[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there!

Good work on these!!

For the weaves – it took her a moment to figure out that the MM was in play (you can have it beep when she exits so she knows to go to it) but I do like having it out there for her.
She was at about 50% rate of success here, which is lower than we want it to be. To raise it up closer to 100%, I suggest opening up the poles so she can stay in them even when you run away and do crosses and so on. Her entries seem good so you can open up poles 8-12 (use your 2×2 bases) so it is easy for her to stay in while the challenge of independence gets added in. Then you can gradually close them back up again. I would try for 2 sessions of 90% success or better and then close on one section (like poles 9-10) a little bit… then another couple of high success sessions, then close them a little more, and so on.

The handling is going well!
Nice blinds at 1:01 and 1:17 and 151!! Good timing! I think she was turning really well out of the tunnel but was then drifting a bit: I believe the drifting was because to clear the wing of the 5 jump, you were running parallel to the bar rather than forward to 6. So if you get closer to the #4 tunnel to start your blind and then run more forward to 5 – she will have a great line there. And the key to getting closer to 4 before the blind is to send to the #1 tunnel from further away, so you are also further ahead on 2 and 3 🙂

On the ending line: the BC at 12 at 1:28 was too early – you started it when you passed 12 but she was just taking off for 11, so she read it correctly as a cue to NOT take 12. Letting her land, cuing the jump then doing the blind will get her to commit. Your timing was much better at 1:39; also you can decel into the blind to tighten it. Decel plus keeping your arms in tighter through the blind will help her read it as a really tight turn there.

Really lovely work! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there!

I love the cue “Happy Hour” – makes me laugh every time!
Happy hour with the ball looked really good! He seemed comfortable playing with the ball while on leash, and that is GREAT. He also seemed very engaged as a left it behind him: looking up at the momma and doing a nice prance, and responding to cues quickly. Super! That will work nicely in the trial ring!
With the leash tugging I think he was wanting to engage. You can have 2 tug leashes, one on him and one as a toy that is not attached. And when it is attached to him, try not to move it towards him like at 1:02 and 153. He was trying to engage with it when you moved it away, but then you would move it towards his mouth and he would back off (and he got a little mouthy too, a little frustrated perhaps?). So keep moving it away and let him grab it (and be careful not to move it towards him when he is going for it). And you can also have it be the ‘in play’ reinforcement when you put it on the ground behind him at a start line, cuing him to go get it (different verbal than Happy Hour, it can be something like “get it”).

>>The best reward I’ve found for that is to send ahead to the Pet Tutor followed by some raw food in a toppl so he can’t scarf it down. Only problem is that if I carried the toppl or placed it off to the side on the grond, he would turn his head as he hit the target. Put it on a mill crate and he looked back at it as we left but kept his head forward on the DW! >>

So to be sure I understand this… by having the Toppl in the Happy Hour setup, it improved his head position while also allowing you to use the ‘loop’ of the super high value reward? If yes: cool beans! Yay! (If not – please explain or send more caffeine hahaha)

If this turns into a “you know where the reward is but you have to focus forward on your work to get it” thing, then I am happy with that. Just be careful that nothing (teeter) is on the line for happy hour cues 🙂

Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there!

Good work on this course! Looking at it in sections:

On the opening section:
You had a consistently lovely opening line, good timing on the BC before tunnel #4 (just keep calling him there – he exited turned properly but hesitated for a moment to look for you). Yay!

You sent and left a little too quickly so he missed 6 at :08, nice fix with a better sends at :30 and 1:16!

OK, the weave poles:
On the 1st rep – he had the entry until you made the weave noise and then he came out
2nd rep – he headed out there then put his nose on the ground (possibly stress, or possibly something smelled really good :))
3rd rep, same as first rep – he was heading to the poles and then came out as you made the weave noise.

He had trouble weaving towards the trees (away from the course) when you isolated it – his head came up and he slowed down. He was a little better going back towards the course.

