Nervous to get back into it

[Lovely]

You can put a target plate out and see what he does naturally, but I wouldn't train with nebulous criteria. I think it's a lot easier to train if you know exactly what you want, all the time.

Very true. It's not like he's not bright enough to learn to differentiate.

Can you try and get a private with her so she can see where you are at?If you take all the advice on here and try it all you will screw up your dog.I f you dont know how to teach what the advice may be you will make matters worse for your dog.This is JMO and not everyone will agree.

I can't do a private session with her right now. I had to rearrange things just to be able to take the class in the first place. I can read up on various techniques and ask the instructor to talk them over with me and reassess at the end of the class (while avoiding contacts for the moment). There are only 4 dogs in the class now, so we have 1 on 1 time. That should give me time to research. Guess that's the best I can do for now!

 

[Lovely]

Move up?

It is pouring, so class was cancelled. My instructor called to let me know, but also had a proposal. Duncan is doing sequences and has done agility before, so she wants us to move up to Intermediate. Great! But there is a problem.

Class is on Wednesdays at 7:45. Flyball is on Wednesdays at 6:00. I could make both (pushing it, but possible), but I think Duncan might be too exhausted to give me good runs. OR he might be just tired enough to really focus. At the end of flyball practice, he is always eager to continue. My little energizer doggie doesn't want the fun to end and he isn't winded unless we've done a ton of Duncan-focus (which we may be doing to curb his chasing).

I am going to do both this Wednesday as an experiment. First, flyball is going to end early this week, so I'll be able to make both comfortably. Second, I want to check out the class and see if Duncan belongs there level-wise. And lastly, I want to gauge the feasibility. Any other thoughts or things I should look out for? I have this sinking feeling that I'm going to go and realize it's too much for me for one night.

 

[corbinam]

It is pouring, so class was cancelled. My instructor called to let me know, but also had a proposal. Duncan is doing sequences and has done agility before, so she wants us to move up to Intermediate. Great! But there is a problem.

Class is on Wednesdays at 7:45. Flyball is on Wednesdays at 6:00. I could make both (pushing it, but possible), but I think Duncan might be too exhausted to give me good runs. OR he might be just tired enough to really focus. At the end of flyball practice, he is always eager to continue. My little energizer doggie doesn't want the fun to end and he isn't winded unless we've done a ton of Duncan-focus (which we may be doing to curb his chasing).

I am going to do both this Wednesday as an experiment. First, flyball is going to end early this week, so I'll be able to make both comfortably. Second, I want to check out the class and see if Duncan belongs there level-wise. And lastly, I want to gauge the feasibility. Any other thoughts or things I should look out for? I have this sinking feeling that I'm going to go and realize it's too much for me for one night.

I know how you feel. I really wanted to take a flyball class with Lexi this go round, but it's only offered during the one class that we can make. What a pain!

I had been "practicing" at flyball after Lexi's hour-long class, and it just wasn't ideal. She was still energetic, but she wasn't crazy excited like she would have been if it were first. I'd much rather do flyball first, then agility if I had a choice.

 

[Lovely]

It was exhausting. Not for Duncan - he was still playing when we got home - but for me.

Flyball was amazing but that's not this thread's topic!

The agility was almost more amazing than the flyball. We got Duncan up the A-frame for the first time in a year. He needed some major reassurance the first two times and then he took to it like a Sheltie to sheep. We even got some good 2o2o behaviors. I'm going to work on that more, though. Homework for the week is to remind him about his target plates. We did a full jumpers course and a full standard (is that right? it had contacts). He was great at the jumpers. I skipped the weaves because I'm retraining those at home and didn't want to blow all of the practice we've done.

Overall, I was overwhelmed. There are so many nuance things that I've forgotten. I feel too clumsy to do an effective front cross. I'm learning not to bend at the waist. I keep forgetting to keep my hand (er, magic wand) tracing the path I want and to call the obstacle. I'm not consistent with my verbal cues. Lots of things to work on. None of the issues were Duncan. He is willing to do what I asked (unless it is go into a tunnel that is filled with water - we had to drain it and then he was amazing), I just have to learn the right body language to understand what movements get what reactions.

I decided to stay in the handling class and treat it as 'independent study' and use of the equipment. I can't wait to take a class with the Intermediate instructor. She owns the business and was AMAZING. I learned more from her than I thought possible in just an hour.

She said she plans on opening another night for intermediate, so I'll get in on it then - once I've completed the current class.

 

[corbinam]

Chelle, sounds like Duncan did great! And don't worry, the flow will come back to you (or you'll keep working on it forever, like I am!)

One thing I wanted to note, and you may be aware of this, I would try not to run Duncan past the weaves. If you can, take an alternate course to get back on track. Dogs are really perceptive and can easily get into the habit of looking past the weaves once you allow them to do so.