Every dog is different…
For those asking about Ta... You will see more of her in upcoming Foundations video - including our struggles. She is a special one for sure - my dogs all tend to be super driven and super fast. She is different. She loves to work, but for her, it's mostly about chasing me - she doesn't really care about obstacles. I think her favourite one is see-saw what is funny as historically, my dogs think stopping is stupid 🙂 - I guess taking after their handler...
But Ta is different. She doesn't mind stopping and she doesn't rush enough that she would have any problems with bars. And since she is not that crazy about obstacles as such, she is super easy to handle as she is indifferent to taking obstacles or not and doesn't really drive to them much... - so I call her my slow, but
In a way, it's fun actually - we never have to argue about things like bars, stays or see-saws. And unlike as with Le and To, I don't feel like the slowest handler on Earth when running her and can actually get to places! 🙂 So I actually really love running her - I'm sure she will get faster once she finds a more efficient way to jump... But jumping is really NOT her thing.
She was the clumsiest puppy I've ever seen - I couldn't even walk her in the woods like I always do with my puppies as she would trip and fall constantly... Also when we tried some agility, it looked terrible - she would fall in tunnels, on wraps, over low bars, when picking up a toy etc... - so we didn't do anything but mat work until she was well over a year old - it just wasn't safe.
Contacts and weaves went
So we first finished up contacts, then weaves, then spent 4 months on just jumping grids - but only bending grids as any time when presented with a jump straight ahead (even from a sit right in front), she would jump with her shoulders and neck instead of hind legs! I've never done any grids with my other dogs, they all learned to jump on our walks in the woods, through tricks and with low bars... But not Ta...
We actually only started with Foundations for the purpose of the video, when she was 17 months old. She remains easy to train, but jumping is still not easy... Jumping from front end, high head, overjumping - you name it, we've got it. So working on jumping (bending grids + building super strong rear end with conditioning tricks) is still our major focus - we've came a long way already, but still have tons of work ahead... Interestingly enough, the rest is all easy with her, so we set my personal record of getting to A2 in the first 3 trials we did (that's all we did so far) 🙂 So here is a little video for those asking about her... Nothing spectacular to show, but we'll keep working on it!!!
I guess there is some truth in saying that you don't always get what you wanted - but you always get what you needed. Thank you for all the lessons on jumping, giving it time and building strong foundations away from obstacles, my crazy tiny Ta!
Silvia: Lucky for us, your students, Ta is such a perfect outlier!
Looking forward to her agility foundation video and to the class in April.
Is there a new way to teach the teeter in the new foundations video/class? and did you teach To to lie down on it? I forget how we encouraged weight shift…We will do next foundations in April with Latke but I have an access to a teeter for the next few weeks so thought about starting. Thanks!!
No, teeter stays the same. To encourage weight shift, reward low and back. Tugging in the position is great for that too. My other dogs do a kind of a bow at the end, but Ta does sit as she is such a front-ended dog that I was guessing it will be hard to keep hind feet under control any other way.
THANKS!!!
I think that best thing is that every dog is different and they teach us new things
I agree! Too much of the same would drive me crazy anyway -- I can’t imagine having 5 dogs with Le’s intensity either, brilliant or not! -- I could live with a clone or two more though 🙂
Hi Silvia,
Thank You for sharing. Beautiful.
I continue to recommend you and your classes to everyone with a dog:)
Tracy & Night
Thank you Tracy!!!
WoW , she is Amazing!!
Sooo, April foundations class Will get renovated?
Yes! The new program is very different!
Wohoo!! We’ll repeat the class!!! ☺️
We loved It last year, and It has helped us a lot! I’m sure that se Will also LOVE this new class 🙂
Yes, it’s a different perspective and completely different exercises, so I think very interesting also for more experienced dogs!
Ta is brilliant like all your dogs. Did foundation 4 years ago with Timber my english cocker. Have a BC now 19 months old was wondering if you are making a new DVD on your foundation class.. April here can still have snow slush not a good time to take an on line class as I only have my back yard. To play in with the DVD I can start any time. Thanks
Yes, the new DVD is coming out in March! You can rethink the class as well as the first lesson in not done on obstacles and the class is on till July 8, so we are certainly counting on mostly great weather!!! You sure did a great job with Timber though, so I’m sure it will only be easier this time around!