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Good morning!
He is a minny pinny superstar! And that is a good thing, this gets developed into all sorts of good challenges in coming months 🙂 He totally started without you LOL! Good boy, he was correct to recognize the set up.
Nice job rewarding him “flat” across the front of it at the 90 degree angle. You can also do this with toys!
The wing set up was super easy, so adding the bars as you did was perfect.
One suggestion – You don’t need to click when the bars are there – he was consistently touching the third bar in both directions on the click and we want to have a firmly established “no touching” rule when it comes to bars. The click is too stimulating for a baby dog to continue thinking about his feet – and that is fine, we just take the click out (good jumping form while stimulated is easy to get but not something we worry about not, he is too young). And if he touches the bars when you are moving to reward him, you can have the treats already in your hands and then your hands are moving less and/or move this to bumps rather than bars. He is only doing this on bar 3, so it is more of a “OMG CLICK AND COOKIE” moment and not anything worrisome about jumping 🙂 But, we also do not want to have any negative marker associated with bars, so continue to reward and if he touches the bars, we just back off the level of distraction.Since the bars are in… and I am 99.99% sure he will turn the correct direction, you can slap on your left and right verbals to begin attaching them to the behavior. I think you will find it ridiculously easy 🙂
Great job! Stay warm in the upcoming snow!!
Tracy
Hi again!
Wow, her stays are coming along nicely! The ‘pizza’ cue still cracks me up, I love it! Your work on these is really showing, she looked settled and calm in her stay, but explosive on the release. That is exactly what we want! Yay!
>>I still have to remember to put her in the sit stay at my side. >>
You were lining her up with you facing her, but then she was happy to let you move away – so you can develop that into a routine and that is great! I do that with 2 of my adult dogs: I face them with my back to the jump, cue the sit, they sit facing me, and then I turn away and lead out. So if that is comfy and that is what you do with Jedi – perfect! But if you do something else with Jedi, you might want to match it for Ruby… because when you are running them both at a trial, you will not want to have to remember different routines 🙂
She did really well ignoring the MM!
As you keep working this skill, take her to as many different places as you can, but make it easier for her in new places. Only one suggestion from this video: you can use a stay verbal if you want, and a hand signal if you want… but don’t use a stay cue with the cookie in you hand right in front of her nose – she was not sure if she was supposed to eat the cookie or stay or what, so you can see her holding the sit and reaching for the cookie (1:14).
Great job!!! Enjoy the weekend!
TracyHi! Really lovely work here too!
>>Oh. I switched off from the toy and treats. Got downstairs and couldn’t remember what you used in the video. Both worked>>
I use both, I like to mix it up. Eventually, it will just be toys when doing handling as that gets more speed and excitement going 🙂
>>now I see it says to start with pup in front of you.
yes, that helps the pups transition from handler focus to line focus, plus it gives you a minute to get yourself ready LOL so they don’t go without us 🙂 You were basically doing it – you were saying ready ready then sending her, perfect! Don’t change a thing.
On the sideways sends – her commitment is looking really strong! One suggestion – use the arm next to the barrel and same side as the leg that is stepping to it for these sends, rather than across your body. Sending across the body causes you to twist – and she is going to be way to fast for you to have any time at all to twist. So teaching her to let you send with the arm next to the barrel and the fuller rotation will let you get up the line sooner.
You were doing that on the backwards sends after 1:30 and it looked great!!! You were doing left arm and left leg together, or right arm & right leg. She is better turning to her left on these and not as good turning to her right… so be a tiny bit more patient and hold the connection and arm/leg position for an extra heartbeat, until you see her committing to the barrel by getting next to it and turning her head to it.
>>Even accidentally put in a but -pass. lol>>
Ha! You can totally put those in 🙂 We add those in on some of the other games 🙂
One other suggestion: when you send her and want her to start moving – use the arm & lg like you did and start the dig dig dig cue immediately. You were saying “go” then dig dig dig which you don’ need to to. We don’t want to dilute the meaning of “go” so just start with the dig dig dig cues. She might not know what you mean but the arm & leg cues are very clear to her, so she will quickly figure out the verbal too 🙂
Great job!!
TracyGood morning 🙂
She is so funny when she starts without you! Yes, this looked great. She was brilliant and following perfectly! Ok, one more variation for you:
When she goes and takes the jump, throw the reward to the back wall for taking the jump. As she goes to get the cookie, turn like you did and connect on your right side – so when she finished the cookie, she looks up at you and has to choose the correct side (right side) or the jump.
Let me know if that makes sense! Great job here!!
TracyWow Juliet, I am happy with what she was doing here! You can hear the power in her feet on the video – very cool. Yes, she had questions as she was sorting it out – trying to go around on some reps 🙂 You can be on the other side, on the outer wings, so she is on the side of the jump opposite you to start. That way she will serpentine towards you on jump 1 and away on jump 2. That can help show her the line? But that is more of a ‘learning the set up’ thing, and you did a really good job helping her in terms of a bit of handling and also toy placement.
She did a really admirable job of jumping this with power and NOT touching the bars and NOT touching the wings. And also not hitting you when you were near the landing spot. Perfect!!!!
And I agree – she did amazingly well when the jumps were flatter at the end. Partially because she had figured out the game, and partially because she is getting REALLY good at using her body!!!
On your next revisit, you can start with the jumps a little easier than you left off – and add motion. So the toy will be out on the line, and you will lead out to the where the 2 wings meet: and release and walk forward. If that is easy, you can keep the angle open and go faster! Also, you can lead out just past the wing of jump 1 and release and walk then jog.Great job here – she is executing this better than most experienced Masters dogs, so I am excited for you and her!!!
Tracy
Good morning Suzie and Amore!!!!
I think she looks fabulous here, you are doing a great job! One thing that was consistently excellent here was your connection – it looks like you were solidly and clearly connected on each step of each run. That is impressive especially with a baby dog! Click/treat for you!!!!!
Thoughts from the video: I think you will find that my suggestions and ideas are all about the tiny details, and that is really cool – everything looked great.
Seq 1 – rep 1 was very nice! you don’t need to dip your arm at all on the serp jump to bring her in before the tunnel, just stay connected like you were. Dipping your arm takes time and slows you down, you don’t have that time to spare with Miss Amore 🙂
Rep 2 – at :12, you were pulling away a little from the serp jump a little, so keep running towards the tunnel – and then you stopped so even though you said tunnel, she was confused and just came to you (but did not deliver a tooth hug, so that was good LOL!)
Rep 3 really nice! You kept moving and stayed connected and didn’t pull away from the serp jump as much, so she nailed it. Yay!
Sequence 2 – very nice speed circle to start and then you forgot the sequence LOL! But nice job with the opening and rewarding her 🙂 the connection and verbals are going beautifully.
When you ran the full thing with the serp – super nice! Great connection on the serp – it really helped her read the line and move away from you to the last jump.
Sequence 3, to the end of the tunnel near the barn: super nice!
To the harder end of the tunnel near the driveway – also really nice!
So here is a bit of nit picking since these went so well: you were a tiny bit off the line at 1:18 and 1:33 for the FC on the backside, so she as wide on that turn. As you are driving her to the backside, get a little closer to the exact line you want her to exit on (this varies depending on the sequence, but in this case you will want to be pretty close to where the wing meets the bar). Her commitment was lovely so you can also start your FC just before she arrives at the backside wing and then you will be even further ahead!On the Serp line at 1:36 – run faster, open your arm sooner, driving to the last tunnel… she might have smoked you up that line a bit LOL!!
And overall… as long as you stay connected like you were, you can keep pushing her understanding by sending and leaving sooner, so you can be further ahead on lines. She is not yet 11 months old and already moving this fast… so we need to make a habit of you going as fast as possible but also staying connected like you were here.
Because she did so beautifully on the serps, you can also flatten out the angles a bit more, maybe a few inches at a time as you train the skill.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I would say for the littler dogs like Merlin, we want all 4 feet on the board. If they need to start with 2 front feet on the ground, that is fine, then work up to 4 feet on the board. This is difficult!! With the bigger dogs that will do do 2o2o, they can play this in a 2o2o position but I think they should also learn to do 4on for the wobble board, for when they are on the teeter in the air before it hits the ground 🙂
So definitely back feet should be on, and when the dog is really comfy: all 4 feet 🙂
T
Hi! That is really interesting to hear! It is not too uncommon for Border Collies to struggle with the things you mention (any breed, actually, not just BCs). Have you talked to Tricia Lude about it? She is certified to teach a program called Control Unleashed, which has proven to be super helpful with dogs who are asking the same questions Ria is asking!!
T
The box is currently in 4 pieces (thanks to hubby and snow plow on the tractor) but the dimensions are 36″ x 48″/ The 36″ is the width of the a-frame and the 48″ is a little taller than the contact zone but it was easier to get the PVC. The PVC tube is 1″ diameter. It is wrapped in tape and has U-shaped couplers holding it all together.
T
Hi!
>>Retrieves/ still getting lots of victory laps when out in open space…good retrieves in confined indoor spaces of various size…tips?>>
Sounds like you are making progress in the indoor spaces!
In the big open spaces – I would work it separately by lots of toy play and exchanges – throw a toy, cue a victory lap, wait for about 5 seconds… then call and run the other way. When he starts to move towards you, present another toy and repeat the process 🙂 You can also exchange for food and then re-start the game. I do this when training too – for example, I did a session with the 15 month old pup and some weaves today – tossed a toy for a great response, cued him to take it for a run, counted to 5, called him back, rewarded, tossed the toy to let him run with it, counted to 5, called him back, tugged, exchanged for a treat, did another rep of the poles, rewarded. My making the retrieve a big play session (I also play with multiple discs too, incorporating food rewards for bringing them back), the retrieve is very natural in the flow of training the other things 🙂
T
Hi!
>> Do you know which week the first strike a pose were introduced?>>
It is in week 4:
https://agility-u.com/lesson/strike-a-pose-part-1/>>He understands the MM but hasn’t learned to not go directly to it so before I use it with multiple behaviors prior to release to MM I need to break that down.>>
This is a good one for the MM, then, especially if you plan to teach running contacts with it! It is hard to resist the MM 🙂
Tracy
Hi! I am excited to hear how he does at the barn!
This session went well: good boy with the toy play and with being outside! It was hard with the distractions but the more you play with him outdoors, the easier focus even with distractions will be. Being a little bit closer to the cone will help, so it is right at your knees – and squatting totally helped! He was able to offer lots of good reps, a really strong session in a new place. He is slightly better on his right turns and he ‘recognized’ them sooner (earlier in the session) but once you really got him on the toy, he also was able to offer left turns! Yay!! It was a good example of how toy play really helps raise the engagement level so distractions fade away more easily.
When you used the kibble, did you bring the bowls out too? That can help generalize the game into new places (the bowls should be pretty value-loaded :)) as well as keep the cookies out of the grass.Great job here!!!
TracyHi! I wasn’t able to see everything that happened, but your observations sound spot on! You smartly dialed back the level of distraction and that really helped set him up for success!! Smart dog training 🙂 He will continue to get better and better at ignoring the distractions 🙂
T
Ha! I love that song! That was definitely a mantra when Voodoo was a youngster: stay calm, be super connected.
Then he grew up and he is used to me being loud and flailing around, and has enough education to cover me LOL!!! Fever needs you to be super chill for now…. but soon enough you can be loud and full of excitement and he will be great 🙂
T
Hi! It has been posted:
https://agility-u.com/course/au-028-maxpup-agility-foundations-jumping/Along with some obstacle training options:
https://agility-u.com/current-courses/
Hope to see you there 🙂Tracy
