Dogwalk frustration

Java's dogwalk hits have been messed up the last two trials. I have no idea what happened.  When I go to the field they look good.  Even with me falling behind.   Then I bought a used dogwalk from someone local. (That was an ordeal getting it.  I had to drive thur a  muddy dirt drive. First down the hill and then back up.  Oh my, at the bottom of the hill a big mud bit full of water. What if I got stuck?  I went fast, in my sons van, and hope momentum would keep me going. It worked.  For some reason I thought the dogwalk would fit in the van. It stuck out just a little. My son didn't have any tie downs in his van. Ugh. So back home we went. Thur the mud. I got my van and drove back.  I prayed I wouldn't get stuck. We didn't. We loaded up the dogwalk and tied down the back hatch. One more time thur the mud pit. We made it!!. My son's and my car were pretty muddy

My car was worse, mud all splattered up the sides. I had already washed it when I took this picture)

So the new, to me , dogwalk is fiberglass and aluminum. It seems slippery  but maybe that's because we are use to rubber. It flexes more than she is use to. So I put wooden supports  under the ramps. Anyway, she is having trouble hitting the contact. Ack!!!   Maybe that's why she is missing on dogwalks at different places. Depending on  how they feel to her??  Im ready to give up on the running dogwalk.

The video is of her yesterday on the field dogwalk  and then next clip of her on the new dogwalk at home.





I set this course up yesterday. 

We didn't get the beginning on the first try but the second.   And she did get some tight turns in there.  We didn't make it to the end but some how got the crazy  #14 to #15.



 Life is crazy.  My husband broke his foot last weekend running a trial race. Its really swollen so they couldn't cast it.  He is not allowed to put weight on it.  I rented him a knee scooter and that's been very helpful.  I highly recommend that if you should find yourself in need of it.
Then my son fell down the stairs yesterday and Im pretty sure he broke his toe.  Its bruised and swollen and his foot is swollen too.   And Miley was limping when we got to  the field. I think there is something stuck between her toes. I tried to get it out but couldn't.  I couldn't get an appointment for today. I have to wait until Monday to get someone to look at it.

Blind Cross Class

I think I told you I was taking Daisy Peel's on line class on blind crosses.   Im really behind but its ok because its a self study, go at your own pace.   Am I getting better at blind crosses, probably not.(Not due to the class)  But I am seeing holes in my handling,so thats a good thing.

Set up A.  She just kept pulling off Jump #1. Ugh. I feel she has a good send but she just didnt want to do it. Something to work on.

Set up B.  She needed to really collect coming over jump #7. Many times she wouldnt and either landed behind me or dropped the bar.  We've been working on this. This has shown up at trials too.

Set up C.  This set up you push your dog through the threadle (between 10 and 11) then you picked your dog up with a blind cross between 11 and 12 , so your dog is on your right. Man I was so late, my dog would come over 11 and I would have to rear on the flat to get 12. Ack. I tried it with Miley, same thing. Man, Im really hanging out between 11 and 12.  I finally managed to get it. Although Java, not reading the blind well.  

Im attaching a video.   Mostly to show you the app Coachs Eye.  Its very cool.  You can slow everything down, pull the video in close and do side by side comparison.  Im still working on Java's running contacts.  She had one miss this week at home. The rest have been good.

Mish Mash Monday

 

Java's running dogwalks have gone from 2.4 seconds to 1.5 to 1.8 seconds.  That could also be why we are having trouble.

 Not sure why my tongue is sticking out.

Uh Java, I think thats a miss.

Loralei was right!!

Ive been trying to figure out why Java isnt hitting contacts at a trial. I thought it was because she was to excited. (It could still be). I tried really hard to create excitement. Having my son hold her while Im at the end calling her, running with her, throwing food and toys when  she is coming down the down ramp. She hit every time. I posted some video on Facebook and Loralei said she thinks its because Im behind at a trial so she isnt striding as large as when  Im in front of her. (I hope that makes sense). She is taking 5 strides, so six hits on the board. If she gets those 6 hits before hitting the contacts, she leaps off no matter where she is.  I felt I had trained her with me behind but I took her to the field to practice and if Im behind or she passes me on the dogwalk, her strides shorten and she doesnt hit the contact or hits the top part which would be a miss for USDAA. Ack!!
The field is pretty wet but no longer flooded. I took her out there and tried to vary my position. If her hits started to go high, I would take a big lead out and get a good  hit to reward. Then start varying again. ( I only did straight on and off the board since it was wet grass).


