[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Many great ideas!

If the weather cooperates, I will try your running line. My thought is: would I really be able to do that multi-layer irl if he hadn’t seen it before? Because, to be honest, I considered it and “chickened out”. 😊

I would expect him to pull in to take the off course #3. I had a similar line with my Monday team (3 of us) and he couldn’t quite do it.

But…we’ll see.

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Ok, I know this is weird. My plan was to work with a friend (first time seeing her in 6+ months because her dog was out and then the virus). We were to be in my yard, masks and so on. So I built the masters 1 course, because her dogs are masters dogs.

Well, it was still too hot at 6:00, so we canceled. But by 8:30, it wasn’t as bad, so I ran Enzo. Here it is:

https://youtu.be/lIxFtK00JYQ

Thanks,
Barb

Ps: I know the teeter is <bad>. Working on it with Jen Pinder. Some progress…

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Under skill sets, we found the tunnel skills. Was there supposed to be a practice set with lines and crosses? I was watching a video showing you and the nose working on handling on the line and creating sharper turns (eliminating the zigzag). But now I can’t find it. Maybe it’s someplace else…?

At any rate… We worked on the tunnel. We have mostly been reliant on
(1) ”Go-on” or no verbal – this is the default and means go straight
(2) Variations on a tunnel break (“chk-chk-chk” noise with sharp rhythm change and hand facing)
(3) I depend on a rear cross to work but I’m not going to insist on a verbal with it.

So we haven’t used “left” and “right” with the tunnel. But it will probably be a good idea so we tried it. Temperature is 89 and I didn’t have much dog. I’m going to go to the barn later and that might work better.

We started by warming up a stationary left and right. Left was fluent; right seemed a bit stickier. Then I did some reps from a sit in front of the tunnel. Then wrapping the 8” jump. He seems to mostly get it.

I forgot to demonstrate a RC; oh well.
Video: https://youtu.be/r3s46CtS5Rk

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Ooh, ooh, let me be one of the people who explains about waterskiing. While I haven’t water skied in over 20 years, I do remember.
1. Straight behind the boat, smoothest path that travels exactly where the boat is going
2. In the “wake”, the miserable, bumpy part where no one wants to ride
3. Outside the wake, in the mirror smooth and flat area where the boat and its traveling is not noticed.
I made a pretty picture; but I couldn’t figure out how to upload it from my PC, so I made a short video. A lot of energy to be a wise-guy… 😉
https://youtu.be/JsavY6M3YpQ

I really have actual work to show you; will work on the video now…

Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

First, THANK you for watching out for Enzo’s shoulders and youth. He is SO easy to work with that I tend to just keep blasting along. I will make a note to pull out the zigzag drill about once a week.

Also, it is hard for me to look at him doing that drill and not think “gosh, that looks great”. So, I’m glad to have your more sophisticated eye on it.

Next Friday or so, I’ll just repeat at 16 and see if it is getting better/smoother/…

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

A couple of comments (whines) before we move on. First, my stupid computer is doing many weird things. It only prints sporadically despite much heartache. Second, it no longer does sound. Not through its speakers and not through headphones. Third, I enter these notes into my document using Word and then copy/paste into your website. For some reason, Word is no longer performing the spell check as I type. My spelling is quite unreliable, so I depend on technology to help out. Not helping…happily this editor is trying for me. 🙂

Regarding your commends on the sequences:

On sequence 1, reps 1 and 2, I tried to “release in motion” (running!). I admire this technique and I have seen lots of people (including you) use it with great success. But. It is just not going to make it in to my handling system at this time. Perhaps after E has been showing for a few months and we have a rhythm going, I can try it again. Right now it makes everything too late and to difficult.

Seq 3: I thought about the slice line on jump 6 and decided to go with keeping him on the same lead (after looking at coming in; going out and distance). Not sure about more turning cues at 4 – I guess I was late… When he is in the air over #4, I turn left and give my verbal “tunnel” cue. While the shape of the tunnel creates a turn, the line from where he finishes the turn from #3, through 4 to the tunnel entrance does not look to me to have much of a turn in it. I agree that the wraps on #6 were both very pretty. Hmmmm that is almost (not quite) the turn we’ve been looking at in the head turn section.

On to the novice courses.

Novice course 1: https://youtu.be/UqK67m1vXCk

I ran the first one a few times. On the second run, he drops the final bar. I’m inclined to think it is just carelessness, since he knows the stop after the last bar is the toy. But I’d like your thoughts. The blind before #8 is not something I would try irl; not sure I should have tried it here. 😊

Novice course 2: https://youtu.be/DVhvpvjFBYU

It was getting on toward supper time, so I only ran course 2 one time. I picked the handling I would typically use for this kind of thing. I see him slip after #8 and the turn at #10 is very typical of the turns I get on that kind of thing (in other words: ugly). He came straight out of the #11 tunnel, despite the tunnel brake; I could have used my outside hand for the brake – that would have forced me to turn more toward him and might have helped. He came out of the tunnel looking in the right direction but he didn’t turn tightly out of it. Then I got a very sharp slice on #12 and sent him over the bonus #3.

Not sure if/when I’ll get to run Novice course #3. He is going to the chiropractor tomorrow and she doesn’t want him training that same day. (Actually, she wants 2 or 3 days of rest but that’s just too bad). We may get a chance Friday afternoon, then I do UKI on the weekend.

