Chances Course

What we had trouble with was the 6 to 7 taking the 9 tunnel instead.

Great Chances Class

Wyatt and I had a really good Chances class. Chances is NADAC's version of gamblers. It is a numbered courses with (at the Elite level) a discrimination, directional, and distance challenge with a line where you 10-20 feet away from your dog. Wyatt did great on the really challenged first part but we had trouble with the second part. He kept ignoring my pushing him him out when there was a tunnel involved. Lynn suggested kind of stomping my feet and emphatically moving out quickly which seemed to work. I have to work hard to drop an opposite arm thing I sometimes use for discrimination. It does not work 50% of the time and what seems to work a lot better is use smaller steps, "saving room", and pushing out to outer obstacles with my path so that he will take the outer obstacles. I'll try and sketch the course tomorrow so this will be more clear.

Tracking Saturday

I went tracking on my own Saturday. I found a field I can use 5 minutes from the house so it takes an hour rather than the hour morning to go with the local group. The field was very wet. I backed up and did some longs straights, lots of baited gloves, only one turn. Wyatt was eager to start but kept veering off. I held my ground if he got farther than 10 feet from the track. (The track was very visible.) I was a little disappointed. I wonder if I should have aged the track more in the wet conditions. I waited 1/2 hour. Anyway, seems like we need more straight work. I believe he still may have the scent when he veers off but is air scenting too much and not keeping his nose to ground enough. Too easy to miss a corner that way. I'll keep working the straights for now.

Sits and Downs

Sits and downs, at least for Wyatt, seem to be improving. Still seeing an occasional problem but he has been doing great, even out of the door and out of sight. I was seeing some creeping so I put a small board in front of him, which is stopping creeping.

Patriot, on the other hand, has been going down on his sits fairly often. I am sitting him back up and just not rewarding him for now.

2 Tunnels

Wyatt and I are really having a hard time with 2 tunnels directly next to each other and sending him to the outer tunnel from a distance (or even very little distance!) This was from NADAC elite chances course where you had to send your dog to the outer tunnel. I tried opposite arm and also backing up and altering my path to head to the outer tunnel. Success rates to the outer tunnel we re about 50%. Not sure what the best combination of body and voice cues will work. I have an out command, an opposite arm, and also a change of path. I'll be taking a distance/chances course with Lynn Smitley next starting next week so we can start qualifying in Elite chances. For Wyatt to get his NATCH (NADAC championship), the 13 chances Qs are going to be the hard part. We have our jumpers Qs already and have some regular Qs (you need 23 of these) but there are 2 chances a day and Wyatt and I finally seem to have good trial contacts.

Sits and Downs

Sits and downs with Wyatt seem to be improving. I backed up and went back to in sight and I am gradually adding the out of sight element back in. Right now I am going out the door but staying in view (they are big glass doors.)

Lessons Learned - Agility

It was an interesting day of agility Saturday. I did learn some important lessons. See the video to see examples of some of this.

1) I used to pull back and give Wyatt room to go ahead to the weave poles. This used to work great. Now, I am stopping him and frustrated him. I need to just run straight ahead, slowing down a little and not using an opposite arm. He does not need this support anymore and it actually hurts his performance. What works at one point may totally change at another point in time.

2) There are certain things that really demotivate Patriot. One is going back and redoing something like a weave entrance, another is front crosses, and another is not seeing me when he comes out of a tunnel. I need to minimize these though I believe I do need to restart weaves or he will get in the habit of partially completing them.

3) I need to really change my path in chances (gamblers) when there is a directional challenge at distance. At this trial, you had to send the dog to the outermost of two tunnels at a distance. Using an opposite arm and an out command was totally ineffective!

Tunnelers with Wyatt Saturday was one of those thrill of a lifetime runs. He is so good and so fast and motivated at tunnelers. We are really in synch in tunnelers and I can (usually) adapt on the fly. For example, he was way out ahead after tunnel 3 of where I thought I could be so I adapted my plan on the fly very successfully. He flies out of every tunnel and checks with me and if I am handling well and indicating the next tunnel, he is off again as fast as he can to the next one. What a thrill, like driving a performance sports car. Check out the video (the last run if you have not had a chance yet.)

NADAC Video From Today

Commentary later...

Sits and Downs Fell Apart

Sits and down seem to have fallen apart for Wyatt. I have been working at home with going out the door rather than just going around the corner. He is repositioning and moving forward on sits as well as going down. On downs, he is getting up and standing or moving into a sit. Last night in class, he did great on all the utility and open exercises but had both sit and down issues. I usually have the teacher fix them while I stay out of sight and no cheese when I return. Time to back up and move back to novice sits and downs (in sight 1/3 minutes) and gradually increase the difficulty from there. Sometimes I wonder if there is a physical component to these sit and down cycles. By the way, we tried putting a lot of pressure on Wyatt to see if he would "freeze" for the initial come command on Drop on Recall but he came every time. I also tried one at over 100 feet and he was fine too. Sigh. It would be easier if I could replicate the problem in class.

We are at a point where we are working on some really hard stuff - CDX and NADAC championship and sometimes I get a little overwhelmed on how hard some of things are to get right, especially at trials.

Wyatt Agility Photo

I just received this cool photo of Wyatt doing agility at the AWC National. Photo by InMotion.

Too Many Squirrels

I recently spent 10 days on the road in Atlanta, Georgia for the American Whippet Club National Specialty Show. I think it is important to get my dogs Wyatt and Patriot out for their daily exercise when we are on the road, not to mention myself.

I went for a few runs by myself earlier in the week. I found a little neighborhood near the busy Atlanta airport. Midweek, I met the lovely and talented Shawn Rudd and her whippet Georgie. Shawn and George did a flyball demo at the national and Shawn and Bella are a previous winner of the Willow Award. It turned out the we use very similar training methods for our very similar whippets Wyatt and Georgie. We went for a nice run with me holding Wyatt because Patriot was showing and went for another nice walk with our dogs. On the last day of the show we went for a final run. I thought I would bring both dogs as usual and give one for Shawn to run since she does not run with her dogs - due to a injury she received when running with Georgie.

We net at 8:00 AM which was earlier than usual. We started seeing lots of squirrels and I mean lots, like one every 10 feet. We have plenty of squirrels in New England but nothing like this. Patriot was pulling on his leash pretty bad so I gave Wyatt to Shawnie. Usually I keep Wyatt with me because he is so bonded to me he constanly tries to get by my side, Wyatt was good for Shawnie though and I had better luck with Patriot - at least until we came to a little squirrel infested park.

Suddenly, the squirrels appeared everywhere. Wyatt veered in front of me going left and Patriot surged right. I ran into the crossed leashes and Wyatt before I could react. Down I went on the hard Georgia cement sidewalk. Shawnie, in a dilemna, did not know whether to help me or grab Patriot's leash. She wisely got Patriot and came back to me. I somehow landed with the outside of my left hand down and bleeding and the on the outside part of my right wrist on my (dominant) right hand. My watch was another victim of the fall with the wristbands coming off the watch. I was bleeding pretty good on my left hand and my right wrist hurt like hell. I figured it was probably a sprain. We walked for a short distance and then jogged back to the hotel. We were mid-run so it took about 15 minutes to get back. Needless to say, my speed was not great. Wyatt appeared fine. His gait was good and we did not see anything bleeding at that time.

We went to hotel desk and asked for some band aids. It is a really posh hotel and I think the desk clerk was more than happy to provide many different kinds of band aids to prevent bleeding on the carpet. I washed up my left hand, got some ice for my right wrist, and noticed that Wyatt was bleeding too.

I went back to the ballroom where the conformation was going on and watched for a while. I figured I would ask one of the vets at the show to take a quick look at Wyatt. The scrapes looked minor but it would be good to check. Barbara Henderson, a very kind person, agreed to look at Wyatt after she showed a dog.

She got her stuff and very carefully cut away some fur and carefully cleaned out Wyatt's scrapes assured me that all would be well but that she would clean everything out to prevent infective. She saw me bleeding and told me she would also look at me - after she was done with the dog.

She cleaned me out about 10 minutes later and said I should get an x ray when I got back. She kindly went back to her room and got a roll of bright orange vet wrap with smiley faces on it that I used for until I got back home.

Wyatt ended up being fine. I drove 2 days back. Luckily, the wrist, which turned out to be broken, was fine for driving. Getting the van loaded, especially the heavy metal crate, was very challenging though. Just remember that if you and your dog get injured at a big dog show, that you will taken of - just don't expect top priority!

Brace Photos

Sit Stay Practices

I have been focusing on sits stays again and the thing I have added is going out the door. This is much harder for Wyatt - which is good - in that I can work at it at home and it should help at trials too. The hardest problems are those that only show up at trials. I am working on downs and sits too. Wyatt has been popping up on his downs the last few trials (when I go out a door.)

Last Agility Class

Our agility session ended last night. I really enjoyed having a new teacher. All her suggestions worked and for every dog! I learned a shoulder drop that brings your dog to you and is much smoother than a false pivot. Also a step back move to wrao jumps and many more small techniques and ideas. Mary Champagne also taught me to go and not wait for my dog but make him catch up to me! With a fast whippet, that is going to really bring our already good times even faster.

Open A First 8 Attempts

Here's a summary of Wyatt's Open A attempts. First, I should say that all the exercises he passed were very well done and he always did well on heeling. But in analysing the failures, I am hoping to learn what to work on. The basic thing we need is more proofing and confidence. I believe, though I made mistakes, that my handling is now basically OK though there could be ways I could support him more between exercises that I have not tapped into yet. I do believe his sits and downs are harder for him if I go out a door so I am planning to practice that at home.

1 Big E - All exercises OK, went down on long sit
2 Big E - Did not come on initial drop, sits and downs fine
3 Master Peace - Did not come on initial drop, sits and downs fine
4 Master Peace - Did not go out after dumbbell on retrieve on flat, sits and downs fine
5 Taunton (new place) - walked on broad jump, came after me on long down, lots of whining on long sit, sits and downs through door
6 Nationals - did not come after he was dropped on drop on recall, went down on long sit,
7 Big E - did not come on initial come of Drop on recall, did not go get dumbbell after jumping, came up sitting on long down, sits and downs through door
8 Big E - did not come on initial come of Drop on recall, shifted too much on long sit, came up on long down, sits and downs through door

Nov B 2nd Place Photo Patriot

I just received this photo of me and Patriot taken a few weeks ago. I was not sure what was going to happen as this was the first time I showed him in obedience. [I do run him in agility, lure coursing, racing, and conformation.] He did great, ending up with a 190 and 2nd place in a large 30+ class of dogs including more traditional obedience breeds. I love it when you are up there with the people that placed beating all those Border Collies, Labs, and Goldens. I guess my wife has trained him well along with my recent work with him - mostly to improve lagging. Also, he has not shown in a while. Time itself does seem to improve whippet obedience scores for some reason.

I wish the photographer had asked me to tuck in my shirt!

Brace Video = Partial

Wyatt Open A AWC National

Wyatt Rally Classes at the National

96 in Excellent B and a Q
99 and 2nd (on time) in Rally Advanced B

Patriot Novice B

Q/192.5/4th

Agility and Cold With Patriot

I made a mistake at the National with Patriot. He had been doing so much - coursing, Novice Obedience, Rally Advanced, Conformation, and Brace - that I decided to scratch with in his first agility run of the day. He seemed really tired the night before. However, because it was so cold that day - low thirties, he got out of the car for jumpers and was totally pumped and I could not control him enough to avoid a few off courses and weave pop outs. He settled down - I got him out much earlier - and we had a perfect open standard run. 98% of the time, scratching would have been the right choice - especially in hot weather.

Sits and Downs

Seems like I need to work more on sits and downs (sits anyway) again. I took a break for a while since Wyatt was doing so well but he went down in Open after about 30 seconds and had the anxiety issue at the previous trial. I am entered next weekend in Springfield so we'll see what happens there.

National Brags

AWC National 2009
Patriot
4th Place Triathlon
5th place triathlon conformation
4th place Novice B obedience – 30+ dogs, score of 192.5
4th place Versatlity Competition
2nd place Versatility Conformation
2nd place Brace
Rally Advanced – 96 and a Q
Open Std Agilty – 1st and a Q
High score – non-regular class with agility title
High score – regular obedience class with LC title
High score champion in a regular obedience class
High score – non-regular obedience class with agility title
Champion Award of Versatility Excellent

Wyatt
2nd – Rally Advanced B, score of 99
Rally Excellent B – Q and a score of 96
2nd Brace
1st Novice Preferred Fast Agility
Q - Novice Preferred JWW 3rd Place
Q – Novice Preferred Standard 3rd Place
High score – non-regular obedience class with agility title
Parade of Rescues
Parade of Honors - #1 NADAC agility whippet 2009

Quick Update from the AWC National

Wyatt and Patriot did really great today. A long day but lots of fun. Patriot will end up 4 or 5 in the triathlon. He got 5th in conformation and 2nd in Versatility Conformation. Patriot got a 98 in Rally Advanced (5th) and 4th place with a 192.5 in Novice B obedience. Wyatt NQed in Open A but got a 96 in Rally Excellent and a 2nd with a 99 in Rally Advanced. I really enjoyed showing in everything including conformation.

Lure Coursing

Wyatt got to run as a test dog and did great. His follow is very good. Too bad he is a fouler. Patriot did not run great but finished and did OK. He is 11/15 in versatility and could still do well if he does well is agility and rally and conformation and he is still OK for the triathlon as the LC scores are bunched tightly together and don't count as much as obedience and conformation typically in terms of the way the scores are distributed. But, even though it would be cool if he did well, I really just want to have fun with them and show our stuff. Tomorrow is busy with rally first, Patriot in Advanced and Wyatt in Advanced and Excellent. Patriot is then in Novice B and Wyatt is in Open A. I am hoping we can go out of sight without going out a door. I think that is much harder for Wyatt based on our last trial. Then I show Patriot in conformation for the triathlon and Versatility Competition (VC) Monday (tomorrow) night. Tuesday is brace and agility. It's been great to meet all the VC competitors. What a wonderful bunch of friendly people.

Made It To Atlanta

We made it to Atlanta for the American Whippet Club National Specialty. The dogs were very good for the 19 hour drive. We went 12:30 to 8:30 Friday ending up in West Virginia and did the rest today getting in around 5. We went for a nice 1/2 walk and are back in the room chilling. The dogs did not make a peep the whole way. Good boys! I did take them out for at least a short walk every 2-3 hours.

More Thoughts

More thoughts on our open attempts. Watching Saturday's video again - attempt 5 - I was very happy with Wyatt's heeling. 2 people also noticed that the judge moved as Wyatt was coming back after jumping, which seemed startle with so that he dropped the dumbbell. So we can proof that. I do believe I was still 2 feet too close. Anyway, if you look back at most of our NQs, it has been a lack of attention, probably from something moving in the ring. So proofing will help as well as what I did at the last trial, which was revving him up and looking at him during the initial command. Some of this is from having a sighthound and some is Wyatt, who is nervous and very observant too.

Handler Error!

Wyatt did pretty well but I made some key errors in our fifth attempt at a CDX leg.

I stood to close to the jump for the retrieve over jump. I looked at the judge's line and went with that and not what a little voice said was too close. The floor was bouncy and that was on my mind. All the handler's were discussing the floor. That forces him, I believe, to have to jump around me, which created a different picture to him. He then dropped the dumbbell a few feet away and behind me, something he never does. I understand that that is a deduction but not an NQ.

I tried to recover and keep him up for the broad jump but he stepped through the broad jump, something he also never does. I suspect it was stress from the previous exercise. We also did agility run through the night before, which may have contributed either from some physical tiredness or confusion with contacts.

The trial as at a new spot for us and it was very crowded. As we came in, I found a spot near the door. I set up the crate and noticed later that the crate door was facing the building door. I usually have the crate door facing the place where chairs are so Wyatt can see me. He has some separation anxiety (SA) issues. Again, I did not listen to that little voice that said to move the crate. I also noticed and ignored some spilled water and movement of the pad inside the crate, which indicates that he was pawing at the crate pad due to SA. The handler went outside the building for the stays, something I also wondered about. I believe that is more stressful for Wyatt. As I came in from the long sit, I saw that he was about 6 feet in front of the other dogs. The judge informed me that he was whining the whole time and crawled up. When I came in from the down, he was not there! The steward said he stood up and left right before he came back in.

I have not been practicing out of sight stays much since Wyatt did the last 4 or so perfectly but I guess i need to keep practicing these including going out the door, something that has been difficult in the past when I have tried it. Also, I need to manage him better especially crate placement. Sometimes I bring our Patriot to keep him company. Obviously, I need to stand a bit farther from the jump. However, I was very happy overall looking at the video. We also made it through the first part with a very uncharacteristic broad jump failure. My goal was to keep him focusing and up between exercises and I think I did that. You can't see it on the video but I keep talking to him between exercises saying what we were going to do next and I think that really helped. I need to think about if we should trial at less that ideal and new places or stick with the really good and familiar spots.

Agility Practice

My handling was not the greatest Wednesday night. I arrived late because I had to drive back home for my dog bag and was frazzled. I also had trouble trying to remember courses for 2 different dogs. But I did get to practice contacts and did well with the second part of the course especially weaves and teeters and dogwalks. I am going to do some run thrus tonight to get my confidence and get the dogs used to full courses with other dogs. Wyatt shows in Open A obedience tomorrow and off the nationals next week! I think we are in a good position to do well at the national but I am trying not to think that way and just think to have a good time with the dogs, do our best, and keep everyone safe.

Fifth Try This Weekend

Wyatt and I will try for our first CDX leg again this weekend. I am going to try to stay more connected between exercises this time and see if that helps our problem with freezing occasionally on the initial command.

FIrst Agility Class of the Year

I took both Wyatt and Patriot to agility class last night to tune up for the whippet national specialty. Patriot ran very well and did some (for him) fast weaves. I just had to remember how to do contacts with him. My wife changed him to running contacts but did not really finish so I have to slow him down and kind of point to the bottom of the contact to ensure that he hits the yellow zone. Wyatt also did very well and was very fast but crashed a bar on his first run. I moved him down to 16 immediately and he did fine. I not going to run him at 20 inches anymore so I am not sure why I was even practicing at 20! It felt great to run him at 16; the instructor thought he would be fine at 16 even with his early jumping habits. I was definately rusty with my cuing and with running the 2 dogs differently so it was great to be out doing agility again. I think both dogs were happy too and they are busy sleeping right now. They seem to need extra rest the next day, which tells me it was good for them. We all know that a tired whippet is a good (and happy) whippet.

Finish CDX First?

I am wondering if I should just trial in obedience until we get our CDX. As you know, we have no legs yet. I have 4 attempts coming in through mid-April. I only have so much time on weekends to trial per month so I am thinking, hard as it is, that I may put off trialing in NADAC agility until we get our CDX. There is a NADAC trial close by in early May but also an obedience trial that weekend. I can usually enter NADAC trials late, even day of show, so I could go to NADAC if we get our CDX by then.

Video of Open A Yesterday

Obedience Results

We had a good but long day today at the Obedience Trial in Franklin, MA today.

Still no Open A Q for Wyatt. Once again, he NQed on one exercise and did very well on the rest. A little frustrating but I think it is just going to take some trialing to put it all together as a team. Good news: another perfect sit and down and he came on the drop (he missed that twice). This time, he did not go out on the retrieve on flat, of all things, something he has never done before. I am going to check the video to see if did anything funny like not give our normal command. Something did feel a little off. I think I was nervous after he got the drop on recall and thought we were home feel. I threw to the side and a little farther than usual and the judge waited a while after the throw. I checked tonight and I don't look at Wyatt before giving the "Find It" command. I was wondering if I neglected to look at him but that was not it. We were working on a 188 if we had qualified.

Patriot and I did Novice B. I have never shown him in obedience before but wanted to get a dry run in before the national, where I will be showing him in rally, agility, and obedience. He ended up doing great. He got a second place in a large class of 20+ dogs, a 190, and also high scoring sighthound! I was really good with both dogs not looking back at all and trusting. Unfortunately, I did not get a video of me and Patriot.

A good day. I feel good about both dogs and am prepared to trial with Wyatt for a while. Even though we have had 4 very close to Q runs, I need to be patient and work together as both of us get comfortable with showing in Open A.

This Weekend - Obedience - Saturday Only

Wyatt and I are in Open A again this weekend. WIsh is luck! I also have Patriot entered in Novice B to get ready for the National. Mainly just worked with him on lagging at home.

