Contacts are back!

So the past 2-3 sessions, Zap's contacts fell apart! He would run past the board or jump every time! But today his contacts were awesome! I'm so relieved that it was just a phase. I worked on left and rights. He missed a few but I wasn't running next to him parallel so I suppose that is why. He is getting much better though sometimes he randomly flips to the wrong side when I call out a direction.....silly boy! Working on sequences that work loose turning like left and right but also tight turning like cik and cap. Need to work more on sends and understanding with this I think. Bars WERE at 4-8 inches but he is so focused on processing the turn cue that he often plows through them, I guess he can't multitask with the "jump + direction" right now so I removed the bars. I'm going to work on jumping skills separate from turn cues for a awhile until he has both down solid, then combine them.

Left and Rights, Cik and Cap, Go ons

^ What our training sessions mainly consist of at the moment.

In the morning I usually work on cik and cap in the garage a little bit. This evening I took our work out to the agility field and worked on getting him to drive ahead to cik and cap, so combining "gogogo" and jump wraps. He was EXCELLENT!

At first I just had jumps 1, 2, and 4 set up. [Only set at 4 inches or lower don't worry] I stood between 1 and 2 and even staying there the entire time, directed him to jump 1, jump 2, wrap 4, jump 2, then wrap 1, then jump 2 while barely moving and just using verbals and arms! Then I took out jump 1. I stood about 10-15 feet away from the tire with zap on different sides each time and did left and right with jumps 3 and 4, varying which side I was on. He got most of them! I tried not to do much with my arms, as I want left and right commands on mainly verbals since I want to be able to handle from behind as well.

We Don't Need You.....

OBEDIENCE. No we don't. Not at all.

Anyway, I've decided to stop doing obedience training with Zap. I was so worried about our state deadline that I was being too much of a perfectionist with him. I never want to put that kind of pressure on him so I decided to stop all together and scratch from the fair and state. Yes it would have been neat to have a young puppy ace the level 2 class but I'm not after glory and records, and the minute Zap stops enjoying something, is the minute we quit.

But agility updates! We are re-starting running contacts soon so hopefully I will have an update on those soon! We are really focusing on left and rights and cik and cap. Also I'm working on waits, recalls, -some- heeling, and lots and lots of sends. Mostly though we just goof off...we won a tennis ball thrower at a mock trial and Zap loves playing fetch. I have been standing at the bottom of the yard and launching the balls uphill for him to get so he can work on some hill running. But the hill isn't very steep so it won't hurt him.

I'm pleased to say that we haven't had any agility field "ooopsies". I've been successful in keeping him away from full height equipment. He did accidently take a jump a but it wasn't set very high at all. That's the only thing I can think of! We are now taking tunnels completely out of the picture for a few months, the last thing I need is a tunnel addict. ;]

Over all, Zap seems to be a very happy puppy and that's what we strive for haha

Can you spell Perfection?

Z-A-P.
wow, so today I set up two jumps, a tire, a straight tunnel, then two more jumps all in a straight line. I had Zap run through it once and was using the words go-go-go-go. Previously, we have done only jumps in a row, so he thinks I mean only jumps. He did the first two jumps, ran around the tire and tunnel, then did the last two jumps. Too smart! So I did it again and used the words for the tire and tunnel and he ran all the way through at TOP SPEED. He faced forward the entire time even with me way behind him. Zap is so amazing! We have also been working on obedience and Zap has an excellent off lead heel, stand for exam, stays, and recall! We need to work on longer heeling patterns, longer stays, the figure 8, and the "front" position for the recall. But we should be ready for the fair in 3 weeks and my 8 month old puppy is going to PWN the adult dogs in level 2 obedience at state. haha

Class

Zap was great in class today! There were race cars practicing at the fairgrounds and he ignored all the people and noises! In the back during the obedience class we played and we worked on sending to the crate from a distance and stayiong in the crate while i dropped toys and treats and people walked by. Then we worked on sits, downs, and heeling. He heels sideways so he is really understanding the position. He sat in his crate quietly when I needed him to....overall, I was extremely impressed with my boy! He even tugs enthusiastically with distractions.

Running Contacts and Obedience

We have an 8 foot plank set at about 7-8 inches high currently that we are training contacts on. I have a jump set after it and Zap is running straight through the contact every time! We are doing contact sessions about once a week tops and he seems to be grasping the concept very well.

We are also working on our "waits", recalls, and heeling. His stays are getting better and we are working on sends to the table and lead outs from the table with lots of distractions. I am using the table as a variation of a crate in crate games. His recall is very solid and he is a very good retriever, haha. He is learning the heel position and he would have solid heeling right now if I wasn't so lazy/poorly motivated to train it. We also work on left and right spins and jumps wraps, though not often.

Spring Goals!

I am going to start taking Flick up to my friend's house to run in agility so I'll take Zap along since she has a ton of big kennels to hold dogs right by the field. We have been working on tricks, obedience, and foundation work for agility. We only do an agility element, whether contacts or jump wraps, once a week....he's young. We have been going for a 1+ hour walk almost everyday lately. Shadow and Libby are mainly outside most of the time and Flick sleeps in Karyn's room and goes with her wherever she is during the day. This means I just have two 2 boys around all the time so Li and Zap are becoming close friends.
In early spring, we want to work on:
-Heeling
-Obedience
-Recalls
-Control Games
-Left and Right
-Tricks
-Crosses, mainly rears

Along with a few contact and wrap sessions.

This is an interesting turn I became aware of last fall. Li does these very well. They work very well for tight turns because as soon as he sees me turned the other way, he turns. If I stay next to him with my arm out, he sometimes just keeps running straight if I don't turn fast enough. Anyway, I want to try them with Zap eventually, because they make sense to me. A lot of trainers love fronts, with some rears. I like to explore lots of different options like blinds and ketschkers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjVO4CJ0nLI

Well, that's all.
-Ria