Here is where Zumi has been at with her obedience training. Since the January AKC obedience trial where she moved on her stands or didn't stand on the fist cue, I've been trying to replicate that issue in practice. My guess is it is a pressure issue with the judge.
In practice, I was occasionally successful early on with having someone exciting standing behind her, but overall she nailed it.
So I then moved to upping the excitement level and playing with rewards in front of her. This did successfully replicate the problem of not standing on the first cue!
In addition to working on the stand, I continue to work on her db arousal issues.
Here's a compilation of a recent session with the stand and db:
This last weekend we had a CDSP trial and I'm happy to report that she didn't move at all on any of the 6 retrieves over 3 trials. Good girl!! Still some squealing on each ROH, but not always on the flat. She did do some mouthing of her db on the front, worse the first run of each day vs the 2nd run on Saturday.
Zumi did NQ in her run on Sunday due to moving on the DOR recall. This was the first time she's done that to me in a sit, not a stand:
And here is Saturday's run where we did qualify!:
This weekend we have another AKC trial, the first since the January trial and it's at the same location. This time I have 2 runs on Saturday. Wish us luck!
This winter has not been especially great for Zumi's training! Ice, fridgid temps, then snow dumps. Excuses.
Obedience/Rally
Two weekends ago Zumi went to our CDSP obedience/ WCRL rally trial on Saturday. 2 runs in Open obedience, 1 run in rally.
The first obedience run started a bit rough. Not horrible, but a bit distracted on setups and some moving away from me. We qualified, but it just wasn't a connected run.
Oh and we had a rethrow again on the ROH jump that I didn't know about until we were waiting forever until Zumi finally couldn't take it and left me. That's when I looked up and saw the judge was in the process of picking up the dumbbell. She doesn't handle rethrows well to begin with, and having waited SO long with trying hard to not scream or leave early was just thrown out with her anticipation.
But overall I thought she had to poop. And I was right in that as soon as we went out she did poop.
Then that didn't explain that her next run, rally, had similar qualities of meh heeling. Not really distracted, just laggy.
Her last run of obedience she seemed better. Much more connected with me, more energy for sure. But we didn't retrieve. Not once. Zumi left me to walk several steps on the 1st retrieve. So I called her back and was going to move on but the judge let me do it again. Same thing, so I moved on without releasing Zumi. Retrieve over the high, essentially my 3rd throw in the ring was the same thing. I think it was a combination of a stressy day for her plus the added rehearsal int he first trial of leaving me without any cue on my part.
The bad news/good news is that I've been working on it with her this last week and have been able to replicate it. If I let the dumbbell hit a wall so it makes an apparently exciting sound, she will start walking towards it. So I've been having her lie down, I pick it up, and then come back to give her cookies and do some heeling before trying again. Not sure if that's a good approach for her or not! I dont' want to create more stress with the exercise, but the same time I need it very clear that moving does not lead to a release.... Overall I'm trying to have more easy short reps than the ones I challenge her on.
UKI Agility
Then last weekend Zumi had a UKI trial. And we had more issues with her startline/release. This particular location seems very tough for her as I think all of her startline issues have started here. This time it was worse as while she mostly actually stayed put (still difficulties with the initial stay after lining up, before I left), she ran around the first jump in her last run Saturday and 2 of her 3 runs on Sunday. While Zumi has been known to do that, it's usually in a particular setup where I need to be at an angle on the lead out vs an approach like these courses had.
So not a great month so far!!!
I am curious and a bit scared to see how she will do the next 2 weekends. No trials this week. But I did end up entering her in an AKC obedience trial back on our home turf this coming weekend. And then the following wekeend is USDAA at the location she usually stays well at!
Alright so Vito did CDSP obedience on Saturday for his 2 very happy runs. Zumi also did 2 runs in obedience and then on Sunday was back with the Corgi for 2 rally runs each.
Corgi
Lance always loves to show :) His first run was actually quiet. Only 1 left pivot type sign though :)
The 2nd run had the backup sign 2nd so that got him nice and warmed up for all the barking!
I noticed that a lot of his halts in the 2 runs were quite rocked back and sloppy. Lack of training? Or a subtle sign of his age creeping up on me?!
Here's his sassy round 2:
Duck
Saturday had Zumi's 2 runs in Open. Her 3rd trial in the open class and definite improvement but yet still a long, long way to go with her vocalizing. Open run 1:
I need to speak up with my "yes" response to the judge for the go out! She looked up at me during the wait, but I'm thrilled with her eye contact on me instead of vulturing or whining! No squeal on the go out send either! I chose not to step over her on the return.
On the retrieves, you will notice my "beg" cues at the start of each one, something I've just started in this last week as it has really helped her not vulture in the agility ring.
The first ROH my stupid too short throw did not help her calmness! Only a little pitter patter feet! Of course the rethrow was too much and she scooted forward. More vocalizing on the release and a nice punch to my legs on the front.
Scooting and whining on the ROF and of course another bark on the release. Too much for the Duck.
A very thoughtful recall though! She actually came at a more controlled pace waiting for that down cue!
Heeling was focused nicely!
Broad jump... I apparently am incapable of giving the cue early enough to get a nice jump. I always feel like I give it too early the few times I convince myself to practice it and then I end up with Zumi jumping straight over it but being so far ahead that she goes all wide and cuts me off.... Better than ticking the jump I suppose.
Run 2:
Order #1 this time. We didn't quite enter connected. I think I accidentally said "ok" after the leash removal and while that should not cue a toy, I'm suspicious she was looking for one...
On the heeling she did the weird thing with wanting to cross behind me as we approach the ring gates to turn left on the far wall. Recovered pretty well after that though.
Broad jump I'm not sure. She's pretty much never walked on the boards before!
No scootching on the ROF, but a small whine while she looked back at me. Barked on the send.
A little more whining and vulturing during the ROH throw and barking on the send.
On the mark for te go out I'm pretty sure she was looking for the db in the judge's hand or at least looking for a retrievable item. And then I accidentally said "ok" again in response to the judge but thankfully she didn't fully leave! The scream on the send here didn't surprise me.
