[Dianne M]

Hi Tracy –

I will reattempt the blind cross and backside push work on another day.

Here is some work on the set point jumps. They are set at 3’2”. First video is a few warm ups, which I think he did well at. Then the second video the jumps are angled. He may have ticked a few of them. Sorry the picture isn’t quite wide enough and we run out of frame.

Then we did some of the serp proofing outdoors. He’s doing better on these I think with a little movement from me.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Dianne

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Dianne M.

[Dianne M]

Okay we will work more on the serps and the mini pinnies. The mini pinnies work well indoors so that’s a good rainy day game.

I worked on rear crosses yesterday. Sorry the camera is a little lopsided – I broke a leg off the tripod :(. And the angle of the camera isn’t that great to see what I’m doing either. Who knew we’d have to become videographers for this class LOL.

The first video we warmed up with some pushes to the backside because I was going to try that exercise but we never got there. He rear crosses well to his left but struggles on his right. My positioning for a right rear cross wasn’t great – I could have set the jump up in front of the other end of the tunnel but that would have sent him into the tree and I was too lazy to move the tunnel. So I changed it up in the second video.

In the second video I had a hard time getting him off me. Eventually we got one or two rear crosses to the right.

Obviously he’s a lefty LOL.

Next session this morning –

Rear crosses going to his left and then some backsides –

Rear crosses to the right and again some backsides –

I need to work some more on backside pushes to get him a little more independent since I’m going all the way up to the wing to have him complete it.

Thanks,
Dianne

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Dianne M.

[Dianne M]

Hi Tracy –

So … back to our conversation. The videos that you last responded on re the set point jumps he had eaten dinner the night before and breakfast that morning so yes, food in his belly and a great training session. Also, since I brought this up temps have been much cooler and very rainy. I also thought about temp changes and I’ll have to keep notes on whether he eats or refuses his meals when the temperatures are higher.

The videos I’m sending today yes he’s eaten his regular meals and his training is cooperative and engaged.

Mini Pinnies – He doesn’t get the turning away from me. I feel like I have to take a step backwards and solidify the right and left verbals in the easier positions before I attempt these again. Am I correct?

Serp proofing on the left and right side – He’s doing well when I’m stationary. When I’m moving slowly he takes the tunnel. But his attitude is good 🙂

He refused his meal last night. The house was full of family and my granddaughters were here who he LOVES to play with. He couldn’t be bothered to eat his dinner. He ate breakfast this morning.

He’s always been very uninterested in food. I know I mentioned to you in the first MaxPup class that he really didn’t care for treats. He is much better now about taking treats when we’re training at home but if we go out anywhere he can’t possibly eat a treat. The resilience games and the CU exercises are very hard to do with him because of that. He’s got a vet visit coming up soon so I will have them do bloodwork and electrolytes and let you know.

Thanks,
Dianne

[Dianne M]

Thank you Tracy for your thoughtful response. Vet appointment for Baxter. I will keep you updated.

Murphy’s Law being what it is, he was AWESOME today! We only did two sets of a few minutes each of set point jumps. They are both below, recorded from beginning to end of each session, with about a 10 minute break in between. He was engaged, enthusiastic, fun loving ❤️❤️.

Regarding the exercises, in the first set I noticed he “caught” the first jump bump a couple of times and on the last rep, he cleared the jump bump but ticked the 2nd jump. Jumps are set at 3’2”.

I wasn’t sure if he was slipping on the take-off on the mats since he’s done the prior set point jump outdoors with no apparent issue.

So for the second session I put a yoga mat under the first jump bump and moved the jumps in to 3’. He looked much better, actually a little bouncy.

But of course me being me, why fix 1 thing when I can fix 2. So now I don’t know if he was slipping on the take-off or if the bars were too far apart LOL.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,
Dianne

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Dianne M.

[Dianne M]

Hi Tracy –

Fun class Wednesday night. These dogs are all looking so great!

First a little info and/or concerns. Baxter is currently staging a hunger strike. He’s never been a good eater but now has decided to refuse his meals about half the time. The whole pack is raw fed. I’ve recently tried a gently cooked version, and a home cooked choice. He initially loves what I’ve offered him, but then after a few days/weeks says bleh! I’m not eating. So, I’m not really tolerant of a non-eater. I give him his food, leave it with him for 10-15 minutes, and if he doesn’t eat it we’ll try again next time. Under all that fur, though, he’s pretty skinny so I do have some concerns.

