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Hi Tracy,
Happy last day to submit videos! Today I have a threadle breakthrough session, fancy switch aways with layering, and the beginnings of what I hope will become super cool threadle wraps.
Threadles
https://youtu.be/BroU0zkdQOoAnnie and I spent the last 10 days working on threadles and getting absolutely nowhere. We did single jump work proofing close vs push and out. We did the angled setups, small gaps, and big gaps. Everything was about 50% success rate … basically guessing odds. Finally on Tuesday afternoon, there was a tiny hint that she might be starting to get it, so I set up the loop yesterday. These threadles might not look that different from the ones I posted from 06-Nov (https://youtu.be/8VhTFIFgILc), but the difference is that these threadles have a 100% success rate!! I’m not counting the bar as a failed attempt since I started running faster just as she was taking off.
On today’s video, we did a warmup threadle and 180, then we did the loop a couple times in each direction. The second set of loops is at full height, which was Annie’s first time putting the threadle together at that height. I’m also trying out the follow-the-nose pinwheels here, which I think is going to help a ton with refusals. At the end of the video, I did an experiment to test if Annie really needed me to pause slightly during the threadle and she said she does. I’m perfectly fine with keeping the pause. It will still help my knees and back to not have to twist all the way around to face her to get her to come through the gap.
Bonus: You may notice that I’m starting to use my new “Get It” cue to announce that the ball toss is coming. Sometimes I remember it and sometimes I forget.
Switch Away with Layering
https://youtu.be/bXr4ciwMWisI saw this sequence at Zip’s recent CPE trial. There wasn’t any advantage to layering in that course, but I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for Annie to work on some of her new skills. I had a little trouble getting the 2nd jump in the 180 before the A-frame. I know I made it harder for her by putting up the ring gate next to the jump (Annie is really sensitive about space), but there is a small retaining wall there and I wasn’t willing to move the A-Frame to get farther away from it.
You mentioned in previous feedback that I can do something with my hands to let Annie know that the switch is coming. I looked back at the demo video, but I couldn’t tell exactly what the hand cue would be.
Threadle Wraps
https://youtu.be/0YPnd3HQK5sThe threadle wraps are a work in progress, but I really think they have potential. At the moment they are super slow and I don’t think Annie actually knows the “InInIn” verbal just yet. By the way, thanks for testing out the “AnnAnn” vs “InIn” verbals! I added a 3rd “In” just to make it totally foolproof, lol. The first attempt on the video was supposed to just be a warmup turn on the flat, but she ended up taking the jump – good girl. In the demo video, you and Contraband were doing the wrap/slice jump after a tunnel, but Annie had a hard time with this so I switched to using two jumps instead. This seemed to be easier for her. She did great on this setup, but in general she has an amazing ability to switch to the front side of the jump at the very last second. It seems that if her nose isn’t right up even with the wing that she is miraculously able to switch to the front side. I’d love to know how I can improve these and get them up to speed because it would be great to have this skill in our toolbox.
Jen
Hi Tracy,
Straight Threadles (for when you get back, not for while you are on vacation 😉 )
https://youtu.be/8VhTFIFgILcToward camera: Fail, Success, Success, Balance
Away from camera: Fail, Fail, Wrap, Fail, Success!, Balance, Success
Toward camera: SuccessThe angled setup worked brilliantly except that I rewarded it so much that we had trouble with the balance reps. I can fix that though, so this video is the entire session of our work on the straight setup. All in all I think it went well considering that Annie and I have struggled with this skill and she really had no understanding of the threadle before this.
Most of our troubles came when I switched directions to moving away from the camera. All of the reps that we did with the angled setup were toward the camera, so maybe that had something to do with our success in that direction.
When we finally got a few successes moving away from the camera I only said Close once or twice instead of a bunch of times. Do you think that could have been helping her or do you think that was coincidence?
By the way, I’m hoping to be able to get Annie through the gap without having to use 2 hands because the 2-hand cue is working amazingly well for the threadle wrap and I want to save that as a dedicated wrap cue. I’ll see if I can get a couple of those on video while you are away.
