[Sandy Mainardi]

PS I had a tentative measurement on Brioche out of curiosity…15 inches. If this holds true when the real measurement happens I will be sad to say goodbye to the 12 inch class with him. I don’t like the idea of jumping him at 16 if his withers are an inch lower than the jump height though I’m sure he’s totally capable when he is mature. He’s only 9 months old so it will be a long while before he’s jumping at height.

Benni is 14″ jumping 12.

Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

Hi Tracy,
I’m sorry for the long video. I hit pause instead of stop after the first game so it made one video with 2 games. I started with your suggestion of strike a pose without props to test his stay power and then proceeded. He broke one time when I added movement to the serp. Then we went on to the wing wrap which he had no problem with.

Thanks.
Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

Hi Tracy,
Day 2 of the agility show. Brioche tentative measurement 15″…so much for being in the 12 inch class…
My friend offered to video our practice jump stays this afternoon. The first rep I forgot to have the treat already in my hand but he stayed anyway while I dug it out of my pocket.

Played lots of pattern games as we came in and out of the building and walked around the rings. Wicked tugging today too.

Thanks.
Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

Hi Tracy,
New big boy hair cut! Points are all officially recorded… and now I cannot tell them apart!

I propped my camera up against my cooler at an agility trial and used the practice jump to work on the stays. There was activity in the far ring but not the one near us. After he took off with the toy, I switched to food and the first rep he wasn’t staying because I had the food in my hand so after that no food in the hand that was positioning him. All in all, I thought it went well for the environment we were in. He is handling the show environment very well just in general and the pattern game is very valuable.

I tried doing the moving serpentine before we left for the trial but it did not go well so I think we need to practice more without movement. I had not revisited it since then anyway. I did not upload the video. It was maybe my mechanics with the cookie toss…I have not used the sit/stay for any of the games yet. Not sure if I should?

Thanks.
Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

Hi,
So in regard to the stay and anticipation. When you say mix in praise. I had stopped praising him as I was leading out upon your advice. Do you mean when I lead out and stop and connect, I should praise first and then say catch or break? Or do I stop, praise and move again and then catch or break?

Also, I feel like I’m walking out so slowly that I might be lending to the anticipation? Should I walk more normal speed? I’m trying not to increase excitement with my motion.

And if he breaks, how should I address that. It’s bound to happen.

Thanks.
Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

Hi Tracy,
It got dark quicker than I could get out to train tonight. I set the camera up from the other side so the flood light didn’t glare and also now you can see what he was looking at last time. We went for broke with leaves and wind! He flinched once before I said break. In retrospect perhaps I should have thrown the toy back to reward him for not breaking…note to self for next time. In the moment the cue was about to come out of my mouth. Also the one time I was about to release him he looked away. I released him anyway and he did his job. I was afraid if I waited for him to look back, he might have made a different choice if whatever he was looking at became more stimulating. I did a short round of the back and forth game and then went right into the video:

Then we did the minny pinny expanded 2 different times. I only measured the bars the second time and at the center of the bar the distance was 37-38″ apart. See which one you think looks best of if I need to spread it more.

Also, I was going to revisit the rocking horse game but I’m not clear on what I was doing wrong when i did it. I’m not sure the difference between the spin and just a blind? When I watch your demo I can’t figure out what I need to do differently. Is it the sideways send I’m not doing? Maybe you can clarify for me.

Thanks.
Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

Hi Tracy,
So we did the minny pinny again for independence. Of course, the first word I said was the wrong direction but quickly caught myself. Oye.

We took the stay out to the back yard. For how distracted he gets outside, he did well. My husband had just done the leaves so that was a very good thing.

Thanks.
Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

Hi Tracy,

I keep forgetting to ask you if I should add the word “wait” before I lead out, like I use with Benni which I use with him in obedience along with the flat palm cue towards his face. Or even just the verbal or whatever.

Here is the minny pinny game which he loved especially with the toy.

