[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy,
I got so excited about sunny skies today I trained in flip flops LOL

I will try the ladder grid with a dragging toy instead of the stationary MM the next time we’re at the park and have more room. In the meantime, today was busy so I grabbed the few available minutes and trained in our postage stamp of a front yard.

Here is Week 4 using Strike a Pose to Proof Serps
I didn’t expect Leo to be tunnel-sucked, but he was! Once he figured it out he was a good boi.

thank you!
Ruth and Leo

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.

[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy,
thanks for all the great feedback the other day ^
Gotta burn “HALLMARK MOMENT” into my brain so I get better at the connection piece.

we’ve had high winds and rain (typical crazy spring weather) so we haven’t had a chance to implement your suggestions, but will do that now that the weather is cooperating and we can practice outside again.

In the meantime, here is Week 4 “Beginning Ladder Grid” both Baby level (straight jumps) and Advanced Level (angled jumps).

thank you!
Ruth and Leo

[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy!
Here is Week 2 Tunnel Exits and Turns with Leo. We had fun!

I suspect on his GO GO GO tunnel exits, where he is curling in to me (and then passing the wing on the inside instead of the outside) it is because I am late in throwing the toy? He did do better when I switched to the T&T/MM …

p.s. one of my long term handler issues I’ve always struggled with is that I am often late with verbals, or even yelling out the completely wrong verbal in the heat of the moment, and it’s really helped to be able to listen to myself when reviewing videos, due to improved audio and using a Bluetooth mic (the mic does cut out sometimes when my back is to the video recorder, gah). It’s really easy to tell in this video when I am giving late versus early/timely turning cues to Leo.

thank you!
Ruth and Leo

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.

[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy,
oh, yay, THANK you for the tip on angling the jump for sends n serps. Here is a re-do. Angling the jump really helped Leo out. He struggled a bit with the setup after we changed sides in the second half of the video, but once he figured it out he did not make any mistakes after that, good boy.

thank you!
Ruth and Leo

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.

[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy,

Here is Week 3 Sends ‘n’ Serps, Baby Level. The audio somehow wasn’t tracking with the video, and I don’t know how to fix that, so this session has no sound after the first few seconds.

During practice we had a rocky start with this homework and Leo was running past the jump, so we went alllll the way back to Strike A Pose with a target plate, then added in some motion, then went to Send N Serps.

I totally forgot to add in some front crosses, oops! Will do that the next time we practice.

Leo still did a run-by a couple times in the second half of this video; I’m not sure if he was getting mentally fatigued at that point or if this is a harder side for him to do.

Thanks as always for your feedback!

Ruth and Leo

[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy,

Here is week 3 Left/Right Minny Pinny Proofing Game, both Baby Level and Advanced Level.

The very first rep is a total blooper – I released Leo and he headed straight for the camera like he’d been shot out of a cannon LOL.

Most of the rest of this session went pretty well since we’ve been practicing a lot of ‘left’ and ‘right’ in the living room while it’s been raining all week. He definitely made mistakes when I added a level of difficulty; first when I put him on the ‘off’ side and then again when I moved him to the neutral position (we hadn’t tried ‘off’ side or neutral position in the living room so this was the first time he was seeing those pictures).

thanks for your feedback!
Ruth and Leo

[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy,

>>give Leo a little more height on the 2nd bar. It looked 8 inches here maybe? You can try 10 then 12

cool, will try raising the bar the next time we are practicing with jumps. Leo recently had x-rays to make sure his leg is ok (he injured it last month before class started), and his vet took a whole series and also confirmed his growth plates all look closed, so, yay.

In the meantime, here is a mashup of Week 1 Smiley Face and Wrap Proofing. I did not intend to put all of this in one video, but once we were outside and practicing, I mis-remembered the progression of homework, gah. Despite putting too much into one session, Leo did pretty well overall. His left wraps were good, but he struggled some with right wraps and defaulted into the tunnel a few times. When he gets it correct he does a great job of leading with his head.

Leo’s verbal cues:
left and right for turns
left wrap = sshhhhhh
right wrap = a hard kkkkkickkk sound

I’ll look forward to hearing your feedback.

thank you!
Ruth and Leo

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.

[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy,
hope you had a Happy St Paddy’s Day!

I’ve got a new bluetooth mic for my phone, so hopefully you’ll be able to better hear my voice cues to Leo and get less of all the wind and noisy background stuff in my videos.

>>Instead of plopping it down then dragging it, maybe slowly lower it slowly like a boat anchor … keep thes ame distance between the jumps and put the height of the 2nd bar to 6″ <<

Here’s a re-do of Set Point incorporating your suggestions:

thank you!
Ruth and Leo

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.

[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy,

>>what an amazing dog he is to work with focus with all of those distractions<<
thanks for noticing. Leo is very social, and if he feels pressured or confused in training, he is very willing to leave in search of more pleasant outcomes, so he is keeping me honest for sure lol

>> What was the distance between the 2 jumps, and the height of the 2nd one? I think a slightly shorter distance would be perfect for him: If this was 6 feet, going to 5 or 5.5 feet perhaps would be great.<<
I’ve got a jump bar locked into the lowest height possible, so 4″. The distance was a good 6′, so in the homeworks below I’ve shortened that to more like 5′

ok, so here is a re-do of Intro to Set Point, take 2 – this time I’m using a moving toy instead of stationery R+ per your suggestion, and I left in the one rep where he self-released:

And here is our first try with Week 1 “Wind in Your Hair”, first up is baby level = tossed toy, then advanced level = placed toy. I left in the couple reps where he ran around the jump instead of going in between the wings.

thank you!
Ruth and Leo

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.

