# Agility - Sharing the ups and the downs



## Dusty Rose

*Beginner, too*

I think that this is a great idea. I am also new to agility with my 10 month old blue standard. She loves it and I just try to keep up with her. Tunnels are her favorite with A-frame next, so far.

I just watched a great YouTube clip about agility, I don't usually pass things like this along, but I have laughed when I watched it for 2 days. If you are interested, it is Shiva goes Crazy.


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## lily cd re

Great idea for this thread! 

Here is a funny story. Two weeks ago we were at a trial and Lily just got totally loopy at the chute on Saturday. She approached it with her head up and then just couldn't make herself go in it. I got RRRRRRR for that obstacle on my score sheet. The irony is that I had ordered a chute for us at home since I knew I needed to be able to work on it more routinely. It was sitting right next to the ring, waiting for me to pick it up. I took it home and sent her through just the barrel a few times when we got home that evening. Her chute was much better on Sunday, but that day she wouldn't weave! Go figure.


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## MaryEdwards

Dusty Rose said:


> I think that this is a great idea. I am also new to agility with my 10 month old blue standard. She loves it and I just try to keep up with her. Tunnels are her favorite with A-frame next, so far.
> 
> I just watched a great YouTube clip about agility, I don't usually pass things like this along, but I have laughed when I watched it for 2 days. If you are interested, it is Shiva goes Crazy.


The video was great. Thanks for posting it.


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## MaryEdwards

*how old to start agility*

I should have included this with the previous post. How old should the puppy be before it is safe to start with agility training. It is almost winter in Michigan so I will not start till spring. Bentley is 7 months old now and would like to try and find out if he likes it. 
:act-up:


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## CT Girl

I am a beginner too. Swizzle catches on so quickly it is a shame he is stuck with a newbie like me. Swizzle was not crazy about the tunnel at first either. He can't see me and he doesn't like that. I was able to coax him through by letting him see me at the end of the tunnel. If that doesn't work rig up a tunnel at home-perhaps use blankets. Make it very short and then gradually make it longer. Have extra yummy treats for things they don't like to do. I talk to Swizzle when he is in the tunnel so he knows where I am. Swizzle seems to be picking up the chute OK, I just treat him when he goes through. Once he gets comfortable I will fade back the treating on that.

As to age I don't think they should start until they have stopped growing. A year plus for a toy and probably longer for bigger dogs. Meanwhile work on foundation. I started Swizzle on rec. agility at a year and a half. Swizzle just turned two and we recently got invited to take agility class. You can't just go she wants to make sure your dog is ready and that your temperament is right. I love class but sometimes I feel like I am all thumbs. Everyone has a couple of years of agility and I am so green. Fortunately Swizzle takes up the slack so it works out. I have started teaching the teeter which swizzle is not crazy about. It is affecting his dog walk as he is leery it will start moving on him. We have yet to do weave poles, I just have him weave chairs. When they have a teeter or weaves in class I just skip that part.


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## Minnie

I am really enjoying reading all the stories! There is nothing better than a happy dog and the positive agility environment is so much fun!!!

Dusty Rose - The U-tube video was not only hilarious but I really really appreciated how the handler turned this into a "FUN" time even though it must have been very difficult having this occur in front of a judge - yikes!

Lily cd re - I could just see Lily - saying uh uh no way on that chute - can't say I blame her... dark tunnel - heck I don't want to go in those lol.

Mary Edwards - 7 months - perfect time for all that foundation work. Tons of games to play with puppies to get them ready to play this crazy game. A book I'm reading now is "A Beginner's Guide to Agility" seems to have lots of info on getting a puppy ready to start - wish I'd found this a year ago. 

CT Girl - I've always found it funny that you'd never start a newbie on a green horse but our poor pups have to learn with us  We are the newbies in our class and I often feel like a real idiot - thankfully Bella can't tell and loves me anyways :-D


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## lily cd re

When in doubt, pretend you know where you are going and keep your dog moving. Lily gets very frustrated when I get lost and hung up on where we are supposed to go.

Foundation work only until they finish growing, but you can teach many concepts like start line stays, working on both sides, get them used to jump stanchions by just running them through them with bars on the floor, etc.


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## CT Girl

Lily cd re that is exactly what my agility teacher says to do. You want to keep the dog happy and confident and not let them get nervous over our angst when we make a mistake. I also find wait, on off, away, and around good things to teach before you get into obstacles.


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## outwest

Bonnie would have nothing to do with the tunnel the first few time. The instructor closed the tunnel up so it was all of two feet wide. I treated her through it. We did that a number of times, always ending on a positive note. Then we lengthened it, 6 inches at a time. At some point, maybe at around three/four feet long, she just decided the tunnel was fine and started ripping through it no matter how long and windy....unTIL....a male dog went in there and peed inside the tunnel. She went ripping through it, I could tell she stopped smack in the middle, turned around and hightailed it out the same side. We had to start all over again with the tunnel small, but this time it only took a little work to get her through again. I was also happy to see the peeing-in-the-tunnel dog leave our class. 

Right now we are working on the teeter. Sometimes she'll do it fine, sometimes not. I never force her, but admit to frustration. Why doesn't she run over it EVERY time? 

Also, she will work and work and work until about an hour has gone by. Then she just turns her head so she doesn't make eye contact and saunters off to the gate and sits quietly until I come over to leave. 

Jazz is still afraid of the skinny dog walk since he fell off of it when he was around 3 months old and exuberant. He is almost 6 months old now and I finally got him to walk tentatively across last week.

There is a big difference between my poodles and some of the other dogs. Some of those dogs are nervous, crazy wrecks. The minute their owners let them go they go barrelling through the stuff. Still, I prefer my calmer dogs who do everything carefully. We are working on speed now, but Bonnie's precision is much better than theirs, so I have that.


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## Quossum

Right now Sugarfoot is doing well in class at my training center and also working through 2x2 weaves. We went through an online course for contacts that has really paid off, and we invested in the Susan Salo jumping DVD's and utilized a lot of grids for our jumping foundation. 

There's so much foundation work and body awareness stuff that you can do! My 100 Days of Sugarfoot video gave a taste of it...now I need to do a 300 Days of Sugarfoot video and show his progress! 

You're so right about just going on if you make a mistake, being casual and unemotional about it. Sugarfoot fell from the dogwalk once, and I just turned around without more than an "oops!" and we went back and right back on it. No reluctance whatsoever. 

By the same token, if there's a mistake in the course of a sequence, I usually just keep on going. Say if he bypasses a jump. My philosophy is to keep on going, then later work with a single jump, running by it and practicing not bypassing it, making my handling more clear. I don't want him to slow his forward motion in the midst of a sequence, or to start worrying or second-guessing my handling. If it wasn't clear to him that he should have taken that jump, that's on me, not on him.

Sugar isn't wild about the teeter, either. We have one at home and have been practicing, but he pauses at the pivot longer than I'd like and sometimes bypasses it. Time to build more value--break out the chicken necks! lol Teeter fear is a little phase that a lot of dogs go through, though, so I'm not worried.

--Q


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## Dusty Rose

*How old should a puppy be*

We started at 5 mo., with a trial to see if she would like it, she loved it, ignoring the other dogs except the ones on the course that she watched intently.

I've bee told that they shouldn't be asked to jump before 8 mo. She is now 10 mo. and we are on our 2nd 6 week long class. She is really enjoying it and seems to like all of it. I think she would like it even more if I could go faster!


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## outwest

You can let them jump baby jumps, but I wouldn't encourage the higher jumps until over a year old even though they can do them. It's just a few more months to wait for her. Letting her jump the 10 inch height now (assuming she is a standard) and it should be alright, but not over and over and over. My 5.5 month old "jumps" 6-8 inches (well, he kind of walks over it. LOL).


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## Minnie

The tunnel continues to be Bella's worst enemy. I've left the kids tunnel setup in our home and we've played around it - tossed toys and treats to the entrance you name it. Bella will put her head in and stretch but as soon as she puts her front feet in she freaks and jumps back and shakes. I've tried three different tunnels so far with the same result.

This is sad because she used to barrel through with no problems :-( Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


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## lily cd re

Oh what I wouldn't have given to have a tunnel in Saturday and Sunday's jumpers courses. They were truly just jumps and one set of weaves. A tunnel would have given me a chance to collect my leaping Lily! No Qs this weekend:sad:


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## Dusty Rose

Have you tried laying in the tunnel and calling her to you. Treating when she comes in with you? My other two dogs would go into the kids tunnel to be with my granddaughter.
Good luck!


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## lily cd re

If she likes balls try this. Set the tunnel up so it is fairly short and straight so she can see through it. Set her up facing the entrance and stand next to her (do it from you on her left and you on her right). Get her charged up for the ball and then throw it through the tunnel so it goes all the way through. Hopefully she will be so excited about the ball that she will follow it through without thinking too much about the tunnel. You can gradually make the tunnel longer, but keep it straight so she can see though it until she is very at ease. Once you start to put little bends in the tunnel it will probably be easier to let her see that you are throwing the ball to the other end over the tunnel. You won't want to throw it in and have it get stuck in the tunnel since you won't want her to stop in it to pick up the ball. Don't throw food or anything else that will get stuck in the tunnel or she will just end up slowing down to search for the toy/treat. Keep her moving so fast that she doesn't have time to think about not liking it.


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## Minnie

Thank you guys for the advise on the tunnel :-D

I get to share an up tonight!!! I got out the 4' tunnel that is part of a chute set and played around it and then had DS hold her on one end and call her through and she went - yea!!! We had a jackpot party and then ended the session with her actually running towards the tunnel beside me and through - oh sweet success!!!! Then later this evening I got out the big tunnel and guess what that little stinker was running through it handling on both sides!

I think what I messed up on was that we are working on this in our living room for practice between classes. We have hard wood floors and the tunnel was moving when she put her toes in - I got out the PVC tunnel holders and no problem at all. 

Wow what a long winded post about a tunnel but finally :cheers2::cheers2::cheers2:


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## CT Girl

Minnie, that is great news! It is so rewarding when you have seen them conquer a fear. 
I know occasionally my teacher says I tunnel stuff. I am not sure what that is. She did tell me but I just didn't absorb or understand. I think it may be that I use the wrong hand to cue my dog to the tunnel. Can anyone clarify this for me?


It is frustrating that I have not been able to try out my newly purchased teeter as we are in Florida now. I am thinking of purchasing "Sizzling Seesaws" from Clean Run. Has anyone seen this? I hear Salo has great information on her jumping video.


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## Minnie

Thank you! It was a great feeling. I googled "tunnel stuff" and I didn't find a thing so hopefully with someone that is not a beginner like me can answer that one. 

We had another class last week and Bella was great - we worked on the small tunnel to keep it no stress for her hopefully next week we'll try the larger tunnel. The tire through her a bit but towards the end she was jumping through with no problems. We need to work on handling on both sides and changes of direction. One obstacle we haven't started on yet is the seesaw. This one has me the most concerned and I'm hoping to wait on this for a while to keep her confidence up in class. 

How is everyone else doing? Taking a break for the holidays or continuing class and/or training?


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## Quossum

My training center doesn't do classes during the month of December, so my holiday month goal for Sugar is to get him weaving. We've been at it for about three weeks now.

We are doing 2x2 weaves, and are now to the point of four straight poles, with a jump at various angles before the poles. I want to be weaving 12 by the time classes start again in January. We're getting there!

--Q


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## lily cd re

Since I haven't seen what your teacher is commenting on regarding tunnel stuffing, I am using my imagination that she means you are stuffing the dog into the tunnel entrance. Are you going right up to the tunnel and moving in really close to her to get her to go into the tunnel. If so, then you aren't getting independent performance of the obstacle. Perhaps your concern about her not wanting to do it has you feeling like you have to babysit it.


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## Specman

We have our second class on Thursday.


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## Specman

Our second class was last night. Things went better than the first. Max is still working on his fear of strangers that affects him some in class. He also is very cautious of trying new obstacles. Last night we did for the first time weave poles, tunnel, tire, and walk. 

He hesitated on each of the obstacles but got through each except for the walk. He really pays attention to me but needs a comfort level to get through the obstacles. The ladder was his nemesis last week but after working on it a little last night he was able to fly through it! Now we need to work on the walk. He was almost able to make in across last night so next class he should get through.

I wanted ask the experts about the weave poles. Last night we went through with the poles sloped away from the center to make it easier for the dogs. What age is it appropriate for dogs to do weave poles? Max is one? I have heard that it is not good on the spines of younger dogs.

Thanks


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## lily cd re

I can't say i've ever heard anything about keeping young dogs out of weave poles, but since Max is one I think you are ok with all obstacles. It is ok for him to be cautious at this point. I would rather see that than have a dog be overconfident, fall off and then not want to do the obstacle at all. I have seen that happen with any number of dogs including my own. Peeves fell off a low dog walk when he was about 15 months old. That literally was then end of his agility career. He is now afraid of pretty much all of the equipment except for tunnels and jumps. Lily fell off a full height dog walk in summer 2011 and it took until winter 2012 to get her moving well on it again. She fell because she was being reckless, going too fast while not really paying attention to her footing.

Be conservative with closing the weaves. If you work them from wide open to closed down slowly you will get a better finished product. I'm glad to hear you had a better second class.


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## Minnie

I know better..... but in the middle of the moment I allowed something that I shouldn't have and now feel awful - that is the theme from our last class - Bella just didn't seem herself - just not as confident and even a bit stubborn but still we kept going. Our previous instructor... only has outdoor facilities :-( is extremely patient and everything is positive. Our new instructor seems more rushed and pushy and it came out... Bella refused the A-frame and the instructor basically pushed her up the frame - Bella's front feet didn't move she shoved her butt up and then she slid down and scared herself to death - this was a full height A-frame - we've only ever worked on a lowered one. Bella was shaking and so scared after this that she wouldn't touch it and I said - stop! Too late but still we stopped. I called our previous instructor the next night and thankfully it wasn't too bad out and she had her going down with confidence - we didn't ask for up as she was still scared. Now I'm worried that I've really set her back and very unsure if we should continue with our new instructor or wait until we can get into a class in a different facility??? I just feel sick typing this!!!


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## lily cd re

This is definitely one of the "downs" of agility. It is easy to end up having them lose confidence on a piece of equipment when the picture is different. Can you work with the instructor you like at a rented indoor space? I have a person who I work with for privates. We normally train outside, but as we are looking at it getting colder we are planning for indoor lessons at a rented space as a contingency.


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## CT Girl

My instructor is also a believer in positive training. She would have not left the training on a note where your dog is frightened of an obstacle. Basically shoving your dog up the obstacle does not teach her anything. The first time Swizzle went up the A frame he did not make it up and he slid back. So we made it easier. We put him near the top and coaxed him with lots of treats until he did the rest himself. He felt very proud of himself at receiving lavish praise and lots of treats. On the next run she had me put him on a lead for the A frame and he did the whole thing. Once he got the hang of it and realized he needed some speed to do it he was fine. I do not like your instructor's approach. If an obstacle is too hard or scary it should be broken down to bits your dog can succeed with. That will give you a happy confident dog who will trust you when you show him an unfamiliar obstacle. I would wait for another class. It sounds like your current instructor will give your dog issues. I think you were smart getting your former instructor help you tackle that obstacle again and get more confidence for Bella.


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## lily cd re

Well put about breaking the performance of a complex obstacle down into small success stories CT girl. Agility training should never be anything other than positive and well rewarded. Otherwise you won't have reliable performance of those obstacles in a trial. 

I see too many dogs that really don't seem to like what they are doing when at agility yet their handlers keep working it. The handler gets more and more frustrated and the dog gets more and more nervous and insecure. I've seen one person at a number of trials whose dog does one or two jumps at the most before the dog just runs off and sniffs its way around the ring. What's that about? This handler is happy with that performance. Why is this person entering this dog? Why do they think this is good for their relationship with the dog? No wonder the rate of qualifying runs is low (less than 50%). I have had any number of NQ runs, but I accept responsibility for them in my handling. If I thought we NQd because Lily was nervous or afraid we wouldn't do this anymore.


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## Specman

This something that I struggle with a little as well. Max is timid in class and part of why I am doing this is to build his confidence. I have taken the advise given here that this needs to be a fun experience for the two of us. I try to keep it light and low pressure on him. As the class proceeds, I will need to decide if this is something that Max is interested in doing.

For right now it is fun to see him try new things.


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## Fbkathleen

Enzo is 11 months and loves his agility class. He is on a leash and the instructor is great. She limits any repetitive jumping and the class is always positive. Enzo always hated to wait his turn and he would bark as if to tell the others to hurry. He loves tunnels and high things. But he is a real jumper at home. I think it is an alternative to obedience which reinforces what he learns while having fun. We have to decide whether to continue agility or try something else.


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## lily cd re

I didn't mean to suggest that I thought anyone here was pushing their poodle too hard in agility. The dog I was referring to as always bailing on its handler is not a poodle. I just think it is important that we remember we are asking a lot of them to do this sport and we have to keep them safe and happy. Lily loves it but Peeves hates it. It is all individual.


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## Minnie

Thank you all for your comments I can't say how much the support means!!! We live in a rural area with very limited facilities. Our previous instructor has a building in which we can work on things like small tunnels, chutes, targeting, jump angles, etc. The contact equipment though is only outside though so we can only work in good weather. I have signed up for private classes the rest of the month to help bring back a happy - confident Bella.

We went to an agility trial today held by a group that we took classes with this past fall and had a chance to talk about the situation. Their reaction was disgust as agility is supposed to be all positive and would work lowered contacts until the dog is very confident - especially with a tiny novice dog. Before this happened we were already signed up for classes with this group and they highly suggested that we just work at home until classes start in January. This is a longer drive - about 1.15 mins compared to 45 mins but seems very much worth it - only trouble is that if the roads are bad we won't be able to go.

So what would you do? Work at home (we don't have contacts) or go to the class with the not so positive atmosphere until the new classes start to continue to work on contacts?


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## lily cd re

Work at home. There is no point in going back to a place and person that stressed Bella out and that clearly you are stressed about as well. 

You can make a contact trainer for use at home to teach two on two off if that is your exit criterion at this point (or whatever your exit criterion is). Get a piece of heavy duty plywood about one foot wide and four feet long. Glue or nail reinforcing strips of 1 x 2 to one side (running the long way) and thin strips of flat molding to the other spaced like the "steps" you see on a dog walk ramp. Paint the whole thing with exterior grade latex to which you have added a generous amount of anti skid granules. You then lean this onto a steady elevated surface at whatever angle you want to work on your contact exit (will most resemble dog walk, but will be translatable to see saw and A frame). Start shallow and get it steeper gradually. Work from both sides. This will be helpful as a substitute for having contact obstacles in your yard. I don't have contacts other than a home-made table and the item I just described to you either.


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## Poodlenatic

Interesting thread. I am also new to agility, and has just last month started to compete as my toy poodle was over 18 months. I started agility training – mostly jumps and tunnel work – when Cassi was 10 months. I was also concerned about the growth plates that need to close. For smaller breeds it is usually between 6 – 13 months. I spoke to my vet before I started jumping; he said that my dog’s weight has been constant since 8 months (3.9kg = 8.5lbs) and that it safe to start.

My poodle is very eager to train and has a great focus!! He can already do most of the obstacles, still need some work on the long jump, floppy tunnel and see saw, he performs them, but with caution. From my experience, when training a new obstacle, is to take it slow, as one bad experience can mess it up. Cassi was very good with the see saw, but he had a bad experience when he jumped off it too soon, and the bang scared him. He would still go on it, but not enough to tip it. I worked at it, positive reinforcing by use of clicker – as well as him doing the walk down, before up and down part together. At my recent trial, he surprised me with running all the way to the tip – I was so surprised, I just told him to “wait” so that it will touch the ground and away we go!! And we got a clear round!!:cheers2:

Regarding weave pole training, I used what’s called the channel method. I think someone mentioned it earlier. It really works great if your dog has speed. Cassi is very fast, and the traditional in-out method that my trainer suggested, was just not working, Cassi got frustrated and ended up barking at me! So I did some research and trained at home. After a month, he was doing 12 weave poles perfectly; I am only practicing my weave pole entries now – there a nice document covering that on clean run. 

Contacts, is the two-on two-off method. Works good, but I find that Cassi slows down a lot on it, and barks at me. So I have changed my tactics from giving him the touch command on the contacts, and when he gets to contact area, I hold him there for a split second before I release him. Any comments?

Two great books that helped me a lot are “The Beginner's Guide to Dog Agility” and “The Intermediate's Guide to Dog Agility” by Laurie Leach. They are fantastic and available on Amazon.


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## Minnie

Catherine - Thank you for the voice of sanity - safe and positive only for my girls! And thank you for the suggestion of the contact trainer we'll be making one this weekend.

Poodlenatic - Welcome! Love your dog's name - we had an Aussie named "Cassie" that we lost over a year ago - Your post made me think of her and how much she loved us and we loved her! You are way ahead of us and I really appreciate your post about training with your toy.


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## lily cd re

Poodlenatic, congratulations on your clean run. I also trained weaves with channel weave poles. It took a while, but I am now getting very pretty weaves.

Minnie, you can make lots of stuff at home for yourself. My table is homemade too. PVC pipe and plywood from the warehouse store make it pretty affordable too. I am slowly adding competition quality equipment as I see the need and have the $$$. In the spring I plan to get a see saw, but will probably leave that as the only contact obstacle I get. It isn't so big that it will overwhelm my yard which is fairly large, but has a pool and decks plus garden beds around the edge. I am lucky to have an indoor facility where I can rent the agility floor fairly inexpensively, along with the private people I work with. I am so glad to hear that you have decided not to work with the person who coerced Bella over the A frame, that just isn't how it should be.


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## Specman

Last night was our third agility class. Not quite as good as last time but OK. The biggest issue that Max faces in class is shyness and fear of the obstacles. He does well with obedience training and is good at learning the various required moves.

We did the weave pole which he has done before. The first time he balked but was able to work through this and maneuvered the weave poles pretty well. The tunnel was a different story. Last class he went through the collapsed and slightly expanded tunnel without too much coaxing. Last night he would sprint through a straight tunnel with his tail down. No amount of coaxing would get him through the tunnel with a slight curve. Even though he could see me!

He tends to hesitate at each obstacle and may preform after a few repetitions. Added to this is his shyness around most people that can distract him and affect his performance with the trainers in the class. There are about ten dogs in the class.

We are certainly not ready to throw in the towel. Max is a smart dog that likes to run and jump around the house so agility seemed to be a good outlet for him. I want him to become more comfortable around different people and increase his confidence. It is not important that Max becomes proficient in agility and I don't want to put him in a position that he becomes more stressed.

I am too new to this to know what to expect for a learning curve and what to expect from Max. This is a beginner class and I think the socialization is good for Max but at some point I need to decide whether he is cut out for agility. I would be curious to here how others experiences compare to mine.

Thanks


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## CT Girl

This is all very new to him. When something is new, scary, or difficult I use a LOT of fabulous treats. If he is getting overwhelmed with too many obstacles skip a few. Embrace the straight tunnel and when his tail goes up then have him try a curved tunnel. I have a somewhat shy dog and agility class has done wonders for his confidence. Most people expect far too much too soon. Keep things fun and before you know it he will love class.


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## lily cd re

Specman, don't ask too much too fast. It will be much harder to get Max back onto an obstacle that has scared him than to help him get it right and be happy with it through your patience and happy support. It took me about a year and a half to get to the point where I have gotten results at trials with Lily.

Right now you should use it as a chance to do some relationship building and to help Max with his shyness. CT Girl's advise about embracing small results is good. Whether you go on to compete together or not doesn't matter nearly so much as you and Max enjoying the time you spend together and using this as a chance to enrich his life. Have fun, keep it upbeat and be safe.


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## Specman

Thanks for the words of encouragement! It was good to here. When I see other dogs going through the obstacles with ease I worry about Max being overwhelmed. 

CT, thanks for the advice, it sounds like agility did for your dog what I am looking for Max.

Lily, thanks for the words of encouragement.


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## lily cd re

I know this is a $ splurge, but I have been doing private agility training with a young woman who is awesome. She has already put MACHs on more than one dog and she is only about 20 (been competing since she was about 11). Anyway, we had a great hour with her yesterday. The benefits are at least as important for me in my handling as they are for Lily in her skills. She knows all obstacles, but I sometimes let us down in my handling. The private time is really helping us. I started doing this based on a conversation with local people I know who are successful agility handlers. We were at a big cluster (rally, obedience, agility, breed) late late spring. I was expressing frustration at feeling stuck at a plateau that wan't really competition ready, even though I had been going to what is rated as a competition level class for months. Both of my friends strongly suggested doing privates with one or the other of two people (I've actually gone to both of them, but the one I work with more often is closer to me and has a schedule that works better with mine).

We had a really great lesson yesterday and I feel very optimistic about finishing akc novice jumpers at our next trial (soon) based on how things went yesterday. If you have a really good handler who you see around and can swing it I really recommend trying some private lessons.


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## Minnie

What a great post Catherine and congrats on the encouraging lesson!

Even a beginner can really benefit from private lessons. I have a local instructor that MACH with her dogs many years ago - she no longer competes but is a wealth of knowledge! 

Must have been a day to get back with classes because I also had a lesson with her yesterday. We had a major breakthrough!!! My scardey cat Bella actually was learning to love the chute!!! It was a jackpot moment!!! She still hesitates at some tunnels but was pushing her way through a very long completely closed chute and eventually was doing this as part of a combination. This was just huge for us and we really celebrated! She also is starting to send ahead on jumps / tires rather than looking back to me if I get the obstacle name out in time.

A week from today we start group lessons with a club that has indoor contact equipment - Bella has been off these for almost a month so I'm concerned but hopeful.

Happy Holidays and Happy Training Everyone!!!


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## Specman

Wow,

Great to here about everyone's hard work and success! I don't know that I will ever be at the level of you guys but, I enjoy working with Max and see him learn new things. We have been off for the holidays and back to class next Thursday. We have been practicing some fundamental move that I understand are necessary for agility.


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## CT Girl

There are definitely some over achievers on this forum - they must look like poetry in motion - but it is a great activity for us beginners too. If you have the opportunity a private lesson is a great idea. There are so many subtle things that go into successful handling it is great to have an expert give pointers just for you.

Minnie how great that you had a breakthrough with the chute. Swizzle has started this recently and he does it but not with gusto. I think I am going to pull it taut so he can get a glimpse of me till he is more comfortable with this.

I started 2x2 weave pole training today and it went great. We will have to see what happens when it is 4 poles instead of 2 - fingers crossed.


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## lily cd re

I have to say that the privates are at least as much to reduce my clutzy handling as to improve Lily's performance. I sort of feel like in for a penny in for a pound about this all at this point. I have taken many classes and spent lots of time feeling stuck, so I decided to go this route to get some measurable results (qualifying legs and titles). I guess it is the scientist in me, the scores and titles are like data evidence for all the work we've done! I am glad to hear of Bella's success and hope that everyone else has a great 2013 working with their lovely poodles.

I think that the most important thing to remember with agility is that is should be fun and build your relationship with your dog. Just because I am sort of obsessed with the titles doesn't actually mean they are the most important part of why I do the things I do with my sweet girly girl.


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## Jility

*NEVER Give Up! *

We have 6 standard Poodles and two Border Collies. When I started agility 12 years ago, I had no clue (nor did my first instructor! LOL). We fumbled along up through the classes. I tried many different instructors before finding the one we still go to today. We have been with her for more than 10 years now! She is very picky and that is what helps us to achieve the things we have with our agility dogs.
I think that private lessons are MORE important for beginners than seasoned competitors! Foundation in agility means everything! I often see novices put in charge of teaching the beginners when it should be the BEST instructors doing that.
Our four older standard Poodles have 16 MACHs (AKC championships) and 2 ADCH titles (USDAA championships- we don’t do much USDAA) amongst them. Our oldest SP, 13 years old now, retired just four double Qs short of her 8th MACH and our 8 year old SP is working on MACH 7. This is because of GREAT instruction!
Our two youngest SPs suffer from severe stress in the ring. I ran their mum and she was the same (I did manage to put two MACHs on her in spite of it). When I bred her, I assumed she was that way because she was basically a rescue that had been abused. Now I know different .
TO give you hope if you have a fearful dog, when my young dog started, she had ZERO drive to work, no focus at all and hated anything to do with training, toys or balls. I worked very hard. Last spring she wouldn’t even leave the start line! Then I got her to do that but she would do one jump and run the fence looking for a way out of the ring. It was horrible. I left many trials in tears! I went to lots of fun runs where I could take her favorite ball (yes she learned to love them) in with me and made it fun. Then I would do ONE jump, leave and celebrate! She really came around (I never thought she would).
Here is a video of her form yesterday picking up her 7th MXJ leg and running a whopping 5.64 yards per second even though she had two very wide turns. NEVER give up on a dog! If you make it fun, they will respond! We NEVER EVER use corrections in our training!




PS. We use the 2x2 weave training method to train our dogs. My husband and I filmed it for Susan G and he edited it and put in the graphic and music so perhaps I am biased, but there is no better way to train weave poles! 


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## Specman

Wow! Amazing to watch you dog go through her paces! I love to watch her go through the weave poles.


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## lily cd re

There aren't too many things prettier than a spoo on a jumpers course!


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## CT Girl

Helen, thank you for the great video. No one looking at that would ever think your dog ever had fear/confidence issues as she seems so happy and confident as she blazes through the course. I hope Swizzle gets to that point. He has made amazing progress and I will never give up. Who knows what will happen when we go to a trial but we are having a lot of fun together and even I am not the total klutz I was before.

You and your husband did a great job on the 2x2 video. It is so well shot I can see everything Susan and the dog are doing unlike many agility videos on the market. I keep watching sections of it over and over as it is really helping me. No wonder your dog is amazing in the weave poles.


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## Jility

So glad you like the video.
Thank you for your kind words regarding my dog.
The most important thing is to never ever be disappointed in your dog.
EVERYTHING our dogs do is a reflection of their training and understanding of their behaviors.
Once I let go of judging my dog and took full responsibility for her behaviors, we really made progress.
I never correct in my agility training and always have fun with it.


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## Minnie

*Jility - *That video was wonderful thhe joy is just so visible!!! Thank you so much for sharing!

We attended our first class with the new club - it's about a 1 hr drive but well worth it! There are 3 instructors (2 agility and 1 obedience) in a class of 6 dogs/handlers. I don't think I can explain how much difference attending class with instructors that believe in positive training makes!!! Bella did very well in some areas and we have a long way to go in others... We worked on back training the A-Frame due to her scare and by the end of the class she was happily running down - going up will come with time. 

Our main struggle in this class is a reliable stay. Bella will do a sit or down stay if I don't move but as soon as I move she does which is a problem in class. The obedience instructor worked with us on this after class and it will be our focus area this week.

Happy training everyone :dog:


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## Jility

Make sure you never punish her for not staying! it will never build a good stay. Agility is just too rewarding.
Your job is to make staying the most rewarding thuing she does. I would have her sit and stay for meals until released. Be sure you reward her for staying with great treats!
I put my dogs in a sit and walk around them, going back OFTEN to reward. You have to proof it using toys, balls, etc.


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## lily cd re

No play for no stay! Try this at home. Set her up on a sit stay some distance (at least six feet, longer for a larger dog) from a jump and walk away two steps. If she stays go back and say good, treat and release. If she doesn't stay just make sure she doesn't get to take the jump before you reset her for the stay. Repeat with you taking one more step each time until you can get to the other side of the jump and then the reward is stay until released to go over the jump.


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## Quossum

Finally had the time, inclination, and software update (for a while there my video editing program was non-functional) to put together a very brief overview of Sugarfoot's weave pole training.






Link to YouTube:
Sugarfoot's Weave Pole Training - YouTube

He's coming along nicely, I think, though there's still plenty of work to do. Our training center's classes start up again next week. Since I didn't weave at all during the Beginner's classes (as I was working 2x2's at home), I hope to surprise my instructors with passable weaves when we start up again! (I say only "passable" because I'm sure Sugar will find a big difference in weaving in the back yard and weaving at class!)

--Q


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## Jility

Good job! Don't forget to drive him in the weaves. The extra drive will help him to sort out his footwork. It is getting better but he still sometimes crosses over but not nearly as much.
You want to create the drive every step of the way when training. So run next to him and really drive him.
Then you can start adding distance and fade away and throw your toy at the end of the poles.
He looks great!


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## Quossum

Thanks, Helen. I've always been torn between sending him ahead or running along with him; I think I've done a little too much of the former and not enough of the latter! About three days ago something really "clicked" in his doggy brain and he seemed to get exponentially better, but we're still not a finished product yet. At least I see the footwork *starting* to develop, as you mention.

It doesn't help at all that he's firmly in the throes of "teenager brain" and being an all-around brat these days, at times grouchy, at times clingy, most of the time quite difficult in general. He's just over 13 months old, so I'm fervently hoping its an adolescent thing, meanwhile being patient but firm with the little bugger.

--Q


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## Jility

*My 2x2 log*

I think you did great!
For anyone interested, I tried to my 2x2 training log for my young standard Poodle. She was about 18 months old when we started. It wouldn't let me attach a Word file. If anyone is interested in seeing my training log, you can email me at [email protected] and I will send you a copy. It includes videos of most steps.
She is the fourth dog we have trained to weave using the 2x2 method (we have trained 8 dogs to weave altogether and used many different methods before we started using the 2x2 method).
We have a lot of set backs in our training but it all worked out in the end.


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## lily cd re

*Tugging*

I was just looking at another thread about raising a performance puppy. One post there talked about the importance of motivating tugging. I have a question for you guys about tugging. I want to know how and when you use it with your dogs. I have found that if I tug with Lily at trials before our runs she gets too charged up to pay any attention to me. She just goes into total prey drive and runs like a crazy fiend. When I am training I can use some tugging as a reward for good work or as something to do to move her around from the end of the course we are working to the start if she seems distracted but even then I limit it because it sends her into a mode where she is not too aware of what I am asking. I find I get my best results in training and in trials when she is in pack mode. She is a very high drive in leadership and prey, and stimulating prey seems to turn down her pack mode (which is low to begin with) too much. How do you all see this issue in your training and with different dogs you have worked with?


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## Jility

*Tugging as a reward*

Tugging is, without a doubt, THE most important reward we can use for our agility dogs. Some dogs don’t tug naturally and must be taught. Some dogs prefer a ball or treats, but if you can get the dog to tug, you will get a lot more drive from them.
We have trained quite a few successful agility dogs (standard Poodles, Border Collies and a mix). We use tugging at home to get the dog into the highest state of arousal we possibly can before and during training. If you can simulate the state of arousal your dog will have at a trial, you can teach the dog to work through being high and still paying attention.
Some of our dogs are off the charts with drive, while others came with zero drive. We use the tug to train them all. We always tug before and after our runs. At home and before a run we do a lot of tug –sit-release to tug-down-release to tug-sit… It really gets their head in the game before a run. They tug, do a simple behavior and are released to tug as a reward. We do this is rapid fire before entering the ring.
So if you can teach your dog to work through that high arousal state at home or in class, you will have a much more attentive dog at trials.
How many times have you heard somebody say their dog doesn’t like to stop on contacts, weave, stay at the startline or do the table because they don’t like to stop or slow down? I laugh whenever I hear that. Dogs do what is rewarding to them. Many people spend more time doing jumps and tunnels and less teaching the control behaviors in drive and MAKING THEM FUN FUN FUN!!! We must make all behaviors equally rewarding. My young dog LOVES the table. She will suck to it given the chance. The same is true with our incredibly high drive BC. The reason is that they were thoroughly trained on the table with lots of rewards. Most people train the table a few times and call it good. Then wonder why they have troubles at trials .
SO, I would say use your tug! Use it at home to bring your dog into a frenzy, then teach it to work through it and use that tug as a reward! 
I hope that helps.


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## Quossum

Haha--jility and I train with the same philosophy, so all I can add is, "What she said!"

The idea of getting the dog "too excitied" and still expecting him to work has been a change for me. In fact, that's much what we're working through now with the weaves. Sugar is *really* hyped when I first get home and bring out his tug so we can go outside and weave. Now that he has the "basics" of weaving, I'm getting him out there as hyped up as possible and then just *going* at those weaves full throttle, and still expecting him to hit his entries and not skip poles.

I'll tell you it's very gratifying to see an over-the-top dog "force" himself to focus and hit the entry. You can almost see the wheels turning as this thinking-type of dog focuses his mind to the task. It helps also that he has no fear of failure; I can say "Ooopsie!" when he misses a pole and he comes _charging_ back to me to line up and try again, no worries, no stress. Several "Oopsies" don't phase him, he just tries again. It's really amazing.

Relation to tugging: His reward is for me to throw his tug toy and bring it back to me. 

--Q


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## Minnie

Poodles are just so smart :-D thank you all for the advise on the start line stay. Bella progressed so quickly that I can even duck into another room and she is rock solid - few minutes every day and some really good treats or even play with her favorite toy makes such a difference. Now comes the real test.... trying this outside our home - hoping to work in a private tomorrow prior to group class on Saturday - wish us luck we're going to need it!

The weave information is very interesting - as these are also a struggle - our old trainer had us leading by the leash around poles with gates on them. This did not translate to poles without the gates very well or without the leash. Last week our new club started us on a channel method - however Bella is so tiny that she slipped right under neath the wires. I am definitely going to look into the 2x2 method to see if this might help.


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## Jility

The 2x2 method is the best method to train weaves! You will llove it. You must follow the video and it works best if your dog understands shaping behaviors and plays with toys or tugs.


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## Minnie

Quossom - Your weave pole video was awesome!!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!!


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## Quossum

Thanks, Minnie! One of the reasons I was drawn to the 2x2 method was that it does not include any fences, wires, barriers, or other "tools" to establish the understanding of the weaves--not even a leash. All of those aids have to be faded in the end, anyway, which can be very difficult if the dog has become dependent on them.

Not that other methods can't produce very nice weaves! My training center in Beginner classes teaches a restraint-through-offsets-with-a-food-lure method, and it works well for most types of dogs and trainer abilities. My hubby trained his corgi using their method, and she just got her first MACH in November at just 3 years old.

He's been watching (and filming) me train 2x2's with Sugar, though, and seeming very interested in the process. I have a feeling, when he gets his next dog... 

Like jility said, 2x2's are best with a confident, toy-loving, operant dog. There's a place in the DVD when Susan works with a dog at Step One, and the dog doesn't offer much to work with as far as interacting with the poles. With patience she gets some behavior from him, but she notes that he really needs to go out and learn some fun tricks and get some Joy of Training going first!

--Q


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## Minnie

Our latest update - we did manage to squeeze in a private on Fri evening and then had group class this morning. I was proud of my girl with her stays - need to work on proofing her with distractions but after only a weeks work she did very well in group class :-D

Had another frustrating experience with contacts. The scare Bella had on the A-frame when she was pushed over and slid down by that awful trainer is sticking with her - she gets to the point where she just freezes which is sad as she loved the A-frame and dog walk prior to this experience :-( With a lot of help from the trainers doing back training we managed one lowered A-frame and dog walk. I was told to stop luring her on the obstacles and to just encourage play and positive interaction. 

A funny is that Bella is soooo fast considering she is so tiny! Trainers were surprised during a jump series and said that it will be important to keep her obstacle focused and working away from me as there is no way I'll be able to keep up LOL.

Happy Training everyone!


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## lily cd re

*Ups and downs for sure*

First, I have to brag again on Lily since we got our AKC Novice Jumpers title yesterday.

Second, Minnie just keep gently and positively working on those contacts. Lily had fallen off the dog walk last summer and it took a long time to get her back on it. Now I have decided to rework her contact exit criteria and it is taking a long time, but I am steadily seeing improvement. I came close to getting a qualifying run in standard this morning. Today was even better than yesterday. Every time we run I see she has better understanding of what I am asking for. Let Bella help guide you through this. She will tell you what she is ready to do. Push her just a tiny bit further as she is willing.

Now for my down and oops story of the day. I moved to open jumpers today and had a great plan going and was almost home safe when the toe of my right shoe just got stuck on the mat seam. Down onto my knees and heels of my hands went I. I have quite a bruise on my left knee and a couple of other things are starting to feel a bit stiff, but generally I feel ok. What was most concerning to me was Lily's reaction. When I fell there was a big gasp from the people watching and she came running back to me and jumped up with her paws on my shoulders, which was met with a big aww (like aww so sweet) from those watching. She was very worried and I had a bit of a hard time peeling her off so I could get up. I really wanted to get her to take at least two jumps and try to actually finish the course to show her everything was ok. The trial was at the place we train, so I didn't want to finish on a bad note. She didn't want to leave me, but I did manage to get her just far enough away from me to take the last jump. I stayed and did the novice standard course again really just to reassure her that all was ok. She took my direction well, but was very cautious on the contacts. I think we will be all good when we go to class later this week.

I think I need different shoes for rubber mats. I was wearing new balance walking shoes that I also use for obedience. They are not the shoes I use for outdoor agility. Any suggestions?


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## Minnie

Thank you Catherine - your generosity of helping us beginners is so very much appreciated!!!


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## lily cd re

Oh it wasn't too long ago that I was a newbie. I have gotten lots of help from others along the way. It is always good to take a pay it forward view. Then you will always be able to expect help when you need it. I am sure you and Bella will offer lots of advise as you move through your training and trialing.


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## Specman

Agility class was better last week, he is coming along slowly, and we will probably continue on to the intermediate class. The instructor feels that it would be beneficial for Max. The main thing that we are struggling is that he balks at anything new or different. He finally did the walk last night after a couple of weeks working in slow steps. The tunnel is still a problem and we are now working on touching the teeter and this too is a challenge.

A little background about Max, we got him from a breeder at 6 months of age. When we picked him up he jumped on my lap and licked my face and tried to chew the buttons off my shirt! So he appeared to be pretty well socialized. Upon taken him home, he is afraid of all things new and reactive to people and reactive to dogs while on a lead. Once he gets to know you he is fine. He is still a very good dog considering this.

My question is do any of you have suggestions of exercises that I could work on with Max at home to make him a little more receptive to new things? My agility instructor suggested clicker training him to touch a Post-it with his paw but I have no idea of how to get him to do that.

I know that puppies exposed to new things a an early age do much better in the world. I am no sure how much exposure to the outside world he got with the breeder but, I would like him to be not limited by his timidness.


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## CT Girl

Specman I occasionally take a "core" class which builds muscle tone and body awareness. In this class there are all sorts of little obstacles/workout challenges. For example one station will have balls of different sizes that the dog puts his paws on and balances. Once he has that down lure him to leaning left and right to stretch his back. Another station walk on a slightly raised plank (just a few inches off the floor). Have him put just his front paws on then lean. Next have him put just his back legs on then lean. Another station mats of different sizes and thickness. Have the dog walk from mat to mat not touching the ground. Another station large ball which the dog puts his front paws on and walks around the ball by moving his back legs. While you have him try all these new things treat and praise lavishly. The change in Swizzle's confidence level was nothing short of amazing and it is great for his physical conditioning. Let your imagination be your guide in creating more core stations. The dollar store and ocean state job lot has a lot of stuff that is great for that. Also just use what you have on hand. I have used an old tarp to get Swizzle use to different floor textures and sounds. He has jumped a stuffed horse toy that neighs. Hope this helps.


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## Specman

I apologize for my last post. I see that there are a lot of resources on the web teaching a dog to target with his paw. I just need to get to work and teach him! It seems with most things in agility it is operator error and not the dogs fault.


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## lily cd re

I do lots of operator errors (like falling down in the middle of a decent run) even though I am starting to earn titles. Just keep your sense of humor up. Be patient Specman. I am sure you will start to see more and more changes in Max as you continue. I think he is lucky to have found you!


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## Quossum

Specman said:


> My question is do any of you have suggestions of exercises that I could work on with Max at home to make him a little more receptive to new things? My agility instructor suggested clicker training him to touch a Post-it with his paw but I have no idea of how to get him to do that.
> 
> I know that puppies exposed to new things a an early age do much better in the world. I am no sure how much exposure to the outside world he got with the breeder but, I would like him to be not limited by his timidness.


