Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Good morning,
No video of that first run on Friday, but mostly she was in visit mode. I’ve gone through this with others in the past. I have friendly Whippets. I put it in that sort of transition period where they need to know people are there, but not to visit with. So even though I was moving, she was moving elsewhere. She did go back to work after the visits 🙄
I absolutely need to keep my eyes more on her. And…as you have mentioned so many times, keep my arm down! Even at home training, Paul tells me constantly, keep your arm down! Old habits die hard. Decades of obedience training and trialing, I always looked down at my dog and was chastised for not looking ahead. I’ll think about looking her in the eye more. She does look at me all the time, just in day to day situations, looking for “advice”. I also think with going back to using the inflation in training, mainly with weaves, to get a good tug as a reward, or sometimes a toss, she looks at my hand.
So next time, hands down, mostly. Eyes on dog eyes. Move! Trust! I’m happy with the progress she has made in the last few trials. She has a really good foundation, which my others never got. Oh, absolutely on the caffeine! Two cups, strong and black, every morning!
Thanks!Greetings!
Well, we are really getting there! Last week we did were entered Thursday in Speedway, 2 runs, pole position, with a couple hoops and 5 barrels. 2 runs Friday and Saturday of agility. Speedway was a good prep thing, and we got to work on our start line stay (hoop), left and right directionals, and finally a send to the final hoop. She did great, Qing in both runs.
Friday, Jumpers, was a rather disconnected run with lots of ring crew visiting. She did get through the whole course, but way over time. The second run was Standard. Which is the first video. It was a good video to contemplate with before the next day. Though she did Q, I know I really messed her up. Stopping, instead of letting her go, she also stopped, back jumped, so OC. Yeah, I scolded myself, and Paul was in agreement. I need to trust her! I need to run more! I took an ibuprofen, got some sleep, changed shoes the next day to my Saguaros (yeah, who knows… maybe it helped).
Saturday in Wildcard she Qd, a simple course of jumps and tunnels. Yay! Her next run, our last of the day, Standard. She did not Q, but it was a fun run for us both. Just as our class started the sky got black, the wind was whipping, and radar showed a serious thunderstorm on the way. We were the last one. It was thundering as we went in. I knew we need to pick up the pace! I didn’t ask for much of a stay. We had two OCs, but well under time. The first OC, I really thought was kind of a tunnel trap for a novice (L1) class. I was supposed to be the dw, jump, jump. I didn’t care that she took the tunnel in front of her. In her mind, the right thing to do. Good girl. I did, however, give her a, “choochoochoo”, hoping she’d come into the jump. Alas… The next OC was obviously the dw. She does love her contact equipment! But she came back and we finished the run. In the nick of time! It started raining and thundering as we left the ring.
We will be going back to the same site in a couple weeks. Since her confidence level grew all weekend, good to return to the site. We do trial there a lot. Also, while waiting we did lots of pattern games, and some tricks. All happily. She does get excited watching the dogs before her, which bodes well. Here are the Friday, then Saturday videos.
Good morning,
So, an update of the last two week ends. One day of speedway, just barrels and tunnels, this Sunday, “Colors” (a basic, short course which I chose with the teeter, two tunnels, and about 7 jumps. Then Standard L1, no weaves or teeter.
Speedway was used for training. I actually chose to work on her start line. It seemed appropriate, since we’d been working on it during the week, even during some play sessions. She was solid, staying quite awhile until I said, “break!”, and showed her tug, which she hit hard and tugged hard. I did a couple lefts and rights around a few barrels, then tug. It went well. Two back to back classes of “pole position”. By the time “slingshot” ( tunnels added, with a gamble set up)came, she did fine the first run, then started getting oddly stressed. At that point, Paul had just run Chitlin and I know she was distracted by seeing him walk her back to the car. She ran to the fence where he was walking around. I finally yelled at him to stand still!! Grrrr… he should know better. It went down hill from there. Yes, lack of experience to hand such a complex situation. We were done for the day. No video.
This past Sunday was a new, indoor location. A nice, one ring, training center. We crated inside. I walked her around, did a bit of heeling, some tricks, some on lead stays, lots of treats. She was cool. But not interested in any of the tugs. I opted not to train, figuring it was time. When it was time for her run, lots of tricks for treats. No video of her first run, which was similar to her standard run. More distracted by people and stuff by the gating, but once we got going, did fine. My leg was killing me 😞 so I was really behind. It was jump, jump, tunnel, double jump, to a wall jump, which she had never seen. She took the jump, missed the next one, blasted through the tunnel and was on the teeter before I could get there, I yelled wait!, she did, 2o2o. Bless her little heart. I told her jump, she did, came to the wall jump, and said, WTF! A second command and she took it.
