ClantyreSheltie
Forums Sage
You mean the little 1" or so cross pieces? I think those are covered around here too.
Grass vs. Rubber
- Thread starter corbinam
- Start date
You mean the little 1" or so cross pieces? I think those are covered around here too.
corbinam
Moderator
Yep, that's what I meant. Good to know that covering them is typical. Now I know to work on it.
Grass vs.Rubber
You have to go with what you feel comfortable with.No one is gonna argue with you on your choice.Correct me of I am wrong but all you know is Stuart Mah style of training?If that is your choice and it works for you then stay with it.Personally, I would be chomping at the bit to get into Incredipaws but that would be my choice.Now, you are competing against the big guns and there is going to be some really tough competiton.Good Luck to what ever you choose but most of all have fun!!!
You have to go with what you feel comfortable with.No one is gonna argue with you on your choice.Correct me of I am wrong but all you know is Stuart Mah style of training?If that is your choice and it works for you then stay with it.Personally, I would be chomping at the bit to get into Incredipaws but that would be my choice.Now, you are competing against the big guns and there is going to be some really tough competiton.Good Luck to what ever you choose but most of all have fun!!!
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Hurtseverywhere
Forums Enthusiast
Yep remember what I said, Cosmo did most of his initial training and all of our work now indoors is on a hard rubber it really is an older floor and not as nice as some of the newer ones I have seen it is fairly hard and slick, and I think that's why he tends to be as slow as he is, when I started training him outside on grass he did much better. all of our trials up to the last one have been indoors on dirt and that initially through him for a bit of a loop going from the rubber & grass to packed sand. That's one of the reasons I have been scouting out outdoor grass trials for this season to see if I can get his speed up, it does seem to be helping some. Unfortunately our outdoor season is 5 to 6 months at best and then it's back inside. A trial location about 1 1/2 hrs away from us just installed real HQ astro turf floor this year and I am interested in maybe doing some trails there over the winter, from talking with recent users of the facility, I have been told the dogs seem to really love it, its supposed to be fast & very cushie both dogs and handlers seem to like it a lot.
On another note I started to practice target training & directional control with Storm last night for 45 minutes before her obidience class, and it when Very well
, but she just wasn't into the obidience thing last night 
it was supper hot here yesterday humidex reading was 112F and almost all the dogs were shutting down after the first 30 minutes of class, Storm had been out there
at the club all day as well at daycare while the wife is in France and by that time she just wanted to go home to her nice airconditioned house and I really didn't blame her for that, because so did I.
On another note I started to practice target training & directional control with Storm last night for 45 minutes before her obidience class, and it when Very well
, but she just wasn't into the obidience thing last night it was supper hot here yesterday humidex reading was 112F and almost all the dogs were shutting down after the first 30 minutes of class, Storm had been out thereat the club all day as well at daycare while the wife is in France and by that time she just wanted to go home to her nice airconditioned house and I really didn't blame her for that, because so did I.
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corbinam
Moderator
Last night we checked out another agility club in our area (about 30 minutes away) and we just took Lexi. Again, she struggled with the flooring.
As many of you know her issue is collection. She runs constantly in extension, and hates to slow down for any reason (weave entry, tight turns, etc...) It's something that we are working very hard on.
With the rubber flooring, Lexi is forced to collect to do almost anything because the floor is so slick. But instead of doing so, she actually chooses to go around obstacles (because it's "too hard" for her to collect). I'm correcting her, and making her complete the turns, but she gets more and more frustrated. I know that this issue is her main issue (by far!) but I'm starting to wonder if working on rubber flooring is just going to be another obstacle to over come.
At class last night she honestly just ran around and took very few obstacles (which is odd for her as she is obstacle focused).
All the other dogs around here have learned to run on rubber (slowly and carefully) and I just don't know if that's something I want to teach. Do I want to spend 3 months teaching my dogs to run on rubber when we're only here temporarily? We have plenty of other things to teach. Especially when we need to teach collection and the rubber sets her back even farther because of her slipping and getting frustrated. We also would only have access to these classes once a week, and I would need to get the dogs on the flooring at least once a day to get them used to it.
