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Here is our first and only NFC run on that Saturday. I wasn’t as nervous as I was for our first ever NFC run so that’s good lol. I decided to try running the numbered course because it was nicely spaced. I didn’t attempt a start line and just sent her from my side. My plan was to run 1-8, then reward. Restart at 8 and get to where I could from there. I was expecting to reward somewhere between 13-15 because I thought it would be a pretty hard line for us (and most novice dogs).
Hi Tracy! Thanks for this opportunity for the extended feedback 🙂 I’m feeling a tad bit lost on how to proceed on some stuff during the winter, so glad I can bounce ideas off of you and get some guidance. I was able to FINALLY get Lu in a class for the next couple of weeks. It is a skills class for UKI – but I know the instructor and she is going to break down things for Lu’s level. Other items we are working on is a jump grids class and finally starting to train our dogwalk through an online course. We haven’t done any work on the dogwalk because I felt like she needed to mature more. She still does 🙂 but I think it’s a good time to start now. Also started working on some conditioning with her that will hopefully help her jumping skills. Obviously, I’d really like to improve my handling with her as well but I think that is just going to have to wait some more until spring/summer but at least we have some class time. We also have a couple upcoming seminars as well.
Since our last post, we entered a trial in WI at CSZ for some NFC experience. We also got our first official measurement which we did a lot of prep for prior to it. She did a really good job and the judge made it really easy for us. Official measurement is 21 inches :-O Big girl LOL. Over the weekend, we had a total of 4 runs. We entered all Speedstakes runs at 16’select. Saturday was 1 run and Sunday was 3 runs (they added a mulligan opportunity so signed up). I’ll post each run separately so I can keep them straight in my head. One thing I’m not sure how to address, is moving her up in height. I think she is still learning how to move her body on new surfaces. This summer I was jumping her pretty consistently at 18″ but never quite got her to 20″. I moved her back down for trials and practice during some of the drop in classes to 16 so she could get some confidence on surfaces. I’ve entered her in another trial (Speedstakes only) at On The Run Feb 1-2. I entered her at full height, but since Julie is the trial secretary, thinking about putting her at 16′ select again since it’s only 2 weeks away. That way we can slowly build up to 20″ during our new class.
<I think the things that didn’t go as planned were handling cue issues and not Lu doing random things.>
Completely agree! I was so happy with how she did. I might be actually starting to figure her out! And then maybe my handling can be better LOL.
<The stay position that you released her from just happened to be on the line to the backside, so that is where she went as you stepped forward on the release. Good girl! I don’t think that was what you wanted?>
I had not intention of sending her backside but that’s apparently exactly what I did. 🙂
Here is the course map. I wasn’t’ sure how to post a photo in the forum so it’s in youtube.
My plan was to run 1-7 then reward. I thought we might have an issue 6-7 but nope LOL. Then start with a wrap like I did in the video at 8 and continue out to reward at the end. So really not to plan much but she ran it perfect.
<Yes – the name call locked her into handler focus and a “GO JUMP” might have been more successful there, plus not as much speed from you and more connection (to support her line at this stage of training).>
I”ve been trying really hard to stay extra connected with her but I’ll also have to walk it better telling her what she needs to do before she goes in the tunnels.
Here’s Lu’s first NFC run at a trial. We only did one Speedstakes run. My plan was to run the first half of the course then reward out of the second tunnel in the corner. Then reset and finish the course. Obviously she made the course 50 times harder than I intended but I just went with it 😂 I had two friends video so I put them both in. One of my friends mentioned she went around the 4th jump after coming out of the tunnel because I called her name and I think she was correct. I’ve been trying to figure out how to handle soft turns out of tunnels and have currently been using her name. Yesterday we went to a seminar and that’s exactly how I cued a soft turn out of a tunnel. So I’m actually kind of excited if this is the case because this has been a big learning curve for me with her. I think everything was me just pushing on her lines enough to send her somewhere else but I was really happy with how things went (even though I was pretty nervous at the beginning lol)
<That is where the freeze dance game comes in – I have never actively trained a stand, but a couple of my dogs have a stand stay on the start line 🤣😂
So for the trial – yes, hopefully the course design makes it easy and fun to do short fun stuff! Who is the judge?>
OK i’m interested in this freeze dance thing. I don’t know much about the zen game but i was going to use that to try to train the duration for the stand. Figured I could use that for a startline and/or measuring but if this would work in place of it I’m ok doing that too.
The judge for this coming weekend is Lori Michaels.
<she might be very excited and take longer to give the toy back… and with the short time in NFC, we want that toy back FAST! So bring 2 toys so you can make a quick trade to be able to do more in the run.>
Good idea! I wouldn’t have thought of that.
<One other thing to think about, which will help collection, jumping, etc: do you do any tight sit work with her, like getting tight sits on a small platform? She has a splayed sit and ideally her toes and hips would be more tucked into her body. That is a conditioning thing which will definitely play a role in behaviors that use hind end power, so it is something to add to her routine 🙂>
I reviewed the feedback but never got a chance to respond so doing it now. Her sit has been a pain point for a long time LOL. We did work on it a lot when she was little for her jump grids class but I need to revisit. I did get her evaluated too just this week at a rehab vet for a baseline. She gave me some conditioning exercises we are going to start doing. And yes – I have a small sit box that I made for her to practice 🙂
I also just wanted to post that we will be running our first NFC run this coming Sunday. I entered her at 16s in one Speedstakes run. My plan was no startlines and just something fun on the course (I’ll figure it out once I get the course map) with the toy. I think the one thing that I am worried about for future runs is her becoming over aroused. Especially with her startline. I’m not going to worry too much about it during NFC runs because I won’t be using it yet. But my plan in the next couple of weeks is to train a stand to see how that works for her and also add the behind the back starts. I’ve worked the behind the back a couple sessions on one side so we are making progress there. I’m not going to worry about it for now but just kind of want to monitor how she does with her startline (when I actually have to start using it) as she gets more excited about the game. Also, I’m very much looking forward to the support group because I think that will be very useful!
This was very similar but I think it’s probably more the TSA game. We tried to pretend like we were waiting at a trial to go into the ring. And it was helpful that we had other people training with us. I was actually really proud of her here because she’s never trained with these two dogs before in the ring together. She was completely focused even when the one tried to herd her at the end.
It’s been freezing here so really haven’t been able to do much outside. I was able to get some ring time this Friday so we worked the remote reinforcement just going in and out of the ring. I kind of meshed some steps together I think but thought that would be ok with her to just show her what the routine would be. She is really starting to understand that going into the ring and doing agility is REALLY fun.
We also practiced remote reinforcement yesterday. I was going to add in a bucket or something next so I could add putting the leash on too.
We tried Sequence 5 today while it’s still halfway “warm” out. This was just a big fail in general. Tried the sero at the beginning and maybe she’s not the dog to do it with in this scenario lol. She was reading my motion out the tunnel while I was trying to get to the serp spot so tried something different that didn’t work either.
Today at home we worked Sequence #2. The footing definitely makes a difference lol. The opening few obstacles were great. Straight lines were super hard. I’m just not sure how to help her get and stay on the line with a turn from 4-5 like that. Soft turn Achilles heel. I’m sure you’ll say brake arm but I just can’t seem to get myself to add it in, in the moment. Ugh.
We got a little practice time in this weekend. Don’t mind all the chatter throughout the video lol. We worked sequence 1 and 4 because they had the least amount of turning since the floor is not great. We also dropped the bars to make it easier too.
Couple game changers we’ve implemented on your suggestions have really helped our teamwork. 1) Startline connection. They are still hard but if I stay connected with her, she has really been doing well with them. 2) Five minute sessions (no or minimal editing of videos). This has really helped me a lot. I’m sure edited videos are helpful for you, but they have really helped keep me accountable. I think this has helped her so much because I’m not continuing to push for more when she’s done. So thank you for the feedback!
Here is Sequence #1:
