[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

I’m trying to do his exercises in the morning -we’re having abnormally warm weather for May (upper 80s). Today is the last warn day before rain and going back to 60ish. We did baby level tunnel threadle. He did pretty well with it. My word is “here” but drawn out “heeeeeere”. I also use the opposite arm.

I’d say Dellin’s tunnel threadle is still a bit of a work in progress when going full speed on a course and I’ve been using the sprinkler and then “here” for her. I’ve been thinking about using left/right for her and then here, but it does not usually fit my left/right situation and the sprinkler gives me the head turn. This set up was definitely the wrap cue though. Things to ponder…

Thanks,

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Re-did the zig zag on that hard side using a tug toy instead of a throwing toy. Had a couple of misses, but overall much more success.

Hoping to work on the tunnel threadle later today.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

We tried the next step of the zig zag, then I returned to the get out.

Zig Zag – totally nailed the first side. Then he could not figure out how to do even the first jump on the other side. I even went back to the first side to show him and that did nothing to help him when we switched sides.

The get out went better. I tried to keep moving forward instead of stopping at the spot where I was sending him out.

Thanks,
Joan

PS – tried again this morning with his disc as a reward and we had some success on that harder side.

• This reply was modified 2 days, 7 hours ago by agilitywawa.

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

We did the first step of mission transition – the decel to front cross. Sorry about the camera angle – I moved the wing out and then forgot to check if it was still in the frame.

He did better turning left. He was wider going to the right – it was likely me, but he was a bit distracted – adolescent boy…the struggle is real.

Thanks,

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

We did the Baby Steps of the Get out. I feel like if I want to add some more handler motion, I will need to spread things out more due to his size – what do you think?

Thanks,

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

We did the RC concept transfer again with the wings moved in to help on the RC. I overestimated on that first RC rep and had to move them in even more. Then he got it. For such a big dog, he’s giving me a pretty tight RC!

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

The weather missed us – it got dark for quite a while, sprinkled a little, then the sun came out. Glad we didn’t get anything, but they really missed the mark on that forecast.

Worked on the concept transfer – rear cross at lunch. I tired to move on to the advanced level and he was fine on the “go” to find the next wing, but not on the RC -so I stopped that before he flattened me. Maybe my wing was too far away for his experience level? In place of the advanced reps, we did a few baby level on the other side.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Feeling like I’m really behind on the lessons!

We tried the layering game today. Tunnel folded down, then open with the layer, then calling him to the tunnel.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be extra bad (thunder, hail, tornado bad), so unless lunch is clear, I won’t get out again tomorrow.

Thanks,

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

I made a cheat sheet on a post-it to take outside with me and then addressed all of my issues from last session.

On the ladder, I moved the jumps to 8″ locked in. I added more motion with dragging the toy.

When I went to the BC, I did a bunch on that first side – more for me to get the feeling of it – he had some nice turns when I was timely 🙂

Got my session done right before the rain came. Hoping tomorrow is clear.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Yesterday, the toy was stationary. Tonight I did the angled jumps for the ladder and had the toy moving. I hope I “built” that correctly – I am very spatially challenged. For anything more than a ladder, I usually have Terry build it.

Then we started the Diamond games. The tight BC and the racetrack. I only did the one wing on the BC and will add on next time. I’m trying to figure out what a tight turn looks like for him – it won’t look like Dellin’s.

I did not use directionals on the race track part – jumps like that would be a sprinkler and he has not been introduced to that yet. Counterclockwise was more difficult – I’m not sure if he’s looking at the toy on that first rep or what.

Thanks,

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

I need to work on that throwing. lol.

Got out at lunch today to do the baby steps of the ladder grid. First 2 reps with 3 jumps were a little off, then he corrected himself for the last 2 reps. This is the whole session.

Then did a couple of set ups – I don’t often practice in front of a jump, so took advantage of them. I t was funny – he is usually stronger coming in on the right side, but today his heel looked better. Disregard me almost falling over on the first one – I am working today, not day drinking!

Thanks,

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

He came home last May, so he was here all of last summer and it was definitely cooler here when he arrived than it was in Mexico (May is their hottest time).

Today, I had great plans to break his training into 2 sessions. Got my am session done before going herding – the left turn RC of Wind in My Hair. Not sure what I was doing that caused him to annihilate the jump. Got all prepared in the late afternoon to start the ladder grid work, go outside and it’s starting to rain. Threw some dics for him instead. ARGH.

Thanks,

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Yes, he likes rollers and I think if I use a small soft disc or a gummy disc, that might go better for rewarding. That disc from yesterday is super heavy (to combat some of the wind).

He does heat up quickly and he likes cold weather. I was worried about how he’d handle his first winter (coming from Mexico City) and he loved it – would roll around in the snow (literally).

Today we tried the Wind in Your Hair, baby level with rear cross. I have done a little RC work with him – not a ton recently. I have a verbal that I use only for RC on a jump (“swing”). It has been terrific for Dellin – even if I get really far behind, if I cue swing she knows to take the jump and turn away. So I’m going to use the same verbal for Judge.

I ended up doing a whole bunch of reps on the first side and kind of used him up, so only a couple on the second side. We’ll revisit tomorrow.

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Tried out the Zig Zag baby steps today – that went well (maybe I was doing it wrong, lol). The I re-did the Minny Pinny – trying to get the spacing better for him. Not sure if I succeeded on that front.

The frisbee is a bit awkward for the rewarding, but it’s what he really wants and it keeps him engaged. I had been using it for something else and I did not go back to the house to change toys.

I keep forgetting to video his line up – he pivots into side or heel for the set up. He loves to pivot, so we don’t struggle there. I’ll try to remember to video it.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

I’ll watch that arm on the serp and go back and re-try the FC.

Today we did find the jump – 3 reps at 15 feet and then 3 at 20 feet. 10 feet seemed too close for his size. Sorry about the camera work – needed a bit more zoom on some of those reps.

Thanks,
Joan

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