Tips for driving a fast car

A few months ago I was feeling a bit sorry for myself and wondering if I could ever be a good enough handler to run Phebe. I told my instructor that maybe I shouldn't have started agility with a young and fast dog. She told me that the challenge of handling a fast dog would make me a much better handler because there is no room (or time) to recover from handling mistakes.

We still have a long way to go, but my timing and handling skills are improving and we're being successful at trials. I predict that you and Lexi have many years of agility fun and success in your future.

Hehe, it's not only you. I feel sorry for myself all the time. I know Trax could have a way better handler! I also know that I don't devote enough time to it. I spread myself too thin and then can't keep up. Trax's brother is a few Q's ahead of him and so it's my personal mission to catch up by the end of the year! :biggrin2:

Thanks, everyone!

I think I was feeling a bit discouraged...and in watching the runs again (and reading your comments), it's definitely a case of handler error! I'm so used to running a slow dog, that it gives me time A)to give directions and B) time to fix any mistakes I make. With Lexi, I have to give her directions a lot sooner, and I'm not doing that, not to mention the fact that I'm not being clear.

I think that the more we run full courses, the better I will learn to time things.

Ortegah, by the way, your dog is awesome! So fast! I hope Lexi is that good one day, if I don't hold her back too much!

Awh thanks, he is an awesome dog. That being said I have a far way to go to catch up to his awesome-ness :biggrin2: Most dogs aren't born with a "sense of course" and therefore they depend our our every move to determine where they go next. Even bending over or turning your shoulder can pull them off course. Shelties are known for their spinning but it's especially apparent when they are confused and don't know where to go next. Of course spinning in front of their next obstacle counts as a refusal so we want to prevent that as much as possible :wink2: I myself get refusals called on the way to the table a lot. It's because I haven't worked enough with the table command so that he doesn't know what to do next when my body motion stops but I give the command. I stop, he stops, period.

Lexi definitely loves the sport and I'm sure you guys will get better and better! Try not to get discouraged. We've all been there. It took me a whole year to get my second Q in Novice standard. I was so ready to throw in the towel, but I stuck through it and he's improved dramatically. I'm starting to catch up ;) Keep your chin up! You'll get there!
 
Good luck Ashley. I know even with Koji, I had to relearn to give commands a bit earlier, i.e. when he's in the tunnel, I typically have to yell out weaves (if it's next) or his name if I want to be sure he turns into me.

It's just an adjustment period. Basically, everything you do with Bentley, throw out the window. LOL. Can't wait to see Lexi trialling.
 
It's just an adjustment period. Basically, everything you do with Bentley, throw out the window. LOL. Can't wait to see Lexi trialling.

Haha-- so true!

I think I'm even getting worse with Bentley now, because I'm either treating him like Lexi, or exaggerating his slowness (he really isn't THAT slow), and not giving him information fast enough.
 
Hang in there. I saw my friend go through the same thing with her two dogs. But she eventually learned how to handle them differently and her slower dog started to do more of things her fast dog does (like distance). So, maybe there's a good thing about it.
 
Haha-- so true!

I think I'm even getting worse with Bentley now, because I'm either treating him like Lexi, or exaggerating his slowness (he really isn't THAT slow), and not giving him information fast enough.

I am so there with you.:smile2: Someday we'll get it.
 
ohhhh, joy. I have two- fast and faster... Che is fast but am already can't catch up with 12 weeks old pocket rocket Leo.
hmmm, maybe it would be easier- all I have to do is to increase my speed?:lol:
Thankfully as Che is big, Leo looks like he will be on opposite side- 9 1/2" at 12 weeks so I might be able to get a breather between runs. I do know that Che follows my body more than anything else, I could call wrong name for obstacle and he could care less, but slight twist of my shoulders- into him then out gives him indication of direction switch...
Am glad you brought this topic, I find videos very educational. Am reading everyone's suggestions, pls keep it coming!
I have seen quite a few BC during last comp- fast but soo sloppy, I guess have missed good ones.
 
Wow, Ortegah where did you come from!? what an awesome dog!! Also great advice!
I was just told the other day I have to stop waving my arms and just go with the arm signal if the dog needs my support! ... Meanwhile I apparently STILL flail my arm like a bad Disco Queen!
And ARE YOU KIDDING ME LEXI! what a dog! Did you see those contacts and the frigging drive and confidence on the jumps AND the dog walk? She practically owns that course!!!
 
