That brings her up to 36 titles!!!
With the titles we expect to get at our next UKC nosework trial, we'll probably meet our goal for 2018 and only be one week into April. Looks like I have to revise our goals...
Showing posts with label Weight Pull. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weight Pull. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Two New Titles
I just got the certificate for Gimme's United Weight Pull Championship (UWPCH). With it came two other certificates for titles Gimme achieved along the way. She was awarded her Versatile Puller Novice (VPN) and Advanced Puller (AP) titles.
That brings her up to 36 titles!!!
With the titles we expect to get at our next UKC nosework trial, we'll probably meet our goal for 2018 and only be one week into April. Looks like I have to revise our goals...
That brings her up to 36 titles!!!
With the titles we expect to get at our next UKC nosework trial, we'll probably meet our goal for 2018 and only be one week into April. Looks like I have to revise our goals...
Sunday, February 18, 2018
New Title 34
Gimme had a great day. As far as she's concerned any day with marshmallows for treats and a new toy, it's a great day.
Trial 1
In her weight class, all the other dogs had dropped out before Gimme's start weight, so her pulls were back-to-back. In a situation like this, I can ask for a break (up to 5 minutes) any time I want. Obviously she didn't need it. For the trial she earned 15 points, making her the Newest Weight Pull Champion. Sorry about the camera angle... I didn't realize until later that we were moving out of the frame at the end. Gimme was also awarded Most Weight Pulled By Veteran and Most Weight Pulled By Pound. These are calculated by percentage down to one-hundredth of a second. She only needed 10 points to get her UWPCH, so the five extra points count toward the versatility title, but not toward the excellent title.
One interesting thing I noticed, Gimme likes to check the cart - she wants to sniff a couple bricks. When I let her do this, she stands more calmly while I am hooking her up. So, even though it takes a few seconds for her to check the judge's work, I think we save time during the hook up.
Trial 2
Again, all the other dogs had dropped out before her start weight, so Gimme's pulls were back-to-back. We started at a higher start pull, heavier by 240 pounds, which was actually a 10 point pull. Gimme got Another 15 Points, her first points toward the excellent title and added to the versatility title.
I thought we might get to 20 points in the second trial, but it was just a little too much. She needed 85 pounds to get there. She didn't understand why the cart wouldn't move, turning turn around to look at it and getting a leg tangled in the harness straps in the process. The second time when it wouldn't move right, Gimme backed out of the harness. I think on a two-trial day, we should probably go for it during the first trial while she still has her edge on. Physically she is more than capable, she just needs the confidence to know she can do it. Last trial she got 15 points once - this time she got it for both trials.
Gimme did a fabulous job, pulling more than she ever had before - 18.24 times her weight! - a new personal best.
Naturally Gimme got a new toy to go with her new title.
Trial 1
In her weight class, all the other dogs had dropped out before Gimme's start weight, so her pulls were back-to-back. In a situation like this, I can ask for a break (up to 5 minutes) any time I want. Obviously she didn't need it. For the trial she earned 15 points, making her the Newest Weight Pull Champion. Sorry about the camera angle... I didn't realize until later that we were moving out of the frame at the end. Gimme was also awarded Most Weight Pulled By Veteran and Most Weight Pulled By Pound. These are calculated by percentage down to one-hundredth of a second. She only needed 10 points to get her UWPCH, so the five extra points count toward the versatility title, but not toward the excellent title.
One interesting thing I noticed, Gimme likes to check the cart - she wants to sniff a couple bricks. When I let her do this, she stands more calmly while I am hooking her up. So, even though it takes a few seconds for her to check the judge's work, I think we save time during the hook up.
Trial 2
Again, all the other dogs had dropped out before her start weight, so Gimme's pulls were back-to-back. We started at a higher start pull, heavier by 240 pounds, which was actually a 10 point pull. Gimme got Another 15 Points, her first points toward the excellent title and added to the versatility title.
I thought we might get to 20 points in the second trial, but it was just a little too much. She needed 85 pounds to get there. She didn't understand why the cart wouldn't move, turning turn around to look at it and getting a leg tangled in the harness straps in the process. The second time when it wouldn't move right, Gimme backed out of the harness. I think on a two-trial day, we should probably go for it during the first trial while she still has her edge on. Physically she is more than capable, she just needs the confidence to know she can do it. Last trial she got 15 points once - this time she got it for both trials.
Gimme did a fabulous job, pulling more than she ever had before - 18.24 times her weight! - a new personal best.
Naturally Gimme got a new toy to go with her new title.
Saturday, December 2, 2017
Barn Hunt & Weight Pull Weekend
I entered the annual 3-day Thanksgiving barn hunt and weight pull trial. In the past they've held two barn hunt trials each day and this time there was only one. Gimme came into the trial needing 5 Masters legs, 280 Crazy-8 points and 50 weight pull points. I'll talk about barn hunt and weight pull separately.
BARN HUNT
Friday - We started with Crazy-8, where Gimme got 50 points, using good paw indications. In Masters she found one rat out of 2. She gave me a false alert after a long time in the ring without finding the second rat. I think she just said it was there to please me. We worked on this at our last practice, but clearly need to work on it more. The rat she missed was deep between two bales, so something we'll set up at a practice.
Saturday - In Crazy-8 Gimme again got 50 points. Her paw indications disappeared in favor of barking at the rat tubes. I did respond to them because her nose was mere inches from the tube. All I want is a clear indication so I know exactly which tube she means. In Masters she found 3 rats of 5. She kept going to gate so I called "clear" and was wrong. I think she wants to get out to where the peanut butter is. It occurs to me we've never worked through PB as a distraction. When we go to practice, we don't wait in a blind so I don't take it with me. I'll have to set this up as an intentional distraction.
Sunday - Gimme was a little tired this day, so she only got 40 points in Crazy-8. In Masters she found 2 rats of 4 and then we ran out of time. She missed a rat in the distance challenge and another in the corner. The way the distance challenge was set up, there was a row of bales for her to trot along, with some bales beside the fence on one side and the big pile on the other side. She checked along the big pile, but never really got her nose into the ground level spaces between the bales. It's an honest mistake since we never hit any distance challenge before this trial. The other rat she missed was in a corner past the distance challenge, but the bales she walked on sort of channeled her away from the corner. Both mistakes are just something which needs to be set up to add to her experience base.
Even though we didn't get any Master Q's, at least she was indicating honestly and clearly. There are some things we can work on so we get back in those Q's. She earned 140 points in Crazy-8, so we only need 140 points to complete her title - probably 3 runs would do it.
WEIGHT PULL
Gimme did a great job in weight pull, making a nice improvement in the amount of weight she wanted to pull. Since we started working toward a UWPCH, she's been consistently pulling enough weight to get us 10 points every run. As I've said before, unless we got to higher points, I really didn't see us going beyond the weight pull championship.
Friday - Gimme did a solid job and earned her usual 10 points. I did think she acted a little weird about stuff behind her for no discernible reason.
Saturday - Because of her sensitive behavior the day before, I used some known cues while I was hooking her up. I walked her through the cart's trace lines and then cued her to "wait". I also kept the leash on so I could hold the leash while I hooked her up, instead of having my hand awkwardly in her collar. UKC rules require handlers to have physical contact while hooking up and once you let go, you can't touch them again until after you complete the pull. After she was hooked up I encouraged Gimme to step forward with our "step" cue from parkour, it's one step at a time. My plan was to encourage her to pull just a little higher percentage than she's done before. She usually struggles a bit with a 10-point pull. This time she did it easily, probably because she's using better form. Anyway, since her times were clearly under 10 seconds, I asked for more and she got all the way to a 15-point pull. She would have pulled more because she is just ready, but I wanted to end on fun success. Angie complimented me for stopping earlier than needed.
This picture is Gimme playing with her new personal-best toy reward. Everyone knows I have a penchant for spoiling her with toys; Gimme says it's not "spoiling" cuz she deserves it. She is usually very careful to remove the stitches on a seam and then takes out any excess stuffing (she prefers a realistically dead floppiness in her toys). This time she made a little hole in the middle, folded it over so the stuffing protruded and started modifying it.
While I was taking drugs for a migraine, Gimme helped herself to the toy from a bag with a bunch of other stuff. She always knows when she's getting a new toy and never pays attention to a bag that doesn't have something in it for her - she also doesn't see any point in waiting for a toy when it's clearly hers. Who else would it be for?
Sunday - Gimme again pulled enough weight for 15 points, even going 80 pounds past what she needed. I wanted to be sure we beat the big Swiss Mtn. Dog for Most Weight Pulled per Body Pound. He'd beat us by two-tenths of a percent (or less) on Friday and Saturday. Turns out he pooped out on Sunday and we beat him by over 5 percent. We've competed against him 5 times and have beaten him 3 of those times. He's a big dummy, so Gimme likes beating him. None of the other dogs in our division have really been any competition.
You can see her pull times go over ten seconds for the last two pulls on Sunday; I think she was just a little tired. The rule of thumb is as long as their pull time is below ten seconds, then the dog can readily pull more weight. Physically Gimme can likely pull the UKC maximum-allowed, but she doesn't believe she can. It'll come. I want to be careful in our progression. I see too many dogs who are "broken" and don't believe they can pull even really low weights, so they just quit. Angie says it most often comes from handlers who pushed their dog too far and/or too soon.
Interestingly, Gimme pulled off to her right for every pull this weekend. It's actually inefficient, but she consistently did it in every pull. The first time she did this was when she pulled on rails (in September). I think the first time probably coincided with a hard pull where it broke free for her, so now she is superstitious and thinks this is easier.
Gimme ended the weight pull part of her weekend with 40 points (ten to go to get her weight pull CH), earning first place in her class and Most Weight Pulled per Body Pound Veteran in her division, all three days. On Sunday she earned Most Weight Pulled per Body Pound for her division.
Here's
a picture of Gimme with all her new ribbons. Two of the big rosettes
are for the two other times she earned Most Weight Pulled per Body Pound
(September). Sadly they don't have a special ribbon for Most Weight Pulled per Body Pound Veteran. Of course she cares more about toys and peanut butter than ribbons. Just sayin...
BARN HUNT
Friday - We started with Crazy-8, where Gimme got 50 points, using good paw indications. In Masters she found one rat out of 2. She gave me a false alert after a long time in the ring without finding the second rat. I think she just said it was there to please me. We worked on this at our last practice, but clearly need to work on it more. The rat she missed was deep between two bales, so something we'll set up at a practice.
Saturday - In Crazy-8 Gimme again got 50 points. Her paw indications disappeared in favor of barking at the rat tubes. I did respond to them because her nose was mere inches from the tube. All I want is a clear indication so I know exactly which tube she means. In Masters she found 3 rats of 5. She kept going to gate so I called "clear" and was wrong. I think she wants to get out to where the peanut butter is. It occurs to me we've never worked through PB as a distraction. When we go to practice, we don't wait in a blind so I don't take it with me. I'll have to set this up as an intentional distraction.
Sunday - Gimme was a little tired this day, so she only got 40 points in Crazy-8. In Masters she found 2 rats of 4 and then we ran out of time. She missed a rat in the distance challenge and another in the corner. The way the distance challenge was set up, there was a row of bales for her to trot along, with some bales beside the fence on one side and the big pile on the other side. She checked along the big pile, but never really got her nose into the ground level spaces between the bales. It's an honest mistake since we never hit any distance challenge before this trial. The other rat she missed was in a corner past the distance challenge, but the bales she walked on sort of channeled her away from the corner. Both mistakes are just something which needs to be set up to add to her experience base.
Even though we didn't get any Master Q's, at least she was indicating honestly and clearly. There are some things we can work on so we get back in those Q's. She earned 140 points in Crazy-8, so we only need 140 points to complete her title - probably 3 runs would do it.
WEIGHT PULL
Gimme did a great job in weight pull, making a nice improvement in the amount of weight she wanted to pull. Since we started working toward a UWPCH, she's been consistently pulling enough weight to get us 10 points every run. As I've said before, unless we got to higher points, I really didn't see us going beyond the weight pull championship.
Friday - Gimme did a solid job and earned her usual 10 points. I did think she acted a little weird about stuff behind her for no discernible reason.
Saturday - Because of her sensitive behavior the day before, I used some known cues while I was hooking her up. I walked her through the cart's trace lines and then cued her to "wait". I also kept the leash on so I could hold the leash while I hooked her up, instead of having my hand awkwardly in her collar. UKC rules require handlers to have physical contact while hooking up and once you let go, you can't touch them again until after you complete the pull. After she was hooked up I encouraged Gimme to step forward with our "step" cue from parkour, it's one step at a time. My plan was to encourage her to pull just a little higher percentage than she's done before. She usually struggles a bit with a 10-point pull. This time she did it easily, probably because she's using better form. Anyway, since her times were clearly under 10 seconds, I asked for more and she got all the way to a 15-point pull. She would have pulled more because she is just ready, but I wanted to end on fun success. Angie complimented me for stopping earlier than needed.
This picture is Gimme playing with her new personal-best toy reward. Everyone knows I have a penchant for spoiling her with toys; Gimme says it's not "spoiling" cuz she deserves it. She is usually very careful to remove the stitches on a seam and then takes out any excess stuffing (she prefers a realistically dead floppiness in her toys). This time she made a little hole in the middle, folded it over so the stuffing protruded and started modifying it. While I was taking drugs for a migraine, Gimme helped herself to the toy from a bag with a bunch of other stuff. She always knows when she's getting a new toy and never pays attention to a bag that doesn't have something in it for her - she also doesn't see any point in waiting for a toy when it's clearly hers. Who else would it be for?
Sunday - Gimme again pulled enough weight for 15 points, even going 80 pounds past what she needed. I wanted to be sure we beat the big Swiss Mtn. Dog for Most Weight Pulled per Body Pound. He'd beat us by two-tenths of a percent (or less) on Friday and Saturday. Turns out he pooped out on Sunday and we beat him by over 5 percent. We've competed against him 5 times and have beaten him 3 of those times. He's a big dummy, so Gimme likes beating him. None of the other dogs in our division have really been any competition.
You can see her pull times go over ten seconds for the last two pulls on Sunday; I think she was just a little tired. The rule of thumb is as long as their pull time is below ten seconds, then the dog can readily pull more weight. Physically Gimme can likely pull the UKC maximum-allowed, but she doesn't believe she can. It'll come. I want to be careful in our progression. I see too many dogs who are "broken" and don't believe they can pull even really low weights, so they just quit. Angie says it most often comes from handlers who pushed their dog too far and/or too soon. Interestingly, Gimme pulled off to her right for every pull this weekend. It's actually inefficient, but she consistently did it in every pull. The first time she did this was when she pulled on rails (in September). I think the first time probably coincided with a hard pull where it broke free for her, so now she is superstitious and thinks this is easier.
Gimme ended the weight pull part of her weekend with 40 points (ten to go to get her weight pull CH), earning first place in her class and Most Weight Pulled per Body Pound Veteran in her division, all three days. On Sunday she earned Most Weight Pulled per Body Pound for her division.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Weight Pull Training
At the recent weight pull Angela kindly loaned me a harness "for as long as you need it", so I could give Gimme weight pull training. She's also been a veritable fount of information about how to go about training. On Thursday I collected a bunch of heavy junk from my parents' place, to use in drag training.
Friday was our first try at it. After tracking and then going to Nadine's to see the puppies, we went outside and did a bit of dragging. Gimme got very vocal when she saw me moving the harness. I discovered there is a ring on the top of the harness, so now I can tell the top from the bottom. Great, now I need never put the harness on her upside down in public again. We dragged a bunch of chain down Nadine's driveway and across the yard and back. Gimme would drag a little bit and stop, drag a little more and stop. I just figured she didn't know what we were doing, so I didn't think much of it.
On Saturday after our tracking at Medline, I again got out the chains and harness for a quick drag. We went up and down a tiny hill and here and there in the parking lot. Again, Gimme would drag a little bit and stop, drag a little more and stop. When she stopped, she looked at me expectantly. Then I realized what was going on. In weight pull they only have to pull the cart 16 feet. Gimme was going about 20 feet and then stopping. I think she must've read the rules when I wasn't looking and believes she should get paid after every 20 feet of pulling.
Funny thing - when I wanted to head back to the car, we turned around a small landscape island. As the chains ran against the curb, it created more friction and Gimme just stopped, looking at me as if to say, "hey, it's broke." I told her she better hurry up because there's peanut butter in the car (about 40 feet away). She dropped her head and leaned into the harness and pulled that chain fast, all the way to the car.
This one is such a character, just sayin...
