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Good morning!
Hooray for the success of the pattern game! It is a great life skill and will also transfer to sport 🙂 I don’t think he wanted to take his eyes off of you at all LOL! How did it go after the hike?
Extra double gold star when Tenzing barked at the pedestrian and Nuptse looked *but then was able to return his engagement to you!!!* YES! Being on leash helped, but he also never even went to the end of the leash – super!
The next steps would be to do more outside the trial ring. And did you get a change to look at the variations I posted in Package 5? The variations allow for small spaces, like when you are waiting on line to go in the ring 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
>> I really thought you could see better if I gave carrie the camera. My apologies in advance for the Blair witch project like footage 🤢
Ha! It was fine LOL!
On the walk through video, it was a little hard to see the back are of the walk through with the sun glare, so I am mainly looking at the stuff closer to the camera. You had good ideas for the plan – the main thing is the line after the DW which is a difficult decision for sure!
The handling plan had percolated by 2:30, so that is when you should add in connection. In the past, one thing I have done is set a timer on my phone for 2 minutes, at which point I needed to lock in the plan and move to working the connections looking back to the invisible dog (otherwise we can all spend the whole time planning and not leave time to rehearse – planning and rehearsing are not the same). You were looking ahead on the line after the dog walk (good camera view) which rehearses not giving info to him, since he would be behind you at that point. Since you can’t really visualize Fever, no problem: in the rehearsal stages, you can look behind you at the obstacles, I think it will work out to be the same in terms of getting the handling prepared for the run.
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.
Your last walk through moments had good speed going! So I think the final (and biggest) piece of the puzzle is the rehearsal of knowing where he will be and turning your head that direction.On the first run – opening looked good. The rear cross was probably the best choice for getting a successful lead out, and he read the turn and found the 2nd tunnel. Layering tunnel-tunnel like that will help him build that skill into bigger distances and adding in different obstacles. Yay!
He got out to he backside nicely – Because we don’t want him to continue to rehearse running past the bar on the backside, you can modify the jump after the yellow tunnel by turning it 90 degrees, so he has an easy line to the bar and doesn’t run past it. And as you train it, you can then angle that type of jump back into the true backside position.
At :23 you stopped, said good boy, then cued the wrap s othe bar came down – I think that was the only praise moment and the rest of the verbal work was pretty informational – nice job making that adjustment!
After the DW walk, handling with it on your right: You need more rear cross pressure on the line to the jump after the DW at :29. Be converging the whole time towards the center of the bar – you can be converging as he is on the dog walk, rather than running parallel then converging to cue the RC. It is on my list of things to train for the RDW because the dogs need to understand how to continue straight through the contract even as I converge.
Then – the walk through rehearsal bit you – you ran up the line without connection back to him (you were looking forward to the jumps) so he just ran after you. Then there was some start and stop – and At :52 he gave up and got picked up 🙁 When a disconnect happens and he takes nothing but still chases your running path: just reward him. No need to fix it in the moment! Just pretend it was snooker or bypass training and throw the frisbee like he has just won at Worlds. If there is even the slightest chance it is your handling error (and as a fellow handler, I will tell you that it is 99% chance a handling error LOL!) then just reward and don’t let him know it was wrong (because he did the best he could with the info provided). If you fix or stop or pick him up… it builds frustration into being on course and that is why he struggled later on as well.
On the 2nd run –
Another good good opening line, he found the backside nicely!! At 1:40 didn’t know which side to be on and hit the wing – doing the blind sooner will help smooth that out so he can adjust before takeoff.Handling with the DW on your left works too and it was a good option to try – it is a fine line of that send to the jump after it and quickly turning so he doesn’t read it as a rear cross there – one step should do it, then turning for the next jump.
Then – connect on the line after the DW so he can see it. He is very honest!>> There was something in the back of the yard he found very interesting when we were not doing well in handling.
I think when he came out of the tunnel sniffing at 215 then called an Uber, it was more about frustration than it was about anything smelling good – that is why it is so critical to not let the frustration creep into the runs. Reward all the things, all the time, no fixing. Just go fast fast fast fast!
I like the speed line you were doing there and I think he needs the courses adjusted to that for more speed and higher success to help get rid of the frustrations – that will increase motivation exponentially!>> I am say, after each breakdown, he was able to come back which is tremendous.
Yes he was able to come back however… we don’t want him to have to come back, we want him to have a great time out there with high success rates. So basically – you either have to do super well in the handling (which is easier said than done for any of us) or you have to act like you’ve done super well in the handling – acting is easy! SOmething goes wrong? He doesn’t need to know, just whoop it up and throw the reward 🙂 He knows it is wrong when you stop or fix, and when the reward is not heartfelt – all of that builds frustration.
Raising the rate of success will allow you to play with the crazy handling too – because it won’t matter to him if you get it right or not (he won’t know,, he will just let you know how he reads it) and he will get paid for all the things as if they were all perfect 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I am glad she is feeling better! Yay! These are good skills to work on as she is getting back into things – easy on the body, hard on the brain LOL! But she didn’t have trouble at all!
1st video:
Interesting that she wanted to turn left and head towards the tunnel on the wing turned out past the tunnel (on the left side of the screen) – that was definitely a side preference moment and it was good to work her through it! She had an easy peasy time on the rest, good girl!!!! No problems going from the jump to the wing and ignoring the tunnels.2nd video:
She is also doing well here. She didn’t seem to look at any of the off course possibilities, good girl! It was hard to see, she might have had a couple of questions when you took her past the tunnel entry on the way to the jump, but she was pretty perfect on the rest – that is super!!!!Great job here!
TracyMaple
Hi there!
1st video:
The mountain climbers are going really well. She seems happy to run up the teeter (she was totally starting without you LOL!) and this will be useful for angles of entry because she is big. My only suggestion is to duct tape a spoon to the underside of the top of the ramp and leave the reward in it, so she can run to it and the cookie will be there even if you are not 🙂 That will get even more speed and independence.2nd video:
She did well driving to your hand on the lap turns! You were using the hand on the far side of the wing – to get the cue going, use the hand next to the wing. More like what you did at :45, where you also did a great job with the lap turn.
She was a little confused on the next 2 reps – it was because you were moving your leg too soon. Keep your feet together til she is a couple of inches from your hand – then move your hand and step back with your leg. You had great timing of it on the very last rep when you switched sides!Last video:
The Race Tracks were great! When you were connected, she was fast and happy on the lines around the wings and to the tunnels. There was only one little disconnection – at 1:40,you moved your arm forward and looked forward, so she didn’t take the tunnel. Baby dogs need very clear connection, more like what you did at :38, for example.
You were doing kind of a tandem/lap combo on the first one, where you were a big sideways. The 2nd rep was more of a lap turn where you faced her and that was smooth! To get the tandem turn, you would be facing forward to the wing and using your upper body to cue the coming in to you then flipping back out. The line of motion is different with the lap versus tandem, but she is doing well understanding how to turn away!Great job here!
TracyHi!
I am glad there was a little kerfuffle with the walk through to the run, it gives us a chance to play with ideas for the walk through.>>. I did what I didn’t want to do, and did a FC rather than a BC after the first tunnel.
Yes, your body really wanted that FC! When you feel that happening, you can try marking your line differently. For example, rather than looking back at her as much, you can help get the BC into your soul 🙂 by, while she is in the tunnel, looking forward to 7 to locate it then look back at her on your new side
That will create the blind a lot better. Looking back to her might decelerate you, which might feel like a weight shift, which creates the FC.>>though I called her and moved laterally, I was facing the jump straight ahead. Also, Keiko could see me doing the FC from inside the tunnel and I’m sure she read it as a directional cue and charged ahead.
She was 100% correct – the FC there set up a perfect line to the off course jump, you can reward when she does that or keep going as if it was correct. When you re-ran it, the BC was great!!!
The rest looked really terrific! Even though you were still being careful, she was very fast!! Loved it!!!
>>Oh, my, but this girl keeps me honest
Correct! If you cue it, she’s gonna go do it and go do it FAST. When she is more experienced, she’ll save your butt sometimes 🙂 but as a youngster, she is going to give you very exact feedback 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>Rebecca did think I could get more speed out of him once I improve my timing and he better understands handling cues.
