Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
It went so so this week. I talked to
My instructor who recognizes the issue. I changed my running order so I would not be back to back with the stressful team and made sure Indi wasn’t in the ring. I left him in the car, took him out and played before our turn. We also
Played lazy bastard at the beginning of our turn. I used the oppositional pressure along with the chase me. It worked the first timE when I just put him over a jump and rewarded. However, the next time it did not work. He just sat there. So I got him to do his spins and I started running while he was still in motion. That was ok. However, he is definitely more reticent😢. I was very hot. Living here we are not that used to hot and he is a large black dog. I am thinking of pulling him for August and just hang out at our cabin-we can work on your exercises. I am also going to get him checked physically to make sure he is fine.I have really enjoyed working with you. It’s so nice to work with someone who understands! I will keep an eye out for future courses. Do you ever do clinics in the North West (obviously in better times)?
For the mat part, things have been progressing. I am getting back to a more regular lesson schedule. First, I had a private lesson in my instructors backyard. I did the oppositional pressure/chase me you lazy bastard game I have been using as a warm up. He was so awesome my instructor wanted to know what I did to my dog! The next day, we had the group class at a barn. I did not get to warm up in the ring right before my round, but there is an outside area set up
With a couple of jumps we worked in. The lesson was a disaster- Indi would not leave the start line. Today I rented the barn to practise with and you will see from the videos that he was very good. They divide the barn in half so the noise you here is people practising on the other side.When I think about Weds, we have a dog/person combo that we have not trained with in the recent past. Both dog and person are highly strung. The dog barks at her constantly and she yells at it to “shut up”. I am quite taken aback by it and it maybe Indi was as well. Two of the other dogs in the class were also showing signs of stress. The owners of those two dogs and I are going to rent the barn together and practise with ring sounds and a recording of this loud angry person and her loud angry dog!
I have really enjoyed this course and the sequences you have provided. Thank you.
So environment and attitude are everything for us, as I expect they are for so many.
Indigo is sensitive to other dogs. He is the kind of guy who will really check out other dogs before approaching and he avoids high energy rowdy dogs. The only time he has been physically attacked was in the agility arena and he has also had dogs lunge at him through their X pen walls. Even if everyone is ok, the high energy atmosphere is hard on him. He hates walking down the aisles between crated dogs and sometimes I have to lure him to get out of his crate. I was wondering if I shouldn’t put him in the car so he can relax during long gaps. I really wish the agility world was as sensitive to the dogs needs as nosework for example.
It’s worse at real trials. Fun runs are not as crowded and perhaps not as high energy. His best runs are at fun runs.
In terms of attitude this is really huge. We have so much fun playing in our own but less fun in trials and class. I think that in addition to his sensitivity about other dogs, my attitude comes in. I can be hard on myself and get frustrated when the course is too hard- which happens in class. I don’t step
Up to the startline feeling positive and sometimes feel unduly embarrassed by my mistakes. Once again, I like fun runs because the others there tend to be struggling as well.
Part of my issue was fitness. I worked at a desk my whole life and while I rode horses, was not hugely fit. I realized that if I wanted to be a better team member I had to be in better shape, so I work out, run and have lost weight. This has helped.Finally, I find it really hard to handle if I don’t think I have a dog. So that moment at the start line before I find out can be hard.
We will see what this trial season brings if there ever is one. I am starting a group class this Wednesday which has some very advanced people in it which would be a trigger for me in the past. We shall see if the new optimistic team Indi holds up under pressure.A bit of a vent but these issues be me. It’s one thing to learn a skill but hard to build team confidence once its lost!
These are two videos from Week Four.
The first is our warm up. I have been working on forward focus, opposite pressure, chase me and lazy bastard.
https://youtu.be/YBa2XoHWkgsThe first two reps I put backward pressure on his chest, wait til he looks forward, then get him to chase me. Indi chooses to go over jumps without my cuing him- lazy bastard style. The last rep I do the sneak out- chase and again he chose ms to take the jumps. I enjoy watching his enthusiasm.
https://youtu.be/_bT9JONIIDYThis second is our incorporating one of the exercises with obstacles, which I was also pleased with.
In one video I see I used break and the non obstacle “let’s go”. I wonder Ifcshould replace “break” which may be poisoned with “let’s go” which I use for the chase game?
I am going to make a further pist about environment..
These are two videos from Week Four.
The first is our warm up. I have been working on forward focus, opposite pressure, chase me and lazy bastard.
https://youtu.be/YBa2XoHWkgsThe first two reps I put backward pressure on his chest, wait til he looks forward, then get him to chase me. Indi chooses to go over jumps without my cuing him- lazy bastard style. The last rep I do the sneak out- chase and again he chose ms to take the jumps. I enjoy watching his enthusiasm.
https://youtu.be/_bT9JONIIDYThis second is our incorporating one of the exercises with obstacles, which I was also pleased with.
In one video I see I used break and the non obstacle “let’s go”. I wonder Ifcshould replace “break” which may be poisoned with “let’s go” which I use for the chase game?
I am going to make a further pist about environment..
Things are going well and I think we are building enthusiasm. I do have a couple of comments before i post my videos.
First, as a warm up we are doing the lazy bastard exercise, the chase me exercise and the forward focus. I am having trouble with the last of these exercises. He keeps looking at the hand with the toy. I tried filming it but I am in black pants and he is black so you can’t see much. If I don’t get forward focus can I throw it and release as soon as he looks forward?
