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Good morning! Or is it evening there? Sunrise here!
Good work keeping the walk through as part of your training! You can see how well it it works – Ruse’s runs were lovely and we got good info for Hero. And it seems like your pace is good compared to the speed of the dogs – I think the walk through pace was a little ahead of the actual pace of the run which is fine, as long as you are connected to remember that the dogs are behind you. I will keep bugging you to emphasize that connection all the way through the walk through, remember to look back for the dog the whole time.
Hero’s run:
Your walk through connection 2-3 matched your run connection here: you got a little bit of connection then turned your shoulders away to do the blind. It is not necessarily ‘wrong’ to do that, if the dog can process the cue and go to the backside (Ruse!) but Hero is less experienced so you need to hold that connection longer to get him to the backside. I think all of my dogs have been through that stage of needing more support to get to the backside.
Then you were too far over on the line so he took 1 again. Then what was happening was you were calling him into handler focus with a strong name call after the #2 tunnel then pointing forward on the push to 3, which turned your shoulders to the front of the jump – you can keep going even after an elimination because that might happen at a trial and you can still use it as a practice for recovering from the bobble.Note the difference at :30 and :50 when he got the backside at 3 – you can see how much longer the connection needs to be in place (til he is almost at the backside wing) for him to commit to it. That his a young dog thing, he just needs one more step and one more heartbeat of connection to get that backside.
The rest looked good after that, good job clearing his line after the BC 5-6 so he could read the wrap to the right!
Glad you did the wrap to the left at the end, I timed it – even though it was a little wider because the blind was late, it was still significantly faster.
Ruse:
Ruse did well here too! The push to 3 went well both times – you were more connected, for a little longer, than the first couple of reps with. Hero, and I don’t think you were calling her name so she never went into handler-focus. Did you run her after your ran Hero? If so, you might have been more on the ‘rhythm’ of getting that backside. It is also possible that she has better understanding of backside commitment so you can ‘release’ the connection to move into the blind sooner than with Hero. One more stride of connection was the difference here, so be sure to really exaggerate it with him.The rest looked good too. I timed the ending lines with her as well, and the FC to the left was also significantly faster (and the FC was really timely!) So if the wrap to the right was your first choice but it turned out to be slower, be sure to check your planning and do the 3-part process:
– better landing spot for extension (left wrap)
– better line (fewest turns) to the next part of the sequence (right wrap, by a little)
– shortest distance (left wrap, or at least it was when I set it up :))So it is a 2-1 that the left wrap should be faster there even though the exit line was not as pretty. In fact, I think both of your dogs looked lovely going to the right!! But… we like to win so even though the left wrap was not as pretty (it was not pretty when I ran it with mine, either), it is the winning line 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! The course was hard, but not above your pay grade 🙂 The only real training thing is the dog walk exit because the way you handled it is the best way – a rear cross to get the 4 jump and the 5 tunnel. The dogs need to understand how to exit the dog walk, which is did better on the 2nd time but then ended up on the backside.
The rest of it was better than you think! The “bones” of it are in place. Little details of timing are the only real thing – and I suggest a different strategy for that 6-7-8-9-10 section. Your strategy was good and when you ran it the 2nd time, it went well! The first time was a bit unclear – the wrap cue on the 8 backside did look likes a slice cue as you reached across the bar. I think you don’t need the left hand involved at all on those, you can cue the wrap and move forward through it which should take the slice off the table entirely.
Another option – rather than go to the inside of 8 (the side closer to the teeter – go to the outside of 8 to slice to 9. You can blind on 7 (German turn) to send to 8 on your left, then be more in position for the switch at 9.Th middle section went well! The ending line was harder. He did better on the 2nd run at 13-14 when you told him to jump just once, rather than urgently calling him – he stayed on the line better rather than come off of it. And because turning tight on the tunnel exit is NOT his favorite, I think the timing of the turn on the exit of 16 needs to come no later than 6 feet before he enters it (you were late on these) – it can be a super loud tunnel break or similar verbal and even a spin, done so early you feel like it might pull him off. Then you will know exactly when he needs to see it, to convince him to turn and not carry out straight (which is a useful skill in other scenarios :))
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Have a criteria of ‘keeping bars up’ is really difficult, because soooo much info goes into the dog needing to know how to keep the bars up. I think he is not getting the info, so he is failing a lot: the rates of success for the 4 videos were 40%, 33%, 75%, 25% respectively for an average of 43% – ideally it is up over 90%. And, bear in mind that a lot of the rewards came after the tunnel, so they were not directly associated with the jumping (and some of the punishment for the bars down came pretty late, and there were some times you stopped & didn’t reward and I could not tell why – ticking bars? If so, there were lots of times where he ticked but didn’t stop, so it was not consistent there.
