Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Good morning!
STILL no power but I went down to the city – thanks to way too much traveling, I figured out that hotels have a ‘days’ thing where you can basically pay a cheap rate and get a hotel room for the day. Who knew! So I right now have heat, light, internet and a SHOWER. Ahhhhhh. And hot food on the way. The joys of modern living!Thanks to the fast internet, I could see your videos 🙂 Yay! Here are some ideas:
Teeter – I like what I am seeing here, especially on the 2nd and 4th reps where he slid into position. Call me old-fashioned, but I love those sliding see-saws where the dog is so fast and confident and weight-shifted. I see what you mean about the nose touch – I wonder if he is mistaking the shape/size of the target as a nose target? It does delay the performance of the criteria a bit. Now, it might not make a difference on the full teeter but it also might delay the down, so an idea: perhaps shift to a paw target? Something that he can put both front feet on and keep them there as he goes into the down. It would be some type of elevated strip – I am envisioning a strip that is wide enough for his whole front paw (2 or 3 inches wide?) and at first, 2 inches high – and the length of the teeter board width (12″?). We attach it to the very end of the board so he runs to the end, puts his feet on the elevated target, and then goes into the down as the board drops. Let me know if that makes sense. We are using elevated targets with a ton of success in other teeter performance and on RDW stuff, so this might be something interesting to play with to clarify the position 1000%.
Jump grids:
Both grids look generally powerful and correct in striding.
On the balance grid – there are 2 schools of thought about where to start the dog (although I admittedly might not be up-to-date on the school of thought that I don’t prefer):
Back when I was working with Susan Salo, she would tell us to calculate the starting point based on half the distance between the jumps. So on a 5 foot distance, you would set him up 2.5 feet away from the first jump.
The other school of thought is to start the dog close enough to jump 1 that he cannot stride into it or tap his front feet in front of it – he needs to lift off directly from his rear. This is the one that I use and I have liked the result! I find when the dogs are 2 or 3 feet away from jump 1, they are awkward in their striding on the way into the first jump – they do all sorts of front leg lead changes so they don’t quite balance and they are also focusing on front pull rather than rear push.
That is what I think Presto was doing – starting a tiny bit too far back so watch his front feet over jump 1: all sorts of different things. Nothing terrible LOL! But that is why he was changing things up and had that rep where he dropped 3 bars – he had questions on jump 1 and couldn’t recover. So try him closer and see how he does!I suggest trying him closer because he was starting closer on the adjustable grid – and that was really good work from him! It looked ike he did a one stride on all the distances and the height was no issue. The only question he had was when he was a little far from jump 1, far enough to tap his front feet before he took off in front of jump 1. But on most of the reps he did not do that and so he had a lot of power!
To get to full height I used the set point at first, then a short one stride adjustable grid: for him, it would be your set point distance (5 feet) at 6 inches then 15 feet to a full height bar.
Tunnel game:
The first few reps looked really good, super connected and he was sure of where to go.
I totally feel the pain of the tiny disconnection at :20 plus not being far ahead so the dog almost takes up out at the knee LOL!
I thought your were better at :25 with your connection (that would totally work perfectly with an experienced dog) but the tunnel is valuable – when you thought you had him and turned your shoulders ever-so-slightly, he cut behind for the tunnel.
The opposite arm with toy TOTALLY shows a very powerful connection and he got it at :33. In his defense, until this game – everything near a tunnel entry had been a cue to go in aforementioned entry… so I think he just needed to know such a thing as “don’t take this tunnel” existed 🙂 He was great on the other side at :43 and 1:22 and also on the original side at 1:08. Kind of like he had a lightbulb moment. And then you can go back to the connection you had at :25.The backside tunnel sends looked great. He got a little caught up in the motion when you added a lot of speed at the end, but then on the re-send he was able to get the collection into the entry.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracyhi! Sorry for the delay, I didn’t have enough internet to see the video til now. He is doing well on these – I think the rep where he didn’t take the jump was more about you moving and releasing at the same time, so he went with the motion. One thing that I suggest for all the reps is to line him up so he is parallel to the start wing (wing further from the PT) – have his hip next to the wing, so he is already needing to slice/serp the first jump before he takes off. It adds the next level of challenge for him! Don’t worry about the lead changes – the dogs use this grid to sort it out as it gets flatter and flatter, and he is not doing anything weird or awkward here 🙂 You can also flatten it a bit more, as soon as he is comfy with the harder start position.
Nice work! Stay warm!
