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Pkg 3 Drills & Sequences- 8/9/24
Swapped out to the chuck it soft frisbie which has a rim and does roll…right into the jump or the wrong direction the way I throw rollers! I trimmed out the parts where I was walking with the tripod incase you are susceptible to motion sickness.
I moved the jump after the tunnel out to about 21ft. The threadle wraps felt smoother here.
Pkg 3 Drills – Big Lines & Backside Wraps – 8/8/24
Vet said to keep an eye on the nail to make sure it didnt’ start to split, but thought he would be fine training. Driving ahead at the end of a big course is an area of opportunity for us (how’s that for a euphemism for “we almost missed winning the Open & Invitationals Finals because he barely kept going ahead of me without turning back”). I managed to fit the drill setup in on the diagonal but ran out of lateral space in the back corner to angle the last jump so that a RC would be helpful. I switched to a different soft frisbie that throws better than the fabric frizzers and still had some real doozies of throws, but he was focused forward nicely. I trimmed out my leisurely walks back to the start while tossing his frizzer. I think I should try this with me being further behind after the tunnel to see if he can keep driving ahead.
Winging it – Tight Blinds -8/8/24
After some torrential downpours earlier in the week, the weather has been lovely (60s/70s). I used PB in a topple here which does involve waiting for her to finish licking her chops between reps. She went to the left well (and I even remembered her cue!) and cracked me up on the last rep when she pulled off on the spin and then went back and went aroung the wing after her brain caught up. Had issues going to the right again. I was looking back at her (since I saw her beady eyes as she darted behind me and jumped up), but is my arm just not back far enough when she’s on my left and approaching the wing. I just switched to sending her ahead to get the thrown toppl out of the tunnel and then went back to turning left.
I did the big lines drills from pkg 3 with Kaladin this evening and am planning on letting Lift open up on them (without the circle wraps) tomorrow morning.
She hasn’t been into toys outside much either. Her best tugging lately has been inside and out of the context of training. She did great inside tonight doing easy tricks for the tug.
I just ordered her a martingale slip lead with a clip release from Rush to Tug so of course she has started to consider wearing her harness again! But it will be good to have options since her big feelings tend to shift around to different things.
Zig Zag – 2 jumps – 8/7/24
Took a break from turning this week and worked on foot targeting and some straight line jumping stuff.
Used the 3ft weave poles set at 4in and have it resting in the jump standard because when I put 2 standards in the middle the feet turn into a bigger obstacle for her. She’s stationed on her cot when I am adjusting the jumps.
Also did an adjustable grid with a 6in bar (4in for the bounce jumps) yesterday. Didn’t adjust much because I was more interested in how she handled the idea of it than actually asking her to really adjust her stride. So enough jumping work with that and going to try more of a handling game tomorrow.
Lazy Contacts – 8/7/24
Did some refresher sessions on a foot target over the past few days. She will scratch her front feet across a held up block of wood with the textured grip tape on it (my homemade scratch pad for her nails) but I hadn’t done much with the target flat on the ground. Made a target with cardboard and the gritty grip tape on both sides. Doesn’t always grip the contact plank grit too well.
So she’s getting on the end of the plank, but she’s so close to the end that I can’t always get the target down on the edge.
In other news, I may have discovered something about her tugging. She hasn’t been interested in tugging before a training session even if I try it in another room. Yesterday I got set up to work on the foot target in our bedroom with the treat container and the tripod. I offered her the toy out in the hallway but she wasn’t interested and started circling around and barking. I decided to take a break instead of moving into training after she had been barking at me and walked downstairs. 5 min later I picked up a toy and she looked interested so we tugged a bit downstairs. Then I tugged her up the stairs back into the bedroom and she kept going until I dropped the toy and asked her for a flip (left circle). Then she did some foot targeting for cheese, moved with me down the hallway into my office and tugged, came back to work the foot target for cheese again and the tugged again after we were done. So I need to try it again and see if it was a fluke or if she can’t focus on playing when she sees that the training session is set up and she thinks she needs to train instead. My hope is that it’s not a fluke and I can ease her into the idea that she can tug when she doesn’t think the training thing is all set up and then she gets to train after tugging so it then reinforces the tugging. Hopefully that makes sense.