You might want to give the book _Control Unleashed_ a try. It has a lot of advice and exercises to help nervous and reactive dogs, whether too hyper or too shy. Many of the activities have been great for me and Sugar, who also tends to be cautious about new things, especially after he was attacked by another dog at 7 months old. There's a puppy version of the book, too.

Don't give up; Agility will be worth it!

--Q


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## Minnie

Specman - Pls don't apologize for asking any questions!!!! Even what seems simple might be an issue someone else is experiencing too or give another idea to an approach!

Consistently back training is helping with Bella. She has a yes I can do that and does a little more each time - had a positive experience with correctly entering the dog walk today and offering the tunnel which was great! She acted happy and not frightened which was fantastic! Small steps but its the small things that matter - just love my girl!




Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


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## Minnie

We are just back from today's class and little Bella put herself to bed in her crate after sleeping the hour drive home  

Had a great 10mins before class started with the trainers working one on one with Bella on the A-frame. As her fear is so deep they put the entire frame on the ground and played first touch then restrained recalls across the frame (she loved this). We are getting there with patient teachers that keep it positive!

We played the bang game with the teeter and Bella was very reactive so we've got a lot of work to there as well. I am learning a lot about what I'm doing wrong as a handler - wayyyyy too much luring in several areas. As a positive the handling sequences in jumps went very well.

We have a lot of homework over the coming two weeks (next weekend instructors are at trials). 

I do have a question though.... when do you know if agility is just not for your dog? Bella used to love this but with her fears I wonder how much longer do I keep pushing this? Thanks for any thoughts!


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## lily cd re

I used to work with Peeves in agility along with Lily. Then he fell off a very low dog walk and I could tell after that that his heart was never in it again. Lily has had falls but been willing to get back on the equipment she had the problem with without too much coaxing (although it took time to get her confident on it again). Look for the gleam in her eye and the posture of her ears (Up is good.) It may be that you will end up just focusing on jumpers with weaves type courses for a while. I find that Lily gets charged up by watching other dogs run because she want to have at it. Hope this helps you figure it out. I wouldn't give up yet. It has taken me way over a year to get to where I like what I see and to spend money on trials.


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## Specman

Minnie, it sounds like you are in a similar situation to me. Max is good at agility with the exception of the obstacles! I talked to his instructor and she felt that agility would still be good for Max and I signed up for another session. 

One thing that I am finding is that a shy dog he cannot get enough reps on obstacles that frighten them in the class. I am looking to buy a tunnel to practice at home and hopefully get him more confidence with this one. It seems that once he becomes comfortable with an obstacle he does better.


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## CT Girl

Swizzle is shy too. Just take things slower and only move to more challenge once she has built up more confidence. It has not been all that long since the a frame incident. Does she seem proud when she has mastered an obstacle? Is she reluctant to go to class? If you feel she will work through it continue. If she is miserable and you don't see that improving then find another activity you can enjoy together. I Agee short very positive reps making the obstacle easy will help (short tunnel, towel to lessen the bang ect) gradually increasing difficulty.


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## Specman

Max was freely going through a tunnel last night! Granted it was a 4' tunnel I got on Craig's List but an improvement none the less. My wife and I were at opposite ends of the tunnel and coaxing him through with treats. We will keep working on this a see if he will run though the tunnel besides me. Hopefully the real deal at agility will be a little less intimidating!


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## lily cd re

That's great! I used to have all kinds of problems with tunnels. Lily would run up to them with her head up so that she would be at the entrance looking over the top...silly girl. I straightened out once I got one at home. I put it out straight and threw a ball all the way through it. She is so ball crazed she stopped worrying about the tunnel to get to the ball. I think you will find having a tunnel at home to be really useful.


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## Minnie

Catherine - I love the ball idea with the tunnel - I'm going to give that a try. Thank you for sharing what happened with Peeves - this is very similar to Bella's fear and I'm definitely going to watch closely to see that we only continue if she seems happy and not stressed in class. I need to remember this is supposed to be fun and if it stops being so then we'll find something else to do - tonight a game of fetch made her and me so happy!

Specman - Progress on the tunnel - that is great news!!! It is comforting to read that others struggle with shyness towards obstacles. For Bella on the tunnel and chute it was a footing / noise issue - we do a lot of fun click and treat with different materials / sounds to help with this.

CT Girl - I sometimes wonder if it has anything to do with size on the shyness aspect? Bella sometimes is so very brave (throws herself over jumps) but other times acts scared of her shadow - I don't blame her at all as the world must seem so very big to someone so tiny and I know I'm over protective which probably doesn't help....

Thank you all for your comments - reading others struggles and a reminder to stay positive and have fun is important. We've been working this week on some very small things - brought the clicker back out and worked on touching the board voluntarily with one paw, then two, etc and tonight voluntarily walking on the board (this is a skin from the dog walk so it bounces just a bit so this is big for her)!!! Bella's whole body just gets excited - that little tail goes nuts like a rattle when she's happy and tonight I saw it again with the board so there is hope :-D

I wanted to share a link to a video that Susan Garrett posted on her blog. It fits so perfectly in this topic that it made me really think...

The Key To Success In Dog Agility Is In Your Hands Alone


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## lily cd re

Minnie, one of the most impressive agility dogs is my area is a toy poodle who has great distance work. I've seen her handler just stand in the middle of the ring and pivot and point at obstacles to get clean runs. The dog is in a full continental clip to boot! She is a mighty little dog. You will get there with all your love and patience.


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## TammyQ

I just started following this thread as I am going to start Hudson in agility in a few weeks. The instructor we are going to used to teach a few years back when she lived in Tennessee (or somewhere back there) and is ready to start again. She follows the NADAC program and is very excited to teach again. She wanted Hudson to wait until he was a year old before he began, and he will be a year on February 2. I have also signed up to attend a lecture from Susan Garrett when she comes to B.C., and will be auditing the rest of the weekend. Does anyone know anything about Susan Garrett? From what I read she is a pretty good authority on agility. I will also let you know how Hudson and I do once we get started with classes.


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## lily cd re

Almost everybody I know uses Susan Garrett's 2 x 2 program to teach weaves. I think you will really like her. Welcome to our discussion, and best wishes for success to you and Hudson.


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## Minnie

Tammy Q - I am quite envious - a Susan Garrett seminar wow! If you look up agility in the dictionary I bet you'd find her picture LOL. Check out "say yes" dog training she has tons of great advise. 

We had a HUGE breakthrough tonight!!!!! I had a private with my original instructor tonight and since it was light enough and surprisingly warm (okay 38 but a warm 38) we took Bella out to her dog walk. And all of our hard work paid off - she played the touch and jump game, we did some back training and then she offered it!!!! Got a bit nervous on the way up the first time but before long was eagerly offering the dog walk for her clicker and cheese! Oh what a happy day!!! It was a great positive training session :-D

Today is an off week for the group class but we are going to support those at the trial tomorrow - happy weekend everyone!


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## Minnie

Fabulous day - our instructor had his first MACH with his young sheltie!!!! Really could not have happened to a nicer person who is so giving and kind with sharing his knowledge. We were soooo happy to be there to see them run! Quite the inspiration!


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## Specman

Minne, great to hear about your success! It always feel good to see your dog do well. 

I have been working with Max on my 4' tunnel and he is fearless now with it. In fact, last night I went to train with him on the tunnel and he started to run through the tunnel before I issued a command because he knows he'll get treats! We'll see how it goes with a longer tunnel at class but at least this is a positive step.

It looks like I will be repeating the beginner agility class at the instructor's recommendation. Hopefully this will give Max greater confidence because he will be working on things he has done previously.


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## Minnie

Specman - nice update on the tunnel!!! I'm sure your extra work at home will pay off in class. If you have any obstacle hesitancy at all then the beginner class makes sense as the other classes seem to be more handling or advanced sequencing from what I have observed (beginner writing this though). 

I have good non-poodle related news (hope it's okay to post here)... my Mini Aussie has been cleared by the vet (she had a hip issue) and has turned a year old so we are able to start agility training!!! She loved her foundation class so I can't wait to get her on to obstacles. We started back with some basics tonight - walk the board, tunnel, etc that we can do at home (no jumping as we have hard wood floors) and she was so excited! I am seriously considering working rally with Bella and agility with Gemma as I think this might be a better fit.


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## lily cd re

Hi Minnie. That's nice news about your Aussie. Around here there are lots of Aussies in agility. If you do decide to do rally with Bella instead of agility you will have lots of fun and the work you've done with her will carry over since both sports are about team work and good communication.

Specman, Minnie is right about staying in the beginner class. Beginner classes are more focused on correct performance of obstacles and it sounds like you still have some work to do there. More advanced classes will deal with things like handling and distance and putting together cues for moving through sequences. I spent a lot of time in beginner class with Lily because she was really reckless about certain things (like thinking it was fun and funny to leap off the top of a full height A frame, or deciding to turn herself around in the middle of the dog walk when she saw herself in a mirror and decided her reflection was another dog who she didn't want to meet). In some ways I am still dealing with the consequences, so I would recommend taking your time at the beginning with being very clear about your performance criteria for each obstacle.


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## Specman

Thanks for the advise. One of the instructors where Max trains has a Aussie puppy. It is a very cute dog.


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## Minnie

Specman said:


> Thanks for the advise. One of the instructors where Max trains has a Aussie puppy. It is a very cute dog.


Here is one of my favorite puppy pics of my Gemma:


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## Minnie

I have taken Gemma to two classes this week and although she is very distracted with what I call "puppy fog" she loves it! Tunnels, chutes, and jumps are her favorite - contact obstacles will be the struggle though we did get a very nice offered A-frame today  The instructors today were very positive about her and and said that while we need to work on confidence and I need to quit luring obstacles (got my hand slapped for that one).... that she is by far the dog that they would recommend for agility work - it really wasn't even close in their mind so this really helps me to feel better about the decision. Catherine thank you for your wise words this really helped me!


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## Minnie

Bella and I just had a rousing game of fetch the squirrel (current fav toy) and she was so happy - I've missed that! I want to work on grooming skills and hopefully CGC / rally with Bella and maybe one day she'll find agility fun again!


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## lily cd re

Bottom line is that whatever we decide to do with our dogs, it should enhance our relationships with them. I am lucky with Lily she loves virtually everything we do together (except metal utility scent articles!). Minnie, I am glad you feel positive about your plans with Bella and Gemma.


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## Specman

Minnie, I totally agree with what lily said. Last Thursday was the first class of my second go around in the beginner class. Max was doing well, went through the tunnel without hesitation, then he got spooked by one of the dogs. New class, new dogs. He froze up for the rest of the class did not want to do any of the obstacles.

We'll see how it goes. I enjoy spending the time together at agility but, there are other issues I need to work on for him to be a good canine citizen and there are only so many hours in the day.


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## Specman

Max had a great agility session last night! We are retaking the beginner class and he was a model student and was able to demonstrate some of the things the teacher was working on for the class. He was able to do almost all of the obstacles that we were doing which was a big improvement from last week. It was very encouraging to see him more at ease in the class and more comfortable and not so on edge.


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## lily cd re

That's great to hear. i am sure he senses that you are proud of what he did and that will help further build his confidence.


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## TammyQ

Last night and today I spent at the Susan Garrett seminar in B.C. (sans dog). For the extreme newbie that I am, my first thought was what have I gotten myself into....there are so many things to remember. But I learned A LOT today and by the end of the day it was all coming together. The instructor I am taking classes with was there also so we got to chat about a lot of the stuff. Most of the folks there are very experienced, so I found myself to be quite content to just soak it all in. I'm looking forward to the next two days of more learning.


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## Minnie

Congrats to Specman and Max what a wonderful feeling that must have been!! Not just the obstacle performance but also that he felt comfortable in class.

TammyQ - I am pea green with envy over your opportunity this weekend. How amazing to what such as expert teach! Wow!!!

Gemma and I have had two classes since my last post - one private and one group. It wasn't freezing out so we did manage to get a couple of runs in. during the private class. But then today was group indoor class and well... it wasn't awful but definitely more downs than ups - quite discouraging actually. Gem acted very nervous and ran to the edge of the training ring several times during jump sequencing rather than even start over the jumps. We ended up basically watching the class and then working after class on basics one jump, then two and a tunnel, etc. If anyone has suggestions for this I'm all ears :-(


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## CT Girl

Minnie said:


> Congrats to Specman and Max what a wonderful feeling that must have been!! Not just the obstacle performance but also that he felt comfortable in class.
> 
> TammyQ - I am pea green with envy over your opportunity this weekend. How amazing to what such as expert teach! Wow!!!
> 
> Gemma and I have had two classes since my last post - one private and one group. It wasn't freezing out so we did manage to get a couple of runs in. during the private class. But then today was group indoor class and well... it wasn't awful but definitely more downs than ups - quite discouraging actually. Gem acted very nervous and ran to the edge of the training ring several times during jump sequencing rather than even start over the jumps. We ended up basically watching the class and then working after class on basics one jump, then two and a tunnel, etc. If anyone has suggestions for this I'm all ears :-(


Minnie don't be discouraged. I had an agility class Wed. And Swizzle was fantastic. The next night I had a rec. agility class that was much easier and Swizzle was very distracted all class. I have decided to blame it on the weather. What I did was back off. I put Swizzle on a leash and did the course that way. I have not used a leash in class for at least a year but that day he needed the support. If he was still stressed I would back off anything that is challenging even of I just had him do hand touches. The most important thing is that the dog always leaves class feeling successful. On a positive note the agility class which is much harder than rec. was a total success. Swizzle finally did the chute with gusto and I was even able to do a rear cross with the chute and he was still OK. You might want to try some super great treats for class till she gets her mojo back. It helps take the focus off of her nerves.


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## Minnie

*CT Girl -* I appreciate your words - I think I may be expecting too much to early. Gemma has been out of training for a couple of months with her hip injury and she is only 13 months old so expecting her to remember what she did as a 9-10 month old puppy might be a bit much....


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## CT Girl

I decided early on to move at Swizzle's pace. Sometimes he picks up things faster then expected and sometimes he needs to build up confidence before he is ready to progress. Ironically one of the reasons I had trouble in the rec. agility class is because Swizzle was more confident. He decided to say hi to people in the gallery (normally he is shy with people he does not know) and he also decided smelling the carpet was way more interesting than running the course with me. (Normally he is Velcro). Gemma has been through a lot. A hip injury can take a while to fully heal and that could still be affecting her both physically and mentally. I am sure with your support she will bounce back and it might even help her in the end.

TammyQ color me green too. If you want to pass along any pearls of wisdom I am all ears. Love her.


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## lily cd re

Every dog is different and will learn at his or her own pace. Our job is to keep them safe and confident while doing what we can to facilitate and reinforce the learning. Patience, patience, patience....

And TammyQ I echo CT Girl, please share specifics from the Susan Garret seminar when you have the chance.


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## Minnie

I really appreciate the comments! I want to work on building Gem's confidence and our relationship - the running off and hiding really concerns me. I ordered Crate Games and Shaping for Success by Susan Garrett and plan to work on just being very positive about everything. I really want her to be the confident happy dog that I just know she can be!


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## CT Girl

That sounds like a great plan. I would like to hear what you think of both videos. If they look good I will get them too. She is so upbeat with her approach, I really enjoy her videos.


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## Minnie

CT Girl said:


> That sounds like a great plan. I would like to hear what you think of both videos. If they look good I will get them too. She is so upbeat with her approach, I really enjoy her videos.


Just received a shipping notice so hopefully I'll be able to post about them soon. Crate Games is a DVD and the other is a book - ordered through Clean Run.

Proud to report my girl was happy and confident at our private class this evening. Her instructor was very pleased! She offered some nice contacts - including drum roll.... dog walk and A-frame :-D. I've been working on recalls and my sweet little girl ran to me full speed several times - it was just a total UP session and I just had to share!


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## Specman

Minnie,

Good to hear! Our dogs definitely living breathing creatures that think on their own and it is not possible for use to understand what is always on their minds! It really makes you wonder what they are thinking that they can preform with ease one night and be totally off their game the next.

I guess they are thinking like poodles and not people!


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## Specman

Agility class was good last night. Max seems to be doing a little better. He has a problem right now with tables and decks which was not an issue before but, the funniest thing happened last night. 

There was a lady who was seated near where we were working who was wearing a fur coat. Max must of caught wind of it and was totally spooked. He was not sure what kind of animal it was but he was definitely concerned! He did a few low growls and tried to keep an eye on her whenever possible. 

Very funny!


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## lily cd re

That is funny about Max and the fur coat. I have a coat with a fox fur collar that used to get my cats all worked up if I didn't hang it up. Lily and Peeves don't think much of it one way or the other.

I'm glad you had a good class. Tables can be a mystery. Why should it be such a big deal? 

Lily and I have a CPE trial on Sunday and a private agility lesson scheduled for tomorrow morning. I hope she is ok to do them. She was limping a bit late this afternoon. I think she may have slipped on some of the melting slush on the deck. We had them at the vet today for their annual check up (flying colors for both), so I am hoping she was being dramatic about having survived the trip to the doctor (who is also a poodle person). She seems fine now, but I will have the teacher look at her gait before we do anything in the lesson.


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## Specman

I hope Lily is feeling better and good luck on the CPE trial.


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## lily cd re

Specman, thanks for your concern about Lily. She seems fine this morning. Sometimes when she slips she acts like she hurt herself worse than she did. As soon as something really interesting to do she will all of a sudden be fine. I think she can be a drama queen sometimes, but i like to err on the side of caution since i wouldn't want to risk a minor thing becoming something really serious. We will be going out soon for our private. I will have the teacher check that she looks ok before we work. If not i will pull her tomorrow and rest her since we have akc trials next week.


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## Specman

I hope Lily is feeling better and good luck on the CPE trial.


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## CT Girl

I hope Lily is feeling better. I would much rather have the drama queen dog that is careful when they get hurt than the kind of dog that ignores it and just soldiers on.Good luck with the trial.


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## lily cd re

Thanks for your good wishes all of you. She can be quite an actress I think. My private teacher thought she looked good this morning, but we lowered the jumps to 20" (which is her CPE height anyway) rather than her usual 24" AKC height. We didn't do any contacts, but instead focused on weaves. Mine are buried in snow right now so we haven't done any at home and I thought her weaves in class on Thursday night were terrible. We did weaves until her head hurt (mine too)! Onside, offside, 180 to weave entrance, front and rear crosses both to get in and out.... We will use our CPE entries tomorrow to practice contact criteria before our AKC trials next week.


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## CT Girl

I was just practicing weaves in the basement. I am using Sarah Garrett's 2x2 method but I am doing it a lot slower than she did. I am using her video which is great. We are up to 6 poles. I have not been training as often as I should what with taxes and my mom being sick but he still seems to remember. It was a good choice not to work on contacts in case Lily is still a little tender.


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## Minnie

*Specman*Thanks for the giggle!!! It really makes you wonder what they are thinking... a fur coat of all things LOL! Sigh... tables... everyone of them seem a bit different - Gem loves the metal based one at our private trainers but our PVC one at home and at group class seem very suspicious. I have very easy plans to build one at home that is very inexpensive if you'd like them just let me know.

*Catherine -* I really really hope Lily is okay. Good to hear that she seemed okay we'll be thinking of you and sending best wishes for a safe, pain free, "Q" tomorrow!!!

*CT Girl -* It is great to read about your weave success with the 2x2 method. I am considering this method depending on how our channel weave training goes. BTW - I received the Crate Games DVD last night (haven't watched it yet) but have started reading Shaping Success and so far I'm having a hard time putting it down - not so much as a training book but just a really encouraging story - about a 1/3 of the way through so far.


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## Minnie

Oh what a difference a week can make - we had group class this morning and it was like night and day from last week. Gem did very well!!! No running off or hiding all all - sequences were nice including offered A-frames, nice tunnels and jumps. We played the bang game on the teeter and finished up with very nice offered dog walks!! Best of all no luring this was directed or offered work. 

We worked on blind and front crosses and Gem did very well - her handler on the other hand... LOL. I was told that I'm making a rookie handling mistake seen often with small dogs - leaning over during runs and directing with my hand rather than standing up straight and using my shoulders or body position. I was told that once I stood up that she was running faster and smoother in the sequences.

I can't thank everyone on this thread enough for all the encouragement, ideas, and simply sharing of the ups and downs that are experienced. Please know that is truly appreciated!!!


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## Minnie

*FREE Susan Garrett webinar*

Just a heads up for Susan Garrett fans - she is having a FREE 3 session webinar that starts today!


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## CT Girl

Minnie, I have to work on not bending over too. I tend to do this when Swizzle is on the fulcrum of the teeter. I am nervous that he will jump off and get spooked. He is doing the whole low teeter by himself and the bang does not seem to bother him too much so I am happy with his progress. I am in Florida now but will have to check the webinar out, thank you!


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## Minnie

CT Girl - I've heard of dogs getting spooked on the teeter and it being a very very long retraining process so I can see why you are being cautions. But wow that is such great progress!!!

This is an off week for class as trainers are at a trial. We've been working on just happy stuff this week. Tonight we decided to build weaves (posted in agility equipment thread) and Bella was watching and.... ran through them - OMG I was shocked - I guess she remembered from class and that little tail was wagging so hard - she'd run through and then come over and bark at me. We ended up having a fun tug with her fave toy and then she'd run through again. 

A happy poodle is just the best thing in the whole wide world!


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## LauraRose

Minnie said:


> A book I'm reading now is "A Beginner's Guide to Agility" seems to have lots of info on getting a puppy ready to start - wish I'd found this a year ago.


Who's the author?

Looking for beginner book recommendations, please. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Minnie

LauraRose said:


> Who's the author?
> 
> Looking for beginner book recommendations, please.


Laurie Leach - it's available as an ebook or regular. 

Other suggestions are Shaping Success (Susan Garrett) - not quite as clearly instructive on obstacle performance but a great book especially for someone with a puppy or young dog (paperback only). One other I purchased was From the Group Up - Agility Foundation Training (Kim Collins) ebook or regular.

Hope these help - check out Amazon for ebooks and Clean Run productions for the others.


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## Specman

Last night Max was much more confident with the table. Now we are on to the teeter which will be a real challenge. He is very hesitant of anything that moves. Noise does not bother him; it is the movement. We practiced on the wobble board and if I held it still he would cautiously stand on it. Not when it was free to move.

One thing I noticed that may be a poodle thing, since we have a high regard for our dogs, is that he is very analytical with all of the obstacles. He really want to understand what this is all about before proceeding. I just could not believe the difference form some of the other dogs. There is an Aussie pup in the class that instead of banging the teeter for the instructor he jumped on it and started walking around! It seems that some of the other breeds just kind of charge ahead without too much forethought.


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## Minnie

Congrats to Max for conquering the table! Oh the teeter toughest obstacle for many dogs. So many components that need to be broke down for this one. For at home practice my instructor suggested a 12" x 4' board with a towel rolled up under the axis point to play the bang game and work on the movement aspect - starting on carpet, small towel for the very beginning.

I find your poodle / Aussie comment interesting as have 1 TPoo and 2 MAS. The TPoo and one of the MAS act very similar though the Tpoo definitely has a higher play drive and the MAS is very soft. The other MAS I have nicked named "devil dog" and she is off the charts on drive - she could stare holes into with those eyes. She is extremely fast and really the one that enjoys the work the most. I practice with the "soft" Aussie and then have to do focused work with the other. The two MAS really could have come from different planets.


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## Minnie

Today was our last class until May for one of the clubs. The instructors set up a basic novice course with all obstacles (low jump heights and lowered contact obstacles). Gemma's first run was the best as she tends to shut down and loose energy when pushed. At the very end when we were done I did take her back and did a very short sequence of her fave things so she ended on a high note.

In this class she did gain a ton of confidence and I learned so much. She has a happy independent a-frame, tunnels, channel weaves (with aids) and jumps so I'm thrilled with those. The others we'll work on slowly and breakdown into small pieces rather than push. I can't say enough good things about these instructors and look forward to spring


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## Specman

Great to hear that Gemma is doing well!


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## CT Girl

Gemma sounds like she is doing great. I really feel that breaking down challenging tasks is the way to go. It is great that this class ended on such a positive note for you both.


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## Specman

Max and I had our last agility class last night, at least for a while. I have to admit that agility is not his thing. He is great with the obedience part of agility. He can get in the right place and relative to my body when doing jumps and works hard on following instruction but his heart in not into it. He is fearful of the obstacles and tries to accommodate me but I can tell that this is not what he wants to do. 

I see the other dogs in the class that attack the obstacles with joy and can't wait to do them. Max likes the weave poles and is OK with the jumps but, the rest of the obstacles are not done willingly.

I spent the last few minute of the class sitting back by the spectators and letting them give Max treats to work on his socialization which is one of the reasons that I signed up for the class. The class was fun and gave Max and I a reason to work together.

I will try to take the time spent on agility and continue to work with Max on socialization in other setting and work on his reactive issues. Perhaps I will look into a canine good citizen class.


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## lily cd re

I have been busy at work, so I am just catching up on this thread (well catching up on PF generally).

Specman, you could consider just working on a jumpers with weaves title for the time being. You could also try CPE agility instead of AKC. Their rules for contact obstacles are more forgiving regarding refusals and the teeters is never used in the lower levels. I would also suggest rally or regular obedience if you don't want to push hard on agility. Rally is a great team builder and confidence builder.

Minnie it is nice to hear that you are happy with Gemma's progress.

Lily and I have had a number of private lessons recently with the focus being the A frame, see saw and handling (difficult weave pole entries, etc). I am very happy to say that we have made a great deal of progress. Our private coach is at the national agility championship this weekend in Tulsa. She is hoping to make the AKC world team. We are so lucky to have her very near our home. I will have an intensive set of three lessons on alternating days with her late next week to prepare for the Salt City cluster in Syracuse. We have four days of entries in AKC open jumpers and novice standard (agility genie please let us get standard legs!). We also have a couple of RAE entries with the aim being to get RAE2 title leg at Poodle Club of America in April. 

We did get some Qs in a couple of recent CPE trials. These were indoors at the place where we do our class training. Despite Lily knowing exactly where she is and knowing all the equipment in the place, by the end of the day she is cooked and does nothing. The crate room there when things are set up for agility trials is very crowded and noisy. I think she finds it very stressful (I do too!). For the future around home for CPE I think we will stick with outdoor trials. We have lovely venues for outdoor trials.


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## Minnie

Specman I'm really sorry to read about Max's fears with the obstacles and really hope that once he gains confidence in other areas that he might like the obstacles again. If you don't want to leave the class an option would be to ask the instructor if you could just work on only the things he does like.

Wow Catherine - congrats on all your success and the progress. Best of luck on your upcoming trials I am sure your hard work will pay off!

I do have some progress to report - Bella is happily back in agility class!!! The day with the weave poles just seemed to bring back her confidence. I've been working on shaping with her rather than luring and she acts so happy. Last week I took her back to class and I don't think her little tail stopped wagging the whole time


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## CT Girl

I am sorry to hear that Max is not enjoying agility. Swizzle started out not enjoying himself and gradually his confidence has improved. I don't know if the same would be the case for Max but if you wish to continue at some point I would skip the obstacles that make him nervous or make them super easy. Instead of a teeter perhaps practice with a board flat on the ground. If it is just not his thing there are plenty of other activities you can enjoy with him. I was at that stage at one point but then Swizzle seem to center and gain confidence. 

Catherine, congratulations on all your successors best of luck on the upcoming trials. 

Minnie, I am so happy to hear Bella has her mojo back and is enjoying class.

Swizzle is progressing well and is now doing the teeter. He was so nervous I thought it would take much longer(if ever). Now I have to work on him being comfortable with the jump crew that are ready to fix jumps and are in chairs on the coast. He is OK with people walking around but those chair people are spooky! Fortunately this was just during class and not a trial. I will probably try one soon just to start him getting use to the bustle. He does grat in class but I think a competition environment will be a challenge for him. So far he is overcoming his fears/worries so we shall see.


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## lily cd re

Minnie that is awesome about Bella. Even if you don't compete with her I am sure your relationship with her will benefit from the time you spend.

CT girl I am glad to hear your purchase of the teeter paid off. I will be buying a teeter myself this spring. I don't have any contact obstacles other than a home made table. Even though the A frame is really the obstacle we have problems with right now, I don't think I have room to have one in my yard without cursing at it for being in the way of other things all the time. For sake of space and the general functionality of the yard the teeter seems to be the way to go. You got yours from Max 200 right? Do you have a solid plank or split plank? I am planning to call an order to pick up at a trial on Long Island. They will be the equipment supplier. Also if you want a slightly more user friendly (and often slightly less expensive) venue to work on getting Swizzle used to the ring crew you could try CPE rather than AKC. There are no faults for contact refusals and the low levels don't use the teeter or weaves (unless you choose them in games). We have a number of CPE trials on Long Island starting in May and running through October out in Riverhead (outside, very nice place) and indoors in Bay Shore (very nice place, but noisy in the crate room). Check the CPE site as well as AllFur Fun Agility and Dog Agility Club of Long Island for information on entering. You could jump on the Bridgeport ferry if so inclined and be at either of those sites pretty quickly.

Specman, the suggestion to go to class and modify what you and Max do is a good idea. Be patient and persistent.


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## CT Girl

I got my teeter fromArf and Running. They are based in Maine but travel to shows. My agility instructor gets them to build all her equipment from them. Solid plank. I am going to try CPE to begin with. I am going to try to start with something close. They have CPE in Hamden which is only 45 minutes. Once Swizzle gets more comfortable then I will try Long Island. I don't want to stress him out with a trail and travel too in the beginning. Swizzle is a little tightly wound but he is resilient and brave and will try for me even if he is scared. I just try to keep challenging him but I don't want to overwelm him with too many variables at once. I am going to try some run throughs at Hamden to get him use to things prior to a competition setting. Catherine, what are Lily's issues with the A frame?


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## lily cd re

CT Girl, thanks for the info on the teeter. I suspect I will go with Max 200 since I can pick up at a long Island trial, but I will look at Arf and Running too.

Hamden is a nice facility. I haven't been there for agility yet, but many of my Long Island friends like to run up there. I have also gone for rally and obedience at Quinnipiac Poodle Club. I think you will find it good to start with CPE close to home. Since trials are inherently more stressful (How they know it is a trial and not a match is beyond me. I guess we layer it on them.), you are wise not to change too many variables at one time.

As to Lily and the A frame, she used to do reckless fly offs. I think she thought it was both fun and funny to jump off right after she went over the top (and I mean a full height competition A frame). I found it scary to watch aside from being an auto NQ. Unfortunately I didn't have a good sense about exit criteria since she is my first agility dog. Also the first class we went to was a fun class, not a competition oriented class. So the problem with getting bad exits was just getting worse because she was self reinforcing her chaotic performance.

Then I started doing private sessions to work on fixing the contact criteria. She is on board with the two on two off for the dog walk and the see saw, but was still trying to get away with flying off the A frame. I gave her a fairly loud "no" once when she did it. After that she didn't even want to get on it for a while. We all thought she was confused about what the criteria were supposed to be. 

I've been able to get her to keep moving to get on, but she has been going over the top and then needing to be coaxed down to the two on two off. The last time I did a private we worked on it as a motivated contact with me showing her her favorite tug toy then sending her on and me getting to the down side in front of her to offer the tug in the two on two off at the bottom. I used this method in class last Thursday. She is responding really well to it. 

I have several privates scheduled in the next five days. We are entered in the Salt City cluster in Syracuse the 28th to the 31st. I hope it pays out with Qs in standard. We are still in novice standard, but I think I am pretty likely to get through open jumpers fairly readily this spring. I would hate to be ready for excellent jumpers and still be stuck in novice standard. Keep your fingers crossed for me.


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## CT Girl

Consider them crossed. I know exactly what you mean with the A frame and flying off. That can be scary as well as being a NQ. The tug toy is a great idea to get her motivation up. With Swizzle I practiced a lot with stair stepper and a contact so he was use to having his hind end elevated with front paws on the ground and nose to his target. We also broke it up and instead of him doing the whole A frame just the finish. Of course with a toy you can just pick him up and put him where you want him. It is so hard not to say no when they do something wrong and they are so smart they really do take it to heart. I have been using oops but tonight I messed up and said it when I made the mistake. I do a fun class like that - rec agility but fortunately my agility teacher brings her dog to class too and she clues me in if she sees something of concern. I am sure the privates will really help with the A frame. That is what really made the difference with Swizzle. You will get in in no time I am sure.


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## Minnie

Catherine - On the teeter if you are looking for a less expensive alternative - Affordable Agility has been having sales lately - most of their items are PVC based. Then again Lily sounds very brave so it may not be sturdy enough - jumping off the top of the A-frame - the thought gives me shudders!

CT Girl - What is a stair stepper? Wow just being to level to feel ready to give running a standard course is an accomplishment - seriously congrats to you and Swizzle!!! Can't wait to read all about it!


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## CT Girl

Minnie you knows the aerobic steps that were all the craze years ago? Like this http://www.walmart.com/ip/Gold-s-Gym-Aerobic-Step/10910439
That is what I use. I use all kinds of weird non-agility stuff to train- tarps, stuffed animals for him to jump or go under, hammocks, chairs and more. I figure with the aerobic step he gets practice feeling of the end of an A Frame as his butt is elevated and his front paws are on the ground nose to target.


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## lily cd re

Ct Girl that is a great way to teach hind end awareness. For dogs that are lazy in jumping and knocking bars, reminding them to think about where their back end is can be really useful

We had a great private lesson yesterday morning (with snow threatening and our coach all bundled up in many layers). We had great dog walks and see saws and made good progress with the A frame. For some weird reason Lily now treats the down side of the A frame like it is a dog walk and uses only the very left edge of the board. As a result she is still coming down on the slow side, but I would rather lose time (and even take a time penalty) than get an automatic NQ for a fly off. I think things are good enough to Q in novice standard. We will worry about making it pretty for open and beyond.


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## CT Girl

Catherine, that is wonderful progress. I always prefer the dog to complete the obstacle in a safe and proper manner. Speed will come once they are more comfortable with the new way of doing things.


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## lily cd re

So I think I will not plan on entering any indoor agility trials until Lily is in excellent in both standard and jumpers. She didn't Q Thursday or Friday, but she made a good effort in all our runs and I saw some things I really liked. The A frame is getting better. She stayed with me and ran the course the judge set and not her own imaginary course. I was pleased until today. She was sooooo terribly stressed today, especially in jumpers. 

Today in open jumpers we had one jump then weaves straight out from the jump. I figured I could call her to me over the jump to get her to the weaves so I could get them without any retries. The rest of the course was very decent for the level. The only trick was in one corner about 2/3 through there were two tunnels facing each other and getting the right end of the second one was going to take work. Anyway Lily walked around the first jump to go visit the timing and scoring folks. I got her to go back and over the jump but then she ran into me and just started snaking around between my legs. I took her off the course.

We went out for a nice walk just after lunch and played. The room where I am crating is almost empty, so nice and quiet. We got nice and motivated for novice standard. She seemed really relaxed. The opening was chute, A frame, tire, tunnel. From the tunnel broad jump to see saw then table, weaves, a three jump sequence, dog walk then a jump. She did great (including a better A frame than any of the three days) up to the table. She bailed off (ok, sort of), got back on and stayed the count then just went off sniffing. We went over time while trying to get the weaves. I never got to the end.


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## CT Girl

Catherine I am sorry the weekend did not work out as well as hoped. There are a lots of positives that happened which is great. It does sound like the stress got to her. I think holding off till she gets her confidence is up is a good idea. When she seems ready maybe one day instead of two at an indoor trial. I have taken Swizzle to a run through once at Hamden. You get to run the course but it is not a competition. It went OK but not fantastic. At first Swizzle wandered away ( seemed like forever but probably just 5 seconds). The rest of the course went well. We skipped weaves as I have not had a chance to train past 4 weaves. At the end Swizzle got nervous as people opened and closed doors. Overall I think it was very helpful. I kind of lost my mind on a second run and forgot part of the course but it didn't matter as I just wanted to practice different elements anyway. I think when we finally are ready to compete I will be more of an obstacle than Swizzle. I think when I know it is a competition my brain will sail out the window.


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## lily cd re

CT Girl, thanks for the reassurance. I did feel pretty down about this over the weekend. We have worked very hard to be ready. I also have been to this venue before so I thought I had assessed it as being a manageable environment for Lily in terms of the noise level. I didn't crate in the big space of the building where the two agility and one obedience and the rally rings were. I set us up in a side room where there is one obedience ring and mostly obedience crating. Since she got worse as days went by I really have a much better read on noise stress for her. She has a much higher tolerance for working obedience than agility in a noisy environment at this time. We did get two RAE2 legs while we were there. I also feel I learned a lot about what we need to work on. We only have one indoor agility entry in the near future at PCA. Everything else is outside, including this Sunday (with a really nice weather forecast).


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## CT Girl

It does not surprise me that noise is more of a factor in agility than obedience as it requires more independent thought. Congratulations on getting two RAE2 legs. Good luck this Sunday.


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## lily cd re

We had our first outdoor trial of the year today. I thought the weather was supposed to be pretty nice today, but it was windy and very cool to downright cold at times (thankfully dry though). 

I fell when I was running at a trial in January and hit my knee. It had seemed much better/basically fine until Thursday since which time it has been pretty tender. I was at an obedience trial and even the fast for the heeling was pretty stressful, so when i got home last night I got in touch with the young woman who I do my privates with to see if she would run Lily for me. I am very grateful that she was able to do so since I could not have run. I would hate to have wasted the entries.

Since we arranged this plan late last night, we didn't have any advance time for Lily to work with our teacher in advance. She loves this young woman like her pal, but has never worked for her. Our teacher did lots to get her communication up before novice standard ran. Lily gave her a great opening sequence, including a lovely unhesitating dog walk. Unfortunately the course then turned towards where I was trying to hide and she saw me. She ran up to the edge of the ring and then did a couple of loops around before going back to the handler. I was happy that even though she was clearly looking to get to me she didn't leave the ring.

Before open jumpers I made sure to stay way further out of the way. She did much better and stayed the whole course. She didn't Q, but she really did work with her temporary handler the whole way. I have another local trial in two weeks. We also have a private scheduled just before it. If my knee isn't fully better by then, we will use some of the lesson to get Lily used to working with our teacher so that she can handle her for that trial too.


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## Minnie

Catherine - Hope your knee heals fast!!! And a major congrats on the two RAE2 legs!!! Best wishes on your outdoor trials - I bet as she gains confidence in trial situations that the indoors will be less stressful for her. 

CT Girl - I probably have one of those steppers around here some place - never thought of using it for agility training 

I've been away for work and finally got back last night - today the weather turned out amazing - 72 with almost no wind (highly unusual for here) so I took advantage and setup my agility equipment in one of our paddocks. I am very very happy to report that Gemma took to the new equipment like duck to water. No fear at all on the a-frame or dog walk (we struggled with this in class) and just had an overall great time playing and being together. For Bella I lowered the a-frame to almost flat and she had fun running over it and was solid on the dog walk so we are making progress.

Due to work issues I may have extremely limited class time this month but my private instructor offered to come to my place to check out the equipment, safety, surfacing, etc next time we can make it work so I'm looking forward to that.

Happy training everyone!!!!


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## Specman

Catherine.

Sorry to here about your knee. I'm sure Lily is looking for you to make a quick recovery! I haven't done much with Max since our last agility class but maybe with the weather warming I will try to work with him a little outside. 

Congratulations on getting two RAE2 legs


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## CT Girl

Swizzle is doing a great job with the teeter which kind of shocks me because I was scared for him. He has even done it at a run though in Hamden and Wednesday in flow in agility class with other obstacles. I have faded out the target that I used on the pivot point and am still using it at the end. He does4 paws on since he is just 7 pounds. I now have to get my act together and practice weave poles.


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## lily cd re

CT Girl now that the weather is improving you should just leave your poles out and go do a few passes each morning and evening. That is great about Swizzle's teeter! You should probably leave it as a four on since the little man is so light. It just goes to show how helpful it is to have equipment at home. 

Because I am still sore in the knee I have been working on send to weaves. Lily's poles have improved greatly. I have had other people run her for the trials in the last few days. On the 20th, my private teacher ran her and she Q'd in novice standard (first leg, jinx off). Placed first to boot! On Monday a Long Island friend of mine ran her in standard at PCA. Lily knows her, but has never worked with her so it wasn't very productive. I pulled her from open jumpers since it was clear she was pretty stressed over being asked to run with yet another person out of the blue.


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## CT Girl

I probably will not be practicing outside unless it is in agility class. We have a big yard but it is not fenced. We live in a very rural area. We have lots of hawks and coyote and fox and bobcat as well. Thursday on the way to class I saw a black bear on the street. If Swizzle was bigger I would get a fence but honestly if I was not close I think a hawk would get him. I have seen them take rabbit and mice and rabbits are a lot bigger than Swizzle. It a bummer because I can't practice entry to the weaves as well as I would like in the basement.


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## lily cd re

Oh my, never mind! Too bad you can't leave poles out, but I understand. A red tail absolutely would give consideration to taking a shot at Swizzle. Being from Long Island (no venomous snakes, no bears) I sometimes forget what other people have to give thoughts too. I also have to have a fence since I have a pool (world's biggest, best dog toy!).


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## Minnie

*CT Girl -* That is great news on the teeter! It's the one I really fear with Bella and keep putting off starting on it as she's only 4.5 pounds. AND A BEAR???? Wow I'd keep Swizzle inside too! On the weaves did you decide on a method? Our beginner class used channel weaves with wires and the class I'm in now is using weave-a-matic. I've researched the 2x2 method but haven't tried it.

*Catherine -* Is the knee any better? It must be so frustrating to have be on the sidelines at the PCA.

Very scared but excited.. I've signed up Bella for a young dog workshop focused on foundation and beginning sequencing with a former world team member. As I live in the sticks this is highly unusual for this level of training to be available. Just hope I don't embarrass myself! 

Here is a funny - Ever since the equipment went out in the paddock I've had two people ask me if it is for the horses :-D


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## lily cd re

Minnie, that is too funny about people asking if the agility is for horses.

Thanks for asking about my knee. It is a fair bit better. I am a college professor and normally when i lecture I like to stand and walk around. I have been sitting (and apologizing to my students for it), but today stood for my early lecture. I was a bit sore by the end of class, but I made it through without going back to the chair. I sat for my second class.

I have agility entries Friday and Saturday this weekend. My private teacher wont be at that trial, so she isn't available to run Lily. My friend who ran her at PCA would probably do it again, but I don't think I want to impose on her that much. She has three spoos of her own entered for Saturday and Sunday (and she won't be there Friday). My current plan is to run Lily myself and hope I can make a run plan that doesn't need any front crosses. If I can only do one run each day I will do my novice standards, since I could title if I Q both days. This weekend is the last set of AKC entries I have until mid June on Cape Cod, so I would really like to get some more progress towards the NA. Maybe I would be able to move up for at least one or two days on the Cape.


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## CT Girl

Minnie, thank you. I am thrilled with Swizzle and the teeter. He is seven pounds and I just had visions of a catapulting poodle so I am going to make sure his 4 on are sticky. I am actually more concerned with the hawks for Swizzle as I have seen them stalk him. But now that I have talked to my neighbor I am growing more concerned about the bear. My neighbor was bragging how he got within 3 feet of the bear to take pictures and the bear didn't care. I would rather have a bear that would run off. (Silly neighbor but very nice guy.)

Catherine, I hope your knee continues to improve and you are able to run Lily. Have you tried soaking in Epsom salts? Old fashioned but effective at drawing out inflammation. You can also put the Epsom water on your plants that bloom.


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## Minnie

Catherine - Thinking about you today and hoping that your knee held up at the trial! Best of luck this weekend!

Just returned from the workshop today. The expense was truly worth it for the amazing instruction. The seminar was by Sherry Kluever and I will never forget her absolute patience with this newbie! By the end Bella was happily hopping onto a very low teeter, sequencing, one jump exercises, and weaves!! Take away was it's more me getting out of her way (handling issues) and taking it slow to build her confidence. And she gave ideas that made sense not just words! It was a short class where I came away excited to continue! Can't wait for group class on Monday!!!

Oh and dog / agility people are just awesome!!! A lovely lady from my group class offered to let me borrow her mini teeter for Bella to practice as her small dogs are now retired.


