Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Sept 30th - at the barn

Today was all about Ripley :) or as Andrea says it was all about me :)) You gotta love when that happens, lol. Poor Peso had a bit of a mishap trying to catch a ball at 10' high so Andrea left both him and Phe at home. I decided to work Rip first and in the end, we just didn't have time for B either.

We started with the 3 jump set up that we did with the big boys last Thursday to see how Rip read the serps, threadles and push throughs. Well let me tell you...we never got past the serps! I learned lots today and have lots of things to do for homework. If I stood at the far post of the 2nd jump, Ripley would not take jump 1 instead he would come into jump 2. Even if he focused forward to jump 1!! I need to work on lateral distance to a jump for sure. When he did take that jump he has some issues keeping jump 2 up when he was jumping into me. We worked just that jump 2 stepping towards jump 3 feeding with that hand and he did better. We worked on this serp work for 3 sessions. ** Ripley was definitely flanking me during these exercises, need to watch that.

We then moved on to teeter work. Rip did 2 bangs on each side, starting with it from his left shoulder. He jumped up, nailed the drop and did some great touches. When I moved to his right shoulder we noticed that he would put his front up to push the teeter down but would not jump up that way (strange! something I am not sure if we should be watching or not). We then went right to him doing a full teeter. He is driving really nice up to the end and nailing his contact. I started with him on my right, moved to my left and when I went back to my right he seemed to be jumping off at the bottom or not able to stick the same way. Will keep our eye on that.

We moved on to the frame after that. He did the frame really well for a few times, sometimes releasing to a jump ahead, a jump to the side or just to my side. His final frame Andrea noticed that he was taking too many strides to get up and down. We are going to keep an eye on this too but feel that he will not do this for long. He is one fast boy and we are sure that he will be very drivey. On his final frame we allowed him to turn away into the tunnel. At the end he even waited for us to talk while he sat in front of the tunnel but didn't choose to go in without being told :) I was very proud of that.

Summary:
To Do List
- work lateral distance to a jump
- work the serp into my space
- ensure he doesn't flank me
- watch his teeter and frame

Monday, September 29, 2008

Sept 29th - at home

Well we were back to working 2x2 weaves again today. I moved the 2 bases to be about 6' apart, both staked in the ground. I used white milkbone cookies for treats for both boys.

Ripley
I added movement today to see where we were at. Ripley actually did awesome with me running either up to the entry area and also away from the entry. He had very limited mistakes today and did some really hard entries with speed. He did not have a favoring side tonight, so that is awesome. He was equal on both onside and offside entries.

Baxter
I also added movement to B's training today. I ping ponged back and forth of whether to move or stay stationary. He actually did quite well with the movement, not flanking the poles at all today. On his final session I moved from onside to offside and back again. When I did that he had a harder time going to the offside entry as he didn't go around and wrap back. I went to my "happy place" and let him figure it out. At least he didn't do a impaling type leap through them...that's an improvement :) In between Baxter worked on control with his bed.





























You can see how the dogs are really digging in and wrapping around that first pole when you look at my poor grass. I am pretty sure the next time Rick goes out to cut the grass he will not be impressed at the ruts along the middle of our back yard :)

Sept 27 & 28 - training on the road

So this weekend we did not get a chance to do any 2x2 weave pole work in the backyard as it was very busy. On Saturday, I took Ripley and my wire fox terrier Abbey to a Dock Diving fun match. I spent a lot of time working on the "It's Yer Choice" game while going to the line up. I also worked a lot of wait/stays. He was a very good boy and also did well in the dock diving ;)

Sunday we headed to Caledon for the Energizer Disc Series with Baxter and Ripley. While registration was happening I used Dawn's agility field to work Baxter on his control and some 1 jump work. He was showing an awesome wait, did some great jumping. I also had his bed there and another person was working their dog on the equipment while he remained calm! They even did the teeter, weaves and a jump that was less than 3' away from his bed!! I was very happy with him. I also used his bed prior to his rounds in disc and I could really see a difference in him (no barking like a fool :))

Ripley also did some control work and the "It's Yer Choice" game at the disc trial. He is still not great at staying with me at my side when there are more exciting things happening like disc. He also did great at the trial earning the Reserve Champion title after the 2 trials :)

Friday, September 26, 2008

Sept 26th - at home

So I took the boys into the backyard again tonight to work on weaves. I am only working very hard entries with both boys so hopefully after all this training they both have good weaves?!? I put the 2 sets at 8' apart tonight at the 1-7 angle for both, staked.

Ripley
I started with offside weaves with Rip today because that seemed to be harder for him. He was still trying to weave backwards on the first set so I went to my "happy place" and waited him out to figure out what I wanted. He actually did! He did 3 sets of offside weaves and had some great success. His onside weaves are great now! He is able to nail the entry and wrap tight from about 12' back even :) Such a good boy. I find using food that he is not looking up now so that is also great.

