Canine Special Operations

Nikita OA but not quite OAJ

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:41:47 GMT

We had a really respectable weekend at the local AKC trial. We went 2 out of 4 this weekend. We finished our last Open Standard leg Saturday morning with a really good run - 4.03 YPS. I was really proud of both of us - I kept my head together and she was really responsive and did her job beautifully. I got a really nice lead out from the startline and from the table. However, looking at the video, I was just a little behind where I needed to be for most of my turns and cues. This was actually the theme of the weekend. You can see me being a bad trainer at the start line in the video:
http://www.youtube.com/v/XqFhjk5tujM&hl

Saturday's Open JWW course felt messier than it looks. I was beating myself up about it afterwards but watching it now, it really wasn't bad. The good things: I got a nice long lead out (after threatening her on the startline :) ), I decelerated going toward the poles so she wouldn't blast into them and pop out, I made myself take a single stride past the end of the poles so I didn't anticipate and pull her out early, and I rear crossed the triple to pull her to the correct end of the tunnel (I think I was the only one who did that - most people pushed because they were afraid a rear would drop a bar). The mess up was an off course in the middle of a line of jumps. I had intended to rear cross the jump, but was really late putting that plan into action (How did I get on top of this jump so fast?) and tried to pull off the cross after the jump. She went wooshing over the off-course jump before I could even blink. I was still busy thinking about that, when she took a second off-course on the way out. My theory about what went wrong was was that I did not spend the time I usually do really picturing myself running the course, exactly where I am going to be and what I was going to do. So when that section of the course came up there was a second of thought "what do I do here?" and then it was too late. And I just had another epiphany - I think I visual myself running the courses too slowly! When I visualize, everything is smooth and moderately paced. I have lots of time to cross, and my dog is always where I expect her to be. What I *should* be picturing is my dog running up ahead of me (because she is) and the obstacles streaming past reall quickly so I have to make those handling moves quickly. I'm going to work on that.
http://www.youtube.com/v/_f9m8xjmIus&hl

I moved up to Excellent Standard on Sunday. Woo! It was a little bit of a mess. The bad: I was late on my cross and she pulled a bar down, so then I was late indicating the poles. We had a little bit of an argument on the teeter and the table. I peeled off the A-frame too soon and she missed her down contact. The good: I led way out from the table and we got the DW/tunnel discrimination that caused a lot of people issues and our serpentine was quite nice. I also did a little fast thinking on my feet by rear crossing the next to last jump to keep her from blowing past the final jump.
http://www.youtube.com/v/9TiAm-BRCxY&hl

Our Open JWW class on Sunday was really fast and fun. No real issues except that my front crosses were really late in all cases - I generally had to pull her around me. I was pleased that I positioned myself correctly after the tunnel and heading into the weaves - I was closer to the tunnel so that I could check her stride slightly she she didn't blast past them coming out of the tunnel so fast. That was our second Open JWW leg - One more to go!
http://www.youtube.com/v/MZRmpO4qHO4&hl

My turn!

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:11:55 GMT

RULES:
1) Put your music player on shuffle
2) For each question press the 'next' button to get your answer
3) YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

If someone says "that's okay" you say? Shine Like it Does - INXS

What would best describe your personality? After Hours - Rickie Lee Jones

What do you like in a guy or girl? Dance with Me - Orleans

How do you feel today? Love is Not Enough - Nine Inch Nails

What is your life's purpose? All Day Afternoon - The Judybats

What is your motto? Head Over Heels - Tears for Fears

What do your friends think of you? All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints - Paul Simon

What do you think of often? Don't You Need - Melissa Ethridge

What do you think of your best friend? Blood and Fire - Indigo Girls

What do you think of the person you like? Its in the Way that You Use It - Eric Clapton

What is your life story? Doppelganger - Curve

What do you want to be when you grow up? No Myth - Michael Penn

What do you think when you see the person you like? What happens tomorrow - Duran Duran

What do your parents think of you? How to be a Millionaire - ABC

How will you feel at your funeral? What I make Myself Believe - Lowen and Navarro

What will they play at your wedding? Not a Pretty Girl - Ani DiFranco

What is your hobby or interest? Fortress Around Your Heart - Sting

What is your biggest fear? Blood Red - Rose Chronicles

What is your biggest secret? Survivor - Destiny's Child

The "how an owner discovers she is like her dogs" epiphany

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:41:22 GMT

In chat today with a friend...

