Ever since it was released several months ago, I have been very interested in checking out the TACT program by Emma Parsons and Julie Robitalle. This program is intended for dogs who have fear of people, and I am interested in possibly using it (or elements of it) for Tessa, and, of course, to help fearful dogs in my Confidence and Self Control classes.
It was on sale a couple of weeks ago, so I finally bought the DVD set. One of my biggest questions about the program has been, "are there any techniques in this program that are distinct from those found in Control Unleashed". I have never gotten a sufficient answer to this question, although I have asked it in several online venues. So, I am now seeing for myself. The basic answer is - yes, some. There are also some elements of the TACT program for which I will substitute Control Unleashed games and structures, there is a good bit of overlap, but there are also some elements of TACT that are distinct from CU that I believe will be useful in their own right.
The first couple of DVD's provide and introduction to the program, and then detail foundation behaviors, management strategies, and safety considerations. It is mostly all good stuff, but very little of it was new to me. There is one foundation technique, "check it", where the dog learns to actually nose touch something (or someone) on cue, that was somewhat new to me. In the context of CU I have had handlers teach their dog to nose touch another person's hand, but that's not really a CU game per se.
Also, "look at me" is recommended in the TACT program, and I much prefer "Look at That" from CU. "Look at me" can be good management in a case where the dog is not ready to see a particular trigger, or the handler just wants to distract the dog from noticing something, but it is limited as a technique to actually teach a dog to see and deal with triggers in a more proactive and appropriate way.
That said, later on in the DVD, dogs are reinforced for looking calmly at their triggers, so there are LAT elements in the program, even if the technique is not named as such.
Finally, around the middle of the 3rd disk, the TACT program proper begins. I have only gotten into that a little, but so far I like what I see. I really like the idea of having set rituals that the dog does in the presence of a trigger, as a gauge to how well the dog is dealing with the presence of the trigger. So far there isn't much deal with "touch", but I'm hoping that is coming soon in the parts I haven't seen yet.
One thing that I really appreciate about this program is that it is very well presented and clearly explained. Someone who is brand new to reinforcement based behavior modification could watch this and understand it, and have a place to start in helping his or her dog.
For me it has been a great reminder that I need to get out there with Tessa and start doing some DS/CC work with her. Thus far I have allowed her to lead the way, and she has gradually become more and more comfortable with people around her. She actually loves the trial or competition setting where there are scads of people, all of whom are ignoring her completely! But she has it in her to be a confident, friendly, and affectionate dog with people. Not all shy dogs do, but Tessa certainly does. I believe that taking her through some of the steps in TACT will help her to become exactly that.
Tessa has learned, through her former experiences, that she needs to worry about hands reaching toward her. She can unlearn that. She has already unlearned much, much more than that. Tessa can learn that hands reaching toward her are a good thing that she can welcome.
This summer we are embarking on this work.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Tessa's CPE Adventures - Part 1
I've been meaning to write up some entries about Tessa's CPE experiences since her first CPE trial in March, but I haven't had a chance with all of the work that the last couple of months of school required. But here we are close to the beginning of summer break and I can finally take the time to sit down and write all about it.
Tessa's first CPE trial was back in March. I entered her in Snooker and Colors on a Friday evening. I thought this might be a good introduction to the venue since there would be less people present and it would be a bit quieter on the Friday evening. This was a wise decision.
I had very mixed emotions about taking Tessa to this trial. On one hand, I was eager to try CPE with her and I've always loved Westminster. On the other hand, Westminster trials were always a "Maddie and me" thing. Because it can be loud there, I never take Dean. So Westminster was always "girls day" with Maddie. And she and I always loved that. She also ran very well there, and Snooker was Maddie's game. She loved Snooker and excelled at it. I knew that I was going to be missing Maddie the entire time, and that, while I would also enjoy being there with Tessa, it was going to be a tough hurdle to get over.