>>Nuptse does not like the WPs>>

I agree! I think we can build the love for the weaves so he drives to them no matter what you do. How was he originally trained – 2x2s or channels or? To build the weave love and independence, I suggest going back to the training method, opening the poles up, putting a focal point out ahead (like the Manners Minder) and training the independence with a high rate of success. For example, if he learned on the channels, open them up to be about 6 inches open and the MM can be 10 feet past pole 12. Then you train all of he crazy independence on these courses and he can get rewarded a LOT 🙂 Then we tighten the poles… and fade the reward target away. It is a good summer project, I am sure he will pick it up really quickly.

The closing line was harder because you couldn’t really leave the weaves. You needed to take one more step to cue 12 at :16 – you turned and moved away before he saw 12. It was much clearer at 1:33! When you step to that jump, you can also start the verbal so it comes sooner. And I bet you can get in for a blind cross to pick him up on your left side after he serps 13! That will all be easier when he is very comfortable in the weaves.

Nice work here! Let me know what you think about the weaves idea!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there!
Good job with all of the training bits here!! And definitely some good training opportunities too, perfect for summer training!

Here are some ideas from the videos:

Looking at the weaves:

>> I used the ready treat at the end of the weaves but I do think I was asking too much. I like your idea to go back and make things simpler. >>

Yes – she was better with the ready treat out there for sure! I think a great summer project is to go back to the training set of poles (6 open 2x2s or channels or however you originally trained) with the RT out ahead of it – and we will train all of the independence.

>>She was showing either stress or fatigue or maybe both trying to sort these out I think.

I would say it was stress – her rate of success was too low, so she was stressing about it. The main goal is to raise the rate of success to almost 100% by making the weaves easier, so you can add in all of the handling options. That way you won’t have to be with her or ahead of her in the weaves.

The other training thing to look at is the teeter. On the 3rd video, you were running to position and she did not understand her teeter criteria – she ran off then it banged and she looked concerned about it. Then she was realllllllly careful at :26 on the redo there. On the 5th video, she also stopped short and you had to stop and cue the end position several times. So, to plan the training, a few questions:
first, is her criteria a 2o2o? And if so, do you maintain that in trials? She seems to think that she should keep going when you are moving fast, so we need to clarify the criteria so she knows what to do. For now – I highly recommend just having a target out there to give her a focal point and so you can get a super high rate of success.

Also, a general rule for her and also specific to the teeter (and weaves too) – don’t use any negative markers when something goes wrong. When she came off the teeter, your marker was something like “ohhhh” and a low voice – so she got really careful and slow. You don’t have to say anything at all when it happens, you can just run back to the previous jump and try again. I mean, we are trying to get a higher rate of success so ideally you won’t see any errors – but if it happens, the markers that tell her she is wrong also cause her to melt. So…. don’t use ’em 🙂 Have more of a “cool, yay, try again!” vibe and less of a “ohhh no that was wrong” vibe.

Onwards to the handling! Your connection is looking REALLY strong on all the clips. YAY!!

On the first video, she had a refusal on jump 3 (backside wrap) at :08 – ideally the 3 backside is a slice but I don’t think there was enough room there 🙂 Your handling intention looked good – nice connected send, then as she passes you and turns to the jump, get outta there. Her current understanding of the commitment is what we can focus on: to train her to let you leave like that, when she turns and looks at the jump as you take off, toss a reward back to the landing side of the jump so she commits while you leave.

