Agility - Sharing the ups and the downs - Page 11 - Poodle Forum - Standard Poodle, Toy Poodle, Miniature Poodle Forum ALL Poodle owners too!

CT Girl · 02-09-2013, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minnie

Congrats to Specman and Max what a wonderful feeling that must have been!! Not just the obstacle performance but also that he felt comfortable in class.

TammyQ - I am pea green with envy over your opportunity this weekend. How amazing to what such as expert teach! Wow!!!

Gemma and I have had two classes since my last post - one private and one group. It wasn't freezing out so we did manage to get a couple of runs in. during the private class. But then today was group indoor class and well... it wasn't awful but definitely more downs than ups - quite discouraging actually. Gem acted very nervous and ran to the edge of the training ring several times during jump sequencing rather than even start over the jumps. We ended up basically watching the class and then working after class on basics one jump, then two and a tunnel, etc. If anyone has suggestions for this I'm all ears :-(

Minnie don't be discouraged. I had an agility class Wed. And Swizzle was fantastic. The next night I had a rec. agility class that was much easier and Swizzle was very distracted all class. I have decided to blame it on the weather. What I did was back off. I put Swizzle on a leash and did the course that way. I have not used a leash in class for at least a year but that day he needed the support. If he was still stressed I would back off anything that is challenging even of I just had him do hand touches. The most important thing is that the dog always leaves class feeling successful. On a positive note the agility class which is much harder than rec. was a total success. Swizzle finally did the chute with gusto and I was even able to do a rear cross with the chute and he was still OK. You might want to try some super great treats for class till she gets her mojo back. It helps take the focus off of her nerves.

Minnie · 02-10-2013, 04:24 PM

CT Girl - I appreciate your words - I think I may be expecting too much to early. Gemma has been out of training for a couple of months with her hip injury and she is only 13 months old so expecting her to remember what she did as a 9-10 month old puppy might be a bit much....

CT Girl · 02-10-2013, 05:51 PM

I decided early on to move at Swizzle's pace. Sometimes he picks up things faster then expected and sometimes he needs to build up confidence before he is ready to progress. Ironically one of the reasons I had trouble in the rec. agility class is because Swizzle was more confident. He decided to say hi to people in the gallery (normally he is shy with people he does not know) and he also decided smelling the carpet was way more interesting than running the course with me. (Normally he is Velcro). Gemma has been through a lot. A hip injury can take a while to fully heal and that could still be affecting her both physically and mentally. I am sure with your support she will bounce back and it might even help her in the end.

TammyQ color me green too. If you want to pass along any pearls of wisdom I am all ears. Love her.

lily cd re · 02-11-2013, 04:31 AM

Every dog is different and will learn at his or her own pace. Our job is to keep them safe and confident while doing what we can to facilitate and reinforce the learning. Patience, patience, patience....

And TammyQ I echo CT Girl, please share specifics from the Susan Garret seminar when you have the chance.

Minnie · 02-11-2013, 04:42 PM

I really appreciate the comments! I want to work on building Gem's confidence and our relationship - the running off and hiding really concerns me. I ordered Crate Games and Shaping for Success by Susan Garrett and plan to work on just being very positive about everything. I really want her to be the confident happy dog that I just know she can be!

CT Girl · 02-11-2013, 07:01 PM

That sounds like a great plan. I would like to hear what you think of both videos. If they look good I will get them too. She is so upbeat with her approach, I really enjoy her videos.

Minnie · 02-13-2013, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CT Girl

That sounds like a great plan. I would like to hear what you think of both videos. If they look good I will get them too. She is so upbeat with her approach, I really enjoy her videos.

Just received a shipping notice so hopefully I'll be able to post about them soon. Crate Games is a DVD and the other is a book - ordered through Clean Run.

Proud to report my girl was happy and confident at our private class this evening. Her instructor was very pleased! She offered some nice contacts - including drum roll.... dog walk and A-frame :-D. I've been working on recalls and my sweet little girl ran to me full speed several times - it was just a total UP session and I just had to share!

Specman · 02-14-2013, 10:08 AM

Minnie,

Good to hear! Our dogs definitely living breathing creatures that think on their own and it is not possible for use to understand what is always on their minds! It really makes you wonder what they are thinking that they can preform with ease one night and be totally off their game the next.

I guess they are thinking like poodles and not people!

Specman · 02-15-2013, 02:12 PM

Agility class was good last night. Max seems to be doing a little better. He has a problem right now with tables and decks which was not an issue before but, the funniest thing happened last night.

There was a lady who was seated near where we were working who was wearing a fur coat. Max must of caught wind of it and was totally spooked. He was not sure what kind of animal it was but he was definitely concerned! He did a few low growls and tried to keep an eye on her whenever possible.

Very funny!

lily cd re · 02-15-2013, 04:31 PM

That is funny about Max and the fur coat. I have a coat with a fox fur collar that used to get my cats all worked up if I didn't hang it up. Lily and Peeves don't think much of it one way or the other.

I'm glad you had a good class. Tables can be a mystery. Why should it be such a big deal?

Lily and I have a CPE trial on Sunday and a private agility lesson scheduled for tomorrow morning. I hope she is ok to do them. She was limping a bit late this afternoon. I think she may have slipped on some of the melting slush on the deck. We had them at the vet today for their annual check up (flying colors for both), so I am hoping she was being dramatic about having survived the trip to the doctor (who is also a poodle person). She seems fine now, but I will have the teacher look at her gait before we do anything in the lesson.