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## lily cd re

Minnie, thanks for your good wishes. My knee is definitely improving although I am still wearing a brace and it tends to feel sore by late in the day.

We were entered Friday and yesterday. Friday, Lily was crazy, didn't pay much attention to me. I took her off both courses when she really stopped working. I think she has found it confusing to be told to work with so many different people. Also I haven't really done any training other than send to weaves in my yard in almost a month. Yesterday she settled down much better. She stayed the course with me in novice standard until the last sequence of chute, broad jump, bar, bar. The dog walk was before the chute and she did hold the two on two off. I led out towards the chute and sent her in, but I couldn't get up there fast enough (knee) and when she came out of the chute she didn't hold the line for the jumps. I think she was pretty happy to have me back in the ring with her.

We don't have anymore akc trials until mid June, so I have plenty of time to get back to normal. I do have a set of cpe entries in May. I will spend some time with my private coach working on distance handling and hope to try working at greater distance in those trials.

Your seminar sounds great. I am so glad to hear that Bella had a good experience too. You should post some pics of her on her tiny teeter when you can.


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## CT Girl

Minnie, it sounds like that is a great workshop. You must be so happy and proud of the progress you and Minnie are making together. That is great that you will have a mini teeter to practice on. Dog people are the best.

Catherine, I think it is totally understandable that Lily had issues. I am sure it was very stressful to work with different people. I would do some easy training that she will succeed so she feels happy and relaxed. Distance training will be great to have in you tool box especially if your knee acts up. I am starting to work more with this with Swizzle. I try to mix up distance with close work as Swizzle starts to disconnect and get stressed if I don't.


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## lily cd re

CT Girl you are right on about needing both close and distance handling. I realized right after I did it Saturday that I messed up at the teeter by going ahead of Lily to the end and treating it as a call to. I have to remember to be her escort for it for the time being. On the other hand, if she feels crowded at the weaves, she pops out. I could have benefitted from better distance work if she had seen the line of jumps to hold on her own on Saturday too.


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## CT Girl

Hindsight is twenty, twenty. I am trying to mix it up so I don't teach him to need me but I will really support the teeter till he is rock solid. There is one person in my class that tried too much distance at the teeter at a trail and her dog bailed and is now very cautious of the teeter. With Swizzle I will see what his mojo is like on a given day and if he is feeling confident I will try more distance. Lily will get better on seeing the line as she gets more experience. There is one handler in the advanced class that I love to watch (I am in the beginner class). She will shrug her shoulder or point her toe and her dog will just run around and do the course. It is like agility dressage, her cues are so subtle. I wish my class was taped so I could see what is working and what isn't. It all happens so fast.


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## lily cd re

I know of somebody with a toy poodle who can stand in the middle of a ring in place and point and the dog runs the course (in a full continental clip too boot). She won't bail off the teeter if I get ahead of her, but she puts two feet on and stops to wait for additional commands. In akc this gets an R (that I should have known to avoid), but as you say hindsight is always 20/20 and the invisible dog that walks the course with you is always perfect too, right?


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## Minnie

Sound sensitivity - Bella has always been very sensitive to noise - especially sharp noises - drop a spoon in the kitchen and she's out of there :airplane: We worked on a very low teeter this week in group and the movement really doesn't bother her but the noise on the other hand... She ended up scared of jumping off the end due to the sound and wanted nothing to do with the bang game. I've been doing a lot of the click/treat with everyday household noise and in class when others are using the teeter - it's going to be a long road.

On the opposite end is Gemma who is my steady eddie... nothing bothers her not even the teeter - bang game to her is fun and she was going to the end of the low teeter no problem. I need to work on drive / motivation with her as she gets bored quickly.

Happy weekend everyone :-D


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## CT Girl

I noticed right off that Swizzle has a strong startle reaction. I knew this could be an issue so I have worked on it. When I take out the garbage Swizzle is on his lead as I roll them in place. - they are noisy. Also drop noisy things and treat. Gradually it will not be an issue. Swizzle has really progressed and is not to bothered by the bang of the teeter. I am sure you can work through this with Bella too. I think Swizzle is hard wired to startle but he copes now and does not run off.


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## lily cd re

Minnie can you do teeter outside where it won't make such a loud bang to keep it going and continue noise desensitization with other things? Eventually you should be able to "marry" noise and teeter as no big deal. 

I've been to indoor trials where they put a bit of extra rubber matting at the drop end of the seesaw so it isn't loud when it hits.


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## Minnie

Thank you guys for the thoughts on the teeter - I took it outside and put the board on the ground with no sound and she startles just touching it. I think I'm rushing her and need to slow down teaching this.

Gemma on the other side is really doing well. She has no problem with the teeter and is now running the dog walk. Main problem is she tires and gets bored quickly - definitely not a dog you can drill.


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## lily cd re

Yes, go super slow. The teeter is hard to fix if they learn not to like it. Gemma sounds like she has a poodle's way of thinking..."but we did this already, how many times? I get it!"...


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## Minnie

lily cd re said:


> Yes, go super slow. The teeter is hard to fix if they learn not to like it. *Gemma sounds like she has a poodle's way of thinking..."but we did this already, how many times? I get it!"...*


You explained it perfectly - this is Gemma! She is also VERY soft - I can't even be "ah" or "woops" with her she takes it to heart - we just celebrate the good part and move on.


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## Minnie

We had our first intermediate group class with Bella tonight and I think it might be our last :-( The class is large and she is about the size of the head on most of the dogs. She is just so plain scarred (tail down and tucked, quick head turns sit down and cower, etc that it broke my heart. I spent a lot of the time trying to get her to accept treats she normally loves.


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## CT Girl

Swizzle's agility class is made up of much larger dogs including a Great Dane. It is nerve wracking for a toy as they are understandably nervous around large unfamiliar dogs. Provide as much space as possible between you and the other dogs. Find a fantastic treat and treat like crazy. You could ask the teacher if you can audit a few classes and just have her wait while having her perform easy tricks like touch and sit in the wait line. Don't do obstacles. Make it as stress free as possible. She can work through this and it should not take long before she gains confidence. Good luck.


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## Minnie

CT Girl - thank you for the perspective a lot of the problem is me as she likely feeds on my anxiety at the chance of her being hurt. I can't explain how much this tiny ball of fur means. 

The class was quite chaotic - there were sequences setup a few feet apart with dogs working on them at the same time - best way I could describe it is flyball without the lanes and many young inexperienced high strung dogs.


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## lily cd re

Minnie it sounds stressful. In the class that I have gone to until recently we have a full course set up and we each take turns. We never have more than one dog working at a time. I would have a hard time getting much out of a class where more than one dog was working since Lily would be inclined to get involved with the others. She is big and pretty bossy so I don't necessarily have the same worries you do since Bella is small. You are talking to poodle people here, no need to explain how important she is. 

Unfortunately the site where the class meets is where my knee problems started. It is rubber matting with seams that I have caught the toe of my shoe in more than once. When I fell there in January it was actually the second time I have made a hard landing. Then I twisted my knee doing a front cross. I am not sure that I will go back (I am really concerned about falling again), but am also not sure where else I will be able to go aside from my privates (which I don't do every week).


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## CT Girl

I did not understand the nature of your class. It does sound stressful. In my class, like Catherine, there is a full course set up and we take turns. Your class would definitely not work for Swizzle and I doubt it would work for Bella. I am OK with desensitizing Swizzle in a mildly challenging environment but too much stress overload will probably cause him to shut down instead of help him learn to cope. Is there another class in your area that you could try? 

I am lucky that we don't have that rubber matting. Inside classes are on carpet. I know exactly the type of rubber matting you are speaking of Catherine and that is murder in the knees.


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## Specman

Minnie,

Your class sounds like the one Max used to go to. There were two classes (beginners and intermediates) going on in the building at the same time. Always a lot of activity and Max sometimes got overwhelmed by it all. I finally decided at this time it was not for him. Hopefully you can find a situation that Bella is more comfortable in.


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## lily cd re

Specman I hope you will be able to find a better agility class, or some other fun thing, to do with Max. Have you thought about rally? It could be a good confidence builder and also is a great way to get teamwork.


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## ABGG

I haven't started yet):
I really want to.
My father and I will build all the obstacles.


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## lily cd re

Yesterday it rained so we didn't go to the cpe trial we had entered. I guess the rain was on and off, but I just didn't want to take a chance on having wither me or Lily slip in wet grass.

Today was lovely and my mom came along with Wolfie to hang out with us and have a nice picnic lunch for Mother's day. We got to the trial site a little later than we should have, so I didn't even get to walk the standard course, but despite that we had a really good opening sequence. Lily did decent work at distance, but then I got mixed up since I hadn't studied the course enough. The judge paid a very nice compliment when we walked off.

We didn't qualify in our second run either, but again there were things I liked. Given that I have passed Lily off to other handlers and still be moving pretty slowly because of my knee when i have run her I was just happy that she worked with me reasonably well.

Then after lunch we had a wildcard level 2 and a snooker level 2 run that were each fabulous. We placed first both times and in the snooker run we scored 42 points in under SCT (I have to check my run time, but I think it was about 35 sec). Lily did great distance work and was totally a pro. I am very proud of my girl.


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## Minnie

Congrats Catherine!!!!!!!! Your hard work has really paid off with Lily responding so beautifully to your distance handling commands - that is huge!!!


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## lily cd re

Thanks Minnie, distance handling will save me and my knees, hips, etc, etc, etc...

I was out in the yard with her this morning sending her to the weaves from distance and crazy angles of approach, both on and offside. She always hit the entrance, but popped out when I was offside (will do some more of that later). The onside sends were beautiful though. I will have to try to get video of it, but at home with the men of the family in the yard it might be too big an ask just yet. Also she hates my small camera that takes video. It flashed near her face by accident when I was first setting it up and she still hasn't forgotten that it scared her.


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## Minnie

You might try one of those real cheap $10 gorilla tri-pods that you can wrap around just about anything - small tree branch, fence, etc to video.


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## CT Girl

Catherine, that is great that your distance training is paying off. I am teaching Swizzle the weaves now. I can't really do distance as the basement is too small to accommodate that. I am not very good at teaching this. It seemed like he was doing well, we were up to six poles and then he started skipping. I am going back to four and will watch the 2 x 2 video again.


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## Minnie

It was just a great evening! My MAS Lily has been a pill from just about day one at 17 months she is her own strong personality with incredible amount of energy, but man oh man ADHD like you wouldn't believe! Her herding instinct is so strong that even birds aren't safe - thank goodness for 10 acres of land for her to run off that energy! 

I haven't worked with her much on agility equipment. She tends to listen when she wants and that's not safe. We've been really working on foundation skills - choose me, obedience heels, duration stays with distractions, etc and I think it's paying off. Tonight I decided to give her a go on the equipment. She took to it like a duck to water -problem is she is faster than me LOL - no hesitancy at all on the contacts I introduced - A-frame, dog walk, table - ran down the open weave channel and showed very nice focus on a jump / tire sequence. Sorry to go on and on but it was just a great night - so very proud of her - she's a tough nut!


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## CT Girl

Minnie, that is wonderful! All your foundation work is paying off. Sometimes people get caught up with obstacles and it holds them back as they advance. Since she is so fast it sounds like distance work will be a must. I am so glad everything is coming together for you.


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## lily cd re

I hear you on the need for distance work. Lily is just too fast for words. It is great to hear she did a good job with obstacles. Your foundation work has been worth it. I could not get anywhere in agility without the obedience and rally work as background.


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## Minnie

Thank you for the encouraging words it's just so awesome when they seem to "get it". One more day of business travel and then home to my girls - miss them so very much!!!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## lily cd re

Lily and I went to a CPE trial today. We took my mom and Wolfie along for the ride. I am happy to say Lily ignored their presence while in the ring. Even as recently as last month, she was always concerned about looking for my mom, aunt, boyfriend, etc. if they were with us. I have been having my mom come to obedience class occasionally and last week they came to our agility private. It has really helped.

We went over time in our jackpot and standard runs although I like some of what she did on those courses. We did Q in both colors (got 2nd since we did the slower course since it had the dog walk, need to practice every chance we have for it) and in jumpers (got 1st on a very fast course, just over 21 sec.). For both of her Q runs Lily did great distance work. It is really nice not to have to try to run the whole course with her now.

We will be going to Cape Cod next week for a three day AKC agility trial. Mom and Wolfie are coming with us. Hopefully we will finish novice standard.


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## CT Girl

Good luck in Cape Cod. I sent an entry in for Hamden July 4th weekend for Jumpers and Standards. We will see what happens. Swizzle gets pokey when he is nervous. Very smart to have your mom go to lessons to stop Lily from looking for her and your other family members. I have had people stand in the ring so Swizzle won't be nervous about the judge and it seems to be working. I hope you have good weather for Cape Cod.


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## lily cd re

Good luck in Hamden CT Girl. It is such a nice facility. I like doing obedience there. Lily is not ready to do consistently good agility indoors. The long range weather for Cape Cod sounds close to ideal. Very little chance of rain and in the low to mid 70s. I ordered Lily a cool coat and hope it gets here in time to have it with me in case it is warmer than predicted.


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## Minnie

Best of luck CT Girl and Catherine! 

I've been out of town so much that I missed 4wks of class - been home a couple day out of the last month. I miss the connection with my girls and hope that the travel settles down soon!


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## Minnie

Hi all - hope everyone had a great weekend. Looking forward to the first group class in quite a while tomorrow. Hoping it goes well so that we can be passed into the next level class. The weekend home practice went well but class can be very different with all the distractions...


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## Minnie

Couldn't wait to get home to share with you guys that have been through each step with us.... Gemma and I passed :-D 

She was very focused tonight, showed no stress, and just overall we had fun!!! She was just a happy girl and it was a wonderful night!


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## CT Girl

That is great Minnie, especially with the traveling you have been doing. Are you enrolling in the next tier of classes?

I am nervous about Saturday. We are signed up for Standards and Jumpers. We will see how it goes. I am worried about leaving Swizzle in a crate in the air conditioned room they provide. He has no problem with his crate in the car but it will be too warm to do that. I am worried the scent and sounds of so many dogs will be distressing for him. He can easily do the work but if he gets too nervous it won't be pretty. He is a resilient little guy though so hopefully he will cope with the hustle and bustle.

I will have a mentor as this is my first trial. How nice that CPE does this. Some of my classmates will be there too. They have all competed in trials before so they will help me out too. I just hope I remember the course and Swizzle stays connected. Fingers crossed.


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## Minnie

Thank you CT Girl  Yes we are registered class starts on Monday. Worried about the full height contact obstacles as my home practice equipment is not and so far class equipment has been set lower as well. In the next set of classes they require a full height dog walk, a-frame, and teeter. 

Wishing you and Swizzle the best of luck tomorrow!!! Just a suggestion but possibly take something to cover his crate to create a den that helps to insulate him away from the noise. Your support team sounds awesome and as you are so in tune with him I am sure you will be fine!!! Looking forward to reading all about it!


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## CT Girl

We had our first trial today. I entered Standard and Jumpers. Paws N Effect was a grat venue for this CPE event. Everyone was so helpful and just went out of there way to help out a newbie like me. Our first run went fairly well with the exception of the beginning. It started with a tunnel under an A frame. Swizzle popped out twice. The rest of the course went very well but we ran a little over on time because of the tunnel pop outs so we did not Q. No one Qued but Swizzle and I came the closest. The second run was a disaster. My husband came to watch and Swizzle ran over to the gate near my husband but then came back to me. My husband decided to step out as he felt he was distracting Swizzle and Swizzle saw he was missing and ran the length of the barrier looking for my husband so I just leashed him and stepped out of the ring. The judge was very nice and let Swizzle take several jumps leashed so we could end on a good note. 

On the whole it was a success. Swizzle was great in the crate in the air conditioned room provided. He cried for a minute and then was quiet. On the first run his tail was up and other than the first tunnel he ran well and was very connected. It was a long day. We arrived at the venue at 6:45 as Swizzle had to get measured and then had one of the first runs. Our next run was 3:45 so Swizzle was crated for much of the day with several walks. Perhaps my husband will not be able to come to the trials (he was bored out of his gourd) or perhaps I can figure out how to work on Swizzle's reaction to separation. He is OK at home but evidently not elsewhere. Any suggestions on how to fix this will be gratefully received.


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## Quossum

Congrats on your first trial!

The little things you mention are really of no concern and just "green dog" issues. As handlers, no matter how calm we *think* we are, our respiration and demeanor will inevitably be a bit different at a real trial, and it takes our dogs a few trials to adjust to this. If I get brave enough to stand the laughter, maybe I'll post Sugarfoot's second trial, where he ran merrily around the ring (not doing obstacles, unfortunately), or his first trial, where he did okay but definitely noticed my hubby filming in the stands. 

Don't deprive you hubby the fun of watching the trial; just have him move further away and/or downwind until Swizzle becomes more experienced. My IG used to look for my hubby, too, so badly that my gag gift at our club's Christmas party was the "Ronco Hide-a-Hubby Kit." Now, James can stand ringside and Pixie doesn't pay him any mind. The fix is just to get more experience. And of course the jackpot rewards at the end of a run so that the dog comes to enjoy the actual trial more and more. 

Congrats again--so proud of you and your continuous progress. Keep it up! And keep sharing with us here on the thread! Any video?? 

--Q


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## CT Girl

I think my husband took video, if not one of my classmates. I know someone showed me a snippet but everything is all a blur now. I will find it and see if I can post.


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## Minnie

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!! That is awesome news that the crating at the event went so well. And first run with only the tunnel problem really wonderful job Especially for your first trial. I would love to see video!

Does your DH go to practice and watch? If not perhaps give that a try so Swizzle gets used to him being there.



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## CT Girl

Minnie said:


> Congratulations!!!!!!!!!! That is awesome news that the crating at the event went so well. And first run with only the tunnel problem really wonderful job Especially for your first trial. I would love to see video!
> 
> Does your DH go to practice and watch? If not perhaps give that a try so Swizzle gets used to him being there.
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Thank you. I did suggest that but he does not want to. He is devoted to the dog but works long hours and I really don't want to add to his to do list.


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## Minnie

I spent last weekend volunteering at our club's agility trial. I did everything from leash runner to scribe and found it amazing just how much goes into making a trial run smoothly with so many dogs / handlers each day. Valuable lesson that I will take with me as we work towards our first trial this fall.


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## Minnie

Now I am verrrrry nervous!!!!! One of my prior instructors is doing a demo for a group that would like to start agility training. She has asked that I bring one of my dogs to the venue to be part of the demo. Scarred silly but she is so wonderful that I'd do anything to help her out!


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## CT Girl

Minnie what a great experience to help you prepare for your first trail. I did no want to volunteer at my first trial, I was too nervous, but next time I will. I think you learn a lot by doing those jobs.

You will do fine at the demo. The important thing is that you and your dog have fun and the rest will fall into place.you must be her star pupil!


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## Minnie

CT Girl - LOL star pupil I think I was the only one available at short notice!

Oh what a humbling experience. The demo was in an unfenced large lot and as I was concerned that Lilly might have that herding instinct kick in I went with I thought safe bet of Bella - no where near the agility level but still safe..... Well she spotted a rabbit and deer and that was all she wrote folks..... gone like a bullet shot out of a cannon and no recall "safe" word reached her ears. I was so scared that she was going to get out on the road and hit. Tomorrow we start retraining a new safe word!!!!


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## lily cd re

Hi guys,

I have been teaching summer classes. They are very intense (four hours of class time four nights a week (6:30-10:30), plus prep). I also have been putting a lot of work into Lily's utility obedience. Our private trainer is in europe with her border collie doing agility for the month. It has been too hot to train outdoors here anyway. We will get back onto agility when she gets back in August. There are a bunch of AKC and CPE trials on Long Island in September and October that we will be getting ready for.

Minnie I am happy to hear of all your progress. I am sure you will be trialing before you know it.

CT Girl, I knew you would like Paws N Effect. It is a really nice facility. I've never done agility there, but I go in September for the Quinnipiac Poodle Club obedience and rally trials (September 20th this year). QPC also has an agility trial there (I think in November).

I agree with Quossum that most of your problems were green dog issues. I have had problems with having family go to trials with me, so if I am planning to have someone specific come to a trial I have them come to training to get Lily used to the idea that she has to work with that person around. I also know that she doesn't like being in her crate with lots of noisy dogs close to her. When I can I go off in a corner by myself or work her from the car. If conditions require that I am in close quarters to other dogs I always keep her crate covered and I set up near people I know to have calm reliable dogs if there are people I know.


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## Minnie

It has been a long time since I've posted an update but I had such an amazing training class with Bella (toy poodle) last night that I had to share!

My tiny little Bella somehow lost her fear and just ran her little tail off. She nailed a complete novice course (minus teeter) and did it very focused and just beautifully - it was one of those moments I'll cherish forever!!! If we can get her past the teeter fear she'll be golden!


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## lily cd re

Minnie that is great. I am sure with patience you will conquer the seesaw. Maybe you should think about entering a CPE trial soon if Bella is consistent in her performance at novice level. CPE level one doesn't have the seesaw.

I've been meaning to update our work as well. We took July off since it was hot and our trainer was in Europe with the AKC team. We have taken lessons each Monday in August. I am happy to say that a break seems to have been just the trick for fixing Lily's contacts. She is finally moving at speed across the dog walk and over the A frame, and she has solidified her two on two off exits for them and the seesaw (which interestingly was always her best contact obstacle) We are working on fine tuning our handling and I am retuning my footwork (finally can do front crosses again now that my knee is better). We have trials (outdoors) coming up soon (CPE on September 14-15, AKC on September 21-22 and October 5-6).


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## CT Girl

Swizzle wilted in agility class in July but he seems to be coping better with the heat lately. His teeter and A frame are coming along well but the last two classes he would not voluntarily walk onto the dog walk so I put him on lead for the approach and after he is about four feet off the ground I unclip the leash and he completes the dog walk. I don't understand what us going on with that. He is also a little slow on the whole course but he seems to be picking up speed. I have a semi private soon - one ther dog - and hopefully we will address this.


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## Minnie

Thank you for the suggestion Catherine - I'll check into that. I am relocating soon so if I can't find one in this area I should be able to in Orlando.

CT Girl - I've been working with Bella on the teeter and at first she was extra careful on the upside of the dog walk. We seem to be past that but the darn teeter might as well be the boogie man to her.


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## CT Girl

Minnie, that is what I thought I would have issues with too but Swizzle will walk right on the teeter. He sometimes pauses right before the fulcrum point on the teeter which slows him up but I never thought the dog walk would be an issue. I wonder if it is a height thing? Swizzle will also pause at the top of the A frame and look around but not too long. On the whole he is just a bit pokey. I am hoping as his confidence builds and I give clearer signals he will pick up speed. Goodness knows he has the speed of a bullet when he has the zoomies.


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## calarche

Found the jackpot thread 

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## Minnie

*CT Girl -* I bet you are right. Bella has height fear as well - we had to lower the A-frame and slowly raise it before she was comfortable.



calarche said:


> Found the jackpot thread


*WELCOME!!!!!!!*


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## lily cd re

Minnie, CPE is all over the place. I am sure you will find trials where ever you are. It has been a good way for Lily to start. Also often there are local CPE trials just before our local AKC trials so they have been a good warm up for us too.


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## Minnie

Need advise as Bella gave me quite the scare. We were running a course that had a teeter but as she is not doing that we normal run to the line to the next obstacle well not this time... I grabbed the end and slowly lowered while treating so she didn't have a bad experience. Wonder now if fear of the teeter is hers or mine... I can just see this tiny 4 pounder getting shot off the end... Are my fears unreasonable? Planned on running NADAC to avoid the teeter...


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## lily cd re

So she went on it herself? I think if she is offering it you need to help her know how to do it safely. Encourage her to do a down on it once she reaches her tip point (which of course is all the way at the end). Lowering it slowly to begin is fine too. When Lily learned it we had it set up near a high set table so it didn't lower all the way. She could then walk off across the table. Gradually the table got lower and then went away. I see lots of tiny dogs with good teeters and plenty of big dogs who hate it.


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## Minnie

Yes she did silly dog - I was running to the next obstacle past the teeter after she had committed to a jump and saw her climb the teeter. Thankfully our instructor was there and said grab the teeter. I don't know if she thought it was the dog walk or what. Thank you for the idea of the table under the teeter if I get up the courage I'll give it a try.


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## lily cd re

Minnie go for it. At this point it sounds like your teeter issues are just that, yours--not Minnie's. I know tpoos that do akc agility with no problem with the teeter. 

As an interesting aside about obstacle discrimination, we have a site where we do cpe agility. Even though they mostly don't have teeters on the courses we did have a dog walk with no slats on it at that site the last time we were there. Lots of dogs went up the ramp and then stopped and downed on it because they thought it was the teeter.


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## CT Girl

That is great news about Minnie. Swizzle pauses a little too long at the fulcrum point on the teeter but we are compensating by not having him pause at the end but simply run off at the end which I feel is safer for the little ones anyway. My last class Swizzle ran right on the dog walk like he never had an issue. I am missing class this week so hopefully he will retain a good entry onto the dog walk.

Catherine, did Lily down on the dog walk with no slats?


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## lily cd re

Interestingly Lily was one of the few dogs who did not down on the dog walk, but I don't insist on a full down for the teeter either. On the teeter she goes across pretty much full height until she hits the tip point then she crouches. The dog walk is always something she does with her head level or up. When the teeter hits she goes to the end for her 2 on 2 off (which I agree isn't great for tiny dogs since their weight might not be enough to keep it down). I think that since she does the teeter looking up that the slat-less dog walk didn't phase her since she was looking up and could see it was a dog walk. She is also pretty good at discriminating obstacles by name. We have a cpe trial at that site. I am not sure what dog walk will be there. If it the slat-less one it will be interesting to see what happens.


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## lily cd re

So we were out at the same site for cpe today. Now the dog walk and the A frame both are slat-less. This is because the hosts also sponsor NADAC trials and their rules are for no slats if the surface is rubberized since that should be non slip enough by itself. We did get two Qs today (post more about our runs separately after we finish tomorrow), but Lily basically had a ski run down the a frame each time she was on it. She went over the top, stopped to look at where she was and then as soon as she brought her back end over she just slid down to the bottom. She doesn't seem to have minded, but if she seems flaky on our akc A frame with slats I will have to think twice about running on this one. I just finally having been getting beautiful A frames in the last month. Let's hope she knows the difference between them.

PS, there were still quite a few dogs that were confused between the dog walk and the teeter--going to downs and waiting for the ride down that didn't come.


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## lily cd re

We had AKC trials this weekend. Lily stopped to sight see at the top of the A frame (with slats) and came down slowly. I am not sure if this was confusion because of the recent switch to the slat-less frame at our cpe trials or not. We should be able to work that out when we train this week. 

What I do have concern about is that she really didn't want to work the jumpers runs we had either day. Novice standard and open jumpers were the last two classes of the day (back to back). We did leave the house late enough that Lily didn't have to spend too much time just waiting around, but both were small classes, so the runs were pretty close together. She worked the standard courses really well and then bailed on me after the first couple of jumps on the jumpers course. Normally she loves to fly on jumpers courses. My thinking is I really need to get done with one or the other of these classes so I am not having back to back runs like this, but I would like to know if any of you has had anything similar happen.


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## Quossum

I've had many instances of having to dash from one ring almost directly to another for one reason or another. I can't say it's ever seemed to bother my dogs. They do pick up on *my* stress, though!

--Q


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## lily cd re

Quossum, you are probably right that it is me stressing that is making her flaky. Either way I will be happy to finish novice standard for all the obvious reasons and open jumpers since it is always last at our local trials.


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## Minnie

I was back home visiting family last weekend and stopped by my old agility club with Bella and had a happy surprise - she hasn't lost a bit of her training over the move break. The little stinker is fearless now and fast! She was so excited when we got there and had a blast. I need to find a new club and get her started again as she loves it! Big change from the scared little girl of only a year ago.

In two weeks the national akc agility invitational is being held in Orlando can't wait to go and what my old trainer run!


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## lily cd re

Minnie it is great to hear the Bella still has it all going on! I am jealous that you get to see the nationals live. I know there are people from the NY metro area who snowbird in Florida and compete with their dogs during the winter. I am sure you will find a place to train.

I am very happy to have gotten Lily through both novice jumpers (came easily) and novice standard (we struggled). I am going to keep up with our training, but with the exception of a very local novice/open only indoor trial in January I am not going to trial in agility until we fix a number of problems, like the terrible sight seeing she is doing on top of the A frame again. I think she is concerned about the A frame because of the issue of slats vs. no slats. We also have a number of other things on our agenda: rally national championship (hope we get in) in March, getting utility obedience in order and getting back to work on tracking.

The judge for agility at PCA in 2014 is really nice. We got our novice jumpers title with her. Hopefully we will have our problems worked out by then.


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## CT Girl

It sounds like Bella is missing her classes. Have fun at the Nationals, I wish I could go. I have noticed a breed tendency with sight seeing at the top of the A frame. Swizzle also does this. We have taken to a running contact to make up the time as he is not a daredevil sort and will still exit the obstacle safely.


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## lily cd re

I wish I could think about a running A frame, but Lily used to do wild fly offs and I don't want to risk bringing that back! We will do some "motivational" A frame practice with our trainer and hopefully that will fix it. One of the people I was talking to over the weekend suggested that I teach her to discriminate A frames with slats from those without by giving them separate commands. I will have to think about how to do this since I don't have access to a slatless A frame for practice.


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## Minnie

Finally - Bella ran her her first agility course in Florida!!!

I would a group that does a weekly drop in evening run thru and we had a great time! We took a couple steps back (weave poles are gone and she slipped on the a-frame) but just getting out there was a start! I also found a trainer and we start private lessons on Saturday 

Wishing you all a great Q filled New Year!!!


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## Specman

Good luck on the new classes!


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## Minnie

I don't believe I get to post this but.... we competed at our first agility ever today and came home with 2nd in jumpers!!! We have a long way to go but OMG today was just amazing!!! I treated her to her first ever therapy massage and at the end she was so happy - she is completely crashed out now - I think we'll both sleep well 

Our private class on Saturday was also awesome! Our instructor is a recent former world team member and gave us so much to work on - handling is tough stuff. We've scheduled weekly privates and I can't wait to learn more!


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## liljaker

Congratulations Minnie! I always read your posts and love to hear about your progress. Would love to do something with Sunny, but time does not permit -- maybe when spring comes I will make an effort to get into some classes for the fun of it and I think he would really enjoy!


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## jlf45764

That's terrific news Minnie! *CONGRATULATIONS!* I love to watch agility, but unfortunately I have only seen it on TV. I would love to go and watch a "live" one!


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## Minnie

I posted Bella's picture from our first ever agility trial in the photo thread - This is a moment on our journey I'll never forget


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## lily cd re

Congratulations Minnie that is so awesome. It is really great to get the first Q. It is nice to know that things have settled in enough for you and Bella in Florida to be training and trialing.


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## Minnie

lily cd re said:


> Congratulations Minnie that is so awesome. It is really great to get the first Q. It is nice to know that things have settled in enough for you and Bella in Florida to be training and trialing.


Thank you Catherine!!! I appreciate all the help and support you've given along our journey and hope some to day to pay it forward!

As a start to that for those that are just starting their journey the following is a link to a video that is not a poodle and I do not know the trainer however it shows so clearly the value of foundation work - hope you enjoy.

Follow The Leda: Foundation Games on Vimeo


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## Chagall's mom

Ditto what Catherine said! Sounds like you made a wonderful move, and agile little Minnie is a _wonderful_ mover!  CONGRATULATIONS!! So nice to see your success. I love hearing how much fun the two of you are having together! win-win!!:whoo:


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## Quossum

Sugarfoot is coming right along as this new show season starts. I posted some pics and such on a new thread in the Pictures section:

http://www.poodleforum.com/3-poodle-pictures/79201-sugarfoot-agility-pics.html#post919001

--Q


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## Jility

Our instructor, Stacy Winkler, is just starting a new online session for Foundation. Stacy does the most incredible job of teaching a great foundation for agility. It is also awesome for any dog, pet or working. We have trained with Stacy for 12 years and have put more than 20 agility championships on our dogs (AKC and USDAA). She is remarkable!
I can barely move and am now going through chemo for cancer but using her foundation work, I am able to get my dog around a course from a distance.
Here is a run I did last weekend with my young standard Poodle. I was very sick as I had just had a round of chemo, but the foundation work distance allowed her to smoke the course without me 





Here is a link to Stacy's online Foundation 1 class. You must have taken Foundation 1 & 2 before you can register for the Jumping class she is also offering.
Home


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## liljaker

Jility - those are great links, thanks for posting.


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## Minnie

For anyone even interested in agility go run to this site - Susan Garrett is offering a 360 handling series that is amazing! This really is not just handling or a system but so much more! Oh and watch the 1st video and get a free ebook! And no unfortunately I have no affiliation just think she is amazing!

www.Handling360.com


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## Minnie

Had a good day.. Bella was quite brave and her chute problems appear to be a thing of the past. Weaves coming back AND she was running across a tippy board!!!! It's not the full teeter by a long shot but she showed no fear of the noise or movement so we are getting there! Hope training is going well for everyone


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## Jility

*Teetering on the Edge*

My young standard Poodle is extremely fearful of life in general but the teeter is a Poodle eating monster n her eyes. Here is a blog I wrote today about her teeter.

Teetering on the Edge | The Global Warmers


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## poolann

Jility said:


> Here is a run I did last weekend with my young standard Poodle. I was very sick as I had just had a round of chemo, but the foundation work distance allowed her to smoke the ccourse without me.
> Home




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Amazing distance and directionals! A great example of foundation work paying off.

I hope your health improves soon.


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## Minnie

Jility said:


> My young standard Poodle is extremely fearful of life in general but the teeter is a Poodle eating monster n her eyes. Here is a blog I wrote today about her teeter.
> 
> Teetering on the Edge | The Global Warmers


Pankies and your courage and perseverance is inspiring thank you for sharing!


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## Minnie

Last night was a lesson in humility - I joined a group class with Bella after completing a skill check and though Bella as always tried her best (barking at me at one point to hurry up) I couldn't quite get it together. I just couldn't "see" the course and forgot it several times and yes unfortunately it was numbered... Tomorrow is another day but I can't help but think how good she could be with a better handler :-(


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## jlf45764

I'm definitely no expert on agility, but perhaps you just need more practice. I would imagine Bella would much rather have you there with her instead of a handler. JMHO


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## poolann

Getting it all to come together on an agility course can be a challenge for sure. It helps me to walk the course a few times and then close my eyes and run it in my head with all of my crosses etc. If there us a portion of the course that I can't visualize then I walk that section again. I do this until I know the whole course. Sometimes I still forget or end up turned around bit this really helps me.

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## poolann

Also don't beat yourself up or wish for another handler. This is your journey with Bella. It will come together with time and when it clicks it is a great feeling! 

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## Jility

Hi Minnie,
There isn't one agility dog on the planet that couldn't benefit from another handler . If my dog had a faster handler, she would be incredible. Alas, she is stuck with me and that is just how she likes it. 
I have a brilliantly wise instructor who taught me early on that rather than beating myself up because I am so old, crippled and slow, train smarter and harder. Every time something goes wrong (and I am from the school that no matter what goes wrong it is ALWAYS MY fault either as my dog's handler or as her trainer) I just put it in the "I need to work on that" box. 
We are all still learning, no matter how much experience we have or how many championships we have earned. My husband is a much better handler than I am but my dog prefers me to him in the ring. She doesn't know I am old and crippled! She thinks I am the greatest handler and trainer on the planet (and I am NOT going to tell her otherwise! . Agility is a journey we have chosen to take with our best friends. There will always be pitfalls and mistakes. We learn from them, smile and go on, making sure our dogs never know anything is wrong.
Have fun with agility! Be kind to yourself. We all forget courses at times and it takes lots of practice to remember them well. As somebody else pointed out, visual with your eyes closed. My husband does that!
Most importantly, HAVE FUN!


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## poolann

I saw this on Facebook today & I think it applies to those of us competing or training for agility.


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## jlf45764

Aww cute pic poolann!

I was wondering if anybody knows if it would be a problem if I took Trixie to an agility show. Not to enter in the competition but just to watch. Do other spectators bring their dogs? :dontknow:


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## poolann

Racer is going to one tomorrow. Many folks take dogs that aren't entered we just don't talk about it 

As long as you stay out of the way and your dog is under control it shouldn't be an issue. It wouldn't be here anyway

I should add that most of these dogs are puppies intended for agility or those in training. 

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## Minnie

These words will never be enough but they are from the heart - THANK YOU!!!!! You'll never know how sincerely touched I am that each of you took time out of your day to give words of encouragement. This board has become my safe place to seek advise, vent, hopefully help, and share the ups and downs. I try to remember life is a journey not the destination but sometimes I slip...

What I did was go back and read my training journal that I've kept since Bella was just a pup and then go back and read this thread. I am reminded of how far we've come on this journey... from a trainer that told me to give up she'd never be an agility dog.... to advise from so many that have helped us through every step. The important part is spending the time with my very best friend and knowing that this once very scared pup is in many cases outgoing and just a happy girl - blessings to you all.


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## CT Girl

I don't think there is a person in agility who hasn't forgotten or got turned around on a course or tripped over their own feet excetera. I stay and watch the advanced agility training class when I can. There is one girl who is a fantastic handler. You know, the kind that can shrug her shoulders and that tells her dog all it needs to know to do the course. If she is a millisecond late her Sheltie will bark at her in frustration and on rare occasion even give her a little nip. Sounds like you have given Bella the bug and now she is a drivey dog - that is true progress and fantastic! Think back and read in your journal how you worked through Bella's issues and be proud.


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## jlf45764

Thank-you so much poolann! If we do decide to take her, we would definitely keep ourselves and Trixie out of the way. 

How did you and Racer do today?


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## poolann

He did really good around all of the commotion. Of course he has been going to agility, obedience & conformation shows since he was a little guy. I've been accused of over socializing lol.
I'm happy with the socialization though because I can take him just about anywhere and although he may be uncomfortable at first he has a quick recovery. So it was a good day. We are about to head home & I have a very tired spoo 

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## jlf45764

We take Trixie with us a lot too but never to anything as big or noisy as an agility trial. She is very friendly towards everyone and I hope to get the chance to see how she does with a lot of people and dogs. :smile:


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## Minnie

poolann said:


> We are about to head home & I have a very tired spoo


AND that is the best kind - enjoy the nap while it lasts ;-)


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## Minnie

CT Girl said:


> I don't think there is a person in agility who hasn't forgotten or got turned around on a course or tripped over their own feet excetera. I stay and watch the advanced agility training class when I can. There is one girl who is a fantastic handler. You know, the kind that can shrug her shoulders and that tells her dog all it needs to know to do the course. If she is a millisecond late her Sheltie will bark at her in frustration and on rare occasion even give her a little nip. Sounds like you have given Bella the bug and now *she is a drivey dog - that is true progress and fantastic!* Think back and read in your journal how you worked through Bella's issues and be proud.


Thank you so much for these words - you and Swizzle have been an inspiration. The world may still be a big scary place for Bella but she faces it with so much more confidence and happiness. She is truly a joy and a blessing!


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## Minnie

After today's trial I sent my instructor this email.... any ideas on slowing down a rocket otherwise known as a toy poodle... her response was slow her down??? NO WAY LOL... We missed a Q by 2 seconds but she ran clean and fast - she was frustrated at me and did poodle zoomies as she was way out ahead and barked at me like - come on mom where do I go next LOL. 

I have a private class scheduled tomorrow to work on my handling. I know I need to get my commands out sooner and learn to trust that she's going to do her job... I have a feeling verbals and distance handling is going to be a necessity. One the positive side I used the visualization recommendation and remembered the course :-D


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## poolann

Fast is great! Much more fun to handle away from you but yes a challenge to learn to trust each other. Good job remembering the course and I'm glad the visualization helped!

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## lily cd re

Minnie, my poodle also suffers from slow handler syndrome. As in your case the symptoms are running in circles with lots of barking. I think the only treatment really is lots of distance practice. Four legs always will beat two!

But seriously, I can see progress on this and hope that later in the spring I will feel more confident and we will be reading each other better so that we can get through the open levels without the struggles we had in novice standard. I am sure that you will have success too.


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## Minnie

I had a group class last night and hopefully something clicked. The instructor yelled "STOP" at one point and told me I was making this all must harder than it needs to be... She gave me several tips and things to work on - some of these are foundation work that we missed along the way. So I'm going to take a step back to hopefully jump forward


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## poolann

It sounds like you have a really good trainer. They get the big bucks (j/k) to see the things that we can't. There is never anything wrong with stepping back to train or reinforce an area that needs work. 

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## Minnie

poolann said:


> It sounds like you have a really good trainer


I've been incredibly fortunate after our move from a tiny town to a large city to find two former world team members as instructors from the help of a poodle agility group. Sometimes I feel quite overwhelmed and very nervous but both have been patient and incredibly generous with their time and knowledge. So many in the dog world are just really great people!


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## poolann

We definitely stick together when we need to. I'm also fortunate to have a great trainer and a great group of "doggie" friends. 

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## lily cd re

Yes, aren't dog (especially poodle) people just the best?!


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## Panda

I've just seen this thread, I started training panda in agility last November, he took to it straight away but then he would love anything I asked of him lol. He's picked it up really quickly and I even taught him to weave in only 2 days!! He's already grade 5 and only 2 wins away from grade 6. In general, if we go clear, we win! He's currently sitting at the top of the uk league table for his grade in terms on number of points earned and has earned his bronze agility warrant and very close to his silver. So proud of him after only 1 year training and competing only after a few short months of starting.

To begin with all he did was sniff the floor and run off out the ring to play with dogs in the queue but very quickly he learnt that it was way more fun to stay in the ring lol. 

Im very proud of his achievements and can't wait to see what this season brings.


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## Suddenly

Panda is something else! Wish I could jump like him lol!


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## Panda

It's not been all easy though, he had a serious seesaw phobia at the start and he still doesn't like it. I feel like I'm trying to usher a wild beast round a course when running with him as he's just so fast, he will bark at me if I'm not clear enough so need to get my commands in early, otherwise he can end up taking his own line and be the other end of the course to me lol.


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## CT Girl

That is great that Panda is so drivey. He looked very focused and utterly adorable to boot.


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## Panda

He is very driven, no matter what you ask him to do he puts 200% enthusiasm into it, even if he's never done it before! we once took him to a dog show doing different have a go activities, one was a long jump. Panda was screaming, stamping his paws trying to have a go and he didn't even know what the rules were yet lol. He managed 8 feet before we stopped him as we didn't want him to push himself too much. He will do anything for a tennis ball and if it's a squeaky one he looses his mind for it hehe.


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## Minnie

Here is our ups for the week - Teeter progress - slow but steady we are up to an 18" drop in a sequence - woo hoo!!!! Slow and steady as to not to scare her ever again but this was very exciting. Also much progression in rear crosses, moving out ahead with obstacle focus, and the serpantine/threadle are coming along nicely 

Downs (I'm going to call them learning opportunities) 

Her instructor wants us to focus on our weave entries. Onside is good but offside is rough - even with the RFP I'm struggling to get any type of easy to help her find the entrance. I've never used the 2x2 method but I'm wondering if it might help this? My instructor said I'm trying to "help" to much and I'm getting in her way which is also not helping.... 

I continue to struggle as well with right / left. One instructor does not use these and instead uses turn for both which I'm considering. As I'm new to running with verbals (previous instructor said to run completely quiet unless an off course situation required it) I find this challenging. 

And on the awesome side:

As a reminder to myself I looked at her puppy book today and reread some of those early struggles - Bella is happy and her world is opening a bit more each day - she played with one of the dogs after class Saturday during a free play time!!!! Life is good - I get to play this wonderful game with my best friend!


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## poolann

Weaves are a challenge for sure. You can work entries on a straight set by removing all but the first 2 poles. Work them from both sides & both ends of the poles. You can add more poles slowly as each step is mastered. I can try to send a video this weekend if you want for clarity. As for direction I work them on the ground with no jumps at first. Using a cone, jump standard, soda bottle or any other object just as a target that they have to turn around. I start very close and then slowly increase the distance so that they get the idea of changing directions. I can try to video this as well ;-). 

