Cara Sandler
Forums Enthusiast
Thanks everyone! Spirit did a wonderful job at the trial (at least in the beginning!), doing the teeter with no hesitation, holding her stopped contacts, and allowing me to leash her back up at the end of her runs. She started off the first day in T2B, coming in 2nd place (though they don't technically award placements in T2B), and earning 8 points. Needless to say, I was thrilled beyond belief that she did the teeter, and getting a Q and placement was just gravy. The next day, she Qd in Novice FAST, coming in 2nd place and earning her Novice FAST title (if only I had thrown in 1 more obstacle, she would have won - we had 70 points and 1st place dog had 74). But she again did the teeter and I was so proud of her. On to Open JWW, where Spirit Qd, came in first place, and earned her Open Jumpers title. Aaaaaaaand, then on to Standard, where it all fell apart. The course started with a dogwalk to tunnel, and Spirit just couldn't hold her little puppy brain together, blowing her contact (ok, not technically blowing it, but not doing a stopped contact, which is what I want her to do), then bailed off the teeter just before it hit the ground. So she did the Walk of Shame off the course (and she proceeded to yell at me the entire time we were walking off the course). At that point I knew something was going on with her, but I didn't know what. I couldn't see any reason for her to suddenly be afraid of the teeter again, but figured I would just let it go and try again next time. The 3rd day, we took off and went shopping and lure coursing. Spirit LOVED lure coursing (even though it was about 50 degrees out, windy and rainy, it didn't faze her a bit) and earned 2 qualifying runs towards her title. We would have done it again but you were only allowed 2 qualifying runs in one day. But it was a nice break, Spirit had fun, and everyone felt better. Back to agility on Day 4. Spirit not only refused the teeter, but refused the dogwalk as well. Clearly she was on complete overload and the problem was getting worse, so I pulled her out again (and once again she was furious at me, barking up a storm the whole way out). I felt bad, but at the same time, she needs to understand that her decisions have consequences. I'm not angry or upset at her when she refuses the contacts - but at the same time, she's only allowed to keep playing if she does her job. I don't want her to think she has the option to do or not do certain obstacles. If she doesn't want to do something, that's fine, but the game is over for the day. So then on to our very first Excellent Jumpers run, where Spirit decided to run around the first 2 jumps to get to me instead of taking them (she hadn't even started the timer). I managed to get her back to the beginning to restart and she finished strong, but the refusal had already been called at the beginning since she passed the plane of the first jump, so no Q. I decided she needed a little break, so we headed back over to lure coursing and she did her third run for her Coursing Ability title! She really loved it and visibly relaxed after that. On day 5, I pulled her out of Standard completely, but we did do Jumpers, and she did AMAZING!!!!!! I sent her into the wrong side of the tunnel (bad mom!!!!!!) and then cued her late to the weaves, causing her to spin and have a refusal called, but it was a beautiful run and an awesome finish the the week.
Needless to say, I was VERY worried about her teeter, so immediately booked a private lesson with the trainers when we got home - and Spirit got out there and did her contacts beautifully, including the teeter. So I'm chalking the teeter/contact issue up to ring stress as opposed to an actual teeter issue. I also talked to Spirit's trainer and she agreed that the trial was an awful lot of stimulation for Spirit, and it wasn't surprising that she had had a bit of a meltdown, but that as she matured she should be able to handle it just fine. She also agreed with my decision to pull Spirit out at the end and said that letting Spirit go lure coursing to clear her head was a very good decision.
So all in all, Spirit walked away with 3 new titles and we had a lot of fun!!!!!! Very excited for our next trial this coming up weekend, where Spirit will hopefully feel confident enough to do her contacts. I guess we'll just wait to see how it goes.
Needless to say, I was VERY worried about her teeter, so immediately booked a private lesson with the trainers when we got home - and Spirit got out there and did her contacts beautifully, including the teeter. So I'm chalking the teeter/contact issue up to ring stress as opposed to an actual teeter issue. I also talked to Spirit's trainer and she agreed that the trial was an awful lot of stimulation for Spirit, and it wasn't surprising that she had had a bit of a meltdown, but that as she matured she should be able to handle it just fine. She also agreed with my decision to pull Spirit out at the end and said that letting Spirit go lure coursing to clear her head was a very good decision.
So all in all, Spirit walked away with 3 new titles and we had a lot of fun!!!!!! Very excited for our next trial this coming up weekend, where Spirit will hopefully feel confident enough to do her contacts. I guess we'll just wait to see how it goes.
