[Barb VanEseltine]

HI Tracy,

Thanks for the quick feedback. We are on the same page except for #6. 😉

I’m looking at the German (backside blind) at :10 and :25. It seems to me that he is going to have to learn to recognize that formation and trust that I am out of his way on time.

Just like a regular serpentine, I want to see him see the bar before I scoot out of position. I had plenty of time (and available speed) to leave sooner but I was making sure he took the bar. Otherwise, like a normal serp, he can easily slide past without taking the jump at all (since my motion will be out and away from the jump).

Also, as I’m sitting at the computer, I’m wondering about collection cues. By waiting at the landing, I show the deceleration I need to get to #7 (as opposed to the tunnel or backside of #7). ??

I’ll have this setup in the barn at least through tomorrow – I’ll try to make time to run out and try it again while leaving sooner at #6. I’m just not sure that is part of my handling system. 😊

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Not sure when I’ll next get another chance to work on these, so I’ll just send along the first Masters sequence.

We did 2 reps and I invented the handling before seeing yours. Similar but a slightly different ending. I will be interested to hear what you think about my plan. The reason I chose it over the threadle was because I think almost any handling is faster than threadle handling.

😊 On rep 1, the backside bar came down when he hit the wing with his shoulder. I thought the takeoff location was pretty similar on the second rep but the bar stayed up.

Just fyi, his hind legs are vet-wrapped because I am working on my running DW and I have a terrible time seeing the almost all black hind legs without it. No injury or anything. 😉

https://youtu.be/OzA1q9EXQjo

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

It’s zigzag Friday! I tried to follow directions (for the most part). In all cases, I threw the toy out ahead on his line. That way, he doesn’t get ahead and then look back at me on the last jump or two. I marked the places where we took a break for 60+ seconds. Oddly enough, even when not taking a real break, I tend to spend up to 30 seconds between reps with praise, play and chatter.

First off, we started with 5 jumps, 12 inches.

Then I moved to 3 jumps: 10”, 14”, 14”. The first rep of these is ridiculous. I wanted to send to the backside but I got confused and he didn’t send and wound up jumping against the zigzag. The next two looked good.

On the second set of 10, 14, 14 I can see him getting tired on the video. In person, I noticed that he was striding “funny” between the second and third jump.

Then I did 3 at 16” just because.

https://youtu.be/KLz_r8rsFhw

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

These were fun..

You comment: “… send to the backside slice from no closer to the entry wing than the center of the bar.” And we can do that. In this case, there is really no need, since I run out of room so quickly. But in a different setup, I’m pretty sure that I could.

I think it’s funny that you love the threadle/blind. One of my goals on course is to handle so as to never need that kind of “straight line threadle”. In 15 weeks of UKI courses, I think I’ve needed it twice (certainly less than 5 times). I’ve only once seen an AKC Premier course with such a requirement and NOBODY knew how to handle it. Two of us qualified and I got through by yelling at poor Lollie, bringing her almost to a halt and wrapping her around my body. The other handler was also winging it but with slightly more finesse. So, if I ever need a straight-line threadle to a blind, it will be a real surprise. BUT, it was fun to train!!

The last few sequences went really, really well! I was shocked at how the disconnect/reconnect created such nice lines and wraps. I’m looking forward to incorporating that into some sequences and courses to see if it holds up.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

It turns out we were able to make time for this today! I did the novice skill sets. For most of them, I did 2 reps; often the second one was from the other side.

There were a few times when bars came down. I guess if I’m going to handle this way, he will have to get used to it. This is when we would say, “The bar came down because you lost connection.”. <grin>

https://youtu.be/_i9dwhrBFwA

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Kind of you to mention conformation/gait critiques. I can do Belgians.

Here is today’s work.

https://youtu.be/tKvlnSg0FfA

I thought the first part (12”) was fine. The 14” for 3 jumps seemed good to me, also. In the moment, I thought the 4 jumps at 14” was starting to degrade but I can’t see that looking at the video. (?)

What do you think?

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy.

I think we are pretty much on the same page!

