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Agility Nationals 2014


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Getting close now...The draft running order came out last night & there are pages & pages of 500 dogs in each event :eek: I hope they have some way of splitting the 500's into groups for walking the course, otherwise it will be impossible :( They have close on 5500 entries, not including the teams & the finals. If I find the courses are too crowded to get a fair go, then I wont be going again to a National.

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Thanks sheena, just had a look at the draft and wow that is a lot of dogs! I'm so excited, less than 2 weeks away :D A bit nervous though as I have my 2 in 2 different height categories and in different levels/events, so not sure how that's going to work out :o

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I have entered in the Novice classes... desperately trying to get our weaves in time, but at least we can run the jumpers courses! :)

Em struggled with weaves at the last Nationals - tough environment! I'm sure you've got plenty of people giving you advice but can I suggest that you don't stop and re-do the weaves if your dog misses them or pops out. Just keep running :thumbsup:

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I have entered in the Novice classes... desperately trying to get our weaves in time, but at least we can run the jumpers courses! :)

Em struggled with weaves at the last Nationals - tough environment! I'm sure you've got plenty of people giving you advice but can I suggest that you don't stop and re-do the weaves if your dog misses them or pops out. Just keep running :thumbsup:

Ummmmm...that's a hard decision to make. My older dog used to be good in the weaves till one day she popped out in a snooker run home. I let her keep running (self rewarded) & it took me six months of training to get her to not pop the weaves in trials. The same thing has happened with our new boy. When he started trialling he was good in the weaves & one day he popped & OH let him self reward by going on. Now he pops every time in trials only :( We are working on it & hope we have it fixed before the Nationals, as he is the only one of my dogs that has any chance of getting into the finals. If one of my dogs misses a jump or a tunnel entry, I will just run on as if nothing has happened, as it would have been handler error anyway. But if they do a crazy contact or pop the weaves I will take them back or pop them back in. It's an instant DQ...but we would have flunked anyway :( I know some judges don't like it.

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I think your situation is different Sheena because your dogs knew the weaves - I believe Hudson is still learning the wesvers?

That would be different then for sure. But with my guys, they knew what they had to do & self rewarded :)

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I think your situation is different Sheena because your dogs knew the weaves - I believe Hudson is still learning the wesvers?

That would be different then for sure. But with my guys, they knew what they had to do & self rewarded :)

Even if a dog knows the weaves, it can be demoralising (for some dogs) to keep repeating until they get it right . I know that, with my boy, we both do better if we keep it fast and fun. It is rare to see a handler make their dog repeat something without expressing any disappointment to the dog (they're experts at body language).

My boy went through a period of popping out near the end but a trainer pointed out that I was turning my head to look at him ( to check for a pop) and this was making him focus on me and he popped out. I now don't look at him at all and just run and he hasn't popped out since.

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Yes, sorry guys! Hudson is not quite weaving the whole lot yet.. and slowly but we are getting there. Got to 6 poles straight tonight but slowly :) haha

I am not sure after training tonight if we are going to be ready. He had improved so much but has now taken to running out the gate after a run instead of waiting for me after the last jump. Partly because I have get him so excited and taught him to run ahead of me down a line.. now need to figure how to train the stop at the end!

We will see how we go, we might not compete if this keeps up.. don't want to end up with him running onto another dog or causing any trouble.

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Yes, sorry guys! Hudson is not quite weaving the whole lot yet.. and slowly but we are getting there. Got to 6 poles straight tonight but slowly :) haha

I am not sure after training tonight if we are going to be ready. He had improved so much but has now taken to running out the gate after a run instead of waiting for me after the last jump. Partly because I have get him so excited and taught him to run ahead of me down a line.. now need to figure how to train the stop at the end!

We will see how we go, we might not compete if this keeps up.. don't want to end up with him running onto another dog or causing any trouble.

Put a target with a treat or a toy after the last jump. When I taught my guys to run ahead of me taking all obstacles in their path..I put a target at the end & when they got to it, I called them back & treated them when they returned to me. So we were doing two exercises in one...teaching them to work away & practicing recalling back over the obstacles. :)

EH....I am sending you a PM

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E+H I hope things work out for Hudson! Will keep an eye out for him if you're there, as I have an Aussie as well :D Looks just like Sheena's red tri BC (judging by your sig sheena :D ). I found the target at the end of the weaves worked well for Rusty, and with Biscuit I've been throwing large visible treats (a toy would be better if toy motivated) just as he's exiting the last pole so that he drives forward instead of keeping looking up at me.

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We are getting the weaves, but my main concern is getting him to stay in the ring.. If I don't see some improvement in training in the next week we might have to give the nationals a miss :(

Will still come and watch though if I can't get this sorted again.

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How do you celebrate and engage with him in the ring when he's finished? Do you do a little dance, look him in the eye?

I thought my boy to value the leash ( by saying leash time every time I clip it on and give him a treat). At the end of a run I smile, look at him, tell him he was a good boy and say "leash time". He walks with me to the leash because he associated it with reward.

I've noticed a few people with dogs that run out. They look stressed as the dog runs towards the last obstacle and it turns into a cycle.

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I don't actually usually get enough time for him to look at me at all, once he is over that last obstacle he doesn't even slow down + out the gate he goes!

Am working on a target that I can get him to go towards after a run. He just loses focus once the obstacles are done! But I will stop taking this thread off topic.

Super excited to meet some of you at Nationals!

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I don't actually usually get enough time for him to look at me at all, once he is over that last obstacle he doesn't even slow down + out the gate he goes!

Am working on a target that I can get him to go towards after a run. He just loses focus once the obstacles are done! But I will stop taking this thread off topic.

Super excited to meet some of you at Nationals!

Not at all! It's great to hear about your journey! The golden rule is simplify, simplify, simplify. Try starting with one jump using your "run home" command (I use "GO") - send him over to get the treat from the target mat and then call him back to you for another treat/tug.

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I don't actually usually get enough time for him to look at me at all, once he is over that last obstacle he doesn't even slow down + out the gate he goes!

Am working on a target that I can get him to go towards after a run. He just loses focus once the obstacles are done! But I will stop taking this thread off topic.

Super excited to meet some of you at Nationals!

Not at all! It's great to hear about your journey! The golden rule is simplify, simplify, simplify. Try starting with one jump using your "run home" command (I use "GO") - send him over to get the treat from the target mat and then call him back to you for another treat/tug.

Exactly....I would even start with just sending him to the target & calling him back...just a couple of feet to start with, gradually increasing it till you can send him about 15 - 20 meters to the target, then introduce one obstacle at a time..calling him back over the obstacles after he has taken the treat. You can also back chain. Set up 3 or 4 jumps & the target. Send him over the last jump with your "go" command then call him back. Do this a few times, then start at the second last jump etc till he is doing the whole lot running to the target & coming back to you for a treat. You could even make the treat he comes back to, yummier than the one on the target..or just have a party when he comes back. You could always just do the jumping events. If he is a 500 height, then my choc. tri boy, Cricket, will be in the same events :) I've PM'd you asking for your email as I have notes on this subject that I did up for my class when we were doing it :)

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