[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Yes to timing/connection over position. I actually said (and demo’d) that exact thing to my class on Wednesday but couldn’t see it myself until I looked at the video AND read your comment. (sigh) Looking at the video, I was still telling myself I needed to get further up the line before starting the blind.

As I am a reluctant BC’er, you can guess that starting one before reaching a “reasonable” position is difficult indeed. So glad we can work together at Dawn’s.

Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

HI Tracy,

<Two paragraphs of whining deleted – you can thank me later.>

Skipping ahead to Week 4. I quit when defeated by
1. Heat
2. Don’t know how to fix it.

The first couple of reps were very nice. <grin>

After a few tries where I couldn’t get the BC between 5 and 6, I tried stretching the course out a bit. Not sure that would be easier but it guaranteed that I wouldn’t trip on a tunnel bag while running around the tunnel.

I tried to ignore the dropped bars, since the only advice I get on fixing them is “be more perfect” and that doesn’t really help. <oops–extra whine snuck in>

Then he almost hurt me on a late BC. At that point, I just tried to get the BC from 5 to 6. Looking at the video, I see that was doomed to failure, because I needed the cross completed about when I released him. <sigh> Might try to sneak in a few more reps tomorrow.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Moving right along, here is my video of week 3 sequences 4 and 5. My original plan was to include #6 but I think 4 and 5 expose all the issues. Also, the weather did a 180 and we have sunny skies with a temperature of 80 degrees. The boys and I are not ready for 80!

This is all Casper. Alas, we continue to have a LOT of bar dropping issues.

Sequence #4:
The BC makes sense to me in this sequence.
Rep 1: in this sequence, we need to not only do the BC but a lot of collection at #9 which I didn’t appreciate, therefore he went really wide.
Rep 2: nailed it.
I think the timing of the BC was correct in both cases. On the second rep, I think I was closer to the mouse line but I’m not sure if that would matter to the bar dropping.

Sequence #5:
Ahhhhh. First off, my feet say 4 to 5 is a FC. That is because I wouldn’t go in very far and basically can stand in the same place, facing the tunnel and the FC is essentially done with zero effort.
Rep 1: I did it with the FC. Two bars down.
Rep 2: I used the BC, made it work by moving with him a bit more (instead of staying in the middle and pointing). One bar down.
Rep 3: Dropped the BC bar which, I guess, means I was late. Your instructions were to start the BC as he exits the tunnel. I did start it OK, I think, but I didn’t get it done until he was lifting. Then we lost focus at the end.
Rep 4: I think this was not the best one; the BC looks very late to me. One bar.
Rep 5: Back to retry the FC. I tried to show the mouse line a bit better on this one. Two bars.

I had a dear friend who used to come and train with me every Monday. It was impossible for him to run a sequence and leave before he had a perfect rep. I might be in danger of succumbing to the Bob-syndrome.

I’m really looking forward to working with you in person!!!

Thanks,
Barb

Today’s thought: All slow agility teams run alike; each fast team is fast in its own way.
(A bastardization of Leo Tolstoy’s “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”)

• This reply was modified 1 week, 2 days ago by Barb VanEseltine.

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Moving along…. Week 3

“…what the timing is and how to get your connection…” Exactly what I need!

I find looking at the sequences and figuring where I would do a BC is so interesting (well, given I have to do a BC! <grin>). I built this course last week and then went to a show and then we talked about some of my show-runs and then I was too busy to run these courses. However, today is the day! Tomorrow the lawn mowing guy comes and that will be the end of this setup.

For sequence 1:
This is my kind of BC! Without prompting I would probably plan a BC here because the alternative FC is one of those flying-camel type crosses and the RC is just lazy. Well, I could probably design a course where the RC is acceptable but this isn’t the one.

For sequence 2:
Looking at the map, I would choose to put the BC between 5 and 6 because I would be afraid I couldn’t get around the far wing of 5 in time to support the backside at 6. You made it look easy.

For sequence 3:
Enzo has a really excellent switch (turn away over a jump) and I would do that at #5 every time with him. Casper’s isn’t as spectacular and this gives me another option to try while he is learning.

Video: https://youtu.be/HgWGaUUz3_8

Yikes!! I’m really glad I have a working spot. (Sorry about the wind noise – I forgot how nicely these videos come out if I just wear the Airpods and let them pick up the sound.)

Sequence 1:
It took us 3 tries to run clean but I feel like I understood the issues.

Sequence 2:
a. No turning cues were communicated on #4, so he was hugely wide on #5. I wanted to tighten up this run (BC on takeoff side). <sigh>
b. Stalled out going to #6 and didn’t get the push.
c. Pulled him off #4 by turning too soon (failing to see commitment to #4).
d. Same (btw, the “damn it” was directed at me for making the same mistake twice in a row.)
e. Restart at the tunnel; crash and burn.
f. Moved the BC to landing side of #5 and it went ok.
I obviously need help with running it with the BC on the takeoff side of 5. I want to blame our problems on Casper’s enormous stride and non-existent turning ratio but, of course, that is a training issue I haven’t managed to conquer.

Sequence 3:
I spent all my mental energy on this course worrying about 7 to 8 and that was a snap for Casper.
The first run was “clean”; I should have stopped there. I didn’t like it because he was very wide around the wrap at 5 and got no turning cues on 6, so the 7 to 8 line was easy. <grin>
After that it was ugly. He dropped the #3 jump a million times. I got the wrap in isolation but not in flow. I even adjusted the tunnel to improve his angle to #3.
The last run was with the “switch” cue; it wasn’t better than the blind/collect/spin although the #3 jump stayed up. Naturally, he dropped it when it was #7.

Things that went really well:
– Start line stay: this has been a nightmare but is gradually yielding to consistency and audible releases.
– Returning with the toy after a rep and setting up to run again went very well.
– After every set, I gave Casper the toy to chew on while I put down the new numbers and walked the course a bit. Then I called him to come play and he came! Every time!!

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Lots of things to think about!

I’m going to highlight this one:
“The first BC 4-5 was super nice, great timing and connection! One consideration is that you didn’t need to be quite as far past 4 and can be moving directly to the tunnel and not near 4 at all.”

I can explain that I don’t have a good feel for when the dog has committed to the various options. I certainly wouldn’t have thought of running it that way: Enzo might just skip #4 entirely. I gave some consideration to a tunnel break but, to be honest, I was already doing a bunch of handling and didn’t have room to hold everything.

I think that is part of the trouble I have with blinds: knowing how much support various options need. On this course, there is another good example at the end, coming out of the final tunnel. Because of the RC, I thought I needed more support on that first jump out of the tunnel. And that extra step is another thing which helped make me late.

I hear what you’re saying about Plan A and Plan B but I try to only have Plan A, especially in local events. If I allow myself to have a Plan B then I will be quick to grab it. <grin>

I set up one of the class sequences last week and then didn’t get a chance to run it. Hopefully soon!!

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Enzo easily won that round (it was just Time 2 Beat).

However, this next video shows why I am so hesitant about blinds. In BOTH cases, when I walked the course, I had no idea if the blinds would be “OK” or not. So here is the run where I couldn’t make it happen.

One of my buddies ran it successfully with the blind exactly where I put it, but I think he did it mostly as a jibe. <grin> I saw other folks do their blind immediately after the triple and that was where I was gong to do it with Casper except his run blew up entirely (he got the BC before the initial tunnel but then did the entire set of weaves and we never got that run back on track.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

For review. This is Enzo. I thought it would be very hard but it wasn’t. This is a simple Time to Beat course.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

As you can see, I struggled with the tunnel BC section. I showed some of my walk-throughs, in case that helps.

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Here is how we’ve done so far.

I didn’t intentionally throw the toy to Casper. It worked out that way sometimes.

We struggled a bit with the two BC in a row on the flat but made that happen with a longer lead-out.

Casper is SO WIDE just doing the 2 wing wrap exercise that trying to slide a BC in is quite an adventure. I got two toys but, to my surprise, he much preferred the Frisbee to the tug-toy. I would have expected them to be about even. Eventually we got a bit of that done.

Despite the poorness of the 2 wing exercise, I moved on to the 90 degree turn because it seems like it might be the most useful. It was really easy to watch you but I had a bit of trouble.

I’m trialing this weekend so I may not be able to get to the tunnel until next week.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Thanks for the great feedback; I was pretty pleased with his work on that video!

I will try to post about the CA adventure on FB.

Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Btw, I will get done what I can this week and will miss most of the rest of the class as I’m going to the NAC (3 days driving to CA; 4 days there; 3 days driving home). I used to do that kind of thing all the time but I just realized that was 30+ years ago. Oh well, we’ll see how it goes. I’m just taking Enzo, so will have only one dog to mess with and he’s a pretty easy traveler.

Anyway, here is my video. I didn’t do all the exercises but I got in some with the OUT and some with the SOFT TURN. It went pretty well, I thought.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

I had a bit of an organizational failure today. I got out to the barn with both intro pieces (get-out & soft turn) but didn’t have the sequences with me. So I did the intros and I’ll do the sequences next time.

