[Caron]

Hi Tracy,

In that previous video I cut out the unfocused things so it was before and after that session. Honestly, I think sometimes it’s my state of mind and focus too that affects things.

We weren’t able to do a lot during this past week. This weekend has been really windy but today I wanted to give it a try. This is her Timing and Connection circle game. I thought it went well once we got into it. I had done this with her over break but I didn’t have things as spread out as today. At the start she was missing the jump so I slowed down and really tried to not use a lot of arms and hands and stay turned toward her. I think that helped. We took a break and then tried to do wing wraps, but it was so windy and I also think she was ready for breakfast so she wasn’t supper into it and we stoped quickly because I’m really trying not to push things.

Thanks,
Caron

[Caron]

Hi!

We tried the Wing game again Saturday evening and struggled a bit. I had moved the wings out farther and had a hard time sending her to it. She was also a little unfocused. We had been at a trial earlier in the day so she had spent some time in the crate and then socializing at the trial so maybe that affected us. I gave her a break and tried again with the wings closer but still struggled and she seemed to get more tired and unfocused so I stopped. Later I put her on the low dogwalk and had her turn around on it and that went well. Sunday after the trial we just rested.

I thought I’d go ahead and submit this to see if you think it’s me not getting in the right position to connect etc. I’ll try again today starting with the wings closer and gradually moving them out.

Thanks,
Caron

• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 1 day ago by Caron.

[Caron]

Hi Tracy,

We got started with things today. Some of these weren’t brand new to Carmen because during break I did some similar things with her. I was wanting to work on jump commitment so I had practiced a three jump pinwheel and actually did it with out my hands too because I wanted to work on looking toward her and her, letting her find the jumps, and not having her be distracted by my wonky hands and arms. I also did it with a tunnel as the 4th obstacle, and practiced doing some wraps without my arms. So in the video I wasn’t very good with throwing the treats because she was moving along. I only worked on Part 1 today so you could see that.

I’ve also been having her go across my teeter board on the ground. I had been letting it wobble but today I put a sandbag to keep it still. I’ve also had her get comfortable going across the low dogwalk. Haven’t done anything with the aframe yet.

I’ve also had her run through completely open channel weaves (just mentioning it because you’ll see them in one video). I want to practice entries and get her used to running through with and without guides.

Lazy Game Part 1

Wingin’ It

Plank Confidence

She’s played the teeter slam game before and been on wobble boards. I need to put the teeter back together and will do more of the slamming and get video.

Side note because it’s embarrassing, the reason I have a ton of ugly sandbags in my yard is that we had flooding from rains that happened after a wildfire in the mountains a couple years ago. Only my front yard ended up getting flooding and I’ve gotten rid of those bags, but haven’t gotten rid of the ones in the back yard yet. 🙂

Thanks,
Caron

• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 3 days ago by Caron.

[Caron]

Hi,

Before I get started I wanted to ask about whether we should practice the games some before videoing. I was wondering about this in MaxPup2 and then was reading through the guidelines for MaxPup3 and saw that you want us to submit our first rep, etc, and then we can submit another video later. I just want to make sure it’s the first rep of the first try of the game.

Thanks,
Caron

[Caron]

Hi!
Thanks for all the suggestions. I tried using a lot of them this evening. I still made my mistakes, but I thought Carmen was more focused and engaged. I kept all the dogs inside while I set things up and then took turns with them. Tried to keep Carmen’s turns short and to be more energetic and focused for her. I do think me being home and her having a different schedule through things off last week, along with the other pup going after her.

Since this was our final MaxPup 2 videos I just repeated some of the things we have been working on. But we’ll work on the week 8 games and practice previous games the next few weeks, and then see you in MaxPup 3!

We did two sessions of the deceleration turns, the video is the 2nd one. I was trying not to turn until she was close to the jump, etc.

We did one session of the turn aways. I tried to keep my feet together and not turn toward the jump and had varying success on my part. I think I get rushed and then mess things up. But I did think she was doing better and trying really hard to understand what I wanted.

At the end of this video she sees a person walking a dog on the road. She will often run over to the fence. I stoped trying to do the turns and held her collar for a few seconds but then pulled out lots of treats and started to do basics with her. She offered a sit and then I did nose touches with her. Then I actually had her do some spins and figure eights with me around the two far wings. She stayed with me and after the dog had passed we did another turn away and I then threw the toy. The whole video of the turn away practice and the dog going by was 6 minutes, so I clipped this part out. But I was really happy that she happily worked with me as the dog walked by and that in total she actually was focused and working for 6 minutes. Not that I’m going to start doing longer sessions, and we only did the three sessions this evening.

