Agility do I have the ability???

[SecretBC]

There are some things that can only be practiced in the trial environment. I train my dogs at home and we have very few opportunities for run-throughs in my area -- so I do the best I can at home (they are running Elite courses by the time they begin to trial), but there will always be a hitch or two when they first start to trial.

 

Regardless of the fact that my dogs are raised in a trial environment and attend trials from the day I get them, it's a completely different experience when they are in the ring. I loved the comment made early on that the pressure they feel from everyone watching them is a totally new experience. And whether we want to admit it or not, we are putting pressure on them, too, that they have never felt. Even those of us who have ran multiple dogs always feel SOMETHING when we step into the ring with a new dog.

 

I say keep plugging away at it. The only way to overcome ring stress is to keep entering trials. If your dog is distracted at the start line, don't leave the dog. Deal with handling from behind until your dog is comfortable enough for you to start doing short lead-outs. It generally doesn't take THAT long -- do what is best for the DOG, not for you.

 

My little dog stressed HORRIBLY. It was so disappointing for me because he really was a rock star at home -- but when I first started to trial him he wouldn't even stay in the ring with me. There was one trial where he literally did three obstacles the ENTIRE DAY. Quite honestly I almost gave up on him. In reality, I did give up on him in my head -- That's when I got Secret. I figured I'd just keep entering Kaiser in trials until Secret was old enough to compete and then I'd let him stop. Well, about three or four months before Secret was old enough, something clicked in Kaiser and he started to do really well. He is now my fastest, most driven dog! We have issues with the dog walk contact.... But other than that he is a fantastic and thrilling dog to run. I'm very glad I didn't give up on him now!

 

Secret was very slow and very stressed when we first started. She wasn't the super star at home that Kaiser was, so it didn't surprise me -- She was always a hard one to get to play, to motivate, etc. I wasn't surprised when she started out slow. I'm pretty bull-headed, though, and we kept plugging away. I worked hard to make trials fun for her -- only ran her in a couple of runs per day first thing when I knew she'd still have energy. She's been trialing for 10 months now and she has come so far. She'll never be a dog who blows through courses at 8-9 yps, but she's steady, she's consistent, she's having fun and she is still getting faster at trials. Her Q rate is somewhere around 87%, so she's got that going for her at least.

 

There are a lot of people out there who give up on their dogs and/or accept that agility is not the dog's most favorite thing to do. And that's totally fine for them -- but agility is what I do, so I'm going to try my absolute hardest to find a way to make the sport fun for my dogs as well. I don't give up easily. I'm stubborn. But my dogs always end up having fun.

 

That said, I REALLY hope that my next dog will be one that doesn't have stress issues..... Or hell, even give me a dog that stresses high instead of low! That will be a huge consideration in the next dog I take on.

[scullywags]

Secret BC thank you for taking time to tell me all that about your situation and your dogs

I can now confess ( I was ashamed) Dog #1 bless him had the same deal with stressing out

we did agility for about a 1yr and he was a little star we qualified for CPE Nationals and I went over the top working him he ran for me there he was fantastic won several classes but then he shut down and really started to make it unfun to take him anyplace so we stopped running him I was so devastated as I love agility and was in dire need to find another outlet for myself because I was going to quit showing horses.

 

long story but Scully was gifted to me at about 5 months old so I was estastic a BC a new agility buddy so I am sure I dumped the world ont he poor boys shoulders with all these expectations so to have his startlien deal deemed as stress "freaked" me out not another 1 really I did this to another dog OMG I LOVE my dogs I would not ever want them unhappy. And to think I caused another dog drama without realizing it I must not be a very good read on my kids but Scully is pretty silent suffer type so I guess in BC fashion he tried to keep going anyway.

 

So I have been doing some basis sit back and really view things break down smaller I have some ideas i saw some stuff on Susan Garretts sight where you break down the tug to mini tugs and a game to play a game that you can use in the warm up area

 

As for the suggestion of the CU classes I took them with Dog #1 it did nothing for him NADA

the reason being was until I changed my thought process he was gonna to react no matter what because I was sending him stress signals so same deal here I am sure

 

So anyway now Scully is about 1/2 trained up and I figured why not get him running Level 1 CPE is easy place to intro him to trials , he had been to several for hanging out time last year so he has the sideline exposure i did not think I was going to cause him any harm I thought that getting him broke in was good idea now that I find this issue I can come up with some games at home and work them at the shows that are small and less "staring at him" places hes still a baby hes 2 so its like I "need" him ready for USDAA stuff right this minute my goal was to have him ready for that type of show next season if he is happy and coming along well but I did set goals out early for him to try and set a trainign timeline and keep on track as all "obessed" people do!

 

Just typing and answering back is showing me places I failed or maybe places that are not so bad as I think so I feel better that I can handle for the good of the dog in the end as thats the goal I want him to win I will not lie but if I can get him to care that we worked together as a team thats all I want from him to give me his heart out there and try least I fail him in not being educated and not trying thats unfair so I think its my responsibility to seek info and advice and try to find good things for us as we are a team.

