Gone to the Dogs - Skyrocket Agility and Cockers

Novice and Open

2011-07-05T18:32:00.002-04:00

Novice and Open

2011-06-28T13:48:00.001-04:00

Masters and Agility 4

2011-06-22T15:32:00.000-04:00

Novice and Open

2011-06-21T16:02:00.000-04:00

Advanced and Ag4

2011-06-08T14:45:00.000-04:00

Novice and Open

2011-06-07T16:41:00.000-04:00

Masters and Agility 4

2011-04-27T13:06:00.000-04:00

Novice and Open

2011-04-26T16:30:00.001-04:00

Masters and Agility 4

2011-04-20T10:11:00.000-04:00

Novice and Open

2011-04-19T16:12:00.001-04:00

Agility 4 and Masters

2011-04-13T13:30:00.002-04:00

Novice and Open

2011-04-12T15:14:00.000-04:00

you know the drill!

Novice and Open and ag 4 and Masters

2011-04-05T18:56:00.000-04:00

Nationals Friday

2011-04-01T21:41:00.000-04:00

Dice is running great. i messed her up in JWW, but she did a beautiul threadle..
Standard she rocked in. She is sleep next to me now....

Nationals Thursday

2011-03-31T21:41:00.001-04:00

Dice, not being crazy after being bribed by a chewy

So drove down, settling in the hotel. I always forget how much time I spend talking at Nationals, bumping into people I know. Girls had fun doing major bed wallowing, and the even more fun jumping from one bed to the other, over and over....
Trip my friend's cocker was a bit taken aback by their craziness. He's very dignified...

We really don't have any goals for this nationals. Dice has been back and forth with injuries.
I guess we do have a goal - to enjoy each and every run....

Advanced and Ag4

2011-03-30T01:35:00.002-04:00

Novice and Open

2011-03-29T13:10:00.002-04:00

Advice from the crowd - What was the best piece of advice you were given when you started trialling?

2011-03-25T12:02:00.002-04:00

What was the best piece of advice you were given when you started trialling?

- Make a personal goal with your dog. Meet that goal and your weekend is successful, whether you qualify or not. Maureen O'Donnell Burke

-‎ 1. Remember, your dog didn't fill in the entry form, you did. It's a GAME. Enjoy it. 2. Remember to breathe. Especially once you leave the Start line. 3. Repeat #1 and 2 as needed! Cathy Ammlung

- Before you enter a trial, go to one and volunteer to work. It gives you a good idea of how things run. Diann Gastley

- Dogs are born with all the legs they will need. Sharon Harrell

- It is the handler, and not the dog that makes the mistakes on the course. Don't get mad at the dog!! Leona Hellesvig

- Agility isn't world peace." Maybe even more current today than back in the early 90s when I first heard Julie Daniels say it. In other words - it's a GAME, enjoy yourself, have fun, but don't take it too seriously. Lynda Oleksuk

-Have fun with your dog. He/she doesn't know if you've made a mistake. Susan Dickerson

-‎"Smile at my dog when we're at the start line." I was amazed at how much difference that small act made. I hadn't realized how nervous I was and how it stressed my dog. Just smiling at her helped us both. Got that great tidbit from Barb Davis. Lori Sage

-Don't have great expectations, other than to have a great time with your dog! Melanie Behrens

- It's not cancer research, it's a game. It's not to be taken seriously. Ginny Myers

‎- 1: Go See What a Trial is Like & VOLUNTEER at One First; 2: It's a TEAM Sport and BOTH Players Must Be Ready To Compete; 3: It IS About Fun ... Set a Realistic Goal and Remember, the First Time Out is to Just See Where You Are. Joy Disipio

- When I was down about a last jump glitch that I handled badly: PERSON: " How long have you been trialing in agility? ME: About 2 years. PERSON: Don't be so hard on yourself. You're still green." Taught me not to expect too much, too soon. Sherry Rifley

Night before trial, make a check list of items you'd like to take; get a good night sleep. Ruth Sweet

"Life is lived in the process, not just the end product; enjoy the journey!" Fun, friends, play, and canine partners--a clean run is a cherry on top of a life lived well. Ruth Sweet

And Erica Ferland wrote a whole series on her blog on it.

Cool websites of the Day

2011-03-23T11:04:00.000-04:00

Top Documentary Films - Watch Free Documentaries Online

I love documentaries, and I love free.

Beliefs About Memory Are Often Wrong | Psych Central News

2011-03-23T10:49:00.000-04:00

Or why you forget that "easy" course.

Things that feel easier to process we think we will remember better - but we don't. (People think they will remember list of words in a large font, and are less confident when given a list in a small font. The difficulty of reading the small font keeps us from getting overconfident).

Repeated study is actually much more effective than how easy the information is to take in.

Beliefs About Memory Are Often Wrong | Psych Central News

Agility 4 and Masters

2011-03-23T10:00:00.001-04:00

Novice and Open

2011-03-22T16:18:00.000-04:00

Great free-style - MARY RAY CRUFTS 2011

2011-03-17T15:13:00.001-04:00

YouTube - MARY RAY CRUFTS 2011

Lots of neat tricks!!

I am busy teaching some new ones to my crew.

Agility 4 and Advanced

2011-03-16T17:24:00.002-04:00

Novice and Open

2011-03-15T15:41:00.002-04:00

Thunder Phobia

2011-03-07T12:18:00.001-05:00

This was a quick write-up I did as I have a couple of students asking me about how to help their thunder phobic dogs....

Short term:

Try putting them in a blanket covered crate. Often it's hiding in a small space they are looking for. I also play the radio loud to help "mask" the thunder. Be sure to play the music at times other than thunderstorms though!

If they will eat I give them really great chewies (kong stuffed with Frozen PB and hot dog pieces).

