When it doesn't go to plan

I should probably start by saying it wasn't all bad, and the crazies and I had a lovely day out at a little local show outside Lincoln. But you know those days?

I have the worst sense of direction of anyone I have ever met. Seriously, I could get lost on a straight road with a GPS and a map. So having left loads of extra time to get to the show in time to settle the dogs and walk our first course I wasn't surprised (though was super frustrated) to get lost about 5 miles from the venue, and consequently show up as everyone else was finishing course walking. I got chance to have a quick sprint round it, so I had a vague idea where I was going, but it wan't the ideal prep. It was a shame really, as the show was lovely - aimed at babies and Grade 1 dogs, the ring was fenced and the courses were nice and flowing.

Anyway, we did the agility run, and Daisy was (predictably) a little hoodlum who picked her own course. Cybi was marginally better but got shouty with me because I was way too slow so he kept coming back to tell me I was too slow, have a bit of a bark and then run away again to find a jump to his satisfaction. So no places in that class.

In the other classes there were no eliminations as such, just 50 faults for what would be an elimination at a regular show. Daisy picked up two fourths (one in jumping, one in a special class) but the "bad dog at an agility show" award of the day has to go to Cybi (unusual as Daisy has made a clean sweep of this somewhat dubious honour so far) for his spectacular showing in the special class. Daisy got 5 faults (entirely my fault - I turned away from her too quickly as she went into the long jump, so she changed direction in mid air to come with me). Cybi racked up 189. Yep. 189 faults, including three eliminations, poles down, refusals and time faults. But he had fun...

Team Chaos redeemed themselves slightly doing a "fun obedience" class that I didn't know was going to be there, which was both novel and *absolutely brilliant*. The idea was to reward motivation and fun as well as accuracy in the obedience exercises, so the judge encouraged playing (and in fact had an exercise in the test that was just playing with your dog), as well as breaking off to reward during heelwork, lots of big circles rather than turns..it couldn't have been more perfect for both of my two if I'd been asked to design the class. So we worked two absolutely beautiful obedience rounds, which I was utterly delighted with, and as a bonus extra they placed 1st and 2nd, with Daisy coming out on top once again.

To round out the day, she also came 5th in the gundog scurry. So not a bad day on balance, albeit with some highlights and some definitely...not...

Daisy's First Agility Show!

Well, we bit the bullet and Daisy and I went to our first agility show. She was awesome...me, not so much!

We are very fortunate where we live that we are in easy reach of a large number of shows of all levels. Our first excursion was to a very local show, the lovely Bitz n Bobs (and show info here, but it's a closed FB group) where we had a go at "Grade 0" and opted to jump small size, while Daisy still on occasion goes under the jumps, little grot that she is.

Our first ever competitive round was a lovely, flowing, and not too challenging course, which she aced. I demolished a jump wing on the way through, so even though she went clear we didn't go clear as a team. Oops! But she loved every second of it (as did I!) and she raced round the course and listened to me the whole way round. A couple of people watching said she was looking at me a little more than would be ideal, rather than driving on, so we'll work on that in training, but at this level fortunately I can somewhat rescue that by just running really, really fast. Not a strategy I am keen to employ permanently, but it'll do while we're in training.

Daisy looking focused - not actually taken at the competition, but still an ace photo!

We also need to work on our start lines. Us and every other novice pair in the history of ever...

For our second run (the steeplechase) it was a more complicated course as it was a graded 1-7 course, but it was still lovely and flowing. She was both better and worse in her second run - better in that she looked at the jumps, with the result that she nailed a few sequences where the jumps were offset from one another (I had assumed she would run by at least one of them) but worse because she was so hysterically over excited by proceedings that getting her to wait on the start involved significant stink eye on my part, she barked her way round the course and jumped up to chew my sleeve at least once on the way round - something she hasn't done since we first started training. But as a first day out...I was incredibly proud of her, and we've got lots to build on.

