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Lift – silent Jpg popouts – 6/23/26
Well that actually went a bit better than I thought it would! LOL. I mean it was hard and she got a bit confused but it was very interesting. In case you couldn’t tell -that was popout #1 at first and then switching to Popout 3 but adding in the extra jump before the weaves to give her an entry she could do. I finally realized that a bit of decel and more connection would get the jump she had run around before but then held onto it too long and got her commentary on the push to the backside following it. We’re done now and before this afternoon’s predicted rain – back to work for me
Lift – Jpg Popout – 6/22/26
Modified the Jpg pop-out to use 6 weaves. Tried to balance keeping jumps relatively in the same spot in relation to the weaves while not scrunching up the distances too much.
Plan was to do popout #1 first – She nailed it – I forgot to handle 6 & 7. Then decided to try to add 6 & 7 in and got some variations including her jumping over the edge of the bottom step of our deck. I also clearly need to practice actually pointing her more in the correct direction before taking her leash off (LOL). When she’s out of camera range around 1:10 that was when I tossed a treat and then waited for her to pick a position (she sat) before we tried again. Took a short break and did a modified popout #4 that did 1-3 and then 8-11. Her weaves are stronger on the off-side so I was really happy she nailed them here.
Lift & line-up between legs – I played around with her weaving between my legs some, but didn’t pursue it with agility line-ups much because 1) it wasn’t strong enough for her to want to come in that close when she was too aroused and 2) as she started scanning for movement more, I didn’t want to push her on taking the leash off sooner and I knew I’d get hopelessly tangled up with her, leash and my legs if I left it on for her to weave between my legs.
Kaladin has class tomorrow night so he got to play with his frizzer a bit instead. I have plans to try some modifications of the pop-outs adding in some other obtacles with him later in the week. I started to set an extra jump and a tunnel and then decided they weren’t setting Lift up for success so pushed the jump into the shrubs and turned down the tunnel opening for her.
LOL! I knew I’d get a great history recap with that question! I have an occasional “rent-a-Beardie” that goes surprisingly well considering his handler is into OMD….probably because I can set his line with motion and stay mostly with/ahead of him.
We took today off agility training and just did recalls (aka sprint drills) and played with frizzers. My throws aren’t great but they are typically good enough when I keep them low with the soft frizzers so that I don’t worry about him splatting.
Kaladin does manage arousal well at the start, but there are times that he is a bit sticky about offering the sit so I’ll keep experimenting with the choose your own stay.
Startline mechanics with Lift are definitely still a WIP. She doesn’t always keep her orientation as the leash comes off (Depends on if she is in a spin or shake mood post-leash). Sometimes I’ve used the spin as a way to change her line up direction a bit and to let her blow off steam.
Kaladin- Games 1 – Layering- 6/20/26
Looking at him worked like a charm. Why do so many people tell you to look at the dog’s line though?
And not staying connected and doing a late blind gets you an extra oak tree layer. LOL!
Tried the “choose your own stay position” thing with him and he did pick a stand for a rep.
I’m not sure if I like how he plays with the Wild Ring when I throw it. He likes it, but I feel like the unexpected bounces when I roll it sometimes cause him to overrun it and I don’t like the impact on his front end as he’s trying to chase it down. Same thing happens if I toss it like a frisbie because it drops to the ground faster as opposed to floating along for him to catch. He hasn’t done it yet, but I’m also wondering if he could get his foot through it by accident as he is grabbing for it.
Lift – Stay – 6/20/26
Yeah – I was thinking 2x/week, maybe 3 super short sessions was probably going to be plenty for the under pressure games with Ms Lifty. I did the 2nd session 2 days later because I didn’t want to forget about trying the sit stays with her leash too. The 2nd session was in the evening right before dinner (which was late because I was wrapping things up at work) so she was pretty amped going into it and a bit high coming back into the house which rolled right into being excited about dinner. I think more of the arousal was at the anticipation of dinner though and after dinner she settled down again. Friday I had Fusion rented so we did some mat work for her RDW which has been easy for her so far. (Kaladin finds it boring which is what he did the first time around too). I was going to play around with the choose your own stay position with a toy inside, but it was so perfect outside (high of 70ish) so we tried it outside with food. Whaddya know, the time she picked a stand she didnt’ budge and I really haven’t trained a stand stay with her.
Yes – At 15.75in he’s on the smaller side for 16reg/12s. We were 2nd to Carly & Jonah in SS – another smaller dog but such an amazing team so I always feel good if we’re within striking distance of their clean runs.
Here’s his Biathlon Jumping run (run 7 of 8 for the Cup) with our threadle wrap. It wasn’t completely independent since I rotated around into a blind to help him a bit which didn’t get me far enough ahead to smooth out the next line but I made it work with only a moderate squeak on my part at the next blind. But I was so happy with his speed into the threadle and how he didn’t question turning off the front of the jump #7 and also didnt’ slow way down with steam coming out of his ears.
Lift
With Dean it’s usually his movement or a change in movement. With Demi it’s either her trying to get Demi to react to her when Demi is calmly ignoring her or it’s going through doorways like coming in from outside. We’re making progress with Demi with a combination of management and training since it’s more predictable on when she will react so I’m prepared for it.And yes – I wanted to rule out GI issues first because I thought they were likely a contributing factor on top of making it really hard to use food to train her. That’s a good suggestion about Dr Kathy Murphy. The current plan is to start out with our regular vet because that was the quickest way to start her on something. If it doesn’t go well or seem to have much improvement I’ll probably be looking to consult with a vet behaviorist next.
Lift & Kaladin – Games 1 – Layering – 6/17/26
Tried 1 short session with each dog yesterday and each got rewarded when I didn’t set their line well or support it so they blasted through the tunnel. LOL.
Lift
After the tunnel on the first rep, I did a better job waiting for her to commit to 3 before turning to run the parallel line and she did a lovely job finding the jumps.Kaladin
Ran him at 8in because 1) we’re taking it easy after the Cup and 2) I was too lazy to change the jumps after Lift. I can tell the layering practice is working. He actually hunted for the 3rd jump in the first rep without me curving my line. Then I didn’t let him drive ahead on the 2nd rep so got stuck with no where to go at jump 2 and my sudden turn certainly contributed to the tunnel.
Lift – “10 tunnels” – sit stay plus leash – 6/18/26
Also did another short session with Lift earlier tonight and worked on amping her up more plus added in the leash routine. Managed to get a better camera angle too. Stays are still solid. Good about running to her leash. (it’s a “run with me to the leash and then wait for me to pick it up so she can poke her head towards the loop” kind of cue). The sit on the 2nd rep was still pretty snappy but she had comments about it. That was also after the 10 tunnels (or however many it was) where I got her high enough that she dropped a bar on a jump wrap.I haven’t trained a stay that is for a position the dog chooses. I also haven’t done much with a stand which I think might be something she would choose over a sit. Pretty sure she won’t flop down into a down if she doesn’t want to sit because that’s just weird (Sorry, Larry!). I’ll have to work on that separately. Did you train that with a prop like a Cato? Or is it that dog is moving around and you wait for a pause in a position and reward the pause? Then add “stay” cue later.
Yes! Kaladin squeaked out Cup Champion by a point. The consistency won it for us since Cup scoring favors that. Being 2nd in SS which was the larger class also helped since he got more cup points there. Had some lovely layers and 2 threadle wraps. I’m hoping I might be able to catch you at OTR next June if your schedule follows the AKC corresponding date calendar where everything is later next year. OTR does follow it most of the year but they also have less trials over the summer. Anyways, Katie said next year’s Cup is June 11-13 which is 1 week earlier according to AKC math.
