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Kaladin & Min – Games 5 – Seq 2 – 8/27/21
Slowly catching up on posting videos.
So if the sequence starting jump hadn’t been right up against the raspberry patch, I would have led out on the left side of the jump and not had to cross after the jump and before I released.
Very proud of Kaladin who sat right next to the mulberries on my lead out.Kaladin’s walk
Kaladin’s run
Decided to work a bit on the right turn out of the tunnel. My connection back to him seems to be more effective than the verbal cue.
Min’s walk
Min’s run
She was pretty zippy on this one! Also worked a bit on the right turn out of the tunnel and discovered that connection is really important for her as she charged out straight and over the wrong jump when I tried using the verbal and taking off.
Kaladin & Min – Games 5 – Seq 1 – 8/26/21
Had to crunch the course a bit horizontally and used a 10ft tunnel, but was able to mostly preserve the distances lengthwise. Moved the jumps up to 12in for Young Master Kaladin and was pretty happy with how he didn’t think that was a big deal. We are doing 1 day of NFC (12s) in Duluth on Sunday.Kaladin’s walk
Walked a FC 4-5 but ended up running it with a blind
Kaladin’s run
Got it on the first try. Then we played a bit and I thought I’d experiment with a threadle slice on 3 but decided it really didn’t help to get me further up the line so wasn’t worth the effort.
Min’s walk
Walked the blind 4-5 and then ended up throwing in a spin when I ran it.
Min’s run
I am experimenting with her startline routine. We do our engagement game tricks while waiting outside the ring and then I have her jump into my arms for her last treat and carry her in and take her harness off before I put her down. (I feel safer having her in my arms just incase the previous dog isn’t really heading out and she seems to like being held). I’m adding a spin after I put her down to see if that helps her come off the line faster when I lead out.
Min & Kaladin – Games 5 – Skills – 8/25/21
In my head I was thinking about setting this up for the other side (the harder threadle wrap to the left) and then I got done and realized I had done it to the right again. Whoops!Min
She surprised me with a decent understanding of the threadle slice and more motion from me. Yay! Threadle Wraps are still confusing at least in this context. We actually did one successfully on a games 4 Jumping course at Chaia’s last night
Kaladin
Thought I was emphasizing the backside slice more the first time but apparently not enough. He seems to get the threadle slices when I cue early enough (He does lock onto the front of the jump as he’s coming out of the wing wrap).
Kaladin – Games 4 – Seq 2 – 8/6/21
More catch up. He has been doing much better in the backyard but I opted for a running start since this one started in the middle of mulberry central.
One of his new favorite toys is an old soft frisbie that is half falling apart and can barely be thrown but makes for a great tug toy.Walk
First run & done!
Miss Min is all about the cookies. Lucky for her I remembered to bring her a meatball for our jaunt to Austin and she certainly earned it! This time I pushed for more, but stayed connected and we had no bars down. We do need to work more on turns out of puppy cannons when off course jumps are on her line, but we smoked the runs that really counted. (Snooker to get to the finals and then the SS finals for the bye.
Min – Games 4 – Sequence 3 – 8/6/21
The Camp Forum black hole strikes again. It also ate my post an hour ago.1) I got the job! (Actually a new contract through the same consulting company that conveniently starts about 2 weeks after the Health Partners one ends)
2) Austin is the only place in TX I would even consider going now. Folks are masked inside ar the trial and the club is refunding entries to anyone who is un vaccinated, sick or thinks they’ve been exposed. They also have the ring set up so that you exit out the back door to agenced field (Complete with table to leave your treats) and can catch your breath while walking around the building before masking up to go back inside.Doing some video catchup for things I recorded before the West Cup!
Walk
Run
Min & Kaladin – Skills 5 – 8/19/21
Kaladin
It was muggy even at 7:30am this morning but the Floof Munster was actually happy to tug hard on his toy and get out of a trot so yay! Needed a refresher on his lala (backside slice) as I tried too l far laterally for his comfort at first. We haven’t done much threadle slice work this summer and usually not from such an angle so I started that one closer to the wing.
