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Hello!
We worked on the standard course from package 2. We’ve only tried the first one so far. We had an issue at the beginning with Kat not coming in for the backside (I ran it as a German), but I realized I needed to show her the line better and to give her a turn cue before 2. She also struggled with the weaves when I tried to layer the jump. I will work on that separately and decided to just get rid of the layer after a couple of failed attempts. I thought if I could get her to look at the poles with her “look” cue that she would get them, but it proved to be too hard. I was so happy with how well she did on the technical stuff!! On the second day we tried it (green shirt, lol), we did a run that was really nice, but for some reason my camera cut off right before it. I think I got an alert that interrupted it. I don’t know why this is the summer of failed camera things!! We did one more run that was very good, but she was hot, so it was a bit slower, and I’m pretty sure she was starting to memorize the course, haha.
<<The physical cues of shoulder position and line of motion were overriding the verbal cue so I think she had to choose body or voice (body won, which is pretty normal).>>
While this does make sense, once you’ve trained it well enough, is it reasonable to expect the dog to use the verbal (for a threadle in particular) even if your body isn’t perfect? I know this is one skill that you really have to train rather than relying on body language.
<<so there is a big arm movement back and more rotation at the waist.>>
Unfortunately, I have some pretty bad SI joint issues and can’t always get more rotation in my lower spine without a lot of pain. I suspect agility has caused these issues, but I’m not giving it up, lol. It does make it hard to show connection sometimes. 🙁
We will hopefully get to try this set up again in a couple of days when we go back to our club where it’s still set up.
Hello!
We did this last week, but I just got a chance to actually edit and post.
Kat and I tried the jumping course from package 1 again, and she did very well with the exception of 2 spots we just couldn’t get: the weave entry and exit. I worked the backside right before the poles, throwing the toy before she jumped as you suggested, and that definitely helped, but I felt like I needed to help her a little bit. I suspect that was our biggest issue with getting the weave entry. I think the weave exit was exactly what you said with having to support her all the way to the end. She also doesn’t have a lot of experience with a switch, so that didn’t help us.
We also ran the other jumping course. It went pretty well overall! I didn’t include it in the video, but she was positive that the first jump was a backside, lol. I was not facing the backside line AT ALL and didn’t have any weird arm things going on. I guess we practiced it too much because of the struggles we had with the first jumping course. Whoops! My biggest struggle was walking the right course apparently, haha! I thought it seemed a little short after I ran it the 2nd time, but it was too hot to run it again correctly, so I figured I’d submit my version. I cut out the 5-8 loop. I suspect even with the right numbers I would have struggled getting the blind before “5” (supposed to be 9). I also had a hard time supporting her line for the backside at 12. I thought about running the layering line on the other side of the weaves, but I didn’t think she would do the backside at 12 with me that far away; it’s just not independent enough on a verbal yet.
Nox will be getting spayed this week (kind of freaked out about it and debated about doing it at all for multiple reasons, but decided I was more freaked out about the possibility of pyo). I signed up for a spot in both of your workshops this Sunday; Nox was supposed to do the distance one and Kat is going to do the turns one. I can’t find the descriptions of the classes anymore, so I’m not sure if the distance one would be appropriate for Kat. She is doing a full-height dog walk, mostly still using a mat. She is not doing a full-height a-frame yet. She’s done the teeter for a long time, but she’s sorting out that she has to actually stop on it after doing so much running contact work on the other two, lol. I’m sure I can sell my spot in one of the workshops (you’re pretty popular, lol!), but if you think Kat could do both of them, I will keep both spots.
Hello!
We started the Handling Skills from Package 1, but we only got through the first sequence in our first session with it since Katniss forgot how to do a threadle. She can do one without a lot of speed or excitement, but that obviously isn’t that helpful on a course, lol. We practiced this after she missed it the first time. There were a couple of other reps of just doing 2-3 that I didn’t include, but they mostly went well other than a knocked bar a couple of times. I tried the double whammy once, and it went great except for the final backside.
Hello!
I managed to get two more videos before camp ends! With the start of school, I wasn’t sure I’d have time.
This is the Package 4 exercise for the other side of the dog walk. I went past the wings on the tunnel, but she has such a hard time driving ahead of me, especially when I decel, so I didn’t think she would be successful if I stopped there. She struggled to get the weaves when they were to the left of the tunnel, so I ended up changing the angle of the entry to make it easier. I will set this up again and work on making it a 90 degree turn from this direction.
