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Hi Tracy,
Is there really only one game for Week 7 — tunnel threadles? If so, thank you!! I’m just planning my equipment setup for the week and wanted to double check in case the website didn’t post everything.
Jen
Hi Tracy,
Week 6 was hard, but we managed to finish it just in time.
Lap Turns
A couple audio notes: The sunny session at the beginning is muted due to loud wind, so don’t turn the volume up or you’ll blow your ears out later. The panting dog isn’t Mason. That’s my old guy Zip who was noting that it was past dinner time.
I like these lap turns, although I can’t imagine how I would ever be so far ahead that I would get to the jump before Mason! The main thing I noticed on the video is that Mason is leaping at the MCH. Did I hold my hand out toward him for too long?
Tandem Turns
These were harder. One side was a little choppy at first. I think we mostly cleaned that up, but I don’t know if maybe Mason is still stuck on my hand a little too long? Maybe I need to move my hand faster on the tandem turns too?
Decel Wraps
On the first rep I forgot to say “Go”. On the others I intentionally didn’t use a wrap verbal on the jump because I wanted to see if Mason could read my physical cues and not just turn based on the verbal. It took a few sessions to get this going because I kept forgetting to rotate or to keep moving forward on the decel. Once I figured out my part, then Mason got it too. I don’t know why he knocked the bar on the first wrap to the right. He seems to jump just high enough to clear the 8 inch jump so there’s not much room for error.
Jen
Hi Tracy,
Zig Zag with Bars
A fellow MaxPupper (Di Henry) came over to help Mason with his Zig Zags since we are currently sit-stay challenged. We did great on the side where the first zig was a push-away and had trouble on the side where the pull was first. I don’t know if we were really better on the first side or just lucky. On the last rep where we finally got going on the harder side I didn’t have the toy in my first hand and we thought that maybe that was the key, but now I’m not sure. We decided to try a different game on Mason’s next turn since by the end of this session I was really just guessing and I figured we could use some feedback before trying it again.
Jen
Hi Tracy,
We are sidelined today due to the wind constantly knocking everything over, but Mason and I managed to do the Get Out game yesterday.
Get Out
I tried the treat/collar-grab/treat setup routine you suggested and it worked great! The first rep shows this. I was late on all of my toy tosses though. I tried to look for the head turn on the get outs, but it went so fast that I really couldn’t see it. Even after watching the video I don’t know whether Mason actually looked forward on the get outs or if he just kept turning after the wing wrap. These went really well though and I was glad he seemed to remember this from MaxPup1.
Jen
Hi Tracy,
Thanks for the feedback. I’ll revisit the collar grab, adding the 2nd treat and a quick release.
You had mentioned that a down stay is an option for the start line, but not for grids. Many of the MaxPup games start with a wing wrap. Would you use a down to start these, assuming without the collar grab? Or would a down only be for times that you lead out? What about for this week’s Zig Zag game? Would a down stay work there? If so, where would I start the dog to make sure he has room to get up without knocking the bar?
Jen
Hi Tracy,
I finished week 5!!!
Layering Foundation
I set this up with a small 3 ft tunnel to make it easier for Mason and because my tunnel bags were all currently being used for the RC After Tunnel setup. I also set everything pretty close together. There is only about 30 inches between the jump and the tunnel. I might have made it too easy because we finished the game in just one session and that’s not really our style.
Anyway it went really well, although I need to remember to not toss the toy directly at the wing. We did 5 “Go” reps, moving the start wing laterally on reps 2 and 3. Rep 3 is where Mason came between the jump and the tunnel, but we fixed that in the next try. We backchained the tunnel just once mainly because the stay was hard for Mason. After that we put together the whole sequence.
Rear Cross After Tunnel
We’ve been working on these rear crosses for days and we finally got a session where Mason turned the correct direction each time. One time I got too far ahead, but he still got the RC, although he ran around the second jump. I modified the setup by replacing the two wings after the jump with full jumps since Mason wasn’t getting the idea to turn around the wings.