Practice Last Night - Brace, Novice, and Open

Wyatt and Patriot did so well last night as a brace team! They were super cute too. I MUST get our brace videotaped at the Whippet National. I did pick up a few things such as putting Patriot on the inside when heeling since he lags more. But they did great and it really seems easy if you have 2 well trained dogs to put them together. Hard to get them both to sit straight but I don't think I will be able to fix that completely.

Wyatt did fine with his drop on recall. I had the teacher really crowd him but he took off on "Wyatt, come" everytime. Even though it cost up two CDX legs, I am not sure there is much more I can do besides proofing it in different settings. Hopefully, they were flukes and not a habit. We'll see next weekend.

So Close!

Wyatt did great in Open A yesterday but we missed one thing, enough to NQ. But heeling was very good. I was told he was right with me. I tried really hard to keep my eyes ahead and did pretty well with that but it's hard not being able to see him. Sits were straight with good fronts too. On the drop, I had to call him twice. I thought he may have been looking over in the other ring on the first command. Someone else said a dog barking right then. The judge said she could hear my command though so Wyatt must have. The rest - retrives and broad jump was picture perfect. I think we would have got about a 190. The sits and downs were perfect too. So close! Next time! I may try to proof the drop a little more - the initial come command. The judge raising her hand above his head may be making him nervous. He certainly never does not come at home or in class.

Here's a comment I got from a friend who was watching...

Hi John...

Just wanted to let you know you guys really did a nice job today......keep at it and it'll happen! The more confidence you exude, the less he will lag. My Skyler went from being a lagger to a forger the more we showed. Don't keep looking back at him....just keep going.....he's with you.

His stays were rock solid.....he didn't even fidget. I think he liked watching the Utility going on in the next ring....his ears were forward and his head was moving with the movement in the other ring all during the sit-stay. You guys are sooooo close!


Good luck in your next show!

Open A Tomorrow

Wyatt and I are in Open A first thing tomorrow morning. I am feeling pretty good going in. The only slight worry is a cold floor and not going down all the way for drop on recall or the long down.

Heeling Work

I have been working with Wyatt and Patriot both separately and together as a brace team on heeling. For Wyatt, I am fine tuning and trying to address the places where I lose a few points for lagging, which tends to be on outside turns (either about turns) or a 360 and on "fast." With Patriot, I am working with him everywhere. The technique I am using is the same though. As I am in the turn, quickly get a treat and have it ready at heel position when the turn is completed.

Wyatt's Check Up

Good news. Wyatt got checked out today by our sports vet Julie Roos, DVM and she thought he was doing really well and could go back to agility. She does want me to still reduce his jogging time with me. That was great news. It does seem like he needs a big rest time every winter. I may greatly reduce his jumpers runs and also run his at 16 now that he is a veteran.

NADAC Agility Brag

Wyatt was the #1 NADAC agility whippet last year, getting #1 in 3 classes. You get 10 points for every qualifying run at the elite (like AKC excellent) level and you need at least 30 points to be even on the list. Here are the complete whippet results.

Whippet Jumpers 80 1 Wyatt John Heffernan
Whippet Jumpers 40 2 Hugo Kiely Grundahl
Whippet Jumpers 30 3 Patriot Dawn Heffernan

Whippet Regular Agility 30 1 Wyatt John Heffernan

Whippet Tunnelers 140 1 Wyatt John Heffernan

Lagging

Looking at our recent run thru scores for open obedience, we lost 6 1/2 on heeling, 1/2 on drop on recall, 1/2 on retrieve on flat, 1/2 on retrieve over jump, and 1 on broad jump. So I have been trying to reduce lagging on the heeling. I have been luring with cheese on all the different kind of outside turns to try to get him speeded up on those turns. That's where we lose most of our points. He also seems to lag on "fast" at run thrus and trials. My thought is to try and get speed on the turn and get that into his muscle memory.

Very Good Run Thru

Wyatt and I had a great run thru Thursday night. We qualified with a score of 190.5. We lost 6-7 points in heeling for lagging and a few 1/2 points off for fronts and finishes here and there. Sits and stays were perfect. It was one of the coldest days of the year so I did use a little mat for the long down. This gives me a lot of confidence going into our 3 upcoming trials.

Barking Before Gloves

I am getting tons of barking at the start of the Utility Directed Retrieve (aka Gloves) exercise. I can't quite figure out why. I have a feeling this will not be a problem in trials but I would still like to work on it. My guess is that the gloves are his favorite article to to retrieve due to the fact that they can be a moving white object (I frequently throw them low on the mats to get him pumped up.) Anyway, I think the frustration of having to sit twice before the retreive may be frustrating for Wyatt. Not sure how to work on this yet. I tried waiting until he stops to start and using his oops word but that did not seem to do much, at least in the short run. Any ideas appreciated!

Too Smart

I've been trying leaving the cellar door open so the dogs can hang out in front of the wood stove when we are out instead of being stuck in the basement which is colder. We have a baby gate in front of the pantry. The pantry can be a mischief area. Wyatt has been known to find goodies in there, like flour, which be enjoys taking to the living room rug and tearing apart. I secured the cabinets under the kitchen sink with a rubber band. That is where we keep the trash. Well, the dog walker arrived to find the trash all over the kitchen floor. He called me and suggested that we secure the door. I guess he did not see the broken elastic dangling from the cabinet knobs. Wyatt is just too smart. I am sure he saw this as an interesting challenge.

Barking To Be Let In

Wyatt, as far I can remember, has also barked to be let in the house. He is quite quick to bark when he is ready to come in, especially in the winter, when he must set records for quickest to do his business. Patriot, on the other hand used to never barked to be let in. Finally, at the age of 7, he has learned to bark to be let in the house. I am not sure if he finally learned it from Wyatt or if comes from the time I forgot him for about an hour in the cold weather and he started to try different things. He now will bark after a while - though not immediately like Wyatt - to be let in. I guess a old dog can learn some new tricks!

Fine Tuning

I have been fine tuning some things with heeling and with the drop on recall (DOR.) I am trying hard to get the really good DOR the first time. I am also trying to get better speed. Wyatt really anticipates the drop if I only practice DOR. So I have been trying to do a regular recall without a drop most of the time and only do a DOR maybe 25% of the time. It seems to be helping. I have been having trouble getting a full down in the colder weather at times. I probably should not even try on the colder days.

I am trying to look ahead more heeling and use my periperal vision. I found that I do need to look back to get a straight halt but I am trying to not look back until the "judge" says "halt." I have a bad habit of looking back on the "fast", which I am trying to break. I also spent a lot of time doing retrieve on flat and retrieve over jump side by side. I use a different command for each one. There is a danger of him taking the jump if the ROF throw is off or not taking the jump if is the ROJ throw is off. I'll continue trying to work on it but the best thing will be to have straight throws, which I usually do.

Brace

I had blast trying brace for the first time tonight and hope to compete in it at the American Whippet Club National although there is a potential conflict between agility and obedience. The heeling and halts need work. Patriot lags behind Wyatt heeling and they sit funny but they basically could do everything fine the first time. I love the recall. Wyatt gets right off the line and jerks Patriot into starting! What a riot. I'll have to video it sometime. I hope I can compete someday.

Heeling - Eye Contact Versus Painting a Line

I did not in the video a few things. Some folks also pointed them out to me in email. One thing I am thinking about is how much to go for eye contact and how much to "paint a line" for the dog by looking straight ahead. It can cause lagging when you look back at your dog. Typically, I will look back when doing an inside turn and when coming to a halt. I believe it actually helps on the inside turn because I want my dog to slow down. I look at my dog's rear end, basically. I do have the bad habit of looking back on fast too. I am trying to look about 2 feet ahead and to not look at Wyatt on the halt until we have actually halted. So far, these changes do seem to help though he forges a bit on the halt now since I am not slowing him down by looking back.

Open A Match Video

This is from yesterday. Best part was Wyatt nailed his sits and downs again! I was very happy with this overall. I will proof throws that are off a bit more. Not sure about the initial jump when heeling. I could not even get him to look at the jump at home last night even when heeling inches away. I probably needed better contact initially at the start line. We also do better if I have eye contact initially.

Whippets Howling and Wyatt Listening to Aidan

Wyatt's Checkout

We visited Julie Roos, DVM yesterday. Julie specializes in Sports Medicine for dogs. She found some problems in Wyatt's back and especially pelvis. Last time, it was more of a back issue. So he is on rest for 2 weeks and partial rest after that. She also recommended glucosamine and massage. Last time, rest meant no agility and jumping, but she thinks this is more due to the daily runs and the long sits so those are out for a while. He can get a daily walk of 10-15. Wyatt hates the cold anyway so it should not be too hard. We go back in early February to see where he is at. She said I caught it early this time, which is a good thing.

Scent Discrimination

We have been socked in with snow and cold. Wyatt does not like to go out in the cold much so I have been doing 3 training sessions a day instead of the usual 2 t keep him with something to do. Lots of run thrus and classes have been cancelled too.

Something interesting I noticed with scent discrimination. On the first article, he seems to sniff all all of them, including the correct one without any indication on the correct one. He then makes a second pass and gets the correct one. It would seem that he is making sure he has the correct one. For the second article, he only makes one pass and stops on the correct one and retrieves it,

I am thinking of starting to train brace for our national specialty. I need to buy one of the those coupler collars. It should be a hoot!

Dogs Off

The dogs seem off due to the ice storm and lack of power. They also had a fight over a huge hunk of cheese they somehow got the other day. Wyatt cut a small cut right above his eye, which is too close for comfort. I should have anticipated the issue as I did see Patriot digging up the cheese and flaunting his ownership of it by running around "proudly" with it in his mouth with Wyatt watching. I was not sure what it was initially and thought it was something out of the compost. I am trying to get back into our usual routines with them, which should help. I am sure they are picking up our increased stress levels as well.

Ice Storm

Lots to write about with the loss of power for what looks like it will be a week. Really changes your life and outlook. However, I can't write much. I just ran into Northampton to check email. Here are some quick photos I put up of the storm.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76359&l=5bc8f&id=641351677

I have tried to continue my 2 obedience sessions with Wyatt every day. He still waits for me to do down cellar with him, lights or no lights!

Agility Class- Layering Jumps

After a long break of about a month, Wyatt and I returned to agility class. It felt good to be out there and Wyatt seemed very happy to be running. I really worked on pushing my distance so it was challenging. We had some trouble layering jumps and going by jumps. Wyatt loves jumps so much. But I really needed to be aware and precise in my path, that is was heading in the correct direction. At the same time, it only worked if I ran parallel to him, not ahead or behind.

New Blog

I have a new blog, which will be devoted to more general topics such as religion, philosophy, politics, parenting, nature, and life in general. I will attempt to make it personal and to share the occasional insight or at least deep question about life.

It can be found at Reflections From Cricket Hil

Down Problems

I have had a few down problems again where Wyatt gets up immediately from his down into a sit. I am not sure if this is due to:

a) colder floors
b) practicing sits much more than downs lately
c) a physical issue
d) unknown and mysterious dog thoughts

I am having him checked out next week for physical issues since I was seeing some possible jumping issues. If the issue is colder floors, I should not probably not practice unless it is warmer or I put something down. If the issue is not practicing, then I should just practice more, which is somewhat in conflict with "a". He has been better the last few days as I have kept the downs very short and in sight. He did great last night and did a 3.5 minute out of sight sit. I had Tibby crowd him as well for the other stuff hoping to get him more used to judges who stand close to the dogs. I just printed out a premium for mid-March. That will probably be our next attempt.

Go Outs Versus Drop On Recall

I was thinking that Wyatt may be getting the sit part of the go out and the drop on recall confused. That may be why he downs on the "sit" part of the utility go out. I did notice that this happens more when I am a long distance away, which resembles the drop on recall.

Go Outs

I am going back to practicing more utility obedience and also taking a break from agility. Wyatt seems to need that break every winter for his back to stay healthy. Go outs are going well but Wyatt does a down sometimes. Not sure why.

Open A Results Today From A Friend

Here's the breakdown from your run today:
Heel free 12pts off
Drop on Recall NQ
Retrieve on Flat 5pts off
Retrieve over High Jump 1.5pts off
Broad Jump 1.5pts off
Long sit Perfect!
Long down Perfect!

I'm so happy that he held his stays today....yay!
Keep at it....you'll get there I can just feel it.

NQ but Great Sits and Downs

I was very pleased today that Wyatt had perfect sits and downs. Another almost Q. This time, he did not come on the initial part of the drop on recall. He was more nervous in the ring today though his heeling was better; he seemed afraid of the judge - big guy. The judge moved towards him quickly at the start and caused some kind of reaction. The judge also stood very close for the drop and it was in the very corner of ring. 3 dogs in a row missed the initial come part of the drop (Wyatt was one.) That seems to be a fluke. I am feeling pretty confident that we can qualify and title in open though it won't be in the 3 next attempts. Will continue to fine tune; continue to work on the sits including more proofing, and try to proof for the "big guys."

Results

A friend checked my scores after the trial...

Here's the scoop on your score:

Heel free / figure 8 had 11 pts off
Drop on Recall had 1.5 off
Retrieve on Flat had 1 pt off
Retrieve over Jump had .5 pt off
Broad Jump had .5 pt off
Sit stay was NQ
Down stay was perfect
Total points off was 14.5 which would have been 185.5 score which is really good!
Once you get the sit/stay solidified you're going to right up there in the placings.
I didn't see any of your heeling pattern, just from the figure 8 on.....everything I saw looked really nice!

So Close!