Rally on Sunday she did runs in level 3. Good girl. A litlte disconnected at the start again of the 2nd run, but still listened and was fully back by the 4th sign. I was super happy that she collected for the recall over 2 jumps :)
I'm happy with Zumi's runs but at the same time I'm also not quite sure what to do for the future. Progress has been made, especially in practice, but she's still showing the same vocalizing and feet movement on the db sends too much. And I find it fascinating that if I throw her toy out there she usually is perfect- no vocalizing at all. She might still patter her feet depending on what toy it is though...
I'm just not sure how to keep progressing and at some point even take it into a trial without the vocalizing!
Tollers had a CDSP trial this Saturday! I was so proud of Vito that he deserves his own post!
I entered Vito in 2 runs for the first time in years. Open and utility! Apparently, it was even his first time doing open in over 3 years! I wasn't sure how he would do with the 2nd run as motivation can be hard, but since he's been doing so well with energy in training and choosing to work that I gave it a go.
Open was the first trial. So happy!! I'm pretty sure this was by far the most comfortable he has ever been in a trial too. He said Kristen has a very unassuming presence :)
Such cute forging on the start of his heeling. I will never tire of seeing him do that in an actual trial!
Good old Vito still has issues with ticking the broad jump with the running version even at a sad 24in! I was clearly never able to fix that, at least consistently. Not that we've really done the broad jump in ages.
Skipped front surprised me with how comfortable he was acting in the ring. Usually that shows up more when he's worried about the judge.
And I forgot to call the early sit for his go out to let me go behind. I've been wanting Zumi to go all the way and just forgot with Toller.
Then utility in trial 2. More happiness!!
I don't know what was up with his sit signal. Signals are usually turning out to be one of his best exercises, a nice change from the corgi!
Articles happy.
Gloves I held the mark signal as he was looking at the jump for the first send and was looking at the middle glove for the 2nd send. Definitely our weakest exercise still. I have actually been practicing them though!
This past Friday I took the tollers to a USDAA trial. Then I packed up so Saturday I could take all 3 dogs to another location for an obedience/rally trial (CDSP/WCRL). Packed up again, and then Sunday I took just Zumi back to the agility trial. And to make things extra complicated I had bonus babysitting Cow that I dragged along to the trials, showed in rally, and returned to his mother on Sunday at the trial where we did team relay together.
Lance
Lance played 2 rounds of WCRL rally at the trial on Saturday. Sassy as always. Trial 2 had much less sass and less forging although both started to come out at the end. He earned his level 3X2 title (20 legs after the title) and another bonus leg. Nice job mostly retired corgi!
Vito Vito was very happy running his 3 agility runs on Friday! It was fun to see him run and of course he broke at least 1 startline. Another sassy dog!
And then on Saturday, he had one of my favorite runs of all time in utility! He was focused and very motivated! The dork ran to a chalk mark on the very first exercise so we NQed in like 30sec of being in the ring. Thanks buddy. And then he went to the wrong glove on the #2 send. I think he's cursed with gloves in the ring. Of course I could actually try practicing with him....
Zumi Zumi continues to mature in her agility handling. Friday she didn't get any Q's but she was a very good duck! On Sunday she ran her very first team relay event and she placed first in her 20in height category and her team got 2nd overall! Almost all of her mistakes the agility runs both days were refusals after a rear cross. She turns well, but loses that obstacle focus after them. And of course I don't do many rear crosses in practice so I can't blame her.
On Saturday I did 2 rally runs with her in level 3 and then an open obedience run. She was a little bit off I thought. She was focused about 95% of the time in her rally runs but had some occasional visits to signs in her first run and just some glances around in both. Her down from a sit was also broken.
Overall I'm happy with her effort in the runs and see that she needs more practice with focus in different environments.
In open I knew that I really shouldn't have entered her. Thus my minimal restraint to only do one run instead of 2. I just really, really wanted to do obedience with Zumi and figured it wouldn't hurt anything in the long run.
Her focus was a little spotty again on the heeling. Based on her 2 rally runs she did earlier that day it was no longer a surprise to me. Her second half of the heeling was much better. Broad jump had a bad front. Drop on recall was a little slow to drop but she did it.
Then the retrieves, our main thing we've been working on. Honestly it went better than I expected. She pattered her feet on the toss, but the vulturing was WAY less. And she offered me eye contact before both sends! Of course she squealed on the release of both retrieves.
Go out she didn't squeal!! and she did that weird arc to the left stanchion again instead of the right. Maybe that's her new thing?
So technically a Q and her CDX-C title. But a long, long way to go in Open still before she's proficent and has more of a brain. Next CDSP trial is April. Just 2 more months, but at least I feel I'm on the right track.
This weekend was the CDSP obedience trial and Zumi's graduation from Novice into Open. As I wrote earlier, I knew we had some precision issues to work on and some possible anticipation issues.
Preview: Watch the 1st video to see her best run . The 2nd video if you want to see her extra high. And the 3rd to see my attempts at handling her differently.
Friday was an evening trial and she had one run. In many ways, I was surprised with how much effort into precision she was giving me. Not a single thought of running a victory lap on the retrieves. Jumped long on the broad, but not in a spiraling out of control way.
Vulturing big time on the retrieves. That itself wasn't a huge surprise to me as she occasionally does it in practice when extra excited. But I was very surprised by the extra intensity of it. I was praying the judge released her quickly as Zumi wasn't just vulturing but was teetering off the edge of control.
And a mini scream before the go out, what was that?! My multiple stay cues before the exercises started weren't exactly great handling!
She qualified in this run, but only because her anticipation on the1st retrieve went unnoticed.
Sunday we were back for 2 more attempts in Open. Attempt #1 Zumi was even higher. I didn't really think that was possible with her. The good part was that she wasn't thinking about anticipating the finishes. The scary part was all her squeals on each send.
And major anticipation on the ROH. She did catch herself though and I paused for awhile before sending her. Clear NQ.
Attempt #2
I had no idea if Zumi would naturally settle in a bit more with a 2nd run or if she would get even higher. My plan was to try to calm her as much as possible in our warmup. I did lots of walking outside with her. Had her out for her crate quite a bit longer before her run. At first it was just sitting on the ground with her, then I got the idea to see if someone had a snuffle mat. I had Zumi search for treats in the snuffle mat for several minutes. Unfortunately she's not really used one before as I've primarily used it with Vito. So Zumi did some sniffing for cookies, but also just offered lots of her sad chin down trick. At least we did some slow cookie delivery games to try to center her.
On her squish release into the ring I also handled it differently by asking for a sticky target instead of leaping heeling.
The downside of all these calming changes was that we weren't really connected in our heeling. I think partly due to Zumi not being used to this way of starting work, and partly due to Zumi needing more drive to focus as well in heeling. She was a bit unfocused and hesitant, and even did some right sided heeling attempts.
The positive side was that Zumi seemed slighlty more in control on the other exercises. We did lots of sticky targets in between exercises to try and connect in a calm way. No anticipation, but still vultured a lot. No screams until the go out.
Qualified for her 2nd leg in Open!
Pretty obvious on what we're going to be working on the next few months!!! Although Zumi is getting spayed next week so we will be on a bit of a hold again for a few weeks...
Vito also did one run on Friday and one run on Sunday, both Utility. On Friday I was thrilled with how eager he was to warmup with me. Very driven Toller! Inside the ring he melted a bit on the stand for exam. Not easy to start out with that when he has judge issues!
And then he searched for the steward again on the first glove retrieve, just like the last trial. On the 2nd glove send he did great.
Go outs were hard for Vito to mark as he fixated on our videographer. Someone he still pulled it together and went out straight.
Articles were odd. I thought he did nice calm sniffing, but he brought back the wrong one. I played with him and told him he was brilliant anyway.
Good signals!
On Sunday Vito was calmer. Took a long time to choose to engage with me outside of the ring. Despite that, I was thrilled with the level of play he gave me in the ring! Unfortunately we had the same order of exercises, so the moving stand was up first. This judge was quite a bit peppier (yay for happy judges!) but was also more "involved." Vito seemed to have a harder time with her.
More glove issues in trial 2. Going out happily on both sends, but then freezing over them and staring back at me. We have done so much work on happy glove games since the last trial and it just puzzles me....
I did leather this time for scent articles and he was correct but was tasting each one.
No more CDSP trials for the rest of the year I think :( So Zumi will attempt some AKC rally and Vito will just be on hold until the next CDSP trial..
Agility on Saturday, back to obedience on Sunday. I love my Toller :) CDSP obedience of course, no AKC meltdowns here.
Vito was a very good Toller. A bit worried about the judge at the start but as soon as we started the short heeling pattern CDSP has on signals he did so with great energy and focus. And did his signals! We continually work so hard on trying to make downs fun for Vito, they're just not his thing.
A bit more distracted during article setup, but then he lasered his eyes into me during the long delay as I think the judge tried to flip the article the other way. I admit his intense focus during that wait was my favorite part of the run.
On go outs every dog got sucked into where the article pile was in the corner. I've done gloves to the corner followed by go outs, but apparently not articles there before! I was proud to see Vito go straight! And then got sucked into that corner when I cued the sit. On the 2nd send he made sure to ignore my sit cue as well to go touch the gate... twice. Smart Toller.
Gloves were the best he has ever done in a trial. Actually pivoted well! And we have been working hard on making gloves fun after some weird avoidance issues since the last trial so I was relieved not to see that show up here.
Finally on the moving stand Vito stood very well for what seemed like an extra thorough exam! Hesitant coming in again on the call to heel so something to work on I guess.
A Q in Utility!
Corgi
Mr. Corgi also got to play. We did his usualy WCRL rally run in level 3. For whatever reason he was actually quiet for the entire first half of the run! No barks on the pivoting! And then his corgi sass came out for the 2nd half...
I also entered Lance in Utility for the first time since his retirement. Not expecting much since well you actually have to practice to qualify. But Corgi always loved to show.
Lots of great moments, and some sass of course.
On Signals Lance did his down which made me so happy since that was one point that did stress him out about utility. And then he said he knew the pattern and went straight to his sit. I wasn't sure what to do there, so I gave a sit signal anyway and smiled when he lifted his butt so he could sit again :)
Articles showed his old habit of grabbing so fast that it just falls out of his mouth a few steps later. But good boy.
On go outs Lance got sucked into that pesky article spot like the others. Ignored my cue to sit and just came to me on the first one. On the 2nd one he sat, and then started to go while the judge was talking to me about what I wanted to do. I tried to signal the far jump but I admittedly didn't cue it with my normal eye flick and pause first. Not surprised he just came to me.
Gloves were also pretty good on the pivot. I underrotated a bit as I was rusty too and forgot that usually ended up happening to me in trials. I had to always do a 2 step pivot towards #3 in a trial to get lined up correctly even though I never had issues in practice. It probably helped him though as the other dogs couldn't find the glove behind the poles.
The moving stand had naughty forging and then not actually staying. Eh.
It's been over a year and a half since Vito last entered the obedience ring. After our experiment, we had just started doing some rally trials last fall with great results in WCRL but still feeling the stress in AKC. I was optimistic that Vito could handle the low key CDSP atmosphere and wanted to see where we were at. I almost entered good old Open like I've done so many times with Vito in the past, but decided to be brave and try utility again with him. Vito technically has his CDSP utility title, but 2 of the 3 counting scores needed double signals given on the signal exercise so I don't really count them as a Q in my mind.
At the trial I took Vito out a few times in the hours before his run, just to walk around and sniff things. I didn't go into letting him offer work or play until about 15 minutes before his run. I was thrilled that as soon as I assumed the work available pose he took me up on it! I mainly did some play and a few down signals with lots of rewards before putting him back.
Right before his run I took him out again for more of the same, and then miscalculated our waiting time before entering the ring. I was a bit worried as he didn't want to do any of our "squish" position, but he did our 2nd style crouching "squish" ok.
And then in we went!
Love his ring entrance and go outs :) I let him go all the way to gate to take the point losses.
Articles he struggled a bit on both the setup and the actual selection. It's kinda hard to see the setup, but he was a bit distracted by the whole thing and then his article leaving. I am proud that he was able to think enough to eventually select the correct one!
Signals I was beyond thrilled. Some moving on the stand and then travelling on the down, but he didn't freeze or do it slowly! Vito has always hated downs and he offered me a pretty snappy one here! My favorite part of his run :)
Moving stand had a few glances at our judge and a wussy call to heel, but still good.
