Goliath's AKC Standard Novice Run

Hello everyone!

In this week’s video, you will see my run with Goliath at an agility trial from back in November.  I would normally like to show a more recent agility trial video; however, the company that films and sells the videos is not always at the trials.  Anyways, this video is from November 28, 2015 at a trial in City of Industry.  

In the video you will see Goliath’s AKC Standard Novice run.  Novice is the beginning level and this was our third Q  (qualified run) that we needed to get out of Novice and into the Open competition level.  

I am very proud of how we did in this video and we received a clear run with a score of 100, meaning no faults whatsoever (ie. a dropped bar, missed contact, refusal).  The reason I was so proud of him is that I taught Goliath in a way that is referred to as “homeschooled” meaning I have never attended a formal agility training class with him.  Basically, everything I learn from attending classes with Strider, I would come home and teach it all to Goliath using my equipment at home or sometimes using the equipment at the place where I attend classes.  SInce Standard includes more of a variety of obstacles than Jumpers with Weaves, Goliath and I had a few more issues there as he needed to build his confidence on these obstacles that he didn’t get much practice on.  Even though this was a Novice course and it was pretty simple, I love this run because it shows how far Goliath has come in his training and it proves that his confidence is building with agility.

I hope you enjoy the video!

Happy training,

Hayley

Goliath with his 1st place ribbon, Q ribbon, and new title ribbon!

Training A Pushback

Hello everyone!

In this week’s video, you will see how I taught my dogs how to perform a pushback when taking a jump.  Basically, a pushback is when you send your dog to the back side of the jump and they must tightly jump and come back around.  Teaching the pushback will prepare you for more challenging handling movements including wraps, reverse wraps, German turns, “scoops”,  etc.  The backside is mainly seen in most international competitions and in the new Premier class in AKC.  Although you may not see a pushback in even a Masters AKC course, they can still be very useful to teach and very helpful in the future.  And, all in all, you never know where agility may take you.

To begin training the pushback, you will only use one of the jump wings in order to break down every step of the action.  Begin by sending your dog around the jump using the proper hands (if your dog is on your left, send him behind the jump with your left hand, and vice versa).  You may have to lead your dog around the jump with a treat or a toy to encourage this action.  When your dog understands the action of running around the backside, start adding distance (see in the video above) and eventually a cue word.  (I say “huphuphuphuphup” when I send the dog around, but you can say something like”pushpushpushpush” if you prefer)  For the cue word, it works best if you say something repetitively that way the dog can differentiate this cue from the normal “over” or “jump” cue.

Once your dog fully understands the step above, you can begin step two.  In this step, you will still only use one jump wing, but you will add a bar and let one side touch the ground (see in video above).  Continue all the same steps and keep the bar extremely low (at least ½ the height of their normal jump height).  Keep repeating this step until your dog has mastery of this concept.  Also remember that it may take several days or a few weeks for your dog to move on to the next step.  Training takes time and if you rush through it before your dog is ready, it can set you back even farther.

For step three, we will finally set up the jump completely and have the bar starting either on the ground or at a very low height.  The point of all this training so far is to get the dog used to turing tightly around the back of the jump.  Now you can repeat the same routine as above and add in other obstacles (still keeping the jump height low).  Training a consistently good pushback takes time, so be patient and don’t rush the dog and make them jump too high if they are simply not ready yet.  Doing that can cause distress and confusion to the dog and possibly even joint injuries.

Hopefully the video above will give you a good demonstration on how to teach this pushback and remember to always make it a game for your dog and keep them having fun.  With just a 10 or so minutes of training a day, you will have a beautifully trained pushback in no time!

Happy training!

Hayley

 

Weave Poles with Strider and Goliath

Hello everyone,

This week I decided to work on the weave poles a little more with Strider and Goliath.  After our agility trial on December 28 and 29, one thing I noticed was that our weaves were good, but our entries definitely needed some work.  In this video I was working with the dogs two separate times on their weaves.  In the second half of the video, you will see that I used only 6 poles when working with Strider even though when trialing, 12 poles are used, as seen in the first half of the video.  I use only 6 poles when working with difficult entries in order to be able to work more entries and not tire out the dog.  You may also notice that when I was using a jump in addition to my weaves, I had it set only at 16" even though Strider jumps 24."  This serves the same purpose as 6 weaves and it is done to not tire out the dog so quickly. 

As for my weave pole training, I trained both of my dogs using guide wires that attach to the poles and simple guide the dog through the weaves.  These are helpful for teaching the dog where to enter the weaves seeing as the dog must enter with the first pole on their left shoulder.  Training various entries is an important thing to do with your dog because throughout your agility career, you will experience a wide variety of entries, some easy and some difficult.

Even though I trained my dogs with guide wires, it is not the only way to train them.  Other methods include the two by two method and channel weaves.  The thing about weave poles is that they can be taught several different ways and it is all about finding the way that works best for you and your dog.  Just remember that weave poles do take a long time to train (for example, I began teaching Strider the weaves in Sept 2014 and it took until Feb 2015 for him to be perfect with them).  Always stay patient and keep the dog engaged and having fun!

Hayley