And another thing… I once promised myself that I would not get to the point of planning strides for my dog agility. I am remembering that…

Time to move along. Tomorrow is zigzag day. 😊

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

I did notice that the striding was sometimes different between the online and parallel options. I think running on grass will help figure that out.

I decided to set up another course. In yesterday’s one, I wondered if Enzo was able to be on course because the tunnel was an obvious target. So the question is: Can the line be set and the handler leave when there isn’t that kind of target.
Course: https://youtu.be/1w94eXXagGA

Here are the courses:
On the light circles, the line can be set at 2 to 3 and 5 to 6; same for mirror course in purple squares. So, I’m putting the FC’s more on the line than usual. I will do one of them parallel first followed by on-line and the other the other way. That is to avoid the ‘learning effect bias’.

The handling is:
Lead out/FC between 2 and 3
RC on 4
FC between 5 and 6
Pull to 8.

Not saying this is the handling I would use irl; just handling to try out our discussion. 😊

Running on the line from 2 to 3 is not handling I would normally use. But running on the line from 5 to 6 does not feel “risky” because I don’t need to diverge from Enzo’s line. All I need to do is get off the line in time to run 6 to 7 as straight north/south.

I’m writing this before I run it, so you get the “before” thinking. I often feel like I am waiting on a FC like the one from 5 to 6 because of the parallel line. By running on the line, I think I can leave without waiting. Will be interesting to see.

Video: https://youtu.be/okQs9Q6Rc4c

I used ll to mean Parallel and OL to mean On-Line.

And the answer is:
Circles Parallel: 8.7
Circles On-line: 8.5
Squares On-line: 9.8
Squares Parallel: 9.1

The way I count “strides” is to count the number of times the front feet strike the ground. Therefore, a bounce would count as 1 stride and a full stride would count as 2, et cetera. I find it easy and consistent.

Looking at the circles; counting strides:
Stride ll OL
1-2 3 3
2-3 2 2
3-4 3 3
4-5 3 5 (??)
5-6 4 3
6-7 3 2
7-8 3 3
Total strides:
Parallel 21
On-line 21

Looking at the squares
Stride OL ll
1-2 3 3
2-3 2 2
3-4 3 3
4-5 4 4
5-6 6 5
6-7 2 3
7-8 4 3
Total strides:
On-line: 24
Parallel: 23

Looking at Coach’s Eye, we see that, for the circles, the on-line run is about a half a stride faster at the FC between 5 and 6 and that carries through to the end.
https://youtu.be/9u4k2N1_jTY

Looking at Coach’s Eye for the squares, once again it was during the FC between 5 and 6 where the difference showed up. It looks like I got in his way during the on-line run and the parallel run is about 1 and a half strides faster.
https://youtu.be/Zg29WjFymCA

Thanks,
Barb

ps: I wanted to add my course map but I can’t figure out how to upload a picture from my computer. It asks for a url which I don’t have because it isn’t uploaded anywhere. So I made a video of it…

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Well, I just had to set it back up. Most important question: Did I do this they way you are saying?

I ran both the original setup and a mirror image. If we call the two methods Yours and Mine we could become crabby and entrenched, so I’ll say Online and Parallel. 😊

Regardless, there did not seem to be a significant difference. I was afraid, with the online method, that I might actually get the wrong end of the tunnel, since I was not running parallel to the dog’s path but diverging from it. That didn’t happen, although I’m not sure when I would be bold enough to intentionally start on the line and run a diverging path.

Version1 was cropped to allow short comparisons: https://youtu.be/tZZxeIPcKB8

Version2 was cropped a bit longer: https://youtu.be/HLpMU-JU1qY

If I were more agile with Coach’s Eye, I would be able to compare them more accurately. If I have time later tonight, I may tackle it. When I just read the time off the iMovie, they were always within .1 which is less than the accuracy of that eyeball method.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Not sure I’m following you at all but I think I understand this better than the line thing (more on that later).

At any rate, maybe this is what you want. If so, here is my baseline.

First thing: from in front of me, Enzo can spin left or right on cue “left” or “right” with accuracy in high 90’s.

Next, from between my legs, he cannot choose “left” or “right” with any accuracy (even with hints). At least I can practice this inside and get it trained up.

Note: It is 11:30 am and temperature is 90 degrees. Entire training session was 5:28. It felt much longer. 😉 Also, Enzo and I both decided we were done at the same time. Happily, he isn’t like some dogs who will work until they die of heat exhaustion (my Malinois, Terry, was like that).

The setup is so that the target jumps are on a soft 90 degree turn.

I don’t think he is paying any attention to the verbal cues on these tunnel reps. My motion is 100% predictive of what I want. Is this what you wanted me to do??

He was basically perfect leaving the tunnel each time. The only one which I thought was at all questionable was the last “go on”.

https://youtu.be/X0cesQ1eJsk

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Good morning,

Enough whining. I do not understand what you want from the lead out, so I made two pictures. Then filmed and talked

The first one, with the circled A is that I considered that I did:
– Lead out to a strategic position at the point of the first turn.
– Move as soon as he is committed to jump #2 (almost immediately)

The second shows me starting on the path (is this what you mean by “Try to lead out right on the line and execute the FC with the same timing but on the exact line you want him on (then get outta there of course)”. But I don’t like it because then my path is not parallel to the dog’s path. Running a parallel path is one of those “things” I do.

Video: https://youtu.be/Y8J3Ijrutyw

I think I don’t understand. How lucky I’m in a class and you can explain! 😊

(I thought you were taking the weekend off? Hope you had fun, at any rate!)

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Oh, I meant to add: I am a bit disappointed in how poorly Enzo responds to tunnel cues, since he has been working on them for a long time. At least as long as cues that he responds to very well; for example backside wrap versus backside slice.

Oh well, it doesn’t really matter. The dog tells us what he does or doesn’t know, regardless of what we think we have taught or we think he should know. <sigh>

Possibly has something to do with how easy it is to work jumping drills and what a pain it is to work tunnel drills. 😉

B

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Today is July 5; today’s high was over 90 degrees. I just looked at the weather app on my iPad; it shows the high temperatures out to July 19. Every day is OVER 90 degrees except July 11, 12 and 13 when the expected temps are 88, 87 and 89 respectively. That means we will be doing few or no sprint drills outside.

My plan is to work on things in the barn. I don’t get quite as “much dog” in the barn but we can do more than 2 reps. 😊

I’ll work on it for a few days and show you how it’s going.

Thanks!
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

I think it is a good thing that you are looking at these! <grin>

Your explanation is detailed and uses examples and, well, I’ll just keep plugging along and hope to educate my eye over time. (For example, I can critique a Belgian Shepherd’s conformation and type in extreme detail. Wasn’t always the case. So there is hope.)

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Thanks for the great feedback. Alas, temperature is 88 and I need to prep the field for tomorrow’s UKI trial. So, that will have to be enough for that one.

However, the barn has a/c and we were happy to go in there to train. He isn’t quite as fast in the barn but we go with what we have. 😊

Starting off with the Novice Sequences. Please note, all the times are VERY approximate. I just get them from iMovie by trying to align Enzo over the first jump and last jump for each run.

The biggest problem on all of these runs is the turn out of the tunnel!

One: https://youtu.be/6FZ9x2xSkyo
First time through, I let him drift too much over #4 and that made the turn to #5 very difficult. Second time the turn was better but the time about the same. Third time I tried the better tunnel brake and RC; and got the best time. Not really a surprise, since I got much nicer turns.

Two: https://youtu.be/SDLi8YcP4e0
This first run had a nice turn out of the tunnel. He is only reading the tunnel brake when I am near the entrance. (sigh) It also had a pretty nice wrap – again I was close to the jump. The other two runs I am further away from the key points and they are slower.

Three: https://youtu.be/gGz_pl-1Fs8
Hee hee. Not really loving any of these runs. The third one had no tunnel brake at all.

Hope you had a lovely Fourth. Alas, my dogs are freaking and today is only the third.

Thanks,
Barb

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