Gloves were ridiculous. I knew he was looking at the steward when I sent him but I couldn't get him to look away. Maybe I should have waited longer or just said screw it and reset completely. Had to check out who was standing suspicously on teh side. And then very odd with going to both the middle glove and then finally selecting the one farthest away.
On the 2nd glove he again wasn't confident on the seleciton so I helped him.
Both pivots were WAY better than they have been in a trial though!!!
So an NQ, but I was thrilled. The next CDSP trial isn't for awhile but I'm excited to try utility again with Vito :)
The Corgi also came along and got to do his rally. He just loves getting to strut around in rally! So much barking again. Our new theme! We alo had a few instances where he lost his auto sit in heel, but improvement from the last trial. I didn't notice any hind leg shakes in his runs so I think he was feeling better. Forging was a bit worse again than the fall, but more cute prancing :)
Trial 2 was a bit less barky, but also less left turns- definitely correlated :) He loves the bonus retrieve at the end :)
I ended up taking Zumi to a CDSP obedience trial this morning. I went back and forth over whether I should go since Zumi has had very little training since I went on restriction 8 weeks ago and has had absolutely zero training in the last 2 weeks and way less exercise. But ultimately I wanted to get more CDSP trials under her belt before we hopefully do some AKC trials next year. I knew her attitude would be great still, a very good chance of having great focus, and it was just the precision that I thought could be thrown out the window. I was thinking of entering Zumi in the open level for today but decided to stick with novice. I pictured Zumi doing a quick victory lap with her dumbbell as she sometimes likes to do when she's super excited and I envisioned lots of slamming into me on her fronts.
Zumi surprised me by really holding it together. Pretty much no unexpected precision issues at all. She showed some issues on her halts like I expected and on her finish. Both things we are (well *were*) working on in practice.
This makes it Zumi's 4th time in the novice ring, so her first leg towards her "novice championship" if we decide to complete all 10 legs for that title.
And in other news, Netta had a very big day yesterday. She had her CT scan in the morning that was clear and let me breathe a huge sign of relief. And then when I came back in the evening to visit I saw that her little box was empty! They had moved Netta upstairs to the NICU for less critical patients! She now has her own room with a pull out couch that I can use in a few weeks for when they want me to start staying the night to work on feedings with her.
And Netta is starting to actually be awake now for at least a small portion of the time when I visit! She turns 32wks today from the pregnancy count, and officially is 11 days old.
Yup, Zumi now has her first official obedience title of CD-C! Friday night one trial of CDSP/WCRL was offered and I took the crew after work.
Zumi
Based on last weekend's success in novice I entered Zumi again for her 3rd leg. I was getting her all warmed up and almost ready to go in the ring when I started to feel really light headed. Damn hormones. Thankfully I at least had the sense to tell the stewards that I would need to be moved down a few dogs and went to sit down, drink, and eat a little bit. My crate was too far away so I put Zumi in a down stay in the corner next to me. I honestly wasn't sure if she would be ok going into the ring with me when I started to feel better as my little Duck looked a bit concerned! When I first stood up and released her she did not want to follow me.
But she's such an eager worker that once I got playing with her again she seemed just fine. Indeed she pulled off another performance I couldn't have been more proud of. One very happy Duck.
Halts need work, which I knew. I was less surprised on the bit crookedness on her pop stand for the moving stand exercise based on last Saturday's trial. And she also repeated that imprecise yet happy fling on her left finish.
But her 3rd Q with a 198 and high in trial again.
Vito
I also entered Vito on a whim this trial for rally again based on last week's fabulous result. And again Vito told me he was ready!
Actually I ended up having Vito out of his crate a bit too early as it didn't take him that long to go from sniffing/looking around to asking me for work. Of course it always helps that he can smell the ham pieces I had in my pocket for his reward. Quite the step up from just kibble.
Vito had a very enthuisastic and forgey entrance to the ring! And overall was kinda pushy and not really wanting to backup on his pivots- which for Vito is actually a pretty good sign, even if it's a bit naughty! His finishes were just as naughty as he forged/crabbed on every one.
Lance
And the corgi. Sassiest he has ever been in a trial. If I thought he was barky last weekend he pretty much doubled it. Not just barking on the pivots and backing up portions which is pretty much a given now days, but I think he barked at every single sit and every down. Man he loves being out there though. So,so proud of himself.
There will be yet another obedience/rally trial report soon as my club's AKC trial is this weekend. I've entered Zumi in her first AKC trial, although rally at this point and not yet obedience. There's 2 trials Saturday and 1 trial Sunday and she's in all 3 with the potential to get her rally novice title if all goes well. I actually entered Vito too, well before he had an opportunity to do these 2 WCRL trials. Vito is also just in rally. I admit I'm nervous to see if he can handle the AKC environment again. Even though it's our training club it's also the site of his biggest meltdown ever last year. I'm repeating to myself over and over again that if he is not pumped up and eager to go in the ring then we won't bother even entering the ring... And the corgi of course is fully retired from all AKC due to the whole not jumping thing. Plus I just have no interest in getting an RAE on him with AKC rally where he could jump 4in and possibly tempt me.
Ducky had her very first time in novice obedience on Saturday! We did 2 novice runs in CDSP where I felt brave enough to enter her due to the allowance of food between exercises and extra praise. Technically this was her 2nd time in the obedience ring as I did the last minute entry a few months ago with Starters Novice at the CDSP trial.
The first trials she blew me away. Confident ring entrance and beautiful heeling, just a tad forged in my opinion. Happily played with me in between all exercises. No issue with being interested in the stewards on the figure 8. Actually we ended up with a "bonus" figure 8 as both teh judge and I forgot that it's off leash in CDSP so we had to re do it. The exercise I was worried the most about, the moving stand, went beautifully as well. Not even a glance at the judge during the brief touch.
Nailed her front over the jump (hard for her even in practice to collect herself!) and just didn't complete her finish properly.
Zumi ended up with a generous 199 and high in trial.
Trial #2 was a few hours later and I made a slight error in judgement before her run. The CDSP ring and the WCRL rally rings were looking like they were going to start at the same time (the boys were in rally) and I kept looking back and forth to see if I should move Zumi down to the end of the obedience order or keep her where she was. At the last minute I decided it would be easier if I ran her first so I could then fully concentrate on getting Vito prepared. I ran to get Ducky out of her crate and warm her up. I had a decent amount of time but I think she could have used more to settle her in and I'm sure my adrenaline was higher.