Friday was our first try at it. After tracking and then going to Nadine's to see the puppies, we went outside and did a bit of dragging. Gimme got very vocal when she saw me moving the harness. I discovered there is a ring on the top of the harness, so now I can tell the top from the bottom. Great, now I need never put the harness on her upside down in public again. We dragged a bunch of chain down Nadine's driveway and across the yard and back. Gimme would drag a little bit and stop, drag a little more and stop. I just figured she didn't know what we were doing, so I didn't think much of it.
On Saturday after our tracking at Medline, I again got out the chains and harness for a quick drag. We went up and down a tiny hill and here and there in the parking lot. Again, Gimme would drag a little bit and stop, drag a little more and stop. When she stopped, she looked at me expectantly. Then I realized what was going on. In weight pull they only have to pull the cart 16 feet. Gimme was going about 20 feet and then stopping. I think she must've read the rules when I wasn't looking and believes she should get paid after every 20 feet of pulling.
Funny thing - when I wanted to head back to the car, we turned around a small landscape island. As the chains ran against the curb, it created more friction and Gimme just stopped, looking at me as if to say, "hey, it's broke." I told her she better hurry up because there's peanut butter in the car (about 40 feet away). She dropped her head and leaned into the harness and pulled that chain fast, all the way to the car.
This one is such a character, just sayin...
Friday, September 22, 2017
Weight Pull ribbons
Here is the prettiest girl on the planet, posing with her ribbons from last weekend's weight pull.Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Weight Pull Weekend
This is our first trial on rails. It's easier to start and pull, so the weight percentage is much higher. Gimme has to pull 26 times her own weight for 10 points - more than twice as much as she's pulled before.
Weight Pull Day 1
505# video - I caused a fault on Gimme's first run. First I took my hands off her and then put them back on her, then during the run she caught up and touched me, so we had to do it again. I also got perilously close to having the hookup come off the ground. It was an easy weight and Gimme had fun, finishing in 6.38 seconds.
665-1145# video - This video has four pulls: 665# in 4.94 seconds, 825# in 5.66 seconds, 985# in 5.66 seconds, and 1145# in 6.53 seconds. All easy peasy.
1305# video - This is the first time Gimme went off the rails. I encouraged her to get back on and keep pulling. Apparently it's okay if she wants to pull from beside the track. The judge suggested that I not try to get her back on because she could lose momentum and then not be willing to restart the cart, which is the hardest part. Even with all this, she did it in 11.34 seconds.
1385# video - Gimme again goes off the rails and this time I just encouraged her to keep moving forward. She did it in 13.04 seconds, for first place and 10 points toward her weight pull CH.
Weight Pull Day 2
Since Gimme did the early pulls on the first day so easily, we started her at the same weight as her fourth pull from the day before. All the other dogs in our division stopped at lower weights, so Gimme's four pulls were without a break in between.
Also, they added another section of rails so handlers could move more naturally without worrying about falling off the end. They felt the handler's unnatural movement might affect the dogs' performance. I didn't notice any difference for Gimme, but it was nice to not worry about backing off the edge of the world.
There's no video for the first pull, which is just as well since I brought Gimme to the start with the harness on upside down. Clearly I need a harness marked with "top". She seemed a little surprised to find the first pull so heavy, but she still pulled it in 8.72 seconds.
1145# video - Gimme did all her pulls this day from the side of the track. I talked to Corey, the back-up judge about it and he thought she may be doing it when she's frustrated. He also suggested I could be further away from her. She still pulled it in 13.5 seconds.
1305# video - Gimme just didn't really get a good pull going on this load and so I had them push it to start it so she could end well, which was a fault for the run. I notice in the video I started by walking away from her, instead of backing away as I normally do. On the second try she did fine, pulling it in 9.97 seconds. I also see in the first pull I was much farther from her than usual and in the second pull I stayed closer.
1385# video - Someone had a dog a little close and within line of sight and the judge made them move before she let us start. I don't think Gimme had noticed, but I appreciate the judge's thoughtfulness in making sure we had a good pull. This pull was the one we needed to get to 10 points toward her weight pull CH. The time was 33.4 seconds, but she did it.
Honestly, this was all a lot of physical work in the space of ten minutes. Gimme did a great job and I'm so proud of her.
Both of the last two pulls, the one after the faulted run and the final one, Gimme needed a lot of reassurance in the form of hugs and kisses. It occurs to me now, she wasn't getting a chance to go back to our setup chair where the peanut butter and marshmallows were waiting, so hugs, kisses and my appreciation was all the reward she was getting. I gave her a lot of peanut butter and marshmallows at the end, but I'm betting she thought I was seriously falling down on my part of this whole experience. This likely contributed to her time out fault. I don't know how to change this, since the treats can't be stashed beyond the startline. Of course in larger trials, there have always been other competitors pulling similar weights, so we had time to go back to our setup chair.
This gives us 50 points, so we are halfway to her weight pull championship.
Valerie was there on the second day. She's the person who ran the workshops we went to. She was just thrilled with how well Gimme is doing. I was telling her I thought we'd stop with a UWPCH, because I'd done the math and it just didn't seem feasible to spend $500 on the next level title (based on her current 10 points per trial). She's certain Gimme could pull enough for 20 points with training. Unfortunately I'd have to get a harness, which would negate any savings. Valerie offered to loan me one of her extra harnesses for as long as I needed. Talk about nice!
Later I was talking to Angela Bruner, the trial host, about how to train Gimme and condition her. She's been bringing an extra harness to the trials we enter so Gimme can pull. I do have to say weight pull people are so nice and supportive. I've yet to meet someone who wasn't. Some of the new people are a bit clueless about their dog's behavior, but over all they've been super.
Anyway, Angela explained so much about training. One thing she said was that it's not about conditioning her body to make her stronger; instead it's about conditioning her mind to know she can do it. She thinks Gimme could pull enough for 25 points right now, if she believed she could do it. I told her about Val's generous offer and she told me to just take the harness I'd been using for the weekend and keep it as long as I like. Again, just nice people.
So we'll be pulling in the park and other places, as soon as I get some old heavy rusty stuff collected. Gimme will love it - she just likes having stuff to do.
Weight Pull Day 1
505# video - I caused a fault on Gimme's first run. First I took my hands off her and then put them back on her, then during the run she caught up and touched me, so we had to do it again. I also got perilously close to having the hookup come off the ground. It was an easy weight and Gimme had fun, finishing in 6.38 seconds.
665-1145# video - This video has four pulls: 665# in 4.94 seconds, 825# in 5.66 seconds, 985# in 5.66 seconds, and 1145# in 6.53 seconds. All easy peasy.
1305# video - This is the first time Gimme went off the rails. I encouraged her to get back on and keep pulling. Apparently it's okay if she wants to pull from beside the track. The judge suggested that I not try to get her back on because she could lose momentum and then not be willing to restart the cart, which is the hardest part. Even with all this, she did it in 11.34 seconds.
1385# video - Gimme again goes off the rails and this time I just encouraged her to keep moving forward. She did it in 13.04 seconds, for first place and 10 points toward her weight pull CH.
Weight Pull Day 2
Since Gimme did the early pulls on the first day so easily, we started her at the same weight as her fourth pull from the day before. All the other dogs in our division stopped at lower weights, so Gimme's four pulls were without a break in between.
Also, they added another section of rails so handlers could move more naturally without worrying about falling off the end. They felt the handler's unnatural movement might affect the dogs' performance. I didn't notice any difference for Gimme, but it was nice to not worry about backing off the edge of the world.
There's no video for the first pull, which is just as well since I brought Gimme to the start with the harness on upside down. Clearly I need a harness marked with "top". She seemed a little surprised to find the first pull so heavy, but she still pulled it in 8.72 seconds.
1145# video - Gimme did all her pulls this day from the side of the track. I talked to Corey, the back-up judge about it and he thought she may be doing it when she's frustrated. He also suggested I could be further away from her. She still pulled it in 13.5 seconds.
1305# video - Gimme just didn't really get a good pull going on this load and so I had them push it to start it so she could end well, which was a fault for the run. I notice in the video I started by walking away from her, instead of backing away as I normally do. On the second try she did fine, pulling it in 9.97 seconds. I also see in the first pull I was much farther from her than usual and in the second pull I stayed closer.
1385# video - Someone had a dog a little close and within line of sight and the judge made them move before she let us start. I don't think Gimme had noticed, but I appreciate the judge's thoughtfulness in making sure we had a good pull. This pull was the one we needed to get to 10 points toward her weight pull CH. The time was 33.4 seconds, but she did it.