I think she did better today than yesterday.

I went to the park again today. Like I figured ,more flooding, but they didnt close the walking paths.

We walked through this one and another one. When we got back to the water on the path from yesterday, it was now huge and I didnt want to walk through it. If it was deep yesterday, it must be really deep today.

This is usually where I take the dogs down to the river. Its has to be 10 feet down to  where I usually put the dogs in. Now its almost up to the sidewalk.

The flooding is even out into the fields.

The temperature difference between the cold river and the warm air makes lots of mist or fog. I did see another owl and a whole new area. I guess they are moving around too.

And since I havent posted any dog pictures this week, here you go. (poor Java having to walk through the flooded sidewalk)

Rain, Rain go away

 

It just keeps raining. Twice Ive started driving to the park  this week and it started raining. I think Im jinx. I went outside today, it was sunny. I thought great. Started practicing running contacts with Java, it started raining. Ugh!!  My dogs are bored, bored ,bored!!

 

 

I thought this bird was a snake when I first saw it.  LOL.

Not much going on. Stephanie came home this week. She ran in a 4 mile race with my husband on the 4th of July.

You cant see it but she has a tiny nose piercing in her nose. (Not a ring).  Its hardly noticeable.  Kids, what can you do. 

Ive had to go to the club building a couple of times. Im in charge of our fall agility trial because the person who usually does it cant.  We bought the new break away tires that the AKC is requiring. They are suppose to break open with 16-20 lbs of pressure.  The first tire didnt want to break until 25 lbs of pressure. They give you this little piece of felt to put between the magnets to help it break. It still wasnt breaking until 22 lbs of pressure. So I bought more felt and I had to put a second piece in between the magnets. So its breaking at 18 lbs. The next day I brought the second tire with me, I forgot it the first time.  This tire is breaking at 19 lbs of pressure. If I put the felt in there, it broke at 14 lbs, so I had to remove it.  Not sure why the first tire is so much harder to break then the second one.
We have a shed in the back of our clubs training building. It holds all the agility equipment for trials. Someone had gone in there and pulled out the broad jump. Then just kinda threw it back it there. It made me so mad. I think if people in the club all had to work for the club and knew how much work goes into making money to buy the equipment, they wouldnt treat it that way.  They probably think Im a big "B" but I put the broad jump on our closet which is locked. Then  I put a sign across the front of the shed that says they are not allowed to remove anything form the shed. Training equipment is at the field. There is a tunnel, weave poles and an old tire they can practice with that are sitting outside the shed.  There are also 6 plastic jumps that we made for the building. The building has some areas that are padded but the areas are to small to really run agility. I dont know why, but the matting is slippery. So I dont like to run my dogs on it. I will do some weave poles on there but not much else.  Anyway, I get to the building and someone had taken the jumps apart. Most of the jumps were glued but a couple werent. I guess it kept falling over because the fitting werent tight. But did they fix it, or tell anyone they were broken?s Nope.  So I get there and find a mess. I wanted to use the jump but they keep falling down. So I went back the next day and I fixed them. I glued them all together. Hopefully no one tries to pull them apart and breaks them.  But I dont know why other people cant fix them. The club belongs to everyone and if you are using something that isnt working, you should try to fix it.
I ran Java through the weave poles and when I put pressure on her for me to pass her , she would leave the weave poles. So we working on that. Also with me acting crazy at the end , so she learns to stay in the poles. I also put together the teeter and ran her over that. I thought maybe the teeter from last weekend was noisy and thats why she bailed but she went on this  one just fine.

My husband said I look like Pheobe from "Friends". Remember when she was running in the park kinda like a little kid because it was fun. And Rachel was embarrassed. LOL

I havent been about to practice my Daisy Peel blind cross stuff, so now I will be two weeks behind. Ack!!  Oh well, it is self paced.

Ive been thinking a lot on Java's dogwalks and why she keeps missing at trials. Its driving me crazy. I thought she was over excited but after watching trial video after video, I dont think that is it. I think she is shortening up her second stride on the up ramp which is causing her not to be far enough along the board to do it in 6 strides. She always does six strides. Im not sure how to fix this.



