Ok so little update on her training first off...
Well we got back a few hours ago from class tonight and she's doing great(this was our 11th)! She is officially weaving 6 poles(not that she couldn't do it before), her contacts(2o2o) are coming along pretty well however it needs a bit of work, she is in love with the tunnel, and tonight we had our first intro to the chute and she did great with it.
just for a little more in depth...
Her teeter is ok. We're using a full height one and so far I can get her all the way to the other end (our teacher is standing on the end of the plank to keep it from tipping) and she was doing great with that, but then we added a bit of a wobble I guess and it spooked her. So we're starting from the beginning again. Though that happened at a previous class(3 weeks ago) and the last week she was to stressed so I ended early without even bothering with the teeter because she was just done and tonight they weren't out. So not entirely sure how much the wobbling really affected her...
Her tunnel is epic. At our class about 3-4 weeks ago she refused to sniff it let alone run through it, but amazingly at the class the following week(so about 2 weeks ago) she powered through the tunnel and it was even bent at an angle and she was like pfft piece of cake. And now she seems to love it. She's got amazing drive through it and we were able to do a few jump/tunnel reps with her tonight. I personally was extremely surprised because she went from terrified to absloutely loving it and the only time she's seen tunnels are at class so I never worked with her fear on it, but she loves it now.
Her chute is great. Tonight was the first night and she wasn't fearful at all. In fact the second she was at the beginning with our instructor she headed inside more so because she just wanted to get as far away from her as fast as possible(long story), but she was having fun running through and her tail was going and she was just a happy dog...
Anywho up until last week all of our classes had been indoors, but last monday we had our first outdoor class and she was a mess. It really stressed her out and she just could not focus and every time I had her off leash she would bail and head for the gate. So I ended class early with her and did some massaging and just let her chill in the crating area. But tonight we had indoors and she was amazing again. She wasn't stressed and extremely well focused, but next week is outdoors so might have the stress issue again.
At any rate onto tonight. Well she was intro'd to the chute and did great She loves our instructor when I'm holding the lead, but the second she takes it Abby just wants nothing to do with her *sigh* which is in a way is kinda good as far as when we were intro-ing to the chute and tunnel because she just wanted to get away from her as fast as possible and well yeah....
Anywho towards the end of our class one of our instructors brought over the third set of 2x2's and worked with us a bit and within seconds she was weaving all 6 poles. Her entries are pretty solid and she only popped out once and that was my fault because I patted my leg and broke her concentration so she popped and came straight to me. Then we spent like 10 minutes talking about weave poles and Abby and I demoed her mad skill and with our instructor we went step by step on how we trained the weaves.
And afterwards they said we could technically start trialling in AKC novice jumpers courses since it's just jumps and weaves and since she has solid weaves they think we can do it, but they recommend waiting a few more months just so we can proof her weaves and work a bit more on the handling aspect since up until now we've just really been doing foundation work. But one of my instructors said I could go ahead and get her registered with AKC canine partners. And they said I could enter her in a trial or fun match just to get her used to trialling etc. I really wasn't planning to trial till towards the end of next year, but if I can I would so do it in a few months granted she's ready(and just jumpers for now since her contacts aren't exactly ready)
So there are 2 trials next year one in April and one in May. So we'll see how things go and I'll chat with my instructors closer to when I have to send in my entries and if they think it's a good idea I'll sign up and run a few novice jumpers courses. Also another deciding factor is if I actually have my driver's license. I've been talking about getting it for forever, but still haven't gotten that done. Hopefully by January though, but if I can I will go to the New Years USDAA trial that our club is hosting just to watch and get her used to the trial environment.
At any rate she's doing great and coming along wonderfully. ..
Well we got back a few hours ago from class tonight and she's doing great(this was our 11th)! She is officially weaving 6 poles(not that she couldn't do it before), her contacts(2o2o) are coming along pretty well however it needs a bit of work, she is in love with the tunnel, and tonight we had our first intro to the chute and she did great with it.
just for a little more in depth...
Her teeter is ok. We're using a full height one and so far I can get her all the way to the other end (our teacher is standing on the end of the plank to keep it from tipping) and she was doing great with that, but then we added a bit of a wobble I guess and it spooked her. So we're starting from the beginning again. Though that happened at a previous class(3 weeks ago) and the last week she was to stressed so I ended early without even bothering with the teeter because she was just done and tonight they weren't out. So not entirely sure how much the wobbling really affected her...
Her tunnel is epic. At our class about 3-4 weeks ago she refused to sniff it let alone run through it, but amazingly at the class the following week(so about 2 weeks ago) she powered through the tunnel and it was even bent at an angle and she was like pfft piece of cake. And now she seems to love it. She's got amazing drive through it and we were able to do a few jump/tunnel reps with her tonight. I personally was extremely surprised because she went from terrified to absloutely loving it and the only time she's seen tunnels are at class so I never worked with her fear on it, but she loves it now.
Her chute is great. Tonight was the first night and she wasn't fearful at all. In fact the second she was at the beginning with our instructor she headed inside more so because she just wanted to get as far away from her as fast as possible(long story), but she was having fun running through and her tail was going and she was just a happy dog...
Anywho up until last week all of our classes had been indoors, but last monday we had our first outdoor class and she was a mess. It really stressed her out and she just could not focus and every time I had her off leash she would bail and head for the gate. So I ended class early with her and did some massaging and just let her chill in the crating area. But tonight we had indoors and she was amazing again. She wasn't stressed and extremely well focused, but next week is outdoors so might have the stress issue again.
At any rate onto tonight. Well she was intro'd to the chute and did great She loves our instructor when I'm holding the lead, but the second she takes it Abby just wants nothing to do with her *sigh* which is in a way is kinda good as far as when we were intro-ing to the chute and tunnel because she just wanted to get away from her as fast as possible and well yeah....
Anywho towards the end of our class one of our instructors brought over the third set of 2x2's and worked with us a bit and within seconds she was weaving all 6 poles. Her entries are pretty solid and she only popped out once and that was my fault because I patted my leg and broke her concentration so she popped and came straight to me. Then we spent like 10 minutes talking about weave poles and Abby and I demoed her mad skill and with our instructor we went step by step on how we trained the weaves.
And afterwards they said we could technically start trialling in AKC novice jumpers courses since it's just jumps and weaves and since she has solid weaves they think we can do it, but they recommend waiting a few more months just so we can proof her weaves and work a bit more on the handling aspect since up until now we've just really been doing foundation work. But one of my instructors said I could go ahead and get her registered with AKC canine partners. And they said I could enter her in a trial or fun match just to get her used to trialling etc. I really wasn't planning to trial till towards the end of next year, but if I can I would so do it in a few months granted she's ready(and just jumpers for now since her contacts aren't exactly ready)
So there are 2 trials next year one in April and one in May. So we'll see how things go and I'll chat with my instructors closer to when I have to send in my entries and if they think it's a good idea I'll sign up and run a few novice jumpers courses. Also another deciding factor is if I actually have my driver's license. I've been talking about getting it for forever, but still haven't gotten that done. Hopefully by January though, but if I can I will go to the New Years USDAA trial that our club is hosting just to watch and get her used to the trial environment.
At any rate she's doing great and coming along wonderfully. ..
For now here's a pic of Abby at class from a few weeks ago that I never posted. Only good pic I could get from my phone
