Ever watch videos like this one and feel like, damn, we'll never be that good?
Just feeling down about our abilities lately, for a lot of reasons. Feeling stagnant, like we really aren't getting any where, but I don't have many options to change what we are doing. Something is holding us back. Working through the Next Level tests, I feel like there are small holes, things that we can improve, but nothing major. So it doesn't seem to be obstacle performance for the most past. Looking back at our trials the past few months, start lines have certainly been a problem area that I can improve on, and one that really SHOULD be addressed ASAP. But then I feel like, what the heck was I doing with all that foundations stuff if it's breaking down now? Leaving to go get the leash/toy mid run is another problem, which again makes me feel like a crappy trainer, what the heck did I do all that impulse control work for? Then when I *do* start handling courses, everything feels muddled. I can't even get through 10-15 obstacle training sequences any more. Of course then I start berating myself for even attempting *handling* when I can't keep my dog away from a toy for more than 30 seconds. WTF am I doing wrong? Why can't we get past this?
I'd *love* to change something up, take a seminar, take a private with Soshana or something. But money's tight, and about to get tighter. And it's so hard to get in to any worthwhile seminars. I'm highly doubtful any one but the local instructor's students will get working spots when Jaako and Janita come out this way. Feeling stuck. Nothing's changing, we aren't getting better.
For some reason I cant see the video. I totally know how you feel. There is this lady that started her agility career with me. She had a great dog. But if anything went wrong in the ring (like off course), she would be mad at the dog. After the run was over she wouldnt reward the dog and put him in his crate. This made me so mad. The dog did slow down but otherwise still a great running dog. I would go talk to her and tell her that what happened on course was her fault and not rewarding the dog wasnt right. He had no idea what went wrong. So then I started taping her runs, so I could show her what went wrong. (because she never beleived me when I told her). Anyway she started to change but I could tell, she would still be made at the dog. She gave up her 20/2o contacts because he became very confused. So now she just manages them and it works. (I dont know how , he is a 20 inch dog). She has since moved away. Has a new smaller dog that is very fast and going well. I keep intouch on facebook. To finally get to the point, It kills me to watch her vidoes and how successfull she has become in agility. I realize that this is my issue but how did this happen. She doesnt really understand agility and why handling works. But she is really good. WTH???? This is the only person I feel this way about. I try to be a bigger person but I guess I have issues. And it only seems to be with her. I have other people that Ive trained and they have done really well. And I dont feel that way about them. Weird. Training is an on going process. Foundation training is a life long thing. I joined SG website training program. You go at your own pace. But one of the things she stresses , is that foundation training is something you keep working on for the life of the dog. So I wouldnt be to upset about these little set backs. Even very successful worldteam people have startline stay problems on young dogs. Unless you were at the trial, you probably wouldnt know. I think you are doing awesome with your dogs. Everyone feels stuck. Did you listen to the last podcast from Bad Dog agility? Maybe that will make you feel better.
The video works on my laptop, but not through the app on my phone. Here's a link, see if this works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA0VBI6WPlU It's just a random person, not a big name (at least not one that I know, she may be a big name in Canada, who knows) whose dog clearly GETS it. And she obviously put in some good training on him. It's beautiful to watch, and inspires me to want to get to that level too, but I feel helpless in making a plan to get there. Listened to the Bad Dog podcast. And it helped. I definitely feel the pressure of having a deadline with him entered in a team trial next month. And less isolated knowing that they (as quasi big names, at least they're well known) have this same problem too.
