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Sounds great, and I am thrilled with your progress, but you have also put in a lot of hard work!!! I am always an email or Facebook message away!!!
WOW! WOW! WOW!!! Both runs look FANTASTIC!!! Great work!
Unfortunately, those types of handlers are unavoidable. I would suggest that you could talk to your instructor, but like I said, you will run into it somewhere. Your ideas are good. I have seen people do that with things like thunderstorms. Start the volume low and pair it with something EXTREMELY rewarding. Let me know how it goes 🙂Hi Margaret! YAY!!! This was really good!!! I would use the manners minder as a reward station. I would not always reward Kelsie after the poles. I like how you sent her a couple times, then tried the bypass at the mm to the rest of the course (around 3:11). At 3:25, I would have sent her to the mm. You can pair it with a cue so that she knows the reward is coming from the mm. But vary where you send her to the mm and not always in the same place. I would also vary the location (great for proofing the weaves). This will give you the ability to leave it back at the crating area or car, at the end of the run use your cue for the mm and head to the reward station.
I really like how your courses are getting longer, you’re adding more handling AND the jump heights are getting bigger and she is handling it all VERY well! As we prepare to finish this course, it is very important for you to recognize when things are getting a little hard for her and be able to take the pressure off in one of those areas. You both are REALLY doing great and I am super pleased with your progress!!!Hi Laura!
I am seeing some great things here!!! I think overall, he (and you) are running more confident!In your warm up video, I can see that sometimes you say “break” and sometimes you say “jump”. Sometimes there is motion, sometimes there is little/no motion. Do I think this is what is affecting him? Probably not. I think, as you are aware it is more environmental based. I would like to see more motion from you when you present his reward. I am sure that he is great at this at home, but in a trial setting I would get him to chase you more for the toy (space permitting).
I think in the first run, the distraction both times was the judge. These are (in my opinion) “baby dog” things that he will grow out of.
Your startline play in the next video was FANTASTIC!!! I know it is hard to do all the time, but I think is great that you took advantage of this. I have a video of Pepper early on where we are doing all her tricks because the dog before us took out a bunch of jumps. It really helped her confidence! I think Flynn’s too!!! Nice run!
Next run, I think you could have been a little further down the line with him at the poles. Meaning, you waited for him to exit the tunnel (I’m sure to address the turn) and then you were a bit behind on the line. He is a bit sensitive with his weave entry at trials (again baby dog), and you must play Goldilocks with him (not too much, not too little, but just right). It will come together if the weaves don’t become too stressful. Jumping ahead, I like the decision you made to skip the poles in the premiere run after he hit the entry. He was trying! I always say there are three components to the weaves. The entry, the exit and everything else. If we try too hard to make all three perfect in the beginning, we can cause a lot of stress at the poles (been there, done that)! I like that you recognized he tried hard to get the entry and missed. Here is a video of a weave pole drill I did with Keen (who could not hit the entries to save his life at a trial) and does a bit of what Flynn does at the poles. I think it is a deceleration think and you could work the drill in the video along with a straight tunnel about 20 feet from 4-6 poles to help him with the entry. In this video, (I did it for a friend who was needing some entry help) what I am doing is having him hit the entry and then simply rewarding him for wrapping either the first pole (off side entry) or the second pole (on side entry). If you need more video explaining this, let me know. Also, I was adding too much distance with Keen in this video… If you need another video, please let me know. https://youtu.be/bRXAKraDEJM
So, with the “stopping on course” of course I want you to be as efficient as possible!!! For now, we are working on Flynn going from obstacle focus, then back into handler focus. I promise I do not want you to do this forever!!! I would like to see you continue to work on front crosses and blind crosses even, but deceleration is your friend 🙂 I think the tunnel break (decel before the tunnel) was perfect! I use those a lot!
Second video: I loved your “course choice” for the premier run!!! Again, I like how he made the effort to hit the entry and you went on. The rest of the run was LOVELY!!!
I want to talk about something that doesn’t seem related, but it is. Not long ago, there was a post on Facebook that circulated, and the question was if handlers felt that a blind cross could be done anywhere? When handling a dog that doesn’t like the pressure from the handler, I LOVE blind crosses!!! However, when you are in front of your dog, the issue becomes the handler’s ability to go from extension into collection (so that they can cue that with the dog). So, when you sent him to the poles and you mentioned in your video that you “sent him” (I think it was the next run, same pole entry), you did a great job here with the decel. This is where my deceleration needs to be appropriate. If you are coming off a line of extension into collection, you need to physically decelerate yourself. I also think for him it is SUPER important to cue collection much earlier. Does all that make sense?
On the second video, I would like to see you set this up at home and run it for your homework. Two things I would do differently is I would either plan to be on the landing side of #3 when he takes off for #2 or start my upper body rotation sooner. The other thing I would like you to do is to show him what it looks like if you WANT him to take that off course jump vs not take that jump. I do this a lot with dogs that tend to take a lot of off course obstacles. Show them the line in either scenario so that they can see what the difference is between the two.
Let me know if this makes sense.Hi Margaret,
Bummer you didn’t get in the trial, but there will be others!
Yep, you can use 6 or 12. It really doesn’t matter (though 6 will allow you to do more repetitions).
