Agility Update

I'm well past due for an agility class update. We've still been going to class even though I haven't been blogging about it. I really do get out to do things with my dog besides just worrying about her!

The last two agility classes we've had have been the same set up but different courses (which I didn't notice until after Julie posted the course maps). The course from two weeks ago focused a lot on distance, something that I'm not very good about. There were a couple of dogs in the class that have better distance than us, and it was VERY cool to watch them work though the course. Watching them makes me want to get better at it with Iris!

When I did the course with Iris, we did a rear cross after the second jump, and front cross after the 7th jump. Front crosses are much easier that rear crosses! I think I'm going to start bringing some cones when I take Iris over to the tennis courts to play. I don't really want her doing any jumping there because it's pavement, but that doesn't mean we can't work on her direction cues. We still have a lot of trouble with rear crosses, but I think our front crosses have gotten better.

During class, Katrin asked if problems with muscle coordination can be a side effect of Keppra. Iris was jumping ok with her back legs, but she was jumping funny with her front. I wasn't actually sure if it could be a side effect. The biggest side effect I'd talked about with my vet was hyper-activity, which for Iris lasted less than a week. I had a lot of trouble finding any info about Keppra that was specific to dogs. The only thing I found about Keppra and dogs is that the elimination half-life is significantly faster in dogs than people (hence the 3x per day dose). Problems with muscle coordination did come up on the list of possible side effects in people, so I'm guessing it's the same in dogs. My poor girl. Actually, I never would have noticed it at home. There are benefits to being active with your dog!

In class last week, we did the same set up but with a different course. I decided to do a rear cross before the 5th jump which meant I had to do another rear cross before the 9th jump. At least we're getting in some rear cross practice. We probably need a lot more.

Iris seemed like she was feeling pretty good during class. I think she was jumping better than she was the week before too? Of course she started class by running face first into the side of one of the jumps. It looked like she was going to run around the jump and at the last second decided to try and jump over it. But she made the decision too late. I didn't think too much of it, but this weekend she managed to hurt her face twice running into things. She's got a cut above one eye (she hit her face on a table during her joyous post-bath celebration), and the next day she bruised the side of her muzzle after turning quickly into a door frame. Both injuries happened when she was really excited and acting like a dork.

During class we're still doing weaves with cages on. At home, we've been practicing (not as consistently as I'd like) and we've gotten to the point where Iris will do them with the cages off of the first three poles. She's gotten very consistent about doing them correctly when she's on my right side but is still missing the entrance about 50% of the time of when she's on my left. Because we're moving in a month, I'm making it my goal to have her weaves trained before we move. At the new place, I won't have a fenced in place to train her (I'm going to try to find something, but there isn't anything in the condo complex) so if I don't do it now, it might be a little while before we can get back into doing regular off-leash training sessions.