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If I knew then what I know now-Don't blame the dog!

Today is a Dog Agility Blog Event Day.

When I started agility about eight years ago, I was a novice and so was my pup. There are several things I would do differently now looking back. But my main piece of advice is: Don't blame the dog!

As a novice starting out there are so many things to remember to do, watch the dog, give your cues, move your body, watch where you are going, and remembering where to go next!

Train your dog and train yourself! In the beginning you are training your dog to do obstacles. I have found out that training the dog is the easy part. It was training myself that is hard. The handler must be the leader, providing the dog with timely cues on what obstacle to take and where they are going next. Your dog will go exactly where your body tells it to go.

When I watch novice handlers at trials I sometimes see handlers frustrated when their dog goes off course when their body language is clearly sending them that way! Dogs pick up on your emotions, frustration, and disappointment. Please do not de-motivate your dog.

Stay upbeat. Do not scold or become upset with your dog. Your relationship with your dog is much more important than any Q. That can be hard to see when you are first competing and you really want to do well. I found out that I was a lot more competitive than I thought I would be. But think about the your partner, he needs to be having fun too. When you make a mistake use that as information for next time. Just continue on and praise your dog, he is working his hardest for you. Always keep the fun in agility! If you keep up the fun, your dog will always be willing to play with you.

I am lucky, my Jack Russell Terrier  was and is highly motivated to do agility. He was very forgiving of me and my mistakes! I didn't understand as a novice handler that mistakes were my fault. I thought I needed to keep training the dog when I needed to improve my handling.

Try new things and listen to your dog. When it became clear that my Jack Russell Terrier, Stewie really disliked 2 on 2 off contacts, we tried something new. I went to running contacts which he very clearly preferred. Now one of his favorite things is "making air" over the A-frame.

Enjoy agility with your dog, and remember to play with your dog and have fun, that is the most important thing!

Please check out many other blogs on this topic at If I knew than what I know now.

Sunday workshop

We had a workshop in Grantham Sunday and worked on get outs and also coming back in to reinforce control. One of the get out exercises was working with two hoops next to each other in a big circle. You drew the line so the dog went through the inner hoop on one set, then the outer hoop in the next one and so on. I had a lot of trouble with this exercise. I was being very uncoordinated. I am going to ask my son to make me some more hoops and practice this in the backyard. Once mastered this will be very useful on NADAC courses.
In the afternoon we worked on a box of jumps. I handled it from the inside of the box and did well. Then I was challenged to run it from the outside of the box, and that was a lot more difficult. But as I was told, I have to work distance to gain distance skills. After a couple of tries I got a bit better at it. I really need to work on my body position, cues, and timing. Poor Stewie has to work with a very inconsistent handler, the poor dog.
I am still working on my lateral distance right from the start line. It is getting a bit easier all the time.
Today we went out in the backyard, and I was going to give Stewie the day off from agility, but he was asking to play so we did. We worked on the dogwalk at a distance and also going on from the dog walk to another series of obstacles with me at a lateral distance. Stewie was going very well with the dogwalk exercises.

Bo-Gee Agility Run thurs today

Stewie and I are heading to outdoor run-thrus at Boo-Gee in Raymond this afternoon. Should be fun!

Agility club practice

Stewie and I had a good practice at club practice today. We got to work the contacts, including the teeter, and did several sets of weave poles. We had a great time!

Free Clicker E-book at AgilityNerd

Clicker training is the best, and you can get some info about it and a free ebook download at AgilityNerd

Have fun!

Stewie reviews Pawz dog bootie

Stewie needs something to protect his foot from road salt and the elements since he ripped one of his back toenails off last week. We got some PawZ Protective dog boots from Clean Run
The Pawz ran true to size, they recommended the small for Jack Russell Terriers and it fits well, it is even a little roomy. The boot looks like a small balloon but is quite rugged. It slips on easily and it stays on really well. I am very impressed. Stewie wore it in and outdoors on Sunday, while he was loose in the yard and while taking a walk, and it never came off.

Pawz boots are disposable and reusable. They come in packs of 12, we are still using the 1st one we put on. They are waterproof and thin enough so Stewie can keep his grip and balance on the ice.

