Weaves

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Leanne

We had fun with weaves at training this week. He did so well on the Wicked Weaves course at the weekend, but there were no really difficult entries and I was able to stay with him the whole time, but it reminded me that we did need to work a bit more on our weaves!

Offside entries are still weaker than nearside, he can hit nearside entries from any angle (including distance 180s, whoo!).

I still have to work on running on ahead as this does cause him to pop sometimes in competitions, but it’s a hard thing to train as he feels confident at training about being left behind. It’s actually really tough trying to make him pop in training!

The word “no” is banned at training but I use other verbal NRMs. (It’s usually “what a cheat!” although I use “that’s not a wait!” quite a lot these days as well). I had a discussion with one of our other handlers on verbal markers and it made me really listen to what I was doing! Of course, Dyl gets 2 chances at something and if we get it wrong the second time, we make it easier, so it’s not like he hears a lot of NRMs anyway. Especially compared to the amount of RMs!

Jumping

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Leanne

Dylan was really rocking his jumping this week, I was a very happy bunny! Lovely and smooth, confident, and extended. I don’t think his take off points are right so we do have to do more work on that.

Only one minor issue when he nearly backflipped over a jump, and I have genuinely no idea how he managed it. I can only assume (?) that he either tried to throw in an extra stride and then severely misjudged it, or tried to avoid me and propped with his front legs and lost it with his rear. We both recovered and carried on and no harm done, he bounced back quickly enough. I actually think the main thing was because of his aversion to knocking poles, he’d rather jump six foot too high to recover than knock the pole and land safely.

Fab weave entries, absolutely no popping regardless of whatever I was doing. Lovely! We’ve also done plenty of work on seesaw confidence, which seems to be paying off now. I keep trying to mix up doing early releases, quick releases and holding his contacts, which seems to be working. I really do love how happy Dyl is with his contact position, he really smiles at me when he’s stood waiting for his release … at which point I usually have to wait until he’s looking for the next obstacle, which is what he should be doing, but he does make me smile as well!

I’m feeling much more confident about sending Dylan and letting him roll. That’s definitely a result of the training day we were on a couple of weeks ago, it really showed me that Dylan does know what he’s doing and I can just leave him to get on with it!

Lincoln Agility

Posted on April 26, 2010 by Leanne

Started the weekend with a nice course for the Grade 3 Jumping, a little bit straightforward for my taste so I chose to take Dylan the long way around the pull thru, which gave me a chance to test his weave entry. He flicked out to it beautifully, nailed it, and then I steadied him up way too much for the turn at the end. Oops! That pushed us well out of the placings, unfortunately … or so I thought. We eventually came 16th, despite the super slow last corner!

The Alpha Agility (Combined 1-3) was a weird little course, lots of contacts into nowhere and slightly awkward approaches to the dogwalk and seesaw especially. I completely missed walking the Grade 3 Agility, but luckily it was a nice course, just one tricky bit which people really overhandled, for the most part. However, now would be a moment to mention that the showground is right next to RAF Scampton, where the Red Arrows practice. They practised all day Saturday, and that put paid to our agility runs!

The Red Arrows did not go down well with Dylan. He wasn’t frightened or panicking, otherwise I wouldn’t have attempted to run him, but he wasn’t anywhere near as focussed as he should have been, and was getting hyper-aware of unexpected noises. The Alpha was a complete shambles, we were both all over the place and I think we had 5 or maybe 10 faults? Not sure, but it wasn’t pretty! I could tell from the start of the Grade 3 Agility that Dylan was nowhere near as focussed or as fast as he’s been running recently. I held all his contacts as a result, and we handled the pull thrus without a problem, but it felt super slow. Think we came 21st in that?

Final Grade 3 Jumping was a massive course, huge wide spacings and a run along the top of jump-cloth tunnel-pipe tunnel that I knew was going to cause us problems! Because this class was at the end of the day, the planes had stopped flying just after lunch and we were in the quiet again. We set off comfortably, but I pulled him off the pipe tunnel and we dithered around for 3 hours before I got him back on track. Finished up easily anyway, really lovely extended jumping around the last section which was very nice to see! We came 17th, which was a bit of a surprise as I thought we’d had a very obvious refusal, but apparently the judge didn’t mark it (or the scribe didn’t write it down, because my couple of supporters both thought they’d seen him mark it!)

Sunday dawned … rainy. Lots and lots of rain. Bit of a contrast to Saturday when we all got sunburnt! It stopped raining but stayed overcast until lunchtime, by which time Dyl and I had done all our running. We seem to like running in the rain though, so that’s ok.

First class was the Combined 3-5 Vegas Qualifier, and not at all what I was expecting! It was easier than some of the Grade 3 classes I’ve run recently, and it was definitely easier than the Alpha Qualifier. Again, a very fast, very open course but one I thought Dylan would like, so we gave it our best shot. Our best shot is not very good apparently! Dyl veered off towards the dogwalk and so we made a real hash of the top flick around (6-7), so I held all his contacts again. Going back up to take 6 again, he veered off again for the dogwalk(!), so we lost loads of speed again. I would have marked that as 2 refusals, but apparently the judges were feeling really kind this weekend, because it was recorded as clear. I had a peek at the time anyway; Dyl was 34s-ish, and 20th was 28s-ish, so if we’d been clear (properly clear!) we’d have been top-20. However, how many other people can say that as well? Especially the dark blue merle dog with the most mindblowingly fast running contacts I have ever seen, who got 5f (think on the weaves?). I have no idea who this dog is, but wow, it did the dogwalk in 3 strides and nailed the contacts. Stunning!

Grade 3 Jumping was a perfectly pitched course, nice wide spaces but some areas to handle. I was bouncing after walking this! Dylan had a cracking run but I forgot my steady command at the start and he went very very wide around to 3, which cost us any chance of a placing. Oops!

The other Grade 3 Jumping was a strange little course. It looked really simple on paper, but once everyone walked it there were a few frowns! It was a course that had to be worked all the way through, and finished with a tricky weave entry. Dylan had a fantastic run, super smooth and fast, neat and tidy through all the corners and he nailed the weaves. Couldn’t have asked for better, and we came 6th, which was a pretty fab result in a class of 217!

Grade 3 Agility was another nice course, really straightforward and just a box to work at the top. Dylan set off nicely but we had a real regression and he slammed on at the dogwalk up-plank, I was so disappointed! Held his contacts for the rest of the run and tried to stay philosophical, but it’s so frustrating. Further work required.

Congrats to everyone for their results, but especially to Emma and Bailey for their 2x 2nd’s in Grade 5, and to Alice and Sammy for their 1st in the Grade 2 Jumping, about time!

I was really surprised that Dyl pulled off the placings he did; the classes were huge and placings were seperated by 0.01′s, so I thought we’d have to be running our absolute best even to get near the placings. As it turned out, we were in the top-20 or there abouts with pretty shoddy runs by my standards (especially compared to Hare’n'Hounds at Easter), and with our only good run we were in the top-10. In Jumping! I never thought I’d have a good jumping dog, when did that happen?!

Training Days

Posted on April 18, 2010 by Leanne

Tough day for fatman Dylan today! Flyball training in the morning and then an agility training afternoon over in York. Ideally I would have skipped flyball, but we have Drax coming up and I really want him fit and ready. We’re making an effort to do more two lane training at the moment, and it’s making Dylan work really hard. He has a habit of lazing around in training when on a single lane, so running him against the faster dogs pulls him on and makes him put some effort in. He was stretching like mad against Jet; he was going 110% and she was cruising at 80%, and she still beat him by a nose. Poor lad, no wonder he has an inferiority complex, he’s constantly getting his ass kicked by girls.

So he had a hard flyball session, and then I whisked him off to agility! I’d booked onto a training day with Dawn and Katie Long, since loads of people have recommended Dawn to me recently and when the opportunity came up I was about ready to snap Julie’s hand off! I had a great time and it was well worth it, so I can safely say I’ll be furthering the recommendations.

We did a lot of work on contacts, which was great for me and Dylan. Particularly for me! I’ve always been fairly confident in Dylan’s understanding of the 2o2o position, but I’ve never dared to truly test it. Well, I got put on the spot, and Dylan was brilliant, so I’m very very pleased. He drove to the end regardless of where I was, and only looked around for me once he’d stopped. His Aframe was especially good; I raced him to the start of the Aframe, and then stopped completely before the up-ramp and let Dylan complete by himself. He nailed it every time, and only peered around once to check where I was (and he left a toe on the bottom … cheating slightly!) Spent plenty of time getting him to really drive over the dogwalk, and some new techniques for getting him more confident on the seesaw, so very positive.

We also spent some time working on weave entries and truly independent weaves, which again was great for me and Dylan, because he was awesome! More about my handling than anything, and Dylan was pretty exhausted by this part of the session, but he’s always willing to try.

I didn’t learn anything which is going to fundamentally change the way I handle or train. But I’m viewing that a positive thing. Means we’re doing something right!

Hare ‘n’ Hounds Easter Show

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Leanne

Imagine a sea of mud, stretching as far as the eye can see …

Well, it started ok on Friday. A little cold, a little damp, but nice. The weekend didn’t start all that fortuitously when I ran the Combined 1-3 Jumping, Dyl popped the last 2 weave poles (setting a trend for the weekend there) and then I completely forgot where I was going. The only word to describe it was shambles, frankly. Dylan then ran with Cat in Junior Agility, and was a freaked out little puppy … well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. He likes Cat, and got around the course, but really couldn’t understand why he was running with her when me and Katie and everyone were stood right there.

Happily, improvement was made! Doc’s Graded 1-4 Agility was lovely, and Dyl went clear but chose to creep his dogwalk. Still, stayed in the weaves and steadied for his wrap at the end nicely! We came 6th in a surprising turn of events, I didn’t think Dylan was particularly fast but it turned out there were fewer clears than expected – possibly due to the ground, which was (unknowingly) setting the theme for the next 3 days. Dylan also ran with Cat in Junior Jumping, and apart from being an airy fairy, he was much better.

