A fun course to play with :-)

Great news! I trained Maze for the first time since I pulled him from the last run of the Mile Hi trial, he ran great!!! He seems to be feeling great and I am seeing no signs of any pain in his back or hips! YEA!!!
In a couple of weeks Maze and I head to the World Team Tryouts in Hopkins, MN so I set up a course that would once again test our "International" skills :-)
SoBe and Maze both got to play on this course and they did great! I have to say though, I am starting to get concerned that my dogs may not be able to actually take the front of a jump anymore since all we seem to practice is back side sends! LOL!!
the dogs had a week off while I was in SLC and Kamloops teaching and will get another 10 days off while Geoff and I are in Hawaii on a working vacation :-) I think it is a perfect schedule given the events coming up.
Maze will have a couple of days of training this week, a couple of days of training right before the Tryouts, and, a lot of rest in between. Maze has had a couple of months of pretty consistent trialing and now some much needed rest before we start up again.
I definitely find that my dogs do better with breaks in between trials, especially when they are high pressure trials.
I can say in all honesty that I am ready for a vacation myself! I am working while in HI, but Geoff and I have a week of vacation between my seminars, I am going to force myself to RELAX!! I will miss my dogs as quarantine issues in HI mean everyone has to stay home, but the rest will be welcome after a super busy winter, spring and soon summer.
So, back to the course... give it a try, let me know how it goes :-) I played with the pieces first before running the whole thing. I started with 8-9, followed by 7-9, then 6-9 :-) Next we played with 9-15. The obvious issues with these sections were the pull throughs to the back side sends. Think carefully about the cues that you will use to ask your dog to negotiate these sections, remember to maintain consistency regarding what each cue or combination of cues means to the dog to ensure that you are asking for the right thing!
I also segregated 1-5 and worked it as a seperate sequence as well :-) I always like to break down any course or sequence to just 1 or 2 major challenges allowing me to really concentrate on each one. This also maintains a high reinforcement ratio making the learning process go so much faster! Keeps the fun factor high as well :-)
I do not always put the pieces together it depends on how each piece works out. it is crucial that we end on a high note and that I do not overwork the dogs :-)
As an aside, Danger is looking FANTASTIC!!! He gave me the best Teeter performance ever today and is getting the whole channel weave poles concept beautifully!
Dog Walks, well... fabulous is the word..

What comes first, the attitude or the training?

I have been doing agility for over 20 years now and am very fortunate to have had so many wonderful life experiences because of it. I have competed in hundreds of trials, numerous "special" events put on by various sponsors, many National Championship events, and, competed in 3 World Championship events.
I have traveled the world competing and teaching, I have taught countless seminars, classes and workshops, was selected as the coach of the United States Agility team 2 times and known great success from this end of the spectrum as well.
I have worked very hard to be successful in the sport of agility and would like to think that I will continue to be successful, however, although I have always thought of the mental game as a very important part of that success it never held as important a role as it does at this point in my career.
I attribute this in large part to the fact that the sport is continuing to get more competitive, more demanding, and, overall requires a much larger skill set to to do well in the upper levels of competition both domestically and internationally.
You can have the best trained dog on the planet handled by the most skilled handler ever conceived and, without an equally well honed mental game it will be quite unlikely that they will reach their potential.
I have a couple of friends who were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend the Lanny Basham coaching workshop this past weekend in Texas, this along with the fact that I had the pleasure of working with a group of the Worlds greatest people this weekend who truly want to succeed in the sport of agility and have fantastic attitudes towards this goal, really got me thinking again how important the mental game is and how very important it is for people to be made aware of the resources out their available to them relative to this topic.
Lanny Bassham, and, Jane Savoie immediately come to mind as absolutely required reading and listening.
What makes this mental game so very important? An example would be one of my favorite mantras these days as I walk the course, focus on the process and the outcome will be there... We are so invested inn the Q that we have a tendency to walk the course with our focus on the outcome, the Q. It is very difficult to achieve the Q without focusing on the process necessary to achieve the brass ring.
We want to win, however, if you do not plan the appropriate strategy to put all of the pieces of the course together it is unlikely that you will win. Do your best on the pieces of the course and there is a very good chance that you will not only Q, but very possibly win!
The conscious and subconscious mind are very powerful, it is really important that you use them in a way that has the power to enhance your runs!
You are only able to consciously think of one thing at a time, make it something positive. Subconsciously, there are many things going through your mind at one time, train yourself to focus on positive thoughts, successful outcomes, and, each piece of the puzzle that makes up the whole picture.
Verbalize what your strengths are, do not dwell on the mistakes! How you think about your previous run greatly affects the outcome of the next.
Keep training, smile, remember the good stuff, and, most of all enjoy the ride!

It's all about the cake!!!

