A short update.  Today I set up the homemade tiny teeter in the driveway for Katie.  She wasn’t happy about it.  But I had treats (really nothing more than dog food out of her dish that she hadn’t finished, but it’s oh so much more special when handed out piece by piece by her mama than piled in her bowl.) and I was gentle with her, giving her a treat if she’d touch the board, if she’d put her front feet on the board, if she’d walk toward the center.

She still needs me to put all four of her feet on the board, and there’s a towel under each side to soften the banging noise, but she DID sort of run across it on her own twice, over the space of about 3 separate short sessions.  It’s just a board and a 2 inch plastic pipe, but it moves and makes a bit of noise, and she’s not totally freaked out.

Progress.

Last week would have been the last of our 7 week beginning agility class.  But the club had an obedience fun match that night, so no class.  Instead we went this week.  So Katie had a two week span of no agility (though we did fit the rally match in during this lull) and I was worried that she had forgotten how much she loved to run and jump.  I was pretty much right.

We started out with teeter, the one obstacle she hates.  Of course the instructors were very careful with her, but still she didn’t want to walk up on that teeter, and that feeling transferred to the A-frame and the dogwalk for awhile.  Once I helped her up the other two she got over the fear, but she never did want to approach the teeter.

The other problem was in the other two rings.  It was week one of puppy socialization and obedience.  There were 10 puppies in the ring just across from us and 10 or more large dogs in the obedience ring separated from us only by a low fence.  The barking and whining and growling was really loud.  Once we did teeter we were trying to do a pinwheel jump set that was set up right next to the fence.  Just as it was our turn a bloodhound inches away across the low fence decided he didn’t like the dog next to him and lunched, growled and barked.  And kept barking and barking and howling as only a bloodhound can.  At the top of his lungs.  His owner didn’t try to control him at all, and Katie, sitting pressed up against my leg was freaked out.  She’s very sound sensitive as it is, and this sound had everyone in the building stopped.  Finally the obedience instructor got the bloodhound under control.  But Katie was inconsolable.  I took her over to the other side of our ring, and the rest of the class did the pinwheel jumps.

The whole evening was like that.  When we tried to do teeter again, a rottweiler was sitting just outside the ring, staring at us and growling.  Katie didn’t like that either and jumped off the teeter and ran around the ring.  I didn’t appreciate that that dog’s owner didn’t try to control their dog either.  What’s up with people watching other classes that allow their dog to interfere?  If my dog didn’t behave himself while I was waiting for my class to start my dog and I would go outside and have a heart-to-heart.  I wouldn’t just stand there.  Anyway, Katie was totally overwhelmed.

Finally the instructor set up a couple of relay courses, jump, tunnel, jump, table.  We split up into two teams, 3 on each, and were supposed to run this course, sit or down on the table then run it back.  Katie wouldn’t jump over the last jump, because people (our teammates) were standing nearby.  On another time she wouldn’t come off the table after she sat successfully for the count of 5.  Nothing was getting her off the table!  NOTHING.  Two instructors finally came over and sat on the table and leaned her way, and then she came off of it and did the rest just fine.

At one time she decided she wasn’t participating anymore and ran across the room and up the dogwalk.  Once she even accidentally ran up the teeter when she was trying to get away from me.  I think she thought it was the dogwalk.  I spent most of the evening trying to get her to come back.  I finally put her on the leash so that I had some control, but even so she wasn’t going to do anything.  At all.

So this was a disappointing last class.  She was totally freaked and I’m not sure all the work we did getting her happy on most of the obstacles will stick.  In a couple weeks I’m going north to house sit for a few weeks and so I haven’t registered Katie for any doggie school this semester.  We’ll go to drop in obedience classes while I’m home, and the semester after next we’ll try again.

It’s frustrating, isn’t it Katie-girl!

Katie, her dad and I went to agility tonight.   I was eager to see if the success we experienced last week when she finally connected with the A-frame would transfer to tonight.  And I was wondering if she’d get comfortable on the tall dogwalk tonight as well  given she only ran it once last week on her own, then got scared.  We’ve done a little bit of dogwalk in the driveway this week, but the weather has really limited the amount of time we had to practice out there.

We arrived early, just as the instructor was beginning to set stuff up.  Katie and I went off to another ring to do a little warming up.  I use heeling and other obedience stuff as a way to get her focused on me so that we don’t waste class time remembering that we’re there to work.  It doesn’t take Katie long to figure out she’s back in school and there are TREATS available if she pays attention.  In fact this evening about half an hour before we  we would normally leave home for school we asked her if she wanted to go to SCHOOL! and she got so excited we had to leave the house early to get her to stop whining at the front door. 🙂  (Can you tell who rules at our house?)

As my husband was helping the instructor get the agility ring set up  Katie and I watched impatiently.  I was so excited to see if she’d run the A-Frame;  husband hadn’t seen her do that yet.  Once it was up and locked I walked her into the ring to sniff it.  She sniffed once, looked up at me and ran up and over it!  She caught me by surprise and I had to sort of trot along after her as we were attached by the leash!  Of course husband had his back to us and missed it.  No problem.  As soon as she got down the other side she grinned, turned around and ran over it again!  He saw that one and we all cheered for her.  The instructor (who had never seen her successfully run it before either) said “Well look at YOU!” and then asked me how she was on the dogwalk.  I didn’t really know as she’d only run it once the week before and then balked.  So Katie and I walked over to it and she sniffed it.  She wasn’t too keen about walking up the ramp until I picked her up and put all four feet on the yellow, held her tummy with one hand and started walking her up.  “OH!” she said…”WALK IT”  I remember THAT!” And she started trotting, went up and across and down the other side without me touching her.  And then turned around and RAN back across it on her own! “No sweat Mom!”

Class started with dogwalk, and all the dogs trotted right over without problem.  Now we’re focusing on getting them to do the 202o at the end.  Even Katie stopped when I told her to TOUCH!  Then we added the tire to the dogwalk.  No problem.  After that we did a series of 3 jumps and then tunnel; we were practicing pushing and pulling the dog, sending them to the correct entrance of the tunnel which was shaped in a tight U.  Katie loved the jumps, but had difficulty doing tunnel.  There was no room for me to run past the entrance, so each time I slowed or stopped she’d pop back out.  That was frustrating.  She was successful eventually but it wasn’t a sure thing.   The first time she successfully jumped then ran through the tunnel she ran out the other end, and while I was fumbling for a treat to reward her, she spotted the dogwalk across the room and ran straight for it and was up and over it before I had time to react!  We all laughed.   Silly shy little pup, afraid of everything, was choosing her own agility course now!

We also did a combination of table and chute.  She hadn’t seen chute in a long time and the first attempt she ran back out the entrance.  But after that she was fine with the chute and I was always there to reward her when she successfully popped out at the other end.  I was really pleased she didn’t have any real issues with it.  Our only problem was with the teeter.  She’ll run up it, then jump off at the midpoint.  Even when it’s not moving.  I asked the instructor why she was doing that, and the instructor said “Because she’s a smart dog.  She knows it’s going to move!”  So we have work to do on that obstacle, I think it will be our most challenging one of all.

Our last run of the night was tire, dogwalk, A-frame, table with a down,  and chute.  Katie loved every second of it.  This is our next to last class.  I’m going to miss it after it’s finished.  I think Katie will too.  We’re already investigating plans to build some jumps and a dogwalk for her.  Maybe if we’re ambitious we’ll build her a teeter. Looks like this summer is going to be a lot of fun!

If we can just get this darn snow to melt!