Abby's First Agility Trial

[Animelover955]

Ok so little update on her training first off...

Well we just got back from class tonight and she's doing great! She is officially weaving 6 poles(not that she couldn't do it before), her contacts(2o2o) are coming along pretty well however it needs a bit of work, she is in love with the tunnel, and tonight we had our first intro to the chute and she did great with it.

Up until last week all of our classes had been indoors, but last monday we had our first outdoor class and she was a mess. It really stressed her out and she just could not focus and every time I had her off leash she would bail and head for the gate. So I ended class early with her and did some massaging and just let her chill in the crating area. But tonight we had indoors and she was amazing again. She wasn't stressed and extremely well focused, but next week is outdoors so might have the stress issue again.

At any rate onto tonight. Well she was intro'd to the chute and did great She loves our instructor when I'm holding the lead, but the second she takes it Abby just wants nothing to do with her *sigh* which is in a way is kinda good as far as when we were intro-ing to the chute and tunnel because she just wanted to get away from her as fast as possible and well yeah....

Anywho towards the end of our class one of our instructors brought over the third set of 2x2's and worked with us a bit and within seconds she was weaving all 6 poles. Her entries are pretty solid and she only popped out once and that was my fault because I patted my leg and broke her concentration so she popped and came straight to me. Then we spent like 10 minutes talking about weave poles and Abby and I demoed her mad skill and with our instructor we went step by step on how we trained the weaves.

And afterwards they said we could technically start trialling in AKC novice jumpers courses since it's just jumps and weaves and since she has solid weaves they think we can do it, but they recommend waiting a few more months just so we can proof her weaves and work a bit more on the handling aspect since up until now we've just really been doing foundation work. But one of my instructors said I could go ahead and get her registered with AKC canine partners. And they said I could enter her in a trial or fun match just to get her used to trialling etc. I really wasn't planning to trial till towards the end of next year, but if I can I would so do it in a few months granted she's ready enough(and just jumpers for now since her contacts aren't exactly ready)

So there are 2 trials next year one in April and one in May. So we'll see how things go and I'll chat with my instructors closer to when I have to send in my entries and if they think it's a good idea I'll sign up and run a few novice jumpers courses. Also another deciding factor is if I actually have my driver's license. I've been talking about getting it for forever, but still haven't gotten that done. Hopefully by January though, but if I can I will go to the New Years USDAA trial that our club is hosting just to watch and get her used to the trial environment.

At any rate she's doing great and coming along wonderfully. hehe I know still haven't gotten any videos from class, but mind you it's kinda hard especially if I have no one there to tape me. I'll get some eventually though  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

I have the OPPOSITE problem with Cowboy. He works great outdoors, and is a bit of a mess indoors. I think because everything is louder and echos and the field is a bit smaller so he's more tempted to run after the other dogs.

I say just jump right into trialing honestly. You will never feel 100% ready, so, start with at least bringing Abby to a trial to get her use to the environment, maybe do a fun match or two and then just go for it. And chances are it will be a mess, but really, that's the fastest way to learn is by actually running it. My first snooker I got disqualified in like 5 seconds lol. NOW I kind of understand the rules lol. It's always nice when you DONT go first, and can watch everyone's strategy and see which crosses etc seem to work best.  

[Animelover955]

I'm sooo worried about memorizing the courses though. I'm pretty sure I'd fail and DQ or NQ because of going off course razz

I need to figure out about fun matches in the area right now all I'm finding are actual trials, but hopefully if I can hitch a ride with someone we'll go to the USDAA trial thats like an hour and a half away. long drive, but hey.

I also really need to work on crating her. She flips out when I have to at class sad  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

She might react differently to being crated in a hectic space. Cowboy is great in his crate at trials, but flips out if I crate him at school or work. What works well for him is covering his crate and quietely sneaking out. It's seeing me leave that stresses him the most, this way it's like he doesn't realize I'm gone.

They will let you run the course dogless for I think 5-10mins to remember the course. But ya fun matches are better to start with since they don't usually DQ you for screwing up lol. But snooker is the only one that you just flat out get DQ'd. In starters regular, jumpers etc you just loose points but you can keep running.