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This is the second post inspired by the recent Tracy Sklenar seminar in Dunedin. I had a working spot in the Novice dog session and this was the first exercise that she had us do.

Tracy talked about two different kinds of agility dogs. “Cold porridge” dogs are distracted or disinterested in agility, and lack focus on their handler. “Hot porridge” dogs are too hyped up, and may struggle with self-control or be focused excessively on the obstacles rather than their handler.

The ideal agility dog is warm, Goldilocks porridge. She’s focused on her handler and quick to respond to cues. She’s got her brain fully engaged so that she can give the right responses to those cues. She can resist the temptation to charge around, making up her own course as she goes.

Continue reading “Goldilocks Porridge and the Five-Tricks Warmup”

I’ve already written a post about how to train (or retrain) a start-line wait. This is an incredibly useful skill to have, unless perhaps you are able to run much faster than your dog. It’s like a free gift at the start of every run, allowing you to be exactly where you need for the first few obstacles.

I’d always recommend training a reliable start-line wait as a long term solution, but sometimes that advice isn’t practical. Not everyone has the same priorities in life (or in their agility training). Sometimes it’s not worth the effort or the missed runs that you may need to fix a long-term problem. Or maybe you’ve started retraining, and you’ve decided not to ask for a wait in the ring until you’ve made more progress.

There’s also a group of dogs which dislike being left at the start, and tend to go slower if they are asked to wait. The handlers of these dogs tread a fine balance between trying to keep their dog’s enthusiasm up, and getting to the right spot to handle the start of the course.

Whatever your reasons, here are a few other strategies you can use to give yourself a head start on the agility course.

The Slingshot

Continue reading “Start-Line Strategies for No-Wait Dogs”

I don’t think I’ve ever been to an agility show as hot as this weekend’s champ show at Ashburton. The high each day was 32 degrees according to the metservice, although some people’s iphone apps reported temperatures as high as 36!

There is limited shade at the Mid Canterbury shows and I struggled to keep Rik cool. My clubmate Bronwyn kindly lent us a little USB-powered fan which made her a lot more comfortable. Phil generously passed around an assortment of Popsicles on Sunday which was also much appreciated.

Rik and I had a second placing in Novice on Saturday. We also did some good work in Intermediate, but were let down by our weaves – I haven’t done any training on these for a couple of months so it’s time to set them up again at home. We had a third placing in one Jumpers B on Sunday and had an absolutely stunning run in another one, sadly with a rail off. I’m looking forward to six more chances next weekend to see if we can finally pull off the perfect run!

Following on from last week, this is another post inspired by the recent Tracy Sklenar seminar. Today’s post focuses on what to do what to do when your dog makes a mistake in training.

One of the difficulties of agility training is that it’s not always clear whose fault a mistake is. Sometimes your sloppy handling will cause your dog to run past a jump he was supposed to take. Next time, maybe your dog is so fixated on an incorrect obstacle that he forgets to check in with you for directions. In that split second after your dog has sailed over the hurdle, you don’t always know whether your handling was right or if he has an “excuse” for the mistake.

Our dogs are generally pretty good at following our bodies. This means that the human teammate is at least partially at fault most of the time. It’s generally safe to assume that your poor handling caused the mistake unless you have compelling evidence to the contrary. Obviously it’s not fair to punish your dog for something that might be your fault – so what do you do?

Continue reading “Train Your Dog to Save You”

So you’ve worked on your dog’s stand at home, and now your dog is ready to be measured! How exactly do you find a measurer? What should you bring along on the day? How long will it take?

How old does my dog need to be?

Your dog must be within four weeks of turning 18 months old (i.e. 17 months + a few days) to be measured. Dogs under two years of age can only have an interim measure, and will need to be measured again later.

Once your dog is within two weeks of turning two years old, she can have her permanent measure. This is valid for the lifetime of the dog, except in some circumstances if the height cutoffs are changed.

Continue reading “Getting Your Dog Measured”

My club held our February champ show this weekend. Usually we struggle to find enough helpers to run the event and I hardly get a chance to sit down all day. This time it was much easier, as we have a few keen new members who are just starting to compete. Their help was greatly appreciated and made the day easier on our more experienced members – thanks guys!

Rik and I did some nice work in the ring, and came home with a fourth in Novice. My favourite run was Bernadette’s Intermediate on Saturday. Sadly Rik got a bit confused about the serp at the start and jumped #2 instead of #1 – but when I put her back and tried again we had a lovely flowing round with no further mistakes.

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This was also the weekend that I picked up my latest agility purchase – a dogwalk. It is basically a childhood dream of mine to have some full size contact equipment at home to train on. Twenty years later, I am soooo excited to finally have a dogwalk in my back yard! Thank you to Natasha for selling it to me, and Chloe and Will for helping me to unpack and set it up.

Last month I went to a seminar by American agility trainer Tracy Sklenar. It’s been a few years since I made it to a seminar due to various life events, and I really enjoyed myself and came away full of new ideas. This is the first of probably several posts inspired by Tracy…

When you are running a course in a competition, your goal is usually to get a clear round in the fastest possible time. Most handlers will take some small risks in an effort to save time – but they won’t do something that is very unlikely to work unless they feel like they don’t have any other options.

When you are running a sequence at club training, your goal is probably to improve. For maximum improvement you need to push you and your dog to the limits of your current skill level, then figure out how to extend those limits. If you turn up at club and run the same safe handling strategy that you would at a show, you are not going to improve as quickly as someone who experiments with new techniques to see what works.

Continue reading “Train Like You Want to Compete”

Running order boards are read left to right and then top to bottom. Each call steward has their own unique way of doing things, but the general conventions are:

• A cross (two diagonal lines) or a scribble over the dog’s number – the dog is scratched and won’t be running in this class.
• A dot above the dog’s number – the handler and dog have checked in and are waiting nearby.
• A single diagonal line through the dog’s number – the dog has already run.
• A circle around the dog’s number – the handler may not turn up because they have a clash with another ring, or they’ve missed their turn because they didn’t arrive at the ring in time.
• A circle with an arrow – the dog has been moved to avoid a clash.

Continue reading “How to Read a Running Order Board”

This weekend Rik and I went to the CCATS jumpers show in Christchurch. This was a very large show, and it seemed that some people had travelled a long way to have their first runs at the new heights. All of the C and B classes were split which is very rare for a South Island show!

Our runs on Saturday were a little wild at times, and the teamwork could have been better, but we went clear in one of them and picked up our second Jumpers B win. On Sunday we were working together much better and had two really nice runs with just one little mistake each … we were lucky enough to get a second placing even with five faults though.

Sunday was a warm day, just perfect for a wetting. My clubmate Natasha obliged by getting her last challenge to make her dog Pascalle up as a Jumpers Champion – well done! Pascalle is an extremely keen agility dog and it is not always easy to control her enthusiasm so a lot of hard work has gone into this title.

This weekend Rik and I made the trek south to Invercargill for our first agility show of the year. It was great to catch up with some of our southern friends and I enjoyed the more laidback atmosphere that comes with a smaller show.

The courses this weekend gave us lots of opportunities to test out our wraps, and showed us that we still have a lot of work to do before we can nail them reliably. We had a couple of nice runs, particularly today’s Intermediate where Rik did some great distance work and didn’t put a paw wrong until I got in her way at #19.

What did your agility dogs get up to this weekend?