Category Archives: Agility

Rio’s First Class

  By Leanne | March 7, 2012 - 5:29 pm | Agility, Rio, Training
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Rio attended her first Foundation Agility Skills class yesterday!

She has been through a puppy-tunnel a few times, but has never seen the proper heavy duty pipe tunnel. She thought it was pretty easy though! We did a few recalls through a straight tunnel with lots of tugging, and then did some tunnel, wrap around a pole, and back into the tunnel. I was way too nervous and messed up a few times though! The exercise included equipment but was actually nothing she hasn’t done before, (a recall and then a turn around a pole to a toy).

The class is 30mins long and she was losing her ability to concentrate by the end; she tried very hard, held her wait, but she wasn’t focussing on what was happening so I just rewarded her wait and called it a night. I fully expected this and was actually surprised she lasted as long as she did!

I’m mostly pleased with how focused she was. When we were working she was concentrating on the job in hand, and nothing else. During our downtime whilst the other dogs worked, I tried to make sure she got the opportunity to say hi to everyone in the class (it’s a tiny class, just four dogs). She was polite and when she indicated she was done saying hi, we moved away. I tried to make sure she for the opportunity to sit and watched the other dogs working but she was more interested in engaging with me since I had kibble. Apparently if you have an early tea it doesn’t even count as tea, and she was starving, don’t you know?

Tailwaggers March 2012

  By Leanne | March 6, 2012 - 11:00 am | Agility, Courses, Dylan, Videos
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I only entered Dylan at this show, and I only entered it as a whole bunch of people said they were going and then they didn’t. I’m not bitter.

It was a good chance to see if Dylan really was ok though, since Novice+ courses tend to have a few more straight lines of obstacles and generally are faster courses. It’s usually filled with really good G6/7 dogs training but there were quite a few of the usual dogs missing, mainly because they’d all been at Ribble.

We got some lovely courses all day; the jumping classes were generally challenging but fair, and the Agility classes were big open easy runs. Dylan’s first class was Novice+ Up and Under, and my handling was appalling but he ran it so well, easy clean jumping and he was happy. We finished 2nd, first placing for months!

N+ Agility was a really really easy course, just one pull-through and the rest was up and down lines. I held all his contacts and we finished way down the line, but his jumping was so clean and he was driving through all the lines, I was thrilled to bits. I can’t believe what a difference his adjustment has made; compare the video below to the video from the beginning of February.

N+ Jumping was a tricky course but fun to run, Dylan backjumped as I wasn’t clear enough about where we were going. Oops. Need to set that particular sequence up in training I think as it is a weak point!

My video camera died otherwise I would be showing the video from N+ TFO Agility rather than the Agility classes as it was our best run for a year. I nearly cried when we were done, partly because I was dying of exhaustion but mainly because Dylan was amazing, drivey and fast and beautiful jumping the whole way around. TFO has never been our game, but this course was in a huge ring, really spread out and with big open spaces between the jumps, and a double Aframe as part of the course. Just Dyl’s kind of course! We set off so well and reached the dogwalk before we got called up as the timer hadn’t started. I figured we’d just start again straight away, so we went back to the start and set up again. I pushed his first two contacts a bit more the second time, since we’d already done them! He was absolutely flying and we got a course and a half done before we got whistled for time (on jump 5), and then we ended up taking the dogwalk and jump 7 to get to the end which was the long way around.

I watched the rest of the class done and saw three dogs hit the Aframe and then make their way to the end over the flat, so I wasn’t sure how we’d done as I thought we’d been whistled on the Aframe too. As it turned out we came 1st and our time was faster than almost all the other dogs who were whistled for time despite taking the long route. I am so pleased! It might have been just a little unaffiliated show but Dylan was so happy and so fast and confident, it was a better run than when he won out of Grade 5 and I’m so proud of him.

He got more and more comfortable and confident as the weekend went on, it was clear he was finding his feet again. We aren’t competing again until Easter but we do have Drax flyball in three weeks, so we’ll see how he gets on there. I hope I can keep him at this level of fitness and confidence, and with a little more work to brush up on his contacts and my handling, maybe we can get some G6 placings over the summer.

I am so unfit though, I am never going to make it around the 1-3 courses again with Rio.

Ribble March 2012

  By Leanne | March 5, 2012 - 8:06 pm | Agility, Courses, Dylan, Kim, Videos
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Resultswise, not such a good show. We didn’t bring home a single rosette. It also rained consistently.

