Baby Steps--Mimi's First Agility Trial

Mimi (Quicksilver Let's Play House) is a three year old smooth fox terrier. When she popped out of her dam and we opened the birth sac, she started screaming. I told my two friends helping me with the whelping that that pup was going to be my pick. I just knew that she was the one.

I started clicker training Mimi and her siblings before their eyes were even open. Mimi is fast and drivey, and over the past couple of months, we have really started working as a team out on the agility course. At class, that is. Not to put too fine a point on it, Mimi finds the places where agility trials are often held (horse barns, etc.) to be pretty damned stimulating. So stimulating that she sort of forgets that we are there to do agility. Zooming around, nose to the ground, is often way more interesting than me or agility.

Her first AKC agility trial was this weekend. I thought it started out okay when the judge who was measuring her thanked me for teaching her a stand. I thanked her for noticing that I took the trouble to do so! But things sort of went downhill from there.

My plan was this: enter the ring with my dog, exit the ring with my dog, and whatever happens in between was bonus. Perhaps it was a bit too simple. My good friend Gosia had flown in from out west just for the occassion of this weekend and she captured all of the fun on film:

While amusing, it was not exactly what I had planned. We had no connection from the beginning, she didn't hold her starts, and she acted as if there weren't any equipment out there at all. Fortunately the arena was relatively clean and although she was running around sniffing a lot, there wasn't much in the way of stuff for her to pick up off the ground. Still, it was a pretty disappointing first day.

Day Two. Gosia and I talked this over endlessly and I realized that I had to get Mimi to do an obstacle or two then grab her before she lost it. I didn't want to reward her for coming to me after she ran around the ring like a crazed thing. I had to make a better connection with her from the start and stop the run while I still had that connection. And I had to find a place on the course early in the course flow where I could call her to me.

So I revised the plan. Walk in with my dog, make her sit on her own (she had to make the choice to focus on me and my request), overhandle the first few obstacles, then call her to me for a come to heel/hand touch, grab her and run out. I worked those come to heel/hand touches heavily outside the ring while we were waiting. I also decided to employ a nuclear option: vienna sausages. Soft, smelly, and she'd never seen them before today. Mimi was quite enthused about the prospect of getting more! Here's what happened:

Success indeed! It was so tempting to say, well, she made it this far so maybe she can do just one more obstacle. But that wasn't the plan. Baby steps, Gosia kept saying. Baby steps. I stuck to the plan and was able to reward the behavior I asked for. Both times I ran out of the ring, grabbed our tug and treat bag from Gosia, and gave Mimi a gigantic jackpot of treats that included lots of vienna sausages.

What did I learn this weekend? I was reminded that sometimes it isn't about the Q or the win (it's really easy to forget this). I learned that while she appears pretty fearless, Mimi needed a boost of confidence--that big open ring is pretty daunting. I learned how to adjust my expectations to give my dog what she needed at that moment.

I was reminded that you must celebrate every moment. You never know when an agility run will be the last you have with your dog.

And I was reminded of how valuable a good friend can be. Thanks for your support this weekend, Gosia! Mimi's first Q ribbon, and I know it won't be long in coming, will be yours!