Teeter and the Rush

We are going to have a competition sized metal teeter soon! :D

It has been cold and snowy so we haven't done a whole lot of training.

I am just wondering what the point of doing agility with puppies is. Why the hurry? Just because you are allowed to start competing with pups around 18 months of age doesn't mean you have to. I personally don't like seeing people put their 10 month old puppy on a full sized teeter. The same goes for people who are running 12 week old puppies across a board. If you do all the foundation needed, then you shouldn't have to start obstacles early. Lay your foundation correctly and the obstacles will come very quickly once your dog is ready for them. Also, why work weaves [even entries!] before the dog is a year? The 2x2 method usually takes under a month to train so if you start at 15 months you will have decent weaves at the age of 16 months...isn't that good enough? Sometimes I wonder why people originally got their puppy...to do agility or because they wanted a dog to bond with and love. Because not letting puppies be puppies and have fun is seriously contradicting of people who claim the latter.

Li is old enough to compete in February and Flick is already old enough. But I will wait for Summer for Li and at least March for Flick. For many of the people [especially novice/intermediate people] who want to trial as soon as possible, it makes it seem like they are excited for themselves, not for the dogs. I also don't really understand planning goals like "Go to nationals" or "make the world team" before you compete with your dog. Some people even set these goals before they get a dog! I am not talking about specific people. I have just run into some people with this thought process and have slapped my little sister on the side of the head for saying such things, haha.

Goals for December/January/February

Flick
-Stand stay
-Left and Right
-Cik/Cap/Out
-Running contacts at 2 feet high
-6 weaves with entries
-Default down on the table
-Away and Swing
-Solid recall

Li
-Left and Right
-Better Cik/Cap/Out
-Contacts at 3 feet high
-6 weaves with entries
-Default down on table
-Solid Recall
-Away and Swing
-Better behaviour around people and animals

Libby
-Left and Right
-Cik/Cap/Out
-Contacts at table height
-4 weaves
-Default down on table
-Away and swing
-Solid recall: Big one for us!

Shadow
-4oTF contacts on Dog Walk and A-Frame
-6 weaves
-Cik/Cap/Out
-Default down on table
-Solid recall
-Away and Swing

Winter

And with the first snow, winter is officially here. Karyn and I packed up some agility stuff today: the PVC channel weaves, a jump, a tire, the chute, the pipe tunnels, etc. I got my winter training set up! In the garage I have a jump and 1 sets of 2x2 weaves for entry work. On the big back porch I have a jump and 2 2x2 sets for weave work. We have a fenced in area I was using as a contact training area. Well, it is so big that now I have some equipment down there to train Libby. She can't work outside that pen because she will take off....it's a husky thing, don't judge us. haha So now we can work on her sliding table and cik/cap/out using a winged jump. I also have an 8' plank and a 12' plank down there for dog walk running contact training. I also have an 8' long, 3 foot wide thing to work on A-Frame contacts with when we get to that point. The dog walk is the only thing left in the original field, haha. It has no up-plank though....we are just using it for Shadow's 4 on the floor training.

The dogs are doing good and I'll be training all 4 later today.

December

It is almost December an November was honestly disappointing. We didn't train much but I have to admit that they were pretty good when we did get a chance to test their skills. This month I'm working on the basics since we can't do much in the snow that will be coming so soon. I want to work inside to get better weaves with moe distractions. I also want to teach all three dogs verbal only cik and cap commands. [verbal override- no body language is taken into consideration when I say cik or cap] Lastly, we will continue with runing contacts but my only goal is to get them all up to 1 foot high.

-Ria

Training...or lack thereof?

Sorry to update again today but it isn't like anyone reads this anyway. I'm too scared to give out the link because I'm pretty opinionated on PyreSheps and don't like to get chewed out. xD

I worked with Li and Flick today. I took Lib down to the contact training field and she didn't really want to work today so we didn't train, we just ran around and played, lol. It is really muddy and wet out.
Li had some awesome running contacts. I'm just running him on Libby's flat board because I am too lazy to constantly prop it up then take it down. It wouldn't hurt him to take it slow at Libby's pace anyway. We aren't competing until at least next Spring so we have tones of time to take it slow and get it perfect.
I worked mainly sequencing with Flick. She was very good! She needs to read my body language a little better but once she has her verbal directionals down body language won't matter as much anyway. I'm one to teach a verbal command for every behaviour and then practice them until they are under stimulus control rather than be silent throughout the course and rely on mostly body language and wonder why my dog took the wrong obstacle when my foot was out of place or something, lol.
I'm not setting specific goals currently, I'm just going with the flow. I am thinking I will try to start trialing Li early next year, Flick in the middle of next year, and Libby at the end of next year/2011. Li is going to be easy to prepare. Flick will be easy once we get to know each other better. And Libby might take a while to learn everything I want her to. Sure, I could forget cik&cap, running contacts, left and right, etc but then it isn't very fun in the long run for her or me, lol.

-Ria

Weaves

I'm so excited with how Flick's and Li's weaves are coming!

You can see how Li's weaves are set up at the right. I have a set of 6 with the entries straight and the middle slanted a bit. I'm using my channel set for that. Then I have two pairs of 2x2 weaves in front of the table. I am working on standing anywhere I want in that area and sending him to either set of weaves from the table or the other set of weaves. He is doing fantastic with minimal missed entries. He is showing great enthusiasm and is single stepping, just plowing through the weaves like a maniac. haha I am also practicing not only sending him from a distance but sending him from one side, then back crossing and passing him. He never pops out. :D


At the right, you can see how I have Flick's weaves set up. I'm working her from the table to the weaves and from the weaves to the table. The three reasons for this are:
1) The table is her favourite obstacle so it keeps her motivated
2) She is coming from the table at a stand still, and she knows she will have to stop on the table going at it so she doesn't accelerate too much as to stop thinking and miss the weaves entry. Once it becomes second nature to her, then I'll start adding more difficult, faster obstacles into the mix.
3) I get to simultaneously work on her default down on the table as well as her weaves without splitting it into two different session! haha
I am also working on sending her from a distance and have gotten up to 20 feet away!

Useless Updates

Yeah.
I emailed Silvia Trkman a few weeks ago but I probably won't get a reply until January...November and December are busy months for her I expect. I have been working with Flick with agility foundations...any level of drive she had when sent to me has been seemingly tripled! She is so insanely crazy awesome. Li is weaving 6 poles now but we are working on entries from any angle and also not popping out when I run past or do a cross. I am mostly working with Li trying to get him to not chase the Donkey. That uses most of our training treats/time for the day.

Once I can afford it, I'll be fencing in the dog field. Heh, I need to get my homework done so I can go to my dad's work to learn a job so that I can make money so that I can fence in the agility field. That is my incentive to do homework, like it?

Libby, my Siberian, is doing well. I am just working with her in our tiny little garage. It is a 4 car garage [2 wide and 2 1/2 deep] but with everyone's junk in there, we only have about the space of a 2 car garage. I am working on waits, tricks, and recalls...all that delicious foundational junk. I am reminded why I adore PyreSheps. Anything I have to spell out for Flick and Libby, Li does naturally with no training at all, lol.

I've not been having a good time in the past few weeks with dog people. First, the run in with my mentor. The great battle of trying to get papers from Li's breeder. Arguing with people about show vs. working on almost every website/list/forum I am a member of. Being put of by the fact that not only is Li's breeder breeding a DOUBLE MERLE but that the dog in question is only a year old. That means that there has been no OFA certifications as the minimum age for that is 2 years. If you want a PyreShep, just go to Europe, lol. Less drama. Anyway, one USA breeder I -would- recommend is Bien Aime. She loves the breed, doesn't dock/crop, and has outstanding temperaments. *cough*And she doesn't keep her dogs in bad conditions*cough*

-Ria