If it were me, I wouldn't dare slow her down.. even for the sake of more consistancy in the near future. I have fast dogs... Particularly Kai, but Ember is going to be even faster (please... 3 jumps ahead of me in an instant). When you've got a fast one, it just means your handling has to be that much more on spot. A slow dog you often have time to fix mistakes. With a fast one, there is no room for error. It'll make you a better handler in the long run, as you will have to learn to be very accurate and quick thinking with your handling. You will also have to probably handle the complete opposite of Bentley. A fast dog is usually only going to get wilder if you cheerlead or do a lot of yelling. My friend with her BC who can do 6yps has had to learn to calm down and stay quiet on course, and he actually listens better as he's not getting even more keyed up off of her. As a result, her runs have improved tremendously.
Distance is also going to be your friend. You'll want to start teaching her to work independently so she doesn't have to have you right there to do her job. Being able to send a fast dog makes it easier to be where you need to be for your dog.
Just remember, consistancy will come with time and work. Speed is harder to come by. You don't want to slow her down when you may have a hard time getting it back when you're truly ready for it.
Also, after watching the video, you may want to watch how you time some of those rear crosses. The serpentine would've actually been a great place for a couple of front crosses. You had plenty of time to get there, as you're kind of waiting on her. It would tighten her up, and you wouldn't lose as many yards where you're letting her come out wide to get in behind her. It'd also probably provide more direction. Yeah, I know right now it's not such a huge deal, but if down the road you want to be competitive with her, things like that will be the difference between first place, and no placement. I'd also give her more information sooner, and like at the last tunnel on the second run, watch how far you're sending your arm out. You want a tight turn into the tunnel, but bringing your arm out so far is actually not telling her to do that. It should instead be telling your dog she's headed to the other tunnel. And, at the purple tunnel, going back to the green, I'd front cross, instead of trying to rear cross into the tunnel at such an odd angle. Sure, a more advanced dog would probably get that, but she's still a green baby dog. Even with a more advanced dog, I'd give them the easier to read option... the front cross, showing motion that they're going back to that tunnel, instead of just surprising them with it. It looks like you're worried about getting her head so she doesn't take the wrong course, but you've got to run it like you know she's going to do it. I think if you pay no attention to that wrong course, and just fc, and use forward motion to take her to the tunnel, she'd never look at it, especially since it's not really in the path.
 
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If it were me, I wouldn't dare slow her down.. even for the sake of more consistancy in the near future.

Thanks, Stacey...I think deep down I knew this, I was just starting to get confused because she sometimes is so far ahead. Even in the place where there were 2 jumps in a row, then out to the tunnel beyond the dogwalk, she was ahead of me, so I felt like I couldn't get there to signal her to the tunnel (and so I got confused, and she took the DW)

Also, after watching the video, you may want to watch how you time some of those rear crosses. The serpentine would've actually been a great place for a couple of front crosses.

It looks like you're worried about getting her head so she doesn't take the wrong course, but you've got to run it like you know she's going to do it. I think if you pay no attention to that wrong course, and just fc, and use forward motion to take her to the tunnel, she'd never look at it, especially since it's not really in the path.

You are definitely right...I think I am babysitting her more than I need to. I tend to avoid FC right now with her on a course, because she's not very good at them (bad me!) About 50% of the time she blows by me, and cuts behind me. But, I really should work them in a situation like this.

Thanks!
 
Wow, Ortegah where did you come from!? what an awesome dog!! Also great advice!
I was just told the other day I have to stop waving my arms and just go with the arm signal if the dog needs my support! ... Meanwhile I apparently STILL flail my arm like a bad Disco Queen!
And ARE YOU KIDDING ME LEXI! what a dog! Did you see those contacts and the frigging drive and confidence on the jumps AND the dog walk? She practically owns that course!!!

Thanks! Of course I only showed the decent runs. You don't want to see my really bad runs, believe me! :lol: I think with the fast dogs we tend to just get anxious and feel like we have to hurry, point(read: flail arms like crazy person!) and run like the wind! But I've learned more and more that it's not about racing the dog as much as it is finding the right lines, supporting the obstacles and letting the rest fall into place. If they know the front crosses, rear crosses, lateral sends, collection queues, etc. then it's a matter of us doing the right things. I can look at someone's run and say "Oh your problem is __________" but when I get out there to run my own dog I forget everything I've been taught and I walk off wondering what in the world I was thinking. I wish I found a way to calm my nerves. I think that would solve half our problems.

I love watching runs like Lexi's because I can see the same things I see in my own runs and it helps me think about what my course of action would've been.
 
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