Draft of Wall Jump Part 2

Note that this is an old draft from a few years ago.  My plan was to make another jump and go over these instructions.  I haven't done this yet but there has been some interest in making a wall jump during the Covid-19 pandemic so I found the draft and will publish it as is for now. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions and I will try to clarify and possibly update these instructions.  Please also note that these instructions are from years ago (2014) when the jump heights (and possibly wall jump specifications) were different.  I believe that you can create all the jump heights that you need from the pieces (increments of 2"). 

I think that one of the complicated decisions to make is the colour scheme.  So far I have made my wall sections two colours on the sides that are visible.  The colour of top and bottom pieces do not really matter.  I had enough black to be consistent with the maple leaf jump. 

• You will need three sets of two mats for the visible facing side of the wall.  To do a four foot section you use two mats plus the edge pieces. If you want to do five feet then you will need more mats. 
• Out of these three sets of two mats you need to cut widths (actually heights of the wall sections).

1. 2 x 6.25 in (16 cm) - for the base piece
2. 4 x 6 in (15 cm) - for two pieces
3. 2 x 4 in (10 cm)
4. 2 x 2 in (5 cm)

• Out of the colour chosen for the bottom and top pieces of the wall sections you will need 8 x 4.5 in (11.5 cm)
• The base is made of 12 pieces the two 6.25 in pieces above plus  

1. 3 x 4.5 in (11.5 cm)
2. 2 x 2 in (5 cm) or perhaps 1.75 in (4.5cm) - I made mine with the 2 and it ended up being 6 in tall but other people's bottom piece ended up .25 in taller.  Perhaps due to different amounts of glue between the flat pieces.
3. 3 x 1.75 in (4.5 cm)
4. 2 x 7 in (18cm)

• only one of 4.5 in pieces is visible when changing heights so you could chose the same colour as the 8 4.5 in pieces.  

Here is how I cut the pieces of the mats I had.  There are other options:

Cuts

Cross sections of the various pieces

Intermediate pieces

To make one of the intermediate pieces use two of the side pieces and two of the top/bottom pieces.  Glue it so that the side pieces are visible and that the top/bottom pieces are not visible from the side.  See the cross section above.  It is better that the top/bottom pieces are even with the side pieces (or slightly inset). 

Note also that the red is opposite the white.  This makes it easy to make sure that the colours alternate when changing heights.  So if you are using two colours for each of the intermediate pieces I recommend that you do it this way.

Base (total height with top pieces is 8 inches or 20 cm)

• The base is made up to two boxes with sides added at the end
• see the cross section diagram
• box 1
  
  • 2 tops and one bottom 4.5 in (11.5 cm) , 2 in (5 cm) sides
  • after you make a box using one top, bottom and the two sides glue the extra top piece on 
• box 2 -
  • top/bottom 7 in (18 cm) , 1.75 in (4.5 cm)  sides
  • mark center on the top or bottom piece and glue center short piece
  • glue a short side
  • glue the other wide piece to the short side
  • glue ends and center of middle piece to the wide piece
  • turn piece on side and try to glue more of the middle piece
  • glue the remaining short side piece in place
  • mark where box 1 will sit on top of box 2 and glue the boxes together
• slanted sides
  • 6.25 in (16 cm)
  • make sure that when you glue the top edge to box 1 that it is flush with the top.  
  • now glue the middle of the side to the edge that touches box 2

Top pieces  (4 or 7 displaceable)

UKA/WAO specifies 7 pieces and FCI typically has 4 pieces.

If making 7 their width is 17 cm.  If making 4 pieces it is 11.75 in.

Mark 2.5 in or 6.5 cm from either end on both the good side and the other side (smooth).  On the smooth side (side that will not be visible) put duct tape along this line centered on the line.  This will provide support in the way of a hinge.  Score about 1/2 way through the mats on the good side.  

6.5 cm |  16 cm | 6.5  cm

Here is a video showing how to glue it.  Note that this is a bit tricky since you need to hold the pieces together for at least 20 seconds.  Note how I am using my arms. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqFGS9BwWVA

Draft of Wall Jump Instructions Part I

Note that these instructions are subject to change as they are only a draft.   If you have any suggestions please let me know. 

