Frame Fun - Variations on Exercise 6

What a beautiful day it is outside.  The sun is shining and there is no wind!!!  I worked on the sixth exercise from Nancy Gyes' "Frame Fun" with Belle and Libby.  Belle did really well today.  I noticed while editing the video that I didn't reinforce her A-frame performance with a "yes."  Although it didn't faze her in the least since I haven't used any NRM's while training the running A-frame, it still couldn't hurt to emphasize that she is doing a really good thing when she hits the yellow.

I also gave the sequence a go with Libby.  You'll notice she's not as motivated as Belle so I had to resort to carrying around her special toy--a soccer ball.  I haven't really done any serious running contact training with Libby, but she has had plenty of experience leaping over the yellow--she loves to fly.  When we tried it the first time, I assumed she put in three strides on the downside and missed the yellow.  However, the magic of slow-motion video showed me she clearly did the descent with one stride.  I'm glad that I placed the stride regulator a little higher for Libby than I did for Belle.  She came down exactly where she needed to in order to hit the yellow on her next stride.

I had decided last month to forgo working on a running dogwalk until the weather was warmer.  However, I've been working indoors with a travel board to increase Belle's drive into a 2o2o position, and it seems to be working.  Since a running dogwalk is much harder to train (IMHO) and because lots of USDAA courses really, really test the abilities of the handler whose dog does a running dogwalk, I may not re-attempt teaching Belle a running dogwalk.

Frame Fun - Part Two

The fog condensed on the contact equipment yesterday and froze, so Belle and I had a day of rest.  Today, it is quite windy and about 36°, so we had a go at exercises three and four from Nancy Gyes' Frame Fun.

I over-pushed on exercise three and had a devil of a time getting Belle to come through the hoop at the end of the exercise.  On exercise four, I could have easily relied on a push to the tunnel after the A-frame, but I wanted to see what Belle would do if I did a blind cross.

Looking at the A-frame performances, none were as deep as I would like.  However, each and every descent was done in two strides, and Belle did manage to at least nick the yellow every time.  Additionally, it looks like I'll have to put marks on the A-frame so I know exactly where to place the stride regulator, since even the frames done with the SR were not as deep into the yellow as I would have hoped.

Frame Fun

Enough snow has melted that I was able to set up a course designed by Nancy Gyes for her Clean Run "Power Paws Drills" series.  She named this particular set of sequences "Frame Fun."

In the exercise we did today, the major decision the handler must make is on which side of the A-frame to run when she sends her dog over the A-frame.  I tried it both ways, and I think that running on the right side of the A-frame gives the dog a more flowing (and faster) approach to the A-frame.  In another three months, that advantage might no longer matter to Belle, but for right now it seems to give her a better chance of hitting the yellow.

If the handler chooses to run on the left side of the A-frame, whether she does a front cross or a blind cross, her dog's path from #4 to the A-frame will tend to flatten out.  The handler who runs on the right side of the A-frame can hold her position (red handler) long enough to shape a straighter approach to the A-frame for her dog.

I discovered that it was easy to push to #6 too soon.  One of my early "switch" commands caused Belle to consider turning into the #3 tunnel!  On the other hand, I also messed up pulling Belle to #6 when I ran on the left side of the A-frame.  The original exercise called for jumps, not hoops, and the #6 hoop is not that easy for the dog to see from the A-frame.

Running A-Frame - 02/01/2012

Despite the snow, we've been going out almost every day to work on Belle's running A-frame.  We do four to six A-frames (without the stride regulator) and then spend 10 minutes or so playing--mostly find the tennis ball in the snow :-)  With the warm weather we've had over the last two or three days, the snow is about 90% gone.  So today I set up a short course around the A-frame to test Belle's ability to do a running A-frame when I do a front or blind cross right before it.  Since this is a skill we haven't worked on yet, I put the stride regulator on for the first few attempts.

Then came the moment to remove the training wheels and see what Belle would do.  I wasn't able to move fast enough to see if Belle did the descents in two strides when I did the front crosses, so I opted for a blind cross which enabled me to get far enough ahead to see what Belle did.