[Kyla McNeill]

Good morning!
Thanks so much! That session his treats were actually on a chair inside the ring but just at the fence. I thought I would progress next time to actually leaving the reward outside the ring where we will practice the leash with that too. He already is fine walking into the ring on leash and putting the leash on at the end of training but we have not done that with the reward left behind so we will try that next!

I do plan to have his toy for his first feo/nfc adventures and I think he will be receptive to the toy. He still will only sometimes and briefly work for the toy when we train in our regular field but sometimes seems more into the toy in different places like when he worked for it on the practice jump at the CO. Either way, even if he doesn’t want to play with the toy in the ring, me carrying the toy should help with his overall picture recognition and will make sure to have a croissant outside at the end.

[Kyla McNeill]

Hello!
This is Aelfraed’s first attempt at remote reinforcement in the agility ring. The cookies were on the chair. He has played this game away from the agility environment previously and seemed to understand. I think he was pretty annoyed we weren’t going straight to do agility obstacles and had a lot to say about that but he was getting the concept nicely.

A while back when you said Aelfraed might at some point be able to do a jump grid with 6 foot spacing, it was hard to imagine then, but you were right! I was originally doing this grid with 5 foot spacing and it was fine but he looked like he could extend more. So, here he is working on 6 foot spacing. I had also noticed recently that he seems to have reached a milestone of increased powering from the hind.

I was very impressed that Aelfraed understood this rear cross scenario. He didn’t need help on it at all, just went ahead and did it!

[Kyla McNeill]

Hello!
In this session, I wanted to work on Aelfraed going farther away from me to find the tunnel. I think it went fairly well. He was also able to switch back to the other sequence where he goes to the backside jump and not straight to the tunnel.

Also, I meant to share these videos previously. This is from when we went to the Canadian Open in August. Aelfraed had been in the building already a couple of times before we tried working on things. I took him in at a quieter time the first time but then I was actually surprised that he was fine when I took him in at a busier time as it was very loud and he had not been happy with indoor environments earlier this year. He was very happy walking all around though. He likes to be on the move the best. I didn’t get video the first time we did some pattern games and tricks but we tried first further away from the busiest areas and he found it very easy. Here we were working closer to the action which he definitely said was harder but he was willing to work on it. Also tried to see if we could hang out a bit at the end but he finds this extremely difficult. Usually I have to hold him if I want him to be still with stuff going on around him.

We did also try a little practice jump while there were only walkthroughs happening so it was a little less exciting around.

Aelfraed is going to his first trial on September 26th, FEO, and only 2 runs that day. Also planning a couple of other trials, all FEO/NFC in October and November. September and October will be outdoor (2 different locations) and November would be indoor.

[Kyla McNeill]

Thanks so much!

That certainly seems like a good second theme song for Aelfraed!

Worked on the lateral lead out again today and it seems he remembered his lesson from a few days ago and was very quick to progress. He did forget a couple of times that looking at the jump is not the same as taking the jump but overall he was excellent.

[Kyla McNeill]

Thanks so much!

Yesterday we tried to work on sequence 3. Aelfraed said that a lateral lead out is a no go. Worked on reminding him on 1 jump with a food target but could not get both jumps together unless I was closer. I tried to reward him after working on the stationary stuff by doing part of the sequence where we could just run together but he ran past half of the jumps. We took a break after that. Then I wanted to try just getting him driving the 2 jumps chasing a toy which he was excited about and then tried switching off so he could chase the toy with me staying farther away. However, that only worked once as he doesn’t approve of auntie having his toy.

We tried some other parts of the sequence without the first lead out as he obviously could not do that.

Today we tried the threadle again and tried switching to cue the other side of the jump as you suggested. This definitely made it more difficult. He seemed like he was expecting the threadle when I first cued the other side of the jump as he was already looking at me. Switching back to the threadle was also hard. Also tried a moving release. I really wasn’t sure if he would be able to stay if I started running but I think he liked it, mostly because I didn’t go very far before releasing him.

He seems to have regressed with his stay again recently. It did seem like he was improving for a while but now is finding it challenging again. He can stay in other scenarios but agility scenarios are very difficult. I try to continue to reward it when we’re working on it or doing a sequence that starts with a stay by continuing to throw rewards back, but sometimes he seems more irritated by that as he just wants to go. He really likes to be in motion amd doing things in general. It is currently in agreement between Jen, Shaelyn, and I that Aelfraed’s theme song is this (the chorus specifically): https://youtu.be/iGtQMT-QLgc?si=N5QWZbSXiRKC8Ncu

Currently one of his best times when he will choose to be still is posing for pictures on rocks or logs when outside in different places. He has even started pointing out suitable places for posing. Hilarious!

