For our final class we had two short courses. One was 11 obstacles and the other was 10.
The first course was a little tricky, it was tight and Riot was a little high and was jumping long. I ran him at 24 inches since there were no other 20 inch dogs in class — Since we introduced him to 26” jumps, I’ve been jumping him in class based on what he’ll see at a trial the following weekend. Since we’re doing obedience this weekend, I hesitated on what to do with him in class. He is a bit slower at 24/26 than he is at 20 and this is something I need to be aware of. I was further ahead of him that I expected a couple of times, one of which nearly resulted in a collision :-S
So the first course, the first time I pushed up too far on the rear cross and he swung wide missing the next jump. Hanging back more resulted in a much tighter turn. I really did have enough time to front, but we do need additional work on rear crosses. It was a really touch weave entrance that included a surface change and we never did get a solid entrance at the speeds he was going. He was very focused on course.
The second course had a tire at 90° to the next jump. I led out laterally until I was close to even with jump number two, took one step forward and said tire and took off running. This course was essentially a big loop and I used “Ri” once to make sure he was turning over one jump and a go to get him to drive ahead to take the triple. Other than that I did not speak to him on course. He nailed the sequence and he understood what was expected of him on the lead out perfectly — we did a lot of practice with lateral lead-outs as a pup, but before class tonight, I probably would have been hesitant.
I’ve had a hard time getting Riot to tug on his “tug leash.” Before the trial last weekend, I took his favorite tug that he was given as a puppy and braided it around the meat of his leash. The tug did need some TLC and at least a re-braiding. This seems to have helped some as after every run at the trial he did run up to the leash his chair was on and put his mouth around it. I didn’t get a whole lot of tugging there. But by the end of the day I was starting to get some. Last night in class, I only used his tug wrapped leash as his tug reward after his runs and he did seem to be tugging with it more. I’ll probably leave it like this for a few more weeks and work on tugging with him, but I’ll either need to re-braid it or consider replacing the lead part with a new braided tug — maybe I’ll braid his tug in with a new piece of fleece or two. I am definitely getting more interest than I got before I added his tug.
Riot was on his best behavior in class tonight. He had gorgeous down stays while I walked the sequences and he was just happy to be working.
Once I put him in a down, I rolled his back end over onto one hip and that seemed to keep his down a lot more relaxed. He wasn’t nearly on edge and I didn’t have to worry as much about those elbows popping up. I’ll have to try this during stay practice in obedience class tomorrow and if it works, give the rolling onto a hip a command and teach that to him.
We did all of tonight’s sequences at 26” in preparation for his big USDAA debut at the Mid-Atlantic Agility Showcase this weekend.
Our first sequence was a two jump lead out to a serpentine with a significant distance between jump one and two. Our first time through started out really nicely, but the dog working on the other side decided to come visit. I put Riot into a down as soon as he cleared the last jump in the serpentine and he stayed there until the other dog was corralled. Our second attempt started even nicer than the first as Riot read the need for collection nicely and added an extra stride before jump two. The serpentine was very nice and tight too (remember this is at 26”) and the send into the tunnel was nice. I didn’t cue any deceleration coming out of the tunnel so he jumped the second to last jump a lot bigger than ideal and we didn’t get a tight line to the last jump.
The second sequence allowed the opportunity to introduce Riot to the concept of layering. It took us a few times to get the timing right, but we successfully layered a jump (which is the grand scheme of things was actually a pretty hard jump to layer). Again I had problems cuing deceleration coming out of the tunnel that started the sequence that added to the confusion. Riot is really good at picking up even small cues, so I’m having to learn how to become a better handler.
Our third sequence provided us with some challenges. We haven’t worked a lot of push-throughs and this seemed to be a source of confusion with us. We really need to go back and work some one jump work.
By our last sequence things were starting to fall apart. I’m not real sure where Riot’s head went, but it seemed to have left for a while. We started with a tunnel and I released him and he went to the area where the last dog left the course? Next attempt he took the tunnel and then next jump and just kept going not paying any attention to me? Next attempt we got through the sequence, but it wasn’t pretty. Next attempt again was through the tunnel and straight over the jump without paying any attention to me? Then we went through the tunnel and went back and peaked over the tunnel? Finally we had a pretty decent go at the sequence with one check over the barrier to see who was leaving between the last two jumps. No one could figure out why he was acting the way he was. Not sure if he was stressed from repeating so many times or it was just the end of a long class. The two times through we had the most success with, I really riled him up before hand.
I’m looking forward to this weekend. He has 13 runs over 3 days and I’m a bit worried that’s a bit too much for him. It’s going to be a LONG weekend so we’ll have to see how he holds up.
I didn’t get this updated right after class and now I don’t remember a lot of the specifics.
The first two sequences of the night we ran at 24 inches. The first sequence Riot nailed. If I remember it was some sort of box configuration with a figure 8 pattern with one front cross required. Riot read everything beautifully and it was near textbook perfect. Elsie asked if I wanted to run it again and I decided not to since Riot does seem to start to question himself when we re-run things.
