Third Trial of the Season
Poodle Club of the Lehigh Valley
June 27 & 28, 2009
Saturday, June 26, 2009
Woke up this morning to clear skies and the promise of a hot day. I was not sure what to
expect from Niven this weekend, especially since Poodle Club is an outdoor show and we have
not been to one like this since last October. Believe it or not, I was actually looking
forward to this show since it was outdoors. I really like Dream Park, but it does not allow
for one to easily set up camp around the rings or socialize the way it has always been. One
of the changes that having a huge arena like New Jersey’s Horse Park offers to the Dog Sport.
After piecing together new equipment over the last two months, the car was packed at six in
the morning and Niven snuck outside to have the tailgate slammed down to keep the neighbors
from hearing her squeaky whine. I swore I would never have a dog like her and well, never say
never.
Having a change in trial location was good all around. I got to drive in a completely
different direction, following the GPS with only minor panic. I cannot seem to handle the
differences between Google Map and the GPS too well….which one to trust when they differ? I
guess the one relying on real time, billion dollar technology…………..
Anyway, I got there, ironically getting lost because the sign that said “Dog Show” pointed
either straight or to the left, but managed to make a few rights to find the parking lot.
I got the car unpacked, camp set and both Niven and Torch walked in about an hour. Novice
followed Open, so it was nice not to have to be there first thing other then to set up at a
leisurely pace. Once settled, I continued on with what I started at the TBAC trial in May and
walked Niven around the rings for her to get used to being there. As the day wore on and the
heat kept us under the shade, I weeded this out to keep Niven from becoming “heat exhausted”.
That did not seem to be what was needed, especially since the day wore on and Niven started
to show signs of reverted back to being scatter brained. Either she is a morning dog or I
really need to figure out what else different she needs before a run. With this said, I
returned to the mindset that I was not running a dog, but training a dog and walked away at
the end of the day with more personal qualifies. All good things.
Saturday
Novice B Standard
This course is by far the longest we have run and when it was our turn, we were out there
for a loooooong time. What I liked about the course was that the Judge had truly designed
challenges using the guidelines from the AKC. Novice is about the dog demonstrating the
ability to perform obstacles while stringing them together. It is not about tricking the
Handler to over handle or put undue stress on a green dog to demand a “split attention”.
Although the course offered areas of wide open space, it also caused more of a handler
technicality. One really needed to pay attention to how the human was moving into order to
keep the dog focused.
The first point is the Chute ( Obstacle #1 ) to the Dog Walk ( #2 ). The flow of movement
out of the Chute creates a natural ‘run out’ for the dog and will cause either an unsafe DW
entry or and side mount. The first dog missed the up contact because of this. I knew then I
had to hang back and V-Point Handle to make sure Niven’s running line was straighter.
I seriously ooopsed for #4 and #5 by staying on the left side of the Jump, as I got caught
behind the wing and had to sidestep to the right. This caused Niven to also move to the right
when the left Tunnel was the correct entry. As she passed in front of me, heading to the
Tunnel, all I could think to do was call out “Left Tunnel” and she actually changed direction,
headed straight toward the correct Tunnel end and veered off to incur a Refusal.
After that, Niven and I were more of a team, contacts made and the strange Broad Jump angle
mastered despite her getting too far ahead of me ( another nifty Right Jump came out ).
The Weave Poles were an interesting problem. I think they were set at twenty-one inches,
which we use in practice, but the equipment style may have thrown her off. TBAC has just
bought a set of twenty-four inched spaced poles and it is taking her time to adjust. Needless
to say her Weaves were not what they have been at Dream Park, but I think that is association
with the Tuesday night training location.
After having gotten through all of Niven’s problem areas ( Broad and Panel Jumps, Teeter/DW
difference, etc. ) the course ending suddenly dawned on me. What I needed now was for her to
run past the Tire Jump……….but she did not and did a really awesome job of the last four Jumps.
What was really cool? This was Niven’s third Standard Qualify, making this her first AKC Title Received!
