[Khamsin Giedd]

Hello hello!

We’re supposed to get crap weather here for the next few days and I am going on vacation (without dogs, gasp!!) on Friday for a week, so might be a bit quiet. Got some work on organizers done this morning before the rain came though.

I was originally going to title this a ‘questionable decisions’ training session, but when I watch the video it’s actually not all bad, so… I am not sure why I thought I could just have her wrap the wing and sit on the plank fresh out of the gate though – that did not work. So we worked back up to it on her better side. I also had to go get some thinking cheese, which also helped, though I probably should have used a cookie bowl for the target instead of the toy, because she wasn’t 100% about switching back & forth each time (my girl loves her cheese!).

Anyhow, there is some messy stuff in here but a couple of OK reps too (I think?). She was starting to get into her slow-motion sit thing (battles we’ve fought on the start-line) so I rewarded her a few times just for the sit (with cheese) and also tried to release her as fast as possible as soon as she got her fuzzy butt down.

Looking forward to feedback on this one, and GOOD LUCK AT THE OPEN! Have so much fun, I hope the hurricane moves or is extra mild!

Thanks,
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

We are back!

>>So when you come back to these on Sunday or next week, you can choose your next adventure: either the 2 jump backsides using this angle (with her starting next to you where the wings meet, so you can send her to the backside), or with the 3 jump setup and the angles slightly more open (because it is harder).>>

We tried this tonight. I ended up doing 7 reps, because of 2 bars at the beginning and one at the end. I’m not sure I set her up as well as I could have on the first 2, not sure what the 6th one was about? But in general, I thought this went well!

>>So next steps would be to move the toy reward more fully around the wing, and to add the jump bar in. This probably means doing it outside, so before the bar goes in you will want to refresh this skill in the great outdoors because things are different outdoors (and no cats available to help haha)>>

Later on, we also did a handful of organizers and added a bar. She did great outside (the power of cheese!) and remembered the wing wraps well, so I added the bar. This seemed like it went well too – I was happy with how she was still able to sit with the bar in front of her! We got confused about cheese vs. toy a couple of times, but it seemed like a good start.

Thanks!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi!

We did the zig zags and some organizers today, but with a good long rest in between.

For the zig zags, we kept the same angles and the 10” height – she seemed fine – consistent, as far as I can see?

Later we tried the organizers with the wing again, this time with a toy. I felt like this was better – she was more focused forward, but still (mostly) able to sit! I missed videoing a couple reps on the right side, but they looked a lot like these.

I’ll be out of town this weekend, but should be able to get some work done on Sunday.

Thanks!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

OK, back to zig zags today! Didn’t have a ton of time, so just did 4 reps on 2 jumps set to 10” (previous was 8”). I don’t see a change in foot position and she doesn’t seem to have any problems jumping so, maybe this is OK?

Thanks!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hello!

We did a lot of agility & stuff this past weekend, so didn’t get much training done. And yesterday we just needed a recovery day!

I revisited the organizers with the wing tonight. This was after agility class, but I think her sit form still generally looked good.

She is doing much better on my left side than my right. She could actually stop when I was facing forward (and even when I was taking a step or two) when she was on my left. When she’s on my right, she seems to want to swing her butt way out and then offers other stuff on the plank. I think this is because I do a crap job of having her heel on my right side, and haven’t rewarded that position nearly as much as on the left. Something to work on!

I did add the food bowl as a target, but she didn’t pay much attention to it, I’m not sure it was in the right spot? I also tried hand signals a few times, but it didn’t seem like it made much of a difference.

Overall, I think this is better than our first go at this last week, but still hard!

Interested in your thoughts!!

Thanks,
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi hi!

I tried more zig zags today, and I tried to get her starting position right. Still not sure I managed it, as she’s still landing super close to the first bar. And holy cats does she hate being moved into position. So. Many. Feelings!!! I’m not sure I consistently got her in the right spot – I tried for as close to the wing as possible, but man she has thoughts about where she should be. 😐

Did these in slo mo so I could see where her feet were ending up.

I also tried 2 reps with 3 jumps just as an experiment…

We’ll revisit plank wing wraps tomorrow after her fake nosework trial and before our Halloween party!

Thanks,
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Good evening!

Tonight we tried the organizers with a wing, and OMG hard.

They didn’t start out hard, if I was facing her (on the other side of the “jump”) she was totally fine. If we were facing the same direction, she had a heck of a time stopping.

All 3 of these videos were in about a 5 min session, I tried to get a couple angles so you could see what’s happening. I think her sits are generally still pretty tight, when she does them. 😀

I tried to gradually change my body position and that resulted some decent reps and some where I was doing god-knows-what and she tried her very best. I’m gonna let her chew on this for a day or so before we try it again.

(I know it looks like I stepped on Doc’s tail in the last vid but I swear I just touched it with my toe – he is the king of the dramatic leap when you touch his tail).

One question – does she need to be at the end of the board? She wanted to stop in the middle, but her sits looked good so…?

Looking forward to your feedback!
Thanks,
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi!

We did a couple of things today, but kept reps low.

First we did some zig zags under the lights with a moving toy. When I watch this, I think she looks better when the jump is on her right vs on her left. She is a righty, so maybe this makes sense. But maybe I’m imagining it. In both directions she’s still landing close to the first bar, but I might be obsessing.

We also did a few plank sits rewarding after the sit. How much do I need to worry about straightness and form here? She still seems to be in a decently tight sit, most reps but she’s angled on the plank. Is that OK?

