[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
>> Lot of reps of the same thing, she seems pretty happy to do the threadly backside – with me standing still that is.>>

She is doing well on these! You can trust her wing wrap understanding and use less of a hand cue and a lower hand cue, so it is a little bit of a flick. You can also now add in a loop of the reinforcement: as she completes the turn hand her the reward back in the starting position, so she doesn’t send herself back around it. And when you add more movement, you can toss the reward, go back to your start point, then have her come back to a reward in line up position. This will help make it more efficient to get the reps and also help her stop – that starting herself again or sassing at you 🙂 And you can definitely add in more movement now 🙂

On the sequence work:

>>’m finding it harder to do shorter sequences with her and have her not get so sassy about doing things over even it it’s to try it a different way. She gets rewarded for all her efforts and we had several breaks where she ran around with her toy. She will re do anything and will just keep going till she drops which makes it hard for me to just stop after a set period of time. We both want to keep going, but she spirals and when it’s hot especially I worry cuz I can’t get her to settle back down and regroup.>>>

Set a timer! Or get a puppy so you have to switch dogs (kidding :)) Even though you both want to keep going, it sounds like she loses her focus and spirals up in arousal, which doesn’t benefit the training. So a timer or a certain number of reps will help you both stay on track!

On the wraps:
The left wrap went well – add more running in so you can do a real transition to get more feel for the timing!
On the right wrap at 1:51 – you can decelerate and turn sooner on this one (having to blind cross into it is making you run run run, and that is good!) You were a little late in the rotation because you were facing forward and pulling shoulder your shoulder to the wing to commit her – as long as you decelerate facing that outside wing, you should also be able to rotate earlier to get back up the line.

sequence 2:
nice left turn on the 180 at 2:03 and the other reps!
For the wrap to the inside at 2:04, you don’t need to pull your shoulders and feet to face the jump there, keep your feet facing forward and pass her from your right hand to your left hand: that will cue a tight turn AND not look the same as the slice cue. Your position there should cue the rear cross, and we want to make each cue look really different.
Big connection needed at 2:05 as she came through the gap
Did she get rewarded there? Hard to tell – she was correct so she deserved the lotus ball 🙂
Better connection there at 2:17 – I think you can open it up even more by extending your left arm back to her nose so she can really see your eyes.

You did the rear cross o that jump at 2:29 – she got it right but had a little question over the bar (she almost wrapped). That is because the initial part of the RC cue (shoulders and feet) looked the same as the wrap cue – so it is important that the wrap cue not have any rotation towards the jump there, to keep the cues looking different. I didn’t time the difference, because she started from the tunnel on the wrap and from a stay on the slice – that would make a big difference 🙂

Sequence 3:
You can look into the tunnel more at 2:37 to get her tp push to the backside sooner – but then, more importantly: as soon as she is committed to the backside, run forward to the next jump. You stayed there and shook your arm to help her commit – but then she couldn’t read the exit line or see enough connection at 2:39, so she ended up on the wrong side of you. Eye contact and opening your shoulder back to her is super important there.

You mentioned that she can spiral up even though she gets rewarded… she did get a reward there but it was not really a “you were correct” reward LOL! It was a cookie from your pocket delivered later – so while she is happy to eat your cookie, it is possible that she doesn’t perceive it as actual reinforcement and gets frustrated (and spirals…)

you got out of the backside faster and made a MUCH bigger connection at 2:55 – one thing I suggest you tweak is rather than bend your elbow and keep your arm parallel to your body – lock your elbow back so your finger tips extend to her nose – that will open up your shoulder and really open up connection more.

Speaking of reinforcement: you blocked the wing at 3:00 then turned your feet too soon, pushing her off the line – then told her she was wrong and then walked away with a later pocket cookie. Hmmmm…. I think late pocket cookies are not reinforcement for her. When there is an error, assume it is yours and reward her for real 🙂 At 3:22 you did the same thing and definitely had negative markers happening… you might not realize it is happening but that is why she might spiral a bit. If there is a blooper, try not to change your tone or use negative markers. Either keep going then watch the video to see how to fix it, or reward in the moment.

At 3:18, she was later in picking up the line after the backside because your arm was at your side – I think the arm extended back to her will really help her see those lines sooner!

The last sequence looked good- you broke it down to just the backsides. Based on how it is set here, the slice is much faster than the wrap 🙂

>>We both want to keep going, but she spirals and when it’s hot especially I worry cuz I can’t get her to settle back down and regroup.

I do notice that she was really hot here – she barks when she works, which heats her up too. I have some games coming on Monday to help her calm a little during the in-between moments. But also, having her take moments of rest to breath or cool off will really help! Plus more attention to reinforcement (especially when the error is yours LOL!) will help her – she gets frustrated and that is when it is harder to regroup.

>>i feel like a lot of this is rushed just to get it done when I’d rather be taking my time to work it through. So maybe next time I’ll just focus on 1 sequence or 1 course.

I agree – it is all meant to be spread out, not done in one session. Take your time to focus on each, rather than try them all.

Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

Yes – I’m not necessarily a fan of motorsports, but I do learn a lot about how wider is often faster 🙂 Those tight pretty turns that look great on the cover of Clean Run are not always the winning lines!

And that is GREAT news about his focus in class with Lo! YAY!!!!!!

Have a great weekend 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>I don’t know if it’s the extended heat wave or some delayed hormones or just his age (21 months), but I feel like he’s been more susceptible to distractions in the last several months and less into doing anything that requires more thought (like agility). Or maybe it’s just that we’ve been able to get out and about more in the summer so that’s made it more obvious what he didn’t get to learn when younger when we were locked down.>>

All of the above? The heat is pretty intense and I have found that my dogs that are primarily food drive are struggling. The toy driven dogs (discs, in particular) are happy to keep going but then they get so hot so quickly that I have to send things quickly. It is a balancing act.

And getting out and about definitely shows us what the youngsters still need to learn – and compound that with heat, and compound that with added difficulty of skills/sequences/jump heights – it is possible that there are too many variables changing at the same time so his success level has dropped, which causes interest to wane and distractions to become more interesting.

My Elektra is having trouble in the heat, is a true pandemic puppy (born on the day of the big shutdown) so is still learning to process different environments and doesn’t have the same intensity for toys that the other dogs do – so I have dialed back the difficulty of the challenges I present to her on course. She only sees super short sessions, easy skills where she can go fast, and low jump heights.

The other thing to track is rate of reinforcement/rate of success. When distractions come up in value, it is possible that the rate of success in the sessions has dropped. This could be happening 2 ways:
– he makes some mistakes so doesn’t get rewarded, and that adds up to an overall lower rate of success.
– sequences and sessions have gotten longer, so there is more time between primary reinforcement (because these youngsters are not yet fully formed enough to find the game reinforcing in itself) – and even though he is ‘correct’ a lot and you are reinforcing… the overall rate of success is lower particularly is the reinforcement itself is lower in value.

Or both 🙂 And recently adjusted to hormonal changes from the neuter.

>>This is our 2nd session with the mulberries. I did one a few days earlier but it was already pretty hot & steamy and I let it go too long so I started losing him. This one went better.

On the video:
Looking at the video and doing a bit of conjecturing to figure out the key to getting him more focused and pumped up, some ideas for you:

You mentioned feeling like you should have stopped after he drove to the dead toy, or having gone on too long in previous sessions: yes, that is big! Less is more! You can time the sessions to be ridiculously short so you finish just before he really wants to do more. If you wait til you have great behavior, the session is probably too long especially in the heat. You can do 90 seconds then take a nice air conditioned break, then 90 seconds later on. Let him watch Min work, but don’t actually work him.

When working with tossed treats, you can do some c/t for finding the cookie and looking right back up rather than looking for more (no distractions involved, just to establish the procedure before adding distractions like mulberries)

Looking at rate of success/reinforcement: His rate of success did get low especially when the toy was introduced and you were doing the motion override game. So be super careful to note any error and adjust to set him up for success (at this point, when it is a zillion degrees out, you can have a 1-failure rule and find success after just one failure, then end the session after a few successes). A couple of other considerations when looking at rate of success/reinforcement:

– And, environment can change perception of what is reinforcement (and the dog gets to decide what is engaging and reinforcing). So, two things to consider as you set up the training sessions:
it is also possible that the tugging is not an actual reinforcement in difficult environments, it is more like a behavior to do or bridge to earn reinforcement. The ball and treats are better as true primary reinforcement, so I would stick with those is more distracting situations (like heat, humidity, environmental distractions) and leave tugging for easier environments (fewer distractions and less heat). You’ll find that the increases the rate of success for both working in harder environments and for toy play!
and, it is also possible that he doesn’t like the push-backs (physical play) you did when he is not correct or when you want to get him started for the sequences. He might like that and find it reinforcing in certain environments and not in others – and also be super careful to not use it after an error (because then it gets paired with no-reward, which reduces value).

>>On the bright side, the pattern game is helping a lot on walks and he’s getting pretty good at glancing at but not reacting to even reactive dogs as long as we are at least 10ft away.

This is great!!!! One of the reasons that I think these pattern games are so effective is that the rate of success is sky high and also easily predictable, so BOOM! great behavior from the dog.

So with Elektra, I am happy to dial it back and just do short spurts of the “go fasts” and various acclimation games. Hot Sauce was like that for a while too in her teenage months, and now that she is older – the game has taken on more value and she much more driven to do all the things, all the time. Food for thought!

While he did do the sequencing in the heat and in the land of the mulberries, note his body language (lowered tail, for example) – which might indicate a lower rate of success than we want. So in the really hard environments, go to short bursts of incredibly high value whatever-he-adores. Nemo ball, giant meatballs, etc – then be done 🙂 Let him do a little bit of the ‘go fasts’ in the heat (easy lines) with no real possibility of failure – massive reward (even if he isn’t very fast yet – I mean, it is hotter than the sun and he is black with a thick coat), then done 🙂 Then he can watch Min LOL!! This can shift the conditioned response to the environment: ideally, entering the environment causes a conditioned response that causes him to pump up naturally, but we can build this by shifting value in little spurts like this 🙂

Let me know if that all makes sense – I think we can shift the value and get him nuts enough that all the other distractions fade away 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
This video is great for sorting out why he turns when he turns, and why he doesn’t turn when you want him to turn.
I think the biggest piece is that you went from acceleration directly to rotation here… which can work if you are precise and able to get ahead of him that early. But if you can’t, like in the middle of a course… he doesn’t understand that decel predicts the rotation, so he doesn’t begin to collect when you decel.

>>I felt it more difficult to get to the line in time

I think you were trying to be fully rotated when he exits the tunnel but you don’t need to be – just decelerating and getting ready to rotate. That will build power and value into the decel, which will help him understand how to read turn cues when you are not forcefully rotated into him (which we will almost never be able to be, because of his speed). On this particular sequence, you can try to get to the wing to be rotated but it is also really good to practice the transition into decel then rotate to strengthen those cues. Then have him chase you out of it to reward.

The transition into deceleration is actually the key element of the turn cue (not the rotation, necessarily).
You can revisit this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cLuLLzB738

and also this is another view of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZqorl5UpIk

The markers on the ground are relative to where the dog is, so you can cue the wrap from anywhere (ahead, behind, etc).

On the video:

>>. I felt that his left turns were a little wide but I also feel like I could have but more of a decel Cue on the turn.

Yes, you can totally work the decel into it but also, I think your exit line was creating his wider turn – at :05 and :12 and :37 he had good collection on the takeoff (still figuring out how to balance when collecting) but then as you exited you were running more towards the center of the tunnel or even towards the exit, which sets a wider line. Run directly to the tunnel entry and you’ll have it perfect!

When you were wrapping to his right on the other side – this is where it was harder to get rotated and then you ended up stopping short and swooshing him back behind you to get commitment, which cues him to jump long (like at :28). The decel and rotation will allow you to just drop your hand softly down to help cue the collection.

>> Also he read it had a left turn a couple of times. I went back and watched the videos and I am wondering if it’s because I didn’t turn my shoulder enough for him? I know I was late giving the physical cue once but on the next time he turned wrong I thought that I was okay>>

Nope! LOL! You were cuing the rear cross on both 🙂 And you owe him a steak dinner for that big NO when he read you completely correctly at :44. When in doubt, even if you think the dog was wrong… reward and don’t mark with a no. Watch it in slow motion: as your right arm and right leg move back to indicate the jump, your shoulders lean forward and your left then right leg (:45) step in to pressure across his line to the rear cross cue so he was correct to turn left (regardless of verbals – the right wrap verbal will not override all of that rear cross pressure especially with a young dog).
There is also fallout when you use the big NO – He wrapped at :52 partially because you moved further away from the wing and more towards the fence, and partially because he was jumping in extension to make the decision of which way to turn after landing, to avoid the no marker again. He turned after landing there.

At 1:01, you cued the RC again, and told him no again. Steak dinner AND some cheesey fries for him! And some ice cream too. He was right both times.

At 1:07, you moved further away and opened your shoulder more to the landing spot as he was jumping – plus he waited til landing to make the decision about which way to turn.

The transition will smooth all of that out – run to the wing you want, decelerate, rotate, no need to pressure in towards the takeoff spot or use such a strong rotated cue towards him for the crosses.
And as you revisit the transition into decel, absolutely no worries if he is not turning as tight as you want yet: just keep rewarding by having him chase you up the next line for the reward. As long as the deceleration is clear (starting as soon as he lands from the jump or exits the tunnel) and you rotate before he passes you and move up the next line – he will quickly remember that the decel predicts the turn & reinforcement, so he will set up his own turns without needing as much help from you – and that will help the other turns too, like the 180s and when you are not ahead of him.

Let me know if that makes sense!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Perfect! And the youngsters put up with the new crazy stuff, it is really only the adult dogs that look at us like we are completely insane LOL!

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Lots of great work here!

First video:
This went well, just small details to consider:
Right before he goes into the first tunnel, call him so he exits turned and knows where you are. I don’t think he needs anything more than a name call there, when he is about 3 feet before the entry.
The send to 5 looked great!

As he exits the 7 tunnel, give him more connection at :08 to get jump 8: you pulled your left shoulder forward so he looked at you and came off the line in towards you.

The first jump of the go at the end looked great too this is another spot to call right before he goes into the tunnel, so he exits turned and you can already be way up the line.

>>I did not show the line and was pulling out the reinforcement as he was running.

You can run with the reward in your hand already, so you can connect and throw early to help him learn to stay on the line.

at :21, on the mirror image – did you want the pinwheel jump? If so – nice! It not, and you wanted the 180 – cue the decel and turn as he exits the tunnel but stay connected

And for the wrap, he is SO fast – you can decel sooner, as soon as he exits the tunnel at :26, to get more collection for the wrap.

On the 2nd video, the right turn on the 180 here looked great! You turned into him at :13 on the tunnel exit but I think it was just a moment of “where do I go??” LOL!
You can add the decel and left cue at :19 sooner for left 180 – watching him exit the tunnel will let you know when to start, because you can begin the cues as soon as he is out of the tunnel.
Really lovely pinwheel at :25!!
One more detail – at :28 for the last tunnel: let him see the FC before he enters the tunnel to tighten the exit. He can see the FC when he is between 3 and 5 feet from the entry, which will give him time to prepare for the turn and know what is next.

Great job here – the best part was that you were AMAZINGLY connected on almost every footstep – that really helped him see the lines. YAY!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Awesome! I revisit backing up a lot as the dogs mature – their back ends are constantly changing as they grow up LOL!

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! He did really well here, especially with Clover being in season!!!!

I have little details for you to consider on these – he is turning out to be a really nice balance of fast AND incredibly responsive 🙂

Sequence 1: Baseline
A small detail is to line him up on a slice at 1 so he has a straight line to 2 and a virtually straight line to 3. It is faster that way, rather than having him face #1 more directly and turn on landing to find 2.
You can send and leave (when he lands from 4, send to 5 then leaev) in the 4-5-6 pinwheel rather than round it with him, that can be faster too!
The soft turn cues 8-9 were a little late here, you did it after the takeoff decision was made. Also, I think you used jump for this but also jump for the 4-5-6 jumps. A different verbal would help here, something for a ‘soft’ turn.

And his collection for the wrap at 11 was really good! And nice ending line!

training video 1 – this was definitely better timing on 8-9, he was seeing things start after he exited the tunnel and before he had to make a takeoff decision. You can play with being more lateral here and not as close to the 8 jump.

training video 2 – this rep had the cues coming a little later, so he was more extended – but this was not necessarily slower! Powering into these cues can be helpful, as long as he knows where he is going before he has to make a takeoff decision.

The key for this 8-9 turn is going to be seeing him exit the tunnel (or land from a jump, in a different scenario) then start the cues to change the line so he sees that before he makes a takeoff decision.

full sequence redo:
Comparing the times of 8-9 on the first run versus this one: 8-9 was definitely faster with the earlier cues! YAY!!! His turn at 11 was also good, but slightly slower because you got on his line a little more which added yardage – stay tucked into the wing a bit so he has a clear view of the tunnel entry.

seq 2:
On the first video, you were a little too laterally away from 4, plus you decelerated and rotated too soon – he didn’t really have a commitment cue so he came into you. So keep moving towards the wing, until he exits – then decelerate then rotate.

2nd rep: MUCH better commitment cue at 4 and I think he turn was great there. This was a left turn and I think he did really well!

Going to the 5 tunnel – you were using the get out cue – this is more of a Go line. I think you felt him coming into you? You can stay connected more connected to his eyes, with your dog-side arm back so he doesn’t drift into you – your right arm was pulling forward and that caused your shoulders to turn , so he was not as sure of the line.

On the 6-7-8-9 section: Trust his commitment to his lines so when he lands from 7 and looks at 8, you can start the FC. You were in a great spot but waited and that ended up creating a late FC at :14 (you started it when he was taking off). Ideally, it is finished when he takes off 🙂

last clip: definitely a better FC at :05 but also late 🙂 Send and go like you did in the previous clip (you went in a little closer than needed to 7 here) and start the FC when he lands and looks at the next jump. Also, positionally, don’t go past the wing of the FC jump – moving in towards the bar pushes his line out a bit wide. Staying parallel to the 8 jump (rather than moving towards it) will help tighten the turn up to show him 9 sooner. I think he was reading you really well, so you can challenge his commitment more by letting him land from 7, see his head turn to look at 8: then do the FC 🙂 You can also try a BC there!

