Trial and error and titles!
The boyz treated me to a great day of agility yesterday! They were primed and ready for what is our last trial of the year.Mick decided to end things in style, and went 2 for 2 with a 1st place Q to earn his AAC Agility Dog of Canada (ADC) title, and then a 3rd place Q in his first every Steeplechase run! I should also note that Mick actually had to do the Steeplechase course twice... We got to the 10th obstacle and there was a problem with the timer on the first time through... We were the last dog at that height so we had to go right away again. The judge turned to me and said, "Oh! He was doing SO well!!!! :-("... I said, "No sweat, we'll do it a

Trial the way you train...
… or train the way you trial :-)… Either way, it’s got to be the same. This is a mystery I’m trying to unravel with regards to Bryce’s weaves, and trial performance in general. Location: Red Gate Arena (our regular training facility)Time: 12:30pmTemps: 6◦C, indoors, windy outside Mick is pretty much the same boy in practice/training as he is at a trial – the good and the adventurous ;-). Bryce, however, tends lose a tiny bit of confidence at a trial – almost like stage fright, if I were to anthropomorphize. I’m never quite sur

Checkpoint (aka Trial)
Last Sunday Bryce and I entered an AAC Masters mini trial. The goal, for each run, was for me to hold my ground and not give in to arguments around tunnels and weaves. Trials are very relaxing for us as the outcomes are not figured into the plan :-). The tricky part of our weave entry, is that if Bryce is going to argue, it's going to be AFTER he's made a correct entry -- between the first and second pole... Clearly I don't want this as a weave behaviour and we're retraining for that.I should note, that after his last run (Jumpers), I had Bryce see the onsite

Weave on!
Criteria for the session: Encourage the boyz to take a more independent approach to the weaves by seeking entries and driving to the exit.Environment: 18 degrees, Sunny, very windy. Moved to the obedience yard.Time: Sessions 1 and 2 at 12:30pm, Remaining sessions at 4:45pm...10 minutes to warm up but want them to still be eager to play.Reminders: For me to BE QUIET... both in voice and body... Minimal to no cues.After reviewing the videos from yesterday's sessions, several experienced sets of eyes raised the question as to whether the bo

Weaves again!
While we have indeed been training, the recording and blogging were NOT kept up :-). The learning from this is that video is an invaluable tool to us when we're training alone. A picture truly does paint a thousand words.After our abysmal trial experience this weekend, I started the day feeling quite discouraged by our progress with getting weave entries, and heck, the weaves in general in a trial situation. Takes all the fun out of a run for everyone when it's clear that something isn't working.Criteria for the session: Take the first steps to changing up the weaves to make things a bit more