So when she isnt far enough along the board after 6 strides, she leaps off.

Here she is at home.

Trial update and Dogwalks

Im still working on Java's running dogwalk.  She did get one rear foot in this weekend.  So Ive been working some more on it. The distressing part is when I watch the video, she had hits that I didnt reward at all. Ugh!!  Why cant I see it????  I will post a little video. She  has a huge leap on the third time, runs it again and has a beautiful hit. I thought she missed and didnt reward. How much am I confusing my dog? She jumps and doesnt get rewarded and then hits an doesnt get reward. Poor Java.



Im not going to post all the video from the trial. We, or rather I had a tough time. LOL  I think I might have myself psychic out.  I was thinking, every time Ive run ISC AKC courses, which are  harder,Ive Qed. (Except that one time when Miley left the start line right after I took off her leash, she went around the first jump, came back to me. I set her up and lead out. And the judged NQed us for training in the ring.But the run was perfect)  Im starting to think its in my head. I go to the line not expecting to Q just so I dont get disappointed.  Probably not the right frame of mind. And then since Java was running second, I front crossed twice and cut her off making sure we stayed on course. Then when I watched the video, I felt bad about cutting her off. She barked at me both times and was really slow and took half the course to speed back up. I didnt work this hard to get speed, to now slow her down. She is faster than Miley and my timing is off.  So the next day I decided to blind cross her. I messed them both up. She was just faster than I expected. So more work to do.

I made this video with most of the mistakes removed. Funny, I still watch it thinking about the mistakes.  I left the last video in where I cut Java off twice.



I listen to a bunch of Post Cast from Bad Dog Agility, they are free, on the way to the trial. One talked about 2o/2o and how we mess up our dogs contacts.  So even though I was aware of it, I still released Miley before she hit the dirt, or she released herself. The second day, I tried to do better but she still self released the teeter. So I will need to be stricter about that. I watched dog after dog, not do a 2o/2o, which it looks like they are suppose to, and the owner released them. No wonder our dogs get to a trial and are confused. We confuse them. Do this at home, but at a trial its ok to do it this way.  Then the dog doesnt know what to do and  you get leaps over the contact.

Masters JWW

Miley went off course.I feel like I cued this correctly. I was at #6 when she was taking jump 5. She just kept on going. Not sure why. I guess I should have called her but it didnt occur to me. I think I tend to be really quit on course and my friend said I need to talk to Miley more.

 Open JWW

This was the course where  I forced the front crosses.


Master Standard

The judge forgot to put weave poles in the course and I guess no one caught it. So we had course changes at the last minute. Worked well.  Miley just didnt read anything I was doing.

 

 

 

Open jww

 

I tried to lead out from the chute, but she came with me and didnt take the chute. I to send her again. Missed the dogwalk contact, wrong tunnel entrance. Dropped bar on triple. But she stayed in her weave poles all weekend!!!

They usually only removed one obstacle between Masters and open. Made such easy course changes and kept everything moving.

Master Standard

The beginning was tough and we got through it. Then she stressed at the table. I could feel it as we were approaching the table. Not sure why but I knew she wasnt going to stay on. She ran around the ring, I just stood there trying to decided if I should leave the ring. When she came around, I told her, "get on the table" and she got right on.  LOL  Afterwards someone came up to me and said, "man she got through all the hard stuff and then left the table. Then came around got right on and said, ok Im ready."   I wonder if it had to do with her self releasing the teeter right before the table.


Open Standard.

Beautiful turn over 8 to the teeter. I was worried, she tends not to read the RC to the left as good as to the right. Dogs were going wide and trying to take the a-frame but she read it beautiful!!  Beautiful turn at 12 too!!

 

Master JWW

 

I couldnt decided what to do.  After her wide turns out of the tunnel yesterday I felt like I needed to be right by the tunnel to get her going the right way. But that would put me behind going down the line and she could go off course. I decided to stay by the tunnel and she went off course down the line. I again should have called her. Ugh!!

 

Open JWW

 

 

I was planning two blind crosses. One between 2 and 3. I never made it and had to RC which she turned to tight. Then I was late on my RC between 7 and 8, so she missed 8.

Sunny Sunday

 This picture was taken right into the sun. Im surprised it came out at all.  It was freezing this morning, I think 29 degrees.  We were complaining how cold we were and then this lady in a tennis skirt passes us. Hmmmm.