Qualifying Run, 2nd Place
Novice Agility Title!
Refusal at #5 ( Tunnel )
Novice B FAST
This course is very similar to USDAA and NADAC’s “Gambles” course with the difference being
a set number of points and time per level. The Gamble Area or Send Out as it is called in AKC
can be completed at any point during the run, where in the other venues the dog/handler team
has to wait to hear a whistle before moving on to that area.
Out of the three courses we were to run today, Niven needed two Qualifies to complete the
title and I really did not put a lot of time into planning a run. What I did appreciate was
finding out what I thought to be an evil Novice Send Out, turned out to be a sequence we have
practiced a lot lately. When I walked the course, I could not find any happy medium and when
I ran it, I completely changed the ending.
Niven did hold her Start Line stay, something she “sort of” battled me on during Standard,
but managed to slam the Panel Jump to the ground. The Teeter was border line for me, but to
everyone else looked ok and I was able to send her out to the Send Out Tunnel, get into
position and push her out to the Jump which she did perfectly. Going through the Tire, I
wanted her to come in since the Jump angle that followed was evil, but Niven planned her own
course and tried to call herself off…..only to crash full body thru the bars. The only part
that followed that has me concerned for tomorrow is the Frame Contact.
Niven had jumped it twice two weeks ago in class and I think it was borderline in FAST
today. I want to see what happens tomorrow before I react and make sure this is not something
I may be causing by getting too far ahead of her and pulling her off the Frame.
The last Jumps I had thrown in offered no points and we were well under course time ( now I
know the rules better so I can try something better tomorrow ). The oddest thing happened and
I thought this weird enough to mention it, but not one person clapped. Never have I had that
and believe it or not, I was not clapping either. I am not sure if this run was something I
would be willing to write about, but Niven collected 60 points and kept it under time for a
first place and Qualify.
Qualifying Run, 1st place
Dropped Panel Jump
Crashed Bar Jump
Novice B Jumpers
This was an interesting course that should have held promise for Niven, but in trying to keep
her from “over heating”, I neglected to respond to what she needs to help keep her focus on
the ring and not outside of it. Tomorrow I am going to continue to walk her around the ring
in the late afternoon to see if this works too keep her focused. Everything started out
perfectly until we got to the second Tunnel. Niven was totally focused on it, ran to it,
repeated this morning’s adventure around the other side. I am wondering if these Tunnel are
not too hot inside and there is something that she wants to avoid? Given the choice, she
knows what is asked, but at last second decides something different. I am going to stay with
a hot interior for right now and see what happens tomorrow.
Weave Poles were horrible, missed once followed by Niven nearly blowing me off for something
outside the ring???? I know the equipment is different and I can see her try to contemplate
that aspect, but unfocused is unfocused. Starting off again, Niven made it over #11 and
realized the tent was just outside the ring. I honestly thought she would jump the ring gate
to head there, but managed to pull together and send out to #12. Coming in unfocused, on an
angle and with me way out to get around #14, the bar came down. The rest of the Jump chute
was performed perfectly.
The sad part? Niven had only one Refusal……………but she stayed on the Start Line, tried to
refocus and stay with me, and then let me send her out for the last four Jumps.
Non-Qualifying Run
Refusal at #8 Tunnel
Dropped Bar #12
There are a few things I am going to try tomorrow to see if Niven can stay more focused in
the afternoon. I am also curious to see how she does with the Frame contact and what she will
do with the Panel Jump…………..
Sunday
I was supposed to be on the road by 5am and did not hear the alarm clock until 5:10am.
Needless to say, there was a lot of running to get out the door and on the road. I wanted to
have time to walk Niven around the rings as well as getting all the tent stuff set back up.
We got there at 7am and I had some time to pull together everything I wanted to get done.
Unfortunately, my morning cup of coffee came after the first run…....
