Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Circuit Strength Training with Your Dog

As more and more of us around the world are staying home to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, those of us who are used to going away from home to train our dogs on a regular basis are struggling to keep up the training at home. I am incredibly blessed to have a huge building on my property, which, in normal times, houses my dog training school, Northfield Dog Training. Because of the spreading virus, I shut down all operations other than cleaning on Sunday March 15. Indefinitely. That is so surreal to contemplate.
With all the sudden spare time on my hands, I have been training my dogs nearly every day. We have four: 8 year old Sonic (Flat-Coated Retriever), nearly 6 year old Jag (Border Terrier), Sonic’s 4 year old son Tigger and 2 year old daughter Clipper. I have been concentrating on obedience all winter. Clipper is my husband’s first-ever dog that he has trained, and they recently earned their Rally Intermediate title, as well as a couple of Advanced legs. I train Clipper for hunt tests and show her in conformation. I like to think I have finally really committed to teaching her Scent Discrimination, as I like them to know that before doing Force to Pile for her field work. I’ve also been starting her on basic handling for field and she is loving it.

This morning, I decided to do some fitness-related exercises with them. Many years ago - maybe 10? - when my FCR Gryffin was injured and then did rehab work, I came up with the idea of doing circuit training of the various exercises to keep it fun. I even ran some classes in it for a while. Several of the exercises are things I teach my puppies/young dogs as part of their obedience training. Others are tricks I taught specifically for the circuit work.
The basic idea is to first warm your dog up. I chose to warm them up for about 3 minutes today. Five might be better. Then I did given exercise for 30 seconds, then walked/heeled for 30 seconds, then went on to a different exercise, then walk/heel, etc. All in all, we did 12 different exercises, then did some jumping work, and then finally, I stretched their front and bag legs.
I found a free app called “Interval Timer - HIIT workouts” on the Apple App Store. After downloading it to my phone, I filled in the times that I wanted (3 minute warm up, 30 second each for the interval cycles, and 12 sets).  It worked great for what I was doing.

Here are the exercises/tricks that I did today:
Back - dog moving backwards, whether in front of you or in heel position. Here are two videos of Sonic's early backing up lessons:
Back up lesson 1
Back up one week later
Perch work - turn on the forehand with the front paws up on a 4 quart rubber feed tub or a homemade perch.
This is a 4-quart feed tub I bought on Amazon, but they are also available at Tractor Supply.

This was made from a puzzle piece of matting. I used a salad plate and a sharp utility knife to cut out the circles, then taped them together.
Beg or sit pretty
Crawl - with the FCRs, I use 3 chairs lined up that they can crawl under. Sonic remembered how to do this. Tigger was clueless, so we just worked with a single chair.

Cavaletties - I got the half pipes in the photo from a guy who was in a networking group I used to belong to. He did window tinting with plastic film, and one day asked if anyone could use the plastic tubes on which the film came. He was happy to give me a whole bunch of them, which I then had someone cut in half for me. There are many ways in which I use them for training my dogs and in classes. I had them set 24” apart on center, as my FCRs are 24” tall and that makes for a nice trot through for them. In the past, when I was doing this regularly with Sonic, I gradually added a few inches between the tubes to get her extending ing her trot.

Roll over - Sonic remembered reasonably well how to do this. Both boys were clueless. We just spent the 30 seconds trying to get in a few repetitions. This needs work!
Wave - I first teach my dogs to touch a target (plastic lid) with their front paws. You can also just have your dog target your hand with his paw. I hold the lid higher and higher, and gradually start “clicking” (I more often use a marker word) before he actually hits the target. I haven’t ever gotten any of my dogs to really hold a paw up in the air. They do more of a swiping motion.

Here is a video of Sonic learning how to touch a target with a front paw.
Play Bow - front end on floor, rear in the air. I keep my left forearm in front of my dog’s knees while I lure them into a bowing position.
Disk sit - I have them sit on a FitPaws disk. Don’t have one? How about a pillow or couch cushion? Or an air mattress? 

Position change work - I have them cycle through sit/down/stand in all the 6 different possible orders. It builds fluency, and they are SO important for advanced obedience work, not to mention Rally Excellent and Master. I have been using this 2 x 4 U with Sonic to help her stay in place. Her down from a sit has never been a consistent fold-back down and this is helping her do it. I figure we might as well work on this consistently right now as we have time.

Sidepass to left and right - I had their front paws up on a set of small platforms lined up end to end. In the past, I’ve done this with their front paws in half of an extension ladder. You can also do it with no prop at all, either in front of you (as I was doing) or in heel position.

Sit on platform, knees over toes - this is something I learned in an on-line course I took with Petra Ford several years ago.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

2018 Dog Goals

Sonic - 6 years
Sonic will hopefully have a litter of puppies in late February, so we won’t be competing much in the first half of 2018. 
  • Puppies
  • FCRSA National in May
    • Master
    • OB & UB
    • Gun dog Sweepstake
    • Field trial bitches
  • Obedience-related
    • NOC June? Likelihood of being in season may eliminate this as a goal.
    • Open B 1st
    • UDX3 - need 8 more legs for this
    • OM4 - need about 25 more points
    • OM5
    • OTCh - ended 2017 with 84 points, still needing Open B 1st
  • Field-related
    • Let her enjoy herself
Jag - 3 years
  • BTCA in September
  • Obedience-related
    • UDX
    • OM1
    • OM2
    • OTCh points
Tigger - 22 months
  • FCRSA National
    • BN
    • Rally
    • WCX
    • Senior?
  • Field-related
    • Finish Swim-by
    • SH
    • WCX
    • Make progress on Master concepts
  • Obedience related
    • Master Rally title
    • BN
    • Teach him to jump
    • Matching in Novice and Open by end of the year

2017 Goal Review

For some reason, I didn't publish my goal review at the end of 2016, nor my goals for 2017. Here I am, getting back on track.

The things in blue were accomplished. The things in pink were started. Those in black were not done. Other than the BTCA National, I did not do any other agility with Jag, and don't see me doing anymore any time soon. Too much other stuff I'd rather do.

Overall, it was an excellent year of competition with the dogs. Sonic had an unprecedented qualifying streak, passing every Open class from October 2016 up through the trials before the NOC. She also passed Utility each time we showed from January-March. The wheels fell off a bit after the NOC, but still overall, I think she had a better Q rate than I've ever had with prior dogs.

Jag made tremendous progress from where he was in December 2016, with the icing on the cake winning a Utility B class - something I haven't done since February 2015 - for 10 OTCh points 2 weeks after finishing his UD.

Once I focused on Tigger, starting after the FCRSA National in May, he really came into his own with his field work. His obedience work is still very much a work in progress. I think I'm getting him figured out, but only time will tell.

Sonic - 5 years
I plan to devote at least the first 1/3 of the year to obedience, heading into the NOC tournament, and most likely at least through May (National Specialty). Sonic seemed very happy to be back showing in obedience again. 
  • FCRSA National in May - OB - NQ :-(, UB 2nd place, MH - PASS!, WCX - pass, Field trial bitches - zippo, gun dog sweeps - 1st place MH bitches!
  • FCRSC National - NB, Open bitches (Wendy?)
  • Obedience-related
    • NOC March 25/26 - Sonic passed everything on day one except the dratted sit stay. Super proud of both of us. We worked very hard for this event and had a blast attending.
    • Open B 1st
    • UDX - need 2 more legs to finish - leg 9 - 2/10/17; leg 10 - 2/11/17
    • UDX2leg 11 - 2/12/17, leg 12 - 2/25, leg 13 - 2/26, leg 14 - 3/11, leg 15 - 3/12, leg 16 - 4/15, leg 17 - 4/16, leg 18 5/26, leg 19 10/8, leg 20 10/21
    • UDX3 - leg 21 10/22; leg 22 11/26; 
    • OM2 - finished 2/10/17
    • OM3 - finished 4/16/16
    • OM4 - my records show 171 points towards OM4. She came in season right before last weekend when I’d hoped to finish it.
    • OTCh - ended 2016 with 69 points, needing Open B 1st; ended 2017 with 84 points, still needing an Open B 1st
  • Field-related
    • Train at Jorgensen’s weekly
    • Train with Terri P regularly
    • Get marking back on track
      • Improve understanding of hip-pocket doubles
    • Passed all 4 Master tests we entered.
Jag - 2 years
  • BTCA in April - NB, OB, OA, OJWW, T2B
  • Obedience-related
    • GN February-April
    • Novice B (final time) and Open B (1st time) at BTCA National in April in Florida - HIT out of Novice B class
    • CDX April-July - earned 5/25-5/26 at Kazoo cluster 196, 195.5, 195
    • Ready for Utility by Marshbanks in October
    • UD - leg 1 10/8/17; leg 2 10/21/17; leg 3 11/26/17;
    • Wasn’t a goal, but he got a UB 1st place and 10 OTCh points on 12/9/17!
  • Agility-related
    • Practice weaves on a consistent basis - have poles set up in back yard in warmer months, and work on hard entries.
    • Work on obstacle discrimination
    • OA
    • OAJ
    • NF
Tigger - 10 months
  • FCRSA National -  Show in:
    • Puppy Sweeps - zippo
    • Bred-by - zippo
    • Rally novice - 1st leg, 1st place (54 dog class!), 100+
    • WC - passed!
    • JH - Passed! leg 1
  • Field-related
    • Finish Force Fetch March 
    • Whistle sits - started March - lots more in June
    • Pile work
    • FTP
    • Water force - June
    • Finish collar conditioning - obedience (heeling, whistle sits, FTP, burn out of the hole) June
    • T and TT - teach him to handle - started teaching casting in April, T in June
    • Pattern Blinds - started in mid-August
    • Blind drills
    • Swim-by - August and September - did a lot of work, but not QUITE there 
    • WC - May 14, 2017 @ FCRSA National
    • JH - first leg at FCRSA; leg 2 at July MI Flyways; leg 3 8/19; title 8/20 at MI Flyways
    • Develop marking skills
      • Lengthen singles
      • Double concepts
      • Singles in complex set ups
  • Obedience related
    • Teach him to heel!
      • Rhythm heeling
      • Turns
      • Halts
      • Figure 8’s
      • Pace changes
      • Proofing
      • Off-leash - for Rally October/November
    • Continue with PF exercises
    • Rally titles - RN 10/6/17; RA 1 (10/21) RA 2 (10/22); RA 3 (11/18); RE 1 (11/18); RE 2 & 3 (12/8)
    • BN - did not even try. I didn't spend a ton of time on obedience with him, as I concentrated on field.
    • Teach him to jump

Friday, January 1, 2016

2016 Goals

For years, I have enjoyed the process of reviewing the waning year and how I did with goals I set the previous holiday season and setting my goals for the upcoming year. Here are my goals for 2016:

Myself
  • Website - change payment method. I have just GOT to get this done, for so many reasons. Or hire it done.
  • Continue exercise challenge - aim for 200 workouts in 2016, with self-reward prizes for every 50 workouts. If I accomplish just 50 workouts a quarter, I will easily hit that goal.
  • Walk/run a 5K in each quarter (at home on treadmill okay), reducing time each quarter. Did the one in late 2015 in about 56 minutes.
  • Successfully raise and place a litter of puppies. Sonic was bred to Heidi Heibert's handsome boy Arrow in December, so I am hopeful that she will have puppies in mid-February. I've never raised a litter before, and I'm terrified at the unknown but so excited about the prospect of spending two months raising them.
Sonic (4 years old)
  • Puppies! 
  • To accomplish anything more on the obedience titles I'd like Sonic to earn in her lifetime, we have to start qualifying in Open B on a regular basis. The sit stay has proved to be a very hard exercise for her, though it was better last winter with all the conditioning work we did. If she does indeed have the hoped for puppies, we won't be back to competitions until late spring, and by then, we'll most likely be back in the field.
  • Open B 1st place
  • UDX legs
  • OTCh points
  • OM1 - she just needs one more solid Open score to finish that. 
  • OM2
  • Qualify for 2017 NOC.
  • Improve Sonic's water blinds. We improved enough in 2015 to pass Master regularly, but they were often a battle. Especially in need of improvement are her initial lines with an angle entry, particularly long water entries.
  • Qualify for 2015 Master National. She only needs one more MH pass before July 31 to do so. The Master National will be September 29-October 9, 2016 near St. Louis, where the 2015 FCRSA National field events were held, which were fantastic grounds. Whether or not we go will depend on her progress on her water blinds.
  • Get some MH passes toward qualifying for 2016 MN.
Jag (20 months old)
  • Attend one off-site fun match per month.
  • CD with scores in the high 190's, with at least one HIT. 
  • NA and NAJ. 
  • Progress on Grand championship.
  • RATO (barn hunt Open title) and RATS (barn hunt Senior title).
  • Border Terrier National in June. It is in Ohio, so nice and close by. I'd like to show him in Novice Agility, at least Standard and Jumpers, Novice B obedience, and conformation.
  • Show him in the Novice division at the AKC Classic in December. But since the qualifying period ends June 30, I'm not sure I want to show him that much in Novice by then. But it does only require 3 Q's in the qualifying period this time instead of 6 Q's.
  • Matching seriously in Open by the end of the year.
  • Matching crudely in Utility by the end of the year.
New Puppy
  • Get him/her started on all the puppy basics for obedience, rally, and field.
  • Get started in conformation ring.
  • Matching in rally and Beginner Novice.
  • WC?