Me: I used to consider myself fairly laid back
Me: but thats really just a lie I tell myself
Me: I'm laid back compared to some
Me: Much like my corgis are laid back compared to a Border Collie
Me: But I'm still pretty much an obsessive heel-nipping control freak

By George, I think she's got it!

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:54:32 GMT

The other night I arrived really early for class so I took the opportunity to set up a jump and practice "go." Nothing fancy, I just started really close to the jump and tossed the bait bag and *very* quickly she was sending from a good 20 feet away. She loves her bait bag. She slobbers on it and mangles it and tries to shove her head in while I'm opening it up.

I added the L/R by starting back close to the jump again. Asked her to "go jump" then I'd toss the bag as she was landing and say Left or Right. Then I just slowly backed off tossing the bag until after she had offered me the correct direction. After a little trial and error on her part, and to my amazement, I could see her think about my L/R command and offer it to me. I was SO proud of her.

I have to admit I had my doubts we could actually learn do this particular skill. Or more specifically, that I could teach it. So I am still basking in the wonder of it all. It feels like magic.

So now... maybe another time with just a single jump and then I'll work in a single box and then a double box. And I will definitely be working with this on contact/tunnel discriminations.

We also spent a short time working on her staying in the poles while I peeled off - tossing the bait bag to her when she stays in. A couple good reps with that and it definitely needs so further work.

Lefts and Rights

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 19:32:01 GMT

First, the left and right spins in front of us.
Then, the left and right spins at our side.
Then, left and right spins while we're moving.
Now, to translate that to a jump. MUCH harder than I thought. It was really difficult to get her to "go" over the jump, even when we were practically standing on it and with arm and leg cues. And then the L/R didn't seem to mean anything to her in that context.

I got a couple of them, but I'm thinking I may want to go back and work on more basic stuff again. First, "go" by itself, maybe to a target or a toy, and then "go" over a jump. Its been ages since we've done any of that and its obvious she doesn't know what it means. Separately, I think I may do more moving L/Rs with me tossing the toy/food out and away from me so she's not so concerned about being as close to me as possible.

Anyways, a work in progress.

Things to work on

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:15:58 GMT

For Nikita:
1. "Go" - especially to table and jumps
2. Left and Right on the flat - take the jump and then turn to go to another obstacle (about 50% of the way on this)
3. Tightly wrapping a jump standard left and right - with accompanying command (unsure yet what to use - zig and zag?)
4. Come/Side - in context of agility, get her to come directly (and close) to me and not take anything on the way
5. Independent obstacle performance - especially the weaves, tunnel and the A-frame

For me:
1. Timing - especially to warn her about a turn after a jump
2. Run harder
3. Mental game - stay focused on what is happening in the moment

What I took away from Silvia

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:16:37 GMT

1. Run fast. You're not going to be able to get to the place you need to be, to make it clear to the dog where to go, unless you run fast. So RUN, dammit.

2. Independent obstacle performance. If you have to babysit the dog in the weaves, or on the A-frame or teeter, then you are not going to be able to run fast and get to where you need to be.

3. Efficient lines. She doesn't care how you do it, but do not waste any yardage. Make the best, shortest line possible.

4. Tight turns. Don't waste time and yardage on the jumps either.

5. Talk to your dog. Repeat your commands multiple times till the dog commits. Don't leave them with any doubt where you want them to go and what you want them to do.

speed and intensity

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:26:51 GMT

speed and intensity, originally uploaded by electric_fur.

I had to post this for everyone to see. Just love this photo. Courtesy of Stewart Event Images.

Silvia Trkman and Tricks

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 02:43:42 GMT

Ok. So, I've been gone a while. Grad school has eaten my life. Still doing agility but not spending so much time writing about it. Which is a shame because I was just browsing back through some of my old entries and its really cool to see how far we've come even since October.

Was at the first evening of the Silvia Trkman seminar lecture series tonight. What a nice woman and a brilliant intuitive trainer. Tonights session was about Tricks. The reason I went is I know nothing about teaching my dogs tricks. I know. This is sad. Keegan, poor little guy, never learned any. This was initially because I had poor associations with dogs tricks. In my head it meant teaching your dog to shake hands and then, for the rest of its life, its flinging its paw at your face. Annoying.

I've since learned tricks are good but, I have no imagination when it comes to thinking up things. And I never felt I was good with breaking them down into steps. So I was hoping to come away with some interesting ideas and some pointers on how to actually *teach* any of them.

