A Day of Dog Training

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Ruth Turner

Today I was at Dig It from 11am til 6pm, and it was fantastic!

This morning started with a coffee and a chat with a friend in the new seminar room above the agility arena.

Then I moved outside into the sunshine to help with the Agility taster session. All dogs and owners that attend an Obedience course are invited to try out agility in a free taster session. Pups of all ages can come along as it is designed to be low impact with just a few jumps on the floor and the tunnel. I always enjoy seeing the owners reactions to their first go at agility and seeing how each different dog takes to it.

Lunchtime and I got Guinness out onto the field for a free run while I ate my butties and then we did a little box work and independent tunnel. During my tunnel work I was holding Guinness’ collar saying “tunnel tunnel tunnel” and then releasing and throwing the reward onto his exit path.

It was only after I had moved away that I realised my tunnel command is “in”…. WTF Ruth?!

What a numpty! I’ve always regretted having “in” as my command as it’s a little harsh and short and always more useful in other places. Well apparently I have done the first steps to change it.

A quick sit down to finish my lunch in glorious sunshine (although sitting on my coat as it is still chilly and damp) and I planned my next class.

2pm I had two puppy classes to teach, covering for Katie. I really enjoy covering a class as it gives you a little bit of free rein to be naughty and have lots of fun (not that classes aren’t fun anyway). I covered this class at Week 3 and today at Week 7 so it was fantastic to revisit and see their progress.

I used some Rally exercises to improve the heelwork and we also worked on focusing when next to other dogs, recalls, leave it and stays.

Then with an hour to kill I got Guinness back out for a little bit of contact work inside and rear crosses. His seesaw is lovely and committed however the A frame was very creepy crawly. Guinness bounces onto the bottom lovely with drive but when performing the full A frame he didn’t stop so I put him in a stay down for a minute and then retried and it was very slow and crawly. I wonder if I have knocked Guinness’ confident by “punishing”. I left the A frame alone and instead worked on jumps and tunnel with some handling.

5pm and the cavalry arrived to load up for the show. An hour later we were finishing setting up at Alsager for the Can You Dig It Winter Series Show tomorrow. One of judges Lou has been rather poorly so I have stepped up to Judge the morning for her. This gives me and Guinness a different competition day, as he will be in the car all morning and then the classes we will be running in the afternoon are likely to be Beginners. Not For Competition as normal but this removes the opportunity of weaves. However it is start lines that I am struggling with more than anything and I can focus on that goal tomorrow.

6.30pm home time!

Fantastic day! What more would you want to be doing. I am living the dream!

January & February Dig It Winter Series

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Ruth Turner

The first show of 2014 started with Dig It Winter Series.

January

Lydia was away so I helped to run the show with a few other Dig It guys. I had a lot of fun but I was very busy in between runs. Amanda Hampson judged the Advanced and Intermediate Jumping and it was a pleasure to see and try her courses! I am continuing with NFC runs and chose to do a 9 obstacle sequence from her course. There was a flick flack/serp that didn’t quite go to plan with a tunnel drawing them away from the third jump, I couldn’t get it even with two tries. However weaves we managed 12 poles once but 3/4 times popped out at pole 10.

Amanda Hampson - Intermediate Jumping (Course Section that I ran)

Amanda Hampson – Intermediate Jumping
(Numbers not correct to full course)

In Agility I made my own course but included a nice 3 jump sequence from the judges course. Again we popped out on 10 weaves so I didn’t attempt them again. The sequence didn’t go to plan either however our contacts were good.

Watching a friend run I saw them make a handling choice different to mine that worked much better! I watched and immediately thought “of course, why didn’t I do that!”. It seemed like such an obvious option yet I’d missed it. The same with the Jumping!

I am failing to see all of the handling options. I look with blinkers on and see one or two options, make a decision and then go for it. It’s something that I need to work on and also an ability that I want to pass to my students, so I best get better at it myself! Perhaps more time walking the course?! Or at least concentrate more while walking and broaden my mind.

Steeplechase I blasted for a run but I’d got my Dublin boots on and I tried to lazy handle/push Guinness out and i left him too far. We didn’t train track! I went off the rails.

February

This show was a lot of fun! I had a bit of a lazy start (I was there by 8.30am nonetheless!) and had a wait until first run so I got my camera out and did some photos and filming for Dig It. There were three rings with two clubs providing ring parties so everything was well run and the rings moved quickly. Agility first and a tricky handling section with lots of options got quite a few people pondering while walking it. I made my choice and was really pleased as it worked well, flowing smoothly into the tunnel! (Hurrah my course choices are getting better perhaps). I ran for training but stuck to the course as it allowed everything I wanted to work on.

I filmed the worst of my two training runs so be open-minded when watching this, it went much better the first time…

[There is a lot to analyse and take away from that video but I wont bore you with it in this post! Important thing is the fecking weaves! Epic Guinness!]

6 weaves and we nailed the entries plus Guinness powered through them so fast he got stuck! Really impressed! Contacts were good although he released on my movement more than he should, however he had stopped so promising for competition.

Jumping was a nice up and down blasty run with 6 weaves from the tunnel. Again amazing weaves and only missed 1 out of 5.

I pushed our waits aiming to leave Guinness closer to the edge of the ring. As you can see from the video he doesn’t even think about it in the agility, as soon as the lead is off he goes. However our other runs were better with some nicer waits. I’m struggling to see how we will bridge the training-competition gap! At the moment it looks like a huge, bottomless valley.

Steeplechase was a fun course from Becky Sargent with two tunnels next to each other. Although some say this tests nothing, as it is not obstacle discrimination, I had a lot of fun! I didn’t guide Guinness enough nor judge how long his jump is (partly due to not walking it) and and we got Eliminated when he took the furthest tunnel rather than the one closest to me. Never mind still a fun run with some good distance work and rear crosses.

Only two more shows to go and competition season is creeping closer and closer! I am hopeful that our waits outdoors will be better as Guinness was always happier on grass last year. The Dig It Club Comps start in March so I’ll be out there as soon as possible, pushing and testing our waits!

Derby UKA

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Ruth Turner

An hours drive up the A50 and I arrived on time to walk my first course. What a lovely venue! At Broomfield College Equestrian Centre, the Derby Show is very minimal with a small car park, generous exercise field, indoor equestrian centre big enough for two large rings, a secretary room and heated toilets. No viewing gallery and no cafe.

I was amazed at how quiet the show was. There must have been very low entries and the show was quickly flowing through, finishing at a reasonable time of 5pm. There was at most 20 dogs in a height which gave everyone a good chance.

First up was Agility. I was pleased to see Jump -> Dog Walk, which allowed for a good running start as we are still working on our waits. There were only 2 others queuing in front of me and we set off nicely. Jump into weaves was minimum spacing and Guinness knocked the pole but got the weave entry, and then popped out at about pole 4. It certainly wasn’t a comfortable entry. Never mind, our contacts were good and he didn’t falter on the aluminium.

A few hours break and it was time for beginners Jumping. A nice fast course similar to a Steeplechase (well what else can you give to Beginners). It started off in a big spacious corner away from queuing dogs and I was able to play around with Guinness’ waits a little on the lead while the previous dog cleared the ring. I unclipped his lead, stood up and released. A wait! Hurrah. I have already decided I am going to start to push the waits at Dig It shows now. Off we went on a lovely run and then Guinness went into the less-obvious end of the tunnel and I didn’t front cross very well and he ran past a few jumps. The rest went well and the best(?) option for us at the end was to rear cross the weaves after the tunnel. First attempt he turned back to me away from weaves. Second go and all 12 weaves perfectly while I rear crossed. YES YES YES!

Time for lunch and a long wait for the final class of the day. I didn’t enter the games class, Gamblers, as I didn’t know how it worked. I didn’t know how it worked as I hadn’t tried to learn. Silly reason I know, but I decided to save the money and just do 3 runs.

Watching Gamblers was great and I happily understood it after listening to the judges briefing, talking to people and watching. I must start entering the games classes and having a go! Plus once into Novice you have to gain games points to progress.

Time for Steeplechase. The start fence was backing onto the queue ringside and with 1 crazy Collie and 1 staring male dog either side of us in the queue, Guinness was not happy. We ran start across a box and Guinness veered off and took a side jump. Gutted. Even more so as the rest of the run was amazing! Guinness ran ahead lovely and I front crossed in some fantastic places to take the best line.

That was it! As the sun set it was time to pack up and go home. Everything was muddy from the exercise field and it was just like going home from a Scout camp. A great venue and a great show. It was nice and quiet with lovely big spacious rings. My only slight gripe was that the rings were so big that the start jumps could have been a little further into the ring rather than right on the edge. It’s certainly something that I am going to think about more when Judging. However there was generous space and its all part of agility.

Dig It Dogs Open Day

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Ruth Turner

Wow today was amazing! I’d organised an Open Day at Dig It Dog Training Club, completely done by me, my ideas, my planning, my mess! We had no idea how it would go or how popular it would be, but … Continue reading →

A Sunny Walk

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Ruth Turner

I always enjoy getting outside with my dog but especially so if it’s nice and sunny. This week I had an afternoon off, it was glorious weather and we got out for an early afternoon stroll. When I walk my … Continue reading →

The Second Agility Show

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Ruth Turner

September saw us back at Dig It Dog Training Club for our second UKA Show and Dig It Unaffiliated competition. Now with 8 months of training under our belt, I loaded my pockets with treats and headed off for another … Continue reading →

First Agility Competition Experience

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Ruth Turner

So after 5 months of training, and about a month of being told we should start competing, Guinness and I went along to our first ever UK Agility competition today! My training club, Dig It Dogs, were hosting a UKA … Continue reading →

Week 5! NHS Couch to 5K

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Ruth Turner

Wow! This week really steps it up! Week 5 is split into three podcasts, each run is different!

Every session starts and finishes with a 5 minute warm-up and cool-down walk.

Run 1: 5 minute run. 3 minute walk. 5 minutes run. 3 minute walk. 5 minute run.

Run 2: 8 minutes run. 5 minute walk. 8 minute run.

Run 3: 20 minutes run.

Gosh! Having just completed Run 3, doing 5 minute runs in Run 1 feels so long ago! It felt like such an achievement. Each session I started off with a little bit of dread, then finished with a great feeling of elation and achievement! It sounds and feels like crazy progress but it really works. The big one is run 3, running for 20 minutes! I started off sure that I wouldn’t be able to do it, but quickly pushed that thought away and kept telling myself I could. Laura said I could do it too and I believed her!

It’s all about pacing yourself. Which is easy by now! Plus I find breathing nice and easy too! For the first few weeks I was panting away sucking in and out breath. During week 4 and 5 I’ve been able to concentrate on slow breathing, in through the nose and out through the mouth. I still breath in through my mouth sometimes and get a little out of breath but that’s fine.

I couldn’t believe it when I ran for 20 minutes tonight! The most I had done was 8 minutes and suddenly I’d done 20 minutes! The feeling is awesome. And it’s doo-able! Almost easy! When Laura told me there was 2 minutes left I started pushing faster and getting less tired, almost as if I’d hit a runners high! (If there is such a thing). I actually struggled less on my 20 minutes run than on my 8 minute runs. Wow. To think only 5 weeks ago I couldn’t really run for more than 2 minutes, and some people can’t even do that when they start this. Running with my dog outside in the fresh air is so beneficial as well, and it’s great for my dog! Although he finds it far easy than me being a Border Collie.

This plan really really works! And feels sooo good. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done so far.

NHS Couch to 5K – Week 1 (ruthturner.wordpress.com)
Week 2! NHS Couch to 5k (ruthturner.wordpress.com
Week 3! NHS Couch to 5K (ruthturner.wordpress.com)
Week 4! NHS Couch to 5K (ruthturner.wordpress.com

Ruffwear Webmaster Dog Harness

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Ruth Turner

During a long hike in the Easter break we came across a number of styles that were very difficult for Guinness to climb or jump over, due to uneven ground on the other side or the height and design of … Continue reading →