Long term

Thunder phobia is very common in herding dogs - Tracer hides under the bed during fireworks, thunderstorms, or gunshots. It's also unfortunately fairly resistant to training - They are so scared they can't think, which is a bad training set-up. Stress inhibits learning.

Some people have had luck with desensitizing using tapes of thunderstorms. You get a tape of thunderstorm noises, play it at low volume while rewarding with food, and build up gradually. A GREAT suggestion from Gail Storm was also using a camera flash to simulate lighting - i.e. take a picture with flash, give a cookie, repeat...

http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=dtb818

There are some anxiety wraps, and Thundershirts, which work for some dogs.

There is Rescue remedy, a herbal that works for some dogs. Valerian root, and melatonin are also worth trying.

What I recommend in cases of severe thunder phobia is a visit to your vet for medication.

Disclaimer: I AM NOT A VET.

Information below is to give you a basis to talk to you health care professional about what is right for your dog.

There are two ways to go - Anti-anxiety drugs (Colmicalm, or Xanax, my preference) or sedatives (Ace, which I dislike, or my preference, one of the longer acting valium drug, Traxane).

Ideally, if the drugs can get them calm enough for you to work on desensitizing, you can make more progress (NOTE: You can't train a dog on Ace as it blocks the formation of new associations).

Really like Xanax plus desensitization/counter conditioning.

If they are at the risk of doing harm to themselves or to you while panicking, please consider sedation. this doesn't solve the problem, but it can manage it. I know a lot of people don't want to sedate their dog during a thunderstorm, but he is scared out of his mind the whole time. If you know one is coming, you can give him something, and it will spare him a horrible experience.

Ideally, if the drugs can get them calm enough for you to work on desensitizing, you can make more progress (NOTE: You can't train a dog on Ace as it blocks the formation of new associations).

Plus you then have classical conditioning working for you:

Really interesting bit at the end

http://davidtoddsingleton.com/Documents/STORM%20AND%20NOISE%20PHODIAS-DOGS.pdf

Teaching - Metaphors

2011-03-07T08:54:00.001-05:00

I love metaphors in teaching. I think it really helps students understand concepts, but perhaps more importantly metaphors can sell them on your point of view. And for instructors thats important - getting a student to believe there dog is sniffing because of stress, or zooming, understanding the importance of a clear start-line release, etc.

The radio segment discusses some very cool research about how metaphors affect people's thinking -
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2011/03/04/02

Cool scooter trick

2011-03-05T09:53:00.003-05:00

Another cool trick:

Novice and Open

2011-03-01T13:52:00.000-05:00

A Bad Day, and a Revelation

2011-02-26T23:53:00.000-05:00

I have all of a sudden had a lot of great oppurtunities crop up. However, that and still dealing with all the things in boxes from the move has meant I have been doing too much lately, taking on too much, feeling like I am doing a lame job of everything.

Anyway, I was starting off with too little sleep and a lot of worry.
I haven't trialled since New Years and it looks like I won't really trial till May, which is really disappointing for me. I will do Nationals with Dice, but that actually feels like a stupid indulgence, not a good decision.

So anyway, I did have a big revelation after working agility: I need external validation for my judgement of my dogs. That is my belief that they are talented and special and have potential. I usually get this from trials, but when I am not trialling I look for it from friends and instructors, because I have Nothing to compare my dogs to. All my training is by myself, in sort of a black hole

Unfortunately, I tend to seek to have my beliefs by being negative, in the hope that the person will contradict me "no he's not slow!" or "He's got great potential".

The problem comes in when the person agrees with me: "Maybe you should lower your goals" or "Do you have a younger dog you focus on?" . I end up responding by being more negative, which usually results in the person telling me that I need ot believe in my dog, I need a better attitude, etc. Which usually really flustrates me, because it's my love and hope for my dog that's killing me - I need someone to validate that feeling,
I end up feeling totally crappy and wanting to stop trying, because clearly I am deluded that we ever could be a good, competitive team.

Now clearly the problem here is the need for external validation of my judgement, but I am not even sure at this point how to fix that. I could work on caring less about how good we are, about how we are doing as a team.

Looking for other sources for assessment seems more reasonable. Trial more would be a great solution if I could, as it really helps me assess where we are, but it's not an option. It's really hard (and expensive) to get together with friends to practice, because it involves driving several hours. Can't do classes for a while.

Just telling myself I shouldn't need other people to point out the good in my dog isn't helpful. Or that I shouldn't care about how they dog, or that I since I choose cockers I should suck it up. And I am tired and not feeling up to trying.

Got a dog with itching or irritated skin?

2011-02-25T14:51:00.001-05:00

Got a dog with itching or irritated or infected skin? You need to read this!

Frequent bathing will actually solve this in many dogs.

My hair survey - results

2011-02-25T14:41:00.001-05:00

My hair survey - results: Women voted 62% short, 36% long, with most of the "others" suggesting shoulder length and that I actually consider styling it. :)
And the guys? While a small sample, 100% voted for long.

So what am I going to do?
Long, but get it cut to have some style - I think I am going to grow it at least long enough to donate. (If you add shoulder length, women and men who voted for long together, it's a slim majority).

Good article about winter injuries

2011-02-25T14:33:00.000-05:00

Can be found here- by Dr.Canapp

And that's a great photo isn't it?

The OK Plateau - One way to stop getting better

2011-02-24T14:33:00.001-05:00

This fabulous article in the New York Times about a journalist who trained himself for the USA Memory Championships is interesting.

But one part really caught my brain -

"In the 1960s, the psychologists Paul Fitts and Michael Posner tried to answer this question by describing the three stages of acquiring a new skill.

During the first phase, known as the cognitive phase, we intellectualize the task and discover new strategies to accomplish it more proficiently.

During the second, the associative phase, we concentrate less, making fewer major errors, and become more efficient.