Lift is doing a lot better with agility handling. She is recovering better from less than perfect handling and is way less boingy even on sends so we’re doing something right there. Her issues are in general life outside of running agility – including being able to get into and out of the ring on her own power without using up all of her brain juice. She won both her SS classes at the Classic and was brilliant, but I carried her to and from the scoring/grooming room to the ring and she only did the 2 SS classes on Friday and then recovered at home the next 2 days. (as in slept most of the next 2 days while Kaladin and I were still at OTR for the Classic). So now she’s in Sr SS, but we’ve backed off trialing in favor of doing classes and seminars where I have more options to work with her using food. She’s leash-reactive to anything that moves – especially if it’s a surprise like coming around a corner and encountering a jogger or worse, a dog. I’ve found a pretty deserted park with wide trails to walk her on early in the morning so that she can mostly relax on walks since the distractions we encounter are low key enough that we can avoid or pattern game our way around them. She’s also reactive to movement at home – esp by Dean or Demi. And when she loses it, it sets Kaladin off and then chaos ensues…all when I’m trying to work at home. Looking back at my training notes, I think it was more “normal adolesence” until sometime last summer (she turned 2 last June) and then it slowly started getting worse. I was more focused on trying to sort out her GI issues so it took me a while to realize she was not coming out of adolescence and that she was getting worse despite everything I was doing to try to address/train/manage it. I had a chance to talk to Kristi Flynn at the Classic (she’s a Vet at the U of M when she’s not running Emmylou in agility) and she was able to observe some examples. I asked her if she thought some kind of meds would be a good next step and she agreed. So we’re trying it in the hopes that it helps her enough so that I have something to work with to train her out of it. She’s small and I can manage her by carrying her in more crowded areas, but I would really like her to be able to function better in every day life. A lot of the time she’s very settled and a model Sheltie, but then she tips over into a noisy meltdown and it’s just exhausting for her and everyone around her.
Lift – Under Pressure – Tunnels – Sit Stay – 6/16/26
Of course I had to start with this for Lift! I decided to try the sit-stay since that would remove the variable of my timing on cueing a wrap or turn. Unfortunately I missed her line up position in the video. Baseline – a bit sassy but then sat and had a rock solid lead out. First set of 10 tunnels – she definitely thought this was a bit odd and having her circle around in the same direction amps her up more. Sat promptly and without fuss (out of camera range) Again a good lead out & release. 2nd set of 10 tunnels – got her barking more. Mixed it up with a lateral lead out. She had a harder time sitting but she didnt’ turn into an angry kangaroo and once she sat, she stayed put until released. I think with her & arousal, it’s harder to sit than it is to stay once she decides she can sit.
Hoping class is still open for another day or so. I thought I had posted these last weekend but must have forgotten to hit the submit button or something. Luckily I had them saved in trello.
Lift & Kaladin – Layering- 4/5/26
I fit these in earlier on Sunday since my calendar and the weather report are not aligning well for me to do much more before the class is over. So this was done before I got your feedback from Saturday. It’s also 2 sessions mashed together. After the first session, I told myself to remember to keep the opposite arm more out than giraffing into the air, but I had variable success with taht for the 2nd session. (The Giraffe urge is pretty ingrained)When you’re doing a switch (to a layer) out of a tunnel, should the switch cue happen before they go into the tunnel? It feels like it’s late if I’m waiting for them to exit, but I also am trying to be deliberate about the hand motion and not flip them around too quickly and get (mostly Lift) spinning 180 and back into the tunnel.
When you talk about the layer/extension line being more of the default, that’s when it’s not a discrimination too, right? I felt like I did have to use the opposite arm when I wanted the jump just beyond the tunnel for these.
Lift
Kaladin
Lift & Kaladin – Layering – 4/4/26
Here’s some pre-Easter Training MN-style (aka with falling snow)Lift
Kaladin
He knows “switch” is flip away and layer in extension. I feel like the rep at 0:40 he was cueing off the switch since the opposite arm was pretty late and didnt’ go up until he was already on the layering line to the jump. And then the rep where he thought I meant serp but the eyes of desperation and the get out got him to turn back out again.
Question on the inside open arm threadle slice. What is the difference for the dog between that and coming in over a serp? I moved to the opposite arm threadle slice a while back because I couldn’t figure out how to distinguish serp vs threadle slice.
Lift & Kaladin – Backside Push – 4/4/26
Did these right after the layering since it looked like the snow was just getting heavier and not about to stop.Kaladin
Lift
Looking at these I think my opposite arm is often not out in front at enough of an angle to open up my shoudlers back to her enough. That and it’s coming up late. The last one at 1:20 was better where you can see the opposite arm extending across and in front of me pointing to the entry wing.
