Friday night was spent in a small group playing the game of Jacks with agility equipment. For those of you who do not know how to play jacks, it is quite simple. You bounce a ball and pick up one jack. Bounce the ball again and pick up two jacks. Bounce the ball again and you pick up three jacks, etc. For Pepper's class, the ball was the weave poles. Oh you dreaded weave poles! We need more work with this piece of equipment. Angles, entrances and drive! Pepper decided yet again that making her own course is more fun than listening to me. And why not when one gets rewarded for doing an A-frame correctly! Needless to say, she got into a bit of trouble and THEN decided to listen to me!! She repeated this behaviour at class last night as well and got into some serious trouble! Time to take the contact equipment out again and just work on jumps, weaves, tunnels and tire!!
Taz played the game as well. For his level, the table was the ball. For bonus points, they had to down on the table. Well laying down on command is Taz' speciality!!! We must have racked up 4 extra bonus points. I still have tonnes of work to do with him. He needs to learn how to judge jump distances so he does not knock bars down. We ended the game on a positive note with him staring over the edge of the table at the ground. I knelt down to see what he was looking at, sticking my finger under the table looking for any misplaced treats. He had a blast! We walked into the ring in style without incident! He is getting much better at walking through a crowd of people without feeling overwhelmed!
Gizmo is still patiently waiting for his cellmates to be sprung from their room. Due to a nasty kitty cold that has hit our place, Riki and Rebel needed to be segregated while they all got better! Riki ended up going on antibiotics last week. I will be giving them an extra couple days of rest before they get turned loose during the day again. Gizmo will be soooo happy to be playing with his buddies again! Maybe we need another cat for him..... no wait.... scratch that.... slap my hands..... Gizmo is enough to deal with and drives me crazy every day already!!
March 29, 2010
March 23, 2010
Agility Fever
This past weekend saw Pepper and I tearing it up on the agility field out at Aberdeen for the Saskatchewan Agility Association's March Madness trial. Pepper placed well on both days, earning either first, second or third place. Sunday morning saw use really work as a team for the Gamblers round and we walked away with our very first Q!!!! I was so proud of Pepper!
For those of you who don't know the game of Gamblers it is quite simple. Obstacles are worth a certain point. In the opening sequence (usually around 40 seconds), you have to complete obstacles correctly to gain the points. This event had two mini gambles in it and we aced one of them! We ended up with 58 points, many more than what was needed. After the first 40 seconds, a whistle will go off and you have to run to the main gamble. We nailed this gamble!! Since we earned more than 20 points and completed the main gamble, we got a Q!! Pepper was a star throughout the whole run as well. I managed to find a rhythm that worked and that kept her from barking at me.
The rest of the runs on Sunday were soooo close for us to get another Q but they were slightly out of reach. We were over by .57 seconds on the Standard course. Yes the run was absolutely clean! She had an awesome independent A-frame touch! Her weave pole entry was awesome! I collected her before sending her through which seems to be making the difference these days!!! On one of the Jumpers runs we got 5 faults. We were under time but just by that one little screw up cost us a Q.
Taz got to spend the weekend at home with dad chillaxing! He ended up going to the in laws and played with their mini-poodle Smokey. I came home on Saturday to a tired Taz. On Sunday I came home to a clean Taz as dad and he went for a walk and he got a tad bit dirty. The mud puddles they must have found!!
This Friday is JFF night again. I can't wait to try some more master/advanced course. They really help you to think and see what the dog sees. I am glad that I put Pepper in JFF. It has helped us to prepare for real trials. Soon you will see Taz running at trials as well!
For those of you who don't know the game of Gamblers it is quite simple. Obstacles are worth a certain point. In the opening sequence (usually around 40 seconds), you have to complete obstacles correctly to gain the points. This event had two mini gambles in it and we aced one of them! We ended up with 58 points, many more than what was needed. After the first 40 seconds, a whistle will go off and you have to run to the main gamble. We nailed this gamble!! Since we earned more than 20 points and completed the main gamble, we got a Q!! Pepper was a star throughout the whole run as well. I managed to find a rhythm that worked and that kept her from barking at me.
The rest of the runs on Sunday were soooo close for us to get another Q but they were slightly out of reach. We were over by .57 seconds on the Standard course. Yes the run was absolutely clean! She had an awesome independent A-frame touch! Her weave pole entry was awesome! I collected her before sending her through which seems to be making the difference these days!!! On one of the Jumpers runs we got 5 faults. We were under time but just by that one little screw up cost us a Q.
