[Khamsin Giedd]

Happy Halloween!

Swinging your arm up and down makes him twitchy because the release comes on the next arm movement, and we don’t want to desensitize the arm movement as the forward focus cue. Lifting your arm first and well in advance of/ separate from the release will help you be able to cue the forward focus on a jump without getting the release at the same time.

Funny story – I was trying this last night at class, and we had beverages at class which was not helping my word choices, so I kept saying the wrong thing while pointing at the jump and he eventually got so confused that he lifted his little foot to point at the jump (to wave, really) and we all died from the cuteness. I did not get that on video because I was having the worst time with thinking I was videoing stuff and either not turning on my video or cutting half of myself off. And I honestly only had part of 1 drink, so I can’t blame that.

I’m excited about the focus forward stuff, because I seem to have taught him that we have to make sustained eye contact while he’s in his sit stay, and while it’s adorable, it doesn’t really set either one of us up for success. So we’ll be working on that. 😐

Try not to use any “yay” as info for him on course – it causes him to look at you (“what does that mean, human?”) and caused a drop bar (seq 1 and seq 3) or he went around 4 (seq 2). Stick to information of either “keep going here is your next cue” or a reward marker.

So I’ve started to pay attention to how often I do this and, um, it’s a lot. I say ‘yay’ and clap like a weirdo. Need to reprogram to give a marker or the next cue – I will work on it!

We did a couple of things that I got on video last night. We also did a lovely volume dial session in the ring that I *thought* I videoed. Sigh.

Here’s a little bit of volume dial + decompression while we were waiting to work on our 2×2 thingy (still working on just the 2 poles). He came into class super hot, and I liked the change that I saw after the tricks + decomp. Not sure if it shows up here all that well, but I noticed a less frenetic arousal – he still wanted to work, but wasn’t off his rocker.

A little later we tried some find my face outside the ring. Worst camera angle ever (I swear I wasn’t drunk) but you can see him reorient to me. We did this for about 2 mins total, but the latter half was all out of frame so I just cut that out.

Hope the candy is good tonight!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi hi,

Busy week and my yard is too small for sequences, so I had to wait until I had some ring time. Julie & I shared today, and my goal was do to a few of these sequences, depending on how it went. Happy to say, I found some holes (also found some at class, but that’s another story for another day).

I did do a little editing on these, just sped up some of the play time/down time, I didn’t cut anything out. All sessions were right around the 5-6 minute mark, which was coincidental.

EXCEPT – I totally forgot to hit record for sequence #3. Julie summarizes it nicely in the one clip of video I did get (where of course I actually executed the blind and got the red jump) but it was clown college at first – I set him up in a slice and tried to lead out too laterally (hole) and then I kept running too deep at 3 for the blind. At one point I lost him and then I threw the toy into the tunnel (why, you ask? I’ve no idea). But I can confirm that we spent no more than 5 minutes on it in total.

Anyhow, here are the first 3 sequences. I did have decent breaks between these, but I think doing 3 in one day was maybe too much and *could* be why we both fell apart a bit on sequence #3. 😉 But he was a VERY good boy!

I have some volume dial stuff from class too, I’ll get that uploaded in the next day or two.

Thanks!!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi!

He’s hilarious – he LOVES Shenna, so has a tendency to look at/for her. Like he wants her approval or something, it’s too funny.

He would use a snuffle mat, of course I forgot to bring one last night, but I was sure to do some big treat scatters in open spots for him to find stuff after he worked. I didn’t get those on video, but I did get one part of his sequence work, after we did our pattern games/tricks.

I videoed the pattern games/tricks, but it’s nothing too exciting – very similar to the previous videos, so I won’t include them (unless you really want them). He was doing great with his tricks, but holy cow is he one-sided on his spins. He can go right so much more easily (i.e. with more distraction) than left. It’s fascinating. I think you’re dead on that he gets over the pattern games easily – it’s a great way to start out, but I will need to watch to make sure I don’t bore him by doing too many.

Anyhow, here’s some video of him doing his baby sequences in class last night. There are some elements that are kind of similar to the sequences posted in this class, but I had to use the course that was there, so it’s not the actual sequence (we’ll try the first of those this weekend). This is just so you can get a feel for how he’s doing with other dogs in the next ring and all that jazz, after he does his games & tricks.