Zumi started to fixate on the nice steward (in a happy really want to greet way at least!) just moments before we were to enter the ring. I waited a little bit after the judged called us, but she mentally wasn't where I needed her to be on entering the ring. Thankfully she does have a trained squish behavior and that really did help get her to move with energy and focus past the steward and into the ring itself. Then she had a few more glances at the audience in general and a bigger look at the walking steward as we passed each other, resulting in a poor halt. For the most part I was proud to see how she was able to control herself and mostly focus. In the first trial I don't think I gave any praise during the heeling (as is allowed in CDSP) but this second run I gave several words of praise during both the heeling pattern and figure 8 as I could feel that while she was doing a pretty good job of focusing her energy level was a bit lower. This run she also slammed me on the recall, but did a better finish.
The judge scored us a 196 for her 2nd leg.
It's apparently been awhile. We've been busy, kinda. And also very lazy.
The things. Dock Diving
Zumi and Vito went to a dock diving competition 4 weeks ago. Much better experience than our first time. This one was hosted by a club and everyone was very nice and willing to answer questions. Plus having an actual briefing before the event started was helpful.
Vito only had 2 jumps at 11.5ft and 11ft. Both jumps were larger than the other competition and more consistent. He kinda did a stay for me on the dock the second turn but wouldn't at all on his first turn.
Zumi wouldn't jump. I had hopes of her jumping since she finally made it to the dock when we were at Purina Farms. But no such luck. I took her 2 official turns and went straight to the ramp. Even on the ramp she was a bit hesistant to actually enter the water, but of course super excited both before and after.
Then today I drove a ways to actually practice. Their 3rd offical practice session, first time at this location. No idea how far Vito jumped but he looked a lot better. And actually stayed for me during his second set of turns on the dock. Due to crowdedness each dog only got to have 2 sets on the dock.
Zumi and I just went to the ramp and never tried the dock. The good news is that she didn't do any of the hesitancy she showed at the actual competition and it was the same setup of above ground pool. The bad news is she made zero progress from jump 1 to the last jump. Still eagerly running the short distance to the ramp and then going down the ramp until her feet touch water. THEN jumping. She's so happy. And I don't know how to get her to progress from there.
Disc
Zumi went to a disc dog seminar a few weeks ago. Had a blast! We worked primarily on flatwork and teaching me how to time my throw with her striding. Also taught me a better way to throw flip throws, and a few other little moves for Zumi. If you're interested in disc, the presenter Sara is now at Fenzi Academy teaching her first class this session! I'm hoping it will motivate me to actually practice disc.
Agility
Vito is back to going to agility practice, alternating weeks with Zumi in class. His brain hasn't come back yet since his break. Seriously, he's an idiot. Stays are hard for him. Actually following my handling is hard for him. All the things are hard. But wow is he excited. Certainly not my nice consistent dog who almost never goes off course.
At home Vito is doing better with the listening department but he's still an idiot with jumping. I don't think it's due to his shoulder still as whenever Vito is over the top excited he has always knocked bars. Vito has a very hard time with arousal levels.
Zumi is doing pretty well. We aren't practicing too much at home so haven't made much progress with her aframe turns since last posted. Actually I don't think I've touched the aframe. We have done a few little sequences at home though, trying to kinda keep up with the online class I have been taking this summer.
Obedience
Zumi and Lance went to a WCRL rally trial and CDSP obedience trial last weekend! I had plans to show Vito but when I looked at where it was held I knew that Vito wouldn't be entered. It's just too crowded of a site and usually very difficult to actually get into the ring. Lots of pressure usually from people watching and the crating area. It turned out that this trial was light on entries and with a surprisingly large amount crating from their car I think Vito could have handled it. But better safe than sorry.
Lance was entered in 2 runs of level 3 rally on Saturday, and just 1 on Sunday based on his last trial in April of being tired on day 2. That held true this trial as well. Very sassy and barky corgi in rally! A bit naughty, but always such great focus and attitude. Sunday he was still sassy but visibly tired so I was greatful he only had the one run. I would have loved to entered him in utility obedience at this trial but realized that without regular practice it wouldn't really be fair to him. He's such an experience dog that he could easily handle novice and open without practice, but utility really takes a ton of confidence in the exercises. Articles, signals, go outs I feel are a little unfair without practice. So the corgi won. He has always loved rally more than obedience anyways.
Little Duck got to play in level 3 for the first time! She had 2 runs in level 3 each day and qualified in all. I was very proud of her focus in all runs. She earned her title easily :) And beat her way too sassy corgi brother
And then I decided to be brave and enter her very first obedience trial. We did one run of starters novice on Sunday when I realized there was no stand for exam. She had a few tiny moments of attention lapses but overall I was very proud of her run. Her stand for exam was the biggest point loser in that it took an extra cue to get her to stand (CDSP judges this portion, AKC would not have).
I've also been trying to practice Zumi's stand for exam when I take her to the club before I teach on Wednesdays. She is really doing well. Now if only I can start finding new people to generalize it to.
CDSP obedience trial for the boys! Such great timing being a week before the next AKC show. Fingers were crossed that all the work put into Lance's down signal would pay off. My plan was for a missed signal to give him a verbal, then immediately praise and call him into me, and give him a treat.
Turns out I didn't need to do that! Lance was entered in utility twice and did all his signals both times! I even made sure not to give him any treats in the ring until after the signal exercise to try and replicate more AKC trial like. The first trial signals were last so we did the whole things sans treats. Trial two I think they were 3rd.
Of course Lance still had to fail somethings, so this show he picked gloves. There are 2 glove sends in CDSP for a total of 4 sends in the two shows. Send #1 Lance didn't go so I needed a 2nd command. Send #3 Lance marked glove #1 and then shot off to get glove #2. Send #4 Lance thought about doing the same (I asked the judge to give me #1 again), but veered back and was a good little corgi.
Many great things though! Lance did 4 lovely go outs, and even physically touched the stanchion on 3 of the 4 sends (No way I wanted to stop him "short" in CDSP!). Fingers are crossed he remembers that next week.
