Act-Up Run-Thrus

Yesterday I took Bug and Ike to Canine Mastery for the Act-Up Run-Thrus. I opted not to take Carmie since the sky was that overcast gray-yet bright she seems to have trouble with.

It was an AKC nested style course. One was an AKC excellent course. The other was either Novice or Open. I don't do AKC - does Novice standard have 12 weave poles in it?

I came toward the end of the day when there was only 1 hour left. I ran Bug once and Ike twice. They were running Big to Small, so Ike ran first. He was excellent. No hesitation with of the obstacles and no worries about the people watching. I guess it was a small enough crowd that it didn't get his performance anxiety in a dither. I am sure he could tell it was just for fun as well.

Ike barrelled through the chute. I can't tell you how long it took to train Ike to do the chute. He found it scary. Yesterday - even after not doing agility for at least six months (other than some practicing in the back yard and at Marie's house) - he flew through the chute and twelve weave poles. He did crash a triple, but I don't think he expected it - the second run-thru he had no problem with it.

Bug's run-thru was also excellent. The course started jump, tire. The first attempt at the tire Bug went by, I called him back and he immediately took it. We do not see the tire often enough and he has some reservations about it. I think it might be something I need to invest in one (groan).

Tunnel, jumps in a 180, triple, teeter, pause table (asked for a down and got it, albeit slowly), back over the far side of the 180, tunnel, tire, jump, Chute, jump, A-Frame, double, poles (which we skipped), jump, dogwalk, jump.

Initial attempt at the chute he ducked out. I called him back and through he went. So again, this is something we need to practice. He doesn't see the chute a ton and obviously isn't comfortable. You do not see the chute in NADAC and rarely in CPE, but eventually we will dabble in AKC and I want him to be prepared.

Zero hesitation on the A-frame!! Yes!! Slow teeter, but no hesitation and given the surface isn't the greatest? I am very happy. When we hit the dog walk Bug started to go by and then hopped up without any correcting from me! He corrected himself! I was a bit nervous about the dogwalk. It doesn't appear to have a ton of grit, so I didn't try to goad him into going any faster than he wanted for fear of him slipping.

After our run I gave him some Arnica (I forgot my Traumeel) and stretched and massaged him.

I am really pleased with how it went. Given it was an AKC course and more twisty than we are used to, Bug went wide quite often. This is something we will need to work on - me giving him more space and cues in a timely manner. I am sure I was pushing him out and not trusting my dog and cues. We need to work on the tire and the chute. Contacts are coming along.

Last time we were at CM was for the May CPE trial and Bug was really distracted. There were only about 30 people there yesterday, but none-the-less I was really pleased that I held his attention throughout his run. People were set up right next to the fence with their dogs and he did not leave my side once.

All in all I would consider it a success for both dogs.