I came away with a loooong list of tricks. Many of them help build the dogs muscles and balance. And a sort of vague idea of how to accomplish them but, you know what? I think thats ok. I have decided that teaching myself to teach my dogs tricks - even if they're not perfect and we don't get them right away - can only be a good thing. Nikita LOVES it when I take out the clicker. She goes bananas. So I think she'll be happy with anything we do.

I was having a little stress about it though. Past attempts have resulted in dog and person frustration. One of the things that Silvia stressed was the tricks are just for fun. You do them at home. You're not trying to impress anyone. You can lure, and use targets, and repeat commands. Tricks teach your dog to learn and they teach you to teach. The idea that I don't have to accomplish the trick in any particular way, that I am allowed to lure and target and not just stand there waiting for for the dog to offer me something to shape took some of the pressure off.

So, good session. made me excited to try a few things. I'm signed up for the Masters Seminar on Monday and Tuesday and now that I've had a chance to meet Silvia I'm even more excited and curious about how its going to unfold.

I laughed till I cried

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 21:18:19 GMT

Corgis kick butt in The Fidos

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:36:05 GMT

Further proof that corgis are the coolest.

The Fido Awards, for dogs in cinema (http://www.thefidos.com/) gave their top award "Best in the World" to the Pembroke Welsh Corgis in The Queen with Helen Mirren!

And just when I was feeling sad that Cardis were getting the short end of the stick once again, (tails rule!) the Fido for "Comedy Canine for smoochiest pooch in a romantic comedy" goes to the Cardigan in the cart (his name is American Travis) in Year of the Dog.

Awesome.

Have you guys seen/heard this?

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:51:09 GMT

Musical Tails

They're meant to be children's songs, but I don't know how anyone is supposed to resist. Loved the corgis song, of course. "The True Prince of Wales"! This woman knows her dogs. :)

Nikita NA

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 17:22:36 GMT

and NAJ.

So busy making my own drama this weekend that I forgot to announce that Nika-doodle has moved up to Open! Woo!

There was actually a little confusion (on my part). We had a nice JWW run but I forgot (busy watching the miracle of Nikita doing the pinwheel) to do the front cross in front of the poles. I tried to pull off a rather rough back cross, but thats not something we've done a lot of. To her immense credit, she thought about continuing to weave. I think if I had supported her a bit more she may have stayed in.

So I left the ring thinking I had completely mucked it up. Silly USDAA person that I am. So it was a rather nice surprise the next morning to have a happy green ribbon waiting for us. AKC can sometimes be very positively reinforcing.

Flashback

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:09:00 GMT

When I was younger, me and my best friend Jen, would spend our weekend hang out time together reading. My mom would drop me at her house, and I would carry my book bag up to Jen's room and spill out the contents of my recent library expedition. We would each choose a book, pick a section of the bed, and proceed to immerse ourselves in the world of Trixie Belden and "The Mystery of the Blinking Eye" (that was a good one) or some such. Every now and then we'd look up and smile, change position and sink back into the book. We'd rarely talk except to share a particularly good part of the book or to break for ice cream.

Every now and again I remember that and feel a little wistful.

Today I was curled up on the bed reading homework. It's a little overcast outside and I had gotten into that reading trance I used to get into. At one point I looked up, and Nikita was stretched out next to me. She raised her head and blinked and smiled...

In no way shape or form dog related

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:27:03 GMT

but this was just too damn funny not to post here. I don't own a cat but I've heard these stories from so many people...

Courtesy of Cute Overload, my goto place for cheering up: http://www.cuteoverload.com/

Methinks Vito the Border Corgi should be up there someplace...

Ok Ok Ok...

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:07:53 GMT

My head is screwed back on straight now. :) I feel much better now that the day has progressed. I took a walk and filled my tummy full of mac and cheese.

I was tempted to take the post back down, but you guys wrote some good responses that I really appreciate and can take with me. And the whole point of this agility blog really is to capture the ups and downs. I've had more than my fair share of ups - I was due a down. :)

Thanks again for listening to me vent.

AKC this weekend

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:38:33 GMT

Hmmm. Maybe because it's Monday morning and I haven't had enough coffee yet but I'm having some agility angst. I am up and I am down. I will probably want to erase this post in an hour because I will be embarrassed about the emo hystericalness of it. Here's why:

Look at how fast that dog is moving. Look at how far away she gets from mom and yet still knows where she is going.

I want Nikita to go that fast. She CAN go that fast. Easily. I want to be able to steer more confidently from a distance.

The irony is that I get really anxious when she goes that fast and gets that far away because I feel like I'm losing control of her. I'm concerned I'm one of those handlers that is slowing my dog down.

Because of last weekends realization that I am letting my dog push me around on course, this weekend, I worked on being in charge. On being in control of what was happening on course and not letting pressure I felt from my dog force me to release her too soon from the contacts/table. And I was really happy with how it went. We met our goal and I feel more confident, as it was supposed to, that I am steering my dog.

We got lots of kudos - people come up and tell me what a nice fast Cardigan she is. And I'm all aglow with pleasure that I have such a nice dog.

And then I see this video of Zoey and think "crap". Nikita is a good girl and is doing what Momma wants her to do, and what momma wants her to do is slow down. I am so upset at myself right now.

So now I have to think about how I am going to get to that spot where Nikita and I can run that fast and I am confident that I can steer her at that kind of speed and distance. I should be able to charge to the bottom of the dogwalk and the teeter. We should be screaming around the course, not prancing. Gah.

Little Bean

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 13:33:43 GMT

little bean, originally uploaded by electric_fur.

A moment of appreciation for Keegan. My sweet boy doesn't get much screen time in the blog now that he is retired. He is SUCH a good little dog. He just wants to hang out with mom, no matter what I'm doing.

Last night he was curled up in a bean shape on his pillow and watching me do homework with his soulful brown eyes. And I HAD to scoop him. The jury is still out on whether Keegan actually *likes* being scooped. I think he tolerates it for me. So, as usual, I announce, "I'm going to scoop you." He sighs, gets up, and turns sideways to me and lifts one front paw to help. He even does a little hop. How super cute is that?

Here he is being patient. I am telling him a story about the little orange bean. I take the bean and I plant it in an orange terra cotta flower pot and sprinkle a little dirt on top. Not long after, an orange flower blooms and it has petals that look just like corgi ears.

I just noticed that he's looking a little chunky here. He's been getting a lot of cookies just for being good. :)

Cardigan Promo and OMG CUTE!!!

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:15:27 GMT

A fellow agility Cardigan person stumbled across my blog the other day and was nice enough to stop and leave a comment. You *know* I couldn't resist going to check out her blog and pictures.

http://manymuddypaws.blogspot.com/ Based on the pictures and stuff, sounds like little Wicca girl kicks some ass. (As an aside, in informal observation, the Cardi girls seem to do slightly better than the boys in agility. I wonder if its the lighter bone structure?)

And OMG! Check out her BC/Corgi mix! I think my heart just exploded with the cuteness.
http://www.geocities.com/manymuddypaws/vito.html

and

It's really a pretty small group of us doing agility with the longer, heavier and much less common Cardigan Corgi. I think I see 2 or 3 a year. My friends always make sure to say "Did you see the Cardigan that's here?!" So, in a way it feels like a secret club. I have immediate affection for them because they've, at some point, been in my shoes.

Our dogs fall in that space between the little dogs and the big ones. They're short, so they're running with the 12" dogs, but they're long, so they have a surprising stride length. They're a herding breed that some people wanted to treat like a lap dog. Not quite Border Collie, and not quite Min Pin. In my early days this made for some frustrating seminars and some poorly thought through handling decisions.

I learned early they are not for the faint of heart. They were bred to herd CATTLE and work a farm. All my dogs like to head things and bite legs. Corgis are clever, bossy, strong-minded, driven, possessive, a little obsessive and quite physical. Somehow, when a scuffle breaks out, if a corgi is around, they're involved. Thankfully, they also love their people, otherwise I'm pretty sure they'd have taken over the world by now. And had the food shelves lowered to corgi height.

Fellow Cardigan people have uttered these answers to questions: "Yes, they CAN run with those little bitty legs." "No, she's not a mix." "This is ALSO a "Welsh" (or "Welch" [sic]) corgi. This is the CARDIGAN Welsh Corgi." And more astoundingly, these things are sometimes uttered to people who have Pems.

Anyways, this was my shout-out to the Cardi people out there. I'm feelin' ya. :)

Sunday PBH USDAA

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:37:22 GMT

Another low busy-ness but pretty successful day for us. I arrived too late and missed the walk-through for my first class, Starters Gamblers. Ack. But I had really just entered it to get some contact practice and warm her up for her Standard run so I really wasn't that stressed about it. They ran Tall to Short so I had a little bit of time to eyeball the map and watch a few of the runs. Thankfully, the judge had somehow psychically known what my goals were and had set a nice course that let me make two big loops that included the DW, the weaves x2, the A-frame x2, and the teeter x 2. It was just point and shoot, basically. And shoot she did. ZOOM! Screeech! ZOOM! Everything went really well and with a puff of smoke she vanquished the course. It was a great way to start the day actually.

For our Standard run, I was much less nervous than yesterday. The course was a little harder but I was still feeling really confident from the Gamblers run. She was a wild woman though! You know that feeling where it suddenly occurs to you that you are not completely in control? Well, I had that feeling through most of the course. :) Looking at the video I'm not sure she hit her a-frame contact, we rushed the poles, and we had a little discussion about whether or not she was going to lay down on the table, so I was NOT brave enough to lead out a few steps. It wasn't too bad but I felt just a little bit behind her the whole time, like I was rushing to catch up. We had a little bit of a "Do I take the table mom?" because I wasn't out in front and driving the way I had planned to.

Thinking about it, I want that speed and drive. I just want to be able to feel comfortable with it. And I think I *can* control it if I don't let her scare me and therefore push me around. I think if I just handle firmly and with authority ("Fine. Be a nut. But you STILL have to do your contacts, all your weaves, and lay down on the table.") everything will come together.

I'm actually unsure about a Q for that class. It felt clean. They had her name up in the Q section with 0 faults but no Q written on it. I didn't think to go ask because I figured maybe she got called for a missed contact or something I didn't see (and it looked like she missed that a-frame contact). But wouldn't that have been 10pt fault? It might be time for me to start learning the rules and the scoring :) Eh. Whatever. More time in Starters certainly couldn't hurt. :)

USDAA This weekend

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 00:03:55 GMT

I decided to take it veeeery easy this weekend. I just got back from my sister's wedding up in CT where I spent quite a bit of cash and time. I didn't want to miss the trial - it's just 10 minutes away - but I definitely needed to catch up on homework. So, just one class today - Starters Standard.

The course was really easy - one change of sides done while they were on the table. And no sharp turns after a jump for me to be careful about. But for some reason I was really nervous. I could feel it coming on well before I went into the ring. I did a lot of positive self-talk and visualization but when I went to the line my hands were shaking a bit. My nerves are my biggest obstacle.

I really shouldn't have been worried. She's such a nice honest little dog. She had a solid stay (with a stern reminder from me) at the start. I was really brave and took two steps away from her on the table :) and she stayed down with no problems. The only bobble was really my fault. She did a nice 2o-2o on the dogwalk and I wanted to lead out from her slightly but didn't tell her to wait (Alas I have not trained her to hold unless I ask her to wait. I do say "ok" to release her but she mostly cues off my movement) so she broke and I had a second of "Oh! Umm... er..." and then went on. I'm going to have to have a plan for that - either I need to train a hold or I need to be better prepared to manage. I also need to work some more on getting her to the bottom of the teeter.

All in all I was very pleased with how everything went. It was a fun run. She obviously had a blast. And it was a confidence booster for me. I need to learn to trust the both of us better as a team. Nikita is such a good, funny little partner. Nothing bothers her and her face makes me laugh when we're running. Her eyes are really round, and her face is a little flat, so she looks like a very excited flounder sometimes.

AKC this past weekend

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 12:30:12 GMT

My goal for this weekend was to really work on Nikita's contact behavior. I'd been getting some strange creeping and self-releasing at the last couple of trials. It's been my fault because we both get so adrenalized when we're running and it's easy to get twitchy - I guess I was worried that if I made her go all the way down she'd break? I don't know. It was some sort of ephemeral contact worry.

So contacts. That was the goal. I practiced over the last couple of weeks exactly how I wanted to see it done and how I wanted to behave. Then, the night before the trial I went out to a run-through and just BLASTED around the ring with her trying to work up that feeling of rushing and nerves. She broke once, I asked her to lay down, and then after that no more mistakes. I was very pleased with both of our performances.

One thing that I forgot to practice was not interfering with her jumping - especially turns. I should have because the last couple of trials we've missed Qs just because of a dropped bar, on a corner, where I did something stupid like called her name or turned while she was in the air over the jump. So I should have worked on that too.