No moving on either exam.
Very nice glove pivots, no cheating and not wanting to pivot all the way!
Only other crap thing was fronts. Very little effort given on most of them.
Vito
The Toller was entered in utility C for the 2nd trial only. Very excited in our warmup and really had amazing focus and drive. And then we withered a bit as I looked at the clock and we were waiting for a solid 15 minutes before called in. Vito was the first dog of trial 2 and several times it looked like we were starting, and then we weren't. No one's fault, just the wrong dog to have it happen to.
So our squish and subsequent ring entrance had a lot less drive than the practice squishes I had done while waiting. Still good focus though!
Vito wasn't a fan of the steward table being right by the go out, articles, and start of the moving stand. But worked through it well. Go outs were first which I find very hard for new utility dogs. Vito actually did a very nice job on both but his 2nd go out was way more confident and speedier than the first one.
Moving stand was very nice with a much better stop than the corgi :) Gloves he also failed the first send like the Corgi. Unlike the corgi I don't think Vito ever saw the correct article and I kicked myself for not holding the mark a bit longer. Signals had some nice heeling as well. And then he froze on the down signal. Not unexpected for green utility dogs. Odd though that when I gave a verbal Vito still sat. Articles were nice! I had to think about what method to send him with as I hardly ever practice formal sends. Chose to send after a sit to make sure he knew where the pile was.
Went back int the utility ring for day #2. I didn't have quite the drivey dog at the trial that I did on Saturday so I worked hard at getting him revved up outside of the ring before our turn.
The entrance was at the far end, away from the stewards table but closer to more activity. Pros and cons. Vito actually did a fabulous ring entrance, complete with a tiny scream as I did a little oppositional push before going in the ring. Excellent leash removal, and setup right at the entrance.
Unfortunately since the CDSP signal exercise really doesn't involve heeling, judges have the option of either heeling down the length to an about turn and stand, or just a simple forward-right/left turn-stand. The short setup was picked today and while Vito did a fantastic job of heeling for the short duration, I think he would have done better with the longer pattern like yesterday's run to help him settle into the ring. The stand was literally done at the 13sec mark. Something to prepare Vito for in the future!!!
So Vito gave me a blank look on the down signal. I paused and then gave him a second down signal which he did. No issues on sit and came quickly on the come.
Nice fast articles.
Go outs he wasn't marking very well. Did a lovely first send though. Second send he started to turn just a bit early.
Gloves we had the exact same issue as Saturday. Not pivoting with me for a left pivot, just staring at me until I give him a second command to heel. Then playing with the first glove and dropping it at my feet. Second glove was nice although we had quite the delay before the send as the judge wanted a chair removed for some reason.
No issue with the moving stand.
Overall I was very happy with the run! Certainly not as enthusiastic as Saturday's run and I needed to work harder on our transitions and setups too. But no major stress issues and he still seemed very engaged.
Since CDSP allows 2nd commands as points off versus an NQ, Vito technically qualified and earned his Utility Dog title.
The Toller had a CDSP trial this afternoon. Decided to enter just utility A this weekend since he finished his open "championship" in June.
And he had one of the best runs of his life. Great ring entrance. Great enthusiasm on the exercises themselves. Great engagement during transitions. And great setups.
Did you see we even managed to qualify! I thought it was Vito's first leg, but it turned out it was his second. I forgot Vito entered utility a year ago and although he needed second hand signals at that time for each portion of the signal exercise, that is still qualifiable in CDSP as long as you don't talk. So today was his second leg, and was qualifying even by AKC standards. The first glove send just made me smile at how much fun he was having!
Looking over the video I see that he did do some looks the judge at setups, but was easily redirected through a nose bridge, placing my hand on his chest or by re-marking where he should be looking. Vito doing a nose bridge/pocket hand so quickly under stress has been a long time in the making!
Vito gets another go at it tomorrow and my fingers are crossed he will be just as happy to play with me. Regardless of how it goes, I will at least treasure this moment
And since I know there are at least a few people out there who actually read this blog, I am unashamedly going to push you to sign up for my Ring Confidence class at the Fenzi Academy! I am new and people are scared of jumping on board! But I would love to try and problem solve your dog's ring issues and emphasize! I am blending Denise's lectures with mine and also creating new ones for you guys!
Read more...
Vito
After we got home from the trial on Saturday Vito started to do some whincing when getting up from a down :( I don't know how he managed to injure himself, but it might explain his last run of agility on Saturday where he didn't want to go in the tunnel or take the frame when sent. I was thinking it was just Vito being Vito and possibly worrying because he was "wrong" on the discrimination. Sorry Vito.
So Sunday I was luckily able to get him massaged by a good friend and he got to visit the chiropractor before his first scheduled run. Both thought they identified some tight muscles in his front, especially his right, but worked it out and should be fine. So I decided to do his first agility run and evaluate.
I then almost pulled him as Vito was reluctant to jump on me and cringed into a puddle if I went to ruffle him, but again he's Vito and he's so hard to tell if he's being weird because he had just been proded a billion times and didn't want to be touched again, or if he was hurting. Of course I show him a toy and he magically turned fine again. So I ran him. It went OK. No weird striding issue and his time was right in his "good" range. Not Sad Toller, not amazingly fast toller, but still a fast run. And I know my handling sucked because I was worried and didn't push as hard as i usually do. I actually had to do 2 rear crosses because I wasn't driving as hard as usual.
Since he didn't seem to bobble at all I decided to do the obedience run about 15-20min later. Again he didn't want to be touched but wasn't showing any other obvious signs of dicomfort. Apparently I made the wrong decision. Vito worked hard and it was his 3rd time of entering utility instead of our usual open runs.
Heeled fairly well for the short pattern, but did look away at the judge. Sat on the down signal but laid down when I gave a 2nd signal. And then on the come he did quick cry as he collected into his sit :( I kept hand touches pretty low for all most between exercises activity and he did pretty well with that. Tried to see if he would jump up a couple times and sometimes Vito would, sometimes not.
Articles he needed a second command to leave me and then when he did he looked loss.. And then quickly found the correct one and promptly took it to the judge. Can't say that's happened before!
Go outs were fairly straight on both sends. On the 2nd jump he started to come straight to me but I was able to step out and redirect him.
