Category Archives: Tricks
Workout Wednesday – Conditioning
About this time last year, Jaxon decided that he really wasn’t interested in Agility anymore. I couldn’t understand why a puppy who had loved going to training & playing on the equipment now had no interest whatsoever. At every occasion, he decided running away would be a better option. I felt pretty sad for him, and guilty that I was trying to get him to do things he didn’t want to do. Then it receded to a point where he wouldn’t jump at all, and then I clicked something was wrong.
Workout Wednesday – Rest and recovery
Recovery session at the beach!
Each week we bring you training ideas for you and your puppy. We are 100% believers of short and fun training sessions, and we usually train a couple of times a day on foundation skills, with 2 larger sessions a week for Agility and Jumping. As with any sport, it’s also important to know when to rest and recover.
Workout Wednesday – 5 minute formula
What are we going to play today?
When out and about with Jaxon, I often get compliments at how cute he is, and how very well trained he is. My philosophy is it shouldn’t take long to train your pup, but like any other member of your family, you have to put time in to reap the rewards.
Discovery Monday – back to the beginning
Look at me – I’m so cute!
The lyrics of the Coldplay song The Scientist come to mind after our trial on the weekend:
/Nobody said it was easy/
/No one ever said it would be this hard/
/Oh take me back to the start/
That’s right – Mr. Snifftastic came out to play on Saturday. We attended the Agility Dog Club of NSW (ADC) and started the day well. In RQH Jumping we had one fault – Jaxon popped the weaves at the 10th weave, which was most likely my fault. Otherwise we had a fun run & a great start to a cold morning.
Disaster struck in our second run. Of course it was Novice Agility (AD).
Workout Wednesday – TOTO
We’re not going to be talking about the Wizard of Oz today, but one of the more interesting foundation skills for doggies doing Agility – the Two On Two Off or Contacts training.
Two on Two off. Tippy board in the house.
Having a small dog, one of the foundations skills I just didn’t worry about was the contact training. As Jaxon gets faster and more confident, however, I’m realising that this really is a necessary part of our training, and something we should at least cover the basics of.
Workout Wednesday – core strength
We took delivery of our first core strengthening tool last week – a wobble board. While the one I bought is good for humans and puppies, there are a lot of others out there with soft plastic on them which are also great to use. I plan to get some of those soon too.
This week was about getting Jaxon stretching and balancing across a range of different exercises.
Discovery Monday – neat tricks
Embarrased me you have. Pee in your shoes I will.
There are a lot of talented puppies on the Internet. I’m sure you spend hours looking at them and their kitty friends for a good laugh. When it comes to pure talent, it’s such a joy to watch the elite levels of our sport when they are working.
Last week we talked about doggie friends overseas who are currently participating in various competitions and they are running with out their normal team mates.
Workout Wednesday – Target practice
Getting back into club has been fun after a long break for both Jaxon & I. I’ve found that it’s given us some time to settle down our training, and approach it from a different attitude.
I’m also loving the One Mind method, and how much smoother this is in the run. Jaxon has been learning the new moves with me for a few months now, and I can see that is starting to pay off.
While rain didn’t help his distraction cause on the weekend, we did have a lot of fun doing some foundation work on obstacle focus.
News from Holiday Camp
Jaxon’s a bit annoyed I’ve gone away and taken the computer with me. So he can’t help write the blog.
He has been sending photos and news of his holiday with his friend Coco, though, and looks like he’s having a fabulous time without us!
I’ll let the photos & video speak for themselves.
Happy weekend everyone!
First port of call, steal my host’s bed…
Workout Wednesday – Snow Dog shuffle
Jaxon is a single coat pampered pup. I often wonder what he would do in the snow. In fact I’m thinking of taking him to the snow this year just to find out.
A bit to the left…
This doggie is obviously very happy lying in the sun. Up the mountain, there were a bunch of Labradors and a poodle doing doggie rescue training.
agilitypap 