Tonight was the dogs first time in their new classes at obedience:
Elliot
He did both his stays, he was a bit distracted a couple of times and gave the dog next to him a waggy tail but I kept talking quietly to him and managed to get his focus back. His heelwork was a different story, everytime we went near the other dogs he just wanted to play with them and he completely lost focus, however when on the other side of the room he did some nice bits (apart from when he was playing tuggy with his lead!!)! His recall was good but he was still crooked every time on his presents so we are going to not do finishes for a while and see if that helps as we didn't think it was my hands. Again retrieve was good but crooked but there was less skidding off with the dumbell!!
Jemma
She was a good girl, did her sit stay despite two GSDs being put beside her half way through (she is normally petrified of these, to the point she nearly ran into a road to get away from one!) and she did her down despite me going out of sight!! Her retrieve was nice but she didn't come in particularly straight. On her recal she got up as soon as I took a step away so I put her back, walked round her twice then away from her, then back, then round her and away again and then called her and she stayed sitting. I then did a "normal" one and she did it nicely although she isn't coming in very straight and when I try and straighten her she finishes instead - little tow rag. She did an a-recall as well which wasn't bad, she didn't get quite as close as I would have liked on the pick up but it was still pretty good bless her. At the end we did a little bit of weaving in and out of the other dogs for the heelwork and she was ok but not brill
All in all it went reasonably well I felt and am looking forward to next week!
Monday, 26 October 2009
Saturday, 24 October 2009
Clever little Jembe
Well her contacts today were so much better, it was really nice to see, her dog walk was especially good - she really drove down to the end, was very nice to watch. On her a-frame she was again much quicker but she is still going a little bit slower than I would have liked, Lesley says this is just because she knows she has to stop and she is just working about the best point to do it so she gets the right postition to get her sweeties - bless her. We also looked at her tunnel and jump and she seems to knock the pole when I am in front and she is rushing because when I hang back she doesn't do it - so for now I just need to calm things down round tunnels and just get her to think again and not use them quite so much to get in front of her, but hopefully we can gradually work back up to this. We then finished with a little course which she did quite well - she didn't get the weaves jsut because I didn't trust her enough to do them, but when I did she did them bless her :) There was a little slip up with the jumping but totally my fault (it was a grade 3 course - excuses excuses I know but nevermind!!)!!
Elliot didn't go today because he has had a massage and been signed off "work" for a week and a half, he also had another fit this morn so he wouldn't have gone anyway bless him.
Lets hope flyball goes as well tomorrow
Elliot didn't go today because he has had a massage and been signed off "work" for a week and a half, he also had another fit this morn so he wouldn't have gone anyway bless him.
Lets hope flyball goes as well tomorrow
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Our second week at woodspring ...
... and we all get moved up a class - this means jem is now in the top class and elliot the one below it :)
Well this week he wasn't quite as focused in his heelwork - apparently everytime i do a turn he jumps sideways - possibly because i am likely to have trod on his toes (im a very unbalanced mummy!) and also because i pause so the movement isn't flowing - definately something that needs work!! His recall was good, his sit was much straighter the second time too :) His retrieve was also much better. Oh and he managed both the sit and down stay (with only a little verbal encouragement from me when the dog next to him was fidgeting) but i still kept him on lead and prob will for a while so he learns he cant get away with getting up!!
Again jems heelwork wasn't as good as the week before but we did it as a class and i hate doing this as i feel i can't go at my own pace/correct the bits i feel need correcting. She got up on only one of her recalls so an improvement from last week but she wasn't overly straight on her presents. On her second retrieve she did a really wonderful present and the whole thing was i think one of the best i have seen her do! Now the most exciting part of our night was doing the scent (something she has never done before!) - I didn't even think she would pick a cloth up so while everyone else was having a go I encouraged her that this was the right thing to do. There were 4 tiles laid out and the cloth was between the third and fourth. Now I was going to take her off lead but go down with her but thought i would see what happened first so I just told her to find it and off she trotted straight to the cloth picked it up and brought it straight back!!! She did then drop it at my feet and refuse to pick it up again or sit but hey I was impressed enough that it didn't matter!!! It has also given me the bug to start training her to do it - I shall be cutting up an old sheet at the weekend!!!
At the flyball demo on Sunday Jem ended up having to run because asher couldn't run (long story and for which I am very sorry!!!), so Nat ran elliot (who was as good as gold!!) and I got jem - she only ran across once but then I always made sure she went slightly before the other team (no it wasn't cheating!!) so as to try and make sure she was ahead and she definately seemed better towards the end so i was quite pleased with her (we were however in the blue lane so her good side but hey ho :) )
As for agility training - Elliot has done four weaves tonight for the first time and Jem has got the hang of stop so all in all its prooving to be a good week so far!!!
Well this week he wasn't quite as focused in his heelwork - apparently everytime i do a turn he jumps sideways - possibly because i am likely to have trod on his toes (im a very unbalanced mummy!) and also because i pause so the movement isn't flowing - definately something that needs work!! His recall was good, his sit was much straighter the second time too :) His retrieve was also much better. Oh and he managed both the sit and down stay (with only a little verbal encouragement from me when the dog next to him was fidgeting) but i still kept him on lead and prob will for a while so he learns he cant get away with getting up!!
Again jems heelwork wasn't as good as the week before but we did it as a class and i hate doing this as i feel i can't go at my own pace/correct the bits i feel need correcting. She got up on only one of her recalls so an improvement from last week but she wasn't overly straight on her presents. On her second retrieve she did a really wonderful present and the whole thing was i think one of the best i have seen her do! Now the most exciting part of our night was doing the scent (something she has never done before!) - I didn't even think she would pick a cloth up so while everyone else was having a go I encouraged her that this was the right thing to do. There were 4 tiles laid out and the cloth was between the third and fourth. Now I was going to take her off lead but go down with her but thought i would see what happened first so I just told her to find it and off she trotted straight to the cloth picked it up and brought it straight back!!! She did then drop it at my feet and refuse to pick it up again or sit but hey I was impressed enough that it didn't matter!!! It has also given me the bug to start training her to do it - I shall be cutting up an old sheet at the weekend!!!
At the flyball demo on Sunday Jem ended up having to run because asher couldn't run (long story and for which I am very sorry!!!), so Nat ran elliot (who was as good as gold!!) and I got jem - she only ran across once but then I always made sure she went slightly before the other team (no it wasn't cheating!!) so as to try and make sure she was ahead and she definately seemed better towards the end so i was quite pleased with her (we were however in the blue lane so her good side but hey ho :) )
As for agility training - Elliot has done four weaves tonight for the first time and Jem has got the hang of stop so all in all its prooving to be a good week so far!!!
Saturday, 17 October 2009
A-sit agility
We had our first lesson today at A-sit with Lesley (www.a-sit.co.uk - her blog is in the list to the right), heres how it went:
Jemma:
We started with a course (grade 4/5!!) just so Lesley could see how we were doing overall - I was pleased with how jem did, there were only a few little bits that went wrong but for saying we are only grade one i was really happy with her. We then worked on those little bits and then did the whole thing again, much better :D We then chatted about the way forward with contacts with both dogs. As Jem never seems to have really cottoned on to the nose touch thing we are going back to the beginning with her and teaching her "stop" ie 2o2o - this is the method she was first taught and is basically what i get her to do in competition, she is just really confused so the plan is to go back to the beginning and just retrain the 2o2o so she fully understands it and to save confusion have changed the command from touch to stop!! My homework is to find a plank from somewhere (I have no stairs) so I can work on it :)
Elliot:
I have decided to the same thing with his contacts as with Jemmas as he has really lost it with the target and I feel he is the sort of dog that will always loose it when the target isn't there - we shall see how it goes, although he did throw himself to the bottom of the a-frame after only 2 repitions!! We did a little bit of work on his weaves - this is my main homework with him - we just tried him with them straight to see what happened - it was very interesting, he understood he was supposed to go side to side but he didnt "see" the poles and so kept going in and out of random ones. We then took him down to four poles and after only a few goes he was definately getting there - I just need to dig my poles out of the shed and do them three times a day for just five minutes - hmm, lets see if i can manage that this time (I have been told to do this on numerous occasions lol!!) We also tested his wait to see if it is the word go or my body movement he responds to - it seems to be the word luckily!!
I just need to actually watch my bridging the gap dvd and do some of the work on there!!
