John Heffernan

I set up a course at home that mimicked the part of last Sunday’s Chances course we did not get.  It is a very common part of many NADAC Chances courses.  Here’s the part we missed.

I set up something very similar at home except with an A-Frame.  Wyatt took the dogwalk but did the rest of the course brilliantly.  I thought I did not back up enough to get enough of a push out to the tunnel.  I did repeat the “Out, tunnel” command several times, which was one of my goals.

Anyway, on the first day at home, I just could not get him to take the tunnel unless I was very close.  I was surprised because I thought we were much further along.  So I planned to work on it and gradually improve the distance.  Well, on the second day, after and initial failure, Wyatt was doing the tunnel (and the A-Frame if I signaled that) with ease.  Well, I was happy but still mystified on why it was so difficult the day before.  Was my timing off?   Did we just need some practice?  Is the A-Frame in the yard a big draw because of all the treats that have been received there?

In any case, I did get clear on what kind of signal I need to give.  It has to be a strong push against his line 1/3 of the way to the A-Frame with arm extended (but not pumped) with multiple voice commands.  I am finding with agility now that so little is about training the dog what to do.  It is about 99% finding the right signal and timing to give to your dog!

We are going to stop in tomorrow at a NADAC trial and just do  Chances and Regular courses.

It was not a good feeling dropping off Patriot for a procedure Tuesday.  Wyatt and Patriot are the first dogs I have ever owned and I am starting to see them age (as well as myself!) Worst case thoughts crossed my mind of cancer or problems with the anesthesia.  I made it out with a tight throat but was hoping for the best for his throat exam.  Well, it turned out he has laryngeal paralysis.  It can be quite serious but my sense from the vet is that it is not in his case, at least for now.  Dr Dwight said he would test Patriot’s thyroid levels because low thyroid can cause LP.  This would actually be good because otherwise, there is no treatment barring surgery with lots of possible complications.

Thinking back, a lot of things clicked:  not wanted to be active in the heat, lots of panting in heat compared to Wyatt, reverse sneezing, gagging at the end of lure coursing runs (which can also be a symptom of heart murmurs, which he also has), and trouble swallowing.  Even though we have just noticed the voice changes this year, I believe he has had symptoms for a while.  So I kind of resigned myself to stopping him in agility, at least in the summer.

Well, I got call from Dr Dwight that his thyroid levels are, in fact, low (.7).  That also causes low energy levels.  This I know from my wife, who has low thyroid levels and who takes supplements.  Anyway, looks like Patriot will also be getting supplements.  Hopefully, it will help his LP and his energy levels.  Who knows?  He could be better than ever in agility with thyroid supplements.  It’s funny that we always considered many of these symptoms (for 10 years!) part of his personality!

In reflecting on problems with NADAC Chances (distance game) at home and at trials, I came up with the following mantra to remember before I run.

1)  Keep moving!  Don’t stop suddenly.

2)  Communicate.  Keep a stream of commands going.

3)  Cue early.  I need to cue Wyatt as he is in or right before the previous obstacle.

Seems to be working much better at home and at trials. We had a nice Chances run today.  Just missed one thing (one of the easier parts).

I am retiring Wyatt from Jumpers.  This was once his best class.  However, he is consistently avoiding jumps.  I have to think that too much jumping, even at 12 inches, is causing some pain for him.  He seems fine with the limited jumps in the rest of the NADAC classes.  It’s a little hard to give up Jumpers but I have to trust what he is telling me.

I felt really rusty with Wyatt most of the weekend but not with Patriot, who had one his best weekends every going 7 for 9 with 6 firsts.  He looked great and you would never guess he is almost ten.  He was running as fast as I have ever seen him run.  I was really in synch with him and did not plan his runs at all, just adapting my plan for Wyatt on the fly.  That usually means throwing in some front crosses that I could not get to in time for Wyatt.

I was out of synch with Wyatt.  I was worried that he would refuse the dogwalk since we had some a bad fall in January and then refused one he slips on a little bit at a local agility facility.  But after a few initial tunnels with a tunnel dogwalk discrimination, he went up and was fine.  The next run, I could not push him out for a tunnel, expecting a tunnel suck!  Never assume!

We finally got more in synch today with 2 regular Qs and a tunnelers Q.  I am beating myself up for missing 2 easy Chances courses this weekend though.  Totally pulled him off course by pulling up abruptly.  ;-(

It was interesting how I could be so on with one dog and so off with the other.  Wyatt is much more sensitive to handling errors but I would not expect such a difference if my handling was totally off.  Maybe Wyatt was rusty too.  Glad we pulled it together for the end of the day!

I have been working with Wyatt on his sits in a different way.  For a long time, I did not worry about fidgeting and just focused on not going down.  But now, I am working on the fidgeting, especially the rear legs.  So I am rewarding for increasingly longer intervals of complete stillness.  Seems to be helping but not too confident it will cross over to the trial setting.

I am working with Patriot on out of sight sits, again, working up to longer and longer out of sight times.   I am also working to increase his motivation on retrieve on flat, which was our main problem in both open attempts.  I have been holding him back and saying, “Ready, ready, ready?” and I can feel the pressure of him wanted to go out and get the dumbbell.  I also back up when he is coming towards me and praising during the retrieve, which all seems to be increasing his motivation.  Trying to find a free weekend to enter him in Open again, not sure how many local indoor trials I can find easily.  May have to wait until summer.  But I really think he is close to being able to qualify.

I was very happy with Patriot’s performance in Obedience Open A Saturday.  His heeling was great.  He did every sit and stayed with me well.  We lost a total of 7 points.  He drop on recall was excellent too and he dropped faster than usual. We only lost 1 point.  I had a bad throw – too close – for the Retrieve on Flat.  My next throw went way far into a corner and Patriot did not go get it.  I should have broken his sit and set him up again and, of course, not thrown it so far.  He did his retrieve over jump and also, his broad jump, losing only a point or so on each.  He was walking the broad jump at trials, so that was great new.  He did go down on his sit but did the down.  We were working on a 189.  All in all, I am encouraged.  Will continue to work on the long sit and the retrieves, especially retrieve on flat.

Wyatt was very nervous Saturday with a very tall male judge.  However, he did do his recall, which typically is what we NQ on.  He also did his novice sits and stays.  Not sure I am going to continue to trial him, maybe just for fun.