Leapin’ Labs

Tonight we started yet another round of Agility for Mr. Midas. He was a bit loud because one of the intact males that had been missing from the last round was back again tonight. Logan is a lovely black lab and Midas has no reason to be so obnoxious, yet he was. *sigh*

Tonight was a bunch of small stations that were extremely tight and extremely difficult to maneuver to. They were supposed to demonstrate control of our dogs but I just realized that Midas has picked up some nasty new habits. He is starting to anticipate what I want and go to that obstacle before I give a command, especially if I’m a tad too slow. He is also starting to back-jump, or go back over/on an obstacle when we are heading somewhere else – which is a HUGE no-no for agility trials . Oh well, keeps me on my toes I suppose.

We were on the dog walk a lot – he is flying over his contacts on the entrance to it, but that’s ok so I’m letting it slide. His Wait command is a little rusty so we worked on that tonight too – it was more like a Pause command.

From the dog walk we went over a variety of jumps. Sometimes we went over one, sometimes two and sometimes there was a very tight turn and sometimes a nice straight run – this maximizes the dogs’ attention on their handlers because they never know where we’re going to go next.

Because of the difficulty of the stations, there was a lot of waiting time while other dogs/handlers struggled to master each one.

We moved on to weaves next. Normally, Midas doesn’t hit the weaves until he’s expended quite a bit of energy on-course. Today, we spent a lot more time in tight quarters, involving more thinking than moving. So, when we moved onto the weaves – he flew through and kept popping out. We had to practice over and over. I know he knows what to do but he was just ready to move on – too bad for him haha.

Last we switched to some tunnel and oddly-angled regular jump and broad jump work. He did terrific on this, so it was a good end to the class

Tonight class was…interesting. There is one person in every class who does not pay proper attention to their dog. In this case, a poodle named Ginger. She attempted to attack Mason as soon as we walked in the door. It seems that as class has progressed, so has her reactiveness. Which is fine, if the owner recognized this and even tried to deal with it, which she doesn’t. Sweet Ginger is frequently free to follow and growl at Mason any time he is in her vicinity…

Anyway.

We started off class with a down/stay. Which Mason has seriously gone down-hill on. We’ll have to go back and practice this again. He broke twice and I ended up standing on his lead so that he had no choice but to lay down and stay. This was before that though:

Then we moved onto to the different stations. We chose the Weaves first. Mason does quite well on them in the backyard and tonight there was a set of six ready for us (with no guides, I might add ):

Mason nailed them about 90% of the time.

Next we worked on the Tire jump. He was hitting it with is feet in the beginning but quickly got the hang of it:

Then we switched to a series of jumps, there were two in a row and we had to work on both sides, both ways and calling off of the second one:

We did the dog walk next, he didn’t like it. He shook like a leaf (although no hesitation what-so-ever in following me) and clearly had no idea where his rear end was, but he made it through – we did it several times until he nailed it and had a solid Wait at the end:

We moved to the Broad jump after that, I was sure he would step one of the panels as he’s a little bit of a lazy jumper, but he did great:

(his eyes in this photo are funny)

The collapsed tunnel is no longer reason for any hesitation and he flew straight through perfectly:

Even running when he realized that I was going to add a jump to the end

Then we even added the table to the end of that – we need to work on Stays really bad!

We also need to work on gently grabbing treats, even in the heat of the moment:

The A-frame posed no issues, and he’s really getting the Wait command down pat, he’s becoming faster the more sure of himself he gets:

Then we added the A-frame with the Tire – which was really cool, he’s learning to wait for treats longer and doing well:

My favorite exercise involved the tunnel though. We walked by in a Heel, off-lead and I would randomly send him in, not every time we passed by and not in the same side every time. He did awesome at it, his heel was perfect and he never went in without the command!

Our last set was a circle series of jumps…that he was horrible at. He always knocked a bar. So, we had to take a little time to make him learn to pop his jumps a little higher:

He caught on

Then we all took turns running a mini course of our own devices. We chose as long as we tried to hit as many obstacles as possible. Mason got some great compliments about being fast (who would’ve thought!) and nailing the weaves! It was great!!! He was good while we waited our turn too:

I went to Agility class tonight a little sad, as it was our last one. Then when we got there, I found out that it wasn’t – we actually could sign up for 8 more weeks. But, I don’t know if that’s necessarily a good thing because eventually school is going to start and I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up with weekly 1.5-hour class .

