Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi, Tracy,
Two of the worst-weather days of the summer so far. Seems to be that way all over the place. Went out early to do just one little sequence. This is PopOut #3 from pkg 3 Standard. We haven’t worked on the threadle wrap yet, so I picked this one to try for now. I was hoping for a one-and-done but it’s more a three-and-done. (3 seems to be the magic number today) ;). When I walked it, I knew I’d need to get her attention out of the tunnel and again on the send to the back on jump 4. What surprised me in our first run was why she went to jump 3 after 4? I saw her after my blind before she took off from the back of 4, and I thought I was signaling low for jump 5 – she seemed bent on going back to 3 and not following me. Do I need to do more verbalizing with her, or try some different handling? An off-side hand to pull her with me? Since she did that right off the bat, I tried to be more connected when she came over jump 4 in the next runs. On run 2, I didn’t catch her as quickly coming out of the tunnel, and had to call her off the jump. I thought our 3rd run went pretty well. Awaiting your feedback. 🙂
Hope you’re staying comfortable.
~Kristie
Hi, Tracy,
Oh, my, but the humidity is now matching the heat…So relatively short visit to the agility field. 😉
This is the third of the One and Done sequences. It’s been a few days since Keiko has looked at this set-up, and the numbering is different, so I decided to try it with both girls. On the walk through, I usually go through first just to be sure I have the sequence down, then I think about dog’s line, handling and verbals. Both girls took 2 tries to get it, and it was all me.
First, there’s Keiko. On her first run, she did something she’s started doing – going to the back of a jump when I want her to go “over” from the front. When she came out of the tunnel, she was totally focused on the jump and didn’t even make eye contact. So I used her name to focus her the second time around, and things went well. Am I doing something to push her to the back? Let me know what you think I should do to prevent the unwanted backside behavior. I’ve gotten this more than once recently.
Then I invited Yuki to play. Actually, she was pretty insistent that she should be working with me and not Keiko. ;). My handling of the backside was atrocious. I literally gave her my backside, so she decided to do something else….second run was better.
Looking forward to your critique. Hope you’re staying cool. Enjoyed the LIVE class last night. ~Kristie
Hi, Tracy,
Thanks for the feedback. Basically, make and keep connection – everywhere. I”m embarrassed since this is something I always talk about when I’m working with others – and then I blow it myself.
Yuki and I gave the second sequence a go. The video shows my walk-through and our one-and-done run. I’m not sure you can see, but I did make eye contact when she exited the tunnel. Awaiting your comments and suggestions for improvement.
Thanks!
Oooo boy, is it ugly out there again. 🙁
Fortunately, our field is mostly in the shade, and this one-and-done stuff uses a pretty short amount of time. So Yuki and I trundled out and did the first one & done sequence.
I did a walk through and then a semi-run through, trying to get out the verbals in the right places.
Then we did a run – or actually, a half-run. I was late with my verbal AND my handling, disconnected ever-so-briefly, and my white dervish said – I’ll take the tunnel! This is actually funny because Yuki often stops before entering a tunnel and barks at me. Not this time!
Since I really felt my plan was good, I was just late and slow, we re-set and gave it one more try.
I felt it went pretty well. Looking forward to your insight and feedback. Thanks!
BTW, I’m sure you’ll notice her grazing sprinkled with occasional barks…..;)
~Kristie
Hi!
A question about the threadle wraps. This looks like the “Flick” (OMD) that I’ve learned elsewhere and have practiced with the girls. Are there any important differences or body motions I should use with the “flick” that will improve my handling threadle wraps?
Yes, Yuki could have been distracted by other equipment in our yard, but you really should see her on a grassy field with nothing in the way and no distraction – except grass. I even had one judge ask me if she had a neurological problem….No, she just likes grass and she likes to be in charge and do things her way. I love this dog, and really enjoy running her. She’s feisty, fun, and loves agility. She just wishes she had a faster, more proficient handler…..;)
HI, Again,
I like the One-and-Done concept, and decided I wanted to see if I could get all the way through the last couple of LIVE sequences with my older girl, Yuki. So we did 2 sequences, once each. You may go ahead and laugh when she stops to eat grass. This has been a life-long issue, and it’s why I don’t do outdoor trials with her. She’d be in the midst of a fast run to a jump, would screech to a halt right in front to of the jump, grab a hunk of grass, and then leap over the 20″ bar from a stand-still. Refusal. What a turkey! So, we deal with it at home, and only do inside venues. ;).
Here’s 2 sequences, one and done. 🙂
~Kristie
HI, Tracy,
Keiko has told me she is DONE with the current course setup. I tried doing LIVE sequence 1b and 2 with her. She was not happy, kept going around jumps rather than over, dawdled in the tunnel, etc. She is very much a dog that is willing to repeat something 2 – 4 times.
