Rain..........

Well it did it again....... it rained a LOT and looks like it will be a few weeks off.......again!!!!!! We had FOUR months of rain outs already this year. At least I have found a place thats indoors...but I wont be able to go there for a couple weeks.... hopefully the place that lets you go for $5 an hour will end up drying quickly. I might go stir crazy if I have to wait for weeks!

Class Yesterday and Training Today!

We had our class last night and Yoshi did really well! We worked on "learning the tire." (which he already knew, but it was great to reinforce the training to get him 100% on the obstacle) Next we started the channel method for the weave poles. It took Yoshi one try and then he learned to enter through the channel like a champ! The instructor said,"Wow! He learns fast!" LOL We then put the tire after the channel and had them go through both obstacles. The last thing was to work with bends in the tunnel (which hes already learned, but I wanted to work on more speedy entrances into the tunnel so I was excited to work more on the tunnel) Yoshi was very energetic and excited and listened well...so I am hoping at trials he will have that extra edge that will make him get through the course faster.

After class Yoshi got to play with his "girlfriend" Rainey a little bit.. shes a blue merle sheltie thats two weeks older than him.. they just LOVE each other. It is too cute. I got some videos of them running at each other and such. We didnt get a chance to turn them loose, but maybe next week.

Today we went to the Dogs Need A Job facility where the CPE event will be in June. It was a really nice place with two rings: beginner and then a standard course. I ran Yoshi in both rings and he did really well. First I went into the beginner ring and worked on the contact trainer to get him focused. Then we did some jumps and tunnels...he did fairly well..wasnt as fast as I would like but fairly steady. I tried to work with some crosses (front and rear) to get him used to them. When he got them down then he did really well, but he did have some confused moments too. We are getting there though! We then went to the standard ring...where he did the regulation height dogwalk! YAY for Yoshi...we had done a little lower than regulation and he did the regular height like a champ...I was so happy. We put together some little courses and he ran really well...but he tried to run to the table when he was near it and then would try to jump a jump instead of the tunnel...but all in all it was not bad considering we havent done much with courses yet.

I got some video of him running some of the course and when I go to my parents place I will get the videos together and post them asap!

I probably wont get to work with Yoshi too much this weekend because Dustin is racing his car both nights and tomorrow my dad has his truck entered in a show..and I am always the designated person to attend...lol. Monday Im going to a trial to watch...maybe I can see how different the speed is between Yoshi and the dogs entered the trial. That's all for now!

Heat Problems? Or is it something else?

I'm wondering if the heat is affecting Yoshi at all....hes not as fast as I think he was a couple of months ago. Maybe I am worrying too early, he is not even a year old yet so I know we have lots of time to get ready for competitions and get more speedy. My first dog (large mixed breed) I "trained" in agility was so slow and laidback that there was no chance to compete in a trial ever... now 10 years later I have a dog that will probably be able to compete and I guess I am just too worried too early because I want to get that chance that I didnt get when I was younger.

I cant wait to get the check from the insurance so I can buy the rest of my equipment (I have some stuff ready for building some equipment) I even have the paint (PINK) and planks/lumber ready for my dog walk and table. Hahaha

Earlier we worked on the jumps again (thats all I have to work with right now) he did fairly decent. I tried to work on setting him up and getting him to come over a jump and then going over a couple jumps afterwards as well. The only really thing that I could nitpick was his speed. Everything else he did fine... hes starting to look more at where I am directing him than just jumping wherever he wants to go.

Later this afternoon I will probably work on the basic work and give him a break from jumps.. He LOVES jumping and when we go for lessons that is normally what he wants to do the most but I am wondering if he is getting tired of the jumps at home..... lots to try to figure out I guess.

As for me, I think I need to finetune my handling skills..maybe I am just being sloppy when I am training him alone here and hes picking up on my actions.

Some Progress

We have been doing better with our contact work! He is now touching the target on the ground instantly. He is also getting the 2o2o concept a lot better now. In our lesson today we worked on the broad jump, the tire, and some jumps and tunnels. We didnt do too much with the contacts this time because that is what we really concentrated on the last couple of lessons. Our homework until the next class is setting him up (we are having a LOT of trouble with him not wanting to come directly to me when I am working with him...see the video I posted a couple of blogs ago) BUT we are getting better on that and by next lesson I know he will be 100% better! I am planning on buying a tunnel soon so I can work on his tunnel entries...hes not really speedy through them yet but I know it will come in time. I need to really get him to concentrate on where I want him to go too.. instead of him thinking he knows where I want him to go! LOL We just need to solidify our basics... tons of things to work on and that is fine with me :)

Photo Shoot

Yoshi looks so good after going to the groomers! He even got a little bandana!! :)

