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  • in reply to: Christina & Presto the Toller #16518
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning! Lots of nice work here, he is really putting together grown up pieces!!

    He seemed very happy with the teeter tip! Lots of motion and noise and he was dandy with it. He was not quite as fast to the end when you removed the lower table but I think he will get faster with more experience on that,
    I like that you added running past so he would not rely on you. The quick releases got the better of him for a few reps, so make sure you go back and reward a lot in position after every couple of quick releases. And yes, the down is a little quicker without the target so I think if you reward in position, then the you won’t need to go back to the target. I think he was running off because of the quick releases shifting the balance of reinforcement out of the stay at the end.

    Box work:
    on the flat, add a wing before and after it to begin the chain (the MM can be tucked in behind the exit wing) – sending to a wing (or hanging back near it) will allow you to alter your starting position and also change the exits based on where you place the 2nd wing. He was ‘cheating’ a little on the box on the flat when you angled the MM to a new spot, so I think that you can help him see the line with the wing and more gradual angles. It creates an independent behavior chain with the box in the middle which transfers nicely to the frame.

    Then on the a-frame – he was definitely transferring the concept nicely! He does need something out ahead for him to focus on as he comes over the apex – he was looking at you a bit. So having the wing out ahead as part of the chain will basically allow him to do “through the box to the wing to the MM” without needing to know where you are LOL! And that helps give him the visual of turns and such.
    I like how he was setting up his striding over the top, so I think this will be easy for him.

    The turn aways are looking good!
    The lap turn is going well, the arm was clearer and it looks like he was able to lock onto it perfectly. As line distractions increase, you can extend the arm even more and shake it to help get his attention as needed (and we will add threadle verbals at some point too :))
    On the tandem turns – he was reading those nicely too, and he had great commitment to the jump when you flipped him back to it! Yay! And good job rewarding it lots to keep building the commitment.

    His question on the tandems started after the GO balance moment (which was really nice :)) It looks like the lower body line was a little too similar to the go line, so one thing on tandem turns is you can turn your line of motion to be a bit more parallel to the line you want him to take – and in this case, you would be facing the weaves. That will make the line of motion look even more different and help him out.

    So back to threadle verbals:

    >> With the tandem turn โ€“ will they wrap the wing or to slice to the far wing?>>

    Technically, with a tandem turn, you would complete a rear cross on the flat, he would take the jump and turn back to the tunnel (in this situation, it might differ and involve the front side of the jump in other situations – the tandem is basically a rear cross on the flat).

    Other applications don’t have the rear cross and your feet would keep moving forward, so it is just the threadle element – you could move forward on the line you did and do a threadle-slice, or you could do a threadle-wrap like you did at :25.
    The slice and the wrap after the threadles need different verbal cues and that can alo help him sort out the Go versus the arm cue. Have you picked a cue for both? I have ‘close’ as my threadle slice cue and I cannot remember what I wanted as my threadle-wrap cue because I never use it and haven’t trained it in quite a while hahahaha So pick some words for now, and we will be adding threadles soon!

    Great job here, let me know what you think!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Joni & Ruby #16514
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi!

    I think this is going well!
    Great job mixing up short stays and longer stays, and all the ways to reward her. Yay! She is getting the idea for sure. I think you can add in tugging in between cookie rewards – she likes the cookies but the tugging seems to be more fun, and it will keep her even more engaged. She liked the tug reward at the end the best!
    One thing to add is teaching her to line up at your side, or between your feet. That way you don’t have to face her and back away. Or, you can face her but then turn so you can walk forward (and reward her lots of letting you turn away).