I tried to remember to keep connected after the tunnel and not run directly to the back side. Mason is really starting to know his “Right” and “Left”, so it’s hard for me to tell if he’s turning based on the verbal or physical cues or both. He seems to be thinking a lot as he heads toward the jump. The middle of the dog walk is beyond the jump. You can see part of the ramp in the video. He has never paid any attention to it before, but maybe it is adding a bit of pressure.
Collar grabs seem to create a lot of whining, pulling away from me, and frustration, so I’m starting with a reset cookie. Mason doesn’t mind having his collar grabbed in general. It just seems to be a start line issue. Next week I might experiment with starting him in a down stay based on your previous feedback and see what he thinks of that.
Finally, I noticed that Mason exits on the outer edge of the tunnel, which is probably expected. The unexpected thing is that he takes the jump on that same side of the bar even though I have the tunnel exit lined up with the center of the bar, if not even facing a little toward the other end of the bar. Am I pushing him over to that side? He’s on that side of the bar even when turning left.
Thanks,
JenHi Tracy,
I edited the Serp Proofing videos! Now I’m once again only one week behind. 🙂
Serp Proofing – 1st Side
I added a fourth tunnel bag. Thanks for the advice on that. Also, this session features even louder happy neighbor music for your listening pleasure.
We did way too many reps on this side because I was trying to do all of the different variations. I call the first rep a “swizzle”. I get my “INs” and “OKs” mixed up. Also, I have no idea why the bar went down on the last rep.
Notice I’m trying really hard to remember to reward everything. I tend to go into analysis mode when I screw up. Then I focus inward and forget to reward the dog. Thanks for reminding me to reward more. I really do appreciate it. All in all I think Mason is really starting to get the serp/threadle/tunnel idea and that’s pretty exciting.
Serp Proofing – 2nd Side
Even though we took a break before this session, we had pretty much used up all of our energy on the first side so there aren’t many reps here. On the first rep I was in position for a serp, but I said “In”, and Mason took the tunnel. We did a little of everything in that one rep! We followed that up with a real serp, a threadle, and a tunnel. Then we called it a night.
Thanks,
JenHi Tracy,
Here is the Week 4 Ladder Grid.
It looks like I probably won’t have time to edit the Serp Proofing video tonight. Mason and I are busy working on our rear crosses out of the tunnel. Plus I’m planning to do an intro session on the layering tomorrow (Wednesday) before Thursday’s rain.
We’ve been working on our stays! Thank you so much for the detailed tips. I have the steps (including the smile and the “good boy”) on a post-it note on the mantle and we do the whole routine in a context where he already has a stay … when being released from his crate. We don’t have a solid stay in front of an obstacle yet, but he was able to do the stay when I set him up next to the ladder grid instead of in front of it and without the MM at the end.
How will we know if our dog prefers a stand or a down at the start line? I’m asking Mason for a sit now and I’ve been resetting him if he gets up.
As for the actual ladder grid exercise, Mason made it over all 3 bars which were set at 8 inches and were not locked in. He looked like he might have been a little tired on the last one, which was probably the 5th rep of the session. I forgot that the MM causes the dog’s head to lift up, but other than that, how does his form look? I don’t really know what to look for on this game other than that there are no extra strides between the jumps.
Music credit: Many thanks to my neighbors for the happy background music on this video!
Thanks,
JenHi Tracy,
Here’s a little more from Week 4: rear crosses and backside wraps. Mason needs everything broken down into multiple sessions to learn any of these games. He also usually needs an extra session on his hard side, so it’s a big challenge to keep up with the class.
Rear Cross
This is our 2nd or 3rd session with the week 4 rear crosses. This also happens to be our very last session with the gutter. I think on at least some of these Mason is turning after he lands instead of before.
Since doing this rear cross video, we have officially graduated to using a bar full time. This video is from last weekend. I just haven’t had time to edit it until now.
Today (Sunday) I tried these rear crosses at TW at 8 inches with a bar that was not locked in. I also added in the Left/Right verbal today (not in this video) and he seemed like he was getting it! I’ll be curious to see how he does with the week 5 rear crosses out of the tunnel. I’m hoping to get to those this week.
