I also had an unexpected surprise…I had another opportunity to run Luke, the Golden in the Hybrid round this morning! As a refresher, he recently started having teeter issues in competition and so my sole job was to get him on and then over the teeter obstacle.
If you saw yesterday’s video (check out yesterday’s blog post), I’m hoping you’ll notice the progress we made when you watch today’s video. Needless to say, both his Mom and I were SO PROUD of him and his progress!
If you’d like to see more videos and hear some additional items on the AKC Agility Nationals, stay tuned!
Day 2 of the 2012 AKC Agility Nationals and it certainly was an exciting day!
First, the friend I accompanied has been having on-going difficulties convincing her dog to take the teeter in competition (a problem that just started about 6 weeks ago). Luke CAN do the teeter and earned his way to the Nationals, so there is no doubt about that and his success is a priority.
So the plan for the day looked like this…she ran him in Jumpers and I ran him in Standard.
My sole responsibility was to achieve a teeter performance. Sounds easy, but first I was required to run a dog I’ve never had the pleasure to work with and second, I had to make the experience fun so that hopefully his confidence would increase and he would follow me through the steps to a successful teeter. Oh yes, and did I mention I’d have to run at a high altitude? lol
So here is a video of our run:
As Luke and I were exiting the ring, Carrie DeYoung said “A good time was had by all!” and she’s right, we had a BLAST and Luke was successful!!!!!!! All of us ended the day in the BEST mood and so happy. Heck, you’d think we had won our class!
Thanks Luke for a wonderful time and to his owner for allowing me the opportunity to run him.
Today started out with a warm-up Excellent Standard course. I plan to do a more detailed blog write-up with video in the next few days.
In the meantime, the Time To Beat (T2B) class was run and I was lucky enough to capture 2nd Place winner, Stacy Goudy and her red Border Collie Maze and their amazing 2nd Place run (video below).
Spot On Agility is EXTREMELY excited to share that our 2on-2off Contact Training DVD is featured in the ‘New Product Section’ of the March 2012 Pet Age Magazine!
To the best of our knowledge, we are the FIRST agility DVD (possibly the first agility product?) to be featured in this highly respected retail pet business magazine.
To say it’s an honor to be included in this magazine is an understatement. We are so excited to represent the agility community and to expose the general public to our positive (and successful) agility training methods.
We had some great video entries for our 2012 Contact Blooper Contest and the voting came down to 5 videos.
When the voting smoke cleared, the winner was…Spy Buehl!
Congratulations Spy! As a part of your prize, we’ll get you enrolled in our upcoming on-line 2on-2off Contact Training class and see if we can make those contacts a little more independent!
At the top of our Wall are 5 videos. Watch each and vote for your favorite by hitting ‘Like’.
Your vote could help someone win $350 worth of prizes, that include our 2on-2off Contact Training DVD, a FREE spot in our upcoming 2on-2off Contact Training Online Class and other prizes specifically for the dog featured in the video. For complete contest details, click HERE.
Going into the weekend with my own ‘plan’ really made for a fun and successful trial for both me and my dogs. So what was my plan you ask? Well, in a nut shell:
I wanted focus from my dogs during our runs (focus on the handling cues and obstacle criteria they’ve been taught). In return;
I promised myself I would focus on 1) providing clear handling to my dogs and 2) maintaining the obstacle criteria I’ve trained them for.
By working on what I HAD trained, I could easily overcome the anxiety I was having on what I had NOT yet perfected (the weaves) and it was easy to obtain a measurable and well-deserved success. So let’s take a look at some of the runs I had with my dogs.
The first one above is with Zulu. Some of the positives:
A nice stay at the start.
He left the start line only when released.
He read the rear-cross to the #3 jump nicely and drove down to the tunnel when indicated.
He read the remainder of the crosses really well and took every obstacle in front of him.
He had nice speed and showed a willingness to work (without a toy or treat on me).
As expected, I also learned a few things too!
Initially I wasn’t happy about the knocked bar. But after reviewing the tape, I can see he generally clears the jumps with plenty of room, so I’m not going to worry about that at the moment.
No surprise, he really doesn’t understand the weaves yet.
I’m LATE on my front cross cues!
Next, let’s take a look at one of Ru’s runs with a video below.
Some of the positives:
A nice stay at the start line.
She remained in place until released.
Came back after her momentary ‘visits’
Drove to the tunnel as directed
Got her weave poles!!!!
Great speed and enthusiasm!
More things I learned!
I need to practice the release and motion maneuvers at the start line.
I need to continue to work on the concept of ‘stay with me, we’re a team’ with Ru.
I’m REALLY LATE with my front crosses!
