ANKC V NADAC

I don't run NADAC agility very often but last month I entered a trial on the following weekend from the ANKC trial at Sunbury.

Everyone seems to have their own thoughts about which 'flavour of agility' they prefer for varying reasons which has got me thinking about the differences between the two.

These were the jumping courses I ran in each venue, qualifying on both.

Sunbury Masters Jumping (ANKC) *6th place

Bacchus Marsh Open Jumping (NADAC) *1st place Quite a difference, as you can see- or at least you might have been able to see if I had used the larger numbers, so you will just have to take my word for it.

OK, we are running one level below at NADAC (Open is equivalent to Excellent) but I've seen Novice courses harder than that Open one - one side change for crying out loud and even that I did with a lead out pivot.

Although I don't like the twisting and turning of many ANKC courses, that NADAC course was not much of a challenge. I like the way NADAC offers lower jump heights - great for veteran dogs and dogs coming back from injury, but I can't say I really like too much else about it.

I especially dislike the way there is now no running order and you just line up. Two friends missed their jumping runs a couple of weeks back at a trial I went to watch. No-one called that the class was over, and one is a very new trialler. I felt so bad for her. OK, I know it's your responsibility to know when your height is coming up, but still. It also seems to promote a 'NADAC style' of handling that I hate - lots of running from behind, rear crosses on the landing side and opposite arms waving around in the air on rear crosses. Plus ridiculous distance for the sake of distance that's not buying you anything by handling in that way but is seen as the holy grail of NADAC for some reason. Call me strange, but I actually enjoy the buzz of running the course with my dog, not standing there and flapping my arms around while I yell 'out.'

I also feel way more stressed at NADAC trials than I do in any other venue - there's such a long list of what you can and cannot do, and it appears to change at the drop of a hat so I can't keep up.

But on the other hand, even though the courses are not very challenging (and they all seem to be variations on a theme from what I have seen) the ANKC courses can be ridiculously hard at times with all that turning and twisting.

So I definitely think there is a place for NADAC as well as ANKC, but at the moment it's not my venue of choice. I am grateful that there is another venue to compete in once my dogs are not able to handle the jump heights of ANKC any longer (NADAC veterans was wonderful for Yasser, although I did prefer it back then when it was ADAC) and also think it's great that there is a choice available - there's not in some states,

Maybe a hybrid between the two forms of agility would be perfect!

My Favourite Training Distraction - Sheep !

The sheep are back on the land behind us. The old guy who owns them has several 2 acre blocks in the area - you can't build on anything less than 5 acres at the moment- and he rotates them around for a few weeks at a time.
The kelpies love watching him come down the road when he is moving them, he rings a bell and walks the sheep along the road with a .........wait for it....... Jack Russell Terrier ! Which surprisingly does pretty well. The kelpies are dying for a bit of active service of course, and run along the fence line barking as he goes past just to let him know they are available if the JRT doesn't cut it or disappears into the nearest rabbit burrow.
There are lambs at the moment too, which are pretty cute.

So every time I go out to train agility this week, I have woolly faces peering through the fence, which is great for proofing distractions.

Cruz does pretty well. He is aware of them, but happy to stay with me and work, especially if he thinks there may be food involved at the end. But it absolutely kills Atilla ! I have been using the sheep as a 'life reward' and releasing him to the fence to clear them off after he does what I want first...... Premack Principle rules ! This has turned into a pretty good game in his opinion and his agility work this week has been fast and motivated as a result. Now I just have to figure out a way I can get them to my next trial.......

A Good Night at Training

I really enjoyed running this course at training on Friday evening. It was a small class for a change, only 5 of us, and Murray set up a fairly simple course, but still with some challenges- especially if you didn't handle your dog's path. Also a good course for working on speed. (What I would call a 'Tank of Oxygen Course,' especially when you run it, another dog runs and then you have to go again!)
There were some fast diagonal lines in this course - or what Elicia referred to as SFL's (straight friggin lines) when she was here.

I started with a lead out between 2 and 3 so I could be ahead of Atilla to indicate the path to the tunnel. Then a front cross between the tunnel and jump 5 set up a nice straight line to the seesaw. I also made sure I was still in front at this point so I could use a little shoulder pull but I don't think he even looked at the tunnel.

Good section for speed next. He surprised me with a pretty fast dogwalk performance which actually changed the way I handled the weave entry. I was planning on front crossing after the tunnel to handle the weaves on the right, but he was so quick off the walk and through the tunnel that I didn't get there. I then used a 'threadle arm' when he came out of the tunnel and then rear crossed the weaves once he was in. I thought that might be a bit messy but it actually worked really well so I stuck with it on the 2nd run through. As his weaves are pretty reliable I was also able to peel away from them for some more lateral distance so I could front cross at the end. This made a straight line to the tunnel at 12.

