My favorite runs with Ace are the runs where I push his contacts. There is nothing I love more that I love is to just push around the course (contacts being my favorite). I have found that when I push his contacts we Q and most importantly I get that rush, adrenalin and joy out of the runs were I push his contacts. I think having a dog that I could get let lose on contacts would always give me that rush, that extra push, adrenalin and me looking at Ace at the end of a run saying "Wow. That was awesome, that I love so much. That's what keeps me doing agility. Now, I'm not saying that the runs where I hold Ace's contacts for 4 secs each that I don't get that adrenalin and me looking at Ace and saying "Wow. That was awesome". I do all the time but I get more of it when I just push those contacts.
I can't help but look at those people with amazing running contacts and be like "I want that". I'm in college now and I have more time then when I did in High School, I have more knowledge of agility and running contacts then back when I had Ace. I will also have a DW when that puppy is ready for a DW. I still go back and think "Yes, I want that rush but are my skills there? Can I handle RC's yet?" I have never even run a dog with running contacts before but what drives me in this sport is that rush and drive. Not that I'm bored with agility, I just wanna train something new and exciting that I have never done before. I know its a lot of hard work and dedication to RC's but I'm willing to take that time cause I know it will be worth it in the end. So the question still remains. Will I or will I not doing running contacts? The answer is that it really depends on where I am in life, If I have the time and If I really feel ready to take on the challenge :).
I think you will definitely train running contacts with your puppy.
ReplyDeleteYou're so sensible! Makes perfect sense to me...follow your instincts and when the time comes you will know what you want to do when it's time to do it.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone looks at a perfect running dogwalk and think, "man, I want that." The reality is that no matter what method you train, I think it's going to be more maintenance. And the bigger the dog, the harder it's going to be. You will get bad calls. You will have courses where it feels like the judge was out to get you.
ReplyDeleteI have a running dogwalk on Trip (13" Sheltie), but it was completely by accident. Honestly, the only reason we've been successful is because it *is* Trip, and she doesn't know how to fail at something. Her dogwalk is stride dependent, and it's constantly a work in progress. My newest puppy will have a running aframe, but a stop on the dogwalk.
My goal was to train the fastest, most brilliant, independent, and black and white stopped dogwalk contact possible. I think I'm pretty close with Ticket at this point--she's wicked fast on it, and only gets faster. If it turns out that it's not enough for her to be competitive at the level I want (National/International), then I will know that I gave it everything I had, but it's not going to be enough. The next dog would have a running dogwalk. And that could turn out to be the case--time will tell. Who knows, maybe I'll be ready for a new training challenge by then anyway...
I think few people think about the realities of *handling* a running dogwalk. It's much harder, and a much steeper learning curve. I do think you could do it, Kelsey, and if you want the training challenge, then go ahead. :-)
I love training a running dog walk. I find the whole process fascinating, with each dog it is different and you develop an amazing eye and even better timing. It's definitely not for every dog though and it can take a LOT of reps, which for me is ultimately why I put a stop on Kate's dog walk. Depends on the dog, but try it out, the process is almost just as much fun as the rush, for me anyway. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm working a running contact with my big red BC Tucker and love it- check out Sylvia Trkman's methods. They're on the internet at her website. She has border collies and has trained lots of dogs, so her troubleshooting is very helpful.
ReplyDeleteJust a note; if you can get the dog to run *right*, you do NOT need a lot of maintenance. I hardly ever practice contacts once the dog has the idea of what to do. I daresay I do a lot more maintenance on my 2 dogs that have obstacles that include a target or a stop, than I do with the dogs on the obstacles where they just run. Not to say some dogs don't take a lot of reps to get to that point, but if you get it right, there's very little maintenance at all.
ReplyDeleteThe handling of the running dogwalk has been the most challenging for me...and here I thought the actual TRAINING of the contacts would be the hard part :) LOL The A-frame isn't bad at all...but the dogwalk can be interesting :) For me anyway.
ReplyDeleteRunning contacts are fun, but they are rarely advantageous! I definitely think you could and should do it. If we are ever at a show together you can run Panic! :)
ReplyDeleteNow that would be awesome!!
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