aok, I watched the video. what a very nice dog. I dont think you can compare that dog to your dog. They just run so differently. Ok, here is one thing I feel is wrong on the video. I think it was on the first run. She does a reverse spin,or what ever it is called, that it so cue your dog to turn really tight after the braod jump. But she doesnt want her dog to turn really tight over that broad jump. She did it in a couple of other places that I didnt think it should be used. Im no great trainer or what ever. But IMO you shouldnt use that technique unless you want a tight turn. Otherwise it starts to loose its effectiveness and the dog starts going wider. Then when you really need it , it no longer works. I know you didnt say that this was a problem, but try not to get caught up in all these "New" technques. Learn them at what ever pace is comfortable and add them in to your runs at trials, when needed. Most of the time they arent needed on an AKC course. So its hard to practice any of that stuff. (also remember, you dont know what this girls history is. This maybe her 5th dog she has trained. You expect her and her dog to be better. I hope you arent offened by this but Kraft runs much faster that your other dogs. So running him is so much different that your other dogs. Your timing has to be faster and you have to think about where you are going 2 jumps ahead of your dog. I bet you didnt need to so that with your other dogs. ) I think you need to give youself more credit. You made it to the finals at Cynosports. You know how hard that is. You know what you are doing and have trained your dog well. Maybe you dont see it, but I think your runs are awesome and you are just as good as that girl. Ive seen you post some pretty hard runs and seminar vidoe. Im impressed. Maybe you need to go back and find that video and look at it. I cant remeber when it was but it was a seminar with Kraft and it was inside a building.
In the OMD system, the reverse spin is also used to help with discriminations, if there was an obstacle straight ahead of the long jump, then the reverse spin is appropriate. You can adjust how tightly the dog turns after the spin by your motion after the spin. In their philosophy, as long as the dog lands looking along the correct line or towards the next obstacle, then the move is "correct". There aren't many rules other than that. When Daisy came out for a seminar last summer here, she came to my house and did private lessons for Mary and me. I was talking about how I was having trouble at the time getting my dog to turn without the spinning. We reviewed the correct motion and footwork for a forward send and lateral send and how it is very easy to get it wrong and have your dog go wide. The reason the spins WORK is because it forces the handler to have "correct" footwork and for the chest to always be pointed in the right direction rather than swinging your dog wide (goes back to turning shoulders away from your dog is a forward cue, not a collection cue). So yes, we cleaned up my turns without the spin, but honestly the spin is SOOO much easier for the handler to execute correctly and is far more efficient as far as getting to the next part of the course faster, I don't see a problem using it as often as necessary. This past weekend pretty much proved that it's the start line stay issues that are causing our disconnect. Out of 6 runs, he stayed on 4 of them. 2 of those he Q'd on, and the other 2 were absolutely gorgeous NQ's that were the result of me just not making the best handling decisions in one part of the course. The two runs that he broke his stay were complete disasters. I don't want to have to start pulling him. I have two UKI trials coming up and I was hoping to have these issues fixed by then so I could work on trying to get some Q's for the US Open, really would rather not run NFC but I may have to.
For some reason I cant see the video. I totally know how you feel. There is this lady that started her agility career with me. She had a great dog. But if anything went wrong in the ring (like off course), she would be mad at the dog. After the run was over she wouldnt reward the dog and put him in his crate. This made me so mad. The dog did slow down but otherwise still a great running dog. I would go talk to her and tell her that what happened on course was her fault and not rewarding the dog wasnt right. He had no idea what went wrong. So then I started taping her runs, so I could show her what went wrong. (because she never beleived me when I told her). Anyway she started to change but I could tell, she would still be made at the dog. She gave up her 20/2o contacts because he became very confused. So now she just manages them and it works. (I dont know how , he is a 20 inch dog). She has since moved away. Has a new smaller dog that is very fast and going well. I keep intouch on facebook. To finally get to the point, It kills me to watch her vidoes and how successfull she has become in agility. I realize that this is my issue but how did this happen. She doesnt really understand agility and why handling works. But she is really good. WTH???? This is the only person I feel this way about. I try to be a bigger person but I guess I have issues. And it only seems to be with her. I have other people that Ive trained and they have done really well. And I dont feel that way about them. Weird.
ReplyDeleteTraining is an on going process. Foundation training is a life long thing. I joined SG website training program. You go at your own pace. But one of the things she stresses , is that foundation training is something you keep working on for the life of the dog. So I wouldnt be to upset about these little set backs. Even very successful worldteam people have startline stay problems on young dogs. Unless you were at the trial, you probably wouldnt know. I think you are doing awesome with your dogs. Everyone feels stuck. Did you listen to the last podcast from Bad Dog agility? Maybe that will make you feel better.
The video works on my laptop, but not through the app on my phone. Here's a link, see if this works.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA0VBI6WPlU
It's just a random person, not a big name (at least not one that I know, she may be a big name in Canada, who knows) whose dog clearly GETS it. And she obviously put in some good training on him. It's beautiful to watch, and inspires me to want to get to that level too, but I feel helpless in making a plan to get there.
Listened to the Bad Dog podcast. And it helped. I definitely feel the pressure of having a deadline with him entered in a team trial next month. And less isolated knowing that they (as quasi big names, at least they're well known) have this same problem too.
aok, I watched the video. what a very nice dog. I dont think you can compare that dog to your dog. They just run so differently. Ok, here is one thing I feel is wrong on the video. I think it was on the first run. She does a reverse spin,or what ever it is called, that it so cue your dog to turn really tight after the braod jump. But she doesnt want her dog to turn really tight over that broad jump. She did it in a couple of other places that I didnt think it should be used. Im no great trainer or what ever. But IMO you shouldnt use that technique unless you want a tight turn. Otherwise it starts to loose its effectiveness and the dog starts going wider. Then when you really need it , it no longer works. I know you didnt say that this was a problem, but try not to get caught up in all these "New" technques. Learn them at what ever pace is comfortable and add them in to your runs at trials, when needed. Most of the time they arent needed on an AKC course. So its hard to practice any of that stuff. (also remember, you dont know what this girls history is. This maybe her 5th dog she has trained. You expect her and her dog to be better. I hope you arent offened by this but Kraft runs much faster that your other dogs. So running him is so much different that your other dogs. Your timing has to be faster and you have to think about where you are going 2 jumps ahead of your dog. I bet you didnt need to so that with your other dogs. ) I think you need to give youself more credit. You made it to the finals at Cynosports. You know how hard that is. You know what you are doing and have trained your dog well. Maybe you dont see it, but I think your runs are awesome and you are just as good as that girl. Ive seen you post some pretty hard runs and seminar vidoe. Im impressed. Maybe you need to go back and find that video and look at it. I cant remeber when it was but it was a seminar with Kraft and it was inside a building.
ReplyDeleteIn the OMD system, the reverse spin is also used to help with discriminations, if there was an obstacle straight ahead of the long jump, then the reverse spin is appropriate. You can adjust how tightly the dog turns after the spin by your motion after the spin. In their philosophy, as long as the dog lands looking along the correct line or towards the next obstacle, then the move is "correct". There aren't many rules other than that. When Daisy came out for a seminar last summer here, she came to my house and did private lessons for Mary and me. I was talking about how I was having trouble at the time getting my dog to turn without the spinning. We reviewed the correct motion and footwork for a forward send and lateral send and how it is very easy to get it wrong and have your dog go wide. The reason the spins WORK is because it forces the handler to have "correct" footwork and for the chest to always be pointed in the right direction rather than swinging your dog wide (goes back to turning shoulders away from your dog is a forward cue, not a collection cue). So yes, we cleaned up my turns without the spin, but honestly the spin is SOOO much easier for the handler to execute correctly and is far more efficient as far as getting to the next part of the course faster, I don't see a problem using it as often as necessary.
DeleteThis past weekend pretty much proved that it's the start line stay issues that are causing our disconnect. Out of 6 runs, he stayed on 4 of them. 2 of those he Q'd on, and the other 2 were absolutely gorgeous NQ's that were the result of me just not making the best handling decisions in one part of the course. The two runs that he broke his stay were complete disasters. I don't want to have to start pulling him. I have two UKI trials coming up and I was hoping to have these issues fixed by then so I could work on trying to get some Q's for the US Open, really would rather not run NFC but I may have to.