Last change Saturday May 17 9:30 am.   

I will be working on the instructions for the wall jump in the coming weeks.  (Feb 23 2016) 

Tools

• Small hot glue gun - the large nozzle on some glue guns do not permit you to get it in between the pieces
• 50 - 100 glue sticks
• flat screw driver (to help with the gluing)
• #11 blade knife (if doing cut outs) and perhaps tape to avoid pen marks on the mats
• Sharp utility knife for main cuts
• duct tape (for top pieces)
• scissors
• straight edge
• tape measure or ruler
• Pen or pencil.  I personally found that pen was better to mark the mats.
• cardboard to put under mats while cutting.   I had some old mats.
  

Foam mats

• 2 packages of 4 mats for pillars
• 4 packages for wall pieces (revised from 3-4 as with the added width I will end up using 3.5 packages of 4 mats for the wall).  
• I bought Connect-A-Mat from Walmart.  You can also get them direct http://www.connectamat.com/shop/ (check their FAQ for a possible discount).

Optional items to help with wind

• 4 stick in the ground weaves
• Jump bars to put inside wall sections

General tips

• I use gravity to help when gluing pieces together. 
• You can use your glue gun to melt the glue if you need to take something apart
• I use a flat screw driver to adjust the joins especially when I can't get my fingers behind the pieces (picture)
• You can use the same screw driver to remove excess glue
• Don't attempt to cut through the mats in one pass.  You will get a cleaner cut if you do it in a few passes and cut slowly. 
• Sharp knives and scissors cut better.  Change blades when they become dull.

Pillars (8 mats total)

• Join two mats together.   Optionally add the edge pieces to the top and/or bottom. Not sure if adding the edge piece to the bottom will make it unstable. So far I have not done this myself.  Height of the pillars is not that important.  You can also add the edge piece to the long side if you want the pillar to be a bit wider.  Then you would only cut the one side with the tabs.  

• Place these mats upside down on a flat surface and glue the join of the two mats and optionally the edge pieces.  I do this upside down because the mats are not always the same thickness and hopefully this will make good side flat.  Do not use too much glue or it will come out the other side (the good side). I stick the nozzle between the two mats.  You can practice on two unused edge pieces. Note in the photo below I had cut off the sides first but changed the order of the steps later. You can see the glue in the joins. 
  
  

• Cut a thin piece off one of the long sides so that the edge is straight and no longer has the tabs.  Do this for both sides.  I don't measure this cut but I do use the straight edge to help guide the knife.
  
• Measure the width to figure out where the middle point is so that you can cut the piece exactly in half.  Mark and cut the piece in half.   Now you have two of the four sides of the pillar.
• Repeat this with two more mats.
• Decide which end is the bottom for each of the four pieces and cut off the tabs if you did not glue on the edge pieces.   If you don't like the tabs on the top you can also cut them off. 
• If you are doing cut outs now is the time to mark and cut them out.  I marked them on the backside and then cut them out because it was smoother and easier to draw on.  But since I wasn't always holding the  knife straight up and down this resulted in some gaps on the good side when I swapped the pieces.  It is better to mark on the good side and cut that side.  You can use tape if worried about pen marks.  Use clear tape on the mat, draw on the tape and cut through the tape and the mats. 
• Glue the cut outs so that they will not fall out.

Pieces for the pillar (again I changed the order of the steps so the bottom is not cut off in this picture)

• Glue two of the sides together.  I find that gluing the bottom end first ensures that the bottom will line up.

• Glue the remaining sides together.  Note how the pieces are put together in this photo. I only do the pillars this way. 
  

• Repeat to make the second pillar.

More on the Wall Jump

I have been getting lots of positive comments on my wall jump.  People say that they love it and find it very safe (comfortable to land on in fact).  I have been asked to give an Arts and Crafts day at a local training centre to help people make their own wall jump.  There is interest in instructions too for those who cannot come due to timing or distance. So I am busy working on those and preparing for Tamsu's Arts and Crafts day.  I am also working on a new wall jump which is helping me to prepare the instructions and try out some new ideas and improvements.  I have something special in mind for this jump when it is finished and once it is finalized I will let people know.  Here I am testing out some colour ideas - black top pieces.  There are two white tables behind the wall holding up the pieces.