Honestly, this was all a lot of physical work in the space of ten minutes. Gimme did a great job and I'm so proud of her.
Both of the last two pulls, the one after the faulted run and the final one, Gimme needed a lot of reassurance in the form of hugs and kisses. It occurs to me now, she wasn't getting a chance to go back to our setup chair where the peanut butter and marshmallows were waiting, so hugs, kisses and my appreciation was all the reward she was getting. I gave her a lot of peanut butter and marshmallows at the end, but I'm betting she thought I was seriously falling down on my part of this whole experience. This likely contributed to her time out fault. I don't know how to change this, since the treats can't be stashed beyond the startline. Of course in larger trials, there have always been other competitors pulling similar weights, so we had time to go back to our setup chair.
This gives us 50 points, so we are halfway to her weight pull championship.
Valerie was there on the second day. She's the person who ran the workshops we went to. She was just thrilled with how well Gimme is doing. I was telling her I thought we'd stop with a UWPCH, because I'd done the math and it just didn't seem feasible to spend $500 on the next level title (based on her current 10 points per trial). She's certain Gimme could pull enough for 20 points with training. Unfortunately I'd have to get a harness, which would negate any savings. Valerie offered to loan me one of her extra harnesses for as long as I needed. Talk about nice!
Later I was talking to Angela Bruner, the trial host, about how to train Gimme and condition her. She's been bringing an extra harness to the trials we enter so Gimme can pull. I do have to say weight pull people are so nice and supportive. I've yet to meet someone who wasn't. Some of the new people are a bit clueless about their dog's behavior, but over all they've been super.
Anyway, Angela explained so much about training. One thing she said was that it's not about conditioning her body to make her stronger; instead it's about conditioning her mind to know she can do it. She thinks Gimme could pull enough for 25 points right now, if she believed she could do it. I told her about Val's generous offer and she told me to just take the harness I'd been using for the weekend and keep it as long as I like. Again, just nice people.
So we'll be pulling in the park and other places, as soon as I get some old heavy rusty stuff collected. Gimme will love it - she just likes having stuff to do.
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Great Weekend
It was a great 3-day weekend. We went to Longview/Kelso for a barn hunt trial and as it turned out, there was a weight pull there too. So Gimme and I did 9 events over three days.
FRIDAY
Barn Hunt Trial 1 - There was only 1 rat and since Gimme prefers to find all the rats before she shares with me, so she didn't tell me where it was until after the 4 minute mark. That didn't leave us enough time and we ran out of time before she came out of the tunnel. I wish there was some way to get her past this hump. She used to do it in nosework, but has pretty much quit since I raised the value of her treats. We can't have treats in the barn hunt ring, so I don't see how to get her past this. Hunting and our play with the rat tube is all the reward she gets and I think she doesn't want it to end.
Weight Pull day 1 - Gimme got to pull on dirt this time. Because dirt is harder to get the cart moving than a smooth surface, the weights are a bit lower than when she got her UWP. She pulled 420 pounds, which is plenty for 5 points toward the CH. Her next time was 500 pounds and then 580 pounds. Anything over 564 pounds earned 10 points toward the CH. We had to do multiple pulls to get the last weight going, but she did it. Right now she is pulling just because I ask her to and she likes doing stuff with me (and she loves marshmallows). I want to protect her enthusiasm. Gimme has to pull roughly another 200 pounds (depending on what her weight is on pull day) to get the next level of points, so I won't ask her to do any higher weights until we have our own harness and can do some training and conditioning. BTW there was a guy who took video of us on Friday and has promised to email it to me. When it comes I'll upload it.
Barn Hunt Trial 2 - There were 5 rats and Gimme got started a lot sooner telling me where they were. She really had fun and it went fast. She had 48 seconds to go (so much faster than 1-rat runs). This is the first of ten legs she needs toward her barn hunt CH.
SATURDAY
Barn Hunt Trial 3 - We found 4 out of 5 rats. I think the one we missed was my fault. It was on the far side of a small pile of straw and I spent a lot of time standing with my back to it. Gimme has gotten rats on small piles with me standing in front of them, but this time the rat was on the far side, so I don't think she smelled it and I didn't do anything to help.
Weight Pull day 2 -
Pulling 420 pounds video - She did a nice job, pulling confidently. The lady who took our videos came over and coached me between each pull. For instance in this pull, I took my hands off Gimme as I was hooking her up. You are supposed to have contact with the dog at all times until the pull starts. It can be by leash, collar or otherwise touching the dog. They pull without their leash on and if you take the leash onto the lane with you, then you have to throw it back onto the cart.
Pulling 500 pounds faulted video - Its not clear from this video perspective, but I had her leash looped around my wrist while hooking her up. I don't know why she found this pull challenging, but she wasn't getting it moving, so I told the judge I'd take the fault and put my hand in her harness to give a little tug to help her start it. After the assist, she pulled it all by herself. It may be the tire was stuck behind a little bump in the dirt - starting the cart is the hardest part. The judge said in the future I should just ask the judge to give the cart a nudge.
Pulling 500 pounds video - The judge suggested I run with Gimme down the track so its clear to her what the goal is. Not sure if it works, but can't hurt. I find it interesting that Gimme is completely unconcerned by the spreader bar bouncing against the back of her hocks - something she's ignored since minutes into her first pull at a workshop. She asked for and got some reassurance from me, then was ready to go again. She did a nice job pulling this time.
Pulling 580 pounds video - After her struggle with 500, I was ready for Gimme to have difficulty with 580 pounds, but she pulled just "like a big girl". She earned another 10 points toward her weight pull CH.
Barn Hunt Trial 4 - There were 5 rats and Gimme steamed through them in 3:18, with 1:12 to spare. It was a very nice job. She really had fun. Now we need just 8 more qualifying legs to get her barn hunt CH.
SUNDAY
Barn Hunt Trial 5 - There were 3 rats and Gimme found them all, then did the tunnel on her own. I took her around the ring on one last sweep. I was about to call "clear" when Gimme started barking at a tube on the ground. I was mostly sure it wasn't the real deal, but she persisted, so I called it. It was indeed a false alert. I'm sure she knows the difference between a rat tube and a dirty litter tube, so I'm not clear what was going on here.
Weight Pull day 3 -
Pulling 420 pounds video - You'll see Gimme starts to pull and then when she meets resistance, she looks back at the cart. Even when the cart comes with her, she tends to drop her effort until she almost has to restart the cart. She doesn't quite understand yet how to get the cart moving and to keep pulling even after it starts to move, until I stop her. Getting the cart moving is the hardest part. The woman who runs these trials lives about 45 minutes from home and has volunteered to work with me, teaching me how to teach Gimme what she needs to know. So once I get Gimme her own harness, then I'll contact her about getting together.
Pulling 500 pounds video - Gimme again turned to look at the cart. Its like she is looking back to see what is wrong with the stupid thing. Doesn't it know its supposed to follow her lead? Still she did a good job - she clearly gets better each time.
Pulling 580 pounds video - This was her best pull of the weekend. Mary (my videographer) suggested I keep my hands low to encourage Gimme to keep her head low. It worked really well and we earned another 10 points toward her weight pull CH. We only need another 70 points to get a UWPCH.
Barn Hunt Trial 6 - This time there were 4 rats and Gimme did a nice job of finding them. She indicated 3 rats, one after the other and then didn't seem to have any more. So I cued her to tunnel. She got a couple feet inside the tunnel then turned around, coming back out. I was about to cue "tunnel" again, when she jumped up on a bail right above and just a smidgen to one side of the tunnel entrance and quickly indicated a fourth rat. Then she did the tunnel and I called clear, with 45 seconds to go. This was our third masters leg toward her RATCH and we need just 7 more.
Once we get the RATCH I plan to try her out on Crazy-8's. Its a interesting game and its a hard title to get. It'll be interesting to see how she responds to having 8 rat tubes in her ring.
BTW one of the last runs I watched this weekend was a guy and his BC who got 5 rats and called clear in 58 seconds. Unbelievably fast...
Gimme was happiest about the funny looking toy I won in the worker's raffle. Here's a picture of Gimme with all her loot (and all I got was a t-shirt).
