As you might already know from our latest video, I've been training Wall-e how to do running contacts with Silvia Trkman's method. I plan to do this for the dog walk and the A-frame, although I won't have to do nearly as much training on the A-frame as I will on the dog walk because the dog walk training progresses into the dog understanding how the run the A-frame contact.
His running contacts are going great so far! A couple days ago he started developing a habit of LEAPING off the teeter plank (which I'm using to train the running contacts), two feet away from the contact zone!! So I put that PVC hoop back at the end of the plank to set him up for success. He still jumps the contact sometimes, but at least it's only a couple of inches and not two feet! I'll probably use the hoop for a few months.
Silvia Trkman says to wait until the dog is hitting the contact 100% of the time before raising the plank. This morning Wall-e hit it 3 out of 4 times, which is great, but his average success rate with hitting the contact right now is around 50%. So, needs some more work!! I'd like to get at least a week of 100% before moving on. At least he's getting faster and faster running across the plank!
~Nat
Good luck Wall-e! I LOVE Silvia, and hope to get access to some agility equipment soon so Hobbs can start learning running contacts too.
ReplyDeleteI love Silvia too, her pages on her site have been SO useful! I just love how much she emphasizes relationship between dog and handler.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to have real equipment to start teaching running contacts. I don't have a dog walk. We started off just using a regular wooden board. :) Try it!
~Nat