[Kristin Omdahl]

Hi! Loved the feedback – thank you so much! I have a much better plan for tomorrow’s practice at OTR based on this. Oh, and I realized after the fact that I had labeled it wrong…it wasn’t the Diamond game, it was Tunnel Exit, but who cares, right? 😉

>>Do you have any way to put him in a class or baby dog seminars?>>
I have been looking, but it is SO hard to get into a baby dog class around here (and no seminars right now – maybe you should come!! 😁) unless you are retired and can go at any time of day maybe. Plus, I’m in this weird place now where we are beyond the most basic foundations, yet not doing any contacts yet, and that makes it harder to get into a class when you have not started with the first in a center’s progression. That being said, I am persistent and plan to talk to a few folks to see if I can weasel my way in somewhere soon! I did up for this great course that is only three weeks unfortunately but SO helpful for pups, actually EVERYONE should take this, but it’s called “Mind Your Own Business” and really is just about exercises to focus in the face of normal training center distractions. I also thought about getting into a basic obedience class which would be a lot easier to get into and yet would still give him exposure to new places, dogs and people, while I keep working through your class progression and working contacts & weaves on my own. I do like obedience training!

>>To help build even more speed, use a shorter tunnel (15 feet or 10 feet or 6 feet if they have those shorties! And also bag it – he isn’t exactly moving it yet but he needs to get used to the feel of a heavily bagged tunnel.>>
Yep, you are so right. I will do that next time for sure. Funny, I posted a short subset of this session on my FB page (separate cut, not mentioning it was from your class since I think that is a no-no) and got a few comments about the no-bags even though he didn’t move it. So yes, lesson learned!

>>the dog walk was on his line (not the tunnel) so he was confused. He doesn’t know the DW so he didn’t get on it, but he recognized that the visual of it was on the line so he wasn’t sure if he should take the tunnel or not.>>
Wow, very good catch – I didn’t even think of that and just assumed he’d ignore since he hasn’t seen a dog walk plank since we did Plankrobatics in the first class, but I can see now how that would potentially pose a question! I will definitely block that off tomorrow.

>>And yes, you can increase the value of the reward but also attach the lotus ball to a line so you can keep it moving and engaging. Will he play with toys there?>>
I had tried at first to just play with him with a toy at first in that room, but it was not enough to hold his attention, so I had to switch to the lotus with food. I will see if I can find some string to attach to it for tomorrow, but if not I think I have another idea for how to make it more interesting and keep it moving a bit.

Today I just did a few short sessions back to Minny Pinny left/right proofing and the ladder grid. Although there was no evidence of this, I thought he might be a little sore after he and Emmett got into a little scuffle last night. That Em is one tough, reactive pupper being all old and skinny with a feeding tube sticking out the side of his neck still launching his steroid-wasted self across the room to teach the annoying puppy a lesson. I was heading over to protect Emmett from Ronin’s playful antics and I guess he thought I was too slow! Terriers!! GAWD!!! But I digress…

Previously, we were having issues going to the right but only when he was on the inside of me, zero problems to the left and you said…
>>The next time you tackle this game, move the wings to a slightly tighter angle (and the bumps :)) so that they are a little closer together, so he can ‘bounce ‘ them more. I would start the right turns the same way you did here (between 1 and 2) to warm him up, then working back to start at 1.>>
So I’m wondering if this is what you meant by tightening up the wings for a tighter angle so he can bounce? I could not get my three wings to cooperate – the legs were in the way – so I tried this setup. Aside from the one bump not being flat on the ground like it should, was this what you were thinking?

Had a couple of errors and once taking off without the release, but otherwise I thought it was okay. But let me know what YOU think!

Ladder Grid:
What do you think of this spacing? I have taught Susan Salo’s jump grids before but not for a long time and can’t remember the best way to determine the spacing (I should watch those DVDs again that seems like it would take a LOT longer than just asking you what you think of this spacing LOL!!!!)

~Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Thanks Tracy, this is a great plan. I will add in the wrap after I have thrown he toy.

Since I’m on a bit of a staycation and finally have flexibility, I booked a little ring time at OTR and worked on the diamond drill. Seeing the video I was so late on so many cues and said many wrong things – poor Ronin!!