Winging It – 2 Wing Ladder – 8/4/24
Used PB in a toppl this morning so that it was more obvious when tossed and let her work on it between reps (after she went meh at the snuffle mat). Was happy with how these went when doing the backside wrap to the left.
Went back in the evening to try the other direction and had a good first rep with the FC back to the tunnel and then got some leaping as I was looking back at her when she came out of the tunnel. (she had little treat scatters between the reps here)
She’s 13 months so quite a baby and she had a lot of excitement over the weekend because my best friend from high school was visiting.
It’s supposed to rain most of tomorrow so I was looking at the baby tandem turn on a wing and the lazy contact targeting as good indoor games. I don’t do tandem turns much with Kaladin and I use his threadle wrap cue (in in in) when I do. Not sure if they should have the same cue or not since while the beginning is similar, the tandem turn tends to accelerate back the other direction while the threadle wrap keeps circle to go on. Although maybe the exit line connection just clears that up?
For the Lazy Contact targeting game and a 4-on position, what are you using as Elektra’s foot target? It looks like it stays put well when she paws it. Lift will paw a block of wood with gritty paper stuck to it when I hold it up in front of her, but I’ll need to work on getting her to do that when it is on the ground. I like the idea of the foot target over the nose since I think the pawing helps her shift her weight back more than leaning forward to nose target. Does it matter if her board is on the ground vs raised? For smaller boards I have the Cato plank, an old travel plank that is about 2in off the ground and a board that would be more flush to the ground.
Camp Live Sequence – 8/3/24
Ran it the other direction with Lift. Still a bit late on the spins, but I was much better about maintaining connection and didn’t have her pull off any jumps or have big mad moments of her jumping up at me during the sequence. Even got some backside wraps after I gave her a refresher.
Mountain Climber – 8/1/24
This was from Thursday afternoon. Very confident for most of it except for some hesitation going ahead of me in the middle. Really liked how she zipped right up the board on her first rep.Fusion has a Clip & Go teeter.
Camp Live Sequence – 8/1/24
Tried these with Lift on Thursday morning and left out the beginning jump or two so we could concentrate our brain cells on the wraps after the tunnel. Does great when I remember to keep my shoulder open back to her and has big feelings when she sees my back.
Teeter Back-up – 8/2/24
This was from earlier this morning. Much better success with me crouched down (grass was too wet to sit on). She even offered continuing to back up from 2-o-2-o to 4 on a few times.
(Kaladin was stationed on his cot near the tripod and earned a treat mid session)
Weather is back in the low 90s with high humidity for the weekend but looks better for next week.
Live – Exit Line Connection Other Direction- 8/1/24
Took advantage of the storms cooling things off for a day and flipped the course around for Kaladin this morning. Had to sort out the toy hand on the backside wrap after I forgot the blind and ended up on the outside the first time around. Not noticing a fluency difference on the other side for Kaladin. (Me we won’t talk about)Mountain Climber- 7/29/24
Switched to the Clip & Go teeter yesterday and discovered it doesn’t work so well with the tip it. Had to jury-ring a target plate (end of video shows it)
First full height teeter (old one was close in the last session). She needed a rep or two to adjust to the new board (old one is painted grit and this is the rubberized skin). Sends ahead nicely when I stay on the same side but had some confusion on sending ahead so I could RC (probably should have backed up the wing to give her more running room).LOL! I’m not usually taller so that is funny (maybe that’s why I have small dogs!) I’ll try the teeter end again with me sitting. And she gave a definite no to tugging anywhere in the training room with the wobble board at all.