Min
She wasn’t convinced about the threadle wrap but she did the threadle slice better than I had expected (since we often double blind instead)
So I think I’m mostly recovered from our quick CA Vacay on either side of the West Cup and then having 3- 2nd round interviews for a new job the day after I got back. In a moment of madness I decided I had a bunch of miles so I was going to mask up and fly to Austin tomorrow for the TX Classic. (And I checked the county Austin is in has about the same level of covid cases that the Twin cities does… unlike the rest of TX)
Min – Games 3 – Std 2 – 8/8/21
Well this one was a hot mess and it was too muggy for us to want to try it again later.
I kept going too deep to the tunnel and finally got an ugly weave entry by running the other side. Then I got lost and left out the middle part which she did nicely later. Experimented with the last line but it was hard to make it smoother.Kaladin – Games 3 – Jpg 3 – 8/8/21
It wasn’t as hot as it’s been but it was so muggy that we were all dying after 1 run. Did his instant focus and some of the pattern game around the course while Chaia was walking. Then did just the 6 poles to make sure he remembered how to do them outside of my yard. First try on the course he ran over to Chaia who was standing about 10ft back from the #2tunnel. Got him back, did more tricks and tried again. Ran over to her but came back and we kept going. Really happy that he stayed on task at the end when he had to go by her again.Min & Kaladin – Skills 4 – Running Past- 8/9/21
Min did really well 2 days ago with the warm up skills so here she is doing the more advanced ones. The first threadle wrap ran afoul of me having to duck to avoid the tree and knocking some rain off the leave anyway which landed on Min’s head and got into her ear. We had to stop to help her shake/rug it out.
Kal – cue one “get out” tunnel and he decides it’s super fun and keeps doing it when I’m trying to wrap the wing. Maybe I should have used his tunnel threadle instead. The last rep was after a break (with tricks) while 2 pedestrians a stroller and a mini schnauzer went by. I was happy with how he re-engaged after it.
Kaladin – Skills 4 – Running Past – 8/7/8
Sadly our UpDog was canceled due to Thunderstorms which of course stopped right after that decision.
First session for this one. I had already planned to stop where I did and then he ran back into the blue tunnel to chew on his half dead frizzer. Then left it in there for me to fish out. Stinker!
How should you cue the jump to the purple tunnel on the left. It feels like a flick if you use the left arm but you’ve already run past the other tunnel entrance so it seems a bit weird to cue it like a tunnel threadle.Kaladin & Min – Threadle wraps with jump – 8/5/21
Kaladin was hesitating before turning away from me to the jump in an earlier session so I switched to a tug toy that I could throw back for him. (If Nemo gets tossed back to a position it turns into a boring dead toy that he startes at. A tossed back tug toy usually works better)
I am noticing that both dogs are looking up a me (or my outside arm) instead of where they are going. They are also better at this with me ahead of as opposed to with or behind them Do you start to work on them driving ahead by tossing the toy on the backside take off spot if they work ahead of you?Kaladin – Games 4 – Seq 1 – 8/4/21
I decided to try the most straight forward sequence as a walk-run with Kaladin. Biggest distraction was his Nemo which I had left on the dogwalk middle section back by the phone so it was up in the air staring at him as he was doing his 180. He did better when I stuck Nemo back on the steps to the house. I really overestimated his speed in the tunnel for the walk through. I think I may try parts of the other 2 sequences, but probably not do the full walk and then run the whole thing with him. I want to get to the skills games before I head out to CA for 5 days next week for some hiking and the West Coast Cup (flying so just Min gets to come)Walk through
Run
I don’t usually do a walk of just the dog’s path in big events where the courses are huge and complex. For the Open I checked the dog’s path at certain spots but went straight into decision making since those 7 or 8 min go by so quickly. I also often run out to the middle of the course to get ahead of the crowd.
