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Good morning!
Great job here! I don’t see a Min video but I think that is still in progress.Kaladin’s does indeed love the tunnel and the Nemo ball LOL! He was a little tentative going to the tunnel on just the verbal (no motion, no arm) at the beginning, so you can hold him back a bit, start saying the tunnel cue a few times then let him go when he is ready to rip himself from your hands LOL!
You can use your go cue sooner – it is almost a reinforcement for him, her gets SUPER zippy when he hears it.
Looks like he was perfectly happy to drive out straight and fast (helloooooo, Nemo!). Yay!The first left was a surprise to him (“I thought we were doing GO, mom?” LOL!) but then he got better and better. I don’t think we need him any tighter than he was on the last couple of left and right reps – he was doing a “NASCAR” line which means turning correctly but just wide enough to maintain extension and high speed the whole time. Yay!
He had one question about going to the tunnel on the 3rd to last rep at 1:05 – it was a GREAT question from him. You were saying go go and your feet were facing straight and not to the tunnel… so he went straight on the line and did not take the tunnel, which would have required veering away from the Go line. GOOD BOY! I like the literal understanding of GO, as that will help you in more complex handling situations. So just be sure your feet are pointing to the tunnel if you are not going to move.
Great job! You can definitely add in the crosses and also move on to the next games.
Tracy
Good morning!
On the first reps at the club building, he had super strong commitment to the tunnel in isolation, as expected. My only suggestion is to always give an exit cue to help him not default to looking for you. The exit cue can be physical or verbal or both, to cue a line rather than him looking for you at the exit which is what was happening when you only said tunnel but didn’t really move. When you added exit cues, he was much better about looking towards a line and not at you. Yay!
Left and right are easy for him. He did REALLY well on the wraps, those are harder for all dogs! So I think the main thing to emphasize with him are the big go go go lines – those are hardest for him (he naturally wants to look for you on the softer left/right lines) and more reinforcement out ahead for the GO will help strengthen them more. (And adding the distance games that come next will help too).
In the outdoor session:
Working the angles with the weaves right there was a good session, he did well making the bend into the tunnel on the angle and didn’t seem to be looking for the weaves. You can challenge him to see if he can find the weaves from that angle – MUCH harder 🙂 but useful!
Here, too, you can give a directional exit so he doesn’t default into looking back at you when he exits.
When you started straight on, he had more trouble because weaves are very high value for him (as expected :)) He was not really waiting to process the cue on those first couple of reps where you said it and moved – he was just diving into the weaves. You can gently hold his collar and begin the cue while holding him – and watch his head. If he looks at the correct obstacle, let him go. If not, keep repeating it til he does look correctly. That will help jump start the thinking/processing the cue, while the gentle restraint also adds excitement to simulate how he might be feeling on course. And if he can’t process it and look at the correct obstacle? Move to an easier spot or add more distance.Working it from the frame was fun to see – your movement path was subtle but very helpful for him 🙂 When you were out of the picture, he had an error (2nd to last rep where you were further behind) so the first thing to do here is to be ahead like you were, but fade the handling help – then you can move yourself back out of the picture (you can replace the a-frame with a tunnel to get lots of speed without any bang on his body from reps).
You can definitely add the tunnel- jump discrimination game too, it is challenging but also the concept of “listen for the cue and don’t rely on the physical motion” will really help the challenges with the weaves! Many of our dogs don’t process verbals that well while there is a lot of motion, so these games should really help strengthen that skill.
>Luckily, we are almost always able to give a bit of a hint (verbal “out weave” versus “come tunnel” or physical: line of motion or acceleration/deceleration).>>
True!!!! Even at a distance, we can use motion. But a trend that I am seeing is that we humans need to run like mad the entire time and somehow magically yell turn cues or obstacle names – with a little physical help as possible, so we can run like mad to our next position. I ran this (as a student) as a recent seminar – Lordy it really shines a light on what we need to do and when and how the dogs process. It will also be highly individualized – I ran 2 dogs, both pretty speedy. The more experienced of the 2 is also a little more ‘forward’ (gets on a line, stays on a line) so it was harder to get turns while I kept running. My less experienced youngster allowed me to run hard and responded to the verbals as if I was handling with decel and stuff… whew! So it is because he is less experienced? Or because he is just better at processing while running? Or is it because he has more experience with the foundation games for these skills (the other dog had to sit out to get a patella repaired). Or all of the above? Hard to know, but it gives us insight into the individual needs.