The rep where she shot way out of the camera frame was where she thought it was a get out and that I wanted her to go wrap the 2 wings I’d pulled off to the side from the previous layering exercise.Kaladin – Invitational
Thanks so much for your FB chat coaching while I was in Chicago. I was really pleased with how he ran (and mostly with how I ran -minus the tumble at the end of Pent Jpg 2 on Friday – but good news – the red light voodoo magic (Blue & Maxie’s term) thingee really is magic and I was able to run with it wrapped and it actually feels pretty good now) On paper he had 2 clean runs (Pent Stplch & Biathlon Jumping), 3 Es (Pent Ag 1 & Jpg 1 on the first day & then Biathlon Agility), had scores in both Games for 8th overall, and faults in the other 3 classes. He ran the finals course 8.5sec faster than the 1 clear round dog that won it. (ended up in 4th due to contact faults – the only a-frame he missed all weekend was in finals). Still need more work on driving ahead of me down those big ending lines, but he’s definitely faster off the start with lead outs (vs me running with him), nailed all but 1 weave entry (Biathlon Ag where he sort of tripped off the end of the DW before it), did all the layering (plus 1 bonus tunnel in Snooker – lol), and had really tight turns thanks to my new opposite arm skills. (he even powered through his backside wraps)And course building just isn’t a party without you running the show. We had to settle for the regular volunteer raffle and snacks. But glad you didn’t get stranded on the road when your RV decided to crap out.
For threadle slices – do you use all open arm (thats the inside arm being open & behind, right?) or still use some cross arm threadle slices? It is easier to run without a cross arm, but I think they might work for Kaladin because the cross arm ensures my shoulders are open back to him more than an inside arm hanging back.
Lift – threadle wrap 1 jump – 3/30 & 3/31/26
Snuck in 2 sessions outside…before it started sleeting today. (sadly not an April’s Fool)
3/30/26 – Put the wing pretty far from the jump so I had time to move to the jump & decel, but still had issues.
3/31/26 – After the day before, decided that I should have helped her a bit more on the flip away, but this one went much better without me using the opposite arm to flip her away. Latent learning for the win or were my mechanics better?
Got Lift’s ultrasound and fecal dysbiosis test results back while I was in Chicago and even managed to connect with my vet on the phone. In good news – ultrasound showed perfectly normal internal organs so no signs of small intestine disease etc (normal small intestine, pancreas, kidney, bladder, spleen, adrenals, liver, and gall bladder). Ultrasound specialist thought the stomach was subjectively less motile than normal which could account for her intermittent vomiting in the car. Fecal dysbiosis came back as “normal”, but she is on the low end of the range for a key bacteria, Peptacetobacter Hiranonis (a type of clostridium) level which is important for coversion of primary to secondary bile acids. Range is 5.1-7.1 and she was at 5.6. Plus she has the slightly low folate. We’re putting her on Proviable Fiber/prebiotics to address the gut biome and also a folic acid supplement. Both of them should be arriving tomorrow. I had trouble finding a 400 mcg folic acid supplement so ended up ordering online. The brand you have is only sold at Coburns out here and they were out of all brands of folic acid when I stopped by. Walgreens had a 400 mcg one but it also had calcium in it. Hopefully the combination will improve her gut biome (with all other associated benefits) and also prevent something like small intestinal disease becoming an issue in the future.
OK – Key mantra for the Invitational – CONNECTION! Got it. (Kaladin says, Thanks, Tracy!)
And now I can say that threadle wraps are not the handling move I feel least confident about (that would be lap turns – LOL – but I think I’m more likely to want a threadle wrap than a lap turn at the Invitational -hopefully I didnt’ just jinx myself!)Lift – Threadle Wrap sequences- 3/22/26
This was from Sunday morning. Kaladin tagged along just to chase his frizzer on nice footing while I was setting the sequence. Lift actually got to work. I think the first one went the best and then I started thinking too hard about them.
I’m going to try to read/watch the week 5 lessons but I won’t be doing any training on them until sometime next week after I’m back. Also hoping we don’t get more snow since I’ll need to move to the backyard for week 5 – couldn’t get any Fusion ring time until April 18 due to 2 weekends of seminars or trials.
Will miss you at the Invitational (plus your pudding shots!) I had to laugh because the first email I got after I filled out the form to say I could course build was about assigning people to a ring and you telling them which days you could build (Like I know that when I’m stuck in rotation 5 each day and often near the end the rotation). I just ignored it and a few days later another email showed up saying they had rethought that plan and to just jump in whenever you could. So either they saw the light or a little birdie enlightened them.