    I think the obedience class will be fun to add (remember to bring your toys, some obedience classes focus on food rewards but Miss Ruby loves loves loves her toys too!) Keep me posted on how it goes ๐Ÿ™‚

    Great job!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Joni & Ruby #16513
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning! She did a great job with the leg bumps! Such a fun session to watch ๐Ÿ™‚ It cracked me up when she used your legs as a double jump but she only did it once and was beautiful on all of the rest. Yay! I really liked how she was bending when you started her further behind you hip. Yes, she thought it was super weird to be held back there ๐Ÿ™‚ but she did fine once you let her go. You can also get her going from those angles by rewarding her with a treat further away behind your hip, then calling her back into the leg bumps – that will also add more speed to the bending ๐Ÿ™‚
    Normally the next steps would involve getting another person to add their legs, so it would be 4 bumps instead of 2! But covid makes that really difficult so for now, stick to adding more distance with cookie tosses which will add more speed.

    About the tunnels:

    >>have a smaller cloth tunnel I could use in the basement. But those are hard to secure down. Real floppy. She goes though tunnels at Bonnies and she is pretty speedy. I want to keep it that way. >>

    Yeah, I agree, we want to keep her fast and happy in the tunnels. So if the home tunnel might roll around or flop, don’t use it. Working the games at Bonnie’s, even if it is only sometimes, is still good! There is no rush on more tunnels ๐Ÿ™‚

    Great job!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Jerri & Squeaky #16493
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    Sounds like it is time to block off the a-frame LOL! I feel that pain LOL!!!

    He did really well with the goat tricks, they are looking great!
    He was happy to climb on the purple things! It took a heartbeat to get back on the toy but he did. Yay! I think if you have a couple of yoga mats or cheapie rugs to put down, he will have more grip on the floor and then the tugging and the climbing will be easier.
    The yoga block was harder but he can figure it out, in terms of all 4 feet on it. A bit if value building for interacting with front feet, then you can either wait til he offers 3 feet or all 4 – or, if you have a second one, put them side by side to make a bigger playing field.
    He had a little trouble with the release/reset and didn’t see the cookie ๐Ÿ™‚ The shaping games are a good opportunity to clarify releases for him – you can use a release word and then a game of tug. or a marker for a cookie toss so he knows where to look and what to do when he gets off. That will help stay training too!
    The puppy obstacles were adorable! Soooooo cute, the whole crew!!!!!!

    Great job! Let me know what you think!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Donna & Indy #16491
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    >>First, she is starting to understand what is wanted by stay. Been working it many different ways. She has her cot, working it at doors, a bit with heeling and walking around her and in an agility setting. Sometimes for the last, I have the Manner Minder behind her. I am using the โ€œcatchโ€ command when I treat. What do you think about that?

    I think it is great to mix things up and apply the stay in a variety of situations. This can help you use clear and consistent releases, and make it super fun ๐Ÿ™‚

    >>She is running thru a curved big dog tunnels with plenty of gusto (with a cue). I set up a shorter straight plus we have the toy straight. I want to improve on the verbal only and am very interested in the threadle work. She will take it from the threadle position. At first I didnโ€™t quite notice where we will be going with that and thought just a different look at the entrance.>>

    Excellent news on the tunnels! And yes, we are adding more about the tunnel threadles on Tuesday, stay tuned ๐Ÿ™‚

    >>She can do both the lap turn and tandem turn. After the turn she is running thru a hoop and then to a toy.

    Awesome! This is good!!

    >>I havenโ€™t tried leg bumps but we have been doing the ladder. She doesnโ€™t stay straight and wants to walk off the side. I am luring to correct??>

    The ladder is REALLY hard for baby puppies. You can lure but I prefer to start them closer to the end – start at the last run so they exit straight, then gradually work your way back to the entry so she learns how to exit straight. It might take several sessions for her to figure out how to remain straight.

    >>We need to work more on retrieve. She is a little thief and takes great pleasure in stealing anything at her level (shoes, socks, other clothing) and having you chase her to get itโ€ฆ.depending on the item, I try to ignore her. She doesnโ€™t seem to be interested in destroying anything, but I donโ€™t want to give her the opportunity.>>

    I do a lot of trading – when the pup takes something, I just walk over, drop a kibble to her, and take the thing. That makes it a lot more boring to steal things LOL!!

    >>I mentioned I lowered most of my obstacles, it appears now I also need to drop all the bars. She went over a 12โ€ณ jump on her own. I wasnโ€™t near herโ€ฆ>>

    HA! OMG these puppies are keeping us on our toes!!!! My youngest pup is about 14″ tall and she has shown she can jump 20″… but jumping over the back of my big dogs. Oh lordy! LOL!!!!

    >>What date is this class over??

    We wrap up in late-February, about 2 weeks after the last live class which is on Feb 16.

    Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Heather & Disco #16489
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!
    Yay for serps and threadles! I noticed a few things that were interesting!
    On the serps: it looks like he was very happy to hold his stays on your right… but was breaking them on your left (I think that is what was happening). Interesting! You can build in rewards for both but definitely on your left – I like to lead out to serp position, assume the stance – then throw a reward back.

    The other thing I saw on the serps was that he thought coming on tight like that over the bar was really hard! (It is hard; he is not wrong LOL!) So a couple of ideas: stay a little closer to the jump set up so he has to start the turn before arriving at the bump. And you can be closer to the exit wing, and less centered on the bump, so he feels like he has more room. And start him from angle (Position 1)for a while so he can slide right on in the serp. And last idea – like many herding dogs, driving into you with pressure to turn is really difficult, so you can add value by rewarding him when he gets to your target hand even if he is only halfway over the bump LOL!!

    Now, on the threadles, because he didn’t have to come over the jump – easy peasy, he came right in. And the MM help with the reward. Nice! He was able to find it really easily, the only question was when he didn’t want to leave the MM at the end LOL!
    So that leads me to one more idea to get him happier on the serps – you can start it on just a wing, so it is kind of similar to the threadles… and then add just a bump to the one wing, so he comes in over the bump. Then when he is happy with that, you can add the other wing so it looks like the full jump again.

    Great job here! Let me know what you think!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Juliet & Yowza (BC) #16486
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    She is doing really well on these! On the serp line moving away from the tunnel at :05 and :15, she looked to be very comfortable to with the challenge! And she had no problem balancing the serps with the post turns.

    Going towards the tunnel at :22 – serping the blue jump was easy! On the next rep, serping the pink jump (:29 and :37) was much harder: partially because of the angle, it was a little turned away – and partially because of the delicious tunnel right there LOL! You got her to do the jump at :42 by tuning your feet but then she read it as a line to the other end of the tunnel.

    Good job breaking it down but don’t turn your feet – I think it was more of a tunnel distraction thing, because at 1:06 you were pulling away to the other side of the tunnel and she still had a taste of the delicious tunnel out ahead ๐Ÿ™‚ She got it at 1:15 and 1:25 but you had a decel and some sideways rotation.

    So on the serp jump that close to the tunnel, it is more of a proofing thing for her: stay close, keep your feet facing forward, just use your upper body and name calling ๐Ÿ™‚ – but for now, don’t move to fast so she can process it without the excitement of you running ๐Ÿ™‚ And angling the jump to face her a bit will help too, making the jump more visible.

    Nice job on the backside FCs, those looked independent and connected!

    On the last sequence, she did really well getting the serp line moving away from the tunnel and the backside serp! You can stay closer to the jump on the backside serp at 1:35 to set the line. She did not appear to be distracted by the tunnel on that side, either it is an easier turn side for her, or the tunnel was further, or both!

    Great job! Let me know what you think.
    Tracy

    in reply to: Julie & Kaladin the Sheltie #16485
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi!

    >> hey lady โ€“ are you sure you know what youโ€™re doing?>>

    HA! Young dogs are so judgey LOL!!!

    I think he is doing well with gradually increasing the heights, you can keep moving them up on the easy lines and then move them up when the hard lines are getting easy too. An it was a good call to not do the zig zags yet because they are pretty tiring in ways that sequencing is not.

    The serp lines are definitely looking good! One thing to consider is how you use the serp arm, or maybe I should say when. I think you can present the serp arm position a little earlier for him – like when he is out of the tunnel at :04 and :33, and when he is landed from the previous jump at :13 and :58.
    You were tending to bring the serp arm back as he was already approaching takeoff in these spots then move it forward again, which is not a problem for the serp jump… but it might be a problem for the accidental backside of the next jump when the lines are straight – he might read it as a push away.

    Yes, you were a little late turning at :42 and he is really starting to enjoy his serpy lines ๐Ÿ™‚ He read the backside nicely on the next rep and had strong independence when you left for the FC!

    He had a little question about the backside at 1:09, you can see he slowed down and looked up a bit. It looks like your left shoulder was a little closed forward and that caused your connection to move forward, so he was not sure about the line. He definitely likes the arm back and bigger eye contact. Your position and verbal were both really good!

    Nice job at 1:15 with the shoulder turn to the other side of the tunnel, to balance out the serp line!

    When you switched sides:
    He is reading the difference in your line and shoulders really nicely!
    At 1:39 and 2:19 we can obsess on the serp arm timing some more – especially at 2:19 where the arm came back as he lifted off, and you were moving a bit off the line towards the center of the tunnel… and he flipped himself back out to the tunnel entry. That was correct per the sequence, but not necessarily per the line of motion – and I think he might be reading the timing of the arm cue as predicting the turn back out, if that makes sense? His decision to come in on the serp jump was already made before the serp arm cue. And if he is reading it that way, it would explain why he goes back out to the backside of a jump.

    So you can try opening up the serp arm sooner and then holding it until after he turs back out to the line you want, so there is no in-and-out motion over the serp jump that might make him predict the push out to the backside. Let me know if that makes sense or if I need more coffee to explain it ๐Ÿ™‚

    We get a good camera angle on the backside verbal being too closed forward at 1:46 so he ended up on the front side – compare it to your left arm being a little back at 1:57 and he was much clearer on going to the backside. Nice!! At 2:14, you had the arm back and added more connection (which caused a tiny bit of foot rotation) – thought that was too much. Very Goldilocks, right? Too hot, too cold, just right ๐Ÿ™‚ He feels that the arm back and gentler connection is the ‘just right’ for now ๐Ÿ™‚

    Great job here! Let me know what you think!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Julie & Kaladin the Sheltie #16483
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    I am glad you have this place to set up the training stuff and do the live seminars! Yay!

    I watched without the sound ๐Ÿ™‚ I hate it when the sound gets out of sync! Your figure 8s and tunnel threadle reps looked really good! He will begin turning his head to the tunnel earlier and earlier but you did a good job of not really doing much to help other than saying the verbal/arm/moving that way. Yay! I think my only suggestion on those is to not move your toy from hand to hand LOL! Small decel but it catches the attention of the dogs if we do it.

    As you added more speed coming into the tunnel threadles – he is doing a great job bypassing the end of the tunnel in front of him. AS you move up the line to the threadle entry, try to not turn your feet until after he turns his head. I think you might have been turning before he turned his head, like at :49. It was subtle and i had to freeze frame it LOL! You can keep your feet facing the line you are on (and not the tunnel entry) until he turns his head, then you can turn and ‘seal the deal’ but moving towards the tunnel too. That way, he learns that he doesn’t need to wait for you to turn your feet before he can put himself into the tunnel. Same at 2:06 – keep your feet facing that exit door until after he turns to the tunnel.

    Tandem at 1:00 went well, you can get a little closer to the turn wing by sending him to the middle wing more laterally.

    1:17 he needed more of a wrap cue (can’t hear it with the sound on mute hahahaha) but also you can show him more of your tandem turn arm.

    You were earlier and more obvious at 1:23, good reward too! And then nice job adding the wrap at 1:40 and also fading out the foot rotation after the tandem so he went back to the wing more independently.

    >>When I did the blind after the tandem 360 he broke stride and trotted. Iโ€™m not sure if I was late and got in his way?>>

    This was at 1:56 – I don’t think you were in the way there, I think his brain was smoking because the tandem to the independent wrap to the blind was HARD and then as he exited at :58, you were connected but your dog-side shoulder was closed forward, so he was not 100% sure of which line to be on. Your dog side arm (right arm here) can be pointing back to his nose and that will show him the line more clearly. So mainly it was just lack of experience on crazy-new-move plus he needed a little more connection.

    Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Kristie & Keiko #16481
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi again! Yes, time is flying, I don’t know how we got to week 7 already!!

    >>I tried to move our 2 tables near each other, but they sunk in the mush yesterday, and are now frozen into the ground. >>

    Oh no!!!!! I didn’t even think of that!

    Your set up was good, the little bounce is good. She seemed perfectly happ on it, both turning around, and moving across it.
    Two things I would add to this:
    when you ask her to turn around, reward her right there in the middle of the plank (rather than on the table) – that is harder because she has to stay balanced for longer.

    you can add in hopping on the plank – from the ground to the middle of the plank. That is harder for balance than getting on the table then on the plank. And then for the middle of the plank, while it is still low like this – have her hop off the plank to the ground. This is a good skill for learning how to jump off properly and without injuring herself, in case she ever loses her balance on a teeter or dog walk.

    Great job here! Let me know what you think!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Kristie & Keiko #16480
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi!
    Brrrr, that sounds cold, I guess I will stop complaining that it is 40 degrees here LOL!

    She is doing well on the sequences!! A couple of ideas for you:
    1st run – one of the things I have noticed with this generation of dogs is that the send into the turn produces a nice turn (like you did at :02) but when we move into the turn and show a decel, even if we are a little late with the rotation – the turn is REALLY nice. So, add in moving forward then deceling, leading out less an the turn will be even better.

    The same will hold true for the wrap at 6 (:10) – the more transition that she sees from you showing a big acceleration then a decel, the better the turn.

    (I have also made a note to do a game where we gets this generation of youngsters to also collect on sends, when we don’t show the transition. I have some ideas :))

    run 2 – moving in to the FC wrap on 2 at :24 will also get a better turn (rather than sending) – but also making a very direct eye contact with your arm back as she comes around the wing at :25 will help her know where to go. You were looking forward and pointing forward, so she slowed down trying to see which side to be on.

    She is reading the wrap cues at :33 and :43 on the sends but the transitions will get even better turns especially in her being more prepared to drive out of them to the next line.

    3rd and 4th and 5th runs both have the forced front crosses – she is reading the position really well (I think it was harder when you were on the side closer to the tunnel) and yes, a bit of throwing the reward back will get her even quicker. She is starting to get faster on these already because she is recognizing them now. Yay!

    Her commitment on the sends at 1:14 and 1:37 was really good but these are spots where a transition will help get a better turns. You don’t have to get closer to the wrap jump. you can show more acceleration then deceleration before the send – that should get a more collection there because takeoff.

    And then remember to call her before the tunnel at 1:19, I think you wanted her to turn but she did not hear a verbal. The same will hold true at 1:31 – you called her a little late so she did make the turn, but it made the blind late.

    Great job!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Pam & BC’s Tripp & Storm #16479
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi Pam!
    He looked great on these!!!!

    On the serpy stuff at the beginning:
    It looks like he was pretty perfect on processing the different cues. NICE! Question – on the first couple of reps, you said OK then something else, sounded like go? Then you were quiet on the other serp releases after OK. I think he did better on the release and no other cue there (you can call his name) but try not to say go if that is what you were saying early on (because go is a giddy up cue LOL!!)