Finally we reach what Fitts and Posner called the autonomous phase, when we’re as good as we need to be at the task and we basically run on autopilot. Most of the time that’s a good thing. The less we have to focus on the repetitive tasks of everyday life, the more we can concentrate on the stuff that really matters. You can actually see this phase shift take place in f.M.R.I.’s of subjects as they learn new tasks: the parts of the brain involved in conscious reasoning become less active, and other parts of the brain take over. You could call it the O.K. plateau.

Psychologists used to think that O.K. plateaus marked the upper bounds of innate ability. In his 1869 book “Hereditary Genius,” Sir Francis Galton argued that a person could improve at mental and physical activities until he hit a wall, which “he cannot by any education or exertion overpass.” In other words, the best we can do is simply the best we can do. But Ericsson and his colleagues have found over and over again that with the right kind of effort, that’s rarely the case. They believe that Galton’s wall often has much less to do with our innate limits than with what we consider an acceptable level of performance.

They’ve found that top achievers typically follow the same general pattern. They develop strategies for keeping out of the autonomous stage by doing three things: focusing on their technique, staying goal-oriented and getting immediate feedback on their performance. Amateur musicians, for example, tend to spend their practice time playing music, whereas pros tend to work through tedious exercises or focus on difficult parts of pieces. Similarly, the best ice skaters spend more of their practice time trying jumps that they land less often, while lesser skaters work more on jumps they’ve already mastered. In other words, regular practice simply isn’t enough.

To improve, we have to be constantly pushing ourselves beyond where we think our limits lie and then pay attention to how and why we fail."

So easy to fall into that - it's good enough, and work on the "fun" stuff, the stuff we find easy or do well at...

Another argument for working on what you are just okay at....

Advanced and Ag4

2011-02-23T13:21:00.002-05:00

My Hair (or crowd-sourcing my life)

2011-02-23T13:14:00.000-05:00

So grow it long or cut it short? (I can't decide, and this seemed like a fun thing to snap myself out of a bad mood.

If you are a woman, click here to vote
If you are a man, click here to vote

Novice and Open

2011-02-22T13:05:00.000-05:00

If you would like CRCD files of these, just tell me in the comments and I will start adding them.

Don't want to bother if no one is using them! )

Advanced and Ag4

2011-02-16T16:25:00.000-05:00

Advanced and Ag4

2011-02-09T16:32:00.001-05:00

This weeks Novice and Open

2011-02-08T16:59:00.000-05:00

Classes for AG4 and Novice

2011-02-02T15:32:00.000-05:00

This is what I had planned for last week!

Nice photos of extension and collection

2011-02-02T01:11:00.002-05:00

From silvia Trkman's website - Look at the bottom of the page -
http://silvia.trkman.net/cikcap.htm

Steel - always more to work on

2011-02-02T00:57:00.001-05:00

Back up Recall to heel

So Steel not taking the jump off the startline appears to be fixed, but there are three areas I need to work:

1) The easiest to "fix" is his lack of confidence in taking a jump, when I am facing him at the jump.
It's the back-up recall to heel - he gets uncertain in the face of all those collection cues.

It's any easy fix to isolate this skill.
I also will probaby work directed jumping recall to heel, but that sort of bleeds into 2a)..

2a) Drive out on forward and lateral sends.

First I need to make sure his understanding is solid. He's good with sends to jumps and tunnels if I am not in motion, so we will start off reviewing those. I think we can buzz through those, but I want to make sure I haven't missed anything.

He gets uncertain in the face of deceleration.
So after isolating lateral and forward sends to a single obstacle, then I need to do them with two jumps, so I am in motion.

2b) is getting him driving back hard on those sends. For that I will probably do a lot of go-rounds as I can practice that in a variety of conditions.
One thing I like from Silvia Trkman's video on cik and cap is the use of multiple obstacles. Not just a single send, but doing multiple before rewarding. I probably will play with some tunnel sends also, just to keep those aggressive.

3)Pull-throughs. I am very uncomfortable with them, and definitely need to work this skill. It's something you frequently see on European courses, but feel awkward doing them. I need to be able to be comfortable enough that I am not doing a lot of crazy handing to try to get it done, or basically making Steel go very slowly through it.

Runners share the miles with time-share dogs

2011-02-01T20:08:00.001-05:00

Runners share the miles with time-share dogs

Some dog lovers can't be dog owners. Maybe their lives are too busy, or their apartment too small. Perhaps a spouse is allergic. But they can be dog owners part time.

The Monster Milers is a group of runners who time-share dogs at PAWS, an animal adoption center in Old City. A runner can check out a dog to join him on a jog through the city.

For the Agility IIIs - yet another Quiz!

2011-01-31T10:11:00.000-05:00

Under Linda Mecklenburgs system list:
1) The primary cue _________________
2) the five secondary cues ______________
__________________________________
__________________________________

List the three crosses we learned:
_________________
_________________
_________________

Answers after the Jump.

1)Motion
2) Shoulders
   Location
   Arms
   Voice
  Eyes (Motion SLAVE)

Crosses - Front, Rear, Blind

An interesting article on time-out in learning

2011-01-30T08:11:00.001-05:00

Avoidance of Timeout from Response-Independent Food: Effects of Delivery Rate and Quality

This was an interesting set of studies studying timeouts from reinforcement.

"The present study was predicated on the assumption that if timeout from food delivery is aversive, then variables that control avoidance of timeout will have counterparts in the avoidance of shock."

That is the subjects would keep doing something every so often to avoid the time-out, where no food was delivered.

We often talk about short time-outs, but I found this contradicts that to some extent:

"For example, Thomas (1965) manipulated timeout duration and found that increased durations were accompanied by increased rates of avoidance responding. These results parallel the heightened avoidance rates that accompany increases in shock intensity (Boren, Sidman, & Herrnstein, 1959)."

Longer time-outs produced more responses. Hmmmm.

