agilitymad Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 can anyone suggest how to help my handling skills at agility as i'm turning into a misrable nagging woman who Lucky understandably doesn't find exciting enough to want to be near Every thursday night we train and it starts of well with me with a squiky voice and being upbeet and happy but end up with me turning into a horrible nagging banshe as lucky runs of for a sniff and doen't come back i have lost all confedence in myself as a handler i feel sick when we arrive at training and i now that Lucky picks up on this and it makes matters worse its my fault not Lucky's i'm ment to be going to the uka show in oxon with a friend on sunday but i really don't want to go and feel sick at the thought of it all do you thing you can get agility depression please someone give me a good kick up the jacksee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanishPastry Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Can you go back a level and only do things you know you will succeed at? By only doing things you know you will both cope with, you get to praise more and get frustrated less. Instead of running whole courses, break them down to bits of 2 or 3 obstacles, have treats visible in your hand etc. Maybe your timing needs a bit of working on? Does he know a "look at me" command? If he does, get it in there QUICKLY before he wanders off, after one or 2 jumps, just to keep him focused and with you. For a couple of weeks we had an instructor who I really don't click with, and she annoyed me so much that I couls not hide it from Indy no matter how hard I tried, and Indy got insecure over it, so I understand your frustration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophie Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 I know the feeling well - Morse can be soooo good, but then some weeks he'll spook, and I can't get anything out of him, and I just get more and more frustrated, which makes him more insecure. I'd also say go back a level and do simpler courses that you both know you can do, to rebuild confidence. Then, slowly start adding in more complicated things. Choose one thing you are going to be concentrating on each week. Make that your focus, and you can ignore problems anywhere else. With Morse, the things I concentrate on are eg weaves, working ahead, tighter turns, startline waits. I find having a specific focus helps me ignore mistakes he is making elsewhere on the course, so i don't get so frustrated. Also maybe try rewarding for shorter sequences. Break the course up into several sections, and reward after each one. Then try and do the whole course through (depends on the set up of your class). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 God I have loads of sympathy for you but no real help other than perhaps take a couple of weeks off and just go for lovely long relaxing walks instead of training. Dudley has started being a complete a**e again at shows and biting my ankles again after a fantastic season last year. At Supadogs and Thames I was serioulsy thinking of giving up with him and I still might depending on how he behaves this weekend or I might persevere like I did for the 3 years before last year I train 3 nights a week and last week was the first time ever I've thought 'I don't want to go' so one night we didn't and boy did I miss it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucyandmeg Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 do you thing you can get agility depression Absolutely! I'm suffering from it at the moment!! Sometimes i think you have to reassess the situation and look at whether you are actually having fun. At the moment i am seriously thinking about giving up agility. My dogs are good, they get placed on occaisions, despite me being a rubbish handler, but for me thats the problem. THe funs gone. When i first started getting a clear round was my aim and we were just having fun. Then we started to get placings and my competitiveness went up a gear and i was disappointed if we didn't go clear. Now my boyfriends dog has started going clear and is miles faster than meg becuase she has much longer legs and actually won the jumping at thames a second faster than all the other dogs and i am so jealous despite myself. I can't shake off the jealous, depressed feeling knowing that meg will never be as fast as willow, and i'm starting to resent them for it. I know it sounds awful, i don't want to feel this way but i just can't help it. Stupid when you think other people would love to get placings, but i just can't seem to get rid of the feeling of we're not good enough and never will be, o i'm thinking of giving up competiting and just having fun cos i don't want to be that kind of person. But anyway hey ho, thats my problem. Going back to lucky, perhaps it would be worth taking a break, letting both of you relax a little. Its hard not to want to do well and compete, but when it starts stressing both of you out like that its not worth the hassle. Hes still young, it takes a while for some dogs to settle down and become reliable, it took willow and meg 5 years before they started listening to us and going clear and i think most dogs are the same. I can't really offer any tips as i know how hard you have worked and know that you've tried most things, but just remember at the end of the day you've got a lovely dog there it doesn't matter if he doesn't do agility competitions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum24dog Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 I can't shake off the jealous, depressed feeling knowing that meg will never be as fast as willow Talk to successful handlers and you'll find that many of them learnt their handling skills with a relatively slow dog. How long have you been competing? Are you only in it for the places you might get or do you enjoy the whole scene? Most people I know take part as much for the social side as anything. You'll find as time goes on you'll get to know lots of people you see week in week out. TBH, I'd give my right arm for an OH who shared my interest, whether he was more successful than me or not. I am in a similar position in that I started in agility, had very little success with my first competing dog, did better with my second but then my daughter got involved and proved to be a much better handler than me. She started competing with a friend's dog, then I gave her the dog I wasn't having much joy with, then I gave her my good dog once she went Advanced because she was wasted on me. ATM I only run our two problem dogs, and then not very often, but my daughter has finally got a new dog that looks as if he could be rather good, so the satisfaction I'm getting is from seeing them progress. I still enjoy going to shows just as much as I see us as a team, not as rivals. Pam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucyandmeg Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 I've been doing agility for about 3 years, and competing for about 2. Don't get me wrong, megs fast, we usually get placed 2nd to 4th if we go clear, but at only 18in at the shoulder she is never going to be as fast as some of the bigger dogs. Its never bothered me before, plenty of my friends have done well before and apart from the odd pang i have been pleased for them, but theres always been an element of competitiveness between me and my boyfriend, willow and meg and i guess i feel that hes got what it takes to go to the top but megs always going to be second best. Stupid i know, but its taken all the fun out of it. I do enjoy the social side, but the jealousy and competitiveness is really getting me down and ruining it for me. My second dog is a spaniel and nowhere near as fast, but i don't getthe same competitive feelings i get with him cos i know that he will never win. I just wish i didn't feel this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum24dog Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 at only 18in at the shoulder she is never going to be as fast as some of the bigger dogs. Not necessarily true. Small usually means tighter, which compensates for possibly not being quite as fast over the ground as the bigger dogs. A friend's collie is no bigger than that - she won out of Starters at her first show Easter last year, went Senior 7 weeks later, now Advanced and winning against some of the best. But don't measure yourself against people like that - another friend who has been one of the most successful handlers in the country over the last few years took 3 years to get her first clear round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlmckay Posted July 2, 2007 Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 Not necessarily true. Small usually means tighter, which compensates for possibly not being quite as fast over the ground as the bigger dogs.A friend's collie is no bigger than that - she won out of Starters at her first show Easter last year, went Senior 7 weeks later, now Advanced and winning against some of the best. Totally agree! When the maxi's run, I can see that I'm in the ribbons, but then the mini's run and I can kiss my ribbon goodbye! The mini dogs are very, very fast! In relation to their height, a lot of them aren't jumping as high as the maxi dogs need to and it's rare to see a mini drop a rail. Tui is a slow dog and I can always be in the right place at the right time and I know we'll pick up a clear round. Raven however, comes out like a bullet out of gun and it's a mad scramble for me to keep up! Tui is definitely the nicer dog to run! Agilitymad, if you're getting upset at competing and training, take a break. When you come back, you may notice your dog has "freshened up" and enjoys it again. Try another sport? Tricks and clicker training to get that focus back on you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabbagepatch88 Posted July 4, 2007 Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 Hi, I think once we start competing and "doing well" we all start getting competative. We did about 5 shows last year and only got 2 unplaced clear rounds because of weaves! Very fustrating! So my aim this year was to get a clear round - he got a clear at his first show of the year then a week later we got our first placings and came home with a 2nd, and 6th and a clear round. At Supadogs, 2 months later, we won out of grade 1, and have just qualified for the Agility Club Starters Challenge 2008. I was only going for clear rounds But basically, now, because Monty is so inconsistant (he can be absoloutly flying for months and then decide he doesnt like weaves anymore), i never know when he'll do well, which keeps it fun, because it makes me work harder at training to keep it consitant. However, a lady in my class has a dog who is really really consistant and we're quite good friends, and at shows she's at I find myself letting Monty down because im trying too hard to "beat" the consitant dog that never puts a paw wrong I always get a pang when she goes clear and Monty's been a pain. I personally love Monty's inconsistancy because it makes me work, and its a nice surprise if he goes clear and does well, and I know that if we do get a clear it will be in the top 10. Plus I just like spending the day with him, and meeting other like minded people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Rescue Lover Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 Go back to basics with Lucky. Does lucky focus on a toy or food? Do you use clicker?. If you do use clicker, I would suggest that you click and treat lucky after each jump/contact/tunnels etc. This will keep lucky focused on you and less likely to go off sniffing. Then alternate the treats. Still click for a jump, but maybe treat after the second jump instead of each jump. I find by going back to basics, it helps to reinforce the behaviour and gets the dog back to being focused on you again. If they are toy orientated, ask them to go over the jump and throw the toy for them and have a game of pull/rag the toy etc. Make it fun again. Show them you're just as exciting to be with as the smell they want to sniff (I do understand as I have a yorkie terrier who insists on scent marking everywhere and god help us if there is a smell of 'whatever' anywhere in the field - she could sniff it out at 100 feet ) Good luck and don't be too despaired I'm sure you can get it back again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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