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.