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!

New poles and weaving practice

I bought Stewie some new stick in the ground weave poles from Arf and Running, in NADAC purple of course! I had already bought a weave pole measuring strip from Clean Run. We finally got them set up today and had a short and great practice. We just used a tunnel and sent Stewie to the weaves from various angles. He not only nailed them each time but was weaving with great speed. Oh, I can't wait til he does this on a regular basis at trials! We will keep working on it with high value treats.

Weave, weave, weave!

Here is a nice weave sequence taken by Pete Greer at Addicted to Agility's May Wretham MA trial.

Pics from Dummerston on Saturday

Here are some pics that Terri Fischer(Kirby's mom) very nicely took of Stewie at Dummerston on Saturday! Thanks Terri!

Sunday at Dummerston! A great day!

Sunday started off drizzly but nice and cool for the dogs to run. Our first run was Touch and Go. I was so worried about Stewie having an off course after the A frame to the #1 Hoop that I pulled him in too far and he missed the #10 hoop, before I could call him, he barrelled into the next tunnel. My mistake, other than that it was a fun run.

Our first regular run was awesome. Stewie did a great start line stay, and we were in sync the whole course. Boy does that feel great. This run was a Q and a 1st place! Here is the course map:
It had the same setup after the A-frame, this time I just stayed laterally away from the A frame and said "Here". The next tricky spot was 18 to 19. Stewie will usually chose the contact over the tunnel for the discrimination, so I had to really run to get there in time to get the out tunnel. When I added the Q to Stewie's NADAC point chart, I found out it was his 200 point Regular Q. Now he has his Outstanding Regular Title! 3 more Q's til his Regular Natch points are done.

In regular 2 we faced the out tunnel discrimination again at 16-17. I just couldn't make it there in time, I called out tunnel, and tried to push, but we went off course, so no Q.

Next was Chances, I started feeling really stressed when I went out to walk the course. Mary came out and walked it with me, even though Lexi had started limping so she wasn't running it. We thought it looked a lot more doable than Saturday's course. Here it is:

Mary was worried about Stewie going off course to the dummy jump after Jump 6 esp after I told her I was doing a front cross. She said to be really careful not to face the dummy jump or he would take it.
Here is my plan, I started on the left so I could back cross after # 3 to turn Stewie into the #4 tunnel and not risk a off course to the dummy tunnel under the A frame. It worked like a charm and he came out of the tunnel and went right out to # 5 and # 6, I did the front cross and called him, while facing #8 and he turned perfectly and sailed over # 7 and went on to 8 and I said tunnel and off he went! I called him in time and we finished and got the Q!!!! Hurray, this finished Stewie's Elite Chances title and also his Elite Versitility Award!!
What a great weekend we had! Our distance practice paid off big time.

Saturday at Dummerston, VT

The NADAC trial in Dummerston Vt started with Elite Jumpers, here is the course map:

This was a great run, the only thing that went wrong was Stewie turned the wrong way after jump #11, but he came back, it only cost us a little time. He earned a Q and a 3rd place, with less than a second behind the 1st place dog.

Our 2nd run was Hoopers, and our first shot at Elite Hoopers. I thought I had a pretty good plan, and Stewie is really good at serpentines, at least jump serpentines, but we had to take 3 tries at the 3 hoop one. We did get it and got all the challenges, but we went over time. Silly hoopers!

Here is our 1st regular course. It was a fun course to run and we got a Q and a 1st place! Stewie did great weaves and contacts, but didn't stop on his dogwalk.

This is the course turned around,with a fast straightaway start, and an out to the tunnel. I was of course behind him and he went up the dog walk, so no Q for round 2.

Here is the Elite Chances course, it looked really hard and it was. It had the same dog walk/tunnel discrimination that the Regular course did, but at a big distance. Most dogs took the dogwalk, Stewie included, and Not A Single Elite or Open dog Q'ed at this course. The few dogs that got the discrimination went astray somewhere else.
Oh well..............we'll keep trying

Heading to NADAC trial!

Stewie and I and Mary and Lexi are headed to Dummerston, VT. later today for a Northeast Agility Enthusiast's trial.

We are hoping to get an elusive Chances Q!
Rain rain, go away!

Club Practice!

NEAT had its weekly practice last night, not even a sprinkle. Stewie had several good runs. We specifically worked on distance and me letting him know earlier when a turn was coming up. Great stops on the dog walk and after the A-frame which I have not been seeing much at trials!

We had great fun and Stewie was ready to settle down when we got home.

Chances, so close, yet so far!

This Chances course looked challenging and it was. The first challenge was to keep Stewie from going off course after #2 to the off course off end of tunnel #9. He was a good boy and turned out of the tunnel and did 3-7, and I thought we were going to make it but he turned in to me after jump 7, and if the dog turns in to you, he sees a line to #3 and then the A-frame. And that is what he did. But I was very proud of him that we got that far along in this tough course.
Afterward Erin gave me some good advise which was that once I got him out to jump 6, I should have said "go tunnel" instead of just go jump, it would have given him more information and maybe kept him out on that line of jumps.
I never thought of it for that spot but I will keep it in my memory bank for next time!

More Sunday's classes

This is the first regular course on Sunday. I decided to handle the serpentine 4-6 from behind, and after 6, just send him to the poles. He got the entry and weaved very well. We made the tunnel/A frame discrimination and then went off course afterward, bummer.

Sunday's Touch and Go

Touch and Go was the first run on Sunday am. It was a really fast and fun course. Stewie was really fast but still in control, which is the way to go! He was going so fast on the top of the dogwalk that I didn't think he would make the contact, but Mary said he strided right through it. A Q and a first place and afterward I also found out it gave Stewie his Outstanding Touch and Go Title!
Yeah, Stewie!

Addicted to Agility NADAC trial

Addicted to Agility offered two Hoopers runs on Friday evening. Stewie only needed one more Q to finish his Open Hoopers title. Our first run was wild and all over the place, but we did manage to settle down and get a Q the second run.

On Saturday the only run we Q'ed in was Standard with a blue ribbon. It was an awesome run. In Jumpers Stewie actually went by a jump which is really unusual, also he dropped a jump bar in Chances on the 1st jump so that run was a no go.
Stewie did not stop on a contact once this whole weekend, just when I thought we had gotten him stopping, at least on the dog walk!

One really fun thing was we met our blog friend Julie with Carmen and Bug!! Carmen and Bug are even cuter in person. Check out their blog at http://slowasmolasses.blogspot.com.