Spirit Joy

So, I'm considering entering Spirit in her first agility trial at the end of December. I know she's not quite ready yet - she still tends to get distracted and zoom. But she does understand how to perform the obstacles and as long as MY timing is good (this is really the key), she runs the courses pretty well.

So here's my question. As long as I am willing to basically throw away the entry fees, and not get out there expecting Spirit to win or even Q, is there any harm in letting her try? The main reason I want to get her out there sooner rather than later is that she gets very distracted in new environments, and I don't want her distraction to be the sole reason for not doing well. In other words, if I were to wait until she was totally prepared, I feel like she would still get out in the ring and be completely distracted and possibly zoom or wander. Is there any harm in working on her focus in the ring now? We work on it in class all the time, but like I said, going to a new environment tends to be a game changer regardless of what task I am working on with her.

To be clear though, if she DOES zoom off and her behavior seems to be staying the same or even getting worse with each progressive round, I would pull her out of the trial because I don't want her practicing that behavior. She would only get to keep trying if I see improvement along the way.

What do you think?
 
Cara Sandler said:
So, I'm considering entering Spirit in her first agility trial at the end of December. I know she's not quite ready yet - she still tends to get distracted and zoom. But she does understand how to perform the obstacles and as long as MY timing is good (this is really the key), she runs the courses pretty well.

So here's my question. As long as I am willing to basically throw away the entry fees, and not get out there expecting Spirit to win or even Q, is there any harm in letting her try? The main reason I want to get her out there sooner rather than later is that she gets very distracted in new environments, and I don't want her distraction to be the sole reason for not doing well. In other words, if I were to wait until she was totally prepared, I feel like she would still get out in the ring and be completely distracted and possibly zoom or wander. Is there any harm in working on her focus in the ring now? We work on it in class all the time, but like I said, going to a new environment tends to be a game changer regardless of what task I am working on with her.

To be clear though, if she DOES zoom off and her behavior seems to be staying the same or even getting worse with each progressive round, I would pull her out of the trial because I don't want her practicing that behavior. She would only get to keep trying if I see improvement along the way.

What do you think?
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Destin's first trial, I only entered him in one run. he did pretty well so for his second trial, we added one run to the second day. He still doesn't want to come to me at the end of the run but we are working on that. I do see some improvement so maybe he'll get to run some more next year.

Jocu's first trial- he was only in one run on the first day- jumpers and one tunnelers on the next day... that was a year ago now. in that time, he has gotten his nov jww in AKC and his novice jumpers and tunnelers in nadac.
 
Calliesmom said:
Destin's first trial, I only entered him in one run. he did pretty well so we added a run to the second day at his next trial. He still doesn't want to come to me at the end of the run but we are working on that. I do see some improvement so maybe he'll get to run some more next year.

Jocu's first trial- he was only in one run on the first day- jumpers and one tunnelers on the next day... that was a year ago now. in that time, he has gotten his nov jww in AKC and his novice jumpers and tunnelers in nadac.
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It's a 4 day AKC trial, and I was thinking about just entering her in jumpers and standard all 4 days.
 
Cara Sandler said:
It's a 4 day AKC trial, and I was thinking about just entering her in jumpers and standard all 4 days.
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I think that might be a lot for a baby dog and your first trial.
maybe alternate- jumpers one day, std the next day.
I know a lot of people who say that their dog is tired by day 4 of a 4 day trial. I've actually never done a 4 day trial so I'm not sure how mine would do. I'm pretty sure that I would be beat as a 3 day trial is pretty exhausting.

Jocu is still learning the contacts so he won't be entered in std for a while yet. running just jumpers with him seems to be going well though.
 
Calliesmom said:
I think that might be a lot for a baby dog and your first trial.
maybe alternate- jumpers one day, std the next day.
I know a lot of people who say that their dog is tired by day 4 of a 4 day trial. I've actually never done a 4 day trial so I'm not sure how mine would do. I'm pretty sure that I would be beat as a 3 day trial is pretty exhausting.

Jocu is still learning the contacts so he won't be entered in std for a while yet. running just jumpers with him seems to be going well though.
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Hmmm, that's a good idea, to alternate days.
 
I think it depends on how you think she'll respond. Has she been to trials before? Has she been in the environment for ~4 days before? Yes, asking her to focus for 4 days might be tough, especially if she's not used to relaxing in that kind of environment.

But, if your expectations are just to go to the start line, have her attention and get out, it could be a good way to do it (short spurts for a few days). It's really hard to say. If you're not worried about the money, you could enter her and if by day 3 you're seeing serious mental deterioration, you can pull her from the last day.
 
corbinam said:
I think it depends on how you think she'll respond. Has she been to trials before? Has she been in the environment for ~4 days before? Yes, asking her to focus for 4 days might be tough, especially if she's not used to relaxing in that kind of environment.

But, if your expectations are just to go to the start line, have her attention and get out, it could be a good way to do it (short spurts for a few days). It's really hard to say. If you're not worried about the money, you could enter her and if by day 3 you're seeing serious mental deterioration, you can pull her from the last day.
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Yes, she has been going to agility trials as a spectator since she was 10 weeks old. She is completely comfortable in that environment regardless of whether she's sitting ringside or resting in her crate.

My plan is exactly as you described - get out there, have her focused on me, have fun, and only allow her to continue if she's able to focus. I'm not worried about the money and have no problem with pulling her out if she's overwhelmed or completely unfocused.
 
Cara Sandler said:
Yes, she has been going to agility trials as a spectator since she was 10 weeks old. She is completely comfortable in that environment regardless of whether she's sitting ringside or resting in her crate.

My plan is exactly as you described - get out there, have her focused on me, have fun, and only allow her to continue if she's able to focus. I'm not worried about the money and have no problem with pulling her out if she's overwhelmed or completely unfocused.
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That sounds great! I know of some people who put their dog at the start line and just did a few jumps/tunnels and headed right to the finish. Kept their dog focused and was a positive experience for all!
 
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