Next up you’ll see it was also the last jump in Standard, no hesitation. It wasn’t a brilliant run, but we both ended on a happy note. Once again, when she was halfway through the course, she settled, and seemed to understand her job. No judge visiting, minor ring crew visit. I think it’s just a matter of more experience. Plus a handler who wasn’t on one leg 🙁 Oh, we were amused by her AFrame, when she didn’t stay (she usually puts her butt on the yellow, feet on the floor), she tried to correct. Here is the video. Sorry to be so long winded. Oh, I opted to put a collar on. Maybe a psychological connection? Who knows. But I’m glad I did because I got in the ring and the timer was messed up. I did not make her stay very long before releasing her. A small stay was good.Thinking… She loves her frisbees. She’ll even leave an inflation for the frisbees. I think I’ll did one of the small, soft frisbees out and flash that in the ring. It’s tuggable, and she will be surprised by it, I think. Another tool in the arsenal.
Good morning,
All good suggestions. Today, when we do a bit of training, I’ll put a chair out to put her lead on, and the treats. I’ll also go back to trying to use a tug, which is hard with keeping her focus away from jumping up to my hand, why I switched to treats. I was, at one time, able to get her to tug her lead, but she stopped awhile back, even with adding some fur. Even dragging it. I need to noodle with it. Leash tugging, I think is ideal, but I’ve never had dogs retain that.
This Sunday we will do training in the ring. It will be different, being outdoors and no jumps. Next Sunday we have a trial at a new indoor place, which I think is similar to the sports complex we just used. Colors (jumps and tunnels) will be first. Then standard. CPE has no teeter or weaves in L1. I plan to do training in Colors, see how it goes. Step by step!I do need to really work again with having a chair set up with her lead a treats. We are just picking back up now since the weather is improving. I forgot that Paul took a tugging video.
At that point I was planning to go in and train, then she stopping tugging. We will try again this weekend. Sometimes at class (there are four rings with dogs working in each), if a dog gets close to the gating she will run over, and I get her back with a tug. I’ve done this a couple times at speedway trials too. So back to that on Sunday.Hi,
Because we crated in the building, she was pretty desensitized by the noise by the time we went to the ring. She was very happy to eat and do tricks and games outside the ring. She did some tugging over by our set up, but then lost interest in the most valuable of tugs, a rabbit skin on a bungee tug. I tried every tug in my bag, which are many! Even the inflation got no response. So many people and dogs. She just wants to see everyone. She wasn’t stressed about the environment. And was even whining watching the dogs before her. But she stayed pretty well connected, mostly.This weekend I will bring her tug and we will just sort things out in the ring. She has quite a few Qs in speedway, but I’ve kept to just training in the ring with the trials last fall. In class I do tend to keep treats on me still, especially since I want to constantly reward her contacts, which are great. She loves to do 2o2o, on pretty much every surface. She learned that so well as a little pup, before much real training. She is solid, and I can tell her wait, treat, walk away, then release. I don’t want to retrain missed contacts!! So I’m conservative now. She loves contact obstacles. She loves weaves too! Otoh, at home, I keep treats on the porch instead of instant reward. Biscuit learned this years ago, so as soon as his done, I tell him, perfect!, and he runs to the porch. Kishka still stays with me until I say let’s go inside. At home she is pretty amazing though, and just loves the game.