If I ask for more, she seems to think she must be wrong, and she lets down. We’ve been using this same setup for several days, and I’m seeing her enthusiasm wane. Having a happy dog is most important to me.Just to be sure it wasn’t something else, I made up a course that included the seesaw, weaves and DW along with jumps and tunnels, and she was fast and happy. So I think that we’ll skip these last sequences for now. We’ll work on One and Done and your pop-out sets for a while which will probably be better for both of us.
We did do the Sequence 2 warm-up. Still needs work, so we’ll go back another day and then a few days after that to clean it up. I’m sure the heat and humidity aren’t helping, so pulling back a bit will help all the way around. I was surprised at how effective the off-side arm is on the pull to the side jump. You’d think a dog wouldn’t see it, but she did and she did respond.
~KristieHere’s the warm up video:
Thanks for the insight on the tunnel stuff. It will be hard to be loud and motionless!! I’ll really have to concentrate. ;).
Here’s one more little video on where we are with our “behind the handler” send. What else/more should I do with this? Thanks!
Good morning! We’re in for the worst heat of the heat wave today – then thunderstorms later which are supposed to bring heat and humidity down for the next 7 – 10 days. Can’t wait. Hope your heat is abating, too.
Here is a video of our work on the verbal discrim with motion exercise. This video is longer than I usually send, because I wanted you to see her progression. At second :43, she turns away to the tunnel behind her that goes under the dogwalk. Did I do that, or was she just being Keiko? She cracks me up sometimes! She definitely had more trouble turning into the tunnel when on my right than on my left. That last run was intended to “change the pattern” and see if she’d still listen and go into the tunnel. 🙂
Thanks for the feedback. Stay cool!
~Kristie
HI, Tracy,
I redid the save on the weave pole session, and this time you should be able to open it. As I mentioned above, I was pleased with her entries and how well she stayed in all 12 poles. She’s working it out. I’d like more enthusiasm and confidence, and expect that to come with practice. I’ve decided we’ll do one 12 pole run of some sort each time we go out to work on anything. One, reward, done. Any other suggestions? Thanks! ~Kristie
Oops -sorry about that. I’ll have to go back out and reset things.
In the meantime, I’ve got another little video to share. We gave the first warm ups from the second LIVE session a try. This started well, so I decided to try her frisbee and tennis ball to see if she’d be able to work for them. Yay! She was eager – so eager that one time she didn’t even wait for a release. First time I’ve been able to use her toys rather than a food lotus, and I was really pleased. Her enthusiasm certainly picked up!
Here tis:
Hi, Tracy,
We did some work on the weaves. She’s doing all 12, without wing guides, and did her entries correctly each time. She’s not fast, and even the treat at the end for the rear crosses didn’t seem to speed her up. However, she’s a thinker and likes to be correct. Once we have a chance to do more and she gets a high reward (perhaps I’ll even be able to toss a frisbee?!), she’ll gain more confidence – and more speed.
Hope your temps go down. We’re in the mid 90s today, rain storms due tomorrow, so I’m hoping there’s a break from this heat!
Here’s our weave work:
https://youtu.be/Y1oRH9F60PgHI, Tracy,
We did the next couple of sequences later, before I had a chance to read your comments above. As I watch the videos, I can see both when my body cues were incorrect and pulled her off, and when my verbals were sadly late. It’s continuing to be hot and sticky. Hoping for some rain to break this heat wave.
You will see in our first run, I was late with verbals, and my handling was off. So I over-compensated in the next run and she went OUT into the weaves and then came back. Third run, I got it together. Late again on cuing in the 4th round, and she did right what I indicated she should do. Last run my timing was better and things went well. This was all the heat would allow us to do. We’ll be working on the either or verbal pice and on the sequences from the LIVE sessions, so I’ll keep concentrating on verbal timing and accurate cuing.
Here’s the video:
HI!
Thanks for your thoughts on the around-the-back starts. Keiko and I will give that a try so we have it in our tool box.
Today I have our first work on the layering exercises. This is just seqs.1-3. It’s brutal outside, and this was about all we could take. She only took the tunnel once, and my handling there was horrendous and totally to blame.
What about arms when we’re sending to the other side of an obstacle like the tunnel? My arm, always too high anyway, automatically wanted to be higher since things were farther away and on occluded by the tunnel. I think it was way to high here, right? Looking forward to your arm game…..
Take care and try to stay cool.HI, Tracy,
Thanks! Excellent suggestion about the verbal tone, sound and volume. I’ll use that in our next session. Glad you got a kick out of the last clip. She can be a real ticket! 🙂
I have a question about the “around the back” start. Keiko has such a lovely start line stay, that I haven’t really considered something else. However, I’m wondering if this type of start would be good when we’re facing a “backwards” #1, so I could sling her around back and over while running in the opposite direction. Are there other situations where this type of start would be beneficial?
Thanks, ~Kristie
