Clean Run - February 2011 - 78

LB: How did you choose Panic?

LM: In her Petfinder photo, her big ears were totally pricked, and she had an adorable expression and looked so eager. At the shelter, Panic wasn’t interested in us but clearly adored the woman who walked her. It was apparent that Panic was athletic and intelligent. We were looking for a friendly, active pet. I didn’t pick her with the intention of getting back into agility, but looking back, it was inevitable, and I know my subconscious was also selecting for an agility dog. She is high drive, intelligent, loyal, athletic, and a great snuggler. She was about six to nine months old, and the shelter listed her as “Whippet/IG mix.” She looks to me like a kelpie/rat terrier mix, or perhaps a dingo! She had such a high energy level that I could imagine why she hadn’t worked out as a pet in an ordinary family.
LB: Did Panic seem good for agility when you chose her?

so quickly was thrilling! I became very excited about her agility career. It really reignited my passion for agility and for teaching my dogs new skills.
LB: What did you do to overcome any training problems?

By Lisa Barrett, photos by Mike Lifer

Panic
Call Name:

LM: Yes and no. Yes because she was athletically built, full of energy, and seemed loyal to her caregiver. No because she is 17" tall. Since my main venue is USDAA, this height means that in Championship she has to run in the 22" class against bigger dogs with much longer strides. Also, she is built pretty straight in the rear, but is well-balanced so this is not too much of a problem. At times, she seemed a little too high energy. When I walked her out of the shelter to my car, she ran to the end of her leash, hit it, and went flying in the air, then repeated in several other directions. I began to wonder what I was getting myself into!
LB: What was easy about this dog’s agility training?

Panic

ADCH, Tournament Master-Bronze, Snooker Champion-Bronze, Jumpers Champion-Silver Humane Society of Richland County, Ontario, Ohio and Citizens for Humane Action, Columbus, Ohio Lianne Martin
Handler: Adopted From:

Titles Earned:

LM: When we first started competing, she was very handler focused. This was excellent, because I loved that she was depending on me to cue her and did not just grab obstacles on her own. However, when I gave unclear or late cues, she would get very frustrated and start biting at my pants legs and jumping up and biting at my shirt and sleeves. I actually couldn’t even wear hooded sweatshirts when I ran. At the start line she would bite at the strings on the hood as I was putting her in a stay. However, the majority of these problems were caused by my ambiguous cues. So I learned to be a better handler. I learned more about how my body was cueing her and used that new knowledge to let her know earlier where she was going next. Once we learned to communicate better on course, her frustration disappeared. And I think once she knew she wasn’t going to have to be frustrated with me on course, she also stopped biting at me on the start line. We had a big problem with our table performance. It was one of the first things I taught her, and we had a fabulous automatic down. However, I didn’t maintain that training and took the table for granted. By the time we started trialing, she thought that staying in motion at all times was much more fun than downstays. We lost many, many Standard legs because she jumped off the table, and we wasted up to 15 seconds on some runs waiting for her to lie down. In training, her table performance was fine. I realized I needed to find a way to create the drive and passion in training sessions that she had at trials. I eventually fixed the table problem by recreating her drive and desire to be on the move. Panic goes crazy over chasing balls, so we played a game where I’d throw a ball for her several times, and then ask for a table performance before throwing the ball again. I randomly asked for the table between some throws, so it never became predictable. I did not throw the ball while she was barking on the table, because her barks caused her elbows to come up. This ball training
Clean Run | February 11

LM: Almost everything! She had such a huge desire to learn and soaked up everything I taught her. Against my better judgment, I began her agility training immediately, instead of taking the time to bond and teach other behaviors. She learned to jump 22" within a single fiveminute session using Linda Mecklenburg’s Developing Jumping Skills program. We soon began weave pole training, and within a few weeks, practicing a few times a week, she had learned how to weave six poles in a straight line. She did everything with speed and enthusiasm from the beginning. To see her learn weave poles
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Clean Run - February 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - February 2011