Meant to post this last week! Oops!
Well, this was going to be Wordless Wednesday, but I think it's been too long between posts, so I better say something.
Everything has been going well, we just haven't been doing a ton of outside training (where I take all my videos) because of the weather. Either it's snowy, or the snow has melted and it's muddy. Kind of a bummer, I really miss it!
Also, with Lexi's chiropractic appointments once a week (on the night we have agility), we're missing 1 week out of every month. We finally decided that for those weeks we'll rent the building just to get some extra practice in, especially since we're trialing a bit more these days. I'm also hoping to start private lessons with my trainer in the weeks to come for Lexi & I.
My trainer asked me to describe Lexi's strengths and weaknesses, and my answer was "Most of Lexi's weaknesses are mine", and her response was "Yes, I agree with that" LOL! At least I'm aware of it, right? :)
I did get smart and took the iPad to our building rental the other day and took a quick video or two.
There's nothing that interesting in this first video, but I do think it's interesting to watch how we train. You can see Lexi be a bit naughty on the contact, but on the first try she gets it :)
She is awesome. One thing I would do is reward the stop on the contact. You are rewarding the released. She is having trouble stopping and waiting, so thats what you need to reward.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Diana. I almost never train contacts with the toy, but it's what I had on me while I was running the sequence and went ahead and used it. I should have rewarded the stay. Thanks for pointing it out!
DeleteLove those photos! I recognize that equipment set-up - LOL! Lexi looks good!
ReplyDeleteI see a bouncy happy girl there! She is so cute!
ReplyDeleteGreat to video practice. Allows you to go back and watch it yourself. I think that the first jump down was partly your position and her speed. She took off maybe a little early and threw herself into the jump with absolutely no collection. If you could have been in position a tad bit faster and closer to the jump, I think she would have carried it off better and collected. In my training, position is everything and showing decel at the jump rather than halfway to the next obstacle helps the dog to know where they are going. Lexi is alot like Fin in that she just throws herself into it with joy and abandon. It is fun to watch, but sometimes frustrating and scary as the handler because we can't understand why the heck the dog didn't collect before the freak'n jump!
ReplyDeleteI hate anytime Fin drops a bar because I know it is my position relative to the jump that caused it. I started to make a log for every jumped bar and tried to video them. Turns out that 75% of knocked bars are after a tunnel or weaves. The only area she will knock a bar is if I rush way ahead of her and she feels she needs to hurry to catch up.
Hope this helps, you are doing a GREAT job with Lexi, good luck and I hope to meet you in Tennessee at the USDAA Nationals. :) Vici
Vici, thanks so much for the lengthy comment! I really appreciate you.
DeleteYou're definitely right about everything. The better handler I am, the better I set Lexi up to do the right thing (collect, turn, etc...) But, I'm still learning to be in the right place and to get in the right place. It's definitely a struggle.
I need to work on running more assertively and getting into position.
Thanks again for the comment. And yes--we'll see you at Nationals!