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I didn’t want to bother you while you were tied up at the US Open….or recovering from it! Looked like everyone had a really great time and some gorgeous runs!!! The courses looked like fun!
We have been working on general manners and volume dial stuff. I think it is getting us closer to some understanding. Ringo is better at hanging out near the ring…a semi engaged chill. Still going a little high as we get closer to entering the ring…and still a bit wild on the end of run.
I was thinking long and hard about training him to go get his leash….but I don’t think that is going to work for us….I was leaning that way and then this weekend really reinforced that as the leashes were placed in a bucket on a chair…so we need a different pattern/behavior. Still thinking/working on this.
I was so proud of our Open JWW run…I braved a couple blinds and he read them beautifully!!! His head was pretty close to where it needed to be when we entered the ring! Yeah! Here is that run:
In this Ex JWW video, I made sure the video would capture some of our waiting to enter the ring. I am not sure that he likes our line up process because as soon as I walk away, he shakes, I wait for him to sit and then we continue. He is kind of big for me to straddle (LOL) but I do like the way he is focus and comes in to set up. I wasn’t as brave in my handling…there were more traps on his line…which I need to expect in excellent and I need to trust him more.
I used an T2B FEO run as a warm up on day 3 just to get a sense of where his head was (and because I didn’t like the ending of the course and didn’t think Ringo would like it either! LOL) He wasn’t as settled and ready to run as in the prior video. He popped at pole 10 and I didn’t make him redo the poles but I asked for a sit (so we had some jumping here). I had wanted to brave a blind after the aframe and I planned to reward a controlled teeter. We did two loops of the circle to get a second teeter and then went to the closing line…I needed to give him the info earlier as he thought we were just doing another circle. I think we have made progress on his teeter.
OK last video from the weekend….his Novice standard run…we had some really wild standards the first two days but we were closer to being on the same page for this final run. I left in some waiting ringside…not too exciting except when Mardi walked up and Ringo jumped…this continues to be a problem I need to manage better (or eliminate!)
I do get body slammed at the end…which happened on most of my runs. While this is not desirable, I did feel good that he didn’t try to bite me on any of the end of our runs….so I think there has been some improvement (although I could just be getting better at grabbing his collar to keep his big head away from me! LOL)
Sorry for the long catch up post here!!! Looking forward to seeing you next weekend!!!
Hi Tracy-
Wish I had been able to be on Monday’s call….great stuff!!! I am halfway thru the replay….lots of stuff for Ringo!!!
“What is happening when he jumps up on you? Give me the details 🙂 That way we can plan to have it not happen in the first place. Putting him back on leash is for if it happens, but it would be better if it did not happen 🙂”
When Ringo gets a bit over the top…he comes charging to jump on me, which with his size is pretty dangerous. He often comes with an open mouth and he is going towards my face which makes it extra scary!!! Sometimes he nips at me. (He might go for my boob or butt)
He does have a “stay” command but I haven’t used it all that much. His startline has been really good so I don’t usually add the stay because sit means sit for him. I could ask for it in other situations to remind him to stay.
I played Find My Face with Ringo in the backyard….and then used it after a REALLY bad/late cue for a tunnel after the dogwalk. (I had been doing a discrimination exercise with a backside jump versus a tunnel.). After that, I played Find My Face and then asked him to do the tunnel again. Here’s the video: https://youtu.be/bBlzOFu5pZM
The May 4-6th dates will work for JAG. There was a meeting tonight and several folks were asking for the dates…so it should be fun!
Thanks!
Lin & RingoI will put the weaves & tunnel out tomorrow….and for now I will stick with walking them on leash when we go to the beach with an occasional stop to swim. If there is any jumping on me, I will put him back on leash and get walking again. He will likely be annoyed if Artie is allowed to continue off leash. Does that sound like a reasonable plan?
His default behavior is to offer a sit. So if we are playing tug and I say give…he will release the toy and wait to see what is next….if I don’t throw it, I am pretty sure he will offer a sit. I will test this tomorrow.
Question for you….Windi asked me what I am interested in for when you come to teach in SC. I wasn’t sure what you think would be best for Ringo. I would like to do some handling because he is so different from Artie!!! (I would also like to do a Masters handling with Artie.). I wasn’t sure if I should ask for something like crazy commitment or distance/layering or discrimination…..any suggestions?
Also, have you started to plan your 2026 calendar? Will you still be able to come to JAG in early May? Just figuring if you are, that Ringo would get another opportunity to work with you then. yeah!!!!
Thanks!
LinThanks Tracy!!! I am not trying to rush him….I had done the NFC runs at 20″ to not rush getting him to full height. He had done pretty well in those runs which gave me a false sense that he might be ready. I agree that we should close the known gaps before we go back into the ring.
We just spent 3 weeks on the road so now that we have a couple weeks in SC….he can have some relaxing time!! Next week I can probably rent Windi’s place to spend some time on the teeter. I have 2x2s and a set of 6 weaves in SC…..is it worth working on those or should I wait to work on 12?
One other environment that gets him over the top is running on the beach….so maybe we can use that to help improve his behaviors when excited in a non-agility context. What do you think?
Of course I left all my fuzzy leashes up north! LOL! I have the biothanes and leathers with me! LOL! I will be sure to grab a plushy when I am up north in mid-November.
How do you teach a freeze? Any chance you have a video? Was it in a Max Pup class and I didn’t do my homework? Thanks again!!
OK, scratching him from today’s runs. He will get some nice walks instead. I was tempted to do a NFC because the course was jump weave and then I could run out and reward….but I agree that he might not be successful given his current mental state…so best to rest!! We all could use some time off after the last few weeks!
Thanks!
Ringo & Lin
Hi Tracy-
I do think the pattern games and tricks for treats are doing a pretty good job keeping his arousal level at an ok level before going into the ring….but entering the ring is a bit of a trigger to amp him up. I have never taught a freeze….but I will try to work on that.
Today was the third trial day in a row….which probably wasn’t a great idea on my part. Not sure if I should pull him tomorrow or switch to NFC….or see what he looks like when we walk into the ring.
His weaves have been pretty good in training. He has hit some amazingly challenging entries and has stayed in a VERY high percent of the time….but he seems to be losing that in trials. I know I need to spend time on his teeter….I was holding off on it to avoid confusion with the running dogwalk. He played a lot of the games in earlier Max Pup classes but I need to revisit and let him practice it in sequences!
Today was not our best(it was pretty crappy!!! I was tempted to not post the videos) his wild side came out even more than in the prior runs. I did brave a blind in JWW but he was pissed at me for not giving him clear info I should have just kept going and not repeated the jump to tight tunnel. Then I let the weaves go so I could try to get my first (in a trial) blind done. In Std, there was a tough turn to the teeter with the aframe right there….my position wasn’t great and he was pissed here also! I was standing still (kiss of death!) and my watch alarm was going off because it thought I had fallen LOL! I thought about staying on the other side of the teeter but I just didn’t think he would stay off the aframe unless he saw me with a strong turning cue.
If I run NFC tomorrow, I am not sure if I will be feeding his frenzy because tugging would amp him up. I think I will look at the course maps and if they have a crazy challenging area, I may do NFC and make up a nice flowing course. Sound like a plan? Thanks again!
Standard: https://youtu.be/caGbUcbJDSc
JWW: https://youtu.be/jJICX1vmp5cHi Tracy-
We won’t be trialing for a few weeks after this weekend….so hoping you don’t mind me front loading these videos.
I was quicker on the setup and getting started on his runs today. I tried to be prepared for resets that would feel like we were still in flow….but when he popped out of the weaves(JWW) I didn’t respond fast enough…so he rehearsed all the bad behaviors.
I definitely need a better strategy/routine for the end of our runs. I am not sure when/if that is part of your syllabus for this class….but this is definitely a problem area. I would do FEO but not sure how to leverage that to practice this.