These are the Package 4 Switch Away to layering exercises. Since switch aways are almost in the rear cross category, we do struggle with this skill, but I was very happy with how Nox did! I somehow skipped sequence 2 altogether, and I left a jump out of sequence 3. 🤦♀️She was too tired to do the last sequence.
I had a lot of fun working on the sequences this summer! I will keep working through the material I didn’t get to. I can see that Nox has gained a lot of confidence with distance work and with layering, and this summer’s sequences highlighted that, which was a lot of fun! That being said, we still have a lot of work to do with obstacle commitment and driving ahead.
I was disappointed I wasn’t able to do more with Katniss. I’m not sure if she is on the mend or not. She looks much better, but her gait still looks a off to me. I have watched videos of her walking in slow mo over and over, and I am watching her walk obsessively. She probably thinks I’m a weirdo, lol. She’s been cleared to start regular exercise (she was on active rest) since her vet can’t feel anything wrong at this point. So now I’m kind of stuck trying to figure out what to do at this point. Ugh!
Anyways! Thank you for all the wonderful feedback!! I can’t wait for the next class!
<<Did something happen that you saw, or did the lameness just appear?>>
She was outside about a foot away from me. She took a step towards me and then jumped like something stung or bit her. I didn’t see any evidence of a bug on the ground or see one fly away. She ran up on the deck and was holding her front leg up. She was pretty dramatic about the whole thing, but she has a flair for the theatrics at times, lol, so that didn’t help me assess how much it hurt. I didn’t see or feel anything that was consistent with a sting or bite. She went back to mostly normal walking within 30 minutes or so, but she was still off-loading when standing or sitting. She saw Dr. Alyssa Fenton 3 days later and was still sore in her should muscle. She did xrays and nothing definitive was visible. A good friend of mine who is a veterinary surgeon looked at her the next day and got a pain response in the area around her elbow (thought the shoulder could have been referred pain). He said the joint was stable, though. They both gave the same advice of the rest and NSAIDS for 2 weeks. She acts fine now, but I’m still keeping her relatively quiet for the next week. It’s hard to tell if she still hurts because she wants to run around and play. I watch her obsessively, and one minute I think I see a misstep, but then I’m not sure if I’m just being paranoid and she’s just being a normal dog, lol. I’ll give her to the end of the two weeks and have her rechecked. If there’s any pain response or if she looks off, I’ll definitely be asking for the names of those soft tissue people!!
As for Nox’s runs…
<<At the beginning, she gave good instant feedback when you rewarded the first rep – whatever you dropped was not a reward, so she left to yell at the other dog 🙂>>No, it was apparently not a reward. 🤣🤣🤣 So… I had a brilliant idea that I’d try to reintroduce toys into our training. She always has a toy in her mouth in the house and likes to play tug. She used to work for toys happily. I don’t know if you remember early on in our training journey, but I had to stop using toys because she would do exactly what she did in the video. She played tug with me right before we started this sequence, so I thought maybe she’d be excited to play with me as a reward. As you saw, I immediately got rid of the toy and switched back to food, lol. It was not a good way to try it out. That dog drives her CRAZY, and it takes a lot of bandwidth for her to ignore the dog (honestly not something I thought she’d ever be able to do!). On top of that, she wasn’t expecting the reward to be thrown behind me; she wasn’t expecting it with the food either, but she’s happy to snuffle through the grass to find it, haha. I was too lazy to go back in the house to get her Lotus Ball 😂. I thought the cheese I was throwing was big enough, but I guess not!
Hello!
Nox and I ran the short walk through sequences from package 3. I was able to lay the walk throughs over the actual run, and I was actually about right on the timing for most of them! Now, if I was able to run them with Katniss, that would probably not be true, lol. There were a couple of disconnect moments, but overall, it went well!
I watched the first video about the walk throughs themselves and then videoed my walk throughs. Before I ran the sequences, though, I was looking to see if I missed suggestions for how to run them, particularly for #3. I saw there were videos that I somehow missed, lol. I decided to go ahead and run it how I walked it, but I didn’t love some of the lines I set for Nox. I didn’t video the walk through again, but I did run it (mostly) how you ran it and liked it much better.
Getting her in the tunnel in #4 was a little tricky as well.
Hello!
I was able to run a couple of things from Package 3 with Nox. I was hoping to do these with Katniss, but she came up lame last weekend. She was back to walking mostly normally within a few minutes, but I had her looked at. One vet thought it was her shoulder but another thought it was near her elbow. Despite different ideas about the cause, both said to rest her for 2 weeks and give NSAIDS. So… sadly, her first camp has been cut short. Hopefully she’ll be cleared to play soon! She doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with her, and she’s so mad that she doesn’t get to outside to play but Nox does!!
Anyways, here’s Nox doing the independent backsides exercises. I was trying not to point at things, and I started to look a bit like an awkward penguin when we got to the wraps, lol.
First of all, I was cracking up reading your notes! Most people don’t have the skill to make someone laugh when you’re telling them all the things they’ve done wrong (repeatedly), but you have totally mastered that, lol. Two of my non-agility friends and my husband all gave me funny looks when I explained that the reason I was laughing was that I was reading about how I messed up my runs with Nox. 🤣
<<point-free zone and it was gorgeous!>>
<<And if she does back and come off a line, that is her yelling “POINTY! POINTY!!!!” (Nox always yells her feedback)>>
I’m seeing a trend here, lol. No POINTY POINTY!!! And yes, she only has one volume in conversations, and they tend to be one-sided. 🤣
I KNOW I’m not supposed to point at things, and I tell students in my class not to point ALL the time, lol. I just can’t feel it and don’t always recognize it as the problem in my videos when *I’m* the one doing it. It’s hard not having an in-person instructor for moments like these, but I will try to specifically look at my videos for “Pointy Situations” when she yells at me, and hopefully I can catch myself doing it more in the moment.
I have run previous dogs a long time ago without using arms as a handling challenge, but I don’t think I’ve ever tried it with Nox now that you mention it. I will try it out! Should I use my arms to run or do my best penguin impression? 🐧
And your explanation about where to reward for threadle wraps makes total sense!
Hello!
I ran both girls on the Package 2 Jumping 2 Course. We ran it last week and then went out of town. I came home and ran it again, and it went much better! I am submitting Katniss’s runs for feedback.
The first day (beginning of the video), I was so messy in my handling!! I’m blaming my shorts, lol. They were new and apparently are terrible for running in since they don’t stay where they are supposed to. Kind of odd since they are meant for running. Anyways, those shorts went in the donate pile and we tried again the next day. 😂
The hardest part consistently was the threadle wrap at #13. I worked on the skill with her as a warm-up before two of the sessions, and she did relatively well with it, but once I added other obstacles in front of it, she would either take the front side or (more often) do a circle around the jump. I don’t think I was deceling enough on some of the reps, but I was struggling to get the blind in as it was, lol. I think she also just didn’t know what to do with her body because she definitely looked at the jump. I did the first 2 sessions the day before we left for vacation and the morning of, which was before getting your feedback about putting the bar down and throwing the reward on the line. I did that in our warm-up before the last reps, but I put the bar back for the full run and was trying to do the whole thing, but I’m not sure that she was ready for it. It’s obviously a skill both dogs need some confidence with. There were a couple of other spots where I broke connection before she was committed to the next obstacle. Whoops! Overall, I was thrilled with how well she did on the skills in this course!
This is Nox running the same course being a total superstar! 🤩 I just wanted to share. 🙂
Hello!
<<OMG same here! CAMP started back in 2012 when summers were so much nicer!>>
I miss those days!!!
<<For now, take the bar out so all she needs to do is turn back to a wing wrap >>
I practiced this a bit and then put the bar at 6″ in the big course so it would look like a jump. She hasn’t done a lot of work with just wings (maybe that’s part of our problem, lol) since she didn’t go through the foundations with MaxPup.
<<And, for the threadle wraps, put all reward on the landing side so it really builds up in value. The rewards were generally coming near you on the next line, but throwing the rewards away from you on the landing line will make a big difference for commitment.>>
I thought I was rewarding on her line for the wrap. So I shouldn’t throw it at the completion of the wrap to encourage a tight turn? Instead I should throw it before she’s really finished the wrap?
On to new stuff:
We have been playing on the Package 2 (yes, we’re a bit behind, lol) jumping courses. Nox ran it pretty well the first time, but we did run into some issues as I was trying to clean things up. Our problem spots were #3 (started getting refusals and spins, but I realized I was pushing her off her line), #10 (realized I needed an “out” verbal instead of a backside), and #16 (refusals and spins). I worked on these problem spots one session, but I didn’t hit the record button apparently, so I sadly don’t have too much of that in the video for you to see. There was one time where I tried to keep going after an error, and we got stuck in a sheltie tornado, lol. You’ll hear me to tell her to get off of me (as in stuck on me, not actually touching me). It’ll be obvious, haha.
