Listen to Your Dog, Do What’s Best for Them.

It’s hard to believe two years ago I brought Epic home.  A little black white and tan floppy eared, open to anything, soaking up the world, and going with the flow, little boy.  He was the sweetest little angel that slept in my arms (and anyone else’s that would let him) from the moment we drove away from his first home.

2 years old and competing in agility with a 6 month break due to a tendon injury.  He’s recovered with flying colors and blows my mind how quickly he learns.

Epic has taught me more than I have taught him. We started the journey of running contacts together and it has been a roller coaster of emotions, success, and thrills. Teaching a dog to run full speed and adjust so that their feet hit a 36″ zone has been one helluvan experience.  The teamwork, trust and new teaching style it brought into my life is something that will keep on giving.

That being said, it has also brought fear, angst and heartbreak to my life. Epic has fallen off the dog walk well over 20 times and I’d say 50% of them were bad falls. Falls in which he did not land on his feet, ones in which he landed on his side on the dog walk and then again on the ground. absolutely horrifying to watch and worse to watch over and over in slow motion.

Now, I have been told to “teach my dog how to fall”. Trust me, anytime Epic bails early and lands well, he is rewarded for that decision. Low height DW and full height. But this little (big) guy knows his job and wants to do it. He wants to do it so bad, he will sacrifice his body to please me.Epic may like agility on his own, but he loves it because I’m there with him. Running beside him. When I come off the course, I offer him his leash to tug and he ignores it and goes in for the hug. Love ❤

Two trials ago, Epic fell off both dog walks. One each day. I think we both had heart attacks on those runs. I’ll spare you the videos.

I then went to a friend’s building over the week to take Epic across some DWs and get his confidence back up.  Took about 10 reps for Epic to go over the DW with the confidence he had before the last two falls.  We packed up, called it good and went home.

The next Saturday we had a trial. Epic was beyond wonderful and did not fall off the DW! Phew.  But he did try to launch (weird for him) and happened to stick a foot in the yellow, so.. Novice title for him.

Hooray! We’re out!

 

Sunday morning I decided to run him over a couple dog walks to enforce criteria and test how he was feeling on it.  He was very hesitant again.  Obviously really uncomfortable and launching above the contact zone (my conclusion- he wanted to get off the DW as fast as possible) and on rep 3 he fell again. Leaving a rubber-rash on his thigh (the second superficial wound of the week). He came to me, hopped up on the DW and looked at me with the saddest eyes, as if to say, “Please don’t make me do that again”.  Heartbreaking.

Big long hug and we’re done.

I get ya buddy, it’s not worth it.

We pulled from the trial that day and did some training at home. I must add, we learned a lot more while training and had a lot less stress than we would’ve had at the trial 😉

 

This sport has evolved to heights that are both impressive and dangerous.  We ask our dogs to give us everything. Run as fast as possible, hit a tiny area and turn on a dime. All while either accelerating or running full speed.  We no longer only push for the win in finals, we push for the win every run.

I have a dog that, currently, has a hard time telling where his feet are (yes we religiously do proprioceptive work). He sees the DW as an acceleration obstacle because that’s what it is when you have a running contact.  The way we teach and and the way it holds its consistency is through a full and open stride. To get to that full, open stride, the dogs needs to accelerate to get to that state.  Epic has not made the connection that he needs to take a collection stride or two to line himself up and keep his feet under him when he’s adjusting.

It’s time for me to take a step back, get over my own greed of wanting a running contact and do what is best for my dog. I need to be at the entry to help him and, because of that, I cannot be at the end to help him keep his path straight (because we rarely see straight exits off the dog walks around here) and also I can’t be there to see the hits. A stop will not only give him a destination, but should also help to change his view of the obstacle as one he will be decelerating on not accelerating on.   There is so much fine print to read for a running dog walk. Especially with a big dog. Epic needs a change, it’s up to me to give it to him.

I believe I will always have the option to run the dog walk, which is what I want for the correct situation.  But, we will cross that bridge when we get there.  As for now, the dog walk is low and we’re making great progress on the stop, playing tricks on the obstacle, and working up to walking backwards on it.  The goal is get him as comfortable as possible on the obstacle. Perhaps I’ll even post the progression… For the next blog!

It’s not about winning, it’s about playing and spending time with our dogs. I’m not willing to sacrifice the health of my animal for a blue ribbon, or any ribbon at all. I play agility because it’s fun for me AND my dog, together. I love the training and connection it brings between us, but I can get that anywhere (even just teaching silly tricks or going for a hike). The competition is for me, not for him.

Epic thinks he wins every time, and I want to keep it that way.