Being ahead after the tunnel made jumps 13 and 14 easy to indicate. On the first run through, I had an off course at the next bit. I honestly thought my movement and position would be enough to indicate the change of line to the tunnel, especially as I don't layer in the handling system I am using, but he took the tyre. (As did most of the dogs in class) On the next run through, I used a 'threadle arm' after jump 14 and he took the correct obstacle that time. Something else for me to remember : still need support on some discriminations, especially as it was a slight change of line.

I thought about front crossing after the tunnel for a better line to jump 16, but found that I was able to stay ahead on most of this course so decided I didn't need to. Handled both jumps on the left, then front crossed at the end of the A Frame for the run home. On the second run through I left out the front cross and rear crossed after 19 to pull him toward the broad. That also worked well.

So, an enjoyable training session and I was so pleased with the way Atilla worked. Now all I have to do is get the same speed happening consistently at a trial. We seem to have sections of 'all cylinders firing' but others where he drops off the pace a bit. After our 3 passes off 4 runs last weekend at Sunbury, I am going to throw caution to the wind and push for a bit more speed next time we trial and see what I get. Plus try harder to sharpen up my handling for him.

Cruz ran a full length Novice Jumping course at training on Sunday and went clear with no difficulties. Guess I'd better start thinking about entering him in a Jumping run to see how he does under a bit more pressure and to see what I still need to work on with him. After Nationals maybe.

Of Cakes and Contacts

Okay Karen, this one's for you - Jack's photo has disappeared into the black hole of the alternate reality of my computer, so I have recreated for Cruz's second birthday.

Carrot, zucchini and peanut butter cake with low fat cream cheese frosting, hand made dog biscuits and of course the icing, 'smakos' and doggy choc sheep - mmmmmm !

Plus pupcakes for his 'brothers' and friends. Well, the friends didn't really get a look in thanks to the brothers, but the intent was there.And while I'm on the subject, here's one I made a few months back as an order for a dog's birthday party. Which annoyed mine as they got to 'look but not touch...... or taste !'

And now to the topic that is almost causing me sleepless nights - at least it would be if I wasn't so cosy with an electric blanket and two kelpies (oh, and there's a husband in there too somewhere I think) - CONTACT TRAINING , namely one A Frame.

This would have to be the piece of equipment that I have decided I hate training, as I have a clear picture in my head of how I want Cruz's performance to be, but achieving it is another story......... Cruz prefers messing with my mind instead.

We started with 2 on 2 off, as we are doing on the dogwalk, where he performs it brilliantly. This was fine until I started raising the A Frame close to full height and then he lost all speed and started creeping down to the position at the bottom . After a few weeks of this with no improvement I decided to train a running contact on the A Frame.

Began with a stride regulator at the top and a hoop at the bottom, got rid of the regulator early on as video analysis showed he was hitting the (almost) identical spot every time. Hooray - she says ! This will make it easy. (Fool!)

So a couple of weeks back we finally went to full height and it is a lovely running contact, fast and accurate. Am I a good trainer or what ? Well here comes the what ........... Cruz is getting faster and faster as his confidence grows, last week he began to fully extend and really run it, well that taught me something about running contacts.............a very long skinny kelpie when fully extended can actually get through the hoop at the bottom without touching the colour. Picture head down, fully extended with his back legs just above the colour and his front legs just off the end on the ground and you get the idea.

So my choices now are - put stride regulators back on to manipulate his stride, try to implement some sort of a board on the bottom of the contact for him to hit, or go back to a stopped contact. I don't feel I am experienced enough with stride regulators to do this successfully, plus by changing his stride I will need to go back to the months and months of muscle memory with loads of repetitions and even then there is no guarantee as I have just found out. The board has potential - and there are several DVD's in the pipeline using this method coming soon, but the problem is that his nose touch is so hard wired, every time he sees any sort of a board he wants to do 2o2o and nose touch - so I would need to break him of that habit first.

The problem with his stopped contact was that he never really got his weight back far enough as he does on the dogwalk, creating a slow performance which I also don't want.

So I am going to give Elicia's method (slide into a drop on board) a go. That way he can still nose touch if he wants, and then I can fade it. Began shaping the position on a touchboard last week and he has caught on to this very quickly. Put the board onto a lowered A Frame today for the first time, and he had no trouble with the position at all, so we will see what happens with this method. I am prepared to sacrifice a little of the speed I had with the running, but I don't want the 'creeping' down to the bottom.

