# Today's agility trial...



## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

I'm very happy to say that Pimg was able to earn her final Q in Level 1 of CPE. She needed a Q in Colors to wrap up Level 1. We also ran Snooker and Jumpers. Pimg is running an average of 4.5 yards per second, which I'm loving. There was a really fast Border Collie there that really stood out because he was so fast. I checked his yps time, and he was running 4.88. So that was very interesting to know Pimg was running just as fast as that BC!! Of course, it's not totally fair since that BC was running in Level 5. I'm sure maintaining that speed in a much harder course is not easy. Still- it's good to have a ballpark.

I'm still really upset about Snooker. I love running Snooker. I thought that the jump from the 7pt combo to the red was a right hand curve, but after jumping Pimg had a straight line to the red jump and switched to a left lead. This caused her to turn away from me when I was expecting her to turn towards me, and because of that she turned around and back jumped the red. I might set that course up in my yard to practice because it looked really fun. Oh well.

Anyway- here's our runs:


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## Miss Molly May (Feb 19, 2010)

looked like you both had fun! Good job!! I am have a hard time to keep Molly to stay while I lead out she just get too excited and breaks


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Thanks Miss Molly May! Yeah, here at home her start line stay is quite good. However (and yes, this is just another excuse) we haven't been in an agility class in over 8 months and haven't seen a full course since. I'm not too surprised her stay had issues. I'll just make a note of that, and plan to work on it in the near future. No biggie for me...


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## Miss Molly May (Feb 19, 2010)

wildo said:


> Thanks Miss Molly May! Yeah, here at home her start line stay is quite good. However (and yes, this is just another excuse) we haven't been in an agility class in over 8 months and haven't seen a full course since. I'm not too surprised her stay had issues. I'll just make a note of that, and plan to work on it in the near future. No biggie for me...


My trainer gives me heck for not practicing sit waits at home but I do like crazy and Molly does it perfectly.But when we go to training she is so excited that all that training goes out the window :hammer:


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## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

Great job! Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. No trials for us until Sep or Oct.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Congrats on all the great runs! You are both doing so well. Speed matters.

Good news is your startline is crumbling cause of excitement for agility. Bad news is you need to get on this right now or you are in big trouble and on your way to a 'she keeps knocking the first bar' situation. Along with the 'she only does this at trials'.

Unfortunately, she's already learning that when at a trial a 'stay' has no meaning! Not only can she get up and move when she wants, additionally the best reward in the world immediately occurs cause she gets to run on and catch up with dad and do agility! WHOOHOO!!!!

As much as I'm sure you have noticed Bretta will bark and scoot a bit on the start, I know this so set her up way back from the first jump. This isn't just about her then still having room to jump and keep the first bar up. This is also about ME having time to watch and make sure I get her back into her sit/wait BEFORE she's already taken the first jump and I'm in the dilemma of then rewarding her by going on or NQing and dealing with the 'wait'.

So what my current instructor teaches and is ideal for me is this...

IF I AM MOVING THEN MY DOG DOES NOT! I tend to keep an eye on my dog as I'm walking away and keep saying 'wait' (she usually gets up in that millisec when I have to turn my head to look where I'm going). BUT she knows to stop moving when I turn my head (kind of like that old kids game, Red Light/Green Light).

We also have a 'back up' command that she will do if I start walking back to her. Frankly, if I have to walk all the way back and then have no leadout (in AKC if you return to your dog you no longer can then do a lead out) then I would do that if she wasn't listening. 

Once I am in my position, I STOP my feet, turn to look at her, put up my hand/arm and am staring at her as I say 'ok'. Then this is the hard part........... focus  

I STILL DO NOT MOVE UNTIL SHE LANDS OVER THE FIRST JUMP. This assures that my dogs don't release themselves on a visual (bending my legs to run, turning my body to run, lowering my arm to run....) rather than my VERBAL. Dogs first cue on movement and last on verbals. 

So my LACK of motion, standing like a statue, cues the initiation of my dogs knowing they are about to be released. They know to wait for that lack of motion, not any other visual cues I may be giving that would make them anticipate and leave early, giving me no time to fix it.


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## Nikitta (Nov 10, 2011)

Looks like fun. Grats


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## TaraM1285 (Sep 24, 2009)

Nice job! Pimg looks great!


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Thanks for the tips, MRL! Some good stuff in there. I'm not too concerned about this issue. I've noted it, and am confident in my training that it's something I can correct. And thanks everyone for the compliments! It's really nice to see her running so well after such a long time off.

The best compliment I got on her at the show- "Wow, your German Shepherd is turning on a _dime_! No- really- she's turning excellent!!" Why thanks! We've been working on that...


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## KatsMuse (Jun 5, 2012)

YAY! Great Job! ...both of you :congratulations:


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Go Pimg!!


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