I did however *think* about it while I was walking the courses this weekend. "Keep your mouth shut, Leila. Indicate the turn before or after the jump," I told myself. The problem is, I think, two-fold. First, my timing is not great and I *think* I'm indicating before or after but it somehow manages to happen during. And the other problem, I'd have to admit, is being afraid of her peeling off the jump if I indicate too early. This is a skill that is going to require a lot of drills I think in order for the both of us to trust each other.

Ok. The results. Saturday, in both classes, we knocked a bar in the process of turning. Actually, in STD we CRASHED the bar. I had been very aware of making sure I didn't say anything. Looking at the video, I was quiet but I think I may have peeled off while she was in the air. I'm not 100% sure if this is what caused the crash. It looks like she slipped on take-off. This may have been because she had fixed on the tunnel in front of her and then realized I was turning and tried to adjust too late. You can see the video.

However, I was very pleased with the run. Solid startline. Good speed. Good weaves. I was thrilled with her BOOM slam into a 2o-2o on the DW and she really tried on the teeter.

Alas, I didn't get videos of any of the rest of the runs. In both JWW, single knocked bar. Once while I was quiet and once because I wanted to warn her about the weaves so I said "weave" while she was in the air over the jump. Grr.

We Q'd in Nov STD on Sunday and finished our NA title! Yay!. I was pretty pleased with the run. She was lovely, of course. A little wobbly on her startline but her contacts and weaves were gorgeous. I was hyper hyper aware not to turn or say her name or anything while she was in the air over the jump before before a big turn up the A-frame. So I indicated after she landed. No knocked bars, but a huge wide turn. Sigh.

Some practicing needs to happen. I have another couple trials coming up soon but I am out of town for 5 days for my sisters wedding. I guess I can do some double box work in the backyard when I get back and see if that helps.

Fall class session

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:00:47 GMT

Last night was the first class of the Sept/October session. The weather finally held up thank goodness. None too soon. We were getting rusty and we have a PILE of trials coming up.

First class after a break is always a bit hard for both me and Nik'a. She gets sensory overload and all her little baby brain cells explode with excitement. I was mentally scattered and a bit distracted myself. Visiting and catching up with people I hadn't seen in a while and whatnot.

One of my goals for class this session is to work outside my comfort zone. I want to try stuff that I don't think we can do - i.e. prove that we actually *can* do stuff I don't think we can do. Its a bit of a zen concept - have no expectations, plan the best line, and then see what happens. It may take a while to get there but I want to learn to be brave. I think this will help with both my nerves and planning my courses. Think what we could do if we didn't fee we had any restrictions? Its a bit of a grandiose idea but I'm going to try it and see.

This weekend, a local USDAA trial. I'm looking forward to it. :)

Sunday USDAA

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 14:48:50 GMT

No Q's today, but I still left feeling quite happy with our weekend. All the errors were small handler errors that I can fix with a little more practice and a little more attention to detail.

We had Starters Gamblers, Standard, and Pairs today.

In Gamblers, it was the same judge as yesterday who does awfully difficult Novice courses (not that thats an excuse) and I again had a hard time finding a good flow into the close. The close was: jump, straight into the closest end of the tunnel, out of the tunnel 90 degrees to two jumps in a line. The plan was to get enough momentum up to pitch her into the tunnel, and then catch her eyes as she's coming out of the tunnel and use my motion to turn and carry her over the last two jumps. Sounds easy enough. The obstacle before the gamble I decided to use was the A-frame. She was to do it back to back and the speed would carry her into the close. The plan went wrong when I somehow found myself on the wrong side of the a-frame - so I had that moment of "Crap, this is not where I wanted to be. How to fix it?" Alas, the dog was still in motion while I was busy thinking and we got squirreled around while I caught up to her and tried to fix her path. At that point she entered the gamble by slicing the first jump pointing very nicely at the *wrong* end of the tunnel. It all kind went to hell from there. :) Ah well. She was a very good girl and did what I pointed her at and didn't growl or bite me while I was standing there wondering what to do.

The standard class went very well. Gorgeous contacts. Nice speed. Crazy good entry into the weaves. She knocked a bar just before a turn/discrimination and I think that was because I either turned suddenly, slowed down suddenly, or called her name while she was in the air. I need to remember that I need to either indicate BEFORE she takes off or AFTER she lands and not do anything sudden while she's jumping.

