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Did a bit of jump grid work with Julie and Khamsin today. As usual we had fun!😂
In this short video I’m just showing the progression of moving the jump up to 10″, then back down to 8″ when it didn’t work out, then after a break, back up to 10″, then 12″ then finally back down to 8″ one last time. He’s really confident and looks good at 12″ just doing the set point, so we’ll need to work up to higher heights with a run into it as this proves that needs practice.
OMG – I HAVE to stop leaning over him so much! It’s too much pressure but I’m having a hard time stopping myself! When we are getting ready to run and playing the leaning over is mostly so he can get wound up by playfully batting at my hands or gently (finally he’s doing it gently) kind of chasing my arm with his mouth. This sounds a lot worse than it is – I should’ve done a close up. Anyway, some of the leaning for that reason gets him more excited to go, but 99% of the time I need to stop it. Despite having awareness it’s hard for me to remember so I’ll keep working at it and I’m glad Julie will certainly tell me when I’m doing it which is super helpful I love that!
I’m kind of sad it’s last day of class – this has probably been my favorite class of all! SO HELPFUL! Thank you so much for everything and keep us posted on a support group.
~Kristin
Thank you, Tracy!
I think I have a better idea of what to do now for the stay progressions. I’ll practice and keep experimenting with what helps him explode off the line while still having that reliable wait.
Speaking of jump heights a bit…yes, last time I looked (granted, it was a few years ago now!) for AKC if they were 14″ they had to jump 16″, so my goal will definitely be to get him at that 13.999 stage. Emmett, who was technically around 14.25 I got down to 13 7/8 with the right measuring judge selection and shaving. Will for sure take your advice on the shaved shoulders!
But also about jump heights, what is your latest thinking on progression up to regular height for the young dogs starting NFC and trialing? I haven’t starting jumping him at 12″ in class at all yet and obviously need to start there, but not sure how to do it to ensure he still keeps confidence in his jumping ability and some speed. Considering right now speed is one of my bigger concerns, I’ve been scared to start jumping higher even in class. At home we’ve been doing some set point and specific grids with his full height and I don’t have any concerns about it under those comfy and controlled conditions, but not sure where to take it from there into class and eventually trials. In summary, I feel I know how to train the technical aspects of proper jumping, but introducing into the “real world” for Reacher has me uncertain.
<<Fingers crossed that they find the testicle so the surgery is minimal!!! Any whippet racing people in the area? I swear they can find any testicle, anywhere, any time, it is magical LOL!!>>
Well, I do happen to have a local really good friend and whippet breeder and serious racer – and her whippets even do barn hunt too – who I can definitely ask about this! I didn’t know they were often experts at this! I guess it never came up in our conversations! Maybe not a magic trick typically well-advertised. LOL! I’ll ask her about it. Probably more human bribery will be in order. 🙂~Kristin
We had a fun training session this morning with Julie and Khamsin! I did bribe the hoomans with mega-muffins for breakfast as per your recommendation although I don’t think they needed much prodding.😂 It was so awesome to have us all there to practice the ring crew situation and dogs leaving the ring while we’re coming in, and the other way around.
Reacher was definitely distracted in the first round while we were coming in and Julie was finishing with Kal. I had snacks in the ring and ready just because this is kind of new and hard for him. He was better with that the second round. But all the fake judge the leash running and others in the ring were for sure quite distracting, so it was fantastic to set it up and work through. He did better with a dog coming in while where were going out vs. the other way around (I am sure because he knows he gets his treats when we leave.) but that was interesting to note. Definitely paid attention to leash runners, the velcro noise and when I intentionally set him up on the start line pretty close to Khamsin sitting in a chair.
I really want to work on making the anticipation of the release a fun thing for him, but also want a stay, so I tried some more of that at home later today. I guess I am just not sure for him the exact steps to use for this. He’s a lot more stimulated at home for this game compared to at class. I want him to hold his stay but be excited enough to explode off the line. I will go back and watch the cartoon mash-up homework video again, but I still feel like I’m not sure the progression of this one.
Oh, and I forgot to mention our other NFC class day victory was being such a good boy while standing under the wicket to get measured. We’ve been working on that but I was pretty sure would not be ready for prime time, but we had to get measured anyway and I was so surprised at how nice he stood for it! Measured 14″ which is good for UKI I think (for 12″) but bad for AKC so we’ll see what nice judges I can find for that!
