Agility training
- Thread starter Panzerotti
- Start date
I am just so incredibly happy with Gusto lately. I have no idea if any of the joy and drive and lack of stress will ever transfer over to trialling, but he has just been fantastic to train the last few months. I've felt so much guilt for the last year, that I'd ruined him and didn't recognize his stress and just felt hopeless. And now I grin for an hour straight every time we train.
That's great! Just keep up the good work with him and don't even worry about trialing him. I WOULD take him to the trial environment still and just work on chilling and playing fun games, taking food, meeting people, etc. But no agility. Let him watch the other dogs getting to have fun in the ring while he doesn't. Maybe he'll get jealous. And maybe one day down the road he'll be comfortable enough to trial again, but for now separate trials and agility for him and see if he can just become comfortable with the environment. That would be my plan anyway if I had a dog with that kind of issue. I may or may not know what I'm talking about. :lol-sign:
Retiring Auggie did wonders for his stress at trials, no joke. He is such a little s*@) when we are at trials now. I don't know if I will ever officially bring him out of retirement or not, but when I do run him these days, he runs with joys. I really do think taking the pressure off (for both you and the dog) makes a huge difference.
Payton's CPE papers are going in the mail today. I don't know when we'll be able to actually do any CPE... I'm mostly looking at being able to do DOS entries this winter, if the weather is nice we'll get up and go rather than rolling the dice on entering an AKC trial ahead of time and then losing our entry fee if we get snowed in - but we are SO CLOSE on finally getting my house ready for me to move into, my weekends are probably going to be really devoted to that. Urgh.
Payton's CPE papers are going in the mail today. I don't know when we'll be able to actually do any CPE... I'm mostly looking at being able to do DOS entries this winter, if the weather is nice we'll get up and go rather than rolling the dice on entering an AKC trial ahead of time and then losing our entry fee if we get snowed in - but we are SO CLOSE on finally getting my house ready for me to move into, my weekends are probably going to be really devoted to that. Urgh.
Luckily (or not, because I think it makes it harder to work on), Gusto's trial stress is 100% ring stress. He's been hanging out at trials since he was about 7 weeks old, and is confident and happy outside the ring. Easily transitions from toy to food to play with just me and back again. I think me (unintentionally) ignoring his stress in class for so long just transitioned to the equipment in general. We are basically 6 months into a trialling hiatus (other than doing a bit of CPE so he can practice fast, easy, fun courses at a trial). He's entered in another day of level 1 CPE at the end of this month, and depending on how that goes, hopefully will get back to USDAA in February. And since he started lessons in a new place, and got back to the barn for winter practice, I've seen zero stress from him. He used to just check out mentally in classes even. Poor bud.
On a happy note, Hank is starting to get on the equipment slowly and he's a lot of fun! Today we had a great GREAT class where he completely rocked his ciks/caps around a jump wing (well we say left/right cause I can't remember cik and sap). We did crate games, which... I should work on more LOL. Introduced him to a low a-frame, wobble board, and a plank to start contact behaviors. Completely unafraid of anything! He launched himself off the wobble board at my friend/trainer's face. He was a jerk when we went to use him as the demo dog. He also got the 'idiot dog' zoomies as I like to call them while demoing. You know... the zoomines where they splay their legs out and bounce and look like morons? LOL He was so proud of himself when the trainer was praising him. We did a lot of playing games and he was tugging very well and chasing his toys
And then afterwards he and my friend in my class's golden sprinted all over a huge field and ended up covered in mud. Hank found the nasty water trough and laid in it despite it being 43F outside.
He's a lot of fun.
He's also not gun shy which is good. I was wondering how he'd handle hunters but some guys were training pointers in one field and shooting really close to us after class and he was fine. Not even a blink.
And then afterwards he and my friend in my class's golden sprinted all over a huge field and ended up covered in mud. Hank found the nasty water trough and laid in it despite it being 43F outside.
He's a lot of fun.
He's also not gun shy which is good. I was wondering how he'd handle hunters but some guys were training pointers in one field and shooting really close to us after class and he was fine. Not even a blink.
JWW - Crazy face. 
I over-handled a bit to avoid the wrong end of the tunnels but overall we had fun. No Q because Mimi decided only HALF the second tunnel was necessary. Perfect weave entries, all 12 weaves and awesome distance work.
Standard - it wasn't a pretty Q, but it was a Q! It was actually a good run.. off course at the tire jump.. not through the tire jump.. but over the anchoring on the upper left quarter of it. Seriously dog? You want to jump OVER the tire? Busted the tire apart, but that doesn't count if you weren't supposed to be doing the obstacle in the first place.. lol Recalled her, stuck her through the chute, and the rest was awesome!
I over-handled a bit to avoid the wrong end of the tunnels but overall we had fun. No Q because Mimi decided only HALF the second tunnel was necessary. Perfect weave entries, all 12 weaves and awesome distance work.Standard - it wasn't a pretty Q, but it was a Q! It was actually a good run.. off course at the tire jump.. not through the tire jump.. but over the anchoring on the upper left quarter of it. Seriously dog? You want to jump OVER the tire? Busted the tire apart, but that doesn't count if you weren't supposed to be doing the obstacle in the first place.. lol Recalled her, stuck her through the chute, and the rest was awesome!
Well I ran Summer today. She was just so excited to be there and so we decided to try it.
She was amazing and full of beans! Omg. We did 4 runs but only Q'd in one. The first one I WISH I had on video. It was HILARIOUS. She had a ball and was just flying and happy and thrilled with herself. I think she took like 4 extra jumps. lol Said hi to the judge. Lots of good stuff.
She did Q in the distance games. Idk how many Q's that makes towards her TMAG. I've lost count. But she had fun and that's what I wanted to see. Everyone was very supportive knowing what she's been going through lately.
Played with Hank a lot today and he's awesome. It's kind of cool to have a dog that works his heart out for stupid things like... a plastic bag and a pinecone.
He did some great stays in the ring after the trial while people were putting things up. I was really proud of how collected he was. Did some tunnels like a pro, tugged like crazy. Recalled well to his tug. He played with lots of dogs and did well. Particularly loves this Icelandic sheepdog who is around 1 1/2 years. They are perfectly matched in size and play style.
She was amazing and full of beans! Omg. We did 4 runs but only Q'd in one. The first one I WISH I had on video. It was HILARIOUS. She had a ball and was just flying and happy and thrilled with herself. I think she took like 4 extra jumps. lol Said hi to the judge. Lots of good stuff.
She did Q in the distance games. Idk how many Q's that makes towards her TMAG. I've lost count. But she had fun and that's what I wanted to see. Everyone was very supportive knowing what she's been going through lately.
Played with Hank a lot today and he's awesome. It's kind of cool to have a dog that works his heart out for stupid things like... a plastic bag and a pinecone.
He did some great stays in the ring after the trial while people were putting things up. I was really proud of how collected he was. Did some tunnels like a pro, tugged like crazy. Recalled well to his tug. He played with lots of dogs and did well. Particularly loves this Icelandic sheepdog who is around 1 1/2 years. They are perfectly matched in size and play style.
So, I have inadvertently created a bad habit of Squash looking at me/my hands when he takes jumps. And since he is big enough that plowing through/knocking bars isn't a hindrance to him (and it's not scary to him, either), he doesn't care.
I'm going to start using only verbal cues instead of hand gestures for jumps, practice sending him ahead over jumps, and being more careful when/how I treat. Any other advice?
I'm going to start using only verbal cues instead of hand gestures for jumps, practice sending him ahead over jumps, and being more careful when/how I treat. Any other advice?
Will he run ahead to a toy laying on the ground? So you stand still in front of the jump with him at your side, holding his collar. Throw the toy (or bait bag, or whatever he likes) over the jump, wait for it to land, and, while he's focused on the toy, let go and give him your jump cue while you stay still. Once he's over the jump and at the toy, you run up and play with him (or open the bait bag for his treat, whichever you use).
I'd also do the opposite if you have a stay on him (or if you have someone who can hold him if needed). Set him up in front of the jump, tell him to stay, lead out to a few feet past the jump, drop the toy right next to you, then release him to it. Stay still until he gets the toy, then play/open to treat/whatever.
Basically, I'd find a way to take your movement completely out of the equation at this point, and just work on "focus forward, take the jump".
I'd also do the opposite if you have a stay on him (or if you have someone who can hold him if needed). Set him up in front of the jump, tell him to stay, lead out to a few feet past the jump, drop the toy right next to you, then release him to it. Stay still until he gets the toy, then play/open to treat/whatever.
Basically, I'd find a way to take your movement completely out of the equation at this point, and just work on "focus forward, take the jump".
The big trick here is getting food off your body. It's all about reward placement. Even if you use verbals and keep rewarding at your body, he will keep turning into you.
Typically people throw the reward out at the end of the drill/sequence/obstacle you're working on. Toys if they'll tug, or a bait bag or treat toy to deliver a reward at once you catch up to them. It might take him a little time to get used to it, but if you keep reward placement out there, he'll get the hang of it and start driving forward. You'll also find he picks up speed a little bit.
For an idea of what it looks like... I'm pretty sure I'm just throwing big chunks of treat in this to keep him calm, usually I throw a toy.. But it illustrates timing at least. I wouldn't throw food (not in a toy/bait bag) unless you are on your own property and know you don't have a sniffy dog.
http://youtu.be/NhYngHCSZvc
Typically people throw the reward out at the end of the drill/sequence/obstacle you're working on. Toys if they'll tug, or a bait bag or treat toy to deliver a reward at once you catch up to them. It might take him a little time to get used to it, but if you keep reward placement out there, he'll get the hang of it and start driving forward. You'll also find he picks up speed a little bit.
For an idea of what it looks like... I'm pretty sure I'm just throwing big chunks of treat in this to keep him calm, usually I throw a toy.. But it illustrates timing at least. I wouldn't throw food (not in a toy/bait bag) unless you are on your own property and know you don't have a sniffy dog.
http://youtu.be/NhYngHCSZvc
Yea, my mistake was definitely sometimes feeding him out of my hand (for a variety of reasons I won't belabor) at home instead of throwing the treat ahead like I do in class, and it burrowed deep into his databanks and took hold. Stupid lazy handler.
He's not very focused on toys, unfortunately, but he will target an object like a tupperware lid or whatever so I can try that.
He's not very focused on toys, unfortunately, but he will target an object like a tupperware lid or whatever so I can try that.