Big Picture Encouragment, Little Picture Disappointment Again

Not much to update with training.  Long hours of work and consistent rain and drizzle makes for little training.  I did get a few sessions in this week and I focused on rear crosses as Shasta missed the rear cue a couple of times this past weekend.

As for last weekend, as the title of this post suggests, lots of things to be happy about but I was a little frustrated, especially with the last run.

The encouraging things include her working with better speed than she had in the past at On The Run.   She did still struggle with the exit corner.  She went 2 for 6 and I think all four mistakes happened in the exit corner.  That said, the drive to the exit was not extreme on any course, which she had been a couple of times in the past.  Also encouraging was that the aframe went very well all weekend, no stress and not any big pause at the top of it.  So all-in-all, a little faster, a little less distracted at this venue, no residual aframe issue and no new issues.

Still, frustrated for much the same reasons.  No issues yet we went 2 for 6.  More importantly, I continue to pass on courses with tight measurements, flunk on courses with more points available.  I'm already letting it get in my head.  It was at it's extreme on Sunday.  First was jumpers and after jump two we had another hoarking episode, our first since we started using lunch meat for her pre-run treats.  It cost us 6-7 seconds while she ate her treat again (it never hit the floor) and we still Qd for two points.  Then, in standard, there were lots of points available.  She ran nice, made it through it all and... missed the last jump.  I was gassed (having run Sonic 10 dogs earlier didn't help) and I couldn't keep up at the end to insure she didn't miss the jump.  Looks like it would have been 16-17 points on that run alone.  Ugh.

I know, she is really, really young and early in her career, I shouldn't be worrying at all about her points yet.  Yep, that's perfectly logical and correct.  But not how my emotions really were.  I was really bummed when she missed that jump.

Now it's on to two weekends of outdoor agility.  I hate outdoor agility.  If hot and/or sunny, I just don't concentrate well.  I also don't think Shasta will do well in the rain if it happens to, she is quite a princess about being in the rain at home.  It will also be interesting to see if I can keep Shasta off of any dandelions that happen to be in the ring.  So, my expectations aren't very high but it's agility, so one never knows.

The Scare

A scary fall from the a-frame. 

Yesterday's standard course started tunnel, jump, jump, a-frame.  Shasta paused at the top of the a-frame as she has been doing some in shows.   This time she turned to look at me when she paused.   In turning, her left rear leg lost contact with the board and she fell from the top of the a-frame.  It was a very scary fall.  She was holding up her right rear leg momentarily.  I picked her up and held her for a bit and set her down gently to see if she could walk it off.  From that point forward, by some wonderful stroke of luck, we have not seen any more limping or soreness of any kind.  As I set her down, she ran and took a jump on the way out.

A friend was nice enough to give us her appointment with the massage person that was at the show.  She found a few slightly tight muscles in Shasta's back but nothing more than she would expect in any agility dog.  Last night we iced her a few times because there was no harm in doing so.  At one point last night she went a little nuts in the house, "butt-running" around, pouncing at the ball, bouncing off the sofa.  I tried to calm her but she got really wound up.  Did the massage make her feel "too good"?! 

Today, still no signs of any issues so we went ahead and ran her.  She ran a great jumpers run to start the day, good speed and no sign of issues.  Then came standard and I was, of course, pretty close to terrified to send her over the a-frame.  It was early again, the third obstacle, and she did it just fine, didn't even pause at the top today.  Whew!  Another glowing example of what has so far been a solid and resilient temperament.  No hesitation at all after the previous day's fall. 

We have an appointment with the chiropractor tomorrow, we are hoping for continued good and very fortunate news. 

Still very scared thinking of it.  Still extremely thankful that we might have escaped real trouble.

Flower Child

We had class tonight.  Recent wet and warmer weather means that the dandelion population has flourished.  Her infatuation with them was not a "puppy only" thing.  She managed to munch quite a few of them at class.  Most were between runs but some were during runs.  We show at our school in three weeks, we have to hope the dandelions are mowed.

We did work through the dandelion fascination some, for the most part after the first run she trying and mostly focused during her runs, although I think she did sneak a dandelion or two in each of them, mostly while on her 2o2o position!

The Land of Inconsistencies

Shasta is 17 months old today!

We've shown three weekends since the last post.  We have finished our AX and AXJ titles and got our first MACH points in both standard and jumpers.  I am really pleased with how Shasta is doing in the ring to this point.  Focus, with a few minor exceptions, has been really good.  We don't have any obstacle worry issues, which I have found unusual for a young berner.  With the exception of the weaves I have been happy with her speed.  Overall she is one impressive pup so far.

