Hare’n'Hounds Xmas 2011

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Leanne

Dylan had a complete meltdown in the first run, he didn’t start off very well but as we got to the seesaw he shut off entirely. I’ve never had that happen before and to be honest, I don’t know what I can do about it now; he was fine on the seesaw at training and at Tailwaggers, and in the other classes after his flyoff a month ago at HnH. I ignored it and carried on but I don’t know if that was the best thing to do.

First jumping was an ok course and we meandered round, Dylan still wasn’t going well and I think we went clear but in a very boring slow kind of way.

I missed walking G6-7 Agility and it was quite a tricky course, we had a very slow start (Aframe call-off, Dylan’s least favourite thing) but picked up. We got 5f for a missed dogwalk contact, which was a shame. Not a tear your hair out miss, just a no-stop miss, so I need to proof that more in competitions.

G5-7 Jumping was actually quite a hard course which I completely failed to walk, again, but I watched Tracy run Eric around and do a great job so I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do. We rocked the first part and then I forgot where I was going for a second, which meant we were very wide around to the weaves, not what I wanted! We finished 9th anyway, which is our first G6 placing, not too shabby. I know we have the training under our belt, we just need to lock into Dylan’s higher gears. We won’t win out of G6 but I’d like to hope we could get some placings.

His final run in the BC Jumping was his best run of the day, shame we got E’d! Much smoother, driven jumping, just a shame it took us five runs to get to that point. I thought I handled it ok but as Dylan sailed past me in the opposite direction to where I was going, maybe not. There is always something to work on!

I was not at all switched on, I missed walking all but 2 of his classes, much more concerned with making sure Rio was ok at her first show experience and chatting to Cat.

Hare’n'Hounds October Halloween

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Leanne

Kim had a great run first thing in the Combined 1-7 Jumping, a course with just jumps (no tunnels/weaves), so it was a pure speed kind of course. She finished 7th, I think 4/5s off the winners but she was the top Grade 6 by 8 seconds or something ridiculous. That was fun, but frustrating, as I ended up pulling her from the only Graded class of the day as I thought her jumping looked off mid-way through.

I’m not going to keep her going just for the sake of one more win, but it really would be nice for her to reach Grade 7 before she retires. She is skipping the next few months as I don’t trust the weather to stay nice enough for her, but Kim has always preferred running indoors so we’ll see if we can fit in a few more shows before the summer season starts up again.

Dylan had a hesitant run in his first class, an ok run in his second, and then was just beautiful in his last three. His jumping was super, really smooth and no silly stuttering around. We only got one clear, in the G5-7 Jumping, which was in the same ring as Kim’s earlier C1-7, so no tunnels/weaves and a fairly fast, open course. We were well out of the placings but it was a nice run with a moment where I got lost, and we were only 2s off the pace. I’m pretty pleased with that, Dylan and I are at our weakest on these kind of just-jumping fast courses, and this was our first Grade 6 show.

We had a horrible flyoff on the seesaw in the first run of the day, which I was really very surprised about – Dylan does not do flyoffs! I missed walking the course because I was too lazy to get out of the car, and we were running a really nice clear until the second to last obstacle (seesaw). Of course, Kim was in that ring later and she also flew it, so I’m tempted to blame the equipment. I did see a lot of other dogs do the same, clearly surprisingly themselves for the most part.

We had a super tough 6-7 Agility for our first proper G6 class too, a short spaced jump-seesaw line where you had to pull off the seesaw to hit a 120 degree weave entry to double back on yourself (I will try and get a course plan up). We avoided the seesaw and got the entry, but we messed up later on. It did remind me that running G6 with Dylan is actually going to be fun, he has all the training to do these harder courses and I love the handling challenges.

More Photos

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Leanne

Tri Grey Collie

Originally uploaded by kayanem

More photos added to the Flickr set from last week at the Northern Festival of Agility.

