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Hi!
This is looking great 🙂
I think you got all of the various angles and challenges, no problem!
2 little ideas on this setup – you can put an inflatable under the non-target side of it, so she gets used to targeting on a board that has some jiggle to it.
And to prep for the bang game, have her now only leap on the side at the edge while you do all of the running away or sending ahead stuff 🙂The bang game targeting can totally have more tip/height and so can the elevator game, with the target in. If the weather is good, you can maybe have the teeter outside? I know the newest lockdown is preventing you from barn access, ugh 🙁
The other thing you can do on the plank is start to fade the target on the plank (not yet on the other games involving the teeter).
She is totally ready to move forward and be putting the bigger pieces together, so if your weather is behaving itself then maybe get the teeter outside? Let me know what you think. If that is not possible, we can get creative with indoor lockdown teetering 🙂
Tracy
Ah, that is a great question and it totally depends on which dog and where the dog is in the process:
With the biggest dog? Yes, mostly all the way around.
With the medium sized dog? Absolutely, she is a little older than the pups and nailing it, so I can get all the way around on one stick of cheese 🙂
With the smallest/youngest dog? Nope! I can work the top of the clock with motion, or the body of the clock with sends, but not both.And that is fine, because I know they will all even out and be able to weave eventually 🙂
PS – I think the camera angle at the end will be perfect for when you start closing the poles, because we will have a head-on view of his striding 🙂
Hi! I agree, it is great to be able to work the different poles in different places!! It will be so helpful for the future 🙂
He was pretty perfect here – the countermotion reps made him think a little, but he got them and the rest looked easy. Yay! I think you got all sort of challenges in, he appeared to be entirely weave-focused. Yay!There are a couple of ways you can build from here:
– yes, you can click later now to see if he will stay in the poles (I am betting that will be no problem)
– you can start to fade the MM and go to thrown rewards. The MM can be there as a focal point for now, then get it out entirely 🙂
– using 4 poles…. start to tighten 🙂 Since we have a choice of 4 or 8 on the channels, I think 4 is the better option than 8 but we will go to 8 very quickly.
– you can also do the Find ‘Em game on the wings as you start to tighten the poles… a bit of ‘look the poles are tighter, good job, now try it from a wing’.It might sound like a lot of steps, but I think you will be able to combine a couple (like the wing find ‘ems going with the slightly tighter poles). Of course, if he has questions at any point, we can dial it back – but so far he is finding the channels track to be VERY easy and that is fabulous!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi there!
Looking at both of these videos, I think she has a really high success rate on a wide variety of entries. Sure, there is a little difficulty on the harder ones like 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock but that is normal. She did really nicely with the meatballs – much better about not hitting the poles (literally hitting them LOL!) I think the highest rate of success with not touching the poles is when you are moving at a walk rather than blasting at a run. That makes sense – running is stimulating enough that she loses the multi-tasking of finding the entry AND bending enough to not touch the poles. So on the left side sends on the 2x2s, I think you can be jogging more, running a bit. On the right side, be moving but at a walk until she almost never touches the poles. And keep on with the meatballs, she seemed to like that 🙂 I don’t think you need to click – that was causing her to look back at you, so you can just give a verbal marker and throw the meatball (or have it in a lotus ball to throw).The channels went well! You were moving nicely and she was doing a great job finding the entry while you were moving. Yes, that 8 o’clock entry was hard – but at this point, I think everything should have movement in it, even if you are walking very slowly 🙂 You can work that difficult entry on the ‘small’ clock (meaning, 8 o’clock as if there were only 6 poles, with 6 o clock being pole 6, so 8 o’clock is more like at pole 4) and then work your way back to the big clock where that 8 o’clock entry is down by pole 9 or so.
Let me know if that makes sense! Great job here!
TracyYay! You totally did move sooner! And on the easier entries, the motion was no problem at all. On the harder entries, the running plus the hard entry was hard! But it looks like he sorted it out and was nailing it by the end.
You are marking things nicely when he is correct but silent when he is wrong – you can try to give a happy marker and call him out of the weaves when he is wrong, so you don’t have to snag the toy before him 🙂 I say stuff like “cheater, c’mere!” Or “that was super clever let’s try it again”. And if he continues on and grabs the toy, good boy, I just take it back, tell him he is cute, then try again (as opposed to the engagement when he is correct and gets the toy).
He did really well here staying in, once he was in the entry. So definitely work the same concept on the other side. And also, have you played with tightening the channels a bit on 6 poles? He looks ready to me! The really hard entries can be on the more open poles and 12 poles and the easier entries can go on poles that are getting tighter 🙂
Great job!
TracyPerfect! About the 8-10 cookie rule: I have done that: I bring one stick of string cheese with me and the session has to be over as soon as the cheese is gone LOL!! Keep me posted 🙂
Hi! Don’t think of it as a lure: we are looking to reinforce the decision to drive ahead of you (not the decision to jump the jump) so you can throw the reward as soon as you see the decision. A lure would be before the decision, in order to get him to drive ahead. The reward here can be right after he makes the decision, and throw past the jump to help cement the jump commitment 🙂
TracyHi! This is going well – her commitment looks great and her jumping effort over the bar was very efficient, even when you were way ahead – she was not rushing. Yay!