I havent done to much this week. Monday I was down and out sick. Then Tuesday my son has his wisdom teeth out. Thursday I drove up to North Carolina to go to a Best Buy that was holding an ipad for me. I had gone on to BestBuy's website. It had a ipad 3 for a 100.00 cheaper then anywhere else  but you had to pick it up in the store. When I clicked on which store had one, none. What the heck??  I looked in Ga, NC, SC and Va. So I went on "chat" with Bestbuy and ask them about it. They wouldnt answer my question on "why do you advertise something for that price if I cant get it?'. Its like a bait and switch.  But they wouldnt answer the question. She just kept saying, "Is there anything else I cant do for you?"  I was so mad. Then I tried again the next day and one was available in Gastonia NC. Thats about 2 hours from me. So I bought it. I drove up on Thursday  and got it. I aslo stopped at a store my husband had a gift card for, for winning a race. The store is only in Charlotte.  The only bad thing that happened was the GPS that is in my car, the GPS is 4 years old,  all of a sudden said I wasnt on a road anymore. I was just flying through the air. Ugh. So I got lost and had to go 20 extra miles to get there. Stupid GPS. Thats what I get for getting the GPS loaded  in the dash of the car  when I bought it. The only way to update the GPS maps is to buy a new DVD. They want 200 dollars for it. That insane. I could buy a small unit for 100.00 with lifetime maps updates. Not sure what Im going to do about that. I always print out Mapquest when I go some where just in case my GPS cant find something.  I wasnt paying attention when I realized I was lost on Thursday but its a good thing I had the printed directions to get me back on track.
Friday, it was so freaking windy outside, I just did some Christmas shopping.

Saturday we went to the field to practice.  I used the ipad to shoot the practice.


The video was grainy looking and  I was disappointed. Then after googling information about it, I realized I didnt hit the HD button when I loaded it. So I tried again.



So this turned out much better.

Then I was thinking, to bad the ipad doesnt let you trim the video's. So I googled that and it does. It just wasnt some obvious button to hit. But I was able to figure it out.
Here is Java practicing dogwalks and weaves. She keeps popping the last pole, so I have work to do there.



It was freezing this morning but we took the dogs for a walk. Everyone had fun.

 Even Guiness got to practice restrained recalls. He doesnt get off leash to much. I worry about him running after something and not coming back. Like at the beach 5 years ago. Ugh!

Its almost Christmas. I only have one person that I still need to get something for. I just cant think of what to get.

Reflecting

I took this picture this morning. It was pretty cold out, I think 47 degrees. I know you are probably laughing but that's cold to me. I had to walk back to my car and put some more clothes on. On the picture above , to bad that electril box is on the middle of the bridge. They should have put it on the other side.

This picture was taken looking straight down into the water. So its a complete reflection, thats why it isnt as clear of a picture.

Meagan came down and taught lessons here this week. It was great. I didnt have to drive that far and I didnt have to put out any equipment or put any equipment away. LOL  You know what the biggest thing I learned with my lesson?  Java isnt Miley  so dont try to run her that way. LOL   I know you are probably thinking, didnt you know that. Yea I did but I wasnt running her that way. When you run Miley, she needs lots of turning cues and dont give to much forward motion or she goes off course.  With Java, I can run to the jump without sending her three jumps down the line. When I turn just a little, she turns.   I decelerate just a little and Java turns. Meagan said to think if it like this. Runny Miley is like running a mack truck, but Java is like  a sports car. LOL

Im still working on Java's weaves. Hopefully that will come together. I started on Java's turns off the dogwalk. She is doing well.  As long as I can send to a tunnel, I can beat her down the dogwalk and cue the turn. Things dont go so well sending to a jump, so I need to work on that.  The video is all sends to a tunnel so thats why Im so far ahead. Java was running fast even thought it doesnt look it in the video.



Next weekend I go to an AKC trial. There are only 28 people in excellent standard.  That is total, not just my jump height. I guess it will be a fast trial. Thats always  nice.  Its only one ring so, it wont be that fast.  They are having a b-match at the end of the trial Saturday. So Im going to put Java in that. I wont do any weaves, I just want to get her ring experience and she how she does.  The weekend after that the  Loretta Mueller seminar.  Im so excited!!!