FRIDAY
Barn Hunt Trial 1 - There was only 1 rat and since Gimme prefers to find all the rats before she shares with me, so she didn't tell me where it was until after the 4 minute mark. That didn't leave us enough time and we ran out of time before she came out of the tunnel. I wish there was some way to get her past this hump. She used to do it in nosework, but has pretty much quit since I raised the value of her treats. We can't have treats in the barn hunt ring, so I don't see how to get her past this. Hunting and our play with the rat tube is all the reward she gets and I think she doesn't want it to end.
Weight Pull day 1 - Gimme got to pull on dirt this time. Because dirt is harder to get the cart moving than a smooth surface, the weights are a bit lower than when she got her UWP. She pulled 420 pounds, which is plenty for 5 points toward the CH. Her next time was 500 pounds and then 580 pounds. Anything over 564 pounds earned 10 points toward the CH. We had to do multiple pulls to get the last weight going, but she did it. Right now she is pulling just because I ask her to and she likes doing stuff with me (and she loves marshmallows). I want to protect her enthusiasm. Gimme has to pull roughly another 200 pounds (depending on what her weight is on pull day) to get the next level of points, so I won't ask her to do any higher weights until we have our own harness and can do some training and conditioning. BTW there was a guy who took video of us on Friday and has promised to email it to me. When it comes I'll upload it.
Barn Hunt Trial 2 - There were 5 rats and Gimme got started a lot sooner telling me where they were. She really had fun and it went fast. She had 48 seconds to go (so much faster than 1-rat runs). This is the first of ten legs she needs toward her barn hunt CH.
SATURDAY
Barn Hunt Trial 3 - We found 4 out of 5 rats. I think the one we missed was my fault. It was on the far side of a small pile of straw and I spent a lot of time standing with my back to it. Gimme has gotten rats on small piles with me standing in front of them, but this time the rat was on the far side, so I don't think she smelled it and I didn't do anything to help.
Weight Pull day 2 -
Pulling 420 pounds video - She did a nice job, pulling confidently. The lady who took our videos came over and coached me between each pull. For instance in this pull, I took my hands off Gimme as I was hooking her up. You are supposed to have contact with the dog at all times until the pull starts. It can be by leash, collar or otherwise touching the dog. They pull without their leash on and if you take the leash onto the lane with you, then you have to throw it back onto the cart.
Pulling 500 pounds faulted video - Its not clear from this video perspective, but I had her leash looped around my wrist while hooking her up. I don't know why she found this pull challenging, but she wasn't getting it moving, so I told the judge I'd take the fault and put my hand in her harness to give a little tug to help her start it. After the assist, she pulled it all by herself. It may be the tire was stuck behind a little bump in the dirt - starting the cart is the hardest part. The judge said in the future I should just ask the judge to give the cart a nudge.
Pulling 500 pounds video - The judge suggested I run with Gimme down the track so its clear to her what the goal is. Not sure if it works, but can't hurt. I find it interesting that Gimme is completely unconcerned by the spreader bar bouncing against the back of her hocks - something she's ignored since minutes into her first pull at a workshop. She asked for and got some reassurance from me, then was ready to go again. She did a nice job pulling this time.
Pulling 580 pounds video - After her struggle with 500, I was ready for Gimme to have difficulty with 580 pounds, but she pulled just "like a big girl". She earned another 10 points toward her weight pull CH.
Barn Hunt Trial 4 - There were 5 rats and Gimme steamed through them in 3:18, with 1:12 to spare. It was a very nice job. She really had fun. Now we need just 8 more qualifying legs to get her barn hunt CH.
SUNDAY
Barn Hunt Trial 5 - There were 3 rats and Gimme found them all, then did the tunnel on her own. I took her around the ring on one last sweep. I was about to call "clear" when Gimme started barking at a tube on the ground. I was mostly sure it wasn't the real deal, but she persisted, so I called it. It was indeed a false alert. I'm sure she knows the difference between a rat tube and a dirty litter tube, so I'm not clear what was going on here.
Weight Pull day 3 -
Pulling 420 pounds video - You'll see Gimme starts to pull and then when she meets resistance, she looks back at the cart. Even when the cart comes with her, she tends to drop her effort until she almost has to restart the cart. She doesn't quite understand yet how to get the cart moving and to keep pulling even after it starts to move, until I stop her. Getting the cart moving is the hardest part. The woman who runs these trials lives about 45 minutes from home and has volunteered to work with me, teaching me how to teach Gimme what she needs to know. So once I get Gimme her own harness, then I'll contact her about getting together.
Pulling 500 pounds video - Gimme again turned to look at the cart. Its like she is looking back to see what is wrong with the stupid thing. Doesn't it know its supposed to follow her lead? Still she did a good job - she clearly gets better each time.
Pulling 580 pounds video - This was her best pull of the weekend. Mary (my videographer) suggested I keep my hands low to encourage Gimme to keep her head low. It worked really well and we earned another 10 points toward her weight pull CH. We only need another 70 points to get a UWPCH.
Barn Hunt Trial 6 - This time there were 4 rats and Gimme did a nice job of finding them. She indicated 3 rats, one after the other and then didn't seem to have any more. So I cued her to tunnel. She got a couple feet inside the tunnel then turned around, coming back out. I was about to cue "tunnel" again, when she jumped up on a bail right above and just a smidgen to one side of the tunnel entrance and quickly indicated a fourth rat. Then she did the tunnel and I called clear, with 45 seconds to go. This was our third masters leg toward her RATCH and we need just 7 more.
Once we get the RATCH I plan to try her out on Crazy-8's. Its a interesting game and its a hard title to get. It'll be interesting to see how she responds to having 8 rat tubes in her ring.
BTW one of the last runs I watched this weekend was a guy and his BC who got 5 rats and called clear in 58 seconds. Unbelievably fast...
Gimme was happiest about the funny looking toy I won in the worker's raffle. Here's a picture of Gimme with all her loot (and all I got was a t-shirt).
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
UWP Picture
This is Gimme resting after the long weekend, with her ribbon haul.
She may be a tough little tomboy, but she still enjoys her creature comforts.
Just sayin...
Monday, November 28, 2016
Gimme UWP
While we didn't do well in barn hunt (not for lack of enthusiasm), Gimme did great at the weight pull. It was really chaotic for me, dividing my attention between the two venues and running back and forth to make sure we were where we needed to be. I won't enter two events on the same day again.
Each trial she starts with a pull of 420 pounds, which is already more than enough for a qualifying leg (340# cart, plus two cinder blocks). For her second pull they added two more cinder blocks, bringing the pull weight up to 500 pounds. This is actually enough weight for her to earn points toward a weight pull championship, if she had the first title already.
Saturday - trial 1
We were loaned a harness which fit her reasonably well. On her first pull, when the cart didn't move as easily as her prior pulls had, she spun around and ended up with the harness twisted around her body. I couldn't touch her without ending the run, so since her legs weren't fouled, I encouraged her to pull anyway. Being a game little tomboy, she did. On her second pull, she understood not to get twisted, plus I stayed a little closer to her. Gimme was confused when the cart didn't move with the same amount of effort and just stopped and gave me a look, saying, "Mom, its broke." I encouraged her and she tried again and was successful in getting it moving. We came away with our first leg toward a title.
Saturday - trial 2
For her second trial, she did better than the first on both pulls and her improved time reflects her understanding of how to win this game. I was careful to stay closer and really cheer her on when she starts pulling. Gimme did a nice job with improved times. We came away with our second leg toward a title.
Sunday - trial 1
Gimme was really eager to get started and tried to lead me toward the building, when we still needed a potty walk. After I dressed her in her harness, she was very determined and dragged me in the building. I was able to set up the camera ahead of time, so I have a video of her runs. She did a fabulous job, with great times. You will see in the video - her tail wags constantly and she's quite proud of herself. This weekend's title is United Weight Puller (UWP), making 21 titles.
Gimme's titling pulls video
Other than the first 500# pull, where Gimme was surprised by how much more effort was needed, you can see her times improve with each pull, even as the pulls get heavier. The judge was really impressed with how she did.
So now I'll be ordering a custom fit harness for her and then we'll begin conditioning and training for heavier pulls. She needs to learn to lean forward and down into her harness to get the cart started. She could get 5 points toward a UWPCH for her 500# pulls. Since she needs 100 points, with $20 per trial, the title would cost $400. Obviously I want to get up to higher point pulls. Time will tell how far we will go with this - certainly as long as she can do it and is having fun.
