Distance Work With Wyatt

I am still working distance with Wyatt and I think I have discovered a few things.  I stopped going down to our lower lawn where the dogwalk used to be.  He still associates that with getting hurt.  He had a few falls off the dogwalk.  I redid the dogwalk planks but he was still slipping so I just took it down.  Even though there is a tunnel there now, he was still hesitant to go in the tunnel area so I just took it down. 



I have been using the upper lawn with hoops, tunnels, and jumps.  I am working to getting Wyatt to go ahead of me without looking back.  Once again, it appears to be a number of things, rather than one thing that makes it work.  I have found that I need to do the following.

1)  "Paint the line" about 2 feet ahead of Wyatt.
2)  Use multiple verbals (such as "Go Ahead, Tunnel") and repeat as needed.  However, don't yell at him so much he stops.  Keep the tone pleasant and fun.
3)  Keep moving.  Nothing stops him faster than me stopping.  Moderate my footsteps so they are smaller.  If I run out of space, I kind of jog in place. 
4)  For tunnels especially, look at the tunnel opening. 
5)  Use our "switch" command when turning him and sending him out such as shown below. 

h

1 

         2


3



We'll see how it goes this weekend.  We did have some good practices with me basically totally outside of the mini-course.  Sometimes, Wyatt did not want to practice. It seems to be related to temperature, amount of exercise, and time of day.  I am trying to just accept it when he does not want to play and not get nervous about it and not try to coax/bribe either but to try again at a different time.  He used to always want to play agility so it may just be part of working with an older dog. 

Letting Your Dog Lick Your Face

Wyatt tends to wants to jump up on me and lick my face when waiting for an agility (or obedience/rally run.)

I have, for a while, not let him do this.  Usually, I stay standing up.  I have felt that he can sense my "nerves" by changes in my scent that occurs due to ring nerves.  Now, I am not particularly nervous before a run but there is some adrenalin, especially before runs I really want to qualify in.  I also chew an Altoid before a run to disguise any scent changes. 

I don't know if there are any studies on this but I have observed some changes anecdotaly.  During last weekend's trial, I felt relaxed and had Wyatt out a little early and was sitting down.  I let him lick my face.  I still felt fairly relaxed for our NADAC Regular run.  Sure enough, he was super anxious in the run, having weave entry troubles and barking at me there.  Also, he did his classic leap off the dogwalk, which I rarely see these days. 

It makes me wonder how many problems could have been avoided in the past by simply not letting him lick my face. 

Difference Between Q and NQ

Wyatt had a very nice jumpers runs yesterday but ran around one of the last jumps.  I was thinking how different we treat a Q and NQ in our minds when the reality is that they are almost exactly the same in some cases. 

Dogwalk and Wyatt

I repainted my dogwalk with the hope that that would fix some safety issues with it.  Wyatt had 2 or 3 slips, one of them rather frightening.  I had also been wondering why Wyatt was reluctant to do agility at home.  I had not connected it with these dogwalk issues.

I repainted it but it still seemed to be slippery and/or unstable so I was not sure what to do.  I tried Patriot on it and he was had a problem so I decided to take it down rather than repaint (again) and try to make it more stable.  It was the right decision.


One interested thing is that when I took the dogwalk out and replaced it with a tunnel, Wyatt still showed reluctance to go into the area the dogwalk was located.  After 2-3 sessions, that seems to be abating.  Dogs seem to be much more location specific in their learning.  They don't generalize like we do.  In this case, it worked to my favor since he did not become afraid of all dogwalks.  But it has worked the other way too when we had to proof contacts at trials for years! 

Since he seems OK at trials with the dogwalk (still jumps off occasionally), removing it at home seems like a good decision.  I may get a new rubber one at some point.  But not having it there opens up a lot possibilities for distance work and the A-Frame at a distance.  That's much, much more common that the dogwalk in NADAC Chances, which is my major goal right now.  9 more for our NADAC championship.


Just goes to show you that going cheap is counterproductive in the long run.  It did seem to work OK for years though.

