Last training session before the West Coast Open was dedicated to revisiting the adjustable stride grid. Zi knocked an uncharacteristic amount of bars in our one day of trialing last weekend, and although I sure don’t expect to fix that in a day, this was something we could do.
I’ll be honest, I don’t feel we’ve prepared well for the WCO, and there are a few reasons for that but the primary one is named Spire.
2.5 months into having a puppy I will say she is wonderful and I’m very excited about what our future holds, and also I’m exhausted and a little tenuous mentally and emotionally — not anywhere near my best as a trainer, a competitor, or a human being.
Such is life. So we go to the WCO this year without any big ambitions or goals. My intent is to enjoy the time with Zi, to take advantage of the training opportunities for Spire, and to cheer for the wins of our friends.
Also: to take naps, to scratch whatever I don’t feel like running, and enjoy conversations with people I don’t get to see very often.
That’s all. And I allow it to be enough.
We‘ll probably touch this project once a week or less for now, but I did want Spire to learn the concept of a moving foot target early — as soon as I felt it was a reasonable thing to introduce.
So here it is: the conclusion of the first session for what will one day be her running dog walk. ⭐️
One thing that made backing off of Spire’s toy play WAY easier for me was that her interest in working for food has grown by leaps and bounds. To the point where I can play with fun things like this wing wrapping project.
It’s funny how what might seem like a big problem can so quickly be almost forgotten. Especially when you resolve to do what it takes to address it instead of trying to gloss over it, I think.
I backed off of Spire’s toy play for a little while, because some stuff was creeping in that I didn’t like — mainly, she was trying persistently to get me to chase her instead of bringing the toy back. When I tried the same running away that worked so well to get her back to me at 8 weeks old, I got flanking and drive-bys, and I didn’t want that either.
Are there a dozen different “classic” toy play strategies I could have tried to “fix” things? Yes, indeed. But I chose to give it a rest instead, because I really don’t want this relationship to be built on pressure and conflict and weirdness.
Although I know perfectly well that we don’t NEED toy play to succeed in agility, my truth is that I want it. I find it fun. And I care a lot about whether or not my dogs find it fun, too.
So it wasn’t necessarily easy to step back and have some faith, but it does seem to be paying off. I really enjoyed this little session with Spire this evening, and I think she did, too.
Spire’s first go at the two-toy chase game (with some tugging mixed in) went surprisingly great!
We’re having some flanking and other ideas creep into some of our toy play, so I’m experimenting to see how I can give her what she wants and still get what I want.
The girl needs productive outlets for her desires to bite and move and engage in higher arousal activities, but I’m thoughtful about finding ways to do that without creating opportunities for her to practice things I don’t want long-term (at least not in this context).
Some things progress in leaps and bounds! Never would have guessed Spire would come this far with taking turns in just 10 days or so of working on it sporadically.
We are all three a team on this adventure and I love to see that coming together. ⭐️
Over the weekend Spire got to go on her first “big” hike in the mountains, and she nailed it!
This is a popular trail, so we always try to start as early as possible. That usually means we mostly have the trail to ourselves on our way out and encounter other hikers and dogs on our way back. The dogs get a lot of off-leash time, and then a lot of practice sharing with others when they’re pretty satisfied and a little tired.
On this day that plan worked out perfectly as can be. Spire did SO well off-leash with the other dogs in our party. She did SO well pulling off the trail and calmly watching other trail users move past on our way back.
And this all makes me so, so happy. Because adventures like this are the life I want for all of us.
Slowly but surely things grow into more sophisticated things. 🙃
(This is kind of a long video but there’s a lot of work in the toy play itself at this stage, so I wanted to leave a big chunk of that in.)
Spire Taking Turns
Little bit of progress on taking turns already… Spi waits while Zi is cued to spin!
I also did our first rep where I released Zi from the table, fed her, and sent her back and Spire nailed it. But I didn’t get it on video. 😝
The very very beginnings of being able to wait on station while another dog takes a turn. 🤩
Zi is very impatient for this process to advance to the point where she gets a turn playing with the holee roller after the puppy works on her toy skills. And so am I. But we won’t rush it. 🙃
Back to normal life and teaching Spire the building blocks of all the fun we’ll have one day…
Marker cues, stationing, transport with a treat magnet, clean session structure… we’re figuring a few things out. 🙃
Ok, the most surprising outcome of our weekend at the West Coast Cup was that we won Gamblers. 😱
Games are not my strong suit, so my plans are conservative and I try for “respectable” scores. You will not find me chasing the big points or attempting any crazy saves.
Honestly the secret to my success with this one was probably that I didn’t care enough about the outcome to completely consider the risks of my plan.
I chose the most straightforward opening I could find, made a genuine effort to predict the timing properly, and it just so happened to work out brilliantly. 🤷🏽♀️😄
It’s West Coast Cup time!! And although we are all settled in at the trial already, you get this video of Zi and Spi engaging in a rare play session at my house yesterday morning because yesterday evening was a bit too hectic for taking a photo at the trial site.
Zi has had nearly a week off from agility and she is feeling SPICY and full of herself, as I intended. I’m laying in bed listening to her snore right now, and can’t wait to run with her this weekend.
Spire is wildly excited about this new adventure. Walking her around the park on a 15’ long line yesterday was a surprisingly athletic endeavor that involved a lot more jogging than I was prepared for, and I sure admire her eagerness to take on the world full speed ahead.
I’m excited for the better part of three days devoted to my kelpie girls at one of my favorite places. I’m excited to see what Zi and I can bring to bear in the ring. I’m excited to see how Spire will grow and learn. And I’m excited for getting longer nights of sleep than I seem able to manage at home right now. 😂
All in all… Let’s GO!
Sharing this very imperfect video of Spire training this morning because even though there are MANY things I want to change, she is eager to engage and she stays engaged for 3 reps… almost a full minute! Those are some big big signs we’re on the right track.
It’s not that she lacks interest in food, not at all. She was wild for a bowl of kibble from day one.
She just didn’t really understand the idea that Sarah + food = fun and worthwhile for Spire. So that’s what I’ve been working on. Easy, very short things intended to show her that training for food is sure to be a win for her.
If we can get that right, the rest will follow. 🙃⭐️
Lunch break with Spire.
Let’s be real… sometimes it’s hard to enjoy the crazy little monster wreaking havoc at every opportunity and making you see all the things you didn’t manage, prevent, or protect well enough.
So I make sure to look for the things I DO appreciate and enjoy. Lunchtime walk and chews are one of Spi’s best times of day.