To me he feels engaged and ready to go – he turns to me for his toy when I take his leash off, and he’s snappy to line up and do stuff. Start lines are still very hard, but we are taking baby steps. We also had some teeter fun in this one, I think he scared himself a little bit with the first one, but he got right back on there. So we’ll keep working teeter stuff separately.

And OMG toes. I hate them so much. I didn’t know you have a whippet toe vet! Mochi might need a visit. We have a wonderful rehab vet here, and she’s amazing with toes, they just take for EVER.

Thanks!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi!

I have a couple of videos – totally unedited, so sorry about some less than spectacular camera angles at the beginning and end of the videos. 😀

I think you know that J & I have been working pattern games for quite a while now, I use them at least weekly in class and other settings. So I opted to video what it looks like when we first come into class and he’s super excited. I don’t think he was overfaced, especially in the 2nd video, but I’m curious if you think we should back it up at all.

This first video is over on the equipment side of the ring at On the Run. The ring was split, and the dog in the ring nearest to us was running up by the front of the ring, but the dog in the far ring was running (you’ll see him pick up on that… ;)). I thought he engaged really well here, for just tossing him in the deep end of the pool. But he had a few moments of having to look around so I went to a less busy spot (behind the desk) for the 2nd video and added some tricks to that one.

So here’s #1 – we literally had just walked in the door and went to back & forth and then up & down.

And here’s #2 – we had been in the building for a little bit, and went back behind the desk area to do more patterns and then threw some tricks in there too.

I have to say, I am so grateful for these games. The first time we went in the big ring for class he almost lost his mind – and that was only a couple of months ago. Now he can work outside the ring and he can run baby sequences and work individual skills (teeter, etc.) when another dog is running in the next ring. He has figured it out so so fast, and I can see how much this stuff helps him. It’s so frigging cool.

Mochi is on IR for a bit (another dumb motherf*&#$ing toe) so I’m taking him to one of her classes and we’re just doing outside the ring stuff, start line work, and tiny low sequences to get him some exposure. It’s such a great opportunity to practice the low volume stuff in a high volume environment!

Thanks!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi hi!

We had some ring time today and did the tunnel stuff again. I did the actual handling this time, and he was great! A couple of questions on the wing wraps coming out of the tunnels, but I think I know what I did there.

We also tried the backside tunnel again, and latent learning for the win!! He was super smart.

Lastly, not part of the current curriculum, but we worked on him doing a stay with the moving toy target and he was a very good animal. So I videoed it and am sharing as positive reinforcement for me working on it. 🤣

We’ll keep chipping away for MaxPup 4! Looking forward to it!

Thanks,
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi there,

Not sure where time went, but here we are again. We’ll get back to the laps/threadles/serps this weekend, it’s been grossly hot when I’ve had time to train, so not super productive.

We did try the yes tunnel no tunnel go tunnel and I’m pretty sure we did the yes/no part wrong. I wrapped him the wrong way and then did a blind instead of a front to keep him out of the tunnel. Sigh. But here it is anyway – we’ll redo it the right way. I guess the good news is he read my blinds well?

We also tried the send to the tunnel from the back and this was… not awesome. I tried a few things to make it easier, but I think I need to straighten out the tunnel and just work some entrances where he can’t really see the opening. I realized that even when I work on our tunnel threadle (bypass??) the opening is still somewhat turned towards him, so I don’t think he’s really seen a tunnel like this before (I tried a threadle in one of the reps after I straightened the tunnel). Any advice you have on this would be welcome!

Last question – now that Jimmy is a year, I’m starting to think about how to teach him jumping. Not in any hurry, and will make sure growth plates and all that jazz are in place, but I’m wondering what you use for jump training. I remember when you were talking to Ruth in Iowa that the one-jump stuff isn’t super helpful, but I didn’t do a great job with Mochi’s jump training, and I’d like to do better for J. Do you have any recommendations?

Thanks!!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Ungh. We had so much fun in Iowa! And then I got Covid (not from Iowa, my dear husband brought it home and we all got it at the cabin weekend with in-laws 😑). I’m still recovering, but finally felt more or less well enough to do some training the last couple of days. I tried to do some stuff that didn’t require too much movement on my part.

First up (and honestly before I was feeling even remotely human) is some lap turns and threadle wraps. There was no turning left on this day. And I didn’t have the energy to really try, so it wasn’t awesome. He did better going right, though I swear I look like I’m trying to summon a demon with my handling on some of the wraps. 🤣

This afternoon, I felt a little more human and we revisited serps with 2 jumps. It started out hard, so I angled jumps to make it a little easier for both of us. It got better, so we straightened it out near the end.

Lastly, we did some tunnel exits. Had to modify a bit for spacing, and I only had energy to “run” a few steps so it isn’t like any kind of amazing big handling thing. But I feel like he did a good job with what we had!

I’m finally on the mend, and the weather has been gorgeous, so we’ll be in good shape for training for the next few weeks!

Last but not least, I’m so sorry about Crusher. She was such a cool tiny little dog. I’m glad she was able to get home, but so sorry she didn’t have a few more years left. Hope you all are doing OK.

Thanks,
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hellooooo!

<Hi! I am happy to hear he is being such a good boy around the agility environment – that makes everything sooooo much easier. Yay!!!> Good boy might be a bit of an overstatement, but he is working super hard, and I can see improvements, which feels awesome!

We tried some more serps, this time with me moving. Generally these went better than the first set, but he still had a couple of questions. I will add the 2nd jump and we’ll get rolling on that.

We also did our first go at the zig zag jumps. These were just fine, I think? He bounced, and didn’t seem to have any questions other than I need to work on getting him comfy setting up super close to the jump. He thought that was a little weird at first. Snacks helped. 😉

I will see you in a couple of days in scenic Iowa!!

Thanks,
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi!

We are working on adding our target to the teeter thanks for the tips!!

We’ve also been playing a ton of brain games away from and around agility and he is doing such a good job!! He’s working really hard, and made some excellent choices the other night in class! I’m checking on local flyball teams too, to see what my options are.

The weather has been gorgeous, so we have more opportunities to train outside. Have a couple from this weekend, have some more video that I’ll submit in a day or two.

First up – we tried some SERPs and they were hard!! He couldn’t do it with the toy as a targets so I tried to make it easier. I think I was maybe blocking his line too? Not sure. Sorry for the angle on this, I didn’t have my tripod.

Also tried the ladder again. In the backyard, which was a little harder, I think he was a little tired too. And I was maybe blocking the wing again. 😬

Thanks!!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Oh FFS, I somehow made them all private. 🤦🏼‍♀️ sorry about that!!

Here they are:

Thanks for the info re: class. We will definitely do all that stuff, and I’m intrigued by the idea of a Flyball class! His line is full of Flyball dogs on his mom’s side, so I can reach out to get something scheduled.

Thanks!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi!

Not sure where 2 weeks went, but between weather, work, and visiting family, training hasn’t been top o’ the heap. The good news is that we’re actually doing a lot of these concepts in our weekly in-person class, but I don’t have video. Speaking of that – how much longer do we have to submit videos?

I do have a few things from the last few days.

First up – the bang game. I am trying a 4-on with him, which is scary because I’ve never done it. But he can be a little pushy, and I love a good 4-on teeter. So we’ve been doing a bunch of bang games where I reward him in his bow position near the end. But he doesn’t have a target – not sure if I should be adding that or…?

We did some more winging it, with the front crosses/blind crosses. It was very easy to see how my timing impacted his turns, but in general, I think he did really well!

Last up is the ladder. This was harder than I expected, not sure if I had the wings too close, or the tunnel was too long (he was coming out HOT!) but it wrinkled my brain. And I swear there was another rep in here where he completely missed the last wrap and just went straight back into the tunnel, but I can’t find the video. I tried it with Mochi and she FLEW into the tunnel instead of doing the last wrap. Clearly we need to revisit that one. 😀

Last thing, we have started having portions of our classes in the big ring at On the Run. This is super fun, and INCREDIBLY STIMULATING for the young sir. The ring is split, and there are a few screamers (dogs) in the other class. We’ve been working on our Brain Camp homework, but there have been a couple of instances where the only thing he could do was tug-sit-tug and hand touches, and they were very enthusiastic!

I’m working on dialing back the stimulation and gradually working it back up, and wondering if you have any suggestions. Here’s what I’ve been doing:
– Pattern games away from the ring (back behind the desk).
– Working on simple tricks (sit, down, shake, touch, spin, etc.) outside the building, where he can hear dogs through the screen garage doors.
– Doing whatever he can handle in the ring – if it’s only tug-sit-tug, that’s fine, it’s better than losing the plot completely.

I’m thinking about enrolling him in a basic obedience or rally class so he can work around other dogs in a less thrilling environment, and also thinking about bringing some of his props (fit bones, discs, platforms, etc.) to agility class so he can engage with something in addition to the pattern games. Thoughts on any/all of this? I went through this with Badger (shocker) and Mochi, but with Mo I had the pandemic to let her grow up a bit and she sort of just figured it out herself. Badger really never got it all sorted out. But he’s also Badger… 😀

Thanks, and I’ll see you next week in Iowa – can’t wait!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi hi!

Brain Camp was SO FUN! I’m still reeling from all the stuff I learned. And sharing it with my sister, who is the parent of a 15 year old kid, and is finding this whole adolescence discussion very interesting.

Also – thanks for the screen grabs! Somewhere I got it in my head that throwing my hand back was sufficient for a BC, and I’ve been working to fix that ever since. But this is super helpful to see what he sees!

After our drive home today, J had a bit of energy so we played with a couple things.

We did kind of a modified slam game, because I forgot my manners minder. He likes this game though, and I like his weight shift back. I definitely tried too many reps, because he went on a big decompression loop in the middle! We reset a bit with the volume dial game (I cut that out) and did a couple more reps.

Then we tried the lines game. Initially had some trouble with the rear crosses, but took a step back and got it. We did a couple sessions (with a break in between):

Edited – we did some winging it on Sunday! First go at this, he had a hard time on the back-step sends for some of these, but I’m sure it was something I was or wasn’t doing. 😜

He was a very good boy!! Hope you are having fun with the rest of brain camp!

Thanks,
Khamsin

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by Khamsin Giedd.

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi!

We had a rather more adventurous week than I would have preferred, my husband has dumb discs in his neck and they all decided to get mad at once, so training was a touch limited for a few days. But, we’re back at it, and it’s supposed to cool down a bit, so will be easier to do outside.

So, here’s a glut of videos!

First, some mountain climbers at class. This was a different teeter and different environment, he did pretty well. I didn’t have a spoon or anything to put on the teeter, so he was stuck with me. He did do a nice turn around on the plank too.

Then some sits in the hallway with motion. This wasn’t a perfect spot, a little tight. And I think I slowed down when I tried to get him to sit. 😐 We’re gonna have to work on this one a bit – he started just stopping, instead of sitting. And I effed up my markers yet again. Despite practicing them.

Here’s some more TTFJ, with me running and a smaller toy in my hand.

I did a couple of wraps, it was hot so we didn’t do both sides. But these felt better than last time!

Lastly, we tried a couple of blinds to the tunnel – these felt pretty good!

Hopefully we have a less exciting week and I can get a little caught up. But I’m super excited for BRAIN CAMP on Friday!!!

Thanks,
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi hi!

Thanks for all of the feedback – super helpful, because so often what I think happened is not what actually happened. I did not realize how much he was looking at me until I read your feedback and looked back at the videos!! He is still looking at me here, but maybe a little less? I probably need to throw the toy sooner.

I tried to fix a few of these things in a short session this afternoon:
1. Not moving on my lead out. Not always perfect, but better (I think??)
2. Keeping the toy in my hand. This led to a few amusing elevations by James that I think I edited out, but overall when he was running he was able to keep the springs in the box.
3. Using my marker for throwing the toy away from me. I missed it on the 1st & 2nd ones and then realized I did and was better after that. Though I still said ‘yay’ before chase it on one of them. Sigh. Hard habit to break!

Thanks!!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi hi!

We were up at the cabin last week, so a little late in getting some video. But we did a few sessions yesterday – spread out a bit. I felt like I was hit by a Mack truck yesterday (too much planned, not enough downtime!), so I know I’m late in some of these, and probably just plain wrong in others.

First up was the lazy game parts 2 & 3. I think he’s generally doing a great job of finding & TTFJs!! He also does well with the 1-step send, at least at these distances (approx 15′). There were a couple where he missed the jump after turning to the left, he was pulling in to me, and I know I wasn’t connected. Can’t remember if it’s in these two or in the timing & connection exercise.

Then we did the timing & connection circles. And wouldn’t you know, I couldn’t figure out which word to say when. He did need the turn cues, especially going to the right – he carried out a bit in that direction.

Last was my attempt at wraps, which is when I realized I needed to stop for the day. 😀 Because I think I was LAAAAAATE on the blinds, but he was a good boy.

I seriously thought these were gonna be a walk in the park, but they were not. Looking forward to your thoughts!

Thanks,
Khamsin

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