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Hi, Tracy,
I agree – I figured we should spend a couple more sessions on this set up, then tightening a bit more. A comment about the bouncing and the swimming. All my girls have done this – bounce when they’re confident, slow down and sort of walk (a modified swim) to do the stuff that’s harder. Once they’re confident about everything, they have gone back to bounces, though I did have one girl that varied things at the entry and exit. A creative girl ;). I’m not pushing one or the other. Keiko will have her own opinion….
Gotta go look at the Find It game! Take care,~Kristie
Hello, Tracy.
I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend. After taking Saturday off, Keiko and I went into the field to have some pole fun. As you’ll see in the video, we started off easy, and she showed some nice speed. Then I started to reposition the poles. Gradually through the session I got them straighter and closer to “normal” spacing. (I left one repositioning in for you to see). Off-side was a bit trickier, so I gave her some extra support if she had a missed entry. Otherwise, I thought she did great. Looks to me like she’s decided to be a bouncer.😉 Enthusiasm stayed up, my throwing was better most of the time, and I was able to have more distance here and there when I remembered. Should we do this again, from more locations or Are we ready to go on to step #8? What are your thoughts? Thanks, KristieHI, Tracy,
Thanks for the feedback. We’re skipping poles today, so will give this type of session a go tomorrow.
Looking forward to see what you have for us on Monday! It was so funny to get to the end of the write-up on exercise #7 and to read your comment about “now go on to track #7!” Hmmmm….circular thinking? 😉
Question – are you getting any other courses set to go? Since the weaves are best with breaks in between sessions, I was wondering what other classes are coming up. Keiko said she wants MORE! 🙂Take care and enjoy your weekend,
~Kristie
Hi, Tracy,
We let the rainy day + go by, and then did some pole passes for speed, more motion on my part, and the squirrel as motivation and distraction. 😉 As you’ll see in the video clips, there were a couple of times she just ran past the first set of poles, so I started slating them, and the second set, at different angles so she could be successful. I tried to be moving with her from the start of each run, and to have the squirrel ready to toss, so she had more to think about than she’s had before. We’ll take another day or two off, then see how this is going for speed and accuracy – and mostly, for enjoyment. She likes to be “right” and is a real thinker when figuring things out, so I think that more runs with the poles at easier then more difficult angles, will be good. I would like to keep working on trying to be farther away from the poles when she’s going through them. Also, an interesting thing about the squirrel. You can see that she was happy to chase it. However, what you can’t see is that she’d only go to it, then turn right around to get a treat from me. She didn’t pick it up and run with it like she does when we’re just playing. We took a few breaks and did our usual chase and fetch game with the squirrel, and she played as she usually does. But when I’m using it as a reward for the poles, she still wants that cookie from my hand or tossed or in the lotus. Interesting. Perhaps that reward gives her more time to process and adjust for the next pole run and the squirrel is supposed to be more for just fun in her mind?? Who knows. Don’t you often wish you could know what they’re thinking?
Let me know what you think and what I should focus on here. Thanks, Tracy.
~Kristie
Hello, Tracy!
We took a break, had a nice walk in the woods and chasing games with her sisters. Then she asked for something more, so off we went to the field to see what we could do. I put the first set of poles at 12 and 6, the second set at 2 and 8. We only did sends from the top part of the clock. I wanted to keep this short, positive and successful. I started with the squirrel thinking that would pump up her enthusiasm, but after a couple of runs, she stopped running to it and came to me for a treat instead, so I switched to the treats for the rest of our game time. She seemed quite happy with the treats. My guess is she had to concentrate on the increased difficulty of the exercise, and the squirrel was just too much. Treats are easy and dependable and you can stay focused on the task at hand. 😉
I thought she did really well. What do you suggest we do at this point? More of this and gradually angling the second set of poles? Skip a day inbetween pole sessions? We have rain all day tomorrow and into Friday am, so it won’t be hard to skip. She does insist on something every day. Thank heavens for the tunnel and chuck-it run inside!
Take care. ~KristieHi, Tracy,
Keiko was ready to work today, so we gave the 1 & 7 positions for both sets of poles a try – all the way around the clock. I thought she was fantastic! I did try to stay out more, although you’re right, the poles are a draw for us humans – and I also seem to run toward the end of the line, rather than staying parallel. I’ll have to set up some kind of marker so I have something toward which to aim my motion. I think we’re ready to try a bit more…What a good little girl.
~Kristie
Hi, Tracy,
Just so you know, we measured Keiko (there is probably a 1/2″ glitch somewhere) but she comes in at about 19″. She looks shorter than our other girls because they come from a more boxy Aussie line, and Keiko is quite slender.Okay, here’s some poles on the run. Given the way she feels on and off, I went with your suggestion of just top of clock sends – and we added the squirrel after a few runs. You’ll see that she obviously loved that! She did do some “around the first pole” from the straight on side, so I bakced up and made things easier. Just wanted this to be fun, and I do think she enjoyed herself.
We also had the excitement of a large coyote coming into the wooded area between us and our neighbors early this morning. This has never happened before.I do believe the lady in red (and in heat) was an unprecedented draw. So we’ll be monitoring things very closely for a while… East coast coyotes are big!
So, here’s the video. I did angle the poles more in the next to last clip, and she did them, but you can hear her clip the last pole and it vibrated. So I opened things up just a tad for the last run.
Take care, ~Kristie
Hi, Tracy,
My other girls bounce. It will be interesting to see how Keiko moves. I didn’t train the bounce, just took what they did naturally. Hoping to get out tomorrow for some fun runs through the pole setup. We’ll see how she’s feeling.
-KristieHI, Tracy,
Keiko says she absolutely LOVES the idea of run and fun and easy entries and lots and lots of toys and treats! We’ll be sure to give this all a go in a day or two. She’s getting more perky.
I’ll have to measure her again. Last time we measured, she was 17″ but that was a while ago, and I think she has gained 1/2 – 1″ since then. She’s shorter than my other 2 who both measure 19.5″ – we’ll see what the tape measure says.
Take care,
~KristieHi, Tracy,
Poor Keiko. She’s been cranky and on again, off again. Not sure what was up, but thought we might get some answers when we went in for blood work (in preparation for her spaying surgery next week). Everything’s been put on hold. She tested positive for Lyme, so has started on Doxy. Our vet prefers not to do surgery when a dog has Lyme and is on meds, so we were looking for a new date…Then she went into heat. So we have to wait for the surgery anyway. It all explains her attitude.
Some of it spilled over into our pole work. For the first time, she had difficulty at sends from positions 9 and 3, and did fine in the 4,5,6,7,8 spots. Go figure. So this video is all we’re doing for a while. We have an inch of rain forecast for tomorrow, so it may be a while before we get back to the poles. Hopefully, she’ll be more herself by then. The session wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t our usual. You’ll notice I decided to try tossing the lotus instead of using the MM. It meant I had to go get the lotus each time, so I cut out that part of the video from each send position. She did seem happier about that and the fact that she could chase it. (My throws aren’t all that great, but she was tolerant.) I figured this was a good transition to trying to use the chuck it squirrel as a thrown reward. We’ll get there eventually.
That’s all the news from here. Take care. Hope Virginia is being good to you,
~KristieHello, Again,
In mid-afternoon, the sun came out a bit. So before a walk in the woods, we did the clock around the same set up, this time with motion. She seemed even happier to do it with the motion. I would imagine our motion is a great cue/assist to the dog, plus it’s more fun to do it as a team! 🙂 She’s such a quick little study, and really seems to love doing the exercises.
We’ll take a day off before we try angling 3 & 4. ~KristieHi, Tracy,
Thanks for the answers and the extra info. Very helpful.
Keiko and I went out this morning to give the 1,2,3,4 pole setup a try. Here is our go at the send all around the clock. The MM was being temperamental, so you’ll hear 2 clicks a few times, none others. Doesn’t seem to bother Keiko as long as she gets something to eat. 😉 I spent a little extra time on the 4,5,6 area, and it seemed to go well. ~KristieHi, Tracy,
It makes sense that the video would end up being a full blown movie if you out everything in at once! I did watch the videos for both steps 6 and 7 and see that you went a bit past the 3 and 9 a few times. Do you plan on posting a video that shows sending from 5, 6, and 7? Either way, when I give them a try (eventually) I know you’ll help me clean up my handling.
I think it would be great if I can get Keiko to chase her squirrel like Contraband chases his saucer.
Love how your pups are charging in and seeming to love the poles. When do you stop saying “Q” and go to your weave cue?
Wow – lots of questions this morning! Thanks in advance – you’re input and feedback are wonderful.
Take care, KristieHi, Tracy,
I have a question about the next exercise, in which a
We add poles 3 & 4. In the text, you talk about sending all around the clock. However, I the video, you only send from 12 to 9 and 12 to 3. It seems like it would be counter productive to try to send from the clock bottom positions at this point. Am I correct? Just checking, KristieHi, Tracy,
First, thanks for the tips about using the squirrel. We’ll work on that gradual exposure.
Next, I hope I haven’t done something really wrong. Keiko and I went to play around with the tunnel/pole discrimination exercise. I found myself coming from both ends a couple of times rather than going 12 to 3 and 6 to 3. She trotted happily, and did exactly what I wanted when I was in the #3 spot straight on to the poles. If it’s a no no to go back and forth from one end to the other, please holler. I don’t think I’ve done any permanent damage if it’s all wrong, but don’t want to fall into the habit, either.
She did great on going to the tunnel past the poles, then coming back and going through the poles. I really enjoy this pup – she’s quick and happy and seems to really enjoy our time in the field. Thanks and take care, KristieHere’s the video:
