The "Come and See This" Phenomenon

Maybe it's just us or maybe it's the way of training dogs.  But it's always been true when Kris or I approach the other one excited about what our dog has learned and proclaim "you should come see this", we go and see....  absolutely nothing new.  Every time.  

Shasta's weaves continue to progress fabulously in my opinion.  I kept the weaves at the space they were at thinking I would be at it for a while and by the end of one session she was nailing the entry from anywhere but the most extreme angles.  I moved the poles so they were now just barely apart.  Essentially the side of one pole was lining up with the opposite side of the next pole.   So no "channel" at all any more but not completely together.  She went through the more narrow spacing with a straight entry first time, no problem.  I started moving the angles of the entries and she continued to enter and do the four poles great.  I am as far as 10-12 feet from her on most of these entries and she is seeking them, determining where to enter and doing all four.  I was very impressed.

I was so impressed, I felt confident we could overcome the "Kris, come and see this" phenomenon.  Later last night down to the pole barn came Kris and I sent Shasta to a nice, straight, easy entry.  And she ran right by them.  No problem, she just needs a reminder.  We did straight again and... she ran right by them.  One more try and she finally did them.  I started adding angles and she was doing some, missing many others, hitting the entries maybe 30% of the time.  Amazing.

Amazing.  But not at all demoralizing or disappointing.  It's just the way that has always worked for us and she was still doing great.  Back we went to it tonight and she was back to being great.  Again, all but the most extreme entries, from as much distance as I can get in the pole barn.  From a tunnel, from a jump, from my side.

I did move the poles even closer at the end.  They are now basically together but because they are adjustable, there is a bit of leaning to the poles.  It's actually a nice training step to be able to do in training weaves.  Together but not completely together near the top of the poles.   She did those right away too.  We did just a few with easy entries and called it a night.

Shasta's A Big Dog (Walk)

Today we went to train at the arena with Jess, Toni and Kris. It was our chance to introduce the full-size dogwalk.  Last summer, each time I raised the height of the dogwalk, Shasta would run by it a time or two.  I expected quite a bit of concern by Shasta.  But that was not the case.  First approach, she put her head down and did it slow but steady.  Second time the same.  A number more times the same, with a tiny increase in speed.  About the sixth one or so, she did fall/jump off from the top, shortly after being on the top board.  She landed pretty softly.  Perhaps our early training where I tried to show her jumping off was ok to do paid off.  Now, what would be her reaction?  Seemingly no reaction, right back to the dogwalk, same methodical approach and across a few times.  We not only introduced the full-size dogwalk but also introduced our first fall/jump with no negative reaction (at least not today).  All good!

We also had two more sessions with the weave poles.  They also went really well.  First session she was better than yesterday right from the start.  By the end she was really good at three of the four approaches.  In the second session, awesome at those three approaches and very good with the fourth approach.  It's going perfectly at this point.

I wrote yesterday that I was going to keep at this spacing until I have all of our entries from all angles but I have now decided to adjust that some.  Looking at the poles, I think they are a little too far apart, that the entry look is not going to be enough like the final product to drill the entries.  Shoot, I was I had notes on my training of either Roxy or Sonic so I knew what I did with them.  I love the complete independence in weaves (entries and weaving) that I had with both of them.  Anyway, next time with Shasta we will do a few more where it is and if she continues to be good from all four entries I will attempt to bring the poles in closer.

Weaves: Day 1

I am very pleased with how day 1 went.  First, she was happy to be in our pole barn.  Sounds simple but she hasn't been in there much and Roxy didn't love the building and I think it was Shimmer that really didn't.  Or maybe Tori.  Whatever, Shasta was happy in there.

As I have with Roxy and Sonic, I am using my own weave system.  I use a set of four channel weaves and teach pretty much everything on that before going to 8 and 12 weaves.  I set the four out with the poles spread about 10-12 inches, where Shasta could easily go down the middle without them hitting her.  She went straight down the middle first try, no guiding.  Good deal.

I then brought the weaves in some, still going down channel easy, no guiding.  I brought it in to the point where the width of the channel was about the same as Shasta.  She didn't need to weave any but did need to have poles touch her some.  Still, no issue.  Alright, this is cool.

I brought them in a tiny bit more so she actually had to weave a little.  First time, did it perfect.  Really?  What a dog.  But then she ran by the next few times.  OK, that makes more sense.  So we tried some more with hit and miss success, I guided a couple of times.  When I was done with session 1 she was doing it really well with some distance on my left side, struggling with the "wrap" entry.

