We have a USDAA trial coming up this weekend, so we've been getting ready in our Agility classes. Why do we have to have this special "getting ready" time, and what are we doing for it? Well, while it might not seem like a big change from any AKC trial, USDAA actually has enough little differences to make the switch difficult for some dogs.
For Philip, the biggest reason for the special practice is the jump height change. As I've mentioned before, while Philip got happily moved down to 8" in AKC, he has to stay with 12" jump height in USDAA because they don't even have an 8" height! Being the bar knocker that he is, I thought that having to go up a height suddenly (after jumping solely 8" for a good couple of months) would present quite a problem. So I ran him at 12" in last week's class to see how he'd do. My worries were justified, Philip knocked bars left and right all class long, and so I persistently stopped him and made him redo every bar he knocked until they stayed up.
Since Philip didn't do so well last week, I kept him in 12" this week as well. Again the bars went flying at the first run, and again I made him redo every single one. At one point our instructor speculated that he might be rushing to keep up with me and being careless. So for the next run, I took my speed down a notch. Eureka - Philip was being noticeably slower, but also much more accurate! Half way through, when we reached the table, our instructor commented that while he's being accurate, he's too slow (I didn't tell her I was going to slow down), so I should encourage him to go faster. Hmmm... so I did, and the next bar went down again (though it was also a terrible approach angle). We fixed it and were mostly done for the day.
After class I talked with our instructor and told her that I think it might be better if Philip is slow but accurate, rather than bar-knockingly-fast. I could tell she was apprehensive about that idea, and I totally know why - Philip has just started picking up speed in the last month, and it would be a shame if he slowed back down because I'm suddenly not pushing him. We are really going to need the speed once we reach Excellent B in AKC, which should hopefully be soon, so I probably shouldn't sacrifice that just for some Qs in USDAA.
So the verdict was that it might be okay to not rush Philip when going over a series of jumps, but really encourage him to go at super speed on non-jump obstacles. I think that's a good compromise, plus it would only be for the weekend runs before we go back to fast 8" runs. So that's what I'll do, at least I'll start it off that way on Saturday and adjust as needed as we go along.
Another noticeable difference for Philip was in the weave poles. The weaves have always been a bit of trouble for him, and even though he has certainly gotten better over time, he consistently had trouble with them at the last AKC trial. I hear that dogs constantly go through phases where they seem to "forget" how to do some obstacle, so that must be what happened there for Philip. To add on to that trouble though, the USDAA poles are placed tighter together, making them more difficult for most dogs (some petite dogs enjoy the shorter distance). In AKC the poles are usually 24" apart, in USDAA they are supposed to be at 20"-22" by the rules. Per our instructor's observation, practically nobody in our area has 22" weaves, so we have to stick with the 20" kind.
Thankfully, our instructor has a 20" set and had set them up for the last two classes. Philip had noticeable trouble at first, going through slower than usual, and skipping a pole or two somewhere in the middle. I took him back through several times over and over again and rewarded him generously when he did it right. In the end, I think he got the hang of it by the end of yesterday's class, so we should hopefully be good there.
Some other differences for USDAA:
- The contact zones are shorter on the A-Frame, Dog Walk, and Teeter. That shouldn't be a problem for Philip since he usually sticks his contacts well.
- The A-Frame is steeper for tall dogs. That doesn't affect my short dog, so no problem there.
- The dog has to run without a collar. Again, doesn't affect us since Philip has always ran without one.
That's all the major differences, there are other nuances, but most of them are unnoticeable as far as the dog's skills are concerned. This weekend shall be interesting - we have a lot of runs, and will be there all day both days. Can't wait to see how we do!
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Weave Poles
I mentioned in my last post that I think the Teeter is one of the hardest obstacles for dogs to master. The other one would be the Weave Poles. However, while the Teeter is difficult because it's terrifying, the Weave Poles are not scary at all, instead they are just a very unnatural kind of an obstacle, so dogs have a hard time understanding them. Think about it - our dogs are often jumping, climbing, and going through things in every day life, but they never encounter a situation in which they have to weave left and right like they would through the Weave Poles.
The Weaves are a set of 6 or 12 poles sticking straight up from the ground, about 20-22 inches apart.
The dog must enter from the right side, i.e. with its left shoulder passing by the first pole. Then it must continue weaving left and right through each opening between the poles, similar to a skiing slalom.
Since the number of poles is always even, the dog should come out to the left side, i.e. with its right shoulder passing by the last pole.
The most common number of poles is 12. In AKC, Novice dogs have 6 poles to go through, and move on to 12 for Open and Excellent. In USDAA, there are 12 poles for all levels.
Training a dog to weave is a very slow process, and usually takes the longest of all. There are many methods designed to help the dog understand how it needs to move through the poles. Some of these are the Weave-O-Matic, the channel method, guide wires, brute force muscle memory, as well as the new and upcoming Two-By-Two method. Philip and I stated off with the muscle memory method at first, but quickly moved to the channel method when we changed instructors. I'll cover all of these in as much detail as I can in a future post, but in the end it really comes down to whatever works for you and your dog - each method has people that swear by it, and others that can't stand it.
There are many things that can go wrong with the Weaves - the dog isn't supposed to stop in the middle of weaving, and any wrong direction is counted as a refusal. If the dog weaves backwards several poles (usually 3 or 4), it will be counted as a wrong course. In AKC, refusals don't count on the Weaves at the Novice level, but a back weave will count as a wrong course, which automatically earns an NQ in JWW.
This post finally concludes the obstacle overview series. There are other obstacles in various organizations, but the ones I talked about are the most commonly used, and are the only ones seen in AKC and USDAA, which are the two organizations we compete in.
The Weaves are a set of 6 or 12 poles sticking straight up from the ground, about 20-22 inches apart.
The dog must enter from the right side, i.e. with its left shoulder passing by the first pole. Then it must continue weaving left and right through each opening between the poles, similar to a skiing slalom.
Since the number of poles is always even, the dog should come out to the left side, i.e. with its right shoulder passing by the last pole.
The most common number of poles is 12. In AKC, Novice dogs have 6 poles to go through, and move on to 12 for Open and Excellent. In USDAA, there are 12 poles for all levels.
Training a dog to weave is a very slow process, and usually takes the longest of all. There are many methods designed to help the dog understand how it needs to move through the poles. Some of these are the Weave-O-Matic, the channel method, guide wires, brute force muscle memory, as well as the new and upcoming Two-By-Two method. Philip and I stated off with the muscle memory method at first, but quickly moved to the channel method when we changed instructors. I'll cover all of these in as much detail as I can in a future post, but in the end it really comes down to whatever works for you and your dog - each method has people that swear by it, and others that can't stand it.
There are many things that can go wrong with the Weaves - the dog isn't supposed to stop in the middle of weaving, and any wrong direction is counted as a refusal. If the dog weaves backwards several poles (usually 3 or 4), it will be counted as a wrong course. In AKC, refusals don't count on the Weaves at the Novice level, but a back weave will count as a wrong course, which automatically earns an NQ in JWW.
This post finally concludes the obstacle overview series. There are other obstacles in various organizations, but the ones I talked about are the most commonly used, and are the only ones seen in AKC and USDAA, which are the two organizations we compete in.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Teeter Totter
The Teeter is a very scary obstacle for most dogs. It's a plank that rests over a swinging base in the middle
The dog has to run up on it from the side that's on the ground, cross over the center point causing it to tip, wait for the other other end to hit the ground, and then exit down the side that's now on the ground (opposite of starting end).
Like the other contact obstacle, the Teeter has a sandpaper-like surface, and also has the yellow contact zone on both ends. The dog has to touch the contact on both ends before entering/exiting the obstacle. The dog must also wait for the exit end to touch the ground at least once before exiting - it's okay to jump off while the teeter bounces back up, but not okay to jump off while it's descending for the first time.
Most dogs are not very fond of falling to the ground together with the board and are often tempted to jump off to the side as they feel the board to begin moving. The banging sound of the board hitting the ground can be scary too.
The preferred performance is for the dog to run well past the center of the board, causing it to tip very quickly, and then exiting off the board. The problem with this though is that it causes the board to move fast and make a lot of noise, which is very scary. Hence, many dogs prefer slowly crawling to just the point where the board will gently slope to the other side, but that's a big waste of time.
The first thing to do when teaching the Teeter is getting the dog used to the bang sound. Usually, you would hold the dog next to the Teeter, and move the board down with your hand, letting them see and hear it. Start off gently, and as the dog gets confident move up to slamming the board down as hard as you can (making sure you don't hit the dog of course). Once the dog gets used to the motion, it's time to get the dog on the board. It's best to start off by holding the Teeter motionless, letting the dog go up towards the high end, and slowly moving the board down as to not scare the dog. Even this exercise can prove to be very scary, but with lots of patience (and yummy treats), the dog should eventually learn to stay on. After that, it's just a matter of getting them to go on their own, letting go of the board earlier and earlier, until you no longer need to hold it at all. Keep in mind that you want the dog to go far up and get the board moving fast. The crawling method is best discouraged as it would be a very hard habit to break in the future.
Another thing to remember is that the bigger (and heavier) the dog is, the faster it will get the Teeter to move. Smaller dogs are at a disadvantage, but at least they tend to be a little braver of going farther up :)
The dog has to run up on it from the side that's on the ground, cross over the center point causing it to tip, wait for the other other end to hit the ground, and then exit down the side that's now on the ground (opposite of starting end).
Like the other contact obstacle, the Teeter has a sandpaper-like surface, and also has the yellow contact zone on both ends. The dog has to touch the contact on both ends before entering/exiting the obstacle. The dog must also wait for the exit end to touch the ground at least once before exiting - it's okay to jump off while the teeter bounces back up, but not okay to jump off while it's descending for the first time.
Most dogs are not very fond of falling to the ground together with the board and are often tempted to jump off to the side as they feel the board to begin moving. The banging sound of the board hitting the ground can be scary too.
The preferred performance is for the dog to run well past the center of the board, causing it to tip very quickly, and then exiting off the board. The problem with this though is that it causes the board to move fast and make a lot of noise, which is very scary. Hence, many dogs prefer slowly crawling to just the point where the board will gently slope to the other side, but that's a big waste of time.
The first thing to do when teaching the Teeter is getting the dog used to the bang sound. Usually, you would hold the dog next to the Teeter, and move the board down with your hand, letting them see and hear it. Start off gently, and as the dog gets confident move up to slamming the board down as hard as you can (making sure you don't hit the dog of course). Once the dog gets used to the motion, it's time to get the dog on the board. It's best to start off by holding the Teeter motionless, letting the dog go up towards the high end, and slowly moving the board down as to not scare the dog. Even this exercise can prove to be very scary, but with lots of patience (and yummy treats), the dog should eventually learn to stay on. After that, it's just a matter of getting them to go on their own, letting go of the board earlier and earlier, until you no longer need to hold it at all. Keep in mind that you want the dog to go far up and get the board moving fast. The crawling method is best discouraged as it would be a very hard habit to break in the future.
