Since FB is being crabby, here is the video of his first starters jumpers round!
September 16, 2012
Taz's first agility trial
It has been an awfully busy weekend in the Munro household. Taz got to debut for his very first (of many more to come) agility trials! He did awesome! We did not get any Q's but he did work with me the whole weekend and had some great contacts.
Since FB is being crabby, here is the video of his first starters jumpers round!
Since FB is being crabby, here is the video of his first starters jumpers round!
March 20, 2011
Busy week
What a busy week this has been for the Munro household. For starters, we would like to welcome Decoy to the fold.
He is a 9 week old broken coat Jack Russell Terrier. He already loves to play fetch and tug. Taz is not fond of him yet but we are working on it! Taz definitely likes Decoy's back end instead of his eyes. Every day we see Taz accepting him more and more. Decoy is going to be my next flyball star. Taz is going to be a very long work in progress and Pepper is going to be 5 years old this year. Riki and Rebel are curious as to what he is exactly. Gizmo started off being not fond (hissing, growling, swatting) and now he is absolutely fine with him.
Taz had his first private lesson with Shirley last night. We had decided at the end of the last set that working in a class setting was not working for him. There is sooo much for him to learn, that will take awhile and is better suited one on one. Collection and extension. Taz only knows about extension. He only knows one speed... super sonic. Last night he learnt how to read my collection queues and my extension clues. By golly, I saw my boy actually think!!! It was amazing! I would rather see him go slower and think about what he is being asked to do, than blast through everything doing his own thing.
One thing became clear though. He has never learned how to jump properly. He thinks about jumping two jumps instead of one. He usually takes off about 5 feet in front of a jump instead of collecting to take off nicely. We had quite a few quiet jumps last night. It was awesome to see him think about where he needed to take off from. I was able to put him in extension and then to collection on the next jump!
Then we decided to push the envelope,,,, We had two jumps in front of a tunnel. Let me tell you one thing.... Taz LOVES the tunnel. I asked him to collect over one jump in front of the tunnel, instead of taking the tunnel..... he took the jump, went a few feet (cause he was thinking) and turned right into me!!!! He made the correct choice and got a jackpot! I thought for sure he was going to take that tunnel. Nope! He proved to me over and over, that he was understanding collection. For a bonus, I put him into extension into the tunnel and he barked going in! Needless to say he was happy to get a chance at the tunnel and got to repeat it.
We have a long way to go but now I see that Taz can really think. This should help his anxiety in the long run. Stay tuned for more tails!
He is a 9 week old broken coat Jack Russell Terrier. He already loves to play fetch and tug. Taz is not fond of him yet but we are working on it! Taz definitely likes Decoy's back end instead of his eyes. Every day we see Taz accepting him more and more. Decoy is going to be my next flyball star. Taz is going to be a very long work in progress and Pepper is going to be 5 years old this year. Riki and Rebel are curious as to what he is exactly. Gizmo started off being not fond (hissing, growling, swatting) and now he is absolutely fine with him.
Taz had his first private lesson with Shirley last night. We had decided at the end of the last set that working in a class setting was not working for him. There is sooo much for him to learn, that will take awhile and is better suited one on one. Collection and extension. Taz only knows about extension. He only knows one speed... super sonic. Last night he learnt how to read my collection queues and my extension clues. By golly, I saw my boy actually think!!! It was amazing! I would rather see him go slower and think about what he is being asked to do, than blast through everything doing his own thing.
One thing became clear though. He has never learned how to jump properly. He thinks about jumping two jumps instead of one. He usually takes off about 5 feet in front of a jump instead of collecting to take off nicely. We had quite a few quiet jumps last night. It was awesome to see him think about where he needed to take off from. I was able to put him in extension and then to collection on the next jump!
