Skillz Checklist

I went out to Paws N Effect for run throughs today. Mostly I wanted to rescue my video camera, which I left there a month and a half ago at a trial. Mission accomplished. There is video uploading as I type this, material for which has been floating around in my brain for months.

And I made good on my goal to work on the skills on my checklist. I praised all of his start lines, and since I was mostly working short sequences, we got to do several. He broke one, but not in they way he has been doing at trials. I think of "breaking" as in they just start the course without the release. Then there's the little get up and sniff something behind them. I think they do these behaviors for very different reasons, I just can't put my finger on what each one really means. Both are stress and a lack of a clear understanding of the criteria, but which choice they make is very different. Kraft can do both, but it was the start the course without me that was causing problems in trials. I think it's easier to fix the get up and sniff one, since they haven't really been able to self reward, and likely was just because they got distracted for a second, which is what he did today. And it was after we had just run a sequence and I was going back to the start to repeat it so he may not have been completely clear about what we were doing since mostly in run throughs I just keep going, reward where we are and go one from there, not go back to the start. But skill 1: check!

Also worked on lateral distance from the weaves. Poor guy, he was having a hard time with it at first. The first time he popped out, I said "whoops" and jollied him up, playing with him, but not giving him the toy I had. But he totally deflated. Would not go near the weaves. So I moved on to something else for a bit, then did the weaves the other way with lateral distance and rewarded to end that run. The second session I did it the same way and he kept popping, but I didn't mark it and just swung him back around to try again. He tried it three times before he finally got it right and I rewarded, and he didn't deflate. So yeah, he's still being very sensitive about corrections. Sorry buddy. But once I did reward it and then repeated it, he dove into the weaves and never hesitated about finishing them at all. So I think it was just something he needed to work through, needed time to think about the mistake and how to fix it. But will have to be very careful about how I verbally mark any mistakes.

Did work a little bit of commitment to a jump, just off of a table with me leading out far lateral from the jump I wanted him to take.

Did a flip. It was in a pretty easy place to do one, and I was late with the side change the first time, but the second time was a bit better.

There were no places to do a backside jump off the dog walk, but he did several gentle turns off the dog walk that were all lovely, no misses at all.

No speedy approach to the weaves off my right, but the weave sequence I was working on was dog walk, jump, weaves, with a tough approach angle that I pretty much just had to trust him to do on his own, and he did.

Very pleased with his work today. Hopefully will make it to the trial on Sunday. Weather is looking a bit iffy. It's our last AKC for probably most of the year.

Skillz

Just needed to write this down in a safe place. Our mistakes/faults/missing skills that occurred multiple times for January/February trials:
-Jump commitment with lateral distance (mostly it was me failing to cue the jump or not trusting it and being limited with options down the line because of it)
-Start line stays
-Lateral distance off weaves
-Speedy/blind weave approaches on my right side
-Backside jump off of dog walk (going around it and missing it completely)
-Flip (would have liked to use it twice, but chickened out both times)

Hoping to do this at the end of each month, check what skills we were missing the month or two before that and make that our homework. Since I won't be doing class, and the only training I might get is at run throughs once a week, where I don't get to choose the set up or see it beforehand, I need to be able to have several things I want to work on readily at hand that I can apply to almost any course set up. I figure one time through I will run the course set, the other time work on whatever skill set I have for the month.