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

1st rep – I think because you were trying to NOT say yay, you ended up being too quiet? You had a really nice send and go on the first backside but then got really quiet on the 180, which drew her focus back to you and off the line. On the 2nd rep – you had a clearer physical cue there but I think you can talk more – jump verbals or a left 🙂

About the BC on the backside before the tunnel: BC can be early like that if you then do a threadle – or delay the BC so it is more of that ‘forced blind’ but also use a threadle verbal to tell her what her line will be. It is a stylistic thing – both work really well so it depends on which one is stronger and more comfy for you.

3rd run – your forced BC was better timed for the jump before the tunnel, but you were being too careful LOL! You can run more to the entry wing of the backside jump at :48 – she had questions based on your line, which slowed her down.

4th run – on this one, you ran the other side on the backside after the tunnel:
Her commitment is strong, so I think you can trust her more. After sending her at 1:01, run like mad to the BC so you are on the takeoff side doing it when she is on the takeoff side. At 1:02, you were still on the landing side, supporting commitment as she was taking off. That caused her to almost end up on the wrong side of you. Ideally, you would be past the exit wing and already looking over the new side at 1:02 when she was taking off – trust her commitment to the bar after she has committed to going to the backside 🙂 It means a disconnection moment so you can run forward, and a whole lot of trust 🙂

Same thoughts at 1:09 on the jump before the tunnel at the end – she has landed and you are still not yet past the wing. You can also play with sending her to the backside from further away across the jump (your line could be more towards the center of the bar) and then just leave to get around the wing, no connection needed after you see her committing to the backside 🙂

5th run – I think your exit on the backside was better at 1:22 so you can consider this:

>>I did notice that she was flicking her eyes up at me after the wing wrap in expectation of a yes or yay.>>

I think you were pretty quiet, trying not to say YAY! LOL! So replace the yay moments wiht the next info – an obstacle cue or a directional, said early and often – or even just her name, to let her know to chase the line you are setting.

At 1:26 – for the circle wrap on the last backside – try having your dog-side arm back more to show more connection (looking back to her) and start the verbal sooner. You were looking forward and quiet so she was coming into you then when she was more than halfway to you, the cues started happening so she went back out. You might have been looking to see where the backside wing was, so you can also plan to ‘mark’ it off the jump before: meaning, use the jump you can see to find the line (such as not going past the inner wing) to the jump you can’t see unless you disconnect to find it.

Looking at the different timing comparisons: on the first backside (after the tunnel) – the fastest was the very first rep, where you sent and left 🙂 when you stayed there longer, she was a little slower and going the other direction was a bit slower too.
On the second backside, the current fastest is the push to the slice (german) -with the forced blind being second fastest. I think the forced blind could end up being fastest if you drive more to the wing so set the line, using the threadle verbal – the extra yardage is what caused the extra time. When you are comfy with it, I think it will end up being fastest. And the circle wrap was, not surprisingly, the slower by a lot – mainly because it collection is slower and the exit line was not as good as the slice 🙂

Great job here! I hope the weather cooperates a bit more!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
You have been busy!!! How do you like judging?

>>We went up to the PNW Regional. I put Zing on a two dog team, not to win (or even compete) of course, but because it bought me 5 chances to practice stuff. Wow, there was some really great stuff in the runs. And some really great stuff before the runs :).>>

Happy dance for ALL of this!!!!

>>One thing that I noticed with Zing. She can always do her warm up tricks, anywhere, anytime and under any level of over-stimulation. This is new for me in a dog.

This is unusual, in a super duper good way LOL!

>Usually, over-stimulation = no tricks for me.

This is more normal 🙂 Could also be under-stimulation (I know, that sounds nuts) because the over- and under- slide back and forth in the inverted U all the time. I have found that with some dogs, what appeared to be over-arousal turned out to be under-arousal because it turned out that getting them MORE stimulated, MORE aroused is what got them into the optimal state. Just observing didn’t lead us to the correct ‘answer’ for those dogs – it was experimenting with different states that helped us figure out their needs. What I thought looked over-aroused turned out to be under… the mistakes made can be found on either side of the curve.

>>So now my challenge is to get the proper level of stimulation and learn what that looks like before the run.

Yes, that is part of it. And the other part of it is a bit of self-modulation on her part. In a way, it is a sharing of responsibility: we humans will totally need to learn what optimal state looks like. And the dogs need to learn to self-modulate when that state shifts (we need to teach that, of course haha). That way we humans do not have to be responsible for state of arousal all the time, if we have taught the dog how to self-modulate. Of course, I never blame the dog if it doesn’t go as I want – it is ultimately my responsibility to assess and help the dog, and teach them to assess and help themselves.

>>The only reason I am saying that she was over-stimulated was 2 things would happen in the run 1) she could not hear as well LOL 2) weave entries became hard. All other skills seemed to be present (which is awesome).>>

I don’t hear as well when I am over-stimulated, too LOL! Have you looked at the verbals in arousal games (Games package 2)? I scrolled up and don’t see them posted. This teaches the dogs who to hear the verbals through the roar of stimulation, by gradually getting them more stimulated and asking for them to respond to verbals. You can of course add more stimulation to this game, like lots of tugging before you add all of the wild dancing or running 🙂 Then of course it can be applied to weaves, to help the her see the weaves through the haze of non-optimal arousal

>>Watched the video for the instant focus game. We will work this.

