Running Contacts

I gave up on stopped contacts over a year ago with Taari. I could not be consistent in a trial and I didn't think that stopping was good for her. It just wasn't working for us. We were having too many discussions on course.

As a management technique to prevent her from jumping I used PVC hoops last winter. My PVC was grey with white fittings. The PVC is for underground sprinklers so it requires no glue as the pieces screw together. I have had quite a bit of fun making hoops, boxes, barriers for Spice so he wouldn't do stairs after his surgery.

I painted my hoops camouflage green in an attempt to make them blend in with the grass. I then found some wire (actually an old weave poll guide) and made one for the dogwalk out wire. Left it white at first and then painted it green. Found some even thinner wire. Under the right lighting conditions it was very hard to see. Taari hit the wire a few times and recovered quite well. She had some really nice dogwalk contacts in competition last year.

We moved indoors and I painted the thin wire dogwalk hoop to match the sand. It was a very good match. I made the mistake of introducing this hoop at at a fun match (and Taari was also in season). I put out the hoop one run then took it away the next run and put it back in the third run. Taari hit it on the third run, like she had hit it before. The hoop moves if she hits it so it doesn't hurt her physically. Nothing seemed odd to me about it as she kept running. She did seem startled perhaps that it was there the third time. The next run she would not get on the dogwalk at all. It took weeks to get her back on the dogwalk. I went back to using a very visible hoop. I should mention that we had problems with the dogwalk from the beginning of her training. It took a very long time to get her to do a small dogwalk.

Thinking back I think that the environment of the fun match and the hormones of her heat cycle really complicated things. The other times that she hit the hoop were in a comfortable class setting. One time she was barking at me and not even looking where she was going.

Not wanting to go through dogwalk fears again I have been thinking about what to try next. I ordered the DVD by Rachel Sanders Reliable Running A-frames. Perhaps I should use a box with both the A-frame and the dogwalk.

On the A-frame I have been using hoops and stride regulators. See this video.



Together (or even the stride regulators alone) they seem to work well but in a class situation it is hard to have both stride regulators and hoops put out when it comes to my turn so I have just been using the hoop. Even the stride regulators alone take time. Just the hoop isn't working well as I discovered when reviewing some video footage. She isn't coming over the top of the A-frame well and often then runs down on her front feet for a while. So perhaps the Rachel Sanders method will work for her.

I built a A-frame box and a dogwalk box and had Taari running between a TreatnTrain and Manners Minder pouncing in the boxes in the basement. I would love to be able to do this outside but there is too much snow in our backyard.

Yesterday I had a practice session in a unheated facility about 50 minutes away from my house. I worked mainly on running contacts. I need to work on my timing as I sometimes rewarded something that I didn't really want to (Taari hitting the box for example). I am trigger happy.

I first worked with the A-frame box on the ground. Varied my position and Taari was very successful. I used the TreatNTrain.

Then I tried the box on the dogwalk. First putting Taari on the down ramp. Then having her do the whole dogwalk and then a few obstacles before the dogwalk. I noticed that she was taking quite a few steps when coming down the dogwalk. This is easier to see in later footage when I widened the view. I also used the hoop with and without the box. With the hoop I think that she is leaving the dogwalk from a lower spot on the down plank but perhaps I am wrong.

Then I tried a few A-frames with the hoop only. She is barely making into the yellow and jumping from quite high up :(.

Then I went back to the A-frame box on the ground. I should mention that my box word is "zone". Being the impatient person that I am I decided to try the box with the jumps. Perhaps I should have done a few more session with the box alone. I didn't have a tape measure with me so I was estimating the distances. I moved the first jump a bit closer after a few tries. I also raised up the front part of the box. Taari was doing two hits after the second jump before the box except when I ran with her. This is what she is doing on the A-frame - taking too many steps before the yellow. She is better when the stride regulators on the A-frame. Do I want two hits or one hit before the yellow on the downside of the A-frame? I am a bit confused about this especially after watching the DVD. Rachel says that dogs are often higher in a trial situation and will not do the two hits like they do in practice and miss the yellow.

Looking back at the footage she might be slowing down to approach the TreatNTrain. Maybe it needs to be further away or a jump after the box. Throwing a toy may be better but she tends not be as enthusiastic about toys especially when she is getting sand in her mouth and eyes.

I probably worked her too long as well. It is hard when you spend around two hours driving just for one training session not to try to get as much out of it as you can.

Here is the video of the training session.



Sorry for the long post but sometimes it helps just to write things down even if you are the only one reading it ;).