[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there! Great job on these! Mostly perfect with some shared obsessing on sequence 4 🙂

Sequence 1: great timing and connection on the push to 4! You might be able to disconnect for the blind even sooner – just before he gets to the wing of the backside (the ultimate in trust :)) You turned your head when he rounded the entry wing, and you will find it easier to handle exit lines if you turn your head to the new side before he gets to the entry wing. Nice wrap at 5, lovely turn and he powered back down the line!

Seq 2 – loved this one – You had a great push to 3, very clear exit line connection, awesome wrap and exit line to the threadle on these reps. So nice! Turns at 3 and 4 looked awesome. If I was to nitpick, you could run more to the wing of the 5 (threadle) jump and pull away less – that way he can have even tighter lines (especially on the 1st rep) – he seems to really understand the threadle cue!

Seq 3 – On the opening line with the delicious off course tunnel straight ahead, start your turn cues for jump 3 when he lands from jump 2 – I like to give a directional for the jump (I would use a right verbal here) followed by the tunnel threadle verbal. The shoulder pull and verbal happened when he was over the bar here at 3 so he landed wide. That first rep had a ‘closed’ shoulder and the second rep had more of an open shoulder (more connection) – that looked better, plus you were a little earlier on the cues on the 2nd rep there.
You can definitely turn your head to start the blind sooner at 1:02 – you did it after he was in the air so he landed on the wrong side for a moment. At 1:16, he also drifted a little on the way to 6 because you were looking forward more than connected back to him, so he was not as sure of the line. You can also reveal more of the 6 wing, you were blocking it a little at 1:04 so he was a little wide finding it.

Seq 4 – so watching where his turns were amazing on this sequence and on the previous sequences, versus the drifting we saw here on 3: when you really dig into the cue on the takeoff side and stay there as he is taking off… he always drifts wide on the exit especially of spins. The more you dig in and stay there, the more drifting you get. That is what was happening on 3. When you cue and leave, like you were doing on 4: no drifting (and that was a spin too!)

So on the reps on jump 3 at 1:29, 1:40, 1:52… you worked the takeoff side a lot but emded up not showing motion or connection to the next line so he drifted after landing (his takeoff spots were fine, it is the landing drift that was widening them). At 1:52 you tucked in more like a reverse v-set (same with Jake at the end) so that did improve the line but still not as much as we can for both boys.
Now on 4 here at 1:32 and 1:42 – you cued and left and he was tight 🙂 When you did the reverse v-set on 3, you ended up amost getting the backside of 3 but also you were on a different line at 4 (2:09 for example) so that widened the line of exit at 4.

So what does it all mean? Cue the collection at 3 and then before he passes you… get outta there and head to 4, so you are blinded before he lands and making a big exit line connection. Then before he passes you for 4, you are already moving away again there.

Let me know if that makes sense – that cue-and-leave seems to consistently produce better turns and lines than staying at the takeoff spot and adding more collection cue.

Great job here!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Good work on all of these! You’re going to laugh… I think you are so connected that you are actually using your opposite arm too much! LOL! On regular connection, like exits of the tunnel or on the way to a jump or on the way to a serp – you don’t need the opposite arm across the body, you can just have it in a natural position at your side. You only need to get it involved a little as you exit the FCs or spins or blinds or serps, not before.

On Flint’s runs:
Your exit line connection looked really good here!
On the FCs: He will turn a little tighter and more smoothly if you don’t go past the jump on the FCs (and spins too) – stay on takeoff side to make your transitions and do the cross. He is a really nice turning dog, so if you go past the jump he will turn a little wide.
He did start to question on the last couple of reps from the tunnel – when you were looking ahead on the tunnel exit, he was looking at you – so remember to look at him (regular connection) when he exits the tunnel.

On the spins – exit line connection was also good here! Yay! I think you were focusing on the connection and on the spin, so there was a little too much deceleration on the way to the jump and so that was drawing his focus to you more than you needed. At 1:20, you were accelerating towards the jump more so he committed really nicely there.
He had an oopsie at 1:31 – you were not connected when he exited the tunnel (looing forward at the jump) so he came off the line and came to you – so be sure to connect on the tunnel exit especially when you are ahead of him. He had one other question here – at 1:45, you had a little too much opposite arm use on the exit line connection, it almost looked like a threadle back to him so he almost came off the line to the tunnel. Because he pays attention so nicely, your exit line connection arm can be very subtle, almost just on your belly with your hand on the opposite hip so he can see the connection.

Serps – He did really well on these too! Remember to keep moving as if there is one more jump out there, to get the 2nd turn. You had your opposite arm up the whole time as part of the come in cue – some folks do handle serps like that, so that is fine. If you would normally handle a serp all on the dog side arm, you can do that too (that is what I do) and you can slide in the exit line connection arm as he is over the bar (in the same subtle way as I mentioned above).
keep moving
Serp after the tunnel – he also did really nicely! He has a lot of great skills and your connectin looked really good 🙂 As with the single jump serp, keep moving as if there is another jump out so he can work the turn over the jump and so you and work the exit line with more speed.

On to Zuzu:
FCs –
She is also a nice turning dog! Fun!!!! As with Flint, try to stay on the takeoff side of any wrap jump – at 3:00 you did stay on the takeoff side and that was the best turn 🙂 And trust her commitment – decelerate and rotate on the FCs and spins before she passes you. You tend to wait for her to takeoff before you finish the FC – At 3:07 you were facing forward til she took off, she landed a little wide. The same was happening on the spins, so you can play with how early you can decelerate and rotate and still get her to commit (I bet she does really well with it :))
On both the FCs and the spins, your exit line connection looked awesome!!! Nice!!!

Serp jump: Great job staying in motion here! That allowed you to work on the turn in and out of the serp, and the connections looked great. When you added the tunnel, you were not moving as much – maybe the camera was in the way haha! Ideally you would be running right to where the camera was 🙂

Your exit line connections looked really good here! As I mentioned with Flint, you don’t have to use the opposite arm as part of the cue to come in for the serp – it is a preference thing. It can come up later to help with the exit line (and gets faded eventually :))

Great job here!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
You got in lots of good work here!!!

I have grouped them by topic 🙂

Get out 1 & 2
These are hard connection exercises! She watches every little thing, which is the good news and also the bad news 🙂
1st video – At :09 over the bar, you were connected. As she landed at :10, you were turning forward (dog-side arm at your side rather than back) so it looks like a blind starting… plus you said “tunnel” so you got the closer end of the tunnel.
Compare it to the connection you had on the 2nd video – no question in her mind which end of the tunnel you wanted. Yay!
You did a spin on the tunnel entry on the 2nd video, so she turned a little too tight on the exit, so a post turn escape from the tunnel works better there.
First video – At :15 she was not sure about taking the 3-4 line- looks like you deceled and stood up a little and called her so she came in (she was paying attention!) On the 2nd video, a little distraction plus a little decel and she almost didn’t take it but then got it – I think the distraction was more of the issue than the decel, you were closer to the line on that rep.
Nice ending line on both!

Get out 1: Nice 1-2-3 line! You didn’t spin on the tunnel entry so she had a better exit to 3. She was having a little trouble reading the get out – when you were indicating with the dog side arm, it was causing your chest to face straight forward so she thought you wanted her on the straight line so didn’t shift away until you stepped in. On the 2nd rep – your motion supported the out better, but you had to move in a lot to 4. If you use more exaggerated extreme connection, you won’t have to step in as much.
The wrap on 5 to the ending line looked great!

Get out 2: The same thing happened on the first rep here as happened on the first rep of the first run – you looked forward and said tunnel as she was over jump 1, so she took the most visible tunnel entry. The out is getting better and better on each rep, yay! You can still emphasize the connection more so you don’t have to move into it as much.
Her commitment to the backside looked good!!! She is really doing nicely on those!!

2nd video – much clearer connection 1-2, she just needed one more step to the tunnel to make it perfect (you tried to leave a little ear, before she was really locked onto it).
On the out, you can try having yoru dog-side arm back so the extreme connection turns your chest more to the 4 jump and not as much to the straight line after 3, to get her out with needing to step in as much.

Very nice opening on the 2nd rep! Then at :40 for a heartbeat you had the extreme connection and outside arm came up a little, turning your chest to the out jump: She shifted away without needing as much motion to the jump. NICE!!
Her backside push looked really good, I think the BC is the best bet there as it will get you out up the line sooner.

Get out 3:
Yay, this went well! Your opening line was very connected, give her one more step to the tunnel and you can also tuck yourself in to the tunnel so you don’t block the entry.
Her backside sends are looking really good! You can try sending her away to 6 from one step further across the bar (you will be more in the center of the bar on 6 as you send her when she lands from 5), then I think it will be even easier to get the BC on the exit of the last jump. You got it but she was hot on your heels and had to wait for a heartbeat when she landed 🙂 Her commitment looked great on the bar on both backsides here, though!!!

Go + cow poop 🙂 Videos:
Go 1 – very nice! She had a small question on the way to 4: she did great just needed a little more connection on landing of 3 to help support the line to 4 so she could commit (she was looking at you a bit and you were looking forward).

Go 2 – also really nice – at :07 you slammed the brakes a bit too much, so rememeber to decelerate until she is passing you then you can rotate and leave. She had a tiny question on jump before the tunnel at the end – I think she saw you pulling away on the jump before the tunnel and you were quiet, so keep yelling tunnel tunnel to support her line there.

Go 3 – really nice! The 2nd rep was really the indicator (rep 1 was interrupted for cow poop drive through haha)
Really nice job on the backside side on 3! And also nice job on that 2nd rep of staying in motion so you didn’t really help her come in and take the bar… but not so much motion that she was tempted to run past the bar there.
Nice send to the backside at 4 and the drive back to the tunnel looked great! She looked really mature running & jumping on this one!!!

Wk 5 seq 1
First rep went really well! She barked at you on the send to 4 – I thought it was because you were pushing in more than she needed and blocked the wing a little (which delayed you getting out of there too) but it might also be that she just barks on pushes? Your 2nd rep had better position on the send, you totally showed the wing, timing was good – and she barked any way. LOL! She has opinions LOL! But she is doing nicely on these backsides so I don’t mind opinions. The rest looked really good – nice wrap and exit line!!

Haydn’s turn –
He is so tiny that no spin is needed on the tunnel, he turned too tightly on the exit reading the spin and needed to be pushed back out to the jump after the tunnel. When you didn’t spin, he was definitely on a better line to the jump. The backside is not intuitive to him at all! You can angle the jump so the entry to the wing is easier to see – the entry wing gets pulled towards the previous jump, so it is harder to see the front side. You got in and really helped him on the last rep so he did it (yay!) so I think it will be even easier if you angle the jump so he lands and can run to the backside on a pretty straight line. The rest looked good!!!! He did a great job on the lines there.

Seq2, Lanna’s turn again:
The cue for the back on 3 was late – you did it when you got there to the wing but she was already committed to front, so remember to cue it before she exits tunnel on this sequence.

>>I was consistently late with Lanna.>

Actually, I think you are doing generally well with the timing of the backside pushes, this was the only one that was definitely late. The 2nd rep on this one was earlier and better! And the last rep had all the elements for a lovely run: nice backside send and exit 3, nice wrap on 4 and you got the double blind! She is newer to those double blinds (she looked at you like you were nuts on the first one LOL!) so just remember to exaggerate the big connection back to her eyes on the 2nd blind to help support the jump.

Last video – She has a little question on the first backside push: you said “go back” so she was confused – she started to go straight on the GO then switched gears on the back. More proof that she is listening! Yay! You can do the spin at :12 sooner (you should already be doing the blind as she takes off, trust her commitment :)) to get back to the double blinds sooner. On this double blind, good connection on the exit of the 2nd blind!

I see big improvements in her backside sends and also on her reading the normal lines 🙂 Turns are looking really good too, all at full height (I think) which is pretty exciting!!! Great job here 🙂 Onwards to blind crosses!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
These are looking really good!! Some little details for you but overall they were quite smooooooth and fast!

Seq 1 – super nice!! – he was a little wide on the first tunnel exit, so you can add a name call right before he enters it or a left verbal.
And – when you see him heading to 4, turn your head and disconnect sooner to have more time to reconnect and set up the tighter turn on the wrap on 5 – the earlier disconnection to get the blind there on the backside push will make it feel like you have a lot of time to make the adjustment.
2nd rep – he was not quite as early to commit to the backside cue on this rep – when I compared it to the cue on rep 1 here and your other cues on the other videos, I think this one was not as direct to his eyes so he was not as quick to get out there to 4. Your other backside cues were *very* direct to his eyes and he got himself out to the backside REALLY nicely!
On this 2nd rep, it looks like you got away form the 5 wrao faster and gave a clear out on the line back to the tunnel (also supporting with motion) and he had a great line there.

Seq 2 – nice backside to 3!!! Wowza – very emphatic cue delivery and he was great about going allllll the way out to the backside 🙂

On the first rep, he turned to his right for a RC on 4: The transition at :08 took your feet/pressure to the center of the bar at 4 so it looked like a RC to him. You decelerated and rotated all in one motion, which flipped him away. Yu can get the wrap more smoothly by decelerating but continuing to move forward to the wrap wing, then rotate into the FC as he passes you.
The RC on the takeoff side of 5 look *great*!!!! But you mentioned the double blind – the first blind comes on 4 so he exits on your right side – and the 2nd blind starts as he is getting to the backside commitment line which is a 45 degree intersection of where the wing and the foot of the wing meet – and definitely before he passes you. You will be moving to the wing, and then when you do the 2nd blind, be sure to exaggerate the connection as that is what will help him read the turn to 5.

Seq 3
The timing and connection in and out of the FC was spot on! Nice! You can lead out more so you are off his line to the tunnel – he has a great stay so I think it will be no problem for him. Really good backside cue! On this backside, you can also disconnect a lot sooner- you were a little late getting him to your left side because you didn’t change sides til after he landed (he almost stayed on your right side). That disconnection feels weird but as soon as he is heading to the entry wing, turn your head so you can be quicker on the reconnection to your left side. The ending looked awesome!

Seq 4 –
Really good strategy on the start to get up the line – spot on timing and connection in and out of the wrap at 3, you produced a great turn and he never looked at the off course tunnel 🙂
The switch at 4 totally works… but pulling laterally to set it up puts him on a wider line as he follows your path – I bet you could easily do a spin to get him on your left exiting 3 for the tightest possible line 🙂 When he is passing you to take off for 3, turn your head to your left side and move to 4 and see what he does 🙂

Really nice job on these sequences!!

>>I see you have a long list of courses for the winter. Is there anything in particular you recommend for us?>>

We do have a lot of stuff… Blind Cross Boot Camp 2 will address the harder blinds like the double blinds. And the super independent backsides will be good but honestly, after seeing these videos, you have most of that already 🙂
The proofing games will be GREAT fun and helpful!!
And I think the mental prep class will be great, because he is looking ready for lots of fun trials in the spring (or whenever it is safe to trial again :))

Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there!

>>That’s a great way to think about it…and that brings me to the last 2 sequences. I am super proud of the last rep of sequence 7. I cued and left and the turn was great!

YESSSS 100% agree – my favorite rep!!!! And also by not over-helping on the turn cue, you shifted connection forward a bit (rather than to the landing side) so she put in a great collection!

Here are some details:

On seq 7:
Strategically, lead out less, send more to 2 so you are more done with the cross before she can see you in the curve of the tunnel. You mentioned this as well – these types of lead outs are harder because there is not exact positional cue, it is all specific to the individual dog. So, you will want to be done with the cross before she can see you (to keep you off her line when she exits so she has a straight path to 4) but also not standing still at 4 (see more below on that). And that way when she exits, you can decel, rotate, leave. You don’t need to keep moving to the wing of 4 as that will send her a little wide.

Wheeeeee you really nailed the 3rd rep!! At :32, perfect strategy on the lead out to get you past the tunnel exit, nice timing on the turn and excellent getting outta there!! Lovely!

Seq 8:
Yes, that opening is tricky – on the first rep, you can get across the tunnel exit sooner. I think you were smoother through there on the 2nd rep, getting in and out of the turn at 4 but maybe a little less “swoosh” to the landing spot will make for the perfect turn. She does best when you look at her on the takeoff side but don’t indicate the landing side.

>> I think I was going too far towards #2 in all the reps, but finally got it more on the last rep of sequence 8. Only problem…I didn’t leave as soon on jump 4 that time…ugh! >>

Yes – on the last rep, your FC was done before she even entered the 3 tunnel! Yeah! And you were right at 4! And rotated! Yeah! But she did not collect as well as on the previous reps… I din’t think it was because you didn’t leave early enough, I think she just doesn’t really turn as well when you are standing still as she does when you are transitioning in and out of the turns. It is the same as we saw in the previous video where you were standing still at 2, and she did not turn as well as she did when you were moving into it. So be early like that with your cross on the tunnel exit, but closer to the tunnel exit so you can move in and out of the turns – those get you the best turns. I mean, the turn on the last rep here was not a BAD turn and most people would kill for it! But we know what she can do (saw it at :32!) so now it is a matter of being able to consistently cue it,

>>>This will likely be our last video for the class! 🙁 I’m sad it’s ending…we had some much fun and got sooooooooo much out of it, THANK YOU!!! Seriously…it was great!

You rocked it! Great job working through all the things 🙂 And thank you for the greetings at the end of the video, even if Kindle would have preferred to be doing dog walks hahaha

>> We signed up for the Blinds Boot Camp Part 2…I REALLY need to get some schoolwork done, and figured a couple week break wouldn’t hurt! You get a break from me too! HA! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Again!!!>>

Thank you for all the hard work!! See you in a couple of weeks 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

Yes, this is definitely building the skill! You are getting further across the bar for sure – and your feet are a little turned towards the entry wing, but only a little (especially on the 2nd rep) and you are pretty far from it! You looked like you were center of the bar on the 2nd one. You can have your outside arm look , more towards your hip, so that way your lower body won’t rotate as much and it will feel more comfy. Then as he is approaching the entry wing, you can add in stepping away on a slice/serpentine line (still dropping the reward in line you did here).

I think it will get easier and easier each session!! Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! These are looking really good, I only have small tweaks for you (and most involve pushing her commitment harder haha!)

A general note: you can line her up in front of 1 on a more severe slice, so she has a straight line facing the tunnel and you don’t end up with an extra turn on landing from 1.

Seq 1
Look awesome! She was powering through AND turning tight, exactly what we want. You can probably leave sooner at 3 – sending and leaving, staying connected but pushing to see if she will still commit. The post turn is the right choice for her – you got a tight turn without bleeding off speed. Yay!

Seq 2: This also looked good, both variations you tried.
Little details –
On the opening line at 3, you started rotating at 3 like you were doing a spin, then opened up again at :31 – you can either complete the spin or do the post turn/send like you did in seq 1. Either of those will be easier for you. The post turn created a great turn on 3 in the first seq, so it will probably get a perfect turn here too.

She committing nicely on 4 on all of the reps, while you were rotating! :34 looked really tight. At :42 on 4 you were running backwards – backwards motion is the same as forward motion, so she was a little wide then it took you a moment to get outta there.
You can push her harder at 4-5 ( :35 & :44): Take off to 5 as you reconnect after 4 so she chases the line rather than hesitate for a moment to make the connection. It is a big trust moment but I am sure she will be fine.

Doing the 2 FCs on 3 and 4 looked really good on the next rep! You rotated in and out of them quickly and she was chasing your line nicely. On the FC at 3, you can decel a little sooner to tighten it up a bit more, but it was really quite nice.
Now, I timed the first rep of seq 2 and the last one (double FCs) – they were almost identical, which means that you have lots of flexibility to choose which one you like better! Yay!

Seq 3:
On the FC at 3, try to be decelerating sooner so you can be rotating and leaving for 4, before she passes you to take off. At 1:00 you were facing forward til she took off, so she was wide on landing. You were earlier on the rotation there on 2nd & 3rd rep were sooner (1:09 & 1:16) and it looked tighter!
The Go lines looked great on all reps! I love how she was driving ahead 🙂

Seq 4: This is indeed a wicked sequence 🙂 You can lead out more so you are able to get way ahead and be done with the cross at the tunnel exit (a blind will be easier) so you can be off her line and into the rotation for 3 sooner (1:24 & 1:33 & 1:42)
Her commitment at 3 and her turn was *fabulous* on all reps! She was able to commit and turn while you were really rotated and leaving. GOOD GIRLIE!!!
Her exit line to 4 looked best on the last rep, you were pushing in towards 4 sooner. You can also add more exit line connection to keep the exit tight – she was drifting on the 1st and 2nd reps there trying to see the line.
The backside cue is tricky for young dogs. Watching this, I think she is reading a combination of connection and motion:
You started the backside cue on time at 1:27 but didn’t connect strongly til 1:28 so she needed a moment before committing. You kept moving in towards the backside wing and you ended up turning your feet, but she got it.
You gave the connection earlier so she was much smoother at 1:36 to the backside! Yay! You gave some pressure to the backside entry wing and ended up turning your feet. On the last rep I thought you were nicely connected but you did what I would consider “perfect running line” where your feet were forward and running to the center of the bar, and she took the front. Hmmmm…. LOL!! SO for now, keep that great connection and keep your feet facing forward (not rotating) but also keep the pressure of the running line to where the wing meets the bar on the entry side. That will help get her more independent and then you will be able to work on getting further and further across the bar.
Great job here! You have done such a lovely job getting her to commit to her lines and turns, so now we are in the ‘fine tuning’ stage – so fun!!!!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there! This looked really good! I think the 8 foot distance is a weirdo distance for him which is why his form is a little different: not a compression bounce like 5 feet, but also not a big bounce like 9 feet would be. 11 feet looked comfortably balanced, so did 5 feet. I’m not worried about 8 feet so we can play with it 2 different ways:
You can start the next session with the 2nd interval being 9 feet instead of 8, then 12 feet instead of 11.
Then you can mix in intervals, over time, with 9, 12, 15 feet. The bar can start going up on 12 and 15 feet too, he is “of age” 🙂
Another approach to this grid is to expand the distance between 2 and 3 by 1 foot each time:
5 feet
6 feet
7 feet
Etc
So that we gradually expand the power bouncing to help with the uncomfortable weirdo distances 🙂
Both of those can go into a rotation to revisit once a week or so. He is doing really well (and he seemed unaffected when you added motion, as you noted) so we can keep presenting him with puzzles but no need to obsess because things are going so nicely. 🙂
Great job!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
He did well sorting himself out with more excitement from the toy on the jump grids! He is still figuring out where all the legs go LOL! The striding was good overall in terms of choices of how many strides to take and where to put them. He was doing a 2 stride in the 16 foot distance, which is fine but also likely to change to a one stride in coming months. I think he might need more height on bar 3 so heis jumping more than running, which will help the striding percolate. I also suggest that because he is excited by the toy and leaping upwards a little for jump 3 more than jumping it, if that makes sense? It is what my Hot Sauce did at that age too 🙂 also Presto is much more subtle (she literally would leave 6 feet up in the air to pounce on the toy). So a little more height can help there too. He was strongest with the toy further away so he could land, take a stride, then leap on it like a monkey haha!!
The lateral lead outs looked great, he was easily finding the jump even when you added more distance. Nice!!! Your cue was very subtle, just a tiny step, so it was cool to see him locking onto the line so nicely! You are free to use a bigger step and some arm, all directed to the takeoff spot, as that might help when we add more to it. But he was awesome about picking up the line based on your position.
Great job!!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
I am starting to see some differences between Flint and Zuzu in places where you can adjust your handling choices a little! Small things might make a big difference –
Flint seems to like his verbals and line info early, or he looks at you a little bit. He does best when you say tunnel early (as he is taking off for the jump before the tunnel and with strong connection – you did that on the 1st rep and he did not look at you. On the 2nd and 4th reps, you were a little later and he looked at you for a step. You were earlier on the 3rd rep so his line was better to the tunnel, but that first rep was my favorite 🙂 Same with with exit of the tunnel to the jump after it: you can be telling him to go go go before he even gets into the tunnel, so that plus strong connection will let him look forward more to the last jump.
arm can be further back on those too
Zuzu is a little different in how she drives lines, and also tHings happen faster with Zuzu 🙂 She doesn’t need as much support or early info – she is reading the lines pretty early based on motion. So, you can have an easier time staying ahead if you don’t lead out as much past 1 so you don’t end up as close to jump 2 – you can send and leave 🙂 Also, she doesn’t seem to need as much support to the tunnel in terms of the early verbal or big connection, so you can be more lateral and get up lines more without having to help support the jump before the tunnel – staying more laterally away will get you further ahead for the jump *after* the tunnel 🙂

Great job here! And if you have multiple videos from a session or lesson ready to post, feel free to post them together, you don’t need to do them one at a time 🙂
Have a great weekend!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>So this has been a bit of a struggle. If I send in these situations, she tends to over jump. I completely agree that being able to leave earlier will get a better turn, but perhaps not going as deep 4-5 would allow me to show more decel at 6 rather than sending her there? Is there something I can do to build this “bubble”?>>

Sending using the decel more, and then as you leave stay in a smooth motion with very clear exit line connection – that will give the “not rushing” feel. If you don’t rush, she won’t rush (theoretically :)) even if you are bit further ahead.

>>I think this struggle can be seen in the next sequences too…the opening 2-3. I played with the LO…moving a little vs standing still. Her take off was good…just maybe a month or so ago that would’ve been a huge struggle…progress! But I’m still not 100% certain what is the best strategy for her here.>>

Her takeoff for 1 was pretty consistently good on both! But moving into the 2 jump was better than the stand still lead out – she reads the decel/rotation better than the standing still. More below 🙂

>>For sequence 6, I played with the front vs blind. I am trusting her more and more, so the blind felt the best to me, enabling me to accelerate past the tunnel. Would’ve been fun if there was a backside or something straight ahead of that tunnel to get to!

100% the blind LOL!!! And you executed a good FC… but the winner here is the blind. Here are details 🙂

Sequence 5:

Rep 1 – moving opening – nice turn on 2 at :05! Try not to go past the wing of 2, though, it sets a slightly wider exit line. Stay just barely on the takeoff side.
Rep 2 – you stood still and she was a good girl but did not process the collection nearly as well as when you decelerated into it. She had a good turn, but not as good as rep 1 (and this patterns holds for your other runs here too).

Very nice backside push on both reps!! One place to resist over-helping is on the backsides: Your physical and verbal cue means “go to the back and then jump the bar” so you don’t need to serp her in like you did at :10 or on the 2nd rep, you deceled a little. Just run and see what she does 🙂

Seq 6 – On the first rep, you moved into opening but not quite as early with your decel as on the first rep of Seq 5 – her turn was good but not as good as the very first rep on the video 🙂 The earlier decel will also lead to earlier rotation, which is helpful to her.
You stood still on the next rep at :55 and on the last one – it was not as good of a turn as the ones where you were moving into them.
On your backside pushes – they are so lovely and independent!! You had really good timing starting the FC starting at :45! But FCs take a while (in dog years) to complete – so even with starting it nice and early, she caught up to you almost immediately at :47. Your blinds did not start *quite* as early as the FC but they were still good in timing… and both reps with the blinds kept you further ahead, for longer. Yay for the blind here! And the turn on the blind was as good as any turn you would get with a FC, so there is no benefit to the FC here 🙂

>>It comes down to trust…I don’t trust my dog and I need to more!

So that is where agility is a mental game 🙂 “trust” is a vague concept. But turning your head forward at a particular time, or running a line a certain way – those are specific action items. When I know I need to trust my dog and leave, I ask myself what could happen – and work through the scenarios. Well, if I trust the dog and it goes wrong, then I am provided with a training opportunity to figure out why and fix it so it doesn’t go wrong again. If it goes right – then yay I can get up the course and reward the dog. So there is a good outcome either way, and it is easier to turn my head away and help or watch the dog less.

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

His backside understanding is going really well!!!! On this set up, you can proceed now in 2 ways (not at the same time haha)
– maintaining the same steady pace, move your line even further across the bar to eventually be as close to the tunnel as possible 🙂
– using the same line you had here, add speed 🙂 Start jogging and is he can handle that, you can start running 🙂 You can start this on a line that is where the wing and the bar meet on the entry wing so the line is easy because the motion is challenging.

I see what you mean about the rewards. Yeah, dropped toy is dull – his play style on dead toys is “stalk til momma kicks it” LOL So we can adjust to make it more fun: you can toss it way back, as in throw it 15 feet behind you so he chases it gleefully (he is not going to turn wide on these so I am not worried about the exaggerated placement) or you can attach it to a line so when you drop it, you can then drag it after you drop it for him to chase. Or use a lotus ball because he won’t ignore food 🙂

I like the serp backside combo game! The tunnel and more motion from you did add more zip indeed!! And he did well with the threadle-backside combo too! These games balanced and challenged his understanding! Yay! Try to have the toy stay in the hand that will drop it – he is thinking hard about the different cues so the toy and arm movement at :36 was too much distraction. Otherwise, I really like how he was pretty much spot on for all the different cues!! Good boy!!!!

>>. If I don’t need a diga I could make dig dig the left wrap.

I agree, I haven’t needed to differentiate left and right from more of a 180 turn – if I need a mild collection that is not a left/right, I just say ‘jump’ or call the dog’s name.

>>Or I might go with Kiri-kiri (left in Malay).

Or just ki-ki? Easier/faster to say?

>> Zuo in Mandarin is a 3rd tone which is drawn out and it would bother me that I am getting the tone wrong when saying it quickly. I haven’t retained much Mandarin since we left Singapore when I was 8 but I can still hear the tones and it bothers me if those are qrong).

Haha! I am chuckling but also nodding in agreement, I would totally get distracted mid-run if I started mispronouncing things LOL!

>> I’m off to go video to make sure check check, kiri kiri and circle circle are different enough

I think they are good! I am sitting here saying it:
chchch is where the emphasis on check is
will kiri be pronounced with the emphasis as in KEE-ree or kih-kih?
the soft Cof circle is more of a sir sound, and the iirrr is elongated so it should be pretty different.

Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Once he got the hang of it with the tunnel out there, he did really well! I don’t think the 2 early errors were handling-specific, but more of a dog training thing – the tunnel might have been too much of visual ‘pressure’ to move towards, so he might have needed to see you go to the takeoff side of 2 on the first rep, or have the jumps further away to start. But then when you di go to the takeoff of 2 and he got the idea – it was very nice! I think he can power out of the stay a little more (part of that might have been the pressure of the tunnel) so you can toss rewards to the landing of 1 more and since he has such a nice stay, you can also jog to position then release – that will be exciting and challenging!

On the 2nd video – now he was fine with the tunnel out ahead and it was good to balance with going to it so he didn’t have to think about too much there – sometimes it is good to just go fast on a straight line LOL! He was committing AND turning really nicely on the first jump – yay!!! At :40, your verbal right cue was on time but he didn’t see the rotation so he exited wide – motion still rules the roost, so let him see you rotate before he goes into the tunnel. When you repeated it on the next rep, you had the same good verbal timing and also some decel so he turned better there.
On these reps, he was turning nicely over 1 and also powering to it a bit more. He was very quick chasing you after you rotated!!

Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! It has been great having you in class and so fun watching Keiko grow up!! See you tomorrow for the start of the blind cross class (turns out there is more content than we will be able to do in the live seminar LOL!!) so you will be plenty busy in the quick class LOL!!

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! This is definitely going well!!! He is much more successful on these 🙂 Your upper body is helping him push away to the push line 🙂 Yay! I think the next step (no pun intended haha) is to get you to not have to converge as much to the entry wing. You were converging from further away so he had more independence, but there was still a bit more motion towards the entry wing than you needed – he might have been reading the backside cue based on which way your feet were pointing more than the verbal and upper body. So, 2 ideas to get that:
lay a leash on the ground as a line to mark the straight line to the center of the bar – and you will move along that leash line and not past it to the wing 🙂
And, while he is in the sit, start moving and start showing the upper body cue for 3 or 4 steps… then release him. He did MUCH better on the reps where you were moving for a step or two – that motion sets the line. At 2:24, you released and moved at the same time, so he took the front of the jump. At 3:18 and 3:39, you had motion and upper body supporting, so those had the least amount of convergence while still getting him independently to the backside. Yay!!!

Those two things will get him to the next step! Keep up the clear upper body cue & connection – it is exaggerated for now as he is learning it, and then you won’t have to exaggerate as much when he is more experienced with it.

Great job!!
Tracy

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