Hey! Yes, we are still here. We had a few glitches with a season, weather, and Covid 🙁
Training has been going really well. Really, really well. So, to say I was a bit disheartened about her first trial, is an understatement. A bit of preface here. This was a huge area, a bigger than usual trial, in one of those big, multi area sport complexes. Our club’s first time using it. It’s really nice, but very busy. The noise you hear on the video is the batting practice in an area above the ring. Yep, a couple times the judge needed to retrieve balls that landed in the ring. Not during Kishka’s run though. So, despite the chaos, she was happy, did lots of tricks and games before our ring time, including just outside the ring. She did a bit of tugging, but then lost interest, so I opted not to do training in the ring. Her start line stay at home and in class is almost 100%. Even every single night, after her meat meal, I set her up in the kitchen, tell her stay, and put her handful of kibble in the dining room. I wait about 30-60 seconds. Then, “break!”, she runs to the kibble. With training, I wait a long time before releasing, sometimes returning to treat. As you can see from the video, it looks like she was never trained to stay. 🙄
Yesterday I went to just a regular obedience sit stay, then return, treat. Several times. Perfect. Later I upped the challenge with doing the same, but with an inflation. Even waving it around. She got up the first time, I told her sit and stay, she did. She was solid until I gave her the, “break”, and tossed her the inflation and she circled around and retuned. We did this about 6 times. 100%. Yeah, yeah, I get the ring is different. We have speedway runs (hoops, barrels, tunnels) this weekend. I plan on only training her start line, with a couple obstacles for the first couple runs. Outside will be even more challenging. I’m too slow, so I need that stay at the start line! Otoh, she was very happy, and came to me to take obstacles in a tough environment, with plenty of ring crew, and dozens of people outside the ring. Yes, my handling was dreadful! Here is the video.
I’m hoping to set your course we discussed three weeks ago. She really is working super. Most times with minimal movement, just verbals and some hand/body, she is accurate and fast. Most importantly, happy! I can now take her out and say, “We’re doing agility”, and she stays with me, no charging off to run. She knows it’s two things, and enjoys both. We will get there. I just had kind of a downer weekend. I need to get back on the horse.Greetings!
Finally, something to report on. Though we have been doing our little class, which is going well and she is getting more focused with loads of chaos, with four rings going at once, not easy to video. Her contacts are great, and she loves the contact obstacles. Weaves are going quite well. She was entered last Saturday, her debut, but came in season ☹️
We finally have good enough weather to set up some courses. So back to what we didn’t finished last fall. I chose 3b, which is a pretty busy, complicated course. Overall it went well. We have focused on left and right, and backsides, in the kitchen with one low jump, and she knows this well. At class I send her on lots of backsides, so she is very familiar with it. I use “out” as her verbal. It’s the only place I use out. Once outside? We were a bit crazy, and I had to back off to 10, 11, 12, to get her not just jump straight. I think because I’ve isolated more in training, it was the only thing she needed to focus on. With just the three last jumps, she finally said, “Ahhh. That thing!”. That was yesterday. The videos are from today. Yeah, I struggle with raising my arm too high. Maybe why she took the tunnel the first time instead of the 12 backside. Here are the two videos.
Overall, her training is going well. She will miss our club run thrus this week, being in season, so our plan of a straighter line of obstacles you suggested, won’t happen. Her new debut will be in April.
Hey,
Yes, this makes a lot of sense. In this building, with this course set up, I think the person who sets it up, that our club rents from, seems to just jam as much equipment in the room as she can, with little thought to setting good lines or flow. It’s not a class we are in, just how it’s set when the club members get there. There are usually three, oddly nested courses. Even when I’ve walked it before running Biscuit, I’m like, “WT ever loving F?” He often has the same issues with no place to go, and has multiple off courses. I’ve learned to just make up my own. This is what I’ve attempted with Kishka, but it’s tough! Clearly I need to really just pick the absolute right lines. Next time I will try to do that. Where I will be going back to the little, “obedience for the agility dog”, class (it’s really not what it sounds like, but it gets us working with dogs and people in adjoining rings), we also got a three month membership to the place, a different building than the video. We get one free rental a month. So hopefully we can get there soon and we will set up one of your courses from the last week of Max pup 4.Good morning,
Yes, I do think she’s ready for a second set of weaves. Though that won’t happen soon, as we got about 4” of snow last night, with extra cold temps coming. Right now, bbq pork is the high value treat! Since I make roast chicken periodically, that’s not a huge drive. I have many other things that they love, but she’ll even train for kibble. Tugs… I have many, many types! Some with fur, some long, you name it. She loves to tug, and yes, the inflation is a fave, but not with big distractions. My ace in the hole is a rabbit skit on a bungee tug. I save that and will bring it out at the March trial. I’m sending along a video Paul took at the club run thrus. She’s used to him always being right there at home, but you can see her periodically going to say “hi”, she never does this at home. After this run, though it was cut out, I pulled out her tug and she was keen. She was also very good about coming to me instead of heading to the area with all the dogs and people. She’s happy the whole time. This ring is always set up for the classes they have here, and the flow is always dreadful. So I did break her sequences down, plus trying to keep her off the teeter and dog walk. She likes those too much! Turning back from the teeter from the tunnel exit, to take the jump before the A Frame was very tough. So, some good, some less good. Treats that day were a variety of dried things, always popular. Just not as popular are Chinese bbq pork!
Good morning,
Yes, this all makes sense! I do really think working on as much distance in a training situation as she’s learning, is the right thing to do. So today I was going to redo this with the MM after the 4, with me behind the 6. I think that will translate to hear. Well, that was until I looked out the window. Grrrr… so it will wait. We will pull in the tunnel, but leave the jumps and cones out, and hope for an opportunity. I do see that this will definitely save no only time, but me from running, which my 70 year old body is objecting to these days ☹️ Well, not 70 yet, I have a couple weeks!
In the recent weeks, with the treats not also available quickly, and the treat container on a chair near the porch (that remote bit), she is happily charging back to me for praise as much as treats or toys. I know many trainers would not view this as ideal, but I’m happy with it. Less of a, I’m done, charge out the gate, scenario. Which I had with Biscuit a few times, before he understood to get to his lead. She still drives ahead to the last jump, but responds to my praise.Oh, yes, the amount of things *all* Whippets do has always amused me. First off, they really are just lurchers, traditionally speaking. A cross of terriers and Greyhounds. Used for rag racing and poaching rabbits, as opposed to coursing hares like other classic sighthounds. They needed to be biddable and work with owners, less independently. But newer people fall for the, “independent coursing sighthound”, thing. There’s a reason Whippets do so well at things like dock diving, flyball, disc, obedience and rally, unlike the other sighthounds. Lurchers at heart ☺️
Greetings!
Lots here. No, when back chaining that piece, I just used a tossed treat. Mainly just showing her what I was looking for. Flipping the entire course with that 4 jump facing the fence/driveway, away from the yard was ultimately the fix. We didn’t get a chance to work on it anymore until today. The weather hasn’t cooperated much. Even today was only 32 degrees. The sun was a real PITA though! I couldn’t even see her at the start jump, so I had to go close to the #2. So… I walked it as you suggested before we ran it. Paul said he didn’t even want to try it with Chitlin since she doesn’t have enough distance. I decided he should to give me a better idea on Kishka. Chitin did fine! Paul handled the 5 to 6 as you suggested, so was perfect to coach me while he videoed. Each time I made the same mistake, not getting past that 5, and cross to get her off my left. I just couldn’t do it! She was too far ahead so just blasted to the 8. See all that driving ahead training 😁 I’m sending four videos. Two which show my mistake, one where we finally got it, but then missed 7, then the final one is the way I thought really worked better for both of us. I’m not sure we will get to the other sequences before we get snow. On my agenda though is setting up a couple jumps, or even just wings, in the barn, and working on a threadle verbal. The videos:
Good morning,
All that makes sense. I will have to get back to this in the future! Id planned to try this on Thursday, but it poured, nonstop. As we head into December, training time outside will be taking a break 😔 As for the TSA set up, yes, it was far away, both chairs were. So I abandoned one chair with treats, and just used one. With treats in a container. I’m trying to do more without instant rewards, but at her age, I’m inclined to treat more often as she is still learning.
So yesterday, with sequence #2. Our challenge ended up not so much the 5,6,7 handling, but getting the 4 after the tunnel! I just could not run fast enough, and she saw no reason to take it! I tried several things. I even backchained it a couple times, with 3,4,5. Yep. Fine. Back to the sequence, nope. We ran this many times. Fortunately she, unlike what people constantly say about Whippets, can take plenty of reps, and still happy at the end. We did finally get it! She had slowed down a bit, and it angled the jump a bit more. The 3 retake was an experiment, after watching all my videos. I decided, it might translate differently if that 4 jump is facing the fence, no out towards the open yard. Sometimes taking even a minor distraction away can help. So we flipped the entire course. Paul thought it wouldn’t matter. Ha! Right again ☺️ We still didn’t get the right threadle moves in, but it went okay. It also occurs to me, I guess I don’t even have another threadle verbal, other than, “here”. I’ll ponder this. And, yes, once again, I’m aware I use, “go” more than I should. Paul has been telling me when my arm is high though. Working on it (sigh…) videos:
