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>A good approach would be to dissect the challenges and stop and reward a lot. That way you can take him on a ‘tour’ of the course, but also making being in the ring SUPER fun. We don’t want him to experience huge leaps in challenge in new places, as that can actually be stressful. We want him to look at being in the big ring as basically the same as being at Disney – all fun fun fun and cookies 🙂>
Thank you. I won’t over do it with him again. I don’t want to stress him out for sure.
>I think he was locking onto the reward throw, pacing with you to wait for it. So let’s try a placed reward for a bit – it can be placed straight for the Go reps and placed on a slight turn for the rear crosses. >
Ok! I’ll try this. I actually can’t wait to try!
Thanks again for another fantastic class! See you in MP3!
Hi Tracy!
Thanks for the feedback about him going behind me. I can see where it could look like a blind cross. He’s a good boy!
I think this may be our last submission for this class. We are leaving for a trial this weekend. We may be able to squeak in one more session on Monday mornning for the last day. Thanks for all the help this class. My big takeaway is that is really still need a lot of work on my timing and paying attention to what my body is doing. The dogs are quicker learners than me!
Lew ran agility league Tuesday night. It was a jumpers course so I gave him a try at running the whole thing. I only got his 2nd try on video. Hs first try I had a ring crew person in the ring and he barked at her! Good lesson there. I’ll have to get him used to people being around. He was a very good boy and I think his refusals were due to my body language. He trotted but he drove pretty well into the tunnel. Hopefully speed will come with confidence. I know this was way above his pay grade so I just wanted to see what he would do. I should have some opportunties to do some work at the practice jump at the trial this weekend.
We tried the Rear Crosses game first thing in the morning. He was spunky but he kept running past the jump. But – he was running! Hahaha! I moved the jump further out so we could both run. I switched to Wind in Your Hair rear crosses after we had some fails. You are right he matches pace to me. I have to figure out a way to get him to smoke me over the jump.
Wind in Your Hair Part 2 – Rear Crosses
We did the first try at the accordion! He did AWESOME at his stays. I did a lot of catches in between but didn’t include them. The setup was 3 feet plus my hand’s width in between. Then I moved the last jump 3 feet out each time. I also missed one level on the way back in the accordion. I realized it when I was editing. Not sure how I managed that (maths).
Thanks so much! I’ll keep working on these games until MP3!
This has been so fun.Hi Tracy!
>Next time you revisit the grid, you can add 3 or 4 inches (basically the width of your hand) and see how he does.>
Ok – we’ll give the boy a little more room 🙂Thanks for the feedback about my decel. I’ll move the wings out & RUN! We’ll see how he does.
I’m trying to get at least one session of most of the games in to get your feedback so we can keep working until MP3 starts.
We did our first session of Mission Transition!
We did our first session of The Smiley Face Game – Tunnel Threadles.
We didn’t have a really good grip on the threadle concept or verbal (kiss) from earlier games since he did not like being held. So I was very pleased that he got the concept from the body language and he seemed to be picking up on the difference in the verbal cue. We had some weird “I must cut behind you moments on one side. I’m sure it was cause by my body language, but I can’t quite figure it out, Maybe I was too hunchy? The game really kept his interest because he didn’t have to run so we got a lot of reps in.
Thanks for the help!!
Hi Tracy!
>His jumping on the ladder grid is looking good – what was the distance between the jumps? We might be able to expand it 2 or 3 inches and still get the powerful bounce!>
It was 3 feet
>When you were cheering for him after it, he was not sure if he should go to the toy or keep going, so you got some jumping up at the beginning. So… no need to cheer, you can just tell him what is next if you are going to keep going.>
I am obsessed with saying his name! I’ll phase that out. I think it was because as a puppy he really liked praise and hearing his name. But I can see where all the blabber is verbal clutter. I’ll try & control myself!
I’m really trying to keep my head telling my body to show clear connection.
We tried the Diamond game first thing this morning while he was fresh. I really wanted to see if I could get him around the far wing in the center for the racetrack. We did get some in!
We did our first try at the Concept Transfer: Rear Crosses. I feel like I couldn’t get him ahead of me to really do a good rear cross. Should I practice with just the go! go! straight and throw the toy earlier to get him used to getting ahead? I may need to move the jump farther away too.
We have been practicing our happy stays with one jump and a target bowl. I’m working on adding the praise in reliably.
Thank you!!!
Good morning!
Thanks for the feedback on the FC vs the post turn for the rear crosses on TWIYH Part 2. I’ll try more right turns with FCs on the wing.