But it had to be done. I was enjoying NADAC, but I missed CPE. I missed the games, I missed the atmosphere of the trials, I missed the people, and I really wanted to go play CPE with Tessa. If I'm going to do that, all of the "first time without Maddie" hurdles are going to have to be cleared. CPE Agility is going to have to become something that Tessa and I do together, and not just what Maddie and I did together. Fast forward to now, and this is definitely happening. But back in March at Westminster, we were literally taking the first step and it was kind of emotional for me at times.
Westminster isn't a "dog place", as many of the other trial sites are. It is an indoor sports complex. Tessa found it very overwhelming at first. She hesitated even going in the door because there was a set of two doors with a small vestibule in between. That's a "small room" to Tessa, and she is wary of small rooms. But another dog came along and went in before us and Tessa tucked herself in behind that dog and went through the entry. I hadn't seen her do that in ages and it showed me how strange and unfamiliar she found this particular venue.
It didn't get better once we were inside. The first area we came to was an area along the side of the arena separated from the Agility field by plexiglass. I doubt Tessa has ever seen anything like this in her life and she was set to turn tail and get out of there. But . . . there was noplace to go. The doors behind us were closed and, to her perception, there was really no way out. So she followed me down the hallway, slipping on the floor all the way!
I honestly didn't realize how overwhelming that was going to be for her, but really there was no alternative than to just get through it. Once we came out into the area where crating was, she found some relief. There she understood that she was in a "dog place" and she was eager to get to a spot of her own. I set up her crate and she popped right in, obviously glad to find herself somewhere familiar. As yet I don't think she realized that there was an Agility ring very close by!!
After that I had to get her measured. That took some doing, but we got it done!
Then I needed to go to the car to get more of our stuff. Tessa did not want to go back out into that strange corridor. She hesitated at the entry to it, but when I went that way, she followed. She didn't slide around quite as much this time, and she stayed very close to me as we moved through. I was a bit concerned that she might not go back in the other way when we came back, but that wasn't the case. When we returned, she entered with an air of "I know what we're doing now". She hardly slid at all that time, and she obviously understood that it was merely someplace we had to go through to get to the "dog place'.
I am proud to say that by the end of that evening, Tessa was literally prancing down that corridor, tail held high and eyes bright with confidence and pleasure. I think she felt a real sense of accomplishment in having conquered a fear of a strange new place. Maybe I'm anthropomorphizing this just a bit, but clearly she went from almost panicked at first to downright pleased by the end, and she clearly felt very good about that. And so did I. There was a time when I doubt I would have gotten her in there and watching her become comfortable with it that quickly was a real testimony to how far she has come, and how ready she really is to be out and about doing these things.
End of Part 1 - More to follow about the Agility portion of the evening in Part 2!!
Tessa's first CPE trial was back in March. I entered her in Snooker and Colors on a Friday evening. I thought this might be a good introduction to the venue since there would be less people present and it would be a bit quieter on the Friday evening. This was a wise decision.
I had very mixed emotions about taking Tessa to this trial. On one hand, I was eager to try CPE with her and I've always loved Westminster. On the other hand, Westminster trials were always a "Maddie and me" thing. Because it can be loud there, I never take Dean. So Westminster was always "girls day" with Maddie. And she and I always loved that. She also ran very well there, and Snooker was Maddie's game. She loved Snooker and excelled at it. I knew that I was going to be missing Maddie the entire time, and that, while I would also enjoy being there with Tessa, it was going to be a tough hurdle to get over.
But it had to be done. I was enjoying NADAC, but I missed CPE. I missed the games, I missed the atmosphere of the trials, I missed the people, and I really wanted to go play CPE with Tessa. If I'm going to do that, all of the "first time without Maddie" hurdles are going to have to be cleared. CPE Agility is going to have to become something that Tessa and I do together, and not just what Maddie and I did together. Fast forward to now, and this is definitely happening. But back in March at Westminster, we were literally taking the first step and it was kind of emotional for me at times.
Westminster isn't a "dog place", as many of the other trial sites are. It is an indoor sports complex. Tessa found it very overwhelming at first. She hesitated even going in the door because there was a set of two doors with a small vestibule in between. That's a "small room" to Tessa, and she is wary of small rooms. But another dog came along and went in before us and Tessa tucked herself in behind that dog and went through the entry. I hadn't seen her do that in ages and it showed me how strange and unfamiliar she found this particular venue.
It didn't get better once we were inside. The first area we came to was an area along the side of the arena separated from the Agility field by plexiglass. I doubt Tessa has ever seen anything like this in her life and she was set to turn tail and get out of there. But . . . there was noplace to go. The doors behind us were closed and, to her perception, there was really no way out. So she followed me down the hallway, slipping on the floor all the way!
I honestly didn't realize how overwhelming that was going to be for her, but really there was no alternative than to just get through it. Once we came out into the area where crating was, she found some relief. There she understood that she was in a "dog place" and she was eager to get to a spot of her own. I set up her crate and she popped right in, obviously glad to find herself somewhere familiar. As yet I don't think she realized that there was an Agility ring very close by!!
After that I had to get her measured. That took some doing, but we got it done!
Then I needed to go to the car to get more of our stuff. Tessa did not want to go back out into that strange corridor. She hesitated at the entry to it, but when I went that way, she followed. She didn't slide around quite as much this time, and she stayed very close to me as we moved through. I was a bit concerned that she might not go back in the other way when we came back, but that wasn't the case. When we returned, she entered with an air of "I know what we're doing now". She hardly slid at all that time, and she obviously understood that it was merely someplace we had to go through to get to the "dog place'.
I am proud to say that by the end of that evening, Tessa was literally prancing down that corridor, tail held high and eyes bright with confidence and pleasure. I think she felt a real sense of accomplishment in having conquered a fear of a strange new place. Maybe I'm anthropomorphizing this just a bit, but clearly she went from almost panicked at first to downright pleased by the end, and she clearly felt very good about that. And so did I. There was a time when I doubt I would have gotten her in there and watching her become comfortable with it that quickly was a real testimony to how far she has come, and how ready she really is to be out and about doing these things.
End of Part 1 - More to follow about the Agility portion of the evening in Part 2!!
Monday, May 7, 2012
Our Second Freestyle Event!
Tessa and I took part in her second Freestyle event this past weekend. It was extra nice because it was at the training center where we train, and where I teach. So, it was at "home", so to speak.
On Saturday we were in the first group, and we were going for our second Beginner leg. The performance went pretty well. It wasn't as nice as the one we did in March, but it still went well. Tessa had fun, and that really was the main goal.
Unfortunately, my camera malfunctioned, so I don't have any video, but I do have a couple of still shots. Here we are going out to perform . . .
And here is our opening pose . . .
You can see that Tessa was well pleased with herself!!!!
We did qualify!! Yay!! And that was her title!! So, that is Tessa's first live event title!
She is now:
Tessa, WFD-MF, ITD
Love it!!
She enjoyed the day. She liked hanging out in her crate and being at the competition. I took her home at lunchtime, knowing that she was going back on Sunday. It was a smart move, although I don't think she appreciated it all that much!!!
Here is Tessa with her first title ribbon:
And a silly shot with her ribbon. I think we need to train this as a Freestyle move!!
I enjoyed the day a great deal. There were a lot of really good routines, and many that were very entertaining. I was definitely inspired to go and train more!
I did have a bit of a quandary because we qualified. I hadn't planned on qualifying on Sunday. I expected to NQ on Saturday and go back and try to qualify on Sunday. Well, that didn't happen.
