http://youtu.be/8_VJBPQqTQU
This is our latest video from yesterday. I now have Epic running through 4 poles in a straight line quite reliably from different entry points so I added 2 more poles which I put in front of the line and was quite pleased with the result. We did get to 6 poles before but I wasn't really happy with it but going back to the early stages now I have a clearer idea of what we should be doing seems to have helped. Now I have started reading Shaping Success I have a better idea of the training of the 2x2s although it is the older method described in the book. Out of interest I think I have discovered the reason for the large distance initially between the two sets that we were discussing earlier, as it is to avoid confusing the dog with two possible entry points. It's a fascinating book and I am loving it. I also had The Beginners Guide to Dog Agility by Laurie Leach which I am finding useful.
Problems enountered: you are right SheltieChe that he is looking back at me for the reward. My throwing is better than it used to be but with the best will in the world the toy doesn't always go where I want it to. The difficulty I have found is that as you can see he is so fast that by the time I know that he's gone through correctly it is already 'late' with the reward. If I throw it too soon won't I be rewarding things that are incorrect?
The barking IS an issue with everything he finds exciting - which means living in general as far as Epic is concerned! I don't know how to stop it either! What happens is that before he runs out he looks at me and barks, any movement from me (moving a foot) triggers the barking but if I stand still then he quickly remembers what he is meant to be doing and runs out. I now have a tag on his collar that I can get hold of to 'release' him where I want, sometimes he runs out to the weaves and sometimes he stops, looks at me and barks, then runs out. I have thought about rewarding him only forthe occasions when he runs straight off with no barking but wouldn't that confuse him with the weaves? He's not actually running back and forward trying to find the correct entry and barking, that's probably the misleading impression when I edited out the 'boring bits' because when he's thinking about which entry he actually creeps up to it slowly... and silently! It's just excitement before he runs and he also barks if he has done the weaves but not been rewarded if he hasn't done it right.
I know I am very static at the moment - partly that is because handlers on most of the videos I have watched are stationary but mostly because with the state the grass is in I dare not run! When I did run with him earlier (I did it initially with the V weaves) he was fine so I think running will impove things and possibly will lessen the barking.
One thing I noticed with delight early on is that unlike the other two shelties, Epic will run with me without jumping up at me, barking or grabbing.
(Yogi would be a nightmare with agility as he tries to block anyone (including dogs) running by getting in front of them. Even if you turn back on a walk to get a dropped glove he starts barking and blocking with is intensly irritating and has lead to him being stepped on or accidentally kicked on a number of occasions but it didn't stop him.
)
We were meant to have our first lesson of 2013 which I was really looking foward to but snow and sleet this morning meant it was cancelled
Roll on Spring!!