Apart from that, it was awesome. I entered Kim and Dylan, and didn’t know if Kim would want to play or if Dylan would be able to. Saying I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement; we were all joyously happy to be there and rocking out and running fast and easy and loving every single second. I couldn’t have asked for a better day, even if we did just bring home a lot of Es and faults.

Ribble C4-7 Jumping (Medium) & C5-7 Jumping (Large)Kim was first up in her C1-7 Agility, in which we had no chance against the half a dozen Ag.Chs. (Really nice course from Hannah Grantham though, who was a super judge all day). In fact, neither Kim or Dylan would have been placed in anything even if we had gone clear, as all the good dogs and handlers had descended for the Small and Large KC Agility Stakes classes, and they all brought their Medium dogs too. Kim was bouncing on the line and I knew she was keen but my, she was keen and she flew around. We picked up 5f because I stood in front of the weaves and she thought I was an idiot, but she was so happy to be there and was just having the best time.

Likewise in her C4-7 Jumping (the same course as Dyl’s C5-7 Jp), she flew around and only held up to give me the sideeye at the weaves, because she thought I was wrong. She finished second out of the G6 dogs, some 8s off Jackie Tarn’s superfast collie bitch, but Kim is 11 and so we can cut her some slack.

Her G4-7 Agility was last and just had one too many awkward pull throughs for Kim, although she did a beautiful dogwalk and was still enjoying herself. Pausing to bark at the other ring probably wasn’t the most time-saving move either, and it was a tight course time, so we got 1 TF. She’s also not keen on the rubber-contact seesaws, so that was slow as well. I don’t care, she is amazing.

Dylan hasn’t trained since his chiro adjustment and that’s not normally good for him, but I was more worried with him just being ok. Our first class was the C6-7 Agility Stakes, challenging but I didn’t think it was impossible. We ran clear if cautious and I think finished somewhere around 25th place? His jumping was much better, wary but not stuttering and not uncomfortable, and on the video he looks like a dog who is surprised to find it’s not painful but daren’t quite stretch in case it is. Dogwalk was slow, not sure why, and he stuttered into the final jump because I am a useless handler who stopped giving him any kind of direction so I’m not surprised. I was pleased with his run though, and his finishing time was 38s to the winner’s 31s (Dawn Weaver’s Breezer), which is promising.

It got better from there really, his G6-7 Agility was a nice course and we got E’d because he was feeling good and bounced off every which way and did some extra jumps. Same in the C5-7 Jumping, it was all about the extra bits! His jumping was really great though, no stuttering or paddling, just smooth and stretchy and clean, and he was powering through his weaves in a way he hasn’t for a while (although I only noticed now he’s doing it again).

I couldn’t have asked for more from either dog, I’m so happy that they were happy! I did wonder about calling this Kim’s retirement show but she had such a good time I’ll try and find her some more nice classes to run somewhere in the summer.

Hare’n'Hounds Valentines 2012

  By Leanne | February 14, 2012 - 12:19 am | Agility, Bailey, Dylan, Rio
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No videos as I forgot the camera, oops. We ran on rubber contacts for the first time too; Dylan and Bailey couldn’t care less, it didn’t appear to make any difference to their contact performance. Also weirdly quiet to run on! I was surprised to see rubber contacts though, I didn’t remember seeing it on the schedule and I guess this means that they’re becoming more widespread more quickly than was expected.

Julie very kindly offered to watch some of Dylan’s runs and let me know if there was anything I was missing, which really helped. He was better; more relaxed, happier, his jumping was smoother than last time but particularly seemed to suffer in the straights. I need to get him to a different chiropractor or similar to see if someone can find something, as it just continues to bug me that there might be something physically wrong.

G5-7 Agility first thing was a nice kind of course, a little tight spaced and I wasn’t clear where we were going on the first section so he hesitated on a few jumps. I have been discussing how my handling is likely to be affecting Dylan’s confidence and jumping style with a few people in the past few weeks and I’m trying to be more aware of his responses when my cues are unclear or late. He ran the rest of the course reasonably, I can’t actually remember if we were clear or not and I didn’t check the results. Oops!

Hare'n'Hounds G6-7 Agility February 2012The Redmills Open P2 was ok, clear but Dylan was obviously measuring on the straight. Or stuttering – I’m not sure if measuring is the right word to use. G6-7 Agility was an interesting kind of course but we got held up on the line when the timer failed for the dog before, and that threw me off my stride a little. We got E’d straight away but finished the course well, I was pleased with how Dylan finished the last line of three jumps in a line as he was pushing on and happy.