Because the rate of success is pretty low, I worry that we will build in frustration behaviors or conditioned responses that we don’t want, like stress. So I think it is important to set him up to be more successful.
4 ideas for you:
– work your timing to be earlier on low bars first – on the 12 inch bars, he can keep them up even when you are late so you can be MUCH earlier with those too. Then gradually raise them: 12 to 18 is a big change, so I would do a session that starts at 12 ,goes to 14 and ends on 12 as he fatigues. Then if yo guest 2 sessions of 90% success or better – go to 14 to start, with a little 16, then back to 14. And so on, based on success rate.– spread the sequence out so you have more room between jumps – that way you have more time to make the handling adjustments and he has more room to adjust his striding. He basically needs to see the next cue starting no later than landing of the previous jump.
– because keeping bars up is basically about handler timing (he is not required to save you if you are late or unclear 🙂 – you can work these sequences at 18” but lock the bars into the jump cups so he can’t drop them. If you hear him tick the bar? Take it as info that you are either late or disconnected, but don’t stop handling. Stopping him a tick is hard to do on a timely or consistent basis, so it will contribute to a low rate of success and will probably confuse him.
– And be hyper aware of your rate of success at all times: if you punish the bar once, ok…. but more than once? You need to make it easier so the entire session is reinforcement other than that once time.What height is he jumping in his conditioning program, and are you moving while he is jumping?
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi! He looked really engaged before you took the leash off, then he was outta there like a shot. Hmmm… I could not tell if you cued something or did he choose to leave? You can work that scenario with cuing a behavior, taking the leash off, cuing a behavior – then releasing him for tree running!
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>> Acting is not my strong skill 🤣. I have to get my face botox-ed into oblivion so I don’t make faces at my patients when they tell me off the wall things.
Perfect, you get to practice it many times a day, then LOL! ALso, with humans, it is OK to say they are incorrect LOL!
>>I think I’m not understanding the difference between avoiding start and stop and rewarding all the things.>>
Good question. It is the difference between:
THAT WAS GREAT YOU ROCKED IT YESSSSSSS
And ok here is your friz, let’s try again. (And then repeating the same thing several times, most dogs think that is an indicator of something is wrong)It comes back to reinforcement. Looking at the skills videos from the other day, he did a thing and you reinforced with full on engagement like he was totally correct.
When things went wrong in the course work you reinforced him… but after trying to fix it, or with a lot less engagement because you were already splitting your focus back to what you wanted to try next.Dogs spend their whole lives sorting out reinforcement, so he knows the difference between the HECK YEAH YOU NAILED IT and the ‘meh, here is your friz, I am already thinking about what is next’.
So like with everything, it comes back to reinforcement.
>> I just feel like sometimes we get so off track that I can’t get the flow going again?
In those moments, you don’t have to get a flow going- just run, have a party, throw the reward.
>>Any suggestions on how to re-establish flow? Or if I can’t just stop?
If it has gone off the rails, stop like it was the end of a brilliantly successful sequence and party as if you won the Worlds. Flow is secondary to reinforcement.
>>If I think about how to get back on for more than a second, usually when he will want to check out because he knows it’s not correct. I really would like to get through a full course fighting for week 5, but not feeling hopeful.>>
I think if we can sort out the reinforcement procedures, then the summer CAMP experience will be far more valuable in the long term than getting through any of the courses. As a student, I rarely get through sequences in seminars – but the experiences are incredibly valuable for establishing the procedures that my dogs need. I save the good course running for trials 🙂
>>So the connection part of the walk through will be less about the visualization and more about remembering where he is behind you and to look at the obstacles behind you in those moments
This one is the challenge because I feel like he will be ahead of me most of the time- which is incorrect and I need to break that 😅>>
Correct! Your plans are planned based on him being behind you, so you need to keep reminding yourself that he cannot land behind you in one heartbeat then be 10 feet ahead in the next heartbeat 🙂
T
Hi!
Forced fronts: looking good! Because she is small-ish, feel free to bend over so your cue hand is down at her nose-level. This helps the dogs focus on it in the higher arousal of trial settings. It is a little more challenging for the stay (she will want to release as you lower your hand to position) so yo can isolate that without a jump to be able to reward the stay.
And yes, keep rewarding the stay like you did – she might have been anticipating that the position was the release? So you can get into position, praise then either release or throw the reward back.
Yes, on the first sequence, I was handling 3 as a backside – more connection will help her see it (keeping your arm back and looking at her) as well as the verbal. You were looking forward which caused your shoulders to turn to the front side, so she came into the front side.The throwback at 1:22 was harder – you can look at the landing spot there as you throw back to the jump – looking at her was too much of a turn cue for such a responsive dog 🙂 She didn’t go into the tunnel there –
You stopped moving, turned and reached for reward as she was approaching the tunnel, so she had a question about going into it – she sees everything LOL! Much better at 2:00 when you kept moving with better connection.She is definitely doing better about fixes! But keep rewarding, keep rewarding, keep rewarding. Because of the pandemic, I have watched probably quadruple the number of handling videos in the past 18 months than I normally would have, and there are two definites in my dogs and student dogs:
– 99% of on course errors are handling errors
– If we don’t reward, the dogs deflate.
So even though she stuck with you – just reward the errors then reset, and don’t mark them. An example is when she didn’t take the jump on the rear cross at 2:54 – it was a handling error (your footwork pushed her off the line) and she got marked and no reward. There was a quick reset and reward, but you can reward, reset and reward again (she won’t be sad about that LOL!)
Then at 3:10 she got it but she saved you a bit – rather than stop to ask if she is OK, cheer and reward – it will be a more valuable use of reinforcement.
Building up resilience to handling errors is something that we all obsess on (because we can’t be perfect handlers :)) and the key is tons of reinforcement paired into the handling errors. So if I end up rewarding something in the 1% (or more Iike the .1% haha) when the dog might have been wrong? No big deal 🙂 But if I withhold reinforcement when I have created the error, even if I don’t know why/how it happened? Then frustration builds in and we lose the dog in the moments where resilience matters most: in the trial ring when there is no primary reinforcement immediately available.>> And since that obstacle was after a new hard skill I didn’t ever really stop her after missing the backside. Also I was confused as to if I was handling it well at all so I kinda didn’t expect her to do>>
Totally agree with this approach! You were like “well, that was me, so let’s just keep going” and she was happy! When you handled it correctly for the backside, she was good!
To be honest, before the pandemic I would have encouraged more of the quick fixes before the reinforcement, but watching all of this video in the last 20 months has changed my mindset a lot, it is like doing a research project! Even those quick fix moments can be frustrating for the dog (because they were correct in the first place) so keep going like you did there, or reward then fix then reward.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Nice job with the various options here!!! Looking at the different runs:You had a dance moment of rotating towards her then opening up to the post turn at 2 at :10 so she had a question there. You can connect on the BC between 3-4 sooner, turn your head as soon as you think she will go into the tunnel – that will tighten that line from 3-4 more.
You did a spin on 2 at :33 and she went somewhere LOL! I think it was a distraction moment at 2?
The BC on landing side of 4 at :50 was great! LOVED this!Wrapping to the inside (right turn) at 1:00 was really nice, she was tight and fast and you were connected!!! You did a FC on the landing side of 4 at 1:09 – it took you longer to get off her line (because FC rotations take longer than blinds) and so she had to wait for you. I like the blind there better for sure.
Last rep – the Spin on 2 at 1:20 slows her down – she is really responsive so she might not need such a powerful turn cue. I think a send-and go post turn would be both a great turn and fastest for her there if you wanted to try that! It is easier for you as well, so it would be great if she didn’t need the spin 🙂 You can try leading out less and moving into the spin, so there is more acceleration into it but that might be a lot of work for a result that is not as good as the send-and-go 🙂
And you ended with a lovely BC on landing of 4 at 1:26 – that definitely is an effective tool for her, she was tight and fast. Yay!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
I think concentrating on the important verbals and not all the verbals worked well – the reality is that we don’t need a verbal for every single jump but those important verbals (like the backside verbals) are key!Walk through went really well –
Good job getting the plan fast and installing the connections fast!
My only handling suggestion is a blind after the last backside instead of a FC 9-10 because it turns your feet to the next line sooner and also gets you off his line sooner.
And a walk through suggestion: get to the fast moving walk through sooner so you can go fast several times before the walk through is over. Handling those connections (the hardest part of this sequence) are easy when you are moving slowly but much harder at a run especially 5-6-7-8-9 section.On the run –
To keep him happy and listening to his feedback, you can totally reward and start over on #1, he was lined up facing past 1 so it was a legit bit of feedback from him when he ran past 1 (he would have had to move away to take it). Young dogs are pretty literal. Lining up to be facing #1 goes on the list of things to plan in the walk through! And you can separately teach him to find #1 even if the line up is not perfect – that is a skill that improves as the dogs get more experienced.
When you did get him going, the run went well – the connections go shaky 7-8-9 because you had to run fast and connect – he had a little question 8-9 but got it. When you ran it the 2nd time, your connections were great on that whole 6-7-8-9 section (because you had already rehearsed it at speed). So if you rehearse it at speed during the walk through, you’ll nail it on the first run 🙂He did have to wait a little for you to get off his line on the FC 9-10 on both runs – he just added a couple of small strides to wait for you to move off the line – as he was jumping, you were still in the landing spot. FC Rotation takes longer than blinds, so this would be fun to try with a blind and see how he does!
Great job here! And for the trial coming up… try to get the running with connection in during the walk through! You might need to squeeze past people or find parts of the course that’s are not densely populated, but it is totally worthwhile 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
A couple of ideas for you:
On one run, do your outside the ring routine as usual then go into the ring a little later so you can get right to the line, see what he offers for a line up, accept it then lead out. If he sits at your side, cool, go with that (don’t ask for something different Which effectively tells him he was incorrect).
And on the runs: emphasize your connections and trust him more on the lines. If he runs past a jump, connect more but keep going. Go for speeeeeeed and don’t fix any oopsies. If being in the trial ring is as fun as the lines you got from the weaves to the end on the JWW run, then you will find that he gets much more relaxed in the whole environment. If there are fixes or struggles, he will be tense and we don’t want that. So, connect, call, run, trust, go fast fast fast, no fixing – no worries about the Q because Qs will not be a problem for him, it is more about looking at the long term of getting being in the ring to be the MOST fun 🙂Tracy
Hi!
I will get onto the laptop this afternoon to see if I can fix the order, but for now let’s just keep the replies going here and see if we can get it back in order LOL!!I am glad you like this exercise – it is a complete game changer for me! It is a pain in the butt when it is hot and it is a bit exhausting… but totally worth it because we learn how to run the dogs clean and fast 🙂
This video is marked unavailable, though – can you reset it to unlisted? Looking forward to seeing it!
TracyYes, the lockdowns have really thrown everything off in terms of timelines. It is nothing we can control, so if it takes longer to get the youngsters into the ring, then that is what it takes. 2 of my youngsters are well past the age that any of my other agility dogs have started their careers… but covid. So for now I am working on getting them comfortable in the environments, even if it means just going to the park like you mentioned. I figure Hot Sauce can be trialing in September, Contraband can start doing some “not for competition” in September (he will be 2 in October) and Elektra will start in February or March when she is almost 2. As my Flyball instructor reminds me “It takes as long as it takes” and getting the dogs comfort in the environment is the most important thing.
Good morning!
This went really well! You executed it pretty much as you walked it, And that is exactly what we want, with one notable difference:
On the walk through at 3-4, you connected but kept moving.
On the run at 3-4, you connected and stopped moving: so she head checked. Staying in motion there will smooth it out.Everything else looked really good! No worries about the tick caused by running into the trees LOL!
One suggestion… I think you might be using too much outside arm (this might be what you meant by saying there was perhaps too much connection at :32, I agree with that) – I don’t think you need it for connection or for the easier backside pushes like at 3. You can try running with less opposite arm – I mention it because the opposite arm slows yo down and causes you to lean back (like at :32) – if you can connect and stay in motion, you’ll have better running lines overall!Great job here! Stay cool!!!
TracyGood morning!
Awwww good Border Collie in the shade! 80 degrees is not too terrible but he is smart to keep himself cool!Bummer about the video of the walk through and run! I am particularly interested in the turn on the tunnel to the weave entry. Hmmmmmmm!
And who are the judges that don’t look at the DW as much? I might need the list when the youngsters start trialing LOL!
T
Hi! I re-watched that 4-5 section in super slow motion: I think when he sees you facing him for the FC when he exited the #3 tunnel, even for that heartbeat, that sits him back a bit (even though you kept moving through it) and he lifts his head. So he was thinking about it the handling and added a stride on the distance between jumps, rather than looking at the line the whole time. I think it would be fun to see the difference with a BC there. He does not go to any unexpected places anymore 🙂 plus the blinds get you to better places so it is worth a try!
Tracy
I think initially the toy was more about retrieving for a cookie but then maybe he realized there were cookies in it or it was fun to tug – this can happen as state of arousal changes and he was then tugging like a wild man in a good way (you turned up his volume dial LOL!)
SOmething to experiment with in upcoming trials at the start line is to see if he is more of an all-business type of guy pro he needs LOTS of tricks – I think for now he does best when you get him to leap up, that is such a great trick!
He definitely had trouble with the ‘remote reward’ where he had to walk away from it to the start line – on the first rep, he was really cautious in his movement. You had the toy in your hand, so try to leave th toy behind you outside the ring too. Note how hard it was at the end – he had to take himself for a run to the trees! I think the remote reward is something to be practiced regularly because it is the hardest thing. You can always have a chair outside your sequence. And maybe once out of every 4 or 5 runs, you let him see you leave all the stuff on the chair and then run the course and then cue him to go with you to the chair. You don’t have to (or want to) do this ALL the time, but if you can make a reward chair and remote reward a predictable part of the routine, I think it will really help at trials where you have to leave stuff outside the ring on all runs except NFC runs.
Great job here!
Tracy
