3 day trial this weekend

[k9kreationz]

Cheryl, I'm glad you ended the weekend with a Q for your title! That always helps you feel a bit more positive about the whole thing.

Thanks. It does help, since he's been struggling to get his Q in JWW. And I don't mind keeping him "back" a bit longer while he gets his STD Q's. Especially since he hasn't gotten one in I dunno 7 tries?

Random question...but in AKC do they have a practice jump outside the ring? In USDAA there is one practice jump. I wonder if it might help to get Koji amped up, and practice stays there. Dogs seem to translate better if the situations are similar (at the trial but not in the ring v. at the trial in the ring). Jackpot him with cookies every time he does it correctly. I know you said he doesn't seem as hyped up outside of the ring...but maybe if you work on it when he is excited?

I think this is the main problem. If I don't calm Koji down, he's one of those obnoxious dogs that is barking at everyone, every dog, and everything! The minute I move, literally, he's barking at me. So, do I amp him up and hope that eventually he'll focus on me? Do I calm him down and hope he stays like that? When we go into the ring, he's pulling so hard like he's going to choke himself to death. Also, I really hate going in when the other people haven't finished, he HAS barked at the running dogs wanting to chase them. Sigh.

I was reading an article somewhere talking about putting your dog in a sit when they're excited. So whenever you do that, and treat the sit, you're also reinforcing their excited behavior. I think that's what I did long ago. Although Koji is sitting there nicely, underneath, he's about to explode. And I've treated that. What I need to start doing is treating him when he's calm.

Unfortunately, he's amped up about trying to lunge and bark at other dogs. Maybe I should pull him from agility all together until his anxiety and leash walking get under control. It's really embarrassing and pathetic. I think how crazy it is when at home, Koji sleeps all day to the point where I'm concerned. Then he's a totally out of control dog once we go to agility (by that I mean from the time we hit the trial, to the time we leave, he's crazy the entire day, out of control.

I'm also wondering if the location of the trial threw him off. 1. it was raining. 2. we were in a horse arena, and 3. it was on dirt. We've never had that combination before. But then, he's been like this the past few trials. And it's only been getting worse.

This is what is frustrating. I got him all amped up (not paying attention, out of control) before we warmed up. He was in the warm-up ring, and I put him in a sit, was testing his stay and he was GREAT! But obviously, he knows the difference than going into the ring. Sigh.

I would still say that I think something may be physically wrong with Koji in the weave poles, like everyone else said. It would much easier for him to miss his entrance, or pop at the 10th (very common) than it would be for him to pop somewhere in the middle. Bentley has only done that once since he learned to weave. I tried one more time, then pulled him because I thought it was physical. Turns out he just slid on the dirt--he didn't miss again all weekend.

I'd agree and I'm going to contact someone today. This is hard for me to go see a dog chiro, because I don't believe in human chiro's. That's one reason I may see my Rally trainer who does massages first. I know that won't fix it either, but it's step 1. We're not training/trialling probably until mid-Jan anyways, so I figure I have time.....to choose how I want to approach this.

Again, thanks. I see this next year of agility going back to the basics of dog training....not even agility training.

 

[k9kreationz]

I do think as your handling improves, he will bark you down less.

I'm honestly starting to think this isn't the reason. Trust me, I am not saying it's NOT the reason, so it's not like trying to be a difficult case, but hear me out. I say this because........when my trainers run him, he will still bark his head off at them. Even last night, when the owner was working with him a bit, he wasn't focusing and we all know her handling is 100x better than mine. I bet you any top handler could work him and he'd still bark at them more times than not. I'm sure it is ONE reason he does it. But I'm starting to think it's not the main reason.

I always think of this......in NADAC, we have a game called Tunnelers. It's all tunnels and nothing but tunnels. You see people running the course yelling "tunnel, tunnel, tunnel, etc," At what point is that totally redundant, and at what point, if the dog takes the wrong tunnel, was it okay, because he took a tunnel? In those runs, your cues, IMHO, should be anything BUT "tunnel". Ditto with Jumpers (without weaves). I can run Jumpers (without weaves) without ANY commands, because Koji will read my body language, it's nice actually, lol. There are times when he's so hyped up, he'll bark at me the entire time, but still do it great and clean. There are other times when he's quiet the entire time, and still did it great. Yes, my non-verbal commands may be off a bit, but there is no rhyme or reason to his barking.

I honestly am believing that he goes into the ring, either focused or not. When he doesn't break his stay, he is focused and not barking so much. Oh, he will bark at me when I get things wrong, but he's not barking the entire time. When he breaks his stay, he's one of those types of dogs that bark through the entire course (I always wonder how they can bark and weave at the same time, lol). So, I need to figure out why he's not focused at times, or why he is. And once I figure it out, I think helping him become more focused will help overall with everything.

And I think that's why.....it also doesn't have to do 100% on my cues. BTW, I cue weaves as soon as he's committed to the obstacle prior, so he can collect himself a bit. Should I be cueing even more earlier? At that point....how early, is too early and he by passes something for the obstacle you're cueing...not that Koji would do that. I also don't think he knows what the obstacle names are really. Will need to work on that too.

I would be careful resetting him... Even in novice or open. Once you reset him, you've got to just go. They won't allow you to lead out again. If you do, you'll get whistled off. Even in novice and open, most judges will whistle you off for breaking the rules.

Well, that's where my trainer says it depends on the judge. If you can catch the dog prior to the first obstacle (without you passing it too) and reset him, you can lead-out again.....the judges may call it training, but it's definitely not breaking the other rule of going back after you've passed the first obstacle. Just to clarify. But think of it this way, if my dog breaks his stay, I'm going to NQ/E anyways. What difference does it make at that point? But that's my dog. Because like I said, once he breaks his stay, he's already out of control.

This is why I'd like to find a great trainer and have a one-on-one with them and discuss Koji's problems and what is the cause of them. Once I truly understand the cause, only then can we truly work on them. I know you (and others) think it's my late cues, but it's not (well, not all the time). If it's 100% me, I'll more than gladly take the blame and do what needs to be fixed. But I also need to understand how much of it is him and his personality.

 

[Sharon]

Kojii

Good Luck in what ever you decide.