OK, I was planning to title this blog and then just leave the title hanging for those who "understand" what it means to be able to have a bit of a laugh at an inside joke, but, I just cannot do it.
So, what's with the title?? At the trial this weekend there were no less than 7 MACH cakes and a box of MACH brownies! I never saw so many cakes! I think even more impressive was the fact that all of these cakes and brownies were consumed before the trial was complete! I am pretty sure if you completed a MACH or PAX title and did not bring a cake you would quite possibly be kicked out of the trial :-) Thinking we have some sort of addiction going on here!
Anyway, it was a great trial and I had a FANTASTIC weekend!
SoBe was the superstar again finishing her AX-J title on Friday with a 1st place run, getting her first 2 MX-J legs over Sat. and Sun. and starting and finishing her AX with 3 first place standard runs! I could not be more proud of my girl :-)
SoBe is 3rd generation Hijacker/Dream Weaver breeding, my breeding! I bred her grandmother, her father and now SoBe and all 3 are agility Champions! This along with Champions of my heart!! How cheesy is that!!! LOL!
SoBe's daddy Wally did continue with his tradition of insuring a non-double Q weekend, if he Q's in either run he carefully plans at least 1 fault in the other run to guarantee no double Q, it appears to be a very well honed skill. I will be forever thrilled with his one and only appearance in the AKC Nationals in 2010 :-)
Maze maintained his brilliance going 5 out of 5! There was no 6th run as he somehow managed to pop his SI joint and needed a chiropractic adjustment at the trial that left him too sore to run his last run! I have already iced him this evening and am a bit concerned as he has always been so sound and this is quite nerve wracking!
On to another topic... the courses this weekend were really interesting, quite challenging, and, presented some different challenges in a few cases a bit different than what is generally presented on an Excellent course.
This presented some interesting conversations that I found quite thought provoking.
First, a friend and I were talking about courses, etc.. and she asked me what was so different about USDAA courses, she does primarily AKC and several people have told her that AKC and USDAA courses are soooo different, I disagree, and told her so :-)
Both USDAA and AKC utilize the same obstacles, and, although there are some variations in what is "allowed" as far as challenges are concerned, a judge is still just taking those same obstacles and arranging them in different configurations that make up each and every course.
The challenge is in how each handler interprets the course layout and analyzes what the most efficient path from point A to point B might be for them and their dog, at which point they must figure out what cues and/or combinations of cues are necessary to get said dog from point A to point B.
After this particular discussion I found it very interesting how many people do have a habit of blaming the course for the issues that occur on the various courses.
People seem truly stymied by unusual obstacle configurations and get bogged down by the perceived level of difficulty instead of viewing it for what it is, a configuration of obstacles, that need to be handled.
Every handler has a toolbox at their disposal that includes whatever skills they have taught their dog, along with the cues necessary to get their dog to offer the various behaviors that make up these skill sets. Whether it is a giant industrial size toolbox or a home handy man toolbox, either way there is a finite number of individual tools that any person utilizes on any given course.
Regardless of how the obstacles are arranged there should never be a configuration that cannot be handled, the key is to dig deep in that toolbox and figure out which tools, combination of tools, and, where and when to use said tools is the answer to the challenges brought forth on each course.
Common sense suggests that we are at some point going to come across something that really gives us pause for thought, these scenarios should make us think about where we may be lacking in a skill set that still needs to be taught, in which case it should be taught :-)
I know for myself, one of the reasons I keep coming back to the trials is for the personal challenge of figuring out the "formula" as it were for success on each of the different courses. Each one is a puzzle and whether or not I always come up with the right answer it is always a learning experience and each course helps prepare me for the next one in some form or fashion.
I do know that you need to trust your gut, and, after evaluating your options, if one feels right, it probably is :-) You should plan your run and run your plan, pay attention to the process and the outcome will be there! I think that is a nice combination of cliche's that pretty much sum up what our mindset needs to be when deciding on the course of action we are going to employ to run the course, (pun intended:-)!
Have a good time, analyze, don't over-analyze, hug your dog, say something nice to lots of someones, and then... let them eat cake!

SoBe JWW 4/10/11

SoBe AX title run 4/10/11

ADCH SoBe!!

