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Hi!
First off, your sends look fabulous on the videos (excellent use of that cooler bag hahaha!) She was a good girl going to the bag both on the forward sending and the sideways and backwards sends. You can totally add the games I posted yesterday. So let’s focus on her using you as the tug toy LOL! I think that she is doing pretty normal herding dog arousal stuff, so he still counts as a good girl haha! And toy definitely contributes to the arousal – toy plus movement = tooth hugs on the momma! We can focus on that, I have 2 ideas for you:
first, your instinct to add cookies back into the picture was great dog training. Cookies are calmer so I suggest you incorporate them: tug – cookie – send- tug- cookie – send. That can help her moderate her arousal and excitement while still incorporating tugging. No worries if she loses a tiny bit of tug drive while you do this, because she has great tug drive and we can always dial it back up.
The other thing I recommend is a stealth self-control game where she learns to offer being a bit chill in the presence of tugging and her own internal arousal. Here is a video of what I mean, let me know if it makes sense:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKrA5J9utfo
I think this can help her keep her head during tugging and help you then be able to reset after each rep. Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I agree with you (and so do the sports veterinarians that I admire). There is absolutely no reason to teach a baby puppy how to jump. There are about a zillion other things we can do! Coordination, body awareness, etc. There is more to jumping than getting over bars, right? When exactly to start depends on the age/structure/breed/etc of each individual. I *might* start a balance grid or a set point at 8 months of some dogs or later for others. My BorderWhippet puppy is 14 months old and we are now getting into the nitty gritty of jumping and I am glad I waited because he is so much more coordinated and muscled! So at 6.5 months with Robbie… a bit of cavaletti work is fine, I would think, at maybe 2 inches. And ‘pick up sticks’ is a good one. Also, all of the backing up and individual foot placement is good stuff to train – I also learned a back foot isolated cavaletti thing that is great for pre-jumping. In this class we also do some lead change learning as well introduce grids a bit down the road. And I think I will be adding a plyometric game that is also great for pre-jumping!So…. take your time with Robbie, you are on the right track 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>>I’m bad with my left always. I have really think when I do it with the left hand. But it go better.
I agree, it went better for sure! I thought your mechanics were good on the left side! I scrolled back up to the wraps where she was showing a side preference – she prefers to turn to her left, and that is what she is doing on the blinds that are easy (when you start in your right arm). When you are starting on your left, she is turning to her right – not as easy. No worries, though, she keeps getting stronger with that! My two puppies are lefties as well 🙂 It all evens out 🙂
Hi!
These went well!! You had terrific play and energy 🙂 The ones that worked well – your timing was nice and early. The ones that were not as good – when she was starting on your right, they were a little later but she was doing the side change as soon as she saw it. When she was starting on your left, though – she definitely took an extra moment to read them even when you were earlier. So, when she is starting on your left, you can be slower as you move away, walking, so she can see the blind more clearly. Small dogs lock onto our feet a lot so it is possible she was watching your motion and not ‘seeing’ your upper body. Moving with less speed will help that.
It is definitely too cold for outside training 😁 but if Bonnie has a safe place to take her… definitely!!! The more places to go, the better 🙂 as long as you are not risking any exposure, try to get her to new places.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
He is doing well on his plank work! You can move the turn hand more slowly as you cue the turn on the plank, so he can think about his feet a little more on those tight circles. He seems balanced I both directions! You can also add angles of entry running up the plank using this set up – you can use long jump boards to guide that so he has a visual to line himself up with. I set the long jump boards up alongside as a channel then gradually move them more and ore into the board so they are flush to it and less visible, if that makes sense.
Sends are looking good on the tunnel/wing game! Yay!! You can run in closer to the tunnel so you are right at the exit or even behind it when he exits, which adds challenge. Plus that will keep you in better motion too so you won’t have to take little steps to set up the send. Two things to add to this: verbals (for the tunnel exit and for the wing wraps) and also turning and doing a FC sooner – when he passes you on the send, you can start rotating the next direction to see how early you can do it 🙂 I have more on that coming this weekend!
Have fun, you two look great!
TracyHi!
>>So, I’m thinking his running off is a frustration behavior at my lack of clarity for him?
That might be a small element but I think that the teeter is stimulating and he doesn’t know how to self-modulate (this is pretty common with herding dogs and teeters :)) I mean, we are unclear for our dogs in other things and they don’t react like that LOL! But agility is stimulating and so is the teeter. So it is more of an arousal behavior and then frustration might trigger it. Or, just being on the teeter triggers it. Do you train with food or a toy or both?
>>I also struggle with his attention in handling, which I’ll get to in a later post when I edit the wing it exercise.
Yay! Looking forward to it.
>>In terms of the wobble board, he was much better with that but I did get frantic behaviors when working on holding four feet on for duration. But he was much more engaged with the wobble board.
Food or toys for the wobble board? You can do things like have him get on then do releases then rewards, with gradually extending the duration but always letting him off the board for the release.
>>I didn’t even hold the leash, just the leash being on made him more focused on work. I’m wondering if that’s because we do a lot of nosework and he’s always on leash for that? >>
That is interesting and it is entirely possible that the conditioned response to the leash from nose work is helping him relax in agility. Nosework is stimulating in a different way.
He was a good boy on the lazy game! I think the treat throw was contributing to him missing the middle jump – it was near it, you were moving away so when he looked up from eating, it wasn’t really on his line. You can toss the treat further away so it puts him more on the line to the middle jump. He was nice and relaxed here, using treats. So…. let’s game plan on how to teach him to handle his own arousal. What does think of tugging or balls or frisbees? We can work these games in arousal to teach him how to handle it. That way you you can get him running courses even when he is very stimulated as well as work him through any stress behaviors 🙂 If he likes tugging, I would tug tug tug then do the lazy game for a couple of treats then tug tug tug and so on. Let me know if that makes sense!
TracyHi! Good job on these!!
>> I really noticed that I was not using verbals consistently. It’s like I would use them the first direction and then I was like, “well how do I get him to take the jump this time?” and was using go or hup. Unbelievable. Human training.>>
I feel that! This generation of pups has more verbals than ever, so I find myself actively planning more – and then sometimes screwing it up 🙂 I am now reminding myself to plan the verbals before every single run in the hopes of screwing up less 🙂
>>When I rewatched these I noticed how many times I laughed when things went “wrong”. So, that was nice to see myself keep it light and not get frustrated. He’s such a good baby – that was a lot to work through in just one morning.>>
Yes! And I think he did really well – any errors were good to chuckle at because it was indeed grown up stuff 🙂
1st video:
>>Watching the video I realize I probably should have put that pinwheel jump much further out because I didn’t have a lot of space to cue the wrap with a decel. As I mentioned yesterday, he again seems more confident on my right wrapping left than on my left wrapping to the right (some of that is clearly due to my handling!).>>The spacing was fine here – it makes us work harder on timing LOL! You can decelerate sooner on the 1st 2 reps – I think you were starting it as you arrived at the wrap jump, which made it a little late – you can start to decelerate as he is landing no matter where you are. On your left at :34 and the rep after it, you were earlier and he did a good job on the turn!
On other thing I noticed as you got into these reps – you were decelerating into the pinwheel jump (you can see your long strides go to little strides), then either staying in decel or accelerating again then deceling, which made it harder. You can blast past the pinwheel jump and not decelerate til he is landing. An example of this is at 1:18 – you decelerated into the pinwheel jump, then accelerated – then hit the brakes without decelerating, so he did not take the jump. That was on your left but I don’t think it was a side preference issue. On the next rep you were later to compensate and get commitment, so he was wider – but also here I don’t think it was a side preference issue – looking back at the earlier reps where you blasted past the pinwheel jump and then did the transition, he had great turns on both sides 🙂2nd video:
Breaking out the BCs at the beginning – on the first ones at the very beginning, you just needed more patience after the release: you blinded before he moved like a forced blind so he didn’t take the jump. You can release on your right then go to the left after he moves – you can start him further back to make it easier. One thing to think about it the line of the blind cross and always be moving towards the tunnel entry you want and not in between the uprights of the jump: By leading out and releasing on the new side, you were nicely connected by your line was actually towards the end of the tunnel you didn’t want 🙂 When you did it on your right, you had a better position so he had a better line. On all of the,
he read the connection nicely and never looked off course. Yay!Sends
First run – you needed to go one step deeper past the jump to get the send, and keep moving til he landed before the send. This was on your left, but it was not a side issue, it was a timing issue. You were much better on 2nd rep on the send! Also good on your right side and on all the sends after it 🙂First rep with blind: You were feeling the pressure of the speed LOL! You were actually too early on the blind, it was finished before he landed from the pinwheel jump and then you tried to move to the tunnel, so it read as a forced blind cue.
2nd rep – Really good timing letting him land to see the BC jump then starting it. Try not to , move between the uprights of the BC jump because it sets the line to the wrong end of the tunnel then you have to push him back – stay parallel to his line then turn directly to the tunnel entry you will be cuing.
On the rep at 1:46 – better timing and better line here! Nice!!!! Compare that to 2:01 where you ended up doing the blind but almost in the wrong end of the tunnel LOL! My rule of thumb on this type of sequence is to not allow myself to go past the wing of the jump towards the bar; stay outside of the wings. 2:13 was better for sure!!
Last video:
Good low arm connections throughout here, you are really doing a great job with that!!!
First run – you can start the blind maybe one step sooner but it was good! Also a really good send on the wrap after it but then he saw the connection break and thought it was a blind, good boy.
The 2nd run had better blind timing and better connection after the wrap – NICE! Same with the 3rd run, but I think I liked the timing of the BC on the 2nd run better.
The timing of the blind on the 4th run at 1:00 was my favorite! Perfect! You were really trusting him there and he was great! And, a good wrap but then you lost a bit of connection. The rep at 2:00 was also good – you almost lost connection but then got it back. That is a really hard line to keep connection on because we all want to get outta there but then we might accidentally turn our back on the dog 🙂 You were really able to see him committing and then marking it with a yes, that was great.
About those random RCs when starting on 5: it might just have been him guessing to turn towards the course and not away from it? I have that happen with Voodoo sometimes so I either start further back or I start jump earlier. I didn’t see it happen when you were doing the full sequence, or did I miss it? I thought your sends there were REALLY nice!!Great job on these! And yes, it was really cool to see you laughing and rewarding, whether things went right or wrong 🙂 You were both working so hard and working as a team! So fun to see him growing up and doing amazing things 🙂
TracyHi!
>>We are in Storm Warning mode here. 12 – 16″ of the white stuff possible with winds to 45 mph. It looks like you may be getting a piece of this down Virginia way, too. So, after tomorrow am, I’m not sure when Keiko and I will be able to access equipment and bare ground. Time for those microspikes!>>
Oh no!!! I do not miss the big snowfalls from when I lived in Central NY. We were supposed to get 5-7″ here in SW Virginia, but so far all we have is freezing rain and ice. I need to get some of those microspikes too!!!!
On the video – the timing of the blind had to be pretty spot on in order to get the nice turn on the jump after it, and I think you are getting really comfortable with the timing! Plus she is really committing so nicely to the lines!! All reps had great timing – the reps where she was on your left were awesome, you were really trusting and hustling to get where you needed to be, so the timing of the blinds on those were great! Those last 2 were my favorite reps. The 2nd rep on the video was my least favorite, it was the latest in timing, but it was still good!
Now about the wrap after the BC – the trick is to be able to get through the BC early enough so that you can then show a transition into deceleration then rotate. Now, some dogs do best with a deceleration, send and go – but that requires the handler to turn to the outside which delays getting back up the line. I think for all the small dogs, that is the best way. For the larger striding dogs, I would suggest a spin which is what you did at :49 – decel when she lands from the BC jump then rotate into the FC and run away, doing the BC as she is taking the jump. It is a tricky move because if you don’t decel while facing the wing or you push in too soon, the dogs read it as a rear cross. But in general, the spin will work best for the big dogs wen they are jumping full height 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>A question: I am able to send her and work her from a distance on some of these exercises. Should I also vary that and run with her so we have both things going? >>
yes, you can show all the things 🙂 You can do some with sending, or run deeper into the tunnel or closer to the pinwheel jump so that you end up close to the jumps or even behind her. On these wraps, I think that moving in closer to the lines will help because you will be able to show more of a transition on the wraps. With the sends, there is no shift from acceleration to deceleration – that made it harder for you to rotate on time and she also was not expecting the rotation. (Side note – when we show a deceleration, it is less important to rotate on time LOL!). So you can be accelerating til she lands from the pinwheel jump, then decelerate and rotate so you are fully rotated before she takes off. You were a little late at :07 and :24 (you were rotating over the bar) so she was wide, turning on landing. With the transition, you can get the collection going when you decelerate so the timing won’t be as critical. I do love her speed on this, she was FLYING which is great!!!
Tracy
Hi! I hear the iMovie was giving a lot of folks issues this week! The videos came through, thankfully!
She seems nice and confident across the plank, even with the little bit of wobble and noise! And her turn arounds looked good – she had to balance more with the plank elevated and she looked great!
For the getting on the angle, you can use the cones or you can use long jump (broad jump) boards if you have them – shape her to line up between the boards to get on the DW board, then you can gradually fade them by lining them up to the DW board so they blend into it. For the ‘getting off’ end, you can put it on a low table at this point, so she is running up to a table – then she can get rewarded and released off. The getting off the plank will be replaced by whatever end behavior you would like her to do 🙂
Nice work!
TracyHi! Hope you are not getting this bad weather we are seeing here!
>>We all tend to be late with verbals, as well as with connection. This reminded me of an exercise in which I had to click or make some type of motion or sound the moment my dog’s front legs touched the ground as she went over a circle of 4 or 5 jumps. Tricky!>>
Correct!!! It is tricky to maintain connection and timing for long stretches! I have a two-pronged approach: train us handlers to be as perfect as possible, and also train the dogs to know the job well enough that we don’t have to be perfect 😁
>>it almost seemed that by calling out the obstacle that would be coming up next (over), I was also telling her what was right in front of her. Telling her about the tunnel before she took the jump made sense.>>
Yes – in ‘real life’ we probably would not need to say something at every moment, just at important moments or to name lines (like “go tunnel”). But for training, saying something on every jump landing and tunnel exit makes it nice and challenging for extended focus.
I think you had really good connection and timing on the video – perhaps a tiny bit early, she was over the bar or not quite yet out of the tunnel – but that is fine because when she is jumping full height, you will be anticipating landing so the cues will be a little earlier. She did have one question a :22 where she turned to her right and didn’t take the tunnel. I think she read your arm and leg motion there as a send and that is what she was seeing. On the other reps before and after it, you were turning and moving forward rather than sending, and she didn’t have a question.
You can play with naming lines, such as when she lands from the middle jump and turns her head, you can start saying “go tunnel” to name the line rather than “over” then “tunnel”. Otherwise, it looked great!Tracy
Hi!
Her plank work is looking really good!! I love the yoga mats on the plank 🙂
On. the plank on the ground – she was doing a brilliant job of lining up her hind end, and that is what we were looking for here. Even with the angles of entry, she was still straightening her hind end and that is great. Do you have low blocks or something you can lift the board off the ground a couple of inches? She is ready for more on this.She was awesome about turning around on the plank! I am impressed with how well she kept all 4 feet on the board – that is NOT easy for a big dog!! You can elevate the plank on this one too 🙂
For the teeter up to the table – she had no trouble getting on it in isolation but definitely harder coming in with speed after wrapping the wing. I think a few more sessions will help her straighten out like she did on the long plank. And yes, you don’t have to go down the plank – she can run up, get the reward, then you can have her step onto the table then release from the table. I think she was leaping off the bottom because she was chasing the cookie toss, but leaping off is not something she needs to practice LOL!
Great job here!!
TracyHi! These looks great too, and they are pretty difficult. Doing the other 2 rounds (above) were probably a really good warm up for her – she really had no problem here! Yay! Sideways sends look great – and she is moving away from the cookie hand which is hard indeed! And you had a nice smooth transition into the backwards sends – she had to think about it for a heartbeat but then got it. GOOD GIRL! And I love your excitement during the praise moments, that really solidifies her good choices and makes it fun 🙂
So, as with the other 2 elements – add some more distance here, gradually, ping ponging the close and far distances that you send her from. Because these are harder (countermotion is hard!), you can totally mix in throwing the reward to the prop when you are sideways or backwards, especially if you see her asking any questions.Great job on all 3 videos here!!! Superstar!
TracyHi!
Prop 2 – now we have the toy involved, that works great! Having to leave the toy in order to earn it is a lovely self-control element and she rocked it. You can totally add more distance on these now, she is doing really well. Warm up with a rep or two close to the prop like you were hear, then ping pong your distance away from it: try from 2 steps away, then 1 step, then 3 steps away, then 2 steps then 4 steps and so on. And when you get away, remember to only take 1 step to the prop so she has to travel a decent bit of distance to get to it. As you get further, you can also mix in toss the reward out to the prop to keep reminding her how much we love it when she drives to it 🙂 Her turning to you is tight and fast, so mixing in some rewards on the prop will not be a problem. Is your prop the cooler we got at a regional a zillion years ago? It looks familiar LOL!T
Hi! This looks great! The prop sends look really strong!!! She is a smartie, so you did a great job of adding more engagement before sending her. That also allowed you to get in a really great foot step on the send, making it really clear! You can reward her for staying with you on the ready game or you can even switch to a toy on these so she doesn’t send herself LOL! You can add more distance away from the prop now, sending from a couple of feet away with that one step to add more challenge for her.
T
