I have been training using H360 for almost 3 years now, and in response to a call from Susan Garrett to produce videos showing how H360 has helped us on our agility journeys, I made this wee video of our story.
I
wrote this recently after being asked to describe to club members how
to make a start with distance handling. I hope it's helpful. Also
worth checking out is the FaceBook group for Distance Handling here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/300843699995932
There are lots of reasons:
- Because it’s cool, and worth a try
- To add more flexibility to your handling
- Because you can’t run as fast as your dog
- Because you really can’t run at all!
The emphasis you place on building
distance skills will depend on how many of the above apply to you. Handling at
a distance will always be riskier than conventional methods, so handlers who
can move fast, usually take that option. For the rest of us distance handling
is worth the time investment, because it helps us to be competitive at all. My Thoughts on Training Distance
Handling:
1.Confidence
is key! If your dog is to
race away and take obstacles on command, without you there, he needs to know
you will be pleased he did. So, reward -
reward - reward – even if he takes the wrong obstacle, or turns the wrong way,
reward the attempt. This always
important, but it is especially so at the start of distance training.
Agility took something of a backseat for me in 2015 as my health stumbled and the exertion of agility became too much. So it has been over a year since I last posted here.
In 2016 however, thanks to an off label drug, my health somewhat improved. In fact, I've even stopped using the mobility scooter, and am once again walking in the ring, and "distance handling" with Finn.
I think he understands me better now too, as we are gradually collecting a few ribbons.
This was our first ever KC clear round - a Jumping round back in June at The Patch.
And at the Lisburn Show in August, we got two clear rounds in agility. This one in G1-7:
And this one in G1-3 where we picked up second place, beaten by only 1/100th of a second!
Then in September at the Belfast DDTC show we finally managed to win our first KC Agility class! I was so proud that he worked out what I wanted in this round - because sending him off, all on his own to those 6 weaves, was a bit of an "all or nothing" gamble. :)
Of course, we don't always get things right, so for the sake of honesty, here's a round that is perhaps more typical with things going a bit pear-shaped!
I labelled this round Ooops!
As for training, I am still following Susan Garrett on H360, and I hope that in 2017 my co-ordination will improve some, and that we can gradually become more consistent in the ring.
This is Finn & my first year competing in Kennel Club competitions.
We've a lot to work on still, but Finn and I have attempted two KC rounds so far:
Castle Ward 9th May Agility Grade 1-3
I was really pleased with this round despite the elimination at the weaves, because for the first time he didn't dash onwards and take obstacles without being sent to them.
He did a couple of spins back to me when uncertain where to go next - so I need to work on getting my directions to him more quickly and clearly.
Ballyrawer 30th May Agility Grade 1-3
Still not getting the weaves right, but his contacts were great, and apart from one small spin before the last jump he seemed totally clear about where to go... :)
I was also delighted with how he took the long jump - I think this is the first one he has ever encountered!
Flash Back... June 2014 Finn's first attempt at a Jumping round at a Cooperhill Fun Day
This video shows just how far he has come in a year.... Obviously an elimination, because he doesn't follow directional cues much at all here, but I think this shows a certain raw enthusiasm. He was very pleased with himself!
As far as Training goes:
We continue to attend club training, and I have been given fantastic support and encouragement from Castlereagh & District Dog Training Club. Of course the fact that they have now moved their training grounds to our paddock makes it much easier for me to get out for training sessions. No need to load the scooter into the van and travel now!
I have also joined Susan Garrett's online H360 course, and we are working our way through various exercises so that I can call clear instructions to Finn... Thing's like "Na na na" meaning to take the back of a jump and so on. We haven't put many of these into practice in competition yet, but his skills are expanding and soon I hope to do most of his handling at a distance and using a combination of Susan's verbals, and our own quirky communication signals!
At the moment my health limits me to attempting only one competitive round a weekend, which is frustrating, but just part of having an illness like ME. Actually, I am very grateful that my health is sufficient to allow me to do this, as many ME folk suffer to a much greater extent.