As you can see I decided to give it a Canadian theme by cutting out maple leaves.  Below is my test before attempting it on the red and white mats.  The cut outs in the jump above took quite a bit of time (almost 3.5 hours for 8 leaves).

I was careful about where I put the red since dogs cannot distinguish between red and green as easily as we can (see www.dog-vision.com).   The photo below is what the dogs see using an iPhone app.  Sometime I will compare what www.dog-vision.com gives versus the app. 

Lots of decisions to make and here is one of them.  How high to make the top pieces?  Below is a picture of a taller rounder one that is about 3 inches tall and a shorter flatter one that is 2 inches tall. If you want a 4 inch jump height option the 2 inch one makes a bit more sense. But you could make a one inch wall piece. Which one will decide the height of the base.  So far I have two votes for the shorter one.

 

Another decision is which organization's specs to follow.   Here are the links where I found some specs. Seems like every time I look I am finding something different. 
http://www.fci.be/circulaires/90-2011-annex-en.pdf and http://www.worldagilityopen.com/WAORules&Regulations.pdf and https://www.ukagilityinternational.com/PDFs/RulesSecondEdition.pdf

Also metric or imperial?  The first jump's heights were in inches but the Canadian jump is metric.  

One thing that was asked was will it blow over in the wind?  The answer is yes but I am working on some ideas to prevent this and the most promising for the pillars is stick in the ground weave poles.   I also tried putting some jump bars in a wall section to keep from blowing away.  That worked as well. 

weave poles inside pillar

jump bars inside the wall section

It was very windy today.  I could hear the sand hitting my vehicle while driving along the highway.  Nessa was kind enough to sit by the pillar and you can see her hair moving.  I also tried to get in some of the background trees but should have left the iPhone in landscape orientation as they got mostly cutoff.  You can see the wind try to blow the pillar over at the 23 second mark and it settles back down.  




Not sure where or how I will put up the instructions - blog, facebook group, webpage, pdf etc.  Too many options with this too.  

On a more personal note this project is helping me keep my mind off why this project really came to be.   I have been unable to run in training let alone competitions with my dogs since the end of January due to an injury.  I had been thinking about making this jump for a while and with the winter weather and my injury I had some free time to work on it.  Unfortunately I still have lots of free time but trying to think positively.

Wall jump

I decided to try to make a wall jump out of some old and new interlocking foam mats.

You can tell that the pillars are faded and made of the old mats.  The wall is made of newer mats.  I also chose yellow and blue as my main colours because dogs are essentially red/green colour blind.  Everything but the curved top pieces are made from 2 foot by 2 foot mats (most recently I bought them from Walmart).  The top pieces are made from thinner 1 foot by 1 foot mats that I bought at a dollar store years ago.   I first tried duct tape and that was not holding so I switched to hot glue. 

Since I train at a place where my friends also train their 26" jumping dogs I made the maximum height 28".  I was actually aiming for 26" but to be able to get all the heights that I wanted (8" to 26" in 2" increments) I ended up with a total of 28".  In retrospect I could have made two 6" pieces instead of the 8" and 6" ones and ended up with a total of 26".  The base and curved top pieces total 8".  The additional pieces are  2", 4", 6" and 8".

A nice feature of the jump is that all the pieces fit in the pillars for easy storage and transport.  I will admit that it is a good thing that the pillars are flexible as I had to force them into the back of my CRV.  I am planning on taking it to the training facility this week and giving it a better test what I could do in my backyard in the snow.

Another very important feature to me is that this jump is less likely to cause serious injuries if a dog hits any piece of it. 

I am not sure how much wind the jump can take and it will be a while before it can be tested on grass.  It will hopefully be fine for indoors and calm days.

Here is a video of me assembling the jump.



Nessa and Taari testing it out in the backyard.






After more testing I can write out the way I would make it the next time (I learned some things along the way) and post it if there is interest. 

