AKC Nationals!

I think that I'm going to AKC Agility Nationals in Concord, North Carolina (not to compete obviously)! I have been trying to work out the kinks about getting there with my dad these past couple of weeks and it appears that all systems are go! I am super excited to experience the craziness and excitement of a national dog event! I think I may have gone to Schutzhund nationals one year, but I was too young to remember it. I will probably bring Jasper along, but he will stay in the car most of the time and maybe make a couple trips around the grounds. I also just figured out that the AKC Agility Invitational was broadcast on Animal Planet on Valentines day and I missed it! They really need to show it again.

Training with J went well today. In the past, I had been working on shaping Jasper to put all four feet in a medium sized red container, but he never really caught on despite a couple months of working on it. It was likely due to the fact that I wasn't too experienced with shaping and wasn't clicking at the correct times. Well, today I took it out again just for kicks and he caught on right away! After two sessions today I had him with all four feet in the box. After he gets really proficient at that sized box, I will have to move to a smaller size. It is very cute to watch him trying to fit himself in it.

I also worked with developing his tug drive even more and he really does get super pumped whenever he sees the tug now. I'm not sure if I can get him to tranfer that drive to distracting environments yet, but that will be the next step. It would be excellent if I could get him to tug after doing runs in agility outside at All Dog!

Another thing I am trying to use more is the clicker. I think that applying the clicker to more of our training sessions will really help to clarify to Jasper what I want from him.