ll add more rewards for moving forward too to balance out all the catch rewards for staying put.
A young dog winter camp would be awesome. The January Fusion trial is 5.5 weeks after her spay so I was thinking that might be overly ambitious even for tricks & tunnels (and maybe a 4s jump or two). But there’s a mid-Feb Fusion trial that I’ve booked Casey Keller to judge and then there’s another one at Fusion mid-April, plus On the Run USDAA & UKI trials in March. I’m also toying with the idea of NFC Speedstakes at MAC’s Classic on Memorial Day weekend (it’s at On the Run and there will not be a food reward box since it’s a classic so that will depend on how she’s doing with toys in public) Claudette graciously did a practice measurement with Lift last weekend in the middle of the day after she had settled in and got her at exactly 12.75in. Lift was pretty relaxed about the whole thing but I do need to train the stand better so that she stays relaxed when I back away a step and don’t crowd her. I am sure no one will get her at 12.6in for WAO, but I am going to try really hard to get the 12.75in to jump 8in regular. (she sailed over a 16in jump that had been left up for Kaladin a few weeks ago but there’s absolutely no way she needs to jump even 12in if I can help it. Plus – there’s all those crazy fast mini poodles at 12in!)
And yes – a traditional spay. At least it’s a one-time nuisance as opposed to the recurring heat cycles.
And LOL- deranged & debuting Jitterbug…I think I’ll delay on the Master Class for now…since I do need to focus on finding a job after the Open and all!
Oh – and one question on the teeter. We’ve been taking it slow with the bang it game. She is happy to jump on when the board is up to almost a foot off the ground and she almost always sticks her landing (every now and then she overshoots and ends up off the other side if I got her ramped up a lot). She has her front feet near the end, but she’s not that into scratching her scratch band. (she is stronger scratching at things held at an angle in front of her than on the ground too even though we’ve worked a fair amount had presenting it flat). How much should I try to get her scratching at the band sooner vs just rewarding her faster for landing close to the end (sometimes front feet on the band and other times just behind it)?
Class – Tues 10/29/24
First session:
I didn’t have as much time as I wanted to settle her in since I thought I was going 2nd and ended up going first. I think that contributed to her saying no to her orange fur tug at the beginning. I’m trying to mix up when I take her leash off (during volume dial, after/before etc) I do like how she stays facing me to see what is next when I do take the leash off. First rep I have a great camera angle for my right arm going up for the layer and her starting to pull in and then I realized it was up there and brought it down & back and she turned back onto the line for her jump. (yay us!) 2nd rep – turns out the person subbing for my friend can’t throw – way overshot her line so she missed the lotus tug and I had to run over and help her find it – but I think it was a surprise at least. She is hanging onto the lotus fur tug on our way out.
Between sessions we did a snuffle mat and then a bit of chewing on a bully stick and also went outside to wander around and sniff. I think that worked since I felt like she was more focused in the 2nd session even though I probably should have cut the first one off sooner (sub teacher also forgot to give me a 3min warning and clearly my own internal clock isn’t so good when I am focused on Lift)
2nd session:
She got to practice walking in on the left side entrance while Dawn & Yahtzee were playing & then leaving on the right side. (I did walking pattern games to make sure this was easier for her). She did her own built-in decompression between reps by getting the treat out of the lotus tug. (I did crop out some of this starting at 2:27 when we were off camera on the left). Then the instructor blocks the view of me rewarding her lead out with a “catch” for the thrown back cheese. OK – there was an extraneous“yay!” in there when she did the backside wrap on the pink & yellow jump in the foreground when I should have just been cueing the jump & tunnel.What is in the works for the youngsters when Max Pup 4 ends? Lift will not be doing any kind of NFC debut this year partly because I don’t think she’ll be ready and also because I want her to debut on her “home turf” at Fusion and the next trials there are mid Jan, mid Feb, and April. Also because she’s getting spayed in early December so we’ll have a built in break for a few weeks there. But I’d love to get your feedback on her eventual NFC debut so am wondering what kind of class she could be in for early 2025. Chaia pointed out that Master Class to me which looks cool, but I was wondering if there would be something else that might be more appropriate for Ms Lifty.