On the 3rd video, nice serpy lines on the way to the teeter!
On the 5th video – nice handling with all the backsides on the line after the weaves! Nice connection! And nice line from the teeter exit to the weaves!
On those types of lines, I recommend more throwing of toys to get her comfy to drive out and away with more speed rather than trying to stick close to you (and the cookies :))

She only had one other handling question: on that last video, you had a refusal on the rear cross at 1:00 – your upper body and verbal were good. Add in turning your feet to the center of the bar, not just your upper body – she was going to take the jump but then your feet stepped forward so she flipped away from the jump. She probably didn’t want to run into you 🙂 And you should reward here there – that was totally handler error, she needs to get paid 🙂 Pay careful attention to reinforcing her A LOT especially when there is a handling error. You did the wrap there on the next rep (I think it was intentional?) to a blind then a rear cross – so you can do the wrap as a FC and have her exit on your right, so you don’t need a rear cross on the 2nd to last jump. But we will definitely keep working on those tight rear crosses because I believe it is the best, fastest line.

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi –

Sounds like a fun weekend!!!

>>So obviously, ASCA must not have rules…although perhaps different clubs are more conscious of these things, because I don’t remember having concerns when I ran at OTR a couple years ago. >>>

Yes, I think it is up to the various clubs? Plus I might be pickier about these things than other folks, but I don’t want my dogs to break themselves and I truly don’t know how to slow them down in tunnels.

>>But I hope you can find somewhere for your babies to run – I can just imagine that is incredibly frustrating – especially when you are teaching a class on getting ready for trials.>>

So far the 2 youngest have all made their competition debuts in disc and will probably also be running flyball before we can get fully into the agility ring. But disc and flyball train all the skills I would need for agility in terms of handling the environment, so it is all good and far, far less expensive haha!

>>But he had great start lines in all four classes. He did six closed weaves successfully in all four classes, although in the first two classes he had a least one “fail,” once distracted by the toy and then the number cone >>

Good boy on the weaves! The toy and cone distractions are indicative of the difficulty of the environment – he does not get distracted by those things when he is in a less difficult environment. The ‘stress’ of a situation will make distractions (internal or external) more obvious. So, more training runs will help the environment get him more comfortable and those distractions will go away.

>> I am thinking he’s ready to run some full courses if they are jumps, tunnels, weaves by the time we compete again.

Depends on when you are at your next trial LOL! The cone distraction and toy distraction plus his age tells me he is not ready for the bigger courses yet. When he is ready, he will not get distracted by those things. He doesn’t really need to practice his handling/coursework skills in that environment, he just needs to practice being *in* that environment 🙂 so no need to get into the full courses yet. You’ll see the shift in his focus and relaxation. And I personally would want at least 5 or 6 training runs with zero fails under the dog’s belt before we ask for longer sequences.

>> I think the rhythm of keeping going is more rewarding than the distracting of toy reward and start again.

Maybe, but that can be a slippery slope with young dogs – it shifts a lot of value onto the running lines and then we lose control of the reinforcement. So I recommend toy rewards that then get looped into a smooth, fast starting point for the next sequence. It is also a good way to add in a little more start line practice because you can reward, play, ask for a stay, then continue. We don’t want agility to be the reinforcement because that makes it harder to maintain the precision skills.

Looking at the weaves:
he definitely wants to bounce when the poles are straight! Opening them up 1/2 inch does not get the swimming, do I think you would need to open them more to get the swimming.

>> There is a 5th rep where I decided to drive up fast with him that I didn’t realize I left in there until I uploaded it, but I look super silly 😉

I am glad you left it in there – with you driving ahead, you were stimulating him more and getting more speed… but still have the bounce/swim combo. It did not help him swim.

So, we are at a fork in the road:
we can either open them up to where he swims and leave them open there for a long while, to really get the muscle memory set. Or, you can go with the bouncing and see how fast we can get it. The first thing to do to help make the decision is to do 3 or 4 reps with the poles closed and you running ahead – and we time them. And then in a different session, 3 or 4 reps with the poles open as much as needed to get the swim (an inch? 1.5 inches?) and then we time them. There are many, many top level agility dogs of his size that bounce rather than swim.

