Well, Ticket has had 3 shows back. Weekend #2 was forgettable–some confusion on her aframe contact, bars, and general suckiness. Last weekend was much improved. First aframe some confusion and stopping halfway, the rest were GREAT. She did drop some bars in JWW, but I was still pretty happy with how she did. Sadly, blew two Qs in Standard for…refusing the table! Ugh, of all the obstacles, really?! Definitely avoidance behavior, and unfortunately, starting to show some signs of stress around it. I know she doesn’t want to get on it, presumably because she has to stop and wait there, and everywhere else she gets to run. Though why that doesn’t translate to her contacts, who knows?
SOO, went home, and finished building the table. The only obstacle I don’t own. Figures. I know she doesn’t have enough value for it, so that’s what we’re working on. She is currently eating her meals on the table, and I’m trying to have cookies in my pocket so if she decides to get on it, we have a party. Hmm, maybe I should put it in the house? Another great idea someone gave me was to ask for the table, then quickly release and reward with something fun. I’ll use the tunnel and other agility equipment, but she also loves the Chuckit, so all of those things will be good rewards for getting on the table. We have USDAA this weekend, so lots of runs, but only two tables. Good news–she’s in Starters, where refusals aren’t called, so there will be no added stress from me get on the table without stopping/avoiding. When she gets on it, I can tell her what a good girl she is. I’m really looking forward to USDAA since we’ll get more runs, and HOPEFULLY manage to finish her AD. If she can keep the bars up in Jumpers… And I’m hopeful we may be able to get a GP or Steeplechase Q, but who knows…
I’m also super excited about this weekend because it will be Trip’s first show back. She is just starting back in agility this week after conditioning/rehab, and I don’t plan to do a lot with her on that front. Maybe just two days with a little bit of work, and I may even jump her 8″. We have an acupuncture session on Wednesday, and I plan to have her massaged on Saturday at the trial. I’m SO nervous, but also so very hopeful that we have finally kicked this thing. She seems to be very happy and acting like herself, but there weren’t a lot of changes at home, so it’s hard to say–the big difference was in competition. Specifically, in the Jumpers ring. The good thing will be Saturday I picked “jumpers” type classes–P3 Jumpers, International Jumpers, and Snooker. So hopefully she will be stoked to be in the ring again, and realize that she doesn’t hurt and is having fun (in case there is a mental component as well). Sunday, she gets to do what she likes–Gamblers and Standard. I’m really looking forward to finishing a course with my best girl again.
Here are Ticket’s runs from the weekend. Lots of great moments–we’ll put it all together one day. 🙂
Ticket had a fabulous time at her first trial back after TPLO surgery. Â The weather was perfect (well, as perfect as January can be–70s/50s), the surface was good, and she ran great. Â We even managed to qualify on one run, the last run of the weekend, in Exc. B JWW. Â She even got 1st place, so I was very happy with her.
Saturday, she started with FAST, and did well. Â I knew the send was probably not going to happen–it was just a pinwheel, but the second jump was 25′ away from the line, and that’s not our strength just yet. Â I may have been able to get it if I’d handled it differently, but alas, no bueno. Â In Standard, we started with Ticket crashing into the tire, but making it through. Â Then she slid off the table, then she self-released (judge was done counting, but I hadn’t said “ok” yet), so I put her back on the table, and we were Ed. Â Good lesson in self-control for blue monster. Â And JWW, there was a tough line where I would knew I would have a hard time indicating the correct jump on a line because of Ticket’s speed, and I did. Â BUT, NO BARS DOWN all day Saturday. Â I never would have thought that might happen.
Sunday standard, Ticket was wild. Â She ran around a jump, missed her aframe, and crashed into a wing. Â Oy. Â But JWW was our shining moment–a speed course with a tough line down the backside for slow handlers with fast dogs. Â I got a ton of lateral distance on the weave poles (yay), and made it far enough down the line to keep her from sucking into a tempting tunnel, and finished up with rear crosses. Â So happy with that run–another WT score, and her first points towards Tulsa. Â Of course, points for Tulsa are not going to be our downfall–it will be those darn QQs.