Tessa and I were not ready to move up to Novice. We hadn't even been thinking about Novice. At first I was inclined to just go back the next day and do Beginner again, even though it wouldn't count for anything. I was thinking that I'd like comments on the routine from the other judge. Well, pretty much everyone in the world, with just a few exceptions, thought I should move up. And I finally gave in to peer pressure. But - I was not willing to perform our regular routine because I would be showing it under the same judge and the technical score had not been in Novice range. Tessa would have had to nail the heck out of her moves. And I didn't want the pressure.
So, I decided to get out the plaid covered box I made in the winter, and use the skirt that a friend had loaned me, and go do the Scottish routine. It wasn't finished, so it would be part planned, part improv, but I figured it would be fun. I wasn't trying to qualify with it, but since it wasn't finished I was OK with that.
Tessa was glad to go back the second day, but she was tired. She curled right up in her crate and went to sleep!! So, a bit before her performance time, I gave her a "rev-up" massage, and did some food tossing games to get her "up" a bit. Then we reviewed the box prop moves because she hadn't done them in months!!!
The performance went well. Honestly, I don't remember a lot of it. I wish I had a video, but I forgot to take my camera back on Sunday! Ugh!!
I do remember that she got up on the box and sat on it when she was supposed to put front paws up on it!! But that was OK. I walked around her, sitting on it, as I would have had she had her paws up. She did switches nicely. She did her leg weaves, but I needed to use hand signals a bit. When I sent her to the box, she put paws up, but I acted like it was what I wanted. I put my leg on the box and she went under it and around the box.
I do remember the ending. I had her lie down and I held my arms in a "presenting her" gesture. It was nice, I think.
I was very happy with her. Tessa isn't crazy about improv. Speedy loves it, but Tessa hasn't done much.
I was shocked beyond belief when I found out, later in the day, that we had qualified!!!!! Just. We got an 8.0 Technical and 8.0 Artistic. The minimum you can have in Novice is 8.0!!!!
I was thrilled and amazed and definitely pleased!! Whodathunk we'd have a Novice Q before we even started training for Novice!!!
I let Tessa stay the whole day on Sunday, although she slept for most of it.
It was definitely a great weekend!! I can't wait to do more of this with her!!
On Saturday we were in the first group, and we were going for our second Beginner leg. The performance went pretty well. It wasn't as nice as the one we did in March, but it still went well. Tessa had fun, and that really was the main goal.
Unfortunately, my camera malfunctioned, so I don't have any video, but I do have a couple of still shots. Here we are going out to perform . . .
And here is our opening pose . . .
You can see that Tessa was well pleased with herself!!!!
We did qualify!! Yay!! And that was her title!! So, that is Tessa's first live event title!
She is now:
Tessa, WFD-MF, ITD
Love it!!
She enjoyed the day. She liked hanging out in her crate and being at the competition. I took her home at lunchtime, knowing that she was going back on Sunday. It was a smart move, although I don't think she appreciated it all that much!!!
Here is Tessa with her first title ribbon:
And a silly shot with her ribbon. I think we need to train this as a Freestyle move!!
I enjoyed the day a great deal. There were a lot of really good routines, and many that were very entertaining. I was definitely inspired to go and train more!
I did have a bit of a quandary because we qualified. I hadn't planned on qualifying on Sunday. I expected to NQ on Saturday and go back and try to qualify on Sunday. Well, that didn't happen.
Tessa and I were not ready to move up to Novice. We hadn't even been thinking about Novice. At first I was inclined to just go back the next day and do Beginner again, even though it wouldn't count for anything. I was thinking that I'd like comments on the routine from the other judge. Well, pretty much everyone in the world, with just a few exceptions, thought I should move up. And I finally gave in to peer pressure. But - I was not willing to perform our regular routine because I would be showing it under the same judge and the technical score had not been in Novice range. Tessa would have had to nail the heck out of her moves. And I didn't want the pressure.