I totally agree – he doesn’t really understand yet how much fun those big courses are and how exciting trials are. When he gets into the big ring and you really get running? He is gonna feel the wind in his hair and you will need to hustle to keep up LOL!
>>Once the glow has subsided I will start working on those force front crosses (the bane of my existence!
I am excited to un-bane them!! LOL!
TI think the key is going to be continuing to expose her to the distractions in a controlled way where you can really reinforce her – first on leash, then building to off leash, then building to agility. Access to those environments is definitely critical, and if we don’t have regular access, it will take longer. I have not been to an agility trial since March 2020 (covid…) and I am supposed to go to one in September. 2 of the young dogs are entered but my plan is on-leash engagement games until I believe they will not leave me. I am pretty sure one will be fine (she just ran in a flyball tournament) but I am not so sure about the other. He is 22 months old – but I had very limited access to distracting training environments, so I can’t move things along faster until I can train him in those environments. I have done road trips for training and also other sports and that helps!
T
Hi!
>>Please do because I think connection is definitely a struggle point for me. When I lose them on course I know it’s the connection.
That is pretty universal – the top reason things go wrong? Connection.
>>And if I haven’t obsessed enough on a course I turn to look quickly where I’m going as well.
That is why I obsess on rehearsing it in the walk through 🙂
>> I’ll practice this at the seminar. And I plan on finishing up this lesson too and really focusing on the walk pieces. I need to practice the obsessing, verbals, and only walking the decision points/hard parts.>>
Perfect! Part of it is finding the walk through rhythm that works for you. I try to get it all down to 5 minutes or less on the big courses, in case I am first dog on the line and need to leave the walk through early.
>>If the Open doesn’t get cancelled, we are planning on being there!
Fingers and toes are all crossed!
>>On a separate note, Emmie and I practiced our transition to trial games this past weekend at a trial. She seemed so much more relaxed (probably because she has trained at this facility). We played the pattern game and I got her out early before all the runs to acclimate. Much more focused on the startline (there were walls but still). Even outside the ring she was more comfortable even though this place is very cramped for walking around.
This is all great! It was probably a combination of the location and the pattern game. The pattern game is a better starting point than the instant focus game is – because it is about relaxation and acclimation. The ability to work comes when the dog is relaxed and acclimated 🙂
T
Hi there!
It has been an insane time for you! And of course, the computer croaks to top it all off. I feel that pain!!!!!But I am glad you jumped in for your favorite part of CAMP, the walk throughs! HA! And it is great because I am going to nitpick the tiny details because I think you and Enzo are ready for some seriously high level stuff (plus I read your facebook page so I know that when you are more aggressive in your handling, things go better :))
>>So it’s not exactly right.
No worries, every has a different strategy to the walk throughs – as long as it works and the runs are great, any strategy is worth using!
Totally fun to do this with other people, that opens up the whole can of worms of people being in the way, other people having different ideas, and so on.
I think you can be more aggressive in your handling choices. Seems to me that when you do so, your results are really great at home but more importantly… in trials. By more aggressive, I mean send, leave, run, push him and get in for the blinds 🙂 You are at the level now where it is not about running clean, it is about pushing hard 🙂 So while a FC 4-5 and a RC on the 9 tunnel are a fine plan, they are going to be a little slower than blinds there (both will produce more strides).
The 11 jump is a definite decision making moment (and the inside wrap should be faster, because it is a 2:1 decision: faster line to the last jump and less yardage compared to the better landing spot on the slice line) so it would be fun to try it both ways and compare!
On the last walk through, you are doing well with his pace here, I think you can ‘out pace’ it meaning try to go faster than you would need to. That will give you a good idea of where you will be, relative to him, in the heat of the moment. It will also challenge maintaining your connection, which is important to rehearse: you can add connection more on the exit of the FC at 4-5, serp to 9 and FC at 11-12. You were connecting for a heartbeat but then looking ahead (while the invisible dog would still be behind you) so that rehearses connection breaking and could mess up spatial awareness on your run, or create timing issues or he could miss finding the side change if the connection moves forward too quickly.
On the run – The FC worked but he did add a stride between 4-5, I think a blind cross would take it out for a faster line there.
On the 7-8-9 line, you realized you were way ahead so a serp to blind was a great option on 8. It hadn’t been rehearsed, so he was wide over 7 and stumbled a bit on landing of 8, and you were in a different position for 10 – that caused a chain reaction which resulted in a bit of a zigzag line: you looked forward to find your line for 10, so he jumped long over 10 (didn’t see the serp cue in time to turn), then the transition for the wrap to the outside was late so he was a little wide and fell on his head a little. So that is why I suggest trying for the blinds in the walk through so that you have the timing in place and can keep the lines fast & tight. When you do the full speed walk through, if you are convinced you can’t get the blind then you can always switch to the rear (but you will almost always be able to get the blind :))The side-by-side is already pretty comparable, which is great! The main difference was the urgency when the real dog was running – which is why you do the BC on 8 🙂 So we can take things up a notch 🙂 with a more urgent walk through, and more aggressive handling for sure, while maintaining your good sense of his pace.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyThis is so cool! Both dogs looked awesome, it looks like you had a great time! They looked like they were doing a great job and you looked super connected 🙂 YAY!!!! I am doing a little happy dance for you! I am glad the games here helped! We aren’t supposed to be perfect at seminars, but it looks like you got to play with all sorts of hard stuff!!!
And *excellent* choice of songs!!! It was really fun to watch 🙂Tracy
Hi there!
>>, how can I wait 6 – 9 more months to trial with her. She is so far ahead of where any of my other dogs have been. Then, sometimes I think, thank goodness I have 6 – 9 more months of training!
Ha! Yes, I totally understand! We *have* to wait til the dogs are at least 18 months because they are simply not physically or mentally mature enough to go into the ring successfully. Maybe a little bit of NFC play in the environment earlier? But really, nothing good comes of getting the dogs into the ring too early – it *always* ends up in frustration and/or needing to retrain things, or worst case scenario: injury because they are simply underdeveloped. A lot of people just look at growth plates being closed and that really has nothing to do with being physically or mentally ready. 18 months, 2 years, 2.5 years… it depends on the individual dog.
>>On a big picture, we are totally at the arguing at the start line place. Self starting, sometimes when I walk away and sometimes after I get to my position but have not verbally released yet. She loves playing fetch with her Xtra large holee roller. We have starting doing a stay when I toss it (ever so lightly) and not releasing until she hears her verbal. That happens almost every evening when it cools down. It is improving. I expect that should help.>>
yes, that game sounds fun and should help. Be SUPER consistent with your releases and also be aware of the rhythm of your releases. For example, a lot of people disconnect when they lead out then say the release when they stop moving, or when they look back at the dog. So is the verbal cue the actual release? Nope, not according to the dog – the re-connection is the release, or the stop in motion. And the dog is the reflection of what you have taught, they are not ever wrong about that. So be careful of how you release, and also be sure you don’t release after she has started moving 🙂 More below.
>>Video 1 is the longer lead out and lines exercise.
Looking at the lead outs on this video – the release was unclear on the first run – either she started moving when you turned your head/moved your arm and before the verbal, or simultaneously with it. On the 2nd run, you wee connected as you walked away but released and moved simultaneously. On the 3rd release – motion and release were simultaneous. So you need to be able to get to position, move your arm, make connection, take a breath and then say your release. You will want to do short lead outs for now and reward a lot, because I think she believes the release has to do with motion and not the verbal.
First run went really well – good BC 3-4! The wrap to her right at 4 looked nice and tight – stay connected as you exit it. You looked forward so she slowed down to wait for more info. You can BC gain 8-9 but also keep turning, calling and connecting on the last 2 jumps – she was wide then looked at you, dropping the bar at the end. On the 2nd run – another nice BC 3-4 and you were more connected after the wrap on 5, very nice!!! Keep moving after the FC – when you stand still an then power forward out of it, she gets too much of an acceleration cue so jumps long over 9.
On the 3rd run, you did the FC between 2 and 3 – it went well too! I think the BC 3-4 works a little better for her because it tightens the line and she has a tighter line over 4 on those.>> However, I did not try to tighten her line around 4, which would give us an opportunity to try the left at #5. She was flying around 4 to 5 on the incorrect lead to try that.