They are very cool and Stewie recommends Pawz Protective Dog boots.

 

 

 

Get on the Ball-moving up to Advanced Program

Stewie is doing really well with Get on the Ball, and we are now starting the Advanced exercises. Now I do see him getting a bit tired after our sessions. We aren't getting out much in this weather so this is great for him.

Get on the Ball practice

This is our 3rd night of doing the beginner section of Get on the Ball 2
Stewie is catching on very quickly. He will do anything that earns him treats. He will get on the ball, lay down, sit up, stand up, bend from side to side, and wave. We did 10 minutes tonight. It is a great time to year to do this program, especially with the cold and wind today.

Backyard training today

After a good walk, we got just few minutes in the backyard before it got dark. I wanted to work on directionals. I set up a hoop with another hoop 8 paces directly in front of it. I also put a tunnel off to the left of the 1st hoop.
I sent Stewie to the hoop, told him "left" and he took the tunnel, good boy! I worked him off of both sides, and also sent him straight ahead with a "go on" several times as well. He only made a mistake a couple of times.

Tomorrow we work on "right", Stewie is not quite as consistent on rights.

Revisiting Crate Games by Susan Garrett

Today since it was raining, I got our the Crate Games CD, and brought in Stewie's travel crate. We have not done this formally since last winter, but Stewie remembered it. He has a memory like a little elephant! We had a great practice with some of the games, and the cat was a handy distraction.
Tomorrow I will bring over my son's dog Cleveland to really up the distraction factor.

Sunday at NAE Glastonbury, CT

Sunday's classes started with Tunnelers. It was a really nice, flowing course, but we managed to mess it up! After a tunnel, Stewie turned the wrong way, which somehow caused me to trip, and it went downhill from there, since I forgot where to go after that. Oh well, Stewie had fun anyway.

Regular 1 and 2 were next, both were great, flowing courses. Stewie got the weaves first shot again, and weaved very fast and confidently! I am so pleased with his weaves this weekend. This was an almost perfect run, but I pulled him too hard at jump #11 since I was afraid he would take the A-frame, but we recovered and the rest of the run was perfect, but no Q

Regular 2 was an awesome run, he got the weave pole entry again, and he was going fast when he entered them. He got his tunnel/dog walk discrimination with no problems. A Q and a 1st place. Yards per second were 4.79.

Chances was next, and it looked challenging. We got a good start, but Stewie did not turn out to the # 7 jump, and we didn't make it to the # 8 tunnel.

Our last run of the day was Jumpers and it was a fast course! Look at the beginning, it is lucky I can send Stewie on ahead of me, or I would never have made it. Stewie had a great run and made it look easy and ended the weekend with a Q and a 1st place, with a yard per second of 5.07.

NAE Glastonbury CT

We got to the horse barn in South Glastonbury, CT Friday afternoon. We ran in Touch and Go and Tunnelers. I am glad we put in to run on Friday, since Stewie left me to sniff the first run, and we were eliminated from Touch and Go. Darn rodents! We managed to get around the ring in Tunnelers, he did stop and sniff once right after a tunnel but I called him and he got going again. Stewie earned a Q and a 2nd place. Yard per second were 4.85

Saturday our first run was Touch and Go again. Here is the course, it was very fun and fast, and we got a Q and a 1st place. Course time was 47.62, and Stewie's time was 31.04. His yards per second was 5.92. I think this was a personal best for Touch and Go.
Next were Regular 1 and 2.

Regular 1 was a great run, Stewie was really fast and he got his weave pole entry first shot and weaved really fast, just like he goes at home! At last! He also got his tunnel/dog walk discrimination with no problems. We got a Q and a 1st place. Yards per second were 4.51.

This course was just as nice turned around. This time we started with the jump and the dog walk. It was another fast, awesome run and more perfect weave poles! We got another first and a Q. Yards per second were 4.71, which means he did the course turned around even faster.




Here is the Chances course, it looked really doable. It started with 2 jumps and then an out to the A-frame. I was not worried about the discrimination since Stewie favors the contact obstacles, or so I thought. He took the tunnel instead of the frame, and of course the rest of the course we did flawlessly. Another Chances without a Q.

