More Agility

This is a video for our foundation class with Silvia Trkman.  I think Dhali is doing pretty good - little steps and time.  He's fast that's for sure!

Pre-Week of Foundations Class

I'm a week behind in posting this, but Silvia Trkman's AF class started last Monday.  We are in the class......again!  It's Dhali's first time in agility foundations, but this is like my 7th class with her or maybe more?  I've lost count LOL!

So this was our pre class video.  Silvia said not to worry, because the class hadn't even started yet.  LOL!  I'm not worried.  Dhali is awesome.  If he can't become some kind of agility dog then I have a problem.  He loves to play the game.  He's fast and he learns quickly.

Finally he is learning!  I took a break from clicker training him and let his brain catch up with his growing body.  Now I think his brain has matured enough that he can focus without getting frustrated.

Although he still gets frustrated and then he bites me!  Silvia said he needs more forward focus and obstacle focus.  Yes, but how do I train that when I've done such a good job training handler focus! :P

Dhali is also over 17 inches tall at this point.  Fingers crossed that he settles down a little bit and ends up shorter, but I'm not holding my breath.  Tibby is just under 16 inches and Dhali is about an inch and 1/2 taller than her.  I don't know if it is related to his neuter?  Or if he would have had this growth spurt anyway?  But he shot up right after he was neutered.  Boo.  Oh well, he's still perfect.

P.S.  Hello to all my AF stalkers!!  *waving*  I didn't even know you were out there LOL!

All The Things

All the things that are happening!  I'm sure I will forget a few.....

Video from last Friday's puppy class, that I forgot to post, oops!

It's a long video, so I'm sure no one is going to watch it, but if you did watch it......you would see - Dhali being a super star puppy!  Sure there were times when he was distracted, but 90% of the time he was paying attention and when I ASKED him to do something, he did it every time.

There were all new puppies in the class again.
There was a class of big dogs running and banging a full height teeter right next to our ring.  It was VERY loud.  Lots of barking and running and people yelling.  Dhali did just fine with all of that.

He wanted to sniff the other dogs, but he wasn't obsessive about it.  He was even able to choose me (and my treats) when another dog came right up to him.  Some people need to have dog space lessons!  Especially children that weigh less than their dogs.  If I'm trying to block your dog from my dog - maybe you should reel your dog in.

He did a tire for the first time - I'm pretty sure it was the first time....

He played with me.  It looks weird in the video, but yes we are playing - I'm not beating him up!

He chased his treats.  This is so he would chase after me and reward him in motion/ make it a game/ect.

He was a good little 9 month old (intact) male puppy.

Speaking of intact.....Dhali gets the snip tomorrow.  I'm kind of sad about it :(

First of all I'm nervous about the surgery.  Second of all, what if not having his jinglejangle makes him not as playful and wild and crazy.  I like the crazy!

But it has to be done.  He still has one stupid retained baby tooth and he has to get that out eventually and he has to be neutered eventually.  I have no idea what he's going to act like after the surgery - cone of shame?  Ha!  Dhali would have that off in 2 seconds.  I made Tibby wear a shirt after her spay, but I don't think that would stop the D-Man.

In other more news.....I signed us up for Silvia Trkman's foundation class.  It was a great class for Tibby and I think it will actually be fun to take it with Dhali.  As long as he doesn't change after the neuter!  Tibby has great agility skills, but doesn't want to show them off.  I hope Dhali will learn great skills and want to show them off every where!

In even more, more news....we were able to sign up for the class because I sold some treats in our shop on Etsy.  Want to buy some treats?!?  Click on that box on the right that says Etsy!  I've gotten a lot of good feedback about them.  I have asked a fellow blogger to review the treats - Helen I am sending them!  I just had to wait for more organic turkey gizzards to get 'harvested'.

Well, I think that is it.  I'm making a video of Dhali playing tonight -  nut version.  And then making another in a couple weeks - nut free.  We will see if there is a difference.

Handstand Trick Progression

Dhali working on his handstand/back up trick.  I think he might actually get this trick!  He's doing really, really well.  We had a break through yesterday and he realized what I wanted when I said 'back'.  He's quick, so I have to pay attention.
I wasn't very hopefully for Tibby to get this trick, but I think Dhali might get very soon!  Tonight I tried moving next to him (instead of having him in front of me), but that was too confusing to him.  So I tried having him back up from between my legs.  He understood that a lot better.  Little steps!  But he is so rewarding to train!  I love it!  And he loves it too, so that makes it even more fun!