Second, I think this is a great example of handler attitude. The first run I forgot to raise the jumps but he was really enthusiastic. I did the twist and shout startline. The second I started before the jump so you can see better. He was doing really well and had a pretty good startline ( backward pressure on chest). I stopped running at the last jump and didn’t support so he did not take it. I was not negative but looking at the video I can see that I did not party with him like a should of and did voice dissatisfaction with myself. I redid the run. He was pretty good but much slower off the mark. I wonder if I discouraged him.
Three, I need an ap that keeps yelling “keep running” at me!
First run https://youtu.be/-BAl9AtHJ00
Second run https://youtu.be/q_8wWXtenr0
Third run. https://youtu.be/WXKs3srst3A
This should be the video of us playing chase me with oppositional reflex. Again, there was an unfortunate time where I was off screen but I am attaching it because his energy was so good.
You are entitled to have a life!
I started this morning practise with some lazy bastard fun, and chase me, with oppositional reflex. He was very enthusiastic. A bit too focussed on the lotus ball, which had super yummy treats. I can see that this is where the forward focus work will come in. There is a gap in the video where I am off screen. I apologize but while I ca n clip the ends of videos I don’t yet know how to splice. I left it in because it instead of running straight, Indi took two jumps which I thought was cute.
When I moved on to the first exercise with obstacles, he was slow off the startline. He was not keen on the “twist and shout” action I had been using at his start line to ensure an active startline but he did it.I felt like I had to coax him to go. Once he got going, he was good and I remembered to keep running to reward!
However, I then thought that I could use the opposition reflex to see if that got him going like it did in warm up. No go. This was maybe 8 minutes after I started the warmup so it wasn’t fatigue.
At present I am doing more of my training at home- the place in the video. I wonder if it would be best for me to just end a session where I see he is not with me.
Finally the good news. Our backing exercise is coming along strong. He is now backing pretty consistently without pressure. In this video, I do a bit of that. Then I start work on him backing beside me. This is our first day really training it and I was pleased. The idea is that I will progress to where I stands still and he backs up to where I walk forward and he walks back. It’s fun if nothing else. Things fall apart when I try to create a channel between me and the bed for straightness. It made him uncomfortable and he decided a fly was more interesting then I was.
https://youtu.be/TmBShXhyMNoThe next video shows that I am not the kind of person who only posts flattering videos. This is Indi and I trying the forward momentum exercise. We used to have a game of his weaving through my legs and a game called middle where the just came straight through my legs. However as he grew older and taller and I started to shrink, these games fell by the Wayside for reasons which are obvious in the video. I will try it by my side🤓
https://youtu.be/xmSUAfS9FYYA very mixed training day yesterday.
First, we had a lackadaisical training session. Looking at the video, I can see that I am not running enough. Lao, it was hot and he was just not up. So I ended up cutting the session short. For tomorrow’s session I have moved the obstacles further apart to allow more running.Also, I was using the opposition reflex at the start line. It had worked well in practise. I will go back to the active start line.
Your week three lesson is brilliant and I am sending you a virtual hug. I can so relate to your story about the difficulties you had with Pepper. It so resonates with us. I am aware that the same qualities that I love in my dog – his gentle laid back sensitive nature- make participating in loud, busy agility events hard for him. Agility is my passion and I really need to make sure I honour him. This Covid time at home has been good for us. I have been able to build his enthusiasm and we are having fun. It is such an emotionally and physically demanding sport and has to be fun. I really could have cheered about your comments on social media. It can be so negative.I have promised myself that when Indi and I get it together as a team I will either not post any videos or post one shitshow run for every good run. There is so much to think about our attitude. I could write an essay. So, thanks for what you wrote.
I did not think Indi needed the impulse control game because he is not an impulsive pup. However, we worked on it today and I think the anticipation was fun for him. I did not take a video because of the rain. We also worked on the backup routine. I feel quite excited about it. I will take videos next session, which will be day after tomorrow.
Thanks for the videos. Indigo does have a backup onto a target but I often use pressure and is also very crooked. I do t have two X pens but I guess I could use a channel made of jumps places sideways. I think the channel would help with the straightness and the reinforcement method- throwing the cookie – might increase his enthusiasm.
I really like the idea of a running startline. In the two videos I am attaching I start running out of a game we play called “twist and shout”. I had played the game leading up to the startline but then had him sit. This was much more fun. The “twist and shout” might be harder to use if you needed a more precise start position, such as a angled start position. That is why I thought that I might try to train a game where we both step back from each other a few steps before running. If he backed straight then it could be more precise. Also, the catch 22 for me is that once he does get going, I have to work to keep up. If I run with him from the start and he does speed up then I might be eating dust by the second obstacle. Anyhow, it’s a small thing but I really liked his energy at the start this morning
In the first of these videos I am doing the twist and shout off screen which is not good but I included it because it showed his energy to the jump. I did a rear cross before the tunnel.
I don’t think he likes either a collar grab or hand on his chest but he prefers the latter. I try to avoid collar grabs.
I would live the video on back ups. He does it but I often have to step into him.
Does he look stressed at the start line to you. I guess it’s hard to tell I will try to get a video I’m tomorrow’s practise.I can’t tell if he is stressed or waiting for more information. Once he gets going he is often fine
This video is of the chasing exercise which I think will really helps.
A funny thing happens in this video. He takes off and takes the teeter which is stored by the side of the course. In addition to the start line, his teeter is a problem- he had a fly off early on and has been scared of it. I stopped asking in the class setting and just played with it. He now loves our homemade one so much that I can’t keep him off it. It will be interesting to see if that translates when I start using the regulation one at class.