Hello!
Have you ever considered a fall camp instead of summer? 🤣 I’m so done with the heat index being over 100 just about every day!!
<<Also for both of them, I think this was more of a session on how to go past a jump to find a tunnel>>
That’s an interesting thought. I was assuming it had more to do with driving away from me in general for Nox. I felt like Nox was at least considering that I was saying different things and was thinking even if she got the wrong answer or wouldn’t go do it on her own. I can see how building her confidence would be helpful by backing up a bit in the steps. For Katniss, she does a lot of assuming about what the next thing is going to be (typically whatever is straight in front of her). She did so well with this sort of game in Max Pup, but now that she’s older and has more speed, she does not listen as well to what I’m saying (in agility or life 😂). We will certainly keep playing different versions of this game!
<<Adding the weaves to make it a 3 way discrimination happened a bit too early in the learning here.>>
It’s always hard for me with a class because I want them to be successful, but I also want to get far enough in the steps that I can get some helpful feedback for when the class is over and I need to keep progressing on a skill on my own.
Moving on the next thing! I did the threadle wraps sequences from Package 2 with both dogs. I was having the most trouble with Nox, so that’s mostly who you will in this video. I did add two reps of one sequence of Kat at the end because the problem spot for her was the threadle wrap, so I am assuming I am doing something wrong with cuing it.
Nox had issues with the backside push AND the threadle wrap, but I really didn’t feel like there was any progress with the wrap. I trained Nox to do a backside push using the same verbal as a backside slice because I didn’t realize I needed a separate cue initially. Then I went to one of your in-person workshops and saw how important it was that she had two different words. I did start using a separate verbal a while ago, but it hasn’t helped. She has a really good backside slice, but the wrap is much harder for her, and she yells about it a lot. The threadle wrap is even worse. She has a nice threadle slice, but the wrap is really hard. I have practiced them for quite some time now (over the course a year at least), and she still hates them. I have broken it down and always rewarded on her line behind me as I move away or parallel to the bar to encourage the wrap, but it’s still a pretty big struggle. I have wondered if this is related to her jumping issues or if she doesn’t like bending her body and I need to do some conditioning work specific to that movement. She doesn’t seem to have issues with bending in the weaves, and she gets regular chiro, but the thought has crossed my mind. Or maybe it’s me!
The sessions in the beginning of the video were done with breaks in between but on the same day. When I am wearing the green shirt, it’s actually two different days. I have 3 of the same shirt, lol. So I don’t think being tired was the crux of our issues, especially given her history of struggling with these skills.
Katniss did really well with the backside push, but I do still have to stay and support her a bit. I might actually be able to leave a little earlier, but I didn’t push it. The threadle wrap was challenging, and we haven’t worked on them since Max Pup really, but she was at least going over the bar unlike Nox, lol. I got that spin twice in this sequence. She had some better reps where she got the wrap, but I wanted to include the ones we messed up since I’m seeking feedback on my handling moreso than on the rest of the sequence with her. She did great with the warm-up sequences where there was very little motion (and therefore speed). I’m thinking hers is mostly inexperience and me trying to figure out what cues she needs to see since she’s so different from Nox.
We’ve already started working on the jumping course from this package that uses these skills but with varying levels of success, so I’m hoping I can improve on my cuing of these wraps to apply to them to the big course better before I choose which reps to send in for feedback.
Hello!
<<We practice at Level Up, but not that often. I will let you know when the next one is!>>
Please do!!
<<The BC is a little harder to get to there on time, so she was a little wide. You can keep her on your right side and do a threadle wrap on 12 too.>>
You will see why I didn’t try a threadle wrap with her when I edit and post the package 2 handling skills sequences, lol.
<<The BC 19-20 might have felt awkward on the first run because you didn’t add 21 which makes the line nicer. You had the 21 jump there on run 2, which was definitely smoother!>>
Haha! I didn’t even notice that when I ran it or when I edited the video. Whoops!
<<Yes, she has done a lot of reps of it and after the initial training, I don’t think she has gotten rewarded specifically for it so she was heading to where the rewards were (closer to you :)) So keep rewarding that teeter skill! Plus it is a lot of slam on the body, so you can limit the reps so she doesn’t get sore.>>
We don’t do a whole lot of teeter training, and in a trial, I am typically not that far away from her, so she doesn’t have much practice with going to the end by herself with me “behind” her. She was starting to hop off the side. You are correct that I did not put the Manners Minder back at the bottom or throw her reward out there after the initial training! I totally see that I should have put it back or thrown something out there for her.