But the master class stuff does look cool (even though I can get myself into trouble when it’s a bit less structured and has a year to get feedback!). Are the working spots filling up fast?Finally had a chance to take a close look at the screenshots and read this now that the trial is over. I think part of me thought I needed my arm up for the jump after the tunnel because I was asking for more lateral distance but it clearly closes off the connection with her.
Pattern Find Face – 10/28/24
Tried this before the chat tonight. (apparently I’m taller than I think since I managed to crop my head off for most of this) She seemed more curious about why I was turning away than worried but this was in the more training-neutral spot of our bedroom where we’ve done tricks and stuff but not wing wraps or anything looking more like agility. I plan to try this again but in the training room (maybe with a wing sitting out) and outside to see if I get different results. Then of course it will be really interesting to try this with a baby sequence. If when I get to that point, I get the leaping lizard instead of curious Lift looking for my face, is the best plan to just keep moving as if it was planned or to stop and do a treat scatter to decompress her?
I did a bit of volume dial too but she didnt’ get too amped up (maybe the room?) I need to see if she’ll do a toy reward for volume dial as I often get the sense that she’s sort of ramping up but not much when we play it with food. Tapping her on the chest and having her chase me can amp her up but she can also have big feelings about that so I haven’t wanted to do that much.
I think I’m going to need to stash a container of treats in my garage so that I’m ready with a treat scatter (or snuffle mat) as I come into the house from the garage. Lift totally channels her inner barky kangaroo when I come home and is too aroused to approach me, but if tell her to get it for a tossed treat (and throw/place it so that Kaladin doesn’t steal it from her) and then walk away and crouch down she will come close and ask to be picked up so she can snuggle. It’s just shocking how fast she can go from boingy and playing keep away to basically demanding I pick her up if she gets something to eat. If she’s really over the top, I might need to repeat a treat I didn’t try food for a while because part of me was thinking it was rewarding the leapy behavior but then it clicked with me that what if she just can’t keep her feet on the ground because of the poprocks moments.
Near the end of the training chat (when my dogs had to welcome Dean home), you were talking about cortisol levels and Addison’s disease. What was the arousal regulation issue with low cortisol levels? Asking because we just did a GI panel on Lift due to intermittent GI upset (often stress related if it’s not bunny poop ingestion) and the only thing that came back was slightly low cortisol levels. Vet thinks it’s unlikely she has Addison’s but we’re doing the test in 2 weeks just to rule that out.
10/22/24 & 10/25/24
10/22/24 – Class with Lotus Tug
On Tuesday we dropped into a class and used the Lotus tug.
Wednesday we did a 2min session in the back yard with Mountain Climber & creamcheese. Thursday we went for a jaunt in a state park.
10/25/24 –
This morning we shared a ring rental with Khamsin & Jimothy. First session was after she hung out on her cot while Jimothy had his turn. Did great for the first sequence and I realized I had forgotten her lotus tug so she got cheese for that first brilliant rep.
Second session was after she had a break to walk around outside and hang out inside but around the corner so not able to watch into the ring. I was wondering if part of her leapiness was me holding the exciting lotus tug. Having a toy in my hand never seemed to affect her when she did agility for a toy pre-adolescence, but that was months ago. So I switched to a smaller toy that I could keep more hidden and felt like that made it easier for her. (she even tugged her way onto the coures) Still some running by obstacles, but she went for the toy each time I tossed and didn’t get leapy.
Oh yay! New obsession!