The next sequence was a bit harder, but we still did a good job on it. Elsie had us re-run it because I wasn’t doing a good job queuing collection and Riot wasn’t doing a good job reading it. We ended up repeating quite a few times the one part, but in the end ended up with a much tighter turn and a much nicer line.
Then we moved on to work with Diann and the ugly serpentine with a tunnel infront of it. I knew Riot was going to beeline for that tunnel since he could see if from the start line and despite my lateral motion with no forward movement, he was taking that damn tunnel. I also decided to up the jumps on him the this sequence and introduce him to 26 inch jumps for the first time. Riot handled the 26” jumps like a pro (Diann said she thought he looked better at 26 than at 24) and we did eventually work through our serpentine with the tunnel suck issues (please, please, please don’t let there be anything like that on any upcoming corses).
Our last sequence was similar to the one before but heading the other direction. Our first attempt, I pulled him off the jump before the tunnel as I was a hair too early. But he came to me so he got a big reward for not taking that tunnel and listening. Then we were back to the tunnel suck. Diann distracted me and changed the subject and then had me run it again. And we did fine. She laughed and said sometimes you just need to get me thinking about something else and a little less focused and I do so much better — must be why Cisco and I Q when I don’t walk the courses and don’t have time to obsess :-P
Overall, it was a really good class. Elsie told me I’ve done a really good job with him. To which I replied “he’s almost been too easy.”
She replied “There is no such thing as too easy.”
After I thought about it, she’s right. He’s done really well at picking up most of the concepts in agility, but teaching him a serpentine was a painful, multi-week process. And lets not forget about the 8 months it took to teach him to retrieve ;-)
Tonight Riot jumped 24 inches for all 4 sequences. This didn’t seem to phase him at all after jumping 20 inches all weekend.
The first sequence of the night I had a lot of problems adding in lateral motion where I didn’t need it. Once I stopped moving laterally, the sequence came together nicely. This sequence had a couple of really tight threadles — which were good since Riot needs to work on collection. He also got distracted for a minute watching the dog run the sequence on the other side of the ring. He just stood and watched for a minute and then came back to work.
Our second sequence we did a really nice job on. There was another tight threadle that Riot was able to collect nicely for.
The third sequence we picked up speed coming out of the tunnel and did a pinwheel into a serpentine. Riot did really well following my direction. Maybe too well as we had to repeat the serpentine a few times because I kept dropping my arm too soon which was pulling Riot in before taking the last jump. Sometimes he’s almost too sensitive to body cues — but he’s certainly going to make me a better handler.
For our last sequence, we had a threadle after the table. The first time through the sequence there was some hesitation on Riot’s part getting on the table (whoa, big table after the 16” table he had seen all weekend). The threadle was no problem, but we repeated the beginning part again with a lot more drive to the table.
Riot had his first agility class of the session last night. We’re taking Handling 3 again because the sequences are challenging and we can always use more work on handling.
Riot rocked the first sequence. I didn’t have his head after the first jump — need to keep your eyes on the dog at all times. But after we restarted, we ran the sequence flawlessly. The next sequence was a bit more of a challenge. There were two jumps in a row with a straight tunnel perpendicular to the path between the two jumps. My trying to balance Riot not taking the tunnel and indicating which way to turn after the second jump was not very good and we ended up repeating the opening multiple times. I was having trouble keeping up as Riot raced through the tunnel and wasn’t in a great position to send him over the next jump.
Our next two sequences, kind of the same thing. The first one was really nice and the second one I was a mess :( I was completely uncoordinated and my timing was way off. Poor Riot. Diann was able to take him through the sequence just fine (proving it definitely was me and not him). And I could have been more thrilled with how well he worked with her. It was a threadle through the first two jumps that ended with a front cross to the last and I just couldn’t master it. I’ve done threadles before.
I think I’ve mentioned this before but Riot can be VERY tuned into motion — that window where you can cue him and have him perform appropriately can be very small. Half a second too soon and he’ll pull off the jump, half a second too late and you don’t get the collection you wanted. When you get it right it’s a thing of beauty, but when you don’t, it’s a bit chaotic.
After a week delay due to snow, we finally got in our last class. Since the weather was still kind of iffy, the class was pretty small.
We did two novice level jumpers courses (minus weaves). Riot did really well. The first was near perfect with the exception of him taking out a jump standard on the second to last jump. I was so busy not trying to get left in the dust by him, that I think I ran too far ahead and he was rushing to keep up with me. We tried the course (or parts of it) a few more times and I think he started to shut down. I really need to be careful with him when repeating sequences and making sure I’m rewarding him enough.
The second sequence was flawless. It was a really good run.
Most of our crosses were rear crosses and he read them all really well.
I ran the first course at 20” and the second course at 24”. Elsie said that he’s a much better jumper at 20 than he is at 24. Diann agreed, but added that he’s getting better at 24. When I first started jumping him at 24, he was hurling himself over the jumps, but he’s getting better.
Week 5 already? Time sure flies when you’re having fun!
Riot had a really good week. This week because of the way the groups were slit up, there were no other 20s in his group, so we jumped 24 for all 4 sequences.
