Saturday Agility

Well the morning started off with Flex's Advanced Beginner's class. We worked on the following:

1. Set 1 - weaves into tunnel or chute. Flex did OK but struggled with weaving at first. After a few minutes he settled into the excitement and was able to weave. He had no problem with the chute or the tunnel.


2. Set 2 - Send to the table. Flexi did very well on this exercise. He does a good job of downing when he gets on the table and then staying. He is still pretty velcro so I have to be moving forward to get him to continue on to the table.


3. Set 3 - Teeter entries. Flex did well with the teeter and his two on two off contact. He did not seem to have the problems that we say last weekend with completing the teeter. He is slowing down and the tip point but for the most part he does not seem to be afraid of the teeter again.


4. Set 4 - Send to a recall over 5 jumps. Flex had lost his focus by the time we got to this set. He kept running around the set of jumps rather than jump them to come to me. I tried back chaining this with him to get him more comfortable but there was not enough time in class to do this properly. We need to practice this at home.

After class I participated in the Fun and Games class with Flex and Gus. Gus ran twice and Flex I only ran once. I worked on keeping Gussie calm before his turn. He was doing pretty well so we moved closer to the first obstacle (chute - see diagram) and was able to get about 10 feet from it before he had trouble remaining calm. We backed a few more feet away and worked on heavy rewards for him focusing on me and not lunging at the other dogs. When it was his turn I started with him at the weaves, on leash so that he completed them. Then I let him off leash and ran the rest of the course. We skipped the teeter since we are retraining that obstacle. He got on the table for me which was a nice improvement and he left quite a few bars up for his run.

Flexi's run was calm and for the most part good. I ran him on the long line to ensure that he stayed with me. He did pretty well with not sniffing on his first run but I didn't want to push it with him so we did not run again.

I crated the boys farther away from the field so that it might help keep Gussie more calm. It seemed to help a little. I also started him on the Valerian root today so we will see how he does at classes this week and at the show next weekend.