Our barn hunt efforts were not rewarding. Gimme had a lot of fun and was very enthusiastic. Still she reverted to finding a rat, back 5 feet away and then barking at me. It makes it very hard to know where she is indicating. Both times we found one rat and then had a false call. I need to go back and review what I've written before about how we had this communication sorted out and then need to arrange some training runs to get us back to doing it well. When I was bemoaning our lack of success, Janet said to me, "You know, its really unfair to bring her out after a year away and expect perfection right away."
I replied, "Seriously!?" In all honesty, I know Gimme knows how to find the rats... its just the communication aspect we need to revisit. Still, she had a lot of fun. Someone described her barking as piercing - its not her usual low throaty bark.
Each trial she starts with a pull of 420 pounds, which is already more than enough for a qualifying leg (340# cart, plus two cinder blocks). For her second pull they added two more cinder blocks, bringing the pull weight up to 500 pounds. This is actually enough weight for her to earn points toward a weight pull championship, if she had the first title already.
Saturday - trial 1
We were loaned a harness which fit her reasonably well. On her first pull, when the cart didn't move as easily as her prior pulls had, she spun around and ended up with the harness twisted around her body. I couldn't touch her without ending the run, so since her legs weren't fouled, I encouraged her to pull anyway. Being a game little tomboy, she did. On her second pull, she understood not to get twisted, plus I stayed a little closer to her. Gimme was confused when the cart didn't move with the same amount of effort and just stopped and gave me a look, saying, "Mom, its broke." I encouraged her and she tried again and was successful in getting it moving. We came away with our first leg toward a title.
Saturday - trial 2
For her second trial, she did better than the first on both pulls and her improved time reflects her understanding of how to win this game. I was careful to stay closer and really cheer her on when she starts pulling. Gimme did a nice job with improved times. We came away with our second leg toward a title.
Sunday - trial 1
Gimme was really eager to get started and tried to lead me toward the building, when we still needed a potty walk. After I dressed her in her harness, she was very determined and dragged me in the building. I was able to set up the camera ahead of time, so I have a video of her runs. She did a fabulous job, with great times. You will see in the video - her tail wags constantly and she's quite proud of herself. This weekend's title is United Weight Puller (UWP), making 21 titles.
Gimme's titling pulls video
Other than the first 500# pull, where Gimme was surprised by how much more effort was needed, you can see her times improve with each pull, even as the pulls get heavier. The judge was really impressed with how she did.
So now I'll be ordering a custom fit harness for her and then we'll begin conditioning and training for heavier pulls. She needs to learn to lean forward and down into her harness to get the cart started. She could get 5 points toward a UWPCH for her 500# pulls. Since she needs 100 points, with $20 per trial, the title would cost $400. Obviously I want to get up to higher point pulls. Time will tell how far we will go with this - certainly as long as she can do it and is having fun.
Our barn hunt efforts were not rewarding. Gimme had a lot of fun and was very enthusiastic. Still she reverted to finding a rat, back 5 feet away and then barking at me. It makes it very hard to know where she is indicating. Both times we found one rat and then had a false call. I need to go back and review what I've written before about how we had this communication sorted out and then need to arrange some training runs to get us back to doing it well. When I was bemoaning our lack of success, Janet said to me, "You know, its really unfair to bring her out after a year away and expect perfection right away."
I replied, "Seriously!?" In all honesty, I know Gimme knows how to find the rats... its just the communication aspect we need to revisit. Still, she had a lot of fun. Someone described her barking as piercing - its not her usual low throaty bark.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Weight Pull Seminar
We attended a seminar on weight pull for both Sunday and Monday. On Sunday there were so many clueless people, so we weren't able to do as much. It was just too chaotic and I felt like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs trying to keep my eyes on everyone.
First we got her fitted in a harness and while it fit her body great, the spreader bar was too close, so it was bumping her back legs. Gimme didn’t like this style of harness, since it had padding which made it fit her face really close and she had to push her head through. Of course peanut butter was sufficient encouragement for her to push through. Gimme pulled drag weights, which was easy, but the point of them isn’t about weight, its about getting the dog used to something following them and making noise behind them. We also pulled the cart, but there wasn’t much weight on it and I thought Gimme was a little bored by it. The good news was that it lifted the spreader bar up so it wasn’t bumping her legs as much.
On Monday there were only a few participants, so Valerie said we should work Gimme again. We pulled the sledge with all the weights they have. Probably only 150 pounds, but it drags on the dirt, so it is effectively heavier. Then we hooked her on the cart and loaded it up and pulled it back and forth. The video I have is our last pull where she was pulling a 75 pound cart with a 140 pound girl on it, who is dragging her feet (adding about 50 pounds more in load). Gimme found this more worthwhile. Its not as easy as it looks because the dirt was not flat… it had shallow vehicles tracks pressed in the dirt. Valerie positioned the cart for the start so the wheels were on top of the rise between the tracks and had the girl give a little push to help Gimme get it started.
You’ll notice her tail really never stops wagging. She clearly thinks this is too too much fun.
As soon as we can get a properly fitted harness made for her, we’ll start training her in the neighborhood. Valerie is very picky about harness fit and quality, so I’m going to wait until she lets me know a good place to get it made.
First we got her fitted in a harness and while it fit her body great, the spreader bar was too close, so it was bumping her back legs. Gimme didn’t like this style of harness, since it had padding which made it fit her face really close and she had to push her head through. Of course peanut butter was sufficient encouragement for her to push through. Gimme pulled drag weights, which was easy, but the point of them isn’t about weight, its about getting the dog used to something following them and making noise behind them. We also pulled the cart, but there wasn’t much weight on it and I thought Gimme was a little bored by it. The good news was that it lifted the spreader bar up so it wasn’t bumping her legs as much.
On Monday there were only a few participants, so Valerie said we should work Gimme again. We pulled the sledge with all the weights they have. Probably only 150 pounds, but it drags on the dirt, so it is effectively heavier. Then we hooked her on the cart and loaded it up and pulled it back and forth. The video I have is our last pull where she was pulling a 75 pound cart with a 140 pound girl on it, who is dragging her feet (adding about 50 pounds more in load). Gimme found this more worthwhile. Its not as easy as it looks because the dirt was not flat… it had shallow vehicles tracks pressed in the dirt. Valerie positioned the cart for the start so the wheels were on top of the rise between the tracks and had the girl give a little push to help Gimme get it started.
You’ll notice her tail really never stops wagging. She clearly thinks this is too too much fun.
As soon as we can get a properly fitted harness made for her, we’ll start training her in the neighborhood. Valerie is very picky about harness fit and quality, so I’m going to wait until she lets me know a good place to get it made.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
BarnHunt Trial w/ non-Q Successes
I planned to get this entry complete, with videos, sooner, but instead have been helping my neighbor using the shop-vac to suck up wasps. They've built a big nest in my carport and are fiercely protective of what they now believe is their space. We unloaded a whole can of wasp killer into them on Saturday before leaving for the trial, but came back to see there were still survivors and a huge population at that. It'll probably take a few more treatments with the shop-vac. Ted is my handyman, who painted my house and did the bathroom remodel. He finds it entertaining to suck up the wasps, so he does it without charge. I think its a guy thing. ☺
I have two videos from our four runs (first and last). I hope they'll show the progress we made. Our first run was quite frustrating. Gimme never found a rat. I tried what I'd been working on at the last trial - walking away from her when she was barking at a spot, to see if she'd stick it for a real rat. It seemed to be working at the last trial, but not at all this time. Gimme finally sucked me in by barking emphatically at one spot and when I called it, we got our false alert.
I talked to Sandra about it since she got to watch this run. I love getting her perspective, since she has a good eye and makes astute observations. Sandra thought Gimme wasn't barking about rats so much as barking at and for me. She thought she seemed frustrated (her Achilles heel). Based on what she saw, she said it wasn't clear if Gimme understood what she was supposed to be doing in there, or if she was even enjoying it. So I recounted our history.
Awhile back it seemed Gimme was eager to get in the ring, but once she did she was more interested in getting out of the ring and back to the car, than to hunt. What hunting she was doing, was just hunting without indicating. I had a few judges say she found every rat, but just wasn't sharing the info with me. This makes sense, since the moment she finds a rat it gets taken away. Also all the edible rewards are happening back at the car, not to mention all the treats she gets for doing well in the blind. So in talking to Dennis, I concluded our reward system was broken. We can't take food in the ring, but we can praise and physically reward (in a limited way). So then I started taking the time with each find to really get excited and praise Gimme a LOT. And for a bit she did start indicating again and was clearly enthused about my wild-woman routine.