I like to do a good fitness routine with my dogs several times a week. I am a fitness trainer, but don’t have time to devote to working with students at the moment. I personally work with Bobbie Lyons. It might be worth reaching out to her to see if she is offering any online fitness for juming classes and I know she does private lessons. She has been my mentor through the years and has some really good stuff.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi Laura,
So how did the trial go?The drill looked really nice. On the first rep where you had the wide turn, I think you could have rotated a bit earlier.
I do like how well he handled the pressure of coming into you at 1:23. I thought this was really good!
Great that you can use the leash this way! I would put it to practice in your yard. He seems very engaged and focused here!!! Nice work!
Hi Laura,
Sorry for the delay!
Around 2:05, for the forward focus exercise, make sure you are looking forward too and not at her. This will help her look away from you and change her focus to the reinforcement.
4:35 when she misses the weaves, you actually decleerated when you were heading towards the poles. I would like to see you drive harder.
I noticed you took the poles out, no biggie, but for this drill, I think a better place may have been over where the blue jump is.
6:33, this was nice, and a great thing to use for your warm up!
The second drill was super nice. Nice timing on your commands and everything looked really good.Hi Janet,
My apologies for the delay! Okay, so a few things right off the bat. What excites her most? I would like a list of her highest value “thing” being #1 all the way to #10.
I can see that the flirt stick is high value, but I think it will be higher value if you are more exciting!!! Right not it’s moving, but you’re a bit static.
When you start doing the course, your physical cues are a bit confusing. Do you see right around 0:33 you are using your offside arm? Generally, when handling, I try to cue a line with the dog-side arm. There are a few exceptions to that rule, but for the most part, I use the arm that is closest to my dog. The other thing I think is very confusing is your lack of motion. Often you are standing behind her trying to send her forward. I would almost bet that she likes to chase you as opposed to you sending her forward.
I would play a TON of the lazy bastard game with her so that she learns that the obstacles are highly valuable. I would also like to see you working her at 4 or 8 inches for the time being. Taking some of the pressure of the bar off her.
Another thing I notice is that you are waiting too long to reinforce her. I would not go more that 2-3 obstacles without a reinforcer. She will start off fast, then start getting slower and slower. Since she likes the flirt stick, have you tried to use a long toy with a rope tied to it and having you on the other end? But remember, that movement is motivating, so you need to keep moving when you are rewarding. I am sure that is one of the big reasons she likes the flirt stick so much because it moves.
I also think this session was WAY too long. I know that 7 minutes doesn’t seem that long, but it is a long time for a dog to keep working. I would have quit at 5:06. That was a great rep! You rewarded early and after 3 obstacles. That was perfect!
At the end of this session you can tell that Violet was just done. I would like to see sessions that are no more than 1-2 minutes and heavily reinforced. I think with a few of these suggestions, we can get Violet more engaged. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.Hi Laura,
I am on the road today and will look at your video as soon as I am back to my laptop this evening or tomorrow morning. Sorry for the delay, my cell reception is not great today and would rather not try to look at it on my phone.Hi Janet!
Thank you for the video! I am on the road today and want to take a GOOD look at your video. I will either do so this evening or tomorrow morning when I am in front of our computer. Sorry for the delay, I would rather not reply on my phone 😊Hi Margaret,
Interesting… so correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems played with the toys, then went to the food (when she ran to the bag), so you switched to food, then back to the toy? I think recognizing these patterns are important so that you can maximize the places you use what reinforcement where. For instance, Pepper loves both food and toys, but she ONLY every wanted food before she ran! I could get her to tug, but she was WAY more interested in food. But, after her run, she ALWAYS wanted her toy. Beats me 🤷♀️, but it worked well!
Regarding the jump height and Kelsie’s jumping. She is a nice jumper, but if you look at your first rep compared to the last one, you will see that I think she is tired. This is totally normal since you are conditioning her back after her spay. Do you do any canine fitness? I would work her at 20” but just be prepared to drop her to 16” towards the end of your session if she slows down or seems tired.Hi Barbara!
Thanks for sharing!!! So it looks to me like Potter has a nice big space bubble? Meaning that he has great independence and you have the ability at send him laterally? What I am seeing particularly on the opening line is you are pushing on his line to the second jump. Can you see that on both repetitions? I would like for you to look more at your line and less at him (taking pressure off). It’s true that we want connection with our dogs and we want them in our peripheral vision. I think if you change “your” focus to 2-4 feet in front of Potter and take some of the eye contact off of him, this will help significantly! Does that make sense? And yes! He is VERY handsome!Look at her GO!!! You two are fun to watch!!! Great work!
Regarding jump height, it really depends. I tend to spend time at all heights as the dog is learning new skills. I will keep it low let’s say if I am training threadles, once my dog understands them, I will move the bar up. When they are young competitors (meaning novice-masters levels), I usually keep them at their jump height say 80% of the time when I am working drills and courses. I want the stamina and it is also helpful for my timing. Once my dog understands jumping and assuming I have a dog that doesn’t knock bars and such, I will run them anywhere from 12” to 24” (if I am doing world team stuff otherwise 20” for my 20” dogs). If I am getting ready for a big event, then 95-100% of my work is at their jump height. Does that make sense?