So, I decided to get out the plaid covered box I made in the winter, and use the skirt that a friend had loaned me, and go do the Scottish routine. It wasn't finished, so it would be part planned, part improv, but I figured it would be fun. I wasn't trying to qualify with it, but since it wasn't finished I was OK with that.
Tessa was glad to go back the second day, but she was tired. She curled right up in her crate and went to sleep!! So, a bit before her performance time, I gave her a "rev-up" massage, and did some food tossing games to get her "up" a bit. Then we reviewed the box prop moves because she hadn't done them in months!!!
The performance went well. Honestly, I don't remember a lot of it. I wish I had a video, but I forgot to take my camera back on Sunday! Ugh!!
I do remember that she got up on the box and sat on it when she was supposed to put front paws up on it!! But that was OK. I walked around her, sitting on it, as I would have had she had her paws up. She did switches nicely. She did her leg weaves, but I needed to use hand signals a bit. When I sent her to the box, she put paws up, but I acted like it was what I wanted. I put my leg on the box and she went under it and around the box.
I do remember the ending. I had her lie down and I held my arms in a "presenting her" gesture. It was nice, I think.
I was very happy with her. Tessa isn't crazy about improv. Speedy loves it, but Tessa hasn't done much.
I was shocked beyond belief when I found out, later in the day, that we had qualified!!!!! Just. We got an 8.0 Technical and 8.0 Artistic. The minimum you can have in Novice is 8.0!!!!
I was thrilled and amazed and definitely pleased!! Whodathunk we'd have a Novice Q before we even started training for Novice!!!
I let Tessa stay the whole day on Sunday, although she slept for most of it.
It was definitely a great weekend!! I can't wait to do more of this with her!!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Back to Training
After taking a bit of time off so I could get over a sinus infection, Tessa and I got back to working on her Freestyle training tonight.
We warmed up and practiced Tessa's jumping, and her circles, and her leg weaves.
Then we took some time to focus on her heework. One thing that I am really working on with Tessa is teaching her to stay up in position and drive with power as she moves on the outside of a circle. I started out using peanut butter on a spoon, but it got her mouth too gummed up and she kept stopping to finish the peanut butter! So, I changed to hot dogs, and that worked better.
It occurred to me that it would be best if she would drive toward a target stick, so after we did some practice with the hot dogs, I worked on teaching her to drive to the target stick. That was fun. At first I just c/t for her touching the star at the end of the target stick. Then I started holding it behind my back and presented it to her so she could start to drive to it. Finally, I tossed a treat and then held it out so she could run back to it and touch it.
I plan to continue with that until she is driving to it enthusiastically and then I will incorporate it into our heelwork.
It was a good session. We have just over a month to fine tune her routine before the next competition. It should be good.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Onward . . .
Yesterday evening we began our training to improve our routine performance.
I started with some moving position work. We didn't do a whole lot, but I had my arms behind my back and c/t when Tessa moved into position. As we work on it, I will begin to c/t duration more than moving into the position. We are supposed to have some practice time on a full ring this weekend, so we will work a lot of moving position.
We worked on the switches. We did them stationary, only moving a few steps after the switch. By the time we finished, she was going on verbal off of one side. The other is going to need more work.
To introduce something new that we might incorporate at some point, we did some backing in heel/side work. We went into the kitchen and she was between me and the cabinets. I backed up a step, let her offer the backing with me, c/t. She started to get it, so we stopped. I will be interested to see what she does with it when we go back to it.
Then we did some pivot work. I pulled out a laundry basket and worked pivots around it - c/t for her rear end movement. I'd really like to have pivots ready to add to the routine by May. I'll see how they go over the next couple of weeks and add them if appropriate.
Finally, we did just a smidge of hind leg work. We will take that slow, but I'd like to get her to offer the "up up" on her hind legs and reach up to touch my hand with one of her paws. It would be such a sweet move!!
It was a great training session. Tessa was very eager to work. I think she is really understanding what this kind of training is for now!
