[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Thanks for the careful analysis – as always I appreciate your insights!

Between obedience and conformation, I have a mostly-unconscious bias for having my dog on my left. When I watch people intentionally train heeling on both sides (e.g., Denise Fenzi) it makes me squirm inside. So even though I don’t do either any longer, the habit persists.

I was wondering if I was “doing something” to cause the difference between dog-on-left and dog-on-right; that’s why I put the camera straight behind the start. And I also couldn’t see anything. I’m a little bit concerned about them exiting the tunnel to their right, even when they “should” have done so to the left. I think as I become more capable (and can move better) that will go away. If it doesn’t then I’ll worry about it then. <grin>

So here is our last turn for summer 2025. I took the standard pop-outs from package 5.

First up is Enzo on #1 and #2. He is brilliant on #1. On #2, my first plan was to do 3 & 6 as threadle slices – should have warmed them up. <grin> Then I realized that I should have planned #6 as a threadle wrap. So I got that to work. Then I realized that I could just lead out to a spot between 2 and 3 and the whole thing gets lots easier.

Then I thought I’d do #3 and #4 with Casper. And I was pretty pleased with how that went, also.

Thanks for the summer fun — see you later!
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

HI Tracy,

Love the idea of turning the jumps to be parallel to help Enzo with his discriminations!

On Casper, I had forgotten how he jumps into the tunnels; cracks me up. I will attempt to work on the fading with the plank present but mostly skipping the sit.

I think Dawn has a spot for me on Thursday (10/16). Who is the contact for Chicago?

Progress, I think.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

As you might have guessed, the big gap was because we went on vacation! Left the 3 dogs with a friend, met up with kids, grandkid at my brother’s. <grin>

So we’re back and doing this and that. The weather is PERFECT (sunny and 72) so no reason not to play (except I get tired – apparently healing is a draining thing).

I thought I’d work on the “Super Independent Handling Skills Contact Exits” with Enzo. His verbals:
PUSH: backside wrap
AROUND: backside slice
FLIP: backside turn-away wrap
IN: backside turn-away slice

Casper is still working his backsides with the plank.

Video: https://youtu.be/KVHBhkKuwt0

WOW! Enzo is funny about verbals. He is pretty strong on his one jump verbals, only missing “IN” on my right but getting PUSH, AROUND, FLIP and IN perfectly on my left. However, his obstacle discrimination is not so good; at any rate, getting him to go through the box to the tunnel was tough. After a while I spread the setup out a bit but still got errors. My thinking is to spread it WAY OUT and work on just TUNNEL until he can go straight to the tunnel when the jumps are only 10 feet apart (reminds me of working on obedience go-outs). Unless you have another idea…?

I just included a bit of Casper on the backsides AND through the jumps to the tunnel. Since I didn’t train that very well with Enzo, it is unsurprising that I had similar errors with Casper. <sigh>

Also, on the backside plank jumping, Casper is removing the “sit” by himself. I’m thinking that is not a very good idea.

Also, in Enzo’s world, DIG means turn right when you are on my left and CHECK means turn left if you are on my right. He has “SWITCH” for both turn-aways. I want to eliminate “SWITCH” over a jump for Casper and use DIG/CHECK the same as RIGHT/LEFT. He is only starting to get that.

Before I forget: what is on the agenda for the fall/winter? I missed getting a working spot one year and don’t want to do that again. <grin>

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

As far as Casper’s backsides: got it.! Will gradually move to 20” then remove the sit, then remove the plank. <yeah!>

I decided to move on to package 5 (hurray for weave pole challenges!).

I went back and forth about tunnel length. It looked to me like you used a 20’ tunnel. So I did that but I only have 4 sets of bags out, so it is almost straight.

I LOVE that you showed the tunnel first. So important to make sure they see the distraction. <grin>

I played on it with both dogs but 90% of the video is Casper. He struggles a bit with the off-side entry and with passing motion. I put in just one of Enzo because it was cool.