So – I’m one of those weirdos that trained Kaladin’s threadle slice with an opposite arm (crossed across my body and up towards my torso/shoulder) and it works well for him. Lift doesnt’ have a good threadle slice yet so I’m open to doing something different for her assuming I can keep the different approaches straight.
And Lift had her ultrasound this morning. They’re sending it out to the ultrasound specialist to review but that usually only takes a day or two. The fecal dysbiosis test will probably about a week.
RC on Flat – 3/20/26
Here were the tandem turn/lap turn sequences from Friday’s session.Kaladin
Lift
She really had some choice comments about my handling or lack thereof here. I had her go straight instead of into a tandem turn at 2:30 to chase her lotus and she started to completely lose it but throwing cheese on the ground did work to prevent the full-blown melt down she had in class a week or so ago when she didn’t track my throw.
Kaladin ran at OTR UKI today because I wanted to run Lori Michaels’ Masters Series as a warm up for the Invitational and to get him on turf. He was an amazing dude and I had all sorts of opportunities to practice the opposite arm including brake arms, soft brakes & threadle wraps! We were 1 handler disconnection moment (in Masters Agility) away from 3 clean 1rst places. Also had an almost bobble in Masters Jumping (1:20) where I think the soft arm was a bit much for him or I just botched it as he almost pulled off the red jump. Butn later he did reward me with an amazing switch layer at the end of Masters Jumping even with my giraffe arm (although it was when he was headed straight away from me so it didnt’ make me disconnect from him)
Kristin was setting bars in the back corner and got close-up video of the threadle wrap after the weaves.
Lift rested up at home today so she gets a short Fusion ring time session tomorrow. I plan to try the threadle wrap sequences with her and will try to be closer to the jump but making sure my feet & shoulders are on her line away from the front of the jump. Kaladin is in bubble wrap for the Invitational.
Lift & Kaladin – Threadle Wraps – 3/20/26
Kaladin – 1 jumpI don’t remember exactly how I “taught” these to Kaladin originally, but I have to say the explanation in this course is great. Now I just need to train myself to point my feet correctly and get the decel, plus keep the opposite arm low (I think it tends to float up sometimes for me). How important is the shoulder pointing too? I feel like mine turn back to him as my opposite arm goes back. And I’m not quite sure what my inside arm is or should be doing. Unfortunately wasn’t zoomed out enough so I’m out of the frame in 1 direction.
I find these harder to do on 1 jump than in a course – maybe because he has less momentum and then slows down as we think hard about it? I decided to go ahead and try the sequences and they went better than I expected. I think I tend to take him wider than I need to on the approach because I don’t quite trust that he won’t take the front of the jump.
Lift – 1 jump
See earlier comment about having a hard time with these on 1 jump. (I did when I was teaching them to her back in max pup too. I think she gets the turn away fairly well but the lack of momentum and further decel pushes her buttons.
For Lift’s GI panel –
Her folate is below the “normal range”, but not by much. She’s going in for an ultrasound and a fecal dysbiosis (sp?) test on Monday to determine if there is some kind of inflammation or issue with the upper small intestine and to see whether she has the right proportions of various kinds of gut bacteria. So hopefully we’ll have more information and a plan to address whatever it is soon.RC on Flat – 1 Jump – 3/18/26
Kaladin
I kept pointing my feet to the jump as he was coming into my MCH. Poor guy. Well he did get plenty of treats.
Lift
Well this looked smoother than Kaladin’s session but it was actually our 2nd try since there was an epic video tripod fail the first time. The holder part wasn’t tightend so it rotated 90 dec and tipped the video down so that you could sort of see except for the tripod parts in the way!Her GI Panel results came back today. Slightly above the high end of the range for cobalamin (she was on the high end for the last GI panel in 2024). Folate dropped a bit and is now just below the low end of the range. Cortisol is on the low end of the range, but similar to the last GI panel. We did an ACTH stim test to check for Addisons when it came in low last time and that was negative. Pancreatic lipase was normal. I’m talking to the vet about next steps to determine if there is chronic small intestine disease or something else going on.
Thanks for the summary of how the brake arm & soft turns are different.