[Kyla McNeill]

Hello!
Aelfraed and I tried out sequence 1 over 2 different sessions. The threadle was a challenge. Also, he seemed to be jumping towards me at the start and then redirecting to the tunnel.

We also tried sequence 2 in a different session. Getting the timing for the blind was a bit tricky.

[Kyla McNeill]

Great to hear that Ramen is feeling better! Hopefully that continues and you get more answers.

Lennan is actually feeling better already after 3 doses of doxy. I suspected the anti-inflammatory effect as well, especially as his wrist was quite sore and then suddenly wasn’t. He won’t be back to working until the wrist is cleared. I have been practicing walking courses for him in the meantime though!
He actually is intact and we haven’t specifically checked for prostate issues but he did have a urine test to go along with the Lyme testing and that came back with everything perfectly normal.
Everyone told me to watch for decreased appetite with doxy, but so far his appetite is up and it wasn’t down before. It may not be the medication actually causing increased appetite, but it certainly isn’t decreasing it so far. This has happened before when Lennan has been on restricted activity that he starts focusing on food more, which is extra challenging as he really shouldn’t have extra due to the decreased activity! He is normally respectful of the cat food but so far has stolen the cat food twice already!

[Kyla McNeill]

Thanks so much!

Today we did some training in 3 sessions with breaks in between.

First session, reviewed the tight turn out of tunnel and tried moving into it and deceling. This seemed to go well. Also reviewed the sequence with the straight ahead line, especially as the course got re-built in a different spot. I think I did better with positioning for the backside jump? He seemed to have trouble figuring out his striding for the straight jumps at first. I didn’t have a helper but did put the food target farther away at the end.

Second session we worked on the sequence with the wrap at the end. First time he turned pretty wide. I tried to decel sooner the next time but was too early. We eventually got it sorted out with a wrap to the left and also tried 2 ways of wrapping to the right.

Third session I put the bars lower as he had already done a lot of work and I thought the sequence would be trickier for both of us (it was), but I definitely forgot he would be faster with lower bars and was not at all in time for the first serp!

[Kyla McNeill]

Thanks! I will look at getting a supplement for Lennan.

LOL! Aelfraed says he’s a rule creator, not a rule follower. I’ve told him a few times that shelties are supposed to eat everything. He says he doesn’t care. He is also definitely like someone who doesn’t want different foods touching on the plate!

I hope Ramen will be feeling better soon!

[Kyla McNeill]

Hello!
Aelfraed and I worked on the driving ahead sequences this week. He was less impressed when I started with the jumps individually but once he was running from the tunnel, he figured it out pretty quickly. There was also croissant at the end.

I realized I really haven’t taught him a tight turn cue out of a tunnel at all and we needed it for sequence 2. I started to teach him the tight turn cue earlier this week and then we tried it with the sequences a couple of days later. He wasn’t able to do the tight turn when running into the tunnel with motion but he could do it if I started just with the tunnel.

[Kyla McNeill]

Hello!
Thank-you! Yes, there were many great teams running Nationals. Very pleased with 5th!

Just got results for Lennan today and he is indeed dealing with Lyme. The Quant C6 test had a result of 428 where 0-30 is considered normal/not affected. He has been prescribed doxycycline for 30 days. Thyroid was all normal. He hasn’t been tested for B12/folate, but I guess we will complete the doxy treatment and see where he’s at. Hopefully he will be feeling better afterwards. Interesting that the timing of the vaccine was so coincidental as it was a Lyme vaccine and not the first time he had received it. Thanks so much for all your suggestions. Glad to have followed through with the bloodwork.

I do normally like to give my dogs maintenance probiotics. Aelfraed unfortunately will no longer accept them. I have tried a few kinds but temporarily gave up as he only has a few types of food he will reliably eat and I don’t want to turn him off his food. I will try again at some point. He does seem to have an excellent tummy though. His poops are always good, just infrequent when traveling. He absolutely loves his other supplements which are salmon oil and 4cyte joint supplement. He has to have these in a separate dish as he is offended if his supplements are contaminated with food and he can’t fully enjoy them. Such a funny little guy.

Thanks for the suggestions for working the one step send. Will try that soon.

