Bing Blog #14
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"Y2K9's Agility" --
February 7, 2006 Call me a doting dogmom, but MAN was I proud of my Belgians last Wednesday at agility class! |
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Bing -- posing in front of a jump at home. |
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| Did I mention that this class we are in is waaay over our heads in terms of skills? All of the dogs in the class have probably done three levels of classes before coming to this class; Bing and I have done practically nothing. But the folks at Y2K9s knew that I needed a particular night, and this was the best they could offer. The instructors know I’m not really in the right place, and as long as I don’t hold up class, I think they’re ok with it. |
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| When it was Bing’s turn to practice rear crosses, I was leery even of whether he would be able to pay attention to me in that ring with other dogs around. He did really well, only running off once to dogs on the sideline and coming straight back when I called him. However, a class in the next ring proved too distracting for him; he couldn’t see through the divider so he decided to climb under the teeter which was being used as a barrier and into the next ring, straight toward a standard poodle with dog issues! Oops! I called him back and he came, then thought he might be in trouble, ran away, then came back to me, for which he was highly rewarded. From that point on he was better able to pay attention to me. At first I thought that he was trying to find the exit, but because Pete was videotaping, I was able to see that he really just wanted to see that dog and/or what was going on in the next ring. Here is where videotape can be so helpful! It turns out that this was a mere distraction, but I was concerned that it was a response to his anxiety level. Whew! |
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Bing does his "Wack-a-Mole" game imitation. |
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| The instructor had me practice front and rear crosses ‘on the flat’ the week before, which we did pretty well. This involves teaching the dog that when your shoulder turns, the dog is to go that way. If the dog starts on your left side and you turn your right shoulder forward and your left shoulder back, the dog will turn to the left. It also helps that your left hand is gesturing to the left. The dog ends up doing a 180 around you as you turn to your left, and the dog ends up on your right (in the ‘on the flat’ practice). This is a rear cross. So we now had the chance to practice this with jumps and tunnels. It was such fun! What’s so cool about this is that I KNOW that when Bing doesn’t do what I expect him to do, it’s an error on my part. This pup is so happy all the time and so willing to learn that he makes it look easy. He did really well with both types of crosses, with several jumps and tunnels. |
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He also had quite a few opportunities to interact with people. Interestingly, virtually everyone who came near or whom we walked by, held out a finger toward the top of his nose as a greeting or a way to signify acknowledgement of his existence and cuteness. This was exactly what he needed! People walk by, they hold out a finger for a millisecond, you come back to me for a treat. A few times Alexa, the instructor, held open her palms for him to sniff. Again, perfect! He touched them with his nose, came back to me for a treat! All of the pressure for interaction was essentially removed, thereby taking away the need on his part to do anything about it. I had planned to take him back to the car after 45 minutes because the week before he clearly told me he was done by about 50 minutes (he was trying to find the exit). But he was having a great time right up to the end of the hour, so he stayed (greedy trainer on my part). All in all, he had a wonderful session and I look forward to doing it again tomorrow night! |
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| Oh yeah, and her other ‘issue’ on the course was what my friend Deb Norman called, ‘frame gazing’! Apparently this is rather common; a dog gets to the top of the Aframe and stands there, looking around! The first time I saw Acacia do this, it was at an actual trial we did (our first and only so far) this past summer. Of course, I was baffled! Deb told me that the way to change that habit is to put the Aframe very low and have her run over it quickly and with drive. Soon I’ll be able to work on all my equipment in my yard, so we will be able to work on that. Well, I didn’t mean to ramble on, but it sure was fun. I learn so much each time I work with my dogs...mostly about how much more work I have to do! . |
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