Made Me Wish I Had My Video Camera

I'm kind of behind on posting, and I wish I could make up for that by saying I have a truly awesome video to accompany the story, but alas, after my last trial in Hamden, I must have forgotten my camera there with all the puppy excitement. So two absolutely AWESOME trials later, no video. We got snowed out of a UKI show the first weekend in February, which had me really bummed, but the following week I did get to go to one. Other than foundation behaviors, which barely resemble agility, just toy play, sending to cones or jump standards, we've barely done any agility. No class, no run throughs, and playing outside is out of the question. And I don't know if it was all the foundations stuff I've been working on, the break we basically have taken from agility, the PUPPY, or if he finally is just back to normal, but I finally feel connected to Kraft out on course again. It really is coming down to the start line, if he breaks, the whole run is going to be discombobulated, if he stays, even if we don't Q, it feels smooth and like we are a team at least. At that last UKI trial that I did get to go to, I was signed up for Masters Series, but when I saw who else was entered at 16", I knew we wouldn't have a shot at getting first or second for the Open. A World team dog, his killer two year old nephew, a super reliable BC and a young, crazy fast Border Jack both run by a really great handler and USDAA judge. No way were we going to break into the top of the ranks against that. The 16" Masters class was HUGE, bigger than the 20" and 22" combined. But I was very happy with how well he did. Tiny little mistakes in both agility and jumping. He did E on both courses, but they were honest mistakes, not due to disconnects. Still failed to get a novice agility Q. It was his first run and the turf was a little slick, and he just didn't collect enough for a weave entry. He looked surprised to see the weave pole going past him LOL. He has his games and jumping points to move up to senior level, but 0 points in agility, so we'll be stuck in Novice for a while. Marron was a good girl, didn't Q much, but as long as she's happy these days, I'm happy. Spy won Masters agility, thereby qualifying for the Masters series at the Open, if we go.
Then last weekend I was signed up for DAM and PVP with Spy and Kraft. Spent a nice weekend away at my parents' house while they were in Florida for a wedding. Again, Kraft was a solid partner, staying connected on every run, only lost him during snooker trying to go from my last color to start the close. He really should have seen my turning cues and not shot off over the end jump, but he didn't run to his leash, just wrapped the jump and came back, so I think it was an honest mistake. He also ran steeplechase. I'm kind of bummed because as well as he ran all weekend, he was the only 18" dog, so he gets 0 year end points. Not that top ten is necessarily my goal, but it stinks that in USDAA you're at the mercy of how popular or unpopular your height division is in any part of the country. In AKC, number of dogs is completely irrelevant to your overall standings, and in UKI, you still get a minimum points for just running clean. Another check mark in the pro-UKI column. Kraft's team managed a Q, with a truly spectacular third place relay run. Spy's team also Q'd and Spy was top 8" dog (out of 4, but 2 left and did not stay for relay because they were teamed together and both dogs not running their best all day). It's notable that she managed to do as well as she did, considering she earned us a big fat 0 in gamblers, leaving the ring as soon as I released her. Bad freaking dog! Lunch was being served and apparently it was calling her name. I *did* make the mistake of walking her right by the lunch table right before the run, I had forgotten to bring water with me and was getting dehydrated running both dogs, and I couldn't find any put out, so I went up to whoever was putting out the lunch and asked if they had water. They had to go find it, so I was stuck standing by the food table with a bored dog so I'm sure she had just too much time to plan her escape route to the table whenever she saw the opportunity. But every other run she did all weekend was absolutely perfect, so I can't complain really.
So all in all, some really great runs. Makes me so bummed my camera was in a completely different state. I had wanted to go to Tuesday run throughs at Paws to get it, but every Tuesday morning, the run throughs were cancelled because of snow on Monday. Stupid weather. So ready for winter to be done.
One thing I'm dreading despite the coming warmer weather, I think agility is going to have to go on hold for a while. When Mary moved in last year, I was really struggling financially. Got into some debt after moving in to my house a few years ago that I just haven't been able to clear. Then when she moved in, it should have been an opportunity to clear all that up. Instead, I just trialed more and didn't make as much of a dent as I should have into it. Then I went to California for Cynosports, and pretty much undid all the progress I had made. Put myself on a tight budget when we got back, determined not to put agility ahead of paying off the debt. Then there was Christmas, and my car needed new head gaskets. Which was fine, I was planning on both of those things. But now Mary's moving out. Despite the fact that I think it's a bad idea on her part, it also leaves me in only slightly better of a situation than I was in a year ago. But that budget needed to be revamped, and the most logical thing to get cut is agility. I estimate that if I take about 6 months off, I can get rid of the debt. That's as long as nothing major on my house or car needs replacing. And the exhaust system on my car and the water tank in my basement are both getting ready to need replacing, so that 6 months might be even longer. Sigh. I really wish I didn't have to do this. It's really depressing, but I figure I will be in a much better place to do MORE agility once I don't have to worry about the debt any more. I'm still signing up for things, until the day she moves out. I have trials through the end of March, and seminars in April and May already paid for. I might also enter a few UKI in April, but very up in the air which ones. I had started setting money aside every month since we got back, which was my agility budget, intending to have enough set aside for local trials, and enough extra so that by the fall I'd have enough for a trip to the Open and/or Cynosports. So if I use that up with a little bit more trialing, I'll be stuck in the fall without any money to go. So I don't know really what to do. Ideally, I'd find another doggie room mate, but I just don't think I could get lucky a second time and find someone who I could live with as easily. I've offered it to the incoming interns at work, which could still go badly, but I haven't even heard anything from them, so I'm not hopeful I'll get any one. Worrying about what the heck I'm going to do and how much I'm going to miss agility has made me really grumpy and moody lately. Having Treble has helped, just takes my mind off of everything. I don't have to worry about puppy foundations classes or seminars, or having money whenever he's ready to trial. We just get to play. Don't want to have to give that up.