I finding with Riot that he is very body aware and I need to fully support obstacles and make sure he has full committed before going on. Just the slightest turn of the shoulder is enough to turn him away in a lot of cases. This is good for the tight, technical sequences but it’s forcing me to become a better handler too.
I’m really pleased with how he did. I tried a three jump lead out pivot for one sequence, but I didn’t like the drive I got with that. I was able to try it again with a two jump lead out and front cross after jump three that worked out nicely with a much more drive-y dog. I’m not sure if the lack of drive had to do with it being our 3rd sequence of the night or if that large of a lead out is problematic.
The one thing we do need to work on is Riot need to be looking for me when he comes out of tunnels and chutes. He gives not thought to finding me upon exiting and will just go and find something interesting unless I’m calling to get his attention. I need to remember this, but I expect him to at least be aware of where I am.
Tonight was handling 3 and the over all theme of the night seemed to be “What’s that over there?”
I have never seen Riot so distracted as he was tonight. He had a little but of this the first time we took handling 1 and there was another dog working at the same time as him, but for the most part, he’s been able to focus on the course despite the distractions around him.
Our first two sequences of the night involved serpentines and Riot did them very nicely. The jumps leading up to the serpentine that were facing the other direction, were another story as he half paid attention to me and half to what was going on over there so his turns were quite wide.
Our next two sequences were kind of like grid work with a straight tunnel through the middle. When Riot wasn’t distracted, he did really well. I however kept drifting that was pulling him off — bad handler. Our last sequence of the night, both of us lost our head about halfway through. We also had a lot of issues with a one jump sliced lead out (something we’ve practiced since probably 6 months).
I’ve never had to used his full name on course to get his attention as much as I did tonight. I’m hoping this is a fluke and not a sign of things to come. Tonight was a bit if an unusual night as he was in his crate 90 minutes longer than usual and ate dinner about 45 minutes late.
He ran the first sequence at 20 inches and then I bumped him up to 24 inches for the remaining three. He had one ticked bar, but no drops.
We had a great day off. Cisco and Riot had a private lesson with Claudia and Riot worked really well. I learned some new handling techniques and Riot continues to amaze me at how well he can read things. It’s so hard to remember he’s still a baby. I asked Claudia about running him at 26” for USDAA. She didn’t see any reason why he couldn’t, but warned me that some dogs do have an issues with that 6” height difference between AKC and USDAA, other dogs don’t have an issue with adjusting.
Last night Riot and I had Handling 3. Typically the sequences in handling 3 are from masters or excellent level courses, but tonight was grid work. Of course my first through was blech grid work, this should be easy. Well of course I was wrong and our grid sequences were some of the harder sequences we’ve seen this session. The thing about the grid is because of the tighter spacing, the dog is forced to collect more and these big jumping dogs need to work to adjust. This was really good for Riot as the more confidence he gets, the more of an issue collection is going to be.
I’ve also learned the very important lesson that is if my mouth doesn’t open quick enough and there is a tunnel ahead, Riot is taking it.
Overall, it was a really good day. I asked on Facebook about a baby dog team for Riot for the Mid-Atlantic Agility showcase in April (this will be Ri’s first USDAA trial). Someone decided that it would be great to pair Riot with Elsie’s Prowler and Judy’s Annie — two very experienced dogs who have plenty of DAM Q’s. So Riot and I will have two wise ones to guide us through our first DAM tournament. I’m looking forward to it!
Riot has become a very motivated, drive-y dog. I’m finding I really need to work on collection with him as he has great extension, but will over jump if I’m not very careful.
Our first sequence of the night was a jump offset to a straight tunnel to a jump offset the same amount on the other side. Initially I led out about a quarter of the way down the tunnel. I knew he could have handled a bigger lead out, I don’t know why I didn’t give him one. Well, he beat me through the tunnel so I wasn’t able to push him out to the jump the way I needed to. Part of the other half of the class was also walking by at the time which created a distraction for Riot on his course. So we started over. This time I led out to the end of the tunnel and had no issues directing him over the jump, around the nearly 270, over the jump and back into the tunnel. The whole sequence was very nice and class was off to a great start.
Our second sequence was flawless. Diann did made me go back and tighten up my front cross with him (I love that they nit-pick to that level when you don’t have any other issues on a sequence).
Our third sequence of the night proved to be the most challenging. The opening was gorgeous — it was two jumps to a curved tunnel, so nearly a circle opening. I pretty much stood still and directed him around the obstacles. The further I hung back, the nicer the opening was as if I drove up at all, Riot was over extending the second jump and nearly overshooting the tunnel entrance. The next part of the sequence was the most tricky part. It was a 180 with a jump in the middle of the 180 that was not to be taken. Remember what I said about Riot having a lot of extension? Yeah, I really needed to hang back and get him to collect to wrap him around. We eventually got the sequence, but it took a few times.
The last sequence of the night I had him jump 24 inches. This is the first time I ran him in a sequence at a higher jump height. He was over jumping a little bit which slowed him down just a tad, but Elsie says as he gets used to jumping at the higher heights, he’ll even out. He did a really nice job on the sequence and other than me not settling and giving him the proper indication of where he was headed after the jump, it was flawless.
