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Hi!
This was a good contrast in the walk through! You came in with general plan and immediately were able to start getting things rolling: you were definitely more comfy with this course and had a better tempo especially towards the end of the walk through – that seems to make a really big difference in your runs!!! Now, add in more emphasis on looking to the line or obstacles where the dog would actually be rather than looking ahead, and add in the verbals in the same way you’d use them in the run. The tempo was good and you can see that it really helped you handle the sequence! The connection is where you had the error – on the jump towards the end after the last tunnel, you were looking forward with a closed shoulder in the walk through – that is also what you did in the run, which didn’t show him the serp line, so he ran past it. So since you won’t see the invisible dog, you can do things like remind yourself to look at all tunnel exits, then look back at the serp jump, etc – giving yourself very specific visual landmarks to get the connection in the walk through and that will transfer to the run itself too.
Onwards to #3!
T
Hi!
This game is where you are all subject to my 15 years in musical theater to torture everyone about the fine art of great rehearsals. I think we are seeing things here that we can immediately improve. This will help the handling, of course, but will also move you towards you “All In” goal because he loses arousal when you stop/start or there are errors. When that happens, it causes the overall rate of success to not be high enough, which contributes to why he is not always fully invested in driving hard on the course.>> I panicked and thought I missed a whole two weeks worth of work 🤣. I’m glad to know I’m not behind>>
Sorry! That is what happens when I am sending the email with one hand and editing the package 5 videos with the other. Oopsie!
>>So… a fun fact about Jamie is that I don’t have the ability to visualize things in my head. No imagination, no mental picture, none.. just blackness when I close my eyes and try.
I bring this up because it does make the way I learn courses (and navigating) a bit more challenging. I have to depend on memorizing- which I acknowledge everyone does, but spacially it’s just a bit more challenging for me because the actual walk through and the map are my only tools.>>Aphantasia is more common in agility than you would realize! One of the other people in this class also has it. And it is more challenging, mainly because SO MANY of the teaching tools are built using visual memory. So, it is up to the teachers to use other tools, so you can have the same success! There appears to be no way to create better visual imagery except possibly just before you go to sleep (which is pretty useless for agility except for the mental prep of reducing ring anxiety) but we have been successful helping people by using auditory, olfactory, visual and kinetic memory cues. (Yes, olfactory LOL!)
Basically, walk the course exactly the same way I recommend, but with a few variations:
– rather than try to picture the dog, look at the obstacles behind you or between where you and the dog will be, because those are visual cues that are actually useful. Keep reminding yourself to look for the line on the ground and the jump bar where the dog would be – those are specific locations and even though you won’t see an invisible dog, you will still be rehearsing connection into your muscle memory and it will help Fever when you run him.
– focus on the muscle movements of running fast, crossing, talking to the dog in loud or soft voice, etc – that can all be done without needing to visualize.
– in the moment when a highly visual person can close their eyes and picture the course, you can use the actual course map (hold it and look at it while you shadow handle and say the verbals) or look at the course while you do the shadow handling – muscle memory really helps and you’ll still get a great rehearsal.I have found some folks do well with pairing muscle movements with particular smells: for example, the mechanics of the run paired with the smell of vanilla (or any smell you choose). You carry something that smells of vanilla for the last couple of reps of your walk through to make the pairing. Then smell the vanilla while you pull out your course map and shadow handle it. And take a sniff of vanilla right before your run. Smell is one of the BEST memory aids available!
And one other idea: video your walk through for 3 minutes then go watch it – that will give you a really good direct visual of what is happening so you don’t need to rely on visual memory.
>> It also makes winning mindset books hard to follow because step one is to usually visualize your success>>
There are other ways to work mental prep without visualization, but rehearsing the walk through is a good start. And it becomes even more critically important to videotape your walk throughs so you can see them as they actually were without needing to rely on any visual memory.
The other thing you can do is have Carrie watch your final walk throughs and see if she can tell where your invisible dog is. In the final walk through, I could not tell where the dog was because you would send him to something and then immediately look forward when he was still behind you. I have had people watch my walk throughs (especially in international team events where it was important that I didn’t screw up LOL!) if I am unsure about something, to see if they could see my invisible dog. That also allows a friend or coach to give you feedback on your handling choices in the moment, based on your pace and connection to the dog.
>>I also REALLY REALLY struggle when I course build from coordinates and then try to learn/walk the course. For some reason this is much more difficult for me than just showing up and walking a course. I do feel like I tend to make more errors in these small sequences because I am building them. >>
After the build, do you go right into the training session or do you take some time to go into the house, look at the map, etc. – mentally ‘cleanse the palate’ before trying to learn the course. That might help!
>>He took the off course tunnel which I didn’t notice would be an option because it’s not on the map so I didn’t think about it.>>
Ah yes – any extra obstacles are in play, even if they are not on the map. Good boy Fever!
>> I think you can hear it. I do tend to course walk with carrie (my emotional support human) and we plan together so I’m discussing with here handling here.>
Is this during the actual walk through, or before? I think most of this can be done before the walk through to maximize your time during the walk through itself. A discussion takes 40 seconds to a minute, which adds up and can take away from other sections of the walk through.
Looking at the walk through video – I think you can definitely add in more connection back to where he would be, move verbals and definitely more of the pace/tempo he would be running (or faster than the tempo). I somehow have ended up going faster than the actual dog, which is more helpful to me than going more slowly. When I am faster than the dog in practice, I feel like I have more time to get everything in. When I used to be slower than the dog in the walk through, I was scrambling and rushing to try to handle the course.
When you went from your last walk through to your first run – because you had not fully rehearsed the connection, verbals and speed – your first run with him was that rehearsal, so you had errors. Then things got better and better as you practiced it and on the 3rd run – that was really good til you said “Better!” and he was like “huh?” LOL!
So ideally we want that 3rd run to be your first run 🙂 That will be better for trialing, and also better for his “All In” approach – it is so much more fun that way for both of you!
So when you look at the overlay, look at 2 things and listen to the 3rd:
– look at your head position on the walk versus the run – on the run you were definitely connecting back to him. But because it was the first time you were working it, you had to actively think about it – which leads to errors. If you have rehearsed it a few times, then it will feel like second nature during the run, leading to fewer errors.
– look at your tempo – the run was much faster than the last walk through 🙂 Try to get it so your walk through is faster than the run!
– listen to the verbals – the walk through verbals are quiet versus the run verbals sounding totally different 🙂 Rehearse those verbals at the same volume & energy of the real run.Rehearsing all of those together will really get you in the mode to nail the first run with him! And also you’ll be able to change plans if needed, because you will feel if it not a viable plan.
Onwards to course 2!
TracyGood morning!
He did really well here! 100% perfect on the ‘don’t take anything’ moments. He was really quite strong on the threadle wraps – having the bar there opens up the slice possibility, which opens up having to pay more attention to your footwork: he was 100% successful when your feet were facing forward (which is the ideal footwork). When you feet faced the slice line exit (:19,:45, :49 and :55) – he sliced like a ‘normal’ threadle. It was a valid question from him, since the threadle wrap verbal is relatively new and the physical cues are still important. So be careful to keep your feet coming directly forward to the exit line (towards the camera in this situation) as that is going to be really important in attaching the verbal. By the end, he was not paying attention to the foot position as much and getting the wraps correct – but that is good news, bad news LOL! Because we will eventually be balancing it with regular threadle slices, so for now keep your feet moving straight on the line. We add that balance in games package 5 in a little over a week – so for now, add two things here (along with feet facing forward on the wrap exits): more motion, working up to jogging/running (you can toss a cookie back rather than use a stay so both of you are moving more into it) and also cue the front side of the jump as well as the bypass and the threadle wrap.
Let me know if that foot position makes sense, or if I need more coffee 🙂 Great job here!
TracyHi! Thanks for the idea! I am working up a ‘live’ seminar version of that concept (train it, then put it into various sequences) based on course design trends that I am seeing which require dog training not just handling.
We do have a fair amount of that here in this class, but the problem might be that the skills are then put into the sequences and then into the big courses, over the weeks (the threadle wraps appear in the package 4 sequences and then in the package 5 sequences and courses, for example) – and if there is not as much access to the sequences or big courses, the skills do not get revisited as much as needed. So a good variation might be a class that looks at a handful of specific skills (threadles, for example: wraps, slices, tunnel threadles, weave threadles) and works on training then putting them into sequences in different scenarios. We have certainly done that with natural handling moves like blind crosses, but probably not as much with the trained skills like backside commitment, send & go commitment, threadles, etc. Let me know if that is what you were thinking and if it makes sense!T
Hi! These are good comparisons!
For Kippy:
>>or Kippy, the 180 was hard. I really liked the BC for him on that.
I think what might be happening is that the stepping into the takeoff spot then moving away from it with a lot of motion has desensitized him to collection cues, maybe? On the first rep, you decelerated, stepped in and even rotated towards him: no collection from Kippy, he stayed in extension. It is possible that he doesn’t read the stepping in as a collection cue so it is better to use position as a collection cue more – you can trust he will stay on the line and that you can be a lot more lateral and heading to the serpentine jump – use position, connections and verbals to let him power through that 180 and then your serp will be even better. Bearing in mind that the goal on a serp exit with a wrap (on a front or backside) is that you are on the takeoff side when the dog is on the takeoff side (countermotion): the extra step into the 180 jump before it is delaying that, so it widens the turn there too. It would be interesting to see what he does when you just cue the line and leave (connection, position, verbals) to get past the exit wing of the serpentine before he takes off. You probably will find that you don’t need to control his lines – he can do it faster as long as he knows where to go nice and early 🙂
2nd run – this is also a spot where you can play with controlling the line less, and just telling him where to go so he sets it all up himself. After the tunnel, you positioned yourself almost on the backside line at :14 so it shaped the line into the 180 – and he did collect there (it was bit of a v-set) but then you had to show motion into the wrap so he ran a wider line (position plus motion cued it) and had some questions about the wrap. You can use position to help that too – show him the first jump of the 180 with a lateral position near the wrap wingand let position/connection/verbals and make a little brake arm do th cueing – and then keep yoru feet faing forward to the last jump (rather than moving over to the wrap jump) and moving forward as soon as he is past your feet (and connection and verbal support commitment to the wrap as you run to the last jump.
3rd rep – This was the fastest rep by a small margin and it might support the theory of ‘tell him where to go and don’t try to control the turns’ (this is a big conversation I have been having with some colleagues as well as my rehab vet and what we are seeing is fastest times plus best physical health is NOT trying to control the turns, just letting the dogs sort it out while we give info as early as possible). So with the BC – it can be earlier 🙂 Motion and verbals support the line, so as he is in the air for the jump before the BC jump o nthe 180, you should keep moving forward (position) and tell him the directional (verbal) but you can start the blind even before he lands to get the earliest possible info to him. And if you can add in a little decel? Even better!
Emmie
For her, she reads those moments when you step in and decel on the 180s – I am not sure if she needs it though 🙂 and controlling that turn put you in her way for the serpentine – So it is a good experiment to try the position/verbal thing with her too – not going close or managing the turn on the 180, but rather getting to the takeoff side on the serp as she is getting there – that can pr0duce the fastest line for her too!2nd rep – You were earlier on the BC here with her than you were with Kippy, she read it well – and then you can decel into it so the next jump has more of a send and go element to pick up time there.
3rd rep – As with the first rep, she reads the collection when you step in towards takeoff but I still don’t think you need it, it might be faster without – on the wrap, that step of collection for the previous jump delays your wrap cue and caused your feet/shoulders to be facing the slice line. That delays your exit a little bit (ideally your feet would be turned forward to the last jump so you can run forward as soon as she passes your feet – that creates a lot of speed & power in and out of the wrap). Also, but facing the slice line but doing the wrap, it might end up diluting the slice/rear cross cues for when you need those if it looks the same as a wrap cue. Since she reads changes of motion so well, you can do it from lateral position (nearer to the wrap jump) to get the best of both worlds: a nice turn into the 180 and a great position and exit line on the wrap.
The serp rep and the BC rep were almost identical, I would need to get the electronic timers on it – and they were both a stride faster than the wrap.
On your next comparison courses, it would be fun to see what would happen when you control the turns with turn cues, versus when you just give the cues as early as humanly possible then move on to the next one, letting the dogs set themselves up to turn. The trend we are seeing is that if the cues are early, letting the dogs set it up themselves is faster. There are spots here and there that the dogs need some training on to be able to do that, but that is easy!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>Can you give an example of what you mean by straight line to a wrap? Do you mean like if she had to take the backside of the second jump in this sequence and then continue forward? In that situation consider both slice vs wrap because it could be similar for her?
If you move the jump after the tunnel over more to the left side of the screen, so when she exits the tunnel she can see a straight line over that jump to the backside wrap wing/line – that might make it the faster line because she would not have to add turns to get to it, where if she was sent to the push line on the other side she would have to add turns to get to it (I think my demo had the jump in more of a straight line to the inside wrap wing so it was surprisingly fast when compared to the outside slice on the backside.
And, if the jump after the tunnel was a backside then yes – it might mean the next backside is better as a wrap because that is the fastest line of entry and also it is too many turns to set up a good slice line.
Tracy
Hi!
There are some android apps that do side-by-sides, like Kinemaster and Video Merge. I use iMovie, but that is iPad specific.The other thing you can do is play them simultaneously in the forum: load them into a message like you did here, stacked up – queue up the walk through video to your release moment to start the run, then play the bottom video – and hit ‘play’ on the other one when you get to the release. That is what I did here, it worked well!
Good work on this sequence – the walk through went well and was pretty close to the run. You probably don’t need to walk all the lines on a full course – thinking ahead to US Open, the walk throughs are short for those massive beast courses, so you can spot check lines but on those big courses, you can skip the obvious moments and go directly to the non-obvious moments to begin the decision making process.
You had a good decision making process here and good handling choices too! As you added the handling, you had good natural connection and good verbals! The only little detail was that when you started the run, you did what I did which is you were too fast, faster than the dog would be. In the walk through, you released her and then the magical sheltie landed from 1 based on where you looked. She is fast, but she is not THAT fast hahaha! You were too fast for a coupe of obstacles and then settled into her rhythm – but that, coupled with her looking away at 2 (not a handling thing, more of a distraction moment as you noted), caused you to be ahead of her on the walk through. So one thing I am forcing myself to do is to be sure my invisible dog lands from 1 and actually goes through tunnels, so I don’t get too far ahead 🙂
Overall, though, it was really well done – other than her little distraction moment, your plan was spot on and well-executed. This will work nicely when you get onto the bigger courses!
Great job!
TracyHi!
He did well here – I agree that the Nemo ball put him into a good state!
I like the tosses because it gets him leaping, which is a great way to increase the state of arousal as well.>>I’m not surprised that catching/chasing Nemo amps him up more than chasing me for food, but the issue with Nemo is that it can cause him to circle around me after he’s caught Nemo while the food keeps him in closer.>>
The short tosses here didn’t seem to create that issue but totally believe that it can happen as states of arousal tip into higher states! To keep thing balanced, you can also have him bring it back to trade for a low value cookie.
With food – yes, he did well, but he was not quite as in the same optimal state as with the ball. 2 ideas:
– after each trick, have him move to get the treat (chase your hand, do a spin, hop up on your leg for it) as you started to do rather than hand to him – handing it to the dog is very calming 🙂
– reserve the super high value crazy food for high distraction situations. Cheese might be high value, but you can whip out steak or tripe (ewww) or something super stinky/yummy for harder situations. I have used smoked salmon (the stuff I would put on my bagel with some cream cheese too haha) and that gets an A++++++++++ from my dogs 🙂Have you tried tugging on a soft frizzer? Either one of the softer UpDog discs or a flying squirrel? He might really like that!
I htink the next steps are to just keep experimenting in different places, and keep track – when is his next adventure to a class or trial or seminar>
The chill behavior seems good! You’ll learn more about what works as he gets into more environments – for example, at his next class or seminar: after he gets his reward for his turn, bring him to you for his chill behavior, chat with the instructor, and then heat him up again and see how he does. One thing to consider is slower hand motions or barely moving hands, so it is more gentle pressure and not stimulating.
>>I was thinking about how on earth I was going to practice bringing him down from being over-aroused and then realized I can work with him when I come back in the house as that gets him really amped up.
Yes – the stationary tricks are great! And a leash walk where he can just chill,even if it is sniffing all around your yard 🙂
>>Another thing I am thinking of is teaching him to bark on cue (I know – crazy that I have never taught that to my Shelties). Barking is very self-reinforcing for him so I think it would help amp him up. I’m also wondering if that may have the side effect of getting him to bark more while running>>
I think everyone should teach dogs to bark on cue, as it is a GREAT way to modulate arousal and also to see where the dog is, in terms of arousal. So far, every single Sheltie owner has laughed at my suggested and said OH HELL NO hahahaha but it really helps pump up dogs that need pumping up, and to center dogs that are a bit too aroused. I have not found it to create barking during the runs (Nacho, Hot Sauce and Elektra all bark on cue before they ‘work’ and they do not bark during work). But I *have* found it to create a bit more demand barking in real life, based on how I teach it. But, I don’t mind a bit of noise LOL!
>>Oh and good news on the UpDog this Saturday. I hadn’t entered him in Frizgility because it was listed at the end of the day when it would likely be hot, but the schedule changed and they put it first.
Yay! That is great!!!! I have seen Frizgility as 3 jumps, as 2 jumps and a tunnel, and last Sunday it was tunnel-jump-tunnel. SO FUN!
>>The arousal-state management/engagement games are fascinating to me.
Same here! I love this stuff. It dates all the way back to 1908 and there is a lot of good info out there.
>> The interesting thing about the pandemic pups is realizing how much they missed out by simply not going to all those shows that they normally would have and learning about environments in little bits at a younger age.
Truth! And now, in some ways, they are being flooded with the environments, so we need to proceed carefully 🙂
>>I thought a bit about doing UKI at home with Kaladin, but then decided not to exactly because I wanted him to be in Novice (not Sr or Ch) when he starting doing real trials. Plus the 30×30 which fit best in my yard aren’t really the best option for Mr I need longer lines to have fun extending.>>
I fully agree on both of these. I did some 30×30 with Voodoo when it all started to finish up a title or two – holy cow those courses were GROSS haha! And I was too lazy to build the bigger courses LOL!
T
Hi! I suggest something else that doesn’t involve a prop like hanging on a toy, for 4 reasons:
– so he can breathe 🙂 he can take more normal breaths without a toy in his mouth
– in case there is a longer-than-expected wait near the start area (he can hang out in engaged chill for many minutes – but tugging on a toy is too tiring to have much duration to it)
– so he can look around a bit and further acclimate to the environment
– so he can maintain a more balanced state of arousal, and so you can see where he is an modulate it if needed – if he is on a toy until you go to the line or until you are ready to run again, it might be harder to know his mental state, and that can cause errors in his arousal state in the ring.And of course there will be times when hanging off the toy is perfectly great!! This will be useful in training situations where you might have a quick re-start back to work, or when he is more experienced and the training/trial environment is not ‘novel’, or when another dog is in his space 🙂 I like to have all the things in my toolbox!
Have a great vacation!!!
TracyHi! I see what you mean about her love for tunnels!
A couple of ideas for you:
for the wing, away from a tunnel, build a LOT of value for going around it – If you are close to the wing, she should just go around it. If that is already in place, you can then gradually begin to move it closer to other distractions -10 feet away or further to start, if needed! Then gradually work it closer and closer so she can still wrap on cue when it is pretty close. When you incorporate the tunnel, you can turn the tunnel entries down to the ground so the tunnel is visible but she can’t get into it. When she can find the wing, you can gradually introduce the concept of the tunnel entries being visible (start as far away as needed).Separately, do some training sessions right in front of a tunnel: hand touches, sits, downs, etc – all sorts of things that are NOT the tunnel and give her lots of rewards for doing it. And then sometimes cue the tunnel with a tunnel verbal.
Over time, you’ll find that these 2 things will meet in the middle: she will have a better understanding of wrapping with distractions near obstacles, and she will also have a better understanding that things can happen near tunnels that are not actually going into tunnels 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense 🙂 Have fun!
TracyHi!
>>This exercise of learning to not take off-course obstacles Nuptse & I did in Sylvia Trkman’s Extreme foundations class several years ago, but Sylvia had us saying “Close” to get by unwanted obstacles. She did not emphasize connection so much, but probably she was doing it herself. “Close” slows down the dog.>>
I think this might be different: ‘close’ from Silvia is probably a bypass cue, which is generally defined as “don’t take any obstacles until further notice” – and I agree, it does slow the dog down. This is a slightly different concept based on current course design trends: the dog should stay on the line and take obstacles – in fact, the dog’s line is really nice! But there is all sorts of stuff in the way on the handler’s line that the dog needs to ignore 🙂
You can see this was a hard challenge for handler and dog! On the very first rep, he took a big look at the blue tunnel before finding the wing.
He found the tunnel well on the 2nd rep but based on your line/motion and shoulders at :23, I think he was correct to go around the wing before going into the tunnel – that is what the body language presented on the line, you can reward that. You were much clearer on the next rep!
Great job on the full sequence! I think by then he had figured out to watch your line and NOT peek at the tunnels that were there 🙂 The handling looked strong too – if those tunnels were not there, it would be sooooooo easy, right? But the tunnels in the way add a new element of complexity.
He also did a nice entry-to-the-ring procedure there! One thing to add in is taking off his harness. That will make it more realistic, plus it gives his shoulders even more freedom to move during the run.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Rear crosses are hard – they are not a ‘natural’ skill for the dogs so need some training even if the handling is good! One way to do the training element is to reward her on the side you want her to be on, even if she turns the wrong way first then finds the correct side. That way it will help her read the cue, and also it will teach her to save you if you are late LOL! So definitely reward her a lot more, even if she is not perfect with the turn or if she doesn’t see the wing. There were a couple of reps where she turned the correct way but didn’t see the wing because you were behind, so you can still reward her 🙂
The first several rear crosses to the right looked good, she could see them before she got into he tunnel. Yay! When you switched to the RCs to the left, they ended up being late because you were too close to the tunnel and had to hold still til she passed you – then you did the RC, but she was already in the tunnel so it was too late. But then at 1:19 you stuck closer to the wing and moved into the RC more, so she got it – she could see it before she got into the tunnel. You did the same thing at 1:31 and on the last rep, and she nailed it 🙂 Yay! So on rear crosses, definitely don’t get too far ahead: start closer to the wing (or previous jump, on a sequence) and then move into the rear cross so she sees the cue before she goes into the tunnel.
That will also allow you to get to the wing after the rear cross and make connection – and even if you are behind, still make connection and try not to point forward: she can read that connection even if you are behind her.Great job here on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi there!
>> Thank science for video so I can see what the H*ll I’m doing. LOL!>>holy cow I totally agree! Being able to watch so much video really helps!!!
>>Earlier “Tunnel, tunnel” and then my go! or turning cue
You can say the tunnel cue sooner but definitely switch to the left or right or go before she is in. You ere telling her which it was either when her head was going in, or her whole body. To train myself, I laid a leash on the ground about 3 feet in front of the tunnel entry – so just before the pup arrived at the leash, I was already giving the next verbal.
I think she did a good job balancing the GO and the turns on the tunnel, and yes the sooner you tell her, the better she will turn 🙂 although I think she was fast AND tight on the turns. She was definitely paying attention through and responded really well! I only saw two oopsie moments – both handler errors LOL! and those were both rewardable responses from her. When in doubt, reward her because it was probably a handler error 🙂At :28, she made a good right turn out of the tunnel but then you didn’t connect back to her (your shoulders were both facing forward) so she didn’t know where to be and guessed.
At :50 you got behind on a big go line so couldn’t make connection to her between the tunnel and the wing out ahead – so she didn’t know which side to be on and stayed on her lead ending up on the wrong side of the wing. To help that, you can send more so you are further ahead there like you did on the next rep.
All of the other reps had strong position and clearer connection, so she got it right each time. Super!!!! Onwards to the rear crosses below 🙂
T
Hi! Great to hear you have a rehab vet! My Contraband saw my rehab vet today – he will be 2 years old in October. She gave me the ‘all clear’ to keep moving forward with his training and jumping. I asked her about various ages and she said that growth plates are not as important as people think they are – they all close at different rates. The most important things are front limb strength, hind limb strength, core strength and body awareness – these are more important than running courses and should be done more frequently than running courses. She compared our dogs to football players: she said that the footballers play for real once a week, do lighter scrimmages maybe 2 a week and the rest is all about strengthening and coordination. Good food for thought!
Tracy
Hi!
She did really well here!!!! Most reps were spot on and really independent (she’s not quite ready for the rear cross, and maybe distracted at 1:27?). Overall, really solid lovely session! Trying to figure out the reinforcement is probably the hardest part, especially because of the down position. Based on where she is looking while in the down, you can try taping a spoon to the underside of the teeter so when she arrives in the down, you can place the treat in the spoon for her to eat. That way the spoon is also a good target for more independence- which will help with the rear crosses too!
Nice work here!!
Tracy