Teeter Tippy

This video is a little bit old, but our agility activities have been few this past week.  The video is sped up, because it was kind of boring to watch - cute, but boring.  I showed it to Silvia and she said it didn't look too bad -

"It actually looks pretty good to me, especially those after 1:30 yes! But sure, it can’t hurt if you do some jumping on the end to ride it down again to make the end even more fun. It’s not unusual that they can’t hold the position on their fastest tries… I have to admit that with my dogs, since fast is always my major goal , I mostly relax the criteria some for the sake of speed and then revisit it again if I start to get fly-offs."

So I did a few sessions with the teeter lowered flat on the ground, then I changed my mind and put it up to full height (which is very high, I don't blame dogs for questioning our sanity when we ask them to run up it) and I am having her run up the teeter for cheese smushed on the end and then taking her off - we do that 5 times a day.

I'm hoping that this will make her run to the end of the teeter and then ride it down, but I'm thinking that Tibby might have other ideas.  Oh, well it's an easy and fun thing to play at. 

Fast and Happy Weaves

Oh my goodness!  I think Tibby figured out speed.  She is very fast.  I need to learn how to handle her now.  Not in these videos, but we tried a sequence tonight and she was really, really fast.  FUN!! 



Silvia said, "Can’t believe how fast Tibby is running now, great job!!!   Wow, that sure was fast and fun! Great entries and independence too, yay!!! Looks like you can narrow a channel a little bit again!"

Yes!  We finally got a 'great job' from Silvia!  YEAH! 

I also showed her the threadle video and she said, "Your use of arms was very good too, it’s good to use dog-side arm for pushes and serpentine. For threadles (pulling her in in between the jumps), you need the opposite arm."

Tough Tunnels

I'm feeling pretty sucky about our tunnel/distance/discrimination skills training tonight. I asked Silvia what we could do to train this. Then I tried it and it went exactly the way it has always gone. Tibby decides which end she wants to go into and she ignores my directions. Or I have to go right up to the entrance I want her to take.


Silvia said, " What you would need is a better send to a tunnel – lesson 1, exercise 2… You can practice sends from the wrong (back) side and similar to teach her to search for an entry no metter what, even when it’s hidden some as in this situation with an A-frame.

Try a straight or only slightly curved tunnel, so that she can’t choose a wrong entry and you can focus on distance first! Try also strange approaches (tunnel curved away from you, tunnel hidden some behind weaves/see-saw etc.) and similar to have her search for it more on her own. There are so many things you need to try out in training first to be prepared for everything that it’s really not easy… But I’m sure it will just get easier&easier! You came a really long way already."

I said about our newest tunnel video (above), "What am I doing wrong here? Tibby really doesn’t like to be restrained, so I sometimes push back on her chest. She was maybe a little tired from our long hike yesterday (and getting a bath and full blowdry/groom).
It seems like I either have to go all the way up to the tunnel entrance with her or she will just decide that she is going to do the tunnel on her own.
Could this be because we have done a lot of shaping? So she is trying to offer something that she thinks is right?  

“so that she can’t choose a wrong entry and you can focus on distance first!”
Oops missed that part – so I should just let her choose whatever end she wants?"

Silvia said, "No, it’s not shaping, I do tons of shaping with my puppies and they still understand the body language really well. I think it’s partly because you’re both still learning about the body language and because she doesn’t have a will to please that herding dogs poses. Try to use a longer side of a room so that you can set the entries even further apart and she doesn’t see a wrong one. So no, I didn’t mean letting her choose, I meant taking one option out of the picture."

I hope know that someday we will get this and I'll laugh at how worried I was about it. I mean I thought Tibby would NEVER be potty trained! But it's still tough that this is lesson ONE of the foundations class and we are taking the class for the THIRD time and we still don't have it.

Four In A Box

We have been practicing this trick for a long time.  Like as in we started it last year long time.  Now we are getting it! 

This is one of the assignments for our RC class with Silvia Trkman also.  I'm still waiting to see what she says about it.

