Official Agility Shop-A-Holic !

I have been reviewing my agility related book and DVD collection - how did it get to be so big? As for working out how much money I've spent on agility related items, I'm not even going to go there at the risk of going into shock....... not to mention an instant divorce from OH.

(I'm sure I could have had at least two more kelpies for the money that I've spent.)

So now that I've spent all this money it's got me thinking about how to get the best value out of all the resources that I have. It's all too easy to read a book or watch a DVD and think 'that was great', then put it away in the cupboard and never look at it again - unless some sort of 'training issue' comes up that has you madly rushing to look for it just in case it has a 'magic wand' solution. (And if I could patent an 'Agility Magic Wand' I would never have to worry about how much money I spend on agility again!)

I'm also thinking that maybe if I made the effort to implement some of the advice from these resources in the first place, then I would be in less need of these 'magic wand' solutions - some merit in that thought hey!

First step is going to be choosing my favourite resources and working out how I can incorporate them into my training plan. So let's have a 'Favourites List' - beginning with DVD's, to review them (in no particular order)

1. Greg Derrett : 'Foundation Training'

*This one goes back to 'video days' and would probably be one resource that I have definitely got my money's worth from many times over. I implemented Greg's program with both kelpies as soon as I started working with them as puppies (although I am still trying to convince OH of the benefits of the doggy swimming pool from the 'conditioning' section.) It's also the first item I tell our new club members to borrow from the club library when we run new member evenings. Plus refer to it when I take Foundation class many times over just to make sure they get sick of me nagging and actually do get off their bums and borrow it!

A 'Must Have' for every agility addict's library. (Shame on you if you haven't seen it !)

2. Greg Derrett : 'Great Dog - Shame About the Handler'

OK, I confess - I am a bit of a 'Greg Derrett groupie'. (He kind of appeals to me in the same funny way that Jamie Oliver does - maybe I'm just a sucker for an accent - I guess my choice of hubby would also support that theory, anyway, I digress - back to agility)

*This is one that I think you need to watch many times to take it in - when I first watched it I don't think we were quite ready for some of the box work so I haven't given it the workout it deserves. This is about to change as I am going to train the double box for a few weeks with both kelpies. Atilla would definitely benefit from all the exercises and I think Cruz is ready for some of them now. Also, when I first watched it, I wasn't quite as familiar with Greg's handling system as I am now. Poor Atilla kind of got bits and pieces of different systems - now he is a total 'retrain' into Greg's system - Cruz has worked in that system right from the start.

So, this is first on my list of 'watch again' to incorporate into my training program.

3. Greg Derrett : 'Great Dog, Great Handler - The Winning Combination'

*My new favourite GD resource, especially as I travelled to Canberra to audit Susan Garrett's workshop last year where she presented Greg's handling system. (I had heard a lot of conflicting things about SG seminars but I have to say I thought she was AWESOME and if you get a chance to go to a workshop - be there with bells on!) This DVD really drives it home for me. I have already worked through the front cross exercises with both kelpies - really showed up with the 'green kelpie' how important it was to get them in the correct spot. Plus we are always working on developing positional cues on lead outs. I am going to work on this in conjunction with the double box exercises for the next few weeks.

4. Susan Salo : 'Jump Foundation Training'

*My newest acquisition and so far I am loving it. Although I have been working jump grids with the kelpies for a bit now, they were a bit ad hoc. Now I have a more sequential plan for integrating them into my training program. Liam videoed them doing the distance grid last week and I was really happy with the results - Atilla could stride 19 feet no problem and Cruz the same for 18 feet - didn't space them any further apart as I wanted to finish on a successful note, but next time I try them I will go out further, aiming for 21 feet eventually. Plus when I can figure it out, I will post the videos here. I have only watched the first 2 DVD's at this stage - it's a 4 DVD set - plan on watching the other 2 this week.

5. Susan Garrett : 'Success with One Jump'

*Another in the pile for rewatching - have worked a lot of it already but could do with a 'refresher'. Cruz is doing well at looking down his line at the startline, haven't retrained it with Atilla and not sure if I will - although I do see the benefits. The work on positional cues, plus 'change of arm = change of line' fits in well with new Derrett DVD.

6. Lori Hansen : 'Human Agility Training'

*OK - I'm slack. Haven't actually watched this one yet - but it's going in the ever-growing pile - I PROMISE ! And I did sit ups this morning - does that count?

7. Joe Canova : 'World Class Weaves'

*I used this method to train Cruz's weaves and I am pretty pleased with the results.
But now that he weaves 12 poles well I have slackened off on training the entries - I was keeping a diary for a bit but once I got past the first 3 'stations' (as Joe refers to them) I stopped and worked on other things. I need to go back to this, working the first 3 stations again and them moving on to the others, plus more weave pole proofing.

8. 'Agility in Motion' series (Various contributors)

*Saving this for another post as there is so much good stuff on these - and it's all too easy to watch and then forget. Plus I can't let my rewatching pile get any bigger or it will be unmanageable and then I won't do it.

So, more than enough to keep me busy over the next few weeks I think. In between taking the kelpies on walks, swimming (we did Altona dog beach yesterday evening), training, trialling plus the Casterton Kelpie Festival coming up shortly.

But at least I'm feeling more motivated now that I've put this in writing - that third Susan Salo DVD is now displacing GD and is going to the top of the pile for later today. Jump Grids - bring 'em on !

And A Good Time Was Had By All

Well the trial at Wagga Wagga has come and gone but will long remain in my memory as one of my favourite ones ever ........ why did she wait so long to trial interstate she asks ?

Such a relaxed atmosphere with only two rings running - you can see how dry it was from the photos but still OK to run on.

I loved everything about the weekend - friendly club members and other participants, great courses (mostly) and a dog who was happy and relaxed and couldn't wait to work - what's not to love? Plus the passes in Masters and Open agility helped too !

I was happy with all our runs (apart from a blonde moment on the Open Jumping course which we won't talk about) .......... and with our speed on most sections of each course. We are positively slow compared to some of the dogs there though - Open Agility we ran (what I thought was) a really good speed, 21 seconds under SCT and we still only came in 7th! We were 8th in Masters agility, but I did have a little 'bobble' on one discrimination where sloppy handling caused him to ask a question, so I know I lost a bit of time there.

Anyway, a great weekend, and I really enjoyed watching some different dogs run. Plus I learnt quite a bit from watching different handlers, especially relating to my position and motion around the course. I will be marking this trial on my calendar each year now.

Here's Atilla with his quallie sashes. One thing I had never seen before was that no sashes were awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd (just prizes) - but everyone got the same sash for qualifiying no matter what position they came in.

I have a list of things I want to work on over the next few months, plus a few more 'holes' after last weekend's trial at Bendigo, so once I get my list (and related thoughts) together I will publish my training plan. I majored in 'course forgetting' at Bendigo so I have decided that once I get the last pass I need for ADO I will just run Masters for a bit to avoid clashes - JDO can wait.

Cruz ran his first full length course at training last week (one of Murray's old novice agility courses) and went clear both times which was encouraging. There are still some areas I want to work on with him before I put him in his first trial, but overall I am really happy with his progress and am in no hurry.