Jen
Hypothetical situation … handler did way too many threadle reps (like 12 on the angled setup and 12 on the traditional setup). She knows she should set a timer for future sessions so she doesn’t overwork her dog. How would said handler decide what to post for feedback? Say, for example, this handler had trouble with balance on the angled setup, but finally got it, then had trouble with the threadles on the traditional setup, but also eventually got it.
Also, a thank you .. Zip, my almost 13 yr old hound mix and retired flyball dog, has been quietly doing most of the games from Annie’s AU classes. The big wins for him have been connection and cue timing. Yesterday he earned his CPE C-ATCH title. I never dreamed Zippy would ever get a Snooker Q, let alone a big fancy title. Thank you for helping to train my bestest boy (even though you didn’t know you were doing it).
Good luck at the Open! We’ll be cheering you on from home!
Jen
Hi Tracy,
In the traditional side by side threadle setup, how big should the gap be between the two jumps?
Jen
Hi Tracy,
Years ago I tried to teach Annie a “Switch” rear cross verbal. Many refusals later, I realized that what she actually learned was “immediately turn away from Mom on the flat when you hear Switch”. Ever since then I’ve tried unsuccessfully to find ways to use this really cool skill (the one she learned, not the one I was trying to teach). Usually I would try it when I couldn’t get to where I wanted to be and I had no other options. The problem was that Annie would turn away, but I never knew how to control how tight the turn would be.
Seeing the setup for this week’s Switch Away game, I think I was making it way too hard too fast. In the video I put the tunnel nice and close so Annie would have a big obvious target. Success! I did get a head check at the end of the weaves that I didn’t notice until I saw the video. I’m guessing the cue was too late, but since Annie is a pole popper, it’s hard to know when it’s safe to cue the next thing. The jump switch cues seem late too, but … refusals.
Switch Aways Video:
https://youtu.be/d8BR786Eeqc
Weaves to Tunnel: 3 reps in each direction, balance rep in the middle
Jumps to Tunnel: 1 rep in each directionFyi, “Go Go Go” is Annie’s gentle reminder to finish the last 4 poles without popping. It doesn’t mean go straight on the exit. I meant to use one “Go” on the second balance rep, but I forgot.
I’m really curious to know how I can develop this skill and where else I can use it on course. I’ve tried it on some hard weave entries where Annie wasn’t really able to see the poles as a potential obstacle unless she turned away, but I couldn’t figure out the timing. I’ve also thought it had potential for tunnel exits (straight and curved tunnels) where Annie might not see me rear cross at the entry. This resulted in a confused, spinning border collie at the exit, although she knew something was up and was trying to figure it out.
Another idea was to use it when my path is obstructed by the dog walk (and Annie takes a shortcut under it through a tunnel) and I need to change her line and cue something while I make my way around the dw. I guess this is a variation on the tunnel exit idea, but it could possibly apply to other scenarios where something big is in my way. By the way, this dog walk idea resulted in the most confused border collie of all.
I still think there’s tons of potential for using the Switch cue in really cool ways. I just need to learn how to go from this week’s game to the big, fancy ideas.
Jen
Yesterday was a discouraging day when I couldn’t figure out how to handle 180s with my 9 yr old masters-level dog … and the threadles, don’t even get me started on the threadle disaster which I haven’t posted yet. I thought I was going to have to ask for a pep talk, BUT … Annie just totally nailed the Switch Aways on the first try! I can’t wait to show you the videos. Annie must have known I needed a big win. 🙂 Please keep that pep talk on standby though for the dreaded threadle video.