    >> Not sure if toy reward placement is correct on the SERP exercise and he is also 100 mph so should I be working collecting on these.

    I think the placement was good – you can add more collection cue by placing yourself closer to the jump on the exit wing (close enough to touch it without having to reach too far). That will challenge him to collect before takeoff because the turn is much tighter.

    He looks to be ready for the serp-threadle-tunnel game I posted today! Perfect timing for him to look so good on this game!!

    On the wraps section:
    I liked how your shoulder turn was basically the same on both the tunnel cue and the tight cue. He couldn’t just read the body, he had to listen to the verbal too – nice!!! He had a big break through at :45 when he realized the difference between tight and tunnel verbals, then he stopped spinning. I think on both the tight and tunnel you can repeat the cue a few times so make sure he processes it as you add more motion (he moves really fast, so repeating it help guarantee he will hear it LOL! Also for the tight verbal, there were a couple of times where I couldn’t tell if you were saying ‘come tight’ or his name or ‘go tight’ – the come or his name would work well, and Go might confuse him (it was on one of those reps where he ended up in the tunnel). I think it worked best for him when you said tight tight a couple of times.

    One small detail on this: you can move your position further over to be closer to the tunnel, so he can see the wing more clearly. This will help when he is moving fast out of the tunnel heading to the wing, so he can lock onto the wing even earlier when you say your tight cue.

    Great job here! Let me know what you think!

    Tracy

    in reply to: Pam & BC’s Tripp & Storm #16478
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi!

    >>This all makes sense and focusing on the basics for baby dog is what I need to commit to and stop my obsessing. I can adjust as we go.>>

    Yes! The more I learn about agility, the more I realize that the training is perpetually unfinished LOL!! The sport evolves all the time, so making a list and getting started helps me to stop obsessing LOL! I prioritize based on what I think I will need, and when: for example, I need my 2 young dogs to understand GO, tunnel verbals, left/right ‘loose turns’ and wraps when they start trialing, so that is what I have focused on. They really won’t need backsides any time soon and they DEFINITELY won’t need jump threadles any time soon, so I have those much lower on the priority list.

    >> Class this week had a huge send to a tunnel with a dw discrim to a tunnel and he nailed it. He is picking it up fast.

    He is brilliant! I love it!!!!!!

    T

    in reply to: Barb & Enzo #16477
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    >>I keep taking classes from you is that you can deliver feedback which is informative and doesnโ€™t make me feel like a doofus. >>

    Thank you for that feedback – dog training is a collaborative art in many ways, filled with risks when we put ourselves out there for critique (especially with a dog that we love so much). It is easy to feel like a doofus (speaking from personal experience) so it is important that the feedback is collaborative and supportive so we can all move forward and try to learn (that includes the canine AND humans :))

    Also, you are most definitely NOT a doofus ๐Ÿ™‚

    On the video – this was interesting to watch and obsess on a little bit. I think this is the first time I’ve watched him for head turns on a 20″ bar and with speed from a tunnel? I need to scroll back.

    >> I donโ€™t think weโ€™re progressing โ€“ maybe even going backwards. I donโ€™t think he turned his head before takeoff on any of these.>>

    I agree – he was not turning his head on approach to the jump BUT the quality of the wrap was very high! He was landing prepared to turn and power out, as opposed to landing, take a stride to turn, then power out to the next line.

