Update on Consistency

Unfortunately, Monster and I haven't had much time to start our re-conditioning program yet. It makes me sad but my schedule at work is beginning to stabilize which will make it easier for me to plan conditioning days. Also, Monster and Punch broke into my dog food supply Friday evening and there was vomiting, IV catheters, SQ fluids, moping, and lots of water drinking. Then came the poop. SO MUCH POOP. I must have had a week's worth of dog poop in the 12 hours following the dog food break in. My boyfriend was, of course, clueless as to what had occurred and he only knew that Punch wasn't feeling well when he was crying at the door and just standing outside whining. I digress...

I HAVE had time, though, to discover a few more tools to help me up my agility game. I don't need fancy handling at the moment. What I need is consistency as I stated before. I need to know and understand my dog so that I can anticipate where I can go and where I need to be on course as well as where I need to train more skills for myself and my dog. 

 And that brings me to a course that I've signed up for. It's called a course but really I'd say it's more like a handbook to better timing on course. There isn't much feedback but general tips on how to approach these sequences to understand your dog better. There is a forum to discuss the course with other students and you have access to it for up to a year. Estimated time of completion is 4 months. Though, knowing myself, it will likely take longer. There are options for both small and large spaces. Small spaces typically have approximately 4 jumps and a tunnel and large spaces 7 jumps and a tunnel. The course is with Kathy Keats' online instruction service The Agility Coach. The course is discounted at the moment for $69 CAD (approximately $56 US dollars). I am not sure when or if the price will go back to what it was.

Normal pricing for this course is $129 CAD. This photo was taken from the course page.

Here is the description of the course directly from the website:

SECRETS OF PERFECT TIMING!

Great timing is one of the key ingredients to being a great handler and a great teammate for your dog. Yet no one has fully explained the elements of timing until now. It’s not as simple as ‘run faster’ or ‘turn sooner’ or you would have fixed your timing already!

Join the hundreds of handlers that have!

This course will help you…
…build trust between you and your dog
…know when your dog is going to perform an obstacle
…react quicker
…be more clear with your cues
…get to handling positions more quickly
…anticipate what your dog is going to do
…and much more!

I'll see what I can do to post some video of our conditioning program when it starts! I'll try to check in later!

WOW! Long Hiatus...

Where do I even begin? We have taken a long hiatus from agility, training, sports, etc. I got a little depressed that we couldn't compete or go to any classes, seminars, or run thru because of money. I wish money didn't dictate what I can and cannot do with my dogs but it just so happens that I enjoy a sport that requires money to compete and I do enjoy the competition :) The last trial we went to was Carolina Piedmont Agility in September. I loved being at a long, bigger trial than LCDA. We did some international style classes just to see how we could handle it and we had some brilliant moments but we also had some fails. Overall, I was really happy with how we did as a team. 

This break from agility has helped me reflect on where I really need to work on MY agility game. We don't get a lot of opportunities to trial so, if I want to qualify with Monster and feel good about our performance as a team, I need to really get more consistent with my handling and performance in practice and trials. I have been listening a lot lately to the Bad Dog Agility podcast (Bad Dog Agility podcast page) and it's helped me sort through my thoughts about my agility training and handling. 

The big trend right now is OMD (One Mind Dog) Handling system and training international style courses. Well, that's helpful if you have National or World Team Dreams but the courses we run on currently in the U.S. are not difficult enough, in my opinion, to apply a lot of these handling maneuvers. I doubt I will find many backsides in our Advanced Standard courses ;) There is certainly use for these "fancy" moves but, on average, we don't see much of them in U.S. courses at the moment. 

I was able to attend a Stuart Mah seminar right before our hiatus and he made a valid point. He discussed OMD and other international style handling trends and made the argument that while these systems are good handling systems they are not new nor are they going to work every time. It's important to have other tools in your toolbox in case you get behind your dog. This is where strong verbals come in handy. People used to say that verbals were not really acknowledged by the dog and were only for lazy or inured handlers. What about when you're in gamblers? Verbals can really help you out in a jam and it's important to keep your verbal tools sharp as well. 

While I think OMD style handling is cool and fun to watch on applicable courses it's not a tool I need at the moment. Hopefully, we will get to a point where it becomes a valuable but we need to go back to basics first. 

I need to start practicing some basic sequences and perform front crosses, rear crosses, pivots, serpentines, threadles, etc. and watch video to see if I am even consistent with my cues for my own dog. We don't get much feedback training by ourselves so I have to get used to giving myself feedback. That's number 3 on our list to come back. 