Jen
Hi Tracy,
Week 2 – Layering
I was expecting to have trouble with the layering, but it turned out to be super hard to get Annie to take the 180 instead. It was weird because at Teamworks layering is hard for us. I actually love how enthusiastic Annie is in the backyard and I’m hoping to learn how to duplicate that at TW in your Rewards class that starts in a couple weeks. That said, I’m now totally confused as to why we had so much trouble with the 180 at home. I’m not sure if Annie completely understands her new Round cue, but I still feel like some of my motion must have been showing the 180 and I don’t know why she didn’t read that.I have two videos. In the first video I try to get the 180 without a threadle arm. In the second video I was working on the flipped sequence and once again had trouble with the 180, so in these reps I added the threadle arm. Our success rate for both of these sessions was about 70%. I’m really not sure what my strategy should be with these 180s going forward.
Video 1 – No threadle arm
https://youtu.be/GxJG2EMf6ncVideo 2- With threadle arm
https://youtu.be/tvIwTSOSekgJen
Hi Tracy,
I don’t have a threadle verbal yet. I always just said “here” or “Ann”. A few weeks ago I was sure I definitely wanted to add a new threadle verbal and it was going to be “In In”, but then it was pointed out to me that this sounds just like “Ann Ann” … so it’s back to the drawing board. I just took a look at the verbals list from CAMP and I think I might go with “Close”. Do you still like “Close” as a jump threadle verbal? If so, should I use the same opening backside jump sequence to teach it to Annie or should I set up a couple jumps side by side like an actual threadle?
Jen
Hi Tracy,
My lesson was cancelled this week, so I didn’t get to try out my dual walkthroughs, but we did get to work on some of the other homework. We did more tunnel-go-go’s, some discriminations, and some backsides.
1) Tunnel Go Go
https://youtu.be/bmspVnfco1s
The only place where there were 2 obstacles in a straight line after a tunnel was: tunnel-teeter-backside. It isn’t the ideal setup, but I like that Annie was actually looking ahead when she came out of the tunnel! I was so excited that I called her name while she was on the teeter and caused her to look back at me. Her backend slips out from under her on the first backside takeoff, but I’m choosing not to freak out about that because that has literally never happened before. Also, she might have been surprised that I set that jump at her regular height since we had been doing low jumps for her previous two turns.2) Discriminations – Check, Over, Push
https://youtu.be/C5z5mVlcnuI
I feel like Annie is pretty good at these even though we had a failed try on each type of discrimination. In general I would say she cares more about picking the right obstacle than she does about picking the one she likes best. It was hard to know when to release her because she would look at me whenever I would start saying the obstacle name. If we do these again I might try holding her from her hips instead of by the collar to see if that helps to get her to look ahead.3) Backsides
https://youtu.be/h9Xo36nVgMw
For these I did 2 forced fronts, 2 threadles (I think), 1 open arm, 1 balance rep, and another forced front. I couldn’t tell which one Annie liked best. She took a curvy s-shaped path on the first rep and on the balance rep. On the first 2 reps, I also led out from different sides of jump #1 since I saw you do that on the demo. Do you think one way or the other might give Annie a hint at which side of #2 I want before I get there? I bet she’s probably making decisions while she’s sitting on the start line, so if I can get her thinking about the backside while I’m leading out, that would be fabulous. Before I start leading out I usually whisper to her “it’s gonna be a push, ok”. Who knows whether this means anything to her, but I’ve had good luck with it so I wouldn’t dare stop doing it now, lol.Jen
Hi Tracy,
Your post came in 10 minutes before my morning lesson, but I didn’t see it, so I’ll try out the tips next Tuesday and also at home before then. At class I’m completely unprepared since I haven’t seen the course. At trials though I’m meticulously prepared with my color coded maps, complete with handling and verbals marked up on them, so I think I can start the walk with 2 minutes per imaginary dog, without feeling rushed. Then 2 minutes for problem areas and 2 minutes for a memory check. Just to clarify, the speed part is just for at home, right? I know there’s always that one person running during a trial walk-through, but I always assumed that was technically illegal.