Baxter
I started B on the onside weaves as that is his new challenge. He wants to go to the second set and when that doesn't earn him his reward he does some stupid scary jumping through poles. I had to make it a bit easier (as I have a hard time going to a "happy place" when I think he is going to impale himself). Once he got the first one he did all the rest great! He wrapped the pole awesome but did seem to be doing a bit of a jump through the second set. He isn't looking up but I still think he isn't doing it perfect.
Offside B is a superstar. I can't believe how he knows to go to the very first set, go past, wrap back and drive through. He can do that from anywhere now so I started to add more movement. He found that a challenge as he HATES to be close to me. We had some success so we stopped at that.

Tomorrow I think I will do weaves and some jump work. That of course depends on it not raining like they are forecasting. I can't believe how quickly the boys have killed the grass back there!!

Sept 25th - at home

I couldn't be outdone by Andrea ;) and she was working her guys on the weaves before heading to the barn so I decided to head outside and do some weaves with the boys as well.

I was originally only going to work B and put in a second set of weave poles 12' apart from the first set. Post sets were angled at 1 and 7 and were staked. I used white milkbone cookies again. In the end I did both Baxter and Ripley as Rip was in the house screaming to get out to play. I kept the setup the same for both boys (lazy on my part) plus I felt we needed to try something different with Rip.

Baxter
Session 1: Started with onside again
4' - went to the second set of poles the first time, correct
6' - correct
8' - correct
10' - went to the second set again, correct, correct
** he was definitely wrapping the first set the tightest I have seen him do and was driving to the second set!! Very happy about that
Session 2: Offside entries
Baxter drove right back from 6, 10, 12, 14 and 18' to the first set, checked up, wrapped and drove the line to the second set.
Session 3: Back to onside
Baxter drove back to the first set from 6, 10, 12' wrapped nice and drove the line. When I moved to 18' he went to the second set 2x's but then did a final one perfect.
Session 4: 5 cookies left
I did 2 offside weave entries from 18' and 24', I was very happy with his performance/understanding of what I was asking of him. I did 4 onside entries, 12' correct, moved to 18' and the first two times he went to the second set but finished with 2 perfect ones from 18' back!

So the second set of weave poles has definitely helped in his bending around the first set of poles from onside. Tomorrow I plan to do the same angle but move the second set in to 8-10' apart.

Ripley
What a difference having the poles at 1 & 7 was for little Rip today!
Session 1: Did onside entries first since this used to be his problem...now he is better here!
6' - went to second set 2 times, correct, correct
8' - correct 2x's
9' - correct
Session 2: Offside entries - now the new challenge!
Rip was not understanding offside today and was not driving past pole 1 and wrapping it but instead going from 2 to 1 the wrong way.
3' - 3 wrong, 1 correct each time for a total of 5 cookies :(
Session 3: Stayed on offside entries
3' - 5 correct, 2 wrong in the session
Session 4: Stayed on offside again
3' - correct, wrong, correct
4' - 2 wrong, correct
5' - correct, correct
Session 5: Went back to onside with 3 cookies left
18' - correct 3 times in a row.

So it seems that with the poles angled that he understood the onside entry better. He understands that he needs to enter with his left shoulder but doesn't understand that he is suppose to be driving to the second poles when offside entries were used. I am going to move the second set of poles closer tonight so maybe he will start to see the direction she is suppose to go. I am kind of glad that he is getting the onside though.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sept 25th - at the barn

Another night at the barn with the boys. It was soo hot in there tonight but at least after 4 hours were weren't frozen human popsicles, lol.


Rip & Phe

Session 1: Hand Touches. Ripley did not do as well tonight with his hand touches. He got frustrated really fast and did more biting than touching. I did eventually get the 5 I wanted but my poor hand suffered for it ;)
Session 2: It's Yer Choice with Andrea being Goofy. I was very proud of the little man on this one. Andrea (like I did to Phe) really tried to entice Rip to go see her. It took him 4 tries to understand that he wasn't getting what he wanted without giving me what I wanted. After he realized, no matter what Andrea did, he was focused on me. At first I thought maybe I was luring him with the food though it was in my opposite hand but when the food went away he still remained with me.
Session 3: Set Point with Hoop at 16-22-26-22-16. Rip did the first 2 nicely but when it came to the 26" height he went around but I was able to beat him to the cookie. I reset him back up and he did it perfect the next time. Overall it went nicely.
Session 4: Nothing But Net using the Bench and a couple of cookies. We started with the cookies about 5' away from the bench and moved it a foot closer each time. I wasn't really sure he knew they were there as he didn't even think to go for the cookie but Andrea was sure he was looking out of the corner of his eye. We think that next time a toy would be a much more rewarding object than the cookie so we will see if he can work though that.
Session 5: Tight Turn One Jump. Rip has such a nice tight turn. We made him stretch more and did not reward ok ones, they had to be tight. I worked back to about 6' with him going out and turning back nice.
Session 6: Teeter. I am so proud of Rip-roar :) We started with teeter bangs and he just doesn't stick them the way Phe can. Phe had gone first and did amazing bangs with the teeter 2 1/2 feet off the ground...never thinks about anything but nailing the contact. Then she did the teeter, beautiful. When Rip did the bangs, sometimes his back end would fly off and he would swing back to get it on. We decided to try a full teeter anyway with Andrea bringing it down to help. He did the first nice then she helped but allowed it to bang the next time, still good drive down and maintained his bottom. We did a full one and he was awesome! We did one more to confirm that it didn't scare him and he drove it down again and maintained his bottom. YAY!
Session 7: Restrained Recalls. Did I ever mention this dog was suppose to be a flyball dog?! He has the most amazing restrained recalls and nails his tuggie. I am so glad he is doing well in agility these days but I can see why the rest of his litter are flyball superstars :)

Overall this was an awesome training session. Both Rip and Phe were on tonight and did not waste any time getting through all this in less than an hour! Gotta love those little dogs.


