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Where do we find the pdf referenced in Lesson 2 (sling shot). I know the old webpage had a files section, but I don’t see that in this new website.
Hi Joyce!!! So good to see you here. It will be great to have someone local to chat with about class.
I have not considered that at this point. I have increased my rate of reward for just jumps recognizing that he has been highly rewarded for contact and weave behaviors due to the training process.
We took nearly 3 months off from agility training and trialing, starting last February. He did have to go to agility trials, as there is no one at home to watch him when I am at events. We did a lot of our acclimation work and relationship work during that time. He would play agility in the backyard at that time. In June we returned to agility classes at various locations to work on his emotions while training. It was at this time that we re-entered the agility ring at trials to work on consent at the start line or rewarding simply for moving in the agility ring. There has been a trial nearly every weekend (we are in FL) except when one of my dogs became seriously ill and I pulled from everything for three weeks.
Much of that work was very difficult from a human emotional standpoint. I had to learn to accept when he said it was too much without disappointment or negative reactions. This is not easy when you can hear all of the negative and cruel comments from other competitors on the sidelines.
Our progression has been from enter the ring and walk from entrance to exit on leash. Enter the ring, take the leash off, put the leash back on and walk from entrance to exit. Enter the ring, take the leash off, release to the leash, walk from entrance to exit. We then progressed to trying one obstacle. Then two obstacles. Then a short course from entrance to exit. In August we began attempting to run portions of the course in the trial ring. We would go until he stopped. At that time we would run to the exit or carry to the exit if he wouldn’t follow me. There as a lot of verbal praise and smiling – but there is no “fake it til you make it” with Rhythm. He is way to in tune with me. He has received a reward every time he has entered the trial ring regardless of his agility performance, as we were rewarding his emotional effort. When he would complete agility skills he would get a jackpot.
In Aug/Sept he began completing agility courses at trials. If he had a good run on his first run, I’d pull from the second/third runs to end his day on a positive. He seems to run better when he is in the standard ring than in the jumpers ring. He does better in jumpers if it is his first class of the day. Since September he has had many successes and even achieved a few personal bests in terms of time around the course and points, but his performance is unpredictable.
Also note, at the advice of the people I’ve worked with on his emotional side, we’ve stopped using a start line stay in trials. This seemed to be a stress point. We now do sling shot and drop and run starts.