On to Week 1 and some tunnel work …
Tunnel Go:
Driving ahead is one of our biggest challenges, so I brought out the very best toy. Throwing the toy is also one of my biggest challenges, lol. I see a little hesitation from Annie at the tunnel exits, even once she knows the game. I’m not sure if that’s just her looking for the ball or if she’s wondering “Go where?”.
https://youtu.be/bSpsh3cH4q8Distance Wings – Go:
Annie did better with the Go’s when she had a wing to target.
https://youtu.be/Atxb58a4-wkTunnel Soft Turns (Round):
https://youtu.be/dZMRDyNahgw“Round” is my other dog’s turn cue. Annie may have heard it before, but I doubt she knows what it means. I think she would probably turn out of the tunnel even if I didn’t say anything, so it’s hard to tell if she is actually getting it. On the second rep she looked a little lost. I widened the camera angle on our next video so I could see the ball toss better.
I noticed that in the Tunnel games video you used “Right” to get the dog to take a soft turn at the tunnel exit. Then in the Distance Skills video (around the 6:00 mark) you used “Right” to cue the dog to go straight out of the tunnel, take a jump, then do a soft turn to a 2nd jump.
Since Annie will be just learning her new “Round” turn-toward-me verbal, when she’s in the tunnel and I say “Round”, how will she know whether I want her to turn at the tunnel exit or turn after the jump? Typically she will head-check out of a tunnel if I’m not right there, so I’m anticipating that the first jump will be the harder one for her.
Btw, this same setup came up in our lesson today: tunnel, tire straight ahead, then soft turn. I had to use “go tire” to get the tire, but then Annie had words for me about the surprise turn. I’m not sure how to fit all the words in.
Tunnel Crosses:
This is the first time I’ve tried to start a front cross before the tunnel entry. I would have bet a hundred bucks she would refuse the tunnel, but she did great! I wonder if it will work outside of the backyard though. We’ll have to see.
https://youtu.be/Q5SPWT6y4gUHi Tracy,
Luckily she doesn’t get stressed when I restart her. I’m sure I didn’t have an organized plan when I initially trained her. Just a couple weeks ago though I started retraining with 2x2s on a whim to try to get some speed and Annie was loving it! We got up to 6 closed poles driving ahead to a ball (that I throw to avoid cheating). Maybe I’ll open the poles up just a bit and use that setup for the Skill Sets. I like the idea of a reset word too. I just have to remember to say it before stopping.
Annie has been so excited to go out in the yard for these tiny mini-sessions that I’m actually thinking of spending the whole summer just doing the Skill Sets. It’s easy setup for me, tons of reinforcement for her, and a good break from the routine for both of us. 🙂
Jen
Week 4 Disconnection – Single Jump:
I gotta say, these seemed easy. Disconnection comes naturally, lol. We had one missed dig where maybe I just forgot to drop the ball. I’m not sure. I actually tried one of these in a recent trial and it failed fantastically, with barking and lots of drama. I hadn’t practiced it in a while and it wasn’t really a good setup for it, but I went for it anyway. This disconnect drill should be a good one to practice randomly every once in a while to help with that. For the backward sends I added a little motion to get Annie to take the jump since we don’t normally do those.
Week 4 Disconnection – Two Jumps:
I had a hard time getting the push on the parallel jumps, so after a few tries I added the opposite arm and it worked magically better. I’m thinking about using the opposite arm as my default way to send to backsides from now on, without any intention of ever fading it. It seems easier that trying to get my opposite shoulder visible. What do you think about that? Any down sides? I wouldn’t be able to use the opposite arm for Get Outs, but I think I can use the dog-side arm for that.
I was amazed by our dig-digs with 2 jumps. We just did that single jump drill video earlier this morning. Maybe that was the key to getting it right with the 2 jumps.
For the “check-push”, I wasn’t sure I was really as disconnected as we were supposed to be. I felt like I had to look at Annie to get the push, which only came out ok.