Based on what I have seen, Enzo is somewhere between my 2 in how he processes – a good combo of forward and responsive, but needs more experience with processing turn info while you run hard, if that makes sense.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! These went really well! Her tunnel commitment looks great, she was really driving to these (Maple will get faster and faster with these, so keep playing them with lots of rewards :))
One subtle thing: Winn wants to look for you on the tunnel exits – you can see it on the reps where she is coming towards the camera. Watching her face, you can see her head turned towards where you are (while she is still in the tunnel) even when you are yelling go go go. So, to help her drive straight and not look for you, a simple solution: throw sooner LOL! Throw the reward as soon as she gets into the tunnel, so it is landing out ahead while she is maybe halfway through it. She will learn that Go go go means look ahead because she will see the reward landing sooner – and then eventually you can throw it later.The left and right were easy for her, yay! And the Blind cross looked great. The front cross looked like it was hard to get out of the way on time LOL! So rather than do the FC on the same line as the BC, do it moving in the other direction, back towards the side you sent her from – that way you get a tight turn but you don’t get run over by a flying pointer LOL!!!
Great job here! You can do a couple of practices of the go go go then onwards to Game 2 🙂
Tracy
Thanks!!! I saw it come through on messenger, I will sort those maps today and post them. YAY WAGER!!! And I am sure Spot will nail it too, his generation has these skills built into their foundation. Do you have video of Wager nailing it? I would love to see!
TracyGood morning! Both dogs look great here! A couple of ideas for you:
With Breeze: he is driving to the tunnel brilliantly! He wants to look towards you on the exits – it is easier to see this when he is tunneling towards the camera in the 2nd video – so you can throw sooner and lower, so he learns to associate the go go go with just looking ahead because that is where the toy will be (or the jump in the next set of games :)) Throwing sooner will allow him to see the toy before he thinks about looking for you.
One thing with him (and baby Promise too) is that you can release with an obstacle name rather than just the release word – that clarifies exactly what to do. The release word is fine is the obstacle is really obvious (like between you and him, and you are moving) but when it is a little more independent you can just use the tunnel cue. Promise was having a little more trouble holding the stay, which is normal because she is young – so you can reward lots of stays and also do lots of sending without stays 🙂Yes, definitely add in more left and right, those exits are getting really common on course and you won’t want to have to stand still near a tunnel to handle it. But it is pretty easy – cue it nice and early, then toss the toy to the line you want. Do that for a couple of sessions and he will have it 🙂 Showing a bit of handling cue will help too. You can also place the reward out on the line in advance so he doesn’t have to wait for a throw. Promise can do this too!
When you added the crosses, the independence on the tunnel made them easy peasy for you! Nice!! The BCs were really great, that will give you a tremendous advantage on course, positionally. The FC was good too – you did it on the same line as the BC, but you can also send to the tunnel and do the FC heading back to the direction you sent from.
Promise did great too! She is definitely wanting to find the momma after the tunnels, so for her you will want to throw even sooner than you would for Breeze, and much lower (she is little and she didn’t know to look up 🙂 ) One that that can help is to have the toy already out there (if she likes a ‘dead’ toy) or you can use a Manners Minder if she likes those too! That will help the reward be out there super early and then you can make it later as she learns to look ahead. And the other thing you can do is work it on a shorter tunnel, which will make it easier too.
No need to add the left or right until she is looking ahead better- the left and right will be easy for her, so let’s get her driving straight out of the tunnels more first.
Keep working the angles, but with less movement from you for now – it is a lot of collection for her, so stand totally still til she is bending into the tunnel, then you can throw the toy. You were a little early and a little exciting, so she didn’t quite make the collection on that last rep. But she will figure it out, she seems really brilliant!Great job with both dogs!!! Let me know what you think 🙂
TracyHello, and welcome!!!
Your walk through question is a great one – I totally feel your pain! A couple of ideas for you:
Practicing the walk through procedures at home and classes will really help – the part where we try to match our walk through speed and timing to the actual dog’s speed in the run is the MOST important part, because it gets the rhythm of the dog and the needs of the dog into your bones. That makes those short trial walk throughs easier because you will have a natural sense of the dogs’ needs.
What works for you at a trial is going to be something you play around with, using the same consistent method a bunch of times then seeing how it works. Right now I am running 3 completely different dogs, so when they are all running on the same course (eek!) this is what I do:
I go into the walk through very well-prepared, meaning I really have a strong idea of what the lines are and what I am going to do
I set a timer for 90 seconds: and walk the “first” dog for 90 seconds. Then switch to the 2nd dog for the next 90 seconds. Then the 3rd dog for the 3rd 90 seconds. That puts me at about 4.5 minutes into the walk through (yes, the timer on my phone helps keep me on track LOL!). Then I can spend the next minute or two reviewing anything that felt uncomfortable – then at the end, I try to “run” all 3 dogs in a row, visualizing each dog to get their specifics plans into my bones 🙂
Having things broken down like that gives me a plan and also gives me time in the walk through to do all the things without feeling too rushed.
When I don’t walk the courses like that for multiple dogs, it is very easy to lose track of time or short-change the plan for one of them (usually my most experienced dog gets short-changed, which is NOT good but he requires a LOT of focus to run).Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
it ‘out’ means a send on the same lead, then I think it would work here. Go is more specifically a straight line to most dogs, and this tunnel send is not a straight line (it is a slight turn towards us). Now, will the dogs figure it out? Of course 🙂 But are judges very clever at giving the dogs more than one option for a potential tunnel entry on course. Of course haha 🙂And yes, for game 2 – it is building up to the distance: adding the wing before and the jump(s) after to help cue the lines. The tunnel independence and exits become important in that game too.
Have fun!
TracyPerfect! I think you will see those soft turns more on course than you will see those wraps on the tunnel exit (at least for now LOL!!)
Tracy
Hello and welcome!!!!! I am excited to see you here 🙂 I can’t believe that Wager is 7 already, time is moving too fast! Spot is ready for all of this stuff 🙂 Fingers crossed for quick field drainage!!!
>>We do UKI and USDAA and will be headed for ASCA nationals the end of the month. I”m not expecting to see too many of the new trends there, but who knows?! I know at least one judge also does USDAA so there is a chance for it I guess.>>
You will definitely see these trends in UKI and USDAA in regular classes – not sure about what ASCA is doing in jumpers and standard in terms of trends but I do know that ASCA is well-known for having wicked gambles!!! So tunnel independence and finding lines after tunnels with you nowhere near the dog will help those skills for sure!!!
Have fun!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I will get a kick out of working the tunnel skills for game 1, since Enzo is pretty GREAT at it in isolation. At trial speed with other stuff happening, not so much.
Yes – it requires a lot of collection while the handler accelerates and so in isolation… easiest of the peasiest. In the heat of the moment? So much harder!!!! And also it can be dangerous to the dog – if the dog doesn’t collect, he can do pinballing around in the tunnel 🙂 It is similar to a weave entry with collection needed, but with scary consequences if the dog doesn’t understand how to do it.
>> Good dog, training went well (the advice I had was to set up a course made up of all tunnels).
Ha! My dogs want to run that course too LOL!!!!!
>>Today, I had my in-person class and we had a weave/tunnel discrimination. That was tough but Enzo stepped up. What he had trouble with was collecting for the tunnel entrance at speed with me a long ways away. Instead, he was happy to run the length of the tunnel to the blind entrance and PAST it to volunteer the weaves again. 😊 I realize this isn’t for week 1 but I hope we work our way up to this kind of challenge.>>
Yep! That is part of the reason we are starting with the tunnels like this – because of all the new-fangled discriminations we are seeing such as the weave/tunnel discrimination. In this class, I won’t be posting specific games for weave-tunnel discriminations because of the “equipment required” for the class (didn’t include weaves) but I will certainly be posting where they will be seen and you can 1000% replace a jump with weaves if you wanted to work the discriminations with weaves. I work it with jumps first (or wings) and then the weaves replace the jumps. Let me know if that makes sense… I am still a little sleep-deprived from CanAm haha!!
Have fun!
TracyHi!
He did really well with his tunnel commitments here! One suggestion is to always use your tunnel verbal to “name” the obstacle, not just directionals. A common trend is the tunnel being part of a discrimination that the directional could also apply to, so try to use your tunnel verbal to commit then add in your directionals. You did that tunnel then go verbals when you started angles at about :16 and those reps were spot on!>> I am late for every left and right directional!!!
Not true, you had some that were spot on like at :33 🙂 But yes, overall you can be sooner on the left and right verbals. It will get easier to work the timing when we add more to this game – so you can head to game 2 now which adds other obstacles 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! Looks like nice courses and great weather!
This is an interesting video… it is the same behavior as he does at home at the fence! I think he has done it when he sees someone walking by, if I recall correctly? So the good news is that it is easy to re-create with the leash removal and reward for staying with you and NOT taking off to chase things on the other side of the fence.
He was a good boy to come back and run really well! And congrats on your other successes, it sounds like a great weekend!
Tracy
Good morning!
All members of Team Toller did a great job here. I was especially happy with how they were using their bodies to collect for the tunnel entries on the harder sends – that is a MASSIVE trend nowadays and we need the dogs to be able to use their bodies properly. Good job, Tollers!!!!! They all had excellent commitment to that entry.
>> I think I was doing a pretty consistent job of cuing “go” shortly before they entered the tunnel, but the dogs differed in how much they checked in with me exiting.
I agree! Good timing, good energy! Presto and Nikko maybe had a tiny check in on the very first rep – then they looked straight for the rest of the reps. Presto might have been the best at it because we have just spent the last 14 months or so teaching him directionals on tunnel exits LOL!!!! Nikko was strong too, though. Sole indeed wanted to look for you more – and that is good information! Especially if that is more of who she is – I suggest do a HIGH volume of these go go go tunnel exits and then finding obstacles after the tunnel without you there (see Game 2 for that) with a ton of thrown reinforcement. Throw early, throw often (that is my motto hahaha) and that will help her to explode up the line. I am confident she will still ne nice and tight when you need her to be, but this can help her really get more speed on the flat coming out of the tunnels.
>> My hand goes up rather high when I’m sending all the way to the other end – I think I just do that automatically when I’m doing an “out”. In this case, I said “out” and then “tunnel” to tell them to drive away from me. Seemed to work…but I don’t know if that’s an unnecessarily wild hand.>>
I think the high arm might bite you if it was the very first rep or first send on a course. All 3 dogs had a little question on the very first high arm here (Presto at :13, Nikko at :45, Sole at 1:21) where they zigged in towards you then zagged back out. And Nikko and Sole briefly considered the tunnel exit rather than the entry. They all only asked the question once, because they had already done a few reps and then after it got rewarded so had no more questions. So try to have to arm lower, more like bowling 🙂 That can keep your chest pointed the correct direction then you can get rid of the questions.
Question for you: when you use the out verbal, what does it mean specifically? For example. my out verbal means that the dog should lead change away from me so I would not use it on these sends (the dog is turning towards me to find the tunnel entry). But if it means something different for your dogs, then yes, use it! We want to keep the verbals super consistent for when you are not anywhere near the dogs and they have to do it all on their own.
Great job here!!! You can definitely add in Game 2 now 🙂
Tracy
