I love training my dogs in short bursts throughout the day and the week.  To make a plan, walk out the door and get it done in 10 minutes.  And I love being able to fit the training in between household projects, errands, our daily walks and work/volunteer commitments.  Here’s a picture of Tai who was outside to “do his business”, asking me to come out and play now, please?  Pretty please??

Yesterday – in the afternoon, after the frost was off the contacts, I cobbled together a little novice style standard course – without moving any of the contacts — so that Tai could work all the contacts within sequences and I could see “where we are”.  First thing to remember…don’t just warm up the dog….remember to warm up myself!  Because, with Tai, I will be running…full out.  He did well…gorgeous running DW and A-frame but he was surprised by the speed with which he hit the teeter and did his nose touches off the board until the rising teeter board whacked him in the tail.  Just didn’t shift his weight quickly enough to stay on.  I laughed and decided to spend a few minutes working that piece.

Later…just before dark on one of these short, short days of the year…we went out and worked handling around and turns off the dogwalk.  It’s a fun challenge to learn how to handle around a running dogwalk.  I can see that eventually it’s going to feel very smooth.  I just need to figure out timing, and continue building Tai’s understanding of turns – from gentle turns to severe turns.   One thing for sure…if at all possible, I don’t want to have to wait around to babysit the entry to the dogwalk!  So helping him learn to get on from lots of different angles is another piece that we are working.

It’s very likely that we’ll have that snow soon.  It will be beautiful…and perhaps we’ll have a white Christmas.  We’ll enjoy walking in snow covered fields (less mud is a good thing!).  We’ll put up our Christmas tree, shop, wrap presents, bake, have lots of family visits and sometimes the dogs will get loads of extra attention and sometimes they’ll feel neglected and if they could talk, would say they don’t appreciate this disruption to their lives.   And I’ll have to accept that contact training will have to move to training centers once or twice a week.

It’s part of the rhythm of life where I live…four distinct seasons if we are lucky (not just summer and winter).  With winter adding it’s special beauty and challenges and time to teach new tricks to all of the dogs.

It has not been an easy journey for me or my long-legged boy.  Well…I’ve largely been successful at keeping his frustration to a minimum.   But he’s not the one who…after each 5-7 minute training session… often spends another 30 or more minutes analyzing the video, posting video, waiting for a response from Silvia, watching other videos, and thinking about how to proceed next.  Hmmm… I did use the word “addiction”.

So, what is the behavior?  It’s not just…get feet in the yellow.  It’s finish your stride low on the board.  If the dog understands this and is truly running – in double suspension gallop- even a long-strided dog like Tai will get 2 rear feet or 2 front feet or combination in the contact zone.    Here are two pictures showing the compression and extension of a double stride gallop on the flat.

So what have been our biggest challenges?  1.  The biggest challenge of all  is training the eye to see what is actually happening.  To know what should be rewarded, jackpotted or not rewarded at all.  It’s easy to see when the video is slowed down to 1/10th normal speed.  Not at all easy to spot in the moment.  I imagine it’s easier for some people than others.   But spotting the correct behavior in the RDW was a real challenge for me – especially for a time when I had to discern the difference between front feet and rear feet hits.  Yikes!

2. Along the way, finding plank set-ups that would accommodate Tai’s stride length.  Ultimately, going to a low full dogwalk was the answer.

3.  The mechanics of throwing a toy reasonably far and true to path .

3.Solving the mystery of the “overreaching” problem we encountered once on the full and low dogwalk.  The picture shows him working hard to land with rear feet on the ground, rather than on the board.  A mystery solved, after much frustration on both our parts, by simply raising the height of the dog walk.

4. Knowing what to do, when Tai wasn’t “getting it”.   Being loose enough and strict enough in criteria.
5. Having faith

Ok…enough of words, you must be thinking…let’s see it!  So, below is a short movie I put together to celebrate where we are in our journey.  Still a work in progress – turns off the dogwalk, discriminations, new dogwalks and finishing the two on- two off behavior are ahead of us, but I’m feeling very confident that we’re definitely on track and will ultimately be successful. Yippee!

As one of my fellow on-line students wrote…”Running contact training is a great method for teaching the handler to deal with frustration but I will definitely be using this method with my next dog too because running contact heaven is worth spending some time in running contact hell “.  Amen.

But I also love burying my face in the hair of my dogs…so soft; to dig my fingers in behind the ears and neck as I massage and feel their pleasure as they lean into my hand.  To stroke their flanks…firm underneath but so soft to the touch.   To pat their hairy heads and feel them lean against me.  I guess dog hair isn’t so bad after all.

