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Thanks Tracy…. I love blinds! I get to see where I’m going. 😊. And yes, makes perfect sense to get the reward up at the same time as completing the blind. I’ll have to try this game again and remember that.
And thanks for your thoughts on verbals….that’s very much where I’m coming to with them…. Left and Right for soft turns, a GO, a verbal backside of a jump cue, and an In-In (or some sort of verbal threadle cue) for sure. What I haven’t “settled” in my head yet is whether it’s just one cue for tight collection/wrap/exit, which would always mean tight turn towards me or if I need two for tight turns – one for left and one for right or one for towards me and one for away from me. Again, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this! Have a great weekend! And just a “by the way”……E with Jadzia is the reason I have Sly. I think I’m going to owe her big time 🙂
And some Blind Cross fun……and now I remember why I didn’t throw food in the other exercise…I’m really bad at it 🙂
Morning Tracy! Thanks for the feedback. Yes, lower hand for feeding! If I had a nickel for every time I’ve needed to be reminded of that, or reminded a student myself I’d definitely be independently wealthy 🙂 I’ve been spoiled the last several years with Mags…..got to get back in the “small dog” habit!
Toys….so one of the things I realized/learned/confirmed when doing this last drive ahead session was that his favorite toy is the one he has! He’s always had a bit of a tendency to not want to give up “his” toy. I did a fair amount of swap/feed/give back, etc. etc again when he was younger, guess we need to do a lot more. He turns 9 months today and I’ve had this feeling for a few weeks now that he’s feeling out his “big boy pants” so I’ll definitely put lots of retrieve/play/swap/give back etc. games back in the training rotation.
Verbals….oh my gosh…..too many decisions!!! Go is our just keep driving forward cue so I’ll add it in the Drive Ahead game. We’re in Katarina’s RC Young Dog Foundations class and she’s suggesting 5 distinct cues for DW exits….straight ahead, soft left and rights and tight left and rights. And then I need verbals for tunnel exits and who knows what else! 🙂 Seriously….I have decided that his soft left and right are going to be left and right. We’ve started that training and I think I can use that for both his dogwalk and tunnel exits? I’d love to know your thoughts on that. I know some folks that think you need different ones and others that think the same one works just fine. I haven’t decided what I’m going to use for “tight” exits or tight turns on jumps. Can I use the same for both “exits” and jump turns or do you think they need to be different? I think the thing I miss the most about not trialing is the “training discussions”….so much good thought provoking discussion amongst a pretty big group of us up here in New England….really miss those! Anyway, I know I’m going to need some verbals, especially where we’re going to run his dogwalk and it looks like he’s got some real speed and I’m not getting younger or faster 🙂 But I need to be realistic about my ability to train, remember and use them timely. I think I’d be better off to have a few well trained, well executed ones that a whole lot of them that I just get confused with! I’d love any thoughts/input you’ve got on this. Have a great weekend!
Thanks Tracy….Yes, everything you said makes TOTAL sense! And yes, he is perfectly happy to leave me in the dust to run to a toy. We’ve been working on his bringing the toy back…making progress but I need to remember to run away as soon as he picks it up and I had totally forgotten about having a “better” toy to reward/tug with him with when he gets to me. He’s definitely got a couple of favorites!
He doesn’t “love” his MM, it’s OK but it’s not highly valuable….I think it’s because the treats are so slow (in his view) to dispense because he definitely does love his food, he is a Cocker after all 🙂 When he was real young I fed him his meals out of it for quite awhile to build a lot of value, and it is valuable but definitely not at the top of his list!
And I really like the second exercise and your suggestions are GREAT! I think driving in “tight” is going to be a skill that doesn’t come naturally for him and we’re going to need to “cultivate” it 🙂
Thanks again, Tracy. Loving this class already 🙂
Hope I’m posting this correctly! This one was harder…..started with the Advanced exercise….and had to back up! I LOVE foundations…..can never get enough!!!
