what are your transitions

S

SheltieChe

Forums Sage
In my on line learning course we had Transition seminar, something I did not pay much attention previously.
http://susangarrettdogagility.com/2009/02/effective-transitions/
I was paying attention today in my basic agility class how other people transitioned their dogs from crate/ to work, break between/ work/ break between /work/ back to crate...
What you do with your dog in class if teacher suddenly calls attention and gives some talk...
what you do to have successful run at agility trial, whats your prestart line routine/ games/ get ready thing?
 
When I get to a show I crate Trax. Then after all is set up, I take him out for a potty break. Then back to the crate. Then about 20 minutes before his run I take him out and do practice jumps. Then back to crate. 5 dogs before his run I take him out of his crate and line up. I take a bag of small treats and I treat him constantly to keep his attention on me and not the course. I plan it out carefully so I hand him one last treat moments before entering the ring.

In class during walkthroughs he is put into a down and stay as I walk the course. Same for when the teacher stops us to tell us something. Down and stay.
 
As soon as we get to a trial the dogs both get to walk around the area a few times. We usually put Bentley back in the car (cookie!) then take Lexi to get measured where she gets several cookies.

Bentley usually comes out about 10 dogs before his run. He potties, and then we do the practice jump just a couple times. As we wait our turn, we work on things on leash such as crosses and spins. Then we do some sits and downs, and I ask him to jump up (2 feet on the ground, the other 2 on me) to stretch him out.

Lexi comes out much later. Probably 5 dogs before her run. She potties, then we have a one jump routine (wraps, figure 8s, etc...) She has to be kept busy as she waits so we do a lot of sits, releases, spins, downs, etc...I like to try to get her to tug, but she is easily distracted before she goes and it doesn't always work.

I try to do both of their routines before we do run-thrus and practices as well.

In class, if we stop or have to walk a course, the dogs are placed in their crate in the car, or we put them in down stays, depending on the area.
 
Cosmo gets put in the Xpen or the crate when we arrive with everyone else, once I get set up & him measured then I take them all out for a walk around the site and to go pottie if needed, then cosmo usually goes in the crate he prefers it it the the X-pen. the event before he runs I usuall take him out do a massage , rub down and strech him out, then take him for a short potty break, I usually pull him out at the beginning of our event for us this typically seems to be 6 to 8 dogs ahead of our run and I do a few practice jump and feed some liver or beef heart to get him focused, in the chute I have been jiving him with a quick ruff up more to try and get him excited more than anything else he tends to get fairly vocal when doing this and some of the other compeditors are not to impressed with this so I keep it short, then we run, after the run I usually clap him off and try and show some excitement myself while praising him and its always treats and lot of rubbing & ruff housing reguardless of how the run went, then I usuall keep him out till our event is finished take him for a quick walk and re kennel after results are posted.
so in short I don't usually bring him out till say 5 to 10 miniutes before we go
but then I tend to keep him out after for probably 20 to 30 minutes with me after the run.

up untill recently In class or during practice runs at the field during breaks I usually sit on the floor if inside or on the grass and he sits beside me or climbs right in my lap for scratches & pets while we are waiting, but this is getting more difficult to do with the 2 dogs now, I tie him up for walkthroughs at class or put him in the Xpen which I usually have with me. I keep an X-pen in the trunk always so we always have it availible to use if needed.
 
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Transitions

I always carpool with my friend Cindy so when we get there we drop off our stuff to the entrance and go park the car.Then we go in and set up our stuff and get course maps and armbands.I will go out and get Sting and potty him and let him stretch his legs.About a half hour before he goes in the ring I will take him back outside and potty again and play ball with him to tire him out some cause he is freaking grease lighting and then will go back in and take him over the jump and by then he is ready to go in the ring and focussed and he still has the speed for the ring after the workout.:biggrin2:
 
At class, dogs are put in the expen during a break. I don't want my dogs getting bored and spacing out. If they are out, they're working. If not, they're up observing me working another dog, and getting excited about their turn.
At a trial, each dog is different. Kai warms up with sits and downs. She honestly doesn't need to be revved any higher than she is. Athena is me talking to her, and letting her bark one dog out from her turn to rev her up. Aurora I don't set down outside the ring. She with her issues will disconnect. So, while waiting for the word GO, I have her off leash, get her revved by bringing my hand back (she chases it and starts to brace for the run) and asking if she's ready (it's kind of like tensing a rubber band and letting it relax), which is done several times before letting her run. She needs a slingshot to engage, so I run with her. Ember tugs on her fleece leash, which helps her engage with me. Lark will be another tugger. Each dog is different and I do what each needs to get the most from them in the ring.
All in all, pretrial ritual is take the dog to potty, do stretches with the dog, go to the practice jump and warm up, go to the ring, and do what I've listed above for each dog prior to entering the ring.
 
Y'know, I never thought about this. I don't even know if I have a specific set pattern. I know when I get there, the dogs are the last things out of the truck. They go directly into the crate until I get fully settled in. Hubby is with me in class and at trials, so that's why I don't really have a set schedule. i.e. I don't get the dog out 5 dogs out, etc. Also, because of his height, except for AKC JWW, we're usually within the first 10 dogs. So as I walk, hubby takes Koji out for a potty break. I go back to get him and get treats. I will warm him up, walk him around, get him to focus on me with treats.

This is the only consistent thing I do. As I get about 3 dogs before us. I put Koji between my legs. I'll stop feeding him by this time (depending on if 1. I have food or 2. he's being crazy). When I'm on deck, I usually turn my back to the ring, with Koji between my legs facing away from the ring.

When I go in, I USED to throw the leash as close to the leash runner as possible, but since his start line stays are broken and my tossing the leash distracts him from me, I don't do it anymore. I'll just drop it next to Koji, keep him focused on me as I lead out. And off he goes, without me. Still working on that stay. lol.

After his run, if he did great, I treat him and he stays out with me for awhile. (My friends dogs learned after a run, treat or not, they go into the crate and dislike it VERY much. So, I didn't want Koji to associate "end of run" with "stuck in crate".) If he did bad, immediately in the crate no treats. And by bad, I mean so bad, I had to walk off. For the most part, I let Koji stay out of his crate. It just depends on how much he's acting up. If Miko's there with us, they both stay out.

In class, he's not in a crate since hubby is there. I will hold his leash until I have to walk. I always handle the leash so Koji knows he's there with me, not hubby (it used to be an issue, I doubt it is anymore, but it's habit not). Hubby will hold while I walk. However, in the last class I took (new instructor), I had Koji in a sit/stay and she started talking to me. I didn't like him being in a sit/stay as I was listening to her, so I went back to treat him for staying. I was afraid he'd break while I was off somewhere else and since I'm working on it, ugh, I had to treat and listen. lol. BTW, Koji didn't break. :) Otherwise, my old instructor used to let them wander so they weren't "working" while we were ignoring them.

For me, crating and stuff is dependent on how much Koji is barking at other dogs, or not. If he's not, he stays out. If he is, in he goes.
 
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