Running completly silent is a great way to learn trust and to see how your dog is responding to your handling. Of course there are many ways to train these things but this has worked for me . 

It sounds like you are making great progress. Congrats!
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## Quossum

Congrats on all those good things! Yes, a training journal is a great thing, as you look back and see how far you've come. I used to be really diligent with mine but I've slacked off. Gotta get back into it.

The 2x2 method does produce great entries--I don't think Sugar knows the difference between offside and onside entries, just entries--but I'm not sure about reteaching using 2x2 when the dog already knows the poles. Has anyone out there done this?

Running with verbals: I do a combo. I try to run silent except for directionals and my contact command, but I'll use an obstacle name as encouragement if needed. No way could I use "left" and "right." I have a bit of spatial difficulty in that way (the kind of kid who always miswrote "d" and "b" and I still have to think about it when told to face left or right). I couldn't keep those straight during an Agility run to save my life. No, the directionals I use are "come" and "out." Those I can keep straight!

Good luck and good growth!

--Q


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## CT Girl

I am very vocal. I use a yes marker as some use a clicker. If Swizzle is going to take a tunnel I tell him several obstacles ahead so he is sure of his line. I do not use left and right as I am sure in the haste of the moment I would make a mistake. I also find out very useful, I mainly use a hand signal for come.


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## Jility

Verbals are the only way I can get around a course. Because I don't move well, I MUST have verbals and they MUST override my body. 
In order to remember verbals, I walk the course and chant them as I walk where they will go. It is just like remembering the course. If you integrate the verbals into your walk, you will have a much easier time remembering them 
Here is a video of Pankies getting her Master FAST title. There were only FOUR total Qs on this course in ALL the jump heights ; 1 in 12" - 1 in 20" - 1 in 24" (us) and one in 26" and I was amazed there were not more! I found it a very easy send because of my verbals("go!" AND MY TURN SHARP LEFT AND COME BACK TO ME Q which is "MAHMAHMAHMAHMAH"). I am not sure you can hear my Qs on the run.




I spend a ton of time teaching verbals and they must be great for my dogs.
My husband is 76 years old. He runs a very fast BC. He won USDAA Steeplechase last weekend and without his great verbals, it would not have happened! 




He also won Mast Standard using mostly verbals, although he is much faster than I.




If we old folks can remember verbals, ANYONE can! :beauty:


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## poolann

I'm a little discouraged this evening. The positive is that Racer's weaves are looking good. His footwork has improved tremendously. The downside is that he is having trouble sequencing jumps. So many other things to do like tunnels & contacts lol. Also he did not even attempt to hold a contact. Apparently his father had the same issue when he first started & to be honest Racer is a cookie cutter of his daddy. Same attitude (which is what I wanted) and they look very much alike. So, we are back to targeting contacts & I have some homework for the sequencing that includes the clicker. We get occasional flashes of brilliance though & I know eventually everything will come together. It has been a long time since I have worked a baby dog. Just like with puppies I think the trials & tribulations fade in the memory with time 
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## Jility

Dogs do what they find rewarding! If it is more rewarding to run by jumps than take them or blow off contacts, that is what they do. It is our job as their trainers to teach them those things are more rewarding to do. It doesn't matter what his father did. It is up to you as his trainer to get this . You can do it with great instruction and hard work.


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## poolann

Yes I have not been working agility like I should at home. I think marking with the clicker will help since he will get the instant feedback. I've gone back to work so I'm ready for the longer days so we can work outside in the evenings. I have been concentrating on rally which is great but my passion is agility so we need to get back to it. 

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## Quossum

I feel ya'! His first few shows Sugarfoot's contacts were great and I thought we were golden. Last couple of shows he seemingly forgot what they were! Oh, well, a young dog has to experiment. Like Helen says, back to working on making contacts really rewarding. I've had to work at really getting his stimulation level up at home to recreate that arousal of a show. We'll see how things go this weekend!


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## poolann

Good luck at your trial! Run fast, run clean!

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## CT Girl

Jilty, fantastic videos, I have watched them several times. I have noticed a lot of people's criteria is different for a show. They act differently and the dog responds differently. I think with agility it is important to keep revisiting the skills we have and as Jilty says make what we want rewarding for our dogs. Best of luck Quossom, I bet all your hard work will pay off!


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## Jility

Thanks .
We train our dogs to the highest level before we ever enter them in a trial. All behaviors must trained to fluency or close to really be great!


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## Minnie

Bella's 3rd birthday was simply amazing!!!! 1st place in standard and jumpers in our division at our local trial today!!! It felt so amazing we were just in sync today and she was cruising! We move up a level tomorrow so fingers crossed that it goes well!


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## poolann

Congrats & Happy Birthday Bella!

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## liljaker

Great news and happy happy birthday Bella! You Go Girl!


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## Chagall's mom

:whoo:Huge CONGRATULATIONS







to you and your outstanding little birthday girl athlete!! :adore: You two make such a wonderful, winning team!! CELEBRATE BIG!!resent::cake::cheers:


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## jlf45764

CONGRATULATIONS and Happy 3rd Birthday Bella! I hope you did very well today!


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## lily cd re

Minnie that is just the most awesome thing you could have done together with the birthday girl!!!!!!!!:birthday::birthday::birthday::congrats:

Good luck today. Keep us posted.


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## Minnie

Bella and I thank you all for the birthday wishes and the congrats - it was truly a special weekend - we went 4 for 4 Q's this weekend with 3 1st place and one 2nd place (jumpers today was faster than yesterday). I got to spend the weekend with my best friend soaking in every single minute!!!!


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## Chagall's mom

You and Bella are _sensational,_ *Minnie*!!:whoo: Delighted to celebrate your success and happiness!! :cheers:Congratulations again and again!!:first::second: You two really are the best, and fastest, of friends!!:vroam:


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## lily cd re

What Chagall's Mom said, couldn't offer anything better as congrats. The move to Florida has been good for you, hasn't it?


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## Quossum

Wow, congrats! What a great birthday present!

Sugarfoot Jones had a much more varied weekend: Phenomenal in Jumpers (finished out his title with two perfect scores, blistering times), but then couldn't hit a contact in Standard for love or money. Well, he got the seesaw consistently, but insisted on jumping off the frame and the dogwalk. Back to the drawing board--or should I say training field!

--Q


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## Minnie

lily cd re said:


> What Chagall's Mom said, couldn't offer anything better as congrats. The move to Florida has been good for you, hasn't it?


Yes it really has  I was so fortunate to find incredible instructors and multiple places to take it on the road so to speak and Bella has just shined under the attention. She is just such a happy confident little stinker and that means more than any Q!


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## Minnie

Quossum said:


> Wow, congrats! What a great birthday present!
> 
> Sugarfoot Jones had a much more varied weekend: Phenomenal in Jumpers (finished out his title with two perfect scores, blistering times), but then couldn't hit a contact in Standard for love or money. Well, he got the seesaw consistently, but insisted on jumping off the frame and the dogwalk. Back to the drawing board--or should I say training field!
> 
> --Q


There were two beautiful standards at the trial this weekend - the older was pure deep black and the other a 10 mo puppy clearing to silver along for the ride - gorgeous dogs. I had the best time watching them and they made me think of of you guys


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## lily cd re

Q, I hear you on the fly offs. Lily used to think it was funny. I am very glad I was able to fix that problem it was the biggest obstacle for novice standard Qs. Now I actually have to work on getting her faster again on the A frame. She is sight seeing on the top. We do lots of motivation to get her to the bottom and then only reward big time if she holds the two on. If she comes all the way off we ignore and repeat. It is coming along, but is sort of like "simon says" with two steps forward, one step back.


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## Quossum

At his first couple of trials his contacts were good. I'm thinking he got a little *too* comfortable / exuberant in the ring and will settle down with experience. One can't expect a Poodle to act like a BC, right? 

But in the meantime we're really trying to up the arousal in practice to insane / show-like levels. Yep, we're bringing out the big guns: my husband playing with his corgi *right* in front of him! lol

--Q


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## lily cd re

That's funny about not expecting a poodle to be like a BC. My latest way of explaining what Lily is like to live with is that she is a BC in a poodle suit. She is a driven girl, but no you can't drill her like a BC, too smart to put up with that! Q, I am sure you will get it all straightened out.


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## Quossum

I think Poodles tend to have a bit more of a sense of humor than BC's. You have to expect them to be amusing now and then, or simply too pleased with their own cleverness. You can't be too upset at them for occasionally being entertaining rather than intensely precise. It's their nature. :angel2:

--Q


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## Jility

*Agility Blogger Day*

Today's Agility Blogger Day topic is "Starting Puppies." There are a lot of great blogs on the subject. The link is at the bottom of my blog on Starting Puppies.
Jack Sprat and His Fat Arse Wife | The Global Warmers


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## poolann

Quossum said:


> I think Poodles tend to have a bit more of a sense of humor than BC's. You have to expect them to be amusing now and then, or simply too pleased with their own cleverness. You can't be too upset at them for occasionally being entertaining rather than intensely precise. It's their nature. :angel2:
> 
> --Q


Sometimes when I watch spoos flying around a course I can almost hear them saying, "Weeee!"

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## lily cd re

poolann said:


> Sometimes when I watch spoos flying around a course I can almost hear them saying, "Weeee!"
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


And laughing all the way!!!!


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## DreamAgility

Congatulations and happy birthday Bella!
Dreamer has awesome crosses, send outs, contacts, and weave polls as of last week. But one thing we do stuggle with is her zoomies which she gets on occasion. Other times its just her puppy brain tellng her to close up her ears and walk away from me. I can just picture her doing that at a trial! I try to use positive tone and reinforcement all the time in agility, but when it come to wandering about the course, I will yell at her to come back. Yelling is much more effective than running after a speed demon!


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## Minnie

Well this thread is to share the ups and downs and today unfortunately I'm back to share a down... 

We are dealing with a new issue - extremely high prey drive according to her trainers... She's suddenly decided that those huge white birds that seem to be everywhere here in Florida are better than me, chicken, cheese, jumps, tunnels..... And today not only was she distracted by the birds at the trial - never really had her entire focus but there was something in the tunnel that she decided to try to dig out - ughhh. We have a break tomorrow and then we are only doing jumpers on Sunday - need to find a way to be the best thing ever to her again just not sure how...


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## lily cd re

So Minnie those big white birds are egrets! They will be around all year round for you. I would spend some off the agility course time walking Bella around near them with really good treats given for a really good response to "leave it!" You should be able to get to the point where part of your warm up can be a reminder to leave them alone. Good luck.


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## Jility

I highly suggest Stacy Winkler's online foundation 1 class! She teaches "Choose Me!" It is something I used on my over the top prey drive Poodle many years ago. She went from leaving me in the ring to chase critters to a MACH and lots more. Her next class begins in a week I believe Home It is well worth the work and will help you fix focus and attention issues without having to say "LEAVE IT!"  It becomes the dog's responsibility and they learn to choose you instead of critters.





Minnie said:


> Well this thread is to share the ups and downs and today unfortunately I'm back to share a down...
> 
> We are dealing with a new issue - extremely high prey drive according to her trainers... She's suddenly decided that those huge white birds that seem to be everywhere here in Florida are better than me, chicken, cheese, jumps, tunnels..... And today not only was she distracted by the birds at the trial - never really had her entire focus but there was something in the tunnel that she decided to try to dig out - ughhh. We have a break tomorrow and then we are only doing jumpers on Sunday - need to find a way to be the best thing ever to her again just not sure how...


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## Minnie

Jility said:


> I highly suggest Stacy Winkler's online foundation 1 class! She teaches "Choose Me!" It is something I used on my over the top prey drive Poodle many years ago. She went from leaving me in the ring to chase critters to a MACH and lots more. Her next class begins in a week I believe Home It is well worth the work and will help you fix focus and attention issues without having to say "LEAVE IT!"  It becomes the dog's responsibility and they learn to choose you instead of critters.


Hi Helen - I'm definitely a Stacy fan  I have taken both Foundation 1 & 2 and just finished Jumping Skills 1. She has a lot of fabulous info in there - thanks for the reminder I need to go back and review those foundation lessons!!!


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## Minnie

lily cd re said:


> So Minnie those big white birds are egrets! They will be around all year round for you. I would spend some off the agility course time walking Bella around near them with really good treats given for a really good response to "leave it!" You should be able to get to the point where part of your warm up can be a reminder to leave them alone. Good luck.


Thank you Catherine!!! She's normally so good with leave it - which my criteria is immediately remove your nose and look at me but those dang birds just seem to be just above and beyond - training goes right out the window and she runs so dang fast that if I don't fix this soon it could be disastrous - really gives me nightmares just thinking about it!


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## Jility

Here is something to think about .
Punishment only suppresses behaviors, it does nothing to build the wanted behaviors. Saying "leave it" is actually a verbal punishment. The dog is told to leave what is truly rewarding for something of much lesser value (focus on you). If, however, the dog learns to choose you because YOU are so much more rewarding than anything else, then that focus becomes incredibly rewarding so the dog doesn't even think about the external rewards you want them to ignore.
ANY kind of disappointment (in yourself or the dog) is punishment to the dog.



Minnie said:


> Thank you Catherine!!! She's normally so good with leave it - which my criteria is immediately remove your nose and look at me but those dang birds just seem to be just above and beyond - training goes right out the window and she runs so dang fast that if I don't fix this soon it could be disastrous - really gives me nightmares just thinking about it!


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## Minnie

Jility said:


> Here is something to think about .
> Punishment only suppresses behaviors, it does nothing to build the wanted behaviors. Saying "leave it" is actually a verbal punishment. The dog is told to leave what is truly rewarding for something of much lesser value (focus on you). If, however, the dog learns to choose you because YOU are so much more rewarding than anything else, then that focus becomes incredibly rewarding so the dog doesn't even think about the external rewards you want them to ignore.
> ANY kind of disappointment (in yourself or the dog) is punishment to the dog.


This is definitely something to consider - I have always considered "leave it" as vital as having a solid come or "here" in my case. I need to to back and take another look at the foundation PDFs.


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## Minnie

Sunday was a large boost of up!!! We finally got that elusive Q in USDAA! Slight issue again with the tunnel but we managed it and went on!!! Feels like the pressure I have put on it is finally off. Looking forward to getting back to training once the rain lets up kind of nice to have an off day though just to enjoy hanging out with my best girl


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## Jility

For those who might want more drive, control, focus or just want to know how to train GREAT foundation, Stacy Winkler is starting a new online Foundation session soon. These classes are not just for agility. Canine performers in all disciplines as well as pet dogs will benefit Stacy Winkler’s amazing attention to detail and understanding of great dog training!
We have trained with Stacy for the past 12 years and have more than 20 agility championships (AKC & USDAA) amongst four standard Poodles and one BC. She is a remarkable instructor! 

Stacy Winkler's Online Class! Foundation One and Two Restart Soon! 
Please feel free to pass this along to anyone or any list you think would benefit.
Home


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## Minnie

Does anyone have issues with different surfaces on equipment? Bella had an awesome training session on Monday with awesome clean teeter being the favorite thing in the world (rubberized surface) then last night we had a training session in another location that has metal non-rubberized surface equipment and she slipped sliding down to the end and is now scared to even get back on (very very sad)!!! Hoping that our Thursday run through session (they have a rubberized teeter) will get this back on track....


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## CT Girl

Swizzle is sensitive to different surfaces. I am working on that by having him walk on as many different surfaces as possible, it seems to be helping.


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## poolann

Many experienced dogs had issues when contacts were first rubberized a couple of years ago. Same thing when the widths on weaves changed.
I am very selective about contacts at different facilities. Especially with metal contacts. Not only are they slippery, they can also shift (ex. an a-frame may have some give in the surface) and they can sound different as the dog hits them. I am very careful about with contacts because I have been through months of retraining the dogwalk after my male shepherd fell. He loves it now & will suck to it like other dogs to tunnels but it was a tremendous amount of work.
It helps to sort of look at it from the dog's point of view. I would maybe work the contacts outside of running a full course. Lots of reward for success. Back it up as if you are just beginning training & take it slow until confidence builds. 

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## poolann

Please don't think I am suggesting that this will take a long time to overcome. My boy is a very soft temperament & doesn't handle change & stress well. In fact I am no longer training him because he doesn't have fun in competition. Too busy being stressed about all the activity. However if you can go & just work the rubberized teeter to build confidence at your regular facility it would be a good thing.

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## lily cd re

Minnie, Lily's problem on a contact (A frame) wasn't with the surface. It was a slatless rubberized A frame that she skied down. She didn't seem to mind at the time and she did the same A frame other times that weekend, but since then she has had a tendency to sight see at the top. I think she is trying to see if the slats are there or not. We have been working on the A frame in isolation as well as in sequences. When we do it by itself we offer lots of motivation to go up and over and down to two on two off. For really good ones we have a big party. It is better, but still clearly not her favorite.


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## Minnie

Today was just special - Bella earned her Jumpers Title today with a first place Q!!! At times I never thought I'd see this dream come true it was smooth run where she was running happy and fast!

My proudest moment of the weekend though was a nonQ run - she took her first teeter in competition with absolutely no hesitation and then did this 2 other times over the weekend - I am so proud of my brave tiny girl - she is just amazing!!!


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## CT Girl

That is wonderful news Minnie. The Q is great and first place but the teeter is huge, you must be so proud and happy.


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## lily cd re

Minnie said:


> Today was just special - Bella earned her Jumpers Title today with a first place Q!!! At times I never thought I'd see this dream come true it was smooth run where she was running happy and fast!
> 
> My proudest moment of the weekend though was a nonQ run - she took her first teeter in competition with absolutely no hesitation and then did this 2 other times over the weekend - I am so proud of my brave tiny girl - she is just amazing!!!


Oh Minnie I am very happy for you! I know just what you mean when you say you are proudest about the teeter. It can be such a hard obstacle and I am glad Bella did such a great job with it.


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## Quossum

Congrats! 

Isn't it funny that sometimes the biggest triumphs aren't in the "best" runs?

--Q


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## poolann

Minnie that is wonderful!!!Congrats!!:thumbup:

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## poolann

We finally had good weather for agility class today!! Racer did really well. He was intently focused on me all morning even when I wasn't asking in between our turns. He did some great sequences which considering that it has only been a couple of weeks since he figured out that the game requires more than one jump at a time is unbelievable. Absolutely flew over the dogwalk every time but he held contact with the help of a target that did not have cookies on it lol. I'm still at the up ramp when he is heading down. It kind of scares me but I can tell this little guy is going to be a speed demon. 

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## Minnie

The only thing that stays the same in life is there is always change.... I have been given the opportunity to relocate back to my hometown and as there is no place like home and I horribly miss my family I grabbed the opportunity!

Florida has been amazing to us - in the 4 months that Bella and I have been training in Florida we went from a shy timid poodle to an outgoing loving everything sassy dinamo! I hope we can put into practice what we have learned back home and I really hope to continue a distance training with the simply best trainer I have ever known - once in a while if you are really lucky your path crosses with amazing people - I have been truly blessed by those on this forum and by those that I have met here in Florida!


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## lily cd re

Wow Minnie that is a fast turn around. When will you be moving?


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## Minnie

lily cd re said:


> Wow Minnie that is a fast turn around. When will you be moving?


Yes very fast I've been here apx 6 months but the one thing I've learned in my job is that the constant is change which keeps things well interesting.... I try to see the changes as opportunities for growth. And Bella and I have grown so much as a team with this dedicated coaching that I feel very lucky. We are moving home at the end of the month though I'll be back to FL and other locations often. We are entered in our 1st AKC trial one week after we return I can't wait to see everyone at home


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## CT Girl

I am glad you will be back with family. There is nothing like moving to streamline your stuff too. Wish I could help you pack. I am one of the few that enjoys packing. It sounds like although your stay in Florida was brief it was good for both you and Bella. It will be great to show off all her new found skills at that AKC trial.


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## Minnie

SO HAPPY!!!!!! We had a wonderful weekend at our 1st AKC trial - many were shocked at how happy, outgoing and FAST she is running our time together these last few months has made a huge difference to both of us! 

Bella went 3 for 3 1st place Q's in Novice JWW  We now need a Q under another judge and we'll have our first title and move to open!!!

We missed all 3 of the standard runs due to an issue with the chute - she could not get the dang thing to open. I took her to the training club on Sat night just to check and she flew through no problem - the one at the trial was much heavier and she could only get about 6" from the end. Someone suggested we try to train her to run down the side of the chute rather than the middle so we'll work on that next.

Happy training everyone


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## lily cd re

That is great news Minnie. Congratulations. It is too bad you have to show to another judge, but hopefully the next trial you will Q JWW the first day and move right up.


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## poolann

Wonderful!!! What a tremendous accomplishment!:good::star::star::first::first::first:


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## CT Girl

Minnie, :cheers2: :dancing: :yo:

So happy for you! What a great 1st AKC trial! A different chute throws Swizzle off too. It I am sure she will learn how to power through it.


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## Minnie

CT Girl said:


> Minnie, :cheers2: :dancing: :yo:
> 
> So happy for you! What a great 1st AKC trial! A different chute throws Swizzle off too. It I am sure she will learn how to power through it.


If you have any suggestions on what has worked with Swizzle I would appreciate the tips. Thanks!


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## Jility

*From Novice standard to Master Standard in 9 straight wins!*

The Excellent standard title on Pankies (aka UPGRAYEDD)this past weekend meant more to me than all my MACHs combined! It was the best weekend I have ever had in agility. I never thought Pankies would run in standard let alone go from Novice through Excellent standard titles in 9 straight run with 9 wins! Not in my wildest dreams!
She went 6 for 6 this weekend in regular classes and 9 for 11 in all the classes (Time 2 Beat and Fast).
This run was far from perfect. She didn't go into 2 on 2off position on the dog walk and I didn't do a good job of reinforcing it when she did and her release was crappy on my part but what a good girl! It was a tricky course in places and she handled it like a pro!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6ACcl2LFGA

Here is her Time 2 Beat run from today. We waited forever for her to get into 2 on 2 off position on the teeter and she had a bobble at the end but she still got 9 out of 10 points. I was so proud of her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XnBX3Tz-eg 

She tries so hard and is so honest. For a dog that had no drive at all, she has sure come along.
There was a time when I couldn’t touch her after a run. She would shrink away and couldn’t handle interaction until she came down from the run. Now she loves being touched and she runs to everyone she knows and play bows and wants to be petted and played with. What a difference! She is so proud of herself. I am so proud of her.
I took a lot of flak from some people for continuing to train her for agility when she was so stressed. Now I know I did the right thing. She not only loves agility and is so confident when she runs, it has changed her life in general and made her a MUCH happier dog overall!


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## lily cd re

Congratulations Helen. I know you have not been well and to have that great weekend with your awesome dog couldn't have been all sugar and spice. Good work for both of you to power through the adversities.


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## Jility

Thank you so much. Yes, I had surgery for colon cancer and am now going through chemotherapy. There are days when it is tough but I am still trialing .It keeps me going.


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## CT Girl

Helen, I am so sorry to hear about your health issues. It is great that you are continuing with agility even when it is tough. It is great to keep active and to focus on something else. I am all too familiar with colon cancer as it runs in my family. Cancer sucks. My prayers are with you for your speedy recovery.

I so enjoyed the runs you have posted. Your dog seems very drivey now and eager and happy. This is my hope for Swizzle as he is a nervous boy. I can see the change in him though as he grows in confidence. I think he will be a better dog in the long run overcoming these obstacles.


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## Minnie

I can share an up today - we went to a course analysis run thru tonight it was an excellent level standard course and Bella nailed it! It was one of those runs where we connected and it just felt right!


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## poolann

Congrats Minnie! Love those moments!!

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## LauraRose

Minnie said:


> It was one of those runs where we connected and it just felt right!


That's so inspiring to read! 

I'm terribly keen to get Lula training for agility. 
I need to start working on her basics again, so they're solid. 
I can't seem to find an intro class around that doesn't conflict with my school schedule.


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## lily cd re

Congratulations Minnie. It is so sweet when that happens. Even though I didn't get the weaves at Open JWW at PCA that run had that feel. 

LauraRose I hope that now that the academic year is winding down you will find a class. Lula has such nice energy and is really connected to you I am sure she would do really great.


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## Chagall's mom

Minnie said:


> I can share an up today - we went to a course analysis run thru tonight it was an excellent level standard course and Bella nailed it! It was one of those runs where we connected and it just felt right!


I can hear your joy and pride and I celebrate it with you!! WTG!!:whoo:


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## CT Girl

Laura I am sure you and Lulu would make a great agility team. I hope you can find a good class that works with your schedule. It is SO fun.


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## LauraRose

lily cd re said:


> LauraRose I hope that now that the academic year is winding down you will find a class. Lula has such nice energy and is really connected to you I am sure she would do really great.



Thanks, Catherine! 
I just adore my crazy little girl. 


Be well,
Laura & Lula
& the 3 parrot girls


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## Minnie

I'm exhausted but very happy attended a full day agility workshop and had an amazing time. Learned some new skills and thrilled to report that Bella really had a solid day - no issues with the chute, teeter, or weave entries (and there were wicked ones in this workshop). Again I was reminded to trust her to do her job as when I do mine correctly she is spot on  

Happy training everyone!!!


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## jlf45764

It sounds like you had a very full but tiring day. Sounds like fun!!


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## Minnie

We had a great private lesson today with a trainer that is known for having a keen eye on details. Those thing that I've been getting away with she noticed and said that we need to get that under control as it's bleeding speed - another train and then trust her as she'll do it moment. Lots of great info on 2 seconds here 3 seconds there handling that could just make the difference. Hope everyone is having a fun and save holiday weekend


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## Quossum

It's great to have a trainer with an eye for that kind of thing!

This weekend my hubby got a triple Q with his corgi on Saturday. She was the *only* dog--of any jump height--to get a Q in Ex/Master FAST! The send was that challenging, and the course was laid out in such a way that it was very difficult to accumulate 60 points. Only three dogs total got the send, and the other two didn't get enough points. Honestly I have *never* seen such a situation before--only one Q from the whole class. So forgive a little bragging on my hubby and MACH 2 Gimble!

Sugarfoot was a little less successful, unfortunately! His contact behavior was iffy, hitting mostly but releasing himself after a quick pause. This is not up to the standard I want, so I walked him off. Some runs he was wild child--one Jumpers I handled in such a way as to try to block an off-course jump I knew would be temping to him...and he dodged around me to take it anyway! LOL Other sequences he was fast and as accurate as a pro. His lead-outs are as solid as a Master dog's; one run I turned my back and walked out three jumps and he didn't twitch. Lots of potential on this boy! 

--Q


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## Minnie

Wow - congrats to your DH on that triple Q!!!


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## Minnie

Introducing.... Bella NAJ :-D

Bella earned her AKC NAJ title today we did a move up to Open JWW for tomorrow's trial  she also Q'd in FAST those gambler classes in USDAA paid off. She slipped on the teeter though and refused it in standard but her chute was great! She's had beautiful teeters lately so I'm hopeful for tomorrow. I'm so proud of this girl life is good!!!




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## lily cd re

Way to go Bella and Minnie. I hope you have great success tomorrow. We have an obedience trial next weekend, then two weeks later we are entered for an akc agility 3 day trial at a place I haven't been to before. It is one of those indoor sports arenas with artificial turf. It is air conditioned as well. I am hoping that taking some of the variables like wind and heat (or cold) that have been at the root of some of our problems will get us some Qs.

Wait until you get your title certificate in the mail. They are nice and it is cool to see the title in writing. Clear some wall space! I am sure there will be more to come.


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## Minnie

Thank you Catherine 

Today was a great day - Bella Q'd in Open Jumpers, Novice FAST and.... yes that all elusive Novice STD Q!!! That teeter bounced her and she stuck it like glue - so very proud!


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## lily cd re

That's great about novice standard (everything really but especially novice standard). We struggled there for the longest time. How many legs do you have?


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## Minnie

lily cd re said:


> We struggled there for the longest time. How many legs do you have?


This was our 1st STD leg - even though we've had great training running even excellent level courses there has always been that 1 issue that didn't allow us to Q - most of the time the chute or teeter. It was a dream run for us today last dog of the trial and she nailed it!

Next weekend we have a seminar and the following weekend another trial. Can't wait!


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## lily cd re

Minnie said:


> This was our 1st STD leg - even though we've had great training running even excellent level courses there has always been that 1 issue that didn't allow us to Q - most of the time the chute or teeter. It was a dream run for us today last dog of the trial and she nailed it!
> 
> Next weekend we have a seminar and the following weekend another trial. Can't wait!


For me it was, and is, the A frame! After running some CPE trials on a slat-less A frame where Lily skied the down side she just has been worried and has to stop at the top to sight see. It isn't that she doesn't do it, more that we waste so much time there it leaves me with little choice about other things like popping the weaves.


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## Jility

*Online Foundation Classes Starting*

Stacy Winkler, who has been our instructor for the past twelve years, is starting a new series of online classes on June 20th. Stacy will be offering Foundation 1, Foundation 2 and Jumping Foundation 1.
Stacy is the best kept secret in agility. She is brilliant at teaching her students how to build drive, work ethic and focus in their dogs and she works with a large variety of breeds, not just Border Collies. These classes are not just for agility, they are extremely useful for all dogs from pets to obedience to agility to everything else. Stacy has helped us achieve 22 agility championships (AKC and USDAA).
Because I am very limited in my movement, I must teach my dogs to get around an agility course using extreme distance handling. I must also train them to fluency in large number of verbal cues. It is through Stacy’s foundation work that I learned how to teach my dog to be brilliant in those things.
You will be amazed at the difference Stacy’s foundation work will make in your dog and your training!
Working spots are limited but auditing is unlimited. 
Class Registration


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## Chagall's mom

Minnie said:


> Introducing.... Bella NAJ :-D
> 
> Bella earned her AKC NAJ title today we did a move up to Open JWW for tomorrow's trial :... I'm so proud of this girl life is good!!!


:cheers2: CONGRATULATIONS! I can hear your elation!! Hurrah for Bella and you, so happy to celebrate your success! :cheers: :dancing2:


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## Minnie

Spent today at a very challenging seminar and received some really good homework and great tips on running a small dog. However I have a long way to go in handling and this seminar showed many of my weaknesses. I did let my nerves get the best of me and as Bella is extremely sensitive to me it showed in her performance. 

The 2x2 weave poles I ordered came in so we can start working on entrances. Bella weaves well but currently I have to stay close and help her find the opening. 

Plenty of things to work on this week and then a trial next weekend. Hope I can use what happened today constructively and move forward in a positive way.

Happy training to everyone.


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## jlf45764

Sounds like a lot of work involved. :eek2: 
Good luck next weekend at the trial! :smile:


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## poolann

First of all congrats Minnie for your recent achievements! 

Mr. Racer did the weaves yesterday with no wires! I didn't even use the wires for warmup. 

I tried agility last Tuesday in class and paid for it dearly with my knee. Went to my followup with the ortho Thurs and he told me absolutely no type of exercise for at least another 4 weeks. 

Now for the really shocking news...my husband is coming to class tomorrow to run him. He has never done agility before. I have promised to keep my mouth shut no matter what it looks like. It will be a challenge for sure! I will step in to work the table and weaves though as they don't require much movement from me and it is where we need the most work.

Run fast & clean next weekend Minnie!!!

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## lily cd re

Oh poolann I am sorry to hear your knee had a set back and you are still prohibited from running Racer. Do be kind to your DH at class. He is well intentioned. Just make sure he knows all the right cues (verbal and signals).

Last year when my knee was bad my trainer ran with Lily a few times. We had talked about all of the words I use for things (except the potty words) but not signals. So Stef had a hard time figuring out why Lily kept lying down when she thought she was signaling for her to wait at the warm up jump (she was giving the drop signal from her utility routine). She also couldn't get her to potty since I use "do one" and "do two" which I have never heard from other people. I chose those words so that it wouldn't accidentally be overheard in conversation by the dogs.

Minnie good luck this weekend. We are home this weekend, but going to a new site for agility next weekend. It is indoors on artificial turf at a sports facility. I am hoping that taking weather out of the picture but having a uniform running surface for me will pull things together for us. We have two private lessons between now and then. Keeping fingers crossed.


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## Minnie

Deleted


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## poolann

The thread deleted? Oh I hope not. I enjoy your achievements and if this was meant to be a personal thread I apologize for my additions.

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## Minnie

poolann said:


> The thread deleted? Oh I hope not. I enjoy your achievements and if this was meant to be a personal thread I apologize for my additions.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App



Oh gosh absolutely not a personal thread and I love your posts keep them coming!!!! I just deleted a post that I made not meant to stop the the thread! 

Everyone please keep posting your training, results, sharing all the ups and downs on the journey. Your posts all help more than you'll ever know 


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## Minnie

For anyone that read the message before it was deleted and to those that PM'd me thank you!!!!! I sucked it up and went to the trial and was determined to just have fun. Took a deep breath told her I loved her no matter what and drum roll we Q'd in standard with 100% one more and we are fully in Open :-D

Missed the Q in open jumpers due to one off course totally my fault but she was fast and happy which is the most important.

So to all my poodle forum friends thanks so much for all the support you guys are amazing! 


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## poolann

YIPEE!! Happy Dance!!

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## Quossum

Today Sugarfoot had three of the best, most consistent runs of his career. In Open Standard he hit *and stuck!* every single contact--and waited for release! He bobbled the weave entry (thanks to a wide, clumsy turn the obstacle before) and then popped out at 10 on the retry, but I kept going after that to keep on practicing contacts, so no Q, but the contacts...the contacts!!!

Then in Time 2 Beat, again, he hit both contacts--his special nemesis, the A-frame, and held perfectly. Another minor error (an oddball wrong course as he made a wide turn and crossed the weaves which just happened to be in his way) kept us from the Q on that one, but he nailed his weaves and got the contacts and the rest of the course like a pro, so no complaints from me.

Then, Jumpers, he came on like gangbusters and ran it crazy good. Popped out of the poles at 10 again, but this time I called him on it with an enthusiastic "Oopsie!" and made him go back. Nailed 'em second time and got the Q with a 95 and first place (the only other 24" dog didn't Q)--earning our OAJ title! Got back to the setup--and my excited hubby had hit the wrong button and failed to record the run! Someday...someday he will be forgiven. :angry: Still, I'll have to put together an Open JWW title video soon. I think I'm not going to move him up tomorrow, but run one more time in Open--try to get an insurance leg, enjoy the "easier" courses one more time. Then, it's on to Excellent!

There have many, many discouraging moments with this dog, as I tortured myself sure I had "ruined" his contacts or whathaveyou...but it's really starting to come together! You may get discouraged...but don't despair!

--Q


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## Chagall's mom

_Quossum_, I bow to you and your bearded boy :adore: and cheer you majorly! :cheers2:


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## Minnie

*Quossum -* CONGRATULATIONS on the OAJ title on to excellent - woohoo!!!


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## lily cd re

Quossum somehow I missed that you titled. That is awesome! Congratulations to you and Sugarfoot.


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## poolann

So hubby has now trained Racer twice at agility. Some workmen came around the back side of the field on the other side of the fence and of course Racer ran off to investigate. For some reason hubby yelled front and Racer gave a beautiful front coming back about 50ft. His weaves are looking good but he has developed running contacts. I will have to retrain 2/2 but I'm not complaining. I'm just grateful someone is working him while I'm injured lol.

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## CT Girl

I do running contacts with Swizzle. He is a careful dog and runs slow so my instructor suggested this. Congratulations Quossum! Minnie, I missed your point but I assume you got discouraged and were feeling low. Good for you for soldiering through it.


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## poolann

CT Girl said:


> I do running contacts with Swizzle. He is a careful dog and runs slow so my instructor suggested this. Congratulations Quossum! Minnie, I missed your point but I assume you got discouraged and were feeling low. Good for you for soldiering through it.


There is nothing wrong with running contacts if your dog is suited to it. Racer unfortunately is not. I need to be able to somewhat catch up with the little speed demon and I think as he gets more confident he may develop a tendency to miss them. My other two dogs (not poodles) had running contacts 

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## lily cd re

I went to a three day trial at a new venue for us this weekend, indoors on artificial turf. We didn't Q, but we came close a couple of times (more my fault than Lily's). I think this may have provided me with important clues about getting out of the drought we are in. I had much better chute and start line readiness. I was better able to manage the distractions and taking the weather out of the list of distractions along with air scenting for critters, blowing leaves and birds overhead seems to have done wonders. Lily actually was wagging her tail while she was sitting at the start line! I made a couple of mistakes in how I handled (contacts especially), but I know what I did wrong and will work on those issues and pay better attention to what I am showing Lily when we are on course. We are going back to the same site July 12th/13th. Let's hope for some green ribbons! If not then there will be some other assessments to make.


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## poolann

Yes Lily the indoor trials on turf are very different. Wonderful to eliminate some of nature's distractions. Even in the large indoor horse arenas here there are often birds that have nested in the rafters plus all the livestock smells lol. Good that she was a happy girl! Best of luck on those green ribbons in a few weeks 

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## Minnie

Introducing Bella NA, NAJ, NAFAST woohoo!!!! Today was awesome we earned our novice standard and novice FAST titles!!!!! We were two weave poles away from OAJ grrrr so we need to continue to work the 12 poles entrances and not popping out at the 10th pole.... But wow what a day I am sooooo proud of her that std title was amazing!!! We move up to Open Std tomorrow and one more chance at the OAJ but no matter what happens today was just special!!!


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## lily cd re

That's awesome and the FAST is NF. Congratulations to the two of you!


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## Quossum

Congrats on the new titles!

We're facing some weave issues, too. I think all dogs have to go through those things. Good luck!


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## poolann

Excellent news Minnie! Congrats!!

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## jlf45764

That is wonderful! *Congratulations* Minnie! :cheers2: :cheers2:


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## Minnie

*Introducing.....*

Oh my sweet feisty girl she is now.... Bella NA, NF, NAJ, and OAJ!!!! Three titles in one weekend it was awesome!!!!! 

To anyone training that is facing struggles (probably all of us at one point) there is light at the end of the tunnel and OMG it is beautiful!!!!


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## Minnie

Quossum said:


> Congrats on the new titles!
> 
> We're facing some weave issues, too. I think all dogs have to go through those things. Good luck!


What is frustrating is sometimes she has lovely weaves her OAJ run today was flawless but the OA run was terrible failed to Q as she flew by then entered at the 2nd pole on the 2nd try. I purchased a a set of the 2x2 poles so I'm going to try retraining using this method. 

Happy training everyone


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## Quossum

Congrats on another new title! Bella and Sugarfoot are title twins right now. LOL

We did 2x2's as well and I'll never use another method! There's a short video on my channel with Sugarfoot's progress if you'd like to check it out. It just barely hits the highlights, but you can see the basic progression.

Sugarfoot's Weave Pole Training - YouTube

I actually filmed every training session, with the intention to make a longer video showing the progress, but never got around to it. Maybe someday. 

Good luck! Congrats again!


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## poolann

Awesome Minnie!!!

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## liljaker

Minnie said:


> Introducing Bella NA, NAJ, NAFAST woohoo!!!! Today was awesome we earned our novice standard and novice FAST titles!!!!! We were two weave poles away from OAJ grrrr so we need to continue to work the 12 poles entrances and not popping out at the 10th pole.... But wow what a day I am sooooo proud of her that std title was amazing!!! We move up to Open Std tomorrow and one more chance at the OAJ but no matter what happens today was just special!!!
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Congratulations! I love reading the agility threads --- and am envious of having the time and ability to participate and compete. Just don't have the time nor means right now with Sunny, but think he would love it. Way to go!!!


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## lily cd re

Awesome paw-some Minnie and Bella!


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## Minnie

Quossum said:


> Thank you for the input on the 2x2 weave method love the video of Sugar Foot! I was worried about starting over but I've heard such good things that I want to give it a try.





liljaker said:


> Congratulations! I love reading the agility threads --- and am envious of having the time and ability to participate and compete. Just don't have the time nor means right now with Sunny, but think he would love it. Way to go!!!


Training fees, equipment and trials can get very expensive but there are cheap ways to get started at home. I have plans on quick cheap jumps, tunnel, etc if you want to give it a try in your yard for something fun to do


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## Minnie

One other thing about this great weekend is we got to watch AKC 12" NAC Bliss run it was nothing short of amazing. The speed and precision demonstrated was outstanding. AND the owner/handler Cassandra could not have been nicer


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## Carolinek

I've just started agility with my Lily, and just want to say how much I am enjoying reading this thread!


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## Minnie

Carolinek said:


> I've just started agility with my Lily, and just want to say how much I am enjoying reading this thread!


Welcome!!!!! Can't wait to read about your journey!


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## poolann

Feeling rather down today. A knee injury from my female GSD has had me out of agility training for nearly 3 months.

DH has been taking Racer to classes but I was banned after the second class so now I can't even watch. I hear his sequencing has gotten very good. The trainer is there and I trust her implicitly to make sure things are done correctly and in the best interest of Racer but it is killing me not to train. 

I had planned on trialing in the fall. I can train a little in the backyard but he is having trouble reading rear crosses. Meeting with the trainer tomorrow to come up with exercises to do at home to help the situation but still....I miss our bond.

I've had a cortisone shot which has helped tremendously but my knee still isn't where I need it to be. Just frustrated. If the injury was his we would stay out however long we needed to. I'm just having trouble doing the same for myself. :/

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## lily cd re

poolann I know it is hard to be on the sidelines like this, but it took a longer time than it should have for my knee to get better because I kept pushing to go back before I should have. At least your DH is keeping Racer tuned up and ready to go. My BF would not have been able to help much with Lily I don't think. 

Give yourself the time you need to really be ready to run. You'll get there.


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## lily cd re

Lily and I are back in southern New Jersey at the same site we trialed at three weeks ago. I am very glad that I decided to bite the bullet and try running at an inside venue. We didn't Q today, but we came closer than we have at any other time in open. 

On the jumpers course we had 4 Rs (1 at the weaves and really stupidly 3 at jumps). The R at the weaves was on Lily since she popped at the 3rd pole, but the 3 at the jumps were entirely my fault since I was just late giving her information. I missed the briefing and a chunk of the walk through time since they got ahead of the posted schedule. The crating and the rings aren't close to each other and I didn't realize I should have been back there.

On the standard course we had an R at a tunnel that was under the A frame. I should have brought her out from the bottom of the A frame to swing her around better to the tunnel entrance. It also took an extra try to get into the weaves. But everything else was great, even the A frame! Lily went up and over and didn't stop to sight see on the top for the first time in a long time. The table, seesaw and dog walk were beautiful and she read all of my crosses very well.

I am optimistic that this strategy will pay off. I had been avoiding the idea because I am so fearful about falling again when running on mats. I doubt I would ever be able to do agility again if I fell and hurt my knee again. Venues like this seem to be a good solution. It is artificial turf. So it is enough like running on real grass to be safe feeling to me without the distractions of weather for Lily.


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## Cdnjennga

Woohoo, agility success is so fun! Darcy and I entered our first CKC trial today and qualified in all 6 runs! Two standard legs, two jumpers with weaves legs, one PAD leg and one steeplechase leg. Oh and one first place, three second place and one third place. It could not have gone better really. Ckc rules are fairly lax, but he only had 5 faults the whole day (he spun in a circle before the table). He also popped out on the 10th pole in the weaves in the steeplechase, but it was his first time ever doing twelve in competition. 

I'm so proud.


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## lily cd re

Congratulations that is a great first outing! Can you explain steeple chase and PAD? Are they what we call FAST and time to beat? 

FYI when the dog spins in front of an obstacle it is usually because you were late in giving information. So for example in open standard today in the course I ran, the table came after a tunnel. I sent Lily into the tunnel and then had to go back around the A frame and tunnel (it had the entrance near the bottom of the frame and exit under the middle of A frame) to pick her up to get to the table. I called her name and started saying table while she was still in the tunnel. As soon as we made visual contact after the tunnel I said table again as I moved towards it. She went on with no problem.