[Kyla McNeill]

Hello!
Well, Lennan did very very well at Nationals and I’m excited about making team. However, despite seeming back to normal before we left (with confirmation from the rehab tech we see for hydrotherapy), he was not himself at Nationals. Some odd bar knocking, more tired, and more stiff between runs than normal. He could have actually had even higher results if not for the odd bar knocking. We were back to the rehab vet on Thursday. She has identified his right carpus as the current problem but he was fully sound everywhere else which was good news as I was concerned maybe he was sore in multiple areas. Everything adds up with that being the spot with the way he was limping initially (most severe at a trot) and the compensatory movements he was exhibiting. Unfortunately he’s off agility again for a bit though and will not run at the Canadian Open. Our rehab vet is very against treating with doxy unless precisely indicated out of concern of overuse and having the doxy not work in the future if actually needed. She does not feel that Lennan’s conditions are TBD related. However, we are repeating the tests to measure the Lyme level to rule that out anyway. She did agree with checking thyroid. So, we are currently awaiting results of all those things. Additionally, it seems likely that Lennan had a vaccine reaction and became injured due to running while not feeling well/strong. He has never had any vaccine reactions so I definitely didn’t consider that the timing of receiving the vaccine would be a problem, but his current injury showed up 2 days after receiving the vaccine and he seemed to have some overall body aches and fatigue that the vet agrees could be from the vaccine. Although I didn’t see it happen, the vet suspects he went over on the wrist at some point as the type of injury usually happens from that. He did receive the vaccine injection in his right shoulder, so totally makes sense if he was feeling particularly tender there.

Aelfraed has been very out of sorts all week since returning from Nationals. He was with me at Nationals and was a very good boy, with the only difficulty being that he has recently decided he cannot poop at agility venues until absolutely desperate. He seemed back to normal today, but the previous 4 days, any time we were at home he had been on edge and extremely worried about me leaving him. I wasn’t leaving him but he was panicked about the thought that I might.
He was happy to be back to some agility. Here he is working on some parts of the week 4 handling challenge. Unfortunately he thought that the auntie having the toy was not an approved reward process and after the second attempt he turned off the toy completely for the remainder of that session.

[Kyla McNeill]

Hello!
Thank-you for the suggestions for Aelfraed. He does know how to do that hand touch line up at the side but so far has never been able to follow through with it in the agility ring. It is very hard to have him be as aroused as he is in the agility ring anywhere else. However, I realized his arousal level is close in the mornings when all the dogs go to the door to go outside, so the last 3 mornings I have been asking him for a couple of hand touches (and rewarding with a toy). I had to start with just a single hand touch, not the line up, and I knew he was aroused as I got the nip if I wasn’t fast enough with the toy. This morning he was able to do a full line up at my side and also did not nip me while doing it.

Lining up between my feet he can now do. It took him a while to get comfortable with this position and another while to actually like it. He has just recently started to be able to move into the position quickly and easily without help. Yesterday, I had him do it in the agility ring. I did have food reward for him during the period that I asked him to do it but he was able to do it happily without a lure and get his reward upon completion.

We tried the mid-course sequences. Had a very hard time with the blind in sequence 2. I think the first session I was actually too far ahead of him. It worked better when he went ahead of me to the far jump. I still felt like I should have been earlier but he would look at me a bit between the jumps before going.

Also tried the tunnel discriminations. This seemed to go very well.

[Kyla McNeill]

Hello!
Thank-you for all the feedback!

That’s interesting about thyroid. I do not think Lennan has had this checked. He had bloodwork this spring but it was a basic wellness profile so I doubt it included thyroid.

I don’t know what to think about TBD for Lennan. He did test positive for Lyme 2 years ago. This was on a routine test and he was not symptomatic so there was no way to tell at what point within the previous year he had actually come into contact with the disease. The recommended follow up tests showed that the Lyme was likely not active. He has never had any symptoms specifically associated with Lyme. Each time he has had a lameness, it has been able to be identified as a specific issue and the lameness has been isolated to the area until resolved. Although he has now had issues in many different areas, he has never had a rotating lameness as might be expected from Lyme. I did ask the vet at one point if being exposed to Lyme made his body weaker and more prone to injury and her opinion was it would not make him weaker except if there was an active infection.

[Kyla McNeill]

Hello!
Wondering if you have suggestions for Aelfraed on lining up to start a sequence. He really struggles with this. He will absolutely do it for a food lure. He might do it without a lure if he knows I have food reinforcement but still not reliably. If I ask him to line up with me and he’s in a struggle moment, he will run around in circles (not spinning, just actually running in circles), bark at me, possibly run at me and bite me and run away, if I’m trying to line up at a jump he’ll probably go and jump over the jump once or twice. Sometimes he will do a hand touch and usually give me a nip as he’s touching which I’ve forgiven for now but he can’t even always do that. He can do hand touches really well in lots of other scenarios, but not in front of agility equipment.

So far, I’ve been mostly just using food to line him up. Since he has been willing to train for the toy again though, this has been more challenging. He is not yet ready to switch between food and toy in the agility context, so if I give him food at all, he will not play with the toy in that session. If I carry him to the start and cue him to wait as I’m setting him down, he will do that so I have been using that as a strategy when wanting to use toy reinforcement in the run.

Wondering if I should try a mat/station again to help him have a clear set up spot?

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