HEART and her progress in her Agililty Class
We had a great night!!!!! I didn't feed Heart before our class. I bought some chicken Mcnuggets and boy did it work well keeping her focused on me!!!! She does a great wait at the start, so I could position myself far enough away to get a jump on her... The teeter still isn't at full height, but she walked it without me holding onto her!!AND she seemed relaxed !!! Better than that...she went from the tunnel to the teeter with just my direction!! She completed all the jumps and the dogwalk and the table and the tire!! She is slowing 'getting' the weaves..but I need to work on that at home, once the weather gets better... At the end of the class, we all did jumps in a circle and had to 'pull' the dog to the first jump, and front cross to tackle the rest of them.......I did good and so did heart... It's all my watching Agility in the ring and remembering how Judi 'handles' Harry~~~~!! The trainer was VERY impressed!!!! Most of the handlers do not talk to their dogs!...It is amazing that the dogs do anything...I am calling Heart to the different 'toys'...Heart walk up...Heart tunnel...Heart tire....Heart table....the others say NOTHING!!! again...watching Judi has really helped me ease into this..THANKYOU!!!! Hopefully, I will actually take Heart into the Ring at the 2013 St. Louis Nationals!!!!! AND she will NOT embarress me!!!!!!  oh...I won't embarress her either!!!!!!!  |
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| That is fantastic! I am so impressed with Sheepies running agility courses. I never even thought to try that with Lucy. Now, with Dahlia.... I may just give it a try. We have set up a tunnel and a little ramp in Dahlia's playroom (our Den) She does go through it and up on the ramp. When the weather gets warmer, we will set something up in the yard and see if she can continue on this great path. |
Hey, I would do agility for McNuggets too!   Sounds fun, Val, and making progress. Just remember, some nights are steps back (polite words for disasters  ) and some are steps forward.The less talking comes with effort on your part - and your instructors should be reminding you as well. They will see when it's redundant and unneccessary. It's just a stage to work through as you continue to grow! |
| Dawn's right. The talking or direction is not as important as body language. If your body language is not correct and you tell your dog to jump, or whatever, the dog could get confused. Actually, Kathy questioned me about that at class. She said I was slow in directing Simon to the next thing he was supposed to do. I told her that if he was heading for the next obstacle in order I don't say anything. If he's wrong/my body language is off and I call his name to get his attention (yeah my dog is not always focused on me). Kudos to you and Heart for getting back into the sport. Be very careful...it can be addictive. Have fun!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Good Job Heart  got sheep wrote: The less talking comes with effort on your part - and your instructors should be reminding you as well. They will see when it's redundant and unneccessary. It's just a stage to work through as you continue to grow! Ahhh but remember there is a nice balance. I worked so hard not to talk to him on the agility course because we ultimately run better in silence. But now ALL (yes I have several) of my trainers are constantly correcting me "You didn't tell him anything so of course he didn't ......" and so on. Now I try to pay attention to the areas that are going to need some verbal cues in addition to body language. Who ever thought there would be a time in my life someone would be telling me to talk more?  |
Judi....I think you need to listen to your trainers....  you just MUST talk MORE!!!!!For those of you who do not understand my AGENDA!!! My dream is to walk into the ring with my lovely Heart decked out in BLING.. ..put her on a 'wait' at the start line........ ...go to the middle of the ring.... AND..... without moving a muscle....'tell' her what to do,,,,where to go.... ((we ALL have dreams don't we?????))))  |
SheepieMommy wrote: Good Job Heart got sheep wrote: The less talking comes with effort on your part - and your instructors should be reminding you as well. They will see when it's redundant and unneccessary. It's just a stage to work through as you continue to grow! Ahhh but remember there is a nice balance. I worked so hard not to talk to him on the agility course because we ultimately run better in silence. But now ALL (yes I have several) of my trainers are constantly correcting me "You didn't tell him anything so of course he didn't ......" and so on. Now I try to pay attention to the areas that are going to need some verbal cues in addition to body language. Who ever thought there would be a time in my life someone would be telling me to talk more? That is quite the concept... But yes, the idea is to save the verbal for when you really, really need it. That is part of my walk thru strategy actually - seeing the things that may be trouble and I actually incorporate a "Chewie" or a "here" (depending on the force needed to get his focus) as part of my walk thru strategy...yes, I am anal.....  My last walk thru is up to speed, incorporating all my nonverbal and verbal cues into it. It helps cement it into my brain.  |
sheepieshake wrote: For those of you who do not understand my AGENDA!!! My dream is to walk into the ring with my lovely Heart decked out in BLING.. ..put her on a 'wait' at the start line........ ...go to the middle of the ring.... AND..... without moving a muscle....'tell' her what to do,,,,where to go.... ((we ALL have dreams don't we?????)))) To fulfill your agenda you are forgetting one important piece of equipment. It is known as a BORDER COLLIE. Suggest you get a BOY Border Collie. Heart will be happy to sit ring side, decked out bling, batting her eyelashes and wondering why anything would be stupid enough to put in all that effort while the handler does nuthin' An OES understands what team work means; it means handler better expect to work at least as hard as OES, if not more so. (the rest of us will bring the pom-poms: RUN, Val, RUN!!!!  )Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: sheepieshake wrote: For those of you who do not understand my AGENDA!!! My dream is to walk into the ring with my lovely Heart decked out in BLING.. ..put her on a 'wait' at the start line........ ...go to the middle of the ring.... AND..... without moving a muscle....'tell' her what to do,,,,where to go.... ((we ALL have dreams don't we?????)))) To fulfill your agenda you are forgetting one important piece of equipment. It is known as a BORDER COLLIE. Suggest you get a BOY Border Collie. Heart will be happy to sit ring side, decked out bling, batting her eyelashes and wondering why anything would be stupid enough to put in all that effort while the handler does nuthin' An OES understands what team work means; it means handler better expect to work at least as hard as OES, if not more so. (the rest of us will bring the pom-poms: RUN, Val, RUN!!!! )Kristine |
I got my pom-poms ready. I always wanted to be a cheerleader Well not really, but this opportunity appeals to me.  RUN, Val, RUN! Dawn, you aren't the only anal one when walking. I even practice what I intend to say to Harry when he screws up. |
Well Val, which ever it is verbal or none verbal I want to see video and don't forget to include the cheerleaders and their pom poms.  |
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