Gloves he needed a 2nd command to go on the 1st glove.
On the moving stand he needed a 2nd command to come to heel.
Clearly a recurring theme and I don't know whether to chalk it up to confidence or discomfort.
Scratched the rest of his agility runs and saw the chiropractor again. He was very tight again and she was puzzled. More massaging, icing, and now we're on exercise restriction for a bit.
Lance
The corgi was entered only in the first trial for utility. Did his down signal!!! And then sassed at me on the sit signal to let me know he desreved a cookie for his great down I think :) I did metal today for articles instead of leather, no issues.
Nice go outs, but he did give me a small heart attack when he slipped a tiny bit on the first jump (at 4in). Seemed to recover very well and no issue with the 2nd jump. I am so guarded of him now!
Gloves were nice, a quick cute little head toss on the pickups, but no dropping of either glove today.
Moving stand he moved a little bit on the exam again. All 3 trials this weekend.
Good enough for high in trial!
Zumi
The Duck only had 1 round of puppy rally today. Didn't want to push it! She started off a bit more distracted than Saturday, but still very nice focus. Couldn't be happier with her performance. Certainly crushed my goals of happy attitude and good focus!
Day 1 of a combined CDSP Obedience, WCRL Rally, and NADAC agility trial! All 3 dogs got to do something! I think it's the first time I have ever done agility and obedience/rally at the same trial? Vito apparently loved going into the obedience ring after agility! Vito
3 Agility runs. Another amazing jumpers run, continuing our streak of happiness about non-contact obstacle courses! The course seemed odd for NADAC as well as I counted 6 crosses, and even the opening didn't have 3 jumps in a straight line! Regular was next with another super happy Toller and 5.44yps for his 3rd fastest Regular run of all time. Jumpers- http://youtu.be/JNy83wk-aUc Regular- http://youtu.be/BAD1ecObgMc
After 2 runs of agility he headed into the obedience ring for Open. Super super happy Toller! Handed off the leash with focus! Great go out! Fast drop on recall, and I was brave and used hand signal only versus the simultaneous verbal allowed. Fast retrieves and even had to call him off during a rethrow. Engaged heeling, minus one look away towards the judge (steward?) during the first turn. No cutting corner on the broad jump, but a horrendous finish. So, so proud of his attitude and happy transitions between exercises.
Long break, then back to the agility ring for Chances. I knew we didn't have a shot at all with the 2 turn aways on the course. Vito almost made it the first one, and then became sad and weird. I tried to put him in the tunnel but he wouldn't go in, then pulled off the aframe. Not sure what was up with him, but luckily we were done for the day.
Lance
The corgi had 2 utility obedience runs. First run was very nice and he did his down signal. So happy! And then confidently grabbed the wrong article, so I played with it and pretended he was correct. I think that's only the 2nd (3rd?) time in a trial he has ever brought back the wrong article so I'm not going to sweat it. Horrible arching left on both go out sends. Some playing with the glove on the 2nd glove exercise. Fronts were also pretty bad for most of them.
Round 2 was sassier. Great, straight, go outs! Bonus jump when sent for the article pile- confident ran to the middle of the ring, hesitated and took a jump, then excitedly saw the pile and quickly found the correct one. Major forging on stand for exam. Dropped the 2nd glove send not once, but twice due to too happy pickups. But sadly only went 3/4ths of the way down on the down signal :( Frustrating problem.
Zumi
Zumi's 2nd trial!!! She did puppy rally in April, a few days after her 6 month birthday and did very well then too. This trial had even more focus and I didn't have to fake my way through anything, other than the around finish. Her first lesson on arround was in the parking lot at the last trial, her 2nd lesson was outside the ring at this trial.
Round 1 had only 2 total sits and the rest was all straight heeling. I think Zumi had 1 small glance away and 1 other time when she seemed to be doing a small gag on a treat. Overall amazing attitude and happily did bouncing in and out of the ring when asked. Earned a "perfect" 210.
Round 2 also had great focus and the course was a little bit more complicated with some extra call fronts, and finishes. Kept her focus up well minus one spot where she got distracted by a gigantic painted "target" on the ground. I decided to backup to get her focus on me although I don't think re-doing the sign was necessary. With the redo we earned a 207.
On Saturday before I went to pick up Zumi from her sleepover I took the boys to a CDSP obedience trial.
I entered Lance in 1 round of Utility to see if he could do his signals. The answer was sadly no :( Sat on the down signal again and wouldn't even lie down when I gave a 2nd signal. Verbal needed. But he seeemed happy and engaged as usual. The other odd issue Lance had was failure to go on my command for the first glove exercise. I don't think Lance has ever not gone on the first cue? Happily sped out and flung the glove on the 2nd verbal. Since in CDSP you do gloves twice, the judge gave us the same number (3) again so we could practice and Lance had no issue doing it with his usual flare.
So the down signal issue is clearly back. It's been a couple years and I suppose we're due. Now trying to figure out how to replicate the issue in practice as of course he nails any challenge, even in new locations. Trial environments is always his thing.
Vito was entered in 1 round of Open. And thfor the first time in 4 years of showing I actually entered Vito in the 2nd trial instead of the first! I don't know why it took me so long to connect the fact that Vito is not a morning dog with the relization that I don't HAVE to enter trial 1!
Vito was sassy :) Even did some light Toller noises when I was practicing his before going into the ring squish! Had a nice ring entrance with good focus on leash removal and going to the startline. I do think it helped that our judge was standing far away from the start.
Did 2 sneezes on the heel pattern, but otherwise kept focus and good position! Even jumped up on me happily after the end and setup quickly for the broad jump. And then did his best running broad jump in a trial, although with a poor front. I chose to give his first cookie reward after he was willing to jump up on me before we moved to the drop on recall. Skipped his front again on the recall like he has been doing recently in trials.
For the retrieves he went out happily and only gave a quick glance at the judge after each pickup. Go out. No issue with the mini go out.
Overall very happy with Vito's attitude and engagement! Still trying to put that awful AKC trial behind us, but now I have 2 happy CDSP trials in the bank! There are 2 more CDSP opportunities this summer before the next local AKC trial comes around and I have to decide if Vito could handle it again.
Read more...
