John Heffernan

Wyatt is entered in Open A and Novice B Saturday.  I can enter him in Novice B since he has no CDX legs yet (not for lack of trying!)  Patriot is entered in Open A.  He can’t compete in Novice anymore since he received a high in trial (HIT.)  I have been working Patriot quite a bit especially on his weak areas (retrieves, broad jump, and long sit.)  We’ll see.  Wyatt can totally do all of Open but his nerves and separation anxiety get in the way at trials but maybe we’ll get lucky.

Wyatt fell off a dogwalk at a trial on New Years and I had hoped to get him more comfortable with the dogwalk last weekend by renting some ring time.  He went right up the dogwalk, which was great.  But later on, he slipped and refused to go on again.  He has also had some issues with our old dogwalk at home.  I had tried to resurface that one but still found it to be unsafe.  I really am seeing how important rubber contacts are and/or really good surfaces and stability in dogwalks.

Trying to get him back on right after really backfires.  Sometimes, well meaning judges will urge you to carry your dog back onto the dogwalk after a fall.  That does not work with Wyatt.  I need to trust him to know what is safe for him though some encouragement in the form of treats and rewards may be needed initially after some time passes.

The owner of this dogwalk had reported that other dogs had fallen off and a friend had the same experience. When I suggested it was not safe, I was told it must be because NADAC dogs are used to rubber contacts.  The surfaces were definitely slippery.  Hope other dogs don’t have issues.

I am looking into a rubber dogwalk for home and will not use a wooden surface for Wyatt again.  We never had much luck at Chances with courses with dogwalks so I don’t think it will affect our quest for a NADAC championship much though I had hoped we could actually get better at Chances courses with dogwalks.  We’ll see how Wyatt reacts in our first trial in early April.  May have to take a break from Regular and Touch and Go until we get a new dogwalk at home and play with it for a while.

I have been working with Patriot much more in obedience, taking him to a local class on occasion.  I should be taking him to class more often because I saw that he could use more proofing even though practice at home has been improving.  He is great at heeling and has a good, though not immediate, drop on recall.  Main issue is lack of confidence/desire on retrieves and stepping on the boards (only at trials) on the broad jump.  He will also sometimes go down on the long sit.  I have been working on increasing the desire for the dumbbell.  I see improvements but can’t throw too far at the trial.  Not sure what to do about the broad jump except use different boards and take him to class and put some pressure on him.  He is a much slower learner than Wyatt but a much more confident dog.  So when he “gets it”, he is much more likely to perform in the trial setting.  We are entered in Open A in March.  I have Wyatt entered too but more for fun at least point with something like 15-20 NQs in Open A.

This dog Hugo must be awesome.  I think they live near Kansas City.  I was happy that Wyatt was first or second in most of the games.

2010 NADAC Agility  Whippet Standins

Rank    Points   Class                   Dog                   Handler

1 100         Chances                Hugo                  Kiely Grundahl

1 90           Hoopers                 Hugo                  Kiely Grundahl

2 40           Hoopers                 Wyatt                  John Heffernan

1 100         Jumpers                Hugo                  Kiely Grundahl

2 60           Jumpers                Wyatt                  John Heffernan

3 50           Jumpers                Kyro                   Victoria Damant

1 210         Regular                 Hugo                  Kiely Grundahl

2 100         Regular                 Wyatt                  John Heffernan

3 40           Regular                 Kyro                   Victoria Damant

1 60           TouchNGo            Wyatt                  John Heffernan

2 50           TouchNGo            Hugo                  Kiely Grundahl

1 170         Tunnelers              Wyatt                  John Heffernan

2 160         Tunnelers              Hugo                  Kiely Grundahl

3 30           Tunnelers              Pippin                Barbara Lentz-Gattignolo

1 110         Weavers                Hugo                  Kiely Grundahl