This helps explain my dilemma with doing agility: Well enough to drink coffee?
Oh and here's to my happy, willing dog who does his very best to work out what I am trying to tell him. I had no idea when I gave him his Kennel Club name, just how true it would turn out to be! xx
I am delighted to announce that Linda of Cheshire has won the Ability for Agility photo competition.
She wins two complementary tickets, and tells me that she hasn't been to Crufts before - she sounded incredibly excited to attend!
Which makes this all the more fun for me! Anyway, I'm sure you'll have a fantastic day Linda! And Congratulations!
So here is the winning photograph:
Tim - my husband, who judged the photos - said that he was torn between many excellent entries, but that the title "DOG'S DAY OUT" made him think that it was important that the image showed the dogs doing something very dog orientated.
So this photo where the two terriers are completely oblivious to the camera, and obviously having a great day out, he felt best demonstrated the chosen theme.
Linda's two Jack Russells are brothers called Radley and Rascal, and she says, "This is our first time as JRT owners and they have completely melted our hearts! Characters doesn't cover it really does it!" I couldn't agree more!
So not long until CRUFTS now, and much still to do here to prepare. Our wee Patsy still needs her hair cut, but with the current weather I've been putting it off. Must take before and after photos to share. Frankly, right now she looks like a little black sheep not a dog! Watch this space.
Further info:
Crufts runs between 5th & 8th March at The NEC, Birmingham and is always a fantastic day out for dog enthusiasts. Whatever your specialism there will be dogs, stands and competitions worth exploring at the show.
This time I'm running a PHOTO COMPETITION ! Check below for details.
Crufts runs between 5th & 8th March at The NEC, Birmingham and is always a fantastic day out for dog enthusiasts. Whatever your specialism there will be dogs, stands and competitions worth exploring at the show.
Ability for Agility Crufts Tickets Photo Competition!
Theme: "DOGS DAY OUT"
To be eligible to win ONE pair of DAY PASSES, just enter your favourite photo of your dog, out somewhere and obviously having fun!
Email your photo to abilityforagility@outlook.com with your name, your dog's name and a brief description of the photo. (Up to 3 entries per person.)
Entry in this competition gives me permission to use your photo and the accompanying caption on this blog - with appropriate attribution of course.
Entries close on Wednesday 25th February at midnight.
My husband has kindly agreed to judge the photos. Dogs that are known to him are obviously not going to be eligible!!
Should you win, you will be contacted by email on or before Saturday 28th, and asked for your address so that I can post the pair of tickets to you.
Should you not reply within 48 hours of being emailed about your win, another winner will be selected.
Last year I blogged about going to Crufts, and this year the good folk at Crufts emailed to ask would I like a few
free tickets
to offer to readers of my blog!!
"Well Yes Please!" was the obvious answer!
First let me tell you about CRUFTS - it is simply the most massive dog show you can imagine, and quite the best place for checking out everything dog related: from the top show-dogs aiming for Best in Show, tothe Scrufts Best Crossbreed, and everything in between.
The tickets I have to offer are TWO pairs of DAY PASSES. I've decided to split these between two events:
Ability for Agility Crufts Tickets GiveAway #1:
This will be run on a Prize Draw basis. To be eligible to win ONE pair of DAY PASSES, just:
Share this post publicly on either: your blog, your Facebook wall, or via Twitter.
Send an email to abilityforagility@outlook.com with your name, and details (link please) of where you shared this post.
Entries for this Prize Draw close on Wednesday 11th February at midnight.
A winner will be chosen at random by putting all the names in a hat! Should you win, you will be contacted by email on or before Saturday 14th, and asked for your address so that I can post the pair of tickets to you.
Should you not reply within 48 hours of being emailed about your win, another winner will be selected.
I intend to run a photo competition for the second pair of tickets and details will follow shortly. The theme will obviously be "Dogs" so watch this space for more details!