So while I did make my goals and I celebrated them all weekend, it’s now time to move forward and address a few of those weak areas. I hope you enjoyed the videos as much as I enjoyed the runs : )
It’s a rare and treasured moment when you get to see brilliance in action and this video IS everything that a caring, loving and wise agility handler hopes to be in that moment of truth.
Or should I say, it is what they SHOULD hope to be.
We live in a day and age where instant and material gratification is the ultimate goal. The qualifying score. That winning run. The title. The MACH points. Ugh, who came up with these rules???
To be blunt, these are all great goals and certainly achievements that should be celebrated, but let’s be clear…these moments do NOT define or encompass the whole of who you (as the handler) and your dog(s) are!
After all, these things don’t measure the amount of heart. The amount of commitment. They don’t showcase the personal hurdles overcome. They don’t share the disappointments or the times you had to ‘suck it up’ and move forward. And most importantly, they don’t share the times when you felt “IT” (“IT” is that moment where you achieved agility brilliance…). Somehow these moments often get lost in the quest to win.
So what happens when ‘winning’ is suddenly tossed out the window and there is NO chance for ‘winning’ to occur? What happens if ‘winning’ went down in flames when the bar of the first jump falls? Well, if ‘winning’ was your goal then you’ll find yourself sorely disappointed…in front of everyone.
BUT…what if your goal was to be the BEST teammate possible to your dog. To recognize that they, just like you, always give 100%. That you’ve got each other’s back. That no matter what, the two of you are in it together. That, just like you, sometimes things happen. Mistakes are made. But each of you gave 100% and in the end, that’s all that counts.
What I’ve just described is the magical moment we have the honor of witnessing in this video.
Did you know that this handler WON this event the two previous years? Ah, the pressure….to keep the title, to be a winner. To not disappoint.
So let’s go back to the reality of the video. The crowd is rooting for them and when the first bar comes down, they loudly moan their disappointment. As a result, the dog and handler’s rhythm is broken and the weave pole entrance is missed. Rather than crying, showing disappointment in her dog or giving up, the handler chooses to CELEBRATE her doggy-teammate’s heart by encouraging the crowd to cheer them on as they enjoy the remainder of the course!
Yes, I did say ENJOY the remainder of the course, even though ‘winning’ was a long-gone option. Simply put, the crowd recognizes a champion’s heart and cheers them on even more loudly! It’s truly a site to remember.
To be frank, most of us couldn’t even dream about how we would react in such an important moment of decision, let alone chose to take-charge and celebrate the gift of simply being there. And that, is why this video is so moving. So special. And such an inspiration.
My advice is to watch this video over and over an over again. Why? Because someday YOU WILL find yourself in that pivotal moment where a decision needs to be made…will you mourn the fact that you won’t/didn’t ‘win’…or will you remember the sheer joy of running with your dog?
The courses today continued to have some unique challenges and were fun to run.
First is the Exc JWW course. The biggest challenge on this course was embracing patience! With the two pin wheels starting at #7 through #14, handlers didn’t have to run to get places and keeping it simple was by far, the best way to handle this sequence.
Next is the Exc Standard course. The first subtle challenge the #5 tunnel to the #6 jump. Dogs tended to curl in and handlers had to be sure to push forward toward the #6 jump.
On the approach to the weaves, this was a place to let the dog land a bit wide to give them a nice approach to the obstacle. This also gave the handlers plenty of time to get a front cross in. Another note on the front cross, those handlers who stopped their movement until the dogs loaded were generally more successful than those who continued moving since it allowed the dogs to enter on the 2nd or 3rd pole.
The approach from the #9 chute to the #10 teeter was tough. On paper it looks ideal, however it somehow didn’t translate the same in reality. No fault of the judge’s and it could easily have been the way I chose to handle it (with a front cross after the chute). Remember, it’s the handler’s responsibility to ensure the safety of their dogs and this was one of those times.
The next really fun part was #13 – #17, the double serpentine. This is where a stay at the table really comes in handy as I was able to lead out to just before #13. As Spot was approaching the #13 jump, I was sure to say his name so that he was collecting over the jump and turning into me on the landing side. I worked the rest of the sequence on the landing side of #13 and made sure my movement was the cue Spot used to know which obstacle and which direction we would be heading in once he landed.
Check out his videos below. We had a great weekend with 5 out of 6 qualifying runs : )
There is nothing better than watching your students succeed. Watching them maneuver through an Agility course, tackling the challenges, working their strengths & weaknesses and ultimately earning that well deserved clean run.
Sharlie & her wonderful Pug, Chubby are featured in the first video on the Exc. Standard course. Great job!! Thank you to Cheri for allowing me to rope her into filming since I was just about to run in the Exc. JWW ring.
Next we have Jill & Amos (a Corgi) running in Novice JWW. This clean run gave them their title so now they move up to compete in the Open JWW class. Check out their nice run!
