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Thanks for this great feedback and in the live class this week. I really appreciate the honest insights!
As far as what’s coming up for us, training is basically once a week now in class at Fusion and then whatever we do in the basement at home. He should be back to his normal height and full load after his surgery by end of next two weeks.
For trials I was going to enter one in March 22-23 at OTR. Do you think two classes over 2 days would be okay? Or..I could just do Sunday only and do Speedstakes 1-2 & Jumping for 3 things total. I don’t plan to throw in any contacts just yet unless it was a teeter or A-frame.
This is the schedule:
SATURDAY (Small – Tall)
Gamblers – Champ & Senior, Beginners & Novice
*Agility – Champ, Senior, Beginners & Novice
Jumping – Champ & Senior, Beginners & Novice
Speedstakes – Champ & Senior, Beginners & Novice
SUNDAY (Tall – Small)
Speedstakes Rd1 – Champ & Senior, Beginners & Novice
Speedstakes Rd2 – Champ & Senior, Beginners & Novice
Jumping – Champ & Senior, Beginners & Novice
Snooker – Champ & Senior, Beginners & Novice
Agility – Champ & Senior, Beginners & NoviceWhat do you think?
Kristin
Hey Tracy – did you post a link to tonight’s live or send an email that I missed? I’m not finding the link anywhere.
Thanks!
KristinWell, THAT was an unexpected 1.5 weeks. Got sidelined with being sick starting Feb. 6th and then catching up on all the things that didn’t get done during the few days I was out of commission has me behind on this too. But, am back!!
So, in the meantime, we past the sprints-are-allowed phase of Reacher’s rehab and are back to class as of yesterday, with lowered jumps and I skipped the A-frame and didn’t run many bigger lines.
I still think having more spicy games at the beginning would be helpful, but I just am not creative enough with the those ideas. I tried to teach him to bark, but it I couldn’t get him to do it! So weird that I have a schnauzer that is hard to get to bark, I mean, c’mon!!😂 I think he thinks spins right and left are stupid and never liked nose touches even when he was a puppy. <sigh> He’s very “handsy” so we do “Gimme 5” on both paws and I move a bit back and forth and he likes that, but wish I had more in my toolbox for volume dial games.
Yesterday we practiced entering the ring and starting to get to the line-up spot while the dog before was leaving. I asked the handler before to take her sweet time leaving the ring while the jumps were reset and we went in. Just wanted to see how he’d handle it. We had extra time to wait than I thought on the first round while the bars were having some difficulty gettin set off camera so we just had some chill. Maybe I should have been doing more there to pump him up??
I also think I led out too far on that first one but am please he stayed.
Did a little exit practice with my “Let’s Go” which means we’re gonna leave and get a jackpot, which he got right outside the ring.
In Round 2 I decided to leave the leash closer to the end. Should I have been more fun and engaging getting back to jump #1?
I think the next NFC option I’d consider is March 22 timeframe – UKI at OTR. I suppose I better get entered! Not sure if I should do 1 day or 2 though. Either way, I’m still not going to do any contacts or weaves yet I think. I want him to be super confident just being “out there” even though he’s really got the skills at home now.
He’s still only running about half as fast as I know he can do. I wish he was a lot more motivated like he used to be when he was a puppy. I don’t know what happened, but it’s just not coming back after adolescence. I mean, he’s doing “fine” but I miss the spark he used to have when he was a baby!
~Kristin
Hello! It’s been radio silence around here since Reacher got his spay done almost 2 weeks ago now. And of course he thinks he’s totally back to normal by now, so the next several weeks are going to be brutal in terms of keeping him quiet! LOL! But the surgery went fine and they were able to find that testicle that was a bit up in there but not too bad. It was normal sized though so that’s good and he kept the one that was undescended even though I have no intention of breeding. There just isn’t enough research IMO on what value those hormones might bring so far now he gets to keep the one untroublesome nut. 😂
I’m definitely experiencing the FOMO but trying to learn what I can from the other students’ threads while we wait.
Before the surgery, we did do a little video from class and am interested in your feedback. Sorry for the weird hard cut to the end of a run. I should’ve added a fade; we didn’t run the course off camera THAT fast! Ha!
Is there anything mechanically you think I could do differently? And like I wasn’t sure exactly what I should have him do when I found myself in the situation where I forgot to tie my hair back and had to pause our pattern games to get that done. The obvious answer is for the handler to plan better but did I handle it okay? I know stepping on the leash is risky but wasn’t sure what my best other options were for ensuring he didn’t take off (the chase instinct is pretty darned strong).
I thought he handled the distractions well for the most part, except on the one rep where I unleashed him and he disengaged to take a look at what interesting dog was coming. So, leash off, engagement on games back on the agenda!
I’m interested to hear what activities from class (or other) you might recommend once he’s cleared for a bit more action. Like, no jumps but cleared for doing sprints on the flat level of activity. I’m thinking I can bring power bowls to class, leash off/on things, etc.
Let me know what you think.
Oh my gosh I have thought SO much about this topic in the last week! I tried to write back so many times but I just couldn’t organize my thoughts very well – it’s such a complex topic and worth a lot of thinking and more study. I look forward to seeing what BCF will offer in pursuit of more understanding on things like this!
<<And pressure is not necessarily a bad thing 🙂 but we need to be careful to not let it tip over into overarousal/negative stress feelings.>>
I am getting the sense that you feel this tipped a bit into the negative feelings category. I admit to being worried about that too. I am seeing how it that possibly happened due to the failures. In this case, where do you think the threshold of too many variables to be keep him mentally “safe” was breeched?<<One of the main things to think about here are variables:
– familiar location (blue mats) versus unfamiliar location (black mats – TCOTC?)
– proximity of the crowd
– proximity of the instructor
– how to change variables
– fatigue 🙂>>Yes, it was at TCOTC for a short seminar just a few hours long.
<<First up, fatigue – the thing with weaves are that they are the most physically and mentally “expensive” obstacle, so you will get fatigue. And that means the later reps won’t be as good, even if the challenges are theoretically easier (they are not easier at that point because of fatigue).>>
Totally agree about how expensive weaves are. I thought limiting to 6 max would help but maybe still too many – I am sure fatigue was a big variable here.<<So what to do differently?>>
I love how you find the nicest ways to say “that was a really bad choice, I feel bad for your dog now”. 😂 I struggle in seminars where I’m not used to a more pushy instructor. I am not sure why I can’t take my day job attitude and apply it here! LOL! I was certainly surprised when she took the MM away. Now I have big regrets on how I handled this. I will do better next time. Plus, 99.99% of the time if he misses the weaves he still gets cookies and we do reset tricks and cookies all the time, so he probably wondered what was happening here. Now I feel terrible that I couldn’t step back enough to see this more clearly in the moment. I guess I can only hope that the hundreds of previous experiences of always having positive association even through failures will be enough to overcome this experience.<<I think resilience and effort/motivation to keep trying get used interchangeably and they are not the same…>>
I thought about this part a lot!! I totally agree that they are not the same and yet certainly there must be a a relationship there. For example, I can see how you might have ample resilience and yet not really be motivated or passionate about anything. And yet, when something bad happens you can get back to baseline quickly and frequently. Similarly, I think you can be highly motivated to do something and then if you do it and you hit a traumatic bump you may suddenly lose the motivation to continue because you haven’t built up the ability to overcome adversity in that area. But do you think that increasing motivation via a reward (or expectation of a reward) can have an effect on the ability to recover from a stressor?Maybe it’s more technically correct (??) to say what I was attempting to do was actually to desensitize to the environmental situation. As in, trying to get the amygdala less likely to hijack the system based on practice/exposure to a situation that might be hard but can still have victory. Thus, next time there is this type of pressure present, the subject is not as likely to be stressed. What do you think of this a it relates to this example? I’m truly curious – this is such a fascinating topic!
Kristin
Hello again!
Here is an interesting video…it looks a bit cringe-worthy partly because I’ve cut together lots of failures and not as many of the successes, but I think it’s an interesting study in what can happen when you try doing weaves under pressure, and then NOT pressure. 🙂
In the first video (which we had worked up to – doing it much farther away in the first round) you can see that he will weave, albeit slowly, that close into the crowd with the Manners Minder, which I intentionally used vs. a thrown reward for the first tries. And then what happens without the MM present as a focal point or positive distraction. And THEN what happens when not weaving into the crowd but still having to turn around a wing facing the crowd then weave. And finally, the very next day, the stark difference when weaving a full set of weaves with no pressure.
I found this fascinating. Again, this probably looks like a LOT of pressure because of how it’s cut but I was intentionally trying to build a little resilience while monitoring his attitude. And it was not all in 1 round of course! I think after all that pressure the day before he thought weaving 12 weaves without a bunch of people staring was super easy! 😂
We’ll probably not be too active for 1/3 of this class extension since the neuter (just taking the one testicle up in there) is next Wednesday, but I hope there’s a lot of action from the others that I can learn from in the meantime!
~Kristin
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!
Kristin
