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Whew, we both definitely got a workout this week with all the running around!
We had to break a few exercises down into small chunks. The set proofing was our weakest because her stays are still no match for the allure of the treat and train. I had my friend Georgette hold her so we could get focused on the jumping form part of this exercise and we did a lot of stay training with the treat & train this week. Hopefully we can put it together soon.
The Wind in Your Hair (which I realize the title card says Face, oops) was a lot of fun and Ingy got up some serious speed.
The Wrap Proofing also required breaking down between wraps & tunnels. The tunnel was just too exciting to ignore for now, so I am working to strengthen the verbals for wrap/wing before adding the back and forth with tunnel. She seems to get it when we ONLY do tunnel or wraps but hasn’t quite gotten the switching between the two. Is this just a practice thing or should I be doing something different
Smiley faces were SUPER fun once I realized a) I didn’t have to go to the tunnel with her b) I had to turn into her not away from. She didn’t realize she could enter the tunnel from the left side, which stopped progress for a while but after some tunnel sends on that left side, she was much more comfortable. We haven’t been able to get all 3 reps but she did complete a whole smiley face a few times which was exciting. She’s fast as hell…I’m gonna need to start working out to keep up!
Hi Tracy,
Thanks for the info! Signing up for Max Pups this week (it was a birthday present 🙂 )My friend said she will probably do Max Pups 1 independent (she has some experience training agility) and then jump back onto Max 2’s class when the other folks catch up.
Georgia went GREAT! Ingy earned her FCAT2 and something about that Georgia soil made her ZOOM – she ran hers 2nd and 3rd fastest times, with all runs going sub 8 seconds (or over 25.75 mph). She also earned her Trick Dog Novice and CGC titles…so something MUST be going right with our start line stays!
We also got to watch a lot of agility. It was really exciting to see the course and be like “oh we could do that” or “oh how would I move from this obstacle to the next”. Watching novice was also very reassuring – the only agility I’ve seen are higher levels and I felt intimidated by it. The novice was very refreshing; sometimes the pups got distracted, did the wrong jump, or just were dogs! It made me feel a lot better about where I am at.
An overall success!
Hi Tracy,
Happy Easter!
Sorry to be so MIA – between a show in West Palm, another in Elkton, and a crazy few weeks of work, training has definitely been…nearly absent. And we leave for a show in GA Tuesday. I do plan to work on the last 2 weeks of skills next week when we are back! Ingy seems to whine at me when we’re outside for a bathroom break for training, which is super cute! She’s addicted in the best way!Super looking forward to class #2 – when do sign ups open?
I also have a friend looking to start this class (class #1) fast track edition, do you happen to have the dates of the next round?
Thanks!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Hope you fared okay with the wild weather yesterday 🙂
This week’s exercises are tough so far..for me! A lot of trying to remember which way to cross and which hand to use. Practice will make perfect but I may have mentally worked out as hard as Ingy. I used cookies to start so I could have them in both hands; trying to switch the toy around and remember which way to turn was too much for this round 🙂
Stays are still definitely a work in progress. I think I’m a bit too ambitious and need to make it easier so she breaks when I say to and not before.
Let me know your thoughts!
Thanks for the suggestions on the drive by! I couldn’t quite pinpoint why sometimes she came to me and sometimes she didn’t – the reaching for the toy vs not makes a lot of sense.
And yes…always hacking up cookies. Did you know if you cough it up, you get to eat it twice? 🙂I’ll add in the sideways and another toy to see if that helps, plus the marker. I was just amazed she actually sat and waited. That in itself was a big win!
Yes, I am using “dot dot dot”. No idea why other than it was short and came to mind. But it seems to work!
Double whammy game is coming up either tonight or tomorrow. So glad for the time change, it allows me so much more time after work.Thanks for your suggestions and feedback! 🙂
Happy Wednesday!
First few rounds of reverse retrieves and tunnel threadles went well!