Zumi
Zumi had more awesome focus for her 2nd time in the rally ring, puppy level! Ate lots of cookies and even did the around finish I quickly introduced to her in the parking lot! Our score tied with another puppy so we even did a run off for first place!
And to be greedy I decided to enter Zumi in a second round of Puppy! She continued her great focus and qualified to earn her very first title! Not that a Puppy Rally title means anything at all, but it's super cute :)
More ribbons!
Vito- Utility
I had decided to enter Vito in utility obedience on Sunday just for fun. Vito has done it once last summer and manged to qualify then, but I knew that chances were still low. Just isn't as comfortable with the exercises under the pressure of the ring.
Ring entrance went well again! And although several glances at the judge on setup for the short bit of heeling done on the signal exercise in this organization, Vito heeled well and stood well. And then a long stare at the judge as I was supposed to leave him. I waited a bit and Vito still didn't look back so I gave the signal anyway and Vito actually stayed put. But frozen on the down signal, even with a second hand signal given Vito just sat. On verbal he finally downed. On the sit hand signal he was still frozen so I gave verbal right away. Did come on the hand signal though!
Bounced happily for me on the long way to articles! More staring at the judge, but not intense enough he couldn't listen. Worked the article pile nicely when I sent him and brought back the correct one! Go outs were also awesome! But more staring at the judge on the setup. She actually was very nice and after he sat on the other end she decided to be on the opposite side of the jump he was supposed to take to lessen the pressure on him.
Gloves were hard for Vito. On the first one he didn't pivot with me so I gave another cue. And then he started marking wrong, so I stood up right away, re-marked, and then sent him. Got the correct glove. On the second set of gloves (you do this exercise twice in CDSP) Vito pivoted nicely, marked nicely, and then froze so I gave a second command which he did nicely. The judge helped us again by not coming around behind him to observe his front.
Moving stand he heeled nicely, stood nicely, and then had to take a step forward to see the judge coming to touch him. I chose to give another command to stay and Vito did a nice job looking back at me.
So hard stuff for Vito but overall I was very happy with his performance. Although he wanted to stare at the judge he engaged with me nicely after each exercise finish, moved nicely to the setup, and didn't take too much effort to reconnect after staring.
Lance- Rally and Utility
Corgi continued sassiness and had another great time in the ring. Loved doing rally and got to bark at me as the bonus sign was the call front-back up 3 steps.
In utility Lance was on the edge of anticipation in everything but managed to qualify with a nice score. Did all his signals the first time :) On the first go out he started to sprint off before the judge even asked if we were ready. And on the moving stand I'm pretty sure he started to move as soon as the judge told me to call to heel. Otherwise it was nicely done and he worked a bit harder at finding a proper front and had nice finishes.
I had the jumps at 4in in obedience and on the ground in rally all trial but Lance didn't have any issues. He over jumped them all and was excited. I have done zero jumping with Lance since his injury as I'm still not sure what our plan is going to be. I did enter Lance in the AKC obedience trial next weekend. Sunday only, and utility only. Not sure that I want him doing the broad jump right now, and I don't want to worry about the sit stay anyway. I'm not entirely sure that I won't pull before the event, but right now I think things are looking good for Lance's return to AKC obedience. At least physically and with attitude, not so sure he has any sense of precision back!
Read more...
Our club hosted a cynosport rally and CDSP obedience trial this weekend. Always great organizations for creating happiness in the ring with their allowance of treats during certain portions!
Zumi
Yes, Zumi! I decided to enter Zumi in rally, puppy class, since she was there anyway :) At the puppy level you can feed a treat anytime you want, as long as the treats are kept in a pocket instead of in your hand. I fully planned on treating as often as needed to keep her focus and teach her that ring=awesome! Expectations were low that she would even sit in heel position! Actually until the week of the trial I hadn't yet worked on sitting in heel and even when I asked for a sit in front of me I usually got a down instead.
Apparently Zumi had higher goals for herself! She not only had amazing focus but actually did several sits in heel, immediately when asked! Only sign we actually faked our way through was the sit-stand-forward. I used a hand touch cue to get Zumi out of her sit and then immediately praised and moved forward almost instantly before she could sit or down again :) Zumi actually looked like a trained dog! Video to come!
Vito- Open
Brave and happy Toller! Didn't quite do full focus during the ring entrance, but quickly looked back to me during leash removal when I said his name. I loved his attitude and focus to our first setup and he continued it during the heel pattern. Only a small look away to the judge at one section. Super nice jumping up when asked in between exercises and setup quickly each time.
Main error was a skipped front on the drop on recall. And then more points lots of my part when I gave him an extra command to stay as I tried to shimmy over him after the mini go out. But happiness! Energy! And bonus work on even trying to be straight on his dumbbell fronts!
Lance
Squirrely! Excited to be back in his trial post injury! Lance was entered in one round of CDSP Utility and one round of Cynosport rally level 3 each day. Very good work in both on Saturday. Just not quite working his fronts and finishes very hard like he had been starting to before the break. Sadly Lance did not want to lie down on signals. Gave him the signal twice and he just gave me a blank stare until I used a verbal.
This blog is about life with my 3 dogs. It's mainly to keep track of my training with the dogs and my exploration into the world of competitive obedience, agility, disc dog, and trick training. We reside outside of Minneapolis, MN.
Train With Me!
I offer online private lessons, online group classes, and in person lessons! Find out more by visiting my official training page, Tandem Dog Sports
Fenzi Dog Sport Academy
Lance the Corgi
Lance is my first dog, born April 2007. We faced early retirement due to an injury but Lance enjoyed playing in obedience, rally, and agility. He got me hooked on dog sports.
(photo by Sarah Beth Photography)
Vito the Toller
Vito was born on Halloween 2008. We currently compete in agility and are slowly making our way back to the obedience ring. Vito is making me into a better trainer every step of the way.
(Photo by Great Dane Photography)
Zumi the Duck
Born October 2014, Zumi is adventuring into the agility world and competitive obedience. We are working on some over arousal issues!
Luke the Kitty
Luke is a 10yr old kitty who finds his greatest joy in tormenting Lance. He also loves to wrestle with the fosters, cuddle with his tollers, and steal as much food as possible through trash can raiding and chewing holes in pockets.