We had a great run today at our Open A Obedience trial. There was a real crooked sits and some lags and out of positions at first in heeling but then we clicked and he finished great. The drop, retrives, and broad jump were really nice with no or minimal points off. He went down at 25 second on the long down and did great on the long sit. I was happy he did so well in our first outing. Definately need to proof the sit more. He has been doing well at home unless I go and do other stuff. He will then go lay on the couch. We would have been in the 190s I think if we made the long sit. We will see what happens tomorrow.

Update

I backed off the treat and praise reduction plan a bit since it seems to be stressful for Wyatt. At run thrus last week, the lack of treats and reduced communication did not seem to affect him. Perhaps, he now knows and contextualized the fact that treats come later when we are at an agility/obedience trial but not at home. We had a good run thru. His drop was slow so I gave a second command but it turned out he was dropping so I should have just waited. Sits were difficult for both dogs today but Wyatt has been good at home. I do need to proof the sits more at home and away from home.

Things Fall Apart Before Trial

Not unexpectedly, things are falling apart a little before our first open obedience trial. I have been weaning Wyatt off treats and lots of verbal praise in anticipation of our upcoming Open A obedience trials. For whatever reason - probably the weaning off of treats and verbals but also possibly in my tone of voice or stress level - Wyatt is having trouble with heeling of all things, which has been very solid for at least a year. I am seeing lagging, not going with me on the heel command, and no sits. I am going to back up and give more treats or verbals if he seems stressed and also back up to 2 exercizes and then a treat.

Prep for Open A Obedience

I am excited about entered Open A Obedience for the first time in a few weeks. Unlike Novice, I am genuinely looking forward to it and I am not feeling nervous. My confidence in the sits and downs is not high but I know about the problem. In preparation, I am doing lots of run thrus in the basement and changing the treat schedule so that treats are after a number of exercises, gradually moving to one big treat at the end. I am also doing either a sit OR a down after the regular exercises. Wyatt has been very good with his sits and down at home and at least at our last few classes, so you never know! We may have to trial quite a bit to get get the sits and downs done however.

Running Around Jumps

I am worried Wyatt's back problems are cropping up again. He seems to be running around jumps, especially at the end of jumpers courses. This is very uncharacteristic although I do have to remember to maintain contact with him for all jumps, even if it seems like straight line. While it could be a handling issue, it would be wise to check for physical issues. I pulled him from an upcoming CPE trial and entered open obedience at the cluster instead. I am trying to get him into our local sports vet, Julie Roos.

We only got 2 Qs this weekend though one as our first Elite Touch and Go Q. Contacts continue to much improved. We had a lot of almost Qs - .5 second over in tunnelers, one dropped bar in regular on an otherwise awesome run, getting a very difficult gamble in Chances but missing some easy stuff. Oh, well!

Sits and Downs Last Night

Hey, Wyatt was perfect last night in sits and downs. He did one out of sight sit, one out of sight down, and one in sight sit! Thjey were not for the full time but still...

Serpentines

We had guest teacher at agility class last night and I learned something really valuable. She had some serpentines set up with the last obstacle offset (ahead of the others). For example, one had jump 1, another jump 2 (from the opposite side), and then a tunnel 10-15 ahead of jumps 1 and 2. Normally, I would do a front cross in on the far side of jump 2. Instead, she taught me to stay on the near side of jumps 1 and 2. Send the dog over jump 1, move laterally so that the dog comes back over toward you to jump 2, and then just head out to the tunnel. The handler path is much shorter and you head off potential off courses if there are other obstacles near jump 2.

Pivots

After worked for many years on pivots for rally, gloves, and heeling, I am seeing some real nice pivots on Wyatt. The left pivot especially is difficult. I am seeing Wyatt "jump" into position now, which is amazing. There seems to be a magic spot to look too so that if your look behind your dog at the magic spot, they line up perfectly straight. This obedience stuff really takes a long time!

Communication

I have been tuning into ways that more communication/information is needed in certain situations in agility (and obedience). When the dogs don't get the information/support they need, they often don't do what we expect. However, from what I see, they aren't blowing us off, we aren't giving them what they need. Last night in agility class, there was a jump, tunnel, tunnel serpentine. Wyatt came out of the first tunnel on the wrong side. However, when I called his name - when he was in the tunnel - he came out on the desired side. For some reason, I often forget to communicate when Wyatt is in a tunnel.

He had some great weaves last night - fast and he was also able to find the entry on his own from some distance and from some difficult angles. What I do need to do is bring targets to class to reinforce the end of the contact 2 on 2 off. He was going down most of the down to the yellow but in trials, he goes less far down, sometimes in the blue zone.

Somewhat Disappointing OB Class

We went to obedience class last night after missing a few weeks. We did lots of retrieves, which are no problem for Wyatt. We did get some good proofing but I was a little bored. At the end, we did sits and downs. The good news was that Wyatt made his 5 minute out of sight down with no problems. But we went down twice on his sit. He has been doing so well at home on sits and downs that I was a little disappointed. I will probably try staying in sight and/or closer next time for the sit. He missed his first drop on recall too but I think I know why. If I look at the "judge" for her hand signals, he frequently does not drop. If I look at Wyatt and keep the "judge" in my peripheral vision, he seems to do fine. Just something I need to remember. I was hoping to enter open at the Thanksgiving Cluster but it is not on Thanksgiving weekend and we had already signed up for an CPE agility trial 5 minutes from our house. Will have to wait until winter/spring. There do not seem to be any trials on December/January/February though.

CPE Results and Off Courses

Wyatt and I had a fun weekend at our local CPE trial 5 minutes from our house. We rocked Saturday with 3 Qs and 3 first places right off the bat in the level C - Champion - 20 inch class. I was having visions of a perfect weekend at that point. How delusional! We had an off course in our last run of the day, Wildcard. But our Fullhouse, Standard, and Colors run were great. We had an especially good standard run with picture perfect contacts. It felt kind of easy compared to NADAC Elite Regular courses but that's OK!

On Sunday, we had 2 real good runs - Jackpot and Standard. In Jackpot, we racked up tons of points and were on the final gamble obstacle, the A-Frame. But Wyatt stopped in the blue zone and I jerked a bit to get him down and he released. I definitely need to work on driving to the end. He frequently stopped high and I need to coax him down. Better than leaping off though. A groan went through the crowd when he released from the blue zone. In Standard, there was a difficult three discrimination challenge I could not get; he was too far ahead of me.

I really went for it in our third run of the day, Snookers. The course had triple combos for #6 and #7. We did 1-6, 1-7, and 1-2, which had great flow. Wyatt did great. We did not make it through the final 7 in the closing sequence but had an awesome run with lots of cool wraps and speed. A Q and a first. I was hoping for a great closing Jumpers run but we bombed out. I lost contact after several jumps and he went around. I was worried about his back since he avoided jumps in the past when he had a sore back but, looking at video, I think it was a handler issue. They seem to need a connection before they committ to the next obstacle. You can never assume they will take a certain jump even in a straight line sequence, at least in my experience.

Running Patriot

I also ran our other whippet Patriot last weekend at the VT NADAC trial. My wife trained him and usually runs him but has been staying home with our son at times. Patriot is very different from Wyatt. He is much less driven and also slower but usually more consistent. He was pretty slow this summer except for the first run of the day. He tends to not run well in the heat. Last weekend, he was pretty fast but I was having a lot of contact problems. Dawn is retraining him for a running contact. I lost a lot of Qs due to contacts and then decided I needed to try something different. All I did was slow down and maintain voice contact on the contacts and we were much more successful on contacts. Kind of what I saw with Wyatt, they both seem to need a connection on the contacts even though they are much more independant at home.

Wyatt's Perfect Contact Weekend!

Wyatt had a great weekend. For the first time EVER, he stopped for every contact. Loyal followers will know that Wyatt has had contact problems for years. Lately, his A Frame and teeter have been good but the dog walk has still been a real issue. What I was seeing was that when I was behind him on the dog walk, he would fly off at the slightest change in my speed, arm movement, voice, whatever. See Video for an illustration of the this. I had been trying to really still my upper body as we approached the dog walk end. However, though it sometimes helped, it did not work most of the time. I got to thinking before this trial about what else I could try. Lots of our NADAC courses lately have been starting with a jump and then the dog walk. This is the hardest way for us to start as Wyatt can get lots of speed right off the start line. I thought I would try a lead out first. Sure enough, for our first course, there was a jump and a dog walk as the first two obstacles.

I tried to lead out but Wyatt started. Luckily, the judge was having an issue so I got to try again. I was able to lead out laterally but not ahead like usual. My second idea was to somehow get him to stop and wait for me if he got ahead of me on the dog walk. I called his name as I slowed down and sure enough he stopped and waiting for me. I then have to coax him down to the yellow zone. Not ideal and not what we have at home, which is a nice independent 2 on, 2 off but it works. I used the same technique and it worked all day and the next day 2. I was very happy that we seemed to have found a solution to our dog walk issue.

I am going to go back to using a target at home and in class to reinforce going down to the bottom on his own. I also picked up a good tip from Dave May for the jump, dogwalk start. That is to start at an angle to the first jump, sending him out. That gives me more time to get to the dogwalk.

Funny how it seems like I had to figure out what Wyatt needed rather than training him. I can work now from where we are and get him to drive to the end of the contact at trials.

Saturday, we ended up with 4 of 6 Qs including our last open Touch and Go leg. That earned Wyatt his NADAC open versatility award, which you get when you complete all your open titles (with the exception of the new Hoopers game.) Getting 4 of 6 is very rare for Wyatt. We had a very nice Hoopers run after quite a few frustrating NQs. I think I am getting the hang of hoopers, which is to treat the hoops like real obstacles. Hard to explain. Sunday, we got another regular (standard) Q, which again is unheard of for us to get 2 regular Qs in one weekend. We had some minor issues in our other runs which causes NQs on otherwise super runs.

AKC Stats 2007

Here are some graphs for the 2007 (and earlier) stats for entries, titles, and whippet titles by sport. The actual numbers (which show much more detail can be found at Numbers

Sick

Last week, Dawn took Patriot to obedience class. He was very sluggish and unenthusiastic. He felt discouraged and was wondering if she could continue with him and she was even talking about retiring him. I got to thinking about the day and asked her is she fed the dogs when she got home. I usually get home first and feed the dogs. Sure enough, the dogs were double fed. We then noticed that Patriot had diarrhea and was vomited for a few days. Just goes to show you to rule out physical problems first when things seem to be going wrong. Wyatt did great, even double fed. His drive is strong. He did go down on his long sit though at 2 1/2 minutes, which MAY have something to do with a full stomach.

NADAC Results

Wyatt and I had a couple of heartbreakers Sunday. First, we had a great Elite Chances run. It was jump to weaves to start. He missed the weave entry but I was able to send him back. He then went out to a bunch of jump and then a switch to a tunnel. We have been working on sending out to tunnels at home. I was so happy that we got our first Elite Chances Q but later found out we did not Q. The judge said when I sent him back to the weaves, he must have stepped over the line with all 4 paws. We had a great weavers run, the first time with no restarts. Again, I thought we had Qed but were over by 3 seconds. They were not his fastest weaves but I did not say anything to speed him up afraid he would pop out. We also had great contacts in our first regular run (I got ahead of him and was able to control the dogwalk release.) Check out the video which shows the dogwalk issue very well. I can try to get ahead of him but also need a way to control the release when I am behind him.

NATCH-3 V-NATCH

This is my friend David May who earned a NATCH-3 and Versatility NATCH yesterday.  Very impressive.  They are a great team. 

NADAC Today

We had a good day today with the exception of the dogwalk.  Wyatt got 2 Qs in tunnelers and jumpers with 2 second places.  I ran Patriot and got 3 Qs in regular, tunnelers, and jumpers.  I also ran Wyatt in a practice Hoopers run trying out some new things.  Hoping for a better dogwalk tomorrow.  I went back for our first run and walked him off twice after that.  On our last Touch and Go run, we missed a discrimination challenge and missed the dogwalk.  Too bad as we had 2 excellent A frames.  Jumpers and tunnelers rocked.  Our last regular run was great too but we missed the second to last dogwalk.  

Down Idea

I was the only person at Open Class last night and discussed Wyatt's down issues with Tibby Chase.  I was thinking that maybe I should teach a fully rolled over down and I was initially very excited about this idea.  But then thinking about how nervous Wyatt is, I wondered if this would be feasible around other dogs.  Tibby agreed and suggested that I train Wyatt to fold in one paw and sit with one hip rolled over.  This would make it harder to get up that his current very alert sphinx position.  We started working on it with success and I am hopeful that this will be helpful.  To get the hip rolled, you don't roll it but you gently apply pressure to his rear side.  Initially I will do this training on a mat.  I may also have him looked at by a sports vet who has helped us in the past.  I believe that Wyatt wants to do the right thing but has a lousy build that sometimes gets in the way.  

After that, we did a quick run through which Wyatt aced with what would have a scores in the 190s.  I believe if we can fix the sit, that we can make it through Open pretty easily.  His sit is not 100% but is pretty solid at this point.  

Go Ahead

I have been working with Wyatt with agility go ahead.  I believe we are making progress.  I got some really good distance today but pushed it too far and he lost enthusiasm a bit so I broke off.  I am working on go ahead when I am moving and even from a stationary position.  

OB Class Last Night

We had a good class last night.  There was a lot of distraction and discrimination training.  Tibby had us do recalls and drop on recalls with the dumbbell in or close to the dog's path.  Wyatt had no trouble with this and had very good recalls and drops all night.  He had an awesome 3 minute out of sight sit but came up on his down twice.  We have had more trouble with that lately than the sit.  Just can't figure it out.  

Need Agility Class Again?

I am wondering if we need to be in agility class again.  I dropped in last night and we did OK but I saw other dogs had made more progress.  My biggest goal now is to be able to send Wyatt ahead much more so we can get Elite Chances Qs in NADAC.  You need 13 to get a championship. We came very close once but have trouble sending ahead long distances.  Our local class does not focus much on this but I need to work with Wyatt somewhere on this.  I did set up something at home but we are not doing that much agility.  Time to at least work on this at home.  I need to think up or get some ideas for working on this too.  There is a local person who specializes in this.  Maybe time for a private lesson!  

Downs

Wyatt did well on sits and downs last night in class though we could not really get out of sight, we were out of the ring.  He did turn to face me.  This morning though, he kept coming up right away on his down.  I finally got a 3 minute in sight down.  I can kind of predict when this will happen because he goes down very reluctantly.  I wonder if he is tired or sore or tight when this happens.  Of course, I want him to be reliable no matter what (unless there is a serious physical issue).

Quick Update

After having a perfect day Saturday after little sleep and going 0 for 6 NADAC agility Q's, we had a good day Sunday getting the long sought last Elite Regular Q for Wyatt's Elite Regular title.  He also earned his Elite Tunnelers Outstanding title (10 Q's)  and also picked up his 11th Elite Jumpers Q. Patriot picked up one AKC LC point today, which qualifies him for the American Whippet Club CAVX title - Champion Award of Versatility Excellent, which is earned about once every 4 years by a dog.  

Same thing?

I had the same thing happen with out of sight downs with Wyatt the last few days where it seemed to fall apart just as Drop on Recall did a few days ago.  Seems to be back again.  Interesting.  I can't explain it.

We have a NADAC agility trial Saturday and Sunday where we can camp with the family and some lure coursing Monday for Patriot.  

Drop on Recall BacK?

Wyatt did a great drop on recall on the first attempt this morning.  Hopefully, that is fixed.  Funny how things can fall apart and come back together.  

Drop Fell Apart

For some reason, Wyatt's Drop on Recall has fallen apart.  He seems confused.  He is not dropping, especially the first time, not starting the recall, and/or anticipating the drop.  I am going back to basics and lots of treats for each part, and using my hand and/or moving in for the (first especially) drop.  No worry but he was doing so well before this.  

Offline

I will be mostly offline for about a week.  Have a great week with your training!

New Titles and A Thrill Ride of a Lifetime

We have some new titles to report. Seven year old Patriot received his WRA CRX title last weekend. He worked hard on that and was always a solid C racer and one of the fastest bench champions around here. We remarked last weekend that we would love to see more bench champions doing WRA and NOTRA racing in New England. It tends to be the same 4 of us. It was kind of sad to see what may be his last race. He also finished a bunch of NADAC agility titles this weekend earning his Novice Hoopers, Open Regular, and Elite Jumpers Skilled titles.

Wyatt earned a very difficult title yesterday. It was the NADAC Elite Jumpers Outstanding title. This takes ten qualifying runs at the Elite level. NADAC elite times are very difficult to make. This is roughly equivalent to the AKC MJX title.

Yesterday, I had one of the biggest thrills of my life with him in tunnelers. He got very excited seeing the IG Gabe running tunnelers before him and he was super fast, even faster than usual. He had a blazing fast time, perfect clean run, and worked great at a distance going at top speed and checking in quickly at the end of each tunnels for my command for the next tunnel to take. He reached 6.67 yards per second, which is a national level time for any breed. It was quite a ride. Thanks Wyatt and Patriot.

Their full names are now:

Patriot - C-ATCH Ch Seaspell's Concord Point, CAV, RA, SC, OA, OAJ, CD, OAC, EJS, OCC, TG-N, TN-N, WV-N, HP-N, CRX, OTR, CGC

Wyatt - C-ATCH Wyatt of Dodge City, AV CD, RAE, SC, NA, NAJ, OAC, EJC-O, OCC, TG-N, TN-E, WV-O, HP-N, CGC


See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPOBkVQVZ0I for some tunnelers runs for Wyatt. Too bad I did not tape yesterdays tunnelers run.



John and Dawn Heffernan

Plugging Away

I am plugging away with Wyatt's obedience training and we are doing sit and downs at least on alternate days.  Occasional mistakes but overall pretty good.  We did a little agility last night in preparation for a NADAC trial this weekend.  Patriot finished his Companion Racer Excellent title last weekend. 

Broad Jump - Left Side

We hear that the AKC is likely to allow the judge to specify that the handler stand on the left (new) or right (old) side of the broad jump.  We tried it in class for the first time.  Wyatt seemed confused and walked over the boards the first few times.  I practiced at home and now he seems fine.   It is interesting how a different visual picture will be very different to our dogs even though logically to us, it is the same thing.  

Tracking Sunday

Wyatt did a pretty hard track Sunday of 400-500 yards with 4-5 turns.  In other words, it was a regulation TD track.  I did use 4-5 articles though.  I tried treating out of my pouch but he got distracted with that.  I am going to go back to putting treats in the articles.  I see no advantage to treating from the pouch anyway.  Seems better to just reduce the number of (baited) articles slowly and/or leave some unbaited and just praise him.  I am getting better at reading him and am working of trusting him more even if he appears to be drifting off.  He seems to drift back.  I can tell by his head movements if he is on the track.  Corners are harder to read.  That is the next task.  

Training Log

I have started to keep a log for sits and downs.  I am hoping to see some patterns.  Wyatt has been pretty good lately with an occasional failure.  Right now, I am doing 1 minute out of sight sits and 3 minutes out of sight downs successfully.  

The Next Generation

Runs Thrus Nailed

 Wyatt and I did some run thrus at Clean Run last Friday night.  We really rocked.  I did not have any dog walk issues (he saves those for trials I guess).  On the last course, a really tough USDAA style master's course, he nailed it.  Fast, good distance, and no faults.  

Second Chances - Status

So far so good on second chances.  When Wyatt has popped up on his long down, I have walked away and stopped practice.  He did it 2-3 times and after that, he has not for 3-4 times.  I am sure it is not the last mistake but, so far, I am cautiously optimistic.

Second Chances

I am wondering if my general policy of trying again and giving a second chance is backfiring.  I am seeing three specific instances where Wyatt is consistently doing an incorrect behavior the first time.  These are:   drop on recall where he does not drop on the first one of the day, dogwalk contacts where he jumps off, and on long downs where he frequently pops up.  On the dogwalk, I have been doing only NADAC where you can train in the ring (no Q, of course).  He will consistently blow the dogwalk and I take him back where he almost always gets it the second time.  [This could also be related to my position relative to him where he has a real problem if I am behind him.]  So, what I normally am doing is giving Wyatt a second chance and he still gets a treat after the second, correct performance.  

I am wondering if I have inadvertently trained him to do it "wrong" the first time since he is still rewarded.  I am going to try consistently breaking off training with no reward when he does not "do it right" the first time.  Interestingly, I only see the dogwalk problem at trials.  I cannot get him to fail at home or in class.  The obedience issues I see both at home and in class though I see it more in class.