This was a hard, boundary pushing class. There was a 19 obstacle course laid out with every obstacle they have. We got a chance to walk it for a few minutes and then did a cold run-through. We broke into groups and worked on pieces (with alterations from the original course), then did the course again.




Weaves, the stupid double jump, and the friggin tire. That's all I have to say. Duncan was in a very vocal mood, which didn't really help matters. Other than those three obstacles, though, we did pretty awesome. Once Duncan got off the dogwalk a little early (I think he had one paw in the yellow), but that is because I stopped and said "Am I going the right way?" or something to that effect.

2o2o is going very badly, so I've tried to teach creeping down the obstacle. He is doing well for the dogwalk and I think starting to get it a little on the A-frame.

The weaves need more practice and I need to make sure they are widely set during class. Our channel weaves at home are set pretty close, but Duncan doesn't generalize to the weave-o-matics. I would much rather have a set of those, though! When he does get them, he bounces through nicely. I also coyly moved to his right side, as that is the side where he has the most success with the weaves. We are working at getting all angles at home.

The double jump... that would require two jumps at home. I have one built, the PVC for another, and need to get jump cups for both. So that's bust for the moment.

I actually worked on the tire at Flyball this week. There just happens to be one, so after class I did some work with it and Duncan is much improved. I wouldn't like something that moved when I jumped through it either.

Duncan graduated into the next level of Agility! I was nervous about our first class. It is a bit different than Intro. You have drop-in cards and come when you can. This is nice for scheduling issues. Last night, there were five dogs present.

First: jump work!
          We did wraps first. I had done something similar with Duncan before, so this was fine. After we got bored of that, we moved to Start Line Stays (or in our case, Waits). I'd say we have about 85% good waits. The issue is that Duncan is slow to Sit for me. I have to say it pretty sternly for him to listen. This is something we should work on at home. After that we worked on Sends. As long as I gesture nicely, Duncan is fine. He is so much more visual than auditory. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Second: individual obstacles
          I was determined to do the 2o2o for the A-frame. We've been working on an inclined plank at home, so I thought we could generalize that easily. Nope. Duncan kept turning his shoulders and spinning off the bottom of the frame to look for his treat. When I dropped the treat at the end, he seemed to be able to do it. Definitely need to get more work on this. I think next class, I'll see if we can lower the frame at first to really key that in.
          Switching to weaves, I was happy to note that Duncan was doing great. He even got his small-dog-hop going! I like the Weave-O-Matic poles they have. The channel poles at home seem harder to me. Only thing to do for this is practice!
          The dogwalk was a cakewalk. Hahaha. Sorry. Anyway, Duncan was fine with it set to the height of my elbow. He went as fast as I went. Sometimes I had to race him to the end to get the treat set up at the end. I will work on getting further out from the dogwalk.
          Duncan took a bit of his own weight with the teeter. I let him start to tip it before I slowed the descent. The only thing he is grumpy about on it is not being able to fly across. I am going to have to force myself to take the teeter slowly.
          There was a small set-up of jump, jump, jump curved tunnel. I let Duncan do the tunnel once to make sure that he could succeed on such a curved tunnel. Yay! He did it! Then we ran it with great success. Then we were told to do it backward. Duncan was held (sweetly) at the end of the curved tunnel and I was to run and call him through it. The instructor gave Duncan a little push and he was off, chasing me down the way and missing all the jump. The next time, I smacked the second jump with my hand right before Duncan was going over it. As he landed, he started barking at me and I didn't even grump about him missing the last jump (my fault!!!). Then, the instructor held him back as I ran the original direction and I got a small crowd as Duncan FLEW over the jumps to get near me. I swear he went up on the side of the tunnel as he barreled through.

Last: a course - jump, jump, jump, curved tunnel, teeter, tire, dogwalk, broad jump, A-frame, weaves
          Jump, jump, jump, tunnel - fine! We even got a good and solid lead out from the start. Teeter - decent. I didn't readily have a treat, and Duncan gave me the most pitiful look. It was like he said, "I'll do it just for you, mom, but I really think I deserve some yummy." I dug one out of my pouch and popped it into his mouth. Tire - After the teeter, I should have made him wait to better get set-up for the tire. He rear crossed ME and passed it entirely. I called him back and made a much bigger signal (remember, visual!). Problem solved. We rounded the bend for the dogwalk, which he liked. The broadjump confused him. I ended up putting him in a sit-wait (sit took a bit to calm him down enough for it) and called him over it. He sniffed it before he jumped and that was that. A-frame, fine if you consider he hit the contact. Not fine if you were expecting a 2o2o (which I wasn't). He popped out of the last weave, and we were so exhausted we didn't go back and fix it.