The get-out went well, I thought. Once he got the idea, he stayed in or got out and stayed out. At least as far as the barn would let him.

Of course, I should have done both sides. Oh well. When we do the sequences, I think he will understand.

My setup for the soft turns was not very nice, as the tunnel was straight ahead. So I used it as part of the triple: tunnel, wrap, soft turn. I am very happy with his wraps but the so-called soft turns, no bueno. Mostly, I think they are pretty wide and I don’t think he is planning to turn until he touches down; so he is jumping straight and turning upon landing. The last 3 reps (X,Y,Z) were an attempt to give him the information very, very early. I don’t think that helped. Also, his starting wrap around a wingless standard (for the get-out) looked pretty nice but the wraps with the soft turn were around a wing and they were pretty awful.

<sigh>

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Well, this didn’t turn out as well as I hoped. I started with Casper and tried to correct the items you pointed out. That went maybe ok except he is dropping a lot of bars and that is making me crazy. I included the tunnel on the rework, hoping to up the energy.

When trying to get the backside circle wrap to work, I had trouble because I’m blocking the wing and Casper can’t see it and doesn’t know there is a jump there. I am generally positioned where the wing and bar meet, so the dog can see the wing and knows there is a jump there.

Starting about 1:05 you can see why I almost never to blinds.

At about 1:55 is a series of 3 reps where Casper drops the bar on the first two. I’m not sure if it was merely repetition which finally kept the bar up. The FC was earlier and earlier each rep but I wouldn’t do it as early as the third one if I hadn’t done the first two.

About half way through, I pulled out Enzo. He isn’t feeling tip-top right now (slight digestive issue) but he was keen to go. I decided to work with Enzo because it was too hard with stuff I’m not comfortable with and a dog (Casper) who is difficult to work with (which is ok if I read the instructions correctly.) So Enzo did a bit in the middle. Then I picked up again with Casper for the last bit.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

The first thing I think is that I wasn’t very successful with this set of exercises.

You wrote: “and we don’t want even a small part of his brain to be considering it :)” Well, I was looking for a strategy that covers him not giving me 100% of his brain. Actually, I’d be happy with 75% or 80%. Mostly his issue is not normal distractions (people, random food or fluffs, dogs). When he is aroused, what I have right now is a dog who will take the line and stay on it regardless of additional handling. Or he will need handling so early that it can pull him off the line if he happens to be clued in. Obviously, I would like it if “all brain bandwidth can be used to organize the tight turns”.

In this case, the toy was serving both as a distraction and reinforcement. I often train with a toy lying around and release him to it as a reward. I take it you are not a fan of that approach. Even toys on his line are not available unless I release him to get them.

But ignoring all that discussion, my takeaway is that I am late in getting the information to Casper. OK, I can work on that.

The backside with brake arm – I obviously don’t get it. That is what I thought I was doing at 2:32 (??!). It didn’t seem to help so I tried it at 2:40 as a turning cue. The last one is more like I would do it without the brake arm. When I re-reviewed your demo, I thought mine at 2:32 was very similar to yours. Now your dogs…they both do lovely round circles while Casper’s are more oval-shaped.

I will try to get to the rest of week 1 soonish. I’m showing this weekend so it won’t be until next week.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

First, I was a bit confused by
– 5 minutes / week
or
– 2 minutes / game.
I’m not exactly sure what you meant by a “game”. Anyway, this is week 1 take 1 (3:32):

Here are some things.
Verbals:
“check” = collect left wrap
“dig” = collect right wrap
“easy” = generic collection cue
Casper is very good at exercises with little or no motion. For example, his wraps are pretty good until speed is added. Today, he looked pretty good. I think you can see where I planted a toy to add some “pull” in the wrong direction. I did that to try to simulate some of the excited “out of control” behavior I get at trials.
If I can get close to a jump (as we are doing here), I can usually collect him pretty well. I hope we work up to some distance from the wraps.
He seems to turn better to his right (“dig”) but I’m not sure if it is because I am better at cueing with my right hand.
In the beginning exercises, I put in an extension jump (with toy) so we can compare his take-off points.
Of course, his wing wraps are not very good. If they were, I probably wouldn’t need so much work on his jump wraps (grin).
I repeated the first exercise from the side so we could see how much of a difference we are making with the take-off point. [Pretty good!]
There was at least one place where I didn’t think I could get from one side of the tunnel to the other and so I did a rear-cross wrap.
I am not familiar/practiced with using the collection arm on the backside exactly the way you do. I “trail” my offside arm.

Thanks!
Barb

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