Another thing to remember is that the bigger (and heavier) the dog is, the faster it will get the Teeter to move. Smaller dogs are at a disadvantage, but at least they tend to be a little braver of going farther up :)
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Contact Equipment
We are getting to the harder obstacles now :)
There are 3 different contact obstacles - A-Frame, Dog Walk, and Teeter Totter.
Today we'll look at the A-Frame and the Dog Walk. The Teeter is one of the hardest obstacles in Agility, so I'll dedicate a separate post to it later.
The A-Frame consists of two wide panels that are attached together to form a climbing obstacle that resembles the letter A (hence the name).
The panels are about 9 feet long each, and the top of the frame is 5 feet 6 inches from the ground - the picture above gives a good perspective of it.
The panels have a rough, non-slip (like sandpaper) surface, as well as small wooden slats going across the width to provide better footing.
The dog must climb up one side of the frame and descend down the other.
You can see that the panel is painted in two colors - the top color can vary, but the bottom part (lower 42 inches in AKC) is almost always yellow to indicate the contact zone. On the ascending side, this is usually called the "up contact", and on the descending side - "down contact". In order to clear the contact correctly, the dog must touch the yellow zone with at least one paw before going past it. In AKC, only the down contact is required for the A-Frame. In USDAA, the up contact needs to be touched as well. This is a safety measure to ensure that no dogs are leaping off of (or on to) the top of the A-Frame, as they could easily hurt themselves that way.
Touching the yellow can be okay with as little as a toenail (judge's call), and many handlers just hope their dogs will hit it on the way. It's hard to teach the up contact to a dog, but is usually only a problem for very leggy dogs. However, the down contact is very easy to be missed, even for very small dogs because they think they can fly!
Obviously, we can't explain to a dog that it much touch the yellow paint, so instead there are different tricks to get them to go to the bottom. Some handlers have their dog lay down at the bottom of the A-Frame, others slowly guide the dog down. In our class we use the "two on, two off" method - I'll cover it in more detail later, but basically it requires the dog to place two front feet on the ground while the two back feet are still resting on the panel.
Blowing the contact (i.e. not touching the yellow when required) is considered a failure to perform and will earn the dog an immediate NQ.
The Dog Walk is constructed of three wood panels (two ramps and a center section) that form a bridge-like obstacle (it's so long, it doesn't even fit in one picture!).
The ramps and center section are 12 feet long each, and the center section is 48 inches from the ground. The surface is the same as that on the A-Frame, and the ramps have similar slats for footing.
The Dog Walk also has contact zones, but unlike the A-Frame, both up and down contacts are required here. Normally, once a dog can perform the A-Frame correctly, it will pick up the Dog Walk quickly after that. The only extra thing to get used to at that point is the thin nature of the planks (they are only 12 inches wide), so some dogs need a little encouragement, as it can be scary, especially for the bigger guys.
There are 3 different contact obstacles - A-Frame, Dog Walk, and Teeter Totter.
Today we'll look at the A-Frame and the Dog Walk. The Teeter is one of the hardest obstacles in Agility, so I'll dedicate a separate post to it later.
The A-Frame consists of two wide panels that are attached together to form a climbing obstacle that resembles the letter A (hence the name).
The panels are about 9 feet long each, and the top of the frame is 5 feet 6 inches from the ground - the picture above gives a good perspective of it.
The panels have a rough, non-slip (like sandpaper) surface, as well as small wooden slats going across the width to provide better footing.
The dog must climb up one side of the frame and descend down the other.
You can see that the panel is painted in two colors - the top color can vary, but the bottom part (lower 42 inches in AKC) is almost always yellow to indicate the contact zone. On the ascending side, this is usually called the "up contact", and on the descending side - "down contact". In order to clear the contact correctly, the dog must touch the yellow zone with at least one paw before going past it. In AKC, only the down contact is required for the A-Frame. In USDAA, the up contact needs to be touched as well. This is a safety measure to ensure that no dogs are leaping off of (or on to) the top of the A-Frame, as they could easily hurt themselves that way.
Touching the yellow can be okay with as little as a toenail (judge's call), and many handlers just hope their dogs will hit it on the way. It's hard to teach the up contact to a dog, but is usually only a problem for very leggy dogs. However, the down contact is very easy to be missed, even for very small dogs because they think they can fly!
Obviously, we can't explain to a dog that it much touch the yellow paint, so instead there are different tricks to get them to go to the bottom. Some handlers have their dog lay down at the bottom of the A-Frame, others slowly guide the dog down. In our class we use the "two on, two off" method - I'll cover it in more detail later, but basically it requires the dog to place two front feet on the ground while the two back feet are still resting on the panel.
Blowing the contact (i.e. not touching the yellow when required) is considered a failure to perform and will earn the dog an immediate NQ.
The Dog Walk is constructed of three wood panels (two ramps and a center section) that form a bridge-like obstacle (it's so long, it doesn't even fit in one picture!).
The ramps and center section are 12 feet long each, and the center section is 48 inches from the ground. The surface is the same as that on the A-Frame, and the ramps have similar slats for footing.
The Dog Walk also has contact zones, but unlike the A-Frame, both up and down contacts are required here. Normally, once a dog can perform the A-Frame correctly, it will pick up the Dog Walk quickly after that. The only extra thing to get used to at that point is the thin nature of the planks (they are only 12 inches wide), so some dogs need a little encouragement, as it can be scary, especially for the bigger guys.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tunnel and Chute
We are getting closer to our next trial, so I guess I better get all the obstacles out of the way :) Today we have the tunnel (also called an open tunnel) and the chute (also called a closed tunnel).
The tunnel is made of flexible spring-like core and a material pulled over it. Weighted anchors hold the two ends down in place.
This construction allows the tunnel to be bent in all kinds of directions. On the picture above, it is shaped like a flattened out S - there is a bend in the middle causing the dog to go a bit left and right, and coming out facing the same direction as it entered.
Another common setup is a C-shape. This one can differ from a fairly flat curve (like these parentheses), to a full 180-degree turn.
Dogs tend to either love or hate the tunnels, though it seems that the majority love them. Sometimes the initial introduction to the dark bent tunnel can be scary, but once they understand it, it can be hard keeping them away from running back and forth :)
When training the tunnel, usually it is collapsed to be very short at first, almost like a ring, so the dog can simply walk right through it. Then the length is slowly added on while the tunnel is kept straight. Once full length is achieved, curves are introduced as well.
The chute has a rigid tunnel-like entrance...
...with an attached sleeve-like soft material that the dog has to push open in order to get through.
It is very important that the chute material is straightened out before each run through it by a dog - nobody wants the furry ones getting tangled up in there! So at a trial there is always a volunteer sitting near by that runs over and straightens it out before each dog.
Even so, the chute does tend to get a bit tangled as the dogs run through, especially if they are going fast. Unfortunately I don't have any shot demonstrating this (I'll work on that next time), but I've seen dogs come out in all sorts of ways - sometime it even looks like they take a tumble and roll over themselves while inside :)
Some dogs find the idea of the chute pretty scary, but like with the regular tunnel, they usually get the hang of it quickly.
Similar to the tunnel, the chute is also trained fully rolled up at first, with length added slowly, and person holding the material open for the dog. As the dog gains confidence, the opening is made smaller and smaller, until the dog can push all the way through on its own.
For both of these obstacles, the dog must enter from the correct end and exit at the opposite end. If the dog enters the tunnel correctly, runs back and forth inside of it without coming out, and then exits correctly, it will not receive any faults, rather just lose time. However, if the dog runs in, turns around, and comes back out of the same end, it will get a refusal. A refusal is also given if the dog goes past the entrance without going in the tunnel. If the dog completes the tunnel backwards (in at exit, out at entrance), it will get a wrong course. Note that if the exit of the tunnel is farther than the entrance, and the dog does it backwards, it will get a wrong course and a refusal since it will have to go past the entrance in order to reach the back end.
The tunnel is made of flexible spring-like core and a material pulled over it. Weighted anchors hold the two ends down in place.
This construction allows the tunnel to be bent in all kinds of directions. On the picture above, it is shaped like a flattened out S - there is a bend in the middle causing the dog to go a bit left and right, and coming out facing the same direction as it entered.
Another common setup is a C-shape. This one can differ from a fairly flat curve (like these parentheses), to a full 180-degree turn.
Dogs tend to either love or hate the tunnels, though it seems that the majority love them. Sometimes the initial introduction to the dark bent tunnel can be scary, but once they understand it, it can be hard keeping them away from running back and forth :)
When training the tunnel, usually it is collapsed to be very short at first, almost like a ring, so the dog can simply walk right through it. Then the length is slowly added on while the tunnel is kept straight. Once full length is achieved, curves are introduced as well.
The chute has a rigid tunnel-like entrance...
...with an attached sleeve-like soft material that the dog has to push open in order to get through.
It is very important that the chute material is straightened out before each run through it by a dog - nobody wants the furry ones getting tangled up in there! So at a trial there is always a volunteer sitting near by that runs over and straightens it out before each dog.
Even so, the chute does tend to get a bit tangled as the dogs run through, especially if they are going fast. Unfortunately I don't have any shot demonstrating this (I'll work on that next time), but I've seen dogs come out in all sorts of ways - sometime it even looks like they take a tumble and roll over themselves while inside :)
Some dogs find the idea of the chute pretty scary, but like with the regular tunnel, they usually get the hang of it quickly.
Similar to the tunnel, the chute is also trained fully rolled up at first, with length added slowly, and person holding the material open for the dog. As the dog gains confidence, the opening is made smaller and smaller, until the dog can push all the way through on its own.
For both of these obstacles, the dog must enter from the correct end and exit at the opposite end. If the dog enters the tunnel correctly, runs back and forth inside of it without coming out, and then exits correctly, it will not receive any faults, rather just lose time. However, if the dog runs in, turns around, and comes back out of the same end, it will get a refusal. A refusal is also given if the dog goes past the entrance without going in the tunnel. If the dog completes the tunnel backwards (in at exit, out at entrance), it will get a wrong course. Note that if the exit of the tunnel is farther than the entrance, and the dog does it backwards, it will get a wrong course and a refusal since it will have to go past the entrance in order to reach the back end.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Pause Table
Continuing with the equipment theme, and inspired by Bailey's woes, here's the next obstacle - the pause table.
The table is a raised square platform that the dog has to get up on and pause for 5 seconds.
The table surface is normally 36"x36" in size, give or take a couple of inches. Like the jumps, the height of the table is determined by the dog's height. There are only 3 table heights though: 8" for 4"/8"/12" dogs, 16" for 16"/20" dogs, and 24" for 24"/26" dogs.
To perform the obstacle correctly, the dog must jump up on the table, and either sit or lay down while the judge counts "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go". In USDAA the dogs always lay down, and in AKC the judge will select one or the other for the whole day. I've noticed that on weekend trials, one day will be a sit and the other a down.
If the dog passes the back side of the table (determined by the direction the dog should be coming from), it will get a refusal. Interestingly, one judge explained that once the dog breaks that plane, its approach changes, and what used to be the front become the back. So if the dog does a 360 around the table, it will get 2 refusals - it's confusing!
The judge will start the count when the dog assumes the correct position. If the dog breaks position, the judge will pause, and continue the count once the dog is back in position. The count doesn't start over and no faults are given for that, other than the obvious loss of time.
However, if the dog jumps up on the table and gets off before the judge says "Go", it will count as a table fault and the dog will have to get back on and restart the count from the beginning.
The handler may not touch the dog or the table at any time. Also, if the dog is anticipating the count and leaves right as the judge says "Go", it could earn a fault as well - it should be listening to the handler's release command, not the judge!
Several things make the table a difficult obstacle:
Large breeds tend to approach the table too fast and jump right off of it before they have the time to stop. Some of the taller dogs also have trouble laying down on the table because it's simply too small for them. Small dogs often confuse it with a jump or contact obstacle and do various silly things too.
The table's surface (as well as all other contact equipment surface) is made similar to sandpaper to provide good traction. Unfortunately, this causes many dogs to not want to sit or lay on it because their precious butt and belly are too dainty to be placed on sandpaper :)
Most importantly though, many dogs are so focused on go-go-going that it's very difficult for them to pause in the middle of the run and stay in the same position for 5 seconds. This is the whole point of the table though - the dog must show the ability to calm down and pause. A good solid table performance is great to have, these dogs will let you lead out easily (from the start line, or the table), and that gives a great advantage to the handler.
The table is a raised square platform that the dog has to get up on and pause for 5 seconds.
The table surface is normally 36"x36" in size, give or take a couple of inches. Like the jumps, the height of the table is determined by the dog's height. There are only 3 table heights though: 8" for 4"/8"/12" dogs, 16" for 16"/20" dogs, and 24" for 24"/26" dogs.
To perform the obstacle correctly, the dog must jump up on the table, and either sit or lay down while the judge counts "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go". In USDAA the dogs always lay down, and in AKC the judge will select one or the other for the whole day. I've noticed that on weekend trials, one day will be a sit and the other a down.
If the dog passes the back side of the table (determined by the direction the dog should be coming from), it will get a refusal. Interestingly, one judge explained that once the dog breaks that plane, its approach changes, and what used to be the front become the back. So if the dog does a 360 around the table, it will get 2 refusals - it's confusing!
The judge will start the count when the dog assumes the correct position. If the dog breaks position, the judge will pause, and continue the count once the dog is back in position. The count doesn't start over and no faults are given for that, other than the obvious loss of time.
However, if the dog jumps up on the table and gets off before the judge says "Go", it will count as a table fault and the dog will have to get back on and restart the count from the beginning.
The handler may not touch the dog or the table at any time. Also, if the dog is anticipating the count and leaves right as the judge says "Go", it could earn a fault as well - it should be listening to the handler's release command, not the judge!
Several things make the table a difficult obstacle:
Large breeds tend to approach the table too fast and jump right off of it before they have the time to stop. Some of the taller dogs also have trouble laying down on the table because it's simply too small for them. Small dogs often confuse it with a jump or contact obstacle and do various silly things too.
The table's surface (as well as all other contact equipment surface) is made similar to sandpaper to provide good traction. Unfortunately, this causes many dogs to not want to sit or lay on it because their precious butt and belly are too dainty to be placed on sandpaper :)
Most importantly though, many dogs are so focused on go-go-going that it's very difficult for them to pause in the middle of the run and stay in the same position for 5 seconds. This is the whole point of the table though - the dog must show the ability to calm down and pause. A good solid table performance is great to have, these dogs will let you lead out easily (from the start line, or the table), and that gives a great advantage to the handler.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Tire and Broad Jump
I covered the regular jumps last time, and here are the last two kinds of jumps as promised :)
The tire jump is just what it sounds like - a hoop that resembles a tire, and the dog has to jump through.
The height at which the tire hangs depends on how tall the dog is, just like regular jumps. Unlike the regular jumps though, it's nearly impossible to knock this obstacle down, but the challenge here is for the dog to jump through the tire, and not just through the frame. Some large breeds also have trouble with the tire due to it's constrained size - the bigger the dog, the tighter the hoop feels for them.
This is a very common first obstacle on the course since it's very easy to put the electronic timer around the tire (you can see it on the picture above). A common mistake people make in this case is placing the dog too close to the tire, making it harder to jump through.
Last, but not least, we have the broad jump.
Unlike all other jumps, the broad jump focuses on the jump length rather than height. Here, the height of the dog determines the length of the jump, and it is twice longer than a regular jump would be high (so a dog that jumps 12" will have a 24" long broad jump, dogs jumping 22" have a 44" long broad jump). The jump is slightly raised towards the end, and the dog still has to catch some air to clear it. Stepping on the jump would earn a failure to perform, and is a very common problem with smaller dogs.
Stay tuned for other obstacles :)
The tire jump is just what it sounds like - a hoop that resembles a tire, and the dog has to jump through.
The height at which the tire hangs depends on how tall the dog is, just like regular jumps. Unlike the regular jumps though, it's nearly impossible to knock this obstacle down, but the challenge here is for the dog to jump through the tire, and not just through the frame. Some large breeds also have trouble with the tire due to it's constrained size - the bigger the dog, the tighter the hoop feels for them.
This is a very common first obstacle on the course since it's very easy to put the electronic timer around the tire (you can see it on the picture above). A common mistake people make in this case is placing the dog too close to the tire, making it harder to jump through.
Last, but not least, we have the broad jump.
