[Kathy McClung]

Good morning! I bet you suspected that there would be a tunnel in today’s video 🤣 There is!

>Interestingly, the backside verbal helped connect you better. When she was not going to the wrap wing, you were a little disconnected and pointing forward while she was still behind you (:24 and :35 for example). But then when you went to the backside verbal, your connection also got much clearer: >

Thank you for this feedback. So it was really my body language that was working not the verbal. I had a lightbulb moment that, if I am seeing what I want in my head, while I say the verbal, my body actually does what it is supposed to. Like “believe in your verbal”.

We went back to week 1 & did the Tunnel game. I was late. a lot. Bazinga gave me lots of grace!
It is hard to tell (because of my lateness) but we started with the blind cross on the flat & then tried to do the blind before she got into the tunnel. I was so slow to react when I saw her headed to the tunnel! I think I actually got a few in before she was in the tunnel. Then I tried the front cross before she went in the tunnel. It really felt like a “cheaty” front cross, so I’m not sure I did it right?
Bazinga was very happy to zip through some tunnels tonight though, so she was happy either way 🙂

Earlier we did a session of the 1 jump game & we worked up to moving the wings. Then I flipped the course but when I watched the video, I realized she was still going from my right to left. (face-palm)
In the first half, I see that I was early a few times. I need to remember to stay connected to her until she finishes the wing. I guess I’m rushing.

Thanks so much!
It is supposed to rain all day today (tuesday) I’m hoping for a break in the weather so we can play.

[Kathy McClung]

Good morning! (maybe it is morning! haha.)

Thank you for the feedback! Especially about being early. I did not piece that together myself but now I see what I did and how Bazinga did exactly what I asker her to do. What a good girlie!

We did another session. I needed to work out my verbals for sending to the wing. Once I got the right one, she sent out great. I usually use a backside verbal for a wing send but I was using the wrap verbals.
Weird question, on the wings for this game, are we supposed to be imagining where the bar would be if it were a jump or does that not matter for the purpose of the game?

We are having a rainy weekend. I’m excited to go back & try the tunnel game from week 1.

Thanks! Hope you are having a great weekend!
Kathy

[Kathy McClung]

Hi!
Bazinga had a big trial weekend and moved up to the Excellent level in Standard! She did so good!
I ran the courses with rear crosses but I can see the spots where, if we work on commitment & my timing that I could have gotten blinds in and we might have been even faster.

Would you do a private lesson on running dogwalk criteria? If so, I’d love to sign up for one! Bazinga really understands her target criteria on the teeter (thanks to your teeter class!) and I’d love to figure out a way to get that level of understanding on the DW. I also have
a question for you about tunnel threadles when the dog can only see one tunnel entrance. That came up with weekend a few times.

We did our first session of Week 2’s One Jump game. We had to work on her send commitment but we did get a few good reps in. I was surprised at how complicated it was for me to get the wrap directions in my head but I worked on it without Bazinga so I wouldn’t confuse her. I did mess up a few times though.
I think we could use more work on the send commitment. Should I throw the lotus ball out to the wing to reward that?

Thank you!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Good morning!

We did the 2 wing blind game – it was fun! At the end, I tried to do a few more reps of the front cross to blind cross on a wing for practice.

We tried the Wing game 2. I had never heard of the mouse line before! I’ve been wondering how some handlers are able to do a quick blind without crossing all the way through the danger zone between jumps. I really, really, really think I need this skill with Bazinga! Excited!

[Kathy McClung]

Good morning!

Lew got to run his first offical Fast Cat runs this weekend! He did really good! We have some MaxPup catching up to do!

We did a refresh on the Rocking Horses outside.

We did the Threadle Wrap foundations with the full spin. I tried to take a break to play tug in the middle but he was allll about food tonight. It seems I kept offering him boring treats today during our day to day stuff – which he refused every time. When I pulled out better treats to play, he was all about it!

We did our first session of the Remote Reinforcement concept. He moved with me! We can change the location up for other sessions, right?

Startline stays
He is letting me move and waiting to hear the “catch” verbal!

Thanks for watching!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi!
We have just been doing short sessions of the parallel path game and just doing life skills stuff. We need to jump back in to the games!
Tonight I introduced the Strike a Pose concept transfer for Serps indoors. He was figuring it out in the beginning & gained some confidence as we went on. We played with a tug after to let him get wild.

