The Zen of Agility Shows
3 Comments Published by Gussie on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 at 4/08/2008 06:32:00 PM.
Well, we went to our first show of the year. The Fun Dog Shows in Fife have run every month through the winter - a great opportunity to practice the experience of being in the ring, standing in the queue to run (etc) before we start on KC shows.
We had a whale of a time, though technically it wasn’t one of our better outings. Unlike our November show, we didn’t manage a single clear round! We entered four classes, all for the large dogs grades combined 1-3:
1st Jumping Class – notable because I sent Jake over the wrong jump at the end of the course. Operator error!
2nd Jumping Class – notable because Jake spotted an A-frame off-course (just behind the course fence) and he nipped round to run up it anyway. Great contacts!
“Awww…” went the crowd.
“Eliminate,” went the judge.
Watching the video clips, it’s clear I didn’t call “over” to reinforce my hand signal to the jump.
1st Agility class - notable because it included the one pull-through I have a mental block with … I can do 3 out of 4 possible approaches and guess which one was on the course. Waaah.
2nd Agility class – notable because we had successfully cleared our bête noir (over-running the weave after a jump) and I like to think we were well on our way to a clear round – when Jake spotted Rod filming - and promptly ran off-course to say hello … What's great about this happening is that everyone starts to tell you their horror stories of when their dogs ran amok / away. That's probably another post in itself...
Here is the glorious moment where Jake votes with his paws. At the very start, see how he looks right at the camera, as if to say “I’ll be over in a moment.” And then I’m left standing in the ring clapping like … like a woman whose dog decided he’d had enough!
What did we learn?
1. To take it easy the day before – we’ve been watching out for Jake but not so much for the human team member, who'd had a gruelling day at work!
2. To watch out for changes to our usual morning routine caused by the early start – all the toilet and walk and feeding routines being out of kilter can affect the Sensitive Dog. We are getting better at this, and this time I got up really, really early to give Jake his usual dawn walk & breakfast before we set off.
3. To run off some of Jake's steam on portable kit or in the training area before we go in the ring – it might just help him get some focus before we get in the ring and see the equipment for the first time. Did I ever mention lurchers are fast?
4. To make sure I have the toy du jour and not last week’s toy. I had pocketed the wrong tug and got a look of utter contempt from Jake when I produced it. “That toy is dead to me,” was the implication. Not that Jake particularly needs geeing up in the queue to run …
5. To make sure Jake is used to Rod filming on the edge of an agility course! Jake’s much more focussed when he’s used to his proud family being on the sidelines, which we have practiced in the past. We just didn’t practice before this show and we paid, we paid …
6. Jake LOVES to do full runs, but in practice we tend to break things down into components. We need to practice the thrill of a new, full course in the hope Jake steadies a little.
7. It’s only a game! Looking back at the videos I can see we were both having great fun even though we didn’t do as well as we sometimes do. I remember coming off every course (except the last) absolutely buzzing.
8. Every show is less scary than the last. Though I reserve the right to be really properly scared before our first KC show, coming soon.
Finally, here's more advice for people new to agility shows.
We had a whale of a time, though technically it wasn’t one of our better outings. Unlike our November show, we didn’t manage a single clear round! We entered four classes, all for the large dogs grades combined 1-3:
1st Jumping Class – notable because I sent Jake over the wrong jump at the end of the course. Operator error!
2nd Jumping Class – notable because Jake spotted an A-frame off-course (just behind the course fence) and he nipped round to run up it anyway. Great contacts!
“Awww…” went the crowd.
“Eliminate,” went the judge.
Watching the video clips, it’s clear I didn’t call “over” to reinforce my hand signal to the jump.
1st Agility class - notable because it included the one pull-through I have a mental block with … I can do 3 out of 4 possible approaches and guess which one was on the course. Waaah.
2nd Agility class – notable because we had successfully cleared our bête noir (over-running the weave after a jump) and I like to think we were well on our way to a clear round – when Jake spotted Rod filming - and promptly ran off-course to say hello … What's great about this happening is that everyone starts to tell you their horror stories of when their dogs ran amok / away. That's probably another post in itself...
Here is the glorious moment where Jake votes with his paws. At the very start, see how he looks right at the camera, as if to say “I’ll be over in a moment.” And then I’m left standing in the ring clapping like … like a woman whose dog decided he’d had enough!
What did we learn?
1. To take it easy the day before – we’ve been watching out for Jake but not so much for the human team member, who'd had a gruelling day at work!
2. To watch out for changes to our usual morning routine caused by the early start – all the toilet and walk and feeding routines being out of kilter can affect the Sensitive Dog. We are getting better at this, and this time I got up really, really early to give Jake his usual dawn walk & breakfast before we set off.
3. To run off some of Jake's steam on portable kit or in the training area before we go in the ring – it might just help him get some focus before we get in the ring and see the equipment for the first time. Did I ever mention lurchers are fast?
4. To make sure I have the toy du jour and not last week’s toy. I had pocketed the wrong tug and got a look of utter contempt from Jake when I produced it. “That toy is dead to me,” was the implication. Not that Jake particularly needs geeing up in the queue to run …
5. To make sure Jake is used to Rod filming on the edge of an agility course! Jake’s much more focussed when he’s used to his proud family being on the sidelines, which we have practiced in the past. We just didn’t practice before this show and we paid, we paid …
6. Jake LOVES to do full runs, but in practice we tend to break things down into components. We need to practice the thrill of a new, full course in the hope Jake steadies a little.
7. It’s only a game! Looking back at the videos I can see we were both having great fun even though we didn’t do as well as we sometimes do. I remember coming off every course (except the last) absolutely buzzing.
8. Every show is less scary than the last. Though I reserve the right to be really properly scared before our first KC show, coming soon.
Finally, here's more advice for people new to agility shows.
Labels: Agility, Agility shows
hi jake, i can see u are having so much fun there, n with the running off to greet rod, are u trying to tell him "see? i'm great!"
that don't actually happen to me becoz my family members don't go to trial with me, is juz me n my owner...but i used to run amok and around the obstacle, but i'm trying to wean it away....
i'm easily distracted by tiny stuff, but my owner learn that we juz need to be prepare for powerful tools, like my favourite tug toy n chicken meat! so before our run, we practise on 'focus' and warm up with some tricks...
every next trial will be a better one...
Having fun is the most important! You should see Mum and Gracie do a run...Gracie sits at the first jump, Mum leads out (cause that's the only way Gracie will go over the first jump), then Gracie comes when called over the first jump and then runs around the ring like a silly girl.
If Mum is lucky, and can run as fast as Gracie (not usually), she can actually get her to take obstacles on the way as she's having the zoomies - now that's something to see!
Fun is work, work is fun...that's what Mum says.
Woofs, Johann
Thanks, guys! We've been hearing some funny stories ... the collie who ran across 3 different rings after a crow ... the dogs that eliminated and were eliminated ... my favourite is the one from agility trainer who has four border collies. She usually takes her caravan to shows and camps there. One time she was running one collie when she saw a black and white blur on the horizon - and she looked down and there was her youngest pup also in the ring. He'd somehow climbed out of the caravan window and hot-footed it to join them ...