His best run was in Border Collie Jumping (C1-7). It was a very open, very straightforward kind of course (we got E’d, I tried to handle Dyl from inside a box and when will I learn that doesn’t work?!) and it started with a 4-jump line and Dylan was wonderful. So, maybe it is the G6 thing? It was very clear from the off exactly where he was going, no options, and he responded by running happily. Mum and I did some subtle queue management and got Dylan a nice 6ft space to warm up in off-lead as the dog before ran. Being off-lead to warm-up seems to make a really big difference to him, I’m not entirely sure why.

G5-7 Jumping was a nice course, I think we went clear again but I’m not really sure. Dylan was ok but not great, but again we were held up on the line … frustrating when that happens, I understand people might want to check the timers or discuss something with the judge but don’t leave us hanging on the startline!

I borrowed lovely Bailey to run too and she was such a little superstar! She’s so much fun to run but sadly the courses did not go our way. Each one started with 2-3 pull thrus, just the kind of nag-nag courses that don’t suit Bailey (or Kim). Bails, just like Kim, plodded through the nagging with only some minor side-eyes at me, and then opened up and enjoyed the more open parts of the course. Not necessarily the easier bits, just the less nag-nag bits! Bailey was also feeling particularly enthusiastic about tunnels for reasons unknown and that caught us in the jumping classes. Oh well!

Rio was a perfect puppy, apart from the fact she’s going into a naughty-puppy phase where she considers recalls to be somewhat optional. More reinforcement needed, specifically when she’s chasing other dogs. She’ll recall from mooching dogs or even dogs that are chasing her, but once she’s locked on to a running dog, her brain falls out. Inside the arena she was excellent, focussed on me and offering tricks for her treats, not at all reactive to the dogs running which I love and hope we can keep! We even played a bit of tuggy in the stalls area, which she thought was wonderful. She does seem to think that if someone is stood with a toy in their hand, she can just help herself to it as she walks past … I caught her before she actually grabbed anything, but might need to work on that too!

Tailwaggers February

  By Leanne | February 7, 2012 - 4:08 pm | Agility, Dylan, Rio
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This was 300x better than Hare’n'Hounds last week.

Novice Plus Tunnel Troubles was a straightforward course, but I’d already decided to train Dylan’s run. We played tuggy a few times and he seemed to enjoy himself, his jumping was miles better than HnH but difficult to judge as it was a jump turn into tunnel – back out to jump kind of course.

N+ Agility was a really easy course for the level, and Dylan was fab. He finished 9th but I held his contacts so I’m not surprised, but I was so pleased with how he worked. His jumping was excellent, his Aframe was great, his seesaw was really confident. Dogwalk was a little slow but I can’t have everything. I ran off and left him in the weaves and he worked right through without popping … it was just like running Dylan from 12 months ago!

Uncomfortable though it is for me to watch, I’ve also uploaded a video. I hate uploading videos of Dylan looking terrible. I’ve picked the video of his Novice+ Jumping run, because this was probably his best and worst run. For the more complex sections (weaves – 13) Dylan was actually running nicely, jumping well and wearing his happy face (despite the dither from 12-13 which was completely my fault). For the straight 14-18 finish, it all goes badly downhill.

My handling is not good on this video, I was late, misjudging, and panicking because he was going a little faster than anticipated. It was one of those courses I wish I could run again though, there were some interesting bits in there.

N+ Speed and Power was another fun course, a reversal on Power & Speed where you did the speed course first, and if you went clear you could continue to the untimed contact section (which we did!). For each correctly completed contact you had 5s deducted from your Speed time. So Dylan’s final placing was 5th in 4.96s. I think the winner was 2.??s, it was a very big stretchy course. Seesaw and Aframe were excellent, 1-3 on the jumping was fairly poor but he picked up and ran the rest of the course reasonably well.

Rio had a fun day with one or two incidents that were caused by oblivious or just rude owners of other dogs. Particularly annoyed with the person who thought it was acceptable to encourage their 2 dogs to race each other around the small exercise area. Rio did set off chasing but I haven’t exactly prepped her yet for two collies racing past 3ft from us. On the other hand, if it had been Dylan he would have had a panic attack, so maybe it’s better I had Rio with me! I was fuming on that one.

Hare’n'Hounds again this coming weekend and I have lovely Bails to run! I’m very excited to be running a Medium again, even if it’s just a one off.