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Good Morning!
Here is our Moving Target game
The first few tries she was more interested in the treats I was using to reward (bribe) her to drop the toy. I put the treats away & she did get more interested in the toy. Whens he is looking for a treat, her head is up. There was a lot of leaping. I will try & keep the toy lower on the ground. When I switched to the jump and used “break” I think she was back to wanting food again because I brought it back out for the “catches”.
I missed your intro to game #2 in the Zoom chat last night (demanding potty break) so I am excited to see the recording today & get the details. Fun class!!!
Hi Tracy!
>>I guess our cars are smart enough to know when we should not be thinking about dog training LOL!!!>>
I was totally not driving!!! I realize how this reads! EEK! I was a passenger all the way.>>WOW WOW WOW!!!! Being consistent like that with such a fast dog is REALLY HARD – well done!!!!!>>
THANK YOU❤️
I will stalk the FACE class for the next time it is offered and will work on the resilience games with her.We did the Handling 5 today (not the 6 yet) and also revisited the Turn Aways with quicker timing of the verbals with the tunnel. It took me a few tries to remember to drive in with that extra step from the jump but slow-human got it eventually!
Question on the Switch Aways – I think she understands to “turn away from me” or change her direction with the “swicth” verbal & body cues. In AKC, we don’t see a lot of layering. Would this be used to switch away to a single obstacle ever? If there is no layering? Or does there always need to be a layering & longer line involved? I listened to the live chat & the discussion, about “switch” vs directionals but I’m still a little fuzzy on the application. Should I save this for those “special” akc layer moments and work on directionals for turn aways to 1 obstacle?
Handling Challenge 5
Switch Aways
Hi Tracy!
I tried to join the zoom class on Thursday but I was in a car and Zoom wouldn’t let me have audio. I guess there is a drive-safe mode that I couldn’t override. I’m sorry I missed it! I am watching the video this morning. OMG Jitterbug is such a FuzzCute!!!! MEEP!!!!Weekend update ☺
Frankie was AMAZING! We did not have a single off course! We trialed 3 days and she QQd 2 days!
I used the “jump,jump.jump” cream cheese spread verbal on a line of jumps that was pointing right into an off-course tunnel. The dogs needed to take a sharp turn right in front of the tunnel to a jump. I rear-crossed the jump in front of the tunnel and kept saying “jump, jump, jump” and she got it!
The bummer this weekend was that she was nervous in the environment. So that got us a few times. When she is nervous she runs slow so I probably had more time to handle because of that. There was a dog using the practice jump right outside the ring & it was aligned with the weaves and she saw the dog & jumped out of the weaves. I felt so bad for her because I could tell it was involuntary & she looked at me like “Crap! Did you see that!? Sorry!” and then she jumped right into the weaves and drove out ahead and did great. But the seed was planted and she was nervous all weekend. I really want to take the FACE class, because what I’m doing isn’t enough for her, but I just don’t have the bandwidth for another class right now. Maybe the next time it is offered.We have nice weather today so I’m going to set up Handling 6 with Frankie. Excited to get back to it with her! ☺
Thank you SO MUCH for the extension, it really took the pressure off to not have to rush through the last set of exercises.>>
Yes, but also no – now that I have gotten to watch some FrankieTV, it can be easier: she commits like a big dog (she commits just before the exit of the previous obstacle) so you need to handle her with big dog timing.
>>>>I think you need to make only 1 adjustment: be sooner. When she is jumping the previous jump, or at the top of the frame, you need to be fully turned to the line you want or she will stay on her existing line.
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WHOA! I see that she commits to the next obstacle right when she is hovering over the bar of the previous jump & at the top of the Aframe & I think at the beginning of the descent on the DW. but I never thought about big dog vs little dog commitment point. I have always tried to set the line midway between the obstacles…for a small dog. I CAN’T WAIT TO TRY THIS!!! We are headed to a trial this weekend so I’ll let yo know how it goes! THANK YOU!!!>>
Next time I am in Florida, I am going to have you run one of my bigs to feel what Frankie’s timing should be 🙂
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I would love, love, love & be so honored to run one of your biggies!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
I’ll see if I can try running a friend’s Weim. She has done doggie trades before 🙂CONGRATS on the new BABEH!!! So exciting. So fuzzy and adorable!!!
Hi! I found it! The video where I tried to do a tunnel threadle after an Aframe. It happens right away at:04 seconds. There is screaming. I was using “here, here, tunnel” as my verbal for the tunnel threadle. (at least that was supposed to be it) I can see clearly in the video by her reaction that she thought she was correct. It is hard to watch😞 I tried to get her attention at the top of the AFrame.
Here is an example of why I was using a soft turn cue for her (see at :44 seconds). I lost her to an off-course jump. Maybe the soft break will help too.
