Why microchipping is A Good Thing
0 Comments Published by Gussie on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 6/24/2009 10:26:00 PM.
Intense concentration.
Excuse me. I'm waiting.
Pounce!
The exhausted bon viveur enjoys a joke.
Excuse me. I'm waiting.
Pounce!
The exhausted bon viveur enjoys a joke.
Labels: Scotland
Go west, young dog
1 Comments Published by Gussie on Friday, June 12, 2009 at 6/12/2009 10:06:00 PM.
We were at the Prestwick show last weekend. We ran in two agility & two jumping classes on the Saturday, and even though we were eliminated in three out of the four, I was pleased with how chilled Jake was round the rings, how focussed & fast he ran throughout the day, and even (gasp) with some of our pull-throughs. (The retraining is starting to bear fruit.)
I made some silly errors as well - we were E'd in one class because I didn't wait till Jake was committed to the tunnel before peeling away to the next obstacle, so Jake went in the wrong end. And Jake popped out of the weave in one course, something that never usually happens. Weave entries were of course FINE with my new shameless policy of "guide him through while in the ring."
Just a couple of vids to dissect here & now (the full horror is on YouTube, along with some runs by our pals Loki & Glen. Though we seemed to miss both Loki & Glens' best runs of the day!
Grade 1-2 jumping
It was going so well! Jake didn't fall into the first tunnel trap, our weave entry & turns and "out" were fine, and "left" and "rights" along the top of the course were going fine until he got distracted by the second tunnel and I was in the wrong place ... Eliminated!
3rd place in grade 1 jumping
It all came together! I can now see where I might have changed sides and not caused a moment of hesitation just before the tunnel, but really - am very happy with this
I made some silly errors as well - we were E'd in one class because I didn't wait till Jake was committed to the tunnel before peeling away to the next obstacle, so Jake went in the wrong end. And Jake popped out of the weave in one course, something that never usually happens. Weave entries were of course FINE with my new shameless policy of "guide him through while in the ring."
Just a couple of vids to dissect here & now (the full horror is on YouTube, along with some runs by our pals Loki & Glen. Though we seemed to miss both Loki & Glens' best runs of the day!
Grade 1-2 jumping
It was going so well! Jake didn't fall into the first tunnel trap, our weave entry & turns and "out" were fine, and "left" and "rights" along the top of the course were going fine until he got distracted by the second tunnel and I was in the wrong place ... Eliminated!
3rd place in grade 1 jumping
It all came together! I can now see where I might have changed sides and not caused a moment of hesitation just before the tunnel, but really - am very happy with this
Labels: Agility shows
The urban dog is unphased by a lift. (Almost).
2 Comments Published by Gussie on Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 6/10/2009 08:39:00 PM.
Labels: Wordless Wednesday
Great day out, shame about the agility runs
4 Comments Published by Gussie on Sunday, May 17, 2009 at 5/17/2009 06:48:00 PM.
We just got in from the Scottish Kennel Club (SKC) show in Ingliston, right by the airport. I still find it weird to look up from an agility show & see a Ryanair jet taking off or landing. Makes me feel a bit over threshold.
As at the SKC show last August, we were in a field well away from the main conformation classes. We had our own entrance & our own car parking. I only walked down to the conformation rings once, to check out the shopping, and noted that the agility handlers are much scruffier than the pedigree people. And the agility people are more likely to be gesticulating to an imaginary dog as they rehearse some manoeuvre for their next course. It looks bonkers. (I wasn’t the only one doing it.)
How did we do? Once again, I’m trying to accentuate the positive here à la Agility Nerd.
Graded 1-2 Jumping
Our first run of the day. It went really well until the weave entry. Doh! What went well was Jake’s start line stay; the sequence at the tunnel and I got my turn in so he was on my left as we ran the diagonal.
Graded 1-4 Agility
This had a very narrow gap to pull Jake through, and as I know pull-throughs are still a work in progress, I devised a Cunning Plan. It wasn’t going to be as fast as a pull-through (purple dotted line below), which is obviously the best way to handle this section. I decided I would try taking a right hand weave (that in itself shouldn’t be an issue for us), then pull Jake round the wing and push him over the jump onto the dog walk. (My path in the sketch below is the black dotted line.)