Winging It – 1 wing – 7/29/24
Did this one on Monday morning when it was cooler. Did too much counter motion on the first wrap so was more conservative after that. Also had the spin in my notes but forgot it and just did a blind on the 2nd rep and realized I should have had her on my right. Things smoothed out after that. What should the verbal be for the spin to the other entrance? I feel like it’s not a check chek for wrap right since that is coming right back on your approach line and “right” is the softer cue to turn to the other wing.I’ll circle back to the 4 wings and experiment with maybe the PB toppl as the reward since my food holder toy is one where I have to open it for her.
Looking ahead to the 2wings: Did I miss some backside wrap prep work?Countermotion Commitment – 7/28/24
I took another crack at this earlier this morning and didn’t try to rev her up in front of me since that’s clearly not her thing right now and she prefers to chase away and then come back in to start. I think I maybe could have been moving away a bit sooner in some spots but I wanted to make sure she had a good chance of being successful. I think I did a better job of not blocking the wing even though I did this session before reading that feedback.Side note -do you think she did better when I just ran and didn’t point arms in the straight line 4 ways because my shoulder is more likely to stay a bit more open so she feels more connection?
Teeter Love Slam – 7/28/24
Did another session on the wobble board inside and she was still a bit hesitant about getting on it when it was higher and then fairly comfortable as she moved around. She had no issues backing up on to it when it was tipped down but found it hard to pick up her feet when it was tipped up several inches. She absolutely didn’t want to tug near or on the wobble board so I decided to switch to the end of the teeter since I wasn’t going to get more arousal by tugging on the wobble board.
Swapped to the Clip & Go Teeter and at full height (haven’t done mountain climber on it yet). Started with it not moving and then adjusted so that it could move about an inch. She seemed more confident about backing up to this than the wobble board. I am guessing that at 10.5-11lbs, she should be a 4-on teeter dog. I really feel like the 2-o-2-o is more clear to the dog, but I think she’s just going to be too light to control the board rebound. I experimented with me standing vs crouching but both ways she is looking up at me and then sitting or laying down on the board.
Countermotion Commitment – 7/26/24
Well shoot – looks like this didnt’ post last night so here’s a double.I was pretty impressed with her for this one considering what big feelings she can have for wrapping wings and me trying to jazz her up in front of me before being sent behind me. I let her do the tunnel at the end to relieve the pressure of the wraps and go her leash on her, walked her over to the tripod and then decided I should take the leash off again and let her play a bit more. Going to give the wing wrapping a break after this and probably try the straight line/4 ways tomorrow (before we slide into a heat wave)
Unfortunately I can’t find my treat hugger toy where she could get the treat out herself. I do have a fur pouch toy but it needs me to get it open for her. Dean just mowed the grass earlier today so I might be able to do larger pieces of cheese without making her full or sick. Or maybe I’ll smear some PB on a small kong – at least it’s heavier so should throw better. She does turn/flip on just a verbal but I will need to video to confirm I’m not unconsciously adding a bit of a hand cue when I am moving.
Straight Line 4 ways – 7/27/24
Slipped these 2 short sessions in before breakfast when it was only muggy and low 70s instead of muggy and 90s. While it had wrapping, she seems to think wraps on jumps are more valid than on wings so I didn’t want to do 2 days in a row on the countermotion commitment. Great tip on the toppl – I used some peanut butter and decided I should also use it as the reward on some of the wraps too since it;s hard to hide it in my hand. I also should have tested how far those little toppls will go with an underhand throw. The first one almost bounced off the fence which was behind the tripod. Whoops!
I think I did better cueing the first RC this time (turning to the left) but still had difficulty with the RC to the right and later the FC wrap to the right.
Look Ahead – 7/25/24
Haven’t had a chance to work with Lift and the food tug I found outside of agility so decided to try the Pet Tutor. Was wondering if it was too big a target for her but also wanted to reward her for running ahead figured 1 session of her looking ahead to it and not losing her tossed cheese was probably good. Started at 15ft distance to jump and went to 18 and 21ft. Did the last rep with tossed cheese. Maybe I should try this with a small bowl with a treat set on her line since it is a lot smaller than the visual of the Pet tutor.Had a similar wobble board session on Tuesday. More comfortable getting on the low side but pretty confident once she is on it.