Pairs was just funny. My partner was a friend and classmate with a cute little terrier that Nik'a loves to chase and beat up. I was mostly concerned about my dog breaking away from me and pursuing the other dog around the course. :) I walked my half, felt like it was really straightforward. Planned where I wanted to put my crosses and where I wanted to be ahead to indicate where we were going next. I did not walk the dogs path - and there was my downfall. There was a part where they come out of the tunnel and take a jump directly in front of them. My goal was, while she was in the tunnel, to run to a point after that jump and do a front cross. The thought process was that Nik'a would see me running in that direction and know we were going that way. So, I send her to the tunnel, and haul ass to the spot where I plan to do my cross. I execute my turn just as I hear the sound of her paws hitting the up-side of the A-frame. It had never occurred to me that she would see the a-frame coming out of the tunnel since it was over to the side a ways. And I had not called her name to have her fix on me when she came out of the tunnel. It was such a surprise I stopped and laughed out loud. There was my corgi standing on top of the a-frame looking at me with a "What are you doing over there?!" expression on her face while I was standing a good 30 feet away looking at her with the same expression. Thankfully my partner is a good sport and found it as funny. :) So, several lessons learned here. ALWAYS walk your dogs path and look for possible off-courses. DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF YOUR DOG. It's a good idea to make sure you DO talk to your dog and let them know where you are when they are coming blind out of a tunnel.

Notes on today

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 19:41:39 GMT

I just wanted to jot down how we did today before I forgot. Then I'm going to get some fish and chips. I'm starving.

Only 3 classes: Starters Snooker, Standard and Gamblers. Alas, nobody was available to tape.

Snooker was our first class and it was actually fairly challenging for a Starters course - it was difficult to find any kind of flow. My goals for the class were: Make sure I was indicating when we were making a tight turn so she could soften (no loud grunts/growls when she lands). And to not be afraid to give her some distance - get up ahead to indicate an obstacle, or move laterally to put myself in a better position. The softened turns went very well, I got two out of three. The first one was off a long straight shot and I think I leaned back a little too late. The turn wasn't bad but she did land a little harder than I like. And I was pretty good about putting her on an obstacle path and then taking off to the next spot I had to be. However, I did overestimate her running a-frame performance. In one section of the close, they do the a-frame and then do a 180 back to a jump. I wanted to front cross *after* the jump so I popped her up the frame and took off to get to my cross. I think she felt rushed and so she sort of peeled off the down side, missing the contact. Nothing scary or dangerous, just not quite in the yellow. I need to make sure I'm getting out and working her with the stride regulators several times a week.

Standard. The goals were to practice our contact behavior (contact name, then "get it", not too much fussing around) and to be ready and willing to dispense a consequence if she blew one ("down"). And I wanted to make sure I drove to the weaves and kept my hips parallel until she got in before I turned and ran. Her contacts were beautiful - she didn't make me nervous at all. With the weaves, I ran at the poles and she dove in correctly, and I think at that point I sort of paused instead on continuing the momentum, so *she* paused and looked at me. "Keep going!" I waved at her and she finished them up. Obviously, I need more practice with that maneuver. :) We didn't Q in that class because she knocked a bar going around a corner. I'm not sure if it was because I put on a burst of speed so she flattened, or if I called her name causing her to drop her shoulder. That one makes me wish I had tape of it. Mental note to self to shut up and be more careful around jumps.

Finally, Gamblers. I'm still getting the feel of this class with Nikita. Keegan was a naturally good Gamblers dog - he'd pick a trajectory and stay on it. I didn't have to work too hard. With Nikita I've been struggling with what her comfortable working distance is and she's very responsive to my body motion so any little twitch on my part and she comes back to me. The gamble was tunnel curving away from the line in an arc, to a jump a little farther out, and then curving back in to a jump towards the handler. It was wedged down in a corner so there was only one graceful way to approached it. My goals for this class was to plan the opening carefully so I was in the right spot when the whistle blew and to make sure I indicated with my body when she came out of the tunnel that she was to keep moving OUT. It actually went really well. I was in almost the right spot for the approach and once I got her into the tunnel I backed up a step or two so that I had room to run at the line and the jump. When she came out of the tunnel she looked at me but since I was running at her she corrected her line and took the jump. Yay!

All in all I was very pleased with her performance. And I was relatively relaxed and confident. Good stuff. Curious about how tomorrow will be.