OK, I am excited about SoBe's ADCH!! The SoBe DoBe Doodle Bug is a very special girl and is also quite the handful! I knew the ADCH would eventually come but who knew it would be at age 3 and a half!!
I am pretty stoked about the fact that SoBe is ADCH number 10 as well! I do not believe that any one else has put ADCH's on so many dogs, it is only fitting that my little trouble maker would be number 10. :-)
I also need to fess up about something, I have gone back to a 2on/2off dog walk with SoBe, not because I am a quitter, but, because I am a realist and I realized about a month ago that trying to retrain SoBe to a running Dog Walk was just not going to work. Her history and foundation was a 2on/2off unless of course she launched!
What she did not have, was any understanding of how to "run" through the contact. Although I started her back on a flat board and transitioned to a low dog walk before the full height, etc.. And, even though she was probably at least 80% accurate in her success hitting the contact, even when she hit it, she launched.
The main problem with this is the fact that in a training environment if she missed I had no way of explaining what she did wrong and all of the negative reward markers were confusing her, frustrating both of us and ultimately making me ask myself if it was even remotely fair to ask her to do this with no true understanding of what I was asking. Obviously, the answer was NO!
I have to give the credit for going back to the 2on/2off behavior to SoBe herself, it was during one of these quite frustrating training sessions that she finally just looked at me, trotted over to the bottom of the dog walk and put herself in a 2on/2off position! That sealed the deal, no more running dog walks for the Doodle Bug.
Of course, I never mentioned this before because it had not yet been tested in the ring and I must admit I was a bit nervous about what she would do, and, ultimately what I would do if she blew it!
Great news!!! Not only did she did not blow it, but, she offered a 2on/2off dog walk on each and every dog walk at the FRAT trial and all but one at the Dog Gone Fun trial last weekend in Texas. The only "bad" walk was in a pairs run where she ran second, was over the top high, and, pretty much oblivious to all things going on! I did mark the poor performance, asked to assume heel position and continued on, never another problem! I am so proud of her, and ME!
I have not even remotely given up on the whole running dog walk concept, I am still absolutely going to continue teaching both Danger and Vintage a running dog walk, which is a whole lot easier when they are clean slates learning this behavior from the beginning!

Thank You AMY!!!

This post is not really about thank you Amy, but, without Amy there would be no post!! I managed to find a way to completely screw up my passwords, usernames, you name it and was unable to even get into my own Blog! Thank you Amy for at least getting me back into my Blog!!!
On to the other topic, I am on a serious high from 2 days of amazing runs at our local USDAA trial!!!!
There was one downside that I need to talk about first however, although Wally was only entered in literally 1 class yesterday, (Steeplechase, in which he Q'd and won round 1 :-), and 3 classes today, he came up lame again! His iliopsoas refuses to just heal and not be an issue, so although he is still running at winning times, (took second in Masters standard today and was but a mere 2/10ths behind daughter SoBe in Steeplechase finals), it appears that he is going o be back on rest for a while, and after that pretty much a tournament only dog. This makes me very sad as Wally is, well, Wally... Mama's boy extrordinaire, the Golden Child, my main man, you get the picture... I will do whatever is best for Wally!
On to better stuff, SoBe and Maze were off the charts this weekend! OK, all 3 were but as I already pointed out Mr. Wallys awesomeness was cut short by his ouchiness!
SoBe and I seriously ran together as a TEAM! We had a bit of a rocky start yesterday in our first class of the day, team jumpers, she and I maneuvered our way through what I thought to be the hardest parts of the course only to be foiled by a tunnel off course that I did not really forsee as an issue! I did determine that it was my issue as I was definitely showing too many forward cues when I should have been peeling off laterally.
Next up was team gamblers, let's just say my superior weekend with the Sobester started after that :-) SoBe and I made our way through a VERY difficult team standard class that was eating people alive, definitely made my day. This run was directly after a smoking round 1 Steeplechase Q!
Today started out fabulous as SoBe won team Snooker, placed second in Master standard, was clean in team Relay, tied for second in GP for her second qualifier needed for Nationals, and won Steeplechase round 2 even beating her daddy and coming in 2.5 seconds ahead of the next clean dog, I could not be more proud or more excited about the future for my little SoBe DoBe Doodle Bug!
Maze was equally awesome ending the 2 days with a 100% Qualifying rate, several wins and one of the 3 dogs on the winning DAM team! Thank you Jen, Kris, Morganne, and, Liz for all of the filming! When I get videos I will throw a few of them on my YouTube page.
We have a very small 26" population in Colorado and I am so happy to say that with the addition of Mary and Trek, a highly competitive 26" team I have been forced to really run Maze the way he should be run instead of just playing it safe around the course and he is responding beautifully! Thank you Mary for being such a great competitor, trainer, handler, and new found friend!
There is another day of trial tomorrow but I did not enter, so I will be enjoying a day at home hanging pictures on my newly painted walls, going for a long hike and training Danger and Vintage. The "old" dogs get the day off, it is Sunday after all, a day of rest :-)
I will get back to training talk but just needed to "share" my fun weekend, it really was great!
I did have really good intentions of coming home tonight and training the puppies, but, after 2 days of trialing that started each morning getting up at 4:00 to make the 2 hour drive to the show site, (I am more willing to drive than spend anymore nights in hotels), I was exhausted and decided that a tired trainer is not a good trainer and will pick up where we left off tomorrow!
What does tomorrow bring, simple jump sequences for Danger, dog walk practice of course, and, probably a tire or 2 thrown in for good measure.
Vintage gets to continue to learn impulse control, tons of toy work, a few trips through the jump uprights, and some "mat work" just to name a few things.
As an aside, I have to throw in a note about the power of positive thinking and how incredibly important it is to focus on your Mental Game as part of your training and trialing regimen, the Mental game is a huge part of everyone's ultimate success in any endeavor, one of the many things Lanny Bassham speaks of is to remember that you shouldn't focus on the outcome of the run, you should focus on the run itself, doing so will take care of the outcome!
Happy daylight savings, looks like Spring has Sprung!