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I would want to leave the dog in the weaves to blind cross the bottom of the dog walk, then blind cross between the 10-11 tunnels.
I need to go look at the map again to see where the last one was.Hi!!
>> I think I am close to having my full vocabulary
I feel this pain LOL!!
I think your list is pretty darned comprehensive 🙂 the only thing to add eventually is the weave threadle but it is a low priority til evolving course design makes it more important 🙂He did really well on this threadle wrap foundations here!! I think the only thing I would recommend is that you hold his collar, your threadle hand stationary in position… then say the cue 3 or 4 times and then let go. He will probably bark 🙂 and also he will probably turn his head to the wing, which is good – but I think it will highlight and isolate the verbal. The timing of the verbal and hand cue was close here, so I think you can separate them more.
Otherwise… time to add motion. Wheeee!!!And about the teeter down… I’ve seen many folks train it as a gateway to a fabulous 4on performance, so that might be the same path for Presto? Very few fast dogs maintain that in the ring (he counts as a fast dog!!)
Nice work here 🙂 let me know what you think!
TracyHi! She is doing really well here!
I would reverse some of the steps you outlined – by using this much hand cue and waiting to add the verbal, the behavior will barely on the physical cue for longer than we want. If we add the verbal cue sooner and have less hand cue, it will become a stronger verbal, sooner 🙂 And based on the trends in course design, we want it to be a very strong verbal because we won’t be able to be right there for the dogs 🙂
So now that she is turning away so nicely, try to use less hand cue, maybe just a little tiny flick away to get her head turned. And if she can do it on the smaller hand cue: add your verbal before you give the hand cue. Then when the verbal is attached, and she is turning away with very little hand cue: the motion will be easy to add.
Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
TracyHi!
No threadle wraps in sequences yet 🙂 Stay tuned for the next set of games!He did really well here too – the ‘don’t take anything’ moments were great – we don’t want him to self-flick!
When you tried the cue for the threadle/wrap when you were next to the weaves, I think he was confused for a moment about whether you wanted the weaves – so get a little ahead in those moments to clarify for him what you want, before starting the cue.
He was basically perfect on the other side! You can keep adding motion to this, or even start him from a wing wrap before it so you are both moving fast. We will build on it in Games Package 4 🙂 And if you prefer the close hand as the cue instead of the outside hand – that’s fine! As long as it is clear to you and the dog, it will work really well too 🙂Great job!!!
TracyHi! I am at a Flyball tournament 🙂
His instant focus looks good here! He wants to watch you,so this is a good prop to use. You can have it closer to you (because it will be closer in a trial setting) but now that there is value, the main this will be about taking it on the road (which I think is what you said to him at the end LOL!) Does he like toys in different environments? You can totally use a toy as a reward! But if he is food-only at a trial, that is perfect. So when you take a road trip, bring him into the environment, then plop the prop down, and then him offer behavior 🙂 Start with an easy, calm environment and see how he does! When is your next time in a trial environment?
Tracy
Thanks, this is a great! I see several spots where the threadle/wrap or a version of it would be used, but we can also creatively get ahead so we don’t need to use it in a couple of spots 🙂
Thanks!
TracyGood morning again 🙂
The Baseline run looked good here! A couple of ideas for you:
On thr 1-2-3, he read it really well. You can start him further back from 1 so he can power into it in extension with a long stride or two – he was a little close so had to collect and sort out his feet, which slows him down.
He did well on the 4-5-6 line too! You can play with sending him from landing of 4 then peeling away more, to see if you can get a better turn on 4 without any reduction in speed, and also so you can get further ahead.
8-9 looked good – you can try it from more laterally away, as that might set you up a little better for 11.
The turn on 11 was a Goldilocks moment: too much, too little, just right LOL!
On the first rep, you had too much decel at 11 and too much OOMPH on the turn cue so he didn’t commit. He is super responsive, so I don’t think you don’t need to crunch down on the takeoff spot for him. He should be able to read it perfectly with decel and a rotation.
Next rep – this on had a good send, but you connected too little on the bl;ind on the exit, so he ended up in the wrong tunnel entry (:45) – it was rewardable, he was correct because he went with the last connection he saw.
Then you had a just right moment on the spin at :57, just remember to keep moving even if you want to reward 🙂 Note how you didn’t need a lot of pressure into the takeoff spot and you just decelerated, rotated, and connected. Nice!
1:13 was a too much moment: too much pressure into the takeoff spot so he read it (correctly) as a backside cue: also rewardable because he was correct 🙂 Pay all the off courses because it is almost always a correct response to our cues 🙂
1:21 was just right! Nice!!!! And good info from him about what he needs and doesn’t need to get the tight turn.Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>> Question…..so if he can’t get to tug but he can do hand touches could I “hand touch” him into the ring?
Yes – if he looks engaged and ready, you can try going into the ring with hand touches and tricks, even if he can’t tug. It will be good to know how he feels in that situation!
>>If he can hand touch he can almost always do through. And at least in that 2nd run at Data Driven where he was pretty distracted once he did the 3 straight jumps to the tunnel he could chase and tug his favorite toy like a demon
Ah yes – arousal came up, he relaxed, and the toy got exciting again 🙂 Plus in the ring there is less pressure form proximity from other dogs and people, that might be a factor.
>> I’ve always wanted to teach either a High Five or a Give Me Five…..just never found/made the time. If I did it with some sort of funny target could that work as both his moving behavior for the Verbals with Arousal and as a Instant Focus Game?
LOL, no, you don’t want to kill those 2 birds together LOL! The verbals with arousal should ideally be free or hand signals or props – because there is only one answer with the prop (so he doesn’t need to process different verbals) and also the hand signal might be he is also not processing verbals. So I would keep it separate for now.
Tracy
Good morning!
Great job trying the various options – it gave us a good sense of what is faster, and what will be even faster when it is tighter.
1st run – he was not as confident as he will be eventually on the in in Threadle on the jump after the tunnel, but he got it and it got you up for the blind is EXCELLENT position! I like how you got way up the line for a great blind!
For the wrap at :12 after the blind – you sent into it more than needed, so he was a bit wide. I think a spin or even just a decel (because he is very responsive) will tighten it up there.He was better with the threadle on the 2nd rep at :22 but has questions about how to jump it – this is something so show him on a lower bar a couple of times so he can sort out his feets for takeoff, then back to full height. It sets you up really well for the next line though, and sets a nice line for him to for the wrap.
Nice job on the wrap to the inside, you cued and left so it was nice and tight! It was a tiny bit faster than the slice but I think that was partially because it was better-handled: if we tighten the slice exit, I think the slice will end up faster.3rd rep – I think a longer lead out (or sending to the wrap wing from further away) will allow you to set the push while he is still in the tunnel – you were setting it after he exited so he had a zig in then a zag back out, which slowed him down. But this is also good to know, for courses where you can’t get ahead to set it: the threadle is a great option there!
Also, pushing from that side makes the line to the next jump and wrap a little slower, so he was slower overall on that one.4th rep – this was the slowest option because of the push being a little late, and the slice having a bit of a wide exit.
I think you handled them all well! The best option is the threadle to the inside wrap, for now 🙂 One additional option to consider for him here is doing a double blind instead of a threadle! That can speed him up through the threadle line while keeping you ahead (because he doesn’t have to do the double blind by himself, he can just chase you handling).Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
I am glad she is feeling better! It looked like something on her foot, so maybe just a bee sting!
I love the egg carton LOL! And it is easy enough to put in the car to take to new places. This is a good game for Maple too!
I think one thing that will help her in the new places (like the garage LOL!) is to bring her in and *then* put the egg carton down, so it become a little more obvious. And if it is still not obvious to her, you an pick it up and put it back down again. As soon as she realized that it was a training opportunity, she did really well! So it is a matter of that very first moment, I think putting the carton down after she enters might help. Keep building value for it and taking it new places 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
She did well here! She gave some really good moments of backing up 🙂 She had some questions at first then later in the session – she was offering the down or going around the wobble board. You can get the game rolling by starting her with all 4 feet on the board, then lure her front feet off, then let her step them back on. That will remind her to move backwards – then you can build up to letting her back up more fully. I think you were trying to help with your hand movement, but she was offering some really good backing up – so jump starting it with her being all the way on it at first can remind her to back up. Plus, she is at the age which she is still learning to use those legs 🙂 so you can also work on backing up on the flat as a reminder.
Nice work here!!
TracyAha! Here is the tunnel added in 🙂 Everything looked good!
Watching the GO lines – I did’t think your first throw was late, but she did LOL! Your second throw was earlier, when she landed from the 1st jump – that was perfect 🙂 I love how she is driving ahead!The first wrap might have been too subtle, you were gentle in your deceleration LOL! And she read it a little late, especially after the Go reps which were really exciting.
The second wrap was more dramatic, with a “sharper” more obvious decel and she nailed it. So on wraps that follow big speed lines, you can be earlier with a more dramatic (faster and sharper) transition into decel.Rear cross looked good here too! – with all the speed, you can converge in sooner like you did on the backsides. It is a fine line to start pushing the line as she is over the previous jump for the rear crosses (which is what you did really well on the backside reps) without pushing her off the jump by accident. The backsides looked GREAT!
Great job on these! And yes, definitely onwards to the wing or jump before the tunnel so you get even more speed here 🙂
TracyGood morning!
I hope Jedi feels better!!! Fingers crossed for a very quick recovery! I am sad you have to miss the Regional 🙁
Ruby looked great on all of these. You nailed the connection! Lovely handling 🙂 And she responded perfectly (also loved her stay!)
On the Go – I don’t think it was the throw that caused her to drop the bar, I think it was that you were decelerating/standing up as you threw it so she was responding to that. So keep running forward as you throw.
She did really well responding to the wraps. She was drifting a tiny bit, looking for the next obstacle, so you can leave sooner: finish the rotation and run away) and call her name, getting her to chase you for the toy. That way she will think more about chasing your line and less about where the next jump is 🙂
Rear crosses: Terrific!!!!
Backsides: Fabulous!
I was really happy with the rears and backsides: they need really different cues and you made it look easy 🙂 She is ready to see these with the tunnel!
Great job!
TracyHi! She is doing really well here with the skill! She is perfectly happy to do it and has no questions about turning away from you. Super!!!
Based on course design trends, I think you can build on this in 2 ways (besides adding more motion :))
You don’t need to help as much with the arm cue to cue the wrap – give maybe the tiniest hand flick then keep moving forward so you can also leave sooner for the next line.Also, I strongly recommend using separate cues – the in in followed by another verbal plus physical cues used to work really well! Then the judges were all like, “wait, try THIS” and so we are no longer in a good position to show the physical cue. And the additional wrap is late because it doesn’t happen til as or after the dog is arriving at the backside – so the dogs have very little time to set up the jumping effort. So, 2 verbals will allow you to give the info 20 feet sooner and also allow you to NOT have to be there (we are seeing this skill required a lot now when the handler is on the other side of the dog walk and still accelerating forward – EEK!!! Separate verbals and reduced need for physical cues eliminate the problem 🙂
Let me know what you think! Nice work on all of these!
Tracy