    What are YOUR goals?

    2015 Goal Review

    What follows are the goals I planned in January 2015. The blue items were accomplished. As usual, I was more successful with my dog goals.

    Myself
    • Website - change payment method. Essentially did nothing except realize that I need to hire someone to do this. I am hopeful that someone I contacted in early December will be able to help in 2016.
    • Incentive program: Develop a more consistent exercise (me and dogs), dog training and other work (office-related and project) schedule. After using this system to earn myself an Apple Watch by June, I relented on the constant record keeping this required. And not keeping records meant I didn't spend time as consistently. Guess that means I need those records for accountability.
    • Reprint Balancing Act
    • Continue exercise challenge - aim for 200 workouts in 2015, with self-reward prizes for every 50 workouts. - strained my right hamstring in April when out for a power walk during a seminar lunch break. It is still bothering me as I write this 1/1/16, but between yoga and MELT method roller work, it is at least manageable. The hamstring and related pains meant I barely exercised in April, September and October. I did finish 2015 strong with 22 and 29 workouts in November and December, finishing with 170 for the year. Didn't manage to do the prizes in 2015.
    • Participate in a 5K - did it at home on the treadmill on 12/28, but DID get it done.
    • One goal that was not on my list in January 2015 was to lose weight, but when I started the Fast Metabolism Diet in February, I lost about 10 lbs and 2 pant sizes and have been successful at keeping it off, something I wasn't when I lost a bunch of weight 15 years ago. I've definitely changed the overall way I eat and cook.
    Sonic 3 years old
    • Give her time this year to mature into her obedience performances - focus on her motivation and speed vs. nitpicking for perfection
    • Improve finishes to > 50% correct by working on them more consistently. I don't feel that we showed consistently enough to really gauge her progress. Plus I'm too lazy to go back and count!
    • Keep her sound via a consistent exercise program
    • UDX legs (1st 2/7; 2nd 2/15; 3rd 2/16)
    • OTCh points (4 from 12/14 UB 2nd, 1/8/15 - 10, UB 1st; 2/6 - 20, UB 1st; Florida - 6 more for 3 UB 3rds; 1 for UB 2nd at Progressive 4/26; 2 for 3rd in UB at MB 10/18; 1 for 3rd in UB at Richland KC 12/3; 3 for 2nd in UB at Medina KC 12/4) 47 total
    • OM1 - over 200 points by year’s end, just 12 shy of the Open points needed
    • MH legs - Flyways (1st - 8/15), Marshbanks (2nd - 8/15), Backwater (3rd - 9/15), American Chesapeake Club (4th - 10/4), Central Kentucky RC (5th - 10/25)
    • BUD [Big Useful Dog] award at National in April (qualify or place in 3 different areas)
    • Qualify for 2016 NOC - though if I DO end up breeding her, I would want to do it a year from now, so she would be home with puppies during the 2016 NOC if all goes as planned.
    • Didn’t even have anything about her breed championship on the goals list. But here she is on 12/4/15 with her Championship!

