Agility Class Recap

Gee, I really wish Merlin were in the group with the other small dogs instead of being with a border collie, wolfhound, and a big ridgeback-ish mix. Maybe then I could focus on agility instead of Merlin's aversion to large dogs. I almost think it was intentional - last night the little dog group only had 2 dogs in it, and one of them (and sometimes both) jumps the same jump height as Merlin. While it may be good for him to be forced to deal with the problem, I feel like I'm stressing out about it and it's affecting how Merlin learns and performs (and focuses). Last night he reverted back to growling and not focusing on me at ALL - like all our hard work just went down the drain. I think working that closely to these big dogs was too soon for him, and we may get thrown back to square one. And I'll have to go back to recreational agility again to de-stress.

Last week at class, we were working on weave pole entries - Popper did the set exactly once, and then would not even attempt the poles again. He normally loves the weave poles. He may skip a few poles, he may enter wrong - but he loves to weave. I figured he was just burnt out, and one of the instructors told me to take him back to channeled weaves instead. I worked on channeled weaves at home, but his work was sloppy and awful: he'd pop out a lot, and very, very rarely did I get a run-thru that was passable. I was discouraged.

Then this week, my other instructor found out about it, and feared he may have sustained some kind of strain or other injury in his back, since he just suddenly stopped weaving. She had me pat down his spine, and when I got over his very lower back, he flinched and backed away from me. She went to feel for herself, but Popper had wised on to us, and sat on my feet with his spine pressed into my legs. So, the chiropractor, who was JUST at our building the day before, and whom I had JUST seen to get Merlin's back adjusted, is being located at one of her many stops so I can make an appointment to get Popper's back possibly adjusted.

Hopefully, that's all it is. Both on the weaving front, and on the injury issue as well. We already take Merlin to get adjusted, so taking Popper too isn't a large problem (other than he is very excitable and clingy while we're there). However, if I continue to have problems with Popper's back, I may remove the weave poles entirely from his agility life and we'll just do level one forever. :) I don't anticipate this will happen, but then I never thought Popper would strain his back either. He was perfectly happy jumping, leaping, climbing, etc last night. Just would not weave. He did exactly one pole, and then ran alongside them.

Motion Reactive Dogs

After Merlin's scuffle at Agility last Tuesday, an instructor recommended I read "Control Unleashed," which is published by Clean Run Magazine.

I have to say, the book is amazing.

Essentially, it focuses on making the dog comfortable being around other dogs that are running and playing. How? By TREATING the dog for LOOKING at other dogs! It's revolutionary! The key point is that after looking at another dog, your pooch should look back at you. You're not forcing the dog to be focused entirely on you (which in a reactive dog is bad news), but rather be comfortable enough in the environment to pay attention to you. They learn that looking at other dogs and things is ok - provided they return their attention to you after a quick looksie.

I might explain it poorly, but if you're interested in animal behavior, it's definitely worth a look. It's not a quick fix, and she even states several times that a lot of dogs aren't cut out for her method (in fact, she emphasizes it so often that it sounds like only dogs with slight reactiveness are right for this training - which are probably the ones not actually seeking reactiveness training).

But I have some new tools I am taking with me to agility class tonight. We'll see how it goes.