This morning, I set up Peggy Hammond's Masters/PIII course from March 13, 2010.
I ran Dusty first and we had several rough spots. I turned toward the teeter before he was committed to the tunnel and pulled him on to the dogwalk. Next, he overshot the weave pole entrance because he failed to collect. Lastly, he self-released from the A-frame. Ugh! Then I ran Belle. I thought it was an almost perfect run except that I almost pulled her to the dogwalk. However, then I watched the video. Much to my surprise, both dogs by-passed the #3 jump. That I pulled them past it I can understand, but that I didn't even notice I did it. . . . Yikes!
I changed the camera angle and took all three Aussies outside to work on my handling of the opening. Despite the fact I knew it was a problem, I missed it the first two times I tried it with Libby. Since I now knew it was a problem, I made sure to bid my time with Belle and Dusty until they committed to the jump.
I watched the Agility Nerd run Meeker after I ran this course, and it made me realize that leading out to (27, 68) to face and call the dogs was probably not the handling best choice. A more modest lead out, keeping my back to the table, and releasing them to run on my left side to the tunnel still allowed me plenty of time to get into position for what followed. Facing my dog indicates I want handler focus and collection. Getting to the correct tunnel entrance doesn't call for handler focus or collection IF you run with the dog on your left as Steve did.
It's been two or three days since my first two sessions with Max, so I decided to set up three hoops and work a few minutes with him this morning. Unlike my Aussies and Lacie, the Cocker Spaniel, Max does not have live to work with his people. Additionally, he is easily distracted. He no longer has a reliable recall, so I will never be able to take him out to the agility field to work since it is unfenced. However, there is a fair amount of room in the backyard, and I should be able to set up some fairly interesting courses for him as time goes by.
For today's exercise, I set up a three hoop pinwheel. Based on our short warm-up, I decided the second pinwheel was too far out, so I moved it in closer. If Max had trouble with it at that distance, I could have moved the hoops closer together and/or moved a little more deeply into the pocket. My goal when I do a pinwheel is to stay out of the pocket unless I want to do a front cross before the third jump or I'm need to run a longer path so my dog can get ahead of me before I do a rear cross.
Here's the video:
Yesterday evening, I set up this USDAA Masters/PIII Gamblers course designed by Peggy Hammond.
Since the principles of distance handling are the same no matter what the venue, I decided to film the gamble portion of the course. When I analyzed this course last night, I thought the only way to be successful was to begin the gamble with the dog on my left. Then I would move up field and signal the turn into the correct end of the tunnel. Next, I had to scurry back down field to the landing side of the jump, making sure to back away from the line so I had room to move back in and place pressure on the dog's line from c to d. This worked every time with Belle, and it worked two out of three times with Dusty.
Then I decided to show what happened if you began this gamble with the dog on your right. I really didn't expect it to work. However, much to my surprise neither Belle nor Dusty had any trouble understanding what I wanted. As they committed to a, I did a rear cross to pull them away from the incorrect tunnel entrance, and then I signaled a turn away from me to the correct entrance. Because I was behind the dog at this point instead of even with him, I was able to get back into position for the push to d with less effort. Although I got to the line too soon with Dusty when I did the push, it wasn't nearly as soon as I got there on my second effort with him.
I did a second session with Max. This time I set up two hoops for him. Here's the video:
