Tuesday Training 17

After a stretch of not a whole lot of training stuff going on, we've actually had a few new developments this past week.  I'll try to keep it brief since I have lots to talk about from yesterday's agility class, but, to sum up the big stuff:

Winning Back the Neighborhood - An Update

As many of you know, I've been walking Marge at night when it's quiet out with the hopes of expanding our list of places we can walk without Marge getting scared.  The walks have been great lately, for the most part.  Her recovery seems better after scary things, she's usually unbothered by people walking by. 

Sunday night, we took a pretty long walk down a route that Marge has not been on in at least six months or so, probably longer.  She was responsive and curious, but nervous - I don't know HOW nervous, because sometimes I don't know whether her drive forward (not that she really pulls) is due to trying to move away from an area or simply due to interest and exploration.  She perked up when we passed her good friend Buddy's house (I need to arrange a play date) and seemed really comfortable after that. 

I don't know if it was just my imagination, but she seemed to avoid walking in the direction of the location where a really loud noise scared her over the summer - the event that I think really helped precipitate the down turn she's experienced.  We avoided the area, and she was okay.

Door Breakthrough

Marge is still fearful of my father despite living in the same house as him since we adopted her in June 2008.  Her fears are worst when he comes in to the house through a door.  So, this usually leaves me scrambling to give her cookies once I hear he's walking in.

Yesterday, I was in the kitchen, and I heard someone come in through the front door in the adjacent living room.  I thought it was my sister and did not call Marge to me to give her a treat like I usually do - instead, I just left her alone, letting her go in to the other room on her own terms to see who came in.  To my surprise, she stopped dead in the hallway, wagged her tail a little bit and turned around back to her favorite kitchen corner (next to me).  Because she didn't go running up to the entrant the way she would if it were my sister or mother who came in, I knew it was my dad.

I was SO happy that she didn't growl.  I jackpotted her as best I could, though my timing was probably too late.  I have been working on this for a long time with her, so I'm hoping what I saw is actual progress with the door situation.

My boyfriend suggested that perhaps the fact that I played it cool rather than got all hyped up trying to give her treats conveyed to her and that's why she wasn't alarmed by him coming in.  It's definitely something to think about.

Agility!

I predicted in a post last week that I wouldn't have fun at my indoor agility class.  While definitely more stressful in some ways from the outdoor classes, I actually really enjoyed it.

The hardest part about it is figuring out what to do with Marge while I set up equipment, walk the course, etc.  I always try to have someone tag along with me - either Louie or Jessica.  However, everyone seems to be relying on the crating room as a place to stay while the equipment is being brought out.  The problem with that is that Marge can't see where I am when she's in there and gets distressed.  She wasn't TOO bad, but I think I need to think up a better management plan next time.

She was not reactive - there were a quite a few people and dogs moving in and out around her, and the only time she voiced her concerns was when her little friend, Maddie, started running zoomies on the course.  

I think she sort of regarded the whole thing as just another ring rental, only with some people watching.  That's certainly how she acted - she strutted around like she owned the place, for the most part.

From an agility standpoint, she was excellent.  This course was originally adapted from one of the Standard courses at the AKC Invitational - I predicted this on Johann's blog just hours before class - but it looks pretty unrecognizable due to the size constraints of the room.  Here's the approximate course map (I'm going from memory):

She ran like a DREAM.  Here's part one.  I wasn't even expecting any videos, but my oh-so-sweet boyfriend decided to take a couple on his phone:

• Led out two jumps to help her into the tunnel.  Absolutely no obstacle discrimination problem there.
• Back cross to the teeter - we practice backs on the flat all the time, so this was no big deal at all.  Marisa emphasized that we cross after the dog gets it head out of the tunnel so as to not confuse the dog and cause them to look all over the place to see where they have to go when they come out.
• The teeter itself - she did it, albeit cautiously.   I was expecting a MUCH more fearful response from her.  I'm actually excited for Marge and the teeter this winter, since I think it'll be available to us during private practices.

And, the second half:

• Teeter to jump to A-Frame was self-exaplanatory.
• A-Frame contact - looks like we're going with a running.  I told Marisa my concerns about Marge jamming herself on the A-Frame in attempt to get into the 2o2o position.  She said running will be fine, and that because she has some idea of the 2o2o, it shouldn't be too hard to teach her where she's got to go.
• There were quite a few options on how to handle the jump-jump-weave.  During my first run, I tried a landing side front as she came over the first jump and back crossed into the weaves.  Not a problem.  This time, she told me to do a rear cross over the first jump.  Worked fine, too, though it kind of caused Marge to ask, "What? Where do I have to go next?"
• Her weave poles were the best I've seen in quite some time.  I can't explain it - she had a stretch of pitiful weave poles and now it looks like they're shaping up again.  This is the set from our outdoor agility classes and not the set from our indoor practice runs, so it may be an issue of spacing.
• Triple to tunnel - we did have one problem with this because I didn't turn enough to direct Marge into the tunnel.  I corrected it, though, as you can see in this run.
• There were also multiple ways to handle the ending, but I did the landing side front seen in this video every single time because it worked well for me.  

I really enjoyed the course.  Marge was both fast and accurate, something I did not think would happen given the tight space and possible stressors.  I hope each subsequent class is as good as this one.

Her success working around other people and dogs in the training building actually opens up the possibility for an unjudged Rally match here in January.  We do a lot of Rally exercises, but haven't done a whole course in a long time.  It's only $5, so it might be a good thing to try just for the experience.  We'll see!