Starting work on Advanced Rally exercises

Michelle is confident that Red and I will be ready to move up to the Advanced class in March after we (hopefully) get our Novice title in February. I was just planning on running another Novice course, but she thinks we can do it =)

Michelle, Red and I met up at Bass Pro today to start working on the Advanced exercises. We went to the back carpeted corner where all the sporting dog supplies are kept, let Red off-leash, and went through the exercises.

Exercise 32 & 33 - Halt, About Right/Left Turn, Forward
-- I think we'll be ok with this one. No different than normal heeling and turning.

Exercise 34 - Send over Jump, return to heel
-- Red has almost no exposure to jumps, so we'll have to start working on this. I've done a couple here and there at training class, but not training to return to heel.

Exercise 35 - Halt, Turn Right 1 Step, Call to Heel
-- Tried this one, no problems. Just have to make sure to tell him to "wait" before I turn and take the step.

Exercise 36 - Halt, Stand, Walk Around Dog
-- No problem. Though I have to practice cueing him to stand without moving my feet, and getting him to stand straight and not at an angle.

Exercise 37 & 38 - Halt, Pivot 90* Right/Left, Halt
-- 90* pivots are coming along ok, since this is the newest thing he's learned recently. Right pivots are good. Need to work on nice and straight left pivots, though he has the general motion down now.

Exercise 39 - Offset Figure 8
-- Is ok heeling around food, though he moves in super slow-mo, careful not to tread on the treats on the floor. Focus on me is very poor. Must work more on this using cones, bowls of food, and stuffies (since Michelle said they have used dog toys in trials before).

Exercise 40 - Halt, Side Step Right, Halt
-- Lateral movement is a brand new concept for both of us. Never tried this before. I think this might be one of the more difficult things to teach him to do... I might have to use the dowel to keep his rear in toward me as we move.

Exercise 41 & 42 - Halt, Call Front, Finish Right/Left, Halt
-- Need to teach the "front" command without moving my feet. I started working on this awhile ago, but sort of forgot about it til now. We lured him into position. I'm thinking I might break out the clicker for this one. Hopefully he'll pick it up quickly.

Exercise 43 & 44 - Halt, Pivot 180* Right/Left
-- Left 180* pivots are very ugly (and pretty much nonexistant). The right 180*'s aren't too bad. Will try to teach this as an extension of the 90* left which we are still trying to perfect..

Exercise 45 - Halt, Down, Sit
-- Red knows how to sit from a down (thank you puppy push-ups!), but he moves slightly crooked and out of heel position when he pops back up. Will try luring him straight up into position for this.


High Priority Homework (what needs the most work):

• Work on jumps and call to heel afterwards.
• Work on offset figure 8 performance.
• Lateral movement.
• Teach the "front" command without stepping back.
• Work on 180* left pivots.

More minor things to practice:

• Practice the 1 step, call to heel
• Cue to stand without moving my feet
• Work on straight left pivots
• Work on 180* pivots
• Get straight sits from the down position