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Hi Tracy,
More progress today. Unfortunately, I didn’t do as well at sticking to short runs. First up was novice gambles and it was such a sweet little course, I planned an opening and the potential to try the gamble if he was doing well. If he hadn’t knocked the 2nd jump of the gamble, we would have had it.
We had a long wait for novice agility. We used the time to do a couple little on/off leash play sessions and he got up to letting me take the leash off at the practice jump to wrap the jump and get a cookie. Second run of the day, I decided to take a shot at seeing how he felt about the aframe and if he offered to weave. He did a very nice frame but didn’t take the weaves, we continued and he actually did the entire course with a little distraction.
Last run of the day. I pushed too far on this one although he nearly got the weaves and only skipped the frame. It was clear he was tired and the temp was 84 so I made the decision to scratch jumpers and and come home.
We have another ASCA trial in 2 weeks, indoors with a/c and turf. I plan to approach the trial similar to this weekend depending on how he responds to the environment.
Jean-Maria and Venture
Hi Tracy,
>> One other thing I notice is that he paces…
I went over Ven and no signs of tightness. Venture’s entire line does the pacing thing when they are happy and relaxed. His sire, great grand sire, aunt (my dog Temper) all do it.Today’s videos. We started the day with Venture high as a kite and unable to take a treat even in the parking area. By the end of the day, he ran most of a std course.
First run – I decided to use the back to back tunnels to just get him moving for a few obstacles, let him see the red tunnel since it really blends with the dirt and hopefully get out without any pee accidents.
Second run – Used the back to back tunnels to try to get a little bit longer sequence. This was his only pee accident of the day, at least it was just the snow fencing around the ring and not an obstacle.
Third run – focused a short sequence to include tire, dogwalk, and teeter for experience
Fourth turn – started after the aframe since he’s not confident on it yet and avoided the weaves.
Fifth turn – I had to make myself not ask him to weave and stick to the planned sequence that left out the weaves.
I’m so happy with the progress he made today. We have some start line challenges to work on when leash/collar come off. We did some noodling a distance away from the ring, working on getting in heel/side position with me sliding my hand down the leash and moving the collar but not actually taking it off. We’ll do some more of that tomorrow.
Jean-Maria and Ven
Here are his other 2 runs from Monday night. The tire was not first in either of these runs. You can also see him less distracted by one or two people moving around the ring this week.
Run 2
Run 3
I think me trying to pull away and the tire first are probably both skills he needs to work on.
Jean-MariaHi Tracy,
Here’s the video showing Venture going under the tire repeatedly. He’d never had trouble with this before Monday night’s class.
Any thoughts?
Jean-Maria and VentureThank you for your patience when I mess up and mix instructions. Wish my brain would process shifting training priorities better. I can tell I still had reducing in ring reinforcement in my brain when I layered on the ring crew and judge. I know better but couldn’t process it in the moment.
Hi Tracy,
For class last night, we started with one run without anyone “in the ring”, then added bar setters and a judge. You’ll see how distracted he was in video 2 and 3. I’ve watched them a couple times and wonder if we should reduce the distractions some until he does better. Like maybe ring crew but no judge. Or judge stands still. or?Video 1 – no crew/judge
Video 2 – crew and judge – first time in class
Video 3 – crew and judge. I think we have work to do on the frame as well as distractions.
Thoughts?
Jean-MariaHi Tracy,
This weekend I scribed/timed all day Friday and Saturday for the USDAA regional. I took Venture with me. Thanks to overcast skies and a breeze I was able to crate him out of the car. After each walk I would take him in the building for a short time to look around and see how he was responding. The first couple trips in Friday he couldn’t take a treat or respond to any cues. Later in the afternoon Friday, he was able to “practice” his table at the podium setup and easily eat treats. On Saturday he was actually able to sit at the outside practice jump farthest away from the door for a couple of times. He was able to watch awards and breaking down the rings from about 25′ away at the end of the day. He was also able to offer a couple steps of heeling that trip into the building. On Sunday, we skipped tracking, slept in and except for some play sessions, I just let him be to recover.I didn’t use a belly band but I did watch him closely and warn/interrupt any sign he was about to lift a leg in the building.
Jean-Maria
Hi Tracy
For comparison, here are Ven’s two turns from class tonight. Given the struggles of the weekend, I did have a couple treats in my pocket for each run. Most of his reward was back at his crate in the adjoining room after each run.Venture wears a belly band in the building and I remove it when we enter the ring to run and put it back on after each turn. Then we go outside, band off and decompress. I’m tempted to try this at the next trial even though it’s a dirt arena, just to reinforce the potty in the grass only rule.
Turn 1
Turn 2 – Tonight is the first time Ven has done full height frame in class so when he ran past it in the second turn, I chose not to ask him to try again. We need more practice on this obstacle.
On his second turn, I got Ven out earlier and we waited outside the door to the ring which meant he could see the dog before him running. I’ve started doing that to more closely replicate a trial environment.
Next trial opportunity is a local ASCA trial on dirt, under cover. I originally planned to enter all the runs but I’m now leaning towards only 2 jumpers and 1 gamble Saturday and 2 or 3 runs on Sunday. Not going to enter the AKC trial out of town and I’m debating whether to enter the ASCA show that is 4 hours away on turf.
Thoughts?
Jean-MariaHi Tracy,
Frustrating day.Ven didn’t respond well to me carrying a toy around the venue, it was like it created pressure. So I bailed on that until we have a chance to try it in familiar setting.
Run 1 – 2 jumps, zoomies, pee on the ring fencing.
Run 2 – a few jumps here and there, then he went over to the wall where he could see two dogs crated through a wall grate, lifted his leg, tweet.
I’m at a loss. No idea how to solve this.
Jean-MariaHi Tracy,
Took Ven to the vet this morning. No issues with the back right foot and other than a tiny bit of tightness in left hip that disappeared with 60 seconds of massage, she found nothing wrong. He’s 27.6 pounds of handsome athletic cocker.Here are today’s videos from his two runs.
First up, novice std. He started out distracted and too high. If you can’t tell, he was checking out the wall that had dogs crated on the other side before I got him back to take the dog walk. Not happy he went over to lift his leg on the tunnel instead of getting on the table. I had walked him a lot to make sure his bladder was as empty as possible so it was only 2 drops on the dirt but still…
Novice jww. I again walked him quite a bit to make sure his bladder was as empty as possible. I also did a bunch of pattern work with string cheese while we waited for our turn to run. I went in with a plan to keep him moving and try to get him to chase me and not get a chance to go to any other obstacles. I only restarted the weaves once because I was trying to keep him moving. I ignored any missed jumps and just kept going.
Thoughts?
Jean-Maria>Hmmm – to start figuring this out, what is his current 16″ experience including in new locations (or outdoors on grass?) How did he do on 12″ jumps?
Venture only runs on grass at home or at this location for his weekend lesson. Due to rain, we haven’t been working in the yard. When we lowered the jumps to 12″, he stopped avoiding them. We’ve only really been working courses outside for a few weeks. He is very distracted working outside at this location – couple of horses on one side of the fence and a husky dog that he would really like to play with in the back yard next door.
He does see 16″ jumps on mats for his Monday evening class and has been jumping them fine except for the occasional knock on a slice or when I am late/give commands as he goes over a bar.
> Out of curiosity, what have you had checked?
Venture’s patellas have been checked – nice and solid. I haven’t had his hips x-rayed yet because it needs to be done after he’s 2 for OFFA. He’ll be 2 on May 21. Haven’t found any ticks on him and he’s groomed every 3 weeks. He saw the chiropractor just last week – right rear foot seemed sore (as I typed this, thinking might need an exam for this) and L1 was out – common in his line, joys of long backed dogs. I think I will also see if we can catch up with massage therapist this weekend to see if something is tight.
> I think a 15″, 27lb dog can jump 16″ successfully and if he is not, we can try to figure out why. But also, you can build up confidence and get lots of experience on him at 12″ too!
Ven is running Preferred 12″ this weekend for his AKC debut. I chose that because I expect his attention to be split in a new place. Thinking I should keep him at 12″ for a few more trials – planning 2 ASCA trials and 2 AKC trials over the next couple months to gain experience running in trial environment and in new locations.
Jean-Maria
Yesterday we had a lesson that included running a course outside on grass. Venture was avoiding all the jumps set at 16″. I haven’t found anything physically wrong with him but it was quite warm, about 80. I’m starting to wonder if asking him to jump a full inch above his height at the withers is realistic for a breed that carries a lot of bone/weight. He’s 27 pounds and right at 15″ at the withers. Am I overthinking this?
Hi Tracy,
I’m filling out Venture’s first AKC entry today. Targeting one judge trial on dirt. It’s a few hours away so one hotel night. Plan is drive over Friday morning, set up, get his measurement with the judge, and run jumpers and std at 12″ preferred so he’s less likely to knock bars from over arousal or divided attention. Sat morning, run FAST, then a long break to wait for jumpers and std – we’ll do a few brain games and a long walk during the wait and come home after the 2 afternoon runs. Sunday blocked as day of rest for him, maybe go tracking or hiking for decompression.He’s not interested in toys in unfamiliar places so I’m not going to try taking one in the ring. Instead I’ll plan day one runs without start line stay and have a shorter course option if it seems he’s too high or low. We’ll play back/forth and up/down food games while waiting for our turn in the ring.
Any thoughts?
Jean-Maria and VentureHi Tracy!
Just trying to get caught up here and letting you know what we’ve been working on post-Brain Camp and class.Ven is 20 months old and 28 pounds now. How did that happen?
Jumping – We are working on getting him up to full height of 16″ jumps. He’s been at 14″ for a couple weeks now and isn’t knocking bars too much so I’ll probably move him to 16″ in the next could weeks. He still needs to see doubles, triples, panels, and broad jumps. What height would you use for set point exercises now that he’s close to full height?
Obstacles – Ven’s 2o2o teeter is a thing of beauty except for driving ahead of me. Need to figure out how to get him to go ahead and bang it when I’m behind. Started adding a little bit of lateral distance from the teeter to build his gamble skills.
Dog walk – Ven has started running full height dogwalk with 2o2o. He’s not driving ahead when I’m behind or holding his stay if I’m ahead so we have work to do there.
Frame – no work there yet. I need to get the flat work started again since I’m planning on a running frame contact.
Weaves – Ven is close to 6 straight poles with entries all the way around the clock.
Sequencing – we’re able to run 12-15 obstacles in sequence.
Competing – I’m trying to get my nerve up to enter a trial or two. Right now, with tracking class and tests coming up, I’m looking at a mid-March ASCA trial where we could enter jumpers, gamblers, and maybe use regular for teeter/dogwalk experience. He hasn’t “wandered off” to pee on anything in a while but I’m not sure I trust him yet.
Tracking – we’ve done a lot of tracking while he learns agility obstacles and we wait for a little more maturity. He passed his certification track last Saturday so we’ll be entering TD and TDU tests at the end of the month.
Rally – Venture is basically ready to enter novice rally except he gets confused between heeling around cones vs wrapping them for agility. Any bright ideas how to help him get the difference?
I’m going to build some of the course work from this class over the next couple days so we’ll have some video by the weekend.
Jean-Maria and Venture