This will be my third year visiting Crufts and Shona has once again qualified as part of the YKC Agility Team from N.Ireland. And I can't wait to see what the show offers this year!
Last year the team took 5th place and the blog posts I wrote at the time include:
I'm still struggling with my health, so this was a short outing to do one round of Jumping.
We arrived in good time, and Finn and I did a few warm up jumps in the practice ring. We also worked on "ignoring other dogs - while being fed treats" - which went well, although he still finds other dogs approaching the scooter a bit stressful.
So after "walking" the course, we were the 2nd competitor into the ring... & yes it was that wet!! The mud you see was produced just from folk walking the course!!
Anyway, Finn's first round in competition resulted in an elimination, but I came out of the ring on an absolute high because of how attentive he was, and the fact that we "got" that complicated wee combination of jumps after the first black tunnel.
Watching this however, I can see two times where I've obviously used the wrong arm to signal.
Now that I don't spin on the spot (as runners can do when doing a front cross), I should use the "other" arm (ie away from the side the dog is on) to push his line on, so he doesn't curve back towards me ....
For example after the last tunnel: I think I should have used my right arm to signal onwards, not my left which made him sweep round to his right....
Lots to learn. Such fun. Can't wait til next Winter League session!
Finn's weave training is progressing well. My previous post describes the work I did using the Two by Two training method. Finn quickly learned to weave a set of four poles this way.
I continued with this approach,also sending him from awkward angles.
Some days however, he would repeatedly try out other behaviours - such as just running alongside the four poles with his nose down - to see if I would reward that. Anyway, I consistently brought him back to where he was comfortable and repeated what he could achieve, before once again challenging him.
Soon I was able to add two more poles and have him do six poles.
Once he was comfortable with that, I set up TWO sets of six about 5 metres apart. After doing each of these singly, I then sent him through both sets one after the other.
In only a few sessions I was then able to bring the two sets of six together and suddenly he was doing twelve weave poles in sequence!!!
WOW... I have to admit I'm a convert to this method of teaching weaves. He really got the idea very quickly.
However he seemed to be taking the poles very slowly and not learning that rhythm that fast dogs develop through the poles. So I re-introduced channels. (The fact that our club now train here and they'd left the channel weaves set up in the field was also irresistible!)
This time channels were much more successful. Instead of just bashing through he was now weaving, and also gathering some speed. On top of that he is getting (mostly) good remote entries.
I took this video the other day - the weaves are open in a channel. I sat on my scooter facing the middle of the set of channel weaves, and sent him through them first one way the the other. He misses one entry, but got it the next time for his reward.
So we started with Channel Weaves and he got the idea of a dash through the length of the channel very quickly.
However as we started to bring the poles more in line, Finn still just dashed (or bashed) in a straight line down the length of the poles. This led to a couple of problems:
If I was using the home poles, which are the stick in the ground variety, they just flew everywhere like so many matchsticks!
If we were at club training, using the more solid channel weaves, he bashed through hitting his face and sides, and not really thinking it was much fun.
So either way weave training was not progressing well, and certainly not to the point where he got the idea he should actually weave!
In his mind it was all about running in straight lines.
So I came across the Two by Two idea originally put forward by Susan Garrett of teaching weaves by introducing only two poles first, and then adding more. The idea is to make the dogs look for each pair of poles.
I started this about 10 days ago. First by just rewarding him for going between two poles.
Then by adding a second pair off-set as shown in the section labelled 1.
.
Over time the second pair is gradually moved into line with the first pair (2 &3) and then brought closer so that all poles are at the correct distance apart.
At the moment Finn can achieve 4 poles in a straight line at the end of a practice session, however I still usually start with the poles spaced as they are in step 3 when we first go out. I'm doing about ten repetitions each time, and then doing something else.
My aim this week is to have him reliably running 4 poles from where ever I ask.
Nearly all our agility class were there and testing out new skills.
I was pleased with Finn, as he did nice "waits" at the start of each round, and then willingly ran on for the distant lines I attempted.
Amy took a video:
We still need to refine some of our turn commands, but this was a huge leap forward from the last Fun Day at Cooperhill where he just ran over random obstacles - only sometimes listening to my directions.
Anyway, it was a lovely day and some of the barley had been cut up behind the grounds so we got a wee spin up there too:
Finn's sister, Pixie, had a really successful day with Amy getting a clear round in the Jumps and Tunnels round, and picking up a Judge's Special Rosette.
Here's a video of her round:
Wee Patsy was flying today too
And she and Shona won a class...
And were also videoed:
All in all a great day out:
For me, my friends and my favourite pup!
PS His earlier round at Cooperhill can be seen here: Not a Velcro Dog
As soon as think about my "outside the ring" activities, my brain immediately swings to the reasons I do that stuff, and it is all to do with what goes on "inside the ring"!
Even now, as I think about an agility round, I start to feel that wonderful thrum of excitement in my heart and a slightly wide-eyed, "in the moment" focus.
Every time we enter the ring we hold out hope for that perfect round - one of those moments of understanding between dog and handler that transcends all our real world concerns.
Nothing is guaranteed, of course, and every competition has champions taking falls and novices celebrating surprise wins. It is all part of what brings us out to compete again and again: the gamble of each and every round.
The "outside the ring" stuff just helps us to load the dice in our favour.
We all have our pet training routines, queuing tips, and health advice for dogs and handlers. And we also have that "other stuff" that goes on outside the ring: perhaps those bills to be paid, work worries, emotional entanglements and so on.
Yet inside the ring, we can leave all that behind, and take another gamble on finding that perfect moment. It's like a drug, and we keep going back for more. And so much of what goes on outside the ring is to feed that habit.
So:
"Hello, my name is Sally, and I am addicted to Gambling - Agility Gambling."
Somehow, I suspect I am not the only Agility Gambling Addict!
Well Finn has finally had his wee operation. I debated for sometime whether to neuter him - there are strong views both for and against. Finally, went with the vet's recommendation and booked him in.
He is recovering well but not one bit impressed to have to stay on the lead for all his exercise for a whole week! Nor by the collar that he must wear - licking a certain area is just too irresistible!
On a more cheerful note, at our last training session before "that" day, Finn was jumping full height and going really well.
Kathrine McAleese runs an agility fun day each year after her "Mind to Win" training camp.
This year she introduced a course of jumps and tunnels especially for dogs who had not yet competed in KC competitions.
Ronnie McAleese designed a flowing course with just a couple of little challenges:
So Finn and I attempted the course as a training round at medium height. It didn't go entirely to plan.... the purple arrows show where we messed up. (And Ronnie, I'm really sorry Finn lifted his leg on your tunnel.)
However despite the bungle in the middle, I was very pleased with Finn this time. The last sequence felt totally exhilarating!
A couple of people have asked about how I started working Finn from the scooter, and about the work I've done with him to encourage distance handling. So these are links to posts I wrote at the time, with a few comments added from today's perspective.
Throughout his puppyhood, I obviously did a lot of just playing with Finn. Things like encouraging him to chase a ball, and bring it back. And to put the ball back in my hand rather than just drop it at my feet. I also wanted a reliable wait, so started introducing a wait into our play sessions.
Really, I was just keeping up with a few short minutes most days. At this stage Finn still hadn't started formal classes, but I thought that a little bit of work in advance of the class would help us cope, because obviously I'll not be able to run along side him like everyone else.
I didn't keep repeating the same stuff all the time either. For example although he mastered the tunnel as quite a small puppy, it was put away for sometime while working on other little things. "Wait" however I kept reinforcing and practicing in new environments.
A Note on Weaves: I thought I'd teach him using the channel weave method. He learned very quickly to run down the channel. However, I have currently had to stop, because our weave poles are only stuck into the ground, and trying to bring them into a straighter line has resulted in him ploughing through them. So although we made this excellent start, I am now only working his weaves on the club training set that cannot be sent flying!!!
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