TracyHi again! The Serp line is looking good both directions! Even as the jumps got flatter and also as you did the double serp with the cones – all good, super happy-making. I think perhaps the zig zag jumping along with opening up the serp lines is helping because you are not really needing to do more than run alongside and he seems MUCH more confident with the jumping (he is not looking to push out to the backside)
You can add on 10” bars at this angle, and also at 6 or 8, flatten it out a bit more to fully flat and see how he does.About other dogs – how does he do in classes? It is possible that the dogs on walks are more of that sudden appearance that many dogs struggle with… but the zillion dogs at trials might be no trouble for him. Either way – I figure we will need to address it with all of our dogs but can’t really do a lot til the weather improves (I have a great game for it but you will need to be outside :)) We have the luxury of time – he appears solid in temperament, I don’t have any concerns about major anxiety issues with him! So, we can wait til better weather then work him through the games. I guess for most of these pups, mine included, I am relying on good genetics because everything is out of our control at the moment LOL! For the dogs that might be prone to big struggles… we can start sooner.
He did indeed look at you as if you were NUTS to ask him to jump into your arms, but he did, good boy! I use the leash at the end of the run without any of the problems that I have also seen, because it is part of a sequence and ‘by permission only’ rather than any type of target. So at the end, the dog comes to me, gets praised, and then at some point I ask him to go get the leash. And plus, I actively train it and the folks who run into trouble have not actively trained it. But yes, he thinks dead toys are SUPER DUMB so I would only recommend it as the gateway to cookies outside the ring (for AKC trials – get leash, head in leash, run out together for cookies).
But overall, you don’t need to define your end of run routine til he is actually trialing or running courses in classes/seminars. It will develop naturally – at this stage, building your bag of tricks and games is ideal so you can do all sorts of things! And then you will be able to figure out what works best for him 🙂
TracyGood morning! Cell service here is spotty in the land of no power, so the replies will come in pieces 🙂
These all looked good!! A couple of ideas for you:
1st rep looked great, only suggestion is to add go on the straight exits. The right turns looked good!!!2nd rep – left looked good – be sure to connect back to him on the tunnel exit when you are ahead on the straight exits, he was looking up at you
3rd rep with the threadle wraps – now this is where a slight disconnect on the tunnel exit is useful as it pulls him in to the correct side of the wing!
On turn back to the wing, let him get past you to the wing and turned before you turn your feet – you were a little early there so he turned before the wing. When you did it at 1:34, he was passing the wing when you turned your feet and he got it. Same on the last rep at 1:47 – you let him get past the wing before turning back and he got it. Yay! I think that as he gains more experience, you’ll be able to leave sooner but for now, the patience was key.Great job! Let me know what you think!
Sorry for the delay! This power outage is ongoing, no end in sight… so I am working this on my phone. I think I have it figured out LOL!
First, to answer your question about how often I practice the various skills… I teach all the things then I prioritize. With a big fast dog like Chapter, priorities would be connection, lines, sends, blind crosses, rear crosses, tunnel threadles, tandem turns. Backsides are useful too but NOT priorities with baby dogs (he won’t need them any time soon in the trial ring). Forced fronts and jump threadles? I teach them and then set them aside until the other elements are in place. I also work a TON of engagement games and focus games and general play, so that I can help the pup stay focused in each new environment: this is a whole lot more difficult than it sounds, and this year in particular is challenging because we can’t go to as many different places.
I try to get out and practice handling maybe twice a week? I don’t like to do a lot of jumps (and I have 3 “puppies” in training, so I can’t do a lot with each one LOL!) but at this age, I try to do a tiny bit of contact work each day.
That is a lot of time investment and it usually doesn’t happen 🙂 So I also have a lot of self-forgiveness if I don’t get it done. Slow progress is actually GREAT so I am OK if my dogs aren’t ring ready til much later than a lot of other folks would have their dogs ready 🙂
About the “here” question versus the name: If you are consistent and ‘here’ is meaningful and reinforced… I am perfectly fine with that! There is no right or wrong with verbals: just clarity, consistency and reinforcement 🙂 Some dogs do better with their names, some dogs do better with a ‘here’ verbal because it is different and meaningful. I tend to ‘ask the dog’ about what they think of it, by trying different things and measuring responses. The dogs always tell the truth LOL!
On the video: I really think this looked great in many ways!
On your lap turns in general: terrific! On your first rep, be sure to keep your feet together and not move the left back till he gets to you. I think that was easier when you were moving into it.
