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Set Point @ 12in & 4 Jump Ladder Grid – 10/28/20
We won’t get back to the indoor space with mats until next weekend but we were able to work outside this week.
He doesn’t seem to be kicking up his hind end any more at 12in than 10in.
I like his striding in the straight ladder grid. He did stop short of Nemo on the first 4 jump grid. I had him send to get Nemo and we played catch on the way back to the start and he went straight to Nemo the next time. Not sure if the hesitation was an indication that he thought the 4 jumps were hard but he sorted it out the next time.Set Point at 10 and 12in
Ladder Grid (6in locked bars)
Get Out with Turns – 10/27/20
Had 1 slight question on the straight run with me option when he took a stride towards the jump and then came back in on the line. After the first turn which he clearly wasn’t expected, he tightened up the turns nicely on the FC and BC. I felt like I was starting my rotation when his head turned out to the jump but after watching the video I am wondering if I should be rotating sooner.And I did some experimenting with the ready123 game today. If I open my shoulder back to him for connection and I focus softly near his head but not quite with direct eye contact, he flicks his eyes a lot less and tends to focus more on my torso than down at my feet a lot. I think too strong of direct eye contact in the context of the lead out (instead of say a MCH or while running on course) is just too much for him right now.
Thanks, Tracy. Your responses on my ready123/lead out questions make perfect sense to me. Now I just need to figure out how I want to address it for his class as I am hearing that eye contact for ready123 is a condition of his eventual graduation.
But I’m not in any kind of rush. I need to decide what I want to do for a DW contact and how I want to train a running a frame.
And he can still get fixated on movement or a sound when he is not at home. He’s slowly growing out of that and is better about focusing back on whatever we were doing but that has been more of a challenge with him than my other Shelties (not sure if the intact Male part is playing a role there as my last boy was neutered at 6months before I knew about agility and growth plates)Rocking Horse Lap Turns – 10/26/20
Gee – I have no idea why you might think that patience is hard for me…And since it’s a key element, that probably explains why I don’t usually use these on course.
These went much better and the flips to the wrong side seemed to be when I was stepping to the side and opening up my shoulders to the wing instead of straight back. At least today, we found it easier to turn him left than to the right.
Zig Zag with bars – 10/26/20
These are 4ft bars. He is bouncing some and sneaking in strides for others, but he still seems to be switching leads well.I’m not sure how well you can see it from this angle, but when I’m leading out he is focused on me but not necessarily keeping eye contact with me if I am maintaining the connection with him. As I move out his eyes are flicking sometimes down to my feet and also to Nemo in my hand, but he’s not looking away in other directions. (If I lead out without a toy in hand, he will sometimes flick his eyes down to my feet and then back up again) Do you think that will cause an issue in lead outs in the future? Asking because I am finding it challenging to play the ready-1-2-3 game with him with a toy in hand because he will flick his eyes down to the toy or my feet when I start to move. I feel like his stays are strong for his age and he holds them without fidgeting about 98 or 99% of the time. (the squirrel running along the fence 15ft away a few weeks ago was the noticeable exception). His Sports Foundation class instructor is concerned that his eye flicking (typically down to my feet or the toy) will lead to him being distracted by other things during lead outs. I have to admit I’ve always played the ready-1-2-3 game as more of a fun build anticipation game and haven’t been strict with any of my dogs on them actually maintaining eye contact with my eyes. Because with lead outs on course, I want the dog focused on where I am headed but they also have to focus forward on the indicated line. I have been trying to make sure I don’t release him if he’s fixated on a toy in my hand, but I haven’t been strict about him flicking his eyes down to the toy and back up to my face. Now I’m wondering if I should have been more concerned about this.
