For Christmas I got the Nancy Gyes Alphabet Drills book. It is AWESOME. I will never be looking for sequences to practice ever again. Just one letter can keep you busy for weeks. I love that each set up is simple and small enough for a medium-sized yard. I should also point out that the first thing that Bentley did was eat the packaging around the DVD and ruined it. Nice.
Anyways, here's a quick video of letter A, AKA box drills (I'm behind on videos, and this one was taken right after Christmas)
Thought I'd give a quick teeter update. This evening we lowered the teeter and tried to work more independent driving. Jonathan reported that she would do it if he amped her up, ran with her, or encouraged her, but was less likely to do so if he just stood there, even with cheese on the end. I decided to see if she would push herself more for turkey, and that's what we used this evening (just a note that each session is very short, maybe 10 reps?) She had no issue going to the end. A couple times I held the teeter in place and let her eat turkey out of my hand as I held it, and then dropped it as she continued to eat. She had no issue with that (too busy eating to notice, I think!)
In class tonight she did the teeter on the first pass (and off of a forward send, which has been a scenario where she's opted to go around before). I filled our trainer in on the issue and she felt that we were doing the right thing, just that I pushed her too hard by holding it immediately. She recommended changing it just slightly every other day or so (by 1-2 lbs of weight). I didn't think of it, but she made the point that if the teeter usually starts to tip right before she steps in the yellow, and I held it until she got to the end, I essentially changed the tipping point by 36" (the size of the contact zone). That's a HUGE change.
Diana (my favorite blogging friend over at http://4dogcraziness.blogspot.com/) recommended that we try the two table method, and I like that idea. But, we don't have two tables here...in fact we don't even have one! But, I'm going to try to set this up during our building rentals this month to change up our methods a little bit.
Thanks to those that have contacted me with suggestions!
Since we've been retraining the seesaw, it was interesting to read what you've been trying. I started Phebe's retraining in early December, using the two table method (Jen Pinder's "Sizzling Seesaws") and have been very happy with the results.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any tables either, but was able to find things to use to achieve the correct height differences for the steps in this method. I used a large storage bin with a mat on top, for example.
We also continued to go to class but didn't do any teeters in sequences from early November, when I first decided to retrain, until just last week.
There is a remarkable difference in Phebe's attitude toward the teeter and her performance. She is driving straight to the end, riding to bottom, and getting in her 2o2o, and HOLDING it. Also, if her footing or balance is a bit off, she fights to hold on, instead of immediately bailing. She WANTS that teeter, now.
Our big test will be the end of this month when we trial again with USDAA. Hope you have great success with all your training challenges in 2012!