Training Diary
First off, Baxter is still a puppy, and has all kinds of hyper-energy. I think agility training will be a good outlet for him.
January 2002
- Took him to the vet for full hip and joint X-Rays. Results were perfect, the vet says his plates will fully form in the next 2-4 months. I strongly recommend you do this with your dog, especially larger breeds.
- First agility class. The beginner class is large, but they break us up into small groups and we rotate around and practice the different obstacles. I am amazed just watching the experienced dogs run the weaves, jump, etc... We are introduced to clicker training and target training.
- I teach Bax "targeting". Problem is, I think I overdid it. He goes ballistic whenever he sees a plastic lid. I have to tell the agility instructors that they don't need to bribe him with a treat.
February 2002
- Agility is going pretty well. He does the tunnels, jumps, dog walk and A-Frame. He is still scared of the teeter-totter at the pivot point, and is somewhat scared of the chute.
- I build a set of Weave Poles. It takes FOREVER to train him to do these, but he finally gets it. Weaves 6 poles in 4 seconds.
March 2002
- We start to do sequencing. He does pretty well at jump-tunnel-jump-aframe. He really loves this stuff.
- Baxter graduates beginning agility. Intermediate starts next month!
- Six poles - 2.8 seconds! He's starting to get it!
April 2002
- Intermediate class just started. I'm really pleased with how well he did after a few weeks off. Didn't start off so well, because someone dropped a ball on the playground and of course he had to go chase and get it. But after that, we did some sequencing. He did a PERFECT jump-tunnel-broad jump-stay table down, and return. He also did the dog walk and A-frame at full regulation height for the first time. No problem, besides being too hyper - he hates waiting for his turn to run.
- 2nd Intermediate class. This dog is nails. Only problem we had was the teeter-totter still, but other than that, he nailed everything. Ran like lightning thru the tunnel-tire-chute-double jump sequence. Also, we placed a set of 5 jumps in a circle. On the 2nd try he did all five jumps in a row while I was standing in the center - no leading. I'm sure there will be setbacks but so far I'm really pleased.
- 3rd Class. "Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark!" - he HATES waiting his turn to practice. Well ups and downs on this one. On the positive side HE DID THE TEETER - TWICE!!!. He also weaved the tighter "regulation" poles without the guides several times. We now have to work on the contact obstacle releases. As a bigger dog, this is tougher, but we need to focus on pausing at the release. But he did the chute really well again.
May 2002
- Still some ups and downs. Ups - he's sequencing 8-10 obstacles in a row, and he is VERY fast for a bigger dog. He seems to have no problem with the teeter if its in a sequence as opposed to just training on the teeter by itself. Downs - had some problems with the weave poles because I've been training him without the guides at home, and the guides seem to freak him out a little bit. Still having problems with him jumping off the contacts, I have to run my butt off to get ahead of him at the end of the obstacle to give the "wait" command, so a little bit of progress there.
June 2002
- A little more progress. There is now not a single obstacle he cannot do. Just a matter of me learning how to handle. We've done up to 12 obstacles in sequence and competition is 14-16. He's doing much better on the contact zones, but is not reliable on the teeter. Sometimes he goes over it no problem, sometimes he refuses. He's nails on the jumps, tires, tunnels and weaves tho. Only a couple more classes then we'll take the summer off - getting TOO HOT! We'll start advanced in the fall.
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September 2002
- Yup! He's very rusty. We'll need a few more classes to get back up to speed. Advanced class is fun, he's doing OK, he didn't forget how to do jumps, tunnels, tire and chute, and did the teeter the first time around, but balked on his second run. I was told my treats were not good enough...he ran off the course to the adjacent course where the trainer was handing out "better" treats *sigh*. I was disappointed to see they still have the "guides" on the weave poles...let's take 'em off already! I'm told my "handling" needs a lot of work LOL (it does).
November 2002
- Moment of truth. Bax tries out for competition level on Monday. We FINALLY got the teeter nailed. Jumps, chute, onside and offside weaves - no problem. Just a matter of how he feels on tryout night. He CAN do all the obstacles, I just hope there are no dropped treats or other distractions around.
- YAY! Bax passed his qualifying trial for competition level!!!!
December 2002
- Well just for kicks we tried flyball. Did NOT work out. Oh, he flew like a cheetah towards the ball, but retreiving? Nah! he thinks the game is over once he gets the ball. Oh well, back to advanced agility which starts in January.