One more example of these off course turns. I needed some decel and a turn cue at :20
As I looked through my past videos looking for examples, I can see that I need to improve my body language & connection skills. Frankie is saving me because she is awesome. I need to train myself more than she needs training. I need to lower my arms, stop pointing, connect with eye contact and open my chest and pay attention to where my feet are pointing and set her line. I never thought about the concept of upper body & lower body cues but now I am seeing that I am really relying only on pointy upper body cues. When I have paid attention to my lower body more, (like in the water bottle game) it gives her better information.
I’m reading your feedback on the switch aways – thank you!
Hi! Thank you! So much great info here! I am reading & re-reading.
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Do you have video? I am curious to see. Dogs cue off of far more than where our chest is pointing in threadle situations. Ideally our upper body rotates to the dog on those tunnel threadles, the outside arm can be VERY useful especially with the littles Any errors could be caused by something else, which is why it would be good to look at video!
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I might actually have that exact video. I will look for it or some examples. SUPER thank you!I’m really motivated & excited that I feel ready to examine & work on those “holes”. We have been band-aiding for a while and it will feel really good to have those skills when we get them.🙂
We tried the Switch Aways game. This is new to us. I think I have used the physical cue before and she has read it, but it was just used improvising at some point. We have never trained it. Is there more to it that I need to back up & train?
I could see that from the jump to the tunnel, I didn’t need the “switch” verbal. She understood it & then looked at me like “what next?” But if I just did the physical cue and said “tunnel” she switched & drove to towards the tunnel better.
Coming out of the tunnel, she needed the verbal to know where to go when she exited the tunnel, so that seemed to work for her.Thank you for the extra time!
I’d love a live chat. I may be traveling Thursday night but I should be able to get it on my phone.Good morning!
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Which feedback was confusing? We can totally clarify things! There is no one-size-fits-all in agility, so we can create a system that works for you, Frankie, and Bazinga!
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It was totally not your feedback. I want to clarify that for sure! I am sure some of it was my lack of execution causing the feedback… but I got some feedback that just left me questioning what to adjust and so I put the moves on hold for a while and I can see that I need to think it all through and work on the training for them because I have some sloppy “holes” in my communication system with Frankie because of it. What I’m learning in the MaxPup class has identified the holes I have with Frankie. I’m so glad for that! Because now I can work on them.I was taking a class and got feedback that I was using my “turn towards me – soft turn cue” when I didn’t really need it. I feel like if there is a 50-50 option for 2 jumps with Frankie, she needs it. So I was relieved that you detailed it as a verbal and now instead of just a turn towards me cue, I think I will teach her the directionals. She knows left & right spins so I think if I work with her on jumps, it will transfer after some practice.
I was doing a tunnel threadle with her before and we were not so successful with it at trials. Especially a tunnel discrimination after a contact obstacle. I tried to get ahead at the aframe and threadle her into the tunnel entry. Someone suggested that the threadle physical cue (off-arm) was turning my chest to the wrong end of the tunnel. I was fairly early in my threadle training so I put it on hold for a while and was just using shoulder pulls and lateral distance.
I’m working on the tunnel threadle again because we need a way to differentiate which end of the tunnel. This is our #1 miss in trials – especially if the tunnel is after the Aframe or dogwalk.>>
I am glad you are enjoying it!!! It has been SO FUN watching you and the Bostons (I simply love the breed and your Bostons are particularly amazing :)) Stay tuned for the summer camp handling stuff for Frankie’s level, and also MaxPup 2 and 3 has some serious handling for the youngsters
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Thank you! <3American Threadle vs European Threadle! Perfect! My brain gets it now. I am going to change my verbal to “close” for both & work on teaching the european style to Frankie.
-Thank you!!!!
Hi! Thanks so much for this feedback.
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You were earlier at :36 (name instead of threadle verbal) and she got it nicely! Then she got it with the threadle verbal after that. Is ‘close’ or ‘here’ the threadle verbal? You were using them both for the threadle slice.
>>I really needed to see this inconsistency on video. I would like to use “close” but I have just been using “here” so I was switching back & forth between what she knows and what I need to teach her. I need to review all my verbals and train/re-train some things to have clearer options on the course with her. I had given up some of my verbals (turn towards me & tunnel threadle) because I had gotten some feedback that confused me. But then when I didn’t have those verbals anymore, things fell apart and I just started yelling “here” to get her attention. So not really helpful for Frankie. I have only trained a very old-style threadle that really only works on two jumps right next to each other. Basically it is lap turn move with the verbal of “threadle” Not very effective or what we see on course now. The MaxPup class has been so great, I have learned so much. I’m going to train the threadle formally now so that it is clear to her. I really, really would like to work with you in a handling class! I have been learning so much & love your techniques and training philosophy.
We are going to work on Week 3 next!!
OMG your feedback had so many gems I just want to quote the whole thing! Thank you!
2 definites that I will quote are:>>2 ideas for you –
for the jump, you can mark and throw the reward soon: the instant she decides to begin moving to the jump, mark & throw. But mark with “get it” because if you say “yes”, she will probably turn around and face you
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Thank you for this – it makes sense!>>
And if she has an error, call her back immediately to reset, before she completes the obstacle: think of it as instant feedback.
