# Zefra starts agility!



## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

My little schutzhund girl starts agility tomorrow!

Zefra and I start with a private trainer tomorrow and I am very excited. I went through a few courses with Stark when he was little but they were not geared towards competition; more learning the equipment and building confidence. 

We are training at an excellent facility with an amazing trainer so I am beyond thrilled. 

I am not sure how Zefra will do - she may be a bit much at first (she likes to go at 1000000000000 miles per hour... lol), but I am sure once she figures out what I want, she will be fine.

She was introduced to the equipment early on and has "played" on it as a part of our socializing/training times, but never with agility-agility in mind. 

I will have my sister there tomorrow to take photo's so I will ensure to post them.

Plans are to continue in training with schutzhund of course being our main focus and to trial when we are ready.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Have a great time! It's a ton of fun!


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Thanks! 

Our trainer works with Mals, so hopefully she is ready for Zefra... LMAO!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Can't wait to hear how it goes..

PLUS when you start group classes. The sooner you can be in with other people/dogs in class means the better your pup will start doing in those situations that are very similar to trials. 

Agility trials are MUCH more crowded with people/dogs/chaos and seemingly less controlled than many other venues. Why most of us with puppies just start walking them around trial sites let alone get into the group classes when available and supplement with privates.

This is what a typical crating/trial site looks like indoors. Look how close people are and other dogs are ...


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

MRL - we do our private sessions on Tuesday and have a group practice/training on Sunday. So we get the best of both worlds!  

Today's session went well!

When we got there the trainer's husband, a retired decoy in schutzhund had heard about my little girl and wanted to work her on the sleeve..... so we did 1 round of protection with some obedience... lol... that tired her out a bit but also worked her up a bit too.. lol.

Anyways, once on the course we went over the obstacles. She has been on them before so it was more for me to understand where to stand, where/when to send her, etc.. she likes to FLY off of the a-frame, so we need to work on her contacts a bit more. But she LOVED the tunnels and chute and would RACE through them and then try to go back around to them.. lol.

We didn't work the teeter or dog walk this time around but will next week. She did great on the jumps, chute, tire, tunnel and a-frame though! She also did well on the weaves.

She wasn't interested in her treats (she is not so much a food dog as she prefers her ball or tug) so when I pulled the ball out she kinda got into "obedience mode" and actually did some extremely nice heeling between the obstacles... LMAO! Then kept trying to do fronts and getting into fuss position when I was trying to guide her into the tire at first... can you talk about a confused dog... poor thing.. LOL.

I can't and don't want to diminish her thought process she has for the ball but the tug ampts her up a bit too much... I may try a different ball on Sunday or even a toy from home like her stuffed fox, which as no thought processes behind it?


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

MaggieRoseLee said:


> Can't wait to hear how it goes..
> 
> PLUS when you start group classes. The sooner you can be in with other people/dogs in class means the better your pup will start doing in those situations that are very similar to trials.
> 
> ...


Thanks MRL! Zefra has actually been to a BUNCH of trials like this already, for agility, obedience and some schutzhund ones too. 

We like to throw our puppies into the chaos early on so they don't care about all going on around them. I could probably take Zefra to a circus in the middle of the ring with everyone out on stage and she would focus on me .. she really is a pretty awesome little girl. 

I remember that video from when Glory B was just a baby! SO CUTE! She wiggles like Zef did too!


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

elisabeth_00117 said:


> so when I pulled the ball out she kinda got into "obedience mode" and actually did some extremely nice heeling between the obstacles... LMAO!


LOL! Been there, done that! 
There is no heeling in agility. 
There is NO heeling in agility!
There is NO HEELING in agility!!!!


HAHAHAHA!!!


It's great that she has awesome ball/tug drive though! I'd take that over food any day for agility training.


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Oh, it's great! EXCEPT now that I have conditioned her so well for ball=obedience reward - try getting her to focus on something else besides giving me her undivided attention!

My instructor and her husband have Mals and run a Mal rescue as well and the comment they made to me was, "in all the years we have been training dogs I have never seen a GSD with that much intensity of drive or focus on it's handler, you sure she's not part Mal?.." LMAO

AWESOME for obedience... not so much for agility.. something we will have to work on..... CALM = reward.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Think you may have the right idea about a DIFFERENT toy for agility. They can learn the difference. 

I'd also start skipping a meal or so before agility classes to have a hungrier dog (you should make up the calories either in training or after).

Plus you need 'real' treats. Not dog stuff. Leftover pizza? Tortelline's? Liverwurst? Stinky extra sharp cheddar cheese? Lemon pepper chicken? Tons of tiny treats that are super yummy but get swallowed. 

Nice to keep the toy for a jackpot reward cause it makes more of a break in the training/learning. Tiny treats can be given faster so training can continue. So figureing out a way to work both in may also help your dog continue to learn agility has rules too, but different from other training.

Can you either have NO collar or a different collar/leash? I've heard that word too so the dog understands.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

go zefra !! and yeppie on the obedience ! Reminds me, when my sister started agility years ago, she was a die hard obedience person, it took HER forever to stop running the dog on her left side,,she kept saying she just couldn't get used to it, and yes, her dog (lab) would heel ALOT, but it was a good learning exp for her and after all these years she has finally gotten it LOL...

Zef will to, if food isn't a motivator, yes I would look for a different 'toy' reward and she will differentiate..Have FUN!


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

So I have the same problem with Pan, his foundation has been focus focus focus. What I do are setup simple sequences (like one or two jumps) with easy, predictable flow and I place the reward at the end. So if I setup a three jump pinwheel, I toss his tug after the third jump and then walk him by the collar to the start. Of course the first time he blows off the obstacles and cuts over to the tug so I verbally correct him, pick him up, and the first few times I really help push him through the sequence with my body language until he starts to understand that he's got to pay attention and not just bee-line to the reward. For us this exercise is more about channeling drive and re-training him to focus on my body and verbal cues and not expect the reward to lure him than it is about actually learning obstacles and doing the sequences perfect.

At 1:25 you can see I throw the tug and then set him up





I have no idea if this is "kosher" agility training (since I mostly play agility on my own) but it seems to have helped Pan, being able to work for his reward but not be distracted or lured by it. That video was his first time trying this and you can see I'm really pushing him, not giving him any room to skip a jump because of where my body is. After a while I could stand in the middle and just wave him over.


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Lies, we talked about doing something similar with 2 jumps before I left yesterday. Having her work away from me and through the obstacles on her own without such focus on me.. so this could work too actually! I am headed out tomorrow to buy more PVC piping to make a few more jumps as I only have the 2 right now.

Thanks for the video! I am going to ask to video tape the rest of my lessons so that I can refer back to them when needed.

Thanks guys!


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I think with our dogs it will come with time. Nikon started agility much younger and already had his first agility title before I was really serious in Schutzhund, so the focus/lure thing hasn't been a problem with him and he is already conditioned (mentally) to find the obstacles themselves very rewarding. He has "obstacle drive" without the rewards and just has more confidence with the equipment. Pan is a higher drive (and faster) dog than Nikon so I suspect this will all develop with time.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Two jumps... Three jumps... what you really have here is a jump grid. Jump grids are all about building forward focus and handler independence. Check out Susan Salos Jump Grid DVD series.

You can also work forward focus without a jump grid. This is an exercise demonstrated in the beginning part of SG's "Success with One Jump" DVD. Simply put your dog in a sit stay, and lead out 20' or so. Toss a toy orthogonal to you and in-line with your dog. The dog, toy, and you will form a right triangle with the line between you and your dog being the hypotenuse. Release the dog to the toy only when he's looking at it- NEVER when he's looking at you. With only a little bit of time (when the dog is reliably looking at the toy and not you, you can bring your raised hand in as a cue to "find the line" (which is right in front of them). After you're good at this, play the game over a jump. One you have it reliably over a jump, start varying your body position.


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Wildo - that is what we did during class yesterday! 

We would set her up at the tire about 2 feet away, I would place her toy on a target in front of the tire about 10 feet away and then would stand just ahead of the obstacle and drive her forward with my body only when she was looking at the tire.

We had to wait it out a bit because she kept giving me focus or moving her bumm so she was closer to a "fuss" position than just sitting and waiting. 

I will try your too though because I believe it might work for her!

Thanks!!!

Lies - Zefra is the same way - use to a lure and SUPER fast. I think she thinks the faster/flashier her obedience is, the better. She hasn't really done any work "away" from me except the out of motion exercises at this point. We *just* started the send out in "fun" settings like our hallway, or when on a trail or at the park, but nothing "formal" yet. So she really doesn't "know" that it's "okay" to work away from me on her own... if that makes sense.. she seemed quite confused when I told her to go ahead, she just kept reverting back to fuss or front and then looking for her reward.. lol.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Just the fact you are aware of the 'when in doubt my dog thinks it must be in heel' position is a heads up for you to work on this. 

No longer always have your dog on the left, come up with a different command when they are on the right side AND WORK ON IT! Get them used to YOU being on their other side. Because that's the real issue. They are used to YOU always being on one side. So getting them used to being on either is the goal.

People have great suggestions for creating the distance thing. Rewarding OFF our bodies is ideal for that (throwing or toy placement). Even treats I'll toss off and away, or onto the ground to get them OFF of me. 

If you have a birthday or other gift getting event coming up, Susan Garrett's 'Success with One Jump' DVD is good about discussing handler/obstacle focus and she pretty much only uses a toy. So it fits right into alot of our training.


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

I had trouble getting Frag to leave my side also for similar reasons. I did a lot of ball throwing to get him to drive forward and called it "GO".. at the end of a sequence I was lagging behind I would throw the ball straight out for him to continue after and yell "GO" which seemed to work marvelously. If he starts to slow down or look to me in a course without my asking (Here is his command to move towards me and look for further instruction) I yell GO and that's his choice to drive to the closest obstacle as fast as he can in the direction he's pointed.  

GOOD LUCK Zefra in all your future classes, agility is a LOT of fun, I'm anxious to get Frag back into a class after his check up in early September.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I have some *materials* I got from Willy that you can have when I'm done going through them.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Liesje said:


> I have some *materials* I got from Willy that you can have when I'm done going through them.


:thumbup:


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

That would be awesome Lies! THANKS!!!

MRL- I will definitely order that! Thanks! I belong to her newsletter and get her training tips/videos to my email, so this would be awesome to use! Thanks for that!


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