Agility + independent dog?

Hi Jetty -

Can you put Dodger in a sit/down stay while you are setting up? If he has a good stay that may prevent him from getting on the equipment when you don't want him to. Or maybe leaving him in his crate until you are ready to work?

Marking on the equipment is a hard one especially since others are marking. I think you are doing the best you can, diluting it and taking him out of the ring to try and potty. Also if he is in a crate, it may help his marking as you say he doesn't mark when you are working. Where we train we use a bleach/water solution.

Hope that helps!

If you're ever planning to compete with him he'll have to learn how to spend a lot of down-time in a crate at ringside and yet be willing to work when it's time.  I'd crate him while you set up, and practice popping him back into the crate, and then getting him back out to work, repeatedly, over and over, during your practice sessions.
Weaves-- either make them easier for now (guide wires, open a channel, whatever you can) so you can reward for the speed, or you can just differentially reward: my dog also tended to pop out when going too fast, and would get really turned off by being asked to repeat them to fix it, so what I did was simply encourage the speed, and if she got them correct at speed we had a party right after the weaves and she got praise, food, and toys; if she popped out I just ignored it and kept going on the course; if she did them slowly but correctly I offered only a praise word and kept going on course.

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy If you're ever planning to compete with him he'll have to learn how to spend a lot of down-time in a crate at ringside and yet be willing to work when it's time. 

 
Just what I didn't want to hear but I guess I should have known that!   
 
Dodger does have a solid stay so I will give that a try.  He is only now NOT freaking out in a crate so I can't rely on it just yet. 
 
I think continuing with the course instead of making him do the weaves over again is the best idea - THANK-YOU!  I never thought of that and since weaves are his fav, I'm sure he likes doing them over and over and over again!!
 
Thank-you both.  I will try keeping him in a stay to avoid problems.
 
NEXT QUESTION[] - is there anyway I can motivate him to work when he's "brain-dead" from waiting until I am ready to start??     

You've gotten some great advice here.  I agree with making the weave poles easier.  Where is he coming out of them?  First/second pole, middle or end?  And does it make a difference how (what angle) he's entering them?  Dead on can be really hard as the dog will only see one pole and don't always realize that it is a set of weave poles.  Try doing the weaves with a front cross or reverse flow pivot before the weaves and see if that helps.  I have to do this with my basenjis in order to get them to collect themselves before they enter the weaves.  (We learned from the basenjis and the malinois doesn't need us to do this.)
 
Also, the marking.  Make sure he has ample oppertunity to pee before starting the course, off course.  I'd do a vocal correction for him marking when he's suppose to be working.  At a trial, you never know when the dog in front of you is going to mark the course, so proof for  that now.  (Not only that but many agility trials are outside in park-like settings, so who knows who peed there yesterday.  Other trials are inside in horse barns, so who knows what sort of  urine is there.  And some clubs use the equipment for training, so who knows who peed on those weave poles 2 days ago.)  And since he's not running around on the field while you're setting up (I do this myself, but it's not really a good idea.  Ideally the agility field is for agility, not play.) and he's had a chance to pee before you run him, well, he doesn't need to pee there. 
 
As far as motivating him, does he like toys?  Food?  Balls?  Tug?  Chase?  I clicker trained my basenji to play tug.  I engage him before he works.  I also bought a toy that I can put food in from CleanRun.  I have basenjis, so I got a rabbit, but maybe they have a stuffed fox for your guy.  That toy, the rabbit skin, and a few other special toys are agility only toys.  If he's slow engagine, keep sequences short and reward with games/food/chase often. 

[linkhttp://www.cleanrun.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=677&CFID=340586&CFTOKEN=60743886]http://www.cleanrun.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=677&CFID=340586&CFTOKEN=60743886[/link]
 
Our bunny toy.  I fill it with meatballs and have the dogs chase it.  They will "kill" it and then I'll go over there and open it up for them saying "mmmmm, yummmy bunny guts." 

ORIGINAL: agilebasenji I agree with making the weave poles easier.  Where is he coming out of them?  First/second pole, middle or end?  And does it make a difference how (what angle) he's entering them? 

And since he's running around on the field while you're setting up (I do this myself, but it's not really a good idea.  Ideally the agility field is for agility, not play.) and he's had a chance to pee before you run him, well, he doesn't need to pee there. 

As far as motivating him, does he like toys?  Food?  Balls?  Tug?  Chase?  I clicker trained my basenji to play tug.  I engage him before he works.  I also bought a toy that I can put food in from CleanRun. 

 
Thank- you so much as well - LOTS of great advice!!!
 
If Dodger is going to pop-out or miss the weaves, it is always at the second one for some reason!  The angle doesn't seem to matter but he does seem to prefer me on his right side (he is still more comfortable with the traditional left side heel position)...
 
I know letting him loose on the field isn't the best idea and won't always be feasible. But being a hound, Dodger seems to need to get his sniffies out before we start - if I deny him that opportunity, it makes he want to sniff even more. 
 
He is usually only motivated by food but I have borrowed a friend's dog's toy and at he's been very motivated by it towards the end of our sessions.  The toys you mention look great, I am going to order one.  Where did you get the rabbit skin???  Dodger would love that. That would be a great way to wake him up after prolonged "boring' time!!
 
Thanks again!![]

I got my rabbit skin from CleanRun.  I'm sure it is more expensive there, but they don't use bad stuff when they tan the skin. 
 
 

You could try just walking around the outside of the ring/agility area.  Let him do all the sniffing he wants until he looks up at you.  I had a trainer suggest this and I will be trying it with my little, nose-to-the-ground guy at our next trial. 

Jetty,
 
Here's a story for you.  I have a friend that used to have an Am Foxhound years ago when agility was just starting.  She swears to me that she'd just let her dog go and the dog would track the path of the dogs.  The owner would have to run to the pause (paws?) table to get the dog to stop, but otherwise the foxhound would run the course.  I guess that would be another approach you could try.  Just make sure Dodger is tracking a dog that Q'd. 

a lot of this depends on your dog and what motivates your dog. People tend to get caught up in teaching the dog how to do the obstacles, but really, the most important, and to my mind, the most interesting, art of agility is figuring out how to get your dog to want to work with you while in a high drive state but not in a hyper too excited state. Every dog is different.
 
Don't be afraid to try any and everything you can possibly think of. Try all sorts of things--- with one dog, the best warm-up after a wait is a good massage, followed by a game of hot-dog: throwing pieces of a hot dog up in the the air for him to leap up and catch. Then he's ready to work. Other dog,  the best warm up is some vigorous heeling at a brisk pace with lots of sharp turns and sudden auto-sits, followed by a few frisbee catches or some tug of war, and she's ready to work.  Lots of people run through silly trick routines to get their dog focused.