[Kristin Omdahl]

Okay, good feedback on that last one. This time I went out and practiced running first, with verbals, which helped for sure. I still wasn’t spot on, but at least a little less confusing I hope!😆

These were my only reps. I tried to keep it shorter, but could have probably done 30 sec less. Had some mistakes – I am sure are my fault – especially that first one as I was switching hands with the toy. But he’s overall more engaged too, so that’s a win!

Also tried for the first time to have him hit the teeter with his back feet. Not quite like you showed in your demo, but I think he needed more help to know what I was looking for. But, let me know what I could do better on this.

Thanks!!
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Got back outside a bit today and tried lots of play time with good treats to prime the pump (not on video for interest of time), more standing up, tying a toy to the lotus ball (felt kind of weird and I am not sure actually added a lot of value). He wasn’t crazy speedy but was pretty engaged overall.

It was good I had some mistakes in here so we can analyze! First off, my commands were a bit mixed up sometimes. I am quite sure that didn’t help. I didn’t have my rights, lefts and go’s in all the right places. Let me know what else you see!

Let me know what you think!
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Great tips, thanks, Tracy. It is hard for me to stand up with him. He’s just so little I feel like I’ll lose him if I’m not bending over, but I totally think you are right that that will work better. Bending over is just so much pressure. I will try to stand up and get him to chase me more!

Today it was raining all morning so I worked on some things I could do in the house, before leaving for 4th of July festivities.

Pulled out the contact trainer to play Love the Bang and just had it on the carpet at first since he hadn’t seen it in so long. I just used my clicker and treat throws for this one.

Then I added some more noise to the Bang Game and decided to try the Manners Minder as well. I think he was not a fan of the sound and I also think he gets more jazzed with the clicker/treats instead of the MM so I think when I try this again I’ll do that. He is a little sound sensitive (although he doesn’t even notice fireworks, thank goodness!) so we’ll work on this more.

Also tried the Countermotion setup inside. I did not realize that the video was cutting my head off on his one, so I’m sorry about that! I think a lot of the time I may not have been looking at him when giving the cue so now that I see the video I think that may have caused some hesitation. I don’t really like my body position and cues in this, but can’t quite put my finger on exactly why.

Let me know what you think,
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Thanks, Tracy! I didn’t have time to make the toy/lotus combo, but did go out this morning early while it was still cool, shade still on the agility field, armed with some yummy turkey very well seasoned. He really wanted it! This session looks long, but really the amount of “training” was very short. I did lose him just a little at the beginning but MUCH shorter loss of attention than usual. I was only going to do the few reps, but threw in last one only because I wanted to get myself closer to the camera (to turn it off) and still end on a fun note for him. I think it went pretty well.

After seeing this I also have some ideas about how to maybe throw some more personal play in there with me and the ball and see how he likes it. I don’t know if he’ll think me getting down on the ground with him and playing with the ball is fun, but I might experiment and see.

I will try to get out for an even shorter session with some play later today as well.

~Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Okay, this is super great advice, I will try it. You are right, because I have limited time during the day to train I think I try to jam too much into one session. I don’t have these issues when working in my basement, he is engaged and will happily work for toys. But outside I think I’ll just have to slow down and work on this engagement issue first.

<<On the mountain climber game, I am glad he is very confident! So fun to see him driving up the board! What was the reward you were using at the end? Ideally, you can place the reward there in advance so he doesn’t look at you or wait for your hand.>>
You’re right, I thought about that after the fact that I should’ve had the reward at the end I was using Zukes, which he loves. But I will smear some peanut butter on the end and try it again.

<<First up – what are you using for reinforcement in the lotus ball?>>
I am using Zukes most of the time. He really likes those, but I will see what he might like more. I have some meat that I will try out tomorrow.

<<He did a little jump/tunnel stuff but then had trouble with the environment. So when you see that happening, rather than say no and interrupt and keep going, try to shorten the sequence and just get speed loops going, throwing the rewards a lot more to get him very very engaged.>>
Got it. Makes a lot of sense. I can do that!

<<Also – will he play with toys outside? Throwing treats even in the lotus ball will create pools of scent, which he has to then ignore. A toy or a ball might be a better reward in that environment.>>
Not really. I even tried a toy today but he was only interested in the toy for like 1 rep. Soooo different than when I train in a less distracting env. In those cases, he LOVES the toys, but outside I have found that I can keep his attention better with food. I would much rather use the toys; totally agree with you about the scent pools. But he’s just not that keen on the toys outside. 🙁

<<So, do lots and lots of speed circle reps for high value rewards, before throwing in a turn here and there.>>
Okay! I can do that!

<<On the blind cross reps – the other thing I think would be fun to add is, instead of dropping the lotus ball when you want to reward, either throw it long and far. Or attaché it to a toy so you can drag it and he can chase it.>>
Yep, again that makes total sense. I have tried attaching the lotus ball to a string, but it made it hard to throw well and far. But you did give me another idea about attaching it to a heavier toy with a string for a better throw.

<<Looking at the runaway – same question as above… what rewards are you suing? And the next question is – what did you do to mentally warm him up before you brought him to the jump and took the leash off?>>
For the runaway, I actually had tried one of his favorite toys as a reward, but it was not enough. And maybe it would have been different if I had spent more time warming the thee brain as you suggest.

<<…bring him in with high value rewards, do some tricks on leash. If he can do tricks, take off the leash, ask for MORE tricks (reward each one). When he can’t take his eyes off of you? Do a sequence and reward while he is still working, before he gets distracted. That might be 3 or 4 obstacles, and that is great!>>
Okay, I can do this! As well as the ping pong approach. And I will shorten the sessions. Might mean I need to slow down in class a bit but in the end I really want an engaged dog that enjoys the sport, so taking this time now to ensure he’s feeling good about our sessions is important. THANK YOU for the reminder!!!! ❤️

You’re the best.
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Still catching up and did some Mountain Climber. Didn’t have my camera adjusted as well as it could have been, but you get the idea. I was glad I put the leash on him because he might have just jumped off the end. He’s a real high flyer in the house so I suspected he might think this was pretty fun.

We also worked on some Wraps and Blind Crosses. We had a few not-so-great sessions. He was very distracted and didn’t seem very motivated to train. It was kind of hot for one of the sessions, but not the other one. I figured I needed to run just portions of the sequences under these conditions to keep his attention as best I could.

Wraps – Sessions 1:

Blind Cross – Session 1:

The Runaway… this is a situation that happens fairly often when I’m training outside and I could use your advice on how to deal with it. Usually when I first come out for a training session and I set him up to work, he immediately takes off to go sniff the area. I’m not sure how to handle this behavior. To be fair, there are lots of good smells here and it’s not uncommon for wildlife to walk through this area because the several sections of the fencing are meant to come down so hubs can mow and I take them down at night so rabbits don’t chew through it. So, yes, many distracting smells. I just don’t know how to be more interesting than that or if I should find some way to prevent this. I don’t see how. Usually after 1-2 runnoffs to sniff I get him back and we can work.

There was one wrap in this session and the rest were blind crosses. We had some difficulties and some successes. Even though he was moving pretty slow and I didn’t need the distance, I tried to work some in just for the experience of it. Of course, some reps my connection was better than others too; maybe he is uncertain of me.

Let me know what you think!
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Hello! I have some catching up to do!

So I tried out the Lazy Game and dropping the treats in the grass didn’t work well (not on video) so I tried dropping the lotus ball, but that was also too not-flowy so I kind of guessed that he was getting it anyway and moved on to sort of a Lazy Game Par 2. The middle jump was super far away, but figured I’d start easy since I was kind of breeezing by a step. 🙂

Let me know what tweaks I should make or if I should move forward in the exercises.
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Thanks, Tracy!

We are still on Hell’s porch here in MN, but despite the heat I got a short little session outside for the One Step Sends (or in my case, sometimes several step sends 🙂 ) I thought it was okay, but couldn’t really remember what I was supposed to do with the middle jump but I didn’t worry about it.

I also raised up the plank a little bit and he was definitely confident with it raised. It was very interesting to watch how he was learning to use his body on it. I’m glad for the times he had to bail – super great practice in experiencing how that feels and that he can learn to adjust that over time at a safe height. He seemed to enjoy this game!

Thanks in advance for the great feedback!
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

This is all really wonderful feedback, thank you!!! I had skimmed it but didn’t get a chance to really internalize before I shot the video below on Monday night, but I was running out of light and had to hurry so I went with it anyway, probably making a few of the same mistakes, but will fix if I can train tomorrow night.

Anyway, I set the Starfish and gave it a shot. Despite practicing a few things without the dog I forgot most of the courses anyway so we kind of just winged it.😆 Ronin is not super speedy but ultimately this was a really great practice outside as after a few reps I was getting more focus and less interest in eating the fresh grass.

I tried a toy for the first few reps too but he quickly became disinterested in it so had to switch to the lotus ball with smellier, extra yummy treats in it. He does like toys, but in higher distraction environments the food is just much more valuable to him. With that though, I will definitely take your suggestion to put a string on the Lotus so he has to chase it around a bit more. Have the string now and will get attached soon!

Getting set up for the first rep was funny because he chased his leash when I took it off. What a goober! We have to practice all those little routines for sure.

Sorry about the sound on this video. It was INCREDIBLY windy that day! Oh, also, I found myself without one of the wings needed for the Starfish and so since I was losing light fast I just threw in a jump instead.