Unlike all other jumps, the broad jump focuses on the jump length rather than height. Here, the height of the dog determines the length of the jump, and it is twice longer than a regular jump would be high (so a dog that jumps 12" will have a 24" long broad jump, dogs jumping 22" have a 44" long broad jump). The jump is slightly raised towards the end, and the dog still has to catch some air to clear it. Stepping on the jump would earn a failure to perform, and is a very common problem with smaller dogs.
Stay tuned for other obstacles :)
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Jumps
We don't have another trial coming for a while, so I figured I'd cover some obstacles in the mean time. The most common or all is the jump. The rule for getting over the jump obstacles is very simple - the dog must jump over it, without knocking any bars down. The bars sit on small ledges and can easily be knocked down with just a slight nudge, so ideally the dog should pass right over the jump without touching the bars at all. If a dog knocks a bar, it will immediately earn an NQ in the run because this is considered a serious fault (failure to perform).
There are many different kinds of jumps, so let's take a look at a single jump for starters:
As you can see, it's simply a horizontal bar that the dog has to jump over. The height of the bar depends on how tall the dog is (see the jump height post for a bit more info). Other than learning to pick up their feet and not knock bars, these jumps are pretty easy and a natural obstacle for most dogs.
Another kind of jump is a panel jump.
This one is very similar to the single jump, but has a solid wall-like panel going from the ground up to the jump bar. The solid wall can be a bit scary for the large breed dogs as they can't see what's on the other side that they will be leaping to. However, with just a bit of practice, most dogs have no problem with this jump. Smaller breed rarely notice any difference at all since their jumps are very low anyway.
For a slight challenge of jumping abilities, there are also double and triple jumps. I don't have a picture of a double handy, but here's a triple.
You can see that it has 3 bars in a row, slightly ascending. The dog had to clear all three bars, which usually requires a longer and curvier move than that for a single jump. The double is similar, except that is has only two bars and they are both at the same height rather than ascending. In USDAA, there is also a spread jump, which is similar to the double, except that the bars are set further apart and require a longer jump. Larger dogs rarely have trouble with these since they tend to have a long stride anyway, but many smaller breeds land too soon, knocking the last bar.
All of the above jumps can come with or without wings on them. Wings are decorative additions on each side of the jump.
They don't make much difference to the dog, but they are harder for handling since the handler can't run right next to the jump, but rather has to get around the wings. Wings come in many shapes and color, but the basic idea is the same for all.
There are two more kinds of jumps - broad and tire. While they still require a dog to jump, they are quite a bit different from these, and have different rules too. I think I'll dedicate another full post to those two next time.
There are many different kinds of jumps, so let's take a look at a single jump for starters:
As you can see, it's simply a horizontal bar that the dog has to jump over. The height of the bar depends on how tall the dog is (see the jump height post for a bit more info). Other than learning to pick up their feet and not knock bars, these jumps are pretty easy and a natural obstacle for most dogs.
Another kind of jump is a panel jump.
This one is very similar to the single jump, but has a solid wall-like panel going from the ground up to the jump bar. The solid wall can be a bit scary for the large breed dogs as they can't see what's on the other side that they will be leaping to. However, with just a bit of practice, most dogs have no problem with this jump. Smaller breed rarely notice any difference at all since their jumps are very low anyway.
For a slight challenge of jumping abilities, there are also double and triple jumps. I don't have a picture of a double handy, but here's a triple.
You can see that it has 3 bars in a row, slightly ascending. The dog had to clear all three bars, which usually requires a longer and curvier move than that for a single jump. The double is similar, except that is has only two bars and they are both at the same height rather than ascending. In USDAA, there is also a spread jump, which is similar to the double, except that the bars are set further apart and require a longer jump. Larger dogs rarely have trouble with these since they tend to have a long stride anyway, but many smaller breeds land too soon, knocking the last bar.
All of the above jumps can come with or without wings on them. Wings are decorative additions on each side of the jump.
They don't make much difference to the dog, but they are harder for handling since the handler can't run right next to the jump, but rather has to get around the wings. Wings come in many shapes and color, but the basic idea is the same for all.
There are two more kinds of jumps - broad and tire. While they still require a dog to jump, they are quite a bit different from these, and have different rules too. I think I'll dedicate another full post to those two next time.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The Agility Student
After writing the last post, I thought I'd revisit the timeline of Philip's Agility training. We've been training for about a year now, and have moved through 6 different classes.
February-March 2009: Beginner Agility course, just for fun.
This was the start of it all - a 5 week course, focusing on learning the very basics. We started with regular and panel jumps, tire, and open tunnel. We then added the table and the weave poles. Lastly, we worked on very low height A-frame, dog walk, and teeter. Nothing overly fancy in this class, just the very basic introduction to Agility.
May-October 2009: Basic intro course, focused on competition.
We started this class at a different place than the first one because I wanted to focus on competition. This was also a beginner class, but structured very differently from the other one. Here we focused on all the obstacles individually for accuracy, learned to put 2-3 obstacles together, and covered basic handler techniques - front and rear crosses, lead out, etc. Philip had to go back to basics on several things, but we stuck to the plan and went to class week after week.
October-November 2009: Transitional course, refining details.
After the very long beginner course, we were almost ready to move on. Before moving on to the next big class though, we attended a short transitional class. This was a quick class (30 minutes, once a week) with just 2-3 dogs total. It was basically individually focused on each dog to raise the A-frame to full height, and refine any other obstacle performance.
November-December 2009: Novice Agility.
This class, and all others after it, is structured more like trials - dogs run full on courses and we fix mistakes along the way. There are several levels of difficulty (just like in trials), and this was the lowest of them. I had to get used to remembering 10-15 obstacles per course, and running the whole thing, so that was a pretty steep learning curve for me. On courses, we had to stop and redo some parts often since Philip was still perfecting his skills, so lots of learning for him too.