Oops, that's not right

Went down for session 2 in the late afternoon.  She did at least as well if not a little better.  I brought the weaves in a tiny bit more, maybe down to a 4-5" gap and she took a tiny step back.  Again, tried with hit and miss success.  Guided a few times.  I guided to get some success back when she knew she was confused and decided easiest was to run by.  Never guided more than once in a row.

By the end of session two, she was awesome with one of the four entries.  When she was on my left going from the door side to the other side of barn, she was awesome entering from any distance and somewhat tough angles.  Left sided toward the door I needed to set her up straight.  Right sided either way she didn't understand how to enter.

It's right but take it easy girl

One thing I really like seeing was when she didn't know what to do to be right, she would run by rather than enter but then would go stand in the poles.  Showing me that she was comfortable in the poles and wanted to be right, just didn't know how.

There we go!

I think this is the spacing of the weaves I want to work with.  I think we can improve without bringing them farther apart.  And I think it's at this spacing that I will wait until I have all four entries from any distance and almost any angle.

I am very happy with day one.

Coming Saturday: Weaves!

Shasta has done really well with her spay.  Kris put a t-shirt on Shasta while she had stitches  You can see photos of it at http://shastaaday.blogspot.com/.  Whether it was the shirt, the fact that she was unsupervised only a few hours or just Shasta's personality, she never bothered or tried to bother her stitches.  I felt guilty doing so little with her yet she seemed to handle that well too.  She did a five minute "butt run" in the house her first day without stitches but that's about it for a release.  We did play some ball outside with Sonic and Zenna on Tuesday.

Two more days and it's full steam ahead in training weaves.  We are going to give it a few more days before I start with jumping.

I did do a tiny bit of.... obedience tonight.  That's three times in three months.  It may not be our strong suit at that rate.  She does very well with attention.  Really, really well.  But I am having troubles keeping her from flaring out to look at me from in front.  And I've tried all three nights to shape her into getting into heel position all on her own with very little progress.  But, oh well.   If I work on obedience, she is showing positive signs there too.

Health Day - Spay and Xrays All Good!!

Today we brough Shasta in to have be spayed, have her stomach tacked and have xrays done on her hips and elbows.  Quite a day at the vet.  And they all turned out as well as we could hope.  Yes!

Hips and elbows both looked very good to Dr. Jim Winsor.  And growth plates are extremely close to closed.  Which means once she is done recovering from the spay we can start jumping and weaving!  There were certainly no indications of any troubles with her joints but it's a relief to get the official news (and Dr. Winsor is official for us). 

As for the spay and the stomach tack, she is home and in our care tonight.  Very groggy of course.  I am sure she is uncomfortable as well.  But she is resting well and has already managed to pee and poop. 

What a relief.

Her "First" Invitational and Beach

We just returned two days ago from our trip to the Florida panhandle coast and the agility Invitational in Orlando.  It started with three wonderful days in a beach house near Cape St. Joe with the Larsons.  It was very dog friendly and nearly private.  We took a lot of walks along the beach with the dogs, most of it off leash.  I couldn't get Shasta interested in the water.  I did many "test/reinforce" recalls and felt very comfortable having her off leash.  She really enjoyed playing and chasing with mostly Tori but with the rotties some too.  It was nice to have a young dog I could trust and we had a great time with all the beach walks.

Then there were the exhausting days at the invitational.  Long, long, long walks from the hotel to the show site and back.   She didn't get much attention but I did walk her around the rings a couple of times, doing my "acclimation walk".  She handled those walks around the ring really well.  She was focused doing her tricks and seemed happy and comfortable walking around in that environment with lots of energy, noise and stress. 

One thing I did notice was that Shasta seemed a little more independent in the shared beach house.  Not sure why but she didn't hang around me as close as she does at home.  I can't determine if that was a bad, good or neutral thing as far as performance goes but I didn't like it because I missed having her close by.

Then there was the spongy Florida grass, especially the grass at the hotel that was incredibly thick.  And spongy.  And Shasta wanted NOTHING to do with it.  She jumped straight up in the air the first time she walked on it, about two feet!  Pottying was an adventure all three days.  We hard many stories of other dogs having the same issue but it's hard to imagine many had the same level of hatred toward that grass!

Training - What's That Again?

Life.  It gets in the way.  There has sadly been very little of it.  Unless bringing her along to dog shows counts as training.  We did do another class or two, still skipping jumps, weaves and the dog walk.  And she continued to do awesome at it.  Still total focus, no sniffing in the dirt, no obstacles concerns.  Solid and very motivating to see.