A blog to track the training & growth of my very first Border Collie!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Video Update! Weaves!
Holy heck, when was the last time Secret had a video update? It must have been all the way back in early November when I posted her running that USDAA Advanced Standard course.... The equipment was put away not that long after and there just hasn't been much to video, I guess.
Until now!
A fellow blogger recently went through the process of "retraining" the weaves to get her BC to swim -- Unlike Secret, she always swam at 22", but had switched to hopping when moved up to 24". Seeing their success inspired me to attack it with Secret and try again. What else is there to do right now?
I learned quickly that if I closed the poles too soon that Secret would revert back to hopping. Because of this, I left them in the position you see in the video for a few sessions. This video is from Saturday afternoon following the boys' trial. Last night I closed the poles a little more and we made progress! Secret's first inclination was to hop, but after a few repetitions she started to swim them again. So we'll stay at this spot for a while.
We should probably be doing some jump work, table work, teeter work, etc..... But I figure it's just easiest to leave the weaves out for now...
Since it's video day, I figure I'll give the boys some spotlight today, too. They had a truly remarkable weekend at our trial at Family Dog Center this weekend! (And happy day, they put rubber on their contacts!)
Luke got his Versatility NATCH!
All of his (recorded) runs are in this video:
Kaiser's (recorded) runs are in this video -- He went 9/14 this weekend and earned his Open Chances and Elite Weavers titles!
And finally, I ended up running Rascal after Bethany became ill (hence why I didn't get as much video as usual, lol) -- I have worked with him in training at home, but this was my first time getting to run him in a trial. I love Rascal! And it made me SO look forward to getting to run Secret in the Novice classes at the next trial!
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Awesome videos :) My dogs and I have never run on a matted surface before...interesting. Congrats again to Luke!
ReplyDeleteMy Holly has has some differences with weaves too...she has a lovely swim in both 22" and 24" poles everwhere we training, but general hops them instead at trials (which are almost all 24" now). Don't know what to do about that...
Luke has that issue as well -- He always swims at home, but he gets this funky double-step (not even a hop, he crosses his paws, which is really bad...) at trials. It gets better in Weavers because I really, really push him -- But I let him do what is comfortable in Regular because time isn't an issue. But WHY he only does it at trials is a mystery -- Especially since I have the exact same weave poles at home that they do at Family Dog Center...
ReplyDeleteRe: Mats -- Unfortunately, it's a popular surface around here. In past years we are lucky to see one dirt trial per year, but a club in the Cities found a new location and will be having multiple trials in a horse arena in 2011. We are looking forward to it! I far prefer natural surfaces.
We only have horse arenas here. I like natural surfaces too, but there are too many locations here where the dirt is either too deep, too heavy or too dusty. My dogs don't have an issue with these things, but they certainly slow ME down considerably ;) Montana doesn't have any clubs that I know of that have their own buildings where they can choose surfacing...everyone either rents or borrows for trials and training.
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