    Jag 8 months old

    • RN (2 legs at Strawberry cluster; 3rd at BTCA in May)
    • RA (2 legs at Marshbanks October; 3rd leg at Greater Toledo November)
    • RE (1st leg at Greater Toledo, legs 2 & 3 at IX Center in December)
    • Matching for real in Novice, solidify his understanding of the exercises
    • Matching at least crudely in Open
    • Continue his Utility education, with a focus on Signals and DJ - didn't spend that much time on this
    • Teach him to jump well (got Susan Salo's puppy jumping dvd in January...)
    • Work on his CH (1st major 1/18/15; up to 14 points by TKC in June; 5 point major Sept 25); earned 1st 5 GCh points at Ft Wayne weekend.
    • BT National in May
    • Try Barn Hunt with him - June - he LOVES it! RATN in June & July, 1 Open leg in September.
    • BN in fall if ready (1st leg at BT National in May 194.5; 2nd leg 194.5, 3rd leg 199.5 at Marshbanks)

    What a Whirlwind Couple of Months!

    Although I'm publishing this on January 1, I started to write this during our final show weekend of 2015 at Cleveland in December.

    After a spring and summer of mostly field training and very little of anything else, Sonic and I dove into a series of Master Hunt tests. In addition to success there, we also threw in some conformation weekends, one barn hunt trial, and some obedience/rally weekends.

    August 15/16 - Michigan Flyways Retriever Club hunt test: Master pass #1
    August 22/23 - Marshbanks Golden Retriever Club's hunt test: Master pass #2
    August 29/30 - both dogs helped me teach an obedience seminar for the Obedience Training Club of Greater Lansing
    September 5 - showed both dogs in big zippo in conformation at the Jaxon KC show.
    September 11-13 - Backwater RC hunt test: Master pass #3
    September 19-20 - OFF
    September 26 - Buckeye RC hunt test: Master test failure
    September 27 - Monroe KC:  Sonic RWB, Jag Winners Dog for a 5-point major to complete his AKC breed championship!
    September 27 - Great American Dog Barn Hunt trial: Jag first RATO leg.
    October 3-4 - American Chesapeake Club hunt test: Master pass #4
    October 10-11 - field weekend with Midwest Waterways FCRC: Sonic did a super job as test dog for WCX.
    Sonic's 5th Master pass for her MH
    October 17-18 - Marshbanks Golden Retriever Club's obedience/rally trials: Sonic Saturday Utility B 3rd place, 2 OTCh points. Jag 2 Rally Advanced legs (94 leg 1, 100+ 1st place leg 2) and 2 Beginner Novice legs (194.5 4th place, and 199.5 1st place) to finish his BN title.
    October 24-25 - Central Kentucky RC hunt test: Master pass #5 - new MH!
    October 28 - NE Indiana KC: Sonic WB 1 point
    October 29 - LaPorte County KC - Sonic WB 2 points
    October 31 - Marion KC: Jag Best of Opposite Sex 1st time out as a special, 3 point GCh major, also beating another dog special.
    November 1 - NE Indiana KC: Jag Select Dog for 2 more GCh points, and beat a dog special.
    November 7/8 - trip to Lakeland, FL to present a seminar. The dogs stayed home.
    November 15 - Greater Toledo Obedience Training Club: Jag 3rd Rally Advanced leg with 1st place with a perfect 100+
    November 15, trial  - Greater Toledo Obedience Training Club: Jag 1st Excellent leg with a 1st place 99.
    November 16 - OFA Eye clinic. Both dogs passed with flying colors.
    November 20-21 - Toledo KC: Sonic managed 1 Utility B pass out of 4 classes shown. A positive was she managed to hold her sit stay on the 2nd day, so we excused ourselves and she got a jackpot.
    Jag: 1st place in Beginner Novice with a 198.5.
    November 29/30 - OFF.
    December 3-5 - Cleveland IX Center shows: showed Jag all 3 days in Best of Breed, got zippo.
    Thursday, Sonic was 3rd in Utility B for one more OTCh points. Jag was the most distracted he had EVER been in his life and I begged and pleaded him to a 91 score–very generous–for his 2nd Excellent leg. I excused us from the Beginner Novice ring after essentially dragging him around 2/3rds of the heeling pattern. I saw no point in continuing.
    Friday, Jag came back from Thursdays mess to win Excellent B with a perfect 100 to finish his RE title, one of the goals of my trip. He then went in Beginner Novice and did a fine job, earning 1st place with a 198.
    Best of all, Sonic won Winners Bitch with Lindsey Cook showing her for the 3 points to finish her breed Championship! And she topped that off with a 2nd place in Utility B for 3 more OTCh points.
    To finish off the show year, on Saturday, Jag was 1st again in Excellent B with a 95. Nowhere near as good a performance as Friday, but lots better than Thursday. Sonic was 3rd in Utility B.