"Another important variable is the response–timeout interval, that is, the length of time that the response postpones the next scheduled timeout. D'Andrea (1971)manipulated the response–timeout interval across a range of values and found that increases in the interval were accompanied by decreased avoidance rates."

So if it's postponing the time out by a minute, you get better results than if it postpones it by 5 minutes.

" van Haaren and Zarcone (1994) found that a procedure in which a warning stimulus was presented 10 s prior to the onset of timeout maintained behavior better than procedures that omitted the stimulus."

Interesting. Trying to figure out how to work that into my training.

"In general, avoidance rates decreased as rates of pellet delivery were decreased"

I.e rats worked harder to avoid time-outs when the rewards were frequent.

"Although the subjects received extended training before the experiment proper began, we observed that as the experiment progressed, responses tended to occur later and later in the response–timeout intervals. Thus, the efficiency of responding increased with exposure to the avoidance schedule insofar as a given level of avoidance could be accomplished with fewer responses. "

And this is what you don't want - animals will do the minimum needed to avodi the timeout, so if you start lettign your criteria slide...

"More timeouts were avoided when pellets were sweetened and variations in the delay duration had inconsequential effects."

Animals work harder for better rewards.

Great slow motion video of dogs doing agility

2011-01-29T21:17:00.001-05:00

Great video. The slow motion realllly lets you see what is going on.

Couple of courses from tonights privates

2011-01-29T01:39:00.000-05:00

These were interesting and challenging.

Learning round-up: or How to work on your game during a snow day

2011-01-28T11:46:00.001-05:00

So this article reports that you can acquire motor skills thinking about during the activity, like you can doing the activity. So thinking about agility can actually be helpful, or so I tell myself as I watch WC videos on youtube and try to imagine the handling. And why watching those videos would be helpful to newer students - your brain rewires itself to perceive patterns (I am guessing handling moves fall into this category). (I wrote about this in an earlier blog post).

Of course this article argues that you need and active component to learn more. Maybe get out the course maps and plot a plan?

And this one states that active retrieval (closing the book and calling back things from memory) helps you learn things. So Agility IIIs - close the book, write down your 6 cues, and the 3 crosses with descriptions!

Of course there are also a dozen things you can train in the living room, but that's another post...

For those of you learning your crosses - quiz!

2011-01-27T20:37:00.002-05:00

We have been working with crosses these last couple weeks, so I thought I would give you a quiz!
Answers after the jump!

1) This handler does the first 2/3s of the course using one cross, and then switches uses another cross after the final tunnel and for his very last cross. What are the two crosses?

2) This handler starts off with one cross upto the first tunnel section, and then switches to another. Which are those crosses?

3)This handler uses all one cross, except for at the blue tunnel. What are the two crosses?

Answers:
1) Front crosses, then a blind after the tunnel and another blind between the last two jumps.
2) Fronts initially then rear crosses.
3) Mostly fronts, then a rear at the tunnel.

Snowball and Kiss Budweiser Clydesdales Training

2011-01-27T18:38:00.000-05:00

How they trained the horses - first the commercials -

and a quick how they did it..

Agility WC 2010 - painful moments

2011-01-26T10:52:00.000-05:00

This actually made me happy to see. It's so easy to think that everyone is perfect at that level. And most are amazing, but people make mistakes and the sky doesn't fall down...

Ouch!! Blooper reel #1

2011-01-26T10:44:00.000-05:00

Steel - revisiting a problem

2011-01-26T08:30:00.001-05:00

Have I mentioned how much I love working this dog?

Running Tracer, my BC, has always been hard for me in some ways, and never just totally fluid and easy. I love Tracer to death, but it was always a battle on courses.

Running Steel is like flowing water. And I finally had a "duh" moment as to why.

It's not just that Steel is a smaller stride, and more responsive than Tracer. It's not just that he isn't as fast (just in that he is 15" at the shoulder, not 19" - he's willing to extend and drive).

It's that I sent 10 years learning how to respond to a dog that handles like that. I know where I need to be with Steel - it's such a pleasure hit to come up in just the right place, without effort. I ran his mother, who runs similar, with a much shorter stride for 8 years. He is just a faster version of Dice (his mom). I have a lot of practice running Dice. His contacts are even very similar to handle.

And that feeling of being in the right place at just the right time feels so good. Running him makes me feel talented and sharp. And it feels easy.

I also put a good foundation on the boy. Much more so than with Dice, who got a pretty scattershot approach. So it shocks me when I find a hole, like I did last night..

And I actually knew about this, but kind of forgot about it till it reared it's ugly head.

Steel will miss a jump off a startline stay. I was trying to get ahead to handle a turn off the DW, and he blew by jump #1.

Set him back up thinking he was just wound about getting to his DW, repeated with the same result. Uh-Oh.
I had to reallllly work it, not just cue and go to get him over it.

So we are back, fixing that little hole in his understanding (if I say "Jump", there is a jump in front of you, and I am using my arm and one step to indicate it, i expect you to take the jump, not run by it by a foot and a half).

It's an easy thing to train, but those kind of little holes are what I need to work on. And it's odd, because I am not quite sure how he managed to miss out on this...

Class Courses - Novice and Open at WOOFS jan 25

2011-01-25T16:02:00.002-05:00

And while I am on the topic of memory...

2011-01-24T14:02:00.000-05:00

On memory (really neat article about how memory works).

The original cab driver study...

2011-01-24T14:00:00.000-05:00

The London Cab Drivers study (Your brain on agility)

2011-01-23T00:54:00.000-05:00

I have often talked to my students about this study because I think it pertains to agility students as well.
Most students don't use their spatial skills much prior to starting in agility. And all of sudden they are regularly called upon to remember all the layout of a course, sometimes two in a night.

