[denisewelk]

Good morning!

We went back and redid the sequence that we had problems with and then moved on to the last one for the Package 4 Hot Topics. We will move to Package 5 Hot Topics next.
Was super happy that we worked through the tunnel jump that we struggled with in the previous sequence. Loved how the second sequence worked…wish it felt that nice when we trial!!
Redo Walkthrough: https://youtu.be/6ReVKDfgIbw
Redo Synnie Run: https://youtu.be/kbTA9y7WgNM
New Walkthrough: https://youtu.be/xa1HlOHwJLY
New Synnie Run: https://youtu.be/kJevCQD334A

Thanks!

[denisewelk]

Good morning!
Today we worked both sequences 2 and 3 because I think we are going to get nonstop rain for the rest of the week. I worked on watching my invisible dog come to me and go past me to the next obstacle.
Walk Through Sequence 2: https://youtu.be/Sd4YyUmedl8
Run Sequence 2: https://youtu.be/2RkwF6MgATA
Walk Through Sequence 3: https://youtu.be/9fwjVOsAKq4
Run Sequence 3: https://youtu.be/ADwUc5z4Q4I

I want to go back to Sequence 3 and really work that tunnel to the out jump. That is a big thing in ASCA gambles these days…the off-course jump in your way. I struggle with that with my old girl also.

Overall I thought it went well. I still think I need to be more in the moment instead of worrying about what’s next. I was thrilled with Synnie’s backside and her nice check from 3 to 4 without taking the out jump. Also need to work more on the Sequence 3 type starts: I can tell just looking at her on the start line that “running into me” is a hard start for her. (Just like the jumpers course last week.)

Note from the NADAC trial last weekend (regarding my control freakness that we talked about last week): So, NADAC trials here run the double run format (walk once, run the same course twice). I LOVE it for Synnie because it makes it easy for me to adjust and see what little differences make.
So we do Open Regular and we need 1 Q for our title.
First run: Clean (so we earned our title): 41.77 seconds
Second run: Clean (after knowing this was a run that wasn’t needed): 29.07 seconds
I’ve got to figure out how to get out of my own head!! 🙂

[denisewelk]

Good morning!
Here is our Sequence 1 walk-through and runs.
Walk-though:https://youtu.be/GRAHcnnZmMQ
Runs:https://youtu.be/tI97wjFBvoQ
Went pretty good except that the first run I didn’t hold her out to the jump after the tunnel but I got a nice flow for the rest of the course. The second run, I held her out to the jump, but then my blind was slow and I almost lost her to jump 8.

[denisewelk]

Good morning,

I hope your travels are going well!!

We worked on the first jumpers course for Package 3 again and added a front after the jump after the tunnel/weaves and then used the threadle wrap at jump 9/15. That did work better although I felt like I was moving more.

I also did something (maybe rushing the move) that made her turn away from the jump during a threadle wrap instead of turning toward it.

Video: https://youtu.be/FaAYq9RiJKA

Thanks!

[denisewelk]

Good morning,
Yesterday we attempted the first jumpers course. Overall, I was happy, but we (meaning I) had trouble getting up the line to get the backside on both the jump before the tunnel and then the same jump at the end.

This was fun, but I realized after doing the short sequences, that both Synnie and I get mental fatigue when we have to stay “on it” for a whole course. In the sequences there were about 2 places where I really felt the need to think , but in this full course, that was everywhere!!

Video: https://youtu.be/nAI6SMzpuqA

Thanks!

[denisewelk]

Good morning!
I hope your travels are going well!

So, I managed to do the correct course today. I am SO happy with this overall. I think she already likes the threadle wraps more than the pushes now! Tried working on my decel/accel without too much jerkiness.

Video: https://youtu.be/JmMjN6T4ovU

[denisewelk]

Good morning!

