Wyatt Back to Normal?

My wife and I have both noticed that Wyatt seems back to his usual, crazy self, for better or worse! He is making huge jumps onto couches, constantly trying to get extra food, and generally being the wacky Wyatt we know and love. I am entering him in some CPE trials. We will see how he goes but I am hoping he will be back to normal there too (or close to it)...

Long Retrieves

I have been trying to make retrieves even more fun that they are for Wyatt already.

One thing I noticed is that if I throw close to the ground, it increases his prey drive and enthusiam.

I also mix it up and do not always ask for a front or a stay before.

Last night in agility class, I brought the dumbell and threw it all the way across the bard - about 50 yards. He loved the long run to the dumbbell and all the way back to me.

Anyway, he really seems happy retrieving lately with these changes. He always liked to retreive but I beleive this will help when trialing and stress is higher.

Wyatt of Dodge City, RE

I am very proud of Whippet Wyatt of Dodge City, CD, RE, SC, NA, NAJ, OAC, EJC, OCC, TN-O, TG-N, WV-N, CL4, CL5-SF, CGC who earned his Rally Excellent title today with a score of 93. We have been practicing a lot including some of the really hard stations like back 3 steps, offset figure 8, and pivot left. I made a 3-point error so Wyatt only lost 4 points.

We were a little nervous starting and we had trouble with the initial stand in station #1 Halt, Stand, Sit but I was eventually able to get him to stand. I am very proud of this little guy who was (and is) such very nervous dog who we rescued 4 years ago. His off leash heeling yesterday in Novice B was just great and he only lost 4 points. Many whippets tend to be in a different time zone from the handler in off leash heeling and Wyatt certainly has done that too. But I made sure we had a good connection before we told the judge we were ready, made if clear to him that his favorite treat was in the offing, and kept him really upbeat with my heel commands and between exercises. At home, I have made off leash heeling a fun game: to keep up with me no matter what crazy things I do.

Since he has been injured (he had a back injury from agility that caused him to not want to play agility), I have learned an important lesson. The most important thing is to have fun with your dog. Titles and placements are nice but not THE THING. It was a real change for me yesterday to NQ and be so happy anyway. It has actually helped my performance too since I am less nervous when I am not so worried about qualifying, getting the next title, et cetera.

These dogs have a lot to teach us and. and so far, every really important lesson for me, has been when something "goes wrong".

Odedience Results

We trialed in Novice B obedience today. I was very pleased with Wyatt's heeling, especially his off lead heeling where he only lost 4 points. The other 2 whippets today had a really tough time with their off lead heeling. He was right with me. What a nice feeling. We did have some tight leases on lead but he sat every time and basically stayed with me. I actually think I kepy eye contact more with the off lead and that worked better. People always tell you not to look at your dog but I think it's OK as long as you don't turn your shoulder. He moved quite a bit on the stand for exam but the judge was kind. I think she approcahed him quickly (which he SHOULD be able to deal with). Need to proof that more. We have not been to class in months. We had a Q going into the stays but he went down on his sit after about 15 seconds. The long down was fine.

Rally tomorrow!

Rocking Practice

Wyatt and I had a rocking agility practice Wednesday night. He was great and back to his old self. During the second half of the course, I don't think there was a single problem. He was very fast and motivated. Being on home court seems to help.

Also, the worst problems I have seen are where we run 2 days in a row...

Wyatt - There Is Hope

We did a private agility lesson Saturday and it gave me hope for Wyatt. Wyatt did all the very worst case behaviors I have been seeing since his injury: freezing, running out of the ring instead of starting, going totally in the opposite direction of me back to contacts.

The instructor thought it was all stress and suggested that I just keep running with an imaginary dog (or not). Sure enough, he did come out to play if I kept it up! Anyway, Lynn thought he would be fine and the stress would fade over time. It was very good to know that Wyatt would run if I kept going. This is so different for him since, before the injury, he was SO enthusiastic.

She also showed me a way to help him to learn not to jump too early by using jumps spaced very closely together. Of course, if they were too close together, he jumped over both sets!

Coming Up

We have run thrus this week - Friday night - AKC style in Springfield. Weekend after that is obedience and rally. I have been doing novice run thru's with Wyatt with no treat until the end. He seems to be OK with that but is very eager to run over to the treat area when done (or when he thinks we are done). Still doing rally as well and open and utility practice. Not much agility lately - class has been cancelled due to cold again. We are doing a private Saturday to work on that weird tunnel thing we saw last weekend.

Mixed Results at Run Thru

After a really good agility class last week, Wyatt has some mixed results yesterday at some run thrus in Vermont. This was a new facility for both of us. The good news is that he ran and did not shut down and run out of the ring. He did show reluctance to run on his third run but I coaxed him into running. He definately was not his usual self though. His weaves, jumps, and A Frame were good. He jumped off his first teeter but it did bounce funny when he got on. We had a real problem with a dog walk though. There was a tunnel on one side of it and another tunnel quite a bit away. He was very reluctant to come off the dogwalk into the far tunnel (good contact though). He kept running back up the dog walk instead of heading with me to the far tunnel. I had to bribe him and/or direct him strongly with me to get that tunnel. Not sure what was going on. I am going to try and get back up for a private to work with that specific equipment and placement...

All in all, I should be happy but I have to realize he is still not 100% and I have to be patient.

I also forgot to warm him up which I am supposed to do for his back! He were running a little late setting up for the baby but I have to remember NO MATTER WHAT...

Mixed Results at Run Thru

After a really good agility class last week, Wyatt has some mixed results yesterday at some run thrus in Vermont. This was a new facility for both of us. The good news is that he ran and did not shut down and run out of the ring. He did show reluctance to run on his third run but I coaxed him into running. He definately was not his usual self though. His weaves, jumps, and A Frame were good. He jumped off his first teeter but it did bounce funny when he got on. We had a real problem with a dog walk though. There was a tunnel on one side of it and another tunnel quite a bit away. He was very reluctant to come off the dogwalk into the far tunnel (good contact though). He kept running back up the dog walk instead of heading with me to the far tunnel. I had to bribe him and/or direct him strongly with me to get that tunnel. Not sure what was going on. I am going to try and get back up for a private to work with that specific equipment and placement...

All in all, I should be happy but I have to realize he is still not 100% and I have to be patient.

I also forgot to warm him up which I am supposed to do for his back! He were running a little late setting up for the baby but I have to remember NO MATTER WHAT...