    Friday's Medina KC winnings - New CH for Sonic, new RE for Jag

    Total for this stretch:
    Jag - Championship, 5 GCH points, BN, RA, RE, and a RATO leg
    Sonic - MH, 6 OTCh points, CH.


    Saturday, July 11, 2015

    RATS!

    I got my start in dog sports in 1985, and earned my first obedience title in 1986. I did some tracking in the late 1980's/early 1990's. I was again a Novice A person when I started agility circa 1990. I got heavily into hunt tests with the Flat-Coats circa 2006.

    Last month, I went to a Barn Hunt workshop on a Saturday afternoon. Sonic was tepid at best, but Jag... he was in heaven. He definitely got more and more into it each time we entered the ring area for our turn.

    The basic idea of Barn Hunt, which is for all breeds of dogs, is for the dog to locate a rat which is hidden in a tube - a piece of sewer pipe with holes in it. The tube is hidden somewhere in a structure built out of straw bales. The dogs also have to "tunnel" - i.e., go through a tunnel through the straw bales, and they have to do "a climb" - hop up on the straw pile as they hunt. At the Novice level, the tunnel is open at either end, and the bales are at most 2 bales high. There are 3 tubes - one with a rat, one with used bedding, and one empty. The dog has to indicate to the handler when he finds the rat.

    Last Saturday, we attended our first Barn Hunt trials, entering the Instinct test, a very basic test, where all 3 tubes are laid out in plain site. Jag passed that fairly easily.

    In the first Novice class, we were in the first "blind" - a group of up to 5 teams that all have their tubes in the same place - so didn't get a chance to watch much before we went in the ring.  He did quite a lot of searching in the ring. When he started biting at a tube, I called "Rat!", but alas, it was a tube with litter in it. I took him to where the tube with the rat was (after the judge pointed it out to us), and he got more excited than he had on the one with litter in it.

    In the second Novice Class, he darted through the tunnel, turned left, I encouraged him to hop up on the bales, and he almost immediately started to indicate that he'd found a tube. I eventually called "Rat!" and this time, it was right. 27 seconds out of the 2 minutes allowed. First RATN leg!

    Today, we headed off for another new adventure, and went to try Earth Dog for the first time. The property we were at is simply beautiful and the weather was perfect for spending it outside enjoying our dogs. I didn't manage to take any photos, but Jag thought Earth Dog was Da BOMB! We started out with Beth Widdows (who trained 3 of her Westies in obedience with me years ago) helping us rank beginners with how to get started going through short tunnels above ground and getting to practice "working" the rats. Jag caught on very quickly and was soon biting the bars like a pro. After a break in the Burb, I went out by myself to see the Intro and Novice tunnel set up.

    We tried the Intro course next, which was a simple tunnel with a left turn, but requiring him to go down a short ramp to enter it. He didn't have any trouble with the tunnel, but he was a bit hesitant to "work the rats". The dog needs to show noisy enthusiasm for the work - just staring won't cut it. It is one reason I've never been sure I wanted to try Earth Dog, since I loathe barky/whiney dogs. So here I was, encouraging him to bite the dowels that separated him from the rats, to whine, to dig, etc.

    Next we proceeded on to the Novice course. The Novice tunnels are 30 feet long. This one had 3 turns on it. He again arrived at the rats fairly quickly. He also figured out how to turn around and come back out the entrance, which isn't desirable at the beginning levels. The Novice dogs are removed from the tunnel right by the rat cage via a trap door. He worked pretty hard at the rats with encouragement, but he'll need to learn how to keep up the work for 60 seconds with zero encouragement from me.

    I put him away in the Burb, took a break, then had one final turn. One of the things I've vowed is that I won't give him access to the rats unless he is keeping his emotions in check. Getting from the Burb to where the tunnels were was a lengthy affair, as we proceeded 5 steps forward, 3 steps back. The 2nd turn was actually better in terms of him restraining himself somewhat on the walk to the tunnels. Reminds me a lot of what Sonic was like when we started our field work. It is SO exciting!!!

    Next Saturday, we will be doing two more Novice Barn Hunt trials, with a practice session tomorrow at the grounds where the trials will be. It is fun learning a new sport, and it is great seeing Jag turning on to the sport he is bred for.