We have a flyball demo tomorrow, I have never done one before so it should be interesting, although it is only Elliot that gets a go - Jem is still too naughty!!
Jemma:
We started with a course (grade 4/5!!) just so Lesley could see how we were doing overall - I was pleased with how jem did, there were only a few little bits that went wrong but for saying we are only grade one i was really happy with her. We then worked on those little bits and then did the whole thing again, much better :D We then chatted about the way forward with contacts with both dogs. As Jem never seems to have really cottoned on to the nose touch thing we are going back to the beginning with her and teaching her "stop" ie 2o2o - this is the method she was first taught and is basically what i get her to do in competition, she is just really confused so the plan is to go back to the beginning and just retrain the 2o2o so she fully understands it and to save confusion have changed the command from touch to stop!! My homework is to find a plank from somewhere (I have no stairs) so I can work on it :)
Elliot:
I have decided to the same thing with his contacts as with Jemmas as he has really lost it with the target and I feel he is the sort of dog that will always loose it when the target isn't there - we shall see how it goes, although he did throw himself to the bottom of the a-frame after only 2 repitions!! We did a little bit of work on his weaves - this is my main homework with him - we just tried him with them straight to see what happened - it was very interesting, he understood he was supposed to go side to side but he didnt "see" the poles and so kept going in and out of random ones. We then took him down to four poles and after only a few goes he was definately getting there - I just need to dig my poles out of the shed and do them three times a day for just five minutes - hmm, lets see if i can manage that this time (I have been told to do this on numerous occasions lol!!) We also tested his wait to see if it is the word go or my body movement he responds to - it seems to be the word luckily!!
I just need to actually watch my bridging the gap dvd and do some of the work on there!!
We have a flyball demo tomorrow, I have never done one before so it should be interesting, although it is only Elliot that gets a go - Jem is still too naughty!!
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Woodspring Obedience
Well last night was our first night at our new obedience club (we have moved house) and I was prepared for the worst - Elliot had lots of new dogs to try and play with and Jemma can get stressed in new environments quite easily, well here is how it went:
Elliot:
We started with stays and i kept him on lead - he was gd in the sit but tried wondering a few times in the down. his heelwork was really really good for him - he only got really distracted once and did some really nice turns. His retrieve and recall were good but his presents are always wonkey to start but then he always corrects himself - just need to get the nice sit first time!!! i was really chuffed with him, he did really well for saying i havn't done any since may - maybe it was the sausages!!
Jemma:
well what can i say, she was a bit of a star - i think it was the combination of sausage and the fact i was actually doing something with her bless her - her heelwork was amazing - really tight turns, kept with me and in a really nice position all the time - even in the heel free - there wasn't even a hint of worried jemma!! she did her sit stay as well although i told her she was a good girl through out and oddly enough she looked happier when i was walking round the room than when i was just stood opposite her - there is obviously something about this that worries her. The only bit she did that was typical Jemma was getting up when i left her for the recall both times - tinker!!
So all in all I was extremely pleased with both of them, lets hope they are as good next week!!
Elliot:
We started with stays and i kept him on lead - he was gd in the sit but tried wondering a few times in the down. his heelwork was really really good for him - he only got really distracted once and did some really nice turns. His retrieve and recall were good but his presents are always wonkey to start but then he always corrects himself - just need to get the nice sit first time!!! i was really chuffed with him, he did really well for saying i havn't done any since may - maybe it was the sausages!!
Jemma:
well what can i say, she was a bit of a star - i think it was the combination of sausage and the fact i was actually doing something with her bless her - her heelwork was amazing - really tight turns, kept with me and in a really nice position all the time - even in the heel free - there wasn't even a hint of worried jemma!! she did her sit stay as well although i told her she was a good girl through out and oddly enough she looked happier when i was walking round the room than when i was just stood opposite her - there is obviously something about this that worries her. The only bit she did that was typical Jemma was getting up when i left her for the recall both times - tinker!!
So all in all I was extremely pleased with both of them, lets hope they are as good next week!!
Saturday, 10 October 2009
Very belated Becketts Farm write up!!
I dont currently have a fully working laptop or the internet at home, hence the week late update!!
This was my guys first flyball competition since the starters comp in may and finishing training about a week after that!!
