[bsshay]

Hello there. RC with tunnel here.

We, I am definitely LEFT Challenged! Help!

Maybe we need more basic Lft Rt practice on the Mini Pini. Trying not to bring up my arms to turn her.

Rears are hard.

Thank you. B😎

[bsshay]

Hi.

Yes, it all makes sense.

How clever to put M in an airline bag for the hotels. She hasn’t been in one since I brought her home, but she’ll definitely fit. And having the bag on my shoulder will free up my arm/hand for other things.

For my next two trips, I’ve rented AirBnBs to hopefully give her a better experience.

Amy and I will work out what’s best for Mochi, she’s my priority. Again, it’s so great that Amy’s on the same page with you, and knows your methods, etc.
I trust her. Amy helped me finish putting a MACH on my black girl.

I SO agree with you about NOT paring Posh and Mochi. Until yesterday, I’d been very careful about that.

It just so happens that a good friend of mine is training a male Corgi that’s a little older than Mochi. He seems very stable, and he’s very good with Mochi.
AND, she’s in the same group class with us and willing to help. Mochi loves my friend so the hard part will be keeping Mochi’s focus in her vicinity. I think having Mochi stay on her mat with pattern games while my friend is working her Corgi is a good plan. Each station is only 2 minutes long. We’ll have to see if our instructor will be ok with it.

Today we just worked on stays, touching games, and jumping into my little purple chair. I may try using the little chair in place of a cot. She loves it and it’s easier to cart from station to station. Also she can sit in it at trials. It may give her a more secure feeling than the cot.

Thank you for spending extra time on all this for us.

B😎
Thank you

[bsshay]

T.

Thank you so much for helping me address these things.

Amy is totally on the same page as you are, and studies all your scientific information. She’s very smart. 😎

Normally I split an hour of a private between 2 adult dogs. So today I took Posh and Mochi and did what you said. Some training with Posh, then very short exercises with Mochi.

They were each in expens while the other was out working. When we’re working Posh, we were far away from Mochi. And this was the first time Mochi had to wait in a confined area while I worked another dog.

We worked P first and M and a really hard time, barking and carrying on. She was way over the top, from even walking in from the car. I think Posh passes on her anxiety to Mochi.

Consequently for Mochi’s turns, Amy had me work the basic pattern game with Mochi on her cot, as she couldn’t do it on just the ground, wouldn’t even take food at first. Of course P was there making a fuss when I was working M.

So M’s turns were pattern game on the cot trying get her to come back down. And slowly we got her to be calm and play the game. Then in the end we went from cot to offering the balance disc and cot to around a cone. I was very happy to just work this. And M made progress by the end of the hour.

Amy knows Posh and our struggles. We are in agreement that next time, if I’m going to switch dogs in and out, I bring my oldest, most agility mature dog, Paris. She’s like a stable pony, very stable, best people/dog manners of all my dogs. She doesn’t need the private lesson but that may be best for Mochi.

Other than that I can leave one dog in the car for 30 min, and take our time with Mochi giving her rest periods while we discuss things…giving Mochi all my attention and not stressing her by leaving her in an expen while I work my adult dog.

So along those lines. Mochi as been hyper-vigilant ever since our 2 out-of-town trips, staying in hotels. I try to walk her just with Paris for the good example. But there were times when I had to walk all 4 at once and I think my other two’s behavior rubbed off on her…. Barking at other people, dogs, being scared of a big plastic trash bag that the wind blew up in the air. Ugh. When things would happen I’d get as much distance as possible.

When we got to the trial grounds she was fine, loving everyone, doing fine with other dogs. Just the hotel environment. But the hyper-vigilance has stuck with her. I believe you said before this is normal teenage behavior?

Also, in group class last night we had a couple things happen. To give you the setting, we start in an indoor building with garage door open and dogs on cots while instructor instructs. Then we do short warm ups in our cot vicinity of pattern games, tricks, etc. Then we do something outside on the agility field, one at a time, lined up waiting our turn watching the dog working. Last night was wrap a wind and send to tunnel. Then we all do different stations either indoor or outside working skills, rotating through the stations.

When we were at a station inside, near a common wall between apartment/indoor trading room, a large dog started barking from inthe apartment. Mochi stopped work, looked at the apartment door and her tail went down. I was able to tug with her and get her back on track and happy.

Then at our last station, outside and at the end of class, a big neighborhood dog started barking. She did the same thing. We went as far away as possible and I tried to get her to just take treats or tug, but no go for either, wouldn’t even take pnut butter. So we walked back inside and went on her cot and I treated her on her cot and she would eat. She seemed recovered while the instructor summarized. Then we talked to the instructor about it afterwards, and her suggestions were the same as what I did. Then she played with M and M loved it.

I apologize for this being so long, and not necessarily apply to our games.
But I’m concerned Mochi will end up having the same issues as Posh.

Thank you very much. B. 😎

[bsshay]

Hi T.

Tomorrow morning, we are starting private lessons with Amy Mescher.

She’s asked what I’d like to work on.

Do you have any suggestions on where to start with Amy?

How young is too young to start Contact training?

Thank you.
B 😎

[bsshay]

Tracy.

Thank you for your meticulous feedback.

It’s very clear that, like you say in your video, the RC happens because of the line I set. And with your feedback I can see how/where my feet/body set or don’t set the line. When I put it all together, she just gets it.

I’ll incorporate your suggestions into my training, including lead outs for Set Point too.

Also, thank you for making all the videos for collar/line up games. It really helps to see your demo.

B 😎

[bsshay]

Me again.

Tried the Ladder Grid beginning. 3ft between jumps, bars hooked into 4in cups.

I remember you saying I should face away from her and put the toy in my inside hand like a straight on reward. At this point, I’m concerned if I totally face away from her, like a lead out, in this exercise she won’t be able to hold her stay. Not that I’ve tried it.

Thank you. B 😎

[bsshay]

Hi there.😎

Rear cross progression going on here.

I tried to incorporate all your feedback. However, still not getting all the mechanics down regularly.

She loves to tell me what for!!

Thank you. B

[bsshay]

Hi

Tried RC, Right. We hadn’t done Wind since our Video of it.

We didn’t try Left as this session wasn’t ideal. And as you previously recommended, it was time to quit, even though we weren’t highly successful.

We’ll revisit this. Maybe tomorrow.

Thank you! B 😎

[bsshay]

Hi T.

So in regards to the Serp proof…. I always think I have my chest far open to face the jump , but clearly not enough ;). I need to twist beyond what I think is needed. 👍🏻

And. I Laughed Out Loud when you said don’t use YES as a marker word. Our local class instructor WANTS us to use YES as a marker. HA! I can see how that creates problems.
Please refresh me on what you use for a marker word in place of a clicker?
Out of the tunnel, Get It worked well.

Great recommendation to work on those Stays inside! Thank you.

For Diamond.

My phone said it was 100 degrees (105 was high today), but if you’re in shade it’s not so bad. I got everything set up and practiced (setting cones out to keep my head straight) while M was inside to keep her cool and fresh.
Set my watch for 2 min sets, it’s amazing how long 2 min can feel. 😉
In between, I had M hit the pool and practiced without her, and still got a bit mixed up.

As I experienced in Pup 1, holding the toy in a different hand than I’m used to, turning into BC so Dog can see shoulder open etc makes me concentrate Really hard on mechanics.
It will become easier the more I do it. It’s just not second nature yet.

Like you said in class and video, my biggest problem was lack of connection, not opening my arm and shoulder up enough to create the line, having my arm up too high. But when I managed get it all going at the same time…she got it!

She may not turn out to be my fastest or most talented agility dog, but she’s become a LOT of fun to train. Even with the heat, she’s out there giving it her all, with a smile on her sassy, adorable, little face. 😎

Thank you. B

[bsshay]

Hi there. Trying Serp Proof.

Got back from morning adult dog class and thought we’d try something short without much movement in the sun, it’s 87 degrees.

So found a shady spot for my iPad and a bit for the game. Sent M into the pool, set my timer for 2 min ( a few seconds for turning on/off the camera and setting up ).

We had to work stays for just a bit. We’d only done SERPs lately by sending around the wing. So after setting her up in a sit, as soon as I started walking across the jump, not even with my Serp arm out, she’d self release. Even with our practice I can see she self released once in Vid 2.

You’d suggested I toss a treat for Catch, but forgot that kind of treat, so tossed the toy. Even though I’ve only popped the toy once in her face, she remembers. And I’ll remember the correct treat next time…trouble with that is it takes her awhile to eat them. If I use cheese, it would melt on the turf🤪.

