[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

He did well here! At the beginning, the leash tugging looked really good. When you went back to it later, he was not as strong with the leash tugging – it could have been that food was introduced into the picture, or he was hot, or both 🙂 So one thing to consider is that you might start your routine with tugging (leash or toy) then go to food as you get closer to the ring… then back to tugging at the end of the run (or sometimes as you enter the ring, he will let you know how he feels about that :)) You can figure it out by experimenting and seeing what works best. When you have tugging, the action tricks work best (and he is not strong with the nose touches, for example). When you were on food, the nose touch and precision tricks were strong but the action tricks were weaker. So that will also help you sort out his needs: ask for the action tricks when he is on the toy or leash, then when food comes into the picture, ask for the precision tricks. Over time, you will uncover the routine that works best. I personally use both food and toys in my start line pre-run routines with my dogs, it does not have to be one or the other. At the end of the run, some of my dogs go to their treats and others go to the leash/toy.

>>Couple of questions here. I feel like he’s also targeting the box that the treats are on with his feet sometimes. I am not sure if I captured any in this session. I did another brief session after and it happened twice. Should I pick a different object or just be okay with the targeting behavior. He’s got a lot of value for putting his feet on stuff.>>

Do you mean as part of the with me cue? I might just be a ‘superstitious’ behavior – as long as it is not required to get the treats, and as long as he is fine when the box is not there, then it should not be an issue.

>>I would like to incorporate him jumping into my arms into our eventual end of run routine should we ever get trialing. At what point should I start to introduce the behavior? Jumping in my arms is already heavily reinforced for both food and toys and I’d like to keep it very valuable. He’s still super stimulated by other dogs moving and has a high prey drive so I want a very quick orient back to the mama after you run skill and for it to be second nature.>>

I would work it with a 2-pronged approach:
– with the treats/toys visible or in your hand (or wherever they are now when you are training it and rewarding it at the moment), take the game on the road to as many difference places as you can. You might have to break it down in newer places or more difficult places, but that is fine to get the behavior and reward it in new places.
– at home, in the most comfy place where he is GREAT at this trick – do it with the food/toy moving out of the picture. If the food/toy is normally in your hand, put it on a table next to you. Or on the floor… then in a different room, then down the hall, etc etc. And when you get the behavior, run to the food and reward (you might have to put him down first, though haha) That way you begin to fade the food/toy off of you while still getting the behavior.

When he can do that, you can send him to a wing, have him jump in your arms, reward. At first, the reward is on you and then you can fade it out in this scenario too.

>>I tried to do another small session when it cooled off because this first one, he was super hot. I had just dremeled his nails for cheese and he was mounting my leg with over arousal so I saved you from having to view that footage and it would make the video too lengthy. Any suggestions on how to modulate arousal when that happens. I tried to ask for calm stationary behaviors- like a nose touch and didn’t really have success. He could do more active behaviors which then led to more mounting.>>

Does the dremeling contribute to the over-arousal? That plus having already worked in the heat might have meant he had nothing left in the tank to have a good session, so that might be a time when you choose to not train (too much failure, potentially). If you have a situation where he is mounting, you can definitely cue incompatible behaviors such as a stationing behavior during these games: ask for an active trick then send him to his station then toss him a reward. He cannot be on his station AND humping your leg at the same time, right? If you don’t have a station, you can use a down (not ideal, but also not too difficult). And during something like dremeling, you can build in nose touches or chin rests or stationing, etc, so he can learn to modulate his internal state and won’t get caught in the over-arousal vortex. I personally stop training sessions if the dog is trying to mount me – I gently peel the dog off, give them something else to do like chill in a crate or expen, then sort out what was happening and try again when the dog is in a better arousal state. The stopping the mounting like that also serves as a bit of a negative punishment, right? Withdrawal of access to reinforcement – which suppresses the mounting behavior. But if we use that, it becomes especially important to reinforce those incompatible behaviors so the dog can make “better” decisions or have reflexive responses to the arousal that we prefer 🙂

Let me know if that makes sense! Nice work here!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>You suggested some games.
Would love to know your suggestions. Nuptse usually is not able to tug at the SL. He IS distracted
and/or is a little stressed in the ring.>>