Graded 1-4 Jumping was a nice course, but not really suited to Dylan; it would have been perfect for Kim! Some tight spacings and some slightly awkward turns for the longer striding dogs, but we scraped around and came 8th. We finished up with a good run in the final class of the day, the Combined 1-3, really lovely dogwalk but a little creepy on the Aframe and seesaw. The dogwalk obviously made up for it though, as we came 6th again! Very pleased, it was a good result in a big class.

We went to Tracy’s Quiz, and when we emerged some hours later, poorer and perhaps a little tipsy, the world had turned and the ground was increasingly resembling a swamp land. It didn’t get any better, and the show organisers wisely chose to cancel Saturday’s classes. A handful of people went home (Emma!) but I actually think most people stayed, which was nice. We had a relaxing Saturday, and may have danced when the sun came out at 5pm. In the short hours before sunset, the sun worked it’s magic and we were cautiously optimistic about Sunday.*

*Ok, Katie was very optimistic, and Cat and I were patiently sceptical. It balances out.

Cat went home Sunday morning, which we were sad about but it did mean I couldn’t traumatise Dyl with any more Junior classes. We ran the Combined 1-3 Agility and Dylan again freaked out at the dogwalk, but after watching 90% of the dogs in the class do the same, I was hopeful for the rest of the day. We spoke to the very lovely judge who said he could see the dogwalk was clearly a problem, but by the time the pattern had been established, it was too late to change things. It was solid, not bouncing or rocking, and the approach was straightforward. It wasn’t slippy or hot/cold underfoot, so we have no idea why all the dogs slammed on the brakes on the up-plank, but they did! Anyway, we were clear, but the dogwalk shenanigans cost us too much time and we finished 6th.

Lovely dogwalk in the Grade 3 Agility, which was the same equipment as the C1-3. The course was nice but I think we got E’d … for some reason this course is a complete blank, I’m pretty sure we got E’d but I haven’t a clue how, where or why! The Grade 3 Jumping was a lovely course, consisting just of jumps and tunnels but just the right amount of challenge vs. go. Dylan was running nicely but I fell over a jump wing and completely confused the poor lad, so we got another big E. I don’t think I did the course justice! Katie and Jet definitely did though, since they came 2nd.

Finally, Doc’s Combined 1-3 Jumping, a nice smooth course with a very fast line right around the outside of the ring. I figured we had no chance, much too fast a course, but we gave it a good shot and Dyl worked the wing wrap at the end really nicely. Surprisingly we finished up 3rd! We’ve never even placed higher than 6th in Jumping, so that was a lovely surprise.

Monday morning dawned bright and chirpy with a very chilly breeze! Graded 1-3 Agility up first, last chance to chase the win, and we blew it on the second obstacle by popping the last 2 weave poles! Bit gutted as Dyl did a lovely run, beautiful contacts including a lovely fast, confident dogwalk. Must work on the weave popping!

Graded 1-3 Jumping was a course I loved, really big open spaces and a flowing course, but with some unusual challenges which made the handlers really work from beginning to work. We stood and watched quite a lot of the class, which made for interesting viewing! I only saw 1 person flick their dog to the right of 6 and then bring them down the outside of the tunnel, which had been my plan from when we walked it originally. Sticking to the plan worked, because Dyl’s run was absolutely awesome. He was eating up the ground, lovely and extended and smooth in his jumping, nailed the weaves and turning tight when necessary. We had just one break in the flow, coming over 15 at the end, where he broke stride and stepped in towards the final jump. He came back onto line when I called, but then he broke stride again, checked in with me, and then committed to 16. He was moving forward constantly, and we probably wasted 0.5s at most through a lack of momentum, but it felt like a lifetime! We finished 3rd, but only fractions seperated us from 1st/2nd. It’s the only time that I have ever felt we were chasing 1st, I was absolutely buzzing after we’d run!

Combined 3-4 Agility was a wicked little course, including a brush fence and a wall (I love this stuff, please can we have more!) but it was the best agility run Dylan did all weekend … except for popping the last 2 weave poles again. Arg! I was in raptures over his dogwalk, I think I might be dreaming about it for the next month. Was a bit worried about the increasingly gale force winds, but he kept balanced throughout, never flinched at the “unusual” obstacles and he bounced the corner going into the dogwalk. Shame about the big E, but I’m still very proud of that run!

Combined 3-4 Jumping was a boring little jump/tunnel course, no weaves or much of a challenge, especially compared to the lovely G1-3 earlier. We toodled around it, clear but uninspired, and finished up 17th.

I didn’t think about it at the time, but I realise now that I never walked a course this weekend and worried about Dylan being able to handle it, I just trusted him. It was also nice being up North, because although a lot of the names in the results were familiar to me, I didn’t know anyone well enough to go out and compete specifically to beat them. It was all about getting Dylan to run as best he could, about me attacking the courses and both of us just relaxing and having a blast. Which we did!