Agility Sunday trial update

Last Sunday, Rudy returned to the agility scene.  It went better than I had predicted!  No qualifying scores, but that was not expected. ;)   First class was Excellent Standard- our first time at that level.  It went surprisingly well, with the only fault being that Rudy missed a contact.  I'm not sure which one, but I have a feeling it was the A-frame.  I was sure that we did not make course time, but it turns out he was 7 seconds under SCT (standard course time).  In retrospect, I should have handled him better so that he did not miss that contact (it IS his job to hit them, but considering he hasn't even seen a contact obstacle in 11 months, I should have been a bit more cautious in my handling).  I am very excited that he made SCT, even with being ridiculously out of shape.  I know there is a lot more speed in Rudy when he is better conditioned!

Second class was Excellent Jumpers with Weaves, where once again, handler error proved fatal to our run.  After a series of strategically placed jumps, we encountered a curved tunnel with both entries facing Rudy.  I sent him to the correct entrance, but "left" him before he had committed to that entrance which caused him to follow me resulting in him entering the wrong end of the tunnel (and a NQ).  The rest of the run was beautiful!

I feel confident that Rudy can get his Excellent titles now.  He will get more speed as he gets in shape, and our handling will become less rusty as we focus on agility more in the next few months.  I am so thankful that my trainer has always given me combinations in the past that challenged us to the excellent level.  It does not feel intimidating to me at all!

Next trial, 3 weeks!  Maybe I'll remember to get some video.  :)

Back to Agility

I fell short of my 4-5 days of running this week.  While I had the logistics figured out, the reality became that I was too tired to drag myself out a couple of times, especially these last two days when the weather became dreary.  The return to standard time has L'il M's sleep schedule all messed up.  She is up at 5AM!  If I could get to bed at 9, that might be OK.  Having teenagers with a baby is way more fatiguing than having several little ones.  I so wish I was someone who could function on 6 hours of sleep instead of 9 being the optimal amount.

As I have continued my doggie goal setting, I am excited to let Rudy finish his agility career, and then perhaps we will do some Rally obedience- clicker style. :)  There are 2-3 local AKC agility trials in January and February.  My plan is to enter as much as I can those weekends, and see what the Ruditude can do.  Winter is his best time for trialing as he LOVES the cold!  I have to focus on his conditioning these next few months, which should nicely coincide with my need to get in shape.  Of course, we need to get to somewhere to practice on a course, as well.  There are a couple options for that, so I will have to see what I can work out.  The challenges for Rudy in Excellent will be that his dog walk is not as fast as it could be (he trots), and he will not get to redo his weave entrance over and again 'til he "gets it".   7 1/2 is getting to be an older competitive agility dog, especially for a German Shepherd. 

Once Rudy completes his agility career, I look forward to doing Rally with Rudy using only clicker methods for training.  I expect that there will be so much more precision in performance than I would get from "traditional" methods.