January-March 2010: Another Novice Agility.
In December, our instructor said she thought we were ready to try a real trial. I decided to wait till after the holidays though, so I signed Philip up for his first trial in January. I got a new job at the same time, so had to switch to a different class time. The class we moved to was technically the same level as before, but in practice was a little more advanced, and with more serious student. All in all I still felt like we moved up in difficulty a bit.
April 2010 - Present: Excellent Agility.
Due to time constraints with work, I basically had to stick with the Novice class while Philip advanced, and couldn't attend an Open class. Since we have moved into Open level in trial though, we needed to start practicing harder courses. So earlier this week we moved to the Excellent class - a huge jump. You can read a bit more about that in my last post. The courses are much harder, and the dogs are much more advanced. It would have probably helped to go through Open level first, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right? :)
So there you have it, you can see that we spent a long time as beginners, but I think it was well worth it in the end since we skipped through to trials and other fun pretty quickly once we moved out of the beginner course. If I had to go back and do it all over again, I'd definitely stick to the same general plan (though add in the Open class transition) - good solid basic knowledge is the key to running solid courses.
February-March 2009: Beginner Agility course, just for fun.
This was the start of it all - a 5 week course, focusing on learning the very basics. We started with regular and panel jumps, tire, and open tunnel. We then added the table and the weave poles. Lastly, we worked on very low height A-frame, dog walk, and teeter. Nothing overly fancy in this class, just the very basic introduction to Agility.
May-October 2009: Basic intro course, focused on competition.
We started this class at a different place than the first one because I wanted to focus on competition. This was also a beginner class, but structured very differently from the other one. Here we focused on all the obstacles individually for accuracy, learned to put 2-3 obstacles together, and covered basic handler techniques - front and rear crosses, lead out, etc. Philip had to go back to basics on several things, but we stuck to the plan and went to class week after week.
October-November 2009: Transitional course, refining details.
After the very long beginner course, we were almost ready to move on. Before moving on to the next big class though, we attended a short transitional class. This was a quick class (30 minutes, once a week) with just 2-3 dogs total. It was basically individually focused on each dog to raise the A-frame to full height, and refine any other obstacle performance.
November-December 2009: Novice Agility.
This class, and all others after it, is structured more like trials - dogs run full on courses and we fix mistakes along the way. There are several levels of difficulty (just like in trials), and this was the lowest of them. I had to get used to remembering 10-15 obstacles per course, and running the whole thing, so that was a pretty steep learning curve for me. On courses, we had to stop and redo some parts often since Philip was still perfecting his skills, so lots of learning for him too.
January-March 2010: Another Novice Agility.
In December, our instructor said she thought we were ready to try a real trial. I decided to wait till after the holidays though, so I signed Philip up for his first trial in January. I got a new job at the same time, so had to switch to a different class time. The class we moved to was technically the same level as before, but in practice was a little more advanced, and with more serious student. All in all I still felt like we moved up in difficulty a bit.
April 2010 - Present: Excellent Agility.
Due to time constraints with work, I basically had to stick with the Novice class while Philip advanced, and couldn't attend an Open class. Since we have moved into Open level in trial though, we needed to start practicing harder courses. So earlier this week we moved to the Excellent class - a huge jump. You can read a bit more about that in my last post. The courses are much harder, and the dogs are much more advanced. It would have probably helped to go through Open level first, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right? :)
So there you have it, you can see that we spent a long time as beginners, but I think it was well worth it in the end since we skipped through to trials and other fun pretty quickly once we moved out of the beginner course. If I had to go back and do it all over again, I'd definitely stick to the same general plan (though add in the Open class transition) - good solid basic knowledge is the key to running solid courses.
Monday, April 12, 2010
New Class
Today Philip and I moved to a new Agility class. Not at a different place or anything, just a higher level than before. As a matter of fact, we have now moved to the highest level of class that is offered by our instructor! Wow, to think that just a year ago we were struggling in learning the very basics of Agility, and now here we are - just back from our first super advanced class.
The class was pretty difficult compared to what we are used to, but it was super fun. We got to run two courses - one standard, and one jumpers. The standard course had several tricky turns, but it was doable. Philip only messed up the weave poles entry on the whole course, and it was a good warm up. The jumpers course was basically a killer though! It's not that it was overly difficult, but it was long, and I had to run. Boy, did I have to run - I was still out of breath in my car on the way home! There were a couple of stretches that were just straight, and Philip has really gotten fast apparently because I just could not keep up with him.
We also got to practice an evil tunnel entry where I had to be on the outside. I think I've mentioned before that Philip thinks that what ever side I'm on is the inside, so even if I'm way off to the left of both ends of the tunnel, he tends to go to the right end. I knew this wouldn't be an exception, but the way the course was set up, a cross would be hard and counter productive to do, so the instructor said I might as well practice the proper way. First time through Philip took off to the wrong end like I expected, so we went back to fix it. This time I used his name much earlier to get his attention, and we did it right - yay!
Overall, I was pretty happy with our performance considering the difficulty of the courses. This class will definitely be tough at first, but we love challenges, so I'm looking forward to it :)
The class was pretty difficult compared to what we are used to, but it was super fun. We got to run two courses - one standard, and one jumpers. The standard course had several tricky turns, but it was doable. Philip only messed up the weave poles entry on the whole course, and it was a good warm up. The jumpers course was basically a killer though! It's not that it was overly difficult, but it was long, and I had to run. Boy, did I have to run - I was still out of breath in my car on the way home! There were a couple of stretches that were just straight, and Philip has really gotten fast apparently because I just could not keep up with him.