Mon 10/21 – decompression walk in the morning before it gets up to 82 (yes – 80s in MN in mid October!) & probably short play session inside later in the day
Tues 10/22 – Fusion drop in class (plan to put lotus tug on a leash to make it a longer toy), walk
Wed – 10/23 – RDW session (I’m so far behind in this class!), walk
Thurs – 10/24 – state park hike
Fri – 10/25 -Private training at Fusion (RDW session & some kind of easy sequence), walk
Sat – 10/26 – UKI trial – pattern games, maybe volume dial and some fun tricks (I’m secretarying so she’ll spend time hanging out in a crate under my desk or in the car)
Sun – 10/27 – Hang out at home with Dean & Demi while Kaladin & I are at the UKI trial10/20/24
Not quite sure what to make of this. Yesterday afternoon Lift and Kaladin had a photo session in a park with Sarah Kurtz. She did brilliantly holding stays by herself & with Kaladin, recalling to me and playing with the lotus tug. When we got home I hung out on the deck so that she and Kaladin could decompress by zooming around the yard and then plunking down to nap (Kaladin)/chew on a stick (Lift). No training last night, she just napped from dinner until bed time.This morning she woke up with ants in her pants and raring to go. We did a 2min session inside with cheese for her RDW foundations before breakfast. No toy to over-arouse her, but she did have to use her little brai cells since we are testing whether she understands the distinction between the cue for the squish mat vs tricks/marker cues to get treats. (survey says – improved from the session 2 days ago but still needs work). After breakfast we tried sequence 3 with the lotus ball and the wheels came off the bus. I forgot about the pattern games first (in the neutral backyard – whoops!) and started with volume dial which she looked good in, but then got barky about lining up (not sure if it was lining up in the course facing out, because I was holding her new favorite lotus tug or just because. Maybe I should hae just stopped there). Pulled her off the jump before the tunnel when I disconnected and it went downhill from there. However she did voluntarily stick her head through her collar even with the pop rocks going off so I took it off again and let her chase me for the toy.
I decided a decompression walk in the woods was in order and popped her and Kaladin into the car to go to a local park. When we got home I wanted to see if the leaping was more prevalent when I had the lotus tug in my hand so I left both dogs in the car, set up my tripod outside (with video running), put the lotus tug on the deck railing and then took Lift straight from the car into the yard on her agility slip leash. This time I did remember the pattern games before moving into volume dial. She was a bit slow and ran by the tunnel on the first rep. We tried one more where I left off the first jump and she did everything “right” but wasn’t too zippy so I left her in a sit (and she lay down) and grabbed her lotus tug to let her chase it. (probably should have just run to it with her, oh well). As I was heading back into the house, she started tugging like crazy on the empty lotus tug so on a whim I turned on the video again and did 2 easy sequences (aka no sending to a jump for a turn) with the lotus tug – no leaps – seemed really happy so called it quits and went inside, got Kaladin & Demi and plunked myself down on the deck to let the dogs chill. (she and Kaladin did a short zoom and then sacked out again). Now lecturing myself that she is probably depleted from having to think for a few sessions over the last few days while the furry lotus tug is in my hand and that I should just post this and go find something else to obsess over that doesn’t involve training Lift.
Sequence #1 – 10/18/24
I did this after breakfast and she was pretty amped up going into it. Also a bit sticky and barky on some starts (maybe because I was holding the amazing cream cheese toppl on a leash which I almost forgot at first) However she nailed the sequences including the layering on the last try. (and yay me for just going on when a disconnect moment had her miss a jump – I’m slowly getting better at that! Still had an extraneous Yay or two slip out though)
I’ll find another class to drop in on after I work a bit more with her fur lotus ball at home first. I tried moving the lotus bungee toy around more and she doesn’t seem to get the treat out any faster, but she does stay engaged and pounces on it. I had a piece of a pretty stinky Saint Roccos treat in there. I could leave it a bit more open, but then I need a larger treat so it doesn’t fall out before she gets to it and she’s small enough that too many rich, larger treats risk a bit of digestive over indulgence. Here is a pretty good session this afternoon in terms of her engagement (she did run off with the lotus toy before we started…)
I’m not sure which marker cue I should use since I have been distinguishing between thrown food & toy for her. Kaladin has “get it” for toy or food delivered away from me, but I thought Lift would do better with different cues (get it for food & grab it for toy) since she has definite opinions about her rewards. I used grab it here (food) but maybe it should be get it since it will transition to only a toy? Or maybe I’m over-thinking this. And does the value of chasing the furry thing eventually override needing to get a treat out of it? Just wondering if I’ll get a mad Lift in the future when she chases a fur bungee and there is no food in it.