I don’t think I ever got back to you about the running contacts training. I did check out Kristen O’neill’s course and it looks like it would be good. She actually has some pictures of sighthounds on her website, I think Whippets. But it doesn’t look like she’s starting a new class for awhile and the website says the class lasts 30 weeks, which is really long. I sent her a message but haven’t heard back. So for now I think I’ll just start working on it myself.

Thanks!
Caron

• This reply was modified 1 month ago by Caron.

[Caron]

Thanks! I rewatched the deceleration video and saw what you mentioned about why she didn’t take the jump. In the smiley face I was definitely not clear for her about when to take the toy or tunnel. I’ve been feeling like my hands and arms can be a distraction for her sometimes. She like to try and grab them like toys and I also don’t think she totally understands what they mean in handling yet. I’ve done the handling without arms before with my others and like it. I tried doing it a little with Carmen today and it did help sometimes. I’ll keep doing that.

We worked on a few things today. She was still distracted and slower sometimes, but other times were great. I practiced more of the rocking horse turn aways because I thought that would also help with the smiley face. I have two video clips, one in late morning and one in the evening. There seemed to be a lot going on in the neighborhood today and she was definitely interested in it all. This evening she also “saw” who knows what in the yard and shot off a couple times. I try to keep the sessions short but before I know it 3 -5 minutes have gone by and I know that’s too long for her. I’m going to try and be more organized and ready to work with her, and set a timer.

Thanks,
Caron

[Caron]

Thanks so much! I’m glad to know I’m thinking along the right lines with all of this. Your point about it taking several days for a teenager to recover is good to know and remember. I was upset about it all too and I’m sure she picks up on that.

I looked back through video of this week and found some decent clips. The first is some deceleration practice. We’ve done this a few times. One of the hardest parts is getting her to go ahead to take the jump and also not turning in to me between jumps for the toy. I went back to practicing the parallel path having her look for the jumps. I also had her run straight through the jumps with me and throwing the toy ahead. As far as the deceleration, it’s always tough for me to judge and get the timing right.ent

This is some smiley face threadle work from yesterday which was tough for both of us. I was getting confused with which direction I should be facing, etc. I tried to break it down for us. Getting into the tunnel was also tough. The first video she seemed distracted in part by the others being in the house. So, I brought them out and took turns with all of them which seemed to help. I think I need to make her turns shorter, like you said.

To end the evening I practiced some stays and releases, did some of the chase games, throwing a cookie and then running with the toy. Also some throwing a ball, letting her run a little, and calling her back. She liked all of that.

Thanks!
Carom

• This reply was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by Caron.

[Caron]

Hi Tracy,

Well, working with Carmen has been a little rough this week. She’s had a hard time focusing and has eve seemed a little lower energy. I’m not sure if it’s adolescence, warmer weather, me being home all day doing stuff, or maybe all of it. She’s been much more interested in things going on outside the yard. I’m feeling like I need to reinforce our recalls and distraction and focus skills.

To make it worse, on Monday I went to my friends house to do a little practice and her puppy, same age as Carmen, went after Carmen and bit her. No blood, but pulled fur out and of course she was scared. It was totally unprovoked, my friend said so too, and he did this to her one other time on a hike. So, I don’t feel comfortable training with the pup unless he’s going to be crated. Carmen has played with him since 3 months old so thinks he’s her friend. I want her to learn to work around other dogs, but his behavior issue seems random so I’m really not sure I should have her off leash around him. Carmen is well adjusted, but she can get a little timid and very distracted in new situations, and just I don’t want to create any fears.

When I’ve practiced with her this week she’ll have a few good reps but then has seemed to get distracted and lose interest. I’m able to get her back but not for long, and then I’ll start to get frustrated so I stop. The videos have had a lot down time so I haven’t posted them. Having greyhounds, focus is almost always an issue at some point, and I do usually notice it get worse in adolescence, but it’s still hard to deal with.

Sorry, this is a bit of a rant, but if you have any thoughts on these things I’d love to hear them.

Thanks,
Caron

[Caron]

Hi Tracy,

Here’s a little work we’ve done with Get Out with her on my left. I started with the wing closer to the jump in another session and she did really well so I moved it further away and out. She did well but missed more often. When I tried with her on my right I kept messing up and using my inside arm, so will need to practice that side more.

This evening I worked on the Zig Zag. We’ve actually done this a few times. I’m definitely having a hard time getting her to be consistent with this one. Maybe I need to break it into smaller chunks and slow down? In watching the video it seemed like I was also off with staying connected and the direction of my shoulders sometimes?

Thanks,
Caron

• This reply was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by Caron.

[Caron]

Thanks for all the info! We were at a trial last weekend, our first since Thanksgiving. He had a small injury in December so I took some time off.

Gromit is funny, at trials he’s very amped and spicy but in training he’s only like that maybe half the time. Keeping his turns short does help and often watching one of the others practice increases his motivation. At trials he often gets so amped that he shoots out ahead and then can’t turn.

At the trial I tried to use the break arm a few times but I think I need more practice with it because he pretty much ignored me. I did try to stay turned more toward him with my arm behind and the opposite across my body.

One time this week I practiced the break arm with Carmen and she did really well with it and made nice tight fast turns. I’ll get back to video this weekend.

Oh, and I’ve entered Gromit in a UKI trial beginning of April. I’ve run UKI a few times with my girl Ginger, but not Gromit. He’ll be in beginner since when I first signed him up a few years ago that’s what he was in. I’m hoping he’ll like it.

Thanks,
Caron

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by Caron.

[Caron]

Hi!

Sorry I haven’t been good with video this week. I went to a trial last weekend and then the week was a mix of me being tired and just taking the dogs for hikes after work. We did do a couple of short practice sessions though, just didn’t get video. I’m off work the 9 days for spring break and looking forward to working with Carmen. When I did short sessions this week I mostly practiced things we were already working on. She did really well and seems to be getting more confident.

Caron

[Caron]

Thanks! Carmen saw a bug, that I could barely see, and chased it! She was so cute and I loved her jump to try and catch it.

I have used the word switch for rears with all my other dogs. Sometimes I have combined it with left/right, but not often because I screw it up, and thankfully they’ve learned switch is only for rears and sometimes changing lead leg. I see what you mean about using Go. I don’t think I’m that great with verbals in general. What word do you use to indicate take a Jump? I’ve used Jump and Go. Do you think it’s necessary to use a cue word for regular jumping? I’m actually thinking of changing my release word from OK to maybe Break. I say Ok all the time in regular life and have realized that might be confusing for the dogs. Once I think I said it as I was getting Gromit’s leash at the end of a run and he was right in front of the gate and thought I was telling him to jump. So he jumped it, and then jumped right back into the ring. Luckily we hadn’t Qd.

Caron

[Caron]

Hi!

Here’s some Break Arm practice with Gromit. He turned 8 at the end of December and runs masters level in AKC, but he hasn’t been in masters level for both jumpers and standard very long and we don’t have any QQs. One reason is he/I has a hard time collecting. So, you’d think I’d have tried to figure out the break arm earlier. I have tried to use it some but have always felt awkward and clumsy with it. Sometimes to collect my dogs I use a small reverse flow pivot, which seems like a similar idea. I don’t know the real name of it, but I’ve also used the move where you turn your butt toward the jump and send them over and they wrap back, if that makes sense. But I’ve never gotten good at the break arm.

Gromit can get very excited at trials and run fast, but sometimes when we’re practicing he can be slow so it makes it hard to train. He also sometimes does this goofy thing in training where he won’t release, you’ll see it. I actually think it’s a little stress or uncertainty.

These videos are actually from Tuesday. We practiced some yesterday, but he wasn’t super into it and was slow, so I decided to use these videos. He’s definitely not sure what the break arm means with a wrap yet and often stops before the jump, even yesterday. I’d like to be able to use this to help him collect for contacts and weave entries, etc. I think figuring out the timing for using it with enough time to get his attention and get him to collect will be important but hard.

Thanks,
Caron

[Caron]

Hi Tracy,

Our snow is gone and I got some video of more rear cross practice and starting the layering this evening. We had done some warm before each video. I think her rear crosses are getting better. I’ve practiced having her go straight and ahead of me to a toy and I think that’s helped her feel smore willing to drive to the jump and makes the rears easier.

The layering was a little clumsy because my throw of the toy was off. After she missed the jump a couple times I moved it in a bit and that seemed to help. I have a hard time remember all the set up and practice directions when I get out there so things seem rough. I’m sure it doesn’t help that it’s after work and my brain is tired. But the days are getting longer and it’s warmer so that helps.

Rear crosses

Layering

Thanks,
Caron

[Caron]

Hi!
Thanks for your ideas of methods and people who could help on this. I’m somewhat familiar with some of the methods and have a 4ft and 6ft plank and stride regulators, can get other things, but have only ever followed a real sequence for training stopped contacts.

When I think of running contacts for my hounds I guess I think of it more like they would slow and collect to hit the contact and then continue moving through. So not necessarily running full speed through them, if that makes sense. I agree that the criteria has to be modified and also like using front feet. And definitely agree that lots of repetition doesn’t work well with sighthounds. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in classes or training with others and my dogs are like “we’re done” on their third turn, and the others are still flying around on their 10th rep. It’s fine, but frustrating when others don’t understand and think there’s something wrong with my dogs.

I’d say at least half the snow blew away yesterday, lol. We’re supposed to get a little more then it’s supposed to warm back up.

Thanks!

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