I think this game will help plus I have a whole bunch coming on Monday (and more in 2 weeks) that can help 🙂 So looking at this game first:

What in the environment stimulates him? Was it birds here, or something else? You can set up the training for these games a little differently: bring him out into the yard on leash, so the game starts from the very moment he enters the yard – that is hard! Then work on engaging with him right away – first with treats in your hands and tricks, then moving away from the treats behind him, then leash off. And yes, you’ll probably have to go for the super high value treats to get this started 🙂

The jump-on-my-back trick is so fun!! For a trial version of it, maybe have him jump over an extended leg as you are walking? It is a great high energy circus trick that you can do as you move to the start line.

He might need a different verbal for this trick – does jump mean jump the jump, or jump on your back? Or do I remember correctly that ‘hup’ is your jump cue? He was definitely a little confused (but not being distracted or naughty, more like he was guessing). In theory, the context of your position would mean on your back but the jump being right there makes it harder for him to figure out what it was.

Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Nice work on these, I don’t think the wheels feel off (just a couple of really difficult high speed challenges 🙂 )

Yes – opening looked great and her weaves looked fabulous! The next level challenge on the weaves is to be able to do the cross even sooner and be moving away up the next line – that way you won’t feel rushed and you can easily show the #8. That tiny bit of rushing caused you to be facing the wrong line on the first rep, but when you did not have to rush on the 2nd time, it was really easy!

Her Teeter looked really good! You released as soon as it hit the ground, so be careful that the bang doesn’t become the release if that is not what you want.
Nice BC at tunnel exit!!!
On 13, you should slice to the outside rather than wrap to the inside – the slice line is faster there PLUS it will get you further ahead for the next line. And since NZ has a win system and a lot of fast dogs, we need to always go for the winning line 🙂

Nice BC while she was on the a-frame! To get a FC on the jump after the frame at :31, you would need to be further ahead and decelerating into it doing the slice on 13 will help that). You were doing the FC in high motion then didn’t make a clear connection at :32 so she read a turn to the tunnel but did not pick up the side you wanted. Good girl for saving you and getting into the tunnel when you said tunnel!!

The BC at :40 made it much easier to get the side change you wanted AND got you to good position for the RDW! A little decel while moving into the blind as she exits the a-frame will make it even tighter.

On the dog walk:
She did indeed turn left at :45 off the dog walk… but did it half way up the down ramp. She left even higher at :51. I am glad you put the mat back on and trained it! She did REALLY well with the training and the MM, adding more independence and arousal. The only thing I would add to your training is now you can run away faster and be yelling louder, like you did in the original run 🙂 And the more experienced she gets with this, the better she will execute it when she is ramped up.

Question about the verbal off the dog walk:
Is Left your wrap cue or a softer left? I think a wrap cue would work better here – she seemed to be responding to left as the 90 degree turn to the weaves.

About the 19-20 line:
The pie-in-the-sky goal is that the RDW will be so independent that you can do a blind cross and then do a wrap to her right on 20. That is the winning line (not the wrap to the left). Getting into the blind cross will also allow you to do a spin to get her to come through the gap and not grab the tempting off course.
The reality of the present is that you would need to do a rear cross on 20 in order to get the winning line – a decelerated rear cross so she collects and wraps (with your wrap cue). It is definitely something to practice because it is the skill that would make the difference on this course! Handle it as if the trap is not there, going for the winning line – and I bet she doesn’t get sucked into the trap 🙂

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Great update! Sounds like both boys did really well with their independent skills! It is not easy running dogs that move at different speeds, but it sounds like you are mastering it really well. And for Buddy, you can keep throwing rewards to keep him convinced that he can blast away on the big independent lines 🙂 I don’t think he is slow – I think he perhaps is just not as insanely fast as Mookie 🙂

Great job! Thanks for the update!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Awesome, thanks for posting these!

The first one was a refusal on the tire – I see 2 things here:
first, from the handling perspective, it looks like you closed your shoulders and turned away a little early. Keep your arm back and eyes on him until you are sure he is committed.
Second, from the dog training perspective – it did look like he was about to take off and then changed his mind. So it is entirely possible that he needs more commitment work (send and go) on a tire! He probably would have gotten it if it was a jump, but the tire is difference and we don’t work it enough.

The 2nd refusal looked to be all handler oopsie 🙂 At :25 you sent to the jump after the weaves then before he took off for it, you left for the FC. You know how we handlers are often too late? Yeah, not this time – you were too early. If I didn’t see the judge call a refusal, I would have guessed that he ran the exact course you wanted LOL! To get the send jump, you would need to take one more step past landing of the jump after the weaves and when he lands from that jump – then send him. Then run away (at that point a blind would be easier but either would work because you would have plenty of time).

Let me know if that makes sense! We have more send stuff coming in the Skills and courses being posted on Monday, so we can work it very specifically! Enjoy the holiday weekend!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Lots of good work on these videos! The weaves and teeter are definitely getting more independent, so I looked at this with an eye on getting more speed as well. You also did a lovely job staying connected to him on all of these!!

Weaves:
I think opening up the weaves for now helped him: he didn’t have to think hard and he was super successful… all of which will translate to fast and independent. You can very gradually close the weaves back up as you continue to add independence.
Some ideas from the videos:
Seq 1:
– To get more speed off the line, you can run into the lead out rather than stand still. I think he has a strong enough stay for this: ask for the stay, start to job away, release him while you are moving, and then run run run 🙂
– The weaves looked super – fast, independent and great turn back to you after the exit.
– on the turn at 4: I don’t think need the spin (it was a little late and it is probably too strong of a turn cue for him because he already turns so nicely), just send and leave, starting sooner: as he exits the weaves, you can indicate the 4 jump as a send and as he is passing you, step away to the next line. That should create a tight turn and also more speed in and out of the 4 jump.

Seq 2 –
– You had more more motion on 1-2 here and got more speed. Yay!
– The weaves looked great here too!
– On 4-5 at :08, I don’t think he needs you to do more than call and run. He was on the way to you, finding the right line and not looking past it. You used the outside arm and a foot rotation, which slowed him down. Did he have questions about this line on a previous rep? To see what he needs or doesn’t need in terms of cues, you can totally let him blast off course then reward if he does… and if he does, add in a verbal cue earlier to see if that helps. We want to give him only as much as needed on the turns cues otherwise he will now be going full speed (off courses are good in training!)
– good job driving ahead after the 2nd set of poles! He is really nailing the poles regardless of the challenge.

Seq 3:
– nice play at the beginning, that got more explosiveness into the first jump too!
– On jump 4, I think the slice at will be faster than the wrap (:13) and also will set up a better turn/line over 5 (you had to drive him back to 5 then ended up late with the turn cue to show the weaves at :16). In general, slices are faster than wraps (more on that coming later in the class) so always try to find the slice.
– super nice weaves with you way ahead!!

Seq 4 –
– The running lead out & release I mentioned for sequence 1 would work nicely on this one too. It is a tool I used all the time to maximize speed on course with my 16″ jump dog.
– consider slicing the backside on 2 – more extension on the slice will get more speed overall and the wraps slow him down.
– an additional challenge on this sequence is to see if you can do the FC at :12 sooner, while he is still weaving – you did it when he exited so he slowed down to wait for you. If you are finished before he exits, he can speed up to chase your line.
– the send that you did to 4 at :14 was what I was suggesting for 4 on Sequence 1. It is a lot more extension for him and that is GREAT – it will be faster on course plus he will feel the of running hard and not having to collect as much. His line looked good here (and don’t worry if it appears slightly wider – that is often faster when we time it, which we will be doing in a couple of weeks)
– super nice driving the big line around the outside!
– the FC at :21 for the last set of poles was late (he was in the air you would need to be further ahead so you can start it after he lands from the previous jump. You’ll find it easier to do a blind there, because you won’t have to do a quick lower body rotation: you can just turn your upper body to connect on the new side. And the turn will be just as lovely as it would be with a FC (blinds can also produce great tight turns :))

Seq 5 – I think this is a duplicate of the seq 3 video.

Teeter sequences:
Teeter #2 video is marked unavailable (YouTube likes to list them as “private” unless we tell them otherwise). Can you relist it as unlisted?

Teeter #3 sequence
– nice!! He is definitely driving across the end better. He was convinced there was something at the bottom on the first rep – was there a target or leftover cookie smells? The 2nd rep on the teeter was a really strong 4on.
– nice clear releases and connections throughout
– The handling looked good. To keep maximizing speed, you can keep running to reward him so he chases you, then throw the reward – so there is a lot of running and no stopping (sorry not sorry haha) as that running fosters more speed 🙂

Teeter Sequence #5 –
– he looked hot and/or tired on this one, not as perky and speedy as he was on the other sequences. If it is later in the session, you can move up to higher value reinforcement so he is more willing to step on the gas pedal 🙂
– leading out less to run into the push to the backside will also get more speed. I think we should definitely play with running starts for him! The shorter lead out and release while you are already in motion layers in a lot of speed and excitement at the start.
– On the exit of teeter into the FC and send at :12-:13-:14, he did not drive to you because you were not running hard (there was no place to run to). One thing you can do to add more speed in places where you are not able to run: you can have him drive to you then either reward at your side with a jackpot of goodies, or throw a reward past you just when he is arriving (whichever you think he will find more exciting). That way, when you are stationary, he will drive hard to you – this will add speed to the times when you will not be able to use your foot speed to stimulate more speed from him
– he chased you on the closing line really nicely! You were hustling 🙂 He likes that! So definitely building in big rewards when you are *not* hustling will help get the balance of speed everywhere on course, not just when you are running hard.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>We did the teeter sequences. I started with reminding him what a target was. As we progressed through the exercises, if he gave me a really good teeter I stopped and rewarded. When he was turned extra far to the side I stopped and reminded him to look for his target. I included those reps.>>

Was there an actual target there, or are you referring to the target position? On any of the lines where you were lateral and moving (not hanging back), I thought his teeter performance was really strong!!

On the reps where you were really hanging back, he wanted to curl off the side to you, which brings us to your question:

>> if he’s going to the end and doing a 2o2o but turning to the side a bit is that something you’d work really hard to fix or is straight on necessary (read as – I’m lazy and i don’t want to do all the work to fix this!)>>

I am also quite lazy LOL! But I would also fix it now – if he turns off the side to follow your position or motion, his end position will deteriorate and he will stop higher on the board – that will lead to a slower teeter and he will either start doing 4on position or 2o2o off the side where no part of him touches yellow. Then, you will be annoyed AND still have to fix it LOL!! So my lazy self would fix it now so I don’t have to fix it later when I am cranky about it (after it becomes an issue at trials, for example).
You can fix it by leaving a target out there during training when you are going to do a lot of lateral work. And, you can over-compensate the reward toss (zing!) by tossing it out to the other side of him so that he actually has to turn away to get the reward. That response cost will help eliminate coming towards you. Ideally, if he curls off the side, you don’t re-cue the straight position because it becomes a chain of curl in then wait for momma to re-cue… and we are not likely to do that at a trial so then we get a lot of curling. And we don’t want to tell him he is wrong a lot in training because that won’t tell him how to be correct 🙂 So… the most lazy thing to do is fix it now because it will be a lot more work later on LOL!

>>I tried to not use ‘go’ and not use a negative marker, but still did some. Seems like on these tight sequences where he’s not moving fast I feel the need to cheerlead. And, when he went backwards on the teeter I just flat out forgot to not respond. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right? 🙂

Ha! Yes, you were pretty good about not using too much go. I think on these smaller setups, he is going faster than you realize – but you aren’t having to hustle as much so it feels slower when it is not slow. And as for the going back up the teeter – you owe him a beer for the No! That moment is why it is important to really clarify the end position so he knows exactly what to do.

The handling on the videos is looking good, you are really getting super connected!
On the first video, the blinds after the teeter (jump to wing) looked really good: timely and connected! And he picked up a nice tight fast line.

on the 2nd video: A couple of little details about the handling:
Use your leg more after the release a :37 to step to the next jump to commit him – you did more of a leg send at :52 and it looked great! And on jump 4, slice to the outside, it will be faster and easier than the wrap to the inside. You can get it by doing a blind between 3 and 4, which is a great challenge for his teeter release!

3rd video –
Handling also looks good here! The send to jump 4 looked smoother/better for you both than the spin on 4 – he was tight AND fast on the send. The spin slowed you both down. On the very ending line, you can be a little more connected back to him on when you are ahead at :53 and 1:14, so he find the wing.

>>On the last teeter sequence, we pushed to the back side of the second jump. I did a wrap and an slice rep to see which I liked better. Not sure if it was because he was tired from doing all this or if the wrap was a little less motivating, but he seemed better on the back side slice from what I could tell. What do you think?>>

Definitely the slice! The line is better, there is a lot more extension, and the distances will be about equal when you pace them out. I don’t think he was lacking motivation on the wrap, I just think it requires sooooo much more collection that the dogs have to slow down to get it.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Hooray for the rain holding off! She did really well here. That drive to the end of the teeter (thanks to lotus ball target LOL!) looked great and also looked really independent – she didn’t mind at all when you did the BC while she was running across the teeter. Perfect! The next steps would be to fade the target to first have no food in it, then make is smaller so eventually she can do the same behavior without it there. Take your timing fading it though, because we really want to keep this behavior!
She committed really nicely on the send and also had a really good turn there, without you needing to do anything more than turn and leave to get her to do it. Yay! You can try it with higher bars, to see if her commitment is strong when the bars get more challenging too.
I think the BC will be faster on both courses and probably will feel easier for you when you are already in motion on a bigger courses – my knees tell me that the stopping then starting is harder than just staying in motion 🙂 And if she is as independent as she was here, then it will be easy to stay in motion. In coming weeks, we will be timing the turns to make sure that what looks faster is actually faster 🙂 but working the independence is the first step to that.

Great job here!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hello and welcome!!!! Sounds like you have had a busy time, in a good way 🙂 I am excited to see Winne here, following in the pawprints of the other MacKay dogs 🙂

She looked pretty darned good considering she has had a layoff from agility AND we toss her into the deep end of the pool with advanced teeter independence LOL!! Her drive across the board was fabulous, and she was looking straight the whole time until she hit the end position. That is fabulous!
And I see what you mean about motion: even when you were running laterally at a really hard angle (like at :23 and :56 – as long as you were moving, she went into the 2o2o. But if you were moving very little like at :30 and :39 – you got a 2o2o. So for those moments when you want to stop or fade your motion, a prompt of some sort will totally help! It can be a plastic target on the ground, or the MM out ahead… or both 🙂 We want to help as much as needed but as little as possible – so if she knows what that plastic target is all about, you can start there. She was already looking forward and your reward tosses were good! The MM is harder to fade and is also usually best when we want the dog to look forward – so since we don’t need more looking forward, we just need a foot position reminder, a plastic lid target in the grass might do the trick.

Great job here! I am looking forward to more 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! It is great to see both girls here!!!!

It was super clever to have you work one dog and the other dog be on t he sidelines doing something as well! Was it a photo shoot? So fun and a little distracting for both of them!

Lily Transition To Trials:
She did really well here – she was definitely aware of where the treats were and also very stimulated: but even with all of that, she seemed completely focused and able to respond to cues. Yay! She did not seem at all distracted by Rosie in the distance. And it looks like she was even offering downs in front of the jumps (or was responding really quickly to quiet cues) – perfect!

Rosie – yes, this is a good one for her even though she is more experienced.
Rosie had a slightly harder time at the beginning, watching da momma and da sister in the distance! But then she figured it out and did really well with the tricks (and Lily almost joined you LOL!! Too funny!) She had a little trouble with the sit: at a trial, how does she do with sits? She definitely thought it was hard here, with the treats behind her so it was a good re-creation of the trial feeling.

A question for both girls: do you carry them into the ring, or walk them in like you did here? If you walk them in, no need to change anything. If you carry them in, you can add that to this routine as well, so they get used to it.

Lily tunnel 1: That’s right, she didn’t like the tunnel with the swimming pool! She was great here – no problem with the commitment even as you moved away both directions. You can fade the MM out of the picture, and use a lotus ball or something similar instead to throw as the reward.
And maybe leave the tunnel outside so it gets a little damp? That can help her overcome her distaste for having to swim through the tunnels 🙂

Lily weaves – the MM was a big distraction at first for her! Great job helping her get into the channels – that definitely helped! Because she is in the early stages of weave training, you can help like that: either set her up right in front of the channels or give her an extra step or two to line her up after she wraps the jump wing.

The other think you can do is change the position of the MM to get her looking inside the channel more:
rather than have it out past the end of the poles, you can put the MM inside the channel. I started it in the middle of the channel near poles 2-3 for a couple of reps and hen the dog got it, I then scooted it back to between poles 4-5, then scooted it back after a few more reps, and so on – that really helped the pup lock onto entering the channel without me needing to help. Let me know if that makes sense 🙂

Lily weaves in sequence – you can have the MM out in or past the weaves here too, even though we are technically sequencing. She wants to look at you a bit more than needed, so finishing the weaves was hard. You were smart to switch to the tunnel – that gets her going with the concepts that you can apply to the weaves later on.
She did a great job committing to the tunnel AND turning on the exit! You were able to start getting earlier and earlier with your handling cue – like at 1:17 where you were moving away before she entered: she still committed AND had a great turn on the exit. YAY!

She missed the jump after the tunnel at 1:34 because you were way ahead (which is good!) but your arm was up high and forward – when you are ahead of her, keep your arm locked back and down to her nose, so she can see your connection and where the line is. You stayed closed to the line at 1:40 and that helped her there, but I liked how far ahead you were on the previous rep – being ahead and connected will be very useful on the bigger courses 🙂

You had a really nice low arm at 1:49 and she committed nicely!

She had a dropped bar on the out jump at 1:56 – I think it was a combination of her being hot (so she was a little sticky and stumbled a bit) and she needed one more step from you – you gave her that one more step at 2:14 and she was great there!

Lily sequence 2 video – so funny at the beginning, running into the camera LOL!

On the first rep, you were working sends at :11, :14 and :21 and she had questions and didn’t commit. I think she needed to see more of your leg moving (dog side leg) – so when she exits the tunnel or lands from the jump, that is when you should give the big leg step and arm swoosh and verbal cue. You were using the step too early here, so she was not really seeing it as a commitment cue – and when you re-sent her and used the leg, she got it.
For example, compare 1L01 to 1:06:
At 1:01, she landed, you gave the big step, she committed. Yay! At 1:06, you gave the step as she was approaching the previous jump so your leg was stationary when she landed – she did not commit there.

Check out the tunnel exit at 1:23 jump sends at 1:26 and 1:40 – perfect timing of leg send! You mentioned directing her with your chest, but based on what we are seeing on these videos, I think it is more about your leg!

disconnect at 147 and 157 around the cone to the tunnel, more arm back and eye contact

Good connection and timing of the commitment steps when you did the sequence on the other side! She was on your right, turning to her left on the harder commitments there – do I remember correctly from the puppy classes that she is a lefty? That would explain why getting her to turn to her right on those commitments were a bit harder when you started on the other side.

Rosie sequences:
So interesting to see the difference between Rosie and lily! Rosie has better commitment to the lines for the most part, but also requires you to use a big step with the dog-side leg contact to send (like at :32) Compare that to the send at 1:31 when she exited the tunnel: as she as exiting, you gave a BIG step and she got the commitment. Nice! Yes, your arm was high there but I don’t think it matters to her: it is all about the big step for both of them (the high arm matters to Lily when you are ahead on a line and moving, though)
She doesn’t commit to the cone as well as Lily does but that is really no problem. I also think Lily has more speed so you had to be more patient on the lines with Rosie.

Rosie sequences 2:
Nice commitment on the opening line (a little distraction but that is fine 🙂 I think she was happier in the shade too, it gets hot really fast out there!
One thing I notice is that because Rosie is more experienced and has a better understanding of verbals, your timing of that big leg step can be sooner: check out 1:00 when you do the big send step as she is over the bar. She still continues on and commits to the next jump. Lily would have stopped short on that cue. So there are two options for the sake of your sanity while trying to remember things for 2 different dogs:
you can either delay the send step for Rosie to match the timing needed for Lily (let her land then do the big step)
or
you can get more commitment from Lily so the timing matters less and you won’t have to be as exact for them.
I vote for option 2! Ha!
You can get more commitment from Lily by moving the jumps in closer after the send jump – so it is easier for her to get to them – and then throwing a reward out past the jump. That will build value for leaving for the send on the earlier cue, and then we can gradually move the jumps further and further apart.

The same goes for the jump after the tunnel – moving it in closer and throwing rewards out past it will help Lily develop the same commitment as Rosie – on the rep from 1:21 to 1:31 and also on the very last rep you used mainly verbals, arm and connection (no =t much leg step needed) and she was GREAT. WOW!
Adding more commitment to Lily’s training will help get it so that she goes and gets on the line like Rosie did here – I think the magic will be in throwing the rewards more and also moving the jumps in a little closer, especially when she is turning to her right.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

That is great news about the AKC rules! So many good opportunities at trials now!

>>We have our trial at sotc next weekend so I’ll make several more trips there before then and my first class with the teeter is FAST so tuggie toy allowed. >>

Good plan!

>>Back to my sequences, I’m going to work on those rears to the wall for sure!! There was one in my jww course I want to get.>

And we will do more rear crosses in coming weeks too – it is a definite weakness for so many of us and yet it is a skill we need to use all the time.

>>I’ll bring out some 2×2 and open them up. Just enough for her to be pretty straight?>>

Open them up enough that she can blast through with very little bang on the body… and enough so that she doesn’t have to do awkward striding. You can close them back up when she has the concepts.

Course 1: Great connection throughout!

good send to jump 2 at :04 and even better at :46!! Your handing intention was correct to just leave when she committed to going to the backside. She does not fully understand the TTFC element of it (take the eff*ng jump haha) on these reps, when she is more aroused (I think the cheer crew helped the arousal). This happened before on the course work: missed it on the first rep and then was really good after “seeing” it. So on those all-important first reps: do the exact handling as here and as she commits to the backside, throw the reward back to the landing side so she doesn’t miss, and so she learns to default to taking the jump the first time. Same thing at :47 0 more arousal, didn’t take the jump. I think you were dropping the treats in at :55 and 1:10 at just the right time – it was hard to tell because she ate them so quickly hahaah! But yes, that is the exact training thing to do!

I think you wanted the RC at 5 at :10? You would need one or two or three more steps towards the wall there to convince her to rear cross.
Got the RC at :24! Yay!

While she is weaving, additional challenges to add: doing the FC and starting to move away before she exits
layering the tunnel so you are further ahead when she exits the weaves.
Both of those can get you to a FC or BC at10-11, rather than a RC!

At jump 13-14:
at :27, you were late getting to the FC so she went wide then you ended up moving backwards getting into position – that spin rotation on the exit of 14 with your outside arm cuing the jump causes you to have to stay there for a while, too. So you can play with different options: getting in there sooner with a BC or FC by leaving her more independently in the tunnel #12 – then you might not even need the spin at 14 – you can do a BC and be finished before she lands, then send to 14 and leave for the next line.
Or, stay on landing sdie of 14 – send her away to 13 and do a serp/blind (German) turn on 14) kind of like what you did at 2.

Course 2:
Nice opening 1-2-3-4!
You totally had the BC between the 4 tunnel and 5 jump 🙂 (It was kind of the opening of the previous course). As soon as she is heading to 3 after your blind, cue the tunnel and just leave for the BC, calling and turning your head for the blind before she enters the tunnel. There is a bit more hustle involved but it is worthwhile hustle! The threadle/rear cross worked but she had questions.

When you did it the second itme with the 5-6 of course 1: you also totally had the blind cross on the eit of 4. You were setting up to RC 5 – so let her see your body rotate towards the 5 jump before he enters the tunnel, so she can exit already turning the correct direction. Good job getting the RC!!

She missed the weaves the first time but nailed them the 2nd time! I would totally reward that by throwing a reward at :25 rather than continue. Good rewarding at 1:09!

In terms of the handling:
The good news after the weaves was that you were way ahead and able to get way up the line when she exited!
The bad news was that you gave back your positional advantage by staying at the tunnel exit LOL! So at :28 and 1:14, she caught up to you even though you have a solid 30 or 40 foot headstart on her. That made the 9-10-11 line get zig zaggy because she was passing you. You did get the RCs on both of those reps which is great, we need to work the RCs – but we don’t want to sacrifice the line before it and also I will bug you to not get into the habit of giving the lead out advantage back to the dog (because she sure isn’t going to be polite and give you time to get places LOL!!!)

So… no hanging out at the tunnel exits needed haha! Keep moving – she saw where you went so you didn’t need to stick your hand in there to cue the exit. If you keep moving from the moment she exits the weaves, you will be way up the line and get a FC or BC between 10-11 and still have enough time to grab coffee and a donut.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Yes! Or do bits with both. Most of us have more than one dog to work with, so there are plenty of ways to do it with both of them 🙂

[Tracy Sklenar]

Ha! Some dogs just want to go into the ring and get right to it, and they are naturally in the right state of mind. Some dogs need more help getting into that right state of mind, so we add in the tricks and other things into the routine. So far, she seems to be an all-business type of competitor 🙂

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>I didn’t even think to go that way – that does look like a better line! I was thinking the other option might be a wrap but that would put me behind.

In the 2nd and 3rd sets of skills/sequences/courses, we will be looking at all of this and comparing and obsessing on fastest lines. The fastest line will almost never be the wrap, so I always look for the various slice options 🙂

>>When you got the tunnel threadle on the 2nd run, you pulled yourself too far away from the tunnel – she still had a nice tight line but then you were out of position. That caused you to have to explode to get back to position, which sent her wide out of the tunnel. So, stay close to the line for the tunnel (don’t pull away) or better yet… get in there for the blind (you totally can!)

>>So would you push to the back/blind, or just time it as a blind?

I would just time it as a blind, I think she was finding it pretty independently and you can get her onto your right for the tunnel 🙂

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>Anyways, when I got home I went back through my teeter notes (hope it’s ok to discuss this here) and thought those last few mountain climber games may help. So I have called her on to the teeter while holding it in the air or letting it drop to random heights then 3,2,1 “touch”. It brought her confidence back almost immediately. I also used the treat and train yesterday to get some distance once we’d done it a few times. I feel like she’s more confident on it (the clip n go) now than she was before.>>

Well, after 18 months away from sport because of a pandemic, sometimes the only way to get the dogs ring ready is to throw them in the ring LOL! And it is great to see family. And YES that Clip and Go is totally different, and the baby dogs need to see it in training. And also yes – the game you describe is called the Crazy Elevator game. For me, it is the biggest piece of the puzzle for introducing new teeters and getting the teeter into the trial ring. In UKI and USDAA, we can touch the teeter and play this exact game in a run in the ring – then reward with a toy (and I think in both of those venues, you can also put a target on the ground!) I am not 100% sure of what the AKC training rules are, but I can find out. But there is enough UKI and USDAA near you that a couple of training runs to get on a teeter will be well worth it. When Voodoo was young, I drove 5 hours each way for a USDAA trial that offered a training in the ring class. It made ALL the difference for his teeters in trials!

Anyhoo: onwards to the video!

>>I know I need to do more proofing drills, but there’s only so many hours in the day and I’m being diligent about giving her time off from agility too.>>

For the weaves, you can do a lot more of these drills on open poles to teach the independence – that gets all of the concept work done with very little “bang” on the body 🙂

She did well here! The RT really helps as a focal point. You can use it to reward more often 🙂 She was really successful in all the weave scenarios except for one (see below)

A couple of handling ideas:
On the jump at :32 – slice to the outside rather than wrap to the inside, it is faster to slice and a better line (I see the jump isn’t too far from the wall but there was enough room for her there :))
She was a little wide over the red jump at :35 so she went around the next one – that is a spot to turn your shoulders sooner (as she is committing to the first red jump there) to get her turned to land facing the next one.

There was only one weave scenario that was hard: She is rushing at :49 and :58 when you were ahead (as you noted). Good job helping her out after 2 misses by slowing down a little – you were not as far ahead on the successful reps, so keep adding you being ahead but don’t move too fast for now (this is a good place to use open poles too, so you can add being ahead AND running :))

2nd video also looks good! You can slice on 3 (not wrap – the slices are faster and set better lines :)) and the only other handling suggestion is to turn sooner at :14 (jump 7): decel then turn after landing from 6 to get a good turn at 7, she was in bigger extension there because you were accelerating too.

You were ahead but not moving fast on the 2nd set of poles and she nailed it! Nice!

Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

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