Baxter & Peso

Session 1: Set Point with Hoop at 16-22-26-22-16. Baxter did this nice. He maintained his sit/stays really nicely and I did minimal bouncing back for rewards.
Session 2: Tight Turn One Jump. Baxter just can't turn well off his right lead :( I started very close to the jump and we raked the dirt to know where his paws were landing. He literally jumps the jump at a diagonal and then after landing thinks about turning. He actually turned left and went around the far end of the jump!! omg. We worked him on this and he definitely improved though. Once he realized what we wanted. The problem that I am starting to see (good thing for doing notes) is that if I don't reward what he gives me, he tries to find other things to give me instead of maybe making it tighter. He couldn't do this with any type of speed.
Session 3: Nothing But Net Teeter - move tunnel closer and closer to end. This was a fun exercise. He had a hard time maintaining a sit/stay as the two most fun things were right in front of him. But he did do it and only needed minimal correction. He bit the tunnel the first time (with Andrea risking life and limb jumping in front of him unsuccesfully, lol). He realized and did a great job. Oh I am lying, we let him go through it when it was 1' away and the next time he just went through it :) Went back and he maintained his stay for the last one.
Session 4: 3 Jump Serp, Threadle, Push Through. It took me 2 tries to get in the right position for the serp. First time I went too fast and had my threadle arm up too early. The next time he was a bit of a butt head but I was right. The third time was beautiful :) I was close to the jump line and he did it so nice and tight. The Push Through was a bit of a challenge as he was coming into it with speed but after a few tries to see where I needed to be, he did it perfect. The threadle he took jump 2 the first time but I gave him too much speed into jump 1. The next time he came back through very nicely between both jumps. The jumps were set 3' apart from each other only.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Sept 24th - at home

Tonight we worked on 2x2 weaves again. I used white milkbone cookies again. I also kept the weave poles in the same position as 2 nights ago. My neighbour Sabrina was nice enough to do my record keeping for me so I have more accurate stats on what the boys actually did ;) I think I need her all the time or else I will be outside for hours writing after each one. Ripley was a complete challenge today, not really understanding why I would want him to go around an open pair when he knows how to weave and would go along the weave line.




























Ripley
Session 1: I worked offside entries first (next time, I think I will start with onside)
3' - correct
5' - 3 wrong
moved to 4' - correct
5' - correct
8' - correct
Session 2: Moved to onside entries
3' - 4 wrong, 1 correct
4' - 7 wrong
moved to 3' - correct
4' - 5 wrong, 1 correct
5' - 2 wrong, 1 correct
Session 3: Moved back to offside (for his sanity and mine!!)
3' - correct
5' - correct
8' - wide, correct, wide
Session 4: Onside again
3' - 4 wrong
moved to 2' - 2 correct
3' - 4 wrong, 1 correct, 4 wrong, 1 correct, 1 wrong, 1 correct

What I am finding is that he is super fast and takes off to do it but was coming back frustrated and barking to take off and do it wrong again. I did not rev him up before sending as he is reved up by himself! He went onto his bed in between sessions and relaxed on it. He does not move until released and seems happy to just lay there.

Baxter
Today was much more successful for B! It was a nice treat after the spazy black guy before him, lol. Baxter also used his bed between sessions and drives right to it.

Session 1: I started him onside as this seems to be both boys issue!
2' - bit wide but correct
4' - wide no treat, wrong, correct
6' - correct, correct
9' - correct
Session 2: Moved to offside
6', 8', 10', 12' and 14' - all correct on the first try, great drive up, checking and wrapping the first pole then driving down the reward line.
Session 3: Back to onside
6' - correct
8' - wide no treat, did the impaling jump backwards the next 2 times (yikes!!)
moved back to 6' - 3 correct
8' - correct
Session 4: Stayed onside
6' - correct
8' - correct
10' - wide no treat, 3 correct (but all 3 were a bit wide but I still treated)
Session 5: 2 offside, 2 onside to end the night
12' offside - 2 correct
12' onside - jumped backwards, wrong, 2 correct (both a little bit wide)

So as you can see, Baxter had some really good improvements. I need to figure out how to get him to wrap pole 2 from the onside position though, maybe putting a second set of 2 poles there will help him to drive around the pole and go forward to the next? Need to see what Andrea thinks when I see her at the barn tomorrow.