We also got to practice an evil tunnel entry where I had to be on the outside. I think I've mentioned before that Philip thinks that what ever side I'm on is the inside, so even if I'm way off to the left of both ends of the tunnel, he tends to go to the right end. I knew this wouldn't be an exception, but the way the course was set up, a cross would be hard and counter productive to do, so the instructor said I might as well practice the proper way. First time through Philip took off to the wrong end like I expected, so we went back to fix it. This time I used his name much earlier to get his attention, and we did it right - yay!
Overall, I was pretty happy with our performance considering the difficulty of the courses. This class will definitely be tough at first, but we love challenges, so I'm looking forward to it :)
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Why Agility
I've been asked several times why and how I got into Agility. The short answer is, believe it or not, by random luck! The long answer is, well, it's long :)
I've been obsessed with dogs even since I can remember - I was one of those children that wanted to hug every doggie on the street and bring them all home. I also got into reading about dog training early on, for some reason it just fascinated me. At some point in middle school, my family finally gave into getting me a dog, and I got my hands on training an actual dog rather than just reading about it. When I had to move for school, the family dog stayed back at home, and I was back to theoretical learning and no hands-on practice.
In college, I decided to volunteer at a local no-kill dog shelter to get my dog fix. I applied my self-taught methods and learned lots of new ones. Lucky for me, I met and got to know one of the long time volunteers there, who saw my potential, and taught me so much about dogs, I couldn't possibly tell you all about it. He even let me work with the "lead only" dogs - these were difficult dogs with issues like aggression, biting, fear, etc. It was hard work, but I loved it, and am so thankful to have had that opportunity!
When time came that I could finally get my own dog, I started my research. Somewhere along the way, I ran across the various dog sports, and thought it could be fun to try one. When I finally settled on getting Philip, I had decided that I would give either Herding or Agility a go, just to see what it's like.
Yet again, by pure luck, Herding wasn't readily available, while an Agility training opportunity practically fell into my lap. I knew next to nothing about the sport at this point, but I took the opportunity. It would be something fun to do with my dog, and he was reaching the right age for the sport, so why not, right?
Philip took to training like he was born for it. Other handlers had trouble teaching their dogs going over a jump or through a tunnel, while mine pranced through the obstacles, and made it look like he's been doing it all life long. Not to say we didn't have problems, but he certainly made it look easy in comparison! Again, I was lucky to have a dog that made the beginning process so easy for me. After a few classes, I realized that both Philip and I had a ton of fun learning Agility, and so I decided we'd continue the training.
The class I was enrolled in at the time was more for fun, so when faced with continuing training, the trainer suggested that I go to another local instructor, who teaches purely competition-focused Agility classes. Lucky for me, this instructor wasn't too far from me and is amazing - she competes with her own dogs, and the classes are very well structured (I'll tell you about our classes another time).
All in all, the whole experience has been simply amazing, and so, by pure luck, I was training Philip to compete. Several months later we entered our first trial. It's been an amazingly fun and rewarding experience, I never looked back, I love Agility! As for Philip, you only need to see the expression on his face when we enter the class, and how impatiently he waits for his turn, he most certainly loves it too!
I've been obsessed with dogs even since I can remember - I was one of those children that wanted to hug every doggie on the street and bring them all home. I also got into reading about dog training early on, for some reason it just fascinated me. At some point in middle school, my family finally gave into getting me a dog, and I got my hands on training an actual dog rather than just reading about it. When I had to move for school, the family dog stayed back at home, and I was back to theoretical learning and no hands-on practice.
In college, I decided to volunteer at a local no-kill dog shelter to get my dog fix. I applied my self-taught methods and learned lots of new ones. Lucky for me, I met and got to know one of the long time volunteers there, who saw my potential, and taught me so much about dogs, I couldn't possibly tell you all about it. He even let me work with the "lead only" dogs - these were difficult dogs with issues like aggression, biting, fear, etc. It was hard work, but I loved it, and am so thankful to have had that opportunity!
When time came that I could finally get my own dog, I started my research. Somewhere along the way, I ran across the various dog sports, and thought it could be fun to try one. When I finally settled on getting Philip, I had decided that I would give either Herding or Agility a go, just to see what it's like.
Yet again, by pure luck, Herding wasn't readily available, while an Agility training opportunity practically fell into my lap. I knew next to nothing about the sport at this point, but I took the opportunity. It would be something fun to do with my dog, and he was reaching the right age for the sport, so why not, right?
Philip took to training like he was born for it. Other handlers had trouble teaching their dogs going over a jump or through a tunnel, while mine pranced through the obstacles, and made it look like he's been doing it all life long. Not to say we didn't have problems, but he certainly made it look easy in comparison! Again, I was lucky to have a dog that made the beginning process so easy for me. After a few classes, I realized that both Philip and I had a ton of fun learning Agility, and so I decided we'd continue the training.
The class I was enrolled in at the time was more for fun, so when faced with continuing training, the trainer suggested that I go to another local instructor, who teaches purely competition-focused Agility classes. Lucky for me, this instructor wasn't too far from me and is amazing - she competes with her own dogs, and the classes are very well structured (I'll tell you about our classes another time).
All in all, the whole experience has been simply amazing, and so, by pure luck, I was training Philip to compete. Several months later we entered our first trial. It's been an amazingly fun and rewarding experience, I never looked back, I love Agility! As for Philip, you only need to see the expression on his face when we enter the class, and how impatiently he waits for his turn, he most certainly loves it too!
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