# Agility Handling Class



## TaraM1285 (Sep 24, 2009)

One of the girls at agility class last night got some great video of Tara and I working, so I thought I'd share a few clips here. I haven't gotten to watch us do much handling before and it was really fun seeing how well she was following my cues! Now I just need to learn to trust her!

You can probably tell we are struggling a little bit with tunnels, so that's something I need to work on reinforcing more in the future.






Thanks for watching!


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Those are serpentines, correct? Very nice! And it looks like sequence 3 has a blind (or even more than blind) entrance on the fourth jump of the serpentine. Very nice, indeed! I find it so difficult to get someone to take video during class. It is always cool when you get to see yourself...

[EDIT]- I meant the third jump of the serpentine of sequence 3. But now I realize that was a really dumb thing to say... ALL jumps on a serpentine are blind entries! haha... that's what makes it a serpentine :eyeroll:


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## TaraM1285 (Sep 24, 2009)

Yep, there's serpentines in the 2nd and 3rd sequences. In sequence 3, jump 4 was the hardest jump to hit because of the angle coming off of jump 3. Not sure what you mean by "blind entry" though?


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

If the dog is entering a jump orthogonal to the jump like this:

--dog-----> | 


then that is a normal entry. But if the dog is entering the jump parallel to the jump like this:

--dog-----> ______ 

then I thought that was called a blind entry. At least that's what my instructor calls it. Maybe that is her own term. But it was a dumb comment because a serpentine will always be a blind entry.


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## TaraM1285 (Sep 24, 2009)

Ah, ok that makes sense. I've just never heard them called that before.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

GOOD JOB! and yes those serpentines looked good!! I also think the tunnel was much better in the 3rd sequence...Just an observation from the peanut gallery,,if your having tunnel issues,,,like the first two sequences,,you may have to really HUG those tunnels to keep her going,,you look to be "just" about a foot or soo away from the entry, so maybe try really babysitting that tunnel until you get a more solid entry,,looks like in the 3rd sequence you were closer to the entry than the other 2, thus she went right in,, but GOOD JOB,,she's a nice jumper


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## krystyne73 (Oct 13, 2010)

very cool to watch...music was funny ha ha 

Sasha starts agility soon, I hope she looks as good as your pup.
How long have you been doing it?


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

krystyne73 said:


> very cool to watch...music was funny ha ha


Kristin is known for her awesome bluegrass music in her videos! It's the greatest...


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## krystyne73 (Oct 13, 2010)

Yeah all I could think about was The movie Deliverance


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## jkscandi50 (Nov 17, 2010)

You both look like you are having so much fun !! Great video!


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## TaraM1285 (Sep 24, 2009)

Thank you so much everyone! We really have a blast doing agility together. 



JakodaCD OA said:


> GOOD JOB! and yes those serpentines looked good!! I also think the tunnel was much better in the 3rd sequence...Just an observation from the peanut gallery,,if your having tunnel issues,,,like the first two sequences,,you may have to really HUG those tunnels to keep her going,,you look to be "just" about a foot or soo away from the entry, so maybe try really babysitting that tunnel until you get a more solid entry,,looks like in the 3rd sequence you were closer to the entry than the other 2, thus she went right in,, but GOOD JOB,,she's a nice jumper


Thanks Diane! You are spot-on. My instructors are constantly reminding me to "run through" the tunnel entrance to keep her moving forward. It's something I've struggled with because she has much more distance on tunnel entrances at home, so I tend to not practice it. Unfortunately, her skills at home haven't quite translated to ALL tunnels yet. Thinking about your comment this morning, I was considering when her tunnel behavior in class changed. I think she is nervous about what might be at the other end because several weeks/months ago, she came out of a tunnel and had a massive reaction to a dog hanging near the exit. And looking back, I think her tunnel performance has very slowly deteriorated over time and I just didn't notice it. I'm going to try to work the tunnel by itself next week in class to really party and reward confident tunnels. Hopefully that will help along with me actually thinking about babysitting that entrance more!



krystyne73 said:


> very cool to watch...music was funny ha ha
> 
> Sasha starts agility soon, I hope she looks as good as your pup.
> How long have you been doing it?


Thank you! We started Foundation agility in May of last year. Our facility does a 6 week course every two months, and we have been enrolled in a class every session since May. We didn't start doing sequences longer than 3-4 obstacles until November. Prior to that we worked handling on the flat and getting independent obstacle performances (particularly on contacts and weaves).



wildo said:


> Kristin is known for her awesome bluegrass music in her videos! It's the greatest...


LOL! I've run out of bluegrass clips, so I think I'm going to have to find something else...


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Time to pick up the 'ol guitar! haha!

No idea if this will work or not (and in no way intending to threadjack):
http://www.facebook.com/v/48063972234


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## TaraM1285 (Sep 24, 2009)

:rofl: I'm a horrible guitar player! I know exactly four chords and only one way to put them together. I tried to convince DH to record some clips for me, but he says he doesn't have anything that will work.

I'll check the link later - it doesn't work on my phone and Facebook is blocked at work.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

Tara, you may spot on, with the difference you see in class vs at home re the tunnel.

Good plan and something I used to do unintentionally of course, and I'll bet you would notice with her,,,if I STOP moving, even if it's a millisecond, my dog would put the brakes on to,,even shuffling your feet a little is movement, but sometimes what I would do, is maybe get to the tunnel first, stop, to direct in, and bam, she'd put the brakes on to...just those little things can make a big difference.

And yep, good plan to have a party and concentrate on those tunnels at class)


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I think the videos were great! Isn't it wonderful when you can really see it all, handler and dog, with a video.

I think you need to just bring out the FAVORITE TOY in class for a week or so and use it 100% of the time to get the 'Tunnel Joy' back in class. You may be able to ask the instructor if you can 'play' the tunnel game with the toy by coming a bit earlier to class.... Roll (remember to roll and not throw the toy high) it out so your dog will drive out. 

Then you'll end up with the OTHER problem (the my dog is a Tunnel Sucker problem  )


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## TaraM1285 (Sep 24, 2009)

Thanks, MRL! Yup, my plan for next week is to try a (de-squeaked) Cuz inside a Holee Roller. She's not always willing to play with toys in class, but I'm hoping the double ball will be a tipping point.  Maybe we'll make a Tunnel Sucker out of her yet!


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## krystyne73 (Oct 13, 2010)

Thanks! I'm just wondering what to expect from the first few sessions. Your dog looks great!


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