Not to neglect her Agility, we did a little bit of one jump work, as well.
I started with some moving position work. We didn't do a whole lot, but I had my arms behind my back and c/t when Tessa moved into position. As we work on it, I will begin to c/t duration more than moving into the position. We are supposed to have some practice time on a full ring this weekend, so we will work a lot of moving position.
We worked on the switches. We did them stationary, only moving a few steps after the switch. By the time we finished, she was going on verbal off of one side. The other is going to need more work.
To introduce something new that we might incorporate at some point, we did some backing in heel/side work. We went into the kitchen and she was between me and the cabinets. I backed up a step, let her offer the backing with me, c/t. She started to get it, so we stopped. I will be interested to see what she does with it when we go back to it.
Then we did some pivot work. I pulled out a laundry basket and worked pivots around it - c/t for her rear end movement. I'd really like to have pivots ready to add to the routine by May. I'll see how they go over the next couple of weeks and add them if appropriate.
Finally, we did just a smidge of hind leg work. We will take that slow, but I'd like to get her to offer the "up up" on her hind legs and reach up to touch my hand with one of her paws. It would be such a sweet move!!
It was a great training session. Tessa was very eager to work. I think she is really understanding what this kind of training is for now!
Not to neglect her Agility, we did a little bit of one jump work, as well.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
First Freestyle Competition
Yesterday Tessa and I went to her first Freestyle competition, and it was a success in every way!
We enjoyed the long drive out to the competition together. We had gone a bit late because we were scheduled to perform later in the competition, so when we arrived, I went in to see where they were at. We had plenty of time. There were still a couple more performances before the lunch break, and then we were the 4th team after the lunch break.
So, I brought some things in and then brought Tessa in. I elected not to crate her because I wanted to watch the performances, and the crating was in a different room. Instead, I let her hang out on her mat at my feet.
Later in the day I would take Tessa's traditional "Tessa on her mat" photo.
During the lunch break, I took her into the ring to let her check it out. That is allowed in WCFO Freestyle. During any breaks, handlers can go into the ring - with or without dogs - to warm up, practice, etc. No food is allowed. Toys are, but Tessa doesn't play with toys in that context yet. So, I walked her through some pieces of her routine and then we ran out together for her to get a treat. After a bit of familiarization, we went and hung out by my chair again.
As the lunch break started to wind down, I started to get ready. I went in the back and got my costume on. After that, I took Tessa into the warm up ring in the other room to have her practice her leg weaves with my skirt. We had been doing that all week, and I didn't anticipate a problem, but I figured it would be smart to run through it once in the new setting. Food is allowed in the warm up ring, so I had her do the weaves and reinforced her well for the. She had no problem.
I also set her jump up in the open area and let her practice a few of those. All was good. I got her purple bandana on her and we were ready to go!
Ready to go perform! This was before I put her purple bandana on her - those are the uprights of her jump behind her.
I was very interested to see what was going to happen in this performance. Tessa and I had never actually done the whole routine in an open ring before. We had been practicing the pieces at home for a couple of weeks, but we had never done the whole thing, complete with jumps.
In the end, I was very happy with how it went. I can tell that it was an unrehearsed performance, but taking that into account, it went extremely well. Tessa did an excellent job. The only moves she missed were moves that I knew she was still rather weak on to begin with. And she did make some things up herself in a few places, but she didn't know the routine completely, so that wasn't really a problem. In fact, I am happy about the fact that she was making things up along the way. It shows that she was thinking about what we were doing. She is trying to get a handle on what this game is all about, and she is enjoying that process thoroughly!!
Here is the video of our routine:
I love, love, LOVE Tessa's attitude! She has her whole head and heart in it. She really has potential to be an excellent performer! I love the way she moves, the jumps were lovely, and she nailed the ending!!
And her attention is phenomenal!!
Some things I'm taking away to work on:
I was very happy after the performance. I didn't even remember that it was a judged performance and that we actually had a score coming until about 15 minutes later!!