Then she started barking, but initially was barking for an indication (she used to paw). To be clear, she had barked a few times before this, but not like she has taken to doing. Her barking escalated and I started having problems trying to tell when she was indicating a real rat versus when she was barking in general or at other tubes. Which is kind of where we were with this run... Gimme started out quietly searching, but then she started barking a lot, but without any clear indication. She barked briefly on the big pile, but then left it. Then she picked another spot to bark about, again leaving it. She found another spot to bark, but left it even sooner. Where she sucked me in for the false alert, she checked a spot where there was a tube (2:18), then barked at it and barked at me without leaving until I called it (2:33). She barked some more after I chastised her for lying and continued to bark when we were shown a real rat tube. In studying this video, I don't see any difference between when she was false alert barking and when she was barking at a real tube. Do tell me if you see something different...
Sandra thinks we may need to get back to basics and has put me in contact with a group which holds regular practices on Monday nights. It'll be an hour each way. Fortunately Monday is one night I still have available in my schedule, so it looks like it'll be a good opportunity for us.
I think its possible Gimme is a bit confused about what the game is now. She likes it when I get so excited and act the fool, and may have wrongly concluded its her barking I'm excited about. So, I decided for the rest of the runs this weekend to pay no attention to the barking and would only call "rat" when I saw paw action. I don't care if she barks, but I want to encourage her to go back to her paw indications which were so clear. She likes to use her paws, so its not like I'm trying to get her to do something she isn't already inclined to do.
For trial 2, she found 2 rats and did the tunnel with a bit of encouragement. When she found the rats I encouraged her to "use your paws" and didn't call it until she did something with a paw which was oriented to the rat tube. I am sure everyone thought I was plum crazy for not calling it sooner. Once we got "yes" from the judge, I rewarded her with lots of praise, but not so over the top. I called it after the tunnel, even though I was pretty sure there was another rat (I was right)... but I was intent on celebrating after the tunnel and encouraging her to focus on me when I asked for it.
For the next day on trial 3 we were within one second of a Q. Gimme found two rats, using her paw a bit sooner with encouragement. Then she did the tunnel when I asked and we celebrated for that. I was almost ready to call it, when she got intent on another spot. I waited for paw action, called it and celebrated with her - then remembered I should call it. The judge called "time" just as I simultaneously said, "I'm gonna call...." So we didn't get the Q, but I was still ecstatic to see such good improvement.
Honestly for the last run, I think she was just tired. Not only was this the second day of trialing and her fourth run, but we'd also been involved with weight pull both days during the lunch hour. So I'm still very happy with this run. BTW there were 4 rat tubes.
I notice in watching the video there are a couple things I need to change in my handling. I think I'm taking waaaaay too long to get her in the ring and undressed. Everyone has been very patient and nice about it, but this is something I need to do a different way so we can move things along. And I need to get comfortable with getting the rat tube, praising Gimme and holding her back as I hand off the tube. I see the rat wranglers are not entirely comfortable with her antics. I know she won't accost them, but they don't. I may try carrying the tube to the outside rat wrangler myself... since I could be verbally praising Gimme while I do it. All this is things I can practice with the Eatonville practice group
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I have two videos from our four runs (first and last). I hope they'll show the progress we made. Our first run was quite frustrating. Gimme never found a rat. I tried what I'd been working on at the last trial - walking away from her when she was barking at a spot, to see if she'd stick it for a real rat. It seemed to be working at the last trial, but not at all this time. Gimme finally sucked me in by barking emphatically at one spot and when I called it, we got our false alert.
I talked to Sandra about it since she got to watch this run. I love getting her perspective, since she has a good eye and makes astute observations. Sandra thought Gimme wasn't barking about rats so much as barking at and for me. She thought she seemed frustrated (her Achilles heel). Based on what she saw, she said it wasn't clear if Gimme understood what she was supposed to be doing in there, or if she was even enjoying it. So I recounted our history.
Awhile back it seemed Gimme was eager to get in the ring, but once she did she was more interested in getting out of the ring and back to the car, than to hunt. What hunting she was doing, was just hunting without indicating. I had a few judges say she found every rat, but just wasn't sharing the info with me. This makes sense, since the moment she finds a rat it gets taken away. Also all the edible rewards are happening back at the car, not to mention all the treats she gets for doing well in the blind. So in talking to Dennis, I concluded our reward system was broken. We can't take food in the ring, but we can praise and physically reward (in a limited way). So then I started taking the time with each find to really get excited and praise Gimme a LOT. And for a bit she did start indicating again and was clearly enthused about my wild-woman routine.
Then she started barking, but initially was barking for an indication (she used to paw). To be clear, she had barked a few times before this, but not like she has taken to doing. Her barking escalated and I started having problems trying to tell when she was indicating a real rat versus when she was barking in general or at other tubes. Which is kind of where we were with this run... Gimme started out quietly searching, but then she started barking a lot, but without any clear indication. She barked briefly on the big pile, but then left it. Then she picked another spot to bark about, again leaving it. She found another spot to bark, but left it even sooner. Where she sucked me in for the false alert, she checked a spot where there was a tube (2:18), then barked at it and barked at me without leaving until I called it (2:33). She barked some more after I chastised her for lying and continued to bark when we were shown a real rat tube. In studying this video, I don't see any difference between when she was false alert barking and when she was barking at a real tube. Do tell me if you see something different...
Sandra thinks we may need to get back to basics and has put me in contact with a group which holds regular practices on Monday nights. It'll be an hour each way. Fortunately Monday is one night I still have available in my schedule, so it looks like it'll be a good opportunity for us.
I think its possible Gimme is a bit confused about what the game is now. She likes it when I get so excited and act the fool, and may have wrongly concluded its her barking I'm excited about. So, I decided for the rest of the runs this weekend to pay no attention to the barking and would only call "rat" when I saw paw action. I don't care if she barks, but I want to encourage her to go back to her paw indications which were so clear. She likes to use her paws, so its not like I'm trying to get her to do something she isn't already inclined to do.
For trial 2, she found 2 rats and did the tunnel with a bit of encouragement. When she found the rats I encouraged her to "use your paws" and didn't call it until she did something with a paw which was oriented to the rat tube. I am sure everyone thought I was plum crazy for not calling it sooner. Once we got "yes" from the judge, I rewarded her with lots of praise, but not so over the top. I called it after the tunnel, even though I was pretty sure there was another rat (I was right)... but I was intent on celebrating after the tunnel and encouraging her to focus on me when I asked for it.
For the next day on trial 3 we were within one second of a Q. Gimme found two rats, using her paw a bit sooner with encouragement. Then she did the tunnel when I asked and we celebrated for that. I was almost ready to call it, when she got intent on another spot. I waited for paw action, called it and celebrated with her - then remembered I should call it. The judge called "time" just as I simultaneously said, "I'm gonna call...." So we didn't get the Q, but I was still ecstatic to see such good improvement.
For trial 4, Gimme was really slow to find the first rat; she was hunting, just having difficulty. After she got the first one, she got two more pretty quickly. Again there was barking, but for these rats, she was able to remember to use her paws without me reminding her. I was trying to get her to do the tunnel when the judge called time. She was quiet until she found the rat, but it took her more than 2 minutes to find the first one. It was less than a minute to rat 2. She actually found rat 3 pretty quickly but was in an awkward spot to use her paws, so I encouraged her to come off the stack and approach it differently and quickly got paws. I think the judge lost track of time based on the time on the video.
Honestly for the last run, I think she was just tired. Not only was this the second day of trialing and her fourth run, but we'd also been involved with weight pull both days during the lunch hour. So I'm still very happy with this run. BTW there were 4 rat tubes.
I notice in watching the video there are a couple things I need to change in my handling. I think I'm taking waaaaay too long to get her in the ring and undressed. Everyone has been very patient and nice about it, but this is something I need to do a different way so we can move things along. And I need to get comfortable with getting the rat tube, praising Gimme and holding her back as I hand off the tube. I see the rat wranglers are not entirely comfortable with her antics. I know she won't accost them, but they don't. I may try carrying the tube to the outside rat wrangler myself... since I could be verbally praising Gimme while I do it. All this is things I can practice with the Eatonville practice group
Monday, February 24, 2014
Agility (6/1) & Wknd Recap
Tonight was nosework class and they taped all the runs (if we brought our own camera). I'll wait to blog about it until I have time to review those and can upload them.
Last Thursday was agility class. It went well enough, but I really don't have anything special to report. I'd gotten Gimme out for a run on the Fort Lewis training area earlier, so she was pretty focused. During our first turn, she was avoiding jumps. I'd had her treated recently, so I knew she should not have been uncomfortable. I slowed everything down and just got her to jump a half dozen jumps one-by-one. Afterwards she was fine and the rest of our turn was lovely. I think she remembered being uncomfortable two weeks before and since we haven't practiced since then, I believe she thought jumping might still hurt.
For our second session, it was a disaster - all because of me. For the life of me I could not get the course to stick in my head. We never did do more than short smidgens of the course, but Gimme was doing everything I cued... so I was certainly happy with her efforts. I can't explain why I couldn't remember the course, I just couldn't. Oh well...
I do want to talk about our last weekend, but not the nosework trial, which I've already covered in another entry. We went down to Cowlitz for a barn hunt workshop. It was just a basic workshop, which we don't need, but I'd talked to the organizer telling her what I wanted to do - which was basically to have Gimme experience multiple rat finds. I didn't think she would have any difficulty with it, but did want to try it before I entered a trial.
So we did the whole basic workshop. I have to say every time this girl gets near rats, her intensity just doubles. During the "introduction to rat" when she gets to smell them and see them in a little cage, she was completely over the top. I was barely able to drag her away. All the other people were amazed to see how intense she was. She did fine on the mock instinct test - no surprise, since she already has the instinct title twice.
Then she did a regular novice run. She discovered, when I'm "undressing" her (the dogs have to run naked), she could just back out of my arms and take off without waiting for me to release her. Fortunately I experienced this in the workshop instead of a trial. The next run I got down on my knees behind her instead of beside her, her essentially sitting in between my knees - thus no place for her to back up and it worked well.
I have since bought her another different harness to use in barn hunt, so hopefully we can get back her loose leash walking if she never gets to pull like a maniac in her front-hook walking harness again. I need to practice our starts using the new harness. I'm going to use a Kong with peanut butter in it as the "lure", so I can figure out where to place my hands while I'm unhooking it and she's less than cooperative.
Our last run was a two rat search. When Gimme found the first one, she was being her usual over-the-top self and trying to keep it from being taken away, when I told her "Thank you. Find another one." I use this cue in nosework to tell her to look for more odor. Amazingly, she just stopped, looked at me for an intense half-second, then took off to find the other rat. I was just so proud of her. To see her respond correctly to a cue she'd only heard in the context of nosework, in this entirely different context - well, it was cool. But then we already knew she's a genius.
I'd seen a group holding a weight pull in a nearby building. I asked if it was possible to try it with my dog and the lady said if someone had a harness in her size, they could let us try it at the end of the day after the trial ended. So after our workshop was over, I watched weight pulling through to the end. It is mostly Pit Bulls, but a smattering of other breeds, to include one woman with four toy poodles.
There was a harness available in the correct size, so Gimme got to try weight pull. I was so proud of her because the woman who dressed her was pretty rough and intrusive, without any introduction or finesse. Gimme handled it well, though I could tell she thought her very rude. Gimme pulled the cart three times. The first time she was kinda worried about the feel of the harness straps against her legs and the bar moving behind her, but was willing to pull while licking peanut butter. The second time she was a little more comfortable and pulled with the peanut butter just as a lure, despite turning to look at the huge old cart coming after her (there is a person behind it acting as a brake to make sure it doesn't run up on the dogs).
The third time she just pulled because I was in front of her and cheering her on. I could tell she was kinda enjoying the experience. I was pretty certain she would like the challenge. The cart she pulled on smooth and level ground weighs 340 pounds. For the novice title she would need to pull eight times her own weight, so between 360 and 400 pounds, depending on how much she weighs at weigh in. So her easy pull was nearly enough to qualify for a title leg.
To get a weight pull championship, she'd have to accumulate 100 points. Points are assessed based on how much weight she pulls successfully each day. They can earn 5, 10, 15 or 20 points. She'd get 5 points for pulling ten times her own weight (450-500 pounds). I'm sure she could do it, since the 340 pounds was so very easy for her.
I'll want to do some training and conditioning for her. I'll have to buy the pulling harness for her, as well as a 4 wheel garden cart from Home Depot. We can start just pulling it around the neighborhood. Then I can load it up with cinder blocks and let her pull it around for conditioning. We have some shallow inclines which would be good for conditioning.
I just love seeing all the things this girl can do. So far I'm thinking Barn Hunt is her all time favorite. Still she likes doing new things and conquering challenges, so we have plenty of things we can do together.
Last Thursday was agility class. It went well enough, but I really don't have anything special to report. I'd gotten Gimme out for a run on the Fort Lewis training area earlier, so she was pretty focused. During our first turn, she was avoiding jumps. I'd had her treated recently, so I knew she should not have been uncomfortable. I slowed everything down and just got her to jump a half dozen jumps one-by-one. Afterwards she was fine and the rest of our turn was lovely. I think she remembered being uncomfortable two weeks before and since we haven't practiced since then, I believe she thought jumping might still hurt.
For our second session, it was a disaster - all because of me. For the life of me I could not get the course to stick in my head. We never did do more than short smidgens of the course, but Gimme was doing everything I cued... so I was certainly happy with her efforts. I can't explain why I couldn't remember the course, I just couldn't. Oh well...
I do want to talk about our last weekend, but not the nosework trial, which I've already covered in another entry. We went down to Cowlitz for a barn hunt workshop. It was just a basic workshop, which we don't need, but I'd talked to the organizer telling her what I wanted to do - which was basically to have Gimme experience multiple rat finds. I didn't think she would have any difficulty with it, but did want to try it before I entered a trial.
 | |
| Mock Instinct Test |
 | |
| obligatory Barn Hunt butt shot |
 |
| Second Find |
Our last run was a two rat search. When Gimme found the first one, she was being her usual over-the-top self and trying to keep it from being taken away, when I told her "Thank you. Find another one." I use this cue in nosework to tell her to look for more odor. Amazingly, she just stopped, looked at me for an intense half-second, then took off to find the other rat. I was just so proud of her. To see her respond correctly to a cue she'd only heard in the context of nosework, in this entirely different context - well, it was cool. But then we already knew she's a genius.
I'd seen a group holding a weight pull in a nearby building. I asked if it was possible to try it with my dog and the lady said if someone had a harness in her size, they could let us try it at the end of the day after the trial ended. So after our workshop was over, I watched weight pulling through to the end. It is mostly Pit Bulls, but a smattering of other breeds, to include one woman with four toy poodles.
There was a harness available in the correct size, so Gimme got to try weight pull. I was so proud of her because the woman who dressed her was pretty rough and intrusive, without any introduction or finesse. Gimme handled it well, though I could tell she thought her very rude. Gimme pulled the cart three times. The first time she was kinda worried about the feel of the harness straps against her legs and the bar moving behind her, but was willing to pull while licking peanut butter. The second time she was a little more comfortable and pulled with the peanut butter just as a lure, despite turning to look at the huge old cart coming after her (there is a person behind it acting as a brake to make sure it doesn't run up on the dogs).
The third time she just pulled because I was in front of her and cheering her on. I could tell she was kinda enjoying the experience. I was pretty certain she would like the challenge. The cart she pulled on smooth and level ground weighs 340 pounds. For the novice title she would need to pull eight times her own weight, so between 360 and 400 pounds, depending on how much she weighs at weigh in. So her easy pull was nearly enough to qualify for a title leg.
To get a weight pull championship, she'd have to accumulate 100 points. Points are assessed based on how much weight she pulls successfully each day. They can earn 5, 10, 15 or 20 points. She'd get 5 points for pulling ten times her own weight (450-500 pounds). I'm sure she could do it, since the 340 pounds was so very easy for her.
I'll want to do some training and conditioning for her. I'll have to buy the pulling harness for her, as well as a 4 wheel garden cart from Home Depot. We can start just pulling it around the neighborhood. Then I can load it up with cinder blocks and let her pull it around for conditioning. We have some shallow inclines which would be good for conditioning.
I just love seeing all the things this girl can do. So far I'm thinking Barn Hunt is her all time favorite. Still she likes doing new things and conquering challenges, so we have plenty of things we can do together.
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