[Kathy McClung]

>>She definitely loves her plank game and her target!!! Is the down position something you have worked on in the plank context, or is she offering it because she read on Facebook that the down is a good position for small dogs on teeters? LOL!!

She must have read it on Facebook! 😂 I think she wanted to offer her backup behavior to encourage me to give her the treat but she had no room to move & offered the down instead. I made a longer board today. It isn’t flush against the ground there is a little step up but I’ll try it and see how it works.
We practiced a few things today. I think I was just off. Yesterday’s session felt great and today, it just didn’t seem to click. I tried a few different things because I wanted to take advantage of the weekend and catch up. Maybe I should have taken a rest day. The Tandem turns improved a bit, I thought. I paid attention to moving past the jump and looking at my hands. We tried the Straight Lines with Rear Crosses again and whiffed out with no success. I had her do some Go! Go! Straight lines to keep her successful but edited them out. Thanks for any advice & help on these!

Straight Lines – Rear Crosses

Wingin It: Tunnel to a 3-jump ladder
We did a session on the opposite side from session 1. We did them from a stay at the tunnel so I didn’t tire her out too much. I wanted to see how we did from the other side.

Wingin it: Tight Blinds to Wraps 2 Ways
Baby level session. We just did the blinds. I didn’t like our timing, so I ended the session there.
Maybe I’ll have some latent learning overnight! Ha!

Tandem Turns – session 2 from both sides:

Thanks so much for watching!!!
Now I need to pick my Threadle Wrap verbal. I’m thinking maybe “round, round” (short for around). I think my brain will “see” that and help me communicate it.
Also, I saw this term and never considered this before – what is a Weave Threadle?😮

[Kathy McClung]

>>Please post a photo of her with her ribbons (they gave our ribbons, right??)
Yes! I will take a Frankie photo! <3

>>Yes! Was that after the dog walk? I remember seeing it somewhere but I didn’t get to watch much of it. I bet some of the handlers handled it as a threadle wrap, because that would be very effective there too!

You are so right! It WAS a Threadle Wrap and now I totally understand the difference between the threadle wrap & the backside wrap! LOL
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VG9oIGehds9x94SQTJsr27RLdYtDCSN6/view?usp=drive_link

Wingin It The Ladder:
>>so you can move right behind her like you did but without as much speed – and throw a reward behind you to the landing spot to help reward her for continuing the wrap even with you moving forward like that.
Thanks for the feedback on the circle wraps. We did another session of the Ladder with 2 jumps session and did the blind crosses too. I added some reps where I just dropped the lotus ball at the exit side of the wing & kept moving. I kep my “back, back” duck call!!! Hopefully I’ll only need to use it once per course IRL! LOL

Tandem Turns:

We started the baby level of Tandem Turns. Going to her left was harder. I’m not sure if it was because of my physical cues or if it was just hard for her. I also think I started with too much distance. I’ll start closer on the next session

Lazy Game with contacts:
I introduced a cardboard target like the one you described yesterday and we did a few sessions so that she had some value for it. She loves targets! We did a session of the Lazy Game with contacts. I think this board may be too short to work for this game. I had no room to place the target. It was pretty funny. I’ll need to find something better for inside. I can use our plank outside.

Thanks for watching!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!
OMG – Frankie was amazing at NAC!!! SHe had 3 clean runs & ran so happy! I was over the moon!!! Thank you! I feel like all our work on connection is working! <3 And also working on our mental game & our routine outside the ring.

I had to laugh when today’s game was the Wingin’ It – ladder with 2 jumps with backside wraps! That was the make-it-or-break-it move in the challengers round on jump #16! It was death-defying to watch!

Here is Bazinga giving it a go! Also. Seriously. Warning. I think I can’t use “back, back” as my verbal. I am so annoying!! I can’t use “dig” even though I like it because I used to use that as a turn towards me for Frankie. But I need something that I can say without sounding like Fran Drescher screaming “duck!”
Any ideas? maybe “around”? Again, I apologize for this video! Hahahaha!

Question on the Lazy Contacts game. For a 4 on dog, is it better to have them touch the target with their paws – like a mat touch? Or is it ok if they touch it with their nose? Bazinga was paw touching her dustbin but I think if I use the round target I have been using on the teeter, she will put her nose on it because I have been putting food on it and sending her to it. I’m not sure which target I should use.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by Kathy McClung.

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!
Thanks for the feedback. The RCs are people-hard for me. When it happens, I can feel it but it is hard for me to put all the pieces together to make it happen nicely. I’ll try these again. You descriptions are helping – I think I just need to keep moving towards the center of the jump & be better at recognizing her commitment point.

For the Threadle Wraps and the Backside wraps. I think I need to choose verbals.
I’m using “push” for backsides now, so maybe “back” for the wraps? What do you use for your threadle wraps?