I was really happy with the last two pushes with the first jump angled. It seems like I might not have done this sequence the same way you did it with Voodoo. I might have drawn it wrong in my notes, but I was still happy with what we did, even if I made it up. 🙂
<<You probably could have gotten a blind cross on the jump before the 2nd tunnel at :14.>>
I hadn’t considered a blind there, but I think it could have worked and Annie would have preferred it. She knows I’m not going to continue running into the fence, so there would have been some uncertainty for her there. I’m probably lucky she took the tunnel. She will refuse a tunnel if she has to. 😉<<It is possible that a FC at the weave exit then run like mad with a “go tunnel” verbal will get rid of her question there?>>
A FC would have been sooo much better. Then I would have been able to get ahead of her on the weaves a little bit and it would have been very clear after the last pole where we were heading next. I couldn’t see that tunnel at all before making the turn and I couldn’t dare look for it or Annie would have popped out of the weaves.<<Nice transition into the FC on the double jump! … What you did there was drive, then decelerate… then rotate.>>
The decel is the hardest part because we aren’t usually moving all that fast .. and in the past deceleration was a perfect setup for a refusal.<<About the exit line connections: you did an awesome blind at :08! >>
That blind was an anomaly. I almost always get barked at. I’m psyched about the blinds class though because I think Annie actually really likes blinds and I think she might even like them for tight turns. She just wants the handling to be better.<<Great job! How did the connections feel while you were running? >>
The connections are starting to feel a little more natural. This is a big change to how Annie and I used to run together, so the learning curve has been a challenge for me (not for her). It’s only been in the past week or so that I really realized that the connections were going to be in use at all times. I thought they were going to be interspersed at key moments on the course. Had I known that where I was headed on course was going to be in my peripheral vision most of the time and that I really wouldn’t be pointing at things as much, I doubt I would have tried to make the change. I really don’t see people running like this at the local trials we enter, so it still seems kind of weird. One thing I have noticed in the past couple trials though … Annie is typically the slowest border collie in her group at trials and that has not been the case this fall!Hi Tracy,
Annie and I are still working on the Week 3 sequences, but in the meantime I have a course from real life. We had this nice flowy easy course in class this week, so I really tried to focus on regular connection — keeping my shoulder open to the dog and having obstacles in my peripheral vision. I’m curious to hear your feedback. I’m finding it a lot easier to keep connected on short sequences in the backyard than on a real course where I have to pay more attention to not run into obstacles.
Annie has 3 questions during the course. At the 2nd tunnel I’m guessing she was fine until my arm swung past the tunnel entrance toward the fence. While she was in the first tunnel I briefly forgot what was next, but I don’t think she was aware of that. The 2nd question was at the exit from the weaves. I didn’t see a problem with it, but Annie was clearly miffed. I’m assuming she couldn’t tell where we were going next.
My friends said “nice” for the wrap on the double because Annie had 2 really ugly landings on the previous runs. I still have a hard time letting her know that the wrap turn is coming. She seems to be surprised by it a lot of the time.
After the double I tried to run like a human since we were just making a loop around the outside of the ring. I had just re-watched that Jenny Damm video you sent me a while back and I remembered how she would sometimes run with her arms pumping. I don’t know how these things pop into my head during a course, but I was curious to see if Annie would take the obstacles if I wasn’t pointing at them. Result – I was thrilled! She took everything and there were even pesky wingless jumps in there! Check out the last tunnel exit before the dog walk — no head check! I don’t know if that’s because of my handling or because she had done the course twice already, but I’m taking credit.
Lastly, any thoughts on exit connection other than at the weaves? It’s harder for me to tell when I’m getting that right.
Get Out!
Annie went completely out of character last weekend and nailed the gamble in the linked map (the gamble is 2-4-6-8). The last time (and only time) she ever got a Level 5 gamble was in 2018! I almost scratched the run because it makes me sad to see Annie confused and sniffing by herself, shut down on the other side of the line, but I thought there were some training opportunities in the opening so I went for it. The buzzer went off and I said “Get Out”! I stood in disbelief as I watched Annie take off for the jump. We don’t layer things, ever. Then I heard the teeter bang and for a moment I wondered if the wind could have tipped it. When I came to and realized Annie took the teeter I quick ran to the other side of the A-frame to meet her and cue the finish jump! I guess it could have been a miracle, but maybe, just maybe, this commitment work is starting to pay off. 🙂