Open Standard
I tried something different for the morning and think I have a better understanding of how
Niven works. I pulled her out at the beginning of the class and moved every few minutes to a
new location. Mainly I stayed in the shaded parts ( under a canopy, next to a tent, chair
shade, body shade, and pure sunlight ). I was wondering if this was not something she needed
to help reduce “stress” or get her familiar with the ringside distractions. Oh, it did
alright, but heightened all of the great places that might offer some treat reward. Niven
knew exactly where to look for that scent she found earlier.
The course looked like it would be fun, enough challenge for the inexperienced dog with flow
and limited handler restrictions. What I realize now is how tight the beginning of the course
seems, but Niven handled the opening with speed, accuracy and determined contacts. After the
#6 Panel Jump she began a meltdown, took an extra Jump and came back on course to the Table.
The Teeter was performed with me getting in a front cross, but again she took the wrong end of
the Tunnel then ran past the correct one.
To get Niven back on track I tried to go low, but the Tunnel acted as something…..not sure
what that send her focus out the window. I called for Weaves and she ran past, came back and
then jetted to the other side of the ring where someone else was more interesting. It tool me
a good ten to fifteen seconds to get her attention back and I ended the whole thing the,
calming holding on to the scruff of her neck to go and find our Lead on the chair.
I have no problems with any dog showing enthusiasm for working then losing focus to drift
off. That is normal, especially on the Novice and Open experience levels. What does bother
me is when all working focus is completely thrown out the window. At some point, the handler
needs to make a decision and mine was to not reward the “Labrador Focus” that turned her brain
to another task.
There is a difference between “Lab Brain” and “Lab Focus”, the first being a scatterbrained
behavior where everything needs to be completed at once and the result is “something stupid”
occurring. This is marked with the dog bouncing around looking for some kind of excitement
outlet, barking and normally looks back to the Handler for more solid direction. If the
Handler does give clearer direction and gets the dog back into performing, the run can be
salvaged with the Team getting back on track.
The “Lab Focus” is the dog performing its task, but one better comes along and demands ALL
thought to it. I suspect this is a breed tendency to mark and retrieve bird and the Field
Dogs are more susceptible to it due to being bred for Hunt Work.
In order to make a point with Niven, I could not allow her to “be free” while making our way
to the chair. She had come back to me and I did not ever want her to feel threaten in doing
so. I did NOT ask for a “lay down” because that would have ill timed, as she had come back to
me and was not caught in the act!!!!! I did not want to play the “catch me as I run away”
game because when Niven has that focus she is NOT paying attention to me!!!! It was better to
remain where I was and eventually catch her attention.
When we did get to the Lead Chair, I asked for a sit and then down followed by no treats or
extra verbal praise. I was purely not happy, but at the same time completely understanding in
what was going on. It was better to not say anything in fear of her picking up on an unhappy
voice tone. My body language was already telling her something was different.
It was sometime later that I realized Niven had performed each contact with complete
accuracy and I had done nothing to tell her. Plus there was a hard call to the right to get
onto the Dog Walk and I…….said nothing about it. So, I think our problem was two fold in
teamwork and I decided to modify what I was doing for the rest of the day.
Non-Qualifying Run
Off Course after #6
Off Course – Wrong Tunnel at #10
Dropped Bar #6
Pulled off the course due to lack of focus on Agility
Back at the tent and beating myself up for what I had not done for Niven, I realized Novice
FAST was next. This allowed for me to plan obstacles around the dog and I figured with the
Tunnel refusals mounting up this weekend and our disaster Open run, a happy course was needed.
It took me a long time to come up with something that appeared fast and at that time, I had
the Send Out requirement wrong. This would all come into focus when I later walked the
course.
Two things I did differently, one was to leave the treat bag and ‘fake out treats in the
pocket” and I delayed getting Niven out of the ex-pen until the last possible moment. This
put huge stress on me, as I am normally within ear shot and can be in the ring when called.
What I was doing was trying to mimic class and was harnessing how Niven does better when I
pull her straight out of the crate to run. For the morning run, I just created a monster and
wanted to see if this would carry over to the afternoon performances.
