[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there! Nice work with both dogs – you were really connected and that really helped! And a lot of what you mentioned that you would smooth out matches what I saw too. Here are some thoughts:

Demi’s runs on Seq 2: – yes, it was really nice!
On the opening 1-2-3, you can move more on the opening and not stand still to send to 2 – that will make to even smoother and faster.
4-5 had nice collection! You mentioned using more decel but I think her turn was good – any tighter would be slower and she seemed to have no questions. It is going to be a little easier for you to get a straight exit if you don’t RC the tunnel, try to do the spin at 4 and get her on your right side to send to the tunnel. The other reason to do the spin is that when you do a FC on 4 to get her on your left, you end up rear crossing the tunnel. Rear crossing the tunnel entry causes her to look at you on the exit (because the RC is a turn cue) rather than continue straight to 6.

At :20 on the FC to the tunnel at the end – start the FC sooner as you mentioned , but a blind will be easier and quicker for both of you! Plus don’t run towards her at the jump line as much as it pushes her to the center of the bar so she turned after she landed – keep running down the line there more towards the tunnel. I don’t agree that the threadle (tandem) you did with Wilson would be better, because it would cause her to look at you at the tunnel exit because it causes you to rear cross the tunnel.

Same thoughts with Wilson on the opening line about moving into it more, and also doing a spin at 4 rather than FC 4 then rear cross the tunnel.
The close close (threadley tandem) to the tunnel worked well, just call him and start the cues sooner – you started on landing and that is late. Your position was good but he needs to hear the verbals starting before takeoff to 8. However, the threadle to the tunnel 9 there creates a rear cross on the tunnel entry plus it puts you behind: so he looked at you on the exit. That can cause problems on other lines (jumping or off courses or refusals) on bigger courses, so try to stay ahead (with a FC or BC) so you can keep him looking straight

Course 3 with Demi:
you did a Forced Front on the 2 jump which is great on the first run and in in in threadle on the 2nd run. Both looked good – I felt you left sooner with in in threadle cue (probably easier to leave sooner because you don’t have to rotate). I timed it and the threadle was faster! She looked like she had no questions here about taking the jump as you moved through it. One detail on the lead out: try to line her up on a slice for 1 so she is facing the entry to the backside at 1:05 rather than facing the wrong side of 2 and having to turn to find the backside.

You call her name a lot 🙂 For example, you call her name after tunnel 4 when you will really want to be using your backside cue. And it bit you at 1:15 on the first run from 6-7: you called her hard “DEMI!” and turned your shoulders so she came off the line. Stay connected, keep moving, tell her to jump: and don’t call her name 🙂 You did not call her name on the 2nd run and she found 7 nicely! But then you decelerated sharply and flung your arm up high, so the bar came down. That is a spot to stay connected and keep moving, just using jump or turn verbals.

Do a blind on the tunnel exit instead of a FC, it will be faster and easier for you and her – at 1:47 you were trying to finish the rotation and she was already out of the tunnel. The BC before she enters will be fully finished before she exits.
You can also do a spin on the 10 jump to set the turn to 11 instead of the full post turn: the full post turn faces her towards the tunnel so she jumps long (and dropped the bar on the 2nd run) and it delays you from getting up the next line.

This sequence also ran well with Wilson – you kept moving smoothly through the lines! The in in worked well in the opening and you were able to then nicely set up the 5-6-7 lines (don’t call his name, not even quietly LOL!) He sent better to the tunnel plus I think he is not quite as fast as Demi, so the FC after 8 finished sooner – but that is a good spot to call his name and start the rotation before he enters (2:14). The ending line looked good – you decelerated to help with 10 to 11, so it would be interesting to see how he does with the spin there so you can leave sooner and not have to help set the line.

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>Forward:

•Go on! (keep going in a line over the next obstacles straight ahead. Sounds more like gwan)
•Name of obstacle as obstacle cues (saw, tunnel, over, walk-it, frame, table, hoop, etc.)
•Weave (to look for entrance), then weevweevweev while weaving to reinforce staying in poles.
•Bottom (2o2o position for all 3 contacts). Saving “hit it” if we run into an issue somewhere
•Over (go forward and take jump)>>

These are good! For the ‘over’ cue – does this also imply a slight collection, a gentle turn? It does when I use that type of cue, and it is a nice balance to the gwan versus the tight turns.