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## Cdnjennga

lily cd re said:


> Congratulations that is a great first outing! Can you explain steeple chase and PAD? Are they what we call FAST and time to beat?
> 
> FYI when the dog spins in front of an obstacle it is usually because you were late in giving information. So for example in open standard today in the course I ran, the table came after a tunnel. I sent Lily into the tunnel and then had to go back around the A frame and tunnel (it had the entrance near the bottom of the frame and exit under the middle of A frame) to pick her up to get to the table. I called her name and started saying table while she was still in the tunnel. As soon as we made visual contact after the tunnel I said table again as I moved towards it. She went on with no problem.


I'm not sure what FAST and time to beat are, but they sound like they could be similar! 

PAD is new this year and stands for points and distance, it's basically like a gamble run. All the obstacles are assigned points, you design your own run, but within it it are two "distance" obstacles where you have to stay behind a line while your dog works away from you. The distance obstacles were a tunnel to A Frame. This is a leveled competition, but all dogs were starting at novice at this trial, as it's a new sport. So we didn't ribbon in that one, partially because I didn't fully understand the rules, and partially because we were up against some very experienced dogs!

Steeplechase is basically a jumpers run plus a frame and 12 weaves. It's non leveled, so all the dogs at the trial compete on the same course, so again you're up against some top level competition. The timing is tight on it, Darcy and I ran pretty much as fast as we currently can, lost a little time on the weaves because he's still learning twelve, and we were 5 seconds under time. We were third of three dogs, but only a few seconds behind the top two, which I considered an achievement because they are advanced dogs. It was the most fun run of the day, I will definitely be entering Steeplechase in future trials! You need 10 qs to get a title on it, then 25 to get a higher title.

And thanks for the tip. I am definitely still working on getting my commands out quicker, but the other reason for Darcy's spin is that he is very "handler focused" as my trainer says. My mom says I stopped running towards the table a little too early, so he looked back to see what I was doing and did a spin. We are still working on him competing ahead of me.


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## poolann

PAD sounds just like FAST. So glad you had a good first trial. Many dogs need you to keep moving in some way even at a distance. I can't tell you how many Q's I've missed due to the same issue. Glad you had a good time & it sounds like you were very successful. My first trial criteria will likely be one jump & don't run off lol

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## Cdnjennga

poolann said:


> My first trial criteria will likely be one jump & don't run off lol


Haha, well to be fair, this was our second ever trial, just our first CKC (here in Canada we can compete AAC, CKC and UKC). And before we started trialing I said success would be Darcy staying with me and not going to yell at the judge, so all our success has been a very nice surprise! He did go have a sniff of the judge's feet before doing the weaves on one run, but so far he's mostly stayed very focused on me, so I'm thrilled. 

I've been training for 4 years on and off, just didn't feel we were ready to enter trials before now, so we are maybe a little more experienced than other novice competitors.


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## poolann

Racer is my 3rd agility dog 1st spoo. He is now 20 months old & I think close to ready but he is also a clown & my little social butterfly although that has gotten better.

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## Minnie

Wow I missed a lot of posts over this crazy busy weekend. Congrats to all that Q'd or had personal success. This weekend our club's trial was a benefit for a member with cancer and I was reminded again just how very lucky we all are to be able to play this game with our best friends.


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## poolann

Minnie said:


> Wow I missed a lot of posts over this crazy busy weekend. Congrats to all that Q'd or had personal success. This weekend our club's trial was a benefit for a member with cancer and I was reminded again just how very lucky we all are to be able to play this game with our best friends.


Until a year or so ago there was a deaf man that would run his Golden. At one trial on the second day he collapsed leaving the course. An ambulance was called but other than the EMTs tending to him he refused the trip to a hospital. He did come back for his second run and was helped off the course & back to his crating area. I found out later that he had terminal cancer. All he wanted to do was run his dog. He knew his runs and time were limited. The agility community is very close & supportive. So glad you got to attend a benefit.

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## Quossum

This weekend we attended three days of the Houston Kennel Club's Agility Trial, or Reliant Series of Dog Shows. The 20th anniversary of Agility was celebrated, with AKC Agility bigwigs Sharon Anderson, Carrie DeYoung, and others in attendance. Cake was served, keychains were given out, and the very first AKC Agility Novice course was built so that we could give it a try. I took my retiree Pixie through the course, and she loved being in the ring again.

Sugarfoot did great, earning two new titles: Open Standard (yay! Finally!) and Open FAST. He is now is all Excellent classes, and earned two Excellent FAST legs. The videos for those titles will be forthcoming. 

BUT...

This thread is about the Ups and DOWNS, right? Well, have I got a video for you!

I threw together a video of four of our NON-qualifying runs, with a little bit of analysis, so that you can see how I try to learn from my NQ's. Some of these runs were quite brilliant except for "one little thing," and I hope you'll enjoy them. Particularly the last run in the video, Ex. Standard Saturday--was a *killer* course with a very poor Q rate--something like four 20" dogs (the powerhouse class) Q'ed. And Sugarfoot GOT IT...except for one little thing, as you'll see. Enjoy!

Learning Experiences: Houston KC July 2014 - YouTube


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## MollyMuiMa

I know almost nothing about the sport of Agility except that I love watching it!!! I sat and watched your Sugarfoot videos with such enjoyment!!!!! I admire You and Sugarfoot immensely!!!!


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## Cdnjennga

Congratulations on the new titles! And thanks for sharing the video, it's true, you learn from your NQs as well. Love Sugarfoot's contacts, very solid!


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## poolann

Wow Sugar foot is amazing & I love how he just does his best to cling to the contact on the A-frame. Great runs!!

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## lily cd re

Q, first congratulations on getting out of open. New titles are always nice, but the most important thing, and your video makes this clear, is to have a good time with your dog. I definitely have the same issue with the weaves. I do need to stay away from Lily and just let her do her thing. It was really strange that he popped out on that last run. I couldn't see any reason for it either. 

You have an important message in you video to learn rather than get frustrated. There are times it seems like one should give up, but going home and sitting on the couch isn't really the answer.


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## Quossum

Thanks for the kind words!

Re: Contacts: We went through a terrible phase of Sugar launching, yes *launching!* from far above the yellow, while continuing to be spot-on perfect at home. I'll explore this in the next video, but basically I think it was an arousal issue, NOT a "blowing me off" thing as people are wont to say when their dog does something in shows they don't do in practice. We employed increased arousal in practice and I did several frustrating "walks of shame" on the way to getting the nice stops seen in the most recent clips. Contacts are ongoing work!

Re: Weaves: Yeah, we were plagued with intermittant weave problems all weekend. I watched the vid carefully several times and couldn't really see a reason for flubbing them in that last run. He popped out in FAST as well, but got them perfectly in Jumpers the same day (a run not included on the video). I'm thinking he was a bit tired on the third day of competition, plus he's still pretty green. We'll practice some more. I'm not sure that this is a "walk of shame" issue, but we'll see. 

Re: Having fun. This has been a hard-learned lesson for me. I "ruined" my corgi Hobbit for Agility with my own overly emtional reactions to unsuccessful runs. She got to where she would run out of the ring as soon as she could, and eventually had to be retired. Plus I watched an acquaintance of ours who had a similar reaction: when the dog was doing well, she'd be running along, calling out commands with enthusiasm, but as soon as the dog made a mistake, her entire demeanor would change. Her shoulders slumped, she stumped along, flinging her arms angrily with suddenly terse and angry-sounding commands. It was like a switch being flipped. She had one dog who was so "hard" in temperament that this behavior didn't bother her too much, but then she got a new dog who was much "softer." That dog would immediately go into stress behaviors, walking, sniffing, stopping dead in front of jumps, which of course made the handler even angrier and more frustrated. It was a vicious cycle, very unpleasant to watch, and I vowed I'd try not to be like that...but for a while, on some occasions, I kind of was. I had to get over that.

I'm still guilty of being frustrated now and then, but I've made a conscious effort to *never* let Sugarfoot see this. Most of the time now, I really have gotten to where I can honestly say, "What can I learn from this?" and even, "Wow--that was a *great* run!" about a NON-qualifying run. For me, that's been a triumph! 

--Q


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## Cdnjennga

Darcy and I attended our second AAC trial today and ran four runs (jumpers, standard, gamblers, steeplechase). And we managed to Q in the standard and steeplechase, our first Q for both. We were one of only two dogs to Q on the standard course, and the steeplechase was a masters level, and we got second place!

We started the day with the jumpers course, which went fairly well except for two mistakes by me - I rear crossed the tunnel and Darcy came out to see where I was going (we're still working on rear crosses and I should have known it was a bad idea in a trial), then I was in the wrong position by a jump and he ran around it. As for the gamble, we got enough points but not the gamble itself, which was a very tough three jump series.

That's all the agility we will be taking part in till the end of August now. We've got a few things to work on but all in all, I'm super proud of Darcy, and we're well on our way to our first title!


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## Minnie

*Cdnjennga* - Congratulations!!!!!


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## Minnie

Bella and I attended the GAC trial at the Purina Event Center in STL. We came away with 2 Qs in Open STD and a Q in T2B  Missed Qs in EX JWW due to weave poles... but she completed them the 2nd time each run and had perfect poles in T2B and STD runs so we are getting closer!!! I was also thrilled with her teeter performance no hesitation all weekend :-D


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## Cdnjennga

Congratulations Minnie! Success tastes so sweet, whether it's Q's or improvement in something you've been working on. 

Darcy only recently became fairly consistent on 12 weaves. Someone posted this pic on FB, he needs a fair amount of support on entry and while weaving, but he improves every week.


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## Jility

*The Progression of UPGRAYEDD (aka Pankies)*

I have shared some of the down with my your SP Pankies (aka UPGRAYEDD). Her fight or flight response never turns off. She is over the top fearful and used to bolt and projectile urinate in fear over the slightest things. She was petrified of contacts, especially the teeter and was unable to do any in competition until last February.
I entered her in Novice standard in February of this year and she went through to Master in 9 straight runs with 9 wins. I was so proud of her.
Two weekends ago she got a quadruple Q in Masters (FAST, T2B, Standard and JWW). This past weekend she picked up three triple Qs, finished her T2B title, won several 24" classes and is qualified for AKC Nationals (although I have no plans to go).
She is proof that with training and value building, ANYTHING is possible! Pankies not only came with deep fears of everything in life and agility, she had ZERO drive or interest in toys.
Here is a standard run from this weekend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGJ1WfwcAaw


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## Cdnjennga

Jility said:


> She is proof that with training and value building, ANYTHING is possible! Pankies not only came with deep fears of everything in life and agility, she had ZERO drive or interest in toys.
> Here is a standard run from this weekend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGJ1WfwcAaw


Wow, congratulations! Watching her in the ring, you would never guess where you started from.

Do you have any tips on building drive and confidence in the ring? I started reading your blog, but wondered if you had any specific posts you could point me to. Darcy has no issues in that area (his issue was reactiveness, which we largely have under control) but my mom's PWD Bria has variable drive that comes and goes depending on her mood, the weather, her hormones, etc.... 

She's 4 years old and IMO her full potential has not been realised because she has been overlooked over the last few years while my mom had to deal with family issues in the UK. Also, we have two very high natural drive dogs with Darcy and Bria's mom Ziggy, so it's easy for them to get the bulk of training attention. I see a lot of potential for Bria to be a great agility dog, but I want to help her build her confidence and drive to participate, because I am running her while my mom recovers from a knee injury. I had to pull her from the ring yesterday in our standard run because she was doing all sorts of avoidance behaviour, I think she just isn't quite ready to trial.


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## Jility

Getting consistent drive means building value and total understanding for each and every behavior. Dogs do what is rewarding. Low drive dogs must be reward vigorously with something the dog truly wants. Tugging is the best thing to use in agility but not all dogs love tugging. If you can build that tugging away form agility, then introduce it, that might work. Some dogs are ball crazy so using a ball to reward can really build drive (as long as they bring it back to you asking for more).
If a dog is not really drivey naturally, then you must reward OFTEN! THe more you reward, the better the behaviors will be.
If the dog is trialed before being ready, you can really suck what drive they have down the drain. The more confident they are in their behaviors, the better they will be in the ring. My dog was more than four years old before she was able to do contacts in a trial. I waited until she was ready.
The secret to a great agility dog is to have fun and build great behaviors


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## Minnie

Typing this is so hard imagine just a few days ago we were worried about something as silly as a Q... Today Bella broke her tiny front left leg - the break is quite bad and she has been referred to an orthopedic surgeon in a state hospital about 3 hours away - she will be undergoing surgery tomorrow at 8am. As this is not agility related I have started a thread under the health section and any prayers or healing thoughts you could send her way would be really appreciated - surgery is risky on such a tiny one and I am so scared of loosing her I wish I could take her place...


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## lily cd re

Minnie I am so sorry to hear this. It is just awful and it does put things in perspective. You will be in my thoughts (both of you) tomorrow morning.


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## poolann

Minnie I am so sorry you and Bella are going through this. Sending positive thoughts your way


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## Minnie

So many of you have taken the time to write on Bella's thread ((hugs)) to all of you  I felt quite guilty this past week as I started working again with my MAS's Lily & Gemma but then it's not fair to stop them so anyways... This is not poodle related but it is agility so hope it is okay to post here...

I purchased 2x2 poles but never really worked with them other than the entrance as Bella had been progressing quite quickly without. Today the DVD came in and the girls did really well with the first lessons. The shaping foundation work has really paid off  Have a long way to go Gemma has low drive and Lily is over the top fast but I am happy / sad to return to training. 

Happy training everyone - enjoy the journey!


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## Quossum

This past weekend we competed after a bit of a hiatus--and it showed! For most of the courses Sugarfoot was wild, performing with wide turns that inevitably took him over wrong courses, being generally inattentive. Happily, though, his contacts were consistently strong. Weaves were great, too--only once did he flub an entry, and then he got them all on the retry. 

He did pull it together for one Standard course, though, a very challenging one; only four 24" dogs qualified, and he was one of them, the only Excellent dog to do so, earning his very first Excellent leg. And in *Standard,* the class we had the most trouble with in Open, no less!

Now to work on those crazy wide turns for our next show!

Minnie, glad to hear you're getting back to the Agility work with your others while Bella is recuperating. It's hard to focus when you're worried, but it will do everyone some good. You'll enjoy the 2x2's. I can't tell you how many times I re-watched the DVD as we were going through the process! You've probably seen it, but I have a video in my YouTube with a brief overview. One of these days I'm going to make a longer one, as I recorded every session of weave training. Whew!

Run clean, run fast!


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## Jility

*2x2 Training*

The 2x2 method of training weaves is so brilliant. I don't know why anyone would use any other method. I am a bit biased as my husband and I filmed it and my husband did all the graphics, music and editing . We have used the method to train five agility dogs (two BCs and three Poodles).
I have attached my training log of my fearful standard Poodle Pankies (aka UPGRAYEDD) in case you would like to see it. There are videos as well as a log of successes and failures.


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## villavilla

I have taken part in two unofficial agility competitions lately with my standard poodle Pimu. Yesterday we got only 10 faults and the time was also good (we were 4th, just outside of the podium). She is so great to train or compete with! She loves training anything (she has already a title in rally-obedience) and we have always fun on the course. I am just far too lazy to train her weave poles :disapointed: I have started with 2x2 method and have things in our own garden but it just doesn't happen that we would go out and train. I am so disappointed with myself! Except weave poles she would be ready to start in an official class. Now we have about 2 months time before snow falls and we have to drive 20 km to train in a hall. So, please, someone, give me a kick for training weaves!


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## poolann

Here's your kick! Get out there & get busy in those weaves! IMO the most difficult obstacle to train & the one that requires the most practice. I know a lady in Canada that moves hers into the basement as the cold weather moves in. Perhaps that is an option for you?


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## lily cd re

I know someone who has a GSD with the most amazing weaves. She trained him with the poles in her basement after she had had foot surgery. She had her husband set the poles up and even had him get her a 2nd wheelchair to keep in the basement. She got herself down the stairs on her butt! Makes me feel really lazy for complaining about my sore knee!


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## Minnie

Jility said:


> I have attached my training log of my fearful standard Poodle Pankies (aka UPGRAYEDD) in case you would like to see it. There are videos as well as a log of successes and failures.


*Helen -* I do not see the attachment can you tell me where to find it as I would really like to see the notes and videos. 

*Q -* I have seen your video hope we have as much success 

*villavilla* - Here is your kick! I have to be out of town for a week due to work but once I'm back I'm kicking our training into high gear :-D

Oh and I am very excited for tomorrow my 12' dog walk and teeter frames arrive! Now I need to decide on how to surface - buy the pre-made pannels, skins, or a do-it-yourself kit. Lots of choices - I have also heard of rubberized belting used by NADAC but I think I'd prefer to have the regular rubberized surface for AKC after going to the expense of having the aluminum frames built. Any thoughts are appreciated.


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## Jility

Minnie said:


> *Helen -* I do not see the attachment can you tell me where to find it as I would really like to see the notes and videos.
> 
> So sorry. I tried to attach it but it told me the file was too large. I can't believe that. I don't know how else to attach it. Maybe I can email it to somebody more knowledgeable about this list and they can post it here. My email address is [email protected]


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## poolann

Jility said:


> Minnie said:
> 
> 
> 
> *Helen -* I do not see the attachment can you tell me where to find it as I would really like to see the notes and videos.
> 
> So sorry. I tried to attach it but it told me the file was too large. I can't believe that. I don't know how else to attach it. Maybe I can email it to somebody more knowledgeable about this list and they can post it here. My email address is [email protected]
> 
> 
> 
> Jility I have to upload to YouTube & post the link to share videos.
Click to expand...


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## Jility

poolann said:


> Jility said:
> 
> 
> 
> Jility I have to upload to YouTube & post the link to share videos.
> 
> 
> 
> I don't want that. THere must be a way to upload the PDF here
Click to expand...


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## Jility

*Online Foundation Class Starting!*

Stacy Winkler, our instructor for the past 12 years, is starting a new online foundation session on August 29th. Stacy has helped us achieve 22 agility championships (AKC and USDAA) over the years. She is amazing with any breed (we have standard Poodles and Border Collies), high or low drive and at any age. She is terrific at building focus and drive or capping drive.
It is online so you can take the class from anywhere and work at your own pace.
I am signing up to work this time myself with my husband’s new Border Collie puppy, FIRE.
Here is the link to register. I guarantee you will love this class! It is a great foundation for ANY dog sport, not just agility!
Class Registration


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## Minnie

Had a great proofing opportunity this evening. We live in the country with very little traffic but tonight a large group of bicycle riders came by when I was working on 2x2 weaves with Lily - she stuck with me and nailed the weave entry I was very proud!

Happy training everyone


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## poolann

So our first match is a week away. In the last two weeks we've run the gamut of issues. Teeter is suddenly scary, I don't like the smell of the new tunnels, I've never heard the word stay in my life, I don't want to jump 24" oh now the jumps are 20? I don't like those either. As of yesterday he was over the teeter issue, holding a stay sometimes and back up to 20" jumps. Tunnels are good now too. I think the smell of brand new ones was throwing him off since they were just replaced at the school. 

Racer is sucking to weaves like nobody's business even from across the field. One day I know it will come in handy lol. He wasn't reading rear crosses and now that seems to have morphed into all crosses lol

Fortunately I was able to move him to 20" for the first match & down to the preferred class in the trial next month. I see lots of jump work in our future to be able to attempt 24" in the spring. Bless his little heart though he thinks agility is wonderful fun!


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## Quossum

I meant to wait and post this when I got a video done, but the way school is treating me this year that might not be for a while. So...

_Sugarfoot got his AX!_

It seems like once he got the knack of doing contacts at shows, he was golden, and we banged it out. Haven't put together an Excellent Jumpers Q yet, though, despite being in Ex JWW for months longer than we've been in Standard. It's always one little W, one little R, or--ugh--one little bar down! (Caused by mommy's awkward handling, not lack of jumping acumen!)

Wish us luck for this weekend, when we'll be in MASTER Standard for the first time and trying to put together some Jumpers Q's!

--Q


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## lily cd re

I've been so busy with working on utility and taking care of chicks I have no idea what will happen when we go for a rpivate tomorrow, but maybe having been away a bit will actually be good. Sometimes I've had little breaks in training before and have often found that Lily is happy to be back on a course and sticks with it better. We have one run in standard and jumpers each next Thursday at the Wine Country circuit. We will do obedience the rest of the weekend.

Good luck this weekend Q! Have fun at your match poolann!


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## Chagall's mom

Quossum;[I said:


> Sugarfoot got his AX![/I]....
> ...Wish us luck for this weekend, when we'll be in MASTER Standard for the first time and trying to put together some Jumpers Q's!--Q


:cheers2: *Congratulations* to you and the amazing Sugarfoot! :clap2:Good luck wishes sent your way from New Jersey! :clover::clover::clover::clover:


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## Suddenly

Best wishes and have fun.


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## poolann

Congrats Quossom & Sugarfoot!!!


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## Minnie

*Congrats Q!!!!!! *

Best of luck to everyone showing this weekend - please give us full reports!


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## poolann

The match went well for Racer & I. Contacts were great. 6 poles instead of 12 blew his mind. A short start line stay on our 2nd run. He was so fired up on the first run I didn't even attempt one lol

The photographer was there for the match so I'll post some pics in another thread once we get home. We just stopped to potty. I have another hour of driving so I'd better get back on the road


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## Minnie

Very happy was able to use my new dog walk and teeter for the first time  My pups love the rubber surface and I am thrilled that we have a safe place right outside my door to train. Looking forward to the day that Bella can enjoy it too!


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## poolann

Minnie said:


> Very happy was able to use my new dog walk and teeter for the first time  My pups love the rubber surface and I am thrilled that we have a safe place right outside my door to train. Looking forward to the day that Bella can enjoy it too!


Wow...I would love to have my own equipment. Is it full sized?


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## Minnie

poolann said:


> Wow...I would love to have my own equipment. Is it full sized?


Yes both are competition size  After tons of searching I found a local source to make the dog walk, teeter, and weave poles (my DH had already made the A-frame and table).


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## DreamAgility

I have just entered Dreamer in her 2nd trial. She'll be 23 months old on the 5th. I'm working lots of serpentines, crosses, wraps, lefts and rights with the three jumps my instructor sent home with me. She is so fast! The only dificulties we are having is her not being able to slow down enough for certain crosses and jumps, because her legs are so long. Her weave entrances are gorgeous and so re her contacts(she never misses one). I think right now the things we are struggling with just have to be worked through and we can move on. She just came off her heat so shes in that half rotten brain stage where she has a difficult time focusing. I am also going to be working on more distance because i think we would both benefit from a better send out.


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## poolann

DreamAgility said:


> I have just entered Dreamer in her 2nd trial. She'll be 23 months old on the 5th. I'm working lots of serpentines, crosses, wraps, lefts and rights with the three jumps my instructor sent home with me. She is so fast! The only dificulties we are having is her not being able to slow down enough for certain crosses and jumps, because her legs are so long. Her weave entrances are gorgeous and so re her contacts(she never misses one). I think right now the things we are struggling with just have to be worked through and we can move on. She just came off her heat so shes in that half rotten brain stage where she has a difficult time focusing. I am also going to be working on more distance because i think we would both benefit from a better send out.


I feel your pain on the slowing down. Her brother has the same issue. Honestly I don't want Racer to slow down but he hasn't completely learned the game yet. Our pups are so young & silly lol


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## Quossum

It's easier to get a fast dog to collect than to get a slow dog to speed up, so count your blessings. Not to mention running a fast dog is just plain ol' more fun!

Sugarfoot is still in the process of learning to read my body to cue turns and crosses; he's getting better and better at it. Definitely keep working your distance; it comes in handy in much more than FAST / Gambler classes, and I think it builds confidence, too, in both dog and handler.

--Q


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## lily cd re

Lily is wicked fast too, but you are so right Q. Once the dog learns to collect that is a much better situation to have on your hands than a slow poke.


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## poolann

I have seen Racer & Dreamer's sire put up times very close or better than BCs. His issue is that he can be a. A total clown with his own agenda or b. Frustrated when he doesn't get information fast enough so he then barks, spins & eventually does his own thing or last but not least c. Let me superman a few contacts

I really wish there were more spoos out there in agility. There are some but I think having a dog that thinks through the drive is a real challenge for a handler. Greg Louganis (sp?) was really off the mark at Westminster last year saying they didn't jump well & weren't well suited for agility.

I totally agree with you Q. A fast dog is way more fun to run, just strap yourself in & enjoy the ride lol


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## Quossum

poolann said:


> Greg Louganis (sp?) was really off the mark at Westminster last year saying they didn't jump well & weren't well suited for agility.


That's an interesting observation from Mr. Louganis. I cannot tell you how many times Sugarfoot's jumping is complimented at shows. I'm always getting comments about his jumping style, ability, and confidence. "He floats!" "What an amazing jumper!" Does he jump like a BC? No. (Does he knock bars like a BC? No.) BUT, I knew that as he is a more square-built breed of dog I needed to make sure he developed good jumping style, and to that end we did Susan Salo jumping exercises--puppy jump bumps, grids--right from puppyhood. I have to think that it helped!

The "thinking" breeds are quite different to train than the "pure muscle-memory and obedience" breeds, but so much fun!

--Q


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## poolann

Well he runs shelties. I've observed some that are fast but run nicely. Then I've also seen some that have the tendency to jump so flat they appear to be plowing the bars down like some BCs.


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## lily cd re

And if you have a fast sheltie but are slow giving information there is all that barking and spinning! I had a passing phase of wanting a sheltie, so glad it passed since that would drive me mad.

I think poodles are just the prettiest jumpers. Lily looks like she flies! She almost never knocks bars and when she does it is always because of something I did like late information or crowding her path. I actually don't think she's ever knocked a bar in a trial.

This is from 2012. She was doing a lot of "over" jumping then. Funny since most dogs clear jumps by the smallest distance they can.









One year later (same trial) you can see she is being more efficient, but still flying!


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## Minnie

Love, love, love, love those photos of Lily!


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## Quossum

It's funny you say that about overjumping...

I just got some pro pics of Sugarfoot, and wow, he clears 'em by a mile!





​
He has knocked bars before...but I have to practically *force* him to do it! :lol:

--Q


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## MollyMuiMa

Quossum..........totally off topic but I wanted to thank you ! Earlier, in another thread you mention an 'old' book on poodles that you described as a huge tome it was The Book of The Poodle with 560+ pages and I just found a copy of it for $12.00 including shipping So excited! I love old books too! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!


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## Quossum

MollyMuiMa said:


> Quossum..........totally off topic but I wanted to thank you ! Earlier, in another thread you mention an 'old' book on poodles that you described as a huge tome it was The Book of The Poodle with 560+ pages and I just found a copy of it for $12.00 including shipping So excited! I love old books too! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!


Haha--You'll enjoy it! Packed with information and lots of photos of some of the famous dogs of the breed. 

--Q


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## SteviM95

The agility equipment was brought out in puppy kindergarten this week. Bindi was surprisingly shy about the tunnel, which had been shortened. I had to stick my head I to the other end before she could see me/figure out what I wanted her to do. She tilted her head and sat down for a moment with the most hilarious look on her face. I'm convinced I embarrassed her. After that time I would have to run the length of the tunnel to catch her before she took off after going through. I think she was determined to protect me from embarrassing myself and her by getting into the tunnel again! This was just sort of a fun, get to know the equipment day. The jumps were so small she just walked over them. But I thought it was pretty fun.


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## lily cd re

Not all dogs are born tunnels suckers! Lily has only recently decided she really likes them. I think Bella and Minnie also went through a tunnel dreading phase. Keep it positive and your Bindi will get the hang of it.

Q, Lily and Sugarfoot sure look like they could be superimposed on each other when jumping. For smart dogs I am surprised they voluntarily waste the enrgy to do that!

We had a private lesson last Friday and Lily did the best weave poles I've ever seen her do. Her contacts are all really solid getting on. She still sight sees her way down the A frame, but I don't care too much right now since I am not looking for placements for MACh points. Stef said when we were done that she really thought Lily had made a breakthrough in understanding how to play the game. Maybe we will finally get some open Q's. I also did talk to Stefanie about having her run Lily for agility so I can focus on the obedience. I know a couple of people with spoos who do obedience themselves and hire an "agility mommy." Lily does like to work for her.


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## poolann

Catherine I do hope you carefully consider before having Stef handle Lily. I know Lily enjoys running with her & these are just my personal feelings but the most fulfilling thing about agility is the bond & teamwork. Don't get me wrong, I'm bonded to all of my guys & any activity only strengthens our teamwork but there is just something special about stepping on to an agility course together. I'm not the ideal build for agility what with my short legs & round shape. I'm not built for running nor have I ever been particularly fast or athletic. However, agility puts me so much more in the moment with my dog. I just don't have time to think of other things as I'm quickly processing information & giving feedback. Yes rally & obedience are similar in sensation but just not quiet the same for me


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## lily cd re

poolann thanks for your comments. I like running with her in agility but my knee hurts, my hip hurts, my shoulder hurts...... She loves obedience, rally and agility all very well. I am running her at a trial in two weeks. We will see how it goes there. I am not 100% for the path of Stefanie running with her in agility, but until last week I really felt she found me very frustrating to run with. In the mean time, I really feel most connected to her (and I think she to me) in obedience and rally.


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## Quossum

I don't call it wasted energy--I call it joie de vivre! :lol:

Maybe eventually he'll settle down like Lily and jump a little more efficiently. His turns tend to be wide, so we're working on that. I run silent for the most part, so he's really homing in on following my body cues. 

I have *got* to get another video done! I'm so behind!

--Q


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## lily cd re

Oh yes, joie de vivre for sure, but leave it to a poodle to decide not to do what most other dogs do and clear jumps by 1/2 an inch.


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## Minnie

lily cd re said:


> Not all dogs are born tunnels suckers! Lily has only recently decided she really likes them. I think Bella and Minnie also went through a tunnel dreading phase. Keep it positive and your Bindi will get the hang of it.


Oh yes spent so much time on my knees in those days. We'd scrunch up little kid tunnels as tiny as possible, break out the chicken and steak and beg.... And then one day it just clicked and she learned to love tunnels - you'll get there just keep showing Bindi how much fun they are and soon you'll be posting about how to keep her out of them 

We had a breakthrough last night Lily now loves the teeter she is such a serious pup that seeing her that happy was awesome! A bunch of very short fun sessions has really helped. We are signed up for a workshop this weekend with a world team member - looking forward to getting back out there!


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## Carolinek

Lily took a couple fun agility classes and loved it, but the facility where she took those only offers intermediate classes on Fridays, and that didn't work with my schedule. That was disappointing. So I needed to find a new place, and after calling around, I found a place that I like a lot. It's 45 minutes from my house, which is a little trek, but doable. The owner breeds and handles aussies and I liked her style right away. I'm very much a beginner, and not really sure what to look for- but I felt this facility was a good fit. 

So, the owner suggested we do private lessons first so she could place her in a good class, and Lily has done really well - and just loves it! When I look at the pictures of Lily cd and Sugarfoot- even as a beginner, my Lily has the same enthusiasm.....the faster and higher she can go, the better! Catherine- I have appreciated your posts about centripetal attention, and Lily seems to have that. I think partly because I did so much work with her in the beginning to move her past the food aggression and reactivity. She is very responsive to me., which I think sets her up nicely for agility.

She has this incredible little athletic body- watching her move through the course is amazing. And she is very in tune to my direction- and picks up on things quick...I'm having so much fun with her. The only thing she's not too crazy about is the see saw- but she will do it, it's just not her favorite. 

She starts her first class on Monday. There are only three dogs in the class, including her. The other two dogs are young male border collies- both intact, and I guess one of them is pretty high energy, so Lily should fit right in! 

I would like to eventually compete with her, and I think I have found a good place that will help her move towards that. She's about 5 years old now, so she's starting a little late, but the owner didn't seem to think that would hold her back- she certainly has a lot of energy. My life will be pretty busy the next year or so finishing up this dissertation, but I can continue to take classes with her over the next year and maybe be ready next summer to think about competition. At that time, life will get back to normal and I can devote much more time to it.

Anyways- I enjoy reading this thread as I am so new to this, and trying to absorb as much as I can. Still very much learning, but excited about finally finding a place that works for us! Even if she never makes it very far, it's a heck of a lot of fun!

My other dogs are not really cut out for agility- Max hates high places and Misty has a mild luxating patella. But Lily- it is definitely her thing! I have no pictures yet...but eventually will get some. She is just so adorable running the course.


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## Quossum

Sounds like you found a great place to train, and it's wonderful that she's getting that outlet for her energy. Can't wait to see pictures!

Don't worry about the see-saw. Most dogs go through a phase of caution about it. Good luck on your journey!

--Q


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## Carolinek

Thanks- I'll keep you posted!


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## Minnie

Well I could have been the poster child for good dog shame about the handler! Lily did very well at the workshop but the instructor often said - good dog you went where her shoulders directed you.... Crap I know this stuff but I get so nervous with this fast dog that all that good training goes out the window. The bright moments when we did put it together though felt great!


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## lily cd re

When Lily and I are at our privates I hear lots of "good dog" coming from Stef simultaneously with me saying "oopsie sorry Lils, mommy goofed."


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## poolann

Well tomorrow's the big day. Racer is running in his first actual trial. We went to the match this afternoon & he did OK. He's not crazy about their tunnels though. My instructor pointed out this week that I've been running the course I have in my head vs running the dog that is with me. I was really able to see it at the match today so I'm hoping I can improve those areas tomorrow. Either way I'm sure we'll have fun. I want to wear a go-pro on my head so others can see the crazy look on his face when it's time to play the game


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## MollyMuiMa

Good Luck!!!! I like the GoPro idea!!!!!!!!


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## lily cd re

Good luck to you both!


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## Quossum

Good luck to Racer!

Today's trial was rough: a disastrous Jumpers run--I think Sugarfoot watched the errors other dogs made and then...did all of them! But then, it was a tough course and only one 24" dog Q'ed. Then in Standard and T2B, he had amazing, wonderful, "in the zone" runs...but each had a single wrong course (or "W") that kept us from the elusive Q. Seriously, those runs were amazing. Every weave, every contact--arghhhh! Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow.

--Q


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## poolann

Best of luck Q. May the agility gods smile on us both


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## lily cd re

Q I hope it comes together today. poolann enjoy the ride and I hope you also have clean runs.


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## poolann

Omg... Racer is insane. I won't even call this morning's event agility. It was a whole nother level. Yahoooooo!!!!!


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## Quossum

Haha--Is that a good "Yahooooooo!" or a my-dog-ran-around-like-a-crazy-thing "Yahoooooo!"?? :lol: (I've experienced both, natch!)

--Q


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## poolann

Dog ran around like a crazy thing. It's not stress zoomies but it's a whole lot of bouncing & pouncing lol


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## lily cd re

Oh dear, I am sorry to hear that. We used to get a lot of that. It amazes me how they just get a different vibe out of trial conditions. Well, you made a nice donation to the club and hopefully you had some fun too.


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## Quossum

Haha--yeah, I think most dogs experience that a few times. Part of being a green dog. Luckily, most of them settle down and get to work eventually!

Good luck for the next one!

We're about to head out to our Sunday trial. It starts late since the venue is also used as a church on Sunday. Wish us luck!

--Q


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## poolann

Well I didn't run him in standard this afternoon. Between 2 runs in the match yesterday & jumpers this morning my knee was finished. However, miracle of miracles, my husband came & ran him. I had told my husband to be there at 1 because the schedule had an estimated time of 1:45. Wouldn't you know it they were 30 minutes ahead of schedule. I had already been walking the course when hubby arrived with 90 secs left in the walkthrough. I walked once with him & he walked it a second time. Regardless of what happened it was going to be the best run ever so I just sat back & enjoyed watching them have a good time. Today was a great day!


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## Quossum

Today was just a heartbreaker! In Standard I walked Sugarfoot off the course after he walked off the A-frame contact. We had a wrong course already so it wasn't a difficult decision to make!

Then Jumpers was a marvelous run on a challenging course full of boxes--I mean this dog was dead on through this course, single-stepping the weaves, it was phenomenal. Then, what do I do? Fail to decel and cue the turn properly after a dead run down three jumps, and earned myself another NQ to end the weekend! So we were a proud 0/5 this weekend. And my hubby was complaining because he and Gimble got "only" 3/5 (all first place!), and no double Q's! 

I swear, I need to make a video of all the "just one f****** thing" runs we've had lately! In our circle, we really do call it a "JOFT" run. :lol:

Oh well, great experiences this weekend and some crazy challenging courses. Next week we're at it again!

Good luck to everyone for your practices and trials this coming week!

--Q


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## poolann

That's rough Q. I like the JOFT acronym. Maybe one day we will have JOFT runs. Right now they're just FUBAR runs LOL!!!! I wouldn't change a thing.


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## Quossum

Haha--yeah, JOFT runs are definitely a step up from "the rips"! Oh, but that feeling of being SO close.....!!

:2in1:


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## lily cd re

At least you both had fun with your dogs! Hard to think of it as fun when you are so close, yet so far though.


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## Minnie

JOFT - LOLOLOLOLOL been there done that!!!


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## Minnie

Had a great class last night our trainer said she sees incredible progress with Lily in a very short time which made my day. Lily is quite challenging in many ways and it is such a learning experience running a 16" class really fast dog. Timing is completely different and things that I got by with running Bella are just not possible. However.... hope this doesn't sound awful but as much as I'm enjoying seeing Lily's progress and being part of her journey I keep wishing with all my heart that some day some how I'll get to run again with my Bella.


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## lily cd re

We had a lesson with Stefanie this afternoon and Lily did great weave poles. She seems to have finally figured out her stride getting in so she stays in. She also did some really nice A frames without hours of sightseeing up on top. We are leaving later this evening for trials in New Jersey Saturday and Sunday. The best thing is Stef is going and her young dog is in open standard and jumpers with us so I will be able to walk with her. If my knee gives up on me I can give Lily to her to run on Sunday. Maybe we will come home with some green ribbons finally. Wish us luck!


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## Carolinek

Good luck this weekend!


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## Minnie

Best of luck Catherine and Lily!!!!!!


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## poolann

Good luck Catherine!!!


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## lily cd re

Well we got two JOFT runs today, but I am actually very happy with how things went.

Our standard run had no weave poles, but everything else was great including *NO SIGHTSEEING FROM THE TOP OF THE A FRAME!* This was a first for during a trial and a huge leap forward. The tunnels were no problem either (Lily is not a tunnel sucker by reputation). She stayed on the table and did good dog walk and see saw.

We came even closer on our jumpers run. She had a bad entry to the poles so I pulled her out and she did 12 poles the 2nd time, so if we had been clean the rest of the way we would have been good. Lily did great at being independent where I needed her to go away from me and give me a chance to keep even with her after the weaves around a sweeping set of jumps to a tunnel. She did the tunnel independently so I could get ahead of the tunnel exit to be in a good place to cue a 180 over two jumps leading to the finish of a straight line of jumps. I did the best I could to keep up with her over those jumps and was just saying go on, go on, go on and almost had it until she took a spin for a second R right in front of the very last jump! JOFT!!!! In fairness we had spent a lot of work with Stef at our lesson working on turns. I think she was surprised to be told to keep going.

Well there is always tomorrow!


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## Quossum

Aw, what a heartbreaker! Sounds like there was some good progress, too, though.

We had an uninspiring Saturday. In Master Standard a wrong course put Sugarfoot at a very bad angle, and he kind of semi-fell / semi-bailed off about halfway up. I chose to put him back over it and end the run, and he was fine, did the contact and everything. 

In Excellent Jumpers, a gorgeous run, great handling...and yes, JOFT, as he shot out of a tunnel and took a wrong course.

Then, in T2B, the frame was the second obstacle. He made the contact but walked off the end instead of sticking. That's not the behavior I want, so it was a Walk of Shame out of the ring. Very discouraging as I had walked the hell out of that complicated course, and left after two obstacles! Oh, well.

Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow.

"I look so pretty though!"










--Q


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## poolann

It sounds like great progress has been made with Lily. Wonderful! :thumbup:

Too bad Q about Sugarfoot but I'm certain he was the best looking poodle there 
There was a wonderful working parti at the trial last weekend & they are oh so striking. My next dog might be a parti 

On another note, I had a talk with my trainer last night & she agreed that Racer has reached a point where he needs to trial in order to work on his focus. I just can't duplicate that environment to trigger the crazy that is coming out. I'm debating a 3 day trial Thanksgiving weekend but of course my knee is terrible again. Maybe if hubby runs him the 2nd & possibly 3rd day we'll survive it lol


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## Quossum

Oh, I agree! I think all or at least most green dogs to through a phase where they get the rips or get distracted, ignoring their handler or just responding in a way that's "not them." While it *could* be that such a dog just isn't ready to compete, I think that for many the only solution is to keep going to shows, keep it upbeat, and let them learn to handle all the stimulation. We can try to train in arousal all we want at home, and there are certain tricks that will help duplicate that level of arousal, but in the end there's nothing we can do at home that is "just like" the totality of the show environment, and that's what they need to experience, to learn that they *can* perform in it. 

Good luck! We've got a three-day trial Thanksgiving, too. How we spend our holiday! :lol:

--Q


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## lily cd re

poolann, I agree with Quossum that at some point you just have to bite the bullet and go for it. Practice at home, practice in class, practice at matches vs. trial, they can and do certainly know the difference and sometimes the only thing to do is get in the ring and let them learn to deal with the environment of it. I think the same is true in obedience. If the dog really understands the exercises then you have to just go and try to get them to keep it together. I know so many obedience people who spend tons of time playing at all kinds of games to keep their dogs happy and to rev them up to perform well, tons of food, lots of games, throwing toys, etc. Then they go to a trial and the dog fails and they wonder why so they go back to the games.....

I've donated generously to many clubs working through things that I think can't be practiced for in class, like having a rottie take a lunge at you or seeing another poodle or a person who you want to play with. It was interesting having Stefanie there this weekend. She crated next to us and Lily was giddy when she realized that, but then kept herself well collected despite her friend being there.


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## poolann

So glad Lily was able to settle even with a good friend around. So far I'm keeping Racer from people he knows to avoid over stimulation. To be honest he's at the point where he'd rather be with me or hubby than anyone else. It's so funny, if we take him out somewhere together we must walk side by side. If one is behind he drags looking back at them & if one is in front he pulls towards them according to who has the leash. 
I'm just taking attention from others out of the equation. He likes everyone but there are some people he absolutely loves. As many things as I can remove for him as far as distraction I am doing. Just like running preferred right now vs regular classes. We have lots of jump work ahead to build confidence at 24 so I don't want him concerned with it as we are working on focus.


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## lily cd re

My knee hurts today!


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## poolann

lily cd re said:


> My knee hurts today!


Sorry I'm so late with this Catherine but I feel your pain


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## Minnie

lily cd re said:


> My knee hurts today!


I'm sorry Catherine that really stinks :-( Hope it feels better soon!


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## lily cd re

It is better now than at the start of the week. Sunday night and Monday were really bad. I think running with her three days is too much. I had a lesson on Friday, so did lots of work over an hour and then warming her up and running with her both Saturday and Sunday was just rough. I think I will make sure that I ice it up every night when I have a schedule like that again.


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## poolann

lily cd re said:


> It is better now than at the start of the week. Sunday night and Monday were really bad. I think running with her three days is too much. I had a lesson on Friday, so did lots of work over an hour and then warming her up and running with her both Saturday and Sunday was just rough. I think I will make sure that I ice it up every night when I have a schedule like that again.


The rehab person told me to ice immediately after my first run (after cooling & stretching my dog of course), prior to my second run with at least 15min to let my knee come back to a normal temperature & after my second run. Guess I'm traveling to trials with a small ice chest now lol


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## Charmed

For those of you who need to ice your knees, my nephew gave me a helpful bit of advice... frozen water bottles are the perfect size to fit up against your knee. Just throw a towel over them to get them to stay in place. They work good on sore necks, too. And when they start to melt, well, you've got a drink!


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## Quossum

Last weekend, 0/6. This weekend, well..,










Much different story!

Two new titles: Excellent FAST and Excellent Jumpers. We are now in Masters across the board! This was great because we came to this show needing two Jumpers legs, and I thought we'd be lucky to get one on one of the days...we got them both! Also picked up our very first Time 2 Beat leg, at last! 