So, I thought this went pretty well. If we do ‘Moving’ next, with my Serp arm already out before I get to position, I’m concerned she’ll break her stay. I could wrap her around a wing first, or toss a treat that’s time consuming. But for proofing shouldn’t she be ideally ‘still’ ?

It’s going to get back up to 100 degrees for several days. We’ll try to get short sessions in when we can😎

Thank you! B

[bsshay]

Yes. In 1982, at 25 yrs old, I was one of the first female Air Force pilots. That’s me in the first video. Yikes, I was young.

Later in my career, I was a model for the Military Pilot Barbie. This is MY doll, vid 2.
I thought the likeness was pretty good, except my legs aren’t that long and my bra size is smaller. 🤪

After the Air Force , I became an airline pilot……planes to include, Airbus, B-747,
B-777, B-787, flying internationally LAX, SFO, IAD – Sydney, London, Tel-Aviv, Singapore, and more.

FAA forced retirement at 65.

This explains A LOT, doesn’t it? 🤪

My first agility instructor used to say, you can’t train/run a dog with a checklist.
‘What, you can’t?’

Others used to say, if you can fly a plane you can run a dog. My response?
‘Planes don’t have minds of their own.’

Hope this makes you smile/giggle. 👍🏻

Mochi had the day off. Looking forward to the new games. 😎

[bsshay]

Hi.

I couldn’t agree with you more.

I could tell she was winding down because it was taking her longer to bring the toy back. Then when she didn’t attempt to bring it at all I knew, we had gone too long.

I’ve also noticed when she’s tired she’s her most cranky.

You’ve told me many of these things before, so I should be improving. Yikes.
The good thing is that I can now see it in the moment, and need to modify what we’re doing when I see it.

I think we’ve talked before about our weather. Early mornings are too hard for me, so I wait until the sun’s off my yard. But the temp is still in the high eighties. And then try to get everything in. I want to make sure we get all the lessons done to at least the baby level to get your feedback. So we’re tackling more than one game in a night. And these lessons are better done outside.

The weather is just start to cool off more. So maybe if I keep games shorter, and find some shade for my iPad, we can get some games in during the day.

Thank you. Looking forward to class tomorrow. B 😎

[bsshay]

Find the Jump.

Woohoo! She likes to RUN and play with her toy.

Yep. I got greedy and changed two things at once, more lateral distance and in front of the jump.

I’m think your video said solidify each position separately and the move out jump farther.

Should I use the shorter Black tunnel?

I hope you’re giggling along with us. 😉

Thank you. B 😎

[bsshay]

Trying Send Serp with Toy here.

It was harder for her to leave the toy than for Wind game. It made it difficult to work the exercise, but we tried.

Once we get going she seems to get it. 😊

BIG dog barking. Traffic noise. Lots of sounds. She’s become a bit HyperVigilant.
Fear Period? 😳

I caught myself saying Rt too many times in a row and tried to correct that.

Yesterday I tried two identical toys, leaving one in position on the ground and tugging her back to start with the other. I did this to make leaving the target toy easier and to be able to reward the FC/Wrap with a toy. But she kept Looking up at me through the Serp jump knowing I had the 2nd toy behind my back and not wanting to pick up the Target toy.

So today I tried the one, bigger HR and treated back to start and for Wrap.

I rewatched your video all the way through and added the FC to the toy at the end of
Vid 2 like you did for your demo. That worked well.

Anything you think would work better for us?

I use Leave It for her going for something like Bird Poop which is Negative. So I don’t want her to associate her toy with something Negative.

She likes to bring me rocks, leaves, twigs, stuff from the yard to play with.
Yesterday she brought me, playing with it along the way, what I thought was a big white rock. Turned out to be a Big white dried Quail Poop. Ugh! I cringed but happily had her put it in my hand and treated her for bringing it to me and not eating it. I dumped it, washed my hand.

Have I told you I Hate Quail? 🤪

I have to tell you I’ve never trained SERPs/threadles this way. But it’s ingenious, and working well! My threadles could use revamping 😉

Thank you. B

[bsshay]

Hi.

Zig/Zig with food and then with toy

We had a bit of trouble of this as you can see. But got better at it.

Note to self..Don’t hit her in the Face when rewarding her Stay with a toy. Ugh.

She hasn’t broken her stay in quite some time. 😮 Ooh.

Another note to self…count the wings and set her up on the correct wing. 🤪

I’m not sure I was doing the correct Push etc. but she was Zig Zagging.

I think she prefers working for a toy. Yay!

Thank you. 😎

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