Donation model

Recently Matt Kruse the author of Social Fixer published a blog on why he likes the donation model for his software.  I started thinking about this again as it might apply to products that agility people provide.  If someone provided a free download I would gladly donate money to them if I liked the product.  I would do this for two reasons.  My first reason would be to compensate the person for their work in producing the product and secondly to encourage them to continue producing more products.

I think that there would still have to be some sort of copyright on the product to prevent other people from making money from it. 

In today's world it is easy for people to copy or even rent out DVDs.  The authors/producers are not being compensated.  I would like to see a world where people want to compensate the authors/producers for their work.

Some people in the music industry are providing free downloads and asking for donations.  Some are having better success than others.  I would like to think that dog trainers are different from the masses that download music.  We reward our dogs when they do something we like so that they will keep doing it so why wouldn't we reward people as well. We might even jackpot people (i.e. donate more than what the person was expecting).

New Winter Agility Jacket

Here are some pictures of my latest jacket from Discovery Trekking Outfitters (DTO) in Campbell River, B.C.  I got great service from them again.  I liked my spring jacket that was red and thought that my new winter jacket should be red too.  My old black winter jacket has held up pretty well over the past few years.  I ended up wearing it as an every day winter jacket so it got plenty of use. I will still wear it when I am in the mood for an all black jacket.

I got the same features - hood, full zipper, reflective piping (which is glowing from the flash), and back tug toy pocket.  The fabric is Polartec Power Shield.    The extra length (2") is perfect when walking the dogs.  If I need it to be shorter I found that I can just roll it under.

I should mention again that I find the back tug toy pocket quite useful for other things besides toys.

What can go wrong

Today while working on some drills Nessa hit a jump standard.   The quality of the video is a bit grainy and it is actually foggy inside the training facility.  The jump standard is PVC and has the Clip and Go Jump Cup Strips.



As far as I can tell at this point Nessa is fine but I am not sure that she would have been if the jump had been a different design. 

What might have helped even in this case would be a longer bar (I think that it is only 4 feet) and perhaps if the jump had been a winged jump.  

More on Equipment Safety

AgilityNerd's recent blog is titled Ban Metal Jumps Now!  I recommend reading it (and the other equipment safety blog posts on Steve's site).  Also check out the stories of incidents that people are writing in response to Steve's blog post and on his facebook page.  Steve said that recently a top dog in agility went to an eye specialist after hitting a jump cup.  The dog came close to losing an eye.   This is very scary.   There is a picture of an eye injury on bcagility's blog. 

As well as eye injuries I personally know of at least one dog that hit a metal jump standard which resulted in a soft tissue injury.  When Nessa was young she misjudged when going over a metal jump and I remember her crying after hitting it.  I didn't have it on video so not sure exactly what happened but I am sure that if it had been a PVC jump it would not have hurt so much.  

My friend's dog's tail got caught in a PVC jump standard that had bolts to hold up the bars.  He ended up dragged it around.  Luckily the dog was not spooked by the experience but other dogs may have been.    

I am willing to pay extra for safer equipment.  In fact if it was allowed I would bring my own safer jumps to events.  

I don't want to see any dogs injured when it could have been prevented if the equipment had been safer.  I definitely don't want to see a career ending injury occur. 

 

Equipment safety

I believe that we should do what we can to make agility safer especially when it comes to the equipment. 

Recently Daisy Peel put up a podcast on equipment safety. Linda Mecklenburg wrote a blog post as well.  Both Daisy and Linda talk about things that I hadn't considered as well as things that I had.  Guy Blancke also has some pictures of some questionable equipment on one of his webpages.  Some of the equipment is so bad that I think that I would have pulled my dog from the event.

I started out with what I now consider to be unsafe practice equipment.  My jumps were the equivalent of stick in the ground weave poles with bolts holding up the bars.  At that time though I had a steady dog and we were not doing tight turns.   We expected the dog to jump near the center of the bar.  Things have dramatically changed since then.  My dogs are running faster and they are turning tightly and slicing jumps.

This is Taari's Mom Angel posing with some of her ribbons.  Note the bolts on the vertical post as well as the horizontal bar holding the ribbons.  This bar was really one of the vertical ones for a jump. 

Nessa has received a cut under the eye from to a metal jump cup.  She was lucky.

Currently most of my jumps have the jump cup strips on them.  I am in the process of buying a couple of jumps that I think will be even safer than the ones that I have.  Once I get them I will post some pictures.

I feel that I should not have to make handling decisions based on whether or not I think that the jump is safe for a tight turn or for that matter because of any equipment safety concerns. 

Before I forget I am very happy that years ago the AAC implemented a rule that weave poll stripes were to be painted on and tape was not to be used.  Dogs were rubbing against the tape and this was also causing cuts on their faces under their eyes. Organizations are making positive changes and I hope that this continues.

I hope to find more time this winter to post more about equipment safety.

New spring agility jacket

Since it is spring I decided to get another agility jacket from Discovery Trekking Outfitters (DTO) in Campbell River, B.C. This time I got a jacket made from a light weight Wind Pro fabric. It is the same style as my black winter jacket. I chose the same features - hood, back pocket for toys and reflective piping.

My Agility Jacket

I love my new agility jacket. It was made by Discovery Trekking Outfitters (DTO) in Campbell River, B.C. The fabric is Polartec Power Shield. Usually DTO makes them out of Polartec Wind Pro but given the cold winters of Ontario and that I would be training in an unheated facility it was decided that Power Shield would be warmer. It is definitely wind resistant as I tested it out at the Thanksgiving trial at Spot On and I was quite warm in my upper body (I just needed matching pants). I have yet to test out how water repellent it is in heavy rain though I expect it will be okay as the water beaded in a light rain. I chose the colour black which is hard to photograph but looks really sharp in person. The fabric stretches so I can move easily. Check out our run below.



I have been layering the jacket for added warmth though I have been noticing that I don't need as many layers as other people do.

One of the things that I was looking for in a jacket was the ability to wear it out shopping after training in a sandy and dusty place and still look relatively presentable. I often pick up Taari so am likely to get hair on me as well. The jacket has done a great job of staying clean.

I customized my agility jacket by asking for a hood, reflective piping, and a back pocket for toys. DTO did a great job and was very helpful. I was amazed at how well the hood fit. I could have easily worn it during the Thanksgiving trial when running with Taari but since I haven't worn a hood at a trial before I decided I should probably practice first with Taari. The back pocket for toys is very handy. I even stored my gloves in it.






The jacket looks great and I have had complements from neighbours and friends. I am even wearing it to work. No one has stopped me to ask me about the back pocket yet, though I tell the people I know what it is for before they get a chance to ask.

Maintenance needed

Last weekend Taari got her 4th jumpers Q for her Masters Jumpers Dog of Canada (MJDC) title at the K9 Klubhouse trial in Pickering. It was a fantastic run. She was 14 seconds under time and the fastest dog in the whole class. The second fastest dog was a BC and was 2.5 seconds slower. I would have liked to have had that run on video. Taari also had a really smooth Steeplechase run and was 18 seconds under time. She ran by a jump though and missed her A-frame contact. On the weekend I discovered that at times I didn't have enough energy to be where I should be for her. I haven't been keeping up with my physical training (cardio and run faster exercises) over the summer because I have been busy.

This weekend at Spot On Taari had a great Advanced Snookers run. I avoided the teeter since she is not quite ready for the teeter as I discovered in earlier runs. We were able to Q with three sets of weaves in the opening (7 point obstacle). She also Qed in Steeplecase and the run can be seen here.



I am wearing my new agility jacket from Discovery Trekking Outfitters. It was really warm especially with the wind on Sunday. More about the agility jacket in another post.

This weekend I noticed that Taari was refusing tunnels - especially when I rear crossed them. This is something that I have been working on but apparently I haven't been keeping up the maintenance that is currently needed.

So as well as making sure I keep in shape I also need to maintain some of Taari's skills.

Update on Contacts

If I could go back (famous last words) I would have trained Taari differently on the teeter. The methods that were used in the classes that I took at the time focused on the tip point. As well as this method being slower than running to the end I believe that it has cause problems when the teeter behaves differently than what Taari expects. If the teeter is slow in tipping Taari jumps off. In training with teeters that Taari knows and in environments where she is more comfortable issues rarely arise. So I am attempting to retrain Taari's teeter. I want Taari to run to the end of the board instead of trying to find the tip point. I bought Wendy Pape's teeter DVD but didn't have a chance to watch it until Taari had a bad teeter weekend. So I am starting to work through the steps and modifying them so I can still do teeters in my weekly group class. During my class I put a poll under the teeter so that Taari will drive to the end, I give her treats and then I kick it out lowering the teeter with varying amounts of speed and height before I drop it. This seems to be working in class. Here is a video demonstrating this.




I have decided to move away from any type of prop on the dogwalk. This has resulted in slower dogwalks but I am hoping that with understanding her speed will increase. If she misses her contact I say no and get her to sit. Then we try again. I have been noticing and others too that her success is related to my body position. You can see her progressively getting faster in this clip.



I am still using the box on the A-frame and have not attempted to change Taari's striding at this point. Here are some videos of her with and without the box. Taari is very good at adjusting herself depending on whether or not she sees the box as can be seen in this video.

2009 AAC Nationals

Taari and I were not able to attend the Regionals in May due to family reasons so we did the prequalifier on Thursday at the AAC Nationals in Ottawa. We needed 350 points in 6 runs. Our first run of the day was a standard in which we accumulated 20 faults so we ended up with a score of 80. Then we ran jumpers and we got an off course (score 55) but were otherwise clean. The next run was the first gamblers run. I haven't been working much on Taari's gambling skills so my goal was to try to get as many points as we could in the opening as I didn't think we would get the final gamble as there was an A-frame in it and I was correct (score 30). Then we ran the second standard and it was worse than the first with an off course, bar, refusals and missed contacts (score 45). The second jumpers run run went really well except an off course (score 55).



We needed 85 point in the final run which was another gamblers course but we came up short with a grand total of 296. We had a few errors that cost us big time. Our jumpers runs were our best runs and if we had been clean in them we would have qualified since we would have got 40 more points plus the time bonus points which I estimate at about 25. Taari also had a unusual off course in the second run which cost us 20 points. We were not alone as 8 out of the 25 teams did not qualify.

On Friday we had two Steeplechase runs. Both were standard AAC events in which you could gain qualifying scores that count towards Steeplechase titles. The top 25% or 10 dogs in each class (which ever was less) advanced to the finals on Sunday night. The finals was not a standard AAC event and there was prize money for the winners. Taari was clean in both Steeplechase runs but we had bobbles, including missing weave entries, that cost us time. We qualified in both runs. The best run was our second Steeplechase run. We placed 20th overall out of 58 dogs.


Taari did well for her first big event and running 6 runs in one day. We haven't done many trials where there are dogs running in adjacent rings at the same time. You will notice her looking at the other ring at the beginning of the Steeplechase run above. I knew that she was not quite ready (contacts and gambling skills) but that there was a chance that we could qualify. Taari reacts to clapping so I had a hard time catching her at the end of her runs as she would sometimes take a victory lap! It was a good experience for both of us and I am glad that I went. On Saturday and Sunday I got to see some great agility and do some shopping. With 6 rings running at the same time it was hard to watch and see everyone though I did try to make a point of watching my friends. It is great that people are posting their videos on Youtube. I enjoyed watching the Steeplechase finals especially since I had friends in it.

24" weaves and the 2009 Canada Cup

This past weekend at the 2009 Canada Cup we got to try 24" weaves for the first time. Here is the video of Taari weaving.



The first three weaves that Taari does are from a regular AAC trial at Royackers in Ontario. I believe the separation is 21". I estimate her times at 2.64 and 2.94. Note that she slipped in the second set - it had been raining. The third set was impossible to time due to the tunnel. The last two sets of weaves are 24" weaves are from Canada Cup the next day.. This is the first time Taari has seen 24" weaves. I estimate her times at 2.77 and 2.60.

I will admit I was a bit concerned about whether or not she would be able to get into the "groove" with the wider spacing. She was fine as far as I can tell. After her runs on Saturday I had her checked out by a chiropractor vet who was at the trial. She had some sore muscles on her back. I wonder if she slipped in a tunnel on Friday because there was more noise and it took her a bit longer to come out. I do believe it was something that happened before Saturday given that she didn't want to jump on the bed Friday night. I thought at first it was because it was new place.

On Friday there was a regular AAC and I ran Advanced Gamblers and two Steeplechase runs with Taari. Taari got the final gamble but because I was working on contacts with her and she missed the A-frame contact we did not have enough points to qualify. We had a great Steeplechase run. She was second in her 16" class to a Dice who is on the CAT team. Taari was 4th overall (Encore and Feature were the top two dogs). Our second Steeplechase run had a few refusals but we still qualified. There was thunder in the distance in both Steeplechase runs so I felt that Taari ran really well all things considered. Below is the video of her Steeplechase runs.



On Saturday we ran the Canada Cup rounds 1 and 2. Taari would not tip the teeter and I decided to continue on. She also missed her her dogwalk and A-frame contacts. I find it harder to watch her at a trial since I am trying to make sure I am in the proper position for the next obstacle I need to be quicker and louder with some of my cues as we also had some off courses. Even though we didn't qualify for the final round I felt that overall Taari and I were better than last year. Below is the video of the runs.




On Sunday we ran the Jumpers Challenge round and we had a great start. It wasn't until I looked at the video that I noticed what when wrong with the pinwheel. Taari slipped on the wet grass and then had to tell me about it. She is a vocal dog. Sometimes she just grumbles when going into tunnels (especially if there is a lead change) or if I am late with my handling cues. Nothing like getting feedback on your handling from your dog! Other times she feels the need to bark at me. Unfortunately after that slip the rest of the run was not as good and we didn't qualify for the final round.




We had a great time at the Canada Cup and I am looking forward to next year's.

Master Jumpers - July 12 2009

Taari and I had two Master Jumpers runs at the K9 Klubhouse trial on July 12th. Here is the video. Taari ran well for me. Need to work on start line stays and being quicker with my cues. A couple of handler errors in the first run. Too bad about the bar in the second run. That run was our fastest jumpers run to date.

New Website

I needed to move my website since geocities is closing so I have purchased a domain and started the move. My new website is www.alhenashelties.ca. Some of the links will go back to the old website until I finish the move.

Taari's contact training is still going on. I am finding that props are not working. As I lowered the posts she started to jump. So I am trying to not use any props and just reward her for the right behaviour. It helps to have an extra person when working on them.

I audited a great workshop by Dave Munnings in June. Dave has a great sense of humour and I learned quite a bit. I had been working on left and right and now I have more reasons to. I hope that he comes back to Canada again soon.

Catching Up Part 1

I have been busy so I haven't been able to keep up with my blog. Here is a brief description of some of the videos of Taari's runs and our contact training.

April 24 2009

This was our first time at a new trial location - Ratpack in Orangeville. This run had some good parts and there are some things that I need to work on. To name a few - start line stays, speaking while she is over a bar, her reaction to clapping, faster catch at the end of the run. I believe that certain sounds cause her to drop a bar. She may also drop a bar when she is racing me.



May 2 2009

First I did some box work on the ground. I lowered the posts on the dogwalk about 3 inches and Taari was still successful. She wasn't successful without the posts though. I also tried the TnT at the end of the teeter. This seemed to help with Taari's confidence and she wasn't looking at me. At the end I did a couple of A-frames with the box - mostly to see what her A-frame currently looks like a roughly full height.




May 16 2009

We did some box work on the ground to start of with. We worked on the teeter both with the TnT right at the teeter and a distance away from it. I put the box on the A-frame as well. The A-frame is close to full height. She is successfully getting in the box but not striding over the A-frame well. I worked 18 weaves with Taari both with and without the TnT as a distraction. Taari popped out of the polls early in a trial.




May 18 2008

Since I was training with a friend I was able to lower the A-frame. It was good to see what Taari would do when it was lowered but the next time she tried a full height A-frame she had problems. I am not sure at this point that a lower A-frame is helping Taari with her striding.




Current status

The dogwalk is progressing nicely as I lower the posts. Without the posts Taari is jumping and I haven't gone back and tried no posts recently.

Taari is able to get into the box when it is on the A-frame most of the time. Her striding over the A-frame apex isn't what I am looking for as she is coming down on her front feet for few steps before taking a longer stride.

Taari has gained more confidence on the teeter with the TreatNTrain at the end of it.

First Indoor trial and Running Contacts

Last weekend Taari had her first indoor trial. I signed her up for one Steeplechase and two Master Jumpers runs. We haven't trialled since October and I had a bad cold. So bad I wasn't sure I would be going to the trial. The venue was quite nice. I liked how far away the last obstacle was from the fence. We had some nice parts to our runs. The last Master Jumpers was our best run. I had taken a 5 hour energy drink in the morning but found that it was wearing off so I took another one. I felt energized and the Niacin flush they warn you about. I am sometimes concerned that Taari will turn back and get in front of me. This happens when she feels needs to tell me that she doesn't know what is next. My defensive response to this is to put out both arms to try to balance myself. I noticed this on the video. I didn't run that last run the way that I had planned. I ended up on the wrong side at one point and we had a tunnel discussion. We were first place in the 16" class with 5 faults. Here is the video.




Today during our agility practice we concentrated on running contacts. Taari's box work on the ground has improved but she is still taking off too early and I missed her only putting one foot in the box a few times. I am a bit late with the Treat N Train. I was trying to be more careful and not "click" bad behaviors. I think that this resulted in me being late. Here is the video.



Then I put the box on the A-frame. I back chained it a few times and then tried Taari on the whole A-frame. I tried moving up the box and using stride regulators to get her to do one hit before the box. It wasn't really working and I need to think about this some more. I need advice. Ideally I would like a solution that doesn't involve putting too much on the A-frame because of group classes. Here is the video.



I am not sure how to fix her apex. I think that she is doing 3 and half hits in the last couple of A-frames as she is walking down on her front feet (more than 3 hits) but her back feet only hit 3 times.

Is it just a matter of doing more work on the ground and more work with the box higher up on the A-frame? Should I being trying for 3 hits or 2 hits? She will jump off the A-frame too high and miss the yellow sometimes in competition.

I decided that the box wasn't working for Taari on the dogwalk. She wasn't comfortable with it when other dogs were around. Since I have been using the PVC hoop in class around other dogs and she is quite comfortable with it I decided to go back to it. I will attempt to fade it by first removing part of the top bar and then the whole top bar. After that I will make the sides shorter. Today I got to the point of removing the top bar. We were practicing by ourselves and she was successful. I am going to try it at class Monday night. I may also try the box on the A-frame as well. Here is the video of the dogwalk.

Running Contacts March 21 2009

Yesterday I tried the box on a low A-frame (around 4 ft). My box is a bit smaller than the yellow area but I don't really want Taari to hit the top of the yellow zone (before the first slat). Taari did well when I put her on the A-frame. She didn't come back to me promptly as I don't think that she likes being picked up and put on equipment. I also have this problem with the dogwalk. So as soon as it looked like she was ready I had her do the whole A-frame. I was hoping that she would be able to do only one hit on the downside of the A-frame before the box/yellow zone. At one point I tried a stride regulator to see if that would help but it didn't. Perhaps they are not the right shape or I don't have them in the right spot. It may also require further training with the stride regulators to get Taari to stretch out more (gradually moving the stride regulator down). I will have to think about this some more.

After doing the box A-frame I decided to go back to doing the box on the ground. I was quite pleased that Taari seemed to be doing one hit on the ground. I don't have a good enough eye yet as when I looked at the video I missed Taari twice only getting one of her front feet in the box and more obviously there were two times when she hit the box. She seems to be taking off too early over the jump.

A couple of other things that I noticed after watching my video and reviewing the Reliable Running A-frames DVD again was that I am forgetting to give the box a cue and I am late or the Treat N Train isn't responding right away when I "click".

Here is the video.