Well it was Elliots first open, after having only done the one starters and wow, what a clever little man, he didn't put a foot wrong all day. He was a joy to run - no silliness on the line, just stood leaning into his harness ready to go but no jumping around or barking. At one point he turned of the box very wide but still made the choice to come back down over the jumps :) His box was really inconsistant which i think is only to be expected seeing as it was so long since he had done any training!! He also wasn't as fast as I thought he would be, only doing about 4.7-4.8 (the same as jem!!!!) but Nat reckoned it was just because he needs to build his confidence and that to start with he wasn't accelerating till he was past our line of dogs but then towards the end of the day was doing it earlier and earlier - it was also his first time going from 40 foot!!!
As both dogs were in the same team it involved Nat running Elliot for me when I was running jem but then when Jem was out I ran Elliot - it got extremely confusing but Elliot didn't seem to mind and ran just as well for us both bless him!!
Well Jem was only supposed to be doing warm ups and perhaps the odd run, however jive sadly injured herself on the last leg of the first race!! So this meant Jem and Fraggle had to run!!! Well in the blue lane Jem was good, she was always looking at the other lane and quite often just sort of stumbled up to the box and got the ball - twice she came off the box and decided to chase the other lane, but she only went to the middle between the two lanes and then made the choice to come back over our jumps, she did miss out the first jump after the box out tho but hey this was a big improvement from before!!! In the red lane though she did a beautiful full run in the warm up and the other lane were racing at the same time, however once we raced she just went over one jump then chased the other lane - when she got back to me I took her straight make to the car - she sulked all the way back but we have got to try something, there is no point letting her do it again as if the other lane aren't racing she does it fine. When we were in the red lane Fraggle took over so it was all ok :) and then when we went back in the blue lane was when she did one of her half way to the other lane runs.
Overall I was really pleased with her because there was noway i expected her to end up doing that much racing and she was a lot better than before. It also gives us an idea of what we need to work on in training - hopefully it will only take a few more trips to the car to make her realise she doesn't get away with being naughty!!
Nats blog will give a more detailed account of the whole weekend - http://natsdogs.blogspot.com/ - :)
This was my guys first flyball competition since the starters comp in may and finishing training about a week after that!!
Well it was Elliots first open, after having only done the one starters and wow, what a clever little man, he didn't put a foot wrong all day. He was a joy to run - no silliness on the line, just stood leaning into his harness ready to go but no jumping around or barking. At one point he turned of the box very wide but still made the choice to come back down over the jumps :) His box was really inconsistant which i think is only to be expected seeing as it was so long since he had done any training!! He also wasn't as fast as I thought he would be, only doing about 4.7-4.8 (the same as jem!!!!) but Nat reckoned it was just because he needs to build his confidence and that to start with he wasn't accelerating till he was past our line of dogs but then towards the end of the day was doing it earlier and earlier - it was also his first time going from 40 foot!!!
As both dogs were in the same team it involved Nat running Elliot for me when I was running jem but then when Jem was out I ran Elliot - it got extremely confusing but Elliot didn't seem to mind and ran just as well for us both bless him!!
Well Jem was only supposed to be doing warm ups and perhaps the odd run, however jive sadly injured herself on the last leg of the first race!! So this meant Jem and Fraggle had to run!!! Well in the blue lane Jem was good, she was always looking at the other lane and quite often just sort of stumbled up to the box and got the ball - twice she came off the box and decided to chase the other lane, but she only went to the middle between the two lanes and then made the choice to come back over our jumps, she did miss out the first jump after the box out tho but hey this was a big improvement from before!!! In the red lane though she did a beautiful full run in the warm up and the other lane were racing at the same time, however once we raced she just went over one jump then chased the other lane - when she got back to me I took her straight make to the car - she sulked all the way back but we have got to try something, there is no point letting her do it again as if the other lane aren't racing she does it fine. When we were in the red lane Fraggle took over so it was all ok :) and then when we went back in the blue lane was when she did one of her half way to the other lane runs.
Overall I was really pleased with her because there was noway i expected her to end up doing that much racing and she was a lot better than before. It also gives us an idea of what we need to work on in training - hopefully it will only take a few more trips to the car to make her realise she doesn't get away with being naughty!!
Nats blog will give a more detailed account of the whole weekend - http://natsdogs.blogspot.com/ - :)
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