New Site! Heading over to Wordpress!

Please come and check out Stewie's new blog at Wordpress.com

http://stewiejrt.wordpress.com/

thanks!!

Some directionals tonight!

It was so nice tonight and still light outside so Stewie and I did some directional training with out one Hoop that isn't too deep in the snow. We definitely needed the practice. Can't wait to go to the barn in Grantham for training this weekend, haven't done any agility in so long

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 and Cleveland in the snow!

 

 

 

Cute Pets!

Here is a picture of Aurora and Stewie out in the kitchen with my while I made dinner.

Stewie reviews the ComfortFlex Sport Harness by Clean Run

Stewie got the ComfortFlex Sport Harness from Clean Run, and he loves it! Stewie likes the fact that it goes on over his head, he doesn't have to pick up his feet and put them in, or be worried that the strap will pinch his tummy when it is buckled up. The ComfortFlex harness goes on in a snap, over the dog's head and then the velcro strap goes under his stomach and attached to the other side, and is also secured with a buckle snap.
It is Stewie, Jack Russell Terrier approved!

Get on the Ball DVD, any thoughts?

Hi,

I noticed there is a new DVD, Get on the Ball 2, and wondered if anyone can tell me if they have tried this, and how they like it, the dogs like it, and whether they have noticed improvement after using it.

thanks!

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.

Ace-Mt Holyoke Nov 14

Ace's trial in Mt Holyoke started with Elite Chances. Stewie was wired and did not hold his start line. I really need to get serious about this. We were not connected in this run but I did get him into the #7 tunnel and out over the #8 jump, but then he came in and took the jump. Only two Elite dogs Q'ed in this run.

The next run was Elite Touch and Go. It was a fun course, with 2 A-frames, and two contact discriminations. The run was fast and fun, and Stewie got the out to the # 5 tunnel, the only other spot I was worried about was the last tunnel, it was a turn off the A-frame, and I was afraid that if I was too far behind I would not be able to turn him in time. I was able to turn him no problem and it was a Q and a 1st place run.

Elite Regular was next, it was a really nice course, but somehow Stewie ran by jump #5, and then back jumped it, we kept going and the rest of the run was beautiful. I was able to send him out to tunnel # 17 and get running along the dog walk to keep up with him. He had a fabulous entry to the weaves, and weaved beautifully. He also got the discrimination to # 13 perfectly. All in all a great run except for the bobble in the beginning.

Here was the tunnelers course, not as pretty as Regular, I had to call him hard a couple of places, and one wide turn, but we got a Q and a 2nd.

I helped course build and this course looked really crowded, but it walked a lot better than it looked and it ran like a dream! It was a smooth, focused, fast and fun run, and Stewie got a Q and a 1st place win. What a great boy, and he was still raring to go at the end of the day! I wished we could have tried Chances again, once I got the edge off of him.
All in all 4 great runs, 3 Q's, two 1sts, and a 2nd place.

Finally we can do Hoop Serpentines

Hoop serpentines were our nemesis for awhile, but we have finally mastered them! Yesterday and today Stewie was doing great serpentines! Hurray! I am so glad my son made me some hoops, they have been great for backyard practice.
Stewie also did some great weaves and sends out to tunnels. All in all a great practice.

Sunday in Stowe, Hot Hot Hot!

Boy was it hot, even hotter than Saturday and less of a breeze. Stewie was hot but he was also a trooper. The first run of the day was Touch and Go. It was fun but we took an off course so we didn't get a Q.




Next was Tunnelers, and it was a great course, not a lot of traps, lots of opportunities to "go on"and we got a Q and a blue.

We even got an Elite Hoopers Q and blue! It was the first Hoopers course that really flowed and it was actually fun.

Regular, oh regular, we can't get a Q in regular. It was a great course, but we just can't get a set of weaves at all in competition. He did get his contacts, and I did a lot of sending and layering, so it was still a good run.

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!

Dummerston NADAC Trial

Mary, Lexi, Stewie and I went to Dummerston Vermont this past weekend to a NADAC agility trial . The first course was Elite Chances, and it was a doozy! We only made it to the tunnel and Stewie did not send to the weave poles. They were pretty far out and the next jump after the poles, #9 was over 40 feet from the line! It was way too much for us, and only 1 or 2 out of all the Elite dogs Q'ed.

Hoops!

My son, Jim, made me 4 hoops, and we got to practice with them today in the backyard. I set up a curved tunnel at each end with the 4 hoops in a straight line in the middle. I figured we would work on some hoops at speed, and some sending practice also.

One of the problems I had noticed with Hoopers classes in NADAC was that Stewie seemed tentative going thru the hoopers and did not have his normal speed and drive thru them. I thought having them to practice every day and bring them to club practice a couple of times would really help for our next Hoopers course at our next trial NAE in August in Dummerston VT. Check out Northeast Agility Enthusiasts website if you are interested in coming to this trial!

The drill worked well and by the end of it Stewie seems to already be taking the Hoops more enthusiastly.

Tomorrow we will try Hoop serpentines, which we saw at our last trial and need to practice for sure!
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Club Practice this week

Here is the course map from this week's club practice. Sorry it is a bad scan. I worked on distance skills with Stewie on this course, trying to stay in the center of the course for the whole thing. Also we did put in a set of 12 weave poles instead of a set of 6. The spot we had trouble with in the beginning was after the A frame. I decided to send him to the two jumps after the A frame and then layer the a frame while he was weaving. This was a difficult move but I am trying to push the distance envelope during practices. It took us 3 tries but we did it and then Stewie got the weave entry and continued weaving like a champ! The rest of the course was pretty easy, after the weaves he continued on no problem to the next two jumps, the tunnel, jump and dog walk to finish. After our 3 run thru with this course, Stewie had it down pact, so we did it backward the next two times and then called it a night.

Weave Video

Here is a video Kim took of Stewie in the weaves tonight.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv9zjkOECpo

Weaves speed!

Yesterday I had Dave time Stewie while he went through the weaves 3 times.
I had time start at a jump, then a tunnel so he hit the weaves at speed. His first time was 3.37 seconds, the 2nd time was 3.57, and the last time was 3.05 seconds.

Club Practice this week

This is the course we set up for club practice this week, at least as close as we could get. I am not a good course builder at all! This was a fun challenge to try. Stewie and I didn't have any trouble with the beginning, and he sent out to 5-7 with no problem. He came in after the dog walk the first try but we got 7-10 the second try. I feel we are getting a bit more consistent and smoother with our distance work.

More good weaves

Stewie and I had a great weave pole practice today. We went out to train before dinner, and I used a tug and treat from Clean Run with some of his wet food in it. We did some big sends to tunnels before the weaves so he would be traveling at a good rate of speed, and he nailed his entries and weaved fast all 3 times!