Anyway, class tonight was fun . Midas was a little loud and jumpy – he bopped both of Michelle’s Goldens in the face with his stupid nose, but they didn’t know what to make of that so nothing happened. Then he was terrific the rest of the time, even lying right next to them and other dogs having toys and everything.

We started out doing a circle of jumps with the table at the end. The trick is that now we are adding the words Left and Right to our command, hoping the dog’s will learn directions.

The next station was a series of 6 weaves and then the teeter – both things Midas needs to work on. The difference? The guides are finally off the weaves!!! Yay! Midas did them about 50/50 perfectly .

This was the first time that I asked him to do the teeter on his own, without physically slowing him down. He responded quite well to my Wait command when he was at the point where it goes down, then he noticed the treats – which he promptly knocked off in his excitement (cheese):

But, either way, we’ve now transitioned to him doing it on his own

After the teeter I sent him in front of me to a jump in the corner:

Where I then had to call him back (not back over the jump, but past it) and up the dog walk. Every time he cleared the jump he twisted to the right, clearly expecting me to go that way and I had to turn him back to the left and the dog walk. This would be a good spot to use the directional commands…

We practiced that series several times:

Our next series was the collapsed tunnel, an extremely tight turn to the broad jump and then another regular jump. Oh! All the jumps were set at 23″ tonight too

He actually jumped the broad jump instead of stepping on it this time!

Here we are, getting the explanation for the next group, obviously I’m tired already:

The next station involved the A-frame and then sending them through a tunnel, at the opposite end than they would be inclined to go:

Then through the Tire jump – Midas and I struggled with this, my handling skills were sub-par and I had a hard time getting him lined up properly from the tunnel to the tire .

After that, each handler had to stand on a target (yellow dot) and send their dogs in a figure eight pattern over two jumps. At first it was really difficult as he didn’t want to go that far from me, and at an angle. But, we got it:

Check out those muscles!!!!

That was pretty much the end of class. All 12 weaves were set up for anyone that wanted to try them. I decided to send Midas through on a whim…

And he did them!!! All 12!!!! How awesome is that?!?!

I was ecstatic!

He was so happy that I was so happy that I decided to send him on the teeter a half dozen times – and he nailed that too!!! Yay Midas!!!

What a fantastic “last” class!

Mason and I were solo at Agility class again tonight. It was a fun class, we worked on stations again and I really enjoy just him and I tackling one after the other. First we did 4 jumps in a row, me on either side of him and running both ways. He screwed up only once but did great the other times. The tire jump was smoother this time, he is having some problems with his sit/stay though, we need to practice that!

Next we moved onto the collapsed tunnel – he shot through with no problems! He seems to have forgotten he was nervous last time. I love that about him, once he’s done it, it’s old news and he can do it over and over. We did the regular tunnel next with no issues. I even practiced standing in the middle of the two entrances (or exits depending on how you look at it) and sending him with a hand motion. His biggest problem is anticipating and leaping to do what I’m going to ask before I actually do.

He did fine on the weaves, although I’m not really enjoying sending him through the shorter ones when I know he has the concept and we just need to practice. The A-frame was new tonight, he never had an issue. He nailed his wait commands at the contact points too. The dog walk was smooth and simple, same for the contacts. He’s got the Wait command down, I can leave a treat on the target and he won’t touch it unless I tell him to.

Then we all got to run a mini course. It was pretty neat, I don’t remember starting out the courses this early with Midas. We struggled with our teamwork because we hardly worked off-lead during the stations, especially over the jumps, he was unsure of what I was asking but he sure tried. We started off with a tire jump and a very sharp turn to the 4 jumps in a row (that’s where we struggled), he did fine on those, he walked the dog walk and the A-frame fine, but broke his Wait on the A-frame. Next was the table, which we didn’t get to practice beforehand. He was a little hesitant getting up there but stayed in a down just fine and then into the tunnel was rough, he was going to fast and didn’t catch my command fast enough but he got it. Overall, I’m very proud of him!

Another great night with Midas. He was rather loud but given the opportunity would rather behave then thrash around at the other dogs. I attribute his loudness at the beginning of class with being amped up and ready to go!

We had stations set up again. A tricky series of jumps, at awkward angles and including the tire jump and the collapsed tunnel. I went through twice to figure out the best/cleanest way to do it, and the way we were told was definitely easier. It was still difficult – it was tight and close and I had to call Midas back from going to fast a couple of times but he is so intune with me when we’re working that it was actually fairly smooth.

