[Kathy McClung]

HI Tracy!
Thank you for the weave advice & video! I will try adding the wing for the soft-sided entries.

She got her 6 weave poles yesterday! Here is a shameless 14 second clip!!! <grin>
I’m putting together a montage video from day 1 that I’ll post on FB.

This was the first time I’ve seen her be “careful” in the weaves (or anything else – ha). So I think it was hard and I think she was concentrating on her striding. I see some “2-steps” in the first rep and then she seemed to work it out and got her hop stride going. She was still being subdued though. I hope the next session has her usual joyful exuberance!

Back to MP4!!!!

> I might be down there for a full month so fingers crossed we can find something for the Baby Boston and Baby Whippet Trial Tour LOL!>

That would be so fun! Keep me posted! Thanks for the dates. I’m looking at the CPE trial in Jacksonville in January (10-12). It is only a few hours from me. I know Gill Chapman & she is the trial chair so I’ll know someone there.

We did Sequence 1 of the Adding Complexity sequences. I back chained the threadle to refresh it. I think we need to work on longer sequences of obstacles so we tried a revised course since we don’t have enough room for the full set up. We are not getting all the obstacles. Here are the videos.

Threadles

Sequence

Thanks so much!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!
>>
Ha! I just typed how impressed I was then I read this. It is indeed impressive and I love love love that she seems to thrive in the ring when there is pressure. Biggest happy dance!!>>

THANK YOU!!! I am just so excited about playing with her!!!

Florida Trials!!!!! OMG – super fun!!!!!!!
I can make the USDAA trial mid January! What days are you going? I can do Sat & Sun for sure and can even see if I can get Friday off.

>>How are your weaves coming along? If she is doing well, you can do some FEO runs to reward the weaves.>>

We are close! It is interesting, the one entry that is hard for her is the “easy” entry of 11 oclock for on-side weaves.

We are working on closing poles 5 & 6 with the 2x2s! I’m going to do a session today & see how she does. She was progressing smoothly, but our last session she had some misses. I think the shadows on the grass that day may have been messing with her. I ended the session quickly & let her sleep on it over the weekend. I’m curious to see how she does next session later today!

We haven’t done any obstacle/wing to weaves or weaves to an obstacle yet and I’m still using the MM so we may not be quite ready to try them in the ring but I will start working on those pieces.

Could I ask some questions about the weaves progression?

What we are doing: We have been doing the 2×2 (I switched over to 2x2s from doing both tracks to step 3. She was having trouble with the entry on the channels at that time and was doing much better with the 2x2s.

When we go to the next step of the 2x2s – 6 poles & add 4 poles, is it ok if I use my regular (non-2×2) 6 weaves for poles 1-6 and use the 2x2s for poles 7, 8, 9, 10? I only have 1 set of 2x2s. If I do use the regular weaves for poles 1-6, I’ll give her a session or 2 of 6 poles only on the new weaves so she is familar with them.

Also, I need to go back and do some of the ‘Find Em lessons. When I do, should I make the weaves easier & angle to 2x2s to match the lessons or should I stay where we are now with the weaves & add in those challenges?

Is there an advantage to try again with the channels and see if I can work both track simultaneously again?

We tried the Releases with Volume Dial & All Business. I think she’s going to be a combo. Volume Dial on the way in the ring (it’s fun and it doesn’t seem to put her over the top) and All Business at the startline.
What do you think?
Sorry about the video quality. I really tried to be a better cinematographer for this video but sun-flare foiled my plans!

Thanks so much for the feedback! I can’t wait to see how her private lesson goes tomorrow.

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!

Glad you got back safe! We took a couple days off but have been playing line up games in the house.

Here is our FEO run from this past weekend again. I published to YouTube so it is better resolution. She was really amped to run and I was glad she came back to me after running past the 3rd jump.

I was impressed with her ability to tune out all the people in the ring at the start line!

I got some feedback that in the 2nd half she was looking at the toy and that was why she ran past some jumps. I wasn’t worried about that since I did, indeed, have a toy in my hand. <grin> Maybe I should put it away again after we play so we can re-engage & do more obstacles. What do you think?

What should be our next step from here?

I signed her up for a private agility session next week. It is a new location to both of us but my thoughts were to set up the remote reinforcement pattern game and do some obstacles & “let’s go!” back to the RR. Maybe I can increase the number of obstacles & ping pong to an easy rep & see how she does.

Our next trial isn’t until Jan 25 & 26. I entered her in 1 run each day. So far we have only done 1 run in a weekend. This trial is like private agility! It is indoors, on turf, 1 ring. The ring is a room with 3 walls and the front area has gating. They only allow 3 dogs into the room to line up. (Frankie loves it there!)
It will be her first time in the ring indoors & on turf, but she has been here a lot and has used the practice jump in the building.

We are coming to your Ring Ready Seminar on Jan 30th in Brooksville!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!
>Good job keeping calm! I am not sure if you wee quite ready or not, but you just went in and did great. Yay!>

Thanks! I signed her up for FEO in Premier Jumpers because I didn’t want to expose her to the noise of the FAST scores being called out. I thought I was being brilliant, but there were only four 8 inchers and like three 12 inchers and Bazinga was an 8 and Frankie was a 12! Not great planning. Hahaha! The judge was super nice and we just handed dogs to each other but I was making sure I payed attention to Bazinga & she didn’t get shuffled around. I was hovering pretty close to the ring so I was ok with the timing. I’m that friend in the group who needs a “handler” hahaha my friends are awesome!

We are only entered in 1 class this weekend on Saturday. Hopefully it will be a good course to try starting at the startline & doing some more obstacles before bringing the toy out.

>There are a bunch of young-dog friendly USDAA trials in Florida over the winter, and starters jumpers is jumps & tunnels only. And the runs are cheap! LOL!! Something to consider 🙂 I will be in FL over the winter so I will go with you if there is one that fits the calendar.
>
OOOOOOOO! I would LOVE that if we could find one!!! Do you have any suggested dates/trials?

We did another RR session & we did a sequence. Oh boy, she sure knew right where to go at the end of the sequence! LOL I will need to do a contrast session where we turn back into the course and not go directly to the bowl.

I only uploaded the beginning of the session because it was long. I took some time tugging with the slip-leash & putting it on & off with her. We have more work to do but she was letting me put it on more easily & also throw it (wow!). The thing is, when I put it on her & she tugs, she shakes herself right out of the leash!!!
I have to say, both her & Frankie really love this game and I can see how it will help them feel confident that they can go into the ring & run a course without feeling like they are “missing” their reinforcer. I’m really blown away by how powerful this is.

And LOL – thanks for the advice about words & context! That put things into perspective 🙂

Thanks for watching!
Kathy

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!

Thanks for watching Bazinga’s FEO run this weekend!! I was happy that she was comfortable in that environment. I posted her video here to share if anyone else wants to see. We have an outdoor, 1 ring trial on grass this weekend. We are there fri, sat & sun. She is entered on Saturday for FEO.

We did another session of the remote reinforcement power pattern game. I included leashes at both stations and also tried some throwing of the leash. She was a little too amped to do the tugging successfully, so I avoided that for this session.
This was my system for this session: When we were at the jump, after she engaged, I was saying “lets’ go” and going to the bowl & putting a treat in the bowl, leashing her up & putting a second treat in the bowl. Then I waited for her to re-engage before running back to the jump. Is that a good flow?
Should I work towards putting the leash on & then putting one treat in the bowl?

Also, can I never say “let’s go” in other contexts in life? I notice that I say it often around the house. Let’s go get dinner, let’s go back to work, let’s go potty…

Thanks for the feedback!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!

>>I will get you some good shopping links
super thank you!!! Bazinga needs some cool kid stuff! 🙂

We mostly beenw orking on games. I started her on the between the legs lineup game. She thinks it is really fun because I throw the treat. I’ll get video of it next.

We did our first session of the Remote Reinforcement Power Pattern. I only used the leash once and then we did a back & forth. To really replicate the AKC experience, I think I need to start with leash on, go to the jump, remove the leash, engage (take the jump when we get to that point) then I think you mentioned that we can add a verbal for getting the leash before the “let’s go” to get the remote reinforcement. Should I do that every time, or just some of the time to keep it simple & fun in the beginning?

We did another session of leash off, engagement on! I had the treats in my pockets instead of my hands. Please fast forward though – there is lots of in between play. I was working on her cooperating happily to put the slip leash on. I have a question here too. She was stiffening when I was clipping on the leash. Can I give her a treat after I clip the leash on for this game?
So like this: clip leash on, treat, walk to our spot, leash off, engage & play/treat.

We have a trial this weekend. It is a busier location with 2 alternating rings under cover at an equestrian center on dirt. She has been there several times as a spectator and has used the practice jump there. I’ll be there with her Friday & she is entered for Saturday morning so I can get a feel for how she is feeling about the place and take her some some long sniffy walkson Friday to get used to it. If she seems up for it, I’ll keep it very simple. Do you think I should keep the toy visible?
I can put the bowls outside the ring even though we just got started with the power pattern.

Thanks so much!

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

[Kathy McClung]

Hi! Thanks for the feedback about the Leash Off game. I’ll keep going!
>>
And you can definitely do the sequences that use this (with the balance reps of NOT driving ahead on a couple of them :))

We’ll do another session of the driving ahead sequence and include the contrast sequences for sure – thanks for reminding me! Otherwise, I’ll be looking at nothing but butt running away down the line! Hahaha
I’ll move the toy out to give her more room too.

LEASHES
>>Yes – and also let her get used to you clipping it on her collar, in case she doesn’t love putting her head into it. You can have a slip leash on one end with a clip on the other 🙂

I’m going to need your sources, please <grin> Time to shop!

Here is a Find My Face session. Do you think we are ready to bring it to the agility field?

We revisited the Opening sequences to see if we could connect better. We did sequence 1 & 2. She did really good on sequence 2. We had some trouble with the lateral lead out on sequence 1. I left the in-between stuff so you can see our startlines, but fast forward while I watch her eat her treats!

Sequence 1

Sequence 2

Thanks so much!!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi!

Here is a session of Leash off, engagement on! I think she was pretty attentive after the leash came off. I had cookies in my hands for this one.

We tried the Driving Ahead sequence again and we did much better. She was into it! I left the in-between stuff so fast forward as needed! ☺

For the End of the Run toolbox I’m trying to decide on the best option for us. I love the leash & get it game but in AKC the leash runners tend to put the leash in a chair or sometimes in a bucket so it can be unpredictable. I still want her to play with the leash when we come in & after the run but I’m thinking that I’d like ot teach her to put her head thru the leash as I hold it. I use a clip leash now, but I can switch to the slip on lead for Bazinga. If I make it a great game and she’ll run to me & pop her head through, that would be great. What do you think? Is it compelling enough?
I’m kind of tempted to teach her to jump up on me. I did that with Frankie but she tweaked something doing it once and never wanted to do it again. I think Bazinga is much more of a I JUMP ON YOU spirit, so I think she’d love it.

Thanks for the feedback!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Thanks for the feedback on the driving ahead! I’ll try another session and see how we do.

Thanks for the tips on fading out the MM!!! Also – thanks for the video of the toy play. That was a good reminder of training the out!

Warm ups: I will add the dynamic puppy stretches in! I used to do the hip one, I’ll add them all back in. It’s good to hear they are recommended by your PT! Thanks!

Remote reinforcement:
>>I don’t think you need to separate it (plus there are not that many hours in the day to separate it and train things LOL!). Let me know if you are seeing any stress or questions, but I am guessing she is doing really well with the different skills.

LOL at not enough hours in the day!!! SOOOO TRUE! I don’t think she has any questions and she does for sure know I have treats in my pocket because she is all eyes watching me load them up. Ok – thanks. I’ll keep doing what we are doing.

I did a little remote reinforcement & then FEO with the toy in my pocket at agility league tonight. I felt a little rushed with the remote reinforcememtn because I didn’t really set up a good spot to put her treats but she payed good attention. The treat holder fell at one point and she tried to dart thought the gate to get it. It was off camera. She wasn’t phased at me keeping her inside the gate though. My friend tried to video while he held his puppy but captured a lot. I tried sending her to an unrealisticly far jump but we just kept going and celebrated what she did do = which was a lot!!! She also accidentally jumped 12 inches for 2 jumps! Bad mama!!!

Thank you!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi!
I hope the rest of your travel is happy, safe & uneventful!

Thanks so much for the lineup game videos. OMG Plot Twist!!!!

>>One suggestion: You can set her up on a slice angle for jump one and release her with a wrap verbal, so she jumps in collection. She dropped the bar on the first rep because she might have thought she was going straight and tried to adjust in the air.

Thank you! I totally should have done that!

We worked on the Driving Ahead exercises. I didn’t use the Manners Minder (even though it is her fave motivator) to keep her focused on toys. I used a placed lotus ball wth treats. I need to start fading the MM out of our weave training (we are on 4 2x2s and just added poles 5&6. I think I waited too long to start to fade it, but she is so motivated by the MM).

I think my mechanics were not the greatest in this session because I just sent her instead of running with her but letting her get ahead. She wasn’t sure what to do after jump 1. We both started getting the idea by the end. She didn’t blame me for being lame!

I also did some leash play with her. She is tugging so wildly she is taking off her own leash! There is a leash session video & some leash play ahad of our Driving Ahead session. Hysterically, I think I need a sports bra for tugging! Bwahahaha!
I really do need to make some progress on her “out”. There is a tiny bit of progress, but she needs to know that I have treats to be reliable.

Driving Ahead session with leash games at the beginning:

Leash games:

Remote reinforcement game question:
I have been playing the game indoors and yesterday moved it into the yard where we practice. Is it muddying the picture if I play the “Let’s go” game in the yard, but then after we do 5-6 reps, I put treats in my pockets to then go do sequences?
I’m thinking that may be un-doing what we just did.
Should I separate the game from practice for now and then I am anticipating that we will be progressing the game to longer & longer sequences before returning for treats.

Warm ups:
How often do you warm up your dogs at a trial? I have been doing a warm-up before every run since sometimes we have hours between runs.

Our usual routine is that we take a potty walk and I get her to trot a little to loosen up. We do some warm up exercises inside (sit/stand, down/stand, shake front paws/high fives, tall stetches, spins, side steps). Then we do action ganms while we wait our turn.

Thanks for your help!!!

• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by Kathy McClung.
• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by Kathy McClung.

[Kathy McClung]

Hi!
Thanks for ALLLLLL the great feedback.

Engaged chill – I’ll try the 2 snuffle mats & slowing down the game. I’m not sure I can use a licky mat with her food restrictions but I’ll keep that in mind in case I can figure out a way to make that work. I could do it at home with blended kibble mush, but it would be tough on the road.

Shuld I be trying the decompression after training sessions at home?

>>When is her next adventure in the ring at a trial?
If I didn’t send my entry too late, November 30th
If I did send it too late, Dec 7th

>>
So try this: as she exits the pinwheel jump and is heading to the jump before the tunnel, give her a turn cue for that jump before starting the threadle cue. It can be a ‘left’ verbal if you think that is powerful in the face of a yummy tunnel straight out ahead. Or it can be her name (“BAZINGA MARIE!”) to get her attention. That can help let her know that there is a turn cue coming all before she takes off for the jump.

>> She had a little trouble with the pinwheel jump (those are hard for her!) so you can randomly throw a reward out past it when she takes it to keep the value high. And you can revisit the lazy game to be able to toss rewards for it, so she takes it without requiring perfection in the handling. I thought your handling was good there, so putting more value on the pinwheel jump will really help.

Bazinga Marie made me laugh!! LOL
I tried these last night & this morning. She was fabulous!!!
I really noticed a difference in her commitment on the pinwheel today after sleeping on the lazy game last night.

I swear she is listening to your videos! Yesterday on our walk and before we started the Lazy game, she decided she loves tugging on the leash! I’m going to keep going with it so we can use it as a forever toy when we go into the ring but I am terrified about teaching her the impulse control needed for this activity!

Video 1 – last night with the lazy game. The video cut off early. She had some successful reps in this session.

Video 2 – this morning! YAY!

Thanks for watching!
One more question. What are some ideas to train a lineup so I can position her happily? Maybe the sit between the legs as part of her action tricks?

Thanks again!!!

• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by Kathy McClung.

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!

Thanks for sharing our first FEO run with us!!! It was a blast & she had fun. As gung-ho as she was, she was very happy to spend that evening & Monday on the couch with me after her big day. I feel like she was extra cuddley and smiling in her sleep. I did hide the toy and I realize now I probably wasn’t supposed to, but I run like that at home to doscourage her from jumping up & grabbing it.

We did a session of the tunnel discrimination sequence 1 this morning for something fun. Here is our video. We got the threadle the first time only but she was FAST!

This is a lot of questions – thanks in advance & sorry!
I’m going back over the package 2 & package 3 games and making a plan of the games to play & how to progress them. I may be back with questions.

I loved that you said in the zoom chat about decompression that there is the active decompression (like shredding) and the calming decompression (like chewing or a snuffle mat). Do you need to determine which kind your dog needs or do they need both? It seems like sctive decompression like shredding lets them get their energy out so they can relax after & a snuffle mat would encourage them to focus & calm down.

I have been thinking about Bazinga these are my ideas:
Calm Decompression:
frozen kong
licky mat
topple with kibble
snuffle mat? Maybe. I have not tried this yet but scatters in the grass make her focus on getting the treats
long walks away from the busy area at a trial?
beach walks – scheduled decompression

Active decompression:
Kill the towel (she loves to steal laundry)
Tug where she can kill the toy ($$$$)
Shred something? I’m thinking I can save paper towel rolls and put kibble inside & roll the ends & let her shred them. I have to WATCH her because of her histoy of eating stuff. I haven’t let her shred cardboard for that reason, but I bet she would LOVE it.
Would fetch at the trial site count?

I’m thinking about this question: Is Bazinga Volume dial or business?
As crazy as I feel typing this, I think she is all business. The look she gives me when we do a start line stay, is very serious. She really seems to take that part seriosuly. But she seems to be able to handle all the action tricks and still stay focused when we play them at the start line.

Engaged chill.
I REALLY need to learn how to encourage this. We do not have this skill. It is either 100% attention on each other or she is looking for crumbs. She snaps out of the crumb search when it is time to play, but some engaged chill would be better. I’m not sure what to cultivate as engaged chill. I love Electra with her paws up on you. Can I shape that with treats & slow the treats down?

Thank you for the advice!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Good morning!

>>See how she feels about the trial site. And see if she is interested in any toy there. And then decide 🙂 you can always do a quick zip in and out with the toy, even if it is not her total favorite thing yet 🙂

She seemed pretty comfortable at the trial site today. We played at the practice jump and she was engaged & really, really liked playing with the toy. I’m still working on a reliable “out” so we’ll see how that goes in the ring! There may just be 1 play session – lol. We walked around the grounds and all around the ring a few times today so hopefully that will seem familiar & boring tomorrow.

I think I’m going to put her leash in my pocket when we start so I can leash her up and let her walk out on her own 4 feets at the end and I don’t have to pick her up. I hadn’t really thought about that yet. When I take her to League, I throw the leash on the ground and that is where we end so I can grab it & leash her while she has the toy. I think if I do that, the leash runner may try & come get the leash, so I’ll pocket it like a hoarder.

Friday evening we practiced Sequence 1 of the mid-course sequences again. We did the BC and the RC! I think we had better connection. I built the course a little wonky to fit it and the tunnel was offset. I had some trouble pushing her out to it. The video is long but I left our play sessions in between each attempt so you can see what it is like. It was much lighter outside in reality than it looks on the video. Sorry it came out so dark.

I’ll keep you posted tomorrow and will send video!!!
Thanks for all the encouragement!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi! Whoa it was a crazy trip and we didn’t get to do a lot of sequence work but we had 3 days this past weekend with a lot of opportunities at the trial to do pattern games (up and down & find my face) and we also played at the practice jump and did the volume dial game there. We walked around the rings and played pattern games there as well.

Frankie thought this location (indoor on dirt with 2 rings) was very distracting, so I was pleased with Bazinga’s response to it.

We are home now and this weekend we have a 1 ring trial that is outdoors that I signed her up for FEO on Sunday (day 2) of the trial. The date arrived so fast! EEEEEKKKKKK!
Should I do it!?
She’ll have a chance to get comfy at the location on Saturday and I can do some practice jump games & pattern games to let her get acclimated. My plan is to (no startline) take off her leash, do a little volume dial and just run with her over a few jumps & play play play. Hopefully the course has the tunnel positioned where we can get to it too. I have new fur bungee toys that are scheduled to arrive tonight for her. Should I surprise her with it in the ring or let her see the toys ahead of time so I know she likes them?

Here is Bazinga practicing Remote reinforcement. This is the first official session. If I’m doing it right, I’ll try and do more sessions before Sunday and move it outdoors and to the trial site on Saturday.

If it is ok, I have a question about using Reward Prection Errors to get a dopamine spike. I’m wondering if I am applying the theory correctly with Frankie. Can the surprise be the TYPE of treat?
Frankie is currently on a special diet so all her treats are her kibble (my poor dogs they are both on just kibble – boo) She is a good sport about it and I give her kibble as treats and do action tricks at the gate when it is our turn. I do a lot of “are you ready” & touching the gate & treating to amp her up. As soon as we walk through the gate is when I see her “mute” and start her shut down. (we are doing an FEO run a day to keep her motivated and she loves that). So, this weekend, I decided the surprise her with a different treat as the very last treat as I opened the gate to enter the ring (run 1 was sweet potato fry, run 2 was a ball of vanilla cake) I could see by her expression she was surprised. Do you think if I always give her a different, awesome treat before we go in the ring that it may help her want to go in the ring?

Thanks for all the help!!!
We are going to set up some sequences later.

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!
Thanks for the feedback and pics. It helped to see how “tiny” I felt the disconnect was but that it mattered. I’m starting to get the “feel” of the connection with her again and am loving the sequence work.

We have been traveling so I missed the zoom call. I’m going to watch tonight.

We got a chance to do FEO at a new location and she had fun. I didn’t get video though.

We set up the first “middle of the course” sequence today at a friend’s house. I think she did well. I made a mistake & forgot the BC and i got on her line. She was ok though. I joked for drama.

We are at a trial this weekend so we can work the pattern games.

Thanks!!!

• This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by Kathy McClung.
• This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by Kathy McClung.

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