[bsshay]

Hi there.

Here is our Send Progression.

Jumps are 14ft apart and Wing is 20 ft from jumps.

First two videos are first tries on each side. We took breaks and rested her while I practiced. And we did some sending around wing with rewards after the wing while I ran the other way before subsequent videos.

You may want to watch the progression before commenting on each video?

Feels good to be practicing with her again. Thank you! 😎

[bsshay]

Hi there.

I’m SO behind due to my schedule and wx, can you please give me some suggestions on where to pick up?

Thnx
Barbi 😎

[bsshay]

T.

Yes I so agree with you. She’s my teammate and we need to work that way.

I was trying to figure out if something, anything would get her to stop barking and so trying different things.

I’ve never had a dog be SO vocal for training. Paris will bark at me on the start line for an Important run at a Major event or on the table because “Tables are Stupid”
But other than that none of my dogs have barked at me SO much for agility.

But of course you are right and that’s why I show you our struggles, we need help.

Earplugs and a cue to get to work, and do it.

Also. Can you tell me again your opinion of making a dog wait until they ‘Look’ at an obstacle before you release them? It seems popular here for some people to make an exercise of it. Have the dog sit in front of a tunnel, wait for them to look at it, then say tunnel and let them take it. Then have them sit in front of same tunnel, when they look at it Don’t say tunnel, and reward in place for Not taking the tunnel. Rinse and Repeat. Stimulus control and Focus Fwd to be more obstacle focused? This exercise seems to just Frustrate Mochi which leads to more barking.

Yes, Cyno is in Tucson next fall.

Thank you. B

[bsshay]

Tracy.

This is my 4th post today. Please see above starting with Reg Conn clean up. We took breaks in between.

Since I thought I did FCs earlier, I tried spins with some different equipment and mechanics.

I tried using her harness and short leash in hopes of diminishing her vocals. Not sure that was successful since when she’s highly aroused she doesn’t like me leaning over to pick up the leash. She even looked at me once like ‘What the Hell are you doing with That!’

So I am embarrassed to post this, but I know I should show you the good, the bad, and the ugly. She was the good, I was a bit bad, and even a hint ugly. 🤪

No editing here, you’ve got it all.

Thank you for watching. It’s important you see our struggles.
Barbi😎

PS. We had a long, arduous trail day Saturday, so took yesterday completely off.
The good news is my oldest girl, and superstar, Paris, earned her way into the GP and STPL Semifinals of next fall’s Cynosports. 😊

Have you done USDAA lately? They are Really stretching out their courses, UKI influence?

[bsshay]

T.

I wondered why my FCs seemed so convoluted until I watched the vid back and realized I was doing Spins. Eek. I even practiced with her in a crate and wondered why my FC felt SO awkward. 🤪

Oh well. Here’s some Combo Spins.

Like I said previously, her barking really got to me today. And it doesn’t look like it but I was freezing, in the shade with a breeze. I had 2-3 layers of clothes on. So I was having trouble concentrating.

When I got up this morning my pool waterfall was running on its own. When it gets into the low 30 degrees the waterfall comes on so the pipes don’t freeze. Yikes

At least the sun was out today👍🏻

Thank you
B😎

[bsshay]

Hey

Attempting BC clean up here. I mislabeled this vid, it’s really BC.

We tried her Sit/Stay and seemed to hold well. I’m glad we did the Stay because I realized I need a bigger lead out for her on this 😉.

I can see I Lost Connection for 2nd rep but gave her the ball anyway 👍🏻

Also I’m trying to do reps on the other side of the DW, it’s too distracting for her.

Thank you.
B😎

BTW. I am tossing her treat/toy back to her now and then. My instructor here wants me to go back and reward now and then, so that’s why you see it here.

[bsshay]

Hello.

Attempting to clean up Reg Conn here using your suggestions.

We tried putting the toy at the end. She was able to leave it and go down to work with me. But had trouble going to it, even back chaining. Perhaps a bigger toy or MM.

Anyway, we went back to throwing the toy with your suggestions and tried to have smoother reps.

Even though tried cleaner starts, still had trouble with the 20ft send, so went with her for that.

Oh and remember, she does NOT like me holding her collar.

Thank you.
Barbi😎

Oh, and not editing, you’re seeing everything.

And, I’m sorry to say, her barking Really got to me today. 😔

[bsshay]

Hello again.

See above post for Reg Connection.

After lunch and several hours we tried Exit Conn. The above sessions and these are the only training we did today.

With Mochi in a kennel, I practiced the specific handling maneuvers before trying each one. I feel like I can see her after the turns, but not making direct eye connection, especially with the BC as I really had to watch where I was going. And my arms are flailing a bit. It’s been cold for us here and I definitely don’t move as well when I’m cold.

We did the competition series, but decided not to start from a Stay. We haven’t practiced our Stay in front of 1-2 jumps lately, and wanted to concentrate on the maneuver rather than testing her Stay. Ok?

I think I may have even turned the correct way on the Spin🤪. Ha!

So question. I don’t have a Verbal for the BC. When she started missing the jump I then would say Jump. Should I have a Verbal for a BC? Should I say a hard Left or Right? She’s got to commit to the jump first right? Ok. That’s 2 questions.

Thank you. 👍🏻
B😎

[bsshay]

Hey T.

Hoping this video format works for you. We did the 3 Positions in succession on the right and then the 3 Positions on the left, each under 2 min. Didn’t do the 4 vids of each position, just seemed natural for us to do it this way.

This is ALL we did, not practicing the send around the wing etc. so the first rep you see on each side is our First rep. Wings and jumps are 20ft apart, jumps at 4”.

We went Right first as she’s a righty. We had trouble with me standing next to the first jump, she turned right but not around the wing😉. So I moved forward a bit with the send for her to get the wing. Guess we need to practice sends with >20ft. Or maybe she didn’t realize that’s what we were doing.

After that it seemed to go well, although I think I forgot how to do this. 😳. Arms, shoulder etc. But we got better.

Then we went Left.
After this video, I put the ends of the DW up on chairs. 🤪
I can see on this side I needed to get the ball out in front of her faster to keep her from looking back. Throwing with my left hand is harder for me. Good thing my wings aren’t solid, I think I threw the ball through the wing once.

We’re going to try as many games as possible. My class and trial schedule are Full on now and she needs rest, even though she’s just at the trials.

Thank you.
B😎

Oops, just realized I did the “Competition” exercise instead of the “Max Pup” exercise.
Mochi just turned 1yr old, ahhhh. Do you think the Competition track is ok for her?

[bsshay]

Hi there.

I don’t have any more videos to show you and I understand the opportunity closes tomorrow.

You are also exhausted from the Open.

As when we ended Pup 1, I am again unsure if we’re ready to move on to the next class, whatever that might be. We can revisit all our exercises with your feedback from Pup 2 in the meantime.

If you do decide to have another class, a hybrid of sorts, or something else, how will I communicate with you to ask if we’re ready for that class? The forum will be closed.

In case this is our last post, again, thank you so much for ALL your help and advice with my pup, Little Mochi.

Barbi 😎

[bsshay]

Yes!!
Thank you so much. Will do.

We did not have class last night. We mostly only played ball yesterday.
And today for our private with Amy, Mochi did better than ever.

While my friend started off the hour, Mochi and I played pattern games, let her check out the environment, look/watch everything, all the while treating her for turning back to me with eye contact.

When it was our turn she was focused and ready to go. Did that diminish with time, yes. We kept things very simple and rewarding and shorter as time went on.

Did not use xpen or crate, she doesn’t do well in either. But happy to sit in her chair.

She was SO HAPPY 😎

Thank you again.

Have a blast and good luck at the Open!
I know several people there, including Mochi’s pup class instructor.

B

[bsshay]

We’re back.

We worked on the stay before filming. Then had our first try in video 1.

She seemed to do well at the baby level so we tried the Advanced stuff.

If I didn’t line her up facing the jump we didn’t have success, video 2.

When we moved back in my yard she was distracted by a noise, which turned out to be a bird playing in the roof gutter. I couldn’t get her attention back until we went to the corner and investigated together. Then got her back by tugging/playing. But after that you can see she kept looking in that direction while holding her sit. 😎

We have a dickens of a time trying to get her to work with me at Amy’s. We end up just playing pattern games trying to get her focus on me. Sometimes she doesn’t even want to eat her treats, although she has improved from our very first lesson there. She likes being in her chair, but sometimes we put her in an expen to give me and her a break and she learns to self regulate. But she definitely doesn’t like the expen and settles better in her chair.

Last week was especially bad. We think she was just too tired. The night before I had worked her before group class, then went to group class where we also had trouble focusing at first, but then got her away from the group and had better success. Then the next morning went to Amy’s and she was mentally exhausted. My Bad. 😔. I would never have asked so much work of her in a compressed time.

When it was our turn we did recalls, pattern games etc. Sometimes the pattern games don’t work. But recalls and finding me do.

It gets discouraging that we can do all this stuff at home but not elsewhere.

On a brighter note, I took her to the trial this past weekend. She was a BIG hit with all the peeps, adoring her, even the judge, Courtney Keys thought she was adorable 🥰

This trial was at the same location as our group class. It’s a very small facility with one ring and garage inner facility 15ft from the ring. In that 15ft and width of double garage are the Gate board easel with Gate person yelling, and entry and exit gates to agility field. Scribe table to the side, and trial sec table behind. In the garage trial committee’s dogs crated, bathroom, things for sale, and practice jump. Most people congregate right in the 15ft waiting to run their dogs. A VERY tough environment for dogs shy of people or commotion.

Using everything we’ve learned from our To the Line and Beyond class, Posh did better there than she’s ever done there! Yay!

And Miss Mochi really shined. She could sit/lay quietly in her chair 10ft from the ring watching dogs run and all passers by. Although she did want to say hi to everyone and crawl in their laps. After the morning excitement settled down I was able to do some pattern games with her, until food wasn’t interesting anymore. In between dogs running I had her in the congested 15ft area and she loved it. A couple times while peeps were walking course etc I took her inside and worked her at the practice jump. The trial committee’s dogs barked at us sometimes and she wanted to investigate but I got her back by stepping on her leash and tugging with her favorite tug. We did some jump games, Stay with L/O moving target games, even delayed reinforcement jump games…all successful.
And this is where our group class is. She’d never seen so many people there or so much commotion or dogs, big BCs etc running agility in the field, barking, high drive etc.

The only time her tail went down was when we walked past, at a distance, a tent and a Big Lab barked. But we crated out of our car and next to us was a big cattle dog with their hatch open in a soft crate. Every time I went by he barked and lunged at us. A little Mochi took in in stride, tail up, happy, walking along. 😎

The weekend before at a trial in a school ground we had similar success, pattern games went well around ring when Pairs were running and 20ft from same ring/same runs going on she could tug, tricks, Stays with moving target, TUG high arousal/cheese on ground, repeat. It was a very spread out trial with two rings. While talking with a friend of mine, her poodle lunged and snarked at Mochi, both on the ground ( I forgot her dog could be that way ). It was her first experience like that. In the moment I remained calm and kept talking to my friend as we both cringed at what had just happened. Then I looked down to find Mochi sitting at my side, looking up at me and wagging her tail. Whew. I need to be more careful for sure even with friends dogs. My friend said, wow, she’s resilient. I took a depth breath as it could have been a lot worse.

So she’s doing well with all that, yet remains hyper-vigilant in our back yard. And has trouble in class or at Amy’s.

Sorry this is so long. Thank you!!!

B

[bsshay]

Yes. I can see where her head is up rather than down/ in decel mode while running for the treat.

Next week we’ll try the Holle Roller, moving target, ant least 10 ft out.
She will love it.

Btw. Here’s a vid of our Trick Pattern for class. We haven’t yet been able to do it without a treat between each move.

And, in class we had trouble…people, new dog, etc…hard to get her to work straight off the bat. We got everything in except the Roll Over. No biggie.

Thank you. B

[bsshay]

Hi there.

Here is our Accordion. This is the first time we’ve done this. And only these 5 times.

In between vids, while moving the jump, we practiced rewarding her stay with a Catch. I must admit the farther away I got my cookie throw back became less and less accurate 🤪

We used the MM instead of the WR so she would be thoughtful. And I faced away like a Lead Out.

Thank you. B
You’re so right. It doesn’t seem like much training, but she’s tired. 😎

[bsshay]

T

Backside challenges…oh yeah. We didn’t have as easy a time of this as the peeps in live class🤪

This is a progression for us.

You know, with my other dogs, I give them a view of the wing while using my dog arm to point to the backside, saying around.

I don’t remember exactly, but I may have done the same with Mochi in our early learning of backsides with barrels😳

So this body form seemed odd for me and maybe new or very old for a backside for M.

Maybe you would watch both vids in succession first?

I had to make changes during the sessions. In the second I threw the tug on the ground without letting go because she had trouble returning with it. Smart girl headed for shade.

Between Pup 1 and Pup 2 we did a lot the game of having her sit, and me walking away around the barrel and releasing her to take the pool noodle and go around the barrel while I moved forward, counter motion.

So instead of doing that separately, I tried adding it in as she got the backside more and more. Then dropped the toy behind me for the counter motion towards the end of our session in vid 2. And you can see how thrilled she was to GET her favorite tuggie.

You know, I think there are times when I need to push her to work in the heat and the sun a bit beyond her comfort level. Because we work and trial in HOT, 90+ degrees, full sun.
I do believe she needs to be conditioned to it, even if it’s just 2+ minutes.
What do you think?

BTW. Our instructor for tonight’s class wanted us to put together a series of tricks for the start of our next level graduation. Mochi’s is While in a Down backing up/crawling backwards..Verbal is Beep,Beep,Beep, followed by a Rollover, followed by Dancing in a circle standing on her back feet, followed Jumping in my arms, all while I’m standing straight up. I was thinking of adding Barking on Command to Achoo, but you said that would get her to bark more😳.

Stayed tuned for more Backside progression.
At what point should I straighten out the jump? Gradually with maneuver complete?

Thank you.
B

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