She’ still napping more than usual and she’s not sure about sitting with pants on so not going to try the motion override yet. She will spin right/left on cue as I slowly keep walking.
Also did a mountain Climber on the old teeter at nearly full height and she was zippy.
Felt better about 36hr after the shingles vax. Unfortunately it’s getting a lot hotter here soon.
Hi Tracy,
Lift finally decided to go into season on Friday morning (hours before her first in-person seminar). So we broke out the fashionable blingy purple thong pants and off we went. She was a bit sticky and thinking hard so had difficulty sending ahead of me on a verbal (at a short distance) to a low jump without me stepping forward, but I think that was partly new place/people watching and partly her being in season. She’s been pretty tired and sleeping a lot during the day which I understand is common. (I honestly don’t remember Tari or Min acting much different but it’s been a while.) Rachel did have a good suggestion to be better about cleaning up my loops and doing more with a cookie transport or other things so that she had less/no questions about what to do between the rep and wouldn’t revert to her Kangaroo persona. (With Nancy’s Glue class, I had started practicing the cookie transport from releasing out of her crate after a meal to the kitchen to drop off the dish into the sink. Before I started that she would jump up at me multiple times as I was walking and I would have to put her in a sit/stay and recall or toss a cookie for her to get it in the other direction to keep her on the ground. After doing a few days of the cookie transport she started offering to politely trot next to me on the ground for part of the way and then would do a trick (usually a spin) for a treat and continue on so I do think that helped to settle down her pop rocks over not being sure what was expected of her)I was really happy with her focus and willingness to stick her head through a martingale leash loop (we borrrowed Kaladin’s Nemo slip lead collar) or push her collar into my hand when I wanted to collect her so that I could talk with Rachel. She ended up in a group of 4 dogs in a semi private session that was about 90min long with 1 session indoors and one outdoors in the fenced ring and that was just about perfect for her first seminar. No difference in focus for her indoors or out!
Since she’s been tired, we’ve taken it easy. She perked up this evening and started playing with Kaladin so I did a short wobble board session inside and then experimented with sending her (from about 5-6ft away) to a 4in jump asking for wraps right/left with just extending my hand and no motion. She nailed it so I do think her stickiness at the seminar was partly the new space.
I also got a shingles vaccine this morning and so far feel OK but we might not be doing much tomorrow either if it hits me later.
Wobble Board – 7/18/24
We did some wobble board and bosu ball sessions when she was younger, but I didnt’ do too many and it’s been a while. I brought her in on leash to get her to the quieter bosu ball first but then she ducked behind me straight to the wobble board. Used cheese since she said no thanks to the toy.
Thx for the indepth analysis of the FC/RC mechanics.
Lift sometimes likes balls but is meh other times. Fluffy tug toys seem to be the most popular with her. I need to hunt around for my treat hugger tossy toy. I know I have tie-dye one but can’t find it anywhere. Is there any concern with the dog being disappointed that other thrown toys don’t contain food? Or do they just learn which toy can have food?Pkg 2 Jumping Popouts
Popout #1
I had to shorten a few lines a bit but got the course pretty close. His speed out of the tunnel surprised me and my threadle slice cue was late.
Popout #2
I think I like the RC the best for 4-6. Running into the threadle at the end worked nicely once I got there sooner and got out of his way.
Didn’t get video but I did work some on starting with layering the tunnel and without the tree in the way. He does better when I also take a step forward and into his line a bit as I release him.
Had some brain farts on my part in Winnipeg but Kaladin was brilliant even though it was rather warm. I liked Angela Koop’s courses. Got some nice threadle wraps in at more of a distance and check out this bit from Masters Jumpping where he flipped away from the weaves to the tunnel 20ft away!