Now, of holes.   I set up a challenging international style jumpers course for Breeze today and we nailed it first time out.  Then we took a little break and ran it again with a little different handling and it felt even better.  Next?  Tai man’s turn to came out to play….to work the course in pieces.  This course had it all…push-thrus, threadles, send dog and run hard to position, double fronts, serpentines, rear crosses, wraps, push out of weave poles.   How did it go?  Well, let’s just say I was laughing a lot, amazed at his skills some of the time and only a little dismayed to find we have some “holes”.  Well, that is kind of harsh, I guess.   Let’s just say our near term training plan got some additions today.

Now, it wasn’t just Tai, either.  One of the nice things about working with a young dog like Tai, is how he can teach me.  Out of position?  He’ll tell me.  Late arm change?  He will tell me.  No forgiveness makes for a better handler.  The really good news is that I was able to get to all the positions with Tai that I made with Breeze.  Just needed to use a bit more distance…ok and maybe run a little faster.

So, tomorrow, we’ll be sweeping hair and filling holes.  Not a bad plan.

Now it’s time for another kind of  deep breath, time to reflect on our recent journey and time to make a plan for the weeks ahead.  For both dogs…number one priority is to get back to our normal conditioning routine.  Over the past week they have spent way too much time in a crate!  Time to get hiking the hills around home, chasing chipmunks and enjoying the fall weather.

Time to get out the jump grids and re-balance those skills.  And for Tai, time to keep building his jumping skills (and my handling skills) for the challenges ahead.  Watching the runs of the top 22″ and 26″ at the Nationals, I saw dogs  jumping with fluidity and grace, with just the right amount of power in their turns and just the right number of strides between jumps and who could manage to solve all the puzzles the judges put before them.  And there were plenty of challenges for handlers and dogs … tight lines that required extreme slices, 180 degree turns, speed lines with changes in spacing between jumps, threadles and serpentines.

Time to *finish* training Tai’s contacts and proofing weaves before the snow falls!  Well, at least make as much progress as possible.  My running contact journey is a whole ‘nother blog post.  Those top dogs at Nationals had great contacts to start…with some pushing the limits with running dog walks, teeters and A-frames. Great weave entries and independence in the poles.

Time to find matches to proof all those skills and be able to reward in a trial like environment.  Time to continue working on Tai’s motion sensitivity, a daily effort.

Enough of sitting at this computer…time to get outside and start training.  I think someone is waiting!

And for the handler…there are those moments of questioning…what’s going to actually happen out there?  Will the dog stay focused?  Lose his head?  Get distracted?  Will all the training stick or will you wonder whose dog that is running the course with you.

So, here is the play-by-play for Tai and me.  I entered him in  jumpers only since contacts aren’t quite ready for showtime; I also entered him at 20 inches.  He measured a flat 21″ that day so 20″ is his official jump height but I plan to move him up to 24″ at the next show.  I had him all warmed up before the walk-through since he was the second dog in the ring.  The course was novice but did require 2 changes of sides – I had planned one rear cross and one front cross but wondered – with only 6 weave poles – if I would have time to get into position for the front, plan B was to do a rear cross.  The ring conditions were a little mucky – was hoping we would both stay on our feet.  As for the start line, the judge was favoring starts with tunnels all weekend, so no lead out was required.

Getting to the ring was a little dicey as Tai gets over-stimulated watching other dogs run.  But we hung back a bit and walked to the ring while the first dog was running.  I took my time and was patient – asking for a loose leash as we walked in despite the urging of the gate steward to hurry to the line.   Really?   There were 8 dogs in the class and this was novice!

I sat Tai in front of the tunnel, took off his leash, he looked up at me, then focused on the tunnel and off we went!  18.1 seconds later we finished – both crosses executed reasonably well, nice clean lines, except where he slipped in the mud.  To say I was happy with the run, would be an understatement.  It was a great beginning!  On the other hand, it felt really normal…the kind of run we would have in the backyard…although he’s only done that many obstacles 1 or 2 times before.

The next day, he ran again in JWW.  He seemed to know the drill already and it was a little harder to get the loose leash on the way in the ring.  The course was nice and he did well (although I was slightly late on both my crosses) until I dug in and accelerated on the closing line, then my baby dog got distracted by my motion and knocked the 2nd to last bar.  We’ve added that to our training list.

Home again now and back to training our running contacts (and stop on teeter)….much more to do before we make our debut in standard!  Happy training!