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I needed this! I was concentrating on keeping her successful and confident, but no feedback t all is confusing. I will try this.I will rewatch the videos and try the blinds again to work on my timing. Also thanks for the nudge to keep moving, I was focusing so hard on verbals only, I missed the nuance that some of the exercises are about the movement too.
We did the Handling Challenge 4 today. I may have made the setup a little wonky to fit it in my space. I had to really swoop-send her to the wing so I could get into position to drive in between the jump & the tunnel.
Thank you!!!
Verbals only (standing)
We are working on the verbal-only sends. We warmed up with these this morning. I stood in front of each obstacle and she is getting it. I tried going to the middle and she did ok, there were some misses.
Verbals around the clock
We tried this again yesterday & I did not hit record. She did a really good job though. She was too tired to do another round, so we re-did it today. I moved the wing into each position pretty quickly today – quicker than I would have if we didn’t do it yesterday.
I used more motion and am really working on looking at her & setting the line to the tunnel with my feet & chest for the tunnel sends. I think it is helping. I noticed she was distracted & looking at the toy in my hand, so I hid it again. I’m also trying to keep the “jump” verbal low & quieter and the “tunnel” verbal loud & projected.
I’m thinking about what I say at a trial and I only say “jump” once when she reaches the takeoff point before a jump (ideally if my timing is right). I’m thinking about adding in “jump,jump,jump” when there is a discrimination challenge present – what do you think?
I’m adding on our afternoon session – we did the Handling Challenge 3.
She got the threadles! I just faked it like we have trained it with the “close” verbal & cues we are training in the puppy class & she got it! We have not trained a threadle wrap & I need to learn how to train that but we tried it using a lap turn-ish move.
>>You can also teach her a behind-the-back start where she slingshots behind you at a run – SUPER FUN! I have video of that somewhere if you want to see it.>>
I would love to see that!Thanks for the advice on the start lines! It helps to know we can build it as our connection/skills build.
I’m excited for the next class & we’ll keep working on the games from this class until then.>>I don’t know when it will be aired, but I will definitely share the date/time. >>
Yes! Please!!!>>You can also try this with an ice cream cone – vanilla ice cream, so if you drop it then she can eat it LOL!>>
Depending on how hot it is, we may race each other to the dropped cone!I’ll try the verbals while I am standing again and see how it goes. I’m starting to think a quieter “jump” with a louder “tunnel” verbal helps her.
We tried the Verbals around the Clock – just the first position – today. Some wins and some misses but she was INTO it. She loves her toy! 🙂 Also I was waaaaayyyyy to pointy.
>>(And if you are anywhere near Ocala this weekend, come by the WEC, we will be there helping with the ESPN Flyball Invitational!!)>>
That sounds SO FUN!!!! I hope you had a blast! Do you know when the Flyball Invitational will be aired!? I love WEC! Any time we trial anywhere in Ocala we take a trip there with the dogs & have dinner.
We tried the verbals only with the MM and it was hard again for her. When I went to edit the video, I realized I only took a picture & didn’t get any 😞 I’m so bummed because I’m not sure what to try next. She was motivated to move away from me but we did not have a good success rate at choosing the correct obstacle. I stood up a few times and that seemed to make it easier for her. She did better from a standing position. I put her in a neutral position between my feet.
She was funny in this session, when she took the jump incorrectly and didn’t hear the MM beep, she detoured into the exit end of the tunnel, like “I got it!” So I think she is understanding that it is 1 or the other but not associating the verbals?ok – Calm Your Hands with a Drink! I did it. It REALLY made me change the way I was running/moving. I am going to keep this in rotation in hopes that it helps me have good body language & connection. I have always bent over too much & my pointiness needs to be stopped! HAHA!!!! Thanks for this!!!
We tried it with the Combos sequences!
Hi Tracy!
I have a question about start lines & I’d love your opinion on this. Do I need to use a sit? Do you have a verbal like “Wait”?
I have been using “wait” for the verbal but I’m rethinking how to train it for Bazinga. Frankie has some fears (I think she is afraid of big dogs) that we have been working on and they really manifest at the start line. When it gets bad, she shuts down, so I recently stopped putting her in a sit (I gave up on the start line stay all together for a while until she got some confidence back). It really seemed to help to let her stand at the start. I’m not releasing from far away with F (just a few steps) but it is working for her. Bazinga is a different personality, but I want to create a routine that works for her. I’m looking for good ideas on how to give her a great start-line experience. Some routine just for her. I know some people play with their dogs, some people set the dogs up between their legs… just looking for ideas! I’m afraid my hyper-focus on supporting Frankie is making me blind to the possibilities.We worked on some of the games we haven’t tried yet.
Handling Concept – Simple Decel (Week 12)
Prop Game: Get Out Cue (Week 6)
I warmed up with some targets on the prop to refresh the value for it before we started.
Thanks for your feedback! We are going to keep working so we are ready for the next class!