Hope to get a small bit of practice in yet before the surgery. I have had multiple vets over the last 2 years try to find that testicle to see if we could move it and no one has been successful. Does not bode well for the surgery, but we’ll see. Lift says Reacher can borrow her pink camo suticle if we need to. I’m sure he’d love that! 😆
~Kristin
Your feedback was fantastic, thank you!! Makes total sense. BTW I meant to tell you before how much I appreciated your flowcharts and progression info. Loved the decision trees and flowcharts! That’s totally speaking my language.😂
Last night in class we did a few things related to progressing the distraction. The first was I had the handler before me pause a bit while we came into the ring while I would see if Reacher would notice. He did not, but there was some stuff in the way and the dog/handler combo were not being very interesting! (Plus I kind of had a hand in my pocket so…) Next time I’ll ask them to be a bit more excited like they really just finished a run instead of just setting bars.😀
The other thing I tried was to rev him up with some sneaky talk at the start line, partly because we had a “delay of game” while our instructor remembered to put the hoop on the dog walk, and I wanted to try something kind of between the normal stay + lead out with the extra sneaky cartoon mashup. The first try was too much! And I didn’t lead out far enough. Second try was better and he seemed to really enjoy me talking a bit dirty to him at the start. I’ll keep working on this with him to hold the stay while I rev him a bit – he seems to respond more to verbal volume dialing vs. me touching him so much. Same is true in barn hunt when he finds the rat he does NOT like to be touched, whereas my other dogs have really liked that and it revved them up way more. Reacher no likey. Verbals and goofy faces he likes!
Anyway, I think I had an extra weave round in the video, sorry, but the other interesting and unexpected “proofing” came in with the noise during our last sequence of weaves. Do you hear that screeching sound?! Yeah, a guy was sawing metal just on the other side of the ring wall by the entrance and it was loud! Didn’t seem to phase him though so I was really happy with that. Felt like a fun victory to share so I included it here.
I think I might get some open ring time with friends this weekend so we can practice people/dogs in the ring, so that might be the last video for the class. Kind of sad!
~Kristin
Whew! What a weekend! It ended up being a lot busier than I thought, cumulating with the 2 NFC runs today. I mention this because by today I imagine Reacher could also possibly have been a little tired. We unexpectedly ended up in a seminar with Lori Michaels on Friday due to another handler getting hurt, opening a spot and an absolutely unbelievable price due to the situation and my friend convinced me to go. I’m SO glad I did! Lori was awesome, we learned some new things and reinforced many others, all at a new location we hadn’t been, and Reacher did great!! Then yesterday we had a barn hunt lesson. That was planned and and least it was just a short lesson, but still it was “stuff” and he even hunted with his brother (with no quarrels which is awesome) so that amped up the excitement. We napped a lot after that!
So the first run you saw, and I’m so grateful for a friend that video’d for me since where my GoPro camera had to be positioned it was definitely sub-optimal for distance and human obstacles. 🙂 But just in case it was helpful I did add a bit from my other camera at the beginning and end so you get the fullest picture. I loved that run for him. And I completely agree that he’s a little more distracted towards the front of the ring where the crowd is.
Run 2 – Also good but I made a few mistakes I wish I hadn’t. Still I think it was a great experience and he seemed happy enough. To get to where we wanted to start we did have to go over where the dog before us was exiting and Reacher was definitely interested in what was going on over there. I handled this by just moving with purpose to where were going to start but in hindsight I wished instead of kind of just dragging him along I’d instead have engaged with him a bit more there maybe with take out the toy a little early and see if he’d engage with that or a high-five trick or something.
And then, I’m not sure what was up with that leash, but it was kind of stuck. It looks a lot more wrestling and rough that it for sure was, but still seeing it I don’t love it. It was definitely not as bad as it looks, me trying to loosen the loop with just one hand, but still not optimal. He sat on his own right there with no line-up command so I went with it and led out. He took off fast (yay!) but then seemed to slow right away as I slowed at the tunnel to avoid getting too far ahead of him.
Run up the line was fine and then the plan was to try a push and reward after the first tunnel. He didn’t get it but we still rewarded and went back to try that again. I just wanted to try one “harder” skill while we were out there. Second time was success.
The ending line was fine, but again going toward the crowd he slowed a bit and I think maybe checked in with the score table a bit before going into the tunnel.