I see what you mean about my feet in the Zig Zag game.
>Both of these games can move to the next steps. You can do the backside element of wind in your hair if you want, but it might be better to do the rear cross concept transfer or the Mission Transition game 🙂
For the jumping foundations, I think the accordion can go outside now!>
YAY! We’ll try them!
It was downright chilly in Florida this morning! We did the Diamond game first to get the most out of Lew’s energy. I feel like we need to have more drive to the wings in general. I’d like him ot get ahead of me and wrap.
We did the Ladder again. I swapped the MM for a bowl so it would be less enticing. He did much better but he was still breaking a few times at 3 jumps.
Thank you!
Hi Tracy!
>The session went great! My only suggestion is to keep moving on the get out – you were tending to stop as you sent him. You kept moving beautifully on the non-get-out reps, so move along the line for the get outs too. He is ready for the advanced level!>
Thanks! I think i need to move the wing back from where I had it so there is more room to move before they get to the jump. I had it pretty tight to the jump.
Also, Bazinga is doing this homework too. The last 2 trials we were at had lots of “push lines” in the middle of go-lines.
We did another session of WIYH Part 2.
We added jump bars to the zig Zag! He did good! When i watched the video I noticed my break verbal came after my hand moved every time. I need to watch that.
Thanks for the help!
Hi Tracy!
Yay we graduated Sends & Serps!!! 🙂
>For the rear crosses, the best ones were where you were running straight to the center of the bar. (:17 & :30 for example) >
Thank you! I’ll try & stay on target for the next session.
We tried 2 new games today.
We did the Diamond this morning and I was pretty impressed with him! Is it ok to throw the toy or should I be having him grab it from me?
I think I need to work on him driving around the wings with less push from me?
We did our first try at Get Outs this evening. I think I did step in the first several times but then I tried to hold back & watch his head. The more we play with the treat hugger the more determined he is getting at getting his own treats out. In the begiining, I was putting a treat in each side because he wasn’t flipping it over if it landed empty side up. Now he is flipping that thing all around & getting both treats out! Hahaha
Congrats on CanAm!!
Thank you for watching!Hi Tracy!
The temperature drop has been a game changer!
>The 2nd RC was late so he didn’t see it in time – I think you were deciding what to do in the moment 🙂>
I think you’ve learned how to ready my body language! That was totally what was going on!
We took another try at WIYH Part 2.
He was really driving ahead. We got a few successful rear crosses. I think I’m awkward at the lefts. I’ll work on my form. I did crash in to him. I didn’t let him get ahead enough. He was ok and didn’t even seem to care. But still…he has tiny bird bones! I need to be careful and not be Godzilla!We tried Sends & Serps again. I practiced my form. Your description on turning at the waist helped me visualize it better. Lew did really well!
Thank you for the great feedback!
Hi Tracy,
The temperature dropped & the rain stopped. We had a gorgeous morning today! Lew agreed!
We tried another quick session of Wind in Your Hair and tried to add in a rear cross.>– he was driving to the toy here, was he taking the cookie out of it? >
He won’t open the lotus ball by himself, so I open it for him. Your treat hugger suggestion was a win! I put juicy steak inside and he was very motivated to go get that toy & take the treat all by himself.
I’ll adopt the one & done or very short session method from now on.I’m hoping the weather stays nice – I’m excited to go back & try the previous games another time & hopefully we can move on to the next games after that.
We are going to a trial this weekend so Lew has the weekend off. He is staying home and playing house dog 🙂
Thanks for the great feedback!
Hi Tracy!
Yesterday morning, we did a refresh of just Wind in Your Hair as prep for the Wind in Your Hair go & rear crosses. I added a jump bar at 4 inches to get him ready for some of the other games that are starting to use them. I was working on getting him to drive ahead.
I have not found that magic spot of good temperature and an energetic Lew to repeat his good round of this game. He isn’t really chasing the toy. Can I use the MM to add excitement for a few sessions?
He was tired & hot by the time we did this one so I kept it short. I’ll do the next one as the first game and hopefully in a cooler temp.We did our first session of the Ladder game. I see on the video that I need to work on keeping the praise before the break. I was really wanting to get that 3rd jump in and made the mistake of skipping the praise because he was releasing on that. I should have kept it easier and kept the criteria.
Thanks for the feedback about the Sends & Serps and the Tunnel Exit game. I’ll try another session of both.
I signed him up for our Elementary Agility League Team – The Tallahassee Sweet Baby Dogs!