Designer Whippets

There's been a recent controversy about a whippet breed club (American Whippet Club) member who was asked to resign because they purposely bred their purebred whippet to another breed of dog.  I believe this refers to someone who bred one of her dogs to a border collie with the intent of producing "border whippets" who would excel at fly ball.  I do have concerns about the plethora of new designer breeds like Golden Doodles and the like and I think that people should really consider an established breed first.  However, the whippet was itself a "designer breed" at one point in its history.  Also, the American Kennel Club is now letting mixed breed dogs compete in agility, obedience, and rally. 

Good breeding is the most important thing, which includes health testing, temperament testing, having good homes lined up, and being willing to take back dogs.  In this case, this was all done. This has been a major concern of mine with some of the designer dog breeders cropping up.  Established breeders don't always so all these things either.  Unfortunately, a lot of people believe mistakenly believe that purebred dogs are inherent less healthy.  I've always thought it was about the health testing though certain do have issues, they can largely be dealt with by testing the parent dogs. 

So while I do have concerns about all the new designer breeds, I think the breed clubs should focus on promoting and improving their established breed and not trying to police people who, for better or worse, are experimenting with mixing breeds as long as these people don't claim they are whippets.   Breed clubs have plenty of work to do improving purebred dogs.  [I think established breed is actually a better term than purebred dog.]
  

For Best Results, Leave Your Dog All Day

We were running late from my parent's house yesterday leaving Wyatt and Patriot home alone for the afternoon until 9 PM, which is something we don't usually do.  We called a neighbor to let them out and feed them.  They were so happy to see us, especially Patriot.  When we did some obedience late that night, Patriot was super motivated, much more than usual.  Makes me wonder if I should do less warmup and hanging out with the dogs at the trial and the few days before. 

Distance Work

I have been using this little course for a few weeks with both Wyatt and Patriot.

Running the circle course from behind the jumps is good distance practice.  More importantly for me and Wyatt, running the square course gets lots of practice at the "switch" command at a distance.  I am finding that the timing has to be just right.  The command for 4 has to be in time and also, very important, I can't just focus on on 4 but have to give the "go ahead" command for 5 in time or Wyatt will turn back to me. 

Wyatt Does Want To Practice

Wyatt seems recovered after his fight with Patriot Saturday.  They had a crate fight at an agility trial.  Drawing blood a first in the crate together.  I have very occasionally heard growling if they knock into each other when I back up in the driveway.  He did not want to run Sunday and he was very anxious as Sunday progressed.

In my last post, I was wondering why Wyatt does not seem to want to practice agility in the yard.  Well, I tried again early this week and had the same trouble.  It was hot and they had gone on a run.  I tried before running and earlier in the day.  Wyatt did not seem to want to come down to the field so I (deliberately) started with Patriot and Wyatt came charging down ready to play.  Today, I just started without him, running an "invisible" dog and, once again, he came down.  Again, it was prerun and cooler.  He did some great distance work too.  I'll post the course soon though I am camping Thursday to Sunday and off the net.  

Wyatt Practicing Agility At Home or NOT

After a few months break, Wyatt, at least yesterday at around 5, was not into practicing agility at home.  I had set up a few hoops and a tunnel.  I did lure him, with difficulty, into doing some obstacles, but he clearly was not into it.  He seems fine in class and at trials.  Not sure what is going on.  Maybe he would rather do obedience, which we do twice daily and is part of his routine?  Maybe he got a bee sting or something doing agility in the recent past?  Maybe he was sore after 2 walks yesterday and it was still a little hot?  I am not going to push it but I find it very curious. 

Checking In Too Much

I have seen at agility class the same issue with Wyatt.  After the first run, he tends to check in too much and not go ahead as well.  Part of this could be my stopping short but I don't think that's the main issue.  I can - with many commands - get him to go ahead after he checks in but it doesn't feel good and reduces our flow and distance.  Last night, I did move in closer and kept positive, which helped a lot.  I don't see this at trials much unless I stop short.  But I think I need to work at home (and class is now over) with automatically going ahead unless told otherwise.  I now have 3 hoops and materials for 2 more so I am planning to work on this.  The hoops will help to reduce jumping stress.  We have not practices at home for months.  If you recall, I was seeing some resistance to practicing at home (but not at class.) 

