It's 1 am and Im blogging..I knew starting a blog would destroy my life. No actually I celebrated mothers day today since I have a trial this weekend. I took my mom to chanhassen dinner theatre and saw Jesus Christ Superstar. Amazing! Didn't get back until 11, CeCe needed exercise so I ran up and down the block twice and took a shower which made it about 12. Then I started gathering my things for the trial this weekend since we are leaving right after school gets out and driving 4 hours to des moines!
I didn't start this post to tell you that but I did and it stays.
I did some agility this week to prep for the trial (of course!) and I am quite pleased. Earlier in the week I gave Ce a lesson on sticking in the poles even if there is a tunnel FIVE FEET from the weave pole exit. She popped a couple times as to be expected but by the time we finished she was weaving 6 poles consistently again despite the major tunnel temptation.
The middle of the week I decided to get video. I wanted to get her back on tweleve poles and tempt with the tunnel again but this time a little further than five feet :P Also I played around with her distance weaving again which I started earlier this month ever since I saw champs maps just in case ;)
Im super excited for this trial. I am ready to run my butt off instead of making CeCers do all the work haha. Im also going to be testing out tunnel/ dog walk discrimination handling since that is something I've been avoiding but is crucial. I am trying to avoid the over exaggerated "turn 180 and run backwards!" handling method because I dont want to desensitize CeCe to my shoulders, when I move my shoulders I want her to follow them not keep going straight...just my thought. Rebecca looked like she had a pretty good method so Im going to play around with variations of that.
Side note: we need to get atleast 2/4 Q's in regular this weekend for me to feel like we are still on track for champs!
Are you knocking the RFP? :o( I get what you are saying with the shoulders, but I detest shoulder-pulls to get discriminations -- mostly because the degree of rotation causes most people to have to take their eye off their dog and they bend forward at the waist -- and how is rotating your shoulders to the inside and expecting the dog to go straight any better than turning towards your dog and expecting them to go straight? The RFP/false turn is designed to get your dog's focus on you and not the tunnel under the contact. What I like about it is that it is pretty natural for the dog and really takes very little training (although some HUMANS can't seem to get the footwork right without a lot of practice, lol).
ReplyDeleteRegardless, consistency is the key. I think it's pretty clear to my dogs that "when I turn towards you, you take obstacle nearer to me." Although the little turds do occasionally take the tunnel anyhow. :oP It would help if I would get the contacts out of the garage and actually start to train this stuff again.
Are you going down to Iowa Memorial Day weekend??? Super cheap entries!! :o)
I don't know if it's so much the shoulder pull that I use, but a slight hesitation (and I'm trying to watch the path onto the contact). Another method I've seen that makes sense, but doesn't use a shoulder pull or an RFP (which I don't care for either. XD) is a 'lean back' and pause for a moment. I might be able to find a vid of the person that does this and send it to you on FB, if you'd like to see.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find vids of what I was talking about. Oh, and I remembered one more thing that I do. I also drop my arm which causes the very slight shoulder pull. Anyway, it's mostly the lack of motion, arm drop and verbal. Gah, I don't feel like I'm qualified to be giving advice, yet I'm doing it anyway.
ReplyDeleteKarissa do the fun-raisers still count for Qs? Chrissy had told me no at the La Crosse trial but it seems like they do? Im just confused lol
ReplyDeleteRebecca Thanks for your help! I used a form of your method haha Right before I ran I got some tips from my friend Robin and then it made a whole lot more sense xD Oh and I like advice! I want to improve my handling for Ce! Especially after watching "one of the top handlers" (according to Robin) compete this weekend.
Yes, funraisers are normal trials -- only the profits go to NADAC to pay for Champs and awards instead of to a host club.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious enough to ask - who was the "top handler"?