This was from her Fusion class on 3/12. She did 2 great wraps on the pink & yellow jump. My palm is facing down instead of back to her for the less in your face brake arm but this seemed to work for her…maybe because my shoulders made sense for her?Kal & Lift- Get Out Sequences – 3/14/26
These were from our Fusion ring time with Kristin and Reacher on Saturday. We got snowed out of our ring time this morning. I was surprised how well Lift did with the sequences and the pattern games with Kristin as our distraction. She was very out of sorts/restless/on edge on Friday and I think she might be like Tari in being hyper-sensitive to pressure changes (we had that blizzard looming and lots of gusty winds as the pressure dropped).
Lift – Get out sequences
session 1 -also did a bit with the soft turn arm for the 180 turns
session 2
Her martingale leash loop is pretty roomy (deliberately so), but I have sometimes seen her still seem a bit peeved at it going over her head so I am experimenting with unclasping the loop instead. (left that here in the beginning so I had that for my own record). I had originally gotten away from unclasping it because reclasping it so it’s ready for her at the end of the session was another thing for me to do after the leash was off and before we were lined up.Soft turn arm worked a bit too well on the 1rst rep, 2nd 180 when I didn’t support the 2nd jump so she turned inside it but then did a lovely get out.
2nd rep – got her telling me off for using my inside arm too much as we approached the 2nd 180 turn.
Had difficulty with the backside after the get-out on the first try. Not sure if my keeping my shoulders more open to her path on the 2nd try did it or if it was because I wasn’t quite as far across the jump.
Lift – Pattern Games
I video-ed this session with Kristin moving around the ring (sometimes picking up jump bars) Used her snuffle mitts for part of it, but also rewarded her from my hand for offering attention. I think it may be hard to see on the video how much she was keeping track of where Kristin was. This was between her 2 sessions and she had quiet time out in the car after this and before her 2nd agility session.Not on video, but I also did a short session with her just outside the ring with her snuffle mitts while Reacher was working including when he passed by about 10ft away (other side of the barrier) on his way out.
Kaladin – Get out Sequences
This was between Lift’s 2 turns and after Kaladin was the neutral adult dog moving around for Reacher. (went quite well but I think Kristin forgot to video it) Reacher is also still in the ring but at the far end and Kaladin flicks his eyes towards Reacher when he was moving towards us(still about half a ring away) at about 0:50 which I think contributed to him taking the line to the get out jump instead of wrapping to the tunnel (I noticed the eye flick but didn’t react fast enough to pause my motion, over-emphasize the exit arm, or do something else to help him complete the turn.2nd rep – I think I actually managed to use the same opposite arm for the Get out, then the threadle slice and right into the brake arm for the left wrap back to the tunnel!
It wasn’t until after I got Lift out for her 2nd session that I realized we had forgotten to reset jumps so Kaladin ran at 8in!
Good point on the auto-check-ins and rewarding from the hand. I need to make sure I balance the treat delivery location better. Our vet was at our house today for Kaladin & Demi’s wellness exams (they work out of an RV in addition to their office location) so took advantage of that and had her draw blood from Lift to send in for a GI panel. I figured that would be good info to have no matter who we end up consulting with. We had a GI panel done on her in Oct 2024 because she had some recurring digestive upset then. It was fairly normal & high end for Cobalamin. The folate was on the low end of the normal range though.
Kaladin & Lift – wk 2 – Soft Brake Arm – 1 jump – 3/8/26
This was back when I could see grass. It snowed again after this…
Lift
Not sure if she was responding to the verbal or the soft brake, but she was collecting and jumping in the turning direction quite nicely. I purposely switched to a “go” after the backside wrap kerfuffle and then we got our act togther for a backside wrap after that.
Is there a case when you shouldn’t use an exit line on a wrap or tighter turn? I was thinking about it on the wrap but didn’t execute it well at all.
Kaladin
I think he had better collection and turns from a sit than when we added speed from the wrap. Or maybe it’s because I was late with the soft brake like on right turn at 0:30. The next rep to the left, I used the soft brake sooner and he added a stride and jumped to the left instead of landing straight and then turning. I’m not sure if I have enough differentiation between brake arm and soft brake since I’m not doing the in your face version. Or it is mainly that the brake arm is a bit lower and your feet start to rotate whereas the soft brake you keep them pointed in the new direction.
What (if anything) do you do for 180deg turns?
