Thanksgiving Thanks

3 Stars for this week:

1) Sagan is really driven to find the entry to weave poles....ok, relatively driven.  He is doing a great job with this!
2) The contact training I am doing at home translated to a nice "stop at the end of the teeter" behavior in agility foundations class.  YAY!
3) When Sagan ran away with the toy I was using as a reward in Fun and Focus, I was able to get him back with a second toy (remember, the toy drive thing has been an issue).  Score!
4) Sagan kept a down in agility class with moving dogs this week.  Super score.

1 Wish:
That Sagan did not figure out the new game of "keep away" with the reward toy.  Damn.

Bummed our Fun and Focus class is over.  We've been working with Andrea for almost 5 months!!!  But, I will be glad to have my Tuesday nights back, and we do have a *lot* to work on.  Tops for this week include:

• Recall (it is really broken, so it needs some work)
• Build a jump out of PVC.  I am realizing how much training I could do with a jump. :-)

Thankful for all of human and pet family this holiday.  Will post pics of the special dog dinners later. :-)

Agility Continues

So three stars and a wish for this week:

3 stars:

1) Starting asking Sagan to DOWN before we do any obstacles, particularly when we have all of the dogs circling, and he is amped up with the movement.  I thought this would take some time, but he did beautifully on this on Wednesday.  Self control=access to fun, stimulating stuff.  Excellent.
2) Sagan was able to WAIT while I walked out in front of obstacles.  Held his down beautifully until I released him.
3) The toys are continuing to be exciting and Sagan was able to tug as a reward for doing things, and was interested in the toy as something thrown after an obstacle.  Even when I threw it and he ran off with the toy, he was still ultimately interested in engaging with me and the toy.

A wish:
That I not have to use the toy as a lure to get him to come back to me.  I do not feel confident that his recall is as strong as it should be.  If I am using the toy as a reward for doing the work, I really shouldn't also use it as a lure to get him back when he does NOT do the work he is supposed to.

Three Stars and a Wish-Part 2

Three stars:

-I could call Sagan off of reacting to other dogs in agility class with a "drop" command....it lasted about 20 seconds.  This is huge for him!
-Was able to square up Sagan's fronts so they were nice and perpendicular (rally obedience)
-Sagan was able to work in agility class for me, and ignore other dogs when it was his time to work.  I was skeptical of this, given how amped up he was...nice!

A wish:
-Desperately need Sagan to exhibit self-control in agility.  E-mailed instructor about opting for fewer repetitions and more self control (I'm trying to exert the things I learned in Andrea's fun and focus classes). I'd much rather Sagan show self control than get multiple practice through obstacles.  Going through obstacles won't be the issue...he gets that.

Feeling overwhelmed this week and worried agility is not my thing.  I feel all that old hatred toward class I felt when I ran Doppler.  Just not having fun.  I am having fun in rally obedience...I think because it is moving slow enough I feel like I can succeed.  I really gained a perspective on my students and those that wish things were moving slower.  It is hard to get kids on board at the pace you need them to be to succeed.

Also, 2 weeks ago, our rally obedience instructor gave us a challenge and turned over the signs on our rally obedience course (point being --> pay more attention to you dog, less attention to signs).  She made a point that you couldn't even think about signs in agility.  It made me really pause and think that agility was not something I was capable of.  I *know* Sagan is capable of it, but am 80% certain I am not.  I don't get spatial relationships, must plan out everything, and don't think well on the fly.  Not a good combo for agility.

I have Sagan entered in a rally obedience fun run 11/27....  should be good fun.  Need to decide where else to go from here.  I have him enrolled in another 6 weeks of agility class.  I will decide if we need a break or something else.....