19 Čvc Archer’s IGP 2 Series, Part 2: Training

Last week, I gave you an overview of our trial preparation. This week, I would like to focus more on the details and what we were working on during those short four weeks before the trial. It was an intense time, and we really worked hard.

Tracking

In tracking, we had some issues with articles. Archer has had his share of problems with articles for his whole life as they, in his opinion, fall under the category of “boring stuff you have to stay put for.”

So, they are not his favorite part of the track. He would much rather continue sniffing than bother with articles. Our tracking preparation was, therefore, mainly focused on them and also on getting used to tracking on grass.

His work with the articles improved considerably as we went on, and I was very satisfied with our work in tracking and confident we would do well.

Protection

As I mentioned last week, we were lacking a bit in training volume in protection, so I was pretty nervous about it. Archer didn’t help this anxiety at all when, to my horror, he decided to not out on command for the first time in his life. I worked hard on his outs, and they have always been flawless, but it wouldn’t be Arch if he didn’t decide to play my nerves at the last moments, of course.

Other than that, we had big issues with back transport, and I decided to just wing it. I knew we wouldn’t be able to polish it to perfection. I knew Arch would be able to get through the exercise and that we would have to hit it really hard after trial. That freed us up to work on the outs and guarding phases.

All in all, I was afraid of the outs during protection—those could get us disqualified—and I knew back transport would be bad. Other than that, I knew Archer had it in him to succeed.

Heeling

Obedience is, ironically, Archer’s worst discipline. His nerves are just not made for all the waiting, patience, calm, and concentration-heavy parts.

So, I knew we had a lot of work to do to really make sure he was ready come trial day. We probably worked the hardest on obedience. Archer’s strong suit is that he actually thrives on frequent training sessions, so I was able to work him almost every day—literally every day—for the last week.

During heeling, I was trying to balance an interesting problem: when using the ball as a reward, his heeling position got better, but he would squeal and sometimes even bark in anticipation of his ball. When using treats, he would be silent but his position would suffer a bit. So, I was balancing these two out, trying to find the perfect ratio of him shutting up and holding a good heeling position.

Apart from that, I found out that I had to change my pace during heeling again. It’s our regular ritual: once or twice a year, Arch decides he wants to mix things up and forces me to change my pace and get used to walking either slower or faster, whatever his current whim may be.

Out-of-motion exercises and recall

Out-of-motion exercises aren’t Archer’s strong suit, but I was actually pretty happy with how they looked during training. Archer is very, very tense, so he never really sits very quickly, but his down was decent, his recall was obviously lightning-fast like usual, and we finally managed to have a good stand out-of-motion.

In IGP 2, this exercise includes coming back to a standing dog and him waiting for the command to sit down, which is arguably harder than a recall from stand out of motion in IGP 3. Surprisingly, this was no problem with Arch, and he nailed it every time.

We had some issues with him getting a bit lazy coming to the basic position from the front sit, though. I explained to him that I can tolerate some mistakes due to his crazy autistic nature, but I sure as hell could not put up with him being unable to move his body—it’s all he does all day! He agreed, and it worked out nicely.

Retrieves and obstacles

With retrieves, we will probably always have minor issues with Arch chewing the dumbbell when sitting in front of me. We approached it in many different ways, and he tries really hard. I can see him trying, but his nerves usually get the better of him, and he chews a bit. I worked on mitigating that as best as I could while also making sure he would sit still when I throw the dumbbell. Otherwise, his retrieving is perfect. He is as fast as they come.

The hurdle is not a problem with Archer either. I paid very close attention to teaching him the correct jump style, and he is very reliable. At the A-frame, I have to make sure he doesn’t jump straight over it and actually takes his time to really climb up and down, but other than that, no problems. The chewing is also not as bad with the retrieves over the hurdle and A-frame, so I would consider those our better exercises.

Send away and down under distraction

Send away is always a tricky business. Archer loves to run, but he is pretty sensitive to being downed. He is perfectly capable of running like crazy for 20 to 30 steps and then immediately downing without my command when I overdo it. So, again, I was carefully balancing everything to make sure it would work out.

Down under distraction, however, I wouldn’t hesitate to call our bane. Not moving for such a long time? While another dog is performing his beloved exercises? I am pretty sure Arch would rather sacrifice a leg than have to do down under distraction.

Fortunately, I have patiently explained to him that he has to work hard during down under distraction, and I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time on the exercise. There was an almost year-long period where Archer would be downing for extended periods of time before every meal. Brutal, but it worked, and now he tolerates the exercise and actually does a really good job at it, not being distracted by the other dog at all and really downing reliably.

Lately, he, unfortunately, started having issues with coming to the down under distraction spot at our training field. I am not exactly sure why. Once downed, he is content lying down. But heeling over to the spot and then waiting there? That was probably our biggest problem during training, and I did what I could to calm him down and explain he has nothing to be nervous about.

All in all, I was a little anxious about our obedience as it very much depends on Archer’s mood, and I knew it was crucial that I really made sure he was in the best mindset possible on trial day. I felt we were better prepared than for our IGP 1, which we scored 95 points in, so I trusted Arch to not let me down.

Apart from tracking, obedience, and protection, I made sure Arch was in top-notch physical condition. Running, swimming, rollerblading, extra-long walks, you name it. I wanted the muscles to be bulging on him, and they did. He got through all three phases with no problems on trial day and then happily swam for another half an hour after the trial.

As you can see, we had our work cut out for us; and we did our best, working hard over the short four weeks we had at our disposal. I was very proud of my Archer. He may be a crazy, chaotic crackhead at times, but he is also a dedicated hard worker. Not once did I notice any fatigue in him. Not once did he give up when it was hot or the session was especially taxing.

The preparation was over, and trial day was upon us. Archer will take it up on himself to describe the trial to you next week, so stay tuned and be mindful!