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Good morning!
>>when doing the video don’t want to eat up a lot of time rewarding>>
What type of device are you recording with? I use an iPad and then use iMovie to edit out most of my stay rewards 🙂 Let me know and I might be able to point you towards easy editing!
The smiley face is looking good!! He made the