Ingy’s getting the threadles until about 80% of the way down and then she gets confused. You can see I try to make it easier for her…hoping some latent learning and another session this week helps with that! Looking forward to the dual tunnel game later this week.
Reverse retrieves went well…until she got naughty and coughed up a cookie. But she is very happy she got two toys today!
Thanks for any feedback you have for us!
Week 8, Part 2!
I feel like I was a bit confusing on the leading with the head game, which is why it took her a bit of time to get the hang of it. Any tips for me?
It feels like perch work and backside slices went well 🙂 believe it or not she’s starting to ignore the toy a bit more in my hand, which I imagine is good ignoring distraction training. We’ll get there one day!
She is the QUEEN of her eyes closed in photos. Always laughing at me!
I think the low light got us with the cookie tosses, she was having a hard time finding them without taking the time to sniff them out. I am hoping when we try again tonight, we can get some more crazy angles.
Her stays are definitely the weakest skill we have; I should have trained it more when she was itty bitty but we are working through it now 🙂
I haven’t picked a verbal yet. I may try one tonight and see what comes more natural… sometimes my brain just short circuits out there, so whatever comes up naturally is my go to!
We will give it all another go tonight…yay more Treat & Train! Thank you for your advice!
Happy Monday!
Sorry for the dark videos, work had me late today. Can’t wait for the time change! 🙂
I was super proud of her, she got the game really fast, especially the Threadles. She loooves her Treat & Train.
Let us know what you think
Hi Tracy,
We worked on using the toy for the barrels. Ingy didn’t understand at first that the toy wasn’t for her all the time; however, once I had someone help me hold and release her (so she couldn’t get the toy), she understood she had to do the wraps for the rewards! She built up some good speed.
Thanks for the break week – perfect timing between the craziness at work and missing one game last week.
I am loving this course and all the feedback – appreciate all you do! 🙂
TGIF!
We worked on backing up, get outs, and rocking horses. I was SO impressed with her on the rocking horse exercise. She was a rockstar! I found having that “Hallmark moment” really helped the connection and encouraged her to follow my cues. Felt like an aha moment for both of us!I think backing up and get outs also went well…minus when she tries to run off with my props!
Thanks for all the tips! We will train when we are back from our show.
Ingy ran two perfect Fetch trials for her Intermediate title! Woohoo! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QRgn-y157eswflM01RbJ9Q-6aCIyukUz/view?usp=drivesdk
Happy Saturday!
Parallel path games went a lot better following your advice…thank you! You can even see where she made the decision to go through rather than stick to me at 1:33. I was proud!
We had some extra distractions again today with blow dryers going as my friend and training buddy is getting dogs ready for tomorrow’s show, but Ingy did a good job blocking it out for the most part.
Contacts went well (I think!). I moved in and out a little to make it easier/harder, but I think after Ingy sleeps on it, she’ll get it!
Hi Tracy,
Thanks! Yes, target practice…great for desensitizing but I can see how they’d be a distraction, even if she is not afraid.
Moving my hand out of my pocket & the treat into the other hand makes a lot of sense! I will give this another go with those tips; thanks for the pointers. I am excited to take on the back half of the games this week alongside more reps of parallel path 🙂
Happy week 5!
We had a short recording session before we lost the light. I know you cautioned against tennis balls and I swear I read it; however, we are actually going to a show on Sunday to test for our Fetch Intermediate title (which is why you’ll hear me say “one finger” when I hold her collar…those are the rules for holds). Other than she lost the ball in the bushes, I think she did well! I enjoyed watching her use skills to think through to persevere and find the ball, even when it went missing.
Parallel Path transfer concepts went okay; she wanted to be very close to me (because I had the cookies!). She seemed to do better when I was able to point on the line versus letting her walk herself. This clip is a little longer as you see her (and me) try to figure out the best steps. Any thoughts on this? Should I be pointing (I assume I could be doing that in agility but also she needs to learn to go on the straight line if she is ahead of me).
Appreciate any thoughts you have!