Perfect – instant focus is one of the self-modulation games. And when you have it going really well on the random prop in new places, I have also used this game with weave poles! I have video somewhere, I will to find it: with a dog that has a foundation in Instant Focus, I have repeated the game with weaves. I would toss a set of 2x2s into the car and go to new places, and do instant focus, weave edition. That was one of the things that really helped!

>> Is there anything that I need to do differently in that game given the new things I have learned about Zing?

I think you can try getting her more aroused before presenting the instant focus prop: that could be by bringing her to more challenging environments, or doing it when there are dogs running as a bigger distraction, or incorporating other things that mght stimulate her a LOT. What types of things do you think are triggers for that over-arousal?

And in the games package 4 coming on Monday, there are 2 “volume dial” games being added – one is a self-modulation game where both of you can take a moment to relax in a high arousal situation, and one is a game where you can actively change her state of arousal. This has 2 purposes: one is to get her into a more optimal state at trials or training. And the other is to deliberately take her past the optimal state in training, so she learns how to self-modulate and still be able to produce trained behavior at trials, even when the environment (internal or external) brings her into the over-aroused state. Stay tuned!

Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! The temperatures have been crazy hot!!!! I am thinking that I will add on a few more weeks into September to help get us into ‘cooler’ weather. I do any of my training at sunrise and even then, it is BLAZING hot.

Great job on the courses here!! LOTS of running in the heat!!

Course 1:
First run:
That line 1-2-3-4 is a popular opening (maybe not with the DW there yet, but I am sure it is coming soon to a trial near you LOL!) The FCs worked nicely – he was collected for 2 and 3.Try not to move backwards at 3, as that set him up to land long as he was following your motion. Move directly forward out of it at :06. 4-5-6-7 looked great!!!

I bet you can layer the 3 jump to get further ahead for 9-10-11. That serp of the 9 jump is most effective when you are passing the exit wing, feet pointing to 10, as he is making a takeoff decision. At his takeoff decision at :15, you were center of the bar so he didn’t have full info yet. You were further across at his takeoff decision at :48 and that position, plus a strong collection cue, improved the turn there.

About dropping 11 – it looked like he was balanced over 10 and chose a good takeoff for 11, so my best guess about why he dropped the bar is that your Come verbal was really loud and sudden, and happened right over the bar – so he adjusted in the air. That also means the physical cue to get the turn was not in place, otherwise he would not have needed to adjust (your shoulders were pointing more out to the teeter than to the 12 jump).
Compare it to the next rep at :53 where you were quiet and turned – bar stayed up 🙂

Great weave entry! And I loved how you handled the weave exit to the 14-15-16 line through the exit of the DW to 17. SUPER! It set up a lovely and FAST ending line. And hooray for great RDW hits – it is a hard exit and it looked great.

On the 2nd rep at :57: you got caught in the “don’t yell tunnel if they are looking at the wrong tunnel” LOL!! I feel this pain. You got quiet so as he exited the weaves, he was turning pretty tightly and looking at you. You said tunnel…. and the tunnel under the DW was the one on his line, so off he went! Good boy. To keep him straight with you hanging back while he weaves, keep yelling GO GO GO GO til he exits the weaves and then yell it some more til you know he is looking at the tunnel line you want… then yell tunnel 🙂 Lots of yelling is highly effective in supporting distance work.
You had more motion down the line when you fixed it at 1:05 – I liked your position at :57, and the earlier (and repeated and urgent) verbals should help him go straight to the purple tunnel without you needing to be there.

Handling the opening a little differently in the next rep kept you from moving backwards over 3, and he didn’t seem to have any questions about the line after the tunnel with the RC. When I timed it in comparison to the very first rep (because, obsessing), this choice was faster than the double FCs. That leads us to the next question: what exactly made it faster? When I broke it down more, the line from the landing of 3 to the tunnel entry is where we can see the difference: he had the clear extension line to the tunnel all to himself and that is where he made up the time. The turns themselves over 2 and 3 were similar, but seeing the 3-4 line more clearly is what made the difference.

>>The result was a RC of the #4 tunnel. I’m not sure I would do that in a trial, since he could turn sharply and miss the #5 jump. >>

Understandable! Your verbals overrode the RC cue here. And you can probably get that same fast line without the RC on the tunnel by rotating and leaving for the tunnel to set the line before he takes off for 3 rather than backing up to it.

