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Hi Tracy,
Running a bit late on the Friday zigzag but finally got it done. I remembered to include some reading, also.
Thanks,
BarbHi Tracy,
Hmmm. Here are my thoughts tonight (going to try it again tomorrow). I’m following everything up until we get to sequence 2. When you say, “converge more on 3” do you mean “go in further between 3 and 4”? I was trying hard NOT to do that and get stuck by 4 and unable to get to 5. Later on you say, “converge more immediately” which maybe means “cut in after 3 sooner so you can get out and on your way to 5”. I am more excited by your suggestion to try to do it with lateral distance, since I can’t get stuck by #4 if that works.
Well, so I gave it a try. First, apparently today was my day for expecting my verbal cues to completely override my positional cues. <sigh> I made the same mistake a number of times, perhaps it will stick. Or you could say: I wasn’t successful using lateral distance. After the errors, there were two successful runs. In both cases, I was trying to cut in more quickly after 3 to set the #4 backside as a straight(er) line. Is that what you were talking about?
Repeat of sequence 2: https://youtu.be/5HWTHwuogJI
Then on to sequence 3. Here it is twice through; the first time with a backside mistake and the second time clean. See what you think…
Sequence 3 video: https://youtu.be/sPF_Yi-4JV8
Thanks,
BarbAlso: I really appreciate that you can tell me things without making me feel like a lousy trainer with a poorly trained dog. That is a skill which some people, even though they are excellent handlers and instruct a lot, have not mastered. I realize that with my age and experience I should be able to shrug it off, but I can’t and I don’t. If we were talking obedience, back in the day, then I would be much more confident and steadfast. But agility is a constantly changing game and if someone tells me that I’m not doing it right, I am likely to believe them. Also, the COVID19 thing is making everyone more sensitive. I think Dudley had it right when she said everyone should strive to be extra nice. You are always extra nice and I really appreciate it.
Hi Tracy,
We had a little bit of nice weather – occasional rain and temperatures in the seventies. But now we’re back to high eighties and Enzo has had enough of that (me too). So I brought him inside for the sequences since they fit in the barn (which has a/c). In past summers, I have almost never used the barn. It has been cool enough to train outside almost all the time. This year, the barn has been a godsend.
When it comes time to do the courses, we’ll have to be outside but I figure there’s no real hurry.
First up, the skills. They went fine.
Next is the Masters Sequences. I got the first two done today.
The first sequence was the biggest surprise. I timed them from “head over jump 1” to “nose exit from tunnel”. I did it twice.
First run, wrapped #2 to the inside and #4 to the inside. That is the dog path I would have chosen. Time: 16.5.
As a lark, I did another run wrapping 2 and 4 to the outside. I thought the wraps were more rotation (especially #2) although I did notice that the tunnel entrances were better. My guess was the time would be slightly longer or about the same. ***SHOCK*** I was more than one second faster. Live and learn; I didn’t think the smoothness of the tunnel entrance was that important.The second sequence did not, it seemed to me, have much in the way of dog path choices. As and exercise, I worked 5 and a slice and a wrap. I did the wrap using two different handling choices. The wrap was never going to be faster, since (a) it was a wrap and (b) the tunnel entrance was worse. But it wasn’t as bad as I thought. First run 13.4; second run (wrapped around me) 14.2 and third run 13.9; measuring from nose over jump 1 to nose over the last jump.
Hopefully more tomorrow.
Thanks!
BarbHi Kathy,
The zigzag stuff is from MAX Puppy. Tracy copied it into my thread (Barb and Enzo) on June 17, 2020 at 1:07 pm. There are two videos there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1Vq_Mv4j0o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvjkED-e7jw
Then this thread is where we went once I had worked on those intro grids.
Feel free to jump right in!
Barb
Hi Tracy,
Yes, I needed something else at 10; the “DIG” should have done it but obviously didn’t. I was aware he would probably be wide and was prepared for it (basically serp’ing the #2). 😊
For the third double whammy course, the wideness will be valuable at #10 because it is a backside at #2.
So, once again I went through it twice. On the first time, I didn’t get the turn at the end of the first 10 and messed up the backside at #2 (11). Second time it went well.
Last time I ran this course, I didn’t get very nice turns at 6, this time I added a spin and got better turns.
Thanks,
BarbHi Tracy,
Thanks for the review – I agree he looked great on the 5 jump grid. The backside is an issue because I need to be near him to get the backside – it doesn’t seem to make sense otherwise. Remember that he will do the grid backwards if he doesn’t catch the backside. 😉
I will try to do more reading next week.
Thanks,
BarbHi Denise,
Welcome to the zigzags! Enzo is only just two years old, so we are working on jump skills. That is one of the big issues. We are looking for lovely, rhythmic jumping. The backside starts (on three jumps) are part of learning and committing to backsides.
(Tracy will surely add more. )
Barb
Hi Tracy,
Here is this week’s zigzag – a day late. Just a review, not a reading.
I didn’t think it was THAT hot, but Enzo clearly did. We did 3 passes with 5 jumps at 14”. Then rest while I reset to 3 jumps. Then 2 passes with a backside and then he was finished.