Busy

Ive just been so busy its hard to find time to post. These puppies are taking up so much of my time.  I wish they would get adopted. They are so cute right now and ready to learn. I havent really been teaching them anything except trying to get them to go the bathroom outside, come when called and sitting when I give out treats to all the dogs.  They just look at you with such adoration, it makes you melt. Until they act wild again. LOL. Then you are over it.

I try to work my dogs or walk at the park , in between puppy awake time. So no time is for blogging.
I started Java in a foundation class on Wednesday.  I just wanted to work her in a class and makes sure I didnt miss teaching some things.   I ran Java over the dogwalk at class, when class was over. The second time she missed the contact. Wow, I cant remember the last time she missed a straight off contact.  It may have been just a new place but also there was a tunnel at the end. I usually work with starting out of a tunnel and end with a jump.   So I figured I better work on tunnels after the dogwalk

I took the dogs the the field and set a tunnel at each end of the dogwalk. She didnt miss once. So maybe it was the new place.



I hope she will run  like she did in the  last one all the time.
I also worked on taking jumps with Java.  Sometimes she takes them but if i really run, then she just comes to me and doesnt take the jumps. More work to do there.



This practice was Thurday morning.  Java was licking her foot a couple of time Thursday night. I checked her foot and didnt find anything. Friday we went to the park, mostly just played in the water. It was a hot day, but when I went it was only about 86 degrees outside. We topped out at 109 yesterday. Whoo that was hot.  Anyway, I didnt notice anything yesterday morning. But early after noon I noticed Java licking her foot again.  I checked it and it looked like she had a splinter under the skin of her pad. So soaked it. A couple of hours later she was kinda grumpy to the other dogs and especially the  puppies.  Then I saw her  off loading weight off her right rear.  So I looked at it again and there was a small spot of blood on the side of her pad and in her fur. She hadnt been licking it. Then I saw her limp. Ugh. I called the vet. I could only get an appt at my old vet. I took it.  So we show up and Java is still off loading weight and slight limp. I told him the problem. He said, "you know dogs never have anything in their pads".  LOl, he was just kidding me because that what he said about  Miley  when she had the glass her her foot.  So we took Java back and he looked at her pad. Picked at it with tweezers for several minutes. It was tender to the dog. He said, "I really dont think there is anything in there".  I thought OMG, not again. There is something in my dogs foot. Ugh. So he looked some more and pulled back a little of the pad.  Two splinters!!!  He said, "well I guess Ive been under diagnosising  splinters in pads".   So Java is feeling much better today. No limp or off loading weight that Ive seen.

 I went to the field early this morning. I wanted to pull a bunch of weeds that were around the dogwalk. They were the sticker pricker weeds. I thought  thats where maybe she picked up the  splinter.

But the guy had come to mow the lawn and now I couldnt find them.  This one was under the dogwalk. But after looking at it, the stickers on this were to little.  Her splinters were bigger than these.  So I moved the dogwalk, since it hadnt been moved in a while.  I couldnt lift the center section of the dogwalk and was wondering what I would do. Then it came to me. Use the a-frame mover.

It worked great and moved easily.  So I moved the dogwalk to the shade in the morning spot in case I want  to go out early in the morning and work dogs. 

Hopefully we can get back to hiking in a couple of days when Java's pad is better.

The park and stuff

Today we hiked at the state park. We havent been there in a long time. I just wanted to see what Miley would do on the hills.  That one time she was injured and she didnt really want to climb any hills. She had no problems today. I was wondering if her not stopping on contacts had to do with being injured. She isnt really dropping any bars. Which she usually does when she is injured.  At the USDAA trial, she didnt drop any bars. Thats unusual for her. She usually drops some bars. Then at the seminar, she didnt drop any bars the first day and I think only one bar the second day. 
Her contacts are getting worse. I have no idea what is going on. I took her to the field last night, where ever there was a tunnel after the contact, she jumped and ran on. If there was a jump after the contact, she stopped. Weird. Maybe Im stressing her will all the contact work Ive been doing.

Here is the jump sequence Ann Braue had me set up. Its so you can practice stopped contacts without having to run the whole a-frame. You add in the tunnel ( to add speed) and you can front cross and send them over different jumps next to the a-frame. You start out by bringing them over the jump, toward the a-frame, give them a treat. You may have to lure it at first to get them to understand what you want. The you lure them on to the aframe. After a couple of times, they get it ( to do jump, aframe). Then you start a couple of feet back from the jump and do jump, a-frame. Then add more distance to the jumps. If they keep getting it add in the tunnel. Make sure you do both side. ( use wing jumps next to the a-frame)



Last night I took the dogs to the field. I worked Java's running DW contact. Ive been angling the jumps after the DW.  Many times she goes around the jump to get the Ready treat.  Last night she didnt do that once. I think she if finally getting it.  Then I just did a short sequence with jumps and tunnels. I wanted to see how fast Java was going. So I first timed Java. She was 8.6 seconds. Then I timed Miley, she got the exact same time. LOL   I know Java should be faster because she is 2 inches taller. But Im having to manage the jumps more for Java. Also Java is  jumping higher than she needs to, so I think her speed will get faster.

 Java's recalls at the park were horrible so she had to be put back on leash.

Its becoming very hot now, so we stopped at the river. Everyone was dunked in a deeper part of the river.

I really tried to get Java's picture on these logs but everytime she turned toward me, she jumped off and came to me. Ugh. Still working on that wait command.

Seminar and stuff

I didnt get to post everything I wanted on Tuesday because my laptop keyboard was broken for a few day. On Tuesday it was Java's birthday. We've been having lots of rain so we finally got out that evening and took a few pictures after walking at the river. I didnt get to load them because that's when the keyboard didnt work. So here are some of them.

Java at 1 years old.

I went to a semiar on Wednesday and Thursday. It was an Ann Braue seminar at a friend of mine's house. Its been pouring down rain  a lot and I was worried we would get rained out. I was actually ok.  Wednesday it was pretty hot but there was shade, water misters and baby pools set up. So not to bad. There was a garage with A/C to crate dogs, which was nice too.  

It was a  handling seminar but Miley was having startline problems so I told her I would rather take my turn working on that. And I was ok if it took my whole turn to work on it too. Ann was very accommodating, which was nice.  We worked a lot on startlines and me not being very clear to my dog what is allowed on the start line. So if she steps forward, from a sit, Im to go back and gently take her by the colar and take her off the start line. Then play some games with her.( Miley stresses so I need to build my relationship with her. We dont want her stressed that I took her off the start line)  Like sit-cookie, down-cookie etc... Then set her up at the startline and try again. If she starts to paddle her front feet, stop moving. Go back and reward frequently for sitting still.  It was awesome, I hope I can keep the criteria up. If she starts to seem stressed I may need to start over teaching it. Like only taking one step toward the jump and then going back to reward. We did manage to do some handling on course.  I did have a problem of miley swinging wide and missing jumps. I shouldnt have to use an off arm cue to bring her in, so thats a training issue I need to work on.

The peoples house I stayed out have this awesome creek that goes through their back yard.  I really wanted to spend a lot of time there taking pictures but I really only had my lunch time to do it. Its hard to get pictures when the sun comes in at some spots and not others.

Lots of rocks with waterfalls.  I couldnt get far enough away from my dogs to get any good shots. They just keep coming with me. LOL I tried throwing a ball but then Java dropped it and it rolled down the creek and we never got it back.

I wanted to get a picture of my dogs on the bridge with the rock water in the background but Java still wont stay. ( yea, Im still working on it).

I love this picture of Java!!

The next morning we woke up to Thunder storms and pouring down rain. So we spent the first hour in the garage talking about contacts and training them.  It had stopped raining but we were letting the field dry out.  Then we went out to the field. It was handling but with contacts.  It was really wet so I told Ann I wasnt doing any of the turning jumps because miley had that shoulder injury the first half of the year and I didnt want her slipping and getting hurt.. I just did the straight line stuff and the contacts. As soon as Miley got up speed, she would jump the contact or if I was ahead of her.  So we worked the contacts.  My next turn thats all we did. She gave me a training set up to work the a-frame contact at speed without having to run the whole a-frame.  She said every time I train, I need to be working contacts too. After lunch I did run the course because it was dry and mostly sunny. Miley did great.

I took Java with me too. I played with her in between Miley's turn. I got her playing and tugging near the field. I few times I had to pull her back some because she would start barking at the dog that was  running. I also got to work her contacts in a new place.