Had a really nice experience Sunday. Deceptively tough course in Standard, with a very low Q rate. Sugarfoot is already in Master standard, so he competes against the big boys. Well, it turns out only three 24" dogs Q'ed. One hundredth of a second separated first and second place...and Sugarfoot won. The dog he beat? A border collie! His owner and I are friends who train in a similar manner, and we had a great laugh over it, as we each had small "rough spots" in our runs that apparently exactly equalled each other's. Sugarfoot and Jedi have almost exactly the same markings, so we were bragging that "the black and whites" ruled the 24" class today! 

Just goes to show...it all eventually comes together!

--Q


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## poolann

Woohoo!!! Yay team black &white!!!!!


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## Minnie

Congrats Q!!!!!


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## Minnie

I'm stuck in two areas with Lily and would appreciate any thoughts. First issue is teeter - she is fast and fearless on everything else and I think I've narrowed it down to a movement issue - she loves bang so sound doesn't appear to be the issue. When she gets to the tip portion she often either hesitates or jumps off close the tipping point. I have a fully adjustable teeter at home if that helps with ideas.

2nd issue and the most frustrating.... those dang weave poles. I have the 2x2 method DVD and when I either move the poles closer together or straighten them out she either skips the first set or the 2nd. Would we be better trying the channel or slanted method? 

Thanks for any suggestions!!!


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## lily cd re

Quossum, congratulations on a great weekend. You give me hope!

Minnie when Lily learned the teeter we did it by having the high end over a high set table so it couldn't go all the way down. The class instructor sat on the corner of the table ready to treat heavily for staying on the table with just a bit of downward motion. Gradually we lowered and then took away the table. I've never had problems with the teeter and I attribute that to the teaching of it. I don't know if your Lily has the same weave pole feel that mine does, but my Lily hates being crowded. I used channel weaves at home, but we have done the weave-a-matics at Stef's so I can't really help you on that part.


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## villavilla

Congrats to Quossum!

I feel your pain, Minnie! I have two 3-year-old poodles with which I train to some day start competing. One cannot the teeter, the other the weave poles. My friends joke with me saying, that probably I should next time put effort on teaching ONE dog ALL the obstacles 

My Leya (moyen) is very good at weave poles but teeter is a horror for her. She just doesn't like it. Leya is a very sensitive dog and I had to avoid putting any pressure on her. Pimu, standard poodle, therefore, has never realized there is something special with the teeter (the same was with his father, he just learned to do it with no tricks at all) but weave poles... Now I've managed to do half of them with Pimu with wires and we'll continue with that method. We had similar problems as you Minnie.


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## DreamAgility

CONGRATS Q!!!!! It seems like when those poodles get their act together they can beat some serious border butt! Dreamer was one of 2 dogs to q in novice std and she beat a bc too!
Im sure you'll have alot of ribbons to make another crate cover soon!


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## Minnie

Wow last night in class to my surprise who came walking in.... not one but two standard pooodles!!!! My spirits were lifted just watching the large white standard pure joy over those jumps and beautiful heeling work to the start line. Those of you with standards are quite blessed indeed!


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## lily cd re

Minnie, thanks so much for that generous blanket compliment. They are a blessing (and sometimes a bit of a curse when they get moving too fast and stop paying attention!). But even when making up their own course, they are pretty to watch as they fly over jumps. I have to say though that I've seen some wicked amazing tpoos run agility too though.


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## poolann

Our weaves are broken 

Of course it's when I've entered a 3 day trial Thanksgiving weekend. Oh well, it happens. Back to basics in the poles. On the upside we're building lateral distance & sends as he's gaining confidence.


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## lily cd re

Oh no, what happened? Weaves are such a fickle obstacle for so many dogs.


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## Quossum

Yeah, what happened with the poles? Entries? Popping out at 10? Are they BROKEN or did you just have a few bad runs?

Sugarfoot went through a mildly broken weave phase. I just "babysat" them for a few runs and really hit them hard at home with the weird entries and lateral distance, and they seemed to have come back just fine (knock on wood! We have a 3 day Thanksgiving show, too!).

--Q


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## poolann

Makes the entry, misses 2nd pole, does a couple more, misses 1 or 2 then finishes. It's been pretty consistent that way for a few days. My husband babysits poles as a habit which I don't. Even with babysitting he's consistent with the misses. I'm not going to babysit as far as additional hand motions or the like because I know that is detrimental when you reach excellent. I put wires on the entries and on one side of the poles today & we had a successful training session. I'm sure he'll get back on track soon.


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## Quossum

Mmmm...maybe a footwork issue. The wires could help with that, yeah. Could be somewhat of a transition issue as he's speeding up, working it out. You'll get 'me back!


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## lily cd re

Oh I agree. Lily went through a phase like that. Good entry then misses then pop out at 10 and the like. Stef worked on making me stay away from Lil. She definitely doesn't like to be crowded at the poles. then all of a sudden she started doing the most amazing weaves of her life at Stef's. She hasn't brought them to a trial yet, but Stefanie really thinks she's finally found her correct stride. We did a lot of collection posture poles with them set up on a downhill entry late in the summer. I hope Racer collects it before Thanksgiving. He is a poodle and you do have a couple of weeks!!!


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## poolann

Yeah when I was watching him with wires his footwork was pretty poopy.


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## lily cd re

I hope he finds his stride quickly.


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## Quossum

Sugarfoot's footwork has definitely evolved, and through no effort of my own. Even in the time frame of the little "JOFT" video I posted, which only convered a two-month period, I see changes. 

When he first learned the poles, he had a stride where he brought both feet to the same side of the pole--not quite slaloming like a Sheltie, but one foot right after the other. In the last two runs of the video, I see a single-stepping stride starting to develop, that highly desirable "swimming" the poles motion that a BC does, and certainly faster than the other way. 

The 2x2 DVD had a little section on developing footwork--it involved a line strung down the poles and the poles being slightly offset--but I never tried that, because I didn't care if we were *that* fast. But I think Sugar has just figured out that it's a faster way to get through the poles. I'll have to be sure to reward of he does it in practice.

I think that weave issues can be just a step along the way as the dogs develop muscle memory and efficiency.

--Q


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## poolann

Thanks for the breakdown of strides Q. When I think back to when we started closed poles he went from kind of tip toeing through to the hoppy stage to having a nice driving stride. With wires yesterday I could see the tiptoe the first couple of times & as we went along he started driving some but not consistent just yet. I think when his confidence is back he will engage his rear end more & the front end will come along. If he doesn't engage that hiney in the poles I may have our chiro check him out.


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## Jility

*New Online Foundation Classes Starting!*

Stacy Winkler is starting a new online session on Friday the 14th of November.
This time she is offering Foundation 1, Foundation 2 and Contact Foundation 1.
Stacy is a remarkable instructor and has been our instructor for the past 12 years. She has helped us achieve more than 22 agility championships on our dogs. Foundation is everything and her foundation is fabulous!
In order to take Foundation 2, you must have taken Foundation 1. To take the contact foundation class, you must have taken or take simultaneously, Foundation 1 and 2. It is OK to take them all at the same time so you are not left behind on her beginning training.
These classes are appropriate for dogs of ANY age from 8 weeks to 8 years. There is no equipment involved.
I took Foundation 1 with my husband's BC puppy last session and will be taking Foundation 2 and Contacts this session.
You won't be sorry if you take these classes! I don't get anything out of suggesting you take them, I just believe in them so much I think it is very important for everyone to have this base for your training.
Go to:
Home for more information.
You can email me privately too if you want at [email protected]


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## beanz

Are you able to tell me a bit more about Stacy Winkler's foundation class? I looked on the website but the description is rather vague. Is she a positive reinforcement trainer? What would we benefit from the course? My dog likes to play tug and will work for a tug reward.


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## Jility

Yes, Stacy is a positive trainer. She has worked with many different breeds over many years. She will teach focus, drive and work ethic. It lays an incredible foundation for any dog sport or pet. She teaches you how to get your fog to have their eyes glued to you when needed, but work away as well.
As I wrote, we have put more than 22 agility championships on our dogs while training with her.
I am happy to answer any other questions.


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## Minnie

beanz said:


> Are you able to tell me a bit more about Stacy Winkler's foundation class? I looked on the website but the description is rather vague. Is she a positive reinforcement trainer? What would we benefit from the course? My dog likes to play tug and will work for a tug reward.


I have only taken the on-line courses that Stacy has offered as I unfortunately do not live close enough for traditional classes. So far we have worked through Foundation 1, Foundation 2, and Jump Foundation 1. The course information is great - both the written coursework and the very detailed video instruction really helped bring focus to our work with each lesson building on to the next hope that helps.


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## beanz

Thanks. Did you audit the class or submit videos? I think I want to sign up but not sure which route to go. Maybe we will audit foundation 1 and then based on how I find the lessons either audit or enrol in the working class for future courses. 

I'm not thinking about agility until a much later stage (if at all), but think that these foundation classes will help with all the good basics that my puppy needs to develop. We're likely to sign up for canine good citizen classes in the new year with the goal that Piper can eventually spend the day in my classroom as a 'canine eduator'.


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## Minnie

beanz said:


> Thanks. Did you audit the class or submit videos?


I audited all the classes as I prefer not to share uTube videos and still got a lot out of the classes. However those that really worked the sessions and kept up with posting videos received extremely thorough responses from Stacey. Actually those responses were one of the most valuable aspects as it helped me overcome our own issues. Good luck with your decision!


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## Minnie

*beanz -* For a leg up in Stacey's foundation class or for any puppy / young dog that you are leaning towards the performance sports I highly recommend Crate Games by Susan Garrett check out utube videos by kikopup as she started a puppy using these techniques.


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## beanz

Thanks again Minnie. I'm a big fan of Kikopup (have even bought a couple of DVDs) and do play Susan Garrett's crate games with Piper.

I have a very food motivated dog but she has very recently started to enjoy games of tug (I cannot for the life of me get her to understand how fetch works though. She seems to be of the persuasion that whoever threw the ball should be the one to get it). She's been working for tug rewards lately, which is great. She's a smart puppy and quick to pick things up but can be a bit of a spazz (which is expected of an 8 month old). Other dogs are a real distraction though because she wants to go and play with them. I'm hoping that with some guidance and practice I can get her to focus better in busy environments.

You mentioned sharing of Youtube videos? Does this mean that all working participants share videos that are visible to everyone in the class? Not sure if I want to be seen (puppy is fine, but I'm not keen on it).


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## poolann

Beanz you might consider looking at the book Control Unleashed. There are specific exercises in it to work on focus. I feel like even though it it mainly directed at fearful or reactive dogs it is great for one easily distracted even with a desire to play.


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## beanz

Great! Just googled the book and it's only available in paperback so will have to order it the next time I do an Amazon purchase (I have to wait to order a few items as shipping to this part of the world is not exactly cheap).

I've got from now until the last week of January to devote to my spoiled little puppy before I head back to work full time so planning on making the most of it. We have lots to accomplish.


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## lily cd re

Yes, you will love that book. I like her stuff a lot. She gave a workshop that I attended a number of years ago here on Long Island. She also has a DVD that shows demos on the games. I don't have it, but I've heard it is good.


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## Minnie

Had a fabulous weekend  I get to share an Up - took my son's MAS Lily to her first ever agility trial this weekend - NADAC venue classes without weaves and she rocked it 4 out of 5 Q's!!!! This little dog was once impossible in any type of class, scared / snappy at other dogs, and had so many issues.... Then came agility and a ton of foundation exercises. She LOVES the game, actually enjoys other dogs and people, is quiet in her crate, and is starting to become quite focused and confident. Love this little dog it was so much fun to be back in the game!


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## Minnie

beanz said:


> You mentioned sharing of Youtube videos? Does this mean that all working participants share videos that are visible to everyone in the class? Not sure if I want to be seen (puppy is fine, but I'm not keen on it).


Yes the videos are shared on private YouTube page so only those in the class can see the videos.


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## lily cd re

Minnie I guess Bella is doing well since you took your son's dog out to run! Congrats on the progress with your family's Lily.


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## Minnie

lily cd re said:


> Minnie I guess Bella is doing well since you took your son's dog out to run! Congrats on the progress with your family's Lily.


Thanks  and yes Bella is doing great! She slept quite a bit over the weekend but loved the attention! Got great news at her checkup today - life for the first time in a long time is good!


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## Minnie

Finally - it's like the switch was flipped and Lily just understood her job in the weave poles  At class my instructor said I was crowding her and to let Lily do her job and she did it  Moved from 2x2s to 6 competition poles and she got them! Lots more work to do but this was a great moment - just enjoying the journey and the new connection!


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## poolann

Yay Lily!! It's so wonderful when it all comes together. Congrats Minnie


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## poolann

Well in the past 3 weeks our weaves have greatly improved. Footwork is still a bit sloppy but he is back to loving them. Last night he was driving through really well. I took this video today when his weaves weren't looking as good as they were last night. Still occasionally missing a pole but I'm very pleased with the progress. There is some jump work included. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RDqPMvQZBs



Edit: For some reason there is an extra minute of blank video. It actually ends at 3:10

Edit #2: I think I've managed to fix it in YouTube but it's still processing lol


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## Quossum

Nice work with the jumps getting him to follow your body motion. Try to keep the speed up and intersperse going out long with tight turns. On the weaves, good work, too. You might try putting a toy or food bowl out beyond the end of weaves, or try throwing a toy, to keep his focus forward and driving through the poles. Just some thoughts!

Great work, and what a handsome fellow! Thanks for sharing!

--Q


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## poolann

Quossum said:


> Nice work with the jumps getting him to follow your body motion. Try to keep the speed up and intersperse going out long with tight turns. On the weaves, good work, too. You might try putting a toy or food bowl out beyond the end of weaves, or try throwing a toy, to keep his focus forward and driving through the poles. Just some thoughts!
> 
> Great work, and what a handsome fellow! Thanks for sharing!
> 
> --Q


Thank you for the suggestions! I've noticed he finds his stride in the poles when I'm not poking along like I was in the video. After watching it I see a few things to work on.


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## Quossum

Yeah, ideally you want those wonderfully independent poles where you could actually *walk backwards* as they drive through the poles with no slacking of pace. I'm still working on that! :lol: 

Right now my challenge is that if I'm ahead, Sugarfoot tends to enter at pole 2. I need to work in him really concentrating on looking at the poles, not ahead at me. It's a matter of obstacle focus vs. handler focus.

Keep going strong!

--Q


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## Quossum

This will really be of interest to my fellow Agility competitors.

I've been wanting to make this video for a long time, and finally had time to put it together. This is our contacts journey from beginning to the present time. I made this from about 20 different videos, and you really see our progress here. NOW I can laugh at some of those earlier runs (especially enjoy my attempt to reinforce contacts in FAST), but at the time much angst was felt and vocally expressed!

Enjoy!

Contacts: The Journey - YouTube

--Q


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## poolann

Love it Q! His determination to hold contacts is tremendous. I also enjoyed seeing the revolution in his lateral distance. Superb! Such a long way in a short amount of time. His love of the game is quite evident.


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## ericwd9

Just love the "pink Poodle" pool!!!
Eric.


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## lily cd re

Q that was a great video. Thanks for sharing. I agree the walk of shame is sometimes necessary as a way to show that the game has to be played by your rules. I think for us as handlers it takes more courage to walk the dog off the course than to keep running.


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## Quossum

I made a thread for another video!

http://www.poodleforum.com/24-perfo...e-hunting/130274-sugarfoot-agility-video.html

Just good runs to watch on this one. 

--Q


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## poolann

Lol!!!! Just finished our FAST run if you could call it that. Gave me something of a start line stay but I didn't lead out far. Hit the entry on the weaves but came out at I think the 4th pole. Visited ring crew on both sides of the ring while I was standing in the middle. Overall had a grand old time running like a maniac. Next run I'm taking Bob my invisible dog. Racer can come with us or not. At least Bob can stay on course & read crosses lol.


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## poolann

Well, Bob ran well in Jumpers but Racer didn't. 
However, Standard this afternoon was great. Opening was jump dog walk tunnel. No hiccups on the dog walk where previously he has hesitated or bailed off the up ramp. Started to visit a steward before the weaves & then ran past but he got them on the 3rd try. He managed to do all of the obstacles in order with way less running off than before. It was an NQ but I've never been prouder of one. Lol

DreamAgility had great runs today & qualified in both. Back at it again bright & early tomorrow!


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## lily cd re

Well I am glad that you and Bob the invisible dog had a good run and that you have such a good sense of humor and can see what Racer did that was good at the same time.


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## poolann

Just because everyone needs some entertainment, this is our FAST run. Sorry for the video quality. I had my camera on a tripod in the bleachers. At least you get the full effect this way!! :crazy:

I think the judge clapped at the end because he was glad we were leaving LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG1_E4dmCWY


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## Quossum

poolann said:


> Just because everyone needs some entertainment, this is our FAST run. Sorry for the video quality. I had my camera on a tripod in the bleachers. At least you get the full effect this way!! :crazy:
> 
> I think the judge clapped at the end because he was glad we were leaving LOL
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG1_E4dmCWY


Haha--oh dear! Do not despair, my friend--I had a LOT of runs that looked like that when we started showing, the same running about like a crazy dog. It's a phase. Lots of enthusiasm!

Thanks for sharing!
--Q


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## lily cd re

Oh my yes! Been there, done that! Lily would make up her own course and do jumps, etc. She was actually pretty scary because she would do stuff like bail off the top of the A frame!!!


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## poolann

Well I will be sure to put together an enjoyable conglomeration of entertaining videos from this weekend. Just so I can look back in a year or two or three to see how far we've come lol


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## villavilla

poolann: your video is great  Your dog really showed that agility is fun!

I am afraid that when me and Pimu start competing, it will look the same.


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## poolann

OK, I posted the conglomeration of videos in another thread. You can find it here http://www.poodleforum.com/showthread.php?p=1521985


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## Minnie

Just wanted to say I am really enjoying the videos! The "downs" really are just part of this incredible journey that we get to take with our partner. Every single time we step to the start line or go out to practice is a gift!

Had a private this weekend with Lily in a location that previously included tons of run offs, sniffing just really stress behaviors and this time if a dog could smile I really think she had one on her face the whole time it was such a joy! Tomorrow I'm sending out her 1st entry into an AKC trial - her trainer says she is more than ready 

Happy training everyone!


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## poolann

Minnie that's great to hear. I can't wait for an update on her first trial.


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## Quossum

I posted a thread, but it's only right to post on this thread as well.

Last weekend was Sugarfoot's best weekend yet, with 4/6 Qs, including...

_drumroll, please..._

his very first Double Q!

This was our first show in an outdoor venue, doing Agility under the big blue sky, on grass. We have only shown on dirt or soccer turf prior to this. I was a little worried that he would be a skittish since it was his first time at this venue, but he was perfectly fine. He does Agility on grass in the backyard, after all, so it didn't seem to phase him at all. He took one fall on the grass the first run of the first day (he was literally the first dog of the trial to run; I said to the judge, "First dog is an automatic Q, right?" and he said, "Every clean run is an automatic Q!" LOL), but after that he kept his footing really well.

The first day he got his first Master Jumpers leg in a truly beautiful run. Had problems in Standard and T2B. Saturday the weather was t-shirt warm. Then Sunday it was sweatshirt cold! Sugarfoot was ON, the only dog in the 24" class to qualify in Jumpers AND in Standard, earning his very first double Q. Then in T2B, despite a bobble, he was one of only two 24" dogs to qualify, and beat the other dog handily in time, to take the full ten points. The courses were tight and technical that weekend, but Sugarfoot was very responsive.

I was very proud of him, especially considering we hadn't done much practicing the week before, but he just turned up like a champ.

He now has about 130 MACH points and 1 QQ. Now I can believe it could happen. 

Next show next weekend! We're pumped!

http://youtu.be/lUD66KkZVCs

--Q


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## Minnie

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!! The springs on his feet are amazing and he just looks like he is having the time of his life. Thank you for the videos!!!!


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## Panda

Is anyone from here going to the IFCS world championships in Italy in April?


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## lily cd re

I am sure you will get that MACh!


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## poolann

Congrats Q & Sugarfoot!!! Great runs on interesting courses. I always enjoy your videos.


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## lily cd re

We had a great lesson this afternoon! After months and months of struggling with the A frame we have finally gotten it to be consistently good and Lily even took it as a layered send to this afternoon! There were some other things that were great too. We had good lead outs with Lily on a down. I have switched to a sit at start for when she can move with me and a down at the start for lead outs and I think she now really understands the difference. She took good lateral out cues and good go on for a line of jumps cues too. 

One thing we see that really needs work is rear crosses at weave poles. I've never had a course where I tried it in a trial and we hadn't worked on it in quite a while, so that is definitely our home work for the week!


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## Quossum

Doesn't it feel good when things start to "click"? It can almost make you forget all the struggles to get there!

Rear cross on the weaves is a tricky move! Good luck on that one. Not many handlers try it, but like everything else in the "toolbox," it's a good one to have when needed!

We've got a show this weekend, and I fully intend to relax and just go with the flow. Didn't practice *at all* this past week due to finals and just general weariness, but now I'm off for two glorious weeks. I'm grooming Sugar tonight, and telling myself sternly that I don't care at all how he does this weekend, just have fun and savor the expectation of no school on Monday!

--Q


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## lily cd re

Lucky you no school on Monday! I am giving a lab final at 2:00 PM. What was I thinking when I decided on this plan, especially since it will be all writing, no run it through the scantron machine kind of thing, oy... Enjoy your break time! At least once I am done grading (Monday night or early Tuesday) I don't have classes until January 20th!

As to the rear cross for the weave poles it will take work, but Stef thinks we should train all options and gave me good homework suggestions. I was very thrilled with the layering to get the A frame. I asked my mom for a GoPro for Christmas. Hopefully after we get sorted out on how to make best use of it I will have some interesting Lily's eye view of agility.


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## Specman

Catherine,

Keep up the good work!


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## lily cd re

Specman thanks so much. My knee is pretty stiff after yesterday, but not awful. I will be looking to do some trials later in the winter and hope I can convert the good lessons into Qs!


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## MollyMuiMa

WHEW! I get exhausted just reading this thread!!!!!LOL!
But To Lily, Poolann, Quossum & of course DreamAgility.......here's a New Years wish for all your hard work to end in not only new titles, but with a sense of pride and accomplishment!!! 

And A SPECIAL wish for Minnie, that Bella's re-hab brings her back to her loved sport! Hope to see some new posts from that little dynamo too!


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## Minnie

Molly - You are incredibly sweet to send those well wishes to Bella I so appreciate it!

Catherine - Woohoo!!!! On that A-frame what a great feeling that must be! I hope you get that camera as I would love to see video via Lily's point of view!

Q - Best attitude ever for a trial - best of luck and hope you have a fantastic time!

Was supposed to go to a workshop with Lily today but woke up quite sick so we didn't make it :-( Feeling some better now but earlier yuck! Best of luck everyone and happy holidays!!!


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## poolann

Awe, thanks Molly. It is hard work & much like playing golf. You play & play for that one sweet hit & then sometimes you have many great hits in a row. The feeling is fabulous when dog & handler become one on a course. Sugarfoot & Q's videos are wonderful examples of it all coming together. We'll all get there at our own pace but we CAN get there.


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## poolann

Q- enjoy a relaxed weekend. They seem to pull out tremendous runs when we don't worry about the Q's. It is so hard to find that zen.

Catherine- layering an aframe, wow! I'm always afraid my dog will play superman. That is a great level of training & trust. Rear crossing weaves, I should start that now while I'm a long way from needing it. Just like the backside jumps I've been working but don't usually see in novice. 

Melanie Miller is having workshops at our training facility in April & I'm hoping I will be able to attend. I've heard wonderful things about her & her list of titles is impressive. She is specifically having one workshop on focus & motivation & another on handling young dogs. Those are just the things I need lol


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## poolann

So it's not a poodle but I had to share. Those of us running green dogs can certainly relate!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW7LsnmBIiU#t=16


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## Quossum

That Irish Setter was precious! Very frustrating, I'm sure, but I hope his owner sticks with it and gets past the "green dog" stage. I definitely saw more "ring stress" than anything. Some dogs react to the overstimulation of their first few trials like that.

This weekend was pretty rough for Sugarfoot Jones. We started the weekend great, with an amazing Jumpers run (despite a broken stay at the start line!) Saturday morning that got us 4th place in tough competition. Then, that afternoon, one tiny error in Standard--he popped off the table--kept us from the Q in an otherwise stellar and super fast run. Held his stay just fine and all contacts were super.

Sunday was a new day, but Standard was disastrous as he refused to down on the table (which doesn't matter for juding purposes but still...), then bobbled before a tunnel opening (perhaps my fault for calling an unneeded "come" when I thought he was heading for the wrong entrance), earning an R to many moans from the peanut gallery. After that, when he didn't stick his A-frame contact I walked him off. Then in Jumpers, he tried to jump the first jump from the spot where I'd left him and crashed it big time. After that I tried to do some handling experimentation to pretty poor effect and earned quite a collection of Rs and Ws as we ping-ponged harshly through the course.

Oh, well! There were indeed moments of brilliance here and there, we figured out some things to work on, and we had a good time with friends. And one more MXJ leg to boot!


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## Minnie

We are at a NADAC trial this weekend with Lily no Q's yesterday BUT we met a personal goal she weaved in a trial!!! And I learned a tough lesson stand up straight back off and trust don't babysit! That is my personal goal for today's runs put a stopper on my type A personality just let it go and have fun!


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## lily cd re

Minnie, yes, stand up and trust Lily (and hopefully later again Bella). My Lily hates being crowded at the weaves. It has taken me lots of popping out of them to listen to that message from her! But all in all that isn't a bad problem to have when I think about people running in masters/excellent who have dogs with no independence at the weaves. I sit there as ring crew watching people having to weave their hand in and out to guide the mopiest dogs through the weaves and I just wonder how they ever got out of novice with weaves like that. But if they and their dog are having fun and bonding with each other in the process I guess its all good.


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## Minnie

What a weekend it was not pretty.... the weaves went well all weekend and when Lily was on she Q'd in 1st place but more often than not she stressed and ran out of the ring looking for DS or DH - she came back out to play but sooooo frustrating!!!! I know it's definitely possible not to be ready to trial but what the heck do you do when she runs beautiful excellent level courses in various non-trial venues and live in an area with no fun runs, matches, etc. The only way then to get experience is to go to a trial. I was hurt by some comments but it is what it is.... Next time if I decide there will be a next time DS and DH are staying home!!!


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## poolann

Minnie, don't let it get you down. Many of us have had similar experiences. Even with matches it is hard to duplicate a trial experience. With my first dog there were no matches & I didn't know anyone well enough to use their equipment. It was a long journey with her only attending trials. Looking back as she is now retired I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world. They made me a better trainer/handler & it made us a better team when everything came together. Screw the comments! I've gotten them with crazy Racer. I go to run MY dog & work through OUR issues. Armchair quarterbacks will always have something to say but if you didn't ask for their opinion they don't have any right to give it. Just smile & nod if you can't get away & ignore whatever you may overhear. I'm sorry you had a rough weekend. Those are tough but I would hate to see you so discouraged that you don't try again


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## Quossum

Echoing poolann here. Don't get discouraged! Hey, in my area there might be fun matches and NADAC trials, but frankly I'd rather take my chances at the AKC events anyway. And really, there's no substitute for the trial experience than an actual trial. 

Sugarfoot went through many trials where he seemed to be "looking for daddy." We tried everything, from having my husband hide completely to having him stand at ringside. Eventually, Sugarfoot stopped stressing about that; it was just a matter of experience. We have a friend whose dog is more useless when mom's son is around; she had to work through that over a while!

So many of these "ring stress" things are just inexperience and confidence issues. I've started to believe that if the dog really is doing flawless work in practice, with effort made to train in arousal, it's just a matter of time to get the dog used to bringing what they know to the show ring.

Don't get down from "comments," either. In my area I can name some folks who will encourage you no matter what, and some folks who seem to want to pounce on you with criticism the moment you walk out of the ring--and not necessarily in the most "constructive" way! Don't let that kind get you down. Think about the good comments you heard! Even if there's some laughter (which can sting, I know), at least it means it looks like your dog is having fun, and most of the exhibitors have "been there" themselves!

Keep on poodling! We need all the Agility Poodles we can get!

--Q


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## lily cd re

What poolann and Quossum said, ++++. For my title run in novice standard it wasn't pretty. We were pretty slow and I think we had max allowable R's, but as we were finishing I knew it was good enough to Q and I was so thrilled that I also knew we had finished the title. It was also the only novice standard Q I got with Lily since Stef had run her for the other two while my knee was bad. People didn't even pretend to think it was anything good by clapping. I was hurt by that, but happy to walk away with this









and the knowledge in my heart that we really deserved it because we had really struggled and persevered through all sorts of issues (zoomies, walk of shame, bad knees, fly off a frames, no start line stay, etc) to get it.


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## Minnie

This board has been such a source of hope and strength for me this past year. Thank you guys for taking time out of your day to post it really helps! Now with a couple of days to really consider what happened I'm quite embarrassed at my reaction to the unsolicited comments. 

I was only at the trial to work on specifics (weaves) and get ring time. Lily has come such a long way from where we started the Control Unleashed series and lots of classes in various locations has made such a difference. We'll continue to work and see what happens as I do really believe the game has enhanced her quality of life.


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## lily cd re

Minnie I don't think you should be embarrassed about reacting to nasty and unsolicited comments. I think that those things matter. Not everyone knows what everyone else's goals are or what their struggles have been. I have honestly wanted to quit agility more than once because of unpleasant and unhelpful commentary from people who didn't have a clue who I was. On the other hand a kind word from someone when you are down can make all the difference in the world. I was at my obedience club yesterday with Lily and a friend who I was sitting near and the class instructor, both of whom have know Lily since her wild child zooming days, remarked on how much I have done with her and how accomplished and confident she has become. The friend I was sitting with has become my friend because at the first day i trialed with Lily she came over to talk to me while I was sitting in a chair off by myself full of embarrassment over having had to lie on the ground to get her to come back to me when she did the zoomies like she had never been trained to do anything at all. What she said that day was that everyone there had had something similar happen to them at least once in their life in the ring. I was ready to quit. She gave me hope.


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## G0dn0te

I have my 4 year old Standard poodle in Agility! We started a week before he turned 4. Mookie thrived in the agility setting!

The only obstacles we had some trouble with, at first, were the tunnels. Mookie's a 72 lb Standard poodle, and comes up to my hip, I'm 5'5. He's not overweight, he's just that big, so he had a hard time learning how to duck and go through the tunnels. It took a few lessons, but soon he was going through all sorts of tunnels, including the chutes with the fabric completely closed!


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## poolann

Excellent in class this morning. Racer did so well today. The focus was post turns & obstacle discrimination. He followed directions on obstacles really well although I haven't worked discrimination (bad mom). Post turns were no problem & his directionals were dead on. I even rear crossed the a-frame. His contact there wasn't great but he read the cross & pulled into a tunnel so I didn't stress it. Poor boy even pulled off of the teeter when I started to say a-frame & all that came out of my mouth was ah as I realized I was saying the wrong thing. Honestly it was on a straight line & he was driving to it. If I had kept my mouth shut we would have been home free. Now if we can just do it in a public setting lol


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## Jility

*Never give up!!!! Smile *

For anyone of you who ever got discouraged in agility, NEVER GIVE UP! I am training my tenth agility dog now and each one has its own challenges. I have trained six standard Poodles, three Border collies and a feral dog for agility. Some have been higher than a kite with crazy drive. They needed to learn to love the self-control as much as the fast and fun stuff.
I have trained totally unmotivated dogs that had no interest in toys, me or agility.
My current competition dog is UPGRAYEDD (aka Pankies). She is now five and couldn’t even do a contact in competition until February of 2014 at the age of four! It takes as long as it takes! I tried when she was two but she mistook the dog walk for the teeter, went into her slide and realized at the top of the upramp that is was the dog walk and she bailed. After that she couldn’t do the teeter or the DW in competition so I pulled her for over two years and only showed her in jumpers. I trained her everywhere I could to help her generalize the obstacles and get more comfortable on different teeters. I also set up the teeter right next to the DW and showed her how different my cues were for both.
She is extremely fearful and stressed in life in general. Agility training has helped her in every way. Eventually, I tried again. We entered novice standard last February and never looked back. She went from novice to Masters in 9 straight runs with 9 wins. By June she was qualified for AKC Nationals and now she has 14 double Qs and well over 1000 points.
When we started to compete, she looked for any excuse to run out of the ring. She would look for my husband or freak at a photographer or the wind or another dog or whatever she could find to not run! I did a lot of UKI trials with her to help her. You can run and train at UKI trials. I used her favorite ball to help her overcome her ring stress (her stress was massive).
It took a year and a half for her to even want to play with a ball!
The most important thing to remember is to have fun no matter what and to SMILE at your dog all the time you train and compete. They can read our stress as well as we can read theirs! Stress comes in many forms but some dogs stress uo and some stress down. Stressing up comes in the form of zoomies and stressing down can be sniffing, looking for somebody or just refusing to leave the startline (my dog did that MANY times!).
Here are some before and after videos. I hope it gives you hope .
In the beginning she wouldn’t run a lick at trials!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGSSKuPdbkI 
Her first try on contacts at a trial when she was two:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOU9RQJIqwQ 
The result of not knowing if it was the DW or the teeter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPJ7eJhGfn8 
After two years of training and going to matches and UKI trials:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htz9ne3gGYU 
And here is a Time 2 Beat run from this past weekend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD6ooNbNgmI 
NEVER GIVE UP AND NEVER LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT ENCOURAGING!
SMILE! 


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## Carolinek

Jility- thank you for that encouraging post! The videos were great, and I also took a look at your blog. Your messages about finding the right trainer really resonated with me. I looked at a facility by me and could sense the negativity and rigidity- I knew it wasn't the place for us. Then I ran into someone at a dog show I was visiting, and she recommended another trainer, who is wonderful. Lily is really moving along now. It is so worth the 45 minute drive! 


I was encouraged that your current dog was also older. Lily is at least 5, so we are starting later too. She's a 12 lb dynamo- poodle and something mix, athletic, long legs, super smart, very trainable. She is slightly crazy though- but it seems to be a craziness that responds very well to direction and having an outlet for the energy!

She popped out of the weaves last night when the next class came in, and gets zoomies now and then, so we are working on that. But otherwise, she just loves it and the instructor says she's doing very well. It's so much fun, and I can't wait to start competing- which will probably be this summer, when I have a bit more time. But even if she never excels in competition- I am having a blast with her.

Again- thanks for the great information!


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## Jility

You are so welcome! I am glad you found encouragement in my post! We all need that :clap2:
The zoomies are just another form of stress. The more comfortable she gets with her job, the less she will zoom.
I am so happy for you that you found a positive trainer! There is not place for corrections in agility training at all, physical or verbal!Some trainers want to bully the dogs into working. I want the dogs to think that agility is the best thing that ever happened to them!
Best of luck and don't be in a hurry to get into competition! Make sure your dog is fluent at the master level before you even think of competing .


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## Rusty

I thought I'd chime in on this thread for the first time! Begley and I have been doing agility classes for almost two years now, and we've reached the point where he really does quite well in class. I can call him back from distractions and handle obstacles with very few problems. We've come a long way from when we started classes and he couldn't work off-leash at all. So our instructor said she thought we'd be ready for our first trial, so we entered a NADAC trial last weekend, just the Intro classes. I figured that since there was no teeter (our least reliable obstacle), we stood a pretty good chance, and looking at the courses that were set up for the Intro at the trial, I thought we'd be okay (they're far shorter and simpler than most of the courses we run in class). But, BOY WAS I WRONG! Oh my gosh... it was terrible! Begley only got through the first obstacle and POOF! Off he went! Straight out of the ring to the back of the arena where the horse stalls were. He did that for three runs before I decided that we'd had enough for one day and left early. I was so embarrassed, and so discouraged! Fortunately, the only other attendees who commented on our "performance" did so with encouragement and some tips on other handling approaches to try, and thank goodness, because I don't think I could have handled any highly critical comments at the time.

So when I saw this thread come up today, it really spoke to me! It's so good to hear so many encouraging words.  I hope that one day I, too, will be able to add comments to this thread about how it gets better.


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## poolann

Welcome Rusty & Begley. I can totally relate. Fortunately where we have been trialing the building is not open to the horse area. If it were I know Racer would do the same thing looking for the delicacy that is horse poo. It was your first time out & there were bound to be hiccups. Try again! It sounds like he's come a long way already


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## lily cd re

Our first runs were catastrophic too! Don't be embarrassed. We all start with a green dog and for the first dog, we too are green. Make sure you develop a good routine for getting to the start line with a focused dog and you will see improvements.


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## poolann

Thank goodness for the show n go. I don't know why but for some reason I thought I would walk the numbered course for our first run today. Silly me! Racer ran off SEVERAL times. They allowed food on the course so for our second and third runs it looked a lot like: jump, "here", click, treat, jump, jump, "here", click treat. I will say that all 3 runs had good contacts and his weaves looked good. Even though it was quite cold I think it was just the type of thing Racer needs.


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## Quossum

That kind of ongoing reward can be very motivating! Keep it up!

Sugarfoot bookended the weekend: got a Q his first run and last run, but not in between! I learned that I really need to give him a little more guidance as far as directionals; we struggled with wrong courses. We're also having an issue with start lines: he wants to rise from whatever control position and stand waiting. So long as he doesn't move forward, I can live with a stand, but I don't want to go down a slippery slope!


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## poolann

Thanks Q. Yeah I know what you mean about that slippery slope. My first dog had no start line stay. There were times when I needed it. She loved straight lines & usually there would be an off course jump out there when she needed to make a 90 degree turn instead of the line. I couldn't lead out to head it off. That was a real pita & I basically had to write off any course with that opening sequence. Racer is going to be much the same when it comes together so I need that lead. Same way you do with Sugarfoot I'm presuming. They can be just too fast when revved up.


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## poolann

I must admit I'm feeling a bit discouraged. I know one day when it comes together I'll look back & laugh but you would think I've never trained Racer. He holds his own with masters level dogs in class but take him away from there & he's a nutjob. At least today was cheap & I could actually train vs a trial situation. Don't get me wrong I'll be training in the ring but rather discreetly. Baby dog brain. Ugh!


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## Quossum

Oh yeah, "too fast" is the kind of problem you WANT to have! :lol: #firstworldagilityproblems


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## lily cd re

I was talking to someone who is an agility newbie getting ready for her first CPE trials a couple of days ago. She was talking about having problems with her dog being "too fast" to keep up with and wanting to slow her down. I told her not to do that! If you slow them down it is just too hard to speed them back up later on.

That start line thing has been a problem for us. Lily is great in practice and then often too nervous at trials to hold her stay, especially on jumpers courses that have that line of jumps just like you described poolann. I have switched her position to a down for startlines where I really need her to stay until I release and I leave her on a sit when she can come with me. So far she seems to understand that and is holding the down when I leave her that was. Keeping my fingers crossed.....


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## poolann

As a bandaid (sometimes permanent fix for folks whose dogs may be sensitive being taken off a course) I've seen my trainer recommend setting the dog up at an angle to the start jump instead of straight on. Sometimes it works lol

I found that it at least gave me time to get around the first jump. It wasn't much help after that.


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## Quossum

Oh, yeah. I'd rather have a fast dog and have to deal with refining my handling than a slow, consistent dog. Really! Yes, it's frustrating at times, especially when I see much slower dogs than Sugarfoot already racking up the double Q's, but I guess when it comes to Agility I'd rather drive a sportster than a sedan!

Sugarfoot's start line issue is based on eagerness to GO. Sometimes he does the "Sheltie paddle"--you know how they'll sit there marching their front feet up in down in place? He has been standing, which I don't like. I might try the offset start next time. But if he breaks and starts the course without me, I'm going to have to walk him off. I've run with him a couple of times when he pulled that stunt, and let's just say it didn't make the behavior _decrease!_ LOL 

A couple of weekends ago he did that, the stinker. I'm leading out with confidence (I walk out with my back turned; I don't like the walking backwards slowly while chanting "Staaaay" thing) and am about two jumps out when a black blur comes flying by like a bat outta hell. We gathered ourselves into heel position and walked out with a "Thank you," to the judge. He's a "thinker" and learns from Walks of Shame, but not all dogs can handle that strategy. I'd *never* walk my Iggy off for a broken start line, for example. (And towards the end of her career her start line was shaky indeed.) 

It's good to have various tools in the tool box, is the thing!

--Q


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## Quossum

If you check out the introductory photos at this website:
Houston's Premier Dog Agility Training Center - FlashPaws Agility Training Center
...you just might see a familiar face!

(Props to our training center, one of the best in Texas [and the nation]!)

--Q


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## poolann

Q I didn't realize you were in TX. I'm from Ft Worth.


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## Minnie

All the words of encouragement and the stories have really helped bring perspective. We are trying to up distractions during training but so far Lily has stayed focused. For the next trial the location is having open run throughs a couple of days before. It is a couple hour drive but if the roads are good we'll likely go - for this toys are allowed in the ring so I can use her ball craziness to an advantage 

Other news...... Bella has convinced me to return her to training she needs the outlet - got out the weave poles tonight and she nailed them - little stinker!


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## Quossum

poolan: OMG, surely we will cross paths one of these days! Mostly we show locally, as there are plenty of trials (we have *one* weekend off this month!) but we'll have to plan to attend the same show some time!

Minnie: Sometimes, a break does them good. You can go on a month-long hiatus and come back with a dog who suddenly knows what they didn't know before. Not always practical, but it can be a good thing!

--Q


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## lily cd re

Q my trainer insists that I walk away with my back turned. She says if Lily does the obedience she does she can do a start line stay with just one order. Trials are a harder scenario of course, but I have gotten her to be a lot better. I love that pic of Sugarfoot in the tire!

Minnie I am glad Bella wants to train, that must feel so good.


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## poolann

Well Q I don't live in TX anymore but hopefully someday we'll move back. Now I'm in SC


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## Minnie

Last night we were able to go to the site of our last trial where Lily spent so much time trying to figure out how to get out of the ring... This time it was just her, Bella and me - no family however there were 16 other teams working and Lily did great!!!! We will definitely be trying the no family route for the next trial ;-)

What to do with Bella is now the question..... As this location had great turf I went ahead and let her run and she did beautifully was shocked to see her have all that time off and come back day one better than ever crazy! No fear of anything and just pure joy - even the teeter and weaves were great! My concern now though is if this is too much too fast.... She showed no signs of soreness and if fine today but it just seems like she should need to build back up to this level. Any thoughts on whether I'm being a nervous nellie or if this is really a concern? Thanks!


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## lily cd re

I understand your nervousness! What have you been doing with Bella generally in terms of exercise and rehab? If you've done a fair amount then I would think she will tell you if she gets tired or sore by how she acts. I know you are the kind of person who can read your dogs' body language very well.

I am glad she had a good time. I think time away sometimes is really helpful for them. I've taken a little agility time out to try to straighten out my fear of rottie problems. I will be very interested to see how Lily does at our next lessons.


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## Quossum

No, I don't think you need to be concerned. Obviously the break did her good--enjoy the results!

We were back outside on dirt today after two weekends in a row indoors on nice springy turf. Luckily the weather was heavenly--in the 60's and sunny, with a breeze. Sugarfoot picked up a nice Master FAST leg first run of the day, then, my doG, he was *manic* for the rest of the day! Wanting to break his start line stay (I was able to reseat him for the most part, though he's wanting to *stand* on the start line); screaming with eagerness and trying to grab my hands as we start the course; overjumping; not cueing turns as well as he should, leading to some sad wrong courses; and, in what is fast becoming a new bugaboo, bouncing off the table. 

Despite the issues, this dog is coming along amazingly. His weave footwork is getting really nice, homing in on that enviable "swimming" style, and his good sequences are just phenomenal. I try not to be envious of my fellow trainers who went through Novice and Open with us and are now racking up double Q's...with their slower but more consistent dogs. After all, I'm piloting a jet plane here! :lol:

--Q


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## Quossum

My latest video is all about bearing the cross(es) of Agility.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzSOpzAxzeU&feature=youtu.be

--Q


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## poolann

Quossum said:


> My latest video is all about bearing the cross(es) of Agility.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzSOpzAxzeU&feature=youtu.be
> 
> --Q


Great illustration Q. Do you mind if I share it on the FB page for Speedy Paws Agility?