Guess what? Jake missed the first weave pole, so we were eliminated there instead. I then proceeded to fluff the Cunning Plan. On the plus side, our distance work is getting better, we made the contacts, and it was a perfect start line stay.
Combined 1-2 Agility
Dearie me. We should have gone clear on this. Where to start? Bumbled turn -> dog walk on-contact, missed the off-contact, fluffed weave, wrong tunnel entrance … we can do that stuff! On the plus side … I’m seeing shoots of hope that Jake is starting to work ahead of me. A little bit.
So … for both me & Jake, practise for weave entries & contacts. And I need to restart building some “body memory” by practising turns & pull-throughs without the dog. I remember from last year that the hall at home and er, work corridors are good places for this. You’ll come & visit if I’m sectioned, yes?
As at the SKC show last August, we were in a field well away from the main conformation classes. We had our own entrance & our own car parking. I only walked down to the conformation rings once, to check out the shopping, and noted that the agility handlers are much scruffier than the pedigree people. And the agility people are more likely to be gesticulating to an imaginary dog as they rehearse some manoeuvre for their next course. It looks bonkers. (I wasn’t the only one doing it.)
How did we do? Once again, I’m trying to accentuate the positive here à la Agility Nerd.
Graded 1-2 Jumping
Our first run of the day. It went really well until the weave entry. Doh! What went well was Jake’s start line stay; the sequence at the tunnel and I got my turn in so he was on my left as we ran the diagonal.
Graded 1-4 Agility
This had a very narrow gap to pull Jake through, and as I know pull-throughs are still a work in progress, I devised a Cunning Plan. It wasn’t going to be as fast as a pull-through (purple dotted line below), which is obviously the best way to handle this section. I decided I would try taking a right hand weave (that in itself shouldn’t be an issue for us), then pull Jake round the wing and push him over the jump onto the dog walk. (My path in the sketch below is the black dotted line.)
Guess what? Jake missed the first weave pole, so we were eliminated there instead. I then proceeded to fluff the Cunning Plan. On the plus side, our distance work is getting better, we made the contacts, and it was a perfect start line stay.
Combined 1-2 Agility
Dearie me. We should have gone clear on this. Where to start? Bumbled turn -> dog walk on-contact, missed the off-contact, fluffed weave, wrong tunnel entrance … we can do that stuff! On the plus side … I’m seeing shoots of hope that Jake is starting to work ahead of me. A little bit.
So … for both me & Jake, practise for weave entries & contacts. And I need to restart building some “body memory” by practising turns & pull-throughs without the dog. I remember from last year that the hall at home and er, work corridors are good places for this. You’ll come & visit if I’m sectioned, yes?
Labels: Agility shows
Spring haiku for dog walkers
2 Comments Published by Gussie on Friday, May 15, 2009 at 5/15/2009 12:00:00 AM.
The UK Kennel Club agility regs changed in January. It means that the solid tyre we used to practise has had to be retired. Unfortunately a new tyre in "an impact absorbing material" was looking pretty pricey - hundreds of pounds - as a whole new frame is required for the new style tyres.
So we looked into how we could improvise something suitable using the existing frame. After much debate we decided to try using a swim "noodle", costing a mere £7 a pop. We needed two (and cos we ordered via Amazon and we couldn't specify colour, we have a novelty two-tone effect). A handy member of the club provided a couple of pieces of 20mm plastic piping but you'll see we had a little further refinement ahead.
But with a judicious application of a hacksaw we're in business, with an impact absorbing tyre. Okay, it won't look exactly like the standardised tyres on courses, but it cost 14 quid instead of hundreds.
So we looked into how we could improvise something suitable using the existing frame. After much debate we decided to try using a swim "noodle", costing a mere £7 a pop. We needed two (and cos we ordered via Amazon and we couldn't specify colour, we have a novelty two-tone effect). A handy member of the club provided a couple of pieces of 20mm plastic piping but you'll see we had a little further refinement ahead.
But with a judicious application of a hacksaw we're in business, with an impact absorbing tyre. Okay, it won't look exactly like the standardised tyres on courses, but it cost 14 quid instead of hundreds.
Labels: Agility