What has been surprising to me is how each weekend of shows seems to bring a new and different issue for the weekend.  We've had weave entry issues for a small stretch.  Minor issues with her "hoarking" up her treat on course.  Minor issues with her "freezing" on a course near the exit (where I am quite sure she is saying, that's enough, let's go get our treats).  A few dropped bars here and there.  A couple of courses with lots of speed, a couple of courses where she was slow.  We had one course that started with a tunnel she flew out of it, we had another that started with a tunnel where I wasn't sure if she got lost in it.

I do still have a few consistent issues (not every time but enough times) in the shows that we need to work through.  I've mentioned the before.
1) Slow weaves.
2) Pausing at the top of the aframe.
3) Freezing/distraction near exit where I believe she wants to go get her treats.
4) Not one I am highly motivated to fix but she does not auto drop on the table in a show.

I wish I had a better plan for speeding up the weaves.  I don't right now except to wait it out and hope it increases with confidence.  She has done very fast weaves in the show three times I can think of (all three she missed the weave entry first try because she was going so fast).  It's not like she is as fast in weaves as I would like in training either.  One other handler at the show this weekend suggested I send Shasta into the weaves and then send Sonic in a second or two later.  ;-)  For now, I am waiting and hoping.

We Got To Train!

We got to train.  In our own backyard!  The weather finally allowed it (may be short lived with rain in forecast every day this week).

We trained six or seven times over the three days.  The one thing that struck me the most was that Shasta's speed in the back yard was very inconsistent.  It was consistent within a single session but inconsistent between sessions. 

As for the training itself, we did quite a few triples and she approached them all confidently, hopefully that will translate to comfort in a show.  We also started proofing weave poles, mostly me getting away from them.  She could easily do them with me gently getting more lateral distance and she could handle me veering away with a little abruptness but not extreme veering yet.  She also seemed comfortable with me doing early front crosses while she was in the weaves.

Strangely, her weave entries from the wrap side were not as strong as her entries from the entry side.  From a harsh wrap she would enter second pole.

We also worked on our turns on the flat (mostly from landing side of a jump).  She was initially confused by it but we made great strides, she seems to now understand the cue again.

Small Disappointment Explained

I mentioned being a little disappointed by Shasta's errors due to missing obstacles on the finishing stretch to get to the exit/treats.  I shouldn't be disappointed, I fully expected it to be part of the process. I think there are two reasons I was.

One, there was small disappointment in the fact that we almost qualified multiple times in excellent but didn't.  And it wasn't the course challenges that we missed on.  I imagine it's a bit like how it feels to NQ because your dog left the ring.  It shouldn't feel different than any other mistake but somehow it seems more avoidable.

The second reason is that I don't feel like there is much I can do about it in training or in handling.  I'm sure there are many trainers better than me that think it absolutely can be fixed/avoided through training.  But I see it more as gaining the necessary ring experience (fun matches and run-throughs are rare around here).  To me, it's frustrating if I can't do much about it in training or handling.  Again, it shouldn't be, most of our berners have gone through it and I expected it.

I can do something about how I react to it and train in the show and I am not very happy with myself with that part as I missed a couple of opportunities to help Shasta.   The first few times I didn't encourage her back to do all the obstacles which gives her reason to be confused.  She probably wonders, is it ok to skip those obstacles or not?  Hopefully I can be more consistent in future shows, if it happens more like I expect it to.

Little Picture Disappointment, Big Picture Encouragement

How can dealing with a part of the process that I knew would happen be disappointing?  I guess deep down I had hope that Shasta would exceed my already high expectations for her.  

Shasta developed the case of "heading home-itis" that all of our berners have gone through.  I had hope with her focus ability that maybe we wouldn't have to go through it.  But her food drive is insane so I shouldn't be surprised.  We went 1 for 5 this weekend and of the four NQs, three were late mistakes that might all be attributable to "heading home-itis".  All were late, all in the same area of the ring heading to the exit.    That was the little picture disappointment.

The courses were not easy courses this weekend.  Not overly tough and certainly not unfair, but tougher than many we will see.  And she handled the sequences great including some "in-your-face" wrong course challenges.   She also had a great, clean open jumpers run to finish her OAJ title.  That was the big picture encouragement.

Her speed was not as good as the previous weekend but wasn't bad.  Not sure if it's the location or some other factor.  There was also signs of confusion on the 2on2off criteria. 

The WORST March/April continues.  8-10 inches of snow last week, maybe 8-10 inches tonight.  April 22nd.  I feel like life is conspiring against Shasta and I right now, not being able to train.

Things to focus on, if I have get a chance to train, essentially still the same as a week ago:

• 2on2off, specifically A-frames.
• Weaves, entries and getting distance.
• Triple and other jumps.
• Getting a non-puppy sit on start line!
• Moving front crosses.