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## Quossum

Sure, go right ahead! I'm flattered!

--Q


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## hopetocurl

Quossum said:


> My latest video is all about bearing the cross(es) of Agility.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzSOpzAxzeU&feature=youtu.be
> 
> --Q


Very timely and great video. Willow and I did our first agility session today...and the trainer was trying to explain crosses to me. This really helped! Thank you!


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## Minnie

We've had an eventful few days. Spent the weekend at an AKC agility trial and Lily earned a QQ on Sat for Nov STD (1st place) and JWW (2nd place) - couldn't have been prouder!!! Sun it all fell apart as DH came to the trial and her focus was totally gone and she showed strong stress signs. DH normally cannot attend practice so not entirely sure what to do from here. Bella attended and enjoyed the attention 

Tonight I gave Lily a break and took Bella only to class and she totally rocked it - 3 run throughs and nailed every element each time - nice distance sends and weaves. Hoping she'll be ready for our next trial in Feb. 

Happy training everyone


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## poolann

Check out who is #3 in poodles for 24" regular. Congrats!
http://baddogagility.com/the-breed-power-10-for-2014/


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## lily cd re

That is so awesome for Q and Sugarfoot! When you think about the horrible attack on Sugar and how much work Q has done to be able to have him perform at busy trials and qualify so well is a great lesson for all of us.


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## Quossum

poolann said:


> Check out who is #3 in poodles for 24" regular. Congrats!
> The Breed Power 10 for 2014


What the--?!?! Wow, I had no idea! Thank you so much for pointing this out to me! I screencapped the chart (natch), and then I just spent about forever cruising that site. I am totally impressed. I knew Sugarfoot was fast, but I had no idea he ranked "up there"!

Maybe I'm missing something, but do you have any idea why the dogs under "Poodles" are different from the dogs under "Standard Poodles," "Miniature Poodles," and "Toy Poodles"? 

Oh, and just sayin'...looking under "Poodles," the #5 8" and #2 16" poodles are handled by two of my instructors. :clap2:

Lily, thank you for those kind words. Thinking about how far he's come since that attack...it really is awesome. This weekend a friend playfully grabbed him and started scritching his sides vigorously--something that would have had him leaping away and wetting himself about two years ago, but he barely glanced at her. This afternoon a friend was walking along with us with her new puppy (a poodle!) and the little mite turned unexpectedly and pounced against Sugar's chest. He gave a startled *buff*, but was otherwise unaffected--again, but something that would have been a *really big deal* not all too long ago. He's come so far. I still work to keep him confident and feeling safe, and I know there could still be setbacks, but he's doing great.

Here's Sugarfoot's latest video, hot off the presses from this very weekend. We had some extraordinary runs. The Sunday Standard run was 41.58 seconds and would have been second place if not for...well, see for yourselves!

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFNnu1uIRRc&index=1&list=UUFN3sViqSV8W9HMb6uuQn6g

--Q


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## poolann

Q I hadn't noticed the divisions. That is strange!! At any rate I still think it's wonderful!


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## Minnie

Wow congrats Q and Sugarfoot that is awesome!!!!


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## Minnie

It finally happened Lily got all 12 weave poles in class!!! She did stress during one run but we got it back together 

Now if there was ever a picture of absolute pure joy it would be Bella back running agility. I still worry at every start line but wow is she ever happy! I am keeping her reps down and working on conditioning to make this journey back as safe as possible.


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## Quossum

Minnie said:


> It finally happened Lily got all 12 weave poles in class!!! She did stress during one run but we got it back together
> 
> Now if there was ever a picture of absolute pure joy it would be Bella back running agility. I still worry at every start line but wow is she ever happy! I am keeping her reps down and working on conditioning to make this journey back as safe as possible.


Congrats! That is a milestone. And you've got the right idea on your rehab: steady and stress-free. 

Keep up the good work!

--Q


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## lily cd re

Aww Minnie all of that is good news. You have such a great attitude, no wonder Lily and Bella are making such strides.


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## Jility

*New Online Foundation Classes Starting!*

Stacy Leah Winkler is a brilliant instructor. She has been Mel’s and my instructor for the past 12 years and we love her. We have 22 agility championships on our dogs thanks to Stacy!
If you want to know how to build drive, get crazy good focus and have amazing work ethic in your performance dog, then give Stacy's online classes try. They are fabulous!
Home


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## Quossum

Here's the latest!

http://youtu.be/7gx2ltrW3Os

We had a weekend of frustration. So many truly magnificent runs marred by only a single poor handling decision. In one course, a "Come!" called a second too late had Sugarfoot taking the wrong tunnel entrance. In the next course, a "Come!" called a second too early had Sugarfoot heading to the wrong obstacle, and he earned an R before I could get him back on track. He is just SO fast and responsive that split-second change of plans are pretty hard to make. *le sigh* #firstworldagilityproblems

At least our contacts we're golden, no table issues, and his start lines solid. One run he stood up, but the others he settled into a sort of crouched down, ready for launch, and I did some pretty significant leadouts. 

We're homing in on it, I can just feel it! Enjoy!

--Q


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## Minnie

Had another great weekend playing with my girls. Went to another NADAC trial this weekend so get more ring time for Lily and she had ran with me the entire time no running out of the ring, sniffing, or any stress activities very proud! She earned a new title and is now TN-N  She also had several other Q's so we are making real progress. Next weekend will be the true test though as we are back to AKC. 

Bella also ran and had a perfect weekend  Though these were all novice level as AKC titles do not count. She had a blast and OMG I forgot just how fast she is and will need to adjust handling accordingly I just cannot recreate this in class situations. We did struggle with weave entries as she is going to fast to get in so that will be our focus going into next weekend.

Happy training everyone - enjoy the journey!


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## Minnie

Happy tears today... introducing Bella OA!!! Perfect special day where she went 3 for 3 T2B, JWW 1st EX Q, and Std Open title woohoo!!!! Today after all the heartache of the scary months of surgeries and rehab my heart felt whole as I finally felt she's going to be okay. 

Lily nailed all weave poles and nabbed a JWW Novice Q and missed a Std novice by one pole. And she ran happy and stress free life is good!


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## Quossum

Congrats!!!! :cheers2:

What a great update! Wonderful news--doesn't it feel great when things come together? Good luck for the rest of the weekend, too!

--Q


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## MollyMuiMa

So happy to hear 'BELLA IS BACK!!!!!'


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## lily cd re

Minnie that is fabulous news. I am so happy for you, Bella and Lily.


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## Minnie

This was one crazy fabulous wonderful weekend. It was our local club trial and both my girls did awesome! 3 new titles and very happy dogs - life is soooo good!

Bella:
Fri - T2B Q 8pts, JWW EX Q (1st), STD Open Q - TITLE (1st)
Sat - JWW EX Q (3rd), STD EX (NQ I forgot the course)
Sun - JWW EX Q (2nd) would have been title but need 2 judges)

Lily:
Fri - JWW Nov Q (1st), Std Nov NQ but stayed in the ring 
Sat - JWW Nov Q - TITLE (1st), Std Nov Q (1st)
Sun - JWW Open Q (2nd), Std Nov Q - TITLE (1st)


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## lily cd re

You are on a hot streak there. I hope you continue to rock it with those girls for a good long streak.


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## Quossum

We had a rough weekend. Sugarfoot didn't seem to be feeling well Saturday, had some poor runs, an upset tummy, was up (and kept us up!) all night Saturday. I thought about pulling him Sunday but he seemed to feel better. Jumpers was pretty--until he knocked the LAST BAR! Huge chorus from the peanut gallery of "YAAYYYYY--Awwwwww!" Then, the last run of the weekend, he put it together for the Standard leg. Not the fastest, but it was a leg. I needed that!

Better luck this weekend, I hope!

--Q


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## Minnie

*Introducing Bella AXJ!*

Had a fabulous run today at Purina and Bella is now AXJ woohoo!!!! Missed std EX Q due to a rear cross chute refusal but otherwise clean. Picked up a shirt today at the trial - agility is a journey is the saying and I'm so thankful to get to continue this journey with this special girl!


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## mamalion

I am thinking about retiring here in the north east. I am looking for reasonable housing and good agility. I initially was thinking about the Boston area, but the housing is dear. Does any one have suggestions?


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## Carolinek

I'm biased, but the Albany /Saratoga Springs NY area is very nice and affordable, as long as you stay out of downtown Saratoga. Decent culture, great restaurants, 2 1/2hr train ride to NYC if you want more, at the foot of the Adirondack mountains, on the banks of the Hudson, low crime rate, great ski areas nearby- the area has a lot to offer without the obnoxious traffic and high prices of larger metropolitan areas. 

Several nice agility centers also- if you're serious, PM me and I'll give you the name of the center I go to. I'm just beginning in agility, but there are a lot of seasoned agility folks where Lily takes lessons, which has helped me a lot. 

I think the NE is beautiful, the only downside is the loooong winter, and this one is VERY LONG!!!


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## poolann

Today was a rough day. Racer did OK in the JWW run this morning. He did run off a couple of times but came back & finished the course strong. By this afternoon it was pure chaos. Monkey noises & 0 focus. He wouldn't even give me a hand touch. After he blew by me the 3rd time I just started walking off the course l. I wish I hadn't driven 2.5 hours to the trial because had it been closer I would have just gone home rather than trying to run standard. 

I've pulled from trials in March & April now & will go back to basics & wait for some maturity to settle in. Hopefully I will find some show n go's or matches to practice in.


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## Quossum

Sometimes taking a hiatus is a good idea. You'll be back with a vengeance!

This weekend was our own club's show, so that meant being there the whole day and helping with packing up the trailer at the end. It was supposed to be a two-ring show in an outdoor arena we've used many times...but the staff left the sprinklers on all Thursday night, and by Friday the rings were quicksand. With a lot of grading they managed to get one usable area in the middle of the ring, so our two-ring show became a one-ring show. Friday and Saturday were just cold, but Sunday the rain came, pretty much constantly, leading to this situation:


And to think I had been mad at myself for not giving him a bath before this show!

Even his beard ended up being about 80% sand.



We've been in a Jumpers slump lately (last weekend he got both Standards [completing his MX], a FAST, and no Jumpers), but when we got Standard on Saturday I was determined to break it and finally get a double Q. A technical, twisty, sharp-angled Jumpers course loomed before us, with one particularly tricky segment that had stymied the best of teams and which I had obsessed over in the walk through for many minutes, trying alternate handling options. Sugarfoot had other plans and for some inexplicable reason ran past the tunnel entrance at #3, rendering all my planning moot. (Oh, and took the off course at that tricky part anyway, so...yeah.)

The next day, Standard, couldn't keep him off an off-course tire that loomed like a bullseye before him, so QQ aspirations ended early. I told my husband though, "The good news is this virtually guarantees the Jumpers Q!" Sure enough, the Jumpers slump was over with an impressive run and 2nd place. 

Maybe next time we'll get Standard and Jumpers on the *same day*! We also picked up two Time 2 Beat legs, both 1st places--on Sunday our time on the course beat *every* dog's time (except for a 16" preferred BC). So, we had a successful (long, wet, cold!) weekend!


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## itzmeigh

Hazel is jealous of that octopus!


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## poolann

Chin up Q. I have a friend here that just finished a MACH. The dog had 3407 points


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## Minnie

*Poolann -* Sorry to read about your rough go I think we've all been there and I totally agree with Q that a break may be just the ticket as after Bella's forced break she came back with complete focus and faster than ever. 

*Q -* Congrats on the MX!!!!!!!

Weekend report - after a fabulous AXJ title run the rest of the weekend it was just one thing in every other run... Chute in one run, and the other two it was "shame about the handler" as video showed I was wayyyyy late on two front crosses one sending to an off course tunnel and the other into the big shining off course tire jump. In both cases Bella was running faster than I thought and I failed to adjust my handling. 

Enjoy the journey everyone and happy training!!!!


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## lily cd re

Minnie and Quossum congrats on your titles! Poolann I've felt your pain. I agree a hiatus sometimes does wonders. Winter has forced a big agility hiatus on us. We will be getting back to training in a couple of weeks. I will be very interested to see what Lily thinks after her holiday.


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## Quossum

poolann said:


> Chin up Q. I have a friend here that just finished a MACH. The dog had 3407 points


:faint: Oh, heaven forbid! Sugar has 305 points at the moment and one QQ. I still prefer speed to "slow and steady," but I am hoping for *some* consistency one of these days! :afraid:

--Q


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## poolann

Q this little Keeshond is amazing. There have been many, many but fors...She told me yesterday that the weekend they finished the MACH was the first time he QQ two days in a row. He is now 7 years old. We are in class with them & he's a joy to watch.


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## mvhplank

mamalion said:


> I am thinking about retiring here in the north east. I am looking for reasonable housing and good agility. I initially was thinking about the Boston area, but the housing is dear. Does any one have suggestions?


If you're still looking, think about the Harrisburg, PA area. There's a good mix of facilities and venues, AKC, UKC, Teacup, and indoor training facilities. Look around in Lewisberry (near Bella Vista Training Center's big indoor arena) or Newville (near Dandy Dog's indoor training and outdoor big agility arena).

It's a pretty handy staging area for drives to Philly, much of Maryland, and Northern Virginia. Some parts of West Virginia are close enough to let you sleep at home.

There are also plenty of dog clubs to join, which lets you meet new people, get info on good veterinarians, and dog-friendly places to live.

I'm in Gettysburg and trial obedience and rally in the Harrisburg area, Maryland down to Beltsville and Point of Rocks, and I've even trialed in Northern Virginia and West Virginia without having to get a motel room.

Let Realtor.com do your scouting around for you.


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## Quossum

I made a post on the general forum, but I have to mention the latest Sugarfoot videos here, too!

Jumpers Jeopardy, Standard Success

Jumpers Joy, Standard Sadness

The titles are pretty self-explanatory! The second one includes a couple of dogwalk falls (from Sugarfoot and from my Iggy, Pixie) that looked a lot worse than they actually were.

Enjoy!

--Q


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## Quossum

At last!

Double Q #2!

--Q


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## itzmeigh

Awesome! At the very end it looked like he jumped as high as your head! (In his victory leap). He did great and as always he looked awesome out there!

I'm over wishing I was as old as you are, now I just wish I could have a poodle half as awesome as yours! 

Congrats on your Double Q Bigs!

- Littles


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## Quossum

Oh, I don't know...I think you and Hazel are well on your way to being quite a team. :bashful: Thanks for the kudos--I'm exhausted now...and it's back to work tomorrow!

--Q


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## Minnie

Exhausted but motivated - spent the weekend at an agility seminar with Lori Michaels. Learned not only new skills but even more importantly what happens when you Trust, Connect, and Run!!!

Lily surprised me by being up for the challenge of her first "big dog" seminar and Bella as always continues to bring pure joy - not that we didn't stumble (as oh did we ever....) but that is just part of this incredible journey. 

Happy training enjoy the journey!


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## poolann

I had a private lesson on Fri with Meagan Skelton who teaches OMD techniques. She pretty much confirmed what I had been feeling about a lack of connection with Racer & gave me some things to work on. She let me know that our zoomies are a result of nerves because I am not supporting him & providing information about where we are going. As a result I have things to work on for myself & for him. I'm a bad handler but I pretty much knew that lol. 

I also audited her workshop on Sat learning Jaakko turns. While we're a long way from those they are definitely a tool I want in my toolbox. 

We are attending another workshop April 18 with Melanie Miller for focus & motivation as well as running young dogs. 

I definitely feel that my knee injury last year & the subsequent 6 month loss of training has set us back a bit. In speaking to my trainer she stated that we both made the mistake of expecting Racer to pick up where he left off. I'll be attending class but not running courses with him. We'll just work short 2-3 jump sequences off to the side as well as working Control Unleashed exercises to build attention. 

I'm not entering our local trial in May but I'll be there with a goal of being able to step into the arena dirt with focus & without the crazed poodle gleam in his eyes. We might not get there but we'll sure give it a try.


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## poolann

I know many don't do Facebook but I've shared a beautiful video of a team that "gets it." My usual settings are private but I've made this one public. Unfortunately this beautiful video isn't on YouTube. Check it out on my page if you'd like. Anna Wilson Pool is what I'm under.


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## Minnie

*Poolan -* Pea green with envy that you had a private lesson on OMD techniques! The connection that seems to be at the part of this method makes me quite intrigued. I'm going to try to get into an OMD seminar this fall hope it works out. 

Last night our instructor set the AKC Finals standard course from last Sunday. If anyone gets the chance to give this a try - go for it! Our building is not as wide so some of the traps on course were quite close and it made for a really fun night!


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## Minnie

What did I eat for Easter weekend.... a great big slice of humble pie. For the last two days I was nearly on my knees pleading with Bella that it was okay to get her precious paws dirty, that the sand was not going to swallow her whole if she stepped on it and the fleece wings flapping in the wind were not poodle eating monsters. Oh and Lily experienced her first hotel room, elevator ride, and decided to herd birds flying around the horse barn rather than take a jump. There were brief flashes or connection for Lily and Bella got above a fast walk at one point... It was tough to "enjoy the journey" this weekend.


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## mvhplank

Minnie said:


> What did I eat for Easter weekend.... a great big slice of humble pie. For the last two days I was nearly on my knees pleading with Bella that it was okay to get her precious paws dirty, that the sand was not going to swallow her whole if she stepped on it and the fleece wings flapping in the wind were not poodle eating monsters. Oh and Lily experienced her first hotel room, elevator ride, and decided to herd birds flying around the horse barn rather than take a jump. There were brief flashes or connection for Lily and Bella got above a fast walk at one point... It was tough to "enjoy the journey" this weekend.


Ouch! Dogs do keep us humble, don't they?


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## Minnie

mvhplank said:


> Ouch! Dogs do keep us humble, don't they?


And it continues.... also part of that weekend debacle was a stumble on the teeter it was odd equipment and she tried to turn and walk back up... Now she is refusing all contact equipment worried that it's the teeter. We have a trial this weekend and will likely scratch from std and run jumpers only with Bella.


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## Minnie

Weekend was another disaster as Bella refused the teeter in both runs.... however stopped at our training building on the way home and baited her once and after that she ran it beautifully in sequence with the dog walk and a-frame. Silly girl was so proud that she was so brave! Fingers crossed for the next session. She did end up with her first Masters JWW Q and 10 MACH points. 

Lily never Q'd but had moments of good connection especially today - need to learn to trust her more as with the exception of one off course sniff the non-Q issues were completely my handling / trust issues.


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## poolann

I'm so excited for the Melanie Miller workshops this weekend. Racer has come a long way in 3 weeks after the OMD private we took. He's a long way from competition in any event currently as we retrain but he's doing great. This week has been crazy busy for me training other people's dogs & I have a long weekend ahead auditing & participating in workshops. I'm hoping I will learn skills to help us along. I'm having to help play host to Melanie & do setup & clean up at the school. It's going to be fun though!


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## Quossum

Oh, wow--that sounds great, poolann! Sometimes this is exactly the sort of thing we need to get motivated and do some changes. I know it was an *amazing* benefit to be taking Puppy Peaks and then an online contacts course *while* we were at that stage in our training (as opposed to taking them for the info and taking notes for later). It makes an incredible difference to have the help and support.

Good luck! Can't wait to hear stories of what you've learned!

--Q


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## Minnie

*Bella - Retirement*

I need to get this out here as it's tough and I need to write it out loud to make it a final decision - Bella is officially retired from agility. This little girl has so much heart, go, try and joy in her 4 lb body and though she is NOT ready I know in my mind if not heart that it is time.... Last night she came off the table at an ugly angle in class and limped on her previously broken leg (she then tried to take a jump sequence...). I would never forgive myself if something happened that I could prevent - agility is a tough sport and is just too much for her tiny body. All I want for her is a long pain-free life filled with joy - she deserves that and so much more!!!!

Bella - AXJ, OA, OAJ, NA, NAJ, NF - It's been an incredible ride little girl!!!


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## patk

she sounds like a gallant little lady. i'm sure she will meet retirement with the same joie de vivre!


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## poolann

Minnie I know this had to be a difficult decision for you. You and Bella have many accomplishments!


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## Quossum

Awww! Tough decision, but props to you for making it. I had to retire my Pixie with 13 double Q's--so close and yet so far from my goals for her. But her health had to come first. She had had luxating patella surgery, which bought her many more years than she might have otherwise...but she was starting to refuse the A-frame now and then...and then she started going around jumps. She loves to jump, so that was my big sign.

It takes strength to be able to quit before you're ready. Good luck and health to Bella as she goes forward into a more relaxing life!

--Q


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## lily cd re

Minnie I am sorry you had to make this decision, but think you are the best poodle mom anywhere for having done so. I know you would be horrified if anything happened to her. It would be so sad if she got hurt again after all of the excellent care you gave her last year. You had a great agility ride with her and maybe you will decide to try rally or something that will be less hazardous with her down the road. I wish you all the best with her, and with your Lily.

Lily and I have entries the next two weekends close to home. I have no idea what is going to happen!!! It was such an awful weather and more recently it keep raining on the days I have agility lessons scheduled, so we have done virtually no training. I will be using the "wing and a prayer" method this weekend for sure.


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## poolann

lily cd re said:


> Lily and I have entries the next two weekends close to home. I have no idea what is going to happen!!! It was such an awful weather and more recently it keep raining on the days I have agility lessons scheduled, so we have done virtually no training. I will be using the "wing and a prayer" method this weekend for sure.


Sometimes "wing & a prayer" method works out well


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## MollyMuiMa

Minnie,
My heart goes out to you for this hard decision you had to make, but to you wanting Bella to be as healthy as possible, I have to give soooo much praise that her well being came first! With you & Bella being such a team, I bet there is something else you can try together! (and succeed at!)


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## lily cd re

poolann said:


> Sometimes "wing & a prayer" method works out well


poolann the funny thing is that our trainer will be there this weekend, so at least she will know first hand what we need to work on. I do find though that Lily benefits from a break sometimes, but this break has been a very llllllloooooonnnnnnggg one...


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## Minnie

Thank you everyone for your kind posts about Bella. She has taught me so much so quickly and I can only hope to be worthy of caring for her. I owe her so very much!

*Catherine* - I'll be in the same boat next weekend with Lily leaving today for a trip to Germany and arrive home on Thurs evening for a trial 2+ hrs away on Friday morning :afraid: I snuck in a last minute practice out in my field this morning before leaving for the airport :airplane: Best of luck to you I am sure all of your previous training will show and you'll be reporting great runs (whether they are Qs or not)!

*Poolann*- I am highly considering signing up for the OMD online membership I am hearing great things from others in my class. Hope you have a fantastic time at your seminar and that your report back ;-)

On a training note I've had an issue with rear crosses with Lily. At class this week my instructor suggested using an inside arm rather than out that I used with Bella and it worked she read it great! Amazing what how one little change can make such a difference.


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## lily cd re

So the wing and a prayer strategy almost paid a Q in open standard. We had just two Rs (refusals) one at a tunnel and one at the weaves, but once in she did all twelve poles. She held her start line stay and all her two on two offs. Open jumpers wasn't quite as good but had some good elements. She stuck with me well for both courses and even was willing to give me some distance work. Hopefully with some practice/training lessons we can get through with open some time in the not too distant future.


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## poolann

The workshops today were great. I didn't audit Friday night & only audited a couple of hours Saturday morning after setting up & getting things rolling. I was so tired that one of the participants was pushing my buttons with her whining & angry outbursts. My filter was about to turn off & I would turn unprofessional so I took my leave. I will say that Melanie Miller was phenomenal at handling it in a professional manner. 

Her workshops are very customized & everyone gets plenty of one on one time working. She gives some information & tips on foundation work & the methods she uses but respects where the dogs are & where teams need development. 

I was very hesitant when she requested that I get Racer amped up. It doesn't take much but in following her guidance I had an epiphany. Amped is great if he's up with me & not the environment. He has the skills as long as I handle proactively rather than reactively. He does not have the experience to bail me out & is crazy fast. She is excellent at spotting handler errors & let me know about some habits I didn't know I had. Baby dog worked 9 obstacle jump/tunnel sequences in a room with 8 other teams. A total of around 15 people & 8 crated dogs in a 36 x 48 space since the weather moved us indoors. 

I did have to leave a couple of hours early from the afternoon session. Racer had worked beautifully & I could see the meltdown coming as he was getting tired. I fully recommend her workshops if anyone has the opportunity to attend one.


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## Quossum

Sounds like a great experience! It's amazing what a little focused, expert attention and help can do for us.

--Q


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## poolann

So after class this morning & the workshop this weekend I've come to some conclusions. 1. Racer really does want to work with me. 2. He is excellent at following directions if I give them soon enough. 3. It's easier to work him full out away from me than it is for me to have to handle in tight spots. We'll get there. I'm seeing bright spots


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## Quossum

Smart, confident dogs do seem to like being handled at a distance better than being crowded by their handler. Those tight spots can be so challenging, as it seems that everything is amplified as far as handling is concerned. Sounds like some good things are happening!

--Q


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## poolann

He is so different than my female shepherd. She was fast, had directionals & nice distance but was extremely forgiving & bailed me out more times than I could count. My male shepherd was really slow & wouldn't move off of me enough to get a cross in anywhere but a tunnel. I'm really having to learn how to handle now. It's only taken 7 years of agility for me to reach this point lol


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## Charmed

poolann, the best part is that you have continued to grow and learn new things with each dog. Every "aha" moment with Racer makes for a stronger relationship between the two of you... and not just on the agility course. Thank you for sharing your agility adventures.


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## lily cd re

poolann I think Lily is a lot like Racer. As she has gained confidence she definitely gets annoyed if I am too close or overhandling. At the weaves I have to talk to her "go, go, go..." but I can't be too close and at this point she really doesn't even like it very well if I have my hand out. She will even layer for me. I think our biggest problem is me getting information to her fast enough since she is so fast. We have a private tomorrow and trials near home this weekend. Hoping for good results...


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## poolann

I'm struggling because my timing is off for the tight work. Collection is a challenge for him & me. Although he is beginning to commit I'm still questioning that commitment so I'm late with cues. Away he is more forgiving & although he's moving fast in my head I have more time because I've planned how & where to handle the distance. Courses have certainly evolved since I started & will continue to do so. Now I'm changing how I walk sequences so that if I've held up my end of the deal to start I have a good idea of where he'll be & what he'll need. I'm not running him full out in tight places because we're working on me right now. At a distance I can let him fly. It's taken me a while to get here but it is really fun. This is my challenging part of the journey


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## Quossum

The issue of being "late with commands" is one of the reasons I've gone to mostly-silent running. I do call directionals like "come," "out," and "check" (jump and then come back to me tightly around the jump standard), and I do still say "Park it!" for his contacts, but other than that I don't use many individual obstacle commands. This forces me to mind my body language first and foremost, as don't we all know that your dog will take what your *body* says over what your *mouth* is saying any day. Plus, my opinion is that running silent enables the dog to focus on his job, making your voice more significant when you *do* use it. I think many handlers "train" their dogs to ignore their voice with consisently late or otherwise mistimed commands; the dog learns to ignore their handler most of the time and just do what they do, and then it's difficult to get them to listen when it really *does* matter.

As I walk the course, I think, "How can I use my body to mold the correct path?"

Of course dogs have to be trained to this paradigm. I hear many handlers lament, "He turned back towards me because he didn't know where to go--I just didn't get that 'Hup' out on time." Sugarfoot is trained to by golly TAKE the obstacle in front of him, as quickly as possible, and keep moving forward taking obstacles until we're done with the course. My job is to move and call in such a way, manipulating his motion with mine, that the correct obstacle IS the one in front of him! For this reason I very rarely will make him go back and get a bypassed obstacle or fix a wrong course, because I want to maintain the idea of constant *fast* forward motion, not implant the idea that he might be wrong, which could cause anxiety or slow him down. I figure if he makes a mistake, it's almost always my fault anyway. (Though at this stage he does sometimes "lock on" to a wrong obstacle and will take it despite anything I do or say. I put that on him--but as a consequence of this type of training, so I don't hold it against him too badly!)

Just some thoughts. I know this isn't the conventional way of thinking right now, might not work with all dogs, isn't even the way my (very successful) training center trains...but just wanted to throw out some philosophy! :alien2:

--Q


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## poolann

I don't tell him jump at every jump. I'm like you & if I get it in front of you take it lol. My physical cues are late (I'm talented like that). I've gotten into the habit of watching my dog do agility so I'm late to move lol


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## Quossum

Haha--yeah, we're supposed to "keep your eyes on your dog" but at the same time, not watch *too* close, right? Ya' can't win!

Good luck to all showing this weekend!

--Q


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## lily cd re

We had a great lesson this afternoon. Since Stef saw what was good and what wasn't at our around home trials last we she had a plan for drills for weaves and tunnels. We did several different sequences since she knows poodles can't do straight up drilling without getting floogy. She made sure we had different path to the weaves and all kinds of handling to get into the tunnels. We did a few short contact sequences when it became obvious that Lily had had her fill of the poles. I hope she remembers what she did today when we get to the start lines tomorrow and Sunday.

Happy trials for anyone entered this weekend!


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## nifty

Good luck this weekend, Catheirne and Lily!


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## poolann

Run fast, run clean everyone!


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## Quossum

We've had a good couple of weekends!

QQs #3 and #4

--Q


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## MollyMuiMa

AWESOME!!!!!! He looked fantastic!


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## poolann

Congrats! Loved the "man voice." Lol


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## poodlecrazy#1

So I just recently started beginning agility with Branna. My biggest question is, is beginning agility always so boring? We are doing mostly basic obedience stuff and it is driving me crazy! Mostly sits, downs, stays, and recall. We have done a fruit and vegetable game (to get your dog excited) and this week (#3) were just now introduced to the table and driving to a stationary object. We do have a lot of untrained dogs in our class (one puppy that had never even been on a leash prior to week 1), but I would think the instructors would have levels of task for more advanced or actually trained dogs. It's just really throwing us having to go back to basic like stay but only step one foot away, any farther is way to much. Heck I can put her in a down stay, leave the premises and she would still be in that down stay when I got back (minimum is 3 mins for CGC test). Or luring a down, we are so past that! I mean I understand these are essential for agility but I didn't pay to be taught things we already know and can do with our eyes closed. Today I went to the agility yard to practice and we just had a blast and didn't hold back. Of corse I wouldn't let her get on the bigger obstacles like the A frame (she really wanted to get on this one but it was at full hight and even scary for me) or teeter, but there was no holding her back from the jumps (only one actually had the pole on it) plank, tunnels, tire, and weave poles. We did do some baby practice with the bang game. She loved it. 
I just feel bad like I shouldn't be letting her do things because we aren't supposed to be there yet. But the instructors did say if they willingly get on an obstacle praise and treat a lot. So does it get better or is it just this class? We are so bored!! I would bring her ball to play with her but we aren't allowed to use balls . Which I totally don't get because that is the only thing that gets her super excited. She could care less about food and usually just spits it out. Sorry I hope I didn't ramble on to long.


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## Quossum

poolann said:


> Congrats! Loved the "man voice." Lol


Haha--The day before, we missed the QQ because he got Standard, but missed Jumpers when that same judge presented us with an almost identical challenge: a sharp turn to the weaves while an off-course option presented itself temptingly ahead. On that day, Sugarfoot locked onto the off-course jump and took it, and my buddies scolded me for not callling him back more firmly. "But I *did* call!" "Yeah, but you didn't use your *man voice*!" 

To poodlecrazy#1:

First, a note about balls: Some training centers discourage their use, yes. One problem is that you can imagine the chaos if several less-than-perfectly-trained dogs were going after one at once. There's the potential for weird bouces that cause dogs to get into one another's space or even collide. And there's the issue of injuries, which can definitely happen as dogs dive, pounce, and jump for the ball. In my area, hardly anyone tosses a ball as a reward. That said, I do reward Sugarfoot with a few Chuckit throws after his runs, but I know I'm taking a chance. If I throw a ball at practice, I got to the far side of the yard to give it a few tosses; it isn't practical with other dogs around. (Though I'll toss it past him to test contacts now and then!)

The other issue, of you being too advanced for the class: Of course all those foundation skills are essential, but it sounds like you already have those and should be placed in a more advanced class. Have you spoken to the instructors about "testing out"? I know different training centers operate in their own way and sequence.

Just for perspective...at our center, Beginners classes start in January and June, and dogs don't have to have formal obedience skills, as everything is on leash, but you will be doing obstacles from day one. (Small jumps, low planks, shortened tunnels, etc.) During the class, the instructors will talk to you about foundation skills, though our center doesn't specifically teach them or have a class for them. At the end of Beginners, if you've worked the foundation stuff on your own, you might "graduate" to what we call "Intermediate," which starts to get to sequencing and off-leash stuff, but at that point, if you don't have the stays and such, you'll be asked to take a hiatus and go get those skills, whether on your own or by taking a class elsewhere.

If someone new shows up and wants to join our training center, they can take a private lesson and have our instructors evaluate their skills and place them in one of the ongoing classes if there's a spot available; you don't have to start at Beginners if your dog already knows its stuff.

Maybe your training center doesn't have a beginner class that's separate from the foundation skills, so you might have to just be patient as you wait to get to the "good stuff." Maybe at least you can speak to your instructor about being on the edge of the class and taking your own dog to the next level of whatever you're doing, to give yourself a challenge. If the others are barely at taking one step away, maybe you can practice taking a step away and going in a circle around your dog while it maintains position, or jumping away while waving your arms, or whatever. If they're tediously luring downs (ugh!), you can work on having her go down while you're in different postions, or do "puppy-push-ups" (down then sit) with hand signals only. Working these advanced obedience things in a distracting environment is a good way to use your training time.

Really, though, if your beginning class is all "obedience for agility" and there's another class that's "introduction to the obstacles," it sounds like you should be in the latter! Talk to you instructors.

Good luck!
--Q


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## poodlecrazy#1

Thanks Quossom. I think since this is the only agility in my area they have kind of monopolized and only do it this way. I will try talking to the instructors. In the welcome letter it said that most people have to take beginning at least twice to move on to novice which I so hope isn't our case. For now we will just be patient ?. Oh and I totally understand the ball thing I figured that was most likely why they wouldn't allow balls, I still wish I could just bring it to show her. Just the sight of a ball gets her amped up.


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## lily cd re

I think I've had it with outdoor trials!

Lily came very close to Qs in both open courses on Saturday. She brought her A game weaves and enthusiastic tunnels from our session on Friday, but we had one over on disqualifying faults on both courses. Friends of mine who were ring crew for the jumpers run and who watched the standard run both remarked on how happy and focused Lily was. So needless to say I was pretty optimistic for Sunday....

Well what misery on Sunday. On our standard run we had table to chute to weaves out near one edge of the ring that was actually to most out of the way part of the ring. Imagine my surprise when I looked towards the weaves as Lily went into the chute and saw 3 teenage girls standing right at the edge of the ring. They were right in Lily's line of sight when she came out of the chute and she didn't get the weaves (even with my 3 tries). I know she should be able to ignore those distractions, but obviously she couldn't. There was also a horse show on Sunday and a loose horse came trotting down the road right behind the crate area. Lots of extra spectators from the horse show continued to stand in very close to the rings all day. I took Lily of the jumpers course because she didn't hold her start line.

On top of everything else, late in the afternoon yesterday I felt an itch on the small of my back. When I reached around to scratch it I felt a little bump with a flappy thing attached to it. I asked my friend who I was walking down the hall with to see if it was a tick. Yes it was and it was very full and a deer tick (think Lyme disease). My friend was able to pull it out with all of the mouth parts and I only have a small bump which BF says is distinctly smaller this morning. I will have him check it again later so I can decide whether to get a prescription for antibiotics or not (prefer not to take things I don't need).

Argh and ick!


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## Indiana

Aw I'm sorry it was such a bust... Hope the tick entry spot looks good today.


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## lily cd re

Indiana said:


> Aw I'm sorry it was such a bust... Hope the tick entry spot looks good today.



It wasn't a total bust. Lily had fun and did do some good work on Saturday. Also I learned a couple of things, including to use up my tick encounters for tracking and to stay inside for agility.


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## Quossum

Congrats on the learning experiences! Even when we don't get Qs it's still such a good thing to be able to get something out of the run, even it's just the knowledge of what to work on. Or to be able to recognize some good aspect of the run, whether it's great contacts, a nice weave entry, or excellent enthusiasm and drive.

That's so icky about the tick! They're so insidious!

Good luck this coming weekend to all!

--Q


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## lily cd re

Q you are such an optimist! I wish you could be at trials with me. I could use you as a sports psychology coach. I was so bummed on Sunday when we did the walk of shame off the jumpers course. We were the last team of the trial. It would have been nice to get a good run out of it. The judge was very nice though and spent a couple of minutes with us to give some encouraging words. He also sent a very nice email to our trial committee saying how much he liked working with us, noting how great the club was to have an abundant supply of workers to keep things moving. He also congratulated all who had Q's and noted that there were lots of good almosts. He seems like he would be happy to come back to us.


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## Quossum

Haha--it's funny, it's easy to be optimistic once the weekend is over. At the trials themselves sometimes it's quite different! Some bad runs I'm able to shake it off and be quite copacetic, other times I'm very disappointed and don't really want to think about the "learning experience" aspect of it until later. Whichever way I feel, I try my darnedest to stay up around Sugar, though. I don't want him to suspect I'm disappointed. Sometimes that's difficult!

--Q


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## Quossum

Finally made my Master FAST video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZCTbQ7K6FE

I'm very proud of this video, and of this title. FAST is my favorite by far; I love the strategy of creating your course, the challenge of coming up with the best strategy for your dog's running style...and I love the fact that you can go into training mode and do multiple contacts if you blow the run or just plain need to. 

Basically, FAST rules!

But in this vid, you get to see good runs, not training ones. :angel2:

--Q


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## poolann

I'm so hoping DreamAgility will get on here & share her brags from this weekend. Those young ladies had a great time!


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## DreamAgility

I'm here! I had a busy weekend, lol. 
Dreamer had a lovely Novice Jumpers course and Q'ed with 4th. She also got her title! Her Open Standard course was wonderful an she Q'ed with 1st. The next day she was tired and hot so she was pretty slow and on her Open JWW I got a head of her and messed her up, and she popped out of the weave polls. But she got 2nd for her Open standard course.
So here are some pictures and the video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRy-azSrF4I

022 by Ellie346, on Flickr

073 by Ellie346, on Flickr

085 by Ellie346, on Flickr

003 by Ellie346, on Flickr

013 by Ellie346, on Flickr

015 by Ellie346, on Flickr

017 by Ellie346, on Flickr

092 by Ellie346, on Flickr


095 by Ellie346, on Flickr


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## lily cd re

Congratulations to you and Dreamer!


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## Quossum

Beautiful jumper, what a great start! You're going to have a lot of fun with her!

Our weekend was more spotty...not a single leg in the regular classes, Walk of Shame on Saturday AND Sunday for jumping the contacts--yikes! Well, thank goodness for the games. Got FAST on Sat. with 76 points and a tough send, and first place in T2B on Sunday...okay, so there were only two 24" dogs, ten points is ten points! LOL

Clean runs to all this coming weekend! We're doing a 5K run instead of a dog show for once. Good--apparently we need to brush up on our contacts! :angry:

--Q


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## Minnie

Had a fabulous weekend Lily Q'd 4 out of 6 (6 for 6 on weaves and no knocked bars) and earned her OAJ title and legs toward OA  This was on home turf so she was happy and focused now to work on this at away trials.


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## lily cd re

A friend sent this picture to me on FB from our last trial. It wasn't a Q, but my girl is pretty, isn't she?

https://www.facebook.com/catherine.kelly.54922/posts/1564116257187091?comment_id=1564129870519063¬if_t=comment_mention


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## Minnie

lily cd re said:


> A friend sent this picture to me on FB from our last trial. It wasn't a Q, but my girl is pretty, isn't she?
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/catherine.kelly.54922/posts/1564116257187091?comment_id=1564129870519063¬if_t=comment_mention


Link does not work for me :-(


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## poolann

Sugarfoot did it again! Look Q #6 for the first quarter of 2015. Congrats to you & to anyone else on PF that made the list!

http://baddogagility.com/All-American-Dog-ranking-by-powerscore-for-2015-q1/


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## lily cd re

Minnie, I'll try to fix that. I may have to adjust my privacy setting. 

Congratulations Sugarfoot team!


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## Quossum

poolann said:


> Sugarfoot did it again! Look Q #6 for the first quarter of 2015. Congrats to you & to anyone else on PF that made the list!
> 
> All American Dog Ranking by PowerScore for 2015 Q1


Wow! Thanks for pointing that out, poolann! Thank goodness it goes by speed and not double Q's, because those are still scarce at the moment...though he did grab #5 this past weekend now that some contact remediation has kicked in. (I'm going to make a video, but this is the last week of school and I'm emotionally drained!) 

In fact, we took Jumpers both days, but then Sunday the Standard course was a *killer* for the big dogs: only ONE 24" dog Qed. It took out all the hotshots of all area , and all in different parts of the course. We were standing around afterwards saying, "wot hoppened??" Meanwhile, all but 3 of the 8" dogs Qed, so, definitely a "small dog" course.

The couple who runs BadDogAgility show in my area; they have amazing dogs themselves and I enjoy their course analysis videos

Good luck and double Qs this weekend!

--Q


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## Quossum

Finally got around to putting together a new video:

Sugarfoot's 5th and 6th Double Qs!

We've had some good fortune lately. QQ #5 came the weekend of May 30-31, and the next day we got Jumpers, missed Standard. Then came QQ #6 the weekend of June 6-7 on Saturday, and on Sunday in BOTH Jumpers and Standard, a single bar coming down was the only problem. Very frustrating, but it's been a huge relief to get our contacts mini-issue back under control and feel pretty confident walking into the ring that he'll *probably* listen to me! Sugarfoot is a great jumper, but a bar now and then is just "one of those things" that's gonna happen every once in a while.

Enjoy!

--Q


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## lily cd re

We have an interesting trial experience coming up on June 20th. Our private trainer will be judging open standard! It actually might help since Lily is used to working in her presence.


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## mashaphan

Catherine,I can't see the photo either:argh: (Are you on FB?)

Martha et al


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## Minnie

*Need your help!*

I am truly at a loss with this one. For the last couple of trials Lily (MAS) has been showing extreme ring stress and this last weekend it was at a location that we've been to many times. She stresses up and down - sits at the start line and scratches and then takes off and does good work then runs like a freak on obstacles or to exit gate :-( - it's very odd as she went through nov/open like it was nothing... We do not have "fun runs" in our area to simulate a trial and this does not happen in any of the practice locations. And it's not all the time - morning JWW run was great, Std total disaster. Any suggestions on this would be highly appreciated!


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## Quossum

Hello, Minnie!

What you're experiencing is not all that unusual. Many dogs breeze through Novice and Open and stall again in Excellent. Suddenly they are running courses with more call-offs and sharp turns, and sometimes a more stressed handler. It could be related to the afternoon time or to the Standard course itself, which has more stressful obstacles. Sugarfoot went through a stressed phase like this as well.

One suggestion is to just keep at it, work through the phase. I know this is easier said than done, but work to keep your own emotions in check, your breathing calm. Learn to throw "calming signals" at your dog. I've found the yawn to work well. You can also set a goal to do only a certain number of obstacles, maybe get to one that's particularly motivating or particularly challenging to her, and then leave the ring with great celebration on the successful completion of that obstacle, deliberately cutting the run short.

If this looked like it was going to be a big thing, I'd look into Control Unleashed, which has a lot of specific games and exercises to deal with stressed and / or overstimulated dogs, but it sounds more like you've just got a ring stress issue that should pass with some time and experience.

