Vito in 2010

Same video as in Lance's, just posted again :)

Vito's accomplishments in 2010

Rally:
Vito's first experience in a trial was doing APDT in August.  I was extremely proud of how focused he was and he quickly got his RL1 and his first leg in level 2.  He has done two days of AKC rally starting in September and it won't be long before he gets his RN.

Obedience:
Vito's debut was the toller specialty.  I wasn't planning on showing him yet but decided I had to since the specialty was here in Minnesota!  I am glad I did as while he had some baby dog moments Vito has done extremely well in every trial and earned his CD this year.  I am debating about what to do with him next but don't plan on doing Open for awhile yet.

Vito hasn't been in a regular obedience class yet this year except for a handful of drop in classes.  My goal for next year is to find him one!  This year 90% of our work was on heeling.  The other time was spent on trying to get rid of him stepping on my foot for the left finish and on the front.  I mostly succeeded on the finish but we are still struggling with the bounce off me on fronts when he is coming from a distance.  Another issues I will tackle next year are halts- not bumping into me.

Vito currently has a decent start to all of the open and utility exercises.  Retrieves need work on a straighter closer front but so far he has no problem with knowing to take the jump both directions from extreme angles.  Broad jump I have gotten rid of the target but are still tossing a treat as he jumps.  The drop on recall has been recently started and I am still using both verbal and hand signal to down him.

He has good signals and strong scent work.  Vito still needs work on building distance for his go out, and has not seen directed jumping yet.  Pivoting and marking is still done with targets, I have not added in the actual gloves yet.

Agility:
Vito had his first experience in a trial in May doing tunnelers and jumpers.  But I knew we weren't really ready so I consider his first real trial to be in July.  He bounced a lot more than he ran for his first several trials and just now do I feel he is truly starting to get it and run.  He did mainly CPE and managed to qualify for CPE nationals next year held here in Minnesota by finishing up his level 2 titles.

We struggled a ton with his running contacts, with a meltdown occurring in February.  It got better and then we had another one in June.  Fixed the last one with the toy set out again really close to the end this time and was able to move it further away again until I could take it away.  So far all but 2 of his dogwalks in a trial have been good although we don't always get the next obstacle unless it's a jump straightish ahead.  We are still slowly working on turns and I'm afraid we will be forever training it as I don't get down to practice that much.

His teeter was changed from 4ft on to a 2o2o as he started to hesitate at the pivot point a little too much.  Too kamikaze for a running teeter and then too uncertain about the criteria of just stopping on it!  I am much happier with his teeter now!  In his first few trials he would stop and sniff and then switch back and forth between 2o2o and 4on.  He will occasionally still do that to me in a trial.

Tricks:
Also worked on the paw vs nose touch discrimination with Lance in January.  I will never do that again!  Other tricks learned this year were sidestepping on my right, sticky target, pray, limping, penguin (needs lots of help still), hug, ostrich (another work in progress), and jump through my arms.  I also worked on the sidestepping stuff I did with Lance, but struggled a bit more with Vito in learning to walk perpendicular towards me and also with facing out and sidestepping.

Disc:
In May I went to a introduction put on by the MN Disc Dog Club and was hooked.  At that time Vito had little interest in his disc, only wanting his beloved tennis ball.  I picked up all the toys outside so he had no other options and it wasn't long before Vito became just as obsessed about the disc as his ball.  I created a monster!  In toss and catch competitions we seemed to get worse every trial.  Vito would be so frantic trying to get to it that he would jump too early and while he would always make contact with it, he would rarely catch it.  Many times he will twist himself in weird contortions trying way too hard.

We did make progress at home with teaching a back stall, overs, flipping both directions, and sometimes a vault off my leg (with a grab to the still disc).  Vito is also starting to be able to do his tricks when a disc is out such as backward circles and weaving.


Other Stuff:
Vito's separation anxiety issues have gotten worse.  He is doing fabulous if crated at a trial with people around, and is even doing ok when at work with me.  But he is doing a little bit of howling when left home alone for periods over an hour.  When I analyze the video tape it doesn't look like he is that anxious but he won't eat any of his many bones and just howls.  I'm pretty sure I won't be able to afford it next year, but if a miracle happens I want to take Vito in to see a specialist at the U of MN.

Goals for 2011:
Have a solid running dogwalk WITH turns!
Enter open obedience at our club's October trial.
Prepare a novice freestyle routine for disc.