Overtime they get better at it, and we all assume that they just figured out a technique (visualization, clumping, paths) for how to do it.
But I suspect that it's not that they find a great technique - it's actually just practicing it. I think it might be that their brains change to allow them to do it more easily with that repeated practice.

the London cab drivers study might be relevant here. London is a very complex city to get around. Cabbies there.
"In order to drive a traditional black cab in London drivers have to gain "the knowledge" - an intimate acquaintance with the myriad of streets in a six-mile radius of Charing Cross.
It can take around three years of hard training, and three-quarters of those who embark on the course drop out, according to Malcolm Linskey, manager of London taxi school Knowledge Point."

This actually leads to brain changes -

"Cab drivers' grey matter enlarges and adapts to help them store a detailed mental map of the city, according to research.

Taxi drivers given brain scans by scientists at University College London had a larger hippocampus compared with other people. This is a part of the brain associated with navigation in birds and animals.

The scientists also found part of the hippocampus grew larger as the taxi drivers spent more time in the job.

"There seems to be a definite relationship between the navigating they do as a taxi driver and the brain changes," said Dr Eleanor Maguire, who led the research team.

She said: "The hippocampus has changed its structure to accommodate their huge amount of navigating experience."

I can't see why something similar wouldn't happen with our students - which argues for more time practicing the skill of memorizing courses, and less time trying to find a special technique.

Wish someone would examine the hippocampuses of agility competitors...

Links to news reports on this study: are HERE, HERE, and the most interesting up-to-date one on how the brain activity corresponds.

Odd study: Rats will exercise themselves to death

2011-01-23T00:12:00.000-05:00

Self-starvation in the Rat: Running vs. Eating

All kinds of crazy. Not sure how this relates to agility.

Tonight's fun jumpers course

2011-01-23T00:07:00.000-05:00

The FC on the landing side of #4 worked nicely, as did the FC on the landing side of #8.
The turn to 15 and rear there was tricky, do to the limited lateral motion. But getting them through the gap at #12-13 eliminated the possibility of a front cross.

Additional things to practice, and the Goldilocks approach to teaching

2011-01-19T12:46:00.000-05:00

This weeks courses were a ton of fun, and I can't believe how well the handlers are doing on them.

There were a couple other skills drills we worked based on the course. (see below)
Most handlers had no problem with 1-2-a, and 1-2-b wasn't too hard, but 1-2-c required a lot of turn cues.
I made the handlers do it from the right side, rather than leading out from the table and face their dog.
We were mainly using lateral motion and deceleration.

If the handlers dog was grabbing the tunnel, I had them just do jump #2 and then have the dog come inot them for a reward. Then we went back to getting the A-frame after a couple of sucesses. I find that if they aren't getting enough turn, asking for too much hels the handler find the happy medium - by doing too little and too much, it's easier to identify "just right" - the Goldilocks approach to proper cueing.

I also worked independent weave entries with my guys - I freely admit to using props to get the right entrance immediately, but then was able to back off quickly.

Class courses - all for week of 1/18/11

2011-01-19T12:39:00.001-05:00

Class Courses - Adv and Agility 4 at WOOFS

2011-01-12T12:31:00.002-05:00

Class Courses - Novice and Open at WOOFS

2011-01-11T15:42:00.002-05:00

Class Courses - Adv and Agility 4 at WOOFS

2011-01-05T16:22:00.002-05:00

Courses Jan 4 - Novice and OPEN at WOOFS

2011-01-04T16:15:00.000-05:00

The first STEEL Report

2011-01-03T00:21:00.000-05:00

So my wonderful little boy Steel did his first USDAA trial!
Mid-atlantic Madness put on a GREAT New Years Day trial, tournament only.

One of my goals is to really note what I need to work on with him, so thus this post.

Results:
It was tournament only, and he took 4th in Steeplechase, Faulted in GP and his team finished 8th for a team Q (and got the Rookie award)!
Dice took 2nd in steelechase, and faulted in GP.

The GOOD:
1) He held his start line Lovely, everytime except in relay, where he was a little bit stressed out by it (he ran third). Since this was the first time I had ask him to stay in a trial, I was very pleased!
2) A-frames are beautiful!
3) His DW appears to be great if I am behind.
4) Handling - read almost everything great - gave me a lovely serpentine and found his jumps without a problem.
5) Weaves, except for one run where he really just was done with it, his weaves were good - I wasn't quite sure what to expect.
5) NO BARS!!!!! NOT ONE ALL WEEKEND. Okay granted he was running more careful than normal, but I think bars aren't going to be an issue for him. I am SOOO excited about this.

The BAD:
1) Was definitely holding himself in reserve. I am not really worried about this at this point, but I know he has more gas in the tank. Right now I still feel he is figuring it all out. He wasn't slow, just not fast like he could be.
2) DW when I am in front and pushing - right now I kind of am going to solve this by ignoring it. Go back and hit it hard in practice, but I think it will come in trials with a little bitmore confidence. I need to make sure I would USDAA length contacts not just AKC
3)Really tight handling - threadles, etc. He doesn't like to go past stuff, and I need to make him a bit more willing to stay with me rather than shooting off to a tunnel.
4) Independence on weaves! Really felt I had to be there and babysit. Both entries and exits.
5) bigger range of teeters - he needs to get more aggressive with his teeter, and that will come with confidence
6) End routine - he was naughty about wanting to leave after he was done - I need to teach him to jump up now that it won't hurt me so much.

I am actually realllllly please there is so little to work on. He's kind of got Dice's idiot-savant thing going on.
It's not like they think about it, they just seem to get it.

Need a laugh?

2010-11-30T11:13:00.000-05:00

You must read this - totally hilarious.

DOGS Don't Understand Basic Concepts like moving

Why (smart) practice makes perfect

2010-11-30T10:51:00.001-05:00

Why (smart) practice makes perfect interesting article showing in golf that people learn better if they mix up putting with long drive work.

I think this is really true in agility. Ideally when working a sequence I like to:

1) Run the whole course, not stopping if things go wrong but taking note of them.

2) Break down those pieces I had issues with and work each one.

3) Run the whole course again (and hopefully get it right!).

4) Put that dog away, get dog number #2, repeat steps 1-3. Alternatively go work on a different skill (maybe some weave entry or contact work) for a little bit.

5) Repeat whole course with the original dog after the break.

I think that taking that break and coming back to it Very useful for getting a skill. It's one of the reasons why I now do a lot more repeating of courses is classes - because I really think it helps the students lock in those skills.

I do think that we often work on something till we get it "right" and then stop. I think it's very helpful to circle back around to something that you are working on, and alternate a different skills - I also think dogs learn better when we do this too - rather than just working weave entries, take a break, do a little contact work, come back to weave entries, maybe a jumping skill, etc...

What are your thoughts on it? Anyone else notice a gain in training by mixing it up?

Stress - more reasons to work to avoid it

2010-11-29T13:50:00.000-05:00

Brain Is a Co-Conspirator in a Vicious Stress Loop

So we all know stress is bad, but it's interesting the effects of chronic stress on rats - they lose behavioral flexibility and fall back to instead "fell back on familiar routines and rote responses, like compulsively pressing a bar for food pellets they had no intention of eating".

""Behaviors become habitual faster in stressed animals than in the controls, and worse, the stressed animals can’t shift back to goal-directed behaviors when that would be the better approach,” Dr. Sousa said. “I call this a vicious circle.”

Clearly you can see the cost of stress when trying to teach a new behavior.

But I also wonder if we don't use that in proofing - mildly stress the animal, and reward those habituated responses.

Choking - how to work under pressure

2010-11-28T13:33:00.002-05:00

So most agility people know what it is like to go to the line a bit tight and stressed. Whether it's that first run your life, or the ig one at nationals, it's easy to get stressed and not preform at your best.

A new book, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To - addresses this and suggest several ways to improve your performance under pressure.

Q and A with the Author here

Podcast of interview with the author

One of the things I found interesting that I need to add to my classes is to put a little pressure on my advanced students to get them used to it. And I need to find ways for me to do the same thing to myself!
Videotaping, have everyone in the class watching the student (announce it, explain why, and have them all pay some focused attention to each other), announce that we are working on getting it right the first time, impose fault limits on a class -all I think would work. I do think I would need to make sure the course wasn't too technical if I did this. Watch out advanced students!

Dogs have bigger brains than cats

2010-11-27T23:46:00.001-05:00

Dogs have bigger brains than cats because they are more sociable, research finds

I knew it!

Link: Two articles on Canine Weight

2010-11-27T23:31:00.000-05:00

For those of you using a low cal dog food:

Wide Variation in Calorie Content Among 'Low Calorie' Pet Foods

And on the health front:

Cutting Fat and Calories Can Lower Cancer Risk in Dogs and People

WC 2010 Slideshow

2010-10-26T10:03:00.000-04:00

Really neat slideshow of this year's World Championships.

From Lynne Brubaker.

Weave entries exercise

2010-10-26T01:59:00.002-04:00

I really enjoyed this particular exercise. You can do tons of variations.
This doesn't take a lot of space or equipment and is a nice quick refresher.

When working weave entries I like 4 poles, but 2 or 3 work fine too.

If my dog makes a mistake, I much prefer opening up, slanting or putting guides on rather than stepping in and using your body to help the dog get it right.

8 Tips for Improving Your Memory (Course memorization)

2010-09-11T01:29:00.001-04:00

8 Tips for Improving Your Memory | World of Psychology

Some of these are definitely help for those who have trouble remembering courses, especially "chunk it".

Are we having fun yet?

2010-08-16T00:48:00.001-04:00

No. Well, not this weekend.

I was trialling this weekend, and really didn't enjoy myself. Felt so bad it's really one of those stop and re-examine the whole premise of doing agility right now...

Why was I feeling so not-fun? (Does anyone else analyze stuff like this or am I just crazy?)

1. Definition of success.
For Dice and Tracer, double Qs = success. Tracer did qualify in jumpers, but mostly my dogs knocked bars, and a 25% Q rate sucks for me. I know I could adjust my goals, but it doesn't seem that I am looking for anything crazy - a double Q a weekend on one of them would be fine. This continued lack of success is discouraging, especially as I *work* at being good at agility. It's easier to take failure when you know you could be trying harder
And I would really like to qualify Dice for Nationals - having missed so much time, and now being unable to QQ, it's not looking good. :(

2. No easy road to improvement.
Dice knocked bars in every single run. Could be the surface, could be a subtle injury who knows. I don't know how to fix this. She is in excellent condition, thin, jump work regularly...
No wrong courses, no refusals on either dog. Those are so much easier to deal with. Bars? I hate Bars.

3. Too much downtime.
I need to keep busy - either bring work or a green dog to run, so I don't have huge chunks of dead time. I tried volunteering but no one was needed the classes I could actually work.

4. Cost in terms of time and money
I feel bad because very few of my dogs can play on any given agility weekend due to the cost. For free they can all go hiking with me, and as much fun as we have had this week doing that, it's hard not to look at a day with great weather like Saturday and feel like I should be some where else. And with trials going up and up and up in costs, it's hard to justify running additional dogs.

5. Student pressures
I teach for a living, and no matter how great your students are about it, it's an additional pressure. I really appreciate those students who do take into consideration that this is my "off-time".

6. Sleep, Hormones and Snacks
I have to take care of my body. I was sick Thursday and Friday, plus having trouble with my tamoxifen I think - need to find a new oncologist- and forgot healthy snacks on Sunday.
I always don't deal as well when I am sleep-deprived and hungry.