Min- Games 4 – Seq 2 – 8/4/21
I need to figure out what I can do to get those overlap or side by side videos. I have Movavi Clips on my Android phone but confirmed that it doesn’t have that functionality. The desktop version does, but I really don’t work off my laptop with videos much. I also used Coach’s Eye years ago but it looks like they changed it and now it wants an account login and money so I’ll have to sort that out. Chaia has an Android to so I need to check with her on what she’s doing.Walk
Run
So the old fashioned way of timing by video:
Walk – 14.6 sec
Run – 16.6 sec (she was wide 2-3 in the opening)
I also tried to watch them simultaneously on my phone and laptop and am pretty sure the difference is from her wide turn 2-3. I run my Gamble openings in the walk through and usually I’m pretty close on where we end up when the buzzer goes.Kaladin -Volume Dial & Engaged Chill – 8/4/21
Did 2 sessions today. First one was before breakfast when it was cooler out. He had just watched Min run a sequence. I used Nemo as the reward which not surprisngly got him in a pretty good state after 5 tricks. 2nd session was over lunch when it was warmer (low 80s so not as bad as its been). Used cheese as a reward with more motion and got a lower state of arousal this time. Not bad though. Then experimented with having him lean against me and be petted for his engaged chill behavior. I think it’s going to end up being some variation of that as he likes being in contact with me, but doesnt’ default to standing on his hind legs so I’ll either lean over or crouch down with him. There wasn’t much going on, but he was still pretty engaged after it. Then tried a volume dial with Nemo again and got more arousal than the food.
I’m not surprised that catching/chasing Nemo amps him up more than chasing me for food, but the issue with Nemo is that it can cause him to circle around me after he’s caught Nemo while the food keeps him in closer. I plan to try a tug toy next, but if he’s really not engaged at first, I don’t expect that to be a reward in his mind if it’s an active environment.I was thinking about how on earth I was going to practice bringing him down from being over-aroused and then realized I can work with him when I come back in the house as that gets him really amped up. Didn’t get video, but I left a treat by the door so I could grab it when I came home. He was barking some (typical), but having him do more stationary treats (HT, wave, sit) for a treat did bring him back down to less feral behavior within 3 tricks. I will try this on a walk too instead of just the pattern game.
Another thing I am thinking of is teaching him to bark on cue (I know – crazy that I have never taught that to my Shelties). Barking is very self-reinforcing for him so I think it would help amp him up. I’m also wondering if that may have the side effect of getting him to bark more while running. He’s nice and silent now, but that may change anyway as he gets more confident (or not as Min started out quiet and stayed that way on course).
Oh and good news on the UpDog this Saturday. I hadn’t entered him in Frizgility because it was listed at the end of the day when it would likely be hot, but the schedule changed and they put it first. Lucikly they were amenable to swapping out his afternoon Greedy run for a morning Frizgility. It will be his first UpDog without the longline and it’s a new location, but I’m excited to see what he does since 3 jumps to a frizzer is a lot like how we train.
The arousal-state management/engagement games are fascinating to me. Tari could have benefitted a lot from this if I had started doing similar things with her as a puppy instead of in middle age. (she did really well with a more stationary pattern game where I crouched and dropped/placed a treat on either side of me so she would move back and forth to one side and then the other to get them). Min is a unicorn and she also tagged along everywhere with Tari and I from an early age so she naturally got used to different environments a bit at a time. We also have a routine while we’re waiting to go into the ring that involves spins for treats and some waves. Then I either crouch down near her to scritch her or she jumps into my arms and hangs out there for a few minutes before we go in. The interesting thing about the pandemic pups is realizing how much they missed out by simply not going to all those shows that they normally would have and learning about environments in little bits at a younger age. I thought a bit about doing UKI at home with Kaladin, but then decided not to exactly because I wanted him to be in Novice (not Sr or Ch) when he starting doing real trials. Plus the 30×30 which fit best in my yard aren’t really the best option for Mr I need longer lines to have fun extending.
Kaladin – Engagment games & Games 4 -Seq 1 – 8/3/21
I had the Sequence set up for Min tomorrow, but decided to see what Kaladin would do with some engagment games (with Nemo) tonight. (I’ll do the walk then run thing with Min tomorrow) It was still a bit muggy, but in the low 80s so better than it’s been during the day most of the summer. He had a half hearted catch for the first trick, but then got more engaged. Kept the engagment when I took the leash off so I decided to try part of the first sequence and he really ran! So then we did more of the first sequence and then I remembered to quit while it was going well and we just played with Nemo some more. I thought he could have lined up faster and he did flick his gaze off to the side as I was leading out, but this was way better than he’s been in weeks. Mulberries are still at the back of the yard but he ignored them.