What I had also been doing all weekend was to take both Niv and Torch on longer walks well
in between runs for cool down time afterward and had been walking Niv around the rings shortly
after re-crating Torch. This seemed to make a good balance, but can rear its ugly head as we
get more trial experience.
Novice FAST
Once I had an official understanding of the Send Out and I figured out what to do after the
Teeter ( which was to head to the right and haul over Jumps out of the ring ), the whole
course came into being. Standing outside of the ring and about to go in, I changed the
opening to go to the right and over the Double instead of using the left two jumps towards the
Tunnel and Chute. This I felt broke speed heading into the gamble area and offered a better
chance at Niven getting the correct end.
Starting off, Niven hauled out and crashed the Double Jump, which has been a theme all
weekend ( so has refusing Tunnels ), but she did stay focused on the middle “hole” in the Send
Out and got the hardest part correct, only to come out of the Tunnel and run past the Chute
after looking at it. So much for using this obstacle as a type of reward.
As we sped around, each contact was praised and I tried to mark each success. At this point
we had already faulted and the whole stress on me was gone….with NOT ONE DOUBT. Even when I
walk into the ring with the idea of trying something, I still want to qualify and that nags at
the back of my head. So it was nice to just haul without hesitancy.
I think whatever I was doing, what she was doing and the time and energy spent on this run,
paid off. Niven kept looking at me as if she was looking for approval. I tried to mark each
success and made sure she did not know she had NQed. Coming out of the ring I made sure to
heavily verbal praise and run back to the tent to get her liver treats as immediately as I
could.
Was I disappointed that Niven had run past and obstacle five feet beyond a line, one that
she was looking straight towards? Yup. Still I shake my head as Saturday’s Send Out was much
harder at ten feet-plus. The thing that always comes around and rings stronger then truth, is
that tomorrow is yet another day. I am having waaaaay too much fun in Novice that I had to
serious debate with myself on moving her up in Standard. Maybe I am looking for some
motivation too!!!!!!!
Non-Qualifying Run
Fault by Refusing the Chute
There was a long stretch of time between FAST and Jumpers, time spent meandering around to
hang out with Elaine and Leslie or to watch Excellent. I walked the dogs again and it was
back to waiting for Open Jumpers to complete before Novice. I waited until the last dog in
the 20” jump height was to run and found that I had anticipated early, some how another dog
was set to run adding one more dog to the line up. Niven and I ended up waiting outside of
the tent for longer then I wanted too.
Novice Jumpers
I decided to trot into the ring and pop Niv in to a sit, only to find that we were sitting
there too long. I wanted to do something different and pull her up to bounce around. For
some reason her expression brightened and ears went up, almost appearing ready to do the
Tunnel that was the first obstacle. There was no hesitancy and Niv did run past the Weaves
but called back and SLAMMED through them like she has been doing at trials.
There were some beautiful send outs and Jump/Tunnel discrimination at #12, but there were
also three bars that came down. I will take those as it meant that there were no refusals and
we were on course! I think the grass surface which is something we normally do not practice
on was part of the problem in Niven’s jumping style, but that is also called time. I rather
have the flow of working movement then what we have been doing at the end of the day which is
to peter off and sniff stuff.
When we finished the course, I again was heavy on the praise and she kept looking surprised.
I guess I have been lacking on feed-back? I always try to mark an excellent run and we have
had them, but perhaps this had to do more with this morning?? The only way to tell is to run
again and that will be in two weeks.
Non-Qualifying run
Three knocked bars
All in all, this weekend was well worth the hour-plus drive, hauling half a campsite four
hundred feet and sitting around for ten hours in 90°F heat and sun. Niven and I are entered
in another trial in two weeks at Dream Park. It will be interesting to see what changes are
needed to re-adjust to this familiar location.
As it always is, this should be interesting.
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Last Updated on
June 28, 2009
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