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Thanks so much, Tracy!
Commitment is still a challenge for us so I was happy with how well he handled this exercise!
Today I did more wing wraps and added the tunnel. Both wings are about 9′ from the tunnel entrance. In the first set, I was holding food in my hand. In the second set, I was not. I don’t think it mattered either way but I noticed that I cued differently when I was holding food.
Video: Wingin’ It with a Tunnel
Thanks Tracy!
Today, Cowboy and I worked on wing wraps and the Lazy Game. For the wing wraps I only used a single wing. The next time I will use it in combination with the tunnel.
When doing the Lazy Game, I moved the jumps further apart (they are approximately 15′). I also added less motion towards the end and only rewarded after every 2nd or 3rd jump. Initially, Cowboy slowed down when the reward wasn’t there after each jump so I will probably vary the reinforcement next time. Overall, a solid session.
Video: Wingin’ It and The Lazy Game
Thanks Tracy!
Cowboy and I had a go at this game. I found it very relaxing! I enjoyed it so much that I brought my other dog with me so he could try too so apologies for all of the screaming and barking in the background!
Video: Cowboy and the “Lazy Game”
Yes! Cowboy totally loved the trial environment and I agree practicing at all those different places (including a busy park) made a tremendous difference! I have never experienced anything like this before. As soon as we walked into the building, it was like we had entered Disney World!
He was excited to do agility but he was also very clear headed. He maintained his startline on all three runs, ignored the judge and briefly checked out a ring crew person (end of video) before coming right back and continuing on.
I also forgot to mention that the weave pole entrance was at ~4:00 and he found the entrance on the first try! THANK YOU for everything!
Thanks Tracy!
Cowboy did his first agility trial today! It was a UKI trial at Get Rev’d Agility. I ran NFC and tried to keep things fun and light and Cowboy looked like he was having a blast.
We were able to do 12 weave poles in Jumpers! Once he got through the first 10 he slowed down a bit but did not pop out. I would show you but the poles are obscured by a jump wing. I do have a highlight reel. Just general stuff from the trial. Cowboy ran faster than I expected and so I did have some issues with off-courses. I will be on the look-out for any upcoming handling courses. Thanks again!
Video: Cowboy at 1st Agility Trial (NFC runs)
Thanks Tracy for all of your feedback and for offering such a great course!
I am so happy with how Cowboy’s weaves are progressing and I think we both had a lot of fun getting to this point…well most of the time đ
The other benefit from the course was an improvement in Cowboy’s forward and lateral sends. I spent a lot of time sending to and wrapping a cone/wing and every time I tried to increase the distance he would slow down or “pull off”. I noticed fairly early in this class that I could be pretty far away from the weave poles (or teeter) and Cowboy would continue to drive forward towards the obstacle. This has also transferred to sequencing, although I still need to continue working on obstacle commitment during certain scenarios.
Thanks again and I hope I have the opportunity to join a future course!
Video: Cowboy Foundation Sequencing Compilation
When I arrived at the training center, I couldn’t find the 2×2 weave poles so I started with the regular ones in the ring.
The session opened up fine; there were a few mistakes in the middle and then I had some really nice passes at the end.
Next time, I plan to do 4 x 6. He seems OK with them closed but having fewer poles (at least as a warm-up) will hopefully get us closer to doing all 12 poles.
Video: 6×6 Weave Poles
Thanks Tracy! This is great feedback!
I know the class is coming to a close and I don’t know your timeline for final video submissions. Either way, I will continue to work through the exercises. They were packaged beautifully and provided a very nice progression.
Thank you so much!
Today, I set up a practice session using a lowered teeter (4 links from full height). Cowboy appeared comfortable with the height so I added a tunnel . It got a little bit shaky from there so I went back to just the teeter in isolation.Â
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I noticed that when there is a mistake he will offer a “4 on” and wait for me to cue the 2o/2o position. I have seen this on the dog walk and A-frame too so I am wondering how to address it. It doesn’t happen very often but does happen enough times that it could become part of the end behavior.Video: Cowboy 2o/2o on Lowered Teeter
Thanks again, Tracy!
Cowboy and I were at it again this morning. Now that the weather has gotten warmer (or just plain hot!) a lot of people are showing up at the park earlier. Cowboy handled the added distractions really well. We had a few mistakes but most of the session was reasonably solid.
BTW…the video is long but the actual session was very short. I edited out most of the in between stuff but a kept a few things in so that if I ever watched the video several months from now, I could get an idea of the level of motivation and engagement we had during the session. đ
Video: Outdoor Weave Pole Practice (poles 1-6)
Cowboy and I had a Friday night “Weave Pole Party”! Â
We started out with poles 1-6 and then briefly did poles 1-8 and finished with poles 1-6 in a short sequence.
Poles 1-8 were a bit more challenging for him but Cowboy adapted really well. Do you believe we should continue at 1-8 or do the grouping of 4 and 6 like in your video?
Video: Weave Poles 1-6 and 1-8
Thanks so much, Tracy! That was very helpful information đ
Today we worked on the teeter table game with only one table. I lowered it from 20″ to 16″ so now the board is slightly tipped upward.
I began at a walk and then did some casual running. I think we both had fun with this one!
Video: Teeter Table Set at 16″
Hi Tracy!
It’s been several days since I last posted a video. Hopefully, I will be back at it again this week.
In the meantime, I am submitting a video of Cowboy doing the teeter in class (lowered height).We have had some good moments. However, he is starting to pick up a little speed and will sometimes run off the end without stopping. In addition, the teeter is lighter (I believe) than the one I use in practice so it may be tipping faster and affecting Cowboy’s ability to weight-shift back.
I noticed that some people are asking for a down on the board.to create a lowered center of gravity. Do you think this will help Cowboy and do you have information regarding how to train it?
Video: Lowered Teeter in Foundation Agility Class
Today was a fairy quick session. I pulled out the travel plank and practiced 2O/2O while adding increased motion.
This is the first time I have ever done this with Cowboy and so even though there were a couple of misses, I was very happy with the overall session. đ
Video: 2O/2O Travel Plank Practice
Yes! Get Rev’d Agility has a UKI trial scheduled on the last weekend in May. Sunday is being reserved for Beginner and Novice classes only. I can’t wait!
I entered Beginner Speedstakes, Gamblers and Jumpers. I am planning on running Speedstakes because it is only jumps and tunnels and he is running sequences fairly well. For Gamblers and Jumpers I may do NFC since I am not sure where we will be with weave poles and contacts.