Mission Transition – 10/25/20
First time on mats (Comfort King). He seemed a bit careful on them. Way better on the wraps now that he knows they are an option. He’s turning tight, but I feel like maybe I should be rotating a bit sooner for the FC? On the first wrap I was rotating as he took off. Backside 360s to the right are apparently confusing to him right now so I think we’ll just take a short break from them and see if they sort themselves out. He’s coming back over the bar better on the backside slices.Set point & Ladder Grid – 10/25/20
First time on mats. (Comfort King). Might have been the new location but he was stopping short of the Mickey mouse ball after the jump.Set Point
8in to start and then 10in
Ladder Grid
6in and 5ft distance
Rocking Horse Lap Turns – 10/24/20
Did 2 separate sessions. Clearly the lap turns are a bit rusty! He was going to the opposite side of the wing on some of them at first. I don’t think I was in the way and I was still drawing the MCH back as he zinged off to the other side so I think it must have been not enough connection with him before I switched to looking at the MCH.
I ended up backing up in to the lap turns when I wasn’t already close enough to the wing. If you are doing these with the wings further apart would you finish the cross and run forward some before flipping around to face the dog for the lap turn?
First session
2nd session with a leisurely racetrack
Zig Zag with bars – 10/24/20
Did both 6 and 5.5ft distances. He looks more comfortable at 6ft but was still getting a decent rhythm at 5.5ft.Yup – that was session #1 with 4 jumps in the ladder. I have an indoor space rented this afternoon with Comfort King mats which will be new to him. I’ll try 3 and 4 straight jumps there with less motion and see what he thinks about the new footing.
Zig Zag
Ladder Grid – 3&4 Jumps – 10/23/20
6in locked bars. Added a 4th jump.
One thing I am seeing is his head coming up a bit if I’m tossing Nemo after I release him. so I think maybe I should either move myself or lead out and drop/toss the ball but not do both. And he looks a bit less rounded over the jumps when I am moving alongside.
Get Out – 10/24/20
OK – Sometimes I felt like I was teetering on a gamble line for the get-outs. I think I got better about not pointing my feet towards the jump or stepping in to that path a bit.
Had one failed get out but I think I had too casual a connection there.Mission Transition- 10/24/20
Good news is that I have my back yard mostly back after some shoveling and a few days with no new snow. Bad news is my transitions need work. I’m not quite sure why he was turning the opposite way when as far as I can see, my feet were still going as forwards in the decel as they were the times he turned in to me. I purposely didn’t use verbal wrap cues at first as I wanted to see what my motion told him.RC on Course – 10/23/20
Shoveled/swept the back yard and most of the rest melted…just in time for more snow on Saturday night. 2 separate sessions today.
His backside slices are not as strong as the 360s. And had some issues with the 360s going to the right. This was new. They were lovely in a session earlier this week.
Ladder Grid & Set Point – 10/19/20
Moved the bars to 6in for the ladder grid and he’s doing more of a jump through them.Set point is still at 10in but did the all the reps at 10 instead of starting and ending at lower height. Mixed up tossing Nemo right before releasing and as I released. I think I like the 3rd & 4th reps the best in terms of his hind end not kicking up too much as he drover more to the recently dropped Nemo.
This was during the flurries on Monday before we got dumped on on Tuesday. The funny thing is that I’m out at lunch trying to pack in a few more sessions and my next door neighbor is busy mulching the leaves in his yard. We skipped mulching ours (which are all from his tree anyway). Well the next morning he had a new carpet of leaves there right before we got 8in of snow. So now we both have leaves moldering under the snow but I think I had more fun.
Ladder @6in locked bars, 5ft distance
Set Point @10in
Diamond – 10/17 & 18/20
2 sessions – I did the first one before I got your great feedback on the session from the 16th but it looks like I did better about stepping towards the tunnel after the wind wrap. I was alternating sessions with Min to give him a break but he was getting tired here. I moved to Nemo ball since this was his last session.
2nd session on 10/18 –
I was thinking about cueing the blinds early and looking at the first rep, I’m not quite sure how he stayed out for the wing and then came in to the correct (and right) side since I had closed off my connection before he got to the wrapping wing. He did bulge wide, no doubt because he wasn’t sure if I really meant for him to come to my right side.