    >>At the end of this video, I even tried to just isolate the left head turn. Short of removing the jump entirely and circling a cone, Iโ€™m not sure what to do.>>

    A couple of ideas that I can think of to play with:

    – bearing in mind that structure plays a role, if Enzo can pull off high quality turns where he lands and powers out with no extra adjustments needed but we don’t see the slithery head turn he can produce on a lower bar – I still consider it a ‘mission accomplished’ moment (and not in the Dubya political sense, if you know what I mean LOL!!!) For example: my Voodoo is not what I would call highly angulated in front or rear (he is mixed with Croatian Sheepdog, which is a bit of a squarer dog) so his head turns are not as obvious but after I started working on the skill, the turns he can produce look sooooooooo much better. Somehow I got the point across and he is looking the new direction, better prepared to turn – but will never have the slither at high speed that, say, the whippet cross can do. And I am fine with that because the turns look great, they are safe, he is wicked fast. Enzo definitely has better angles than Voodoo but if you have gotten the point across and Enzo has taken the info and tweaked it to make it work for him: perfect! How will we know how these turns look for real? When you are back on grass or dirt where he can open up and dig in. That brings me to the other thought:

    – I think he has good understanding but he also understands the mats so he is making sure to balance the concept with the footing. That means we won’t really see what it looks like full on til he is back on grass or good dirt or good turf (some turf out there is NOT good for fast dogs like Enzo and they scramble). When I slow down videos and obsess on how the dogs use their feet on takeoff and landing on these turns, thy change what they do based on footing – and grass/dirt gives the best read (good turf also), So no worries and we can revisit it when you are on turf or when the snow melts.

    – one more thought – when you feel that there is a slide backwards or the dog is not turning as well, do a chiro check or PT appointment. It rang true again for me this week: Voodoo was doing weird things over an 8 inch bar on videos for the backside class (I mean, a 21″ tall dog should really be able to clear an 8 inch bar, right?) but he was way out in his hind end. And I felt that Contraband’s turns looked not-as-good even though he was working his hind end beautifully: his neck was waaaaaay out. So, 5 minutes with the chiro for each of them then a day off – what a difference in their skills.

    – the other training idea I have is that you can occasionally throw in the cue for the head turn on a double wrap on the 20 inch bar after the tunnel: do a wrap then turn him back to it, clicking the head turn. I don’t do toooooo much of that because it is physically demanding on the body at full height, but doing it sometimes will serve as a good way to reinforce the skill.

    >>I may just pick up the new exercises when they come out and leave this alone for a while. >>

    Yes, back burner it, play with the other games I posted this morning – I bet we see the skill show up there, if he understands it. Then we can revisit it in different contexts.

    Let me know what you think!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Susan and Potion #16476
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    Wow! The wrap versus go video looks terrific! I like how he was really setting up the wrap turns to each direction, but also got the go when you asked for it. Yay! Super high rate of success!
    I couldn’t see what you were doing in terms of line up or motion – it looks like you had a little bit of motion on the go cue. If you also had a little bit of motion on the wraps, that is good – clearly you were not helping too much because you were out of the picture LOL!! So now you can start to do two things (separately):
    Fade out the motion, to the point where he can start between your feet – and you just stand there and yell the thing you want him to do ๐Ÿ™‚
    And, you can add a wing in front (15 feet away or so) of it so there is motion into it – and wrap him around a wing and as he exits the wrap, start the verbal for whichever you want him to do. You can handle during this too, but don’t worry about being perfect: it is meant to be a test of verbal understanding and getting it right without you needing to be all perfect about it ๐Ÿ™‚

    Simple decel video – I love this game for young dogs because it teaches them to read the beginning of the cue (decel) rather than requiring us to be perfect.

    Nice job on the early GO cue and the toy throws on those – my only suggestion on the GO lines is to keep repeating the word rather than to say it once (GO is one of those cues which is loud and repeated to help support the line, as it gets bigger and bigger ๐Ÿ™‚

    His reading of your decel was terrific! GOOD BOY!!!! You can add your verbal wrap cues in now too. Is he jumping higher heights yet in agility training? If so, you can add a taller bar here.

    And the tunnel breaks at the end were a great balance to finding the line to the jump. He looked strong here too.

    Next step on this one would be to turn it around so his line is facing the tunnel to challenge him: can he read the simple decel with that delicious tunnel straight out head?

    Great job here!!! I am loving how well he is doing, especially at such a young age!!!

    Tracy

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