I was really happy with how she did with all the sounds in the class on Thursday (barking dogs, a-frame etc). I think it’s helped that the boarding dogs often erupt in barking fits when we are training. She does react more to motion than to sounds though so I am deliberately attending classes that are in the full ring for our first few forays so that there isn’t another dog running in the ring on the other side of a barrier.
Fusion class – 10/17/24
Was able to drop into a different class (same instructor) this morning and got video of both of her sessions. This time she ran 5th out of 6 dogs so we got to practice coming into the building while another dog was in the ring and settling on her cot to wait for a short time. (I did do the back & forth & up & down games in the entry way (between the 2 sets of doors) so that she didnt’ step into the actual ring room until she had settled down a bit. We also managed a short tug session before her first turn while we were waiting (behind the solid half-wall barrier from the ring)
1rst session –
Had her in a great arousal state as we stepped into the ring (while others were bar setting), but she got a bit jumpy because I was carrying my tripod across the ring and that is clearly a sign that fun things are about to happen. But the pattern games and then some volume dial got her back and she had a lovely session. I’m not sure if it will stay as a bark or change into a bark & jump but when I do the creature hands at her, she barks – that didnt’ take long. LOL!
2nd session
Got smarter and set up the tripod just outside the ring ahead of time so I could turn it on before I asked her to enter the ring. (of course I then ended up going out of camera a bit, but hey – baby steps!). The next class was coming in during this turn and someone had 2 tiny screaming things (Russian Toys?) Anyways I am very impressed that I didnt’ jump when they let loose and instead tossed a treat for her. She was even able to keep working when they let loose again. (vs when I was playing the video back to watch it later in the day and both Kaladin & Lift jumped up from their naps and started a barking frenzy when they heard the banshees). It’s off camera but I had left some cheese in a closed container on the ground off to the side so that’s what we’re heading to when I gave her the “happy hour” cue at the end instead of treating her right after the leash when back on. (HH cue is a bit rusty but she perked right up when she realized we were headed back to the cheese). She got her snuffle mat after each session and then we headed back outside to sniff around.Should I keep dropping into classes like this and build up to longer sequences vs several very short ones?
I’ve usually been course-building at least a half day in advance so that I don’t ask her to run something right away even if she was crated during the build. I have a fur covered lotus ball on a bungee that she thinks is cool, but we’re working on her getting food out of it. She can get food out without help even if it is partially closed, but she’s pretty slow & deliberate about it so it won’t be a quick reward for us yet.
In other news, I’ve had success 3x when playing tug with her inside (and not in the context of doing agility) where I get her to tug, release and bark and then back on the tug. It feels like a big accomplishment since she couldn’t tug when barking and jumping around. It’s only a single bark so not quite the same thing, but she was able to bark and then tug.
LOL! Here I am trying to be good about clean training loops & marker cues and you come along with these games – such a bad influence!
I’ve been focused on trying to moderate her arousal when the pop rocks go off and now I’m thinking about whether I need to let her ramp up more and then see if she can keep her brains and still function.