Here is some of the “bad” things Ticket did this weekend, including her crashes…
I think the crashes happened because of miscommunications–she wasn’t sure, was looking at me, and then tried to take the obstacle at the last second. No sense of self-preservation on that dog. Luckily, she was none the worse for wear, and still wanted to go. But, that lack of self-preservation definitely got me thinking. Ticket’s aframe has been a struggle. She is SO frantic–she sees the aframe as a large speed bump that she just needs to get over as fast as possible. She skims it as closely as possible, trying to get her legs up and over it as quickly as she can and move on. It definitely needs more work–I think I need to add more “bounce” to her frame. In the meantime, I’ve decided I’m going to add a stop to her frame, using the 2o2o she already knows for the dogwalk and teeter. Ultimately, I would like to have both–a stop, and a running frame. I know I will need that running frame to beat the big boys at the highest levels. But for now, I’m going to add a stop, and keep working on perfecting the running.
So, I’m using a different cue for the frame, combined with her “spot” command. So far she has done a 5′ frame, sequenced with a tunnel, no problems. A few more sessions and I think we’ll have full height. Then it’s just a matter of putting in longer sequences and making sure she doesn’t get so high she loses her mind and runs it. Ultimately, I think it will be nice to have both options. We’ll see how it goes–with her clear understanding of her contact behavior, I don’t think it will be hard to transfer that behavior to her aframe.
Ticket is 15 weeks out from TPLO surgery today. Hard to believe that her first trial back is in just 4 days. That is an amazingly quick recovery from knee surgery, and I’m “lucky” that young dogs tend to heal more quickly, and that we had no setbacks during her recovery. I have no doubt that she is not 100% back to where she was prior to surgery, but I also think that I need to get her back into her “normal” routine of training and trialing to really get her there. So, we’re heading to San Antonio this weekend. The weather looks to be PERFECT — 70s/40s, so not too cold too tighten up her muscles. The facility and surface are always wonderful, so I’m happy to not have to worry about that on top of my girl. We even get to run FAST as her first run back, so hopefully we’ll be able to get the “yahoos” out. I have definitely noticed that if anything, Ticket is higher now then before surgery. I’m sure she’s making up for all those weeks of crate rest, but it’s a little scary at times.
I would say the most frustrating thing with Ticket so far is bars. She was never the best at keeping bars up, but it feels like we’re struggling more now. I accept that there is a physical component that will just take time, but I don’t think that’s all it is. She will keep bars up on straight lines with no problems–she even generally does a wrap with a clear decel cue fine. The bars that come down are turns, like pinwheels. Esteban feels like it’s perpetually late cues, and when she tries to adjust in the air, the bar comes down. I also accept I need to work on my timing, and do better at giving appropriate cues (decel, turns), at the right moment, no matter how far behind her I am. Because I’m ALWAYS behind, and I tend to try to make the correct position, which means my cue is LATE. BUT, I also feel like no matter how crappy my handling is, it is HER job to keep the bar up. With that in mind, I’ve decided to work her through Linda Mecklenburg’s Developing Jumping Skills. I’ve done Salo grids with Ticket, but I like the concept of the repeated reinforcement (C/T) for successfully clearing the bar. I doubt I will go the entire way through it–I know Linda says it’s not a “handling” book, but the fact is that there are many, many things that involve cuing the dog to jump from a certain position/arm that I do not do within my handling, nor am I going to start. But I can definitely make modifications so that it does work within the Derrett system. For example, I can use a serp arm when asking my dog to jump into me, instead of the way Linda does it. But I’m not sure I have the fortitude to try to figure out how to do that with the entire book–we’ll see as I progress through it. Besides the high rate of reinforcement, I like the how calm and relaxed Ticket is when working with the jump. She really jumps great under those conditions–it’s when you add speed and handling that it all goes to hell. But I’m hopeful that this will give her the skills to handle that better.
Trip is finishing up crate rest today, so while she’ll be there in San Antonio, she’s not competing. So, for a novelty, I will only be running one dog. It may be a blessing in disguise since it will let me focus on Ticket, make sure she has a good warmup and cool down, and not have to rush. We’re competing the next 4 weekends, and I hope to have Trip back at #4, USDAA in College Station. Fingers crossed that she’s well and truly BACK. I’m not overly happy with her progress so far, but I’m trying to be patient. Two more acupuncture sessions in the next 2 weeks, and we’ll see where she’s at.
