Tonight’s class was interesting. We worked mainly on being able to call our dogs off of obstacles directly in front of them. For example, the first set had three jumps in a row. After they jumped the first one, we were to call them to us, then they could jump the first two then come to us, then the first three and come to us. It’s so they don’t assume they just take the next obstacle in front of their noses.

Midas has this completely mastered. In this photo you can tell how quickly he was turning to respond to my Here command:

We also were supposed to send our dogs out in front of us with the command Go Out! and they were supposed to jump the big jump - that was more difficult for most of us but I had our little treat container to toss over it so Midas hopped right over no problem. He got distracted on his way back to receive his treat because one popped out the end and he treated himself lol.

The first time we went across the dog walk it wobbled a little and Midas didn’t care for it but he went to the end:

So, I steadied him the next time after we firmed up the frame:

At the end of the dog walk he had to Wait and then hop up onto the table and Lay Down and Stay.

After that we worked on our A-frame and Waiting at the end:

We also got a chance to work on the teeter-totter some more. We’ve added another command for Midas, he has to Wait while it lowers and then again when he comes off the end - hopefully to help him quit barrelling off the end and whacking himself:

We worked on weaves again but it was…eh - he’s still not clicking…

We had some tunnel work:

This photo would’ve been awesome but the stupid tab got in the way

After we had practiced everything, and calling them off of everything a couple of times each, we each had the opportunity to “run” the course, hitting as many obstacles as possible. I had my route all worked out in my mind.

We’d start with the series of jumps:

From there we hit the A-frame, the tunnels, and then the table, released from the table to the dog walk and…Midas fell off. I half-caught him, scraping the skin off my pinky finger in the process, but that didn’t phase him. He tried to jump right back on…Instead I grabbed him and our instructor picked him up and placed him from his jump-off point so that he could learn he was safe and could be balanced there.

Midas, once he trusts you, trusts you implicitly so he plopped down and leaned over on the instructor, to the point where if she moved he would have toppled off:

He went down fine after that and we finished up with the weaves and teeter:

The rest of this day’s photos are here. Watching the new person and their dog made me realize how thorough our instructor has been to teach each of the obstacles separate, in a separate order and to make sure our dogs are listening to us and following directions, not just rushing through where they think the next obstacle is. Pretty neat to see.

Tonight was the beginning of our third round of Rally classes. I’ve decided to start bringing Mason along to the class as well. He wasn’t the only new one though, there was a new Rottweiler and a co-worker brought his very frightened German Shepherd. Eric was unable to come so there are no photos of Mason’s very first class.

We didn’t have any new signs and it was kind of hectic to make sure that everyone could get through the course twice but it was really amazing to do with both of my boys! They each threw a little bit of a fit when I would leave one behind and work on the course with the other. But, they quickly got the hang of being quiet (with some treat help from the instructor ), with only some intermittent whining towards the end.

Midas did great, we worked entirely on the flat collar, no prong even on. There were no new signs but the way the course was set up was very difficult. He did really well and the instructor commented that she could tell how hard I’m working to get his attention with my voice and not by the leash. Progress. At the end of class I was standing with him in a small-ish circle with the new GSD and the Portuguese Water Dog and he never even looked at them, ignored them completely .

Mason did wonderfully for his very first course at a new place (at which he peed all over the floor the last time he was there), lots of new people/dogs and a very difficult course. Our biggest struggle was in switching him from heeling on my right to heeling on my left. I worked so hard to teach him to stay on the right, and now he’s so consistent so that if he ends up on the wrong side by accident he will rush to get into heel position on my right . Poor eager, confused little dude. He sure gave it 110% though! He kept eye contact wonderfully and while his sits were extremely sloppy he gave trying all the difficult signs a very valiant try. The instructor says he definitely has potential so I am really looking forward to next time with both of them!

Eric really wanted to go to the UAD event in Ohio, even though it meant getting up at 3 am, leaving at roughly 4:15 am and driving straight there and then after the event driving straight back, arriving home at midnight…and having to go to work/school in the morning. Was it worth it? Totally!

We entered both boys into the one splash on Sunday. I figured if Midas didn’t go in during practice, then I would yank him afterwards. But, they both went in!

Mason was in the third group for the Splash. I decided to try a new technique. So, I held onto his collar, threw the toy and then shimmied backwards on the dock with him, allowing him to keep the toy in sight the entire time. It worked great! He jumped 9′8″ - a foot longer than his Personal Best!

Which rounded out his United Novice Jumper title so now he’s Livvy’s Silver Mason, UNJ. How neat is that!?

He then jumped 8′4″ for his second turn, he went off a little crooked and stutter-stepped a little.

Which put him solidly in the finals!!!

Midas was at the end of the 4th group and he wasn’t jumping far at all, I’m just excited he went in…5′5″.

I made a huge exciting deal about him going in, hoping it would excite him for his next jump. A whopping 6′8″. There were some that made it to the finals that weren’t there so Midas got bumped into the bubble.

