Collected jumping with Wall-e

Did a bit of collected jumping with Wall-e today. I set a jump at 6" and threw treats over, very close to the jump, so he had to jump very round with an arc. He started to simply step over the jump instead of jumping it, so I ended up changing the height to 10". After that he understood what to do a lot more. By the end of the session he was taking off at the very base of the jump, landing and swinging his rear around in order to grab the treat. Perfect!

Trial tomorrow with Mika, 2 Masters Standard and 1 Masters Jumpers, looking forward to it!!

~Nat

Regionals preparation

I won't be using my old list on things to do to prepare Mika for Regionals anymore, because I now know what we really have to concentrate on after trialling again, and practicing a bit more.

Here's a new list, in no particular order:

-distance skills
Mika isn't confident enough at a distance to run in Masters Gamblers yet, so we'll have to work on this.

-staying in the weaves, not popping out
I find that Mika gets her entry if I don't crowd her and send her ahead a bit to let her find the entry, so we need to concentrate most on staying in the poles. We'll work with 18 poles when the field opens, so she'll be used to weaving 18 poles and won't anticipate like she does with 12.

-handling
Needs work. Period. ;)

-jump wraps
She doesn't really know how to do a tight wrap around a jump. We'll be working on this quite a bit.

-common patterns
I'll train her how to run common patterns independently. pinwheels, serpentines, 180's, etc.

I have major writing block.

~Nat

(EDIT: See, I told you I had writer's block...I can't even type "writer's block!")

Mika's AAC agility trial Apr. 10, 09

Mika impressed me with her distance with this run, both in the gambles and in the opening! (At one point of the run she raced ahead of me to take two extra jumps.) My super-sensitive girl is getting so much more confident! And, she got the gamble (with a TEETER in it, which had me worried for a second before I realized that Mika has awesome distance skills with the teeter), earning us a 1st place and Q. :D

~Nat

It's spring!

Absolute cuteness!


But now it's time to...


PLAY!


(VERY surprised that Mika came out clear in this photo.)


Trying to get Mika to play again...unlike Wall-e, Mika doesn't want to play 24/7!


No...


Wall-e isn't aggressive...


...or vicious...


...or rabid...


...he's just...


...enthusiastic?

Wall-e's weaves

About an hour ago this morning, I hammered 6 nails in the ground and put 6 weave poles over them in a channel. This is what we used to begin Wall-e's official weave training. (He's been learning them at class too, but we haven't been training them at home until today.) The channel is spread 16" apart so he can gallop through it easily without being slowed down by the poles. When the channel is completely closed, the poles will have 22" spacing between them. There are only 6 poles right now (yes, I admit, because I was too lazy to put the other 6 in!...) but later this week I'll nail the other 6 poles in to make 12. I'll likely move the channel closer an inch closer later this week too. I'm still debating about whether or not I should put guide wires on...I'm leaning towards no, because I don't think he really needs them. I can always add them after if he has any problems with popping out.

So, about our training today...we did 5 reps, with Wall-e getting perfect each time and racing through the channel! Each rep, I put him in a sit-stay, and I lead out to the opposite end of the poles, kneeling on the grass as I said "Okay!" to get the maximum speed. The first 3 reps, I threw the food tube as soon as he passed the last pole to make sure that he didn't pop out, but the last 2 reps, I threw it as he entered the channel for increased speed because I knew that he wouldn't likely pop out.

We'll try to have a weave training session every day until the channel is completely closed (which won't be for at least a couple months, because his growth plates probably aren't all closed.)

~Nat

Mika and Wall-e's agility practice April 1, 09

This was the third Regionals practice, but my second, because I couldn't go to the last one.

I ran the Jumpers course twice with Mika. She was a very good girl! I had to lead out or else I wouldn't be able to handle the serpentine-threadle combination for jumps #2-5. I loved how she sent ahead of me at the end of the course, especially in the second time we ran it, she's never done that before. She wasn't quite as fast as she was at the trial...I hope she gets that speed back. Maybe it's a trial thing. She didn't go off-course though (unless you count that bobble at the pinwheel in the first run to be an off-course)! Still, I'd much rather have awesome speed and an off-course than moderate speed and a perfect run. I've decided that I'm not going to call Mika off any obstacles anymore, even at trials. I don't want to put any doubt in her mind that she's ever making any mistakes. I want her to think that she's always right. (Which she usually is. It's usually my handling that makes her go off-course.)

I practiced a few things with Wall-e too. He had fun!

Then we tried a gamble (which, like the Jumpers course, was from a Gamblers course at the 2008 AAC Nationals). Mika didn't quite understand at first, but then she got it! (Not at the full 20' distance, but doesn't matter.) She finished up the evening with the speed that I love!

~Nat

Wall-e's last agility class

Wall-e had his last beginner agility class yesterday -- and he also turned 10 months old yesterday! He's growing up so fast and doesn't look like a puppy anymore. (but still acts like it!!) Here's a sequence that we ran:



He was great! Not as fast as last class because I was rewarding him more so he didn't have a chance to really run, but he was still fast. The PVC poles (stride regulator) and jump bar on top of the lowered A-frame are meant to teach them to jump over the apex of the A-frame to help them learn where to stride. I love Wall-e's A-frame performance :D





Also, almost all of the snow in the backyard is melted! There's enough grass to actually do agility now. Today I practiced rear crosses with a low jump in the backyard with Wall-e. It was his first time training rear crosses with a jump (we've done a lot of work with rear crosses on the flat, with no obstacles). He made the connection between rear crosses on the flat and rear crosses with a jump REALLY quickly, only making one mistake (a spin after the jump)! I gave him one treat for the mistake, to keep his speed and confidence high, but jackpotted when he got it right. He's really such a fun little guy!

~Nat