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Good morning!
it ‘out’ means a send on the same lead, then I think it would work here. Go is more specifically a straight line to most dogs, and this tunnel send is not a straight line (it is a slight turn towards us). Now, will the dogs figure it out? Of course 🙂 But are judges very clever at giving the dogs more than one option for a potential tunnel entry on course. Of course haha 🙂And yes, for game 2 – it is building up to the distance: adding the wing before and the jump(s) after to help cue the lines. The tunnel independence and exits become important in that game too.
Have fun!
TracyPerfect! I think you will see those soft turns more on course than you will see those wraps on the tunnel exit (at least for now LOL!!)
Tracy
Hello and welcome!!!!! I am excited to see you here 🙂 I can’t believe that Wager is 7 already, time is moving too fast! Spot is ready for all of this stuff 🙂 Fingers crossed for quick field drainage!!!
>>We do UKI and USDAA and will be headed for ASCA nationals the end of the month. I”m not expecting to see too many of the new trends there, but who knows?! I know at least one judge also does USDAA so there is a chance for it I guess.>>
You will definitely see these trends in UKI and USDAA in regular classes – not sure about what ASCA is doing in jumpers and standard in terms of trends but I do know that ASCA is well-known for having wicked gambles!!! So tunnel independence and finding lines after tunnels with you nowhere near the dog will help those skills for sure!!!
Have fun!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I will get a kick out of working the tunnel skills for game 1, since Enzo is pretty GREAT at it in isolation. At trial speed with other stuff happening, not so much.
Yes – it requires a lot of collection while the handler accelerates and so in isolation… easiest of the peasiest. In the heat of the moment? So much harder!!!! And also it can be dangerous to the dog – if the dog doesn’t collect, he can do pinballing around in the tunnel 🙂 It is similar to a weave entry with collection needed, but with scary consequences if the dog doesn’t understand how to do it.
>> Good dog, training went well (the advice I had was to set up a course made up of all tunnels).
Ha! My dogs want to run that course too LOL!!!!!
>>Today, I had my in-person class and we had a weave/tunnel discrimination. That was tough but Enzo stepped up. What he had trouble with was collecting for the tunnel entrance at speed with me a long ways away. Instead, he was happy to run the length of the tunnel to the blind entrance and PAST it to volunteer the weaves again. 😊 I realize this isn’t for week 1 but I hope we work our way up to this kind of challenge.>>
Yep! That is part of the reason we are starting with the tunnels like this – because of all the new-fangled discriminations we are seeing such as the weave/tunnel discrimination. In this class, I won’t be posting specific games for weave-tunnel discriminations because of the “equipment required” for the class (didn’t include weaves) but I will certainly be posting where they will be seen and you can 1000% replace a jump with weaves if you wanted to work the discriminations with weaves. I work it with jumps first (or wings) and then the weaves replace the jumps. Let me know if that makes sense… I am still a little sleep-deprived from CanAm haha!!
Have fun!
TracyHi!
He did really well with his tunnel commitments here! One suggestion is to always use your tunnel verbal to “name” the obstacle, not just directionals. A common trend is the tunnel being part of a discrimination that the directional could also apply to, so try to use your tunnel verbal to commit then add in your directionals. You did that tunnel then go verbals when you started angles at about :16 and those reps were spot on!>> I am late for every left and right directional!!!
Not true, you had some that were spot on like at :33 🙂 But yes, overall you can be sooner on the left and right verbals. It will get easier to work the timing when we add more to this game – so you can head to game 2 now which adds other obstacles 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! Looks like nice courses and great weather!
This is an interesting video… it is the same behavior as he does at home at the fence! I think he has done it when he sees someone walking by, if I recall correctly? So the good news is that it is easy to re-create with the leash removal and reward for staying with you and NOT taking off to chase things on the other side of the fence.
He was a good boy to come back and run really well! And congrats on your other successes, it sounds like a great weekend!
Tracy
Good morning!
All members of Team Toller did a great job here. I was especially happy with how they were using their bodies to collect for the tunnel entries on the harder sends – that is a MASSIVE trend nowadays and we need the dogs to be able to use their bodies properly. Good job, Tollers!!!!! They all had excellent commitment to that entry.
>> I think I was doing a pretty consistent job of cuing “go” shortly before they entered the tunnel, but the dogs differed in how much they checked in with me exiting.
I agree! Good timing, good energy! Presto and Nikko maybe had a tiny check in on the very first rep – then they looked straight for the rest of the reps. Presto might have been the best at it because we have just spent the last 14 months or so teaching him directionals on tunnel exits LOL!!!! Nikko was strong too, though. Sole indeed wanted to look for you more – and that is good information! Especially if that is more of who she is – I suggest do a HIGH volume of these go go go tunnel exits and then finding obstacles after the tunnel without you there (see Game 2 for that) with a ton of thrown reinforcement. Throw early, throw often (that is my motto hahaha) and that will help her to explode up the line. I am confident she will still ne nice and tight when you need her to be, but this can help her really get more speed on the flat coming out of the tunnels.
>> My hand goes up rather high when I’m sending all the way to the other end – I think I just do that automatically when I’m doing an “out”. In this case, I said “out” and then “tunnel” to tell them to drive away from me. Seemed to work…but I don’t know if that’s an unnecessarily wild hand.>>
I think the high arm might bite you if it was the very first rep or first send on a course. All 3 dogs had a little question on the very first high arm here (Presto at :13, Nikko at :45, Sole at 1:21) where they zigged in towards you then zagged back out. And Nikko and Sole briefly considered the tunnel exit rather than the entry. They all only asked the question once, because they had already done a few reps and then after it got rewarded so had no more questions. So try to have to arm lower, more like bowling 🙂 That can keep your chest pointed the correct direction then you can get rid of the questions.
Question for you: when you use the out verbal, what does it mean specifically? For example. my out verbal means that the dog should lead change away from me so I would not use it on these sends (the dog is turning towards me to find the tunnel entry). But if it means something different for your dogs, then yes, use it! We want to keep the verbals super consistent for when you are not anywhere near the dogs and they have to do it all on their own.
Great job here!!! You can definitely add in Game 2 now 🙂
TracyHello and welcome!!
>>a lot of skills but not a lot of polish
Now I have an earworm, I am sure it was deliberate LOL!!!
>> She particularly struggles with lines out of a tunnel.
Do you mean getting on lines after the tunnel? If so, you are going to like game #2 this week 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi!
This was a really useful session! We can see where the borders of her tunnel commitment are especially when you are not moving.Question: are your left and right verbals for the full wrap on the tunnel exit, or more of a 90 degree line? If they are full wraps all the way back towards you, keep rewarding on the line back to you. If they are more like 90 degree exits, you can change the reward placement to toss the ball out on that 90 degree line (and not near you) to further solidify the turn and meaning of the verbal.
>> I also learned that I need to wait until she is actually running in the tunnel before giving the turn cue – she turned and popped right out when I gave it too soon.
Yes! She totally had some questions there. A suggestion is to use the Manners Minder to help answer her questions – you can place the MM out on an angle for the left or right turns. Then shape the independence with successive approximations by clicking the MM when she is in the tunnel (rather than waiting for the exit). I have also placed the MM actually inside the tunnel to help the dogs get really independent, then gradually fade it out and off ot the side. That will help her get her eyes on the tunnel and not on where you are LOL!!! And if my memory is correct, she really loves the MM 🙂
And you can balance things with the big GO GO GO and throw a tennis ball.
That can help strengthen her commitment so you can deliver the cues early and not have to wait til she is inside the tunnel – that will both give her earlier info and also will allow you to not have to be perfect with timing the verbals when she is fully inside the tunnel.
>>I also think my positioning (on the side I wanted her to turn to) was a big cue clue. I assume you’ll be asking us to do these verbals from contradictory sides or at least straight on…I do believe that will be trickier for us.>>
Yes, your position is a big cue – eventually you will want to do them from straight on and with more motion. And yes,m eventually from the opposite side but (thankfully) that is not as big of a trend at the moment 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
She was ON FIRE for that tennis ball, holy cow!!!! Love it! She sees to like it the best out of all possible rewards. That is great! She did really well with her tunnels sends – she was really thinking about finding her entries on the harder angles – making a big effort to use her body properly and not have any “splat” moments. That is good!And yes, things are really evolving and tunnel independence is becoming a big piece of the puzzle. She was great here! Onwards to the next game 🙂
Tracy
Hello and welcome back! I think both boy will have fun with these 🙂 I am looking forward to your updates!
Tracy
