Wordless Wednesday

Sequence Sunday: My first sequence

I set up a short sequence for Lotte: Tire, Tunnel, Jump. This is the first time I've set up/tried to run a sequence on my own; the only other short sequences we've done have been in class. I found that running it in that order worked out fine, but trying to do it in reverse (Jump, Tunnel, Tire) resulted in a consistently bypassed jump (to the point that I gave up on trying that, and just got in a couple of really good runs starting with the Tire, since she was doing good with that). I'm not sure if maybe my jump was too close to the tunnel entrance, so I'm going to revisit this setup in a couple of days (after some rest and video-review) with the jump re-positioned further back from the tunnel/possibly slightly offset.  A series of bloopers and head-scratching moments later, and I came up with a few other observations:

Exhibit A: And the bar goes flying!

1 - I need to back up and work more on jump-work by itself.
2 - "Let's try it one more time to get it right" is a bad way to go about things.
3 - My command-giving-timing needs work (see exhibit A)
4 - Tossing food in grass = lost food and distracted dog. Tossing easter egg filled with food = genius.

Baby steps to Confidence

Lotte has A-frame issues. It all started with one (somewhat comical) episode involving her running up the a-frame, and finding herself stuck running in place about a foot or so from the apex. Literally. Think Wile E. Coyote running in place before getting hit with the realization that he isn't going anywhere (except for down).

Ok, so it wasn't quite that dramatic. Still, Lotte had trouble getting up-and-over the top of the A-frame, and though (through the power of banana... the ultimate reward for my monkey) I know that she CAN do it, that one sucky experience has left her hesitant to even run towards an A-frame. Dogwalk? Teeter? No problem! Just no A-frames. 

Like all of the other agility equipment I've been slowly accumulating, I decided it was time to add an A-frame (of some sort) to my collection. I wound up putting together a very-mini-sized A-frame out of two small panels of 1/2" plywood and some basic hardware. 

It's smaller than I had wanted, at just shy of 3' long per panel, but the nice thing is that I can use it indoors and transport it easily. Plus, it's perfect for my purposes... which are right now, to build Lotte's confidence up and to teach her how to push herself up and over the apex. 

Ta-da! Indoor A-frame! :)  I might paint contacts on later.

When I first introduced Lotte to her new A-frame (with the chain set at the lowest setting), she balked and refused to touch it. So, we started slower. I took the chains off, grabbed a piece of 2" PVC pipe, and laid it underneath the hinge-joint (this made the "high" point only about 3" off the ground). It took a little bit of coaxing, and some cheese trails dropped along the length to get Lotte comfortable going across. We have since graduated to placing a piece of 4" pipe under the hinges (so it is still set up lower than what my chains will allow).

Tonight marked a confidence-breakthrough, in that Lotte was practically flying across the A-frame on it's 4" support, and without prompting. To the point that I had to put her in a stay to be able to put the A-frame up and move us on to working on our 2x2 weaves. I think I'll keep her at the same height for a couple of days, and then try to find something to bump it up to 5 or 6" - just want to keep it going gradual... lest she remember what it is that she's running across! 

Some downtime, and getting back in the game

Her entire neck is bandaged up. :(

Lotte and I have had some downtime the past week and a half. We were just gearing up a couple of weeks ago to start a couch-to-5k program together, and on what should have been our second night of running, we were attacked by a pit bull as we were walking down the street. Yes, walking - we were still within the 5 minute "walk to warm up" period, and yes, it was actually a pit - I know how to identify breeds. The other dog blindsided us. It slipped under a fence and came running from the yards on our side. By the time I saw it coming, out of my peripheral vision, it was practically on top of us. I tried to get Lotte behind me first, and shoo the dog away, like I do with any other dog (like the annoying chihuahua that runs around barking at everything that moves). 

It wasn't coming at me, it was coming at Lotte, and that fast, it got her by the neck. I hit the ground and grabbed the dog - put it into a choke hold - to keep it from shaking her, and to get it to let go. Somehow, I managed to get Lotte in my arms, and a guy coming down the street stopped to help us. All told, we weren't hurt too badly (thank God!). I got bit (minor - only because I got in the way of the teeth protecting Lotte), and Lotte has stitches in her neck. Fortunately, she had her thick leather collar on, and if the teethmarks in it are any indication, it protected her neck from more serious damage. 

So, we've had a bit of downtime. Lotte's been checked, rechecked, and OK'd to go back to agility class (I thought we might have to drop the rest of this session), so we're just going to get back into the game and move on with ourselves. 

Lotte's ready to dive head-first back into the game. 

She was testing out our new tunnel. It's just a cheapy practice tunnel I snagged off Amazon. Certainly not great quality, but it does what it's supposed to, and for a 12 lb dog, I'm pretty sure it'll hold up just fine. Lotte was so excited to run through it that she didn't even wait for me to finish setting it up (it has to be staked into the ground). When I was about halfway down my set up, Lotte ran through, and pushed her way through the collapsed end like it was a chute. 

Now, I just need to work on getting her to run all the way through the tunnel and out. She likes to stop right at the end, and just watch me keep running past her. Guess that means we'll be doing some target practice later!

Look at what dog?

There was a little dog, off-lead and unattended, sitting on the front lawn of what I will assume was it's home. This dog didn't venture off of it's property, didn't come anywhere near the sidewalk, in fact. He only came as far as halfway down the lawn, but boy did he bark. Perfect Look At That! practice for Lotte and me. 

Lotte was well aware that there was another dog not more than twenty feet (if that!) away from us, and... nothing. She looked and was rewarded a few times going past, but that was it. She didn't react, didn't bark back, didn't try to speed up to get past me, nothing. She looked at that dog, and more or less shrugged it off. Dog? What dog? 

That was well over 12 hours ago, and I'm still amazed. I have never walked her past another dog without some sort of a reaction out of her. I usually at least get the quick speed up or some noise. This time, it was nothing, and that's just wonderful. :)

Third time's the charm

Lotte's been getting a dental treat every night when we go upstairs for bed. As a result, she's learned to run straight to my room as soon as I move the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs - without any detours - to get her treat.

Now, I've decided to change the game. Since I want to work on her recall, I am now asking her to hold a stay at the bottom of the stairs, and then calling her to me in my room.

The scene from tonight:

Attempt #1 - Halfway up the stairs, Lotte breaks her stay and starts following. Body block a now-confused dog back down the stairs, reset the stay, and ...

Attempt #2 - Get up to room, open door, just about ready to call Lotte, and she breaks her stay and comes barreling up the stairs before I can. Body block again, and start corralling her back down the stairs. Now, she's frustrated. She's kicking up a fuss verbally, but after all that grumbling, settles back into her stay, and ...

Attempt #3 - Third time's the charm. She holds her stay, responds to her recall, and finally gets her treat.

Look at that cat!

I was flipping through my copy of Control Unleashed recently, and decided to give the Look at That! game another try with Lotte (now that we've been using the clicker more lately, and she's gotten more savvy to it). I've been playing with it on walks, mostly with people across the street and barking dogs behind fences so far.

Where I've seen the most impact, however, has been at home. One of my biggest issues with Lotte has been her chasing Doc (the older kitty) and pestering him. Now, while Doc does know how to tell Lotte to back off, he doesn't appreciate being chased or barked at, and generally spends most of his time upstairs - where Lotte isn't - if she's out.

On a spur one morning, I threw a handful of treats on the kitchen table while Lotte was outside, and set my clicker next to my coffee. Gave the cats their food, let Lotte in, and immediately started clicking her every time she looked at the cats. Amazingly enough, I am to the point of being able to feed the cats right in front of her with no complains from either party. For even more fun, I was giving both Lotte and Doc treats for sitting next to each other (the finicky old cat who turns his nose up at most everything under the sun is rather fond of Lotte's soft training tidbits... go figure).

It'll take more mornings like this and some time before anything changes permanently (point in case, someone chased Doc about this morning), but I have been told already that Lotte has been relatively mellow with the cats all week. That, right there, is enough for me to keep going.