There was still a bit of the competition to go, and we hung out and watched most of the routines. I also picked out pictures to order from the photographer who was there. Unfortunately, those are prints only, no digital files were available. But I ordered a few prints for Tessa's scrapbook.
I put Tessa in the car while I picked out photos, and when I brought her back in, I think she thought we were going to do another "run", as we do in Agility! She seemed very eager to get back out there. I was sorry that we couldn't! Maybe by fall she will be ready to do both Freestyle and Heelwork, and then we could do two performances.
Shortly after the competition ended, we got our scoresheet, and the results were very, very good!! We scored 7.9 technical and 7.8 artistic!! To qualify in Beginner, you need 7.3 in each category. Those are the highest Beginner scores I've ever gotten, and I don't think I've ever scored higher technical than artistic!! The comments were good, as well.
So, Miss Tessa has her very first Freestyle Q!!
And, at the end I found out that we also got first place!!! Out of four dogs (it was a pretty small event) in our class, all qualified, and we got first. That was very exciting - for Tessa to do that well on her first time out is just perfect!!!
Our Q ribbon. I used Tessa's bandana as the background for these.
And our First Place medal.
That wasn't even the best part, though. We also got an award - one that means more to me than the Q and placement ever could. We got the award for Most Bonded team!!
Remembering where Tessa and I started and every step by step by step by step that it took to earn both her affection and her trust, that we could get to the point where we would be chosen for a Most Bonded award is incredible!!
She is definitely a very special girl.
And here she is posing with her first place medal in a classic Tessa pose, offering me both a front and back paw!!
Congrats to Miss Tessa on her very first Freestyle Q!!!
We enjoyed the long drive out to the competition together. We had gone a bit late because we were scheduled to perform later in the competition, so when we arrived, I went in to see where they were at. We had plenty of time. There were still a couple more performances before the lunch break, and then we were the 4th team after the lunch break.
So, I brought some things in and then brought Tessa in. I elected not to crate her because I wanted to watch the performances, and the crating was in a different room. Instead, I let her hang out on her mat at my feet.
Later in the day I would take Tessa's traditional "Tessa on her mat" photo.
During the lunch break, I took her into the ring to let her check it out. That is allowed in WCFO Freestyle. During any breaks, handlers can go into the ring - with or without dogs - to warm up, practice, etc. No food is allowed. Toys are, but Tessa doesn't play with toys in that context yet. So, I walked her through some pieces of her routine and then we ran out together for her to get a treat. After a bit of familiarization, we went and hung out by my chair again.
As the lunch break started to wind down, I started to get ready. I went in the back and got my costume on. After that, I took Tessa into the warm up ring in the other room to have her practice her leg weaves with my skirt. We had been doing that all week, and I didn't anticipate a problem, but I figured it would be smart to run through it once in the new setting. Food is allowed in the warm up ring, so I had her do the weaves and reinforced her well for the. She had no problem.
I also set her jump up in the open area and let her practice a few of those. All was good. I got her purple bandana on her and we were ready to go!
Ready to go perform! This was before I put her purple bandana on her - those are the uprights of her jump behind her.
I was very interested to see what was going to happen in this performance. Tessa and I had never actually done the whole routine in an open ring before. We had been practicing the pieces at home for a couple of weeks, but we had never done the whole thing, complete with jumps.
In the end, I was very happy with how it went. I can tell that it was an unrehearsed performance, but taking that into account, it went extremely well. Tessa did an excellent job. The only moves she missed were moves that I knew she was still rather weak on to begin with. And she did make some things up herself in a few places, but she didn't know the routine completely, so that wasn't really a problem. In fact, I am happy about the fact that she was making things up along the way. It shows that she was thinking about what we were doing. She is trying to get a handle on what this game is all about, and she is enjoying that process thoroughly!!
