Seeker's De-Butt!!

We decided to enter Seeker in an NADAC trial on Saturday. It was fairly close, relatively speaking, and we were going to go anyway, so what the heck. It was treated as a fun match to see where he's at with his training. He was entered in the Novice Standard classes (2 classes to be exact) where we could work on our dog walk and a-frame contacts (which caused several dogs some problems with it's rubber numbed surface and low height), right along with our start lines.

I knew going in what my criteria would be: If he broke his sit position at the start... GAME OVER!!! On the two contact pieces (NADAC feels the teeter isn't safe), if he missed his contact (2 on/2 off) then I'd put him back on. NADAC allows training in the ring, within limits. So this would be a great opportunity for us.

It was the end of the day by the time we got on course.....I'm talking END OF THE DAY, as we didn't even get into the ring until 5 PM or so. After sitting in a "box" all day, I'm sure Seeker was ready to do SOMETHING!!! ANYTHING!!!!!

Seeker's set up at the start line is to sit between my feet. I tell him "feet", he sits there until I release him. I don't tell him to stay, as sit/down, whatever means to hold that position until you're told to do something else. It's all he's ever known and it seems to work for him. I like this set up as I can go either to the right or left without having to worry about which side to set him up on.

At the trial I decided on the starts I would set him up and run away from him to get into position. In essence, I was testing his ability to hold position. To be honest, this is nothing different then what he's been asked to do at home or even at practice jumps at AKC trials, so I didn't think he's honestly break. He didn't.

I created a lot of Seeker's impulse control abilities come from playing CRATE GAMES! If you've never done these types of exercises with your dog, get some information on them and DO IT! It's not only fun, it's fantastic for training not only impulse control, but also drive. Anyway....I'm off track....again.

I couldn't have been more pleased with his start lines, weave poles and contacts. I told him to "bottom" and kept running until I got to the next jump, only then did I stop and release him. He was perfect!

Okay, I'll admit he TOTALLY missed his A-Frame contact on his first run. This was due to it only being 5' high and as he caught air over the top he got "nothing but net"!! In other words, his front feet hit the ground before his back feet hit the contact piece (so much for NADAC safety). He really tried, it just wasn't meant to be. I didn't take him back over because as soon as he landed he was stone still. He really tried!!!

Overall, it was an excellent experience. We have things to work on, like building value for those jumps and continued training on weaves. But I'm very happy with what he's done so far.