Ah, Flyball... A class got canceled and then this week's got moved to tonight. Scheduling might be funky over the next couple of weeks but I've got my fingers crossed for *gasp* two classes in back-to-back weeks!

Duncan did awesome (with no video evidence...sorry). He went and grabbed the ball without me doing the psych out throw thing. When we were right before the first jump and beyond, he needed me to toss the ball. Our first round was pretty nice. Duncan's strong suit is his recalls. He wants Mommy and her gob of string cheese! I am a tiny bit disappointed in his tugging drive, but the food is working well.

When we were at the end of the line, it was interesting how Duncan reacted. I'd try to set him up the same as always. Procedure: crouch, pull Duncan close, kiss on long nose, take a hold of harness, whisper things like "See the ball? Let's get that ball", and then send him with a "Go!!" Most times, Duncan would fly away for a few steps, get over a hurdle or two, and then whirl around and bark at me. Ugh. He even dropped the ball before the last jump a couple times. I think that I can get those things worked out with some work at home, though. I just need to enlist a little help... hmmm.

Good news! We're going to try Duncan on the box next time. That's the spring-loaded contraption that shoots the ball out that they actually use in competition. My only grump about this is that there is no real way to practice at home. Grr.

So, we are rolling along with the Flyball. Duncan is coming out of his shell and gaining so much confidence, which is very awesome. Oh, and my little sable bugger - everyone loves you there.

Tonight was a great last class. The format of the class was to go around and showcase each dog having success at each obstacle. We all gathered around one, two, or three in a row and applauded whatever happened. I have to say that any mistakes are all mine. Duncan was great. He did get over-excited, but I think he was just correcting some bad handling.

The video:


The one thing that sticks out to me more than anything else is that blatant missed contact on our first ever full run-through. If I had been on the fence about 2o2o training, I have now fallen over it. It is too dangerous to have that kind of high-impact jump. I'm sure that will take up a good deal of our time for the next few weeks - at the very, very least.

Other than that one glaring error, the others are very minor. Not slowing before the weaves, underestimating how far I needed to go with a front-cross, and forgetting I had to brace the teeter (thankfully I got that one in time!).

Positively, I think that I have a future agility maniac on my hands. Duncan loves to run and enjoys every obstacle we do (now, of course). High points are tunnels, jumps, the A-frame (considering our starting point), dogwalk...

I am enthused to start our Basic Agility class soon.

I can't believe that there is only one more class left in this round! I feel like we have come so far in this time. Mostly, I am really proud of Duncan. For such a little dog, he has gained so much confidence. I'm sure I'll have more to say about this next week. Let's get to the good stuff.

Class went really well. I had JUST explained to one of the instructors that I thought Duncan might need some more contact work when he surprised me. After luring him over the A-frame once, he got it! I think he realized that if he flew over it, it wasn't all that bad. The instructor wanted us to attempt 2o2o (two on, two off). I keep bouncing between wanting to do this and not liking it. I'm going to rig something to practice it at home.



Notes:

It was obvious to me and everyone there - Duncan loves to run. He can't wait to get started. When he gets past a certain threshold, he can't sit for the start and I have to work with what I've got. I varied a few running starts with the waits. I think a Sit-Wait will be our goal. When I felt he wasn't giving me good focus, I walked around the obstacle (well, was instructed to!) and came back to him. I liked this approach. Since Duncan really wants to rrruuuunnn, I think he will quickly get the point that focus and a good wait get him what he wants.

2o2o - ugh. If you watch the very last run, we had a blast and no danger of jumping off the contact zone. Should I just watch it and risk having to re-train? Or should I put in the effort now so that later I am grateful? There is one clip where you can hear Thane say "fault" as Duncan clearly goes well into the contact zone. We had to watch it together to settle that! Too funny.

After a certain point, Duncan turns in to Mr. Barkerson. I ignore the best I can. The little happy barks are completely different and so, so very cute. Mr. Barkerson, however, doesn't listen or watch. He just hops around yelling about my bad handling.

Teeter - We need a trotting start for him to really get the feel. Also, I think we estimated the tip point too close to the fulcrum, when it needs to be out a bit more. Each time was a little worse because we went slower and slower.

The chute was a huge success. We finally got that one down pat. Yay for Duncan!

Can you say velcro dog? On the list to work with on the field: go, out, left, and right.

Overall, I was extremely happy with my Duncan. We have a long way to go, but man it was great to feel like we were getting somewhere! On of the instructors came up to me at the end of class and said, "You have an agility dog now."