We did another session of Wingin’ It Countermotion & Commitment. We started where we left off and tried the 4 wings and the racetracks.

We did Wingin’ It: Tunnel To A Wing too! That was fun. SPINS!

Me & Frankie are going to NAC!!! 🙂 Today I’ll do more with Bazinga and then see what we can do in the hotel room the rest of the week.

[Kathy McClung]

Hi!!!
Yay! Thanks for the super positive feedback! ☺ That made my week & it is only Monday!
The MM hand bop was too funny! She is such a stinker!!!

We are working on the Motion Override a tiny bit each day. I realized after your feedback that I always give a hand cue when I ask her to sit so I’m working on just the verbal with no hand cue and no motion and then I’ll add a tiny bit of motion in when I think she is getting the verbal alone.

We did the beginning of the Concept Transfer: Straight Lines 4 ways. We did better on the Rear Crosses from the sit stay which I think was an improvement over our last RC session. When we added speed, I think my body language changed and we were not successful. I needed a pretty good lead out to get the backside with some speed. Looking forward to your feedback ☺

Thanks!!!

[Kathy McClung]

>>You can repeat this game adding 2 more challenging variables:
We will try it!

Motion override
>>So now take out the decel and just move very slowly and at the same pace the whole time (shuffling more than walking). When she can do that, then try not to move your hand at all (she was cuing off the hand lifting up a bit).

Thank you for this detail. we’ll try this again and keep working on it.

We started the Wingin It: Counter Motion and Commitment. I got to step 3. I think I am doing the front crosses correctly. I thought I should let you see what we are doing and let Bazinga absorb that session before we tried more.

We tried the Teeter Foundations: Love the Slam & hind end combo!
I moved the teeter into our daily yard just because I was feeling stressy about all the things in the bigger field I didn’t want her to get into. I didn’t want to pass that feeling onto Bazinga about the teeter. I have a crate on either end of the teeter so that it doesn’t move if the little goat decides to jump on it since she will have access to it. I think I traded one stress for another – ha!

Thanks for watching!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!

Thanks for the RC feedback. You made me feel better about how we did. I was afraid I misinterpreted that it was a RC wrap (wrap away). Your feedback on which ones were successful helped my brain. We’ll let this simmer & try it again. I think I’m going to need really strong RCs with Bazinga! 🙂

We tried the NextLevel Pup: Looking Ahead game. She was awesome!!!

We also tried the Contacts Foundation: Motion Override. I needed to show her the “sit while walking” while off leash and we tried “catch” and “break”.

Thanks for watching! We are trying to catch up this weekend on the other games.

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!

We tried the Bonus: Challenging Rear Crosses and they were!
We had trouble adding motion to these. I am sure it is something (or many things) that I am doing. I was trying to run towards the center of the jump and let her get ahead of me.
She started out successful from a stay & just 2 jumps. When I started her from the tunnel, we started having trouble. She got rewards for all her reps. We had different problems at different times.
Turning before the jump
Turning the other direction over the jump
Crossing behind me – I was not looking at her & disconnected

[Kathy McClung]

Hi!
It has been raining here so I made a wobble board! We did a session this morning. My manners Minder was being temperamental but it might have been to exciting for her if it was working. She was pretty into this game even with a bowl.
I think we’ll be able to play more games later today when everything dries up.
I have a question on the Concept Transfer: Straight Lines game. For the Rear Cross (wrap away) reps, do I use her wrap verbal along with the physical cue of moving to the center of the bar on the diagonal?

Thanks for watching!

• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Kathy McClung. Reason: Question on rear crosses

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!
We were at a trial this weekend & Bazinga got to do practice jump stuff. ❤️

Thanks for the feedback about my verbals & the value of volume differences and cadence/rhythm. I’m going to bring that in! Please feel free to point it out of I’m getting too loud & too “the same” 🙃

We did a second session of Fluffy Blinds and added in the Front crosses this time. I do believe all my directionals were incorrect and I practiced them ahead of each rep *Eyeroll*
I have to focus on which of my arms she is turning towards and make sure I’m not yelling out which arm I’m using to send her.

We also did a session of Send and Go and blind crosses to the tunnel. This was fun!

If I don’t have a wobble board, should I make one for the next teeter game?

Thanks so much!!!

[Kathy McClung]

HI Tracy!

Yesssss. The Lotus Ball is Life!!! Hahaha

>>On the sends – she found the middle jump nicely! As things get more complicated, you can think of the send as sending to the line and takeoff spot while looking at her, rather than sending to the jump itself. That can get her committing even sooner (because it keeps your shoulders facing the line you want her to take) and it earlier commitment can help you leave for the next position even sooner!

I love this description – thank you!

We tried the next 3 games! We had a blast! I moved the jumps a little closer to the tunnel for these games so that the wraps would have a really tempting tunnel near them ☺

I have a question looking ahead to the next game with the BC to the tunnel. Should I use her name during the BC to really get her to come in towards me? I see (heard) you were using Bandit’s name.

Timing & Connection Game

Am I over the top with too much repetition on the verbals? I was a little excited about getting to go faster! <grin>

Concept Transfer: Wraps!

Concept Transfer: Fluffy Blind Crosses (We did not get to Fluffy Front Crosses, she was tired, so we’ll do another session)

Thank you!!!

• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Kathy McClung.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Kathy McClung. Reason: added a question

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!
>>So, question: are you going to train a running dog walk? If so, we can get a mat target involved and teach her to target the mat between the 2 devices (without a plank at first). And when she is happy to target the mat, we can add it to this plank game to keep all the speed and not have the leaping 🙂

Yes, we are going to train a running dog walk. I’d love to see the mat target game. I did notice the leaping1 She’s so boing-y

Plank question
is it ok if she is leaving the plank or putting a foot down on the ground as she runs the plank? I noticed she did some of that in this session. Is that all a part of them getting a feel for the board & their bodies on the board?

We tried the Lazy Games part 2 & 3.
We did:
Lead out & release with a 1 step send
Add the verbals & movement
Speed Circle – we tried to add a bit of speed
I hope we did them right. I may have blurred the edges of each skill.

Thanks for your feedback!

[Kathy McClung]

Hi Tracy!

There are lots of words below! ☺

>> She was a good combination of ‘yeehaw!’ And being thoughtful enough to be thoughtful.
Bwahahaha at her being ‘yeehaw!’ !!!!

Thanks for the ideas for rewarding her! They were brilliant!
I did make a paste with her kibble and I used that on the teeter. It bought me more time to get there because she was busy licking the treat paste (yummmmm).
For the Lazy Game, I used a lotus ball with actual kibble inside & let her get the kibble out. I’ve never really let her get the kibble out herself before and it was a new lotus ball and she had a big moment of joy during the session. I left it in the video so you could see. She was so cute & happy about her lotus ball!
I borrowed a friend’s Manners Minder so I would have one on each end for the plank game but then mine was acting up and wouldn’t dispense. So I used 1 MM and one single-treat dispenser. It still worked!

She did fall off the low end of the teeter. She was looking at me for treats and her front foot missed the board. She did a little Belushi roll but was ok. She seemed to shake it off & wasfine with the teeter to me. It happened pretty early in the session and she was happy to keep going. Actually it was kind of hard to get her to NOT run back up the teeter! Ha! I included the clip of the fall and the next rep so you could see it. I have stopped treating her after she begins her descent so I am not distracting her.

Teeter fall clip

Teeter session 2 clip. I sent her ahead, I moved with her, I was a little lateral. We dis a startline and break.

Here is the Plank Confidence 1 session. She was having fun. She got a little wild when I introduced the turns so I made them gentler. I did some balance stuff in the middle and we lost our mojo a little bit. Maybe she was looking at me for treats.

Here is our first session of the Wingin’ It game.

Here is our second session of the Lazy Game. I spread the jumps out a bit more and tried to add more disconnection. She really liked the lotus ball.

I know this is a lot! Thanks for watching!!!!

[Kathy McClung]

Good morning!
We had fun yesterday!!! Bazinga slept hard after we did these games. ☺

>>Or, you can tweak the game so that you re-set and re-start after each toy toss. That way she does one jump, or two in a row, or all three (while you wanted lazily around LOL! )

Thanks for the ideas for dealing with kibble & grass! I think I’ll try this one since I’m not sure the lotus ball will be any quicker than letting her search for the kibble in the grass – LOL.

We did a session on the plank and on the teeter. I think I will try the lotus ball for the plank next time for easier treat recovery.

On the teeter, I knew she was going to be a daredevil & she was! She bailed off the teeter twice but she didn’t seem bothered by it. I think she needs to get a feel for it & her body & her treat enthusiasm worked out to find her teeter zen-place.

This was her first session in the “big” (air quotes) agility field. I needed to Bazinga proof it before I let her out there. She was pretty excited to finally get to play in there. It needs to be cleaned up after winter. I had some limbs removed to try & get more sun to hopefully grow better grass and the trucks tore up the surface.

Plank:

Teeter:

Thanks for watching!

[Kathy McClung]

Good morning!!!
I LOVE this class. Thank you for offering it! This is the #1 thing I need to learn & internalize so that I can DO IT. I know we didn’t finish all the exercises with you, but I’m going to keep working on them & even go back & try the competition track too.

We did another session of the deliberate disconnect and it went well. I think my mechanics were better but I also felt like she knew what to do as well.

I’ll keep working on the Get Outs and bring the wing closer and stay in straight motion until we can work up to more distance. Thanks for that feedback.

Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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