Agility Foundation II and II: Class 1

I'm a bit late posting this entry (and I've back dated it so that it shows up in correct sequential order). We had class last Monday and it was great. We are actually taking two classes at ACA this quarter and they are back-to-back. We left the house at 6:30 pm and didn't get home until almost 11! And Bailey was so wiped out, he barely made it to the dinner bowl after class.

Foundation I: We worked on some jump sequences, which Bailey did a great job at. We didn't do any fancy crosses or anything, but just focused on teaching the dogs to jump and turn at the same time. It was just tiny little speed bump jumps, but Bailey was quick and took direction like a charm! We also did some board work, which Bailey is getting better and better at. I have to practice doing board work while I move around and from a distance. I also have to focus on rewarding him straight in front, instead of to the side. Rewarding him to the side causes him to twist his spine, which can potentially cause damage. I don't think we did too much in this class, but it is a small class so we get lots of individual attention. For the first time, we actually ended class with time to spare.

Foundation II: For this class, we started on the weaves. They set up 4 sets of channel weaves (HAVE to buy a set... they are so great!). Bailey does WAM and channel weaves already and he does them with a pretty small gap in between. I narrowed the poles down and he did a great job. After a little while, we switched to a new set of weaves so the dogs would get exposure to all different kinds of equipment. Then Claudia had us do backchaining on the dog walk. Backchaining is the process of teaching the end behavior (2O2O) separately from the dog walk so that we can really reinforce the position. Bailey does pretty well with backchaining. Then we went all the way over the dog walk. He always gets just a bit too much speed to slow down and get the target on the end. He tried really hard though! I could see him attempting to put on the brakes as he came down the ramp, but it just didn't work. He ended up only overshooting the end of the ramp by about 2 feet. Next, we went to the a-frame. Claudia had us do some backchaining on the a-frame as well. Bailey did pretty well, so she had us run over it. To my surprise, Bailey got over it with a decent amount of speed AND managed to hit his target and stay in 2O2O position! We tried it one more time and he repeated the behavior! Yeah! Teeter was another free station. There was no motion in the teeter yet, but I think we start with some motion in the teeter soon. As other people were practicing the other exercises, we did more weaves. This time, I added a jump before the weaves. He did the jump and made the weave entrance no problem. Smart puppy! I think he really likes the weaves. Finally, we went back to the a-frame. We tried to go up and over again and this time, Bailey couldn't make the contacts to save his life. It was a little frustrating, but after 2+ hours of class, I sort of expected it. It's clear we have to work on building his hindquarter muscles so he can learn to rely on his hindquarters when coming down the a-frame and dog walk.