Taking A Break

I've been on vacation the last 2 weeks and have been doing minimal training with Wyatt and Patriot but they are getting lots of walks and hanging out time.  We have a NADAC trial next weekend and I have the chance to pick up more Chances Qs.  My other goal right now is to get Patriot ready for Open A obedience.  I think I'm going to focus on Patriot rather than Wyatt.  Wyatt learns so quickly and is very high drive but gets so stressed at obedience trials.  Patriot takes much longer to train but is a much more confident dog. 

Obedience Disappointments

I went from a real high leftover from agility last weekend to a disappointing day less than a week later at an AKC Rally and obedience trial in Tunbridge, VT. Patriot was entered in Rally Excellent B. He has one leg. Wyatt was entered in Open A obedience and Rally Advanced B and Rally Excellent B. Wyatt was in Open A first. I did not have very high hopes since he showed consistent problems a few weeks before. The problems I have been seeing are: lack of automatic sits heeling, not coming on the recall, and going down on the long sit. I did ask the judge to give him time to sit and I also told the judge that I would be giving extra commands on the sits. True to form lately, I did not get one sit for the heel free or figure 8, at least without an extra command. I believe this is due to his nerves. With cheese (or not) outside the ring, he was sitting fine. He did come on the recall and drop, which was great. I gave a loud, but cheerful command and put my whole body into it. He sat too far away and did not sit on the last part to qualify for this part though. He did not come in far enough on the retrieve on flat and needed an extra command for retrieve over jump. He also went down on the long sit. We are definitely not ready, especially at a new site. I am thinking about trying Open B because the initial heeling seems to be so demotivating or dropping back to Novice B.

What was really tough was that rally, where Wyatt usually scores in the high 90s, was also a struggle to get sits, stands, etc. Wyatt did manage to get a double Q, but it was a real struggle. I attribute it all to nerves (mostly his) but it was a frustrating day. We need to get back to the high 90s before we try obedience, I think. I also made a couple of 10 point handler errors, unusual for me.

Patriot, on the other hand, did great and had a 100 going until I blew by a sign, another first for me. I am working hard on getting Patriot ready for Open A. Even though it takes him much longer to learn new things and is not as motivated to work and retrieve, he is a much more confident dog and I think he'll actually do really well if I can get everything trained.

Can't Get Away With It

We worked on Chances at class last night.  The course was one we did not get at the last trial.  I did improve but never got the whole thing perfect.  Some critical parts: 

1. I need to push out to certain obstacles like the weaves.  This means keeping pressure on the dog's line.  Wyatt does seem to be able to run parallel in a line of jumps and tunnels but not the weaves.  Lynn says you should push anyway when running parallel. 
2. Timing is very critical for the switch at a distance.  It is very easy to be late.  When that happens, Wyatt stops and looks back to me.  
3. I can't stop or Wyatt will stop.  I need to leave enough room and take smaller steps so I can continue moving.  

It is definitely challenging to work so far from your dog.  Everything must be better or things break down.  You can get away with a lot more when you work close to your dog.  

Top Ten Things To Keep Your Whippet Fast in Agility

For the fastest dog around under 200 yards, whippets should be really fast in agility too.  But I see many slow whippets and I also see many whippets that slow down over time.  Here are 10 tips for keeping your whippet (or any other dog) fast in agility.  I will write more about each tip at a later date.  

1)  Don't correct.  Don't let your dog know you are disappointed.  Your dog should never know if your qualfied or not.  

2)  Keep practices fun and short.

3)  Avoid RFPs and call offs. 

4)  Give your dog distance.  Don't crowd.  Work on distance all the time and from the beginning.  Distance is not something you only use in Gamblers. 

5)  Don't yell at your dog; use a cheerful tone of voice.  Even if you choose to mark a mistake, keep it happy and try again.  

6)  Don't let your dog know you are nervous. 

7)  Don't front cross in your dog's path.  

8)  Try NADAC especially NADAC tunnelers

9)  Run fast; make it a race. 

10)  Have clear and consistent handling, don't flail your arms. 