>>Distance/discrimination:

•Get out! (Take obstacle that is not on straight path such as a pin wheel, layered obstacle, gamble, etc.)
•Here (come to obstacle near me, not necessarily one that is “straight ahead”)
•Far (go to far end of tunnel, even if can’t see entry)>>

These will come in handy for gambles and for one big lines in big yardage courses!

>>Various Turns:

•Turn (on rear cross, turn in opposite direction from way we had been heading)
•Back (go to the back of the jump, take it while turning toward me
•Wrap (go forward over jump and come back to me on same side as sent)
•In-In (use in threadle situation as well as instead of forced front cross to tell dog to come to the back side of the jump rather than over the front, then to turn and jump over the jump in a slice)>>

Also good! You have this one liste below:
•Flick (for back/360 wrap around wing of jump we are passing)

And I think it belongs with these – is it a threadle wrap so she starts between you and the wing, or a backside push wrap so she is on the outside of you? As agility continues to evolve, you will likely need a verbal for each – the push circle wrap takes priority right now, and then the threadle wrap can be added later.

>>Others:

•Sit/Wait (Start line)
•With me (VERY useful for Snooker, and in tight situations. Means come to my side and move with me until given a different cue)
•Around (wings, barrel in NADAC)
•Down (table)
•Loose noose (exit behavior to put head through slip lead noose so we can Go Get Cookies!!)>>

Good ones!

>>Also, I have been working (for a while, it’s a work in progress) at getting my verbals out earlier, especially when the dog is in a tunnel and can’t get a visual cue from me. And, as you’ve seen in videos, I use lots of praise words and noises. 😉>>

One thing I am noticing as the dogs mature is that the praise was working when they were babies but now it is delaying the info, so they either come off lines or look at us too much. We will keep an eye on how Keiko feels about it, because at some point you might have to eliminate the praise in favor of giving her faster/sooner info on course, especially when she is going at flying squirrel speed 🙂

>>You’ll notice a lack of “left” and “right” or something similar. Keiko and I have done many exercises and sessions with you using “lef-lef” and “rye-rye”. However, I have never really used this type of directional cue with any of my dogs in trials because I can’t be sure to figure out the direction they need to be turning when we’re running, so the simple “turn” cue has served me well. If you’ve got some tricks about being able to tell left from right in the stress/excitement of a trial run, I’d love to hear them.>>

I practiced them, mentally and not with the dogs, pretty obsessively until they were second nature. When talking about the sequence, instead of saying something like “the jump at 3”, I would say “the left at 3”. And in training, I would take a decent amount of time to walk the course and practice the left and right to have them planned and ready and rehearsed – because yes, it is way too hard to figure it out while the dog is running, but if the verbal is already in my mouth and brain, then it becomes very easy to g[get out while running 🙂 We will be adding more of that rehearsal in coming weeks here 🙂

Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>> I know she is capable of doing the things they are doing in that class, BUT I don’t know that she’d do them in such a new and different environment. I have no problem putting her in a class that’s “too easy” agility-wise, but would probably turn out to be somewhat challenging from her pandemic perspective.

Yes, that is a great idea: put her in a really simple sequencing class so she is not challenged but the agility (fast and fun speed circles or something like that) but instead she can sort through the new environment!

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>Yes I plan on going to PA next weekend. I am hoping Waldo will be ready. I was supposed to pick up the RV last week but not quite ready… fingers crossed. We have been playing games at home, it would be nice to see if I can play them in a new location. Better fine my ear plugs LOL>>

Great! We can play some games with the dogs. What type of RV is Waldo?

>>I am super happy with the teeter performance. I really did not have to go to the end of the teeter but I wanted to see that he met criteria.

Holy cow his teeter looked GREAT here!!! Yay Watson!!!!!!

>>The struggle with this section was the push and the serp. I think I need to open up my shoulders a bit more. I was trying to show the tight turn at the end of the serp. Do you just use a verbal here? He usually serps quite well so I was surprised we missed this.>>

Yes, that was the only hard part for him. On the backside (:02) – keep your dog side arm (right arm) pointing all the way back to his nose and look him very directly in the eyes for the push until you see him heading around the backside. That will get your upper body facing the backside line and he will read the cue better.

For the serp (ike at :11) – yes, I agree that opening your shoulders more will help – stop with him right at the teeter (don’t run past it) and then send to th jump and tunnel so you can be another 2 or 3 steps ahead – then really open up your shoulders and make a big eye contact – and keep moving across the bar after the tunnel to get the serp. It is a hard serp so the further ahead you are, the more you can show the line. Then when you get there and get him turned (like at :27) keep the connection and shoulders open til he takes the next jump: at :27 you got him turned but then pointed forward to the jump with your right arm so he slipped right past it.

>>PS I just love this course and am so happy I took the time to set it up. It has everything I wanted to tackle this summer in it. Are you a minder reader? How did you know?>>

Ha! We will call it a happy accident 🙂 Glad it was fun, he looked great!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi –
It is hard to tell why there would be a ‘no run’ exactly but it could have something to do with time of day, energy depletion, etc. The GP was the 4th run, and the standard was the 3rd run – it is quite possible that he only has 2 runs in the gas tank, or needs a meal at some point during the day – or is not yet ready to fade out the NFC/FEO element (the dogs know for sure when it is not FEO :)) For now, keep practicing sometimes working at home or classes or seminars with some full runs (with contacts – both GP and standard have contacts) with the reward behind him at the start and nothing in your hands. And, limit how many trial runs he does – and track when and what type of runs are the no run moments to see if a pattern emerges.

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Sorry for any confusion! A tunnel threadle (for me :)) is when the dog is on a line facing an obvious tunnel entry and we have to pull the dog in to take the non-obvious entry, closer to us. I have added a separate verbal for that scenario, for when I can’t be ahead or when there are jumps nearby so the dogs know I am indicating the tunnel and not a jump.

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Thanks for the update! I think that you made a series of good choices: – dropping height back to 12 when the weather went wonky, choosing to NOT run when he was not ready for it, and doing some pattern game to get him back to a the right head space. So I call it a victory! The run would have been fun but not nearly as meaningful as the other things you accomplished in terms of teaching him to handle the trial environment. I call it a win!!! When is your next trial adventure?
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Hope he is feeling better, he looked good here! Bummer about the rain but this was a clever setup. He seemed to do well finding the jumps and also, the treat huggers were easy for him to grab! Yay! And using 2 worked out really well. So hopefully you can get this going outside too but you can also do this on one jump indoors – using one jump can allow you to add more distance away from it, so you can work on the lazy game and also sends to the jump.
Nice work! Fingers crossed for nice weather!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Always great to see you here! Cabo is turning out to be a superstar 🙂 Post some video so we can see the little guy in action!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there!
Nice work on the mountain climbers, I love your setup! Clever!!! Question: to teach the down at the end, did you use a target or did you shape it/wait for her to offer it? She is doing it but I would like to see if we can get her to drive to it. She is doing a great job moving up the board, but knowing how fast she goes: if we make the down more of a ‘get there fast’ destination, then you can get more drive across the board. There are a lot of ways to do that. For my 4on dogs, I use a target right at the very edge of the board and they run up to it and put their front feet up on it (then lie down for her :)) My target was an old mask taped to the end of the board LOL! If you are already working a target, let me know and we can play with getting her to drive even more to it 🙂

Great job on the timing game!!! The fallout (in a really good way) is that you were soooooo connected, it was perfect 🙂 On the pinwheels at the beginning – lovely connection and timing. You can add challenge by spreading it out and that way you will have to run harder AND be connected AND have great timing 🙂

I agree with your assessment of the wraps – a little question on the first one, then the others were great. You can start your wrap cue as you start to decelerate as she lands from the middle jump – you were decelerating at the right time, but started the verbal cue when you started to rotate (which is a little late). So start the verbal as you decelerate to make it perfect. This is also a game you can spread out to add more distance – she will enjoy seeing you run harder LOL! And that is a good challenge for the timing of your deceleration into the wraps. I am thrilled with your connection, though, keep it up!

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! She did really well here. She definitely noticed the tip so keep it at this level fo a few more sessions til she is really driving to the end. You can keep moving with her: she did a lot better when you were ahead of her 🙂 The other thing I suggest is going to insanely high value treats – rather than ‘normal’ goodies, you can use a spoonful of peanut butter or cream cheese or something that will make her head explode from happiness LOL!!! Just a few reps a day, every day or every other day, and she will running to the end like a wild woman. And then… we add a little more tip, just a tiny bit, but not til she is really comfy here at this level of tip.

Great job! Let me know if that makes sense!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Yes, there is always a safe place here to post video, even when it is not the best of sessions. We all are on the same adventure and being able to sort it through together makes the outcome better. I consider it a collaborative process. Based on what you said: I wonder if he is blowing himself out tugging with Sole? Meaning: the big party is with her and then he is over it as a reinforcement when you want to join the party. I let me dogs play with each other all the time, but not tug with each other: that is reserved to be my party with the dog 🙂

His teeter looks GREAT!!! Yes, the down is slow to happen… just a worm in your ear: if he continues to say “this down thing doesn’t really make sense” then you can shift to a nice weight shifted 4on at the very end that he is giving you 🙂 Collaborative process and all, right? I don’t want to fight with him in the trial ring about down or no down – if the teeter itself looks fabulous like that. Food for thought!

Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! Lots of great work here!!!

Loud barking BCs are a great distraction – very trial-like!

Opening line: I think you need less decel with her at 3 – she is very responsive so it slows her down. Try driving in and decelerating no sooner than when she is halfway between 2 and 3. You’ll be moving faster so you can accomplish this by leading out less and really accelerating.
The BC-BC on the 6-7-8 section looked great at :20-:22! My only suggestion there is to keep your arms in closer to you as you run, so you can do the blinds more quickly – arms out to your side slows you down in terms of getting reconnected after you do the BC, which made the BC 6-7 a little late even when it starts on time.
The rest looked great

I liked your experiment with the BC 3-4 but I don’t think it will ultimately be faster in this context: the 1-2-3-4 section will be very fast, but being on that side of the tunnel sets a wider line to the weave entry (turning her away on the flat). But it is an incredibly useful skill in other contexts!

Course 2:
Good start after a little naughty startline 🙂
Nice line across the back – on the lala backside, it seemed like she looked at you at :22 – you can replace the yay with a go verbal and don’t turn your shoulders to face the backside, keep facing the line as you cue it and we will see if that helps her not look at you. It looks like you ran deeper there on the next rep at :55 and she did not look at you.

Nice blind after the backside! A little decel on the next one can tighten up the line Next rep – you did a FC on the landing side and didn’t hav time to rotate your feet for the wrap to the inside. You got it at 1:23 really well there. I wonder if a faster option would be the blind to the wrap?
But it was good to time the difference: the slice line (to the left) did NOT look faster or prettier, the cross after the slice was perhaps a little late? But… extension is faster than collection so the timing difference was pretty significant!

Good job fighting for the BC after the straight tunnel – keep working the verbals and the eye contact after the blind to get it maybe a stride tighter, but it was pretty darned good because she was flying!!! And it is a hard blind to get in there for!
And I have to say that I admire your running abilities to decelerate on the tunnel entry AND still get a FC after it at 1:27 – WOW! That was a nice line!

At :43, the BC was too early, you started the side change as she was landing so she never saw a commitment cue for the jump. But gorgeous timing at 1:40! Tight and FAST!!!

Course 1: She looked a little tired here, not quite blasting off the start line like usual. Across the back line, it looks like you got a little too far ahead and quiet, so she was running but also lifting her head a little and not powering as much. On those big lines, you can run closer to the wings so you are in full on acceleration the whole time, and she will also be n full on extension. When you were too far ahead, you were decelerating a little and so was she.

the serp at :30 was a hard line for all the dogs, because the serp does not control the turn cue for 11 that well. You went in for a blind there at :53 – if you freeze the moment she landed from 11, you can see that your arm is high and your back is too her, so she is wide looking for the line – that si a spot you can decelerate into the BC (or do a FC) and make massive connection as you do it to tighten that line.
I totally like the crosses here over the serpentine: when you went for the serp at the end, you had to be lateral which caused a question and then the 11-12 turn was wide. So I think the best option might be a decelerated BC or a FC 11-12, then the BC 12-13. I really like the BC 12-13 at :57!!!

And nice ending line – wheeee!

And yay for Kaladin being able to go to a new place with new people and dogs and get to play his transition games! How is he feeling, post-neuter?

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! No worries about the conversation in the background, they were having a great time and I could hear you pretty well 🙂 And he got to work near distractions! Yay!

Good reward at the beginning for his stay! I think that is what you did there.

Super connection on that first run! You really drove him to all the lines without breaking connection. There was one spot where yo could take one more step and give a clear commitment cue (:45) – you turned your shoulders, said GOOD! Then said jump (but it was too late, he was already turning, so you continued which was perfect). After watching the whole thing, I thought your connection was great throughout!

About that GOOD – it is a habit we all need to break. Hot Sauce nailed a line in a trial yesterday and I yelled YES! And so she immediately came off the line, looking for reward (it was an NFC run anyway but still… bad habit for me!)

Tunnel – tunnel – tell him what you want before he enters the straight tunnel

Speaking of habits we need to break: you got a great Pass cue and then said good boy… so you didn’t get the next backside at 1:16. I looked (listened) back to your first run when you did get it at :39… no good boy, just info. Next run at 1:38: no good boy, just the facts. I see a trend 🙂 Also, got it without the good boy at 2:16..