Number 1 on my list for our comeback is to get Monster conditioned physically again. I have formed a loose plan and hopefully I follow it better than the last one. Monster got in good shape the last time but I wasn't very consistent about tracking his progression and as a rehab tech I really should be better about that. My plan is to start with a series of exercises on a simple level and progress their difficulty as needed. We will do some planks for core, squats for rear end, land treadmill for endurance and for isolating rear and front limbs, and balance using FitPaws peanuts. We will also use Susan Salo's jump grids to remember how to jump, work on jumping skills, and strengthen him. Her new jump grid workbook is awesome! I love being able to reference her grids from her DVD's and I have seen grids that I never saw before in this book.

Susan Salo Jumping Grid Workbook

Step 2 on my comeback list is to try to get myself back in shape as well. To learn to manage my time better too. I have cancelled our cable in an effort to save money and I hope that will help me financially and from a time management standpoint. We will see how this new plan works! 

Last bit of news to share is that business finally seems to be picking up at the rehab practice and I am glad about that. I know there are more animals that need us and I am glad they are finding us at last! I will also be teaching a foundation agility class for my trainer in the next couple of weeks. She is opening a new training business and has asked me to teach a once weekly class. I am also hoping that helps me financially! I will have to come up with a course syllabus for my students and I'm sure I will post about that too!

Apologies if this post has been slightly rambling but it's hard to share MONTHS of updates into one blog post :)

Canine Conditioning

It has been a LOOOONG time since I posted to this blog. Life started to get in the way but I am going to try to post every 1-2 weeks now. 

I really haven't been up to too much since the last post. I haven't been able to go out to the training field that much because it has been converted to a herding ring and the agility equipment was moved to the indoor space which is a bit smaller. I can actually get a lot of handling work done in the back yard but I really need to maintain access to the contact equipment at the training field. I feel like I am doing the best I can with what I've got. 

Now it's summer and today's heat index is 112 degrees! Not too much getting done agility-wise today. I am on a new mission to condition Monster for an upcoming trial. We haven't done much agility this summer but one of my favorite clubs is coming to Columbia, SC for a 3 day trial with lots of classes offered. It's a new venue, new people, new surface, different equipment, etc. than Monster has run on previously and I want him to have this experience. I have entered a lot of classes (more than I usually do) to allow him to get acquainted with the changes and because several of these classes are not offered at our normal LCDA trials. But, this means we both need stamina to make it through each day and through the entire weekend. We will have 17 runs compared to our usual 8-10 runs per trial!

I have been doing some research into conditioning programs and I actually had some great reference tools from a conditioning seminar I attended a few years ago. I tweaked the programs a little bit and I am balancing indoor work with agility skills and general outdoor activities. Our indoor work consists of balance ball work, treadmill training, and strength training at the rehab facility I work in. Our agility skills are a mix of small backyard drills to work on handling and contact work at the training field. Our general outdoor activities are going to the dog park, swimming at the beach, and, most recently, flirt pole work. The dogs LOVE the flirt pole. My mother found my old cheap Kong flirt pole while cleaning out a closet and I was excited because I had just been looking into purchasing a new one.

I will share PDF's of my program forms for conditioning but I am still making a lot of changes as I go. For starters, I had a form with listed exercises that I fill in how many reps, etc. I get bored easily and want to make sure I challenge muscles in a different way so I have found that I use different exercises each time we go to the rehab facility. I am thinking it may just be easier to keep a diary type list and then compare progress monthly or something. I measured thigh and forearm circumference so that I can track any progress made. I am not sure if I will see changes in these numbers but I do expect his strength and stamina to improve regardless. 

Assessment form that I used to track before and after progress. I need to add weight in there as well. 

Exercise card that I am not completely set on as the best option for myself and my dog. 

My favorite reference tool to track what I have been doing. I do cross things out and edit if plans have to change.

I am not writing this blog to give you a layout of a conditioning program because every dog and person are different. I was hoping for a blueprint myself and quickly realized I wouldn't get one. I had to think of what I had access to, what my dog can do, what I can do, and what my goals were. One thing I will say is don't over think this. It's not a down to the last detail kind of activity. It's more of a lifestyle change. How can you make the time and gain access to the things you need to condition your dog for an event? Of course, we want to do this without sacrificing huge amounts of our time and without sacrificing lots of money. Investing in one or two pieces of conditioning equipment, that you can use in multiple ways, is a good investment. I will make the next blog post about some DIY stuff I made and a few of my resources for exercises. So far, this plan has been manageable although I have really slacked on making it out to the training field. My plan is to get out there at least twice this week. 

Feel free to share any feelings or suggestions on this topic. I will be continuing this topic over the next 1-2 posts. 

Some pictures of my new backyard equipment!

Alrighty, so I am about to overwhelm you with photos and brief explanations of the things I have obtained recently to help me have more productive backyard training sessions!