At the end I threw the toy down but he didn’t make any more to grab it and meanwhile where was a TON of pressure there right at the exit with a fleet of course builders all lined up outside that entire corner just waiting for us to get out so they could go in. So I just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible then to get the pile of treats I’d left on a table (and he knew it) right out that exit gate.
Definitely some good learnings here and a good overall experience. Lori’s courses were ideal for making up NFC runs and I hope to see her again around here. 🙂
I don’t think we’ll be doing any trialing for awhile because if the bloodwork looks good at the vet at the end of month I’ll schedule him for a neuter in early January to get out one undescended testicle before it becomes a problem. It doesn’t appear “close” so his neuter might end up more like a spay in terms of complexity and recovery.
But let me know what you think of today, and advice for our next trials or anything else!
Thank you!
KristinHa ha! Thanks for the funny video. I needed that!😂
>>COOL! I haven’t seen his running DW yet! NICE!>>
Aww, thanks! I love teaching running contacts even if it takes forever. He’s doing well with them, but still quite a ways to go. I’m always using a hoop in training on the DW to prevent mistakes if I’m not planning on actively teaching on it that day (with my touch pad) so there’s basically never a mistake until I’m ready to work on it. 🙂<<You might need a stride regulator on the frame to get him to leap the apex bit, to stride deeper into the yellow.>>
Yes, that session was actually very unusual as far as the Aframe performance I got. I had been using the hoop on it or the touchboard, but also removed it from the AF awhile ago and it’s been pretty solid into the yellow until that session. So I’m definitely thinking of adjustments for next session!All valid points on the toy reaction. Thanks for the reminder. I’ll not panic and just follow the plan using the toy. I’m scared of food boxes now after that last experience.😀 And I’ll make sure he knows the snacks are outside, use the “Let’s Go!” as we leave so in case he’s not as crazy for the toy in the ring at least he knows that reward is coming.
Yes, it’s fun to see the baby growing up! And still I feel like his psyche is as fragile as ever so I’ll take great care to make it as fun an experience as possible on Sunday.
Thank you!
KristinOkay so after class last night I’m suddenly a bit worried about how to plan for rewards at the trial this weekend! I’m doing NFC of course just two classes, Speedstakes and Jumping, but the problem was with Reacher’s reaction to the toy in class. He didn’t seem very excited about it! I had the same rabbit fur toy as before but I have only taken it out 1 time since that first NFC trial so it’s not been overused by any means.
What this video shows is our run in 4 parts:
1) warm up to going into the ring
2) our course run that I did (I had two cameras going so you’re not seeing a gap between outside and inside the ring
3) after the run his completely unexcited reaction to the toy
4) after I put the toy back we did 1-2 very short things (not on video) and I brought the food out for the reward for that and then we went outside the ring and I tried to see if he’s want to the to then, but also ‘No.’
What could I have done differently here? I know it was kind of a long run without a reward but I wanted to test it even thought that was NOT my plan for the trial, and this is not completely unusual to try this (not super often, but not the first time) and usually when I do a longer course I do have the toy on me. He did miss the weaves but I just kept going because in our first run of the night he did them perfectly and right into a wall too! This was our second run of the night.
I’m now not sure of what my strategy should be for running and rewarding at the trial. They will have a food box, but it’s not at Fusion and not Julie’s trial, so no idea what to expect in terms of location and size. It’s at On the Run where you’ve been often and it’s not a new site for him, but certainly new for a trial.
And advice is appreciated!
KristinThanks for the great feedback.
Did a little bit more on the sequences today. I tried different things on the start lines just for information. For the round I completely forgot the course so it was a good chance just to run back to the dog walk where I had the reward. Next time I try that I will have the last going away from the reward as you suggested. I just got lost this time and thought I better end it before I got even more confused! Ha! Second try of the first round my memory wasn’t much better, but he got rewarded so it was all good.
For the Round 2 I had the really good toy in my shirt, which he knew was there, so at first I could not figure out why he was moving so slow. Maybe poor connection but also after that we barely got out of the building before he did like a double-poop. I think that’s why he got distracted on one part of the course and looked at the back door to outside. He REALLY had to go so I felt quite bad about that after.🙁
Our next NFC try will be Dec. 15th (UKI trial) up at On the Run. I did just one day but 2 runs.
Hello! I have video from several different sessions this past week. Just a bit of a crazy week and didn’t get them posted, so I’m sorry for the numerous submissions!
