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Frankie is feeling better, but she had a tough week. Poor girlie! She is currently mad because she can’t play until she gets her stitches out in 2 days. But that is a good sign 🙂
I borrowed a set of channel weaves!!! I love agility peeps – they are the best!
Do I do the 2×2 track lesson 1 one day (like Saturday) and then on Tuesday do the Channels track lesson 1? And switch back and forth between the tracks as they progress? So, do different tracks on different days but work through both at the same time?Thank you for the great feedback on the connection on our last session. I feel like a chump for not rewarding her. We’ll circle back to that one and give it another try.
We worked on the teeter and added the release word. She got that right away for the first few reps and then got confused & froze in the down position when I gave the release. I gave her a chance to break out of it & then I threw the treat to the bowl, so that I didn’t move. Not sure if it was the right thing to do. On one rep she didn’t let me hold her & jumped up on the teeter and I froze and didn’t treat her and I can see that it messed with her confidence. She hit the target perfectly. I wish I had rewarded her.
We did the first session of the Concept Transfer Decel game. She had fun! She liked the return of the turn & burn!!
Thanks for watching & for always having such great feedback & ideas!!!
Hi Tracy!
Trying to get it together after a crazy week. Frankie had a dental and a bump removed Wednesday and got sick with HGE Friday night. Fingers crossed she’s feeling better. She had to spend an overnight for IV fluids. She’s home now <3
Bazinga helped keep me busy today and we played a bit.
We did another session of the bang game and moved the bowl further away.
We did the very beginning of Lead outs 3. I was terrible at keeping connection. I can see it when I watch the video but couldn’t see it when it was happening.
I feel like my yard is a teeny bit small for the setup and I’m squishing it and making it awkward. Or maybe I just need to work on my connection! 😉😆
Thanks for watching!!
Hi Tracy!
Thanks so much for the advice about starting FEO. I’m going to hold off on FEO and just let her do the tunnels fun run.>>I am not a believer in a crate-to-ring routine because the environment is way to fluid to have a routine. And if the environment changes and you can’t do the routine? We don’t want the dog to stress. I am a big fan of having a toolbox of things to use to support the dogs, because we know the environment is always different and always changing. It is much easier to be able to help the dogs that way
THIS ^^ This right here is why I need to cool my jets and take MaxPup4!!
Also what you said about Seminars and classes allowing me to use food made so much sense! A much easier transition for her!We took a few days off & went to trial with Frankie.
We started back today and did our first session of the Forced Front Cross and Forced Threadles.
I have some questions about the Weaves course. I hope it is ok to ask here. Can I do the 2×2 track with 3 sets of 2x2s and a set of 6 weave poles? I have 3 sets of 2x2s )making 6 weaves) and then a full set of weaves (2 sets of 6 poles). Do I need a full set of 2x2s (making 12 weaves)?
Is it best to do both tracks? Maybe I can see if I can borrow a set of channels for a few months?
One last thing I just wanted to let you know that the image examples that show the filled-out field guides are not loading on the intro pages.Thanks for everything!!!
Hi Tracy!
Thanks for the feedback on the mat & the details on how to progress – great details! I’ll get a board to put under it next.We were soggy today after a big storm so we did the teeter session with the bowl added. I feel like she was still looking over at at me. I couldn’t get the treat delivered fast enough. What do you think?
I have a some questions about next steps. You can tell me if I am getting ahead of myself or if I’m being unrealistic 😊
Question 1 – Weaves
Can we start learning the weaves along with this MaxPup class or do you think it will be too much? I signed up for your independent study weaves class but if you are going to offer a video class, I’d LOVE to do that! You have such a good eye and I feel like you see things that I don’t.Question 2 – FEO
I definitely plan on taking MaxPup4 to give her the best foundation to be ring ready. I am super excited about that. With Frankie having shut-down issues in the trial environment, I really want to give Bazinga the right start. I know she is a different dog & personality, but I still want to give her the best foundation & introduction to trialing. That said, we have a few events I was considering doing FEO with her in May but I wanted to see if you think it is a good idea or if it is better to wait until we take MaxPup4. I am having ssecond thoughts about the FEO plans, but I think the tunnels fun match might be a safe bet. Can you let me know what you think? Here are the details:There is a trial in May that the location/setup most matches our practice location (yard). It is 1 ring, on grass, no cover. It is a fairly small trial. She has been at this location before and we have used the practice jump there. I was thinking of doing 1 FEO class and just doing maybe 2 jumps and tug & get out. Keep it easy & successful. I thought this would be the best place to introduce her to the ring one day, but I want to get her crate-to-ring routine more established before the trial. If I don’t have that ready, I think I should hold off.
The other trial is our Boston Terrier Nationals. It is here in FL and they have a tunnels only fun match. Just all tunnels & fun. It is indoors and on mats. She has been in the building but only once.
I could also do an FEO run this trial too if she is feeling comfortable. Just 1 or 2 jumps with a toy.
BUt again, I’m just not sure.I really need to get her in a group class so that she has more experience at other locations. I have been making the most of the trials that I bring her to. We use the practice jump at all the trials we go to and I have been asking friends to stand near the jump or walk near the jump like a judge would do, and she does not seem to care about them. So that is a start.
Thanks for the advice!!!
Hi Tracy! Thanks for the feedback about the lead out games. Thanks for the plan! Now I just have to make my body & face do it. We’ll give it another try with adjustments and some mama-only run throughs.
We did a session with the running contact foundation mat & no leaping. I hope I started correctly. We have not worked on the mat touch in a while and we have been working on the teeter & target and I also just started teaching her to settle on a bed/mat so I thought I needed to refresh the concept of hitting the mat with her paws a little.
She was not that leapy in this session, so I got lucky & was able to click when she touched the mat. I’m not completely sure there was a lot of value for the mat or if she was just running to the MM. I only treated in 1 direction and held & released her from the other side. I hope this is an ok way to start? I am thinking the next session I click when I see all 4 feet on the ground after the mat? I see Hot Sauce had a tiny pause after the mat. Was that just shaped by careful clicking? What would the criteria be for a non-click (besides a leap)? I was not clicking when she did not get all 4 paws on the mat in this session (or if she busted away from me before I let her go)
Thanks for the help!Good morning! The universe needs way more puppy footage…just sayin’…😁
Thank you for the detailed & great answer on the Threadle Wrap & Tandem Turn – that really helped solidify it in my head. I have a hard time with body movements and really need to move through them & get them in my head and that helped a lot!
We did another session of the Zig Zag game with 4 ft bars instead of 5ft. I may try the weave poles next but she did good on this session.
We tried the first 2 lead out games – baby levels. We had some trouble with bypassing jumps. I’m pretty sure it is because I am not reconnecting fast enough and she needs more connection. What do you think? I was pretty excited she was getting the Blinds on the takeoff & landing side though!!!
Lead Outs and Big Lines 1: Sequence 1 & 2
Lead Outs and Big Lines 2:
Thanks so much!!!
Twisty!!!! It has noodle vibes! PT! PeeeeeTeeeee!
I love him already!❤️
I am still giggling at Elektra being the Angry Hummingbird!Teeter behavior:
Maybe I should teach her to do a scratchboard while I’m at it so she has that skill too? I’ve seen some videos on how to train it. Then transfer the target to the teeter before I fade it out with the scratchboard?Thank you for the advice about the plank & Hot Sauce’s video! I can finally use the contact mat I bought a few weeks ago and try that ☺ Boingzina needs some lessons.
Apologies ahead of time…I have a question about tandem turns & the verbals:
>> So adding more lateral distance and rewards from your hands can help set them up. We can also call her before she gets into the tunnel, and add the threadle wrap verbal which will help discriminate!Tandem turns, lap turns, threadle wraps, backside wraps (and even the tunnel threadles since I never really was successful training it before). I am super excited about these moves, but they are new to me and I have never used them on an actual course. I’m trying to figure out how to think about them so that when I am walking a course, I can see where/if they would be appropriate or the best move. So my specific question is – does the tandem turn move morph into Threadle Wraps? Or will the Tandem Turn be it’s own move (where we both turn together & go in the new direction together) and the Threadle Wrap will also be it’s own move where she comes in to me & takes the jump from the other side, wraps the wing and I keep going & she completes the wrap & follows me? But they are related like the Tandem turn is the basis for the Threadle wrap? I’m sorry if I am overthinking it!
My bigger question is what is the best way (other than putting it to use) to figure out when these moves are best? Is there a general “guideline” for each one? Like Rear Cross = when the dog is ahead and you need to make & turn & change sides? Thank you for the help!We took a break from the Wingin’ It games today and did the Zig Zag game & the teeter side approach.
Zig Zag Game:
I may need to make it smaller. Would I need a shorter bar?
Teeter approach from the side:
Thanks for watching!
>>Good morning from lovely Florida!!
Yay!!! Where in Florida are you? We are in the Panhandle in Carrabelle (south of Tallahassee)
Huge Puppy Congrats!!! THEY ARE SO CUUUUUUUTE!!!!! I can not wait to hear his/her name! You are a naming goddess!!!>>I almost snorted coffee out my nose on the first rep of the first video hen she smacked the crate with typical Bazinga emphasis LOL!!
Hahahahaha! She needs a warning label!
Thank you for the great feedback!Teeter Games
>>The other thing I like to do with a 4on and small dogs is to teach them to dig at the target. That gives them something fun to do while waiting the decades it takes for the board to drop, and it keeps their weight back. Does she like to dig at all?
I haven’t worked on that with her but I can try it. I actually think she may not have that much drop time on the teeter if she gets to the end. She is 13 pounds. She probably should be 12 but her vet likes this weight while she is still weaning off her meds. I think she’s a little “chonky” lol. How much does Elektra weigh?>>You can use the target at the top of the mountain climber game and see how she feels about being that high off the ground and getting into position – that is probably what will happen when she is doing the full teeter!
We did the Mountain Climber again and I rewarded for her touching the target & crouching or laying down. She started to get the hang of it on the high teeter.
We did a session of wingin it – turn aways: lap turns & tandem turns.
We worked on the Serpentines again. I was even able to straighten the jumps a bit. I’ve got to do it from the other side now.
We did another session of Tunnel Threadles and Tandem Turns. She was doing great the with figure 8s but once I changed to the soft turns (left and right) we had trouble. She was coming to the inside of the wing. I was trying to stay connected but we struggled. What is interesting is that we took a short break after that session and did a session of the Wingin’ It Tight Blinds to Wraps and she had no problem getting the wing for the blinds – with no verbals. I must be doing something weird to throw her off with the turns? Here are both videos:
Tunnel Threadles and Tandem Turns:
Wingin’ It Tight Blinds to Wraps:
Contacts Foundations: Plank Confidence
I haven’t had her on the plank in a while, and when we left off you suggested raising it a tiny bit to see if it helps her keep her feet on the board. This session went a little off the rails when I tried to add the curved lines. I borrowed a second Manners Minder and maybe it was too stimulating to have two going at once!
Thank you so much!!!!
Hi Tracy!
I saved these until you were back online so there are a few!We did 2 more sessions of the tunnel discrimination with a different crate. It has A LOT of value. I tried to keep them easy & short. I put a harness on her and I think that added some “stuff” for her too (not bad, just new) I think the 3rd session showed some improvement. I changed the way I was saying “crate” to be more like my “jump” verbal and less loud & fast like my tunnel verbal.
Session 2: added a harness here to help line her up
Session 3:
Wingin’ It: Tunnel Threadles & Tandem turns
I have a question about the collection cue you mentioned. We haven’t trained a collection cue yet. How would I introduce that? Is it something like “whoa” or “easy” for the verbal with a decel body language?
I did the session and used my wrap verbals and tunnel threadle verbal “kiss,kss”.
When we got to the figure 8s, I kept front crossing and getting on the wrong side for the threadle. I hope I didn’t mess her up too much. I stopped when I realized that I was messing up and worked through it without her. My brain. It is special!
We did another session of the bang it game on the teeter! I think she did a lot better getting into the down position.
>>I am guessing the angle of the board made it harder for her to get fully into the down? That is something we can watch as we add more and more of the teeter skills. If the crouch is a more comfy and balanced position then she can do the crouch instead of a down. The crouch also looked more comfy on the 2nd video, where she was hopping on the side.I think I am fine with just the crouch/play bow and not the chin touch since the teeter will have some kick-back when it is in motion. But I am guessing that we try to keep as much of the down position as we can and let her fade it as needed as she gets used to the motion once that is introduced?
Concept Transfer: Lead Outs
We did 2 sessions of these over 2 days. The middle one (stationary) was hard for her. I’m glad you showed how you broke it down for CB – that helped! I did “catches” between each position change but edited a lot of that out and allllll my walking into position for the lead outs, so you did not have to suffer though that!
Session 1: Moving Blinds & Stationary FC/throwback
Session 2: Continuation of Stationary FC/throwback and Lead out push. On the lead out push, I had to really support jump 3.
Thanks for watching all these!!!!
Hi Tracy!
We did some last night and this morning so we have a few (ok, a lot of) videos for you!
Thank you for the feedback on the discrimination game! I will keep the next one short and I have a friendlier crate too. I was worried about her paws as well.We added the tunnel to the Serps and kept the jumps angled.
We added the tunnel to the Threadle Wraps!
We tried the Bang Game on the teeter! The target was not sticking because of too much dew on the teeter. We had a lot more butt-up-in-the-air but I tried to reward when she dropped the booty. She seemed a little less confident than indoors but she still seemed to be having fun.
We also started to try getting on from the side, but I was having trouble figuring out how to get her to the approach correctly and we lost her down & chin rest. I decided to stop and figure out how to do it better. Here is a super short example of what it looked like.
She was ready to run tonight so we tried to do the Straight Lines with Rear Crosses to see if I could improve my cues. I think we made some progress but I feel like we have a ways to go before I feel confident about our rear crosses. We took a break in the middle of this session so I didn’t wear her out.
I am losing her at the second jump and she is cutting behind me. I must be losing connection or turning my back too much?
Thanks for all your help!
Hi Tracy!
Kisses to CB!!! I hope he is feeling better. <3We did a session of the Lazy Contacts game with the target in place and 1 rep. She loved it!
We started the Beginning Contacts Discriminations. I needed to get my mechanics of holding her worked out. We have not been working on that. I want to teach her to stand between my legs to help me get her aligned without having to move her with my hands. I’ll start on that. I think it may be good for our startline routine too. Especially since I can’t seem to figure out how to teach a pivot to get her to line up to my side.
We did a session of the serpentine concept transfer baby level yesterday and forgot to hit record. She did really well because I did better with my position from the wings, body language and also with better exit line connection. We did another session this morning and I think the lesson stuck. She did a great job (I think) even with distractions like clouds of smoke from my neighbor’s fire and a service repair person standing in the driveway while Frankie barks at them. I ended the session because there were too many distractions to be fair to her, but she did a few reps during the chaos!
Thank you for watching!!!
Hi Tracy!
Thank you SO MUCH for the Serp advice (for both pups!) I’ll watch my position so I’m in the sweet spot & not too close or too far for my next session with Bazinga. I can also see how subtle my upper body cue is. I will work on that form!I only have questions this morning. Bazinga had a check-up today. She is doing well, one small setback of a tiny ulcer in her GI but they think she’ll be healed in a week or so. Today I have to actually, for-real-real, go into the office. The horror. So no homework this morning.
I am going to obsess a bit about tunnels to see if I am rear crossing tunnels when I shouldn’t be. Can I come back with questions if I start driving myself crazy?
Lazy Contacts Question
>>So you can take it a step further: reward in position one time, then release so she gets a cookie off to the side and has to jump back on and into position to re-start the targeting (rather than scooting back up the board then back down it LOL!)She is so funny doing this game! She is having fun with it!
Question: Do I put the target down & reward in position & throw the reset cookie and leave the target in place and repeat? I just wasn’t sure if I needed to add the target each time after she gets on the board.Thanks so much & have fun & good luck this weekend!!!! I hope CB is ok!!!
Hi Tracy!
Thanks for all the great feedback & thanks for answering my many questions!Tunnel Entries & Exits:
>> At :34 proved she is understanding the GO verbal because you did a RC (which is a turn cue) but said GO so she went straight. Wow!I’m glad you mentioned this, is this something I should not do with a tunnel? Rear cross the tunnel if the next obstacle is straight ahead? I try to never use a RC on jumps if there isn’t a clear turn to the next obstacle. I rear cross tunnels often & I’m trying to think…do I do it it mostly when the tunnel is curved in a different direction? Is that ok even if the jump after the tunnel is straight ahead?
>>What does Frankie’s serp usually look like?
Thank you for the advice on this. Here is a clip of our most recent 3 jump serp. It was at NAC in Premier Standard, so I was on my best behavior here <grin> I feel like, now that I’ve examined it, it is my beginning “swoop” on jump 1 of the sequence that cues Frankie it is going to be a serp line. Then my position on jump 2 pulls her in. She is pretty independent on going out for jump 3. I can see my body language is different from what I am trying to do with Bazinga. My shoulder is perpendicular to jump 2. I may need to get her used to the new picture. I do think the new picture may giver her better information once she learns it. Although she’s really good on serps even though I do not look the best. Maybe the new move can improve our lines.
Here is what Miss Bazinga worked on today!We did another session of the Serpentines. I tried to stay closer to the jumps (angled jumps) and I tried to go slower too. We had different results on the “misses” but it seemed like she was drivng out to the 2nd jump better. What do you think?
I wanted to get one more session of the Lazy game for contacts before we try the next Teeter game. You can see what happens when the board comes out! 😆
We have been doing short baby sessions of the motion override game since it was very hard for her. We are making progress!
Thank you for all your help!!!!Thank you for the feedback!!!
OMG! That tunnel game was LIFE this morning!!! Bazinga was so excited to let loose!!!We did a session at breakfast and then one after dinner just because they are such good girls &they thought it was so fun! I only submitted the first session. Second session was similar.
We did the 1 jump & 2 jump Serpentine concept transfer too. I angled the 2nd jump to start & moved it 2x until it was straight. She got the turn aways but she was tracking the toy.
I did the same session with Frankie who loves serps and she ran past the jumps, which I think means my “usual” serp body cues are different for her. How do you evolve your mechanics when you have multiple dogs that may have different nuances? Do you just remember which dog needs different things on course or do you keep training the newer mechanics with all of them?
Thanks so much!
Thank you for the laser-beam-accurate feedback!!!
We did a bunch today, so I’m sorry if I am overloading you with videos!Lazy Game: Contacts
>>That was so kind of her to encourage you to give her the treat! LOL!!! And if that is how she offers the down… cool! We will take it AND give her the treats
Hahaha! I know! I’m a sucka to look at it that way, but I know that is what she is doing. 🤣Rear Crosses:
>>What was happening was you were running the straight line parallel to her line until she was committed to a takeoff spot, then cutting into the RC line – that was too late for her to change the striding to turn away, so she didn’t read the RC. It is possible that you were waiting for her to get past you or get closer to the jump before showing it? But by then, her decision has been made.Thank you for the feedback on the rear crosses! Yes, that is exactly what I am doing! I totally thought I was doing the right thing – that I had to cut later so she saw the pressure change, so I was never going to figure that out! Thank you for the description of what I should be doing. I’ll try that!
Threadle Wraps:
>>I like ‘round round’ – it describes the behavior and I think it sounds different from any of your other cues. And it brings up a cool 80s song in my head (you spin me right round baby right round hahahahahahah)
I was thinking of that song too!!! Ha! Have you seen this?
We did another session of the Wingin it – tight blinds to crosses. I added the front cross on the first video and added the spin on the second video. We had some trouble in the beginning and she was going wide and not reading the blind cross. I realized that I was not keeping my eyes on her and was breaking connection, so I tried really hard to keep my eyes on her. When I did it felt like we did better. I also really tried to keep control of my arms. Probably more work needed on that.
I will say this…there is more video footage of me trying to figure out how to correctly do the spin by myself than footage of Bazinga actually playing the game! 🤣 I do not know why that is so hard for me. When I actually get it, it feels so simple, but until I get it…it is calculus!
Tight Blind to Front Cross
Tight blinds to Spin
We did our first session of the Threadle Wraps. I do like the new verbal🙂 it makes me not feel so serious about the move.
We did another session of the Lazy Game: Contact with our new board. I hope this one will be ok for these sessions. Can I still do the “Love the slam” game while we are doing this one? We only did one session of that game, so I’m not sure if we need more of that game.
Thanks again!
