The increase in toy play at home has made a difference in Frida’s speed and motivation in agility trials. Most of the time I can get her revved at the start line and I do start with her rather than lead out. Someday I hope to do a lead out and have her drive fast off the start line. I’ve put a jumpers and standard video from a recent trial in this post. Frida takes a wrong course in the jumpers video but I do not correct – we keep running.
<div>https://youtu.be/UbORECsT-4E</div&gt;
<div>https://youtu.be/Dqy9Z5WvWqg</div&gt;
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<div>I have two long tugs toys exactly alike. I tried to do a toy exchange but she was not interested so I went with the flow. I tried not to abruptly let go of the tug but she actually pulled it out of my hand!  After a few minutes of play I decided to do a start line with the toy. I’m thinking if I do more of this, the energy, anticipation, and drive attitude will eventually transfer to the ring at a trial.  At a trial she will tug and play but as we get closer to the ring for her to go in, she does not want to tug so we do nose touches, spins, etc.</div>
<div>https://youtu.be/ySX6bgTAzwk</div&gt;
<div>https://youtu.be/eyr3BnEHKTU</div&gt;
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<div>I’m also posting a couple of videos at my agility field for you to see what happens when her prey drive kicks in. Just a few minutes prior to when the videos were taken, Frida was a bundle of energy – playful, tugging, barking at me for more.  When she was in her crate for about 5 min while my friend ran her dog, Frida spotted a squirrel.  I thought there might be a possibility to re-engage her to run the course I set up. Sometimes when I let her go sniff the tree trunk, that will satisfy her and she will work with me.  But most of the time her behavior is what you see in the video. I have a really nice field with equipment but most of the time I opt to train at my friend’s indoor facility without the distractions.</div>
<div>https://youtu.be/V4Oj8lXnYCM</div&gt;
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I am having a hard time sending this.  When I hit the “submit” button below, nothing happens.  But I will keep trying to figure it out!

I have included most of the play exercises in this video.  In the clip where she sits ad downs (toward the end), I was aiming for the compressed focus exercise and she was offering these behaviors. In the last clip where she was running a sequence, you can hear her barking which is always a good sign that she’s in a good mental state – focused and enjoying herself. A big take away is to stop trying to get Frida revved at an agility trial as she feels too much pressure from me. I am trying to learn to watch her energy and then determine what she needs. Frida is a thinker and sometimes it’s hard to tell what is going on with her.