I am familiar with the concern about dogs, particularly BC’s, who will work until they drop. Obviously, Enzo is more sensible than that. Of course, I’d prefer that I was the one that decided when to stop but, if I’m not aware, it is nice that he is. 😊
Thanks,
BarbHi Tracy,
Oh dear, you are right about how I use “go on”. It has two meanings, the most correct one is “take the straight line in front of you and finish up”. The other one is more like “stay out there on the line you are on and don’t cut in to me”. The second use is a hang on from Patt, who was always going to cut in, if he possibly could. I feel like I will need some kind of cue to keep Enzo from dashing in to my side. Of course, I don’t need any cue at all for that. But it feels to me like I should have one. Probably should just be silent (although that is really hard for me). I’ll try. 😊
Here is Double Whammy #2. It went ok, I thought. At least there are no extra “go on” s.
Barb
Hi Tracy,
Here is our first Double Whammy. We ran it twice. On the first run, he dropped the #7 bar, I think because he didn’t realize that I was going in for the FC until he was in the air. I tried to be more timely for the next run. The second run was fine. 😊
Barb
Hi Tracy,
I think: “Good dog, Enzo!”. Thanks for all the detailed review! I’m off to play on the Double Whammys! Hopefully tomorrow.
Barb
Hi Tracy,
On course #2 – I hope in real life that I would have put in more time studying the map. That would make an 8-minute walk-through feasible. I haven’t had time to study your response but I will later tonight.
Moving right along…
Wow – look at the Michigan weather. It’s damp, rainy and cool. How extremely nice especially after our July in H##L.
Run #3 was a blend; not quite as nice as the first one but not the train wreck (goat rodeo) of run #2. 😊
I was concerned about getting the correct tunnel entrance at #5 but I figured I would just run hard and show the line. That worked brilliantly. In fact, I was very happy with our run through the teeter (and it was an “ok” teeter). However, the blind at 13 was late and that basically carried through until the crash at 16, et cetera.
I did not walk a RC at 13 on the original walk-through because I wanted to be aggressive and commit to the BC. Well, it just wasn’t there, so I rewalked it with the RC and it went just fine (except the teeter which sucked – however we are still at baby stages with all the contacts).
I was determined not to “over walk” the course this time. One thing I did was study the map and have a good tentative plan before I walked. Since I didn’t have a watch, I just guessed. Turns out to have been about 6:40 which is a dramatic improvement over 9+.
Walk: https://youtu.be/bdLWnJypyts
Run: https://youtu.be/XJ4r97eFP68
Thanks,
Barbps:
I was able to make a bit of time to do a real review of your comments on Master’s run #2.
Your first comment is contrasting the throwback/spin on #3 versus a threadle forward exit. Or, I could even have done a simple forced front without the Jaako exit. I agree that my choice was too tight; not sure why I didn’t consider either of the others.
I’m sorry I didn’t setup 7-8 correctly. I saw approximately what the course was and got all excited to do the thing I did. Oops.
I think the comment about the way I did the BC through 12-13 is giving me more credit for planning than I can do. Just getting there on time was the goal (fail).
And another course build mistake at 17! Yikes. <sigh>
For the runs, yes, I was THRILLED with how well he took the tunnel verbals; both of them, both times.
Well, we all know about 13. The handling on 14 was kind of a shot in the dark. My friend, Andrea’s dog does this really well and I thought I’d try it. Worked much better than I expected.
And once you are in the bumpy water, it is really hard to recover!
Thanks for the detailed review!
Barb
Hi Tracy,
Yes, so happy with run #1. 😊 I actually expected 9-10-11 to go very much as they did: he exited the tunnel in time to see me moving across the #10 bar. I thought that would/did work better than if I had already been in place calling him. At the very end, I was so happy with how the wrap at #15 worked (I don’t have much confidence in our wraps) that I lost concentration and couldn’t find the teeter. The verbal saved me since I didn’t show him the line to the teeter. Good dog!
Here is master’s course #2. Not quite as well done as #1. One thing I learned is he needs some training in following my hand. If I drop my hand and look at it, I expect him to come in to my hand and follow it. He doesn’t appear to know that (6-7-8). Easy enough to work on.
There is an enormous long walk, mostly while I figured out 13-18. Then 2 runs. He was totally brilliant on 9-10-11: so proud!
Walk: https://youtu.be/6eYVViFd8Co
Run: https://youtu.be/UrWCTAk5oG8
Thanks,
BarbHi Tracy,
“…when you are planning a FC or BC, strategizing how to get there so he sees you in position and slowing down, rather than accelerating to get to the position for the cross…”
Well, yes – that would be true! And I really should know that. 😊
Moving along to the course work. I waited and waited for the ground to dry up a bit. Then, of course, the sun came out and it got quite hot.
I studied this course on the map for quite a while and had most of my decisions made (or mostly made) before the run.
– For #3, I knew both dog path and handling and had only to confirm it.
– For #10, I knew which dog path I wanted but had to work through to get the correct handling.
– For #15, I wanted the slice and it would have been correct for an older, more experienced dog but, as I walked, I became quite confident that I couldn’t make it happen for the “Barb and Enzo” team. So I put in the wrap.
– At the #11-#12 threadle, I thought about your advice to collect him before the threadle but couldn’t really think of any appropriate handling to make that happen, so, again, I depended on the verbal cue.Then he nailed it on the first run. I was delighted.
Look, here is a fun idea:
Walk: https://youtu.be/a39G-O3FpRI
Run: https://youtu.be/JqsnewLBDNk
Thanks,
BarbAnd here is #3.
With 2 choices (#2 and #9), I actually used up slightly more than 8 minutes on the walk.
Run #1 was okay but not smooth on the 8-9-10 line. I rewalked it and run #2 was lovely.And, BTW, the sun is NOT out, the temperature is only 79 and it was very pleasant playing outside with the dogs today. 😊
Thanks,
Barb
