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Good morning, Tracy,
Hope you’re somewhat rested after your trip. I’m looking forward to the Live session this evening.:)
Thanks for the comments on the weave work. I’ll definitely add motion. I thought it was harder for her when I didn’t move. We’ll find out! I had used placed rewards in our previous sessions, so this was the first time without one on the rears and counter-motion. I can go back to placing the reward or vary it, and also do some reward throwing (if I can get coordinated enough to run in one direction and throw in the other!)We’ve also done some work on the verbals with discrimination. Wow! That’s a challenge! Here’s a video from our first session. Most of the time she was pretty good, though we had our share of interesting bobbles. At first, I waited until I saw her eyes shift to the correct obstacle, then I let her go. After a couple of those, I just gave the repeated verbal, and let her go. She was so funny sometimes as she worked it out. Definitely plenty of steam! Hardest was when she had to cross in front of me to go to the obstacle, which makes a lot of sense. The last clip was at the end of our session. I got her flying squirrel and was going to throw it when she went over the jump. She had other ideas – cracked me up!
~Kristie
Hi, Tracy,
Welcome back. When I read your itinerary, I couldn’t believe you were going to try to get to this classes’ postings. You must not ever sleep! Hope all went well and that you enjoyed your tie on the west coast.Keiko and I did a couple more sessions on the weaves. I don’t have a pool noodle lying around, so used a bar from the panel jump. It worked quite well. She looked at it the first time through then just seemed to ignore it. I’ve also been working on doing 12 poles, and we have the 2 sets of six relatively close together. I decided to see if she would continue and make the correct entry once she was in the “flow” of weaving. You can see from the video that this went well.
I plan to put the wings back while we run a couple of courses, then we’ll see how things go when I take them away. What are your thoughts on our next steps.
Thanks!
~Kristie
Thanks, Tracy. I agree that earlier between 2 and 3 will probably work fine. We’ll have to give it a go tomorrow. 🙂
We did go out today and work on the Independent Weave skills exercise from package 2. We’ve been running into a bit of a problem with the poles. Keiko does fine for the entry, then doesn’t aways turn tightly enough so skips the opening between the 2nd and 3rd pole and goes in between 3 and 4. What I tried today was to use a wing off the second pole and another one off the third pole. It’s hard to see in the video, but you can see the metal legs on the wing on the far side of the poles if you look along the ground. I worked standing still, moving a little. moving more, moving in the opposite direction and rear crossing the poles, all primarily from the “on” side. At second 29, you’ll see I took the wing off pole 2, The pole was still on #3. I did use a placed reward for the rear cross and opposite direction runs, since this was the first time we gave those a try. When I sent her around the green wing the first time, the wing was still on pole 3. I took it off for the next send, and starting around 1:05 you’ll see what happens when the wing is not on the 3rd pole. I put the wing back in place, and did one more run so I could reward on a positive note.
So, suggestions? How do I fade that wing on the 3rd pole? Or is there something else I should try? Thanks tons!Here’s the video:
Hi, Tracy,
To answer your question about front side verbals: over, back, wrap, turn (rear cross). For us, digdig is a tight turn out of the tunnel. So suggestions for a verbal for a backside wrap around the wing? At this point, I’ve just used body motion and chest/eye looking to the landing. Thanks for any suggestions.
Keiko and I worked on the last sequence, #3, from the live class. I tried to not go in as close to the far wing on the back part of the German, and I think it went pretty well. In looking at the video, I’m wondering if doing a reverse spin at jump 3 would give her more info sooner and make that a better line than just the FT and calling her name. I’m still nursing the Achilles and a knee, so I tend not to do lots of turning, but an RS there would probably be a nice technique to use. Your thoughts? Thanks as always. ~KristieHere’s the video:
Hi, Tracy,
Really nice weather today, so had to go do another sequence. 😉 This is sequence 2 from the live class. It has the same handling that seems pretty much like a German turn to me. I’ve tried to be on the take off side and look back to the landing side, then quick blind and on our way. Would you give this a third verbal or just the second one you suggested above?
I really like the live classes. Even if I’m not one of the live participants, I learn a lot from your comments to those who are on camera. Hope they know that we appreciate their willingness to help us all learn. 🙂
Below is the video. I thought it went well – though I did throw her lotus ball into a wing so it wasn’t where she expected it to be on the second run. I did manage to get farther ahead on my handling for jump 4 each run, which gave her a better cue as to where she was going next, and how to take the jump. I do think I go a bit too far to the right when sending her to the back of that jump.
Also, I see my arm doing interesting (?) things. Yes, at least for me, you definitely need to come up with an activity that helps us learn to keep our arms making cues which Help the dog, not confuse it! Thanks!
Hi, Tracy,
What you say about the curve and angle she needs to execute the turn correctly makes sense. I haven’t thought about a verbal for the push behind/blind (which seems like a less developed German turn in some ways). What verbal do you use? I assume you train it, then do either/or training using the 2 different verbals to help the dog differentiate. Any specific suggestions for us?Thanks!!
~Kristie
Hi, Tracy,
Thanks for the feedback. I was wondering about going laterally – afraid I might pull her off. I went out and tried just the portion with the lateral move and she did pull off at first. Once I gave an “over” verbal while I moved laterally, she was fine. So then we did the whole Sequence with the part “b” variation. You are so right about when the importance of timing the verbals in the appropriate “window”.