And if you keep your hand right above the leg next to the wing and not as centered across your body, he will have an even straighter line to you. He was really really great about coming to the lap turn cue with speed – that’s really unusual for BCs 🙂 And his turns looked good too!The tandem turns are going well but they looked less comfy than the lap turns. It was hard to tell if your were using your dog-side arm or opposite arm? So it was a little harder to get him to turn away – he did but it looked Ike you both were sticky with it LOL!! For the tandem, I generally like to show a clear opposite arm to get the dog to come in, then I end up using both hands to turn him away, like stirring a cauldron or making 2-handed circular motion 🙂
When he didn’t take the tunnel – you can repeat the cue and stay more connected til he really goes to it – that’s was a young dog moment at :44 where he started to go so you disconnected and left and then we wasn’t sure. One or two more tunnel cues and another couple of steps off support should be perfect. I thought you were clearer at the end when you cued it, especially when you re-cued it – but he totally wanted to turn left in the tunnel there. I wonder if it was a dark patch and he couldn’t see as well? You can use a shorter tunnel (squish this one up and bag it really well) so it is a little easier to see the light at the other end when you train at night, plus a ton of connection to drive him in 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Work on both the lap turn and the tandem turn so she has all the skills. And personally, I use the tandem turn a LOT more than lap turns (can’t remember the last time I used a lap turn in a trial, even overseas) because I can run like mad to get ahead in those moments. But I still teach the skill so I can whip it out if needed because you know I’ll need it if I don’t teach it hahaha!!!
THi! This is an *excellent* question! In a perfect world, we would only need the wrap cues, the 90-degree-ish left and right, and Go. Ha! For those in-between moments, it will come down to the individual dog and what they need. If the dog can give you the correct amount of turn with just a name call… perfect! That dog either is smaller in size or stride, or more responsive, or you are more visually in the picture with handling.
But if the dog needs more than just a name call, I might use a left or right to get collection even if it is not entirely 90 degrees. My big black BC mix who is in a lot of the demo videos needs more of the left and right even when it is not 90 degrees because he is harder to steer. My merle dog, same size as the black dog, is easier to steer for a variety of reasons so I can get the “in between” turns with just a name call.
With my smaller dogs – I save left and right for when they really need to collect.
Let me know if that makes sense. Which categories do you think your dogs fit into?
TracyHi! Sorry for the delay… we are in the middle of an ice storm and the power has been out since this morning 🙁 I was watching your video when it went out! And the cell reception is crappy so I can’t get it to play on my phone.
Fingers crossed that it comes back asap. Sorry again!
TracyHello! Hope you’re keeping warm 🙂
Sly is looking good here. On the one jump reps, he was perfect. On the very first rep with the tunnel, he jumped long-ish – definitely not the same collection as on the previous reps. But that was really the only time he did that – every rep after that had clear collection before takeoff. He did as a question or two (‘mom why are you just standing there?’ ) but that is to be expected on this game. When you add back handling for real, he won’t ask the question and he will also set up his turns nice and tightly like he did here.
He did well on the sending too – there was not a lot of motion into it so he definitely thought it was odd, but that will also go away when you add more speed and sequencing into it. He is ready for that 🙂 this went really well!
Question – I see you signed up for the MaxPup Agility Foundations but that is the MaxPup 2 class and you’ve already done it (sorry that I didn’t make it clearer on the description). I’m guessing you don’t want to repeat it? We can refund the registration. Let me know.
And thanks for asking about Hottie! The pins were removed so hopefully she can get back to regular life!!!
Stay warm 🙂
TracyHi!
You made me laugh out loud when you asked yourself why you were saying Go hahahahaha
I am glad you added the toy: she was definitely more excited but she was still able to be correct (faster, but still correct).
At this point, this is going really well so we can progress forward:
spread the barrels out a little bit more, and go back to the forward facing sends of the baby level… but add in the motion now – send, FC as she is arriving at the barrel, and start to move towards the next barrel. This will challenge your connection as you finish the FCs, then the timing of the sends to the next one. It will challenge her commitment because motion is hard! But she is ready – and it is a good game for indoors during the winter because she will get a workout and you will stay warm.
Also, did you see the race tracks? That is where she goes around the outside of the barrels (with you on the inside) like a post turn – she is ready for those too.
Great job here!!!!Tracy
Hi!
>> It’s hard because you have treats in both hands and then you send them with a hand with the treats too. It’s hard because you have treats in both hands and then you send them with a hand with the treats too.>>
Yes, it is hard – and it is a self-control game for the pups! It is more of a real-life self-control game, so I do like to have cookies or toys in both hands. In order to get the cookie, the pup must leave the cookie and go do the thing 🙂
Sideways and backwards are looking great. She is recognizing the set up and starting without you LOL! So you can have her start in front of you, do a little ready dance so she stays with you til you send her… then send. She looks great so you can start to make her wait for you.