First up are the new jumps I ordered. I will warn you that I have a small agility budget and am not able to buy a bunch of Launch the Dog jumps or other similar brands. I bought 3 economy training jumps. Let me tell you how I struggled to find a jump with a ground bar ON the ground! So many of them were approx. 4" above the ground and I can't use jump cup strips with those. I bought 5 pairs of Clip and Go jump cup strips (not the flexible kind but wish I had) and some flat back jump cups. The flat backs were really intended for a triple jump but I need that style for my current jumps. My current jumps are 3/4" PVC and I think I might even have a smaller diameter as well. 

Clip and Go jump cup strip

Flat back jump cup

I received a new training tunnel for Christmas but haven't set it up in the yard yet. I am hoping to get/make some form of sand bag and storage for it so that it doesn't get as damaged as the one I have now. I am aware that I have much cheaper tunnels than regulation tunnels but I could still make them last longer if I put them away when the weather got bad, etc. I have considered using dry storage bags w/ sand in them but I have also thought about using Ziploc Big Bags since they are tough and have handles. Decisions, decisions!

Dry storage bag

Ziploc Big Bags

My new tunnel (not actually pictured)

I also ordered some small plastic sport cones for drills. I can NEVER remember where to go next after each drill. I bought a set of 5 different colors and 10 cones for each color set. I thought that was a pretty good deal and the perfect amount of cones. Now I just need to keep the dogs from running off with them lol. I also bought some vinyl number stickers that are 1" tall.

Sport cones- 10 of each color

1" vinyl number stickers

If you'd like to weigh in on the listed options, you are welcome to. I'd appreciate new, economic suggestions but I do not want anyone to tell me that it's worth the money to buy any of the equipment in a more durable form. I just can't afford it no matter how you swing it.

Tonight's Training is Brought to You By... Straight Line, Equal Distance Grids!

 Tonight, I chose to train the next grid in Punch's foundation training: Straight Line, Equal Distance. The drill is exactly as the name describes. A straight line of 5 jumps that are of equal distance. For Punch, the distance was about 4'. I have posted screenshots from my DVD that give verbal descriptions of the setup and ultimate goal of this grid. My video wasn't cooperating tonight but if you watched it you would see that I tried to increase the distance to 5' and was not as successful. Part of the problem is that my jump bars are 4' and easy to use for measuring distance. The other issue is that, not only did I increase distance too much, but I also didn't make the distance EQUAL! 

The bounce jumping was much more present once I went back to 4'. The goal was to use the jumps at low heights to facilitate the dog to bounce without adding a stride between each jump. I will try to load my video another day. I was very pleased with my execution and my dog's performance. Punch is really starting to understand that there is more to this jumping stuff than just acting like a whacko! 

The next grid was a variation of the SLED grid. Spacing was the same but jumps 2 & 4 had height. The bars never went higher than 10" and that's about as high as I would go for Punch. It was very cool to see the change in elevation with him. At one point I had to substitute a bar for a stride regulator because he was trying to much to jump the facilitator. That seemed to do the trick and I don't think it hurt anything. 

Before I move on I would like to add something. If this is the first time doing this grid, and you haven't done much jump work with more than 1 or 2 jumps, you should target the jumps starting with jump 1 and adding one jump at a time. See the photo to the lower right for reference:


With Monster, I chose to work a very simple layout that tests timing of different handling choices. I haven't gone through the video yet but, when I do, I will post it to this blog post. This drill gave me the opportunity to test out the "early" front cross I've been training with him.  I got to test it turning him to the right as well as the left. 


Video of Punch's SLED:

A couple of days later, I worked on a straight line w/ distance grid. This was a little bit harder for me to set up because I don't have a good eye for measuring and no good tools for measuring distance. I have been using my 4 ft jump bars but needed more distance than that for this grid. I don't think my distances are 100% where they should be with Punch from jump 3 to jump 4. I did get a nice bounce jump for jumps 1-3 though! 

When I worked the same grid with Monster he didn't bounce 1-3 but I did get nice distance from him. I will have to work more SLED with Monster to find the best distance for a bounce from him. Is it possible that Monster and punch both need the same distance for bouncing jumps? They can wear the same jackets, almost have the same distance between fore and rear limbs, and both are very powerful dogs. Punch may have shorter legs but could their strides be similar? that's something I am excited to check out over the next few weeks! 

Bonus News!: I ordered 3 new jumps (practice jumps off eBay) and jump cups and some jump cup strips for my jumps! I am so excited! I have always had to eyeball jump height and now I won't have to!!!

Punch's Straight Line w/ Distance:

Monster running Straight Line w/ Distance:

 

What We're Up To Now!

WOW! It's been a long time since I wrote something here! I've been a little busy working on what training I need to do next with Monster and Punch. Monster had a trial in January and blew me away! He got his first Steeplechase Q and it was our first time running together in that class. I so wish I had video because that run was probably the best run we've had at a trial yet! Even the masters level teams were impressed! I was on cloud 9! We had a weekend of 5 or 6 Q's out of 8 classes :) 

The one thing I took away from that trial (and I knew we needed to fine tune) was our A Frame performance. Monster used to stride the frame naturally when he was younger but, as he grew, his stride changed. I have decided to retrain it using stride regulators. I don't want a stopped frame because I don't like the pressure and impact on the front end at a stop. Even if a dog is great at weight shifting to the rear there is still impact on the front end that I feel could be avoided. I am placing one stride regulator on the downside approx. 2 slats from the apex to cause a stride/jump over the apex. The second stride regulator is just before the yellow to cause the last stride to land in the yellow. Here is some video from those sessions:

Due to weather and time I have not been able to get back out for more training but we have taken a hiatus for financial reasons so I've got time. After reviewing the video from these sessions I realized that I don't like the way Monster hits the upside. Lots of stress on the shoulders and elbows. My plan is to leave the regulators where they are and move the contact hoop to the upside for a (hopefully) smoother a-frame approach.

With Punch, I have been working on Susan Salo's jumping exercises. We have started Foundation Jumping because Punch doesn't have much regard for bars and keeping them up. I want him to be more thoughtful of what he is doing and I am hoping that jump grids will allow for that. It seems to be working so far. I have noticed he is actually thinking and not just running full speed. I know he has speed but now I want him to have the skills. This is my first time teaching jump grids so it's a learning curve for us both. I have made some mistakes but have corrected them in a manner that I feel works. Here is some video of the grids we have worked so far:

One other training "project" I started was teaching myself and Monster an early front cross. I don't know what the real name is (maybe lapturn- too much fancy terminology these days). The goal was to change my body position using using my original inside arm, keep my feet moving but start the cross as my dog commits to the jump. It is supposed to put me in a better position to be ahead and cue him for a tight turn sooner. I have been working on just the single jump for now but will introduce an "off course" obstacle that comes after the jump to test our new skills. My timing is not always good but when it is timed right, Monster nails it!

My little short man (Shawty) may be retired but he has gotten to play with Punch's jump grids some days too! He loves still be able to play and I love playing with him... most of the time lol. Some times he's too excited and impatient and just starts bouncing around and barking. His training has been very limited these days :). He is my precious little old man though so he can do no wrong! I don't think I have any video that I have already posted to YouTube yet but I do have recorded sessions of Bend Work. That was a frustrating one but he got it. He has always been my handler focused pup and that was our challenge.

Well, that's all I have time to post for now but I will try to visit and update more often!

Mental Game...

On my way home from training Monster tonight (I was stopped at a traffic light) I took a glimpse at Facebook on my phone and realized that it was dog agility blog action day. This time the topic is Mental Game. What I found so interesting was that I had just had my own Mental Game epiphany!

Monster and I generally have good training sessions. The mistakes are usually mine but I also get the chance to teach him new skills. Tonight we went to the training field to work on our A Frame skills a little more and just get a brief workout. I enjoyed our 20 mins of training so much! We ran together and with intensity! If a contact was missed or a jump wasn't committed to, we moved on quickly and kept the connection going :) 

***It's sessions like that that you have to watch yourself with though. You get so high on all the good stuff that you forget to give your dog a break or work him until he's tired. DON'T DO IT! End on a good note and you might have an epiphany like I did!

Ok, so back to my Mental Game epiphany: I was driving back home and thinking about how great it was to run so connected. I started wondering why we don't run that way at trials. Well here's the reason: 1) I am almost always nervous regardless of how well I know my fellow competitors 2) I have self doubt 3) I doubt my dog 4) I don't communicate with my dog in a trial like I do at home!

Man, thinking about all those things had me wondering how we made it as far as we have at trials! How can I doubt my dog when I've seen how awesome he can be?! And how can I doubt myself when I have seen what I've taught my dog to do and we practice so well together? How could I still get nervous in front of the same group of people that I've seen for a couple of years now?

Clearly, it's all in my head. There is a disconnect for me when it comes to training vs. trialing. That, in training, I know I can do it over again but, in a trial, I can't. A sort of pressure is created. Now, I'm not sure how to best rid these thoughts but I have found a tool in my toolbox that's been there all along. My thoughts can take me to other places. They can take me to those moments where everything clicked and we connected in practice. I can imagine myself at practice and find the same kind of excitement I have there in a trial. I CAN DO THIS! 

So, whether I make a fool of myself talking to my dog the entire time we're on a course, or something else goes wrong, I know that we had fun, we ran intensely, and that's all I need to conquer my mental game. Putting these words and thoughts into action is the next step and, from what I understand, it's still gonna take time to meld the two mindsets together. BUT, I have taken the first step by realizing what's been holding me back. 

I am looking forward to testing my new mindset this weekend!