Then we decided to push the envelope,,,, We had two jumps in front of a tunnel. Let me tell you one thing.... Taz LOVES the tunnel. I asked him to collect over one jump in front of the tunnel, instead of taking the tunnel..... he took the jump, went a few feet (cause he was thinking) and turned right into me!!!! He made the correct choice and got a jackpot! I thought for sure he was going to take that tunnel. Nope! He proved to me over and over, that he was understanding collection. For a bonus, I put him into extension into the tunnel and he barked going in! Needless to say he was happy to get a chance at the tunnel and got to repeat it.
We have a long way to go but now I see that Taz can really think. This should help his anxiety in the long run. Stay tuned for more tails!
February 27, 2011
One step forward... two steps back
Tonight was Taz' agility class and it was frustrating! Give him a straight line to a tunnel and he can do it. Give him a pinwheel with a tunnel right next, not a chance in hell! Straight to the tunnel he goes! Talking with Shirley, our game plan is one on one now. Lots of collection and extension exercises with one to two jumps. Lots and lots of proofing with tunnels around. He has to learn that I am here to play the game with him and it is waaaay more fun that way! Our new goal is to trial by September 2012. With plenty of hard work, I know we can get there. I will be building a travel plank with a slant so that we can teach the proper contact position for both dogs.
I will give Taz credit tonight though. He did try three times to stick the landing at the bottom of the dog walk. He tried very hard! He even skidded down the dog walk to do so. When we do more work with it, I will have to put out the "bumpers" to keep him straight to teach him the proper position for take-offs.
Speaking of collection, I brought in a set of jumps to do some work on "collection to collection" for Taz. Smart little boy knows exactly what I am asking for. I also brought out the clicker to mark positioning. He did it flawlessly! Now why the HELL can't we get that at class? I told Ken that we are going to get rid of the pool table so I can have my indoor agility field! Sha like that will happen.
I will give Taz credit tonight though. He did try three times to stick the landing at the bottom of the dog walk. He tried very hard! He even skidded down the dog walk to do so. When we do more work with it, I will have to put out the "bumpers" to keep him straight to teach him the proper position for take-offs.
Speaking of collection, I brought in a set of jumps to do some work on "collection to collection" for Taz. Smart little boy knows exactly what I am asking for. I also brought out the clicker to mark positioning. He did it flawlessly! Now why the HELL can't we get that at class? I told Ken that we are going to get rid of the pool table so I can have my indoor agility field! Sha like that will happen.
February 21, 2011
First tournament of the season
We just got back yesterday from the first flyball tournament of the year. Diamonds in the Ruff travelled to Edmonton for the Northern Power Paws tournament. We got some awesome passes in, just showing how much we have practiced over the winter. I got to run Dash as well when Pepper sat out for a race. It is definitely interesting running a dog that really knows his job! When he gets in the lane, you barely have to touch him but you do have to say "Go" otherwise he will just look at you! The team had a sub 20 second run on Saturday.
Taz spent the weekend baching it with Ken. It was good for him to have a stress free weekend. No agility or flyball for him! No flyball this coming weekend either so that will leave more training time for him at home. We have lots to work on and just picked up a book on flatwork for agility. I have many plans for Taz and training which really should be put down in a journal so I don't forget.
This coming year looks to be very busy for both agility and flyball. We shall be attending one seminar for each sport this year. There is a regional agility trial in Saskatchewan that we plan on attending. It would be awesome to try for Nationals. I know we are not ready but hey, while it is close to home, why not participate?!?!
Taz spent the weekend baching it with Ken. It was good for him to have a stress free weekend. No agility or flyball for him! No flyball this coming weekend either so that will leave more training time for him at home. We have lots to work on and just picked up a book on flatwork for agility. I have many plans for Taz and training which really should be put down in a journal so I don't forget.
This coming year looks to be very busy for both agility and flyball. We shall be attending one seminar for each sport this year. There is a regional agility trial in Saskatchewan that we plan on attending. It would be awesome to try for Nationals. I know we are not ready but hey, while it is close to home, why not participate?!?!
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