Lucy's first time at the new practice field. Brought along our pool noodle and started our running frame training. Caution: I am very much a novice trainer and recognize that by doing this training I could be totally messing up my dog and/or spending a lot of time on something while not accomplishing anything, so it is not recommended that you try this at home!
- The frame was set as low as I could set it without squishing myself.
- The first few times I carried the food tube in my hand and threw it after she passed under the hoop. After that I put it on the ground several metres ahead and she seemed to drive ahead better. Next time I'll put the food on a target so she can eat it right away and not have to wait for me to give it to her.
- Didn't want to do too many reps since I couldn't tell what her frames were looking like; thank goodness for tripods, cheap digital cameras, and slow-mo on the computer replay!
Here are the results from running frame session #1:
Geez, seeing the shoulder impact in slow mo when she hits the frame I wonder if I should't put a hoop on the upside too? Also of note is that on her 4th try she jumps the apex, which is great, but it looks like she doesn't actually hit the yellow.
After a few more sessions like this and more close video review (she won't do a frame without it being caught on film for the foreseeable future) I'll try to decide if stride regulators will come into play as well.
At this point I don't plan to do any of this with Walter's frame because his stride seems to naturally carry him into the yellow, and if I'm messing up Lucy with this training (although I'm not sure how much more messed up her frame can get than it already is) there's no point in messing up both dogs at the same time. :-D
5 comments:
I like the pool noodle idea better than some of the PVC hoops I've seen. Since Lilly is small enough, we don't have to worry as much about the stride thing, but I have seen pool noodle stride regulators really help some larger dogs pop over the apex in a way that they have to step through the contact zone. It's pretty cool.
Thanks for the videos. Clearly your software and skill is better than mine for film editing. ;o)
I'm really looking forward to playing around with this and finding a way to make this work.
As for the video, all I use is the "Windows Movie Maker" that came with the computer. A few quick clicks, and voilà!
Today I learned a new word - "pool noodle!" Must confess I had to look it up on wikipedia. :-)
Hoop on the up side: When we started training Boost and other dogs her age on the Aframe, even at a low height, our instructor (Nancy Gyes) suggested that we use a hoop on the entry *always* to encourage them to run up the contact instead of throwing themselves at it and splatting there. She felt that it's much easier on the dogs' shoulders long-term if they don't whack into the upside of the Aframe, even if they never leaped over the contact zone on the way up.
-ellen
Hmmm, maybe I will go and pick up a second poodle noode - uh, pool noodle - then. Thanks for that info. Plus, having a hoop on both sides of the frame would have the added benefit of being able to do it in both directions without having to keep moving the hoop around. :D
Post a Comment