The next station we worked on included the weaves, which he’s really starting to get the hang of. Instead of having my hand right in his face, I was able to just go next to him repeating the command, which is progress!

We had one station with the dog walk, a tight turn to the A-frame and then the table. He did super on that, no problems at all. Another station involved calling them off of a couple of jumps, including one that faced right into the tunnel – he never even glanced over at it once the command was made!

The teeter was incorporated and we still had to take it slow, I’m still using heavy pressure on his collar but he seemed to have slowed down a tad coming off the end, which is terrific. At the end of the class, we ran the course, the first time we were doing amazingly good, until I directed him at the wrong jump and cut off 1/3 of the course . Oops.

Then we had to start over again, he was antsy on the table and we had a couple of breaks and then I was bad at signaling the jump. We finally got it though. He’s so fast and his strides so long that we have trouble on really tight courses like tonight. But, it was challenging and fun so we both loved it!

Well, we missed the official first class for Mason because we went to Lab Fest. But, he had already attended that once, with Midas the first time. So, I wasn’t too concerned about not being able to catch up. He was much better this time!!

Here we are:

We went around and sniffed all of the equipment before class began so that he would be relatively relaxed and not pee from excitement. The ladder was funny because he started out with his front feet in the rungs and his back end running alongside – silly dog!

He got the hang of it though:

We also walked on the board again, to learn contact points. He was much more confident this time, walked on and off smoothly and nailed the Wait command:

He had absolutely no problems with the yellow tunnel:

The collapsed tunnel was rolled up so he didn’t even notice as he plowed through for the treat on the other side:

The tire jump we started out with the leash through it, but in no time he was jumping through with no problems:

There was some bar hitting on the regular jumps but I think he’s just not got the hang of it yet:

He cruised up and over the dog walk with absolutely no problems at all, and nailed Wait again at the bottom. Overall, a very pleasing class. I’m looking forward to next week’s class .

Tonight was Midas’s Agility class and we had an absolute blast. He was an angel and I just can’t think of a time where I enjoyed working with him more. He was quiet, he never made a move towards another dog and he was 100% focused on me. He did amazing on the course (weaves still iffy), had no problems calling him off/sending him to different things. If he was like this all the time…well anyway.

We started out in different stations. Midas and I started on the A-Frame with a jump and a collapsed tunnel to add in as we practiced calling off of obstacles. I practiced my timing on the Wait command as he topped the A-Frame – he was stopping so hard there were skid marks – awesome!

Our next station was the weaves, a couple of jumps and the collapsed tunnel again (there was a lot of timing going on to make sure we didn’t use the same obstacles at the same time). The weaves took up pretty much all of our time. He’s about 50/50 on going through them correctly – once that percentage is higher we can work on speed…

The dang guides on the weaves really confuse him – he either wants to jump them (frequently) or, this week, he thought he might go under them instead – silly dog!

Next was a series of jumps and a tunnel, later adding the tire – he did terrifically at this:

Next we worked on the A-Frame, then added some jumps. This was neat because I led out almost to the end of the A-Frame, gave my command and he walked it perfectly!!!! Seriously, this was the best class ever!

He missed a couple of jumps because of faulty handling – I gave the signal too late. While it bums me out I did this, I’m also ecstatic that he bypassed the jump because I didn’t tell him to do it – even though we were sprinting right by it!

After going through all the stations, we took a little breather – Midas was hot too – you can tell by his sweaty pads:

Before we did the whole course, I decided to go through the weaves a couple more times:

Next we practiced running and sending our dogs out ahead to the Table to do either a sit or a down. We started at 3′ away and slowly went to 6′ and 9′ – he did really, really well.

Then we did the whole course – it was exhausting – LOTS of jumping for the pooches (and she moved the jumps up from 18″ to 20″ too. Midas did FANTASTIC, seriously, just amazing – I couldn’t be more proud of him this week. Our final obstacle was to get on the table and we made it!

We were late to class tonight . There was an accident on our road, I needed gas (and didn’t know it) and I was just late. We blew into class and things started out a little rocky but ended up going fantastically!!

There was a new dog in class so Midas of course had to get all loud and obnoxious but that quickly passed – a huge relief . There were different stations set up. We started out with the A-Frame station. A jump, A-Frame, another jump, table. Well our first time through Midas thought it might be fun to jump off the top of the A-Frame – a BIG no-no!! So, we had to practice just that by itself until he remembered what was appropriate. Also, I had to practice the timing of my Wait command. Instead of giving it as he’s approaching the yellow contact (like everyone else), I have to do it as soon as his front foot clears the top, that way he’s already skidding to a stop before he reaches the bottom . No cheating and jumping because I’ve already given him another command. The jumps and the table were fine.

Our next station was the weaves, with NINE weave poles, a tunnel and a jump. He’s finally getting the weaves!!! He seriously was looking at the poles and doing wayyyy better!! I’m so proud and excited!! I still have to do a little hand guiding but it’s not much at all. He doesn’t hit them right every time but more often than not he does! The tunnel and jump were easy.

The next station we did was a series consisting of the dog walk and then the tire jump. The dog walk was really wobbly the first time he went flying up it, and instead of bailing like he used to do, he slowed down and took it carefully – also wonderful! Tire jump was same old, same old .

Our last station was a jump, the teeter and another jump. This one was slow because after the jump I have to leap in front of him to grab his collar and slow him down on the teeter. He started to respond to my Easy command on his own, but not enough to trust him on it without my restraining hand yet.

For the last half hour, we ran the course made up of all the stations. The first time it was a jump, the A-frame, another jump, the table and a sit (for the full 5 seconds), the weaves, the tunnel, a jump, the collapsed tunnel (ooops forgot about that in my stations explanation), two jumps, the teeter, the tire and the dog walk. It was awesome. We were going so fast! The first time through we made it all the way to the jump after the collapsed tunnel and the new dog jumped out at Midas, I was so excited he ignored it and listened to my next jump command that I then directed him the wrong way and we had to start over . Totally my fault!

After everyone had gone through the course in that direction, we reversed everything and did it again. This time it was two jumps, the collapsed tunnel, a jump, tunnel, weaves, table and lay down, the A-frame, two jumps, the teeter, the tire and the dog walk. We nailed it that time, perfectly – he was doing soooo awesome! The best part is that we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and got a great work out.

The lady with the new dog let her dog jump in his face again and he did some odd warbling but settled right down when I told him to hush. He also sat next to one of the Goldens that in the past he’s felt the need to scream at and was perfectly fine – more than once – progress! Tonight was an excellent work out, I’m looking forward to next week.

Tonight was our last Agility class of this round. Eric got to come so there are some great photos to share! It was a smaller class tonight so I tied Midas to the wall not far from a friend’s Golden to see if he would be able to control himself:

He was totally fine . I complained about his lack of skill in the weaves so the instructor brought him through a few times:

Then when class started, we have the dogs stay in a lay down and walk around, he did pretty well. He didn’t break when other dogs did but he did when I had another dog come to me.

For some reason he also refused to jump the Broad Jump

It was set up with different stations this time, we each got to go through until we did it right and then we split off and did them on our own.

One set was a tire jump, a regular jump, a tunnel, another regular jump, a collapsed tunnel and then through the tire again. Midas did really well at that, but it was tiring to keep running through it!

Then there was a series by the door that was just a bunch of jumps and the table:

The last series was the biggest and the hardest. We started with the teeter-totter:

Then it was the broad jump, then the dog walk, into a tunnel, through the weaves…

…over the A-Frame, a final jump and we’re done! It was pretty fun. Midas and I were both pretty tired at the end.

Tonight we had Agility. Due to some spectacular planning, Eric couldn’t come (therefore no photos). So, it was just Midas and I. We had a good time. He was a little obnoxious but not too loud…just mostly non-stop.

There were some new obstacles, and I can’t lie, I was really nervous about the regulation height A-Frame. Midas has a tendency to think he’s invincible and jump off of things he shouldn’t. But, he didn’t, he was a good boy. He was also rock-solid on the dog walk tonight – thank goodness!

The teeter-totter was a new aluminum-framed piece and he approached that with the same zeal that he always does – full speed ahead. I had to block him every single time and make him wait…I hope he learns that soon.

The weaves were still completely hopeless . We will keep practicing! We set a jump up to the height he would actually have to do in competition, it seemed so big, but he flew over it now problem and the instructor said he had plenty of room to spare .

He had no issues on the chute-tunnel or the table or any of the jumps really. Class went over about an hour so he was getting pretty lazy towards the end. But, he completed everything correctly. Our major distraction for this evening was a dog that alternated between staring, unblinking at him and flopping around on the floor with a giant stuffed toy – but I blame the owner, not the dog. *sigh* there’s one in every group it seems. All else went well and we had a lot of fun. He was exhausted on the ride home and I look forward to our next class .