Yes, you would have to change her lead to get the left turn on 5, but that could be very worthwhile to do because it might end up on the faster line (and plus it is good rear cross practice :))
Forced fronts:
>>The forced front was problematic. First I felt she was coming in with too much speed and not recognizing that she needed to collect. I do think she started to understand that and will as we continue to work on itI agree – she needs more understanding of what to do on those. She seemed to know to come to the backside (good girl!) but not what to do when she got there. It is a placement of reinforcement issue – al the reward as coming from your hands, so she was focused on your hand. To train this, have the reward pre-placed on the landing spot (yes, she will have to run past it in order to get to the backside!). When she arrives on the backside, do the FC and cue her to get the toy. This will give her an understanding of where to look (at the bar and not at your hands) and what to do when she arrives at the backside. You were trying to make it happen with handling, but it is a trained skill. I recommend a placed toy and not a thrown toy because if you throw it, she will be watching your hands no matter how perfect your timing is 🙂
>> I realize that the handler had NO consistency on positioning to help Indy out. I need to determine what works best for her.
For now, position yourself in the classic forced front position: at the entry wing, close enough to touch it, with the dog-side arm and leg visible to her (this is the arm and leg next to the wing).
>> I also think I was very late in rotating.
You can rotate sooner, but I think the more important thing will be getting her to look for the bar as she arrives at the backside and not at you, using the reward on the landing side.
>>Then I thought I would show her the contrast of the flow for 1 – 4, but I could not get jump 3 if I started on the landing side of 2. Perhaps that arm pointing to the jump again?
Yes – you were totally pointing and you should leave the arm bak and be connected at :16, :30
Doing it from behind at :43 on verbals works, but ti doesn’t teach the lead out skils
You were more connected on the last rep and got 3, but then pointed forward and said yes and almost didn’t get 4. So run those types of lines with your arm back if she is behind you (which she was here) and looking at her eyes the whole time.>>Poor Indy. She needs her handler to improve!!
She will only be sad about it if she didn’t get rewarded… so hopefully you rewarded her on those!
Back to the stays:
She stood up early on the last stay, and you asked her to sit again and she did – good! But then at 1:12 you moved your arm, she moved out of the stay… then you said the release. So she is really unclear about what the release is (I would bet she thinks it is motion) and sometimes that gets affirmed when she releases before the verbal and runs the sequence. So go back to be super consistent with your releases and I think the stay will improve a lot!Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi there!
I think you will see a theme here in the suggestions for Lily in particular – she is really fast so your connections need to be quicker and clearer because she makes her decisions earlier than Rosie does. That is a good thing, though, and as soon as we figure out exactly what she needs then you will have an easy time 🙂
Working through the videos:
She does better with her commitments when your arms are low and back enough that she can see your face. She has trouble knowing where to be when your arms are low but at your side, or high (especially high and pointing forward). When you arms are low and at your side, she struggled to read the blinds because she couldn’t see which side of you to be on (your eye contact is what delivers the info for that). When your arms got high or pointed forward, the line of your shoulders and line of motion changed, which would cue her to turn… and it did, which is why she would come off lines sometimes.
Here are some specifics:
On the Skills Set, she didn’t have a lot of questions because in general, your hands were low and she could see your eyes 🙂
Her only little questions were because sometimes you would block the cone so she thought you wanted the tunnel (like at :53), and when you were standing near the yellow tunnel entry and trying to send her without motion to the cone (like at 2:20) so she was not sure – it was perfect when you stepped to the cone, very clear for her. And when you want to layer the yellow tunnel, start with more momoentum so she can drive out more – like sending her into the blue tunnel then running forward into it. Layering in this configuration is difficult!>>I had a lot of trouble keeping her on my left. This comes up a times. She will cut behind me to get to my right side.>>
She definitely has some preferene for being on your right side, and this particular setup really challenged the connection to keep her on your left. When you were really connected, looking down at her with your left side arm dipped down and back a little: she was fine. When the connection was not in place, she was migrating to your right a bit – partially because of thta preference, but also partially because as your shouldes moved, it looked like a blind was starting and also the obstacles were on that side of you. You can see that in spots like 2:31, 4:07, 4:30, 5:00, 5:30. But then compare it to 4:37, 5:50, 6:05 and 6:25 when you were connected and she knew where to be really well! You might have to exaggerate a little to convince her to stay on your left, but she did well when you were connected here.
Overall, she was a little sticky running the bigger sequences at first having to go past all those obstacles – that is understandable because it is a little odd 🙂 But then she did a great job!!
Rosie’s skills sets:
So far with all the folks who have worked their older dog and their younger dog, it has been really common that the older dogs find this really hard (Rosie) and the younger dogs find it a little weird at first but relatively easy as long as we stay connected (Lily).
Rosie did well with all the things that were normal-looking lines in the beginning but then had a little trouble ignoring the nearby obstacles as things got more difficult – I think it is because Rosie did not have the same foundation of working the proofing games and stuff that Lily did, which is why it was not too hard for Lily. So you can break it down more for Rosie into smaller pieces while continuing to make it harder for Lily 🙂>> I had to put a front cross to keep her out of the tunnel.
Yes – on some of them, like on the smaller cone in the middle and you were doing a post turn – I think she was correct to take the tunnel (like at 1:17) but then aso yes – on the cone on the other side of the yellow tunnel (outside of the setup) – that tunnel was very tempting! So moving the cone further away totally helps. Lily has seen this concept before but I am not suere if Rosie has 🙂
Also, it was hard to tell from this angle, but it is possible that you were blocking the line to the cone closer to the yellow tunnel which is why she was trying to flip away to the cone nearer the blue tunnel – both Rosie and Lily were having trouble seeing the really small cones if you were even one step too far over, so be sure they can see the full cone.
On the other hand, her experience pays off when you were able to run the outside line with her on your left and she never considered the yellow tunnel behind you. More experienced dogs will read connection more easily, so you don’t need to exaggerate it as much like you need to do with Lily.
Two other little details – for the layering you tried at 5:36, more momentum will help her too, like starting further back or starting from the other tunnel. Also, step forward through the wraps, when you peeled away by stepping backwards, she would get a refusal. She watches your footwork as an important part of the cue, so be sure you are moving forward til she commits. And then she had a couple of tunnel-grab errors at the end, probably just a little tired 🙂
Sequence 1: this was a good one to challenge the connections and tell us what she reads! And also it was interesting to see because she could have easily chosen to come to your right (her preferred side) but stayed on your left if she didn’t see the cue to change sides. Good girl!
Looking at the sequence in sections:For the blind 4-5, being a bit earlier (so she sees the blind befoe she takes off for 4) will help but mainly it is about connection – when you finish the blind, keep your right arm back further and make eye contact. Two ideas to make that happen: you can either dip your right shoulder down as the arm goes back, or your can extend your arm (locking the elbow) all the way back and down to her nose. Experiment to see which is clearest/easiest. I personally extend my arm back to the dog and they see the connection well, but I am pretty short and my dogs are taller than Lily. I have some students who are tall with very small Papillons, and they find the shoulder dipping to be more effective.
You got the timing and connection nicely for 4-5 on the first rep! On the 2nd run at :56, you were late starting it and didn’t get the connection, so she didn’t change sides.
You were PERFECT at 2:09!!! Timing and connection both looked good, and she got it really well.
>>I probably should have used rear crosses, but she is not going our ahead of me yet enough to get a good rear in.
I liked your plan! Nothing wrong with the plan for the blinds at all! Yes, RCs can work but to drive her ahead, you will need to run closer to the #3 tunnel so you don’t end up running out of room and stopping at 5. You keep moving better with Rosie so she read them really well.
On the middle section (6-7-8-9) – the connection was the hard part.
On the first rep, you were late turning over 6 so the bar came down at :18 and then your arm came up and forward while she was behind you at :19 – that caused the line of your shoulders to turn, which changed her line and she didn’t take 7. The same thing happened at 2:12.
Another option in there which might make it easier it to do the blind between 7 and 8, rather than on landing side of 8 – that can support 7 and get the line 8-9 without needing to set up a rear cross for 9. To get her to rear cross into the tunnel, you had to keep moving to the tunnel which put you pretty far away from 10 for the last wrap at 11.