There were only three dogs total in the Novice finals. I had to run around like a crazy girl trying to get my two up in the order they were supposed to - for two jumps lol.

I jumped Midas first:

Then I jumped Mason, who got 9′9″ - a new Personal Best!!!!

Next, Midas was up again

…and then Mason…

Mason ended up getting first!!! Yay little dude! Midas got second, which means that Mason beat him by a full 3 feet! They each won a new Wubba for getting first and second in their division from Barb and Rock who are sponsored by Kong.

Eric took LOADS of fantastic photos of other dogs, here are a few of my favorites:

Actually there were MANY more, which can be viewed here. Good (tiring) times!

Tonight was the beginning of Midas’s third round of agility classes. It went…ok. We worked mainly on having our dogs work at a distance to us - something that Midas does not necessarily excel at.

We did a lot of jumping:

Here he missed the next jump - you can tell because he’s so close to me:

This series he made it

We also worked on a different style of Big Jump than we’ve used in the past:

And of course the Tire Jump:

From the Tire they were supposed to go right onto the Teeter-Totter. Our first time with the dogs working on it without having someone holding them on. Everyone’s dogs were really nervous and ended up being handled. Mine? Heck no! Midas flew up and down the Teeter, then whipped around and did it again and when he missed it once, he jumped in the middle…needless to say, he made our instructor nervous being so overzealous so we had to stop

The A-Frame was a snap - in fact, we had more of a problem keeping him off of it when running by…

I was supposed to send him to the Table from a distance, he did ok on that, sometimes he did it, sometimes he didn’t…and once he was treated by the instructor for going there, he didn’t want to come back to me. Dang difficult dog!

And then our worst obstacle…the weaves. I can tell Midas is just following my hand/treat through them and not paying attention to what he’s actually doing. It’s so frustrating, I can’t wait until he “gets” it!

So, the instructor suggested we try the peanut butter on a stick again, while holding him back slightly by his tab so that he was really wanting to get it and barely weaving through with the stick, making him do it on his own.

That worked fairly well, I’m still not seeing the “click” in his eyes though, although it was easier for me to lead him with that. His favorite part was after:

Today we finally took Mason to the park to try out his Weight Pull harness and sled.

On the Wait command:

Then on the Work command:

Once he realized he was doing it right, he got over-enthusiastic and ran:

So, I had to slow him down and have him do it at a walk He’s a happy guy:

I think we’ll both have a blast with this!

Tonight capped off 8 whole weeks of Agility - they’ve flown by. Midas has come along so incredibly fast and we’re having so much fun! He started off being totally distracted, unable to be off-leash and going crazy every time a dog ran by. Now he’s totally focused, off-lead almost the entire class period and rarely will even so much as whine.

Then:

Now:

Then:

(bad blurry photo, I know…)

Now:

Then:

Now:

Then (just look at the height of the dog walk):

Now:

Then:

Now:

Isn’t that awesome?! Thank goodness for Eric, without whom I would not have these amazing photos to remember our progress by!

Tonight was Midas’s last agility class and it was SO much fun!! We started out splitting into teams. The instructor and I were on one team and the people with the two Goldens were on the other. Then we were timed while we raced our dog through 1/2 of a “course”. Midas got first place!

He was the fastest and that made my bad handling even more obvious. We had to practice on a jump over and over for him to make the tight turn to the next jump. At first, I was telling him too late and he was already rocketing past the turn.

I also had to practice crossing in front of the tunnel when he went in:

The dog walk was not, and never has been, a problem:

For “graduation” we got cake (which was delicious) and a group photo:

I LOVE this photo!!! He was soooo good too. I backed him into the tunnel and he just stayed there, checking everything out What a good boy!!

Tonight ended Midas’s 8th week of Rally classes. He’s come so far. From the screaming, thrashing idiot on a prong to the quiet, focused (mostly) dog on a flat collar.

Then:

Now:

We will be competing this summer!

Tonight was Midas’s last Rally Class.  We had a couple of new signs:

Midas knows the Back command but always at either a right-angle to me or facing me and straight in the opposite direction. This was a little difficult for him because he was supposed to stay in the heel position and back straight up with me. Easily done with a treat to guide though.

This one was easy and we had no difficulties.

We worked on his flat collar the whole time. The first time through the course was much more successful than the second time. The second time he couldn’t keep his nose off the floor and he wasn’t as focused. Part of the reason is that one of the ladies in my class is constantly trailing treats behind her - making it distracting for the next dog on the course.

We had another jump in this course, he did really well coming right back into the heel position:

Our serpentine weaves through the cones went really well:

This was our second time through, he wasn’t paying attention and instead of sweet-talking him for ignoring me, I started to pop his collar - he started paying attention better:

Our favorite sign is when he is called to Front and then Swings back into position:

We had this sign again:

He did much better with just a treat:

Midas’s “younger brother”:

The Portuguese Water Dog I love:

A great ending to our second round…we will be entering the third round next week I think.