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This week we had a few things I was really excited by! When I was walking the course after building Peaches (who previously was contently minding her own business elsewhere in the yard) excitedly came over and started taking the obstacles as we walked them. I’m crediting the lazy B game for this! I had no toys or treats on me so we kept up the enthusiasm and got a treat inside the house. We worked on the FF and counter pressure as you’ll see. Got the jump but struggled with the jump tunnel. I’m also cheating and using the toy. Will keep working towards no toy lure and sequencing the tunnel with it. You’ll see towards the end on our last run I was leading out and I really saw her rear down and get “ready”. I usually get focus but I don’t get that intense gearing up. I’m counting that as a progress! You will see her knock a bar on the longer run but I was really happy with how fast she was moving through that (after the first two fuddles. this energy is what I get usually the first run of the day where we are still a little erratic but very enthusiastic) and I’m going to mark it up to focus on the toy ahead, not the jump. I’m still trying to reward drive lines with her toy and use “get it” to keep her driving towards them. THat’s something we’ve been working on the last few months. But sometimes the toy adds distraction from the obstacle. Again bar knocking is not usually a problem and if we do end up trialing again, I’m still considering dropping her down to 8 b/c of her age anyways so I’m not going to stress over it. Overall I’m happy with the progress. I want to work on teaching her some of the stretching exercises you were using in your warm up video. I think those would be good to add to our routine for sure. Video link to follow as soon as it uploads 🙂
Definitely see what you mean for the forward looking! Will work on that. For the weaves, I threw them in BC I don’t have another tunnel. Then I realized the postioning was pretty difficult and that I was risking demotivating by putting them in that place so I just made it a jump. I will definitely work on driving more though. I know most of her trial weave stress is likely related to the mental pressure I put on them so Maybe if I can drive to them with confidence that will translate to driving to them with confidence in trials!
Looks like my post didn’t go through on Sunday. Here is our video link for last week. Sorry we are late! https://youtu.be/TrX9ZloYyMs
Here is a little weave practice this evening. Probably first time we’ve done them in the last month or so. Thanks for the back up practice info! https://youtu.be/4AuVifY1K2k
I got to thinking after this last post that I could probably find you some better examples of trial Peaches. I think this is a compilation of what was our 1st run of the day then our 4th and 5th runs. You’ll see a beautiful first run. Speedy and excited Peaches! Then by the end of the day we have a stressed/tired Peaches. In the second run on the video, you’ll see what is about a normal weave attempt for Peach (much slower than home or practice) and some general disconnectedness. For the 3rd run on the video (5th run of the day) you’ll see me even giving up on a couple different obstacles (not even sure what kind of run this is but I’m assuming a game of some sort) as the disconnection/tiredness/stress builds. Hoping for some help on how we can work through these later in the day moments. It’s been almost a year since these runs and honestly I’m thinking the chances of us ever doing five runs in a day are unlikely given where Peaches is now (just seeming tired alot quicker these days) but still, I’d love to hear suggestions on how to work through this… https://youtu.be/kAtagmkTBqQ
Tried to do shorter sessions this week! I decided one thing I can do to help take the pressure off the length of our training session is just putting on the correct shoes and working in what I’m wearing. I know that sounds sooo dumb but if I change into more athletic clothes to prepare for a training “session” I’m much more likely to want to be out there long enough to make it worth it. So, needless to say, this week I was running in my dress and rain boots. Hah. We worked inside alot with the opposition reflex. I don’t have video of it. Biggest thing is she doesn’t like coming between my legs or me holding her in too many positions. I”ve found off to the side I can keep one hand on her chest without freaking her out. We will keep trying to practice that. Did more of the start line games and had more success with the lazy B game using white cheese instead of dark treats. I use blinds pretty frequently. You can’t tell by how ugly my blind attempt was in the second exercise but I do rely on them and I think they help her drive faster. Just have to maintain that connection afterwards to make sure we stay on the correct path. I tried a few different crosses on the second one just to be able to compare them. One question I thought of this week, do