For a long time Tibby was sure she could never, ever get into a smaller box.  The small one is the 4th box we have used.  We started with a really big one, smaller one, smaller one and now smallest one!  A couple days ago, when Tibby was trying to convince me that it was impossible for her to get in the small box, she started picking up the little box and carrying it around.  Now why can't she do that with the basket that I want her to carry!?!?  Ahhhhh someday or next year maybe.
I do like teaching little tricks.  After the Jane Killion seminar I remembered how much I like training with a clicker.  Tibby likes it, I like it and now that she will eat her kibble, I can train AND feed her her dinner or breakfast or lunch or snack.....

Silvia Trkman Cik/Cap, Tunnel Sends and Pulls

It's true!  We are the never ending story!  Yes, I signed up for another session of ST's Foundation Class.  I thought we should make it a nice round year of training :)  I would feel like the senior that never graduates, BUT I have a lot of fun taking this class.  And I need structure and goals.  Or.....I don't do anything.  It's boring to train by yourself!  I need classmates!  I like watching other people train their dogs.  I don't know any other better way to learn. 

Also, I was worried that we have never gotten cik/cap.  The first time we took the class - I was trying to get Tibby to play with me.  The second time we took the class - I was so happy Tibby was playing with me, but I didn't want to slow her down for picky things.  This time I would like to understand the picky things. 

I explained to Silvia that I was worried about not getting cik/cap.  She said that "I don’t think she will have problems with wide turns."  and  "I would still keep focusing on speed and fun aspect though. I think you can gain more by having her really drive into the turn and out vs. how tight or not she jumps. The great thing about cik&cap is that you can work on both at the same time though!"

Goodie!  I'm not really so worried about Tibby.  It's me that needs work!  I'm trying to understand how I can cue the turns.  Now that I have read (part) of Linda Mecklenburg's book - I want to understand how I can combine both methods.  I don't know if that even makes sense???  I think Tibby is getting it though.  It seems like every time we learn something new, it makes things easier to train.  Hmmmm, maybe that's why there are methods.

IDK  we are having fun though.  It's funny, because Tibby is obviously getting tired in the 1st video, but she doen't want to stop.  I stopped, but she bugged me for 30 mins. after that trying to get me to DO SOMETHING!!!  No Tibby you need to rest now :P






Do you like our snow-gility?!?!

For anyone that is interested here are our 1st videos from the last 2 sessions of ST's class -

1st time around -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TziYC3eKdM4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuIdoy9GIDA

2nd time around -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzKGtltJ574
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLLWEbO05j4

Running Contact Training - Up Ramp Is On

This running contact thing just keeps getting more and more complicated!  But I like it!  And so does Tibby :)  She LoVeS it!
So we raised the board up to 8 inches.  Then I was supposed to look for and jackpot only the deeper hits.  BUT all the hits looked the same to me.  I was very confused.  Best thing to do when you are confused?  Ask for help.


So I taped a session and sent it to Silvia.  She explained, "Now that she is jumping so high, jumping on it determines her stride, that’s why they look the same… It’s also starting to get a bit dangerous jumping on a narrow plank like that… I think a table would make it safer + would give you deeper hits."

Oooooo I can see it now.  That's why all the hits looked the same.  Tibby can only jump on to the board one way, so duh' her striding will be the same every time.



I do not have a table.  I know I should make one, but I haven't gotten around to it in the last 8 months.  I do have this handy rocker board - that we have used only once when Tibby was a little bitty baby.  It was one of the first (agility) things I bought - before we had ever taken a class or I knew what I was doing.  Next time I would just make a wobble board. 
BUT it works for this step of RC!!

 Silvia said, "I like that you’re getting a nicer variety now, some high hits, some deep hits (those that you marked with jackpot? are all nice and deep yes) and some leaps. I think that’s a good learning situation, better as just getting the same stride pattern every time. However, as you raise it some more, that up ramp will get a bit too short/steep, so if you have another somewhat longer (not 12′, just somewhat longer as that one) plank, maybe switch to that next."

And guess what? I have a baby teeter that we don't use too.  Guess we will try that for the next step!  Pretty soon I'll have to move this all outside.....hurry up spring!!!

RC - The Beat Goes On

So Tibby is doing really, really well with the RC.  We were having a ton of misses, so I took a few days off.  Then the Tibb-ster started begging to do the plank (she really likes it), so we tried again.  I did a couple thinking that we would have the same old problem - but she was perfect!  So I grabbed the camera and filmed our session.  ALL JACKPOTS!!! Plus Full Speed!

Ok on to the nity-grity.  Silvia said the LAST one was the best.  So I had to have her explain a little, because I didn't understand why???

