Clean Run Magazine - March 2007 - 76

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trial, a few months later, was indoors at a fairground. It was much
busier, louder, and more intense than the first one, and the clamor threw
all three of us off our stride. Kana seemed to shrink even more in size as
we went to the line for our first class—the building echoed with shouts
and barking. I misdirected her and she missed an obstacle, plus she was
running slower than usual. No Q for us that time. And then came Nigel’s
turn. He ran riot, barely negotiating any of the obstacles and ignoring my
attempts to regain his attention. He managed to jump over the tunnel. At
home he runs fairly slowly, but here he ran almost flat out, confusing me
and throwing me entirely into a dither. Kana got better over the weekend,
but Nigel got worse, finally refusing offered toys and treats. Very
discouraged, I packed up and went home to regroup when the trial was over.
Decision Time I thought it was evident that Nigel was not cut out to
compete in agility. Perhaps I should give him up as a lost cause and focus
on Kana. My trainer’s advice was short and to the point: change your
attitude or quit running the dog. She maintained that if it was not fun
for the dog, I shouldn’t be doing agility and that my frustration with
him was making him unhappy. I had a long think and decided she was right.
As long as he wanted to play, we’d carry on. If he’d do three
obstacles and then quit, our turn was over. Next time maybe he’d do
four, or even five. I’d set him up to succeed, and when he did, I
praised him. If he wandered off and ignored me, I’d call him and walk
off the course quietly. I began to learn his tolerance at practice: three
runs. That was it. Sighthounds generally dislike repetition, so I cut back
on that. He got lots of petting and praise between runs, plus treats after.
He began to improve, and we both had more fun. Our third trial was the
farthest away we had gone, a little over a three-hour trip. It was a
single-ring trial in southern Oregon, and I set out with trepidation. If
Nigel fell apart on me again, this was it. His agility career would be
over. Again, Kana was my first run and again, she ran clean. She was
moving a little slow since she dislikes running on dirt, but she still
made it. Then came Nigel’s turn. I kept him away from the hustle and
bustle of the start line as much as possible, working on heeling, sitting,
shaking hands, and other behaviors to keep his mind on me and the treats I
was dealing out. Finally it was our turn, and I headed in with my knees
knocking. We were off! We made it through the first few obstacles, then he
wandered. He came back, we did another couple, then off he went again. Back
he came again. We headed toward the last line of obstacles, which included
the distance test NADAC’s new addition to Novice classes . He made it!
Hardly a clean run, but better! Much, much better! I was really pleased,
and hope sprang anew. He was hardly in Kana’s league, but at least he
had improved. We continued through the weekend, with some hits and misses
for Kana she doesn’t work well at distance, plus she had some time
faults and similar performances to his first from Nigel. Our one surprise
was a placement ribbon for Nigel! He got 6th place in Touch N Go for
completing the course in the correct order, but in twice the allotted
time. I had considered scratching that class, since it was almost 8 p.m.
by the time it started, but several of my fellow club members stayed to
watch and support us, so we Clean Run | March 07 Practice contacts in
small areas! And when the snow flies, work on your contacts indoors! The
Barb Davis Contact Trainer 6 ft. bridge ramp and 3 ft. A-frame ramp
Approximate angle of full-size contact obstacles Lightweight and folds for
easy storage “My contact trainer gets a great deal of use even though I
have a full set of equipment. If I’m short on time, I can work dozens of
contacts and tunnel/contact discriminations in ﬁve minutes. —Barb Davis
$155.00 plus S&H S&H is from $45-$75 in the U.S. depending on location.
Please send us your zip code to determine costs. Built by Barb’s
husband, Jeff Davis. Contact him at: E. 22202 Vanetta, Newman Lake, WA
99025 PowerWM300@aol.com or 509-924-3110 76 Warning : Unknown : The session id contains invalid characters, valid
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Clean Run Magazine - March 2007

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