Earlier in October we ran in our last AKC trial for the year. I do believe we are improving! We did three days total and came away with one qualifying Open Fast run and one Q in Excellent Standard. That Standard run didn't make it onto the video camera, sadly.
Indigo had a grand time.
She only appeared to be possessed in a few of the photos. See the drool?
Here is a just one "little" (ok, pretty large) thing Standard run that I was happy with other than how aweful she was at the start line, arguing with me about the stay. The error was taking the tunnel after the first few jumps and I am not sure how she saw that as an option!
She kept more bars up than she has in the past. And hopefully I am learning to run her better so she CAN keep the bars up!
Fat tail.
Here is a Novice Jumpers run in which I clearly called "come" in time, don't you think? We've been practicing coming sooner! She does try really hard to go the way I want her to it's just so hard when she just wants to stretch out and go as fast as she can. We almost had this one!
We get to do a Nadac trial this weekend. Can't wait to TUNNEL!!!
Yesterday Indi and I competed in our second Rally obedience trial together. It went pretty well! She wasn't 100% focused on me but I'd say she did very well overall. There were two trials in one day and we qualified in both of them earning our Rally Novice title.
The first run she was a little distracted but still payed close enough attention to me to get through. I decided to re do one station since she surged ahead when I stopped and I knew we could do better. We ended up with a score of 83 out of 100 and a second place.
My husband was nice enough to come watch and film us. At the 28 second mark you can see when Indi noticed her Daddy on the sidelines.
The second run seemed a little more together. We scored an 86 out of 100 and another second place. I debated re doing the very last station since she sat crooked in front of me and wasn't paying attention but decided to let that one go. Also, I totally didn't realize until watching these videos that on the figure 8 exercise I crossed the middle line four times instead of three, on both runs!
I have tried hard to only use force free training with her, using a tug toy, ball or food as a reward in training and I think the excitement of training together has transferred well into the ring. The few times she decides to sniff or do her own thing instead of work with me I either start again or just stop training. I don't know how well it will work when she is off leash for Rally Advanced but we will see!
Two weeks ago we competed in our first Rally Obedience trial together. I entered one day only since I didn't want to try and do agility and Rally at the same time. I didn't have a very clear idea of how she would do but we actually qualified! On the way into the ring she jumped up at me and was very excited, as in agility. I tried to have her sit in heel but she sat crooked and behind me. The judge asked if we were ready, I said uh, yes and then we started. I forgot to wait for the judge to tell us forward! She was nice and did not hold it against us. On the course Indi was very focused! I was impressed! Our only error was that she got up from her sit when I was walking around her in a sit stay. We didn't go back to fix it so we lost 10 points.
I'm a little afraid that this was just a fluke! Maybe next time in the ring she won't be so focused? Or maybe I have a really awesome dog! I really didn't expect her to be so focused in a new place with no toys or treats and no action of agility!
Then we went on to compete in our fifth and final AKC trial for the year. We got one Q in Novice fast for our second leg and.....that was it! On every other run we knocked a bar (or two).
However, that did not mean we didn't enjoy ourselves!
Indi continued her trend of not exactly waiting until my "ok" to leave the start line. Except for the last run of the weekend which was a Standard course where she did wait til my release word! It was a beautiful run, so very fast but alas we did not get it on tape and she knocked two bars right near the end. Here is our best Jumpers run. Our last chance at qualifying in Novice Jumpers for the year, failed because of one bar! Oh well!
Last weekend we drove the dogs to Pocatello Idaho for Indi's fourth AKC agility trial. Along the way we stopped at Massacre Rocks state park to let the dogs run. Such a cool spot!
Rye really does not like warm weather. For one thing he doesn't and has never handled the heat very well. For another, it seems the only thing we do when it's hot is throw a toy in the water for that black beast sister of his. He watches. He looks forlorn.
Cool weather makes Rye HAPPY!
He may be 12.5 years old but he has not slowed down at all if it's cold enough to run!
Then, on to agility...
Indi has decided FOR SURE that agility is the BEST THING EVER. All summer I have asked her to stay in various places, cementing it into her brain. She knows it very well! At our agility teacher's house she can stay. At the river she can stay. At the park. For dinner. Backyard. When we use the practice jump ringside, she can stay! As soon as we enter the ring, she can't stay anymore. I have turned into one of those handlers who walks slowly away from their dog at the start line, hand up, palm out, repeating No, sit! Stay! Stay! No, sit, stay! and then she goes...
I KNOW that the best thing probably would be to take her off course and waste the run and entry fee when she does that. That maybe it would teach her that she has to stay. The thought of doing that just breaks my heart! I don't think I am strong enough! She loves it so much that all she wants to do is be able to GO and for me to stop her I think would deflate her more than a little. I can't!
Also related to staying, she is not very solid on her two on two off contacts. She can somehow stay on the table!
This weekend was worse than previous on the stay subject but the best we have done so far together!
Indi tried out Novice Fast and got a Q. Got a Q and a first place in her first Open Standard class and another Q and first in Standard on Saturday. We still don't have any Novice Jumpers legs! Friday she was one knocked bar away from qualifying and Saturday, her genius handler sent her over a wrong jump. Both were beautiful runs even so.
She is beyond fun to run with!
Here is a video of our best run, Saturday's Open Standard.
Three weeks ago we competed in our third trial together. It was hot. 100 degrees and higher. We were indoors in an arena with a giant fan and nothing else. HOT! I hosed my dog down quite often. And myself.
My little girl was awesome. She did not seem to care how hot it was, she ran like she does in practice, fast. I think she has figured out the routine. We walk around a little together, eat some food, focus on each other, and then we enter THE RING. The ring means she gets to run and jump and have a blast. Then we run back to our crate, eat a little something special, get her ball and head outside to play.
On Friday she qualified in Standard for her second Q in Novice Standard. On Saturday we qualified in Standard again for our Novice Standard title! We were not perfect but they were minor errors. I am just so pleased that she is loving it so much! She was so eager to start on a few of our runs that I had to tell her to stay multiple times! I have been working very hard on our startline stays and it is still a challenge.
Here she is leaping the broad jump with a sparkle in her eye. I am in love with her gigantic feet! I call them landing pads.
Here is the non qualifying Jumpers run that ended our weekend. It was my favorite. We have yet to qualify once in Jumpers! Our qualifying Standard run was just not very pretty, even if it did win us a title! We need to work on commiting to each jump, it seems to be our issue. She did not knock a single bar either day and I had originally thought that would be our "issue".
My black dog ran in her first and second agility trials this month. We have lots more to work on but she did very well for her first time out.
Our very first run was perfect, nice and smooth. Though I did cut it a little close on the blind cross after the chute! I'm still not super great at judging when it is safe to use a blind.
We knocked a few bars and went around a few jumps on the next runs so did not qualify.
Last run of the two day trial, I think Indi's brain was tired. She started out well and then wanted to play. She jumped up at me to try and bite my hat strings and just didn't cooperate on a few sections of the course.
Here is that video. It is entertaining!
Overall I loved her enthusiasm and I know she enjoyed herself, as did I! I haven't worked that hard on making practice JUST like a trial in that her reward comes after we leave the course, after we put the leash back on. So that was new for her. I used a tug toy to warm her up which she actually wasn't crazy into like she is in practice and I used food as a reward at the end. In practice I have been using a combination of ball/tug/food but to be honest, mostly ball since it is her favorite. She has a lot of drive for the obstacles themselves in practice and I think it has transferred fairly well into the trial ring.
Neither Amber nor Rye would ever accept a tug toy as a reward in a trial environment, it was always food. With Indi's tug drive in practice I thought she would for sure play with me as a reward but we haven't got to that point quite yet apparently! And a ball tossed to her while she is on leash is just....underwhelming...
She is so much fun to train. It is a high, running with her.
We have one last show for the summer coming up this weekend, wish us luck!
Indi and I have been taking a CGC class the last six weeks. The first two classes were really hard. It seems to take Indi a little bit of time to be comfortable in a new setting with dogs and people all around. Somehow, agility is different. Agility is definitely it's own reward for her, but being on leash and focusing on me is just not. After those first two weeks she settled in and did really well, heeling nicely, giving me very good attention. She could heel right next to another dog and human team looking up at me, it was awesome.
The hardest thing in class has been the approach by our instructor and then the "handling". She has to stay semi still and let a person run their hands over her, lift her feet, check her ears. A simulated vet visit. She is super wiggly when she knows someone and just wants to be in their faces. Holding still is very very hard. It is even hard for her to heel up to and then stop next to the instructor so that I can shake hands. I was honestly not sure that we could pass the test.
So I am VERY proud to say that she did pass! She wasn't perfect but she completed each section of the test well enough to pass. On the stand for exam she flopped over on her side and started rolling in the grass and biting her leash. I got her up again and then she did well. She heeled beautifully! Heeling through a crowd and around other dogs without a second thought. The obedience portion was easy.
The other part I wish she had behaved better on was the supervised separation. The instructor takes her leash while I go out of site for 3 minutes. I watched her from behind my hiding spot and she stayed in position for about a minute before getting up and sniffing around, jumping up on the instructor, pulling a little towards another dog. But still, she passed. The point of this exercise is that your dog is comfortable with you leaving them for a period of time.
So here she is, my "good" citizen!
I realize she is still very young so I shouldn't expect her to be perfect. I was a little surprised we passed but proud of the good moments!
I really am very proud of her in general. She is so good off leash and listens to me so well. The thing she needs work on is meeting people she knows without leaping on them!
And he hasn't competed in AKC all year. That's pretty sad for English Setters! Still very proud to get this in the mail! Wish we could go!
I did not accurately judge Rye's separation anxiety when I took him to the 2010 Invitational. At shows previously I always had Amber there with him and he was fine when she was in the kennel with him (yes, they snuggled close) or out with me. I knew he disliked being in a kennel alone but was always able to manage it. At the Invitational, I took Rye alone and he chewed a hole in the back of his soft crate while I was walking the course. He was then too anxious to have any sort of fun on the courses. We qualified once out of 4 runs.
My Snoop Dog. So full of life and joy! Always wagged his tail while running a course.
"I'm running for the chicken hearts and the hard boiled eggs!"
