After last weeks lesson Lel gave me four homework exercises;
1) Fans/Stars - I missed this one off my list from last weeks blog!
2) Wing wraps
3) Deceleration
4) Out
So, like a good girl I set to work on my homework, and did some contact & weave work too:
Sat
Weaves were really good - I worked on really pushing him and also on peeling off and leaving him to do them - he was much better with me on his right but he got there with me on his left too :)
Contacts were awful, he was really creepy (especially when going towards other equipment) and no matter what I did (wind him up, only reward him for the faster ones etc) he still crept :(
Wing wraps - weren't great - he kept stopping and spinning round as soon as I commanded him, rather than taking the jump and wing wrapping, he was also loads better going to the right and not to the left but I was using the same command and relying on him using my body language to know which way to go.
Stars - we did the susan salo one jump exercise and he was a really good boy, bouncing even when the middle jump was on full height :) Just need to increase the angle between the jumps :)
Sun
Contacts - I thought I would see what happened if I used a target at the bottom again and it was like I had a different dog!! He ran to the bottom of the dog walk and stopped in the perfect position and he slid down the a-frame into position :) This gives me a great starting point and I can now work on keeping the speed and fading out the target :)
Wing wraps - he really improved and with him going to the right I managed to get to about six foot and give him his wing wrap command and he would take the jump and wing wrap :) I also started introducing the new command for going to the left and got to about 3 foot away - need to get these a bit better before we can work on deceleration.
Weaves were again good - I really really pushed him through them and on the whole he got them right :)
I then tried doing some left/right distinction with him coming out of a tunnel and he was appalling - best get working on him distinguishing these!!
I then started working on "out" and he was just getting confused - too many new things in one day for his little brain :)
So, still lots to work on but we are heading in the right direction and its nice to have specific things to work on :)
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Sunday, 22 January 2012
2012 so far!
I didnt post about Elliot's flyball or agility training last weekend (Jem is still too stiff to train) as I wasn't overly pleased with how the sessions had gone. However, he has been much better this week :)
Last week at flyball Elliot's box was shocking - his back feet were really low and consequently he wasn't really driving back very well. Nat says she thinks he was approaching the box with more drive and therefore maybe it was this that wasn't helping him prepare for the box, on the other hand though when I did the box on its own he was just as bad. This week his box was much better, he even apparently managed one perfect turn :) His striding back was ok and he only messed it up a couple of times!
Last week was my first lesson back with Lel at A-SIT since I broke my ankle (on an all weather surface though - I still havn't had to brave "THE" field yet!). It was definately the shove I needed to start getting Elliot ready for competition and stop faffing about!! I discovered my timing really needs sorting out again, Elliot struggled with the weaves (although it was the first time he had done the new distance) and he was not really driving on very well! On the plus side though my ankle was fine and Elliot was doing some really nice bouncing between jumps which shows the grid work has been paying off :)
This week with Lel he was soooo much better and I came away feeling really proud of him. Mainly because his weaves were AMAZING!!! They were set at a slight angle as he came out of the tunnel and he got the entrance every time but once (when he wasnt meant to be doing them anyway!!) and he did all 12 without popping out at all AND he even stayed in when I peeled off and left him doing them :) His jumping wasn't however quite so great, the same problem as last week was really highlighted - he is not driving on, if I stop he stops (even if he is just about to take off for a jump!)! He also needs work on his wing wraps whilst I am moving!! Another plus is that I ran like I used to, I didn't even think about my ankle once, and more importantly it was fine and doesn't ache today :)
Two very frustrating but informative lessons for both Lel and I (and just what I needed!) as we just kept picking up issues with Elliot and running out of time to fix any of them! I have however been set homework and hopefully we will be much better in two weeks time when we are back with Lel and then she can work on perfecting us even more, so we can atually go do some competitions :)
Last week at flyball Elliot's box was shocking - his back feet were really low and consequently he wasn't really driving back very well. Nat says she thinks he was approaching the box with more drive and therefore maybe it was this that wasn't helping him prepare for the box, on the other hand though when I did the box on its own he was just as bad. This week his box was much better, he even apparently managed one perfect turn :) His striding back was ok and he only messed it up a couple of times!
Last week was my first lesson back with Lel at A-SIT since I broke my ankle (on an all weather surface though - I still havn't had to brave "THE" field yet!). It was definately the shove I needed to start getting Elliot ready for competition and stop faffing about!! I discovered my timing really needs sorting out again, Elliot struggled with the weaves (although it was the first time he had done the new distance) and he was not really driving on very well! On the plus side though my ankle was fine and Elliot was doing some really nice bouncing between jumps which shows the grid work has been paying off :)
This week with Lel he was soooo much better and I came away feeling really proud of him. Mainly because his weaves were AMAZING!!! They were set at a slight angle as he came out of the tunnel and he got the entrance every time but once (when he wasnt meant to be doing them anyway!!) and he did all 12 without popping out at all AND he even stayed in when I peeled off and left him doing them :) His jumping wasn't however quite so great, the same problem as last week was really highlighted - he is not driving on, if I stop he stops (even if he is just about to take off for a jump!)! He also needs work on his wing wraps whilst I am moving!! Another plus is that I ran like I used to, I didn't even think about my ankle once, and more importantly it was fine and doesn't ache today :)
Two very frustrating but informative lessons for both Lel and I (and just what I needed!) as we just kept picking up issues with Elliot and running out of time to fix any of them! I have however been set homework and hopefully we will be much better in two weeks time when we are back with Lel and then she can work on perfecting us even more, so we can atually go do some competitions :)
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Good Mr E :D
I have only trained Elliot for the last two weeks as Jem has been recovering from a run in (literally) that she had in the park with another dog.
Both weeks we worked on the a-frame. He reliably stopped on the contact but was really creeping down, he was much better this week though than last and I even managed a couple with his tuggy out in front. So the plan is to work on upping the speed of the down plank!
His weaves have come on loads too - I was much better this week and was more structured with the angles I was sending him in rather than just randomly moving around. I will probably work on a few more tighter angles next time and then introduce a jump before them.
His jumping is coming on - we are concentrating a bit more on full height with the grid work and again he is getting better - just need to work on changing the distance for him.
Here are some clips from last week and this:
In terms of flyball they have both being doing really well. We did some timing with Elliot to see what I can do to make him come back faster. It showed that the most important thing for his speed back is ensuring he takes the extra stride between the box and first jump. Apart form that not a lot else made a huge difference - my plan is to use the second ball as he ran back as fast for this as if I screamed "eeeeeeeee" but the second ball saves my voice!!! So the plan of action = use a stride regulator all the time so he always does it right, work on the second ball and on me running from the box.
Saturday, 3 December 2011
Good weave day :)
Jem did really well with her weaves - she did four straight with some nice angles :) She even did two sets of 12 first time (I just wanted to try it!!!) :) So, the plan is to go to 6 poles next time and then spend the next few months pushing the angles and the speed and making sure I do crazy things like I do in competition :) Her back-cross work was really good too, she was really responsive to my body language :) When I did the set point exercise at full height she managed it really well but when she took herself over a full height jump she completely mis judged it - am really hoping it is just because she hasnt done them for a long time!! We only did a couple of contacts and she was a good girly but sadly the camera had died at this point :(
Elliot also did really well - I put the four weaves straight for him too becuase it means I can use the set with a solid base and so he can't cheat as easily. He was much better with the angles and I even started adding in some movement. He also did a set of 12 first time so the plan with him will be the same as with Jem! I also only had chance to do a few contacts with him but they were the same as last week which was good as we were in a different part of the school :) His back cross work was however not so good, once he had been one way he would continue going that way regardless of where I was going - def need more work on this!!!