Thanks!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi!

Tonight we had mostly a rest day in general, so we tried a few sits on the plank. I felt like this went better than the first time I tried the plank! I stayed stationary, but tried to get a little more speed from her in the last couple of reps. I threw the tiny platform in there for one just as a reminder.

It’s a little chaotic, Badger and Dr Cat were helping. 😐

Tomorrow is class day, so if we work anything it’ll be distractions over jumps and motion override in between runs.

Thanks!!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Thanks for the feedback! Had to visit in-laws this weekend, so didn’t get much done. We did a few more tight sits, I’ll move to the platform this week and will get some video.

When we got home today, we did exactly 5 zig zags with jumps. It was supposed to be 4, but the camera blew over and missed one. So we did one more. I think these were good, but I’m interested in your thoughts on her stride. She’s landing really close to the first jump and while she’s bouncing, it doesn’t seem well-centered. Does that matter?

Thanks!!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi Hi!

We missed yesterday – I did do some platform sits, but didn’t video. We got back to it today. I did a couple short sessions – sitting on the upgraded platform and zig zags on the flat.

>>And watch the cat’s expression in the background, so much judgement LOL!>>
ALWAYS. He just wants the food. 🙂 He was back for more tonight.
Anyhow, here are the sits. She did better keeping her front feet on when I stayed closer, for sure. But I think there are a couple reps where her bum is hanging off? It’s hard to tell with all that hair. I tried to fix it if I saw it. Also tried to get her from both sides.

We also did a few zig zags on the flat. She’s pretty solid with these, I think? I was able to move the jumps together to about 4′, she didn’t seem to have any issues.

We’ll take a break from the tight sits for a day or so and will do some more this weekend.

Thanks!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi!

>>You can also slow your motion way down to get her to respond faster: walk only as fast as you would walk if you were carrying 2 very full cups of coffee 🙂 Your speed will be barely past a shuffle 🙂

So funny story, Mochi and I both like to move fast, as it turns out. 😐 I SWEAR I thought I was going slowly yesterday and again tonight. But I watch the videos and… nope. I definitely need to slow it down, because she’s going fast enough for both of us!

Tonight we tried some beginning organizers. I think speed is causing us some challenges here too. I couldn’t figure out if the first platform was too small because her front feet kept coming off. But I tried it with the Cato board and it happened there too. I’d like to hear what you think of these – in the meantime, we’re going to go back to motion overrides in slow motion for a day.
Here’s the tiny platform: https://youtu.be/F5nipplGsEk
Here’s the Cato: https://youtu.be/pqtPf3d4oXM

And then because I was curious, I wanted to see what would happen with a wrap beforehand. You’d think I could have predicted it… But it was very hard for her to 1) stay straight and 2) stop. 😀

I suspect we’re going to have to work this for a bit because she is sooooo motion responsive. But I think it’ll be good for both of us.

Thanks!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hi!

Thanks for the feedback! I will continue to work the double wrap a bit – will be a good indoor exercise for inclement weather (which will soon be all weather here in MN).

I’ll try some zig zag and/or organizers tomorrow, but today we had a trial and did a little bit of training between our runs. We did the motion override. I started with a toy which was too hard, I think? She kept stopping, which was awesome, but I was asking for a sit, which was hard. I switched to some cheese (2nd half of the video) and that was better, but this game in general is HARD for her. Questions:
1. Should I be repeating the verbal (I was saying “sit sit” – I repeat my verbals ad nauseum in agility, but I also am hearing the ‘only ask for it once!’ refrain that I always heard in obedience. Thoughts?
2. The release is just tossing the reward, correct? I wasn’t using a release word – I hope that’s OK.
3. Does the behavior need to be a static one (sit or lie down) or could it be something with movement? I like the sit or down because it’s clearer, but is another obvious behavior (spin or something like that) OK?
Anyhow, here’s the video – sorry about the wind and weird angle, we were improvising.

Thanks!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

We worked on some of the foundation stuff today.

Head turns:
So it turns out I am not good a double wraps. 😀 The good news is that I think Mochi is pretty good at leading with her head in general. I tried for some double wraps but it was… not pretty – lots of awkward luring. Do I need to work more on that or is she OK?

The moving target also went fairly quickly, though she does love to drive into the ground. We did it from scratch, and then added a hillbilly jump. Her toy is also the sad jolly ball fragment that she loves to carry around, so no judgment please.

The last thing we did today was some jump proofing. I set the bar at 12, and she had zero issues. I felt like I was being pretty dramatic and trying to do the stuff that causes bars in class/trials. But we’ll revisit this some more. If I can’t get her to drop anything at 12″, should I move her up to 16″ (her comp height)?

Thanks!
Khamsin

[Khamsin Giedd]

Hello hello! I am slacking already, sigh. BUT – we tried the independent weaves skills, and I was super impressed with both dogs! This is high on my training list – both Badger and Mochi like me to be nearby when they weave, so I’m so excited to do this. Hoping to get my hands on a teeter so I can practice that too – especially with Mo.

They were out together, helpfully providing distractions for each other… And both took a couple turns (this is recorded start to finish – just cut out the goofy play bits in between).

One question – I only used 6 weave poles (to save bodies) – does it make more sense to use all 12 for this? They both did 6 with little trouble and a fair amount of distance from me (but not a lot of motion). I am pretty sure 12 would be harder to stay in, so I probably need to practice that? We don’t do huge amounts of weaving practice, so I’m OK using all 12 if it makes more sense.

Thanks!
Khamsin

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