But this was more about just seeing what we could do in a new place he’s never been to but once when he was only 6 months old and he brain was NOT ready for it then! Anyway, Ronin is somewhat of a pandemic puppy in where he’s been until now so I need to get on changing that. It was an extremely distracting environment smell-wise and with all the stuff around so I was always worried I would lose him to sniffing. So considering all that and my poor handling I think he did pretty well!😂 I know I need to give the cues a lot earlier (and the correct left/right) but also I was thinking maybe I need to leave the wraps and turns earlier. Thoughts?

These were all the reps, with a crate break in between for maybe 7 minutes.

I have some more training time booked for Thursday and this time I will be upping the reward for not sniffing around and for coming back to me – steak it will be! Suggestions for which drills to do in a distracting place? I had wanted to wait on more GoGoGo training until I had your feedback today at least, but could try that there if you thought it was a good idea, or wait to do that where he’s more familiar.

~Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Thanks for all he super great advice, Tracy!

With your fabulous feedback I did two sessions today. Reviewing the video I see a couple of mistakes, but overall I think it was pretty good. These were the sum total of reps we did today; I didn’t leave any out. Interestingly, I must have had more playtime in the second session because I had less reps in it but *both* uncut sessions were exactly 5.1 minutes each! Not that less reps and more playtime is a bad thing, I realize. 🙂 Just saying it was funny they were timed exactly the same.

Anyway, he seemed far less excited for toy placed out past the jump vs. thrown, whether it was thrown then releasee or thrown after release.

I plan to keep doing this throughout the week without including any drills with rear crosses until he’s really getting the driving ahead.

Let me know what you think and additional tweaks as needed.

Thanks!
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Hi Tracy – buckle up, this is going to be a rough ride critiquing this video today! 😕
This was actually the most discouraging training session I think I have had thus far with Ronin. We worked on Wind in Your Hair part 2 and we really struggled with these rear crosses.

At least this time I did remember the jump bump, which I had forgotten last time. It started out okay with a few reps going straight, but all went downhill from there.

Couple of things to note, working in the agility field (that FINALLY dried out!!) is new for Ronin so prior to this session I had spent a day walking him around the whole thing on leash and then did a couple of short sessions yesterday not on video of super simple games. He was a little distracted, but did okay. It’s definitely a new space for him though and he’s not a super confident dog – usually suspicious of new surroundings at first, so I know that was partially a factor here.

Still, I need to figure out how to fix my handling here – I can see at least three things I did incorrectly several times (one of which you even told me NOT to do in my last feedback so ….UGH!!) but also Ronin didn’t make the rear cross attempts easy because he was not driving ahead of me to the jump. I fear there is not yet enough value for that jump, especially to drive ahead of me to get it. Should I go back and work on that first?

I was sure feeling deflated after this one both with myself and worried about Ronin. 😟 I do not want to create a slow dog and am so worried I will! I have always been faster than my dogs (only had two agility dogs so far – Rich’s Italian Greyhound doesn’t count ’cause that dog just be crazy!) and I have explanations for both of those, but maybe it’s actually ME! I want a dog that is confident enough to want to leave me in the dust.

I feel like I need to take a step back here – especially being in a new space, but let me know what you think. Thank you!!

~Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Thanks for all the great feedback. I need to go back and do more on the last few weeks of things, but for now I will catch up and work baby levels on new stuff. 🙂

Diamond:
Not my best work – ha!! Plus, it was super distracting to be practicing outside, but it is a good thing to start experiencing since if it ever gets spring here and my agility field dries out we’ll be doing more out there with all the good smells!

Strike a Pose Proofing:
This one went better than I thought it was going to. Any suggestions for tweaks or what to move on to?

Wind in Your Hair:
Not too thrilled about how I did on this one – needed more connection and to pay more attention to my lines. And why did I keep saying “Ready?” to him in the middle of the sequence?!? I must be nuts. 🙂 And again it’s outside which is new for him so I could tell it was hard for Ronin to focus. But it’s a start!

Find the Jump:
This one went okay. Suggestions for changes?

Thank you in advance for the feedback,
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Thanks for the great feedback.

Round 2 of the Serp Lead changes…I tried to be a bit more of a handler on this one and I think it was better. It sure is good we’re doing these because you can really see over several reps especially that they need to the practice to figure out the lead change footwork. It’s definitely not always automatic!

Serp vs. Wrap:
I think this was better, still not super smooth, but I think there was a bit more clarity on the front cross. I also don’t know why it’s so hard to remember o stay closer to the wring, but I see I still wasn’t as close as i should’ve been.

MinnyPinny proofing:
>>On the warm up – was he able to go all the way around to the right, without you moving, starting from your left side with you kind of in the center of the bump?

Yes, he definitely rocked the warm ups without me moving, on the left, going to the right.

I did try one regular rep just to see if it was still a struggle, and it was so I tried making it easier per your suggestions. It definitely helped such that we were able to get two nice reps correctly at the end.

Let me know your thoughts on if we should move on with anything or do something differently.
Thank you!

~Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Hi Tracy,

It’s been a rough week so am definitely behind on Week 2 stuff!

Serp/Lead Changes:
How does this look to you? I definitely said way too many ‘Yes!’-es again instead of just “Get it!” That is SUCH a hard habit for me to break.

Serp vs. Wrap:
I felt so awkward as far as what to do with my body on the wrap reps vs. the serps and I guess I should have re-watched the demo video first! What are all the things I should do differently?

Minny Pinny Left/Right Proofing:
Well part of this was SO hard! I didn’t show very many reps of Ronin going to the left because he just nailed that every single time, even at advanced level. I tried to show more of the struggles in the clips going to the right so you can help me determine what to do. And oddly, I would say Ronin is overall more of a righty for everything else, so this was kind of weird to me. Note, I did several warm-ups that were not on video, with him on my left, turning right and they were great.

Let me know your thoughts!
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Good morning! I experimented a little bit, but mostly just tried to do all the things right (mixed success on my part!) but I think flipping the wing and getting ahead did make a difference with the Smiley game Right-Right specifically:

Still had a few failures and I need to spend more time analyzing why because my eye isn’t picking it up as fast as you do! 🙂

Proofing game:
I did quite a few different reps over 3 sessions today (I’m learning I can’t do as many reps with Ronin as when Emmett was a baby, but Ronin refreshes with a new session) and I think we had improvement overall. In seeing the video I think I need to avoid being so hesitant overall and stand the heck UP!😆 I was tentative and leaning over for more of the reps than I’d like to see, but I do think he’ll get this with more practice on both our parts.

Let me know what you think!
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Hello!

Wrap Proofing:
Here’s a video of the wrap proofing; it was a couple of sessions because I knew I had to keep these short for him. We did have a few errors and I tried to use body position to make it easier, but in reviewing the video I don’t think it was particularly well done.

Tunnel Exit Turns:
I tried for more connection (over several sessions) and still had a few errors with the right-right. So either still not enough connection or something else?? I couldn’t really tell a difference in my handling in the reps where he was successful vs. not. Let me know what you think. I do know I missed a few early pre-tunnel entry commands so will keep working on that!

~Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Great feedback Tracy, as always. 🙂

Practiced a few tunnel exit thingys today. In watching the video I can see many losses of connection (boo!) but it’s more o work on. For some reason I keep thinking I’m going to run into things so it’s hard for me o connect with him.

I did take your advice and practice a walkthrough without the dog to get the verbals better and that helped – still not perfect but better.

Also I tried to stop saying useless encouraging words between cues and I think it was better. I still sometimes forgot thee mechanics for releasing to the toy with “Get it” but I guess I’ll focus on that next!

~Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Hi Tracy – thanks for the great feedback.

It was a balmy 33 degrees outside today (so nice!!) so I thought I’d take it outside to get more room, even though there’s still snow here in MN. The cold doesn’t bother Ronin in the least and the footing was still pretty decent.

Got some jump bumps for the set point and worked it with the toy drag this time. This was a great suggestion because I think it did produce a better form over the jumps, like we’ve seen with some others too.

Wind in your Hair:
It was so hard to see if he was really looking forward or not. I’m going to have to do more to train my eye for this. 🙂

Smiley Face:
Only did a couple of these. I think I had better connection but still have a lot to improve upon 🙂
But seriously I don’t know what the heck is so confusing about my left/right verbals!!😆I have never taught left/right before and I guess I am struggling to remember which should NOT be that hard. Maybe I’ll practice with Emmett if he feels up to it – he’s pretty deaf ow anyway so it won’t matter if I mess it up! Ha!
Anyway, it was harder than I thought also to stop saying the encouraging words in between commands. I may have done a little better but not a lot, so I’ll keep working on it.
Any other reminders I need on this and I’ll try it again.