As with the baby level: add toys to this and see how she does 🙂
Great job on the doubles too, she had no trouble with the doubles 🙂Onwards to the next one!
TracyHi!
Nice job on the baby level here – very methodical, clear handling from you, no worries about the legs not being perfect on the first couple of sends: she understood what you wanted because you have taught her the foundation on the other stuff. You can see that she totally caught on and was ready to go again right after the cookie. (That is why we teach soooo much foundation, because it is impossible to be perfect in which foot or hand goes in which spot haha!)
And she turned really well in BOTH directions. Super! You can revisit the game with a toy, to challenge her: can she still be as perfect when she is more excited 🙂 I see you have added the next steps, so I will go look at those. Great job here!Tracy
Good morning!
>>Yea. Maybe I should do the “switch” for the wrap away from me. Hmmm….I think I like that. I had a switch with my first dog, but that was just on a rear or any time we changed direction. I think I like that. You could use it if you are on the landing side of jump too I would think. Depends where you are going I guess. How do I train that? Just with the rear on the jump and the verbal Cue?>>
For a regular rear cross, I suggest the directional that names the line (left or right). For the tighter ones, you can train the turn-away game and name the behavior as a switch cue:
https://agility-u.com/lesson/prop-game-3-turn-aways-rear-cross-on-the-flat-foundation-2/>> I’m sure I know what you mean by a tunnel threadle verbal. Is that going to come in the class later more?>>
You have started it with the tunnel game already, that is where you can add the verbal. And there is more about it here:
https://agility-u.com/lesson/tunnel-threadle-verbal-cue-and-double-whammy-3/Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
>Once the puppy is doing the serp or threadle they do not have to touch the hand? coming toward it is good enough? >>
Correct – we don’t want them to actually touch us during the full in-then-out behavior.
>>I am not sure when to allow the full hand target touching to fade and not lose coming toward hand as part of the criteria.>>
When the pup can do it from a wide variety of angles, and when I am going to add motion: I fade the actual touch of the hand because it becomes difficult to touch the hand while I am moving. By the time I add motion, the in-then-out behavior should be well-understood and named, so it should be easy to fade it.
Tracy
Good morning! These are looking really good!
Circle wrap proofing: the first couple of reps on 1 jump alone looked great! She had a question when you added the wing: at :29 she had questions about the post turn on the wing (wrap or tunnel, she was looking back and forth a bit based on the physical cue) then at :31 even with the verbal, you pushed into her line before she had time to really get past you so she turned into the tunnel. She would have had to go through your legs to get to the backside, so the tunnel was a better choice 🙂 Compare it to the next rep at :38 where you were clearer on the wing that you wanted the wrap and also stayed in the backside positional cue for an extra moment til she was past you – and she was perfect on that one. Yay! So I don’t think the tunnel is a distraction for her – she just needed a moment to get to the backside.
The slice send to the backside was good and the other wraps were also good! She is going to the backside nicely and committing to the bar as you leave – that is exactly what we want her to do. Very nice! You can start raising the jump height a bit too, I think she is ready for that challenge.
One question: are you using the same verbal for both the slice and the circle wrap? It sounded like push for both – I highly recommend different ones because they are very different jumping efforts and you can tell her about them a lot sooner with different verbals. In this game, she is reading the difference based on your position which is fine for when you can be right there 🙂 but things get harder when you are not ahead of her or able to show positional cues. Food for thought!Through the box – these are also going well! The FCs at the beginning were a little hard , but I think that was mainly because you were not finished with the FC as she exited the wing at :55 and your right foot was exactly on the line to the backside (she was a good girl to read that!) ou backed up at 2:00 and got it, but it will be easier to rotate on the wing sooner so you can be moving up the line to show it to her.
The Backside through the box looked really strong and independent! Nice!!!
And the backsides to the inside wing also looked really good, you showed really good info and she followed it beautifully.
On the lap turn versus throw back – I think you can get lower with your lap turn hand (bring it down to her nose level) and keep your feet stationary until she is just about a tthe hand – then move the arm and leg together to step back and turn her away. When you were moving back and turning her too soon, it looked like a throw back so she was not sure which way to go – she leaned more towards the throwback even on the one that she got right, so sanding still and drawing her all the way in then turning on the flat will help her differentiate. The throw back cue looked good so it becomes especially important to make the lap turn look different.And great news that the Go reps went well! That is an important balance.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
