Root Beer Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 I just wanted to share a bit of a big brag on Tessa! We earned our Level 4 Standard Title in CPE Agility this past weekend. Level 4 Standard has been tough for us. Time can be an issue (with her weaves, everything else has to be perfect or we don't make time), we had trouble with discrims for a while, occasionally Tessa had blips and I made my share of handling mistakes on some of the courses. But this past weekend we ran two rounds of Standard back to back and managed to Q in both of them for Q #7 and Q #8 at Level 4!! On to Level 5 where we will need 10 Q's to get what we need for our C-ATCH, along with 21 more Q's in various games. We're getting sooooooooooooo close now!! She was pokey on these runs - we made time comfortably on the first, but barely squeaked by in the second. No matter - we made it! It was hot and she doesn't really do hot most of the time. I have promised her many winter trials to make up for it. I don't like to do cold, but we compromise! Both of our runs are on this one video. Enjoy Miss Tessa!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted August 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Uh . . . that should be Standard, not Standart. Can't fix a subject line, but I assure you it was merely a type-o. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CptJack Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Congratulations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simba Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingfisher7151 Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Aww, congrats! I love seeing runs like this. I sometimes miss the connection between dog and owner in agility. All I hear is "bad jumping form, early takeoff syndrome, yadda yadda" instead of seeing a proud owner and their dog. I get such joy from watching people level up after years of hard work with their dogs. Go Tessa! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted August 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Thank you so much!! Tessa is something special. She is so consistent and there is just so much joy running with her - from the time we are hanging out together on the sidelines until we crash back at her crate - we are just in the moment enjoying every bit of it! Even when it doesn't quite go our way (but that wasn't the case this time!). I love where she and I are right now. We are just riding the wave and it's awesome!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rufftie Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 YIP, YIP YIP! well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Very well done! I am glad Team Tess is rockin' it. I noticed that you stay even with Tessa in the weaves. What happens if you get a little ahead of Tessa in the weaves? Will she speed up? I was at a clinic where someone did just that - i.e. adjusted their speed to what they thought their 'slow' dog needed for support through the weaves. The instructor suggested that the handler speed up - and the dog sped through the weaves. The handler thought that the dog needed support through the weaves and so was slowing up to support. It turned out that the dog was perfectly capable of going faster but was sticking with the handler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald McCaig Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Congratulations Kristine & Tessa! Donald McCaig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum24dog Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Well done for reaching the standard. Have you had her hips and back end checked though? To my eyes she seems rather stiff and does have a tendency to bunny hop. It may be that she isn't physically comfortable through the weaves, although I do agree that she seems to be going at your speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted September 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Very well done! I am glad Team Tess is rockin' it. I noticed that you stay even with Tessa in the weaves. What happens if you get a little ahead of Tessa in the weaves? Will she speed up? I was at a clinic where someone did just that - i.e. adjusted their speed to what they thought their 'slow' dog needed for support through the weaves. The instructor suggested that the handler speed up - and the dog sped through the weaves. The handler thought that the dog needed support through the weaves and so was slowing up to support. It turned out that the dog was perfectly capable of going faster but was sticking with the handler. She speeds up in the weaves a tiny bit if I go a little ahead, but I have to be careful. There is a point where she will pop out to catch up with me if I get too far outside her bubble. I can push the envelope a lot more when we've been trialing on a regular basis, but we hadn't trialed for a while, so I elected to give very clear support and go a tick slower. I know that made us push time a bit because I could have hurried her along, but I didn't want to risk the correct performance. The fastest I ever get her to go through the weaves is when I use her lotus ball in training, and even that isn't much faster than what you saw in the second run (where her weaves were faster than in the first run). She's just a slow weaver - always has been! I tried to speed her up at one point and ended up losing the consistency. The places where I want to try to get a little more speed out of her are over the dogwalk and through the tunnels. We lose tons of time in the tunnels and she could be taking those a good bit faster, and she could be running across the top of the dogwalk. She's faster generally when the weather is cooler, although - to my delight - she didn't slow down as much this year as she did last summer. We are looking forward to some cool fall trials here soon!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted September 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Well done for reaching the standard. Have you had her hips and back end checked though? To my eyes she seems rather stiff and does have a tendency to bunny hop. It may be that she isn't physically comfortable through the weaves, although I do agree that she seems to be going at your speed. She's been checked and she is fine. She has never been fast in the weaves. Knowing her, it is my hypothesis that she is thinking her way through them and that slows her down. I've watched videos of her in slow motion and every step of her feet through the weaves is very deliberate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum24dog Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 I'm pleased she's been checked. It's what we would always advise our members to do if they have a dog that doesn't jump or weave fluently. If you want to improve her times remember that a lot of time can be lost between the obstacles. It's not just the dw and tunnels you need to focus on, more getting her to run between the obstacles. How did you train her weaves originally? I would be inclined to go back to square one with channels. If there is nothing physically wrong with her it could be in her head. I've had a very frustrating dog like that. Do the times get tighter at the next level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted September 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 I'm not really sure about times at the next level! I haven't been there yet in Standard! Maddie never got further in Level 4 than one Q - on her only attempt, actually! Time tightness tends to vary from judge to judge, though. This judge was kind of in the middle. As far as Tessa running - she does do better when it's cooler. Part of it is that she likes to keep pace with me, and I can't really run that fast, but when it's cooler I can get more speed out of her. Her weaves - originally we did wires. I can get her going a little faster with wires on. I have considered retraining on channels, but my access to them is limited. Tessa's instructor doesn't like the channel method, so there is no chance to use them in class. Might be something to play with over our Christmas break, if I can get up to the building. For now, I am content with her weaves. As long as she gets them done fluidly, we can generally make up for the time that they take. I don't care about placements, although we often get them. Tessa may weave slowly, but off courses are extremely rare, she doesn't stop and bark at me or spin, and she tends to be highly consistent. I often sit on the sidelines and watch teams struggle with issues that Tessa and I don't have and I am grateful for the strengths that she brings to our team - even if I admire the speed of some of those dogs!! Building speed between obstacles would be a more approachable goal at this point - it's something I can work with her on in the yard once the weather cools. I've been working with her on sending because I want to try for some Traditional Jackpots, but working on speed in between obstacles is something we could spend some time on in the fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum24dog Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 We had a dog that could be brilliant if the weather was miserable but a slug at the first sign of heat, and that's English "heat". I'm not a fan of guide wires for teaching weaves as they can put off at least s many dogs as they help, but however you teach them you really need to be dong them little and often rather than relying on class work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted September 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Tessa actually isn't as bad as Maddie was in the heat. Maddie would hustle up to the first jump and then just stand there! She wouldn't budge until I called her to leave the course! Tessa, at least, will run the course. She might be kind of snail-ish, but she will get it done!! I'm not a huge fan of wires, myself, as I've found them difficult to fade, but Tessa had to learn to deal with them because in her early days of class, the weaves were always wired. She learned, and we managed to fade the wires just fine with her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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