Deaf dog doing agility

Thank you for the video of my boy!

What a surprise! I didn't realize there was a YouTube video of Alva until I did a search for a website where I posted private videos. Thank you for posting it, Cheryl!

I remember that run... I laughed when he took the tunnel, because in the previous run, he took the contact when it was supposed to be the tunnel! He didn't blow his wait... he just KNEW it was supposed to be the tunnel, and took it. Of course he *knows* the course better than I do! Yesterday at a CPE trial in Colors, he did blow his wait stay, took the first three jumps ON HIS OWN before I turned around and found him behind me... we ended up Qing anyways. Everybody told me "Alva's so smart! He can read numbers now!" yup... that's him. Know-it-all.

thanks again for sharing... I'm sending the link around the block. I hope you don't mind.

-dayle
mom to: Alva--CL2,CL3-F,H,S (CPE);
O-NCC,S-NJC,NAC,S-Tn-N,Tn-O,O-Wv-N,Hp-N (NADAC); CGC
Orville--CGC
Wilbur,Misty--sweetest shelties waiting at the Bridge
 
DeafSheltieMom said:
What a surprise! I didn't realize there was a YouTube video of Alva until I did a search for a website where I posted private videos. Thank you for posting it, Cheryl!

I remember that run... I laughed when he took the tunnel, because in the previous run, he took the contact when it was supposed to be the tunnel! He didn't blow his wait... he just KNEW it was supposed to be the tunnel, and took it. Of course he *knows* the course better than I do! Yesterday at a CPE trial in Colors, he did blow his wait stay, took the first three jumps ON HIS OWN before I turned around and found him behind me... we ended up Qing anyways. Everybody told me "Alva's so smart! He can read numbers now!" yup... that's him. Know-it-all.

thanks again for sharing... I'm sending the link around the block. I hope you don't mind.
Click to expand...

Hi Dayle!!!

Good to see you here. I'm addicted to this forum, that's for sure.

I had to show everyone how awesome Alva is (and your handling). I meant to tell you I uploaded the video, but I forgot when I ran into you in San Diego, and I haven't done NADAC since.

I can't believe Alva took the 3 jumps then was probably waiting for you saying "Mom, let's go". And yes, very smart. I can't even read the numbers that fast, hehehe.

Send the video around, it's your dog :) . I'm just glad you weren't offended or anything that I posted it. I'm always so impressed to watch Alva...even if he doesn't do a good job. I can barely get Koji to do it right and he CAN hear me.

Hope to see you soon (I'll probably do NADAC in Jan/Feb, right now, everything is so far and I'm trying to cut back on travel/hotel).
 
YouTube of Alva's CPE runs

Here's a link to Alva's CPE runs on Sat. Nov. 6, 2010 @ the Ups 'N Downs trial in Escondido, CA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLWBR7UeX1Q

There are three runs on the video. The first is Jackpot, then Wildcard, and lastly, the infamous Colors run where Alva "reads" the numbers on the first three jumps instead WAITING to be released... Mr. Know-It-All. He might be deaf, but he ain't stupid. My trainer says he's smarter than me, and she's probably right :lol:

-Dayle, mom to:
Alva--CL2,CL3-F,H,S (CPE);
O-NCC,S-NJC,NAC,S-Tn-N,Tn-O,O-Wv-N,Hp-N (NADAC); CGC
Orville--CGC
Wilbur,Misty--sweetest shelties waiting at the Bridge
 
DeafSheltieMom said:
My trainer says he's smarter than me, and she's probably right :lol:
Click to expand...

I think they're all smarter then me. lol.

Great runs, I love the Colors one. I love his trot, it's just too cute. And his circles when he's not sure where to go. You'd never know he's deaf.

Just curious, do you give verbal commands when you're out there? I don't think I've heard you, but just wondering. I probably would out of habit if I had to run a deaf dog (now that I'm running a hearing dog - well, that's questionable at times).
 