On the wing wraps – when you were close to the wing and connected on the exit, she was very tight on the wing. I did see what you meant about her getting wider later on, but I think that part of that was you being so far ahead and not as connected (like at :39). On very tight turns, we would tend to be closer to the turn jump, so I am glad that the wraps where you were close were nice and tight 🙂 And your connection got better later in the video too!
Be sure you step to the wing to get her started – she had the two little errors at :27 and :32, where you sent then stepped back, so she read it like a threadle.Next steps can be the zig zag jumping foundation game posted yesterday, so you can start working her side-to-side jumping form and turns. And the tunnel/wing handling games are perfect for working tight turns too 🙂
Great job here!
TracyAh! Good to know that I was not imagining that little hitch! I watched it a few times but it is really hard to tell on video. Yes, she might be sore from wrestling with the sisters. Keep me posted on how she does!
We have stunning weather here – high 70s and low humidity and sunshine. It is going to rain tomorrow so I will enjoy today 🙂
TracyHi! He is doing a really lovely job with his commitments here!
Looking at a couple of different things:
Chasing you to the jump? No problem! He was really flying 🙂 That might be his favorite thing and he was perfect with it even when you were miles ahead on the last rep.
Driving ahead? He got it nicely! He definitely was less sure of this than he was of the chasing you reps – you can see him lifting his head a little when he is out ahead, and slowing down a bit. That tells me he just needs to see this element of the game more, and also that you can throw earlier: as soon as you see his head lock on the line, throw the toy. You were throwing approximately at takeoff or just before takeoff, but you can build even more confidence for driving ahead if you throw as soon as he has passed you on the way to the jump.The only other detail is a connection detail: be sure that you give a strong connection as he finishes the wing wrap by looking at his eyes (and when you are ahead, have your dog side arm back so he can clearly see the connection). You were tending to look forward, so he was either a little wide looking for connection (like at :08) or he lifted his head and hesitated for a heartbeat as he exited the cone wrap (like at :39(
So, especially since he is young, exaggerate the connection on the exit of the wrap for now to help tighten up the line, which will produce even more speed to the jump.Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Really nice job on this! I agree, her tunnel commitment looked great and she was really finding the racetracks and wraps on the wings! YEAH!!!! Your connection is looking really good too 🙂
Some specifics for you:
On the first reps, it was hard to see the right turns but it looks like she was turning nicely there! On the first left turn, at :21 you were a little late so at :22 she was a bit wide (then I don’t know where she was going, that was the la la land moment LOL!) You were earlier at :32 and I think she is figuring out that she needs to listen for the turn cues on the tunnel.The run that started at :40 was really good with timing of the right verbal on the tunnel and also on the go for the tunnel exit! She jumped up a little after the go at :46 because your hand was high as you mentioned. And your left on the tunnel was a little late at :49, she was already in the tunnel.
The run that started at :58 also looked really good! Nice timing on the tunnel verbals and your left arm was lower at 1:06, so she saw more connection and didn’t jump up. Plus, I think she is learning the game and that means you don’t have to be as perfect with your arms.
The left verbal at 1:07 looked like she heard it before entering the tunnel – nice turn on the exit! My favorite left turn so far! And the ending looked great too.I think a lot of elements are coming together here and she is really finding her lines! If you want to get the tunnel turn verbals even earlier, you can lay a leash on the ground 3 feet from the tunnel entry, and start the verbals as she arrives at the leash. That will help you get the turns cues in nice and early.
Great job!
TracyHi! Nice job setting up this session – you were marking the entry and giving verbal affirmations, and then throwing the squirrel – all of which help her nicely. Her accuracy in the entries was spot on and her striding is really developing (looks like she is going to be bouncing!).
She is definitely thinking hard about the entries – as the session went on, she got a bit slower from the wing to the entry. And on the straight line entry, we could practically see steam coming out of her ears LOL! I could not tell if she was thinking hard or maybe her shoulders were sore? It looked like she had an ‘off’ step or two after the wing wrap on the straight entries but it is hard to know for sure. It is possible the Lyme has not fully cleared out.>> I feel that happy is most important right now. >>
I agree! And since her striding is already developing, I am not worried about needing to help her figure out striding – I think that will come naturally. So for the next session, we can test the waters a bit: is she thinking hard, or protecting herself? We can test it out by having the bases both at 2&8 o’clock, pretty open, so she can go driving through in her quest for squirrel chasing 🙂 If she is still thoughtful and slowing down, it might mean she is sore. If she is all “yeeeehaw!” and fast, then we can gradually close the poles back up and just let her think through it.
Let me know if that makes sense! She is on the right track, I just want to be sure we know why she is slowing down in some spots.
Tracy
