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.