Comment

Comment by Carrie Ritter on June 2, 2011 at 3:34am

I don't know a lot but it seems to me that if you teach your dog to sniff things in-between obstacles that they are going to want to do that in competition. I would make sniffing work a separate activity from agility.

 

Sherman will get distracted at class and go off to sniff but it is usually because I am learning to slow and he gets bored of me. If I can keep him running the whole time he is focused, but if I stop and want to redo an obstacle he will lose interest after a few times.

Comment by Cheri on May 31, 2011 at 11:22pm

If your dog finds sniffing really rewarding, then try to figure out a way to use that as a reward. Then you would gain more control over when your dog does sniffing. You might have to get super creative to figure out a way to use it but I've found that it is usually easier to try to use what you know the dog already finds highly rewarding as a reward rather than preventing them from doing something they like.

I'm not sure where you are in your agility training but you could set up a "sniffing station". Maybe a box with different items in it, one with something really stinky and yummy. Do an obstacle, sniff for the treat in the box, do 2 obstacles, sniff for the treat in the box, etc. If you direct the sniffing at the same time you train for agility you'll be shaping the behavior you eventually want to see. Do agility with me and when we're done you can go sniff.

Comment by Debbie Algieri & Bella Boo on May 31, 2011 at 9:33pm

I don't have Bella in Agility but what I found is the reward must be great to get them to do what you want them too.  I found that Natural Balance Lamb roll worked the best.  I used it only for training and once I found this, she would do anything I asked her to without delay. You might try leave it and practice alot during class.

  

 

Comment by Beth on May 31, 2011 at 8:33pm

Sniffing, sniffing, oh the sniffing!   Jack is a terrible sniffer at agility, and the little stinker knows exactly when I can and can't catch him.   Any tips to stop sniffing?  He has a great recall;  we hike off-leash fairly regularly, he comes back to me all the time.  I've even called him off something he was about to roll in.  But at agility... well, not so much.   I just had him out working in the yard on the long line.  I scattered treats around the ground, let him wander to find them, and called him back to me multiple times.  He came back lickity-split, ears up, big smile.  In fact, I had trouble shooshing him away so we could practice, his focus was so good.

 

Problem is, in the ring he knows he might a) find treats and b) he does not know til he finds them what they might be!  It's like Christmas!  

 

Sniffing is his favorite thing in the world.  He's rather sniff than play with other dogs.  A frisbee or chuck-it tennis ball beats sniffing for about five throws til he wears off his excitement, and then back to sniffing.  So how to break him of something that is intrinsically so rewarding to him?   Last class, my instructor took him and held him in "time out" while I went to another part of the ring and ignored him.  That did seem to help a bit. 

 

I'm using a clicker and really good treats (cheese) at class and so far not much success.  He's worse when it's hot and we're moving slow, so I don't think it's stress-sniffing.  I think it's boredom sniffing.

Comment by Cheri on May 5, 2011 at 5:48am

Layering is when there is an obstacle between you and the obstacle the dog is performing, but the layered obstacle isn't a discrimination.

Comment by Carrie Ritter on May 5, 2011 at 2:12am

Hey Cheri, what does it mean when you say you do layering in your handling? I need to learn all the cool agility terms.

 

As for contacts, I like running contacts because we want to be fast! No stopping or slowing down :)

Comment by amanda on May 4, 2011 at 5:29pm

I trained my older Cardigan with a 2on2off on both the dogwalk and the frame. A few years ago I stopped asking her for it on the frame but have kept it on the dogwalk. I found that because she came down the frame with her head up it was causing her should problems from the impact. Changing it to just a quick release has gotten rid of a lot of soreness after a trial.

 

My young cardi is the same- a 2on2off on the dogwalk, and a running frame.

 

Running contacts are much more difficult to teach than a stop because it is less clear to the dog what is expected of them. It really comes down to preference and the individual dog I think.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Comment by Cheri on May 4, 2011 at 4:25pm

My issue with the 2o2o is the stop. If I need to change sides on a piece of contact equipment I run like H-E-double toothpicks to get to the other side before my dog (after all they have more ground to cover than I do) and do a front cross. I usually maintain sufficient lateral distance so I can do that. I guess my philosophy with doing agility is my same philosophy as when I cycle--never stop pedaling! Basically I don't stop during my run unless I made a mistake and have to collect my dog (which means I'm not Q'ing anyway) or we're at the table where you don't have a choice but to stop. I also have a fast dog so what I did was learn how to handle at a sufficient distance so I can get into position and stay ahead whenever possible. The big bugaboo with doing this though is timing. With fast dogs you don't have a big window of time in which to cue your dog. If you don't have impeccable timing (my downfall--I'm around 50/50 right now) your dog will be taking advantage of some off course opportunities. But I don't like to be beat by those Shelties so I don't stop for anything! I know that a lot of handling systems discourage layering but I layer and handle from a lateral distance to position myself in front of my dog to maximize pulling him over obstacles. I find that when I'm ahead he runs even faster trying to catch up! That's a great thing! The best compliment I ever received was when a fellow competitor told me that my Cardigan was a Border Collie with his legs chopped off! Aren't corgi's the dark horses in agility? Other competitors discount them because corgi's are short. They think corgi's can't be fast. What a mistake that is, huh? They're herding dogs for heavens sake! They have speed and stamina. Perfect for agility.

Comment by CorgiLove on May 4, 2011 at 3:59pm

Hi all!

 

On height - 

Philip runs 8" in AKC and 12" in USDAA. It doesn't seem to make a difference in difficulty for him at all, but he's on the larger side for a Pem and still young.

We actually started off with 12" in both (I've even posted here about it before), but he got lucky and got measured down to 8" in AKC when official measurements went through at 2 years old. They put him at 11" exactly. All of his USDAA measurements have been 11.5-12" at withers, but hey - I'm not complaining.

He does tend to knock bars at 12" a little more, but I think that's just because he isn't used to it, he has no trouble clearing the jumps for the most part. In class, he's even jumped a 20" double once while I wasn't watching!

 

On contacts - 

I trained Philip in 2-on-2-off, and he can easily do it in class, however he's a brat so he chooses to run off in competition, sometimes even missing the contact on the Dog Walk. If you ask me, I think getting into 2o2o is much safer than leaping over the contact all together, but I can't get him to stop in competition - he just knows that he can rebel, and so he does.

I've seen lots of dogs do running contacts just fine, and others that do 2o2o or a down. I think it's whatever works for you and your dog. I think the stop with 2o2o or a down is very advantageous in terms of letting you get ahead or switch sides easily, especially with a fast dog like Philip, so I'm all for at least attempting to teach it.

 

Comment by Cheri on May 4, 2011 at 3:09pm

Sometimes it's just that they don't like the stop in the action that happens with the 2o2o. However it could be that they don't like the stress on their back. I like running contacts because my boy is one of the "don't like the stop in the action" guys. And I don't like the tippy toe that most dogs do to get into position on the down contact for a 4o. But I have a new puppy that I think will be a challenge to teach a running contact. I might be doing a 4o. We'll see. :D

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 16
• 17
• 18
• 19
• 20
• …
• 33
• Next ›
• Page