You’ll notice in the first go around I was slow in my handling on jump 8, and she cut in front of me. Fixed that the next time around! Is there anything I should do to make her approach to the back of that jump a bit tighter? She does swing in a rather large arc. Could be she is still thinking of going down the line to the first jump? Should I be saying more to the left wing of the jump so I can move aroudn to the back faster?
Thanks! KristieHello!
It’s another hot and humid day, so we went out early to give Seq #1 from the Live class a try. You will see immediately on the first run that my verbals, especially for the back at 8, we pathetically late. I decided to do just the short back sequence for a refresher, and was glad I did – my positioning was poor. Keiko worked around me, which she shouldn’t have had to do. What a good girl.
Then we gave the whole thing a try again. She did well, though my back at 2 was late. I was so pleased with 8 to 9 that I didn’t tell her anything about taking the jumps at the end until she was exiting the tunnel. So, one more try concentrating on verbals in the WOW, visuals, connection and body placement. Better. And enough for today. Looking forward to your feedback, ~KristieHi!
I tend to have my arm too high when I cue. I really need to focus to keep it lower where dog-handler connection occurs. There certainly are no obstacles in the sky…..And getting ahead to start turning cues earlier would be helpful to both of us.
Thanks, as always, for your spot-on feedback. ~KristieHi, Kim,
Just dropped by to see how Sly was doing – and I’m incredibly impressed! You two look amazing – such a smooth team! Congratulations on the Regional!
~KristieHi, Tracy,
It’s hitting 90 today, with humidity of course, but we had a bit of time and I really wanted to give exercise set #4 from wk 1 a try. So here ’tis. We were doing pretty well on our first run, but I tried to send to the tunnel without continuing to move, and Keiko decided to take the far end. I think my verbals were mostly on time, but wanted to be more supportive with both verbals and physical cues in our next run. As you can see, run #2 went much, much better. She was still thinking about the wrong end of the tunnel, checked for my visual cue, and took the correct one. Maybe I’ve done too much with odd tunnel approaches? Do you see something I’m doing that’s giving her the wrong cue, or were we just hot and tired before we began…;)
Thanks, ~KristieHi, Tracy,
Just had to drop by and let you know that Keiko went to her first dog trial-type event today. We gave Speedway, a new event using tunnels, hoops and barrels that CPE has developed, a try. I knew the trial would be low key, not a zillion people and dogs, and following Covid protocols so no one was on the course except the various marshals and score people, ring crew. Keiko was wonderful. She took in everything, and then focused on me and the runs. Her speed (as well as her score) increased from run to run and she even took a first place in her last run with a distance component. I think we’re ready to give an agility trial a go. So pleased with all the advice and support you’ve given us around building confidence and working through distractions. Thanks!
~KristieHi, Tracy,
It’s really good to hear from you and get your feedback again. I’m always impressed at how detailed you are able to be. I find your comments and ideas helpful, and they certainly give me something to think about.
I did not get your comments above before Keiko and I went out to try sequence 3. I like the idea of using a “go on tunnel” as a release for a line like the beginning of this set, and will have to try it when we go out again. I’ll be interested in your response/ideas to a couple of Keiko’s actions in this sequence. I’ve heard the suggestion to give a tunnel break or an exit cue 3 – 4 feet before the tunnel. I don’t do that with my white girl Yuki because she has always been weird about tunnels and will often just stop before them and bark at me. I’ve worked with several different trainers and in workshops, and the consensus has been “that’s Yuki”. So, I’ve not gotten into the habit of early tunnel exit cues, and wait until the dog is in the tunnel. I can certainly try early cues with Keiko. However, she surprised me on set 3 with her reactions to the tunnel on the second time around (after the pin wheel). I did disconnect, thinking she was committed – not so. I kept the video under 2 minutes, but I’ve given you all 5 of our runs because I wanted you to see her pull-offs. I’m not sure if I give her an early exit cue (prior to her entering the tunnel) that she won’t just pull off and come with me. She watches me pretty carefully, and responds quickly to changes in my movements. Oh – I did include a little disc-catching at the end. It’s her favorite thing to do. 🙂
Looking forward to your feedback. ~KristieHi, Tracy,
It’s nice to be back learning from you. Keiko was delighted to see I had the iPad and stand in hand and raced to the field to “play agility”. I do want to mention that you won’t see me doing any super fast running right now, and will probably have to skip the jump and standard courses for at least the first week. I’ve managed to injure the Achilles tendon on one leg and the hamstring on the other. Aging is truly not for sissies. We ice and move on. 😉
Here are the first 2 WOO sets.
Set 1:
Run 1: Keiko did well, but I felt I should get out the tunnel verbal earlier, and also tell her sooner in the tunnel what was coming up
next.
Run 2: I dropped the “over” for the second jump, instead saying “tunnel” sooner and, while she was in the tunnel, letting her know to “go” and “over.” I felt this got rid of extra verbiage that could confuse her or just become too much language. I am pleased with her sending ability so I could layer the jump and do less running.Set 2:
Run 1: Again, I used an over and tunnel. Habits are hard to break. Keiko responds well to “here” since we use it in our out/go-on/here work and it’s more natural for me than directionals. I used go on’s at the end which worked, but I also wanted to see how she would do if I used equipment names, which is what I usually would tend to do. Your videos had me thinking of go and go on, so I gave that a try, too.
Run 2: I dropped the “over” for the second jump since she was obviously committed and cuing “tunnel” was more helpful for her. I did cue her turn (here) while in the tunnel, then used the cue words “over” and “tire” for the 2 jumps rather than go or go on. I usually save go on for 3 jumps or more.Hope to get to another set tomorrow. Thanks for great classes!
~Kristie