But “balance” has many more meanings and here are some that resonate with me:

Balance: a means of judging or deciding  what to work on today; this week; this month to build his skills in all aspects of life and sport.    Or how about the balance of “perfection” vs “better than average”  when judging what to reward in the thick of training.  That instantaneous decision that says “acknowledge that”  – stop and reward — when you see a brilliant turn, nose touch, start line, response to handling  – balancing the urge to go on with the longer term goal of building a skilled and confident partner.  Or… after a few days of training,  deciding that today should NOT be a training day but the priority should be a long hike in the woods and fields.

Balance: a counterbalancing weight, force, or influence  Balancing the pressure of training and travel vs the release of  down time – long walks, hiking, swimming and hanging out.  A few weeks ago, Tai spent 3 days at the Susan Salo seminar.  Beyond the restrictions of life on the road and the physical and mental demands of the jumping,  the mental work to hold it together around the stimulation of other dogs was a challenge for him.  We ended the week at our camp – hiking, swimming and hanging out.  A good balance.

Balance: physical equilibrium; the ability to retain one’s balance – I watch in awe the athleticism of this dog as he negotiates his way through more and more complicated sequences.  This physical ability didn’t come all at once to this leggy lad.  I’m glad that I was in no hurry with his early training; that I matched his physical (and mental) maturity with appropriate challenges – I’m liking the results.

So…what prompts me to write now?  Well…it’s the look that Tai has been giving me after some of our training sessions.  It says “we did good together, didn’t we Mom?”.    Here is a shot of that “look” after a running dog walk session today.  I love it.  It says to me that he’s learned we are a team and partners as we play and have fun together doing this strange, pretty unnatural but totally addictive sport called agility.

Tai will be 18 months old in a few days. Yikes!  Where did the time go?

His training is coming along but probably slowly by some people’s standards.  I watched a friend put her 14 month old neatly  through a whole course, contacts, weaves and all yesterday.  Made me wonder what I’ve been doing!  I guess the answer is a combination of a long winter, giving Tai time to grow up and just plan not being in a hurry.

So a quick review: contacts in progress; weaves at the proofing stage; jumping coming along nicely; working our way through box work exercises showing that our flatwork foundation is paying off nicely.  Trying not to forget little things like revisiting our table training.

Still some challenges for sure…he still needs desensitizing around other dogs running agility…I really need to get on that more deliberately.  Will make that a project and part of my record keeping for the rest of the summer. 

Bottom line?  We’re having fun and working our way through lots of challenges (or opportunities rather)….We are at the beginning of a journey that will no doubt lead to lots of new “opportunities”.  I hope it is a very long road… a road as long as my friend Nancy’s with her wonderful dog Morgan who left us last week.  Morgan was 16 yrs old and had a huge heart – part of which I know he generously left with Nancy and her family.   As I watch Lacey slow down and find new ways to enjoy summer…like sleeping under the table, it’s a reminder to enjoy it all.

I updated my training journal last week with lists of skills we’re working on…contacts, jumping, weaves, handling…it’s a long list that will keep us busy for the rest of spring and summer.  I also have a tab called “Focus” as Tai is a typical male adolescent with a short attention span.  And he is motion sensitive and he has very acute hearing.  Oh, did I mention he is a border collie?  I’m recording where we are working including the distractions, what we are working on, his level of intensity for his work and the number of times I lose his focus during the session.  My definition of losing focus is simply a head check toward a barking dog in neighborhood that means even a little bit of work on my part to get him back in the game.  Strict criteria but it helps me measure the value Tai has for the “work” we are doing.

That record keeping reminds me to be a good dog trainer: plan out our sessions, have all equipment ready, prepare the rewards I’m using and keep our sessions short.  Following these simple steps vastly improve the chances Tai will stay focused and work with great intensity during our sessions.  I also am ready to change the direction of our training if the neighbor lets out her barking, fence running cocker spaniel when we are in the middle of weave training!  Sometimes I plan our work around distractions, sometimes they just happen.   It’s all good.

Tai did a good job as a demo dog in classes this past weekend.  He executed his flatwork (no obstacles) quite nicely as I made the point to the students that agility is really just a game of running around a field with your dog, chasing “reinforcement zone” while taking obstacles along the way.   He also demoed his love of crate games – showing their value to build both self-control and drive.  I was proud of my youngster!

It’s another rainy, cool day today.  But we’ll be out there for sure.  I’m excited to move to the next step in training his running dog walk a la Silvia Trkman.  We are in the beginning stages – simply running across a flat carpet runner using the same striding as he would running fast across a field.   But today we will move to a wide and thin wood plank.   Thanks to the internet, I’m taking an on-line running contacts class with Silvia, submitting videos for feedback.  Enjoy our first homework assignment in this clip (you will need to copy and past into your browser):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK5xeqKvjbU

And, before I close out this blog post…a nod to Breeze who will join me on a trip to World Team Tryouts this weekend.  He’s an amazing, amazing little dog…love him! 

I also introduced a not so natural break in this training last week…the danglies that never dangled in Tai, were searched for, recovered and removed.  A 3 inch incision on his belly is healing nicely and HE is trying to tell me that he is good to go for a romp.  Just a couple more days to get to the magic 10 days post surgery.   That timing will put us in Lexington where the AKC Nationals will be held later this week. Virginia Horse Center – with it’s beautiful open grassy fields will be a nice setting for Tai’s first run since surgery.  Hope we beat the crowds so it can happen.   Here’s a picture of Tai at that site in February.

This break along with a Foundation Day seminar with Nancy Gyes and the ramp up to Susan Garrett’s Recaller 2.0 course has also given me some things to think about and plan for in our training.  Priorities include: Games to improve his toy retrieve and drive back into me including tons of retrained recalls (hope my husband is ready).  Revisiting and ramping up our crate game to an even higher level – which then become a tool to create that drive back to me; or to obstacles.  More deliberate “it’s your choice” distraction training to build his self-control around motion.  The notebook is set up and I’ll be record keeping on these items.

Some of you might be wondering why I haven’t mentioned training jumping, weaves or contacts.  That’s on the agenda of course and I have record keeping started for those too!  But that training is vastly helped by having a dog that is 100% engaged in his work,  and who has a well established reward system (e.g. drive to toy reward and bring right back to Mom for a great tug game).  Without those, the training goes slower and it can be frustrating.

Oh…in a few days Tai is officially old enough to begin trialing in AKC.  The thought makes me laugh but give us a few months and it will all come together.  That thought makes me smile.  Meanwhile, here’s to good training and here’s to reaping the rewards with fun and successful runs with Breeze at Nationals!

Tai has enjoyed his beach running but honestly, he seemed just as happy running in the snow.   Dogs are so adaptable and really very easy to please with some exercise of the body and mind.  A simple walk/run engages the dog’s “seeking” mechanism.  And in a new place, that is magnified…as they check out all the different smells of beach sand, seashells, jelly fish, starfish, seaweed and on and on.  And sometimes making new friends adds even more joy.

Exploring a marine and sub-tropical environment feeds my seeking need too.  With a training in biology and ecology, I love learning about and seeing first hand different ecosystems.  Water, water everywhere here in Florida…the salty ocean, the estuaries, the freshwater rivers fed by aquifers.    To native Floridians, seeing dolphins, manatees and alligators is everyday fare but for a traveler like me…it makes me smile and lifts my spirits.  And I swear the alert “look” in the eyes of the Sandhill Crane I had close-up in my binoculars yesterday reminded me of Tai!

If you are reading this blog, you are probably a dog lover and likely share my fascination with observing and interacting with the “other species” we live with.  That’s one reason why teaching young dogs (and old dogs too) is so much fun.  I had a chance to observe dolphin trainers last week…lots of joy there too!

Teaching Tai his 2×2 weaves has been a blast on this trip. The method (thanks Susan Garrett) makes so much sense and is so flexible…I just love it.  When we arrived here in Florida, Tai had value for the poles, knew his entries on 2 poles and was ready to go to 4 poles.  With a bunch of short little sessions sprinkled in between our sightseeing and hiking, Tai was shortly weaving 4 straight poles and nailing amazing entries.  Today we went to 6 poles.  He’s a weavin’ border collie!

Of course, he’s made some mistakes along the way but when that happens the “how to learn” process that started at 7 weeks kicks in…. he keeps trying and figures it out.   For me, that is the fun of dog training.  I present a challenge, he tries it, gets rewarded or doesn’t and tries again.  I observe his behavior…and react (hopefully) appropriately with a new challenge.  A little frustration is ok…hey, I didn’t learn ride a bike without some frustration along the way.  Or if we’ve gone too far too fast…make it a little easier. It’s an art that is based in science.  I’m grateful my dogs let me explore that world with them.

We’ll be heading back up north in a couple of days but with spring right around the corner, all is good and who knows,  maybe someday very soon Tai can try out his new weaving skills on the grass in my backyard!