I look forward to your thoughts!
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Here we are with Week 1 (Pre-Games were a breeze) homework. I’m already wishing I had more space! 🙂

Set point:
It’s kind of killing me now that I didn’t teach the tuck sit. I was thinking about that this whole year and never got around to it and now…regrets. Would sure come in handy for this one! 🙂

Wind in your Hair:
Definitely wanted more room and learned a few things on this first round. Namely, the way I had it set up cramped at the end made it hard for me to really have a fast, smooth path to the end and if nothing else Ronin really showed that he can read decel! :/ 🙂
<<EDIT AFTER INITIAL POST: So I just re-watched the demo AND the live class and I see some of what made this harder. 1) I didn’t have the wing lined up with the side I was sending. The wing was in the middle and stayed there throughout. 2) I wasn’t watching for his face to look at the jump to reward right at that point. I am sure there were other things I could improve to but those I see how right away after watching the videos again.>>>

Smiley Face:
I missed connecting on a few reps, so that was a good learning for me!

Let me know what you think. Thanks!
Kristin

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Kristin Omdahl. Reason: Update on Wind in Hair commentary

[Kristin Omdahl]

Hi Tracy,

I didn’t bring my ‘A’ game to training today, but at least I did something. 🙂

Rocking Horse Tunnel:
I shortened the tunnel and moved the wing back to make more room between he tunnel and wing, but that’s as much room as I have right now. Can’t wait until winter is over! And I realize this camera angle doesn’t show the increased distance between the obstacles but you’ll just have to trust me on that. Ha! What should I do next if I don’t have more room to put in two obstacles? Shorten the tunnel to like just a few feet or something?

Countermotion:
Tried to focus on him at the start of each iteration, and also to add a bit more motion. I think in most reps I should’ve held my cue arm back longer. We did have a few moments of confusion here which I am quite sure was entirely my fault. I’m assuming holding the arm cue and joining Team Chill on the motion would help! 🙂

Decel:
Mostly stayed on the landing side of the barrel this time and that was better.

Let me know what you think.
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Whew! Finally got some time to train this week!

Rocking Horse Tunnel:
Well obviously I didn’t quite have my commands and arm signals all worked out before I started, but was mostly okay.

Serp Countermotion:
I was pretty much only brave enough this time to do the throw back without adding the countermotion yet. The very las rep had a little. So we didn’t too far on this one, but I wanted to be sure he was confident (and me too, in what I was doing!😀) before adding much motion.

Lateral Lead Out:
Once I got into this one I kind of forgot about how much motion or cue I was supposed to use, so I kind of winged it in the moment and tried not to be very extreme either way – neither too much nor zero cue. Will be going back to watch demo video!

Simple Decel:
This seemed generally okay. I like all the great stay work we got to do this week too!

As always, thanks in advance for your awesome feedback! Feel like we’re almost doing real agility now. 😁 Since Emmett had to retire this year, I’ve really missed it!

Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Hi! I think there was too much time between when I read your feedback and when I recorded these videos because I did forget a couple of the points, but not a big deal.

Turn and Burn
I tied two toys together and a bit more of a chase game going and he thought that was pretty fun. I think I got some good commitment there. The part I wish I had done more of was to get a bit more distance going TO the wing, as you suggested, but will try that next time.

Threadle and Serp
I had a few sessions of this so I can only show some of the highlights here, but I was working to start out with more motion, to reward stays (which I didn’t cut into the video much) and to consider my arm position. I didn’t really like how the threadle was going with one arm compared to when I tried it with the opposite arm up so I decided to make that switch. So threadle cue will be opposite arm. I think it helps me turn my shoulders for a clearer differentiation, at least at this point. I guess I’ll see in the future if that’s the best long term choice or not, but it felt better to me now. Serps were certainly easier. On this one I wish I’d remembered to stay closer to the wing – not so much space between me and the jump – but I will work more on that too. 🙂

Kristin

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