Backside Circle Wrap
On the first side I’m helping Mason with an arm behind the bar. I know our goal is to not have to do that. On the first rep he turned the wrong way. He also hit the bar a bunch of times with this game. The bar is locked in at 6 inches for this video from last weekend. Today I did 8 inches (no video) without the bar locked in and Mason kept the bar up!
Mason requested an extra session to learn the other side since he had to turn to the left and that’s just hard. I actually think this side looks a little better. I did this session after watching the old circle wrap demo video from the Crazy Commitment class from back in 2020. Thanks for the lifetime access btw!
The Ladder Grid and Serp Proofing videos are sitting on the ipad waiting to be edited. Stay tuned!
Thanks,
JenHi Tracy
Today I have Find the Jump game from Week 3 and the Diamond from Week 4.
Find the Jump
This went well, with just a few miscues. I split this into two sessions, one for each direction through the tunnel. In the first session, turning to the right through the tunnel, we did positions 1-3 (even with the jump, ahead, and lateral). Mason lied down before the last rep to tell me that he was done, but I asked him for one more rep. I’ll try to pay more attention to stopping when he’s done in the future.
The next morning we did turning to the left through the tunnel. This time we did positions 1-3, plus I moved the jump out a bit and tried position 5 (go go).
The Diamond
The first sequence with the figure 8 blind crosses went great. I used to love doing blinds with Annie and Mason picked them up pretty well. Hopefully he will end up liking them too.
Sequence 2 was another story. Annie and I always used to get refusals on wraps and it seems I’m transferring that tendency to Mason. On the few times when I got the wrap on the far wing, we missed the next race track wing which was probably supposed to be easy. I think I need some back-to-basics instructions on how to do a great wrap. Where should my arms be and where should I look?
Also, on this sequence I noticed that the tunnel was getting all out of shape when Mason was going through it, which was pretty scary to see on the video. One time I heard him slip while he was in the middle, but I can’t remember which rep that was. Is he doing something weird inside the tunnel, like banking too high off the side? Do I just need more bags? Did I set up a bad entry angle? Annie was much smaller and less powerful than Mason, so I don’t remember this ever happening with her.
Thanks,
JenHi again,
Quick, easy question: if the dog’s understanding of left and right isn’t solid,should I still use them for the rear cross game? Or would it be better to let him learn the rc off body language and then add the L/R verbal later? If I use the directionals and he takes the jump the wrong way, I won’t know whether it was due to my handling or if he just got his words mixed up. What do you think?
Thanks,
JenHi Tracy,
Sorry to hear that you and CB had a tough weekend. Hopefully your handsome boy will bounce back quickly and you can enjoy the rest of your trip.
In the meantime, here is Week 3 for Mason!! Yes, we do know that Week 4 is almost over. Oh well…
Minny Pinny
“Right” is going great, but “Left” is a disaster. This is pretty much the entire session minus some breaks between reps. I tried to keep the progression moving forward on the right while troubleshooting the left. I did introduce Right as a concept for several sessions before introducing Left, so maybe Mason just doesn’t know Left yet. I can’t tell though if maybe I’m also doing something different on the left that is making it harder. Is there a particular way that my shoulders should be facing or that I should be looking? The next day after this I tried the Right verbal on the week 4 rear cross setup and he had no idea even what “Right” meant.
Zig Zag – Lead Changes
This was monumentally difficult even with the stay platform because we really don’t have a stay when we are anywhere near an obstacle. We have a stay in the hallway, on the deck, and in the dog yard by the house, but not near an obstacle. Mason is actually really good at this game if I have someone hold him at the start and I stand directly behind the farthest wing. I tried to duplicate that on the first rep to make it look familiar to him. When we’ve played this before we had the wings much farther apart so it was really hard for me to cue the lead change soon enough with the wings this close. After the first rep I tried to be off to the side a little to be more like the demo video and I also cheated a little by leading out through the wings to show him the path.