Last night during the thunderstorms, we worked inside on a threadle wrap with cue (dig, dig) (close is my tunnel threadle word). This morning we took it outside and warmed it up before adding additional motion.
The pointing did help to focus her forward toward the first jump!!
Threadle wraps worked better than yesterday and I did get more forward distance. However, I’m still not getting my feet to point forward as much as I think they should be. I think I also got a little more distance with the push wrap because I TRIED to not stay and control it.
We also moved on to the next sequence with the jumps, but I messed up and used jump 2 instead of jump 3 for the backside wraps. Guess we will work on that later in the week.
Felt like I was running and cuing well, and then I looked at the video…more like a T-rex lumbering about waving their hands! 🙂
Video: https://youtu.be/wYFVV8JauYE

[denisewelk]

Good afternoon!

FINALLY! Between rain, heat, and trials…these weeks have been crazy!

The distance work went pretty good. I was happy with her forward motion. (We actually had this distance challenge in 2 of our AKC Open Jumpers runs this weekend and I was thrilled with her committment).

The push wrap actually worked better for us because she understood the skill better, although I still need to move away quicker. I’m such a control freak!!

The threadle wrap did not work as well because Syn really didn’t understand the skill. Right now, I’m using “come” which is my normal threadle cue (like between 2 jumps instead of a serpentine). I think this looks too different to her using it in this situation. I’ll need to work on coming up with a word (I don’t think Syn, in in in is going to work :)), and then using to cue the entire behavior instead of just the coming in part.

Hopefully weather will soon start to become more cooperative.

Video: https://youtu.be/XmzmuIw23EI

Thanks!

[denisewelk]

Good morning!

Thank you for the reminder! I’m getting frustrated with the weather and lack of time that we have to be outside and then I try to be efficient and rush things to “do all the things” in 10 minutes. I have to just let it go and what gets done, gets done.

Are you saying that my feet should be facing straight toward jump 8 (jump after backside) and not toward the backside jump?

“One thing to consider with the verbals – it sounds like you were using ‘push’ for 4 (which is a front side) and for 6 (which is a backside). I think a ‘jump’ verbal is better for 4, and then push can be for the true backside at 6.”

We will need to isolate the backsides and work on them as you noted above. I think I’m just helping her too much instead of teaching the skill.

This round we did a bit of everything. My one question is, when you do the blind before the backside (7), how are you differentiating between the slice (going back to jump 3) and the wrap (going to the tunnel). When I did the blind decently, I think she gets a nice slice to the jump, but the wrap went a bit wonky.

Video: https://youtu.be/62FZhdffnYI

Did you mean jump 5 instead of 4? I didn’t mean to use push on 4 so maybe I was early. I was treating jump 5 as a backside. Is that not correct because of the angle of their approach?

Thanks for the link to the webinar. If I was working with more brain cells, I would have just thought to check the website to see if the link was there…

Storms today and ASCA this weekend means no practice today!

Thanks!!!

[denisewelk]

Good morning!
Congrats on what looked like an excellent flyball weekend!!

Here is our first attempt at sequences. We are having trouble with commitment if I am moving. I feel that I’m looking at the landing spot, but maybe I’m not doing it correctly.

Video: https://youtu.be/OCXKPHAkUvc

Also, I know you have been busy, so it might not have been posted yet, but did I miss an email about the conditioning guest instructor camp webinar being posted?

Thanks!
Denise

[denisewelk]

Good morning!
Just a quick Package 2 Hot Topics practice this morning. Hot and super humid this morning. Also, we did League yesterday and are doing CPE this weekend. I thought this went well…my note to myself is that I need to give her the out cue earlier because you can see a slight turn in after the tunnel before she changes direction to get the jump.
Hope you have a nice holiday weekend!!
Video: https://youtu.be/6J5VPQdUfzA

[denisewelk]