She said, "the best tries are “safe” tries. That last try was safe because if her stride was somewhat longer, she would still hit with front feet and if it was somewhat shorter, she would hit with hind feet. In most other tries, if her stride was somewhat shorter, she would miss it (especially on a shorter contact – I think yours is AKC length?). From the same reason, very low front foot only hits are not so good: a little longer stride and it’s a miss."

I can understand this. 

However, then couldn't I just change the length of the board to get perfect hits every time?  I asked this question.....just waiting for Silvia's response.  Shouldn't take too long - she responds really fast.

Oh yeah and the board is at 6 inches.  I think the hardest part for Tibby to get was: run full speed, but now (I think/hope) she gets it.  Also, she has learned to fetch!  Thank you running contacts for teaching my dog to fetch. 
(sometimes Tibby wants to see if she really has to bring the ball all the way back - yes, yes you do)

EDITED TO ADD: Silvia said, "actually, if your board was shorter, she would have deeper hits… And longer board would give you misses. The striding gets very predictable once you raise the board as raising it creates a kind of a stride regulator (the dog has to hit it with front feet first, always), so yes, using a shorter or a longer board can produce you hits, but of course, at that point or another, they need to be able to hit it no matter what, so after the helping phase, there must come challenges too."

I was (am?) confused about the stride thing.  Also, we were rewarding for front feet hits AND rear feet hits, so the dogs would realized that sometimes they can use front feet too - if it works better.  I think that confused me. 

Tell Me Thursday - Trainers?

It's Crooks and Crazies Tell me Thursday!

Well, Monday.  I wasn't going to do this one 'cause it might get me in trouble, but I had time to think about stuff, so I decided to try it out.

1. How do you search for and then choose a trainer?

Well, I tried searching the internet for a local trainer and that failed me twice, but also gave me my 2 favorite trainers, so success (50% of the time at least)!!  If I hadn't started this blog and complained whined mentioned that I needed HELP, I never would have met Loretta!  I don't want to creep her out, but she's like my mentor and I also read her blog, bounce questions/ideas of her at lessons to get an idea of what the agility world is like.  She's a great trainer, because she gives me direction, but also freedom to try stuff/other methods (meaning SG here) out. 

Fail or fly, we all have to do it ourselves!.  I'm not sure exactly how it worked out....I remember her saying, "Hey come up and hang out sometime we have nice agility people up here."....or something like that.  I thought she lived waaaaaay up north, like by Duluth.  Turns out she was only 2 hours away!!  

And of course the internet gave me Silvia Trkman's online classes.  Awesome!  I feel like she has taught me agility from a different continent.  Very modern ;)

So combined together Loretta and Silvia make an amazing trainer team.  I can't imagine one without the other!
2. The dog world is small and... uh... talkative. After choosing a trainer how do you handle those people in your life who don't believe in that trainer/trainers methods and criticize them to you?

I don't care.  If you think the agility world is bad....I have some other venues and people to introduce you too.  I like to pretend I have thick skin :) 

I treat them like my crazy patients, "Oooo, yeah. Right." Walking away now.....

3. Do you believe that a person's personal life should influence your choice of a trainer? (i.e do you believe a person's choice to be a party animal outside of work would affect your choice?)

No.  Do you think that my personal life should affect them teaching me?  I hope not.

4. When you have a break through moment with your dog, do you feel that moment makes your connection stronger with that dog and makes the next step in training easier?

Yes!  I think so.  I feel more connected to Tibby every day.  We are having more fun and she is a fun little fluffy friend.

5. Do you stick with just one trainer, or do you go to multiple sources for help?

Multiple.  Seriously.  Watch this blog in the next couple months I have some surprises and adventures planned.  My lips are sealed though!  I don't want to say anything until it happens.  'Cause you know we tend to have "interesting" results from our adventures. 

Tiny Step Running

We tried the sequence in lesson 5.  It was really cold and snowy and windy outside, so we played inside.  It took me FOREVER to figure out a way to fit all the jumps in.  I thought we did pretty good considering the small space we're working with.  There are two cute moments where Tibby goes for the teeter when I say tunnel.  And when I'm "walking the course" she follows me around and does what my body is directing.  It's hard to describe,but.....  It was cute!

I did tiny running.  Please don't laugh too much.  I had some friends over yesterday and they almost died laughing at me.  Yeaaaaah it was funny, but I kept in motion!  Sort of.

Silvia said that we did fine, but Tibby had more speed in our other videos and a FC at 8 was not necessary.  But I like front crosses!

Last time we did this lesson we didn't even try to do the sequence, because it was too advanced for us.  So I think we are doing better!  Here is what we did last time Lesson 5

Running Contacts - Lesson ONE

I debated back and forth if I wanted to sign up for Silvia's Running Contacts course. In the end I signed up at the last minute, before the class started. After taking an online class from someone else...I have realized that I like the way Silvia teaches, you get a LOT of personal interaction/feed back from her. She watches your videos and gives you feedback. The website is set up, so it is easy to follow along with your classmates and the class. There are a LIMITED number of people in the class, which develops a class 'bond', as much as you can in an online class. She does NOT try to up sell you on her courses. This is a big PLUS for me. I HATE to be upsold. If I have already paid for a class - why are you trying to squeeze more money out of me? Oh, yeah... because you can. Silvia DOES NOT DO THAT!!! In fact she gives things away! Everyone that takes the puppy/tricks class gets a free download of one of her videos.

Soooo that's my rant on that. I have MUCH more I could say, but it's not worth it. Let's just say Silvia's classes are awesome and she is a great PATIENT teacher. She is nice. At least I think so :)

That's the reason I signed up for the RC course. Tibby loves to run on her plank and we have fun training. I learn something new in every class we take, so why not take another one?



The first part of the first lesson was to tape the dog running at full speed. After last week-end, when Tibby ran away from me, I wasn't sure if we were even going to be able to do the first part of the first lesson!! BUT it turned out to be really good for us.

I took Tibby to a baseball field. She had her long line on and we were able to practice. I think she had fun! I had a ton of fun, but my legs were so sore today!! It was really hard to run on the grass. Today I ran on the gravel/sand and it was so much easier! But it was also easier for Tibby to run faster than me.

Today we went back to the park again and worked on call once games. Tibby did OK, but she gets busy sniffing and ignores me sometimes. I'm not sure EXACTLY how to fix this. She did try to leave the fenced in area once. She was following a scent and found an opening in the fence, BUT the long line stopped her.

Yesterday I was impressed with her focus. I'm not sure if it was the hotdogs or the chasing games, but she did better yesterday than today.  Although, today there were 2 dogs in another baseball field (it's a complex of 8 or 9 fenced in fields) and she did a good job of ignoring them or at least turning back to me after looking over at their field when they were barking.

Yesterday she did pretty good waiting for a release when I walked away from her. It was like a start line stay, but with just running.

Edited to add:  I forgot to say at the end of the video I included some funny clips.  Like for example....Tibby's Superman impression.  Poor Catty........  AND the first time ever I have been able to tape Tibby barking.  That's not even as mean as she can sound.  She's scary!!

Dog Walks, Running Contacts and Advice Oh My!

So, I have a few questions for the agility people. Dog walks. I want one. But I have questions. I've been shopping for 1/2 a year and I still haven't made up my mind.
Here are my requirements for a dog walk -
1 - Rubber contacts
2 - Either adjustable OR the legs come off, so I can set it down at a lower height
3- The planks have to be easy to take apart and put back together again
4- I will be moving it by myself, so weight is an issue - or is it? So confused....

Yeah I think that's it.
So here are my questions:
What's the difference between a steel and aluminum dog walk?
Fiberglass? Wood? Aluminum? Alumaskin? What should the planks be made out of?

Ok so that's about it. Unless you can think of something else?
I like the Max 200 adjustable dog walk/rubber/aluminum frame/alumiskin planks.

Here is Tibby's latest with the RC. I have the plank up to 17 inches. It was 15 inches at our last lesson with Loretta. My steps are 17 inches tall, soooo RC plank is at 17 inches. Tibby started to offer running up the plank on to the deck, turning around and running down the plank. Yay! Except that my camera had fallen over and I didn't get any of that taped :( She was really running fast when she could get a little distance.

Here is what Silvia said, "Just two concerns: could you cut the supporting planks some at the end (diagonally) – so that the plank comes all the way to the ground. Edges like that really makes me worry about their feet… Not so nice if they step on that edge… And second… – any possibility of a set up that would give her more starting speed? Like two planks, forming some kind of mini A-frame for now or 2/3 of DW so that she can start further from the down plank."

