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.
I can't imagine anyone is finding this blog interesting, it's really for my own note taking. And I really, really can't believe anyone would want to see my analysis of each of Shasta's runs. But I am doing that again for my own note taking, at least for a while, early in her career. I was posting it on this blog but decided it was confusing this blog a bit so I went with a new blog only for run analysis.
shastabernerruns.blogspot.com
In this, the WORST March/April ever, there is still no training in back yard and it doesn't look close. It's driving me crazy mostly because I want to work on things with Shasta.
A week and a half ago were the Cavalier shows at OTR. She was three for three in open jumpers, two for two in open standard and NQd her first excellent standard run when she avoided the aframe.
A great Q rate but there were a number of signs of issues. Most obvious was the aframe. She was getting more confused of her job each run to the point on Saturday of sitting on the apex. So it wasn't shocking when she avoided it all together on Sunday. Two tries and she refused them both and I went on. Speed also wasn't yet what it could be. And she had a few issues of freezing in the run when she was near the entrance/exit side, I think she was stopping to say, "c'mon dad, let's go get our treats".
With Kris' help I addressed the aframe issue as much as I could with no back yard. We set the aframe up in our pole barn and I did them Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights. Did a couple in class on Wednesday. Kris took her to the Inn during the day on Thursday and took her to SPDTC at night to do aframes. I focused on rewarding the release and not the "stick" of her contacts in class but that was all I could address anything else.
This last weekend was SPDTC. Not a good Q rate, 1 for 6, but she actually ran much better. First, addressing the aframe worked great, at least for now. Three great aframes, came down confidently and stuck her 2on-2off. But what was really much better was her speed. Much better! I am convinced the speed cost us most of our NQs as the increased/unexpected speed caused me to make the wrong handling choices and she got a couple of wrong courses. She also knocked a couple of bars that I think was because she wasn't as good at timing jumps at the increased speed. For no training reason, maybe it was just a better location for it, we didn't have any "freezing" or distraction issues.
So, the three issues from the weekend before, with only meaningful training on the aframe, and all three things were not issues this last week. Interesting.
But this week brought it's own issues. One, we were only 2 for 6 on weaves. I still don't believe it's stress and I'm still fairly confident I'm not looking at a long issue, but she did miss three entries and popped once. I need to spend more consistent training time on them again. There were the wrong courses that came when I was trying to move into a front cross. And she is not as comfortable as I would like on the aframe.
When I get a chance to train, I need to focus on:
- Weaves
- Triple
- Moving front crosses
- Aframe
- Speed off start line and contacts
Overall I was quite pleased with how our second weekend went as well. Friday was T2B only, Saturday was novice and thanks to Qing both, Sunday was our debut in open for both classes.
I was happy with some lateral and forward distances and how well that went. Her focus was not quite as strong as the first weekend but I was still pleased with it overall. She did have two visits to bar setters in her open standard run on Sunday (we still Qd). It was almost like she finally noticed they were there. I also had a couple of extremely brief moments of disconnect. But that's it, it was all focus otherwise.
There are a few things that I need to focus on if we ever get a chance to train in the yard again (worst early spring EVER in Minnesota). She is confused with her job on the aframe. She came down extremely slow in T2B, has been methodical on the others and has not stuck her "bottom" a few times. Overall, definitely confused on it. We still need to work on more drive from any release although it might have been a touch better than the first weekend.
We did have two more runs where she was kind of re-chewing her treats at the start of her run. I have to mix up the treats, figure out which one is causing the issue.
Focus and willingness to enter and complete the weaves continue to be amazing for a very young dog. Speed on them needs to pick up. But in some ways it's more amazing to not lose focus while weaving when weaving slower.
Last weekend was our debut weekend in Fargo. Overall, I was very pleased with how Shasta did. I really couldn't have asked for much better. We had a chance to run eight courses, two Time 2 Beat courses and six novice courses.
Most promising was her focus. I thought it was outstanding. She had a few moments of looking around at the start line when I led out past the first jump. She had one moment of briefly checking out the bar setters when they were actually quite close to a correct tunnel entry. That's all I can think of through all eight courses and three long days at the show.
I have thought all along that her focus and willingness to work for long stretches are her biggest strengths. At the same time, I am fully aware of the "berner grace period" that our berners have nearly always had early in their show career. The grace period before they realize and learn that the treats really aren't coming in the ring. I have great hope that Shasta will have a far smaller period of distraction issues than most berners. I see indicators of that but I still have to be aware that she is currently in the "berner grace period".
Her final run, jumpers with weaves, may have been her most impressive. It was late in the afternoon of the third very long day. We are about to enter the ring when the dog before her poops on the course late in their run. We go back out of the ring, find our extra treats we left behind and sat in a chair near the entry gate for 10-15 minutes while they cleaned things up. We entered the ring and she ran a perfect course. Impressive Shasta, impressive (to me).
The biggest issue that the weekend did point out, an issue I knew but she made very clear, was her confusion in breaking from her contacts/start line/table. Most times she paused before breaking and when she did break it was at a slow pace. She clearly seemed to be trying to tell me that I was forgetting the treat for her great contact performance.
Weaves were awesome. Entered and weaved first try all eight courses, including the two T2B courses that were 12 poles of weaves. I even got way in front on one course, got good lateral distance on another. Good girl!
Contacts, aside from the release, were very good. She did run off the very last one, the aframe but clearly knew she was wrong when she saw my "surprise" reaction.
Speed was not great. It wasn't bad either. I am finding myself a little concerned about it. I know and have written in this blog numerous times that she was not going to have great speed until she felt comfortable in the ring. She certainly wasn't stressed in the ring but that's not to say she was comfortable. By comfortable, I mean running without thinking. At this point, she is still being very thoughtful, a good thing in the big picture. Be safe and thoughtful for a while. Still, knowing these facts does not change me having a tiny concern about her eventual speed. She did have a few stretches with some pretty good speed. I knew I would feel this way, I tried warn myself I shouldn't, but it just doesn't work that way, does it?
Fargo was a venue she has never trained in. And it's a venue that our other young dogs have struggled with in the past, both with distraction and obstacle concerns. Shasta had no obstacle concerns at all. She did the teeter very confidently all five times (w/ T2B), did the dogwalk, the spread jumps, the panel, all without hesitation.
Officially she came home with 3 standard "legs" (one judge so no title), 2 jumpers legs and 2 T2B legs. She failed the one jumpers course because of a knocked bar. She had a wrong course in a standard run taking the broad jump off the aframe. She had the one refusal checking out the bar setters. Eight runs, three mistakes. Nice.
It's now only about 36 hours until Shasta formally enters the agility ring for the first time. We start with T2B on Friday, a nice way to start. But then it's the novice classes later on Friday.
I few weeks ago I was really excited for this weekend. Now I am excited and a bit apprehensive. Nerves? I don't think so but maybe. I think I'm a little apprehensive because of the lack of training. With the AKC nationals and my work schedule around it, I've missed the last three weeks of class. And this is the worst March ever here in 2013 in Minnesota. Temps literally never above 35 and no break in sight. So no outdoor/at home training in sight. Anyway, I would be more comfortable with debut if I had a chance to get to a few classes in lately. But life happens and I didn't.
Kris kept reminding me that I needed to do some sets of six weaves poles, which she hasn't seen since we moved to twelve in training. Finally, tonight, I got down to the pole barn and worked some sets of six weaves. The good news is we did about 6-8 sets of them and they went perfect. On the other hand, I then went to do a few sets of twelve and she did her first two or three but then started "double pole weaving" the last four poles. Oh well, she hasn't done much training on them recently (sense a theme here?), we are going to have get back to them more routinely. (side note, I hate that AKC still has six weaves in Novice, oh I wish they would change that).
So, Fargo here we come!
Yesterday we brought Shasta to SPDTC for some training time. The ring was split in three with a dog running in each section. We got three minutes in each section. No room for crosses or much of anything having to do with flow, but it was perfect for Shasta and I as it allowed us to work every obstacle in a brand new place.
She did great. Took all the "unusual" obstacles first and every try: panel, triple, broad jump, double, weaves. The best part was that she did the teeter multiple times no hesitation. Not that she has a teeter issue but she hasn't done many inside on cement/mats and the SPDTC teeter tends to be loud. It was a relief to see her take it aggressively multiple times.
She was intrigued by the border collie running a few feet away from her on the other side of the baby gates. I lost her to watching the border collie once for a few seconds and then got her working again. I'm just saying, I have this hunch she would be a dynamite herding berner.
We are now 12 days away from our debut. I am really looking forward to it. Hopefully I can keep my expectations reasonable. I try to remind myself all the time that berners new to the agility ring take some time to learn the game and not have some distraction issues. Still, it's not wrong to HOPE we are an exception, is it? I would love for the debut to be at a time of year when I could be training her in our yard but in the winter/spring of 2013 that looks to be a long ways away.
