Lessons Learned

Seeker and I showed at agility matches this past weekend and I learned a lot about my baby girl! Here are the lessons I learned so that I can share them with you and Dreamer before you show:

1. Just like obedience, it is important to practice all the rituals you will use before and after you show. Seeker is doing a MUCH better job about pottying at show sites. We warmed up with a quick run and some stretches and tricks, but I did all of that WAY too early. So what happened is that she was not fired up enough for her first run. So for her 2nd runs both days, I did all the routines closer to her ring time and there was a big difference.
2. Because she is a Novice dog, she is still learning to take all the new sights, smells, and sounds in even while she competes. Because of that, I will need to run more parallel to her in the beginning. When we practice, I try to get upstream as much as possible, but what I found is that I need to support her more especially after the chute and the tunnel. I am fast, so if she takes off happily, I can always do a rear cross. But I need to be closer so she doesn't get distracted by ring crews, etc.
3. I need to keep my mouth shut in the weaves and let her do her job. When she exits, I'll give her a quick "YES" and move on.
4. I might need to play with her a bit in the ring for the first few shows just to keep her happy and relaxed. I won't be able to touch her, but I can sure pretend to do our touch game and fire her up if I see that glazed look come over her face.
5. I have to remember that I am showing all 3 days for 2 runs a day at MSU. This can only work to our advantage if I keep it positive for her because she will settle into the site and become more focused. I saw this in her when I showed in conformation.
6. We are showing first in JWW which will be great practice because she does love to jump even though her jumping style is crazy right now. But that will give me practice staying close to her. Any wrong course in JWW is an NQ. If she does have a wrong course, I must remember to just keep on going and not stress her. Let her jump and have fun.

Ready to Run

I find it amusing that most often when I am fearing the worst, the exact opposite takes place. Lately I have been feeling the crunch about the upcoming agility trials. I am definitely entered at the December 2-4 MSU shows. 3 shows, 2 runs a day, 6 runs total. I also entered 2 days in Cleveland where the vendors are amazing, the Terv crowd is fun, and I have such great memories of conformation, the food, and the fun in the city. Finally, I entered the Great Lakes Belgian Tervuren Club December 30-January 1 where I will get to hang out with Lynn, Eileen, and Scott and other Terv friends from the Chicago area. Fun trips, fun friends, but are we ready? As I continue to immerse myself in agility: books, Clean Run magazine, videos, training alone in my yard and with friends at their houses or the club, group lessons, and finally my private lesson, I wonder: are we ready? We began this journey over a year ago as soon as baby Seeker came home to live with us. Actually, Linda started Seeker on the path to success with her wall walking, climbing, turning on objects, and "paws up" command. Seeker and I worked on the flat and with very low jumps until May when she came into heat, was 13 months old, and her growth plates closed. Then we began training in earnest. Our first private lesson was on June 23rd. Five months of immersion; is it enough? We worked on my footwork for forward sends, lateral sends, acceleration and deceleration. It was all very confusing and awkward for me. Lynn commented that Seeker was just wonderful and would "save my butt" many times when we started showing.

Our private lessons once a month really tested our progress. In July, Seeker was spinning a lot: on the landing side of jumps and after going through the poles on my left side. We worked through those problems. In August, I was still struggling with how to make a front cross. Lynn spelled it all out for me so that I could master the finer techniques. We worked on what to do when I saw the look of overload on Seeker's face. Those first hour long lessons were hard on the baby girl and she could not concentrate that long. September brought work on rear crosses and the baby girl mastered them without spins. Our October lesson was the breakthrough for me. Lynn set up a course, had me work to memorize it, and then we ran it. I was absolutely beaming at the end when I remembered the whole course and Seeker ran clean. And then I did it: I entered the MSU shows with the draw date of October 23rd. Since it was a random draw, I didn't know if we would get in. We received conformation that we were entered and then reality set in followed by panic.

So as I drove down to Grand Blanc yesterday for our private lesson followed by our class, I had an hour plus to mull things over in my mind. I wondered if I wasn't rushing things. I had read many articles in Clean Run written by instructors who bemoan the fact that their students jump the gun and enter too soon. Was I one of those clueless people?

Arriving at Highest Hopes Dog Sports, Lynn cheerily greeted me and instructed me to walk the course. It was long and hard: 20 obstacles with tricky twists and turns. How could I possibly remember it? And then Lynn had me do the most amazing thing. After I had walked it several times, we had analyzed the best way to handle it, and taken a break to bring Seeker in, Lynn had me stand in one spot and "handle" the course complete with hand signals and verbals with my eyes closed!! It was magic! I had that course in my head and I didn't even know it! And when we ran, and Seeker ran fast and clean, I almost cried. And at the end, when Lynn said, "THAT was a hard course and the reason Seeker could handle it was because of your handling", I could hardly believe my ears.

Surely if we can run a course of that complexity, we can handle a novice course. And that is what Lynn believes also. She is excited that she will be at the MSU shows and we can analyze the course together. She believes in us as a team. That was all I needed to hear and I will keep that thought in mind.

The rest of our lesson was fun, fun, fun. We worked on a series of jumps where you keep changing the last jump to keep the dog alert and not second guessing. Some called for a front cross, some for a rear cross, some for just straight line jumping where you run all out (Seeker LOVES those). We talked about staying "upstream" from the dog as much as possible so that she will know where we are going next. This used to scare the crap out of me, but now that I have more control over my own body and Seeker, I see the value of front crosses over rear crosses. At home and at our club, I have worked very hard on distractions and calling Seeker off a distraction or a wrong course. I saw the fruits of my labor at least 5 times last night in my private and in our group lesson. In fact, the assistant instructor died laughing when she said, "I wish you could have seen Seeker's face when you called her to that jump instead of the dogwalk. She was like, 'really, Mom, are you sure that's where you want me to go? This dogwalk is right in front of me.' "

At our last private in October, Lynn said she wanted me to try Rachel Sander's Running A-frame method. She said she trusted me to follow the program and do it correctly. She feels it is the wave of the future and much easier on the joints of the dogs. She was so impressed when she saw what we had accomplished in 2 weeks. I had ordered the video, done all the groundwork, tested it, and was ready to move the box to the A-frame. Lynn was just beaming about all of this. We were absolutely thrilled to see Seeker transfer the groundwork to the A-frame. Lynn said that on one of the runs, her stride was a bit off and she could see Seeker work very hard to get all 4 paws in the box. That's my Tacara girl:-)

Insert: loud, proud sigh.

I'm still nervous but now I trust myself and my wonderful dog. We have put in the time. We belong. We are ready to run. And no matter what happens, I am proud of myself for making this leap forward.

The new shoes can't hurt either:-)