I need to be patient this time and make sure I raise the A Frame one link at a time instead of rushing it. ('Patience is knowledge disguised' - Kay Laurence)

This whole training issue has also given me a better insight into how hard it is for people at club to train contacts with their dog when they don't know what they are doing. I think as Instructors we confuse them by all having our 'pet' ways of doing things. So they are told something different every week depending on who the instructor is plus they don't have access to equipment to train at home. I 'kinda' know what I 'm doing (at least I thought I did) and I have access to an adjustable A Frame at home, but I'm sure Cruz will tell you that I am still stuffing it up. So we need to get some consistency with the way we are teaching at club - something else for the next Instructor's meeting agenda.

Casterton Kelpie Muster

This annual event is held in the small Victorian country town of Casterton, not far from the South Australian border. A great celebration of the breed and a totally shameless 'kelpie-fest.'

If you are a kelpie lover and have never been, mark the Queen's Birthday weekend in your diary now.

A brief background of the kelpie's ties to Casterton for those who don't know the story :

In the 1870's a young stockman named Jack Gleeson worked on Dunrobin Station, just north of Casterton. The neighbouring property, Warrock Station was owned by a man named George Robertson. (Warrock Station still survives and is open for visitor tours) In 1871, Robertson mated a pair of Scottish collies that had been imported into the country. Gleeson took a liking to a black and tan bitch from the mating and asked to buy the puppy, but Robertson refused and gave her to his nephew instead.

Robertson's nephew knew that Gleeson wanted the pup and arranged to swap her for a horse of Gleeson's that he wanted (just like 19th Century e bay). They met at night on the banks of the Glenelg River in Casterton to perform the trade. Gleeson named his new pup 'Kelpie' - meaning a malignant Scottish water spirit that haunts streams and rivers in the shape of a horse.

Shortly after this, Gleeson left the area and moved to the Ardlethan district of NSW. It was there that Kelpie was mated to a black dog named Moss and another working dog named Caesar. The resulting progeny were highly sought after and when one (also named Kelpie after her dam) gained fame for her performance at the very first sheepdog trial in NSW, the name Kelpie was adopted as the breed name.

If you drive through Ardlethan you will see that they also claim rights to the origin of the kelpie breed, but Casterton beat them to the idea of the annual muster !

On Saturday there is a street parade featuring local schools and businesses, and kelpies of course.

The parade is held on the main street of Casterton. In the background you can see the hill that the kelpies run up in the hill climb event. (It doesn't look all that steep in the photo but believe me, it is. ) The owners are driven to the top of the hill and you need someone to hold your dog at the bottom. They are then recalled up the hill until they reach the owner and run into a designated area at the top. This is timed and the best time wins. Just to complicate matters, there is a set of gates with an opening in the centre part way up and if your dog goes through the opening you get 5 seconds off your time. This year the climb was combined into the kelpie triathlon along with the high jump competition (jumping up boards that make a high jump into the back of a hay laden ute, boards are added incrementally and it works as a knock out type contest) and a 50 metre race down the main street. There are other activities you can join in if the athletic side of it doesn't do it for you, such as 'Kelpie Idol' (show off your kelpie's tricks), Pinball (herding Indian runner ducks through croquet hoops), or Kelpie/Owner look alike contest. There is also the stockman's challenge on the banks of the Glenelg River ( the ghosts of Jack Gleeson and little Kelpie may very well be watching on) where kelpies herd sheep around a set course, directed by a modern day stockman- or woman- on horseback. This is my favourite event to watch and something I would love to try one day, dream on !

On Sunday there is a big working dog auction - the jury is still out on what I think about this - but you get to see some really good dogs work during the demonstrations and it is exciting to see the prices that they fetch, around $6,000 is usually the norm for the top priced dog. (Although I wouldn't accept a million for either of mine !) I have just read on a dog related forum that this year the top priced kelpie was 'Beloka Red 11'. Sold for $7400, paid by the owner's father and then donated back to her and the breeder. Proceeds went to 'Beyond Blue' for rural depression initiatives. Nice to read a story like that for once.

There are kelpies everywhere in Casterton, including a 'kelpie trail' that you can walk along the river and through the town featuring kelpie sculptures and information about the breed and the artists. Fascinating stuff for us kelpie addicts, plus the kelpies enjoyed the walk.

Atilla wasn't quite sure about this one - he kept waiting for it to move and sniff him back.

It's a fun weekend for kelpie fans and a great chance to catch up with others who share the same obsession. I wonder what Jack Gleeson would think if he knew what his long ago clandestine meet on the banks of the Glenelg River had started ? I know I am grateful that it happened because if not, then I would never have this .........

or this .........................................


And both are eternally grateful that I DON'T make them run up that great big hill each year !

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.