I know it is beyond what he is ready for but I wanted to give him some positive experiences in a trial-like atmosphere. We are just going to run for fun and not worry about the official course. We went last night and I expected to just maybe do a jump to a tunnel or have him find the jump after a tunnel and work on his start line. He was just so into it, I tried some jump sequences and he did so good! He seemed really comfortable there too.
Thanks for watching!
Hi Tracy!
We had a non-rainy morning finally so we tried working outside.
We started with Sends & Serps but he was really distracted and we struggled. So I switched to the Zig Zag game and then tried again for Sends & Serps. He had better attention the second try. I could tell that both games were definitely harder for him outside than inside. So we’ll work up to him being more comfortable outside. I am certain that my body language was giving him trouble on the lefts in Sends & Serps. I tried so hard to be correct but my body would not cooperate! It is embarrassing that I couldn’t get it together! I was swinging him so hard to get the send that I was pointed forward for the serp.
I’m going to work on the line up at my side game and make that really engaging so I can position him on a better line & get connected. As well as practice my serp form in private & dogless!
Zig Zag Game – outside
Sends & Serps (2nd try)
We did the Tunnel Exit Turns game in the evening. He liked this game. We don’t quite have “do the thing after the tunnel” yet but I think he did pretty good on the Go!Go! and the turns. I’m looking forward to how you think we should proceed with this one.
Thanks for watching!
Good morning!
Thanks for the feedback on the Minny Pinny. We’ll do another session with better line ups and I’ll pre- place the bowl.
We did another session of find the jump and I tried to get more lateral. He was fast tonight!
We did a short session of Sends & Serps but I didn’t hit record. We’ll give that another go. I was excited about getting to do it outside with more room to move. I angled the jump and he did really well.
I’ll get the next one on video.Thanks for watching!
Good morning!
Thank you for the feedback about the releases. I will pay attention to that.
We got rained out today so we did some inside games.
We did the Minny Pinny with left & right verbals again. We warmed up with regular turns and he did a great job on those. We tried the turn aways and added a food bowl as a placed reward in this session. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I think I need to pay better attention to get him lined up before he starts. We had a lot of spinning on the right hand turns.
We did another session of Sends & Serps and I payed attention to my form. I think I did better but still not Madonna-worthy. I remembered to do the contrast reps a little late in the session.
I’m feeling a little panic-y about the class ending. Are you doing another session of MP2 right after this one? Do you think we need to repeat it? I didn’t think we would fall so far behind.
Thanks for watching!
Hi Tracy!
>Ha! That would be a great t-shirt with his photo on it:
The Lew Knows.
I would totally buy one!>Hahahaha! Lew agrees!
I’ll do another session of Sends & Serps and try to pay attention to my form. Maybe I can put a broom handle across my shoulders through my sleeves…
We did some inside & outside games today. I am NOT a winter person, so I shudder to say this but I am curious to see what he is like when the weather gets cooler and we can do the outside games full force!
Zig Zag Game
I hope I redeemed myself in this session 🤣
We got up to 3 jumps and he did really good on his stays!
Setpoint with Moving Target
We’ve been working on his toy play and did a couple of sessions of the moving target with praise added in before the release. We tried it with the Set Point setup and I think he did a good job. A few reps he was looking at me instead of grabbing the toy but he did chase it.
Find the Jump
This is a big boy game – yay! This was evening and it was still a bit warm out so I didn’t expect a lot of reps. He did pretty good though and stayed interested in the game. He didn’t have a killer instinct for the toy but he saw the jump and chased the toy.
He is still getting used to the new area out back and thought he heard something outside the fence & went barking at it. I let him figure out there was nothing there and he was ready to play again.Thanks for the feedback!
Hi Tracy!
>The argument you and Lew were having here in the zig zag was about where to deliver the reward: you wanted to wrap him around the last wing, and he said he saw in the video that the reward should be delivered on the new side without the wrap.
He was correct 😂🤣 the reward should be delivered to the other side of the wing from where he was before it, he doesn’t have to wrap back towards you or away from you on the last wing. Trying to cue the wrap on that last wing is what made it harder for him to know what you wanted because there needed to be handling and timng and space for him to get there.>
Thank you!!!!! GOSHHHHH! I knew I wasn’t getting it. The Lew knows! I really needed to go re-watch the video!
I’ll give this one another try after I practice with my invisible dog a few times 🙂We tried Send & Serps today after the rain and while it was pretty cool outside. He got it! I look like The Hunchback of Notre Dame however. In my mind I was doing the perfect strike a pose move. NOPE.
Thanks for watching.
We’ll circle back to the other games too.