Bearing in mind that the slightly open poles will be faster than they would be as closed poles, we can compare the times. If the bounce and the projected swim are really not all that different in terms of speed, then we let him bounce because it is what he wants to do. If the swim looks like it would be dramatically faster, then we leave the poles open until the swim is solidified and close them in the tiniest increments to maintain the striding (like boiling the frog lol). The 2nd rep of the bouncing was pretty speedy with the distraction of you running laterally, so it would be interesting to see how he does with your running forward.

Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi –

>>Distractions and being a social butterfly are going to be her big challenge so lots of visiting other places in next couple of months as she seems to be getting the hang of sequences fast.>>

Yes, that will become a higher priority now – training runs with toys and all sorts of new environments will help her so she understands how to ignore all of those things before you start trialing her.

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
She did well here – it is a useful game for her because she definitely had some looks back at the kibble cart LOL!!!

A couple of ideas for you:
She seemed to like the lie up between your feet the best – the other interactions were ‘stickier’ for her in that situation. So definitely keep doing that line up! And, separately, you can play ith her doing tricks without a visible reinforcement then running back to a cookie bowl. Start this somewhere in the house and then move it outdoors but away from the agility equipment… and then eventually back in front of a jump.

For the ‘get your cookie’ verbal: I think you were using a ‘break’ cue as well, but you don’t need both. “Break” means ‘release forward onto the course/focus on da momma’ and the cookie cue can be super specific to running to the cookie cart. And isolating the ‘cookie’ verbal will help it really pop and be salient, making it even more valuable. She was definitely figuring it out and was doing well ignoring the cookie cart 🙂

About the leash tugging:
She seemed to really get engaged with it here! In training, if the leash is in play as the toy, it can be the reward as well which is useful for end of run as it is a toy in the ring. I recommend a separate verbal for the leash so she knows when it is in play and when it is not in play. And, separately from the agility obstacles, you can play with the leash as a toy and ask her to do tricks and use the leash as a reward.
At trials, you can have a separate leash that is introduced only as a toy – see if she can tug on it away from the ring, and gradually get it closer to the ring and then eventually it is the leash that she is wearing 🙂

You can incorporate this game into a variety of training sessions – adding it sometimes to your sequences at home, and also having it happen if you are training at new locations. And if you can do FEO runs at trials, you can use a toy to replace the cookies and see how she does with it.

Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

This is such a great update!!! I am excited that things went so well for you and Sly!
Onwards to the real trial environment 🙂

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Nice work on these! They are indeed challenging and let us know where she is SUPER strong and where she has questions.

>> It’s pretty obvious what weave skill we need to revisit and which one she rocked, LOL. She can go without me, I cannot go with our her!!>>

I think she is also anticipating the exit a bit as she realizes that the weaves are part of a fancy course. More on that below 🙂

>>Oh and I decided this is more like summer school, not summer camp. These courses are head hurting ( in a good way)

Ha! Yes, I should have made it clearer that it would be more like Advanced Placement classes and not as much about s’mores or campfires LOL!!!!! But now I want some s’mores…

Looking at each course in sections:
Overall, her commitment is strong and her contacts are strong, both of which REALLY help with these challenges! Yay! There are a couple of spots where we can get a little more but overall, really strong. I couldn’t really hear your verbals so I am going to assume you were perfect. 🙂

Specifics, Course 1:

Opening Line:
The backside on 3 really should be a slice but I think my course design map didn’t leave enough room to give folks confidence that they could slice there. The slice is faster and sets a better line, but in this case it also requires turning towards a wall (which is actually a useful skill for trialing indoors :))
On the wrap at :13 – you had a big explosion of speed to head to 4 so even though she had turned and was looking at 3, your speed was a distraction so she came off. The handling intention was correct! 2 ideas for you:
First, you can lead out less so you can start to move sooner. That way there won’t be the big blast of speed and you will still get way ahead.
Second – placement of reinforcement will help her take the jump even when you accelerate suddenly (there is a placement of reinforcement theme in my ideas for you :)) – as soon as she rounds the wing to the backside, throw the reward to the landing side as your accelerate to 4 – that will help her default to taking the jump no matter what you do, so then the timing of the acceleration becomes less important.