You had a great blind on the landing side of 8 at 1:33, look at how clear the connection was!When you were doing the blind on the landing side of 10 – it was another good example of how important conenction it to her in terms of being able to see side changes: you were late on the landing side blind at :33, so she never saw the connection to get the side change. Much better timing to be able to show her the connection on the 2nd run there so she got it nicely.
To get a really good camera angle on the connection and why she might not see the side changes – freeze the video at :38 as she was exiting 11: your arm was down at your side, and we can’t see your eyes – so she didn’t know which side to be on. Ideally in that moment we would be able to see your arm back and down so your eyes would be clearly visible to her.Similar things were happening on Sequence 2: on this video an also the previous one, your running lines are generally good so the oopsies are arm and connection issues. arm &
On the blind at 4-5 you were didn’t get the connection back to her at :10 and :28 so she didn’t find your right side. You had a good running line at :28 so she found 5 but from the wrong side of you. You had good ocmmitment and connection at 6, but then your arm got high at :31 and it changed the line of your shoulders, so she didn’t take 7.
And there is a really good camera angle on the blind on the landing side of 8 at :38 – she has landed and we only see your back and not your eyes so she didn’t make the side change there.2nd run – good timing at :50 of starting it but she had the bar down because there was not enough connection so she was not sure where to be. On this run, she had no problem finding 7 at :55 because your arm down and you had really good connection!
more conenction on landing of 10You were a little late late on the blinds at 1:18 and 2:26, but check out the goond connection at 1:29!!! And you nailed it at 1:51 (even earlier, too!) and also at 2:10 -those were great and you had low hands and good eye contact.
She did have trouble doing 11 as a turn away on the flat, I think you were stopped too soon so keep moving to 11 to help support commitment to it.
Rosie’s turn:
She said you were too early on the BC 4-5 on the first run. I thought it was fine but she disagreed LOL so she came off the #4 jump. You were really strong with that blind on the 2nd rep! And, good motion on the turn away on the flat to the 9 tunnel and the 11 jump at the end, she reads those really well. Because she is not as fast as Lily, she makes her decisions a bit later so you have more time to show the connection. Also, because she is an experienced dog, she can process the crosses faster even if you are late and not as connected. So with Lily, try to really exaggerate the connections for now as you do the blinds, to help her read them at high speed – it will get easier as she gets more experienced.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>I have one question concerning the blind cross 4-5 when I’m too far across the line. I think I’m compensating for another handling issue. I’m far across the line and hanging back to connect with her as she comes out of the tunnel across the jump 5 bar. Otherwise she tends to miss jump 5 and comes right to my BC side. What do I need to do to change my handling so she won’t run past the jump and come directly to me?>>
For the handling of that blind, it is possible that you are either too early on the BC so when she exits, you are already on the new arm, or not connected enough so she comes off the line to you.
For the timing, keep her on your left til she exits the tunnel, tell her to jump – then do the BC to your right side. For the connection, keep your arm back and down, so she can see your connection.
You can also work the commitment to be sure she takes the jump if you say jump, even if you are a little early or disconnected. If you are way early, as in finished before she exits the tunnel, then she is correct to skip the jump.T
Hi!
>>I think sometimes I get a glimpse of her and “think” I have her, but then get caught up in where I’m trying to get to next. >>
Yes – if we think we have the dog then look forward, either we lose the dog or they read it as a blind cross because we have disconnected and turned our heads. Connection is probably tied as the most important handling cue on course (tied with motion :))
T
Hi!
>> I’m wondering if both my girls would appreciate more rewards during our runs – sometimes for an especially tough turn, or a tunnel, or just because they’re cute. ;). From what I see in classes, I don’t think we reward our pups enough. Some dogs will work forever fro a smile, but most of us (human and dog) would like to be paid once in a while.>>
I totally agree. As the dogs start running courses, we make the mistake of rewarding less frequently overall and also rewarding in only certain spots: at the line up for the stay, at the end of the run, and on contacts/weaves. I think we all need to reward more during the run, for a great turn, for tunnels, and so on. This is especially true when there is a handling error – so I am a big fan of either rewarding instantly as if it was meant to happen, or just continuing on the course and rewarding the next spot 🙂
Have fun in class!
Tracy