Here is the video of our routine:
I love, love, LOVE Tessa's attitude! She has her whole head and heart in it. She really has potential to be an excellent performer! I love the way she moves, the jumps were lovely, and she nailed the ending!!
And her attention is phenomenal!!
Some things I'm taking away to work on:
- We need to practice more duration heel and side work. Honestly, we haven't done very much. Tessa is not really lagging per se, but she is often a bit behind me because she hasn't quite worked out where she is exactly supposed to be. Now that warmer weather is coming soon, I plan to start to work with her on that out in the yard. When she gets the idea it is going to be gorgeous!!
- We need to continue to work on the switches. I am going to start working on putting them on verbal. I think that will strengthen them for both Freestyle and Agility.
- Apparently Tessa wants to start hind leg work. And so, we shall!
- Start a regular Freestyle practice schedule.
- Add something concrete in that little section of music where I kept losing her because we didn't have a clear game plan (just before the Figure 8 jumps).
- I need to practice with Tessa to develop a smoother, more elegant handling style that brings out the best in her. My handling in this performance was choppy - partly because I hadn't rehearsed this routine enough, but also because I haven't found my handling style with Tessa for Freestyle.
I was very happy after the performance. I didn't even remember that it was a judged performance and that we actually had a score coming until about 15 minutes later!!
There was still a bit of the competition to go, and we hung out and watched most of the routines. I also picked out pictures to order from the photographer who was there. Unfortunately, those are prints only, no digital files were available. But I ordered a few prints for Tessa's scrapbook.
I put Tessa in the car while I picked out photos, and when I brought her back in, I think she thought we were going to do another "run", as we do in Agility! She seemed very eager to get back out there. I was sorry that we couldn't! Maybe by fall she will be ready to do both Freestyle and Heelwork, and then we could do two performances.
Shortly after the competition ended, we got our scoresheet, and the results were very, very good!! We scored 7.9 technical and 7.8 artistic!! To qualify in Beginner, you need 7.3 in each category. Those are the highest Beginner scores I've ever gotten, and I don't think I've ever scored higher technical than artistic!! The comments were good, as well.
So, Miss Tessa has her very first Freestyle Q!!
And, at the end I found out that we also got first place!!! Out of four dogs (it was a pretty small event) in our class, all qualified, and we got first. That was very exciting - for Tessa to do that well on her first time out is just perfect!!!
Our Q ribbon. I used Tessa's bandana as the background for these.
And our First Place medal.
That wasn't even the best part, though. We also got an award - one that means more to me than the Q and placement ever could. We got the award for Most Bonded team!!
Remembering where Tessa and I started and every step by step by step by step that it took to earn both her affection and her trust, that we could get to the point where we would be chosen for a Most Bonded award is incredible!!
She is definitely a very special girl.
And here she is posing with her first place medal in a classic Tessa pose, offering me both a front and back paw!!
Congrats to Miss Tessa on her very first Freestyle Q!!!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Getting Close!!
I am so excited about Tessa's first Freestyle competition as the time gets close!
The only thing I still need to do is cut the PVC for my shorter jump bar and wrap the jump in the shiny purple streamer stuff.
The routine is done and is as practiced as it is going to be. I will probably give Tessa a chance to practice weaving with the skirt tonight and tomorrow, and then that's it!
Music is cut, skirt is made, Tessa's collar is made, I have shoes and everything I need, and I am eager to go!
Can't wait to spend the day at a Freestyle competition with my girl!
The only thing I still need to do is cut the PVC for my shorter jump bar and wrap the jump in the shiny purple streamer stuff.
The routine is done and is as practiced as it is going to be. I will probably give Tessa a chance to practice weaving with the skirt tonight and tomorrow, and then that's it!
Music is cut, skirt is made, Tessa's collar is made, I have shoes and everything I need, and I am eager to go!
Can't wait to spend the day at a Freestyle competition with my girl!
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