Sends and Serps
Check out our rockstar most-improved sends! I tried to remember to look at the puppy and it worked! We started out by wrapping the wing clockwise (“Check Check”) and we aced these reps. I’m dropping my arm to call Mason over the jump. Is this ok or should I work to fade it? It isn’t technically part of the pose, but I didn’t think he would take the jump without it.
When I switched to starting with the counter-clockwise wrap (“Say Say”) I included video of the frustration-free setup I’ve been working on. We have a long way to go, but I will say that there was less grass pulling overall this weekend so I’m calling that progress. I had some trouble getting Mason over the jump on this side and he ticked the gutter once. I moved the MM farther away a few times during the session, but I don’t know if that helped him or not.
Tunnel – Find the Jump
I’m going to work on this next week when we do the diamond. I was too lazy to set up the tunnel this week.Jump Height (no video)
For today’s videos the jump bars are locked in at 6″. On April 1st (next session) I’m going to raise them to 8″ and then go up 2″ every month. This would put Mason jumping 12″ (elbow height) in June (age 14 mos) and 20″ in Oct (18 mos). What do you think? Will he develop a flat jumping style if I raise the heights this slowly? He may end up in the 24″ height group, but I don’t know if I would actually jump him that high. We’ll have to see.Thanks!
JenHi Tracy,
I did another session of the set point (no video) with 5.5 ft between the jumps and it worked perfectly! No gutters were ticked except one time where I rushed the lead out.
Question: I noticed that Mason is starting to go into a crouching vulture position as I lead out. Back when my 15 yr old was a young dog, some trainers thought this was very bad, but others didn’t seem concerned about it. What is your opinion? Should I try to get Mason to sit straight up in front of a jump or not worry about it?
Jen
Hi Tracy,
Editing the whole week of videos on one day seems to work well for me so I have all of the week 2 videos in this post.
Set Point – Moving Target
In week 1 you advised to move the MM farther back to allow Mason to stride out over the 2nd jump. Because our stay is pretty fragile with the moving target, he’s probably still getting the target at about the same distance as before or maybe even sooner. Switching to the toy did help with the upward hop though. Mason ticks the gutters a lot. In this session it happened to be when the toy was in my left hand, but I don’t know if that was a coincidence.
Shadow Handling – Pill Bug
I have the toy on the ground since I have a lot of trouble with Mason chasing the toy and biting at my hands. When I tried this game while holding the toy I felt like Mason was connecting more with the toy and less with me. Even with the toy on the ground I edited out a bunch of reps with him jumping up and us crashing into each other. Now that I see the good reps all together I see a little potential there, whereas at the time it just seemed really frustrating. I felt more like I was being chased than that my dog and I were working together.
Do we want our arms moving like we are running or do we want our hand out to the side? At the end I did some walking/slow jogging with my hands on my hips and then my arms moving to try to get some of the focus off of my hands.
Tunnel Exits
We did a bunch of these. I picked out the best reps from each sequence to include here, so it looks like we had a lot more success than we did in the actual sessions. The main challenges we had were refusals on the “SaySay” (translation: TssTss) and cutting in front of the wings on the turns. I really tried hard to keep connection on the wraps and to deliver all the cues to his eyes. The wraps worked better on the shorter sequences, but I had trouble with the one after the tunnel on the grand finale sequence. I haven’t been able to figure out what isn’t clear about my SaySay cue. I expect that one to be hard after the tunnel, but Mason had trouble reading it at other times too. I also had to run big circles to push Mason to go around the wings. That’s why he ends up so far away from the wings at times.
Jen
Hi Tracy,
Thanks for the great feedback. For week 2 my goal is to really focus on connection since it sounds like that will fix a lot of things.
For the week 1 set point game, the jumps were set at 6 ft apart and the MM was about 10 ft after the second jump. Mason is about 21.5″ tall. Should I use the same spacing for the week 2 set point game? I haven’t seen the game description yet. I’m just thinking ahead.
Jen