Course 2:

I really liked the opening 1-6! Really good position on the send at 4, not letting yourself pass the center of the bar so he could set up a turn that was both tight AND fast 🙂

On the backside at 6 to the DW: either move forward to stay on the line to set the turn – try not to step backwards stepping back kept you in his way (not how he used his body there) and delays you from starting the rear cross on the DW up ramp.

He was not comfy with you that far behind on the RDW, he had a big leap on contact there (the other reps looked better but not as clean as when you are more in the picture).

I really liked the change in energy on the verbals for 9-10! Gentle turns meant softer tone, it worked nicely! He probably needs a ‘get out’ cue for 11 if you stay on that side of the DW, and it might be better to handle DW for the other side.

Redo from 6 at :49 – that was a nice backside slice 🙂 and better RDW hit too!

He had a little question at :52 as he exited the 8 tunnel but then he heard the verbals – tell him the GO cue for 8-9 before he enters the tunnel (when he is still 6 feet from the entry) so he can hear it a couple of times before his head is in the tunnel – he read the line nicely there and it puts you in a great spot for 11, so we can smooth out the question with earlier verbals.

Cue for 11 at :56 – this is a hard turn! You can decelerate more (and sooner, as soon as he exits the tunnel) so you can rotate sooner (before he passes you) and put your left hand down near the takeoff spot (you’ll be rotated to do that) – that will get a better turn and allow you to leave sooner for the 12-13 line.

I think you said “back” at 1:07 before 12 (rather than go from the previous rep) – that is a better choice (I think back means a lead change away? I don’t see it on your list but I might be hearing it incorrectly).

About that 12 tunnel to weave line, from that side of the DW: the trick will be to get him to switch to his left for the tunnel exit and not be turning right on the tunnel exit. The GO verbal got the right turn: correctly, imo, because GO does not imply a lead change. The ‘back’ cue got his attention that is was NOT the go (yay!) but it had to override body language. Getting to the other side of the tunnel entry either with an earlier RC (so he sees it fully when he is still 6 feet away from the tunnel entry) or being on the other side so he enters on your right side with no rear cross will help too.

So one thing you can add is doing a spin/Jakko exit on 11 to get him on your right for the tunnel (rather than sending to it on your left then rear cross) as that can support the left turn to the weaves as well.

To help with the turn at 16 (I think you did 16-18 on this rep rather than 16-17-18) you can leave him more on the teeter, so you are closer to the 16 jump. And change the energy of your left verbal to be softer and longer: leeeehft leeeehft rather than LEFT! as that might help get an even nicer turn.

Then do a spin exit for 18-19 (you did a full post turn at 1:20) as moving forward and doing the blind to get him on your right for 19 will get you in for 20 faster, so you will be off his line. A blind can work nicely there too (19-120)

2nd run – the opening was still nice, but you were a little further across 3 on the opening than on the first run. The better position on the first run set it up to be faster 1-4 – he had more questions here on the 2nd rep at 2 and 3 so he ended up slower.

The send to the 9-10 worked well here! Decelerate more into the switch at 11 (1:42) so he can be super tight – I liked the strategy of using that to get you to the other side of he tunnel for the weaves: it made the weave entry easy!

Ending line looked great! Yay!!!! Well done there!

Course 3:

>>we went 1 to 12, 18, 19. It was quick

Ha! Definitely the winning time there. LOL!

1-2-3-4-5-6 looked great, Did you say “tunnel this tunnel here” after the poles? That made me chuckle 🙂 One thing I see on these runs is that when you get quiet in the last part of the poles, he exits looking towards you -that was very helpful here! So when you needed him to go straight in course 1, you need to get louder and louder as he is finishing the poles so he continues on. This is good to know for planning purposes at trials!

He is a bit wide on the exit of 7: A couple of ideas for you there (one here, one below):
One option is a BC at :23 (7-8), because it will be easier to set a better line from the exit of 7 to 8: you started it on time but it is harder to finish it on time and get on the line, so starting the blind sooner (while is he weaving!) can get it done sooner so you are fully connected and on the line to 8 when he exits.

Maybe a little too much “go go go” verbal at 8-9 before the a-frame, he was wide there at :27, perhaps thinking the course was finished?

from the frame to the entry of 11 (setting up 12-18-19 :)) – tell him to go jump before he enters so he exits looking at 12 and not at you (:31). It is definitely something to remember with him: tunnel exit cues delivered before he goes in.

2nd run – 1-2-3-4-5 looked even better than the 1st run – your cues were sooner and you left 4 sooner. Nice lines!

You definitely had the FC finished sooner at :54 from 7-8! Try to do it more on his actual path – you got past the line and so he exited the tunnel wide towards where you were, then pushed back. If you place the FC more exactly on his line, he will exit tighter (moving to your position) and then you will still have plenty of time to clear his line so he has it all to himself and doesn’t have to go around you.

he still looked a little forward on the Go at 9 (:57) but I think he had figured out it was not the end of the course 🙂 A name call will tighten that up: something like “jump Enzo” rather than “go go” there (no time to do any physical cues other than run run run like you did).

