So- because of the forcast for snow tomorrow Sarah and I decided that we would go after work and train. It was great to be back outside!!! The temperature was great and the wind barely blew.
I wanted to work on Go Ons, Wraps, Weave poles. I did two out of three.
I worked Go Ons first, and Wicca totally gets it. I just needed to actually cue it, and train it. Who knew. I used a ball, sent her to it once down a row, second time I had it in my hand and threw it as she went over the second last bar, and the third time I didn't throw it until she had gone all the way down the line. Perfecto.
We then set up a sequence that had an open weavepole entry. I put up a gate and the first time Wicca would have blown by and really had to rock back and collect. I C/T and rewarded. Second time she had no problems. I also pushed her alot and made her pretty frenzied before sending her to the weaves. Three times I made her fail. By the fourth time she worked hard enough even with me ahead and running and cheering to get through all the poles. Good Girl!
I didn't get to wraps at all. Will have to do that next time. I worked on front crossing instead and have decided I have horrible timing- something that Sarah has told me millions of times, but I was kind of in denial. Two times I made her knock the bar by crossing too late. The first one was kind of not my fault in that I forgot where we were going....We've all had those moments. The second one was just all around bad timing. Something to work on I suppose!
Overall I was happy with Wicca- her contacts were great, her jumping not too bad. She knocked 6 bars in total. Three of those were "first bars" and the other three were on sequencing (late FC's etc)
Boone has never been to the agility field. He was terrified.
We rent space from a boarding kennel. So the field is kind of attached to the building. So you have barking dogs on one side, and a highway on the other side. And in between you have a gorgeous, almost flat fully fenced in field. It is perfect....but loud. Boone really doesn't like loud. I have never owned a sound sensitive dog before. It is strange.
The first time I brought him out he couldn't look at me, or take food. I sat on the ground and waited for hand touches. He was out maybe 5 minutes.
Second time he was out I sent him through a tunnel before he realised he was scared and then worked just on hand touches. He seemed to gain a little confidence. I took his leash off and he tried to go back to his kennel. Three times I called him, treated him, and let him go again. Soon, he was just sitting at my feet. Still scared, but not running away.
The third and final time he came out I asked him to do a jump. No problem he said. And then he tried to leave again. I asked him again and he ran away. Again. So I settled for a hand touch and we walked back to the crate. On my terms.
At the end, we let Wicca and Gyp run around and play. I let Boone out too and closed the crate door. He did pretty good. He was definitely getting more upbeat and was even kind of excited to be out. He did try and go back to his kennel but I didn't say anything and just let him figure it out. I rewarded him with attention and cookies (when he'd take them) I even managed to get a few spins out of him!
So- I learned a few things.
I think it will take a few weeks before Boone can even think out there, let alone learn.
I also need to let him run around at the beginning with the other dogs- gain some confidence before I try and work with him
He needs to be hungrier
I might try putting his kennel outside the gate. So he can't get to it....
I wanted to work on Go Ons, Wraps, Weave poles. I did two out of three.
I worked Go Ons first, and Wicca totally gets it. I just needed to actually cue it, and train it. Who knew. I used a ball, sent her to it once down a row, second time I had it in my hand and threw it as she went over the second last bar, and the third time I didn't throw it until she had gone all the way down the line. Perfecto.
We then set up a sequence that had an open weavepole entry. I put up a gate and the first time Wicca would have blown by and really had to rock back and collect. I C/T and rewarded. Second time she had no problems. I also pushed her alot and made her pretty frenzied before sending her to the weaves. Three times I made her fail. By the fourth time she worked hard enough even with me ahead and running and cheering to get through all the poles. Good Girl!
I didn't get to wraps at all. Will have to do that next time. I worked on front crossing instead and have decided I have horrible timing- something that Sarah has told me millions of times, but I was kind of in denial. Two times I made her knock the bar by crossing too late. The first one was kind of not my fault in that I forgot where we were going....We've all had those moments. The second one was just all around bad timing. Something to work on I suppose!
Overall I was happy with Wicca- her contacts were great, her jumping not too bad. She knocked 6 bars in total. Three of those were "first bars" and the other three were on sequencing (late FC's etc)
Boone has never been to the agility field. He was terrified.
We rent space from a boarding kennel. So the field is kind of attached to the building. So you have barking dogs on one side, and a highway on the other side. And in between you have a gorgeous, almost flat fully fenced in field. It is perfect....but loud. Boone really doesn't like loud. I have never owned a sound sensitive dog before. It is strange.
The first time I brought him out he couldn't look at me, or take food. I sat on the ground and waited for hand touches. He was out maybe 5 minutes.
Second time he was out I sent him through a tunnel before he realised he was scared and then worked just on hand touches. He seemed to gain a little confidence. I took his leash off and he tried to go back to his kennel. Three times I called him, treated him, and let him go again. Soon, he was just sitting at my feet. Still scared, but not running away.
The third and final time he came out I asked him to do a jump. No problem he said. And then he tried to leave again. I asked him again and he ran away. Again. So I settled for a hand touch and we walked back to the crate. On my terms.
At the end, we let Wicca and Gyp run around and play. I let Boone out too and closed the crate door. He did pretty good. He was definitely getting more upbeat and was even kind of excited to be out. He did try and go back to his kennel but I didn't say anything and just let him figure it out. I rewarded him with attention and cookies (when he'd take them) I even managed to get a few spins out of him!
So- I learned a few things.
I think it will take a few weeks before Boone can even think out there, let alone learn.
I also need to let him run around at the beginning with the other dogs- gain some confidence before I try and work with him
He needs to be hungrier
I might try putting his kennel outside the gate. So he can't get to it....
*Sarah took lots of pictures...so did I- you can see them on Sarah's flickr site
1 comment:
Yay Wicca! Sounds like you two are really gelling (sp?). That's awesome. I am jealous of your outside working area.
Keep up the good work with Boone. I particularly like reading your updates on him - having a dog that is a bit of a scaredy dog myself at times I appreciate your diligence with him. And as you know if pays off in the end!
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