Monthly Archives: September 2007

Dylan’s Blog: Agility Contacts

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I’ve been really pleased with Dylan’s 2on/2off dogwalk for the past few of weeks, he seems to have really clicked with what I want him to do and was working nicely into position. I had even been running on past him/slowing behind him/running wide whilst he ran into position, and he had been holding it perfectly until released. I would have said he had been 100% for the past two weeks, never breaking.

We definitely jumped six steps backwards this week! On Friday I decided to put a jump (pole on the lowest height) at one end of the dogwalk and introduce the idea of continuing on to other obstacles once he was released, since he’d been so consistent. The first thing I asked him to do was go jump to dogwalk and into position. Dylan did jump, dogwalk, beautiful running contact and off! As you can imagine I was not a happy handler. I sent him back over the dogwalk towards the jump and he promptly went into perfect 2o2o.

I went back to basics on Sunday and again he was 100%. Today I went back to jump to dogwalk, and again he did a smooth running contact and didn’t stop. I can’t work this out! He does a lovely 2o2o when approaching the jump, but when he’s working after it he just carries on running. I now think it was maybe because I was doing a different lead out from the wait (?) and he’s focussing on me rather than on what he’s actually doing (or possibly he’s concentrating more on the obstacles and not enough on me, in which case his contacts aren’t as independent as I want them to be!). I think for now I’m going to go back to basics and take out the other obstacles.

This Week On …

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Dylan has been working really well at the moment, he’s suddenly got very confident with his jumping and is working the obstacles nicely! I’m really pleased because I mixed the jump heights up, putting a few up to full height, and he flew over them without even thinking about going underneath. Exactly what I’ve been hoping for! I can see already I’m really going to have to work on my handling, particularly getting cues in early. Dylan in full pelt has a huge jump, he’s going to turn like a battleship unless we get some practise in.

We’ve finally overcome his issues about the flyball box too, and he’s triggering it with no problems, so we’ve started teaching him to turn properly and use his hind legs as much as he can. It’s more difficult than I had hoped because Dyl is a very long dog, and it’s tough for him to fit all his paws on the box! He’s flying up and down the hurdles now though, really enjoying himself. Good stuff! The stamina work we’re doing with the experienced dogs is also really making a difference; Mollie had her first session back last week, and she was exhausted by the end but Kim was still raring to go. It’s a shame we aren’t competing until October, but at least we’ll have some very fit dogs!

Finally, I’ve known for a while that my friend Natalie has been looking for a new dog, and this week she has picked up her new Working Sheepdog puppy Kai. I have to admit a special interest in Kai already; not only is she gorgeous but she and Dylan are half-siblings, sharing the same mum. Here she is at 8 weeks old, bless her socks! And just because there can never be too many puppy photos, here are a few of Dylan at the same age. I can see a vague family resemblence, especially in those big paws!

(I love these two photos of Dylan, they’re very typical of his personality! A bit naughty but very cuddley)

Dylan’s Blog

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I know the general feedback I got on Dylan’s Blog was to keep it seperate from the main blog, but I really don’t like the format of the blog I was using and I’m just fed up of it being tempremental on me. So from now on, Dylan’s Blog will be part of the main dog blog on undermybed.co.uk – all the entries will be tagged with “Dylan’s Blog”, so if you want to link directly to those entries, use this url: http://www.undermybed.co.uk/archives/category/dylans-blog

Anyway, I haven’t updated about my handsome lad’s progress for a while. He’s doing really well, and I was thrilled with him at EMDAC when he did a couple of 4off Aframes perfectly. He also did the dogwalk a few times, but that was really only to build his confidence as last time he did that obstacle he found it a little scary.

This week I’ve started introducing the weaves again, and he’s doing much better than I had expected. I started by just asking him to run through open channel weaves to a toy, which he did with no problems. I spent three or four days doing about 15mins, with me on different sides, and then today I tightened it up a little more. That didn’t seem to phase him at all (I’ve found a new toy that he loves, maybe that’s the answer!) so I finished by tightening it up so the channel was about 6″ wide. He had to think about his steps then but again, he was pretty much unphased and we finished on a really high note.

Dylan has also really come on in his flyball, we spent the last session just letting him get used to the box by sitting him quite close to it and then watching the other dogs run. After the first dog had run all he cared about was the ball, and by the end of the evening he was triggering it by himself. I’m really pleased he got over his anxiety about it so quickly!

As a quick note, it was almost one year ago today that I decided to keep Dylan’s Blog. I hope you’ve all enjoyed it so far!

Mollie

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The poor hounds are feeling very underworked this week, as we missed flyball training on Wednesday and can’t make it on Saturday either. We’re currently doing a lot of stamina work and plan to do it all through the winter, since it’s something a lot of the dogs have been lacking over the summer. Most of them seem to be enjoying it, and I can’t wait to see Mollie out there.

Speaking of Mollie, I didn’t get chance to blog about her unfortunate accident a few weeks ago. She had been bitten by another dog (not one of ours!) in quite an unfortunate place — on her bum! She was really very lucky in the end as the bite was just millimetres from internal injuries, but she was very sore and itchy. She went into the vets 4 days before we were due to go to the BAA Finals Weekend, and we made the desicion to leave her at home. Mollie loves coming to agility even if she would rather not take part, but we didn’t think it would be a good idea. She was asked to compete in the CleverDogs finals too, which was a real shame as she would have loved it. Anyway, she finally had the 12 stitches out on Tuesday and is raring to go again!

Website Updates: There have been quite a few updates around the site over the past few weeks. The Show Diary and Results page have been brought up to date, and the Agility Classes page has been given a major overhaul. You can now search for classes that are run under certain organisations, or by type (Agility/Jumping/Either) as well as by name. It’s not perfect yet, and there are a few things that will be adjusted slightly over the next couple of days.

Blog of the Moment: Obay Shelties (http://obayshelties.blogspot.com/)

Another of my favourite blogs! Bernadette Olssen-Bay and her Obay Shelties are some of the top Small/Medium agility competitors in the UK, and this blog covers the progress of her own dogs, and the dogs she has bred, from birth onwards. It’s nice to read about a top handler who is still very down-to-earth and genuine and has a sense of humour! Her gorgeous Shelties are just stunning to watch on the regular video updates, and she’s definitely got me considering one of these guys in the future. A must for any agility fans!