[agilitywawa]

Hi,

Got back out again today. I tried to clean up the transitions and stay outside the wing and really slow down earlier. She did much better turning to her right. The left turns looked like they were set up ok, but then she was going really wide (for her). Maybe I was going too deep to the wing? That side felt more awkward for me too.

Then I did the other side of the Get Out Baby Steps. She had some difficulty at the start and I found I could not move much or she’d run by the jump. Then she started to catch on and I could move (although I was moving at a slow walk).

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi,

Agility U tote bags!! Brilliant!

Yay! I need some time to work on these games more before session 3. Maybe it will stop snowing by June.

When it’s 40 and the wind is down to 15 mph, you rush outside to do some homework. Don’t let the chirping birds fool you, it was f*&^%ing cold out.

Transitions first. I may have been turning the wrong way, but she made some tight turns… I am the worst with one jump.

Then a little get out on one side. I actually put a leash down as a line and it perfectly aligned with the upright on the wing, so you can’t see it at all. I’m off to buy a lottery ticket…

More rain/snow in the forecast. May be able to get out early tomorrow for some more games before it starts.

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Even funnier than me doing that planned RC at class – one of my “classmates” was like – where did you learn THAT?? Oh you know, on a tote bag in the basement.

Question on that Lap Turn game – should I be using the backside wrap word with Dellin? With Mari, I use her threadle word, but I’d be facing the jump and also using the arm away from her, so it looks different than this set up with my back to the jump. I don’t think Mari and I have done it this way.
Or, when done as a threadle, is it a different skill (kind of) and I should have both?

Other question – this is week 6 – where do we go from here?

Hoping to get outside if the wind would die down. It might get to 40 tomorrow (vomit emoji).

Thanks!

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

No outdoor work due to bad weather, but a success to report from class. We did our first rear cross in a mini sequence! On purpose. LOL. And we did the first 2 jumps of a serpentine (I adjusted the second angle to make it easier since that’s where we are, but still did it in a class environment). Cool to see her remember her things “on the road” 🙂

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Thanks for the obsession on the jump grids! Yes I can see that those mats are not the best for what I want and she’s got too much speed.

I wanted to try the RC Concept Transfer from Week 5 today since I’m in rear cross thinking mode. And today it was 57 and sunny. Let just say by Friday it will a high of 35 and stuff may fall from the sky for the next couple of days – #winterthatwon’tend.

It was definitely hard on me adding the tunnel – the timing was harder with more speed, but we had fun and I need to get accustomed to her. I did the baby step and next step with the wing going in both directions.

On an unrelated topic – I took several Agility U classes 2 or 3 years ago and they don’t show up in my library (at least I can’t find them) – is there someone who could help me with that?

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi,

Thanks – yes bad me yesterday – I’m sure I needed more space at 16. And to be farther away dragging that toy.

We had a beautiful day today (at least it happened on a Saturday!) so I revisited the set point with slightly different set up. 5.5′ between jumps bar starts at 14. The last 3 reps were at 16 and I’m far away on all of them dragging the toy. No double taps and she looked pretty organized. These things are hard to actually see – I have to watch the videos a lot.

The zig zag from yesterday is not a zig zag like the one you showed us. It’s from the Salo book and called a zig zag, but it’s really a straight line for the dog. I think it must refer to the shape the jumps take. Anyway, I did do some back chaining – did not start at 5. It’s definitely one I will revisit though – I did see the ticking at jump 3. I’m still learning with her where I need to set her up (literally) for success. I was way out with the toy, moving on all the reps.

I originally thought the ladder/tunnel was going to be great because there would be no dead toy doing the circuit, then the next thing I knew, we were doing parts of it and the toy was way too close… and there was no way to throw it/ drag it.

Got back to the WIYH Rear Crosses today. I started with turning left since we seems to normally start with the right and then have questions with the left. We still had more questions with left. I don’t feel as comfortable on that side, so I may be compounding the issue. She did quite well going to the right.

Last, we went back to revisit the wing to the serp jump. I just did one side since she had done a lot of work already. It was getting better, but the angle is still pretty easy. I started throwing the toy and then in the last few reps, I had it on the ground (duh).

We crammed a lot in – I’ll be at a trial tomorrow, so many not have as much time and it felt great to get outside. I never knew 52 could feel so good. And the cold wet crap is coming back this week so I will probably try to get put tomorrow if we are done early.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

We did some grids today. We need to avoid the bending ones on this floor, so doing one sthat are mostly straight.