you have any suggestions for good start line tricks that are more active? I tried “back up” a little this week. Could you share your video you mentioned last week on how to train that? My go to start line connection tricks are sit, shake and go heels (gimme 10). But are those motivating and encouraging of movement enough? I guess it depends on what dog is joining me on the start line. Stressed peaches or zoomy speed demon? She’s really enjoying all this toy play. I will maybe have to do more FEO runs with our toys when I see stressed or less connected Peaches coming out to play. I feel like what you’re seeing mostly is a Peaches that is pretty relaxed and happy to be playing with me since we’re at home. Okay, sorry for the stream of consciousness… here ya go! https://youtu.be/don9Dw2QCX4
Here is our video from this week’s drills and training! Will have to keep at it with the lazy B game, took us awhile to catch on with that. Had to take a break and let doodle rest then come back to it. Still trying to balance tiredness vs stress/demotivation. I think at home when stress levels are quite low compared to trial scenarios, it’s mostly Peach being tired and hot when she slows and I’m trying to be more conscientious of her age. https://youtu.be/B-Wqh_RFVtw
Working on our drills this morning! Quick question in case I forget to ask it later, do you have any suggestions for “play” that isn’t high energy consumption? Peaches would run till her heart stopped after a toy or a ball. She’ll also run in agility but she definitely will slow down when tired compared to toy play for which she always has reserve energy. If we stick with the 30/70 rule, I feel like I need some recovery play ideas. Her preference would be fetching at high speeds or constant tug but then there is no energy left for the agility. Or do I just need to space out and shorten our training sessions?
Okay so we went back and did both sequences again. I apologize the video is long but I didn’t want to crop out any of the play sessions in case you want to see them. Started with 2nd setup and did some food rewards, attempting to do so in motion. 2nd set did as you recommended with the toy. I”ll be honest, I have used toys to train with tossing but I’ve always run with them in my pouch not my hand. YOu’ll see her knock a bar after my blind and I think that’s attributed to the fact that once I blinded, the toy was on my inside hand and more visible and she kicked up her speed and toy focus with subsequent less focus on the obstacle. Open to all tips for running with toys (inside hand, outside hand, in my pouch). We’ve mostly trained with a toy on ground as a target for which she’s allowed to get it once I say “get it” primarily for drive lines and a toy tossed in her path (fur frisbee or ball, not tug toys). I also did first run at 8 inch and 2nd at 12. She has always jumped 12 (her full height in one venue but not in any other venues) but she’s borderline measured to jump 16. I’ve noticed her ticking bars more frequently in these weeks of at home training and trialing and I”m trying to decide if that’s attributable to the different style of courses we are doing (small courses with tight turns for at home programs) or age or something else. So needless to say we may be switching back and forth between 8 and 12 as I work on investigating this. As I’m sure is the case with most people in this class, I’m always conscientious of my demeanor at trials and training in public so turning on the “good girl” voice isn’t natural but I try! Will keep on working on that! It is so much more fun to run, happy, focused, drive-y Peaches! Well worth the effort on my part :). https://youtu.be/CYIEwle37Vs
We’ve got our first video put together for you! I did a little bit of videoing of the toy play then the two runs. They are done on separate days and I definitely notice different energy level but it’s hot this time of year in NC and she’s 10 years old so I think the heat and amount of energy previously expended may account for some of that. I LOVE the idea of putting these tunnel loops into runs where we have choices. Once she got it, she did seem to get rev’d up by it. Also left in footage where I totally messed up and how I responded. I think in this case she wasn’t affected bc it’s just practice in the yard. I attempt to respond in this same manner by blaming myself and not her and keeping my tone fairly enthusiastic. And I left in a little footage of just our regular warm up kind of stuff just for you to see what I work through to try to get her feeling warm and rewarded. Sorry if it’s too much! Some things we are currently focusing on just for some further explanation: “get it” for drive, usually with a toy; not saying “right here” though I did it multiple times in these videos b/c I use right and left directionals and saying right here is confusing; and b/c jump simply means jump with no value, I’ve been attempting to run a bit “quieter” ie not saying jump for every jump unless I’m providing valuable information.