Some clips from today;
Elliot also did really well - I put the four weaves straight for him too becuase it means I can use the set with a solid base and so he can't cheat as easily. He was much better with the angles and I even started adding in some movement. He also did a set of 12 first time so the plan with him will be the same as with Jem! I also only had chance to do a few contacts with him but they were the same as last week which was good as we were in a different part of the school :) His back cross work was however not so good, once he had been one way he would continue going that way regardless of where I was going - def need more work on this!!!
Some clips from today;
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Movement!!!
Nat came and watched me training Elliot on Sat and it was useful to hear someone else's thoughts after training by myself for 2 months. Training yesterday was therefore much more focused and I was pushing the dogs much more, rather than just floating along doing the same things!!
Jem;
Her contacts have come back to being as good as they were when I run along with her/past her but she is not very confident if I hang back and send her to the end. We worked on this a little bit in the hope of still having fast contacts when I am lagging behind (a very common occurence on courses!!) and she got much better! We also did a couple of set point reminders - she did clip the pole at medium twice but she could probably do with doing one or two at full height next time, just to see how she gets on. We then did some work on serpentines - my timing wasn't 100% all the time but she is much speedier on small than full height (obviously!!!)! I finally got my act together this week and set up my weaves too - she was a really good girl and did some lovely angled entrances - just need to eek them together a little bit and they will be straight :)
Elliot;
Thanks to Nat I realised I really need to start pushing him so I started to add my movement when doing the contacts - he was a surprisingly good boy (on watching the videos though, when I thought I was running speedy I look like a slow coach-best get down the gym!!). I did also try putting the tug a few feet from the end of the contact to get him focusing forward when I am behind him, rather than back at me, but this was a disaster - all thoughts of stopping at the end of the contact went out the window so this shall be saved for a later date me thinks!! I did some set point work with him too and got him to full height - he was a good boy, but did knock the pole a couple of times when he was sent to his toy (but never when he was recalled to it). His serpentines were as good as Jem's - I had the jumps on medium for him. Then on to weaves - he is still struggling with the angled entrances and the poles are not as close for him as for Jem.
Here are some clips from yday:
Jem;
Her contacts have come back to being as good as they were when I run along with her/past her but she is not very confident if I hang back and send her to the end. We worked on this a little bit in the hope of still having fast contacts when I am lagging behind (a very common occurence on courses!!) and she got much better! We also did a couple of set point reminders - she did clip the pole at medium twice but she could probably do with doing one or two at full height next time, just to see how she gets on. We then did some work on serpentines - my timing wasn't 100% all the time but she is much speedier on small than full height (obviously!!!)! I finally got my act together this week and set up my weaves too - she was a really good girl and did some lovely angled entrances - just need to eek them together a little bit and they will be straight :)
Elliot;
Thanks to Nat I realised I really need to start pushing him so I started to add my movement when doing the contacts - he was a surprisingly good boy (on watching the videos though, when I thought I was running speedy I look like a slow coach-best get down the gym!!). I did also try putting the tug a few feet from the end of the contact to get him focusing forward when I am behind him, rather than back at me, but this was a disaster - all thoughts of stopping at the end of the contact went out the window so this shall be saved for a later date me thinks!! I did some set point work with him too and got him to full height - he was a good boy, but did knock the pole a couple of times when he was sent to his toy (but never when he was recalled to it). His serpentines were as good as Jem's - I had the jumps on medium for him. Then on to weaves - he is still struggling with the angled entrances and the poles are not as close for him as for Jem.
Here are some clips from yday:
Plan for next session;
Jem - some set point at full height, more work on contacts with her ahead and with donig some back crosses, get the weaves straight and do some back-cross work with 3 jumps in a u shape (using left/rights commands too)
Elliot - increase my speed and the excitment level with the contacts (making sure the plank is in a different part of the school than it was this time), try one or two contacts with me behind, increase angle for weave entrances and possibly get them closer, and some back-cross work (as with Jem)
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