Set point – with toy dragging. I took a pass on doing the second jump too. First 2 reps are at 14″, then we go to 16″.

We did a traditional zig zag grid. I was happy that she read the line right away (Didi really struggled with this grid). However, until I played the video on the TV, I did not see the double taps. I had set her up closer and got reminded that she should be half the distance… I was dragging the toy however. She broke on the second to last rep so then she had a holder on the last rep (which was overkill). Is this why I normally train alone? LOL

Then we did a ladder to tunnel with jump – such a fun one with so many options. It’s funny – on the first ladder where we stop before the tunnel it was so obvious that she pulled up to get the toy (and I now see a double tap)- which I pointed out and said the dragging toy helps that business. I had a couple of issues with her skipping part to got to the toy, and I decided I can do dog training at home – we are trying to train 3 dogs in an hour and building everything takes time, so I had Terry put the toy out. On the second to last rep where she come out of the tunnel and skips the jump – she had gotten hung up in the tunnel or something odd happened as she was in there longer than usual.

Next couple of days look dry, so hopefully I have enough dry yard available to get back out.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi,

Just checking in – we have had a steady diet of rain-snow-snow-rain-snow-rain – you get the idea basically the entire week and her class was cancelled last night (not weather!), so, yeah… Friday-Sunday look dry at least but I’ll need to see if there’s any part of the grass that’s dry enough to use without destroying it.
Doing more grids on Friday afternoon – I will make some adjustments and see how it goes.

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi,

Today was decent so I got back out right away – lots of rain in the forecast this week 🙁 And Sunday mornings are for herding.

The whole rear cross business from yesterday felt really weird when I was doing it – I can see it now from your comments and the video where my position was off and the line was off.

We tried again – she did really well turning to her right – I was happy with the improvements both of us made from yesterday. And she was less judgey 🙂 Left had more questions, probably something I was doing. Her head seemed to be looking right the whole time she was running – not sure if she had an eye on the toy, or what. They are a skill I’d like to be better at – I find this game one of the best ways I’ve seen to teach it – fun game for both of us. I may get the older dogs out for a refresher using this set up!

Then we revisited the serp/tunnel discrimination. The pause to let her focus really helped both of us.

The grids from yesterday – the toy was always stationary. I did start to describe you process to him (“Tracy says”…). So I think when we go back next Friday for our grid session, I will bust out the moving toy. Baby steps. I guess I’ve never had a dog who likes toys as much as Dellin does, so the pounce has not been much of an issue. Mari has done a ton of grids and seminars with Susan and it’s never been an issue.

The whole set point set up was not working for her at all. I know she was crooked and I try to set her up straight. I try not to do too much fussing with her position because she is unbelievably sensitive (does not show up so much in agility training, but I have to be super careful when doing any type of obedience training). I’m going to need to keep refining her set up (both her literal position and the equipment!) – maybe get rid of the spider and go back to the jump in your lectures.

Same with the set up distance – I’m trying to put her the halfway distance ala Salo, but it’s possible she needs something a little different. Lots to learn about her. On those reps you liked, the toy was about a mile away. LOL

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Had a real hell week here- rain, sleet, snow, gale force winds, so today was the first time I could go outside for training. Tomorrow looks promising too.

We tried the Wind in Your Hair, Rear Cross Edition. Figured I’d just dive right in since we know (a) I’m horrible at RC; and (b) will avoid RC at all costs.

I had some difficulty -I left in a few of those reps so you could see. When we did do it correctly (as far as I could tell), she was remembering her left and right verbals nicely. I feel like Dellin was trying hard not to judge me, but she has a hard time faking it. Um, could you just get it together?

Then we tried the new game for the serp next to the tunnel opening. She did pretty well with that. She got me once I think and blasted into the tunnel. And I was not trying to get her to do the serp and then squeeze into the tunnel! I was trying to stop her with the toy. When I tried ot do the second side, I hope it was correct – doing the mirror image is hard for me.

Today we also rented some space and did some grids. I did describe to my training partner the theory about dragging the toy, especially after he noticed she was a bit pouncy for the toy. Baby steps.