We also did s short session of the Running Contacts Foundation with the box. It was right after the other game so maybe he was a little tired. He wasn’t really bouncing back through the box after the treats.

I have a question about the Startline stays with “catch”. When should we start to add the “wait” verbal to this game? Or do I just keep building on him letting me move & waiting for me to say “catch’?

Thank you for watching!!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi! & Thank you!
I totally thought I was doing the 2 blind crosses but I see that I was starting on the wrong side!
We did another session & a short session of the first wing work. Can you tell me if I am doing the Front Cross to Blind Cross wing wrap correctly? I will be doing a session (or more) of just me to get my mechanics in order. I’m still having trouble talking & crossing at the same time! 🤣 I know I don’t need a blind cross verbal for Bazinga but it seems like my brain needs me to say something in order to do change sides.

2 BCs on the Flat

Post Turn to Blind & Frnt Cross to Blind

Thank you!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Yay!!!
We started on the flatwork. I video-ed from the front & then switched to the back so we can see the “dog’s view”. I managed to not use her release verbal until our last rep. Sheesh.
I guess I was using all my brainwaves on my body mechanics.
I can hear the thunder of horse hooves clamping behind me on some of the reps!!!

I’m so excited for this class!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi!

Thanks for the great ideas on enrichment for Lew in the crate. Now that he likes food, a licky mat may be perfect.

> I think he was doing it because the treat landed right on or near the prop, so he thought it was more of a stopped behavior. Easy adjustment: throw the treat further away past the prop, so he keeps moving over it.>
Thank you for this on the Get Out game! I’ll try that & add my motion next.

Also great tip for the treats inboth hands for the Backing Up game! I’ll try that.

We dove in to the Threadle Foundations game. He was very excited to play!
I feel like I finally really understand threadle wrap vs threadle slice from your video – thank you! I made everybody do this game. Maybe we can get all get fluent with these. Here is Lew!

Thanks for the feedback!
Also – I GOT A RUG! LOL! Indoor/Outdoor to the rescue!

• This reply was modified 4 weeks ago by Kathy McClung.

[Kathy McClung]

Hi!

Lew went on an agility road trip this weekend. He did so good. We were at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and he was so totally fine with the environment! He wanted to be out and exploring the whole time. He loves to walk around and just watch everything. He earned a new nickname – Lookie Lew. He was fine with dogs, the dirt, people moving around, the announcers & speakers. He likes having people talk to him. Everybody wants to pet him because he is so fluffy, that is the only thing he doesn’t lobe until he really knows someone. But I think that is a very acceptable boundary to have and one that I can provide for him.
He is fine in the crate whn he gets to share with Bazinga and he can’t hear me. He did really well on that. But he is a loud complainer if Bazinga is gone & so am I. We’ll work on that.
We did the parallel path game with the 2 jump stanchions and no bar there too. He worked like a champ!! I was impressed. I also got to do the resilience game on leash there and he liked that too.

We worked on a few things today.
Running Contacts Foundations – Mat
I found a bath mat that has a different feel from the yoga mats to use for the mat on this game. When you see it, let me know if you think it is an ok size for him. I started with him going through it instead of driving to it, I switched when I realized.

We did our first session of the Get Out game! When we switched sides, he was pausing right before the prop. I think he was waiting for the treat to hit the ground. I paused and waited until he touched the prop before rewarding. He was starting to go right to the mat towards the end of the session.

Backing up 2 – we did a short session

Thanks for the feedback!!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi!
Treat Hugger purchased & we are waiting for delivery! Thank you!

>He was HILARIOUS at the beginning of the running contact box session: stared at it, calculated… then threw himself into it. I almost snorted coffee out of my nose. Then it was game on, no questions.>
This made my day. Our goal is to have antics that get you to snort coffee! 😂 He is really surprising me at how intense he likes the games. I swear that he likes treats more if he is doing tricks for them!

It is rainy today so we gave the Alternate Rear Cross game a try inside tonight. He did really well with left turns but we had a lot of spins with right turns. He may have changed from being a rightie to a leftie. I do think that the mechanics of the right turns had a lot of issues. If I threw the treat too deep into the corner, I was behind him stuck at the cabinet and he was more likely to spin. If it took a while for him to find the treat, I wasn’t in motion either. So that may have played a role in the spins.
Alternate Rear Cross Game

I have a question about what to use for a mat on the Running Contacts Foundation game. As you can see, I decorate with yoga mats 🤣 I’m wondering if I need something more novel or different to use for the game since he sees these all the time. Any ideas?

Thanks for the feedback!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi!

>This was funny: at the very beginning then towards the end, there were 2 reps where he was not quite ready for the send forward but when you swooshed your arms back to line him up: he totally thought it was a backwards send hahahaha good boy!
>
This was so interesting! I never would have put that together! He did it once in this session too!
We tried it outside when it was cool out. We had more space for the barrels.
Rocking Horses Session 2 – outside

We tried the parallel path outside too. We had some technical difficulties becasue my stanchions are janky. I left it in the video. One fell and Lew didn’t even notice. I was suprised & relieved. Would it be acceptable to use a wingless jump that has a bar as a cross-brace between the 2 uprights that sits on the ground? I hope I’m explaining it right. It is basically a PVC “U” with feet. If that isn’t a good idea, I can make better stanchions.

He had fun but it was hard for him to find the treats in the grass so I edited the waiting out. I tried showing him the lotus ball but he did not like having to work for his treat! DIVA!
I can just carpet my yard with astro-turf, right?
We got a little bit of lateral distance going towards the end.
Parallel Path Concept Transfer

We tried the RC Foundation game “Driving to” with the box. He offered pretty quickly but I did play it with Bazinga & Frankie first because they were very sad that they never get to have any fun. This is the intro to the word “break’ for him too.

Thanks so much! I feel like we are getting back on track.

[Kathy McClung]

Hi! Thank you for the feedback!
I decided to do 2 new games that I thought would be fun to try. I think he did well.
INDOORS! We stayed in the A/C.

We did Week 5’s Parallel Path concept transfer. We were a little cramped inside but we had enough room for me to get a little bit lateral. I used a jump panel board like I did when bazinga was doing MaxPup but it may be too wide for him because he was jumping. I found a smaller 1.5 inch wide piece of wooden moulding that I can use instead for the next session. He was really excited to play! He had a little trouble when he was on my left and I tried to be a little more lateral but when I came back in, he was getting it again.

We did the Rocking Horses! He was so into it! He was very happy with food as a treat. I did some reps with Bazinga while he watched before his turn. Hahaha

Thanks for watching!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi!
>You can do a quick experiment: in the lovely air conditioning, do a short session of turn and burn with a toy, one or two reps on each side. Get him excited then use a leg step/arm point to indicate the barrel, and let’s see what he does.
>

Air conditioning for the win!
We finally did a session of Turn & Burn in the house and he was WILD!
He was really quick to offer going around the barrel and had a blast. We played a lot of tug in between reps and he was really into it. I didn’t use any food while we had the toy out.
Then we swicthed to food in my hands and it was clearly less fun than the toy. I really loved what I saw with the toy! Should I do a session of the handling combos inside next?
Here are videos ☺

Toy reps

Food reps

We did a session of Stays after the Turn & Burn. He was letting me get some movement but I think I need to say catch before I throw the treat.

I know I have a lot of catching up to do but I want to be sure I have the building blocks in place before I move on to the newer weeks games. I feel like I need to do more of week 4. What do you think?

Thanks so much!

[Kathy McClung]

We are back! I got knocked off my routine and fell behind!
We refreshed some of the week 3 prop stuff and the turn and turn to get back into the swing of things.

I tried out a few new lightweight harnesses and hopefully we have one that works for agility practice. I even found a better one for his walks. So win!

We tried the Handling Combos again. I did a session with the toy & lost him after just a few reps again. I tried a second session with just tossing a treat on treat pouch as a target and it seemed to keep his attention for longer. That is the video I included so you can see it. I think I should try another session and actually put the food on the plate before I line him up with a lineup cookie to include the self control part of the game. What do you think?

I feel like when I use the toy with turn & burn it is the movement of the toy that pulls him around the barrel but when I use food, he seems to understand that going around the barrel gets him the treat. If that makes any sense. It is just what I’m picking up from him. Maybe I lured him with the toy in the beginning and now he is waiting for that? I’m not sure. But it seems like when we changed from me holding the toy to me placing the toy and asking him to go around the barrel, he is not that motivated to go around the barrel.

We also did another baby level session of Lap turns and Tandem Turns. I added the prop to the lap turns and we had a lightbulb moment (mine) where I actually moved correctly and he got it. I think you’ll hear it when that rep happens – haha

Lap Turms

Tandem Turns

Thanks for watching!

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Kathy McClung.

[Author]

Posts