Weaves –
Staying parallel on the 1st rep was good for helping her stay in, nice reward! The Second rep at :41 is exactly what we want, in terms of you getting way away up the line, nice reward here too. Things go sideways with the weaves later on, so even though she got the rewards here – I think we need to change *how* and *where* she gets rewarded so she doesn’t look at you. More below.

Middle section – she had little questions of looking at you on the 5-6-7-8 section to the teeter at :49, possibly a combo of you looking ahead for a heartbeat a little and the visual distractions of the other jumps and the frame nearby. When you were very connected on the serp to the teeter, she had no questions 🙂

Teeter – try to keep moving through to position without stopping – the stop and then go without the release was hard for her, so she broke position. Your stop almost always precedes the release so we don’t want to accidentally set her up to fail.

Jump after teeter at 1:24 with the threadle handling- you can send her to the teeter and then just run to the landing side to get there, rather than going all the way around and then having to rotate 🙂
When you arrive there: stand still in position, closer to the jump, feet facing the landing spot – and don’t move til she turns her head top the jump. You were a little far and moving a lot at 1:24, so she had a question. At 1:38, you are also a little far from the jump and having to step back to it when ideally you would be closer to it (arm’s length or less). The threadle is a specific cue so she should turn away and take the jump without you needing to step to it (and throw your reward to the landing spot as you move away).

The other option there is to have her teeter on your left and do a German turn on the jump 🙂

She was a good girl on the DW! If you are going to go back to her to reward, place the reward center where a target would be, with her head low – so she doesn’t get paid for looking up and curling off the side. That is something to consider on all of your contacts: placement of reinforcement to keep her from curling in and looking up at you. When she curls in, you have to handle her back to the line. If she stays straight, you can just release which will be a lot easier for you and faster for her too.

Nice weave entry even with her curled off the side of the DW when released! Good girl!!

2nd set of poles to the last line: For the handling, she needs to stay in so you can get waaaaaay ahead there -converge more to the last jump on the line to get it but let’s train more independent weaves there so you can drive ahead on your right, do cartwheels, or whatever you want to do in the moment.

The lotus ball reward is high value but it also draws her focus to you – she is watching you as you move ahead or move away, and then when you throw it when she completes the weaves, she is watching you throw it. All the watching of the momma causes the pop outs as you move away up the line. So I suggest a Manners Minder or something similar to help get her to look ahead, and to establish placement of reinforcement straight out of the weaves and not near you.
You can start with the MM being pretty obvious and maybe 10 feet from the weave exit. And when she finishes the poles, you click the beeper remote and cookies fall out 🙂 As she gets more and more independent, we move the MM further and further away until it is not visible – and you can still use it as a reward because you can make it beep when she finishes the poles. This should help shift her focus to finishing the weaves so you can then do whatever handling you like 🙂

Course 3:
Opening line – Because she curls in a little and looks at you, you will have to be one step further across the bottom of the frame before the release or use a get out as the release to help her get a straight line to the tunnel entry (and obsessing on placement of reinforcement low and straight where a target will be should help her to stay straight).

Weaves – yes, for some reason these are hard for her when she is on your right – I would think this was an easier challenge than the left sided weaves on course 2 but she disagrees 🙂 So this is where I would plant the MM out there to really give her a focal point to weave to as you add the crazy handling… then we fade the MM. you’ll find that in the skills sets and sequences.

Line after the weaves: connect more to her on the exit of 6 – really strong, direct eye contact for the wrap exit – so she knows how tight to come around the wing – she had a question at :59 and she wasn’t sure exactly where to be which made it harder to show the rest of the line.

Good job getting her to the backside at 8! Dog training moment there – she got to the backside at 1:02 but then looked at you – and plus you were shaking your hand with the lotus ball in it so she stopped short. She got it nicely at 1:23! So, handling-wise, stay connected but keep running like you did at 1:23 – and for the training element of it, you can toss the toy to the landing side as she comes around the entry wing to help solidify commitment so he gets it on the first rep even if you are shaking your hand lol

Teeter – She is going to the end of the teeter really nicely, shifting her weight… but the placement of reinforcement is getting her to sit (I don’t think her criteria is a sit?) So this is also a god place for the low, straight placement of reinforcement, right where a target would be (I throw it to that spot to further encourage the dog to look down/straight and not at me. The straighter you can keep her on the contact exits, the less you will have to do a send to the next line. And less sending makes it easier for you to get to the next spot. And we like it when the handling is easier LOL!

Left side weaves – I think this is her stronger side but she popped out on the first rep here too. As with the previous weave questions she had, we can change the placement of reinforcement so she doesn’t look at you – even when you throw the reward she is already looking back at you. And having the lotus ball in your hand is a big “draw” for her, so the more I see about the weaves, the more I like the idea of a reward target for her that starts close and is visible, then we can fade it out.

On the Rear Cross on 18 at 2:31 – she definitely prefers to wrap towards you rather than turn away, so you will have to pressure the RC diagonal line more just like you would do on a ‘normal’ rear cross 🙂 That would mean taking one or two more steps to the wall to get the RC diagonal line: you can decel her on 17 and then push your feet to the center of the bar there, so she can change her leads. Keep moving your feet to that RC line until you see her turn her head and look to her left. If you move too fast and don’t turn your feet to push her RC line, she will default to the wrap.

You were more patient at 2:50 and definitely had a better upper body turn so she knew something was different (bar down) but you need to ‘seal the deal’ by moving towards the slice line for another step or 2 or 3 (the wall here, in this case) to really get her to turn away.

Make sure you reward her there in those moments – she was not wrong and didn’t get a really reward interaction as you reset.

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there!

>> Yes I did cue a tight turn tst tst tst. I am not sure what you mean by brake arm with the outside arm? That is my dog side arm? I think I was holding the arm back at 38 s so that he would come to me to do the weaves.

The brake arm is the arm opposite of the dog (the left arm, if he is on your right, for example). And I bring it up gently as kind of a “WHOA!” To help get collection on those types of soft turns. You’ll see more of it in the next set of games & courses 🙂

>> Oh, it didn’t occur to me that I could slice that jump from the front side lol. That would have been way easier and faster. Would I just do a front cross or a blind to cue that from the weaves?>>

Either, because it would happen while he/she was weaving 🙂

On the Jumpers Course – TONS of nice work here and I liked how you experimented with different options. Don’t be disappointed in yourself 🙂

Looking at it in pieces:

The opening:
1-2-3-4 nice line on blind on the first rep!!! It was also good on 2nd rep but be closer to the line (stay right near the wing of 2) she runs 2-3 to get a really great turn over 2 so you don’t need to step her back to 3. At 2:10, you set the nicest line there!!!

Middle: 3-4-5-6-7:
At :07, flipping from the landing side of 5 set her up on the center of the bar at 5 and put you too far behind so the line was a little zig zaggy. I liked the idea of getting between the tunnel exit and the jump at 1:04 And 2:15 for a cross! But a blind will be easier to execute and you can show her the head turn before she enters – the FC is really hard to do at top speed and it was late because you couldn’t get the rotation going before she entered the tunnel (because you had to get to the correct side of the tunnel. So if you do it again, try a blind there and start the upper body rotation before she enters even if you are not in the perfect spot there.

Weaves: Yep, as soon as she realized where the course was going, she was popping out. So yes: bring out the MM or reward target so you can work that skill. I thought your intentions were great – run away while she is weaving 🙂 And you can Also try the FC and be moving away before she exits the weaves (at :15) 🙂 to get a better turn on the tunnel exit. The more you can leave her in the weaves, the easier the next section would be.
At 1:12, she popped (just anticipating and also maybe you were running slower ?) At 2:23 you were moving nicely and cuing the weaves… still popped! Training opportunity 🙂 The visual of the other obstacles is tempting so having the reward out there will start getting the independence and then we can fade it.

And yes, resesetting from the previous jump will smooth it out and yes, rewarding it would have been good – but either way, she told us loud and clear about a good retaining opportunity and now is a perfect time to work on it.

Closing section (10-14):
There was a little bobble at 12 on the first rep – Stay connected as you send at :17 – you were ahead, arm high, looking ahead so she came off the line (She couldnt’ see which line you wanted).

You were much better there on the resest at :41 but as timing idea: you can show stronger connection and cue the send to 12 as she is approaching jump 11 after tunnel – so she will make the lead change before takeoff and set up a prettier line.

I also really like the idea of the BC on the closing line 12-13 rather than serping the 2nd to last obstacle – the magic would be in being able to really leave her while she is weaving, so you can run towards the wing and decelerate a little bit. You can totally get at tight turn on a blind! But leaving the weaves is how it would happen. It is kind of what you did at 1:51: run closer to the wing of the BC jump and then decel into the BC – no need for lateral distance there, the BC can be done right on the wing to support commitment.

My favorite line there was at 2:04: clear send to 12 and then you really drove through the serp to the last tunnel – LOVELY! That was the one where you got the blind and she didn’t run across your feet.

The FC at the end (2:44) was NICE too! And you had impressive hustle considering how close to the weaves you had to stay…. I think the FC or BC there will be super easy if you can leave the weaves more.

One last thing to note: great job with the verbals especially on the tunnel exits. For example, the timing of the left cue at 1:31 was GREAT, nice turn on exit!!!

Great job here! I think the hard parts would be easier with the more independent weaves, so feel free to put the MM out there to help reward her as you run to your next line.
Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
That is definitely odd!!! She seemed happy and she was driving to them, but couldn’t get in. And I agree that your handling was very clear aw and also the entry was not that challenging. When you did it on the other side, was it also a right side entry? Just curious to know if she had any trouble with the left side.

I think your theory makes sense: different base. Dogs are not known to be good at generalizing so the different base could be the issue. No worries – you can give her a day off from weaves and I bet she is fine. Also, you can have 6 of your normal poles then add these 6 as poles 7-12 to help get her used to them.

You can revisit these when she is comfy with these particular poles. I think setting up the jumpers course is a great idea!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Wow, I’m really excited to see this session! Her first teeter and last teeter were my favorites, she was really driving across! The others were good too! The handling elements looked good too but the independent teeter made me really do a big happy dance.
Did she know there was a cookie on the target for that first one? It was a really fabulous performance!!! Having the MM out there is a good visual for her too. At some point later on, we will game plan fading the target and MM but not yet – her teeter performance is still percolating and I want her to be insanely confident before we fade anything.
Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

These went well, I have some training ideas for the weaves!
Here are some thoughts from the videos:

Sequence 1 – yes, she totally had a WTF moment when she realized you were not coming with her on the weaves LOL! She got more comfy later on but I think this is indicative of her concerns with the weaves. Plus, she was not doing a rhythmic striding on them here (or in any of the reps). She is big enough to ‘swim’ or bounce – so I think we can spend the next few weeks doing a retrain to both get the striding AND get her more independent so she loves loves loves the poles.

How did you originally train them? 2x2s? If so, take 6 poles with 2×2 bases and open them up a tiny bit (maybe 2 inches?) so they are easier for her to swim or bounce through. And, we will show her all of these independence challenges with *all* of the rewards tossed out past the end (not from your hand) or you can even use a Manners Minder as a reward target. Getting her really focused on the weaves regardless of what you do will help both in training and also in trials.
If you didn’t use 2x2s, you can open up whichever method you used 🙂

A handling question from her at :23 – she was not comfy jumping in towards you in that position pro the jump after the weaves, is that normal that she does that? When you were further across the bar at :44 she was fine and she was fine on the other reps in the videos, so we will just chalk it up to an oopsie moment unless you see that happen more often.

