Agility 2 Week 7

We played obstacle discrimination between tunnel and A-frame at the start line today. 

Pearls when cueing tunnel versus A-frame from the startline:

• Tunnel when it is furthest out from the handler: face your entire body perpendicular directly toward the dog's line with your cueing arm bent at the elbow, verbally cue "Break! Out! Tunnel!" while straitening your arm out in front of your body with your hand up in a stop sign position while stepping forward toward the dog's line into the tunnel

Straighten your arm out in front of you with your hand up while stepping forward toward the dog's line into the tunnel:

• A-frame when it is closest to the handler: face your body and feet forward parallel to the dog's line; put your arm straight out from your shoulder, elbow locked; verbally cue "Break! In! Feet!" and when you say "In!" draw your straight arm in and down into your body along your hip to indicate the dog to come in toward you; then point your hand and arm to the A-frame indicating to the dog her line of travel "Feet!"

Handler's body and feet parallel to the dog's line with arm straight out from the shoulder is a clear visual signal that the dog will come to recognize:

Draw your arm straight in to your hip to indicate the dog to come in toward you:

Point to the dog's line of travel indicating the A-frame contact:

• Be decisive and confident when cueing and directing your dog's line

We also played a mini-course of tunnelers. 

Pearls:

• When doing a front cross, always turn toward your dog
• Cue tunnels early, while the dog is in the tunnel or often even before the dog enters the tunnel
• When cueing tunnels, give the directional cue, for example "Go!" for straight ahead or "Here!" for a turn toward the handler, the obstacle itself in the line of the dog's path that you are directing becomes the cue to take each tunnel

Jackie learning Tunnel versus A-frame discrimination for the first time, and playing a tunnelers mini-course:

Fast and Agile, Week 1

Upon encouragement from my coach, this week I started a twelve-week canine agility handler fitness program led by Liz Joyce called Fast and Agile.  The goal is to improve my overall fitness level, as well as improve my running speed and personal agility. 

THIS IS FOR JACKIE! and One foot in front of the next! are my phrases to repeat whenever I need to dig deep. The goal of this program is to increase my physical abilities as a handler, increase my fitness and be a better teammate for my dogs. 

To document continued improvement here is a video of my first-week session, Fast and Agile Week 1:

Agility 2 Week 6

When walking the course, first assess what order the obstacles are, then decide how you will play by considering your dog and your handling options. Sometimes a front cross works well, while other places a rear cross will work better.

Guide your dog's line as though you are pointing it out with a laser pointer, and support it with full body cues and verbal cues as needed. Mostly the dog runs based on the handler's body language.

Pearls:

• Give Jackie space to run, allow her room at the jumps
• Be a confident leader: believe in Jackie and allow her to run 
• When cueing contact behavior, be sure to get past the contact out front enough that Jackie can stop in 2o2o so she can see me while staying in the 2o2o contact position
• Timing is important, cue early enough so that Jackie knows where she is going 
• Keep moving smoothly forward, indicating to Jackie where her line of travel will be

Jackie playing hoops, 2o2o, and jumpers:

Agility 2 Week 5 supplemental

It's happened again, another perfectly good Border collie has ended up on the agility circuit...

Jackie playing serpentines and speed rounds:

Agility 2 Week 5

Serpentines over jumps were the focus of today's lesson. There are a few ways to run a serpentine, including using a front cross or rear cross. It depends on where the dog's line should go, as well as if there is another obstacle such as a tunnel that the dog will need to discriminate. 

Pearls:

• Be confident and assured when cueing that Jackie will follow directions; my own self-confidence in turn allows Jackie to masterfully run the course with confidence 
• Really turn tightly with your entire body when cueing a turn "Here! here! here!" by really whipping around, fluidly but tightly, to cue Jackie to turn toward me
• The dog will travel in the direction that the handler's body is traveling, so be sure to keep moving forward (not laterally) to indicate to the dog her line of travel

Jackie's first time learning serpentines:

Agility 2 Week 4

Cue discrimination in agility is used to clearly indicate to the dog which obstacle to run when there is more than one obstacle in their line of travel. Today we played a mini-course with a series of obstacle discriminations. 

It is important when directing the dog to turn off her forward path toward the handler to use "Here!" very clearly and obviously, even a repetition of the verbal cue "Here! Here! Here!" if needed to make it obvious to the dog where you mean, as well as directing their line with where your body, feet, eyes, and locked-elbow arm are pointing. 

Pearls:

• Think of using a laser pointer out in front of the dog's path of travel to indicate the dog's line
• Keep your elbow locked and arm up while directing the dog's line of travel; use your entire body to support where you are pointing your dog to travel
• Indicate early where I want Jackie to travel, as in "Go tunnel! tunnel!"
• Exciting engaging exercises at the start of a run help Jackie stay enthusiastic and energetic
• Repeat "Here!" only once for the first turn, not at every obstacle around a curved line of travel; Jackie will use physical cues to continue along the curved line 

Obstacle discrimination and speed circles:

Agility 2 Week 3

We used "Out!" as a directional cue for the first time today. "Out!" on an agility course means "work away from me at a distance" used to send your dog out and away from you to work obstacles at a distance. It is a different cue from "Go!" which means to keep running straight ahead. 

Pearls:

• When directing turns, and especially in sharp turns for the dog, be sure to turn your body definitively so it is obvious to Jackie which way she should travel
• "Out!" is a directional cue that allows you to send your dog out and away from you to play obstacles at a distance
• Be decisive and obvious when giving cues and directions; point your feet, shoulders, and body in the direction the dog is to travel

Jackie playing a mini course, and using "Out!" for the first time:

Agility 2 Week 2

A high rate of reward is helpful to keep Jackie engaged, and allows Jackie to gain confidence for running courses so she can incrementally build to running the full course while she is still learning.

Pearls:

• Rewarding Jackie more frequently for individual obstacles gives her confidence 
• Believing in Jackie and running with her keeps it fun and engaging for her

Agility 2 Week 1- New Beginnings

Continuing our agility learning odyssey, Jackie and I have started agility level 2 classes, as well as beginning a supplemental semi-private lesson bi-weekly at Cowtown Dog Sports. The supplemental lessons allow us to submerge in the theory of learning, practicing what we've learned and drilling down on skills and proofing behaviors such as start lines, jumping, or increasing enthusiasm for speed.  

Pearls:

• The more enthusiastic and playful I am, the more excited Jackie is to run
• Timing is important while cueing your dog's line-- eventually each team gets into their own special rhythm 
• Video recording training sessions is helpful as we learn timing together
• When the dog pauses to look back at you, it means they are asking a question, and need clearer direction where their line is to follow 
• Keep your arm up indicating where you want your dog to go, keeping your arm up keeps the dog moving forward, if you drop your arm or slow down your dog might pause to look at you or slow down; keep your arm up and keep running past the last jump
• Keep moving forward at the same speed indicating Jackie’s line to her
• Maintain forward momentum and believe Jackie will run, and she will

Rear crosses, building enthusiasm, practicing cue timing, and rewarding following the directed line:

Agility 1 Week 15

Graduation day! We played rear crosses today, this time with the dog starting on the handler's right and rear crossing to end up on the handler's left. 

Pearls:

• A rear cross is when the handler switches from one side of the dog to the other by passing behind the dog.
• Jackie is progressing onward to Agility Level 2! 

Jackie learning rear crosses: