I have a lovely 2 year old Sheltie (she just turned 2). She is super smart and learns quickly (as most Shelties are and do). And what's most important is that she absolutely LOVES the sport. She wimpers in anticipation as soon as she gets in the agility club's parking lot and anxiously races to the door. It's so cute! We've taken four 8 week courses. I'm not a member yet so I can't practice there whenever I want. I'm looking into membership though. It's an indoor club and the trial will be outdoors. Classes have ended for now but I was going to try to do atleast 6-8 1/2 hr. private classes and practice at an open practice twice a week at two other clubs. She is a natural at the sport but I'm not. I do get nervous. And I don't always pay attention. I'm actually taking classes that prepare you for AG II which is good. I'll be entering AG I A obviously. I get confused with hand signals and cross overs and need to work a lot on distance control. (continued)|||The first poster had some good advice, especially about doing the walkthrough, and accuracy being more important than speed at this point. In addition:
#2 She waits for me to bring her up to the pause table instead of running up to the table herself when I say "UP, TABLE!". How can I work on that at home?
Can you build a small table for home? Or use a pause box? The table might be better - she's actually have to jump up on it, but the pause box is more "doable" at home.
# 3 She sometimes jumps up on the side of the see-saw, how can I make sure she gets up in front?
Training, training, training. Are you clicker training? Because you could set up a plank at home, painted with the contact zones, and click/reward for correct contact.
#4 How can I be less nervous?
This is hard, but try to focus on your dog during the lead up, not yourself.
#5 What is the biggest mistake newbies make?
Don't know - I'm one myself!!
What if I qualify at this show for all 3 trials and get my title but pre-entered another trail for AG I and AG II is full? Do they move me up anyways or do they refund my money? Can I still compete in AG I A if I got my title?
All organizations are different, and I'm in Canada with the AAC, but I think it depends if the club is allowing "move ups" during the trial. I know here, if you qualify into a higher level on one day of the trial, you can move up the next day. However, if your last Q is the first trial of the day, then for the rest of that day, you still have to run the level you entered at. And if it were me, I'd choose to run at the lower level instead of pulling my dog for a refund - all the practice you can get, especially in a trial environment, helps.
Good luck, and remember to have fun!!!|||You might want to search for and join a Yahoo Group on agility (you can probably find several specific to UKC agility even. They'll be better able to answer your questions than most posters here on Answers and you'll probably get more answers. You might even be able to find a group local to your area with a member or two that would be happy to meet up with you to practice a bit.
I'll give some of your questions a try...but I'm not particularly qualified to answer them myself. I've never competed in agility in any venue...only APDT Rally.
#1 She is fast but how can I get her to be even faster?
Right now you should be focusing on accuracy. Especially since you are new to this and admit yourself that you are easily lost on the course. Speed is the icing on the cake, but all the speed in the world won't help you qualify if you make lots of mistakes and rack up the faults or send your dog off course. Even if you take the entire alloted time to run the course, a clean run with no (or very few) faults is still a qualifying run and much better than a fast run with so many faults that you don't qualify.
#4 How can I be less nervous?
I wish I could help you there. Everyone gets nervous at trials. From my own experience and what I've seen in talking to other peoples, the only way to truly be less nervous is to go do it a few times. It gets easier each time you step onto the course. The other thing that might help is to think of it less as a competition (I'm up against all of these other dogs) and treat it more like you would a run through in your class. Try to remember that it doesn't really matter if you qualify or not...the MOST important thing is that you and your dog have fun, that's the REAL reason you're out there. My best rally run EVER with my older girl was one in which we did not qualify. She broke a stay (and only just barely)...but everything else she did perfectly. That one non-qualifying run was better than any of her qualifying runs have ever been and even though this time it really was the dog who messed up (usually it's me) I couldn't have been more proud of her.
#5 What is the biggest mistake newbies make?
I'm not sure about in agility, but I think in most events that have a walk-through one of the biggest mistake that newbies make is not taking advantage of the walk-through. A lot of times they'll only walk the course once. That's not really enough...especially if you run a little later in the line-up. You have 10 minutes (I think...the time might be different from UKC), use it to your advantage. Walk the course as many times as you can. Do it as though you were actually running the course with your dog. Practice where exactly you are going to give your cues and which signals you are going to use. Use this time to figure out how you are going to do any cross overs and try to anticipate any traps your dog might fall into. In rally, we all look like idiots walking the course with our imaginary "dogs," but practicing it several times without the dog makes a HUGE difference in how smooth the final run with the dog is.|||Lots of questions, I'll try to answer as succinctly as I can:
1. Best way to deal with confusion on cues and crosses is...practice and flatwork. Everyday, spend 10-12 minutes (broken up) working on this.
2. Best preparation for your first trial?
--make lists (because you'll forget stuff like...sunscreen, treats, registration card, directions, slip-lead, etc.).
--set some goals. And no, winning a title or finishing first are not good goals. Maybe you'll do those things maybe you won't. Here's two quick points: a friend of mine entered a trial and in her two days got the 3 Q's necessary to move up (this was USDAA) to the next class. She thought "this is EASY!" She then went 7 more trials before she got a Q. For your first couple of trials, it's not about the Q's and titles--it really isn't. If you aren't ready to move up, you shouldn't (regardless of what happens with titles).
3. She is fast but how can I get her to be even faster? Two ways--pre-cue better (ie: less confusion and no late cues--which kills confidence which kills drive) and be positive all the time. Also, don't have long training sessions. And get out of UKC. It's fine but it doesn't reward speed like USDAA or AKC or NADAC do.
4. She waits for me to bring her up to the pause table instead of running up to the table herself when I say "UP, TABLE!". How can I work on that at home? Build your own table. Use your bed inside the house. Put a target on the table and gradually fade the target.
5. She sometimes jumps up on the side of the see-saw, how can I make sure she gets up in front? I assume you're saying that she skips the front contact. Start by just working with a board. When you do a run and she does the teeter poorly, don't reward for it--be precise about what you expect.
6. How can I be less nervous? Depends upon why you get nervous. Short answers: develop a start routine, think positive thoughts, breath well before running, work on memorizing courses (fear of forgetting the course is a big issue for newbies).
6. What is the biggest mistake newbies make? Late or confusing cues.
7. Can you think of any books or DVDs that I can read or watch to help? Tape yourself doing a run during a lesson and have your trainer critique you. Than tape your coach running your dog on the same course to compare and contrast. As for other resources, subscribe to Clean Run Magazine.
8. And what can I work on at home? Do agility work in brief periods a couple of times a day. You said the table was an issue so start with that.
9. What are some little things that I may overlook that judges deduct points for? Depends upon what you're competing in. At a NADAC trial as a novice, my dog has a qualifying run and than ran out of the course before I got my lead on him--which led to a NQ. Frankly, at this stage I think you're making a mistake to focus on Q's and points. Instead, focus on learning and your dog having a good time. If you do both things than the trial will be a rousing success and you'll get better at agility.
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