Handling from the far side of the DW to get 17: tell him to go go go before he enters the tunnel at 1:11 so he doesn’t look for you on the exit an that might be a place for a full post turn so your lower body is not rotated? And handling from the right hand side of the DW (closer to 17) will make that ending easier, I believe – the RC of the DW to get to the left hand side draws his focus back to you there, which means the verbals would need to override your motion & position. That is possible, but if you can support the verbals with motion and position, that is even better 🙂

Great job on these! Let me know what you think. And stay cool!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! She did well on both of these. A couple of ideas for you:

On the bang game, she seems nice and confident on the board! Yay! One thing I notice is that she is targeting to your position: note how her front feet want to be near your feet 🙂 The further back your feet were, the further up the board she stopped. When your feet were at the end, she went to the end – but that creates a bit of dependence on your position. So, I recommend a target so she knows where to put her front feet, no matter where your feet are 🙂 A long strip of tape across the edge of the teeter can be a good visual as a target for her to put her feet on. And then you can really solidify that by feeding her low, between her front feet, on that target so she doesn’t look up for you. That can really help build a lot of independence.

On the RDW mat foundations:

>> I had much more valuable treats in my hand then the kibble in the TnT.

I juice up the value of the TnT treats but mixing in good, stinky stuff – cheese bits, freeze dried tripe, liver, tiny cat treats, and sometimes soaking the kibble in tuna. It helps keep the interest high for the TnT!

>> I think we nailed the no speed or excitement task.>>

It looked really hot in this video! You can help her out by engaging more between reps. And also, does she like the beep that the TnT makes? I think it was confusing her when you would say ‘yes’ but then hit the TnT – she didn’t know where to look for reinforcement. The beep will clarify that. And because she wants to look at you more than go to the TnT, you can do a couple of sessions where she all rewards come from the TnT too, so she can lock onto it more. That can help her gt a little more excited about the mat 🙂

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Thanks for the link!
He did well here – I think the only errors were because you were blocking the line or pushing into his path, so he ended up on the front side of the jump. You can change the position of the cone to help this: move it closer to the jump so you can send him to it – and then as he exits the cone wrap, you can be at or passing the wing (but giving him enough room to get in between without you needing to curve the line with your feet). When you were not at or passing the wing, he didn’t have enough room to get past you, and then you would step in too soon – so he ended up on the front. On the reps where he had room and you were further ahead? He was great! Yay!
The front side balance went well. For the balance of ‘don’t take anything’ – it doesn’t have to be the bypass where you turn in a circle. It can be more like you are moving past the jump, with him on the threadle side between you and the jump (same as when you were cuing the threadle) – but you don’t cue the threadle with arm or voice, so he should just stay on the lead towards you and not flick himself back to the threadle – kind of like just running through a box with an off course jump that you don’t want him to take close by. If he is not cued to threadle, he should not threadle 🙂 Let me know if that makes sense.

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

This video is also a good reminder of timing of tunnel exit cues! Bearing in mind that she needs to see and hear the exit cues when she is 2 meters from the entry:
At the start of the video, starting her that close to the tunnel made it hard to time the cues – plus she had a ton of value on the weaves from the previous sessions so she kept going to the weaves, understandably. Putting yourself there at the exit didn’t help as much because it still cued her to exit straight.
Adding a physical cue before the tunnel helped: at 1:05, the spin had too much collection because she didn’t have momentum into it, but after that she found it helpful. I am not sure if she needs a spin in that situation or if letting her see you move away laterally would be enough – definitely something to try, provided she sees both cues when she is 2 meters from the entry.

The timing of the verbal to turn or go to the weaves should match the 2-meter rule of the physical cues: when she is 2 meters from the tunnel and you want her to turn, you should be saying left. You generally said it after she was in the tunnel, which is late enough that she was likely to have not really heard it. Same when you wanted the weaves: tell her to go weave when she is 2 meters from the entrance. You can use the tunnel cue as she lands from the previous jump, but then switch to the next physical and verbal cue nice and early 🙂
I think by the end you were starting the cues earlier, which really helped! I like to put a leash on the ground as a line, to help provide a visual for how early I need to start the cues for the tunnel exit – it is pretty darned early LOL!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
I did mean 10 🙂 At 9, you can decel and move laterally or use a brake arm – but at 10 (the backside) when you do a full post turn: you turn and face the tunnel for a heartbeat which sends her long over the jump, thinking the tunnel is next (she dropped the bar there because of that on the first rep). A spin there will get her turned to her left to face 11 and also get you up the line faster 🙂

T

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