Roll on the next show, when Cybi will be having a go, too. Fortunately my tolerance for embarrassment is high...although he's currently being training with my very agility-experienced housemate and as a consequence is really coming on well. Which probably means it'll be me that messes it up, rather than him...

The Ladder

Today, Daisy and Cybi had an agility lesson that focused primarily on core work and body awareness. It was a bit of a new one for both of them, but they did both do very well, albeit with some unscheduled entertainment. Both dogs are getting quite good at "offering" behaviours in the absence of specific instructions, so getting a reward for putting one paw on the wobble board quickly advanced to two, then three, then all four (for Daisy anyway - Cybi was not leaving the ground with that fourth paw for any reward! Next time.) Then we had a go at wobble cushions, which Daisy, being quite coordinated, figured out without an issue, and in fact could change position on a biggish cushion without any sign of even noticing that the surface under her feet was wobbly. Cybi was decidedly unconvinced by the whole "moving surface" thing, but could stand on the spot ok.

Then, we had a go at cavaletti. The idea is to teach the dog to think about all four limbs, rather than just let the hind legs follow where the front ones lead, and to begin to use the hindlimb muscles to help power the dog along. I think (not an expert on this) it's similar to the changes asked of a horse before jumping, so that it learns to propel itself along with its back end, rather than being off balance over its front end.

The one at the training centre is a box with poles that can be slotted in depending on the size of the dog and whether it is walking or trotting, but I can't find a picture of that exact thing. Kind of similar to this, only with all the poles in:

source: http://www.pudelforum.de/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=13518

We're going to be using cone-cavaletti at home, because they are easier to get hold of:

Daisy tried it first, and high-stepped over each pole like a little Hackney show pony. Didn't touch a single pole.She has pretty good limb awareness, so that wasn't a big surprise. Then Cybi had a go. Poor little chap doesn't understand that he has hindlegs at the best of times, and as far as he's concerned poles are for leaping over. He initially demonstrated that he could clear the entire box from a standing start, which was impressive, but not quite what I'd asked for, so I ended up bribing (I believe the technical term is "luring") him into taking it a bit more steadily and stepping over the poles. It was very hard to keep a straight face, as he first of all followed the treat by walking his front legs out as far as they could go, leaving his hind legs on the spot,  then realising he was at full stretch and he hadn't got the treat yet. Then he tried jumping his back legs up to his fronts, leaving all four limbs crammed into the same small area between the poles. We took it even slower after that, and he at least got the idea that all four legs had to move - but partly because he has no idea where his limbs are and partly because he tries to do everything at a million miles an hour he bounced off most of the poles with most of his feet. No dogs were harmed in the training of this exercise, but I couldn't help but laugh at him, bless him. I think it will be very good for him for us to do lots of work on pole awareness and paying attention to limb placement, and hopefully he will figure it out in time...

Watching your dog work

While I was hobbling around on crutches, my dogs went off to an agility foundations training camp without me. Or at least, they were worked by one of the instructors, and I sat in a lawn chair with my feet up.
It's a fascinating experience, being able to watch your own dogs work, especially when I was watching someone who is extremely experienced coax exercises out of a dog they don't know. In fact, it was pretty difficult to tear my attention away from what my dog was up to for long enough to watch how they were being worked to try to pick up positioning and cueing tips.

What was interesting was that Daisy worked far, far better for the female instructor. She was polite when worked by the male instructor, and did as she was told, but it was a noticeably more restrained, and less engaged experience with far less enthusiasm. Cybi, on the other hand, was completely the opposite. He seemed to respond better to a more assertive handling style, and got a bit silly if not being given very precise, firm instructions with few extra comments. I tend to default to working Cybi the way I work Daisy (very light commands, lots of happiness, occasional stops mid exercise for a "well-done" cuddle...) and it looks like I might be doing him a disservice by not working to his learning strengths.