I tried some Advanced RR Pattern Games at home just to get the feel of it. I remember when I was doing it that it didn’t feel like I thought it would when watching the video. I got a few details wrong but it’s a start. I’m open to any feedback on this for sure!
I tried Advanced Power Patterns again today before Julie and Khamsin arrived, but I did forget my bowls and just decided to use the tables and the jumps where they were. His brother Ronin was having major FOMO and provided a little noise distraction. How do you think this setup worked out?
On Monday in class I had some Engaged Chill / TSA work kind of go awry and then went better the second round. What happened first was the big distraction and I kind of froze a little at first instead of moving him away immediately because 1) I thought the dog would leave more quickly and 2) I forgot I didn’t really have a reactive dog that would explode in this moment if I HAD moved or put any pressure on the leash (like Emmett would’ve). I should’ve just got up, got a treat and turned him away, but it didn’t end badly, just not optimal. I thought the recovery was okay. But I appreciate any feedback on timing or other mechanics of either take.
Back to today when we tried Sequence 1 of the package. Seemed okay even though my “Close” arm cue was not what it should be in either round. I didn’t like it but he figured it out.
For Sequence 2 today, I tried two ways to do the middle jump. Oh, you may have noticed we had to flip the course due to the position of all the other stuff and not wanting to move the tunnel too much! Anyway, I like having two ways practiced to do that skill but since he’s not super fast, I think the blind cross vs. serp was smoother (even though I went a little wide maybe).
Let me know what you think!
KristinHello! I hope you had a fabulous time at the Open and are having a safe/uneventful drive home.
I have a question about the Power Pattern game when the leash is in use.
In real life, the rewards will be outside the ring, so like you mentioned in the lesson even for some FEO we can’t leave without the leash on. I want to get Reacher used to the rewards being outside the ring but also used to getting the leash on first.
My question is about the best command structure and sequence to use for this. I know you mentioned in the video about having a different command for the leash, but how do you best stack that and the “Let’s Go!” to teach the dog that the reward is coming. It’s SO LONG between finishing the work (even if just starting out with one jump) to get the collar on and then the Let’s Go so how do you keep them excited through all that and understanding that the reward is coming?
Like when I finish the run do I just jam those two commands together like “Collar! Let’s Go!” then leash up and exit the ring (or the treat station bowl to start in this case)?
I’m just trying to think of what is most effective here while he’s still learning. I don’t want him all deflated by the team we end the run, get the leash on, then run to the reward even while just starting out. Thoughts?
Thanks!
KristinThanks for the great feedback, Tracy!
We tried a few things in class on Monday and although in moment I might not have remembered all the details, I did really try!
First, just a little end of course action showing he is going out ahead at the end, so I think it’s working! I wish I’d had the camera turned more to get that last jump in, but he did burst out ahead and I got the thrown reward. It was fun!!
Here’s a little decompression documentation to show what we’ve been doing between rounds in class. I really think this helps – wish I’d started it sooner! When it’s nice out sometimes we run outside a bit but no more “nice” days until Spring now.
This is some leash off, engagement on work combined with engaged chill. He loves doing this standing up on my legs and LOVES hugs in this position so I’m hoping he’ll do it in a public place. I was not forcing him to stay up there. For the leash off/engagement on, in viewing the video maybe I got the engagement more because I was messing with my pockets for the treats too quickly. Should I have paused more like on the last rep?
Finally, some remote reinforcement / empty hands combo work. I did do two reps of that but they were in different rounds so hopefully that’s okay. We had a sub instructor this week so we were kind of doing whatever but Reacher had never met Danielle before so I was a little surprised he chased after her for the lotus ball! But once I got him back it didn’t seem like his running of the course was different because I didn’t have the ball. Oh, and on the first rep on the video I do usually take the leash off first before lining up so it was messy because I forgot (that’s not my normal! I mean, messy is normal but not forgetting to take the leash off first 😁)
Good luck at the Open this week!
KristinHello!
<<That was at 2:18 – you were late getting on the RC line>>
Yes, definitely was! Before I posted the video I knew you were gonna see that.😀 After how many years and rear crosses are still one of my weaknesses for sure, so your reminders for how to do it are so helpful. Probably annoying and repetitive for you, but I appreciate hearing it!I did do another round of the sequences before I got your feedback (didn’t want to waste the day!) and think I was a little better on the rear cross this time. Marginally.😆 It was so windy yesterday and today that I did drop the sound down on the editing to not blow your eardrums out but might still be a little loud, so start low!
For the first try, I had already placed the toy and then started the video and clearly it proved too irresistible so he went for it. Thus, I did not do more toy placements yesterday or today. If I get another chance outside I’ll try a manners minder instead!
For the first sequence we actually got through, I did forget momentarily what I was doing between 3 and 4 hence the weird little hop on my part at that point.
Second run – better rear cross I think. He’s still a little slow on the first 1-4 and always seems to be like this in tighter spots. Not sure how to get enthusiasm up for that or maybe the little bit of lack of clarity or hesitation on my part is causing it?? It’s probably not one reason.
And the jumps blew down, so we were done with running sequences for the day!
We worked again on this today. I know we’ve been doing a lot of the sequences despite instructions to spread them out, but the weather is looking to take a turn more towards winter this week, so this might actually be the last day I’m going to be able to run anything in my backyard. And I’m splitting our class time with any last minute running contacts training I can get outside before winter too. We’ve been pretty lucky to go this deep into November still being able to do agility! I should be able to rent ring time at the same place Chaia and Khamsin go but usually it’s hard to get things moved around, training done, and then move things back in the timeframe I’m willing to pay for there. But we’ll see how the weather does!
Anyway, it was super windy again today (even more so) so the volume is edited down, and those wings are staked like crazy this time!😀
First run, I think I should’ve decelled and cued that turn sooner so it could’ve been tighter. Whether that would actually have been faster in the long run I’m not sure since he’d have slowed to get a tighter turn but still, I’m thinking more decel there, yeah?
For the second run I messed up my plan so I just stopped and rewarded.
Third try was what I meant to do on the previous attempt and yet the serpentine felt kind of awkward. I think I was less sure how to cue it from that angle considering I didn’t want to go so deep close to the jump. Recommendations for that? I decided not do another one of those, but I think if I’d tried this one again I’d go with the double-cross considering I’m usually ahead of him. I did like the independent backside and worried that I didn’t have enough exit line connection there but it seemed clear enough to him where we were going back up the line.
I was sensing that he would slow down if I did one more that was “complicated” so decided just do one last fast and fun straight up the line run with me trying to reward out past the last jump sooner. My throw wasn’t too horrible so I think it made sense to him and he liked it!
Last minute tonight we did some Remote Reinforcement work (Step 1-ish still) in preparation for maybe trying some in class tomorrow night. Let me know what you think!
I appreciate your thoughts!
KristinThanks for the great advice. Will follow that as next steps for leashing up and releases. 😀
Today, we worked on the sequence. I had already placed the toy then started the video after that. I think the session went pretty well for the warm ups. I had forgotten the maps exactly so realized later I did a few extra warm up, but that’s okay he had fun. I was pleased that although it’s hard to see on the video due to the perspective he was actually going out ahead of me and beating me to the toy every time. Definitely getting the point of this game thanks to the placed reward!
Let me know what you think.
KristinHi Tracy!
Thanks for the previous feedback on adding more bad handling to the lazy game. I’ll definitely do that while staying close to jumps. I think this will help his commitment a lot, and just plain build resilience. Yay!
We worked on the leash up game again tonight (no video) but he was really starting to get into with continued luring. We did it in a different part of the house tonight too.
We also worked on Releases. Wow, I failed a lot in my job despite all your warnings, but that’s okay now I can re-baseline.😀 Honestly he caught me by surprise because Reacher used to have a really solid stay but since we’ve been working so much lately on bringing the volume up and doing running starts I think we lost a little reliability on that stay. No worries, I’ll go slower with it next round. Something *between* cartoon mashup and calm server do you think?
Let me know your thoughts!
KristinHi!
I went back and reviewed the lazy game and do think that will help us a lot with what we’ve been struggling with in the courses in this package. Although technically this is not part of the games package, I am submitting a super quick video of that for any feedback. I’ll plan to keep leveling that up to raise his commitment if you think that’s a good idea. Extra hard since Rich was making noise in the shop again (air hose this time). We are for sure desensitizing to noises around here!
I also tried teaching the collar game for our end of run plan. I found a super soft leash and made the loop extra big to start. Having not taught that before let me know if these mechanics seems okay or what tweaks would be helpful. I think this might be our best thing to teach for end of run since I don’t want him to come down from that competition high instantly just because he doesn’t enjoy being leashed. Or worse, have him feel like it’s a punishment!
Thank you!
Kristin