Good afternoon,

Thank you!! All of this information is so helpful. I know I have trouble taking skills and “seeing” them on the course.
Do you have suggestions for training her to look forward. I’ve tried “look” and “get it” with her toy on the other side of the jump and I’ve tried looking away from her and staring at the jump and trying to watch for a glance to the jump to reinforce, but she is pretty much just staring at me the entire time.
Are you saying that you don’t always use your release word for a startline…that you use another cue or the obstacle name instead? That makes me so nervous…my old girl has never had a startline stay (or any other stay for that matter if there is a jump in her view), and I worked very hard on Synnie’s. Using the obstacle or cue word as a “break” won’t confuse them?
Thanks for the reminder about moving on. That is such as struggle for me in general, but especially now that it is so hot and we have little time to train, I feel like we must get it right…right now! In fact Chip G. was a judge at a recent UKI trial that we were at, and we had a discussion about fix and go versus moving forward.
I really liked the blind between 2 and 3. I think if I could trust (such dramatic trust issues here) her more, it would have been even nicer.
I apologized to Syn for making the weave entry much harder than necessary. We will work the correct sequence when I reset this course.
So between 11 and 12, I’m basically doing a BC right into a brake arm?
Wouldn’t a slice on 17 show her a line to the tunnel?

Of course, as usual, I have created havoc for myself and scheduled too much, so we went ahead and did Jumpers Course 2, because now I need to set an AKC Agility League course for tomorrow. Then we can go back and revisit these jumpers courses or maybe move forward to standard.

Jumpers Course 2:
I was THRILLED with how Synnie did on this course. Obviously not perfect, but I thought it went well. I think I need a brake arm on 12 to make the turn to 13 clearer.
And yes, we recorded this before your reminder today, so I still stopped to much for redos… 🙁
I also felt good because very few bars went down during this practice, although in one run, you can see 16 bend as she “walks” on it.

Video: https://youtu.be/L-LAJgluKlc

Thanks!!

[denisewelk]

Good morning!
We built and ran the first Jumpers course for Package 2 this morning and it was actually fairly cool (for a few minutes!).
Overall, happy with what we did. It took the handler a bit to figure out the opening (and, in all honesty, I haven’t had a chance to watch the intro video or read the hits), but from that point forward, I thought it worked fairly well. Very happy with her weave poles. She got the entry on her 2nd try, and we had one blooper where she didn’t finish them.
Video: https://youtu.be/FSRyiYnrIf0

Thanks!

[denisewelk]

Good Morning!

Thank you for passing along Julie’s compliment! That means a lot!

Before moving on, we had one more go at the first package’s second jumpers course. Standards are going to have to wait for now…it is just too hot to be outside more than a few minutes at a time.

We still struggled with the layering from 14 to 17, but I don’t think my cues are good. I think I need to be clearer. Other than that I was very happy with everything else. Is there another way to handle the jump to the weaves? I like how this worked and she let me layer the jump, but it is a weird feeling to me to actually be waiting on the dog, so I thought maybe I should be doing it a different way.

Video: https://youtu.be/KuBRktMdIOI

I wanted to share this with you earlier, but forgot. Last weekend we did AKC at Danville. All 3 of her starts on Saturday were tunnels where I needed to start lateral and behind her…just the startline that she wasn’t comfortable with and we needed to practice. The tunnel was very helpful as the starting obstacle because she wasn’t at all confused and drove very nicely and let me get my distance.

As far as conditioning, we do some core stuff like puppy pushups and prairie dogs (begging stance), but I’ll admit I don’t have a clear and defined program. Can’t wait to learn more from our special instructor.

For jumping, I do use Susan Salo’s book and set up jump grids and work those (probably not as much as we should) between other courses and practices.

Thank you!
Denise

[denisewelk]

Good morning!
Moved to Jumpers Course 2…we will need to revisit Jumpers Course 1 and those skills.
This course felt much more doable for us, and I was pretty happy with how it went…although it did take me 3 tries to actually PROVIDE a real cue on 5 to get to 6! 🙂
If possible, could you please provide guidance on the dropped bars? I know that they are usually my fault (talking over the bar, etc.), but I just don’t know how to fix the problem. I walk a course and talk to myself about when I’m going to cue, but when we are actually running, my brain says “wait, we don’t really trust her, let’s give it another stride, second, etc.”…and then the bar goes down. I don’t know how to get out of that loop. I watch video after video and see that I’m late with my cues, but that doesn’t seem to help the mindset. It is frustrating when I look at her trial history and see all of the NQs caused by just 1 or 2 bars down…

Video: https://youtu.be/mgMhKbdtpI8

Thanks!

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by denisewelk.

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