Tag Archives: jumping

Training: Jumping Woes

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Dogwalk was variable. Check box on independent, because it always has been, and I really did push this to extremes this week running all over the place and in every direction. But independent doesn’t mean it’s the same speed every time. Sometimes it is fast, sometimes it is slow, and this does not seem to depend on where I am, but on the approach. If Dyl has taken a jump and only has 1/2 strides before the dogwalk, he is slower. More strides = faster.

Which leads me to jumping, sadly. Early take off almost all the time now, and the jumping just looks uncomfortable. Stride regulators correct early take off but don’t improve the way Dylan is jumping (it still looks awkward) which is part of what makes me think this is a physical issue.

It is probably worth mentioning that although I have obsessed forever about Dylan’s jumping, this is not his “usual” over-cautious jumping. Really quite worried now. Vet check booked for next week (couldn’t fit him in before).

Sticky Summer

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Very humid at training this week. Always intended this week to be an “easy” week, confidence boosting for dogs and handlers. We did short, easy sequences (6-8 obstacles) on a one-shot basis (you get one go, and then on to the next sequence). This is brilliant for G1-3 dogs, or for G5 dogs who need to get their confidence back, or other G5 dogs who are coming back from injury and need to get back in tune with their handlers. Everyone comes away feeling positive, and it helps to stop people obsessing over negatives. We talked a lot about being able to run a course, discussing what happened, and then letting it go before running the next course. Taking away things to work on is important, but seeing the next course as a fresh and seperate challenge is also important.

I need to work on this as well.

Dylan was brilliant. We had fun, it was smooth and easy and Dyl was floating over everything with big, powerful jumps. No worries. We’ll see how it goes at the weekend when we’re working with dogs he doesn’t know. Bakewell is normally good to us.

NOFA: Hare’n'Hounds & Waldridge Fell

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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.
Grade 3 Agility WinnerGrade 3 Agility WinnerRed Tri

NOFA 2011, a set on Flickr.

Hare’n'Hounds Valentines

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I seem to remember saying back in November that I wouldn’t run three dogs again. Well, I did, and it was better – either because I was prepared for the chaos, or because everything just ran more smoothly!

Kim ran her G4-7 Agility first, had a lovely run on an interesting course, and won it. I can’t believe I get to type this, but Kim is now halfway to Grade 7! She has both her agility wins, and she’s enjoying these occasional competitions so much.

Dylan’s G5-7 Agility was a really nice course, but we got called on the dogwalk contact. I’m not sure if he missed it or not, I can’t tell on the video, but he was running a little slow and steady and for some reason, very creepy on the seesaw. Hmm …

Jet ran a beautiful clear on the handler-challenging Redmills C1-7 Jumping, and finished 18th. Which … well, it was a fast course and she was only 2s off the winner, so that’s a good result. She was also the top Grade 3 dog by a long way! We went straight from that ring to the G1-4 Jumping and made a complete shambles of the course, which was a little bit frustrating! It was a very difficult course for 1-4, but nothing we couldn’t handle … or so I thought. The most annoying thing was that Jet popped the last 2 poles of the 12 weaves again. We must work on this!

Kim’s C1-7 Jumping was the same as Jet’s, and she ran a nice clear but we had a silly dithering moment where I was just a stride lazy and it nearly caught us out. Think Kim ended up 6th or 7th, out of the placings either way but she enjoyed the run, a nice stretchy course for her.

Jet’s 2nd in the Graded 1-3 Agility was extremely unexpected! It was a nice course, suitably challenging, but had two aframes and a seesaw rather than the traditional dogwalk-aframe-seesaw. Jet’s Aframe is not her strongest peice of equipment, and she did too acceptable but creepy Aframes and I thought that would keep us well out of the placings. Apparently not!

Dylan had three jumping classes in a row, starting with his half of the Redmills Jumping. It was a lovely big, open course, and Dylan actually opened up and ran it really well. We got E’d, but it was a good run. I was happy! We then went into the G5-7 Jumping. We got E’d multiple times, but I made personal progress by practising what I preach and pretending nothing had happened and that whatever we did was what I meant to do. It worked for Dylan, his confidence was visibly up! We went straight into the BC Jumping and ran clear, he finished 19th.

Kim’s C5-7 Agility was the same as Dylan’s earlier course, and we had a slightly on-the-edge run but managed to get around clear anyway, and finished 4th. Not too shabby! Her C5-7 Jumping was the same as Dylan’s again, and we made pretty much the same mistakes. Clearly I learn nothing from my mistakes.

Dylan’s G4-5 Agility was quite a tough course for 4/5, but ran much better than it walked. I got to watch most of this class run, and wow, the standard of 4/5 dogs was through the roof! Dylan had a decent clear and finished 5th, just out of the placings, but I intentionally took him the long way around the pull-thru so I’m quite pleased with that.

Long time off from agility now, not back until April! I did want to try and enter some in March but it all got a bit expensive with the seminar and Crufts!