I will add more as the week goes on, but I’m having to do them in batches as they need more editing than usual. I had completely the wrong settings on the camera!

NOFA: Hare’n'Hounds & Waldridge Fell

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Leanne

I love Redcar, even when it’s blowing a gale. Best venue ever.

Dylan and I had a terrible half-week though. The best way I can think of to describe his first few runs is out-of-focus … he was clear, or had 5f, but without any speed or drive or focus to speak of. Nothing I could pinpoint but very much reminded of Scunthorpe and the BAA Finals last year.

We finished 10th in the Redmills Open Jumping (doing the 6 weaves twice caught out so many dogs!) and picked up a 3rd in the Grade 5 Jumping; it was still a little drifting with some very wide turns, which was a shame as it was a super course that I thought would really suit Dyl! Being brutally honest though, there weren’t many dogs in G5 and in a normal size class we would have been well outclassed. We picked up 5f for a pole in the other Jumping and I can’t even remember the other 2 agility classes!

Friday, and we had Julie Buchanan’s class first thing. She always uses the Brush fence and Wall in her classes so I was looking forward to that and thought if Dylan was running well we might be in with a shot. Dylan has never bothered with either before, so of course he stuttered into the Brush and ran out on the Wall. And then fell off the seesaw. Not a good start!

Generally it was a similar day to Thursday, with more focus but less confidence. Best run was in the G4-5 Jumping, we finished 3rd and Dyl worked the contacts well and responded nicely to the turn cues so we made up time that he lost on the flat.

Saturday and Waldridge Fell; The KC Novice Olympia was such a nice course and I really wanted to do well! I knew we had no chance of qualifying but it would have been good to see how Dyl held up against the good G5 dogs who were trying to qualify. Unfortunately he was very slow on the seesaw and hesitated before the dogwalk, and never really ran flat out. Compared to how he normally runs I would have said it was a pretty poor run, but it was our best run of the week which probably says something. Finished 12th.

Two jumping runs were ok but not great, we were clear and out of the placings in the more difficult straight G5, and then E’d in the G4-5. Both nice courses that should really have suited Dyl!

Final run in the lovely G4/5 Ag was the absolute worst run we’ve had for years. Dyl was hesitant, stuttered into the jumps, and then totally bailed off the seesaw as soon as it began to tip. We went back around to do it again and he bailed again, finally did it on the third attempt. The only good thing about the run was his Aframe, which was very nice, and that he did the Wall without flinching.

It was pretty obvious that Dylan wasn’t enjoying himself this weekend, at all. I don’t know where to go from here; I can’t ask him to run if he’s not having fun, but I also look back at videos from previous competitions where he is so clearly loving it. I don’t know what was different this time, and I don’t know how to avoid that next time.

Photos on Flickr.

NOFA 2011, a set on Flickr.

HnH Easter Thoughts

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Leanne

Somebody (think it was Julie) said this weekend that Dylan just can’t let go, and that’s exactly it. He is so much better now than even 12 months ago, but even when he’s at his most relaxed and most confident, he’s still not giving 100%.

If Dylan was a person, he’d be an accountant. He’d have a small but cheerful office and only deal with people by email, and probably have a very safe hobby, maybe like indoor rock climbing. He’d look out of his office window and long to go outdoor rock climbing, but he’d never do it because he’d be afraid of falling down a cliff and having to chop his own arm off.

Dylan and I have a lot in common, really.

Speaking of me, I am useless at cueing turns, if this weekend is anything to go by. I was consistently early with both dogs. I think part of the problem with Kim is that she needs a much, much later cue that Dylan anyway, and I found it very hard switching between them. I have no excuse with Dylan, I was just really early and he responded accordingly. We’re working on the cik/cap turns at home and it’s going quite well, I’m attempting to clicker train it as it’s such a specific action. The jump height is between 15-20cm at the moment. If I can do this right it will make a big difference to how we run courses, so I’m optimistic.