This morning I took her and Kaladin for their walk and typically when we come back they have the pre-breakfast zoomies. No video but right after that I called Lift into the kitchen and used our handy dandy xpen to block the other two out of there. Did the back & forth & up & down game and she snapped right into focusing on me. Granted we have done a lot of trick training in the kitchen in the morning but I was pretty impressed. She had a snappy response to the easy tricks (flip/turn – spins left & right) and thought pivoting around my leg was easy. We also brushed up on our leg weaving and then I tossed a treat for her to end the session and there were no pop rock moments. Her leg weaving isn’t as strong as the spins which she can do on and off leash in a variety of places. The leash always gets in the way with leg weaving so I use it less when out & about.
Drop in class at Fusion – 10/15/24
Previously we shared a ring rental with Khamsin & Jimothy twice and both youngsters did well even when some of the boarding dogs in the next room erupt in barking fits. This was Lift’s first actual class. I picked a full ring class and it turned out the other 5 dogs all jumped 16in so Lift got to go first at 8in. We got to start our engagment games (walking back & forth and then some up & down) as the rest of the class was walking and then rolled into the Volume Dial once the ring cleared. (before this we did the back&forth and up&down pattern games as we were coming into the building and after we hung out ringside with her on her cot before leaving right before the really noisy Aussie ran)
I was thinking about the Monday chat and behaviors that help dogs self-soothe from big feelings in regards to Lift’s bouncy barky fits. Her original pop rocks moments (outside of actual agility training) were bouncing & barking at my side as I walked her dish into the kitchen after letting her out of her crate from a meal. Ignoring it didn’t work and I didnt’ want her jumping up so much on the hardwood floors. She’d just bounce next to and off of me the whole way down the hall so I ended up transporting her with her nose glued to my hand & treat and then transitioned into asking for a sit and recalling her to my side a few times. She’s much better about that now. Another situation where she can boing & bark is when I’m moving around the yard to course build or do some yard work. Sometimes I’ll station her on the cot but I also like to let the dogs wander around the yard with me as opposed to keeping them in the house (where Lift will boing at the deck door unless she is crated). Video is from this morning (before we went to the class). Asking for some tricks keeps her mostly earth-bound at first until about 2min when I go get the tunnel. Thoughts on other ways to approach it when her pop rocks go off?
Oh – and you may get a lot of videos from us at least until the Open. I’m currently enjoying an unexpected 2-week vacation otherwise known as being laid off. Then severence kicks in so I think I’m going to take a bit of time to enjoy the lovely fall weather, catch up on the million & one things I am behind on in my over-commmitted life, and focus on training my dogs before I sort out what I want to do to fund my agility habit.
Volume Dial – 10/14/24
I recorded this before the Monday chat. I did crop off the rest of the session which was her first RDW foundation session after moving from the 4 to the 2in mat. (which went quite well even with being in the small training space).
Spinning left/right is probably her favorite/easiest motion trick. Circling around my leg as I pivot was surprisingly sticky so I’ll need to brush that up as a trick. The loud noise was Dean flushing the toilet upstairs. I did a super easy chase the treat get it after that since it seemed to surprise her.
Thanks for the indepth feedback (as always!) and the pictures.
She did get a cookie for resetting the broken stay at Fusion. (I think I also asked her for a spin as a trick so it was after that but then we went right into the sit again) I figured it was more important to keep her happy lining up.
And I clearly need another cot or two since right now it’s moving between my car, the family room downstairs (doing some RDW foundation work for the Shape UP class we just started and I’m parking the other bi-black on there and rotating them – figured it couldn’t hurt to let Kaladin earn cookies too), and the living room by the deck door to the back yard because I don’t want it getting rained on.
She actually did have decompression time after she played with the toy inside, but I hadn’t processed that bcause her waiting inside (instead of “helping me set the course”) amped her up, she was starting from a high level again. (duh!) Poor Lift is definitely doing a lot of eye-rolling at her clueless hooman.
