Scottish Monday - still at the Glen Park

Another little shot from Glen Park. Just magical woodlands with the sun peeking out

Long thin agility course End April 2015

Here is this weeks long thing course. Very tight with out yard but actually ran well, the turn into the weaves at 5 was challanging and most dogs needed to be on the right side for that. Over 15 worked very nicely as an 'ass pass'

Here is Smudge running this course 

Video of the mini octagon course being run

I filmed wee Max a beginner dog with his beginner mum having a go at this course

Here he is :) he was off agility for a little while and is doing really great getting back into it

Agility course - tunnels under the dogwalk

This was Sundays advanced course at the stables. Really wanted to practise some tunnel discrimination, This one did cause some challenges. several dogs just loved the dogwalk so much that 3 was a struggle for them, even when carefully taken right up to the mouth of the tunnel one dog even managed to leap onto the dogwalk :D.

6, 7, 8, 9 ran really well with all the dogs going out to 7 no problem giving the handlers plenty time.

and a few of the dogs missed 13 and went into 7 again

Overall it was a good fun run 

Scottish Monday

I keep on promising I will be more active on my blog. So as a challenge to myself  I decided to run themes on different days.

And Mondays will now be Scottish landscape days, the highlands, the lowlands, the beach, the woods I have thousands of photographs of Scotland so decided to share them here. Hope you like

Here is the first, the waterfall at Glen Park in Paisley. A magical little place at the end of quite a steep walk (my calves are still hurting)

Week starting 06/04/15 long thin agility course

Another long thin agility course for the yard

This one is a good way for beginners to practise slaloms and treadles and a fun way to try some of the octagon courses that were all the rage a couple of years ago in smaller spaces

And here is how it looks in our long skinny yard 

If anyone films themselves trying this (or any other of our courses) please send me the link and I will stick it up here

  

Another Long Thin intermediate agility course featuring the Holmberg Double

Following on from last weeks course for intermediate students here is this weeks course inspired by AgilityNerds post on the Holmberg Double. This one also includes some backside of jumps and some running past jumps and a fairly tricky weave entry.

If actually ran very well. 

Dog on RHS wrap 2 360 then push to 3 while staying on the landing side of 3. Front cross pulling dog past of course jump 2 then weave.

To 9 with dog on LHS. Flick (rear cross you staying on take off side) dog turns left over 9. Dog on RHS 360 wrap 10, push round 11 staying on landing side and front cross so dog on LHS into 12.

Run to take off side of 13. Turn dog left over 13, pick them up on your left hand to wrap round your body for nice approach to weaves. 

Dog on LHS 360 15. Push to back of 17 and race dog down to 20.

Living the reactive life

A few months ago I remember a lady commenting on a forum that she had never owned a reactive dog but she had been to enough seminars and read enough books that she was confident that in no time any dog of hers would no longer be reactive.

The science can make it sound nice and easy

But one thing that tends to be glossed over is the effect on the human of living with a reactive dog.

For a while at least its not just your dog who is reactive, your stress levels become sky high.
When you are out and about you need 6 pairs of eyes.
Gone are the happy chilled walks in the country, now you are scanning the horizon in all directions looking for 'triggers'
Is that fallen log over there actually a dog waiting to pounce?
Does that person have a dog with them or is it just a carrier bag?
and at the same time you are constantly scanning your dog and trying to see what they are spotting, trying to get your plans into motion when they spot a trigger
And freaking out that even that giant empty field you have drove out into the middle of the country to find might have a random person suddenly appear from behind a hedge with no warning - and a barky GSD on a short lead (yup it happened)

You dont just HAVE a reactive dog, you feel like a reactive dog!

And other people are so helpful!
Some people seem to assume that a dog is reactive because you are not a strong enough leader (sheesh, I wonder which telly entertainer they got that gem of behavioural (non) science from), they either give you looks of scorn or (better yet) start yelling at you!
Suddenly everyone is an expert. When I first got Mia I was inundated by people offering me help from teaching me to time my corrections properly to some kind (!) person offering to lock Mia in their garden with their dog so they could 'sort out who was the boss'!!

And there is the other wonderful well meaning advice that at the moment you just cant follow - like when you have messed up and your dog isnt coping with something and has charged to the end of the lead on their back legs screaming at something and someone tells you you should keep the lead loose

Or you turn a corner to get away from an oncoming dog and find a horse and rider - and someone tells you you shouldnt pick up a dog

Sometimes you have to break the rules to get out of a situation.

Sometimes I forget how far I have come with Mia, when we are walking in the park, playing, having fun and I realise I am not scanning the horizon. I am not horribly stressed

I try and not forget what it was like tho so I can try and not judge people who are living with it just now.
All the theory in the world is all well and good, and there are some great methods out there that can and do help dogs all the time. As you can see from the photographs, Mia is a pretty happy dog most of the time, she has canine friends and can play offlead. It is possible to improve things (she will always be reactive, but she wont always be reacting)
Nothing can actually prepare you for what it is actually like to really live it at the time.
I hope I will never judge someone or condemn them if they realise they cant cope with a reactive dog. If you can in the long run it is really rewarding, but no shame if you own up that you cannot cope.

Intermediate Long Thin agility Course featuring the Holmberg Double

Saw this fun challenge on the AgilityNerd Blog (check him out - he really is awsome!) and decided to try out his Holmberg Double on our intermediate courses in our yard

We were running medium sized dogs so found it easiest to 'Ass pass' 2 and 3 (get to the take off side of 2 with dog on left hand, send him over jump wrapping behind you and pick him up again on the left hand to get to 3 to try that again) 

Other options that ran very nicely was to get to take off side of 2 then front cross or ass pass the dog to turn them left over 2, push round the back of 3 and pick them up on the left hand to send to weaves.

10 to 11 worked best for us with an ass pass on 10 with the dog on the right hand then run with them to the take off side of 11 and flick them right over 11 into the tunnel 

McFuzzylugs at Crufts

Some of my wee fuzzies made it to Crufts this year :)