Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Canine College/University or Versatility Two

We are in the higher learning section of the Orlando Dog Training Club (ODTC). It took a while to get to this class - two times through the Beginner class and two times through the Versatility One (V1) class.

The Versatility Two (V2) class is on-going. There are many lessons in this class. The lessons range from the Novice - Companion Dog (CD) level through the Open - Companion Dog Excellent (CDX) level through the Utility - Utility Dog (UD) level.

V2 is quite different from V1. It is more involved and more is expected from the dog and handler teams. While in class, different teams are simultaneously working the three levels. Some teams may be at the Utility level, others at the Open level, and more at the Novice level. There are many more distractions in this class.

Now, don't get me wrong. Jack and I graduated from V1 and were ready to begin V2. We have been in V2 for at least six semesters, but we still have areas where we need to train. Jack is a Cocker Spaniel, a highly energetic dog. Without enough exercise, he gets the zoomies. And there have been many times where I have been so embarrassed with his antics in and out of the ring. And this is my fault. Not enough exercise. Sure, we practice and do our homework at least five or six days each week. But, not enough actual running is done outside where he can burn up some of his pent-up energy unless the weather is cool enough. We live in Central Florida and the weather is HOT, HOT, HOT down here. Especially during the summer. So I am going to need to invest in a treadmill to use inside the air-conditioned house on a daily basis in order to control the zoomies.

So, now we are at the point in our training where I can write about the specific training issues we are having. Yesterday, we worked on flat-work. No jumps. Primarily HEEL work. We worked on something called the Rally Back-Up. We heeled forward and then backward into a corner and turned the corner and continued backwards and stopped and heeled forward again, made a right turn and continued to the starting point. Then we did it again. And again. And we were allowed to increase the treats since this was something new to learn.

We worked on Recalls with distractions. This is when Jack got the zoomies and ran around the ring and outside the ring. How embarrassing! However, he did come to me and made a beautiful front the first time. After that came the zoomies. But, after that show, we went back into the ring and did some recalls and fronts which taught both of us that we were not getting out of the lesson!

Our last lesson yesterday was the beginning of scent discrimination work. We were taught how to scent the dumbell or leather article. Jack and I had been practicing this at home, so we used one of our leather articles (a small dumbell made out of leather) with no other items around it. We did this OK during class. So, now we will work on more "Find-It" games at home, kind of like the old "Hide and Seek" game where I hide the article and tell Jack to find it and bring it to me.

Jack really loves to retrieve, but sometimes wants to chew up and eat the toy, leather article, or glove. So we are taking it slow and I am shaping how he is to "Play the game".

Tonight we are going through a Prep-To-Show class. The judge will call the Novice exercises from start to finish. I will take some notes on how we did and what we need to work on before our next Wildcard Novice class at our next Obedience Trial in Deland, FL in July.

Walking in Obedience!

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