Next was Jumpers and it was a great course. Stewie and I did it without a hitch and got a Q and a 2nd place.

All in all we went 4 for 5, and got everything but Chances. And there was no more sniffing, good dog!

Connecticut here we come!

This weekend will be our first trial in Ct. It is being held at a horse barn in S. Glastonbury, Ct. Mary and Lexi are headed down on Friday. We signed up for 2 runs Friday, Touch and Go and Tunnelers, and 5 runs on Sat and Sunday. It should be fun, and we will have some new dogs to run against.

Saturday in Dummerston

Saturday was a great day except for the drizzle. Our first run was Elite Jumpers, and we had a great run, with a blue and a Q. The 2nd run was Chances, and we got it, it was a fabulous run with no bobbles at all, just very smooth. Here is the course:

Next two runs were Regular and Stewie did an awesome job on both runs. The first course was the hardest, I had to call him hard a couple of times but we didn't have any off courses. There was a dogwalk tunnel discrimination and Stewie got the out to the tunnel easily.
The 2nd run was actually smoother, both were Q's and 1st's.

The next run was Touch and Go. Here is the course

The only spot I was afraid of was that he would take the off course tunnel after the dogwalk. I went way toward the center of the ring to stay laterally away from the tunnel, and called him. It worked, in fact so well I pulled him off of the #11 hoop and he went right to #12. Oh well.

Tunnelers was great until he went into a tunnel and then popped right back out to sniff! , I got him back in but was over time. Another JRT right before him had done the same thing.

Club Practice

We had beautiful weather and a great practice Wednesday at club practice. We set up a USDAA Masters standard course. It was a great course except for the threadle, I hate threadles. That is probably because I don't do them very well, I admit it!
Anyway, Stewie did fabulous weaves every time and got the entry every time, hurray! I handled the dogwalk from outside of the weave poles then called him over 12 and then turned and sent him to the poles. It worked great.

Club Practice

Club practice was awesome this week, beautiful weather, and lots of people and dogs. There was a nice USDAA standard course. I got some good distance practice with Stewie. He did great weave poles also! He bailed off of the teeter though, I will have to practice that more if we ever do more USDAA trials.
We had 3 good runs and Stewie was eager to run all of them. He and Tom's JRT Tara were much more calm around each other, so they are getting more used to each other.

Practices this week

Stewie has had great practices the last three nights. Monday and Tues, in the backyard, and tonight at the tree farm. I guess a lot of it has to do with the cooler temperatures, but I don't think he has ever been faster or more focused in the yard before. Let's hope it keeps up!
We had a good practice tonight also. He did some great weaves all three nights, if only we could get that in a trial. Someday...................
We worked contacts at a distance, discrimination between the A frame and tunnel and tunnel and dogwalk. He got all his "outs" to tunnels tonight, good boy!

Sunday Chances and Jumpers Success!

Chances was the 5th run of a extremely hot day, but I was excited, since looking at the course map it looked like it was possible to get this course. I got Stewie wet beforehand, and he rallied and did a great job. It was a very smooth course,and Stewie did it perfectly! He was flying by the time he got on the dogwalk, and Mary said she was holding her breath that he would get his dog walk contact. He got it and we got our 4th Elite Chances Q!. Great job Stewie!
Jumpers was the 6th run of the day, about 3:00 pm, I didn't know if I should scratch or not, but Mary said to give it a try, so we did. Stewie seemed ready to run, it was a great course, and we had a perfect run. I did a lot of sending with him, and also layered jump #19, sending him to 10 and 11, and it worked perfectly. This run was a Q and a blue 1st place to end a fabulous weekend.

Sat NADAC Courses Stowe Vt

Here is Tunnelers, it was a fun course, Stewie went wide a couple of places, so we got a 2nd and a Q.

This is Saturday's Elite Touch and Go course. Stewie did a fabulous job and got a Q and a 1st place.

Here is the Chances course from Sat at the NADAC trial in Stowe, Vt. Stewie had a great start but after #9 went on the the tunnel, instead of coming in to the #10 jump. My fault, I was afraid to call him in too far. But we are getting closer to success!