Good luck!
--Q


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## Minnie

*Q -* Thank you for the suggestions and reading that it's common and Sugarfoot went through this as well gives me hope. We had a seminar today and I had "Lily" she was happy, focused, working the entire time and never sniffed off once even with a large group in chairs in the ring


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## roxieyap

I am looking forward to getting my pup into agility training. I have been reading about standard poodle in preparation to getting my pup next month. I am finally getting the chance to commit myself to owning one and caring for one. :act-up:


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## Minnie

Had a good weekend - Lily is now OA, OAJ, and earned a 2nd leg in NF. What seemed to work best in yet another new place was crating from our RV and then bringing her in close to time to go in the ring and rather than cranking her up with her ball (doesn't take much) I did a few focus exercises then she was happy to go in the ring it almost brought up her happy energy rather than being so high before going in - odd but it worked we'll see what happens next time she is teaching me so much!


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## lily cd re

Here are links to videos from our last runs at trials held two weeks ago. There are some good moments and some bad, including the walk of shame off Sunday jumpers. I would appreciate any comments as to why Lily seems to be falling apart in jumpers. It ran before standard both days.

So can you tell she knows the Saturday standard judge? That is the young woman I train with and it was her first judging assignment and we were first in the class. "Look mom, it's Stefanie!" was what Lily said to me at the bottom of the dag walk. Stef was very apologetic about it, but Lily should have been able to ignore that she knew the judge. We decided later that if we have the same situation down the road we will make sure Lily knows she is there before we run. It was a surprise to Lily to see her.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfj0zK9JBwI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD_2Nkh52XE
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL6bL9_J45Q
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWNFu3aKCLw

Well for some reason even though I have those videos posted as public the links don't seem to work for me. Here is a link to my channel with them, maybe this will work.

www.youtube.com/channel/UCvg0UyN051LpJ436IDB8KNQ/videos


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## Quossum

None of the links work for me.

Edit: I got them to work, but I had to delete the part of the address that said "Poodle forum." I'll watch and be back to comment later.

--Q

Okay, it's "later" and I'm still able to edit my posts, so I'll go ahead and comment here.

I see a few stress reactions in the licking and sniffing. In Jumpers I see a bit of demotivation associated with rear crosses, call-offs, and being sent back over missed obstacles. I would definitely work on crosses and intense forward motion, and would not go back to pick up the jump if she runs by it. (I know this is hard and sometimes my instincts take over, too, especially in T2B or Open when you could still get the Q, but I'm getting better as letting it go.) I see a bit of lack of enthusiasm for weaves and contact behavior so I would work on speeding those up and ensuring she fully understands your bottom criteria. 

To me, overall it looks like she has more speed and confidence when she's really sure about where she's going next. I saw some really nice work as far as going forward *to* the contacts, and when finishing the courses.

Just some thoughts; take them all with the appropriate grains of salt for what you know of your own training and of her personality! 

--Q


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## lily cd re

*Q* thanks so much for busting through my bad links. I don't know why that happened since I put a link to a video of my puppy's litter just before these that works no problem.

I appreciate your thoughts and experience. We took a lesson with Stef yesterday and worked on those bottom criteria and saw improvements. I brought Peeves along and switched them off (he did newbie things, jumps and tunnel with just three obstacle sequences). I think he could be successful in jumpers and I don't want to get Lily overheated in the summer weather so have decided I will bring two dogs and share the hour between them. Lily seemed to find having to share her time to be very motivating. She did incredible weaves, fast and independent of me walking her through. I showed all of those videos to Stefanie. She said many of the same things you did. She thinks her problems in JWW are partly because we don't train on jumpers courses very much and that the lack of confidence is related to the lack of visual cues on a jumpers course as compared to the obvious clues about where to go next that standard courses offer. Since her courses are generally standard courses we decided it would be worth it for me to rent at a place where I can put up just jumps and weaves to work on improving her "view" of JWW. It is indoors so an hour in air conditioning with them is all good.

We also talked about training vs. matches vs. trials in agility and obedience and how the dogs know the difference so easily from all the diverse cues ranging from other dogs, crating, our body language and attitudinal cues. While I know many obedience people who insist that one should take the dog to matches until "you know they will qualify" I just don't see that ever working with Lily. She is too smart and knows the differences. We think that if we just keep at it she will pull it together. We both praised the heck out of her yesterday for her fabulous work. She showed a clear step up in her game yesterday. Hopefully she will hold onto it and put it into her memory circuits to take to trials in the not too distant future.


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## Quossum

It is interesting that the Jumpers class is (for most dogs) "harder" than Standard, and I think you might have hit the nail on the head as far as why! Personally I enjoy Jumpers more; I love the handling challenges and the fun of molding the dog's path, and it stresses me to think of all the various things that can go wrong on the Standard course. I still have more legs in Standard, though!

*Of interest to all Agility competitors:*

Have you heard about the new titling class in AKC? It's called Premier, and here's the link telling more about it:

http://cdn.akc.org/PremierAnnouncement_for_web.pdf

Basically it sounds like a really fun class with some international-level challenges, "fancy" things like threadles, backside jumps, even bidirectional obstacles. Unlike the other Agility titles, the titles for this one (PAD and PJD for a Standard and a Jumpers version, available in Preferred as well) includes a competitive element: 25 Q's, five of which must be from the top 25% of the class/jump height. Yikes! Poor 20" dogs!

--Q


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## lily cd re

Thanks again Q. I think the jumpers issue is as Stef, you and I assess it. I am liking standard much better these days since it generally gives me more opportunities to collect myself along the way. Once a jumpers course starts it should just be full speed ahead!

I had not heard about that new class. It sounds very interesting and challenging and seems to incorporate some of the advanced elements of CPE courses. Will you play? For myself, I am happy to stick to standard and jumpers.


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## Quossum

Oh, of course I have to give it a try! It remains to be seen how it will all play out, though, especially with the one-ring shows we have here. Will it take the place of FAST and / or T2B? If it's in addition to the games, how much will it extend our day? Will it be easy to build off the Excellent courses? Will it be outrageously expensive?

I'm on the fence about whether to bother with it before getting our MACH, or wait until that's in the bag before putting an additional challenge out there. But I can't wait to see the courses!

--Q


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## Quossum

The 4th of July weekend was a good one for Mr. Jones!

https://youtu.be/iacAYmgNzFg

--Q


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## lily cd re

Wonderful runs there Q. Mr. Jones needs to talk to Lily about weave poles I think.


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## Minnie

So excited - introducing Lily OA, OAJ and now NF ?

Now we won't speak of the Ex Std run.... She really stresses in that class :-( But her Ex JWW run was very encouraging as she was clean except took 2 tries to get into the weaves on a very tricky course  

Best to everyone else trialing this weekend!


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## poolann

Well we were back at agility class yesterday after 5 weeks off. It's been crazy hot, raining or Racer had a slight cough for 2 days so I held him out of class for 3 weeks in the event it was KC. Considering the short duration I believe it was allergies as his eyes were red but better safe than sorry. 

Flashes of brilliance! He was doing great with directionals & contacts but got really excited & goofy a few times as I attempted to run full out on a nice flowing course. I've been working at about half speed as we've been focused on handling tight courses. He gave me some good lateral distance too so I was able to send & didn't need to square up angles as much for him. 

Losing so much time this summer & being nervous about the new dog flu that is hitting nearby areas pretty hard I'm likely not going to trial this fall. I'm hoping when it comes together we'll finish novice fairly quickly & not get stuck in open purgatory if he's prepared for Excellent courses.


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## lily cd re

"open purgatory" We've been there quite a while now. Stefanie has us doing excellent type standard courses and Lily has vastly stepped up on distance, weaves, not sight seeing at the top of the A frame, etc. So far we seem to be ok on dog flu in our neck of the woods. I do think I want to run indoors with her now though for the most part. I am just trying to organize my thinking on what we will be doing for both obedience and for agility. My dream is to get out of open in agility and get UD legs before 2015 ends.


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## Quossum

The journey continues...this is at the big Houston show. We earned our 8th double Q the last day of the show, after some very frustrating Jumpers runs the first two days:

QQ #8

Since then we've been to two more shows, only to fail to put together Jumpers and Standard in the same day. This weekend off, then about four weekends in row, so maybe something will come together at one of them...

--Q


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## Minnie

We ran in the AKC premiere demo class today and Lily Q'd now if we could have done so in the other classes it was a just one thing kind of day ? the judge asked for feedback and really to draw those looking for more challenge I don't see it - one backside and a serp how is that different than a regular MX class?

Save and happy holiday weekend to all


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## Minnie

Every start line is a blessing - I am so very humbled to announce – Bella – MXJ, AX, AXJ, OA, OAJ, NA, NAJ, NF. 

I’ve kept this come back very quiet as I truly was not sure that it would happen. At the blessing of her surgeon, vet, therapist, and trainers Bella was cleared to return to agility. And this weekend it all came together – brave, fearless, and happy - pure out right joy. 

Bella earned her AX title on Friday, MXJ on Saturday and by the end of Sunday she was 6 for 6 with QQ #1 and QQ #2.


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## Quossum

Yay!!!!! Back in action and tearing up the courses--congrats! Awesome fast progress, too. It must feel great. Thanks for sharing, keep it up. Videos!

--Q


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## Chagall's mom

That is the most joyful, wonderful news, *Minnie*! Huge *CONGRATULATIONS* to your spectacular little athlete and you! :cheers2: I so hoped Bella would be back in action at some point after her awful injury. Thanks to your good care, training, the great medical team and her strong resilient will, she came back like a champion!:first: She surely is that!:adore: So proud of Bella and you, celebrate big!:cheers:


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## poolann

Congrats!!! How exciting & I know you are over the moon! Good girlie Bella!


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## lily cd re

I am thrilled for you and Bella!


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## MollyMuiMa

Hearing of Bella's 'come back' is nothing short of AMAZING!!!! Congratulations Bella!


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## lily cd re

*Still in open purgatory....*

We went down to a great indoor sports arena site over the weekend. There were moments of brilliance coupled with sheer depressing embarrassment.

Saturday in standard we had a great run with no A frame of all things! So Sunday I was concerned about the A frame and she came off the table instead. I think the long wait at the start line on Sunday didn't help. the gate called us to the line, but since we were the first 24" entry they hadn't changed the table legs.

Weaves mostly weren't great, but ok on one run.

Saturday jumpers was a disaster because I didn't get the lead out I wanted past the 2nd jump. After a little muddling around I said thank you and left since Lily was totally lost. Sunday jumpers was much better. Although there were shaky spots we were able to recollect and finished well.

Also all of the tunnels were pretty good to very good. Given that Lily has never been a tunnel sucker this was a marked improvement. Perhaps the brand new tunnel in my yard that they chase each other through has something to do with that.

We will be back at the same site in two weeks, so hopefully being there almost back to back weekends will get better outcomes the next time. We had a good time and there were several people from around home who are very nice to pass some time with.

On the hit parade of total embarrassment (not mine for a change!) a novice dog got the zoomies on the standard course while I was ring crewing. The handler took her sweet time trying to collect the dog who managed to leave the ring and get into the excellent/masters jumpers ring during a run. the excellent handler took it all in stride and was allowed to take her dog off the course and have time to collect and run again at the end of that height class. Sadly my friend who was gating there told me later that the dog didn't Q on the rerun.

Here are links to videos of my runs. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja32c-neUPA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2EkRyLqzSc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdjrYAaz3l4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c7x3SmrvUE


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## Quossum

Hey, glad to see some videos! I love making them; I love watching them! Brutal honesty from a Not an Expert But at Least Experienced in Agility Handler ahead...skip if you want, read if you dare!

Things I noticed:

* That's a great judge! We had her recently and really enoyed her.

* What a nice venue! A lot of our shows are at a facility specifically made for dog agility, with the super-nice soccer-turf flooring made of artificial grass and the black beads of rubber. Super nice for the dogs' feet. Ours are one-ring shows--which has its advantages and disadvantages. How about yours?

* Watch, oh watch, those naughty start line stays. Maybe I'm mistaken but it looked like she stood / moved forward a bit as you lead out. Be strong! Sugarfoot broke his start line for the first time in forever this past weekend and like a chump I made an "OH $h!+!" face and ran with it, and I could kick myself now, because he tried to break in T2B as well. I stomped on him and quelled it, but I'm resolved to invoke "no stay no play" this coming weekend if needed. You get SO much flexibility with a rock solid start line! 

* Saw a couple of R's that seemed invoked by your own body postition. Watch a sideways, bending, or "butt shot" sort of presentation (guilty! in spades!) to the dog and strive for an assertive progression towards the approprite jump, or else "push to the path," as the mantra at my training center runs. 

*Saw a few R's that seemed rather inexplicable; your body position and movement seemed fine, but she pulled off "for no reason." One of those was the A-frame in the first vid; that seemed to be for no reason. I would have backed up a little more and tried to give her more of a run at it. I'm sure this sort of thing seems more vivid in retrospect--can't tell you how many vids of mine I've watched and gone, "Why didn't I just XYZ?!?"

* Excellent job keeping her focused on you during that long break before your run! I hate it when they keep us standing there. I'm often first and so try to time it correctly before I go in, but it's tough. You did a great job adjusting to the situation.

* I love your hair!

Just some thoughts. Take it all with a grain of salt and / or ignore entire. I love watching our Poodles strut their stuff! 

Thanks for sharing!
--Q


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## lily cd re

I was hoping you would do analysis for me Q.

The judge was very nice and I thought her courses were great. But many thought the jumpers courses were quite tricky in spots.

I appreciate your thoughts on the Rs. I totally have no idea why she refused the A frame Saturday, but can see that I should have backed her up further to get her on it that day. I hear you about keeping myself squared up. Stef tells me that same thing.

That place is fabulous. Even though it is a bit noisy it is really great to run on a clean even surface and not to be worrying over wind and rain, etc. I had entered but didn't run at an outdoor trial the first weekend in October because the weather was so foul. I have been doing a lot to get fun back into sports for Lily so I didn't think it was fair to run her under really yucky conditions and risk damaging her spirit about things.

I will have to think about taking her off the line for breaking the start line stays. She never does it in training, but then again at Stef's yard I have a MACh and in mine we have an OTCh!

Thanks for your comments about keeping her fresh on that long wait for Sunday standard. Those things really stress me out horribly.


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## Quossum

I think that walking the dog off the course is such an individual decision! I've seen people walk their dogs off for an R that was quite obviously the handler's fault, and I've seen people keep on going with a wild dog who's paying no attention whatsover to the handler and just running riot over the course.

I showed a corgi, Hobbit, whom I wouldn't have walked off for any reason at all, though--she would have been the dog in the latter example, where if she were running riot I'd be thinking, "Wow, at least she's running!" She had stress issues and was known to take *herself* out of the ring, so I certainly wasn't going to indulge her!

I think to be able to learn from the walk-off requires a dog who is passionate about running and would do almost anything to run again. One who will see being walked off as an Oopsie moment but not be too devastated by it. And of course, one who is absolutely 100% sure of why he's being walked off. 

Sugarfoot is so drivey, and his foundation is so strong, that I think he does learn from a walk-off. I had to resort to that a lot with contacts during his awful phase. I thought we were done with walk-offs, but wouldn't you know it, just this past weekend, he was so full of mustard I ended up walking him out of Time 2 Beat at obstacle 3, the a-frame, despite the fact that it was a potential title run, and he did *hit* the contact, just didn't pause at the bottom as he's supposed to. Very difficult for me to do! But hopefully I purchased better contacts for this coming weekend!

--Q


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## lily cd re

Well as you saw I did walk off on Saturday in jumpers because she got lost and I didn't want her to continue to be frustrated. She got lost because she left the line too soon. I think walking off prevented her from getting frustrated. Seemingly it helped because Sunday jumpers was generally better. It is a fine tuning act though.

The novice handler who had her dog leave the ring and interfere with a masters run should have taken the dog off the course very early on. They had totally disconnected and I think the dog had totally forgotten that mom even existed for a moment or two. I think it was much harder for me to think about the walk off when I was in novice though than it is now.


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## poolann

Wish me luck folks. I have Racer aka Tigger entered for 3 runs this Friday after taking a year off. I'm hoping the work I've done on my handling & his maturity will pay off. Either way I'm going to enjoy being back in the arena with him.


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## DreamAgility

Good luck Anna and Racer!!! Dreamer and I might come visit sometime this weekend. No agility for us because we took the last 3 months off but will hopefully be back for the November trial!


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## poolann

DreamAgility said:


> Good luck Anna and Racer!!! Dreamer and I might come visit sometime this weekend. No agility for us because we took the last 3 months off but will hopefully be back for the November trial!


I only entered for Fri. Not many folks from Speedy Paws entered this time.


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## DreamAgility

poolann said:


> I only entered for Fri. Not many folks from Speedy Paws entered this time.


Was it the date, the judges, or the dog flue that scared people away?


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## poolann

DreamAgility said:


> Was it the date, the judges, or the dog flue that scared people away?


I honestly don't know


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## lily cd re

I hope you have great runs with Racer!


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## Quossum

poolann said:


> Wish me luck folks. I have Racer aka Tigger entered for 3 runs this Friday after taking a year off. I'm hoping the work I've done on my handling & his maturity will pay off. Either way I'm going to enjoy being back in the arena with him.


Good luck! Take videos!

We're showing this weekend, too, after a very uninspiring last weekend and some setbacks on usually-good skills.

Luck to all in the ring this weekend! Run fast run clean!

--Q


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## Minnie

*Q & Poolann* - Best of luck this weekend!!!!

*Catherine -* Thank you for sharing the videos I love watching Lily fly 

Last weekend Bella earned QQ #3 and Q'd 4 out of 6 runs with 1st and 2nd placements - felt so connected. I get near tears stepping to the start line with her as these memories we are making means so very very much. Lily had no Q's but she was a happy and confident dog all weekend so progress. 

This weekend was have a working spot in an OMD seminar can't wait 

Pics from last weekend's trial:


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## Minnie

It's been a busy could of weeks last weekend we had a working spot in a OMD workshop and I can only say if you get a chance to do one take it! Loved every single second even when we struggled it was still a fabulous experience!

We are just back from another trial and Bella was 6 out of 7 earning QQ #4 & #5 and took 2nd in T2B - missed a perfect weekend by one weave pole - she saved me so many times love this girl - life is so very good! Lily had a really good Fri & Sun and was one little thing away from Qs - progress 

Happy training everyone!


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## Quossum

Amazing weekend, Minnie! Congrats!

We had quite the opposite. Eight runs and only one Q. Granted, that one Q was first place in the challenging new class, Premier, and in Jumpers, to boot, usually not his strong suit, but still...I was really hoping to increase our double Qs.

Oh, well, there's always the next show!

I'll have to get a video together; those Premier courses were brutal!

--Q


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## lily cd re

I can beat you Q, no green on eight runs in the last two times out, adding to a string of nothing green for ages. I am thinking it is time to stop. For all there were some good things two weeks ago this weekend was awful. No start lines despite working hard on that wait. No focus, lots of stress signs on the way to the rings, sneezing, yawning, tongue flicks, you name it. I think we both had a terrible time this weekend.


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## Quossum

Oh, yikes! and Ouch! Yeah, that stings. Well, I'm going to partially blame the weather for mine. We were in the midst of a front, there was oppressive humidity one day and constant rain the next. Sugarfoot was a wild child. He even pulled out of the weaves twice, which is not usually something he does. Oh, and my husband's dog, MACH 4 Gimble, usually as reliable as clockwork, only got one Q as well. It was just weird!

Better luck next time!

--Q


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## lily cd re

I just don't understand what happens with this sport. We went to the same place as two weeks ago. It is a beautiful venue and we've been there a bunch of times, shouldn't have been stressful and the "weather" was fine. I know wind can make Lily lose focus I neither of us is ever going to run between raindrops. It can be warm in the arena so I don't go there in the summer. 

I am just not sure how much more of an investment in this I have the fortitude for.


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## Minnie

*Q and Catherine - *So sorry for the issues this sport is tough physically and even more mentally! While I celebrate Bella's recent success on the other side is Lily... I just checked and since her OA title at the end of June we've had 2 Qs with major trial stress issues :-( With winter on the way we are nearing the end of the trial season and I think we both need the break. 

*Q -* I would love to see video especially of the Premier courses. Hoping to see more of this option in trials next season.


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## Minnie

Oh dogs definitely keep you humble... Bella decided the chute is once again a dog eating monster so we ended up 2 out of 4 - Qs on JWW only. We never even completed the standard courses as the first day I took her off the course when she refused to even set one paw inside the chute and today it took about 6 tries but she eventually did the chute and we celebrated, thanked the judge and left the course. She is fine on the practice chute and the local trial chutes but the new safety chutes or very dark long chutes she refuses - I'm going to try to order one for home training. 

Happy training everyone


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## Quossum

Here's a video of our first foray into the new AKC Premier class. The courses are quite challenging, with backside jumps, threadles, weird angles, large distances, short distances...pretty brutal. It rewards dogs who are attentive and responsive, yes, but there are also sequences where they can run. Dogs get the title with 25 Qs, five of which must be earned with the dog in the top 25% of its class.

The Q rate was very, very low. Sugarfoot only qualified in 1 of 4, the Jumpers on the last day. He was the only 24" dog to qualify, so he got his first Q and his first of the five required "top 25%" Qs.

It's quite intense! I don't know if I'll keep doing it while we're trying to get the MACH, but it does make the regular Master courses seem pretty tame!

--Q

https://youtu.be/ni9RX6ZBeBE

Enjoy!


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## Axeldog

I lurk around in this PF section from time to time, and really love seeing the videos you all post of your experiences. 

Such fun to watch, both the successes, and the not-so-successful times. 

I would really love an opportunity to try agility with Axel someday.


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## DreamAgility

I so want to enter the premier class! How do y'all like it? Dreamer is in Open, so we will have a bit to wait until we are in Masters.


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## Quossum

DreamAgility said:


> I so want to enter the premier class! How do y'all like it? Dreamer is in Open, so we will have a bit to wait until we are in Masters.


Well, it is very, very challenging, and I worry a little that it might slow us down or make Sugarfoot "second guess" himself in the regular classes. Though responsive, he's pretty much a go-go-go dog, so it's tough to put him in that "tight" mindset. The dogs really need precision skills. Lots of running between jumps, threadles, backsides, all those things. 

Also, the time is pretty tight; my husband's corgi had a clean run on one course but did not Q because she was over time. Now granted, she wasn't running her fastest that round, as it was the end of the day and she was tired, but still, time is usually not an issue for her.

On the other hand...no table! :lol:

I say give it a try. I'm entered in a few more upcoming, but then I might take a break until we get our MACH. Haven't decided.

--Q


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## Minnie

QQ #7 for Bella 

Very happy no chute or teeter issues and nailed all her weaves. The Q's we missed were completely on me - such a brave girl!


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## Quossum

That's awesome! Those double Q's are hard to come by. Congrats!

--Q


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## Quossum

Speaking of Double Q's...we finally got to number 11, and I finally got around to making a video. Notice there's quite a long interval between number 9 and the latest one, number 11. It's been sort of rocky lately, but hopefully we're on an upswing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owvxl3tJocU&feature=youtu.be

--Q


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## poolann

Well it's been a while since I've checked in. The first trial we attended in Oct did not go well. Same old goofy Racer running amok. I entered one day in a trial at a completely new venue. There was progress meaning he had done worse. He did work a little & I was very proud. One of the judges clapped me on the shoulder & said "sometimes it happens" to which I replied "if you had any idea how much better he did than usual you'd laugh harder. It's progress & I'm really pleased with it." 

By the third run he started screeching outside the ring. We started running through tricks to redirect. The third run was by far the worst but it was standard & he made all the contacts nicely. Weaves looked great in all 3 runs. 

My trainer has advised me to enter again & only run Std & Jww rather than fast at this time. Also to enter more than one day at a trial. He just tends to melt down like a 2 yr old who needs a nap by a third run. Racer just turned 3 on the 5th of this month. Maybe by Spring we'll find our groove lol


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## Quossum

Good to see you! Sugarfoot is four and I feel like he's just not settling down, so it'll happen! These boys are just so rambunctious!

--Q


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## lily cd re

Please don't tell me I have four years to go before Javelin collects his head because he's a boy! Lily collected her obedience head just before she turned 3. That's what I am hoping for with Jav.


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## poolann

lily cd re said:


> Please don't tell me I have four years to go before Javelin collects his head because he's a boy! Lily collected her obedience head just before she turned 3. That's what I am hoping for with Jav.


Well Catherine, Racer's obedience head is pretty good but I won't compete with him in that venue. He's pretty good in rally which is where I'll keep him for now. Agility though is very exciting & there are people to visit & a wide open space to run lol


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## lily cd re

poolann said:


> Well Catherine, Racer's obedience head is pretty good but I won't compete with him in that venue. He's pretty good in rally which is where I'll keep him for now. Agility though is very exciting & there are people to visit & a wide open space to run lol


I do have my general plan for Javelin to be to start him in rally. I love rally for giving you a way to communicate the value of being connected and checked in in ways that obedience doesn't and, for me at least, agility hasn't so far because Lily gets frustrated by how slow I am.


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## Quossum

Haha--I see now my message had a typo that changed the meaning...it should have said, "...is just NOW settling down." Still probably not what you wanted to hear, but at least it IS happening!

Not that I don't get jealous of my friend with a five year old dog who's already like MACH 9, or even my hubby's six-year old MACH 4. Just struggling along here with a crazy poodle who's finally becoming a contender!

--Q


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## DreamAgility

Got a leg in Open JWW. No Q in STD as the judge "chased" dreamer, the tunnel lady "jumped" at her, and she jumped over the "eyes". Clean run, but over time. 
2nd in JWW, and she was the fastest 20" dog in that class!!!


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## poolann

Oh my Naughty, Naughty boy. Racer is just silly & ran amok today. On the positive side he didn't get crazy Poodle eyes in our morning JWW run until we actually reached the start line. We made it through 3 jumps in order in the middle of the course & his weaves were beautiful. His recall was good which I used a few time. In the afternoon Std run crazy eyes started outside the ring but it was tunnel to the dog walk. His contact was great but then he decided that he liked it so much he turned around & went back over it & through the tunnel in the opposite direction instead of to the jump that I was moving toward as I released him. I of course went with him back over the dog walk as I didn't want him to bail off. After that we practiced our recall a few more times & did a couple of jumps. So today, I think he visited everyone in the ring. We had fun and we will be going back tomorrow. I'm going to have the chiro check him as he's stutter stepping jumps & the last time he did that he was locked up behind his shoulders.


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## Quossum

Oh, those crazy poodle times! A lot of people here swear by getting their dogs "adjusted." We had another less-than-stellar weekend last week, too--1/8--so I feel your pain. Better luck this weekend!

--Q


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## Quossum

Since this thread is about sharing the ups AND downs, well, here's a video featuring some of the downs! Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/91VvS_rvkAA

He actually is very good at Agility, but man, this is a lot of runs where something went wrong! All runs from this compilation are froms runs in the Master classes, where even the smallest error results in an NQ. 

So, behold this collection, and don't be discouraged! I'm still going strong despite all of this!

--Q


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## Minnie

*Q* - Thank you so very much - love love love this video!!!! Supporting each other through the Ups and Downs is why I love this thread so very much!

Our final trial for the year was a mess. I was headed to the airport to travel for work the same day as the trial (thank goodness for DH) for driving and was anxious about the footing (Bella hates dirt) and it seriously showed :-( We ended up 1/5 (T2B Q) the rest was failures in my handling or the dog eater monster (teeter) issue resurfaced and the chute let's just say I have one on order from NTI.... 

Better luck next time for all of us! Our next AKC trial is not until late Jan as I try not to travel much in the winter due to weather. 

Happy holidays everyone - may your poodles bring you lots of joy!


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## Quossum

This thread needs some action!

The latest Sugarfoot video commemorates a few very frustrated weekends to which those of us in pursuit of the QQs will surely relate: "I got a Standard leg and a Jumpers leg...but not on the same day!" It feels like that kind of weekend happens "all the time." Maybe not, but when it does...SO annoying!

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/CA-tnmuH5Q0

--Q


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## Axeldog

Q
I love watching you two work together- thanks for posting.


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## Quossum

Well, finally got the Jumpers and the Standard Q on the same day!

Put together a video with our three latest double Q's. The last Jumpers run (the one from Feb. 20) was one of the best Jumpers we've done, very smooth, beautifully handled, nice tight turns. We were 1.5 seconds behind the first place dogs (one of the hottest 24" dogs in our area) for that run, so very proud of him.

I fell like I've really crossed a mental barrier now. Thirteen QQs was the number my last Agility dog, my Iggy, Pixie, had before she had to retire. Now, Sugarfoot has exceeded that. I feel like we could actually make it!

Even if we keep going at the rate of only one QQ per month, we'll still make it! But I'm hoping that we're getting more consistent and will pick up the pace now.

http://youtu.be/da3vAJVW9tA

Three more shows between now and Nationals!

--Q


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## Minnie

*Q - *Congratulations!!!!!!! Those moments when it all comes together are priceless!


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## Minnie

*Bellla QQ #8*

Bella faced the agility monster this weekend (aka the teeter) and won! She went 4 for 4 on the teeter and chute. Did we Q every run - nope but she was so brave and we had so much fun!


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## Quossum

The latest: Double Q's 15 and 16--on two consecutive weekends, no less! Both outdoor shows, one in a new venue with such deep sand for footing that I felt like I was running in slow motion.

I won't say that we're "consistent" at this point, but I definitely feel like we're "getting there"!

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62mZh6saWu8&feature=youtu.be

--Q


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## Minnie

Congrats Q that is awesome!

We also get to share an Up - Bella earned her MX title this weekend so she is officially now:

Bella - MX, MXJ, OA, OAJ, NA, NAJ, NF 

She made this happen on a surface that she definitely did not like. I believe she was shocked from the static in the air during one of her runs as she was very hesitant so much in fact that we missed a double Q by a refusal call when she hesitated slightly before a jump (tough judge)... Rubbing her with dryer sheets and wetting her paws was suggested so we'll give that a try next time. She was 2 for 2 on the teeter, chute, and 4 for 4 on weaves so it was a great weekend


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## Minnie

*Bella - MJB*

We've had two great weekends in a row - 4 double Q's  - Fear free teeters, chutes, weaves and she saved my bacon again by taking a call off from an off course obstacle silly handler. She also earned a new title - MJB 

Bella is now: MX, MXJ, MJB, AX, AXJ, OA, OAJ, NA, NAJ, NF

But the very best part of all of this is just seeing how happy she is when we step to the starting line - all the above is just gravy - this feeling of pure joy and connection is priceless! 

We get to play premier for the first time this weekend - can't wait to give it a go - Q or not I'm going to start and end with the best dog and she is going to know it!


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## mashaphan

Congrats!:cheers2::cheers2:!

Martha and Che


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## Minnie

We had a fabulous weekend - Bella Q'd 8 out of the 9 runs:

T2B, Premiere JWW, Premiere Std, and 2 QQ (JWW, Std), and a JWW - the only Q we missed was the last Std run on Sunday where I failed to reconnect before a tunnel and the chute gremlin came out - took 3 times but she conquered the monster and we celebrated big time and left the ring. Every moment this brave girl teaches me something - so very thankful to be on this incredible journey!

Oh and Elsie was spoiled all weekend and she was awesome in her crate


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## Quossum

Congrats! That's a great weekend. So what do you think about Premier?

--Q


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## Minnie

Quossum said:


> Congrats! That's a great weekend. So what do you think about Premier?
> 
> --Q


I really enjoyed the challenge and we will definitely be looking for trials with this option. However I'll likely drop T2B as Bella seemed a bit tired on day 3 and I want to keep this only fun for her. We are on a month's break from trialing so hopefully that will help.


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## tedsmom

*Teeter issues*

My miniature poodle, Ted and I have been competing for 3 months in AKC agility. When we first started training, Ted had major fear issues on the teeter. After a ton of work, he now loves the teeter in training. But when he is in a trial, the fear comes back and he refuses to get on the teeter. I think it's a generalization problem, but I'm not sure how I can get Ted used to other teeters when he normally only sees the one in training. We can't train in a trial, so I'm wondering how to get past this. Anyone else ever have this problem? Thanks.


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## DreamAgility

Wow, its been ages since I updated on this thread!

Dreamer and I will be trialing this weekend for 3 days(1st time ever doing more than 2) .We are entered in open for both Jumpers and STD. and I have a feeling we will be bringing home some titles! I cant wait to bring her out into Excellent! I got my aussie up to excellent and then retired her because she was too stressed. I am also looking forward to spending 3 days with friends(well, we shall see who comes) and especially having some great fun with Dreamer! Ill promise to take pictures and videos if you guys promise to pray for a safe and fun weekend for the two of us. Okay???
Also, this will probably be one of the last few trials I do as junior handler. I will be 18 this October and I am trying to cram in as many trials as I can, but there arent that many local to me and I am not allowed on the interstate. I started showing when I was 13, and it seems like such a short/long time ago...It makes me sad how many does have retired, how many people have stopped showing, and how people have changed.

Good luck to everyone else out there trialing this weekend!


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## poolann

Good luck this weekend! I won't be there as I'm headed out of town to celebrate my birthday. Plus Racer is more than a little crazy in that venue. I'll probably hold off until the fall before I take him there again.


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## Quossum

tedsmom said:


> My miniature poodle, Ted and I have been competing for 3 months in AKC agility. When we first started training, Ted had major fear issues on the teeter. After a ton of work, he now loves the teeter in training. But when he is in a trial, the fear comes back and he refuses to get on the teeter. I think it's a generalization problem, but I'm not sure how I can get Ted used to other teeters when he normally only sees the one in training. We can't train in a trial, so I'm wondering how to get past this. Anyone else ever have this problem? Thanks.


Many dogs go through a teeter fear phase; for some dogs it's their most challenging obstacle.

Some thoughts:
* Make a special effort to train with other teeters for a while. Is there a place where you usually have trials, and if so, can you arrange to come in and practice on that teeter? Can you visit other training centers and use their teeters?
* Practice with a wobble board to make sure your dog learns to really enjoy things moving under his feet. You can buy really fancy wobble boards, but ours was just a square of plywood with a half a tennis ball bolted to the underside of it. Our dogs learned to get on it enthusiastically because good things happened on it! You can take the wobble board to different places to practice with it, too.
* While you can't exactly train in the ring, maybe take a few shows where you only enter FAST (where you can skip the teeter) to keep him happy in the ring and not dreading the teeter, or conversely use FAST to specially work the teeter, either getting him over it and then running out for a huge jackpot reward, or have him do it repeatedly with high praise, depending on your dog's temperament. Or, sacrifice a run to do the same with the teeter in Standard.
* When at practice, try to increase the stress around the teeter so that he can work through it. Throw toys, get people to walk around close by, play with other dogs, anything to get the practice environment to be a bit more "exciting," like the show environment.

Good luck! Just keep it positive; most dogs get through their scary teeter phase eventually!

--Q


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## Quossum

*MACH Sugarfoot*

Had to post Sugarfoot's MACH video in the official Agility thread. We've had our share of the frustrations, but at last, triumph!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nm6Dc8fDXM&feature=youtu.be



I got me some crazy eyes in this picture, but it hadn't really sunk in yet!

Keep at it--you will get there!

--Q


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## mashaphan

OMG,would you believe I cried at this video??! HUGE congrats!:adore:

Martha and Che RAE


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## Minnie

*Q - * Major congratulations!!!!!!!!! I've been out of town for work and just saw this post


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## Minnie

Giving this old thread a bump as I'm seeing lots of posts of new people trying agility and there are so many posts in here that really helped me not give up 

Tomorrow I start the "official" agility journey with Elsie (7 mo) as she attends her first agility foundation class. We've been working through several online courses and basic obedience so I'm hopeful yet she is full on crazy puppy at the moment so I have very low expectations and plan to keep it fun no matter what happens.


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## Sanic

Flynn is doing really well in agility and is great at sticking with me and knowing which obstacle to go to if I just give a verbal command (usually when I'm too far behind, he's so fast!). 

He loves all the obstacles so far except the dog walk. He's not terrified of it but he just plain doesn't like it. I've scheduled a couple of private classes to work on it so hopefully that will help. Does anyone have any tips?


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## lily cd re

I have had a couple of odd moments with Lily and the dog walk. The first was when she was relatively new to agility. The dog walk was close to a corner of the training floor where there were mirrors for obedience classes. She was going across the top and saw herself in the mirror (I suppose thinking it was another dog) and turned around and went down the side she had come up. I put her leash on and stayed by her side to get her to go all the way across and gave her a treat out in front of her on the top board right ahead of where she had turned around the first time. The few times it was in that area of the floor there was never another problem. The last time we had a dog walk problem was one day in the spring when we were taking a lesson with our trainer. Lily was doing really great work and was over confident. She was running nearly full speed across the top board and missed the board putting her right back foot into empty air. I was so afraid she would fall off, but she has great core strength and she managed to hold on and lied down. Stef and I each went over to where she was on opposite sides of the board. Stef picked her foot up. I got her to sit and then to stand in place. She had really scared herself so we put a trail of treats out to get her to finish it. After that we sent her back on in the opposite direction called for in the course a few times to let her do it with a different picture to it before going to the jump before the dog walk and had her finish the course. Then we had a big tugging party.

There are a couple of things you can try. One would be to just stay with him and focus just on the dog walk for a few runs each session to take making sure to celebrate with him when he was good. Another thing to think of if you use two on two off stopped contacts would be to do as I am with Javelin and make sure you have solid exit criteria (teach the two on two off and release first) then work on the entry and performance of it. You could also think about using a plank the dimension of the top board and teach that by itself with the board close to the ground (think putting cinder blocks under it).


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## Sanic

Thank you Catherine!

We ended up using planks during our private lesson and that gave him a small confidence boost. When it came time for our group agility class he actually stepped onto the dog walk on his own (before he would avoid it completely and when we tried to lure him on it he would bark at us). We got him to take 6 steps, treating for each step and he was wagging his tail the whole time.

I have another private lesson scheduled in 2 weeks so we will continue to work on it then as well as tons of positive reinforcement for any progress in the group classes.


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## lily cd re

I feel like I haven't had anything much to say here in a month of Sundays (or longer). I took the summer off to work on Lily for utility obedience and because it was too hot for me and for the dogs to work outside on anything other than baby steps at home.

We got a bunch of dates with Stefanie during the course of the fall, but the weather has continued to be a bit of an obstacle and has caused several cancellations. We got back on track though this morning in smart style.

I took both Javelin and Lily. I put Lily up in an ex pen and worked Javelin first, partly so we wouldn't have him trying to escape and partly to burn some energy off him. He hasn't done much of anything since Thanksgiving and my mishap with grooming shears that required him to spend the week wearing a donut to keep him away from his sutures. We are still teaching him foundation skills like two on two off for contacts and having a good start line (so lots and lots of impulse control work). Today after two on two off at both the A frame and the dog walk (he clearly has interest in going up and over both of them) we set him up for an introduction to front crosses with one jump to send to and then call to a sit after the front cross. He caught on really nicely for this and even stuck with me with no leash. I see signs his brain is going to collect itself and he really has fabulous drive which will be great to watch once he collects his head.

I put Javelin in the car while Lily and I worked just for a few minutes at the end of the hour. I think having her watch Javelin was a great motivator for her. She really focused on the exercise we did which was all about sending her to obstacles rather than taking her to obstacles. Stef had a simple sequence for her, but it was very effective. As best I can describe it here is what the short course was like: jump with the opportunity for a long lead out to the A frame; release from the A frame to a 180 turn to a jump followed by a lead change to another jump about 25-30 feet ahead with a nearby off course jump; from the second jump a 90 deg turn to a tunnel (as you may remember not her favorite thing) and out of the tunnel a right turn back to go up the original down side of the A frame and then a send ahead to the original jump in the opposite direction of the start. After one off course between the 2nd and 3rd jumps we had a beautiful couple of runs of the whole sequence with me being able to just lead out to the first time over the A frame, move to where she had her 2 on 2 off, release her from there to the jump, send her everywhere else she needed to go from the A frame and then turn around to release Lily from the 2 on 2 off at the bottom of the A frame and send her from there to the start finish jump. I feel like it was a huge breakthrough. My knee has been a bit creaky and squeaky again lately and I have been wondering how much it was worth investing in agility work with either of them but especially Javelin. He is such a big striding dog I will never get anywhere if I have to go around the whole course with him. However since his original foundations will be much better than Lily's were I should be able to avoid a lot of the reckless things she used to do like fly offs from the top of the A frame and such. I will try to remember to take my tablet and tripod the next time we work to get some video. I feel pretty psyched and I think Lily is happy at the prospect of working some more agility along with rally and obedience.


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## Quossum

It was great to read the update! Just keep working on distance and you can shorten your own path greatly and let the dog do most of the running. 

I haven't made a video in a while, but I guess I need to. Sugarfoot is more than halfway to his second MACH title at this point with 11 double Q's. He is really hitting his stride and hasn't missed a Jumpers run (usually his bane!) in several shows. Hard to believe after all the struggles, but it does all come together eventually!

--Q


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## Minnie

*MACH Bella!!!*

*Introducing MACH Bella MX MXB MXJ MJS NF*

On April 1st, my tiny Bella became a Masters Agility Champion! 

I have to thank so many on this thread! We have truly shared the "ups and downs" of this journey. I am humbled, blessed, and forever grateful!


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## lily cd re

How wonderful for you!


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## poolann

We did it! Racer finished both Novice preferred titles today. We still have lots to work on but that never really goes away. He struggles on the second day of a trial but in our last three, which I entered for two days each, he q'd in both classes on the first day. He stresses up so when tired he gets a little crazy. We'll keep working at it though. I plan to take him back through novice at regular height but I did move him up for tomorrow. We've got some contact issues developing. He was trained a 2o 2o which previously he held even when all over the place if I could get him to a contact. At the last trial on the 2nd day he decided to play superman on the a-frame & teeter. Today in standard he didn't jump but he sure as heck didn't hold it. How he is in jumpers tomorrow will determine if we run standard. I'm trying to avoid a 3rd occurrence of bad contacts at a trial so we'll back up our training a bit. 

Jumpers:
https://youtu.be/Wbj6os-dICQ

Standard:
https://youtu.be/okgc0T33m_A

For comparison his debut 3 years ago just in case anyone forgot....
https://youtu.be/BLdWNZTbTbA

He's really had limited trial experience with my knee injury flaring up last year & was way behind in training because of the initial injury. I think it's finally coming together though.


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## lily cd re

Congratulations! I'm sorry to hear that you are still having problems with your knee. I hope it improves and that you guys keep going.


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## Quossum

Wow--how far you have come! Great runs! I liked the cross behind the frame in the standard run, and great speed in the jumpers run. Congrats, and keep it up! 

--Q


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## LizzysMom

I've been looking at threads regarding agility in anticipation of Lizzy's upcoming (I hope) class. I'm bumping this VERY long-running thread so that anyone who has never looked at the you-tube video mentioned in one of the very first posts - 2010! - will look it up. I've watched it multiple times and just....laughed. I'm lousy at attaching links, but if you search for "Shiva Goes Crazy", you'll find it. If the goal of agility is to have fun with your dog, this pair certainly succeeds!


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## poolann

I haven't posted in quite some time but we're continuing our agility journey. We moved back down to preferred height. While physically capable Racer mentally can't do 24" despite different training attempts. It was no fun for him so it was no fun for me. I was doing what I tell students not to do. Stressing my dog & ignoring what he was telling me because of my own pride. He showed some flashes of brilliance this weekend with speed, distance & control in jumpers. Standard was rough with contacts until our last run. He hit all of them but was creeping through instead of a 2o2o. This is his last run & he did great with contacts although it was his only broken stay of the weekend. The refusal after the teeter was my fault as I checked out & disconnected from my dog. 

Anyway, unfortunately this is the only video I have from the trial. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/hKEiT_oh5Zc


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## lily cd re

Nice to hear from you. I have to get ready for work, but will watch your video later.


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## Quossum

poolann said:


> I haven't posted in quite some time but we're continuing our agility journey. ...
> Anyway, unfortunately this is the only video I have from the trial. Enjoy!
> 
> https://youtu.be/hKEiT_oh5Zc


Good job! I enjoyed your video. He looks very comfortable jumping 20" and is reading those rear crosses very well. I think you're on to something! Good luck as your journey continues!

--Q


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