I also feel like Baxter is losing enthusiasm for training. I’m finding myself doing a whole lot more playing to get him enthused to train. So regarding this I don’t want to fall into the habit of begging him which I feel like I’m beginning to do. He’s a year and almost 2 months so I know he’s smack dab into adolescence but I don’t want to create problems now that will bite me in the butt later on. Any advice or words of wisdom would be appreciated.

I worked on the rear cross exercise again since it’s raining out and will be for the next several days from what I understand. I didn’t think this session went that great because I was side challenged and wasn’t clear on which side I should start him on to get what I wanted. After watching your demo video again I realize it would have gone much better if I wrapped him from the side of the wing rather than where I was standing in front of it. It made me have to wait too long for him to get around me before I could move and set an adequate line. Nevertheless he’s wonderful and hopefully I’ll do better next time.

I then did a short session of the diamond handling game. Rear cross could have been sooner 🙂

Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Dianne

[Dianne M]

Hi Tracy –

We worked on the mini pinnies today and the find the jump game. The left/right on the mini pinnies are going well except the ones turning away from me is hard for him. We will keep working them.

We also played the find the jump game. I think he did really good. We did all three positions on my left – next session we will do them on my right. I noticed he is checking for me as soon as he exits the tunnel. Am I throwing the toy too late?

Thanks!
Dianne

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Dianne M.

[Dianne M]

Hi Tracy –

Thanks for your feedback on the serps. I tried them again this morning – he does better on my left than on my right. But we did work on the right sided ones and I tried to open up my shoulder more. It seems to be easier, at least for me, when we’re moving a little faster.

I need to learn to twist at the waist more!

We also did some tunnel exit verbals. The first rep was lame because I lost track of what I was doing. I’m trying to remember to not drag him around by his collar, give him the verbal before entering the tunnel, and angle towards the wing after sending him into the tunnel so he doesn’t blast out the other end. Whew!!! One of those he very much blasted out the end.

And I left at the end of the video for your amusement the joys of working him outdoors right now 🤣

Finally I made up a shadow Handling loop around some trees LOL! (The very same ones that are dropping all those little seed thingies). We really need work on the inside loop. You’ll see on one of the last attempts I tried to push him back to give me a head start. I realize after I did it that I’m sure he thought we were doing toy races and blasted right past me.

Let me know what you think. Have a great weekend!

Dianne

[Dianne M]

Hi Tracy –

Since I had this set up we worked on the serps again. The first on my left and the other on my right. He caught on to the right direction pretty quickly sine that’s the one we worked on last night. The one on my right I had to angle the jumps a little for him to start but we’re getting them pretty good and I will straighten them up a little bit next time we work on them.

Class was fun last night!

Thanks,
Dianne

[Dianne M]

Hi Tracy!

Thanks for the feedback. Baxter will hopefully jump 8”, fingers crossed. He will be close.

I did a little more handling work last night before I got your feedback this morning. I had to clear the yard for the lawn people so wanted to get in some work with the tunnel before it was put away.

I worked on the pill bug game again. I’m not a fan of throwing food in the grass since it takes so long for him to find and chew it. I tried using the manners minder but he had a hard time working with that distraction because he kept going to it to see if there was anything there. I don’t think I’ve used it enough with sound for him to realize it has to beep before he gets anything. So anyway I improvised by putting a wrap wing and having him wrap and then find me. We did not bad I think. A couple of bobbles. I tried a couple of blind crosses. On that last rep upon review of the video I get that I was supposed to go around the wing setup with him – no wonder he pulled off. I would’ve liked to try it again but he was hot and tired so I’ll keep it for another day.

After some water and a rest we tried some tunnel exit turns. Again a few bobbles but it’s fun to start handling some real sequences with him.

Thanks!

Dianne

[Dianne M]

Hi Tracy –

Baxter has had a little bit of an intestinal upset for a couple of days so he’s had some time off. Feeling better now.

We’ve been working a bit off and on on the set point jumps. Over the past few sessions (before his upset) he became “stuck” and wouldn’t release over the jump. I brought out the manners minder and used that as a target and after one or two reps he released and ran to the manners minder. Then his upset so couple of days off. Then yesterday morning it was raining so we worked inside and did the pre-game jumps with a moving target (toy). He was great! Brought it outdoors later that afternoon after weather cleared and he did well.

This is also our first attempt at the pill bug game. It was pretty awkward LOL!

Let me know what you think.

Dianne

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Dianne M.