Deaf dog vocal commands

I rarely ever tell Alva commands while we run... sometimes I do blurt something out, but it is more for me than for him. I do "talk" to him like I normally do.. "silly! whoo hoo! that's it! atta boy!" are some of the nice things I say... I got away with "you jerk!" this weekend when he ran straight for the table (that stops the clock) as directed, but then, two yards away, he made a sudden right turn and started circling, wasting precious time. :uhoh: If the judge heard me, I might have been reprimanded... doesn't matter whether my dog could hear me or not, it's just not good sportsmanship! I knew it when I said it, but it was my immediate reaction from the table frustrations of the weekend. Oh well... I'll be better.

I often wonder if I had a hearing agility dog whether I'd start using vocal commands. It's so ingrained in me to use body language and NOT talk on course that I'm not sure I could do it very well! Y'know... the old "can't chew gum and walk at the same time" syndrome. I don't do the frantic call-off because it won't do me any good, but you might hear me moan "noooooo...." Most of the time, I just stand there dumbfounded and kinda ticked off at either me or him (depending on who's fault it is... it's usually me) and wistfully watch him go off on his own... I'm sure you've seen that look from me a lot, Cheryl :lol:

He's my first and only agility dog (for now), so everything we do on course, we learned together. It might be too difficult to teach this old dog (me) new tricks by using vocalizations. Would be an interesting experiment!

-Dayle, mom to:
Alva--CL2,CL3-F,H,S (CPE);
O-NCC,S-NJC,NAC,S-Tn-N,Tn-O,O-Wv-N,Hp-N (NADAC); CGC
Orville--CGC
Wilbur,Misty--sweetest shelties waiting at the Bridge
 
I figured you didn't give commands but was curious. I didn't realize Alva was your first and only agility dog, it'd be very interesting to see you train a hearing dog. LOL. I'm sure if I trained a deaf dog, I'd be yelling out commands left and right and wondering why I'm not getting any response. You've done a great job with Alva. Even when he messes up, it's just fun to watch you guys run.

I admit, I've heard you moan "noooooo" when Alva goes off and does his own thing. I kinda chuckle to myself, because you're right, what can you do? I can only imagine how frustrating that is. But then again, it's just as frustrating when you CAN call your dog off but he's not paying attention either. Yup, seen the ticked off/dumbfounded look too. lol. I wonder if I have those expressions too...like I want to kill Koji when he starts barking at me (talking back).

I hope you're taking a look around Sheltie Nation Forums. It's fun here.
BTW, I'm heading off to a Sheltie Specialty this weekend. I wish you and Alva could go (AKC sucks at times). Do you do a lot of CPE also? How long have you and Alva been doing agility? He's got a ton of NADAC titles. :) Koji has very few. He's the Jumpers star though, that's about it.
 
Alva's History

Good luck to you and the pups at the Specialty, Cheryl!

And don't get me started about AKC... I am a member of our Sheltie Club (Shetland Sheepdog Club of Greater San Diego). I work their conformation matches and trials, but we haven't hosted an AKC agility trial, yet. We are looking into doing so, but it may not happen for at least year, if then. But Alva will not be allowed to compete because of his deafness. I'll probably work the trial if we have one, but it will be with a bit of resentment. I'm way over the anger and bewilderment. It isn't worth my time and energy. I just support ($$$) the venues that will gladly allow my boy to play.

Alva is now 6 years old (born in Nov 2004, and we just celebrated his birthday), and has been "training" since we got him as a puppy. But, we've only been competing in CPE since 2008, and we started NADAC in 2009. It was more a confidence issue for mom than him, really. I never felt confident enough to trial, and fear of the unknown holds me back much too often than it should. I think he probably could have started competing much earlier in his life if his mom would have just DONE IT:razz:

We compete as often as we can when there are trials near by. That translates to about 2x/month. I work retail, so that is about as many weekends off as I feel comfortable taking without upsetting my boss. It usually means one CPE trial and one NADAC trial a month (we don't run USDAA since Alva would have to jump 22", and that is much too high). Luckily, we have enough CPE & NADAC trials in the SoCal area to keep us happy.

Thanks about the praise for his NADAC titles. They were hard-earned... We are working on getting his Superiors in Novice, so it is taking awhile. And, if you look closely, you will notice that there is a missing Touch 'N Go title that is preventing him from getting his Novice Versatility title! He has ONE lonely TnG Q, and I don't even know how he got that one! Hopefully at the next NADAC trial in a few weekends (will you be there at Rohr Park?), he will earn more titles. He needs one more Q for his Open Jumpers title, and there will be two TnGs at this trial. I think it would be a miracle if we got both of them, but the possibility is there... His contacts are SOOOO much better now! Now, if we can only fix the discriminations (that's more me than him) so that there are fewer tunnel-sucks than normal :smile2:.

-Dayle, mom to:
Alva--CL2,CL3-F,H,S (CPE);
O-NCC,S-NJC,NAC,S-Tn-N,Tn-O,O-Wv-N,Hp-N (NADAC); CGC
Orville--CGC
Wilbur,Misty--sweetest shelties waiting at the Bridge
 
DeafSheltieMom said:
I rarely ever tell Alva commands while we run... sometimes I do blurt something out, but it is more for me than for him. I do "talk" to him like I normally do.. "silly! whoo hoo! that's it! atta boy!" are some of the nice things I say... I got away with "you jerk!" this weekend when he ran straight for the table (that stops the clock) as directed, but then, two yards away, he made a sudden right turn and started circling, wasting precious time. :uhoh: If the judge heard me, I might have been reprimanded... doesn't matter whether my dog could hear me or not, it's just not good sportsmanship! I knew it when I said it, but it was my immediate reaction from the table frustrations of the weekend. Oh well... I'll be better.

I often wonder if I had a hearing agility dog whether I'd start using vocal commands. It's so ingrained in me to use body language and NOT talk on course that I'm not sure I could do it very well! Y'know... the old "can't chew gum and walk at the same time" syndrome. I don't do the frantic call-off because it won't do me any good, but you might hear me moan "noooooo...." Most of the time, I just stand there dumbfounded and kinda ticked off at either me or him (depending on who's fault it is... it's usually me) and wistfully watch him go off on his own... I'm sure you've seen that look from me a lot, Cheryl :lol:

He's my first and only agility dog (for now), so everything we do on course, we learned together. It might be too difficult to teach this old dog (me) new tricks by using vocalizations. Would be an interesting experiment!

-Dayle, mom to:
Alva--CL2,CL3-F,H,S (CPE);
O-NCC,S-NJC,NAC,S-Tn-N,Tn-O,O-Wv-N,Hp-N (NADAC); CGC
Orville--CGC
Wilbur,Misty--sweetest shelties waiting at the Bridge
Click to expand...

I've heard agility people say that sometimes the handler should have their mouth taped shut because you can say the wrong thing and screw up what the dog is doing right. I'd bet you could run a hearing dog with the methods that you use with Alva and do great :yes:
 
Calliesmom said:
I've heard agility people say that sometimes the handler should have their mouth taped shut because you can say the wrong thing and screw up what the dog is doing right. I'd bet you could run a hearing dog with the methods that you use with Alva and do great :yes:
Click to expand...

Thanks, Calliesmom, for the compliments... I have a friend who runs a Cavalier who now tries to run without a lot of vocalizations. Her little Gemma runs considerably better without the "white noise" of excessive commands. It really makes a difference for her. Gemma is much more focused on the course than running around trying to figure out what mom said. She still uses commands (like go on, right and left, etc), but if her path is fairly obvious based on positional cues and crosses, she tries to keep her mouth shut. Gemma is much more confident and faster now. And, if there is a need for the frantic call-off, Gemma is more likely to respond to it than before!

I think most handlers should try the "taping one's mouth shut" exercise to see how differently their dogs run... they'd be surprised how much their body language is telling their dogs what to do than their voice.
-dayle
 
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