She just turned 15 months yesterday. I feel like she’s a more normal adolescent than Kaladin and Min ever were and I’m just laughing at the thought that she is “old enough” to enter UKI SS. I deliberately called out how ludicrous that is (for her) on my FB post in an effort to cut down on well meaning folks asking me when she’s going to start trialing. The answer is sometime in 2025…hopefully! And some of it may have to do with who I think is more likely to get a 12.75in measurement on her since she is hovering right around that 8in cutoff. At least I have several options to choose from at Fusion where she is quite comfortable. (and I hired all those judges)
I’ll circle back to all the tandem turn stuff I skipped when I got behind. I figured it was better to keep her on the less twisty stuff as I tried to pack in a bunch before this class officially wrapped up.
And here are the videos from Fusion on Saturday (squeaking in under the wire for the end of MaxPup 3)
Serpentines – 9/21/24
Circled back to the serpentines and was able to close the angle more. Ran by a few but I just tossed the cheese and tried it again and we had no leaping Lifty moments. I had her stationed on a cot (sadly out of camera angle so you can’t see me make eye contact with her and pause and then release) which also seemed to help so I need to be better about schlepping it around and setting it up. Jumps are at 6in here.
Teeter Bang Game – 9/21/24
First time on a teeter somewhere else (Fusion). Is a Clip & Go like my newer one. I had planned to do mountain climber but forgot my extra tape & target since the tip it one doesn’t work with the rubber padding on the teeter edge. Had big feelings about being lured into position on my left even though I wasn’t trying to touch her collar and just doing a little tap on her chest to get some excitement since restraint wasn’t going to work. She seems happy with the small drop and the noise. Should I work up to the teeter being a bit further off the ground?
Lead outs – 9/21/24
Got the cot station in the camera angle but managed to miss her sitting on the start line for some of this (whoops!). However I did way better establishing connection and pausing before releasing. This was the last thing we did at Fusion (after a break where Kaladin got to play).
Did not get it on video, but as I was packing up, she was eyeing the toy in the bag so I offered it to her and she decided she could play with a toy there and even do a jump and some tunnels with me throwing it as a reward (go figure!) So apparently her brains were still in good shape and nicely settled after her training sessions.
Decel – 9/22/24
Good call out on rushing the release on the leadouts. (and I just cleaned that up with Kaladin too. You’d think I could remember!). I tested that at Fusion yesterday morning and need to get those videos posted but she totally thought the arm raise was maybe her release cue.
Anyways – cleaner here so a work in progress. I skipped having her start at the tunnel exit since she had big feelings about breaking a game down that much a few weeks ago. She had one turn where she didn’t really jump in extension but hadn’t collected enough to power out of the turn so bulged wide. The send without the verbal cue also confused her after the 1rst try so I swapped back to standing at the wing.
She’s working for cheese here. Right before this session she was totally in a play with toys mood inside so we did some tricks for a toy and it went well with her tugging like a fiend. Then I left all the dogs inside to set this up (mainly moving the tunnel) which she had big feelings about. So when I went back in to get her (and pop Kaladin in a crate with a bully stick), she was channeling her inner kangaroo. She was able to push her head through her leash loop without any issues but started jumping up at me as we were walking outside. So too aroused to play with a toy. I did a few spin tricks and then having her sit and release to chase me for cheese and that got her brains back in her head so that she could do this session quite nicely. She was able to do a jump and a couple of tunnels at Fusion yesterday for a toy, but at the end of her 2nd session – too leapy to pay attention to a toy while equipment was out at the beginning. It’s interesting how her “play with toys” optimal state is narrower than her “I can do agility with food” optimal state.
Lead outs – 9/19/24
Piling on with another post as I try to catch up a bit before MP 3 ends.
Did a morning & afternoon session so I could work both directions. It was warm & muggy for both of them. Leaping Lizard is back in certain situations so I made a point of doing more with the cookie transport between reps in the 2nd session. (That solved the issue of her jumping up at me in the walk from letting her out of her crate after breakfast and into the kitchen to put the dish in the sink. I did that for a bit and then segued into a sit and recall and now she can follow me along the hall and into the kitchen for a treat (and without being a jack in the box along the way)