[Dianne M]

Hi Tracy –

We played the smiley face game today with special appearance by 13.5 yo Rudy. It went pretty well I think until the very end where I’m aware that I used the wrong directional for Baxter. I’m finding using verbals very challenging – never did them with the older dogs other than GO and the contacts so wrapping my mind around which word goes with which direction is killing me. I looking at it as one of those mind games to keep your brain sharp as you grow older, but I’m really worried about screwing up poor Baxter 😟

Also worked some more on the set point jump. I did some work over the weekend on the moving target pre-game, but concentrated mostly on his stays and ping-ponging the throw back toy with one or two releases. I did really short sessions (no really!) a couple of times. So his stays in this exercise are better I think. Kept it short as you suggested.

I’m wondering if I should raise the jump bar a little bit? It’s locked in at 4” here but outdoors it seems like it’s low enough that Baxter is more running over it than jumping. Should I raise it? Let me know. And also ooopsie, I guess I jumped ahead and used the moving target with these set point jumps a couple of times.

Have a good day!
Dianne

[Dianne M]

Hi Tracy –
>>At the very end, you did 2 tunnels in a row – the first one was after the wing wrap, a normal tunnel send. When he exited the tunnel you sent him back into the entry – that can be a tunnel threadle verbal and arm, because he has to turn away from you for that one.>>

My brain isn’t fast enough to figure that out on the fly LOL. But I may set it up and try to practice it because our tunnel threadles are not great.

Here are some more games. We did Wind in the Hair which went pretty well. I tried to pay attention to setting him up at the beginning of the game as you suggested and that went okay. He left me at the end – should I have just ended the session instead of continuing on? Not sure if he had had enough, just being an adolescent, I was rewarding him with his toy but not food which he has developed a passion for (imagine that LOL). Let me know what you think.

And then we did the Set Point Jumps. This didn’t go very well. Stays were being broken so I know the video is long but most of it is throwing treats back at him and setting him up in front of the jump. When he did do the exercise though he’s jumping good I think. Jumps are 3’2” apart (I measured).

Thanks for your help Tracy.

Dianne

[Dianne M]

Hi Tracy!

Here is more wing wrap verbal work. I’m amazed at how well he is doing. He’s such a fun little dog ❤️ I, on the other hand, have to think hard about which verbal means which direction, although the more I do it the better it gets.

And since I had the tunnel set up we did the wrap/tunnel discrimination again. He did so much better this time after another session on the wing wrap verbals. Again, it gets a little jerky once I have to think about which way he’s going and which verbal I want to use. Notice in earlier video he was all about grabbing that toy – in this video he won’t touch it – wants me to throw it. Keeps me on my toes LOL.

Have a good day!

Dianne

[Dianne M]

“And, you can see what else he will find motivating: fur toy? Squeaky toy? Manners Minder? Ball? Bully stick or chewy? All of these games can be modified to use whatever the pup finds motivating. My Contraband started these games in really hard environments with 2 frisbees because he was too stimulated to eat (cheese was not motivating enough)”

I guess I think of these games in terms of future agility or obedience trials so I’m focused on engagement games we could do back and forth from the ring for example, and manners minder or squeaky toy wouldn’t apply.

We do world watching A LOT. He’s very good at watching things intently and then checking back in with me, and I try to let him be to do all the watching he wants to do. And sniffaris we do when we visit parks, which hasn’t been that frequent lately but hopefully the weather is turning for the better.

I’m unfortunately new enough in SC that we don’t have that many doggy friends. We don’t yet do any group classes but we will eventually and will meet new people. Of my own dogs, Gabby would be the best candidate but she’s a barker 🙁

Thanks for all your input. It’s invaluable!

Dianne

[Dianne M]

Hi Tracy –

Putting the tunnel work on hold for a couple of days so we worked on 360 wraps. I’m trying to go through the games systematically and re-hit all the ones I’m unsure we got all the way through advanced on.

Should I now be starting verbals on this?

And then we did a few lateral sends. It works a whole lot better when you decide to use the correct (dog side) leg and arm LOL

I haven’t done a lot of work on the resilience games because he wouldn’t take treats. I take him out a lot to various Home Depot/Tractor Supply/Pet Smart/parks etc but he is unable to take a treat in those situations so it’s frustrating to try to work these games. He’s getting better with treats as we’ve trained more so I think my plan should be to work him more in non distracting places (i.e. the driveway, front walk, even front of the road as he gets better hopefully)? Does that sound correct?

Thanks,
Dianne

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