Our new hashtags:
#JustTheFacts
#NoGoodDog

Haha

He went past the backside in that spot at 3:15 and then took the backside of the next one – my guess is that he was tired and also he had been through that section a bunch of times, so was starting to offer different behaviors. That is good to keep in mind: do fewer runs in the session so that you don’t end up with him second guessing things because he has been through a section a bunch of times. Things deteriorate as the dog gets fatigued physically or mentally, or when they have been through that section a bunch of times and are wondering why they are back there again: are they doing it wrong, should they offer something else?

He needed one more forward step before rotating at 1:41 (you gave it to him at 2:20 so he committed – be sure to also use your collection verbal to help keep him tight (you might have but I couldn’t hear it) but then you gave him good info on the line at 1:45 to get the jump before the straight tunnel.

About that straight tunnel, yes, totally a timing lesson and you did a great job working through it! As you found, all that in info has to come before the tunnel entry (6 feet before he is in) like you did at 1:56, otherwise he won’t turn). You almost had it at 2:26 but you never actually told him to take the tunnel on that rep 🙂 So when he lands from the jump before it, use your tunnel verbal and then when he is halfway between the jump and tunnel, start the next cue si he will process it by about the 6 foot spot before he enters. Tat is basically what you did and it worked nicely at 2:43! He turned the wrong way on the exit of the 2nd tunnel because you had stopped a little to make sure he got the turn.

About deflating him: Yes, he was done at the end when he offered a different behavior on the backside (5th time or so through that section), you stopped,he called an Uber. So the bigger question on how to avoid deflating him – did you set a timer on the session? The video was 3:35 long but it was edited, so total time was longer. That, plus a storm rolling in… set the timer to 3 minutes of total training time and no matter where you are in the session when that timer goes off: reward and leave. You can take a break in the a/c and come back in 10 or 20 or 30 minutes or a couple of hours or juts leave it be for the day – but shorten your sessions so that you end long before he does.

Nice work on this course – the only thing I would add is a timer 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! Thanks for all this info!

>> Focus: I can lose it during a run when she is heading straight toward the people and crated dogs, so try to do some calling and treat tossing to get her re-focused and going forward on the set.

This is a good place to do the pattern game with cookies – right in front of the people and crated dogs. I will chalk it up to the pandemic puppy thing – she simply needs to acclimate to that crazy environment that we would have normally been able to exposure her to earlier in life.

>> I almost always lose it during the time the instructor is talking because she (instructor) says “just let her wander I want to show you this”. >>

I tend to NOT want baby dogs to wander because then they wander LOL! And then, as you see, they disengage. She isn’t being naughty but I vote against wandering because I think she doesn’t know what to do with herself and it deflates her. When I work my baby dogs in a seminar, I either do the pattern game while the instructor shows me something, or I just put my hand on their collar so the 2 of us just stand there together. The other option is to stuff a light leash in your pocket so that you can leash her up if you are going to be moving with the instructor, so Keiko sticks with you. I do let Masters dogs wander if they have no trouble re-engaging, but not the baby dogs.

>>She is also really relieved to be able to run back to her crate.

Ah, that reminds me of something we do with other dogs (dogs that get frantic in between turns) – we have a mat or cot or Klimt or Cato board out in the ring, and when talking to the instructor we have the dog hang out for cookies on the cot. It is like a home base for the dogs and they love it.

>> I think she has a lot of stress she’s trying to deal with.

Yes, because it is a hard situation and totally new distractions.

>>The extra fun I brought into it today caused her to really focus and use her energy up (!) then she was ready for her crate. She was very tired and somewhat subdued at home in the afternoon. Again, I’m not surprised.

Exactly – the work she did at that level of intensity is exhausting and might take her 48 hours to recover from laying out it1

>>I have just learning I can try her in a class in another location with a different instructor. It’s a barn/horse arena so everything is totally new and different. I’m inclined to hold off on that for just a bit longer while we work out a happy system with the class & Saturday sessions first.>>

Will the new instructor let you just come watch, so you can get Keiko introduced to the environment?

>>These are in the same indoor location with the same instructor, and in a building owned by Keiko’s breeder. Keiko played in this building with her litter mates as a baby, and one of her litter mates is in her Monday class. She often indicates to me that she thinks she and Java should be able to play!>>

Ah, so cute! You can use play with her sister as a reward 🙂

Let me know what you think!
Tracy

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