Taz got to spend the weekend at home with dad chillaxing! He ended up going to the in laws and played with their mini-poodle Smokey. I came home on Saturday to a tired Taz. On Sunday I came home to a clean Taz as dad and he went for a walk and he got a tad bit dirty. The mud puddles they must have found!!
This Friday is JFF night again. I can't wait to try some more master/advanced course. They really help you to think and see what the dog sees. I am glad that I put Pepper in JFF. It has helped us to prepare for real trials. Soon you will see Taz running at trials as well!
March 12, 2010
Petsmart and JFF update
Well Riki and Rebel both survived their week at Petsmart. No takers yet on these two cuties! They did, however, do an awesome job! They were timid at first with the volunteers but they did manage to over come their fears! It was good that they went to Petsmart for the week because we found out that Gizmo has a kitty cold that will take two weeks of rest and medicine. With them gone for a week, he finally got some much needed zzz's! When Riki and Rebel come back, they will spend a good week back in the room just to give Gizmo more time to get better. I think after that, they will get to spend the day out but the night must be spent in the room so that Gizmo doesn't have a relapse!
Two weeks ago, the JFF game was Beat the Clock. Pepper loves her contacts apparently and kept going for them instead of the tunnels. Can you believe it? A border collie that wasn't honing in on the tunnels? Strange eh? Taz, on the other hand, did tunnel after tunnel after tunnel! He is sure focused! Give him a straight line (like in flyball) and he is a happy camper!
Needless to say Taz placed second in his group and Pepper placed 6th (those darn contacts drawing her attention)!
This week was Helter Skelter. A fast paced game that spirals in then back out again. Pepper did not have a very good night last night and seemed a bit off of her game. About half way through she realized what we were doing and started to show some interest! Poor girl is tired now. Hopefully she sleeps through the night without any problems.
Taz has already gone to bed. We don't go to bed fast enough for him some evenings! He has put himself in bed (his crate). He did really well tonight as well. He sure is focused on my voice (especially tone). I was able to call him away from the big scary people that were on the edge of the ring. He took a jump and noticed them there. A happy call and some clapping got him directed on me again. We have lots of work to do with his contacts. He knows he does wrong since he puts himself back on them. We will have to work with the stairs and teach all about the angle! I did have to calm him down a bit as he started barking at me... I know, a sign of frustration. After we took the last jump he got lots of praise for being out there playing. Knowing that he is usually reactive after working, we managed to get out of the ring with out too much of a fuss! He did start, but I managed to re-direct him.
More practice is needed and we will get there! Next weekend is an agility trial at Aberdeen. Pepper is entered. Taz will come along just to be in the area. He has to deal with that type of stress as well. Hopefully in two years he will get to start trialling!!
Two weeks ago, the JFF game was Beat the Clock. Pepper loves her contacts apparently and kept going for them instead of the tunnels. Can you believe it? A border collie that wasn't honing in on the tunnels? Strange eh? Taz, on the other hand, did tunnel after tunnel after tunnel! He is sure focused! Give him a straight line (like in flyball) and he is a happy camper!
Needless to say Taz placed second in his group and Pepper placed 6th (those darn contacts drawing her attention)!
This week was Helter Skelter. A fast paced game that spirals in then back out again. Pepper did not have a very good night last night and seemed a bit off of her game. About half way through she realized what we were doing and started to show some interest! Poor girl is tired now. Hopefully she sleeps through the night without any problems.
Taz has already gone to bed. We don't go to bed fast enough for him some evenings! He has put himself in bed (his crate). He did really well tonight as well. He sure is focused on my voice (especially tone). I was able to call him away from the big scary people that were on the edge of the ring. He took a jump and noticed them there. A happy call and some clapping got him directed on me again. We have lots of work to do with his contacts. He knows he does wrong since he puts himself back on them. We will have to work with the stairs and teach all about the angle! I did have to calm him down a bit as he started barking at me... I know, a sign of frustration. After we took the last jump he got lots of praise for being out there playing. Knowing that he is usually reactive after working, we managed to get out of the ring with out too much of a fuss! He did start, but I managed to re-direct him.
More practice is needed and we will get there! Next weekend is an agility trial at Aberdeen. Pepper is entered. Taz will come along just to be in the area. He has to deal with that type of stress as well. Hopefully in two years he will get to start trialling!!
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