Thanks a lot, Tracy. So far, so fun!

Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Here are the novice sequences.

We ran sequence 1 three times. I thougth the third one was the “prettiest” but they were all about 6.2 seconds long.
Sequence 1: click

Secquence 2 also went 3 times. I modified my lead-out position a bit each time. The times were: 7.2, 7.0, 7.0. I’m thinking that the time difference was the “practice effect” of knowing how to exit the #5 tunnel running hard for the end.
Sequence 2: click

Sequence 3 was fun! I liked the dog path I chose (slice 3 and 4; wrap 6) – it felt very smooth. The second run, I timed my motion so that it was easier to see # 3 as he exited the tunnel. I only did 2 runs since I really liked the second one. Both had pretty nice wraps (turning left). 😊 The timings were 10.4 and 10.3.
Sequence 3: click

(Notice the cute t-shirt?)

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Mary,
In parallel with this, I am working on a separate exercise for weight shift. More an “act of faith” than a well reasoned plan. If something spectacular comes from it; I’ll be sure to show it off <grin>.
I’ll be interested to see how Zing comes along.
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,
On your video – I put it up on the larger screen and slowed it to .25 speed and stared. Very hard to see. It seemed to me on .42 that he turned his head early but then flipped it around and down as he was over the bar. Not sure because, as you say, it is very hard to see black dog against dark green and so forth. Hope you can get one either closer or with the pointy nose. 😊
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Quick note: the version of the Novice Sequences that I pulled on 6/15 (CAMP-2020-Pack1-Novice-Sequences) does not include the first one. The one I pulled today is named (CAMP-2020-Pack1-Novice-Sequences-1) and it does. Not sure why but at least I have all 3.
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Enzo’s Head turn practice

Here is a sample of our head turn work. He does it quite well (as I understand) to his left. His head “snaps” around and I tried to click as he snapped. To his right, it is less sharp.

Video: head-turn

Question1: do you want me to use my wrap verbal cues?

I am not a huge fan of multiple wraps but was convince by Jennifer Crank to work on them. Enzo will do multiple jump wraps but not, as I’m sure you can guess, very tight.

Question2: Do you want multiple wraps of the pole?

Question3: Do you want to see his multiple jump wraps?

Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

I decided to finish up the skills so I could move along. With temperatures in the high 80’s and low 90’s, we moved indoors.

I really struggle trying to follow the lines you drew. If I can’t a suggestion for a better way, I’d be right out with it. I almost think, for people who process words better than pictures (me, me), you might include a verbal: Jump 2 turn right; jump 3 turn left. I’m not sure. I just know that for each one, I stood there in my barn for a ridiculously long time staring at the paper. Also, I probably did some wrong. Also, I think 4 and 5 are the same?

Here is skill 4: ex 4

This video has 6,7,8: ex 6,7 & 8

Where I did it more than once, it was because I thought the first one was lousy.

I will put the head-turn in the separate thread.

I hope to work on the novice sequences later today and maybe the master’s ones also. I see Novice 2 and Novice 3 but not Novice 1?? (So happy they are the same build!!)

Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

While waiting on the head-turn video, I decided I’d better move along, since you and I are perfectly capable of obsessing on #1 and implications for the full 2 weeks.

Here is #2. I did it as shown and then I did a mirror to answer the question: “Does he turn better one way than the other?” It appears to me that he turns right better than left.

Ex2

Then I did #3. All right turns and it looked pretty good. I took 4 once as a slice and once as a wrap. Then I went off in a corner to obsess on backside wraps. 😉 Actually, while that’s what I wanted to do the temperature is 90+ and we went inside to the air conditioning.

Ex3

Thanks,
Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

“…if that doesn’t produce the weight shit…” I don’t think it will. <grin>
I will be interested in seeing your head turn video.

I think we’ve done some zigzags but not many; I’ll keep on with them.

Also, I’ll try to move along to exercise #2 tomorrow.

Barb

[Barb VanEseltine]

Hi Tracy,

Thanks for the quick response! PLEASE send us your cold weather – so hot and nasty in Michigan.

I think I don’t understand your comment about the stop-sign hand on the backside wrap. Here is my attempt to understand. I don’t think I want the blind but it felt like it should help. Don’t think it did. Looking at my video, I feel like I was executing what I intended (maybe not what you meant 😉 ). In all cases, he is jumping the bar on a slice. I could use a prop (cone or plunger) but I don’t generally like to do that because the behavior disappears when the prop does. [Think of poor Patt’s backsides.] Notice that there is a marked difference between his “push” (wrap) efforts and his “around” (slice) ones. The rep at :27 is not too bad. The one at :37 starts ok but he slips on his shoulder. This might explain why he is always slicing.

Backside Wrap Video

Would be cool if the verbal were zip – actually it is “flip”. I have worked on it quite a bit but it always needs warming up before using it “for real”. Not sure I’m going to be able to depend on it when the time comes. Oh well, we’ll see. The UKI courses have been such that I have needed it a few times.

This next video shows Enzo doing the zigzags. Except that I have trouble setting them up, they look pretty good to me. Do you agree? If so, what is the next step?

Zigzag video

Thanks!
Barb

[Author]

Posts