[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy,
no video with this final message, just want to let you know how much Leo and I have learned, and we’re really looking forward to the next class that starts on March 8. I’ve been out of town, without Leo, so no opportunities to train or get video for the last several days. When I’m back in Seattle at the end of this week, I’ll spend some time reading the forums of others to pick up on tips for the exercises I didn’t get a chance to submit.
It’s really been a fantastic class, and I hope you’re still planning a trip to teach at Argus later this year. If there’s an appropriate baby level session planned, Leo and I would be there in a heartbeat.
see you in the next class,
Ruth and Leo

[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy!
thanks for all the detailed feedback above ^

Question after reviewing the video from week 11 = “Building Up: Concept Transfer Turn And Burn On A Wing!” You are using your motion (arm out and stepping forward with one leg) to cue the dog to move out and interact (wrap around) the wing. How do I square this with wanting my dog to hold a start line stay and not move out on my motion but wait for the verbal ‘break’ cue? Leo is very eager to use any excuse to offer behavior!
TIA,
Ruth

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.

[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy,
Thanks for the tunnel feedback and the video of CB, it’s super helpful! Leo and I have been working on increasing the value of the MM with behavior => MM => toy, but for this next video I used just his high value toy due to all the distractions in the background (we were using some green space outside the Seattle zoo near my home. The next time someone brings their screaming Capuchin monkeys to an agility trial, we will have proofed the heck out of that distraction and will be good to go LOL)

In this video we warmed up w/ a couple tunnel entries, then tried some threadle foundations from Week 4:Tunnel Games 1 .

This next video is Week 10 Wing Wrap Rocking Horses Part 2 – Spins and the Race Track. Away from rocking horses we worked on the “bite” cue so Leo knows when the toy is available and when it’s not, and that’s really helping his ability to cope with me running with a toy in my hand, yay!, thanks for that tip!

Several times in this video I end up with my toy arm crossed over my body when I cue ‘bite’ (not on purpose, too many things to think about!); should I work harder at being sure to offer the toy from the same-side arm instead?

Also, chanting “Hallmark Moment” in my head has really helped me connect with Leo as he’s exiting the wrap and he’s not constantly cutting behind me any more YAY

Thanks for your feedback!
Ruth and Leo

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.

[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy,
thanks for the ^above! Will work on incorporating your advice, and in the meantime, here are 2 more videos:

Week 4, Tunnel Games 1 (angles and verbal, no threadles yet)
I’ve been waiting for so long to start some tunnel work, yay! Didn’t have a ‘real’ tunnel when class started and had to order one, then it snowed, then it rained, then it mudded. Anyway, here is beginning work with tunnel entries. The tunnel does shift some, so I’ll need to work on staking it down better, but there are 3 straps on it (just noting that since it looks like it only has the one purple strap in the middle on first glance).

You’ll see that Leo spins out of the exit on the early reps, showing me that food/MM is less interesting than his toy back at the entrance, so I just removed the toy for now until I get your feedback (he did the same spinning whether the toy was on the ground or in my hand). Without the toy he exits without spinning, so I added the verbal at that point and then added angles. Should I exchange the MM for a toy at the exit?

The one time he leaps over the MM, it was because he considered running off to chase a dog off in the distance. Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a fenced yard bigger than a postage stamp; we have to do any training that needs space out in public.

Week 6, Prop Game 4: the ‘Get Out’ cue
this is just baby level (with no motion) until we get your feedback. Leo is very magnetized to his prop by now, so I had to balance the ‘get out’ with a lot of recalls:

thanks as always!
Ruth and Leo

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.

[ruth.e.larocque]

Hi Tracy,
>> For this one, you can start with one wing or barrel on the threadle side<<
Got it, thanks!

In the meantime, here is our Minny Pinny work. I keep forgetting to wait for feedback on Baby level stuff before moving on to Advanced version, but I can always go back and start over after getting your feedback. Anyway, here are 2 videos:

VIDEO 1 MP Wk 10 Baby Level left/right Minny Pinny, first with food, then toys. No left/right verbals yet:

VIDEO 2 MP Wk 10 Advanced Level left/right Minny Pinny with jump bumps. Added verbals in this video.

thanks as always, can’t tell you enough how much I’m getting out of your feedback on these videos and how much I love working on concepts away from agility equipment and separate from jumping skills. Leo shows minimal frustration in our training sessions since everything is broken down into steps that we can both accomplish, and I’m not getting any more tooth hugs these days : -)
Ruth and Leo

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by ruth.e.larocque.

[ruth.e.larocque]

hi Tracy,
thx for explaining the options for threadle arm!

>> Add in a cone or wing of barrel on the jump here, so he has a more obvious picture and your position. On the wingless with a 4 foot bar, it is harder to show position onthe wing (which is an important part o early threadle training) and you end up a little between the uprights (which is more of a serp position). A wing or barrel or cone should help that a lot.<<

are you saying to use just one wing (or barrel) at a time, on the side he needs to go around? thx in advance for clarifying
Ruth and Leo

[Author]

Posts