Moving on to new stuff! We worked on the discrimination game. I included both dogs in this video rather than submitting a second round. I hope that’s ok!
Nox figured the game out pretty quickly, but she really struggled with the weaves. I suspect it was the location rather than the weaves themselves. As you know, Nox does not particularly like going away from me to do things independently (which is ironic given her independence in the rest of her life, lol). I think that was her biggest issue with the weaves. I was trying really hard to play this game similarly to “the lazy game” so that I didn’t give her much help in terms of handling pressure. I haven’t tried putting the weaves where the jump or tunnel is yet, but I will definitely revisit this game periodically, and that will be one of the configurations we do.
Katniss struggled with the concept in general, particularly in the beginning. She was positive that the answer was the backside of the jump, lol. She was especially barky and opinionated from the start. I’m not sure if that was the game or just her mood that particular day. Sometimes she is thoughtful, and sometimes she acts like the 2 year-old that she is. 🤣 She didn’t seem to be listening to my verbals, and I wasn’t sure how to get her to the obstacles without physical pressure or with a hand motion. Can I “cheat” and give her hints with a step or two towards the obstacle if she gets stuck? Is this helpful for learning this game? I know she can play the game with me holding her collar and not letting go until she looks at the correct thing, but in order to add motion, I was trying to move past that step. Maybe she’s just not ready for that? I only tried the weaves a few times with her since she’s only been weaving for a few months. I wanted to see if she had any idea what the word meant. I think it was the same issue as Nox where the weaves were too far away for her to notice.
Hello!
<<This is SO FUN!!!!! It is a whole new fun sport to enjoy 🙂 You can also come practice with us in Richmond!>>
That would be fun! How often do you practice, and how would I find out about when/where?
<<It is lovely to have a built in IT division 🙂>>
Most definitely!!
Your notes from the first run said to work on the connection with backside pushes. I still struggled with that in this video. It’s been a weak point for me because, as you said, it’s counterintuitive not to point at things! I’ll keep working at this!! And the tandem turn into the rear cross was especially hard for me. I don’t do a lot of tandem turns, and you know that rear crosses are my kryptonite, so putting them together was particularly challenging.
This is our attempt at Package 1 Standard 2. I think our second run was the best one. On the last attempt, she didn’t want to do the teeter. She showed me she can do the skill, so I had her do the teeter once without layering and then started after the tunnel. She may have just been getting tired, and that takes a lot of her brain power! I finally ran the last half (just before the weaves) the way I intended in terms of crossing and giving her cues early enough to turn.
Hello!
I FINALLY got to edit my video from package 1 standard course 1, lol! I ran it a few times over the course of several days since my training sessions have to be so short due to the heat. But then I was having issues with my computer and couldn’t edit anything! So frustrating!! But I got my IT team (i.e. my husband) to help me figure out the problem.
When I set the course and then looked at the numbers, I was a bit disheartened. When I saw the teeter all the way off to the side on the other side of the dog walk, I thought there was no way that was happening with Nox since she has feelings about me being far away from her. I walked it a few different ways that would have put me over there with the teeter, but none of them seemed viable. Then, I read through you suggestions (I always walk it first and then look at yours afterwards) knowing that you were going to suggest layering. After having a pity party about how this was too hard for us, I decided to do some backchaining using my Manners Minder at the end of the teeter. I included some of the pieces we did of the backchaning at the beginning of the video because I was so freaking proud of her for getting it!!! (Feel free to skip past it to about the 1 minute mark for the full course). The hardest parts for us ended up being the backside wraps and the tandem turn after the a-frame. You know, that parts where I was really close to her. 🤣 The first run was the best one somehow. I was sooo happy with how she did! No, it wouldn’t have been a Q in a trial, but I didn’t think we’d do anywhere near that well.
On another note, Katniss has gone to 4 flyball practices with my local team (Harrier Jump Jets). She has done AMAZING!!! I was worried about her chasing other dogs. She was doing so well with the callbacks over the jumps that they had another young dog do them in the other lane. Kat ran over to say hello after getting her toy, but the other dog told her to go away (she was surprised someone didn’t like her, lol). After that, she had no interest in going over there. Today, she did a box turn on a board on the box and grabbed the ball off a piece of velcro, no problem. They had me do the whole pattern, and she absolutely rocked it!! She also raced against another dog and didn’t even think about visiting.