2nd video – she was more comfy on the first set of poles with you moving away laterally in each sequence but popped out on the 2nd set both times on the first 2 sequences. The slightly open poles and rewards out ahead will really help that too, so she can do the poles no matter how many cartwheels or dance moves you do LOL

The handling overall really good! There was one added line of jumps (no problem, you were connected and kept going). I wasn’t sure if at 1:22 and 1:51 you wanted her to come to the inside of the wing or just needed more connection to push her to the outside of it?

3rd video – teeter in the middle – what is her criteria? It was hard to tell if she was supposed to do a bang-and-go, a 2o2o, or a 4on. She slows down because she doesn’t know when the release is coming (like at :35) and so she has some questions there. On these independence games, you can use a target to help her drive to position (and get rewarded there, by tossing the reward to the target) so she has no questions and so you can move away very independently.

On handling suggestion: on your spins, you tend to be late starting them which makes you late finishing them, which causes her to wait for info. At :09 and :26 on jump 4, you should be already finished with the FC rotation part of the spin so you can go to the BC element. You were still facing forward to commit her, so the spin didn’t start til after landing so she was not sure which side to be on (the first 2 reps were either a repeat or amazingly identical! LOL!) Trust her commitment so you can send and start the rotation before she takes off.

The BC at :36 was a tiny bit late getting the connection on the new side, which is why she picked up going around the pole. But then you got the connection in and got back on track nicely.
The ending line on all reps looked great!

Nice work here! Let me know what you think about the ideas for more independent on the weaves!

have fun!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>> pity video wasnt closer as her eyes nearly leaped out of her head with shock that it came so big she was in heaven.>>

That is so funny! The person who can create dog training treats out of horse poop, sheep poop, etc, will be the first dog training billionaire LOL!

She looked great here! Very exciting!!!!

>> I need to stop thinking about what she is doing and think about me..>

Yes – plan your lines more smoothly. She doesn’t seem to get frustrated when things go a little sideways, but we don’t want to create any frustration. So having a plan will help. The distances here were very true to what she will see in the ring, so it was great to see her finding her lines! She was a little distracted by the toy sometimes, so a smaller less obvious toy will help too (or having it in your pocket)

I really loved her focus in a new place! Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Have a blast at your seminar today!!!! I am sure it will be great 🙂

The warm up is always good! The look on his face when you ran laterally made me snort – he was all like “WHERE DID YOU GO AND WHY ARE YOU NOT RUNNING” hahaha because much of his teeter frame of reference was with you running near it and past it.

And yes, he was asking if he should turn around and run back up the teeter? He definitely had opinions there. Your position was good for a very experienced dog but because he is learning these challenges, you can be closer to the center of the bar just to teach him to drive off the teeter tight and not go back up it.

Doing the bang game reps with you behind him was a really good brain-bender! It think he figured it out in the context of the very recognizable game. And then on the next full rep, he had it perfectly. And same at 1;42 – he is still thinking a bit of ‘what the heck??” when you are so lateral but he is being GREAT about driving across the board and into position.

On these reps where he has to do the whole teeter without you, you can totally leave a surprise cookie on the target sometimes, for an immediate reward. He won’t be sad about the 🤣 and it will help remind him to look for the target and not at you 🙂

The handling overall looked fabulous! You were especially strong on the BC from jump 3 back to the wing wrap – nice timing and connection, he seemed very tight and fast there.
He had one little question at 1:32 – sending to the wingless backside. Being a wingless, it is a little harder to see and your turned your shoulders away from him before he could lock onto it. So think of it as more of an arm-back, very connected one-step send and not a shoulder turn. You stayed connected for longer at 2:01 and he nailed it.

Great job! Let me know what you think! And have a blast today!
Tracy

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