Some of these I can address more than others - only one more day of trialling this month.

And yes I know there are people who have things so much worse off, at least I healthy dogs to run, etc. etc. and there are kids starving to death in Africa. Doesn't make me feel better - there is always someone worse off, and just saying things could be worse is not a great way of getting better. I'd rather address it head on...

Hiking: Today's Hikes in Leesburg VA (and swimming in the Potomac!)

2010-08-09T14:41:00.000-04:00

The album of swimming photos is here.

Today we explored a new park (Red Rock Wilderness) and visited an old favorite (Ball Bluff). Michelle B came along with her 5 dogs. I took Dice, Ocean, Steel and Tracer. I had them in a 4 hitch with a ski-joring belt. You have to get one of these if you walk or run with multiples. I made mine, but there are a lot of good manufacturers. I love my hands free and the dogs (who are in X-backed harnesses) can really assist with uphills.

We stated at Red Rock Wilderness which I had never been to. It was a bit disappointing - starting off with quite a few other people there. The White Pine circuit is only a mile and a bit. Lots of trees you had to go over/through, which is so much fun with all the guys. Nice overlooks of the Potomac - the dogs were ready to charge down the cliff to the river ("NO"). We hiked down, stopped and swam them in the Potomac in the middle. Someone had left their lunch just sitting out - including an entire bag of Doritos. Dice was very excited about that. It does have a little bit of a steep section in the middle.

Of the two Ball's Bluff is definitely the better park. The trails are better maintained (lots of downed trees in Red Rocks), it's bigger, and it seems less crowded because of all the different trails. Really enjoyed the hike here. Lots of up and down, 2+ miles, with a great place to let the dogs get in a good swim in the middle. The Orange blazed trail is the best.

Skyrocket: More puppy photos @ 2 weeks and 2 days old

2010-08-09T14:08:00.000-04:00

Rest of the photos are here - they are soooooo cute right now. Very lumpy, but totally taken care of and no litter competition.

This weeks exercise - serps

2010-08-06T15:27:00.000-04:00

We tend to think of Serpentines as three jumps, but there really isn't a reason for that. There are countless variants, and I wanted to hit some of them. couple of thoughts - these are very flexible courses, so lots of different options besides what is numbered here. If it's too hard for your dog - angle the jumps and then gradually straighten them out. Remember that serps can be done with crosses as well as just driving down one side...

Ramblings: Places I want to hike/run/hike with the dogs this year

2010-08-06T15:10:00.001-04:00

Since I was making this list anyway I thought I would share it. I'd love other suggestions, or comments about these possibilities...

I got on this hiking kick with my C&O canal explorations, and have now run from miles 28 to 60. So still a lot of the C&O to do!

Harpers Ferry - Maryland heights

Harpers Ferry - Jefferson Rocks

C&O Canal - Paw paw tunnel

Great Falls - Billy Goat Trail

Great Falls - Virginia side

Cunningham falls/Catoctin Mt. State Park (descriptions)

Manassas Battlefield

Sugar Loaf Mountain

Skyrocket: More puppy photos

2010-08-06T14:23:00.001-04:00

At a week and a half - eyes open! They are FAT.

Ramblings: Monday's section of the canal (White's Ferry 35.5 to Monocacy 42.2)

2010-07-29T10:24:00.001-04:00

I think this may be my favorite section so far. It's much more open in parts, and the scenery is more varied.

Unfortunately the big storm that knocked out our power also left a lot of trees, and I got out there before the crews did. It definitely meant I had to trash my plan for the run in terms of time. Some photos (big tree! wildlife!) after the jump.
View up river crossing over at White's Ferry (mile 35.5)

And this was what greeted me out on the trail. This was a small branch - there were large trees down - I met a crew about 5 miles in clearing the trail. They were still clearling and sawing up trees as I ran back.

Typical view along the well watered section around Dickerson.

Great Blue Heron that let me get crazy close.

Gigantic tree at one of the locks...

Ramblings: Puppies!!! and Not getting anything done

2010-07-29T10:07:00.000-04:00

So much for good intentions! We started off with Mayzie whelping her litter on Saturday night - 2 mismarked black and tan boys carrying for roan. They were BIG.
Mayzie was a trooper, and is being a great mom. I have to carry her downstairs to make her go out. The puppies are rapidly assuming their fat Buddha bodies with all her milk and no competition.

When the power went out on Sunday (big storm), and stayed out till Monday night, it started off my week badly, and got me out of sorts. No power means no water here...

I went for a run thinking it would be back on when I got back - no such luck!
Anyway pics from the next run in a post....

Courses from SLVKC 7-17/18-10 (Novice/open FAST, JWW, STD)

2010-07-25T07:59:00.001-04:00

I did my first trial back a week or so ago and am posting the courses from it (all as Gifs).
It was a lot of fun and very interesting watching the choices handlers made on courses. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it!

Note: Please don't use these to determine anything about what I am likely to design. I am definitely in the learning process - meets-all-AKC-specs is a top priority. This is why you don't see tight nesting etc.

Anyway they are all here after the jump...

Ramblings - today's run on the C&O (me, not the dogs)

2010-07-23T23:39:00.000-04:00

Going to try to post daily for a while to get me back into the habit!

Went running today - really too hot to get anything else done, and running always makes me feel like I have done something that day. I did 15 miles, but I did walk about a half-mile (hey it was REALLY HOT).
I run along the C and O canal trail, because it's shady, no traffic, the river is right there if I overheat, and it has mile markers.
(Great Book if you can find it - The C&O Canal Companion)

Every trip to the C&O starts with a trip across the river. I took the White's Ferry across today, which is the only working ferry on the Potomac. It puts you out at Mile 35.5 of the C&O.

I was very prepared - Camelbak knock-off with mostly ice in it, G2 for the little bottles on my belt, Clif Shotbloks plus cellphone and Ipod. Nothing like running during an extreme heat warning - and I got started around 10:30... The camelbak-like thing meant I did have cold water the entire run, which was huge.