[Root Beer]

As for the suggestion of the CU classes I took them with Dog #1 it did nothing for him NADA

the reason being was until I changed my thought process he was gonna to react no matter what because I was sending him stress signals so same deal here I am sure

 

What didn't work, specifically?

 

CU, done correctly, should not completely fail to work if the handler is experiencing stress. Yes, it is optimal not to send stress signals to the dog, but one of the best things about the CU structures is that they give the dog a way to handle that, as well as any stress from the environment.

 

Did you get into GMAB and Off Switch games at all? Did you read the book on your own to get a handle on the philosophy behind the program?

 

That is, if you don't mind me asking!!

[alligande]

Scullywags, I totally understand what you are saying, my young dog was a rockstar when he was in class before we trialled _ I had very high hopes that I was going to have one of those dogs that blazed through novice etc.... well our first 2 trials were great, although we had contact and start line issues, so we trained no problem, got a couple of Qs and I was happy. Then he learned to bark at me and we have not had a Q since, when he gets at all frustrated he spins, jumps, air snaps, yells, I understand it is quite a site, we are looking each other in the eye when this happens. Scares the c_ _ _ out of judges and spectators. We keep working on it, the more we improve as a team, the better the issue becomes, but I do leave trials unhappy wondering if my amazing dog will ever live up to his talent. Especially when I here stories of other young dogs already in Elite/Masters, I do wonder, then I cheer myself up knowing that when we get it all together he is going to be amazing in USDAA tournament events, and those more accurate young dogs will be left in his wake

 

Like you he is my second dog, the first I just could not get fired up about agility, if he was my only dog then I would have kept going and worked on getting him motivated, now he comes to class once every few months, and this last weekend my husband, his human ran him ( the human part has never played agility) and they had lots of fun, actually won tunellers in a class of 16 I was very proud of them. I know I played a huge part in him not getting into agility, our training was a bit dodgy and I did not know much about dog training.

[scullywags]

What didn't work, specifically?

 

CU, done correctly, should not completely fail to work if the handler is experiencing stress. Yes, it is optimal not to send stress signals to the dog, but one of the best things about the CU structures is that they give the dog a way to handle that, as well as any stress from the environment.

 

Did you get into GMAB and Off Switch games at all? Did you read the book on your own to get a handle on the philosophy behind the program?

 

That is, if you don't mind me asking!!

 

I have the book

I took the class 2 yrs ago and the classes did not really have what I call reactive dogs I am not sure if the teacher was not right for us but in the exercises we did they never put the gates up or really created situations that allowed me to test my dog I swear my single memory is if I have to feed this dog 1 more treat hes gonna puke I did come away with the mat being a nice place to be and he will still go to mat which I can use at trials and it helps some

I have found that with his time off and less pressure hes playing agility much better but I know i have backed way off we spent many a trial doing an obstacle or 2 and celebrate celebrate I have but him thru complete runs a time or 2 and things were great so I am thinking we are the path with dog #1

[scullywags]

Scullywags, I totally understand what you are saying, my young dog was a rockstar when he was in class before we trialled _ I had very high hopes that I was going to have one of those dogs that blazed through novice etc.... well our first 2 trials were great, although we had contact and start line issues, so we trained no problem, got a couple of Qs and I was happy. Then he learned to bark at me and we have not had a Q since, when he gets at all frustrated he spins, jumps, air snaps, yells, I understand it is quite a site, we are looking each other in the eye when this happens. Scares the c_ _ _ out of judges and spectators. We keep working on it, the more we improve as a team, the better the issue becomes, but I do leave trials unhappy wondering if my amazing dog will ever live up to his talent. Especially when I here stories of other young dogs already in Elite/Masters, I do wonder, then I cheer myself up knowing that when we get it all together he is going to be amazing in USDAA tournament events, and those more accurate young dogs will be left in his wake

 

Dog #1 LOVES tunnelers I think cause he can hide in them !!

I have been told by several that dog #2 is this great wonder dog and in class he sure is but like you went public and it is not showing that way

I guess atleast we know its in there so we have to figure how to get it out in a trial situation.

I am getting good info here so I know we can work thru it if not atleast I will have given it my best shot.

 

So off to play some of Susan Garretts tug sit go game and then dig out the control unleashed book see what I can do a bit of tonight.

 

Thanks all of you for posting to me its nice to be able to chat agility as I am not in company of others unless we are at a trial or a class.

 

Like you he is my second dog, the first I just could not get fired up about agility, if he was my only dog then I would have kept going and worked on getting him motivated, now he comes to class once every few months, and this last weekend my husband, his human ran him ( the human part has never played agility) and they had lots of fun, actually won tunellers in a class of 16 I was very proud of them. I know I played a huge part in him not getting into agility, our training was a bit dodgy and I did not know much about dog training.