We finally had a chance to go to agility practice tonight! After a huge hiatus, I was worried that Duncan would be completely oblivious, but it wasn't so bad. We had a 15 obstacle jumpers course with 6 weave poles, one tunnel, and TWO concentric spiral things. Craziness. Mostly it was handler error - as usual. Duncan got a little barky and I switched out his blue ball for some treats to help focus him.

For the first time ever, Duncan ran off course!! There was a whining dog, which is a particular weakness for The Sheriff. The Sheriff did not like it when I picked him up and replaced him to start, but we did fine after that. He even did well on his weaves given we haven't practiced in a looooong time.

Overall, I am satisfied. I got a good cardio workout and Duncan got out some of his hyperness. We'll see how next week goes!

Last night, we tried the outdoor Flyball session. It worked beautifully! Duncan had so much room to run and was very eager to hit the box. When I had Thane as a box loader, I was able to leave balls around our starting point. Duncan got a bit ball crazy and would run back, holding one, and then drop it and bring me three balls before I could really catch him. It was really cute. After the initial 8 ball round, Thane pulled Abigail out to play fetch. She is really doing well at that. Another few weeks and I think we'll be where we can start some flyball work. I worked with Dunc again, doing some more specific box work with the board. It worked nicely to force all four feet onto the box.

No triggering this time!

Total time: 30 minutes including all the fetch breaks and equipment set-ups and such

Tonight, we tried it again. The sequence was: taunt Duncan with the ball (well, rev him up), load ball onto velcro, grab him and carry him away from box, set-up him up, reeeaddddyyy, seeettt, GO, repeat. We did this over and over again (his reward was me tossing the ball and him bringing it back... he is truly ball CRAZY). Duncan was bursting from my hands, flying to the box, then either barking at it or gingerly grabbing the ball, and then loping back. He was reliable with his recall and got some nice speed both ways. I figure, when he is slamming the box, then we'll trigger. Until then, let's build that confidence. I think I'm having a patient day. Give me a few more and I'll lament why we aren't already done with the box training!

Duncan's box turn is not good at the moment. Re-training the direction has really thrown it off. I don't like using the shelf because it is thick wood. I will see if I can borrow a jump. I don't want an accidental injury! It is pretty cool to see his confidence blooming with this home practice.

Total time for today: about 20 minutes

After our two great practices and a loooong week at work, we took Friday off. Most times, when we take a break, we do great at our next practice. Not so this time.

This evening Duncan was balky and my patience was thin. We lasted in our very warm (may have had something to do with it) garage for almost 10 minutes. It wasn't fun. Tomorrow, I want to take the box outside. More room to run and I can always chuck the ball for a few minutes of fetch to break up the practice. I need to come up with a way to make hitting the box SO fun that he is eager at the sight of it.

Sigh.

EDIT:

So later this evening and Duncan is feeling playful. I had watched some videos of Flyball training and remembered our brief stint with the jump (Hup-Back method). First I took Abbie into the garage (which had cooled down a bit) and played fetch. She isn't great, has no speed, but is building confidence. One day I hope we can start Flyball with her. Duncan was jealous.

I switched pups and set up the board away from the box. Hup-Back! Over the jump, hop back in the same motion. It mimics the box turn I'd like him to have very well. He did that a few times nicely, gaining interest. I dropped the ball on the other side and told him to get the ball. He got it hopped back. Okay, awesome.

The board was moved to the box and I had to experiment with how far out it went. The goal was for Duncan to hop over the jump, grab the ball, turn around and jump over in the same motion. It turns out that the jump has to be about seven inches away from the box. Any closer and he puts only his front paws over, grabs the ball, and comes back without putting all four paws on the box.

Without his harness on, he was happier and more ready to go. He was definitely obsessed with the ball again. It felt nice to be working as a team and working with the ball. I triggered the box once during the session. It took two runs to go off. Duncan didn't freak out and he brought me the ball. I set it up again and he hesitated toward the box. I re-built his confidence and called it quits while we were ahead.

I think tonight's lesson is to find something that works for us and adjust as necessary. The harness got Duncan over the cusp of his trigger fear, but it is still there and needs other methods, too. The harness is not helping his ball drive or either of our enjoyment of the sport so much. We can go back to having fun and being patient. I need to be reminded every now and then.

Total time for session two: 14 minutes