Here are some set points(first one at 14, then at 16) and not exactly ladders (progressive grid) which ultimately led to the variable distance on the last jump. The first couple of reps of the ladder, she was at Doppler’s distance which was too big. After the adjustment to make the space a bit smaller, she looked better. And she has a real question with the bar at 16″ on the variable distance, so we dropped it to 12″ and she was much happier. And the toy is way far away from that jump.

Joan

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by agilitywawa.

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Thanks! For the Minny Pinny, I changed the reward placement as you noted above and went back to the jump bumps. We did a few more reps to the left as that has seemed more difficult for her the last couple of days. It seemed like she slowed herself down and was thinking about her feet a little more.

Then back to the serp work. I did a few reps on the flat – with no jump (that were outside the camera frame). Then the stationary ones or me taking a couple of steps and then I modified the exercise by angling that jump.
Going left around the wing seemed more difficult for her to get the jump after – she went around it the first time, but it’s always possible it had something to do with how I had the jump facing (I’m really spatially challenged).

I can see that this will be a long term project for us! I’d blame the breeder, but I’m pretty sure he’ll be in the same boat but with a longer striding dog! LOL 🙂

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy!

Winter is back, lol, but the sun was out, so we got back out there.

Minny Pinny part 2 – kept her in the center of the bar area as you said and no mistakes! This is the whole session with the tugging edited out. I did have cookies too for resets instead of taking her collar.

Then we tried the serpentines – epic fail. Too much motion kills (reminded me of her mom at this age). I show you the first few failed reps, then I dialed the difficulty way back- put her at the exit of the wing and picked up the toy in case it was contributing to the problem. Wing is about 5 feet from the jump.

The we went back to the zig zag. Wings are 6 feet apart. She had some trouble with the side closer to the camera (the push first), so I made it easier for her. By trouble, I mean running straight to me…
The side farther from the camera was much easier for her. So we’ll revisit this. If she has trouble should I be moving the wings farther apart instead of trying to help her with my position?

Thanks,

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi,

After 2 days of rain/rain-snow, we got back outside. Not exactly in a t-shirt, but we can’t be too picky here as today is the “good” day at 43.

I see what you are saying about the double tap on her set point. I suppose using the spider avoids that. We’ll try 5.5 on spacing, bar at 12 at and setting her closer.

We tried out the Minny Pinny directionals baby level. She had a little bit of trouble when she was on the inside, but not too bad – I left a couple of those oopsies in the video. Today she was turning much better to the right. I had to make some adjustments on the left to make her line easier initially (and she looks mortified by being led by her collar – stop touching me!).

Then we did the zig zag. I just did a couple of reps with 2 wings and went to 3. She saw this 2 wing set up last summer after we were talking about the grid for Mari and Burst at your seminar. It was amazing how she remembered what to do after that brief exposure.

Her triumph in baby sequence class last night – she remembered her backside wrap word when we have not practiced that in ages and did it in a short sequence. And I learned that her serp still needs to be at a walk or the motion really gets her. I see we have some games this week to progress that skill.

Thanks,

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Today I messed around with the set point and dragging the toy. First reps were 5.5′ spacing and a 16″ bar – I did not like the way the jumping looked. I came back out a couple of hours later and went back to 5′ spacing – first close up rep was at 16″ and I did not like it. Lowered the bar to 12″ and zoomed put so you could see the toy – jumping looked quite a bit better. I have not tried opening it up to 6 feet – maybe I’m going in the wrong direction lol. For your reference, Dellin is pretty much the same size as Burst, so around 19-19.5 – have not measured her in ages.

5.5’/16″:

5’/12″

Yesterday we started on the tunnel go and tunnel turns – baby level. After going straight, those first left turns were tough! We ended with some racetrack type stuff – big fun! says Dellin.

After 3 glorious 60 degree days, we are supposed to get rain and go back to the 40s, so I tried to make the most of what passed for Spring here. We may not get back outside for more games until later this week.

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi,
When I watch yesterday’s videos again I can see that slowing down on the set point and needing more space. I’ll set it up outside and use the moving toy. We have another couple of good days forecasted.

We tried out the wrap discrimination today and it went much better. She got me twice – once not going into the tunnel and once going in when I asked for a wrap, but overall she did a good job. This one was a lot of thinking, so we did not do anything else (she had been for a hike earlier in the day, so I think she had a pretty good Saturday :))

Joan

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