At the end is a section of a course map of the fanciest weave thing I ever did IRL. I was thrilled that Enzo hit the running DW and ran and praised him as he started weaving. THEN I realized I needed to get down for the FC before the tunnel discrimination. I just ran away and left Enzo to finish on his own. Which he did – so proud (complete with gasp from the audience).

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

HI Tracy,

Excellent point about my physical cues for “out to the weaves” versus “come in to the tunnel”. I wanted to watch…

My next few sessions for Enzo are going to be refreshers on the contacts and start line stay. I will spare you looking at that!

This is 2 sessions: Wednesday and Friday. At about :55 I wrote on the screen. Basically, this is the picture I think we are going for (head down, drive around wing). If so, I’m in pretty good shape. If not, I need to understand why not. <grin>

Question: doing a complete circle on the backside is pretty unusual in AKC. Mostly a backside wrap is: go, do it and return. I did a few of those. Comment?

Thanks,
Barb

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 1 day ago by Barb VanEseltine.

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

First up is Enzo working on the tunnel/weave layer and discrimination. He would much rather turn wide and out to the weaves than wrap tight to the tunnel. We worked on that a bit.

Also, we moved on to #4 but didn’t have the map for 5,6,7,8 with us. So we did 4 and then modified it by sending out to the weaves. That proved to be very tricky, since he REALLY wanted to pick up that jump on the way to the weaves. So we worked on the “through the box” skill for a while.

I don’t feel like I totally understand the plan for Casper. The front-side wraps look pretty good to me whether with the toy or food. So I did a couple of those and moved on to the backside wraps with the food bowl out and toy in pants. See what you think. I forgot about trying to pair the toy with the food until about halfway through but I think it worked pretty well.

Then I left Casper float out to the weaves on the other setup.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Thanks for being so patient.

My oh-so-cheerful doctors have estimated between 6 months and a year before I fully return to my previous state of agility-ability due to the broken leg. That seems grossly unfair but based on my rehab progress, I do believe it. Enough of that…

Plan:

By remarkable good luck, I noticed a long, narrow Cato board in my TV room and, in the spirit of good dog training, decided to take my one jump exercises outside. Although we almost never trial outside, it does automatically increase arousal and I thought that was a good idea. I thought we could do a quick review of everything and start adding more motion.

<sigh>

Execution:

I did a couple of things which were not in our best interest. I mixed up toys and food, even though he really loses interest in food once a toy comes out. I also moved along much faster than I should have – I had had high hopes of quickly getting to where we were in the barn. Alas, just getting a sit was a challenge. At any rate, here it is.

I think I need to go back to just the board and work on a quick sit and release in the presence of food first and then the wonder-toy.

If the weather isn’t too dreadful and I get back some energy, I hope to set up the layering exercise for Enzo later today.

Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

OK; will do. Should I leave props in for BOTH front side and backside jumping?

I have trouble with props in agility. I almost never used them in obedience because of how hard they are to eliminate (although I did put out toys to help straighten Bidder’s go-outs: he would tend away from the tempting toy <grin>).

My experience with props in agility has been pretty negative. I have used them to try to create better backside jumping without much success – perhaps because of removing them too soon (?). I am pretty afraid of baking the prop into the behavior. OTOH, of the 4 dogs (including Casper) that I have tried to teach backsides, none of them have good, strong ones. Enzo’s are “best” in the sense that he can keep the bar up and understands wrap versus slice (although he generally does a slice and corrects to a wrap on the ground, when needed).

I expect that working through these backsides with Casper is the best summer activity I could be doing. Although if the weather cooperates, Enzo is going to do some of the switch away to layering games later this weekend/next week.

Thanks!
Barb

• This reply was modified 4 weeks, 1 day ago by Barb VanEseltine.

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Just Casper today. The weather is brutal again and I couldn’t muster the energy.

I included a bunch of the jump work; looks pretty darn good to me.

On the weaves, I worked on entrances.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

I have been resisting sending to #1 with 2 arms because I can’t make that work in my head. I’d have an easier time spinning it. <grin>

I totally agree on the wrap exit: he had quite a loopy turn. Honestly, I was surprised at how well he did the “go straight” one. No hesitation, just go. Obviously, this contrast drill needs more work.

Plans:

Enzo: Pop Out #3.
Lead out to #2,”IN” to confirm the correct side of the jump, spin for the tight turn to the tunnel. Send to tunnel with brake arm, little or no motion. Call over 4, send to 5 with “PUSH” and FC to 6.

Pop Out #4
Ohhhh – isn’t this one interesting. How about this plan:
Lead out to #2, “IN” to confirm side and immediate FC. Send 3 to 4 while moving past #3. Turn #4 towards the tunnel with a FC to delayed post-turn type thing winding up with dog on left. Slice backside at #5, Turn away “Switch” at #6 maybe with a spin – I think he might cut through the weaves. I’d prefer not to spin because it might be too tight for the layer of 3/5 on the way to the tunnel.

Casper:
Backside with organizer (hurrah!).

Results:

Enzo. Sigh. He had a seizure early this morning (only his third in 7 years). I’m not sure but I think he was a bit sluggish because of that.

Pop out #3
First, when I saw it on the ground, there wasn’t a question about which side of #2, so I didn’t worry about the “IN”. Enzo’s backside wraps have never been brilliant but they apparently lost most of their tightness while he’s been out. After the first try, I did some refreshers. Enough to keep the bar up but not enough to get a brilliant backside wrap.

Pop out 4 required 2 tries because of inadequate walk-through. I had trouble with the FC to delayed post-turn and had to practice that piece. After that it was ok, complete with bonus jump on the way to the Frisbee. Well, the “SWITCH” turn away wrap was pretty wide but there is a lot of “crispness” that he needs a refresher in.

Casper
Oh wow! He really “got” the organizer on the backside. The bar was still up from last time and I forgot to lower it. In the course of one session, I let his sit almost completely deteriorate. <sigh> It’s a good thing I have video….

Also, the weaving was brilliant, if I say so myself.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

HI Tracy,

Busy day with PT but we hopped out to play with the setup a bit. I meant to do this with Enzo before but forgot.
(A) Contrast straight, right and wrap out of the tunnel
(B) Weave with me running with toy in hand.

That was pretty fun! I think the wrap could have been tighter. If I do it again, I’ll put the camera where we can see exactly how he exits the tunnel.

Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

LOVE the story of SG and MEB with plastic knives and cream cheese! And I totally agree that it is genius.

I asked my rehab vet about the sit/sit-pretty thing. She has listened to both sides and doesn’t really find the haters or the lovers compelling. She doesn’t recommend it but doesn’t forbid it. Her more favorite exercises are the sit/down/stand (in any order) on a narrow plank. This is hard. And doing it with one foot elevated is very hard. We have also been working on balancing on 2 feet. First the diagonals and then both feet on one side. And crawling. Enzo crawls forward pretty well; backwards not yet. <grin>

I decided to move along to the section 3 standard pop out (it includes weaves!). Looking at the maps, I especially like the first one, since it helps isolate “find the weaves” from “grab what is nearby and then find the weaves”.

Plan (Enzo)

Pop out 1: Lead out well past #2. Turn right on #1. Send to tunnel, layer #2 on the way to the weaves. Call “right” at tunnel to prevent taking #1 again.

Pop out 2: Lead out well past #2. Turn right on #1 (DIG). Turn left (away) on #3. For Casper that would be “CHECK” but for Enzo it is “SWITCH” since he’ll be on my left. Turn left at #5 (“CHECK”).

Plan (Casper)

Review wrap with sit and motion. Review slice with sit and motion. Continue weave proofing.

Result (Enzo)
I ran pop out #1 twice; once without layering #2 and once with it. Both seemed ok.
For pop out #2, once I saw the course as built, I was less afraid of his going 1,2,3,tunnel. So I ran it the first time as planned and the second time with a right wrap on #3. I think that should be faster, since the dog stays on the same lead all the way around and it was: 9.5 seconds versus 9.1 seconds by my reckoning.

Result (Casper)
We did both the front side wrap and slice, I think they look pretty good. We’ll move along to backside wraps next. I left in the last weave runs; if I carry it in my outside hand, he has better success than in the nearside. We’re working on it.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

HI Tracy,

Yes, I have loved teaching weaves ever since a friend showed me how 2×2’s work. In the early 2000’s, she came home from Susan Garrett’s and used her fingers to demonstrate how to start with a “tunnel” and rotate the sets-of-two in order to develop the weaving motion. I was SO EXCITED. My previous dog was taught on channels and never totally understood. All subsequent dogs have been taught with 2×2’s.

Plans

Enzo
We moved along to pop out 2. Using your suggestions from pop out 1, I created this plan:
– wrap cue at #3
– FC at #6 trying for a send and go to create a tight turn.

Casper
I have to laugh about trying to use things that don’t make his head explode. He will work with minimally acceptable energy for food, so he learns something but not in a totally useful way. Almost any toy raises the stakes to “pop your head off” as demonstrated by failure to return with the toy. Although, to be fair, it is getting MUCH better.

What happened?

Enzo
Well first, once I reminded Enzo that “Dig” meant wrap a jump (not just U-turn to the right), I was very happy with pop out #2.

So happy, in fact, that I added pop out #3 on the fly. That was not the best plan, since I tried to get down for a FC between 4 and 5 (disconnect, skipped #3, not going to make it anyway). Big fail. I had to do the turn from 4 to 5 as a flip and that needed a little practice. I think it is interesting that he totally knows he is going to “wrap” #5 but chooses to slice, land, turn.

Casper
Well, it took me a while to figure out the slice setup. I was slow to realize I could just take one of the jumps which has a removable support and create a nice tight setup. Casper was pretty funny but he caught on. I included a few “good” ones. ALSO, I realized he is quite weak in his core, so I’m starting the sit to sit-pretty exercise. Not sure why he doesn’t know it. Previous dogs have known: sit/sit-pretty/up/and back down under control. All while staring at a cookie, of course!!

Today’s weave challenge was dog weaves north while handler walks south. I have actually used something very like this in a trial and I really want to have it. We have a pretty good beginning. On the last rep, he shocked me by being successful even though I was holding the toy instead of having it planted ahead.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Here is some random stuff from my training. First, Enzo doing the section 3 pop out #1. I did it two ways, the first time using a flip for the backside, the second a more typical backside. His flip was very wide and I was LATE with the “left” cue on the second to last jump. The second time was pretty nice.

Then there are the two best examples of Casper doing the organized front wrap.

Finally some weave training with Casper. This is in here just for fun – we like to train weaves. We are working on “go left to weave right”. Casper is starting to develop some mad weaving skills!

Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Well, I took a look at the Handlers’ Toolbox Independent jumping skills. I think I’ve started working on these exercises at least twice but I didn’t get very far. I’ve only done it independently but I think I had a pretty good head-turn going. The course goes pretty quickly from “drag toy on the ground to try to pattern pretty jumping (head down, back rounded)” to “crazy proofing”. I’m pretty sure I haven’t done too much proofing on jumps like this although I know I’ve done some. Also, I’m pretty sure I did some of the random sit work.

I’ll try tomorrow and see how it goes. If the weather stays nasty, I can go in the barn. It is air conditioned (just saying).

Looking ahead, I am confident I never progressed to using a sit box – it is so much like an obedience front game, I’m sure I would have remembered playing it. A nice game to play with a bum leg; that’s for sure!

Well, the sit box thing was so exciting that I grabbed some handy Styrofoam pieces, cut to size and put them together with vet wrap. Then did some sits in the living room. Both Casper and Enzo found that to be pretty easy – it aligns quite well with the rehab exercises. So that was skipping way ahead but was a fun indoor game.

Thanks.
Barb

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