That being said, I think that we will check out the other club in our area that has turf in their building. I will also not enter any trials with rubber flooring. It isn't worth my time to work on that when we have so many other things to work on.
As many of you know her issue is collection. She runs constantly in extension, and hates to slow down for any reason (weave entry, tight turns, etc...) It's something that we are working very hard on.
With the rubber flooring, Lexi is forced to collect to do almost anything because the floor is so slick. But instead of doing so, she actually chooses to go around obstacles (because it's "too hard" for her to collect). I'm correcting her, and making her complete the turns, but she gets more and more frustrated. I know that this issue is her main issue (by far!) but I'm starting to wonder if working on rubber flooring is just going to be another obstacle to over come.
At class last night she honestly just ran around and took very few obstacles (which is odd for her as she is obstacle focused).
All the other dogs around here have learned to run on rubber (slowly and carefully) and I just don't know if that's something I want to teach. Do I want to spend 3 months teaching my dogs to run on rubber when we're only here temporarily? We have plenty of other things to teach. Especially when we need to teach collection and the rubber sets her back even farther because of her slipping and getting frustrated. We also would only have access to these classes once a week, and I would need to get the dogs on the flooring at least once a day to get them used to it.
That being said, I think that we will check out the other club in our area that has turf in their building. I will also not enter any trials with rubber flooring. It isn't worth my time to work on that when we have so many other things to work on.
Grass vs.Rubber
Have you considered maybe doing a private with Jen Crank to work on your collection?Then you can take what you learn and apply it at home.Sting did awesome in Novice and now trying to get one Open leg all I get is dropped bars.The grid work I have done has helped alot and there are less dropped bars but I still need to address it also..Extension will eventually lead to dropping bars.I have had no problems with either of my guys running on grass or rubber.
Have you considered maybe doing a private with Jen Crank to work on your collection?Then you can take what you learn and apply it at home.Sting did awesome in Novice and now trying to get one Open leg all I get is dropped bars.The grid work I have done has helped alot and there are less dropped bars but I still need to address it also..Extension will eventually lead to dropping bars.I have had no problems with either of my guys running on grass or rubber.
HopeShelties
Forums Enthusiast
I really do think she will eventually adjust to the rubber floor. Are you sure the dogs that were at this other club aren't just naturally slow? Mine seriously aren't slow on rubber. Queen City in Cincinnati has rubber matting for their footing, and not even my friends BC who tends toward worrying slows down on it.
Just curious.... Up until you moved to Ohio, had your dogs done much agility indoors? That in itself can often make a difference. I know someone else who moved from a different part of the country, and her dogs had trouble at first adjusting to running indoors in general. The footing, lighting, and noise are completely different than outdoors.
Just curious.... Up until you moved to Ohio, had your dogs done much agility indoors? That in itself can often make a difference. I know someone else who moved from a different part of the country, and her dogs had trouble at first adjusting to running indoors in general. The footing, lighting, and noise are completely different than outdoors.
corbinam
Moderator
A private with Jenn is a great idea. Once I get a job (sigh) I'll definitely look into that.
corbinam
Moderator
Our dogs had only done agility indoors once, and it was on dirt. So yes, the whole experience is very new.
Silaria
Forums Sage
Ashley,
Ultimately, however, you have to do what's best for your dogs but I'd give them a chance to get use to the different flooring. Once they figure it out, you should see their speed come back. I've watched some very fast dogs on rubber flooring.
Like HopeShelties, I've watched some incredibly fast dogs on rubber flooring.
Ultimately, however, you have to do what's best for your dogs but I'd give them a chance to get use to the different flooring. Once they figure it out, you should see their speed come back. I've watched some very fast dogs on rubber flooring.
Like HopeShelties, I've watched some incredibly fast dogs on rubber flooring.