The rep where he skipped the tunnel…it looked like he missed it because I may have been really crowding the entrance too much but not sure.

My rear cross still suck, but will keep working on my timing. Before I do this again with Ronin I am going to practice a bunch of the lines without him.

~Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Sorry about the bad Backside video link! Here it is again: https://youtu.be/jfQqkkizrD4

We also worked on a few things today over the course of a few sessions. It was raining in my corner of MN today, so we had to move in to the basement. Not ideal, but better than no training I guess!

Tunnel Threadle:
For the first rep I kind of forgot what my command was and didn’t tell him much! Otherwise, I think we did okay. On the threadle I felt like I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing with my upper body.

Lateral Lead Outs:
On this one, we did two separate sessions and the first one felt kind of awkward and like I as missing something, so I re-watched the video between sessions and realized I should have been moving more on the cue and doing more of a lateral lead out. So the second session I tried to correct that, but are there other tips on my handling that you can find?

Then we went back to our nemesis, the Rear Crosses…
I did balance the rear with more Go, Go, Gos but cut a few for time.
Also, I didn’t remember until almost the end that you said to use the left/right verbals, so I tried that and it seemed to help 2 out of 3 times. It’s hard to get enthusiastic straight go outs with the smaller space, and I thought maybe I was being a little boring, but we’ll keep working on them.

Let me know what you think,
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Oh shoot! Here is the correct backside video link:

Thanks!
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Hi Tracy! I’m back and easing into training again.

We worked on the tandem and lap turns this time. Not awesome but a few good moments. It certainly felt a little awkward at times. Like even though I knew I wasn’t supposed to be backing up on the lap turn it was hard not to do it!

Backside Slice:
I think this was pretty good considering it was VERY HARD to keep him from being too distracted outside. It’s like as soon as the new grass came up Ronin decided it was DELICIOUS!😆 He was so distracted overall outside so we’ll have to ease into training out there before it’s super productive.
On the last two reps I have no idea why I used the wrong backside command compared to what I was doing before Push vs. Back but I guess it’s still so new I forgot and it hopefully he won’t remember those two.😉

Let me know what you think!
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Hey Tracy – long time no talk! How long will be able to submit videos in this forum for the class? I am so behind after 1 busy week and another being totally down with COVID (my first time, guess my number was finally up) and I can it might be another week before I’ll have enough energy to get back to this. But I’m on the mend and no big deal other than just major fatigue now.

Anyway, let me know how long we have and we’ll see how far I get catching up with the last few weeks!

Thanks,
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Finally got outside again – the weather has just been horrible here. We worked on two things:

Wind in Your Hair – Decel
So today is now officially called “The Day of Horrible Throws” 😂 You’ll see why.
And I’m not sure why the audio didn’t come through on the first part of this, but we had a break in between doing this on the left and right and part 2 does have audio.

I think for that very first rep I was crowding him extra hard (was crowding for most/all of the reps where he was on my right it seems) but I’m wondering if the little hand flick I did + the crowding had him going around the wing??

Get Out
-Overall I think this went pretty well, but always plenty of room for improvement.
-Note I did have a leash on the ground to mark my line, but the white wing is mostly hiding it from view.
-First rep I used the wrong wrap cue (I’m not sure the ones I chose are really working for me, but not sure what to do about it now).
-On the second rep I should’ve thrown a LOT sooner!
-There was one interesting rep (the 3rd I think) where he’s hidden by the white wing, but he did the wrap and then just stopped dead, stood there, and looked at me. Super weird! Except…in reviewing a few times I am thinking I was not well connected, slightly more rotated, and my off hand was kind of waving a little so maybe he just wasn’t sure which I was trying to cue??? Certainly it appears he had a valid question when I look at my position but it was kind of funny that he just stopped dead and waited until I got my shit together or something else happened. LOL!! Like, “Mom, I refuse to work if you cannot be clear about your intentions! I do not make choices on my own yet.”

Oh! And I signed up for your seminar at OTR in June – the Friday PM session!! I am so excited! I will make a plan to give us our best shot at being ready for it.

Let me know what you think of this.
Kristin

[Kristin Omdahl]

Hi Tracy,

The jump bumps in the grid are 32″ from middle of bump. I might try it again with dragging the toy instead as you said (I forgot about that from last time) and see if that changes things. I suppose it will encourage him to keep his head down and perhaps a longer stride.

Yesterday we worked on Turnaways at OTR. We spent most of the time before this just goofing around and playing with toys and working on recalls because he was quite distracted. I think that was a productive way to spend the time. But I figured he could handle the Turnaways since he’s so food motivated.🙂

I think once I added in the front crosses I was less patient and didn’t wait until he was 3″ away before stepping back, which led to the errors, but what do you think?

Sorry it was a little blurry – I think I had some smutz on the lens.

Thanks!
Kristin

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