zigtrainingdiary1

Ziggy's Training Diary

December 2002
she loves to train and be thinking, i'm going to try and do some obedience this year, if it fits in with all the agility shows! Zigs will be 18 months in September 2003 so hopefully Longleat will be her first show. She is extremely fast, and although she hasn’t done any jumping or contact equipment, she is showing a lot of potential, we have started to teach her to wait and go through jump wings, she knows both types of tunnels, she will go on, we are working on directional commands, and also 3 weaves to get the right entry now while young without having her bend at all, all of this is done in preparation for training properly when she is old enough, everything is done in play so she doesn’t even realise she’s learning! She is now almost 12 months, and we are working on a really low A frame, which she loves!
so we will gradually begin to put things together.

14th April 2003
ziggy passed her puppy & bronze good citizens tests tonight,
she had to do the puppy one, as last time she missed it, as she was having her first season!!

Update 28th April 2003

Ziggy is still soooooooo keen in agility,we have also had a heelwork to music day at the weekend, which we both enjoyed very much, and we will hopefully work on this training as i think she really needs to be working, and as we havent a big garden, this is something we can practice on the patio! we'll see........

June 2003
Zig has just started doing the beginners classes, she has touched on contacts and 3 weave poles already, as i want to try and get better contacts with her than i have with holly, (which are pretty much non existent! )
She is quite confident in the classes, although its hard to keep her concentration going for that amount of time! We are also putting her over low jumps in the garden while practising directions!

July 2003 Zig is working nicely at 2ft (elementary). She still has moments where she like to go around the jump rather than over it, usually when i rush her, i have to remember how much of a baby she is! We took part in a couple of demos this month, she did quite well and stayed with me although we had a few mistakes! Her weaves are coming along really well, and although she isnt super fast through them yet, she will weave with me on both sides and gets her entry 99% of the time - i think the 3 weave training when she was little has really helped with it!

August 2003

Zig took part in another demo, this time one of our biggest ones! and she coped very well, she
even had a go at the 35 weave pole challenge, and did it - not the fastest though!
we even took part in a relay race at full height, which she did wonderfully....until tim stood in
her way, she went round him, and missed the jump, so the other team won! shame!!
she is still showing lots of potential, although she is sometimes a bit sensitive if she hears tim
talking aswell, but so far so good!

9th September,2003
the day after the first show.....
well what can i say?? it was a bit of a mixture really,
contacts went out the window but weaves and going on's were lovely,
so much so in the first class she went on & on........
and on out the ring!!
People said you could tell that she is still a baby,
by the way she acted, which was so true!
i have lots of hope for her,
and am going to put lots of training time in during the winter months, in preparation for next year,
until then she still has a few shows, but i am going to use them for training, and not just running and hoping for miracles!
At longleat she took off from the top of the a frame and splatted on the floor
... not good!!
So the next few shows are all going to be 'training' rounds, and hopefully not disasters!!

October 2003
Well, we've had a couple of shows now, which were not too bad!
At Donyatt show on the 12th, she had a funny moment in the first class, but did a lovely stop on the dogwalk,then flew off the see saw, and ran out of the ring! The jumping class was better, she stayed in the ring, and with me, getting aulted for refusals where she runs past wings,she comes back and does it properly though,
i think i need to be more clear with my commands! Helter skelter wouldve been good if we had done the right course, instead of running off and going in the tunnel!!

On the 26th at South Devon Club, we managed to get around a (quite tricky according to tim) starters jumping course and come away with just 15 faults on refusals where she goes too wide.....so, looking much better now!
the next class was amazing clear until she walked off and sniffed under the scribes chair, jumping a jump on the way back! the last but one jump too!! shame, but we really are getting there!
Her weaves were lovley, she went on into them and although there were only 6, she just did them!
It was a nice feeling while I ran her, although we both need more confidence while in the ring,
I'm really looking forward to next year with her!

Zig in middle of helter skelter & her 1st spread

Zig's first spread! Didn't bat an eyelid!!
Sorry not very good pic,
still havent worked out how to do good inside ones yet!!

24th November 2003
Zig took her silver & gold good citizen test tonight, and passed both!!
A bit of a shock, as i didn't plan on doing the gold .....ever!!!
We had no practice, and didnt even know what to expect, but my clever girl did it anyway!!!

December 2003
It looks like we are in for lots of extra training over the winter, the last show, last weekend, was in between good and bad, good in the respect that she stayed with me, bad in that she was eliminated in both classes, first as the person collecting the leads walked past her, so she said hello then walked around the first jump,and had a look in the tunnel on the way back!!...... then the agility round, she had lovely contacts, but stopped to have a poo.....just incase anyone thinks I didnt take her for one before hand...she actually had 2 before walking to the class!! She is still going around the jumps more often than not, but generally is a different dog than that in training!!
She is due in season again anytime now, so good job club is closed for xmas, means I wont miss out on anything with her, as I still have high hopes for us,
as when she goes, she really goes!

January 2004
Training is going well, zig is getting more confident on the equipment

February 2004
All is well with Zig, she is getting more consistant with her contacts, and we have no problem with jumps at club, however the ring is different, for some reason she would rather go around them every so often!! So, we are hopefully overcoming this by training in different venues,
so far so good!

Feb 2004 Training

Training at Carols

March 2004
Zig's training is coming along nicley, even though she knows how to weave, for some reason theyve gone out of the window, at our last show in feb, 3 classes had weaves, they were her only fault spots! so i was pleased, she only missed one jump which was my fault for being in the wrong place!
So needless to say, im pleased with her progress!
We have also determined that she must poo every two minutes when at a show,
i think nerves or stress maybe the cause,
we'll see if she builds confidence over the next few shows!

4th April 2004
We went 2 hours down to Cambourne in Cornwall today, Zig & I managed to get around both of the courses!
not clear, but not too bad either!
she is starting to look for the jumps a bit more now,
she went around one in the helter skelter, as tim was filming there!!
we are looking into doing more training out with Carol Smith in Taunton,
so hopefully by the time holly is back in training, zig will be up and running properly!!

Update: 26th April 2004
Well... we had a show yesterday and Zig was lovely to run!
She really listened to what i asked of her, only a few minor mishaps,
we managed to pick up 5 faults on the weaves in her first run and if i hadnt lost where i was supposed to be we wouldnt have picked up another 5 for a refusal! never mind, she had a good run in the helter skelter class, picking up only 5 for a refusal where she landed too wide to take the jump, perfect weaves tho!!
the last run of the day was starters agility, where we picked up just 5 on the last weave pole! she came out when she looked at where she was going next, and popped out too early! She had lovley wait at the start, weaves were nice bar the last one! contacts were perfect, she stopped and she waited for the release, we even managed some front and rear crosses, something i am not able to do with holly, so it was very new for me to use it in a show!
I was very pleased at the end of the day!!
Mick was there with his camera so here's a few piccies of the day!

August 2004
Since we have been back to it ...
(end of July when Holly's pups left!)
Zig has had a few clear rounds to her name,
then even a few places!
We have hopefully seen the end of 'accidents'....(pooing!) in the ring, so far so good!
17th -19th saw myself and Lauren off to Pembroke show in Wales - Whilst there, Zig and I had 3 Clears, (A FIRST- yay!!!)
We won the Elementary Agility Class, in 19 secs, then the same day had 5th in the Jumping,and the last day a very wide turn saw us out of the places in the Starters helter skelter. I was nevertheless chuffed to bits with our first starters clear!!

Zig has come on quite literally in leaps and bounds! She is
now much more confident in the ring - and as you can see by her results - perservering has done well for us as we have a little collection of rosettes now!
She is gradually coming together now a little bit at a time, she has good and bad days,
somedays she is very hard to get switched on!!
She is doing nicley in training, although at the moment we arent getting much done,
every other week is about the norm for us right now!
Our major acheivement this year has been working on her all round obstacle skills really - she is so much better than the beginning of the year where she would prefer to go around the jump rather than over it! she still isnt the fastest of dogs but id rather she was consistant first and we can build the speed afterwards!
We have started giving her Scullcap and valerian tablets, which we were recommended to try, I think they have started to have the desired effect as she is a lot more relaxed, we had no worry or runny poo before her run and instead of focusing on the dog working in the ring, she is concentrating on me! (sometimes!!)
She even played with a dog in the queue,
which is usually out of the question for her!

September 2004

Update: October 2004
Zig has been for a health check and they have discovered a heart murmur, it is too risky now to breed from her, and of course she comes first, so no pups for zig, she'll just be spoilt rotten instead!
I am obviously disappointed, but so long as she is comfortable thats my main worry!

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