For the Record

Is it normal for a dog that runs 5 miles every day to have a ton of extra energy?

 My parents are staying with me for the week and the last 2 mornings my Mom has been taking Tibby running with her.  Not that Tibby gives her a choice about it.  The minute she hears my Mom getting up (yesterday at 3:30am and today at 4:30am) she flings herself off of my bed.  I wake up and let her out of my room.  Tibby rockets into the living room and bounces off of my Mom.  Tibby only stops dancing long enough to let me to slip the harness on her.  She has to sit still or I won't put the harness on her.  She sits still, but her tail is going like a propeller.  The 3:30am wake up was my Dad's fault.  He thought he set the alarm for 4:30am, but he was wrong.  Getting up at 3:30am when you know that your alarm is going to go off in 1 1/2 hours?  And you just went to sleep at 12?  Priceless.

My Mom has arthritis, so I have to get up and put the harness on Tibby and attach the leash.  Then when they get back I unhook Tibby and check Tibby's feet.  So far it has been dry enough that she hasn't needed a foot bath after her run.  Even with her arthritis my Mom can run Tibby with the Wonder Walker.  Before the Wonder Walker she had a really hard time controlling Tibby, but now she can just hold the leash with one finger.

So anyway.....Tibby has been crazy!  She gets back from her morning 5MILE run and takes a little nap.  Then she is up for the rest of the day.  And that means running outside and wanting to do agility.  Zoomies.  Crazy playing.  Fun.  Just.......unusual.


For the record: after I posted this video + the RC video. 

Silvia said this: "Great!!! Your handing is getting great and her speed is definitely improving! Her speed when you run in to play agility at 0.18 is amazing, can you do more comings in like this? And yes, it’s good to change sequences anyway, I run things max. twice and then change at least something to keep them attentive to my handling. And yes, with thin planks, you need to make sure you support them well when you raise them as they bounce otherwise. Try supporting it on two places, that should solve the problem. It’s definitely not good to run her on a bouncy board, so it’s good you noticed it"

And then I said, "Good! I’m glad you also think we are getting better!
My usual pattern of playing is – run away and hide. Tibby ‘finds’ me and I yell rawr! Then I race her back to the agility equipment and do a sequence. Reward – sometimes I make her chase after me to get the reward. Then run away and hide. Repeat.
It doesn’t always work, because it can get Tibby very excited OR she might not be into playing and she won’t go find me! One thing is – It helps me to know how she is feeling.
My Dad said he would add 2 2x4s to either side underneath the board and that should stop the bouncing. So hopefully we will get that done tonight."

So Proud

So maybe this isn't exciting to anyone else but me, but I think Tibby is a rock star!! Check out this video! We struggled for SO LONG with this sequence our first time through Silvia Trkman's class. Ok not actually this sequence, because I made it a little harder for Tibby. If I do the same sequence over and over again she stops paying attention and just takes whatever jump she thinks should come next.



I think she is awesome :) Sure I would like her to be faster, but I think that will come eventually. I know she has the speed, she just doesn't use it (for good - LOL!).

It has been such a long road for us. Considering that 6 months ago I couldn't get her to do anything and I didn't know anything about agility - we're doing pretty good.

As always I had to (stupidly) watch someone else's video (why do I do that?!?). A 7mo BC can do the whole sequence perfectly and super fast. Pfffft. Whatever. Tibby's not a BC.

Training Weaves and Stuff

Soooo we are taking the Silvia Trkman online Foundation class again. I'm not going to post the lessons, because they are (so far) exactly the same as last time. The previous lessons are in the side bar under ST Lessons.
Tibby and I have been training almost every day. The cooler weather or whatever it is has Tibby wound up. As in, I remember sleeping through the night....it was nice. Why is it that when I have a day off and want to sleep in Tibby wants to get up at 2am, 4am, 6am, 8am and PLAY!!! But when I have to go to work early....Tibby won't even get up to go pee. I had to carry her outside this morning. She was all - I'm a sack of rocks, can't stand up.
We have been working on a bunch of things. Weaves, back side of jumps (now Tibby thinks ALL jumps must be taken from the backside), RC.   I tried 2 methods with the weaves - Weave o Matics and the channel.  I guess I like the channel better, but the WOM helped Tibby to understand the idea of weaving better. 

My RC board is stupid. Too thin, bounces too much. Stupid board.

I think Tibby's weaving is great, so just watch that video.

We also just got a Manners Minder. Now what do I do with it? I did some weave pole training with it, but Tibby was faster with the ball.

ST Foundations Class - Lesson 6

Lesson 6 - LAST LESSON :( 
So sad that this class is over.  Happily we signed up for another Foundations class, so yay!  there will be many more videos of us learning agility.  LOL!  I'm sure you are all super happy about that!! 

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Your last homework already! Two more weeks left to catch up and then with October 3rd, this class is finished. If you want to keep working on Foundation stuff in a class form, you can join October Foundation class (that is repeat of this class) for a reduced price. If you want to take things further, you’re welcome to continue in Handling class that will start 31st of October, I’ll open the registration soon. In Handling class, I’ll be posting two different exercises for two different levels: the whole course for more experienced teams and shorter sections that will still be focusing on training to some degree for beginners.

1. sequence


Let’s check your stays. I usually train them away from agility until they are 100% with toys flying, dogs running around, me moving etc. -- and then just use them here and there also in agility: probably only for about 10% of sequences we run, to make sure I’m not given too many opportunities to ruin them In this sequence, you need a stay. Position your dog at the good angle to be on a good line for 2nd jump, go to your position and start. Choose how you want to handle it.

2. front, rear and blind crosses: as there were some questions on the crosses, I included a video with different crosses on the same sequence. Normally, I first do front crosses only (as I only do collection sequences) + blind crosses on tunnels, then add rear crosses on flat and at tunnels, then blind crosses and then rear crosses on jumps. So try rear cross on a tunnel and on flat first and if that goes well, try it on a jump: see the video -- just ignore the double tunnel, use a single tunnel of course, I just used whatever I already had in a set up. If you want (I’m not forcing anybody, I’m just including those as some participants were asking about them), you can try it with blind crosses too. Normally, I will choose the cross based on a situation: for collection, I will use a front cross OR, if I can’t get there in time, rear cross at the jump. For extension, I will choose blind cross OR, if I can’t get there, rear cross on flat. At trials, I do the most front crosses, then blinds and maybe one rear cross every 5 runs… Yeah, not big fan. But of course, it’s important the dogs know rear cross too as sometimes it is the only option!





You could of course run those sequences with front crosses only, I showed it with rear and blind crosses only as by now, I think we mastered the front crosses already, so we can try some rears and blinds (if you want).

3. send in your contacts, see-saw, weaves and multi-wraps (on your current height) work again to check how it’s going and to give you some suggestions on how to proceed after the class is finished.
Hope to see you in Handling Class!



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Silvia Trkman Agility Foundations Class Lesson 4

Lesson 4

1. straight line as a serpentine: now that you mastered straight lines too, it’s time to show the dog they can come in different forms Let’s try angling the jumps as you can see in a video, still working on extension vs. collection. Keep angling the jumps all the way to a serpentine. You should still throw in some wraps to keep them attentive to possible collection cues.
Showing the angling in 4 steps, but try to go even more gradually and make it a serpentine in 6 or 7 steps:



2 Sequencing



With long-strided dogs, 10 will be hard – so you can simply take the other entry instead.
3. let’s check how far you have got with weave entries: send in your “top 5″ – choose the 5 hardest entries your dog found, the 5 you are most proud of.

What I said, "I know you said to only send the best weaves, but we haven’t done them at all, so this is all the weaving we have done so far. I don’t really get what I’m supposed to be doing. I think I have to wait until she gets more commitment to doing them before I start with the distractions - right? The 2nd video is what we did today. Tibby was having so much fun! I’ve started doing a ‘dying rabbit’ sound that Tibby likes. Later in the day I tried to do the sequence, but Tibby was too tired. I think she likes the straight running parts the best. I left in a lot of the parts where we are playing.'

What Silvia said, "Yeap, for the weaves, you are trying too complicated stuff too early in the process. I would still work with something at the end for her to focus on and releasing her to it from very slight angles. With something at the end for her to focus on, you should be able to do some work for independence (doing different stuff when she is in), but you sure need something at the end for now to be able to do that. Rewarding from hand is not yet a good idea. And yes, she sure seemed to like that straight line! You can mostly work on that for now if that’s what she loves the most. Still, make sure to not do too much, I think two sessions per day, if they include more as for example one or two straight lines, are too much for her for now. Definitely don’t push her to do it if she doesn’t feel like it! "