Moderating Footsteps

I am working on what I call "moderating my footsteps" in agility with both my dogs. For Wyatt, I am trying to keep my foot turnover the same but take smaller steps when working distance.  This is especially needed in NADAC Chances where you have to work very far from your dog and not cross the taped line on the course.  It is tricky though because you can't slow down too much or he slows down or turns back too.  With Patriot, I am working on his typical midcourse slowdown by keep a few feet ahead of him but, again, not slowing down my steps or going too far ahead, by keeping my feet really moving while not getting too far ahead.  It's tricky because you have to adapt to your dogs pace, which varies according to the temperature and other factors. 

Great Agility Weekend For Wyatt

I am very happy with the results of our NADAC agility weekend.  I handled well (for the most part), focusing on drawing the line and staying centered.  I felt relaxed and my dogs never knew if we qualified or not.  I was always happy with them during and after a run. 

Wyatt finished his regular (standard) requirements for his NADAC Championship.  He qualified 3 times.  He had already finished his Jumpers requirement so now he just needs Chances, which is the NADAC distance game, very difficult at the Elite Level.  On Sunday, he earned an Elite leg, so we now have 4 of 13 and need 9 more.  I ran out of room at the tape and had to send him out to a tunnel about 15-20 feet away from a stationary position, but he did it!  Wyatt also earned his Elite Hoopers title with a great, fast run so he now has all his NADAC elite titles.  He ended up qualifying 4 out of 6 on Saturday and 3 out of 6 on Sunday.  A great weekend for Wyatt!  

Update on "The Boys"

Wyatt looked great in agility class last night. He was super motivated and eager to run. I gave Patriot the night off. This was the last class in a 5 week series. I got good feedback from the teacher, who said my timing and handling, in general, showed much growth. I needed some feedback, I think, to get me back on track. If you don't get any for a while, it's hard to see what is going on and you can drift away from good handling. I also picked up some great tips in this class. The biggest thing that has helped me is to keep my focus on "drawing a line" on the ground about feet in front of my dog. The 2 feet in front and on the ground parts are really important, it turns out, both of which I was not attending to. I am also working on not cranking back my arm past my midline when sending out but keeping arm arm out the whole time. If I do need to send out from a stationary position, I am staring the motion from my midline.

I picked up another great tip last night when sending Wyatt to onside weaves at an angle. The tip is to send him to a point behind the weaves so he can get a good entrance rather than trying to send directly to the entrance.

I have Wyatt and Patriot entered in rally and obedience at a couple of during the week obedience trials. I am working on Patriot's excellence stations - back up 3 steps and moving down/sit in paticlular. They both need a refresher on offset figure eight too.

Dance With Your Dog

I got some good advice from Lynn Smitley at class this week, "Just dance with your dog."  I had been focusing on my footwork and leaving enough room to push out on an elite chances course.  But it messed me up and, of course, Wyatt was confused.  I am finding that if my main focus in on "painting the line", which means drawing a line where you want your dog to go a few feet in front of your dog, that sets me up to "dance with my dog."  I asked if the painting itself provides information or is it a technique to get the handler's body in the right place and flow.  I was thinking it was the latter and Lynn confirmed that.  Lynn thinks it really the eyes that are most important and that the technique forces the handler's eyes to "draw the line."  I'm not sure about that but it definitely keeps my shoulders and whole body in the right place as long as I keep ahead of my dog and cue fast enough.  We tend to focus on obstacle performance and crosses, position, etc but we need to focus much more on the overflow flow or dance. 

Vet Results

I need to trust myself more. What I thought was going on with Wyatt was correct. Basically he has a sore right hip; which is always a weak spot for him. That's what I had thought. I needed to cut back on the long runs, less agility, and more ball work and other exercises. I was relieved that there was not a major problem. He was fine at agility practice last night.

Vet Tomorrow

I have been in a holding pattern, giving Wyatt a break from agility, while I wait for his sports vet appointment tomorrow night with Dr Julie Roos.  I have been thinking about the worst case, if I need to retire Wyatt from agility.  I have been doing obedience with Wyatt and sometimes with Wyatt and Patriot on a daily basis.  I am trying to increase motivation on sits, heeling, and recalls.  I am also working on Patriot's down by doing lots of "foldback" downs and now trying to do those when moving.  I am also working on Patriot's recalls and some on sits and downs.  Patriot needs a few things to pass open:  a better drop, a more reliable out of sight sit, and more enthusiasm for the dumbbell.