Stay/Release with Jump Bump went really well. He kept getting sheep fur stuck in his teeth. LOL

Thanks.
Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

Hi Tracy,
More stays/releases with prop. If I pinch my fingers together like I have a piece of food it seems to work for the luring when I tried it.

Wrap Foundations. I don’t know why but I get lost like I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with the combinations. So…hopefully some were correct. When I try to send him with the hand that is holding the toy, he is slower to commit but hopefully this gets better with time. I still haven’t come up with a different word for left wraps. Maybe for now I should just send and say nothing or make a sound that is motivating. I didn’t get to the post turns…that should really throw me for a loop! LOL

Thanks.
Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

Hi Tracy,
Worked on the sit/stay with the prop. I keep forgetting to do some releases so I did a short separate video including that. He did have trouble sitting with the toy in sight so I put it away. Also, when I lure him with food into position, I am giving him the food. Should I phase that out?
Here is what we got:

Then I switched gears to the Find My Face game:

And went back to a couple reps of the stay/release without the prop:

Thanks.
Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

For some reason the second video didn’t post a thumbnail, just the link…the one with my husband in it.
Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

Hi Tracy,
Two more varieties of self control slice. Your excellent suggestion of leaves from the yard got his interest right away…. the second one with husband sitting very still and positioned prior to bringing Brioche downstairs was fine…not sure Brioche knew he was there (husband was advised to be very still…LOL). I forgot to use his name in the leaf video.

https://youtu.be/yrnVWMCyfl0?si=qCMr5u91VBMk39uO (scroll to about 25 seconds- I had to run up and get the dog after turning the video on)

Then I used cones to try the tandem turn (180) instead of the threadle wrap like you suggested. I think it went fairly well. I did screw up my mechanics when I switched sides with the 2 cones but then I figured it out. My word is “turn” and on course I only say it once with Benni unlike some things that I say 3 times. I think it was better when I just kept the food in the one hand and not reward from the outside arm to toss it. He actually did fine following the food and then toss from the same hand. Just had to figure it out for myself.

So, what do you suggest for progressing the self control game. Have my husband standing or…? Should I try the leaves again? Maybe once was enough on that. That was the first thing in all these weeks that got him!

Thanks.
Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

Hi Tracy,
Finishing up week 9. I did not do the threadle wrap because I don’t think I’m going to need it and have no idea what I would call it for now.

Reverse Retrieve went fairly well.

Volume Dial – he’s quick to offer a high five- his favorite trick. I think I just moved my hand too quickly asking for the spins which require more thought because we don’t do them that much so I just went with the high five.

Sit/Stay with toy – he didn’t stay seated when I put him between my legs and went to move away. So I just did the sit by my side which is improving. I realize what I haven’t done is release him forward. So what is the best mechanics for that so as not to mess up the stay work we’ve done. Do I say “break” and then throw a toy forward while I stand still? Or do I say break and move forward with toy in hand letting him chase it or…? Should I do a ratio of sit/catch vs sit/release? More catch than release or what?

Lastly, I thought I would work the tunnel verbals like you suggested with holding him while I say the word a few times. He was doing really well but then at the end, he disengaged…just too much for one night. But I see that he does get the idea. So I’ll let that cook for a bit.

He had a foundation nose work lesson this morning just hunting for food in boxes including boxes on grass which went better than I thought it would. So he had a chance to use his brain in a different way earlier in the day. Then rested all day until this evening. He gets so excited when he sees we are going to the basement to play.

Thanks.
Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

PS Based on what you’ve seen so far with the toy retrieve, do you recommend trying the week 9 retrieve game?
Thanks.
Sandy

[Sandy Mainardi]

Hi Tracy,

Big news! Benni earned his NW3 Elite title on Saturday!!!!! Holy cow! It took us 8 trials to finish this. Some learning experiences along the way. So Brioche got lots of sniffaris.

Onward to week 9 games.

And more sit/stay work:

Sits with one chute board and no platform. He still needs the platform I see… Cannot wait to get rid of the hair so I an actually see his legs better. Still waiting for his points to be posted to AKC.

Thanks.
Sandy

[Author]

Posts