Novice Standard run:
Open JWW run:
I am doing most of your recommended activities (pattern games & tricks) for pre-run routine. Now we need a post run one….although most of the over the top behavior is really in the ring until I get his leash on him. Thanks!
Lin & Ringo
Tracy-
Thanks for the great feedback! I guess I should have a “plan b” for how to keep moving him thru the tough sections if we have an off course. In my mind I didn’t want to stop and tell him he was wrong….but I also didn’t want him to be over the top and biting me on course! So asking for the sit gives him something to do which doesn’t involve biting me! LOL! Today’s courses look like they will have lots of opportunities to practice that!
I think I am nervous about exits on his running contacts as he doesn’t have a lot of experience with turning off them yet. At least today’s dogwalk exit is straight to a tunnel!
Thanks again!
lin
Ringo’s runs from today. We are at Pendleton and there is a lot of activity especially by the start jump…as there always seems to be a ring crew person there plus the leash runner. The next ring’s start line is right there also….tough for young novice dogs!!!!
We had a little issue at the practice jump. There isn’t any fencing around the practice jump and another handler & dog came up….which Ringo felt compelled to go say hi. No dog-dog issues but I think I will skip the practice jump or at a minimum be more watchful for who is in the area!
Ringo’s large stride makes some tight turns a bit tough (tunnel #3 and jump after the aframe) and I need to plan on more layering….so this is very different from my other pups.
Thanks in advance for your help!!!!
Ringo & Lin
Thanks Tracy!!!
We are on the road for a couple more weeks. Can I post a couple of his trial runs for feedback instead of the sequence exercises as I won’t have space to set things up. Thanks!
Lin
Ok, more catch up videos. Here is the moving target set point.
And the Serp/Threadle/Tunnel Discrimination
Thanks again for the help with Ringo!!!
Hi Tracy-
We have been caught in a rain cycle that doesn’t want to quit!!! I got out this morning to work on the serpentine, FC, Backside exercise. I really like this one!!!
On the first attempt, I tossed the toy into a poop area which I hadn’t seen. After a little circle, Ringo came back and body slammed into me. I was about as harsh as I can be and I see that his tail went from happy to still. He recovered quickly and we got back to playing without any further incidents. (maybe a few jumping but not with intent to eat me! LOL). I left it in here because I unfortunately had a situation at UDog….that really rattled me and I would really like to improve his understanding that jumping and body slamming are not acceptable. He has been SO GREAT on my normal training situations when I can keep his focus….but I can’t predict or control every situation. So I would like your thought on how I handled the body slam ….is this approach going to create more of a problem or is it clear enough to him that he needs to be more careful around me and people in general….and then we get back to normal? I hope you don’t mind my asking this here. He is such good boy with so much joy & potential but he just doesn’t seem to get that he is too big and can hurt folks.
On the handling part of this training….he was really good….I was really late when we got to the backside part. He is not that fluent at backsides and my timing was pretty bad. When we had two failures, I simplified to just the backside without the motion into it….and then he seemed to get it.
I know I have a lot more games to catch up on…how long are we able to post videos for feedback? Thanks as always for your insight & help!
We went back to visit set point and adding in the moving target. Last time we did it in SC….and the footing was very different than the NJ grass. We had him at 6′ between the jumps….but on these at 6′ he doesn’t look as balanced. Maybe it is because of the movement of the toy….maybe I should have done a couple just with a food bowl. I might go back and try that this afternoon. What do you think?
Thanks for the feedback! We did louder “tunnels” and he seemed better…I didn’t get it on video. But figured we had already attempted that a few times! LOL!
Then we tried the wind in your hair game again….my first toss was still late and he head checked to me….but the next couple were better. Should I worry that he is taking the wrap around the wing pretty wide?
We also did an initial attempt at the rear cross. I had started to use “switch” for turn away from me….so when I tried left or right, I don’t think he has those concepts yet. We need to put in more time on this exercise but it was kind of warm and he kept diving to the shade so I didn’t want to ask for more.
Thanks!