Video

Here is a video from a week and a half ago of me working Yoshi over a few jumps. I was working on small lines with him..not whole courses which explains the pauses in case you were wondering :) He did pretty good over the jumps.. hopefully I will have better videos coming up soon. Anyways...here you go for now!


http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v473/MotoXQuadChick/?action=view&current=YoshiOverJumps01.flv

Class Tonight

We went to the beginner class tonight at the place that has had a lot of rain outs. It was mainly review and it was stuff that Yoshi has done a lot...but he had a lot of fun being with the other dogs. A lot of people complimented him so I hope he has the potential I think he does. When we did some tunnel work he was very attentive to where I was when he came out of the tunnel (I was very excited when that was pointed out.) I worked on some of the exercises that Rachel had given me to do..and Yoshi really did well. He is getting better already at his spins. He was actually extremely hyper tonight, I think he is getting more confident. The same level class that is right after Yoshi has another Sheltie in it and we let them go for a couple of minutes and they ran like crazy it was so funny. Anyways this weekend we are taking Yoshi to a dog park this weekend and tomorrow he is going to the groomers to see if they can do anything with his coat... (Im not too wonderful with it..or maybe it is a lost cause..)

Im wondering if I should continue classes at both places regularly or if I should just stick with one...I kind of like going to both places because I get different imput and lots more time out on the equipment.. but I am wondering if this will conflict with working on his contacts (Rachel is already working on them and Pawsitive Impact hasnt enforced them with the beginner class yet)... Either way I have 2 more classes at Bellecreek and 3 more classes at Pawsitive Impact... On June 19 we are going to start going to Tuesday night classes at Bellecreek. I guess at least until we get our own place I can spend the money and go to both places for now.. I really like going this much! Its lots of fun... Im already wanting another Sheltie to work with...hehehehehe

Yoshi's Start In Agility and Looking For An Apartment

Before we started in agility classes, I had worked with Yoshi over simple things to get him a head start before he was old enough to go to classes. I got him to sit, stay, come, run next to me, simple things like that. Then I put a little length of 2"x12" board down on bricks and got him used to "walking the plank." After a few sessions of that I put it up higher and he seemed to like it. Also I started working him over small jumps...he LOVES jumping and I started working on sending him over jumps. Our only problem is he wants to go and jump whatever he feels like and make his own course sometime... but more of that in a little bit. So we signed up for classes...which kept getting rained out...finally we got to go to one and Yoshi really did well.. he did seem a bit bored because most of the stuff was old hat because of the things I had worked with him on. The classes got rained out again...which ended up being four months of classes (with the exception of the one we got to go to.) I finally went to practice on the competition level night and they let me do a few exercises with him... I got him to do some nice entries into the tunnel..straight and curved. I also sent him towards the tunnel and he did pretty good. Anyways, I found another place to train and it is INDOORS... so it will NEVER get rained out!!!! I have taken a couple of private lessons (to get him ready for the Tuesday night class...its not the basic basic class because me and Rachel, who is the trainer and owner of the indoor facility, thinks that he is far ahead enough to not have to do the first time beginner class.) He has started doing slightly lower than standard heights of the A frame and dogwalk and he is doing fairly well. She has given me lots of homework after both classes. A lot of it is working him with the clicker and small step exercises to give him the best start as possible. One thing we are working on is getting him to touch the target and I will click and treat.. he is doing fairly ok with this. I havent put it on the ground yet..but is doing ok with it close. Hopefully he will be doing this exercise like an old pro in a week or two. We are also doing the walking forward and backward exercise. I am teaching him how to spin because he is not as flexible as we would like... he tends to like to turn to the left better than the right...... hmmmmm... hope this won't be a problem. She also wants me to work with him on getting him to come to my side when I ask when we are jumping since he wants to go do his own course. She also gave me some handler exercises with some front crosses and spins.... (I have never done fronts...only backs..so this is totally new for me!!) I just need to spend a few mini sessions doing these small, mind stimulating exercises for him and I hope he learns them great. We are supposed to have class at the other place tonight (finally night rained out.) I will also be taking another lesson at Rachel's on Monday. I have video from a week ago with Yoshi going over some jumps so I will try to post that soon!!!!

We are starting to look at apartments too! Dustin got a $2 RAISE!!!! Thank GOD!!!! We just need to pay off a few things and then it is hopefully on to our own place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You don't know how bad I want this to happen...... Anyways...I just am not sure how much everything is going to cost in addition to rent..so I am a little worried.

MTV is coming down on Tuesday for my interview. Their flight got cancelled last night so they couldnt make it in today :( which is such a shame because we had COOLER weather today and it was sooooo beautiful!!!! Anyways, that's all for now.