Finally a 2 on 2 off

I am absolutely loving this warm weather.   One reason being I have taken several long walks with the dogs in the fields by our house.  But the biggest reason I'm loving this weather is it allows me to use my outdoor agility equipment.  Most of the time it's too cold or there is just too much snow to use it, but this last week has been absolutely perfect for training outside. And its a good thing since Spryte's contact performance needs a major overhaul!

So every day for a week I have been going outside in the morning to work on our 2 on 2 off contacts in a sequence.  Like I mentioned before, I am not treating every contact, I am trying to keep the energy up and keep the course flowing.  Well our first several sessions were a disaster!  She was jumping off the Aframe frequently and just as unreliable on the teeter and dogwalk.  She would jump and I would give a shocked "ahhhhh" and we would start again.  This went on for most of the training sessions each day.  She just wants to go fast!

Well yesterday we finally had a breakthrough. She stuck every contact! I was so happy, I was really beginning to think my training plan wasn't working and really starting to hate stopped contacts.  I started dreaming about how wonderful a running Aframe would be :)  But then she goes and has a perfect training session and I'm feeling a little more confident for our next trial. 

Today's training session was the same, no missed contacts.  What a good girl.  So now its time to proof them again.  One of the things that always needs work are contacts at a distance for the gamblers class. When you are not up there to support and drive the dog forward, they tend to stop midway on the down ramp and stare at you.  Spryte is no different.  Dogs just have a hard time driving to their position without any body language from us to help.  And you really don't want to re cue the "bottom" command because then the dogs will stop and wait for the re cue, and you end up having to re cue a number of times to get that perfect position. So the solution for us is that if Spryte stops in any other position than her 2 on 2 off I will pick her up off the equipment and we will start again.

I'm happy to say she has a better understanding of this game.  I add distance, she stops short, I pick her up and start again and then the next time she continues all the way to the correct position.  With more repetition she should do that the first time without having to start again.  She also is still slow at it, I would really prefer her to drive hard into the position and not slow down. Right now she does more of an uncertain slow creep into position.  But I really believe the speed will come with understanding.  So in time I should get what I want.  Oh and because I am working on an individual skill here, I am rewarding her with food in position when she hits the correct spot. Reinforcement builds behaviour!  Eventually when she gets it the reinforcement will be continuing on in the course and the occasional reward in position.  Well that's the plan anyway :)