The C&O is actually pretty boring, with the locks the main thing to look at.

There are all the stuff at White's Ferry, including the old 1876 iron bridge.

At mile 30.7 there is the Goose Creek Lock, and at mile 31.9 a sort of aqueduct.

At Edward's Ferry (mile 30.9 there is the lockhouse and Lock 25. There is also the shell of an abandoned store...

Continued down to mile 28 and turned around and headed back....

Ramblings - today's run on the C&O

2010-06-23T14:01:00.003-04:00

So we had a great run on the C&O today! Until it cools down, we are kind of limited to there because I have to be able to let the dogs have access to water.
We started at Point of Rocks (Mile 48.2) and went downstream to the Monocacy Aqueduct (Mile 42.1) for a 12.2 mile round trip. Causal dogs - Dice/Tracer, Steel/Ocean and T/jingle.

The Monocacy Aqueduct is very pretty and it's a nice shady run down to it. Dogs had 5 water breaks - at the place where people keep boats below the Calico Rocks Campground, at Nolands ferry and at the aqueduct. Even with the heat, by having access to cool flowing water, the dogs never get very hot. Of course they are thin (fat insulates!) and in shape.

Interesting things that happened:
- I saw a fawn run out in front of a cyclist and send him over his handlebars - fortunately he wasn't hurt and bike was fine too. Fawn just kept running.

- dogs ran over a black snake in the path without noticing. Snake never moved.

- Also saw 2 squirrels, one rabbit (went across the path right in front of them!) and the previously mentioned fawn

- Let T ride on rig for mile 10 when she got tired - she's the weak link in the chain. :) she was fine after a rest. (my strongest dogs are Dice and jingle)

- when we stopped at mile 6, I let them off the line to go swim. After a while wading or swimming in the water, I called them back thinking they would rest in the shade. The cockers kept running around hunting and Tracer kept swimming, so I had to actually hook them back up to get them to take a break.

I need to take Tracer out solo - he's not pulling hard, because I think he's decided that strong pressure is a stop cue. Either that or he has decided to let the cockers do all the work!

Jingle was in an Xback harness I got from Anne H. Man, can she pull in that! I can't wait for the rest of the team to get them.

Class Courses - WOOFS Novice/Open June 22

2010-06-22T17:28:00.000-04:00

Ramblings: update

2010-06-20T13:18:00.000-04:00

So I want to do a big cancer wrap-up post, but I can't get myself to do it, so here is everything else:

Agility - went to a GREAT camp with Linda Mecklenburg and Carrie Jones. Lots of good stuff, clear identification of one glaring problem Tracer and I need to work on, and lots and lots of tightening up all the little stuff.
Some of it I had heard before, but sometimes I need to hear things a couple times for them to sink in.
Steel is coming along nice, Dice is getting back together and Qing well.
I just am so happy where I am with Tracer. We are just starting to click - I look at courses now and mentally feel really good about them. When things go wrong, I know why. And most of his bars now I think are handling bars.

Conditioning the Dogs - running them on the Sled - So I am running the dogs on the sled, and they are really getting good at it. It's such a pleasure to run them now. I run them on the C and O canal (usually putting in at Point of Rocks) and that way I can let them go down to the river and swim, which makes it so much safer in the heat of summer.
I am planning to do a 10 mile run Monday, which will be our longest ever. The plan is to start at Brunswick and head south for 5 miles and then back.
Usual team - Tracer/Dice leaders, then Ocean/Steel, then T/Jingle. Hunter comes along on short runs (less than 4 miles).

The big news is I am getting everybody Xback harnesses! I finally decided it was time to get real harnesses for the crew. So I am ordering custom harnesses for the whole crew. Kind of excited to have matching harnesses, and hopefully NOBODY WILL CHEW THROUGH THEM (I am looking at you STEEL).

Running -Conditioning me- slowly getting back into it. Ran a 4 mile race yesterday. Last years time - 34.54. This years - 41.35.

Clearly I have some work to do! Still fighting a little nagging tendonitis in my foot. I think I need to switch back to the shoes I was previously using, but it could just be that I am doing so much more...

Excited that I might be purchasing a used Garmin! I hope I can use it to track the dogs runs and mine.

Anyway, a bit of the latest in my universe.

Clean Run: Near Tragedy at Trial

2010-06-18T15:07:00.000-04:00

Clean Run: Near Tragedy at Trial
Agility people ROCK! Click on the above link for an amazing story.

2010-06-08T17:09:00.002-04:00

Video: Some runs from this weekend

2010-06-03T01:44:00.004-04:00

Class Courses - WOOFS Novice/Open June 1

2010-06-01T15:31:00.000-04:00

Here are tonight's courses.

Link: Improve Effectiveness

2010-05-29T21:46:00.000-04:00

Improve Effectiveness with Dialectical Behavior Therapy

I found this really interesting and SOOO useful for Agility.
A nice approach to getting yourself back on track.

YouTube - Dog Trainer's Blues (a.k.a. My Job Description)

2010-05-28T01:29:00.000-04:00

YouTube - Dog Trainer's Blues (a.k.a. My Job Description)
This is very funny!!

Class Courses - WOOFS Novice/Open May 25

2010-05-25T16:48:00.000-04:00

Played with these last night, REALLY fun...

Class Courses - WOOFS - week of May 18, AG4 through Masters

2010-05-18T14:29:00.002-04:00

Class Courses - WOOFS - AG4 and JWW April 29

2010-04-29T17:21:00.000-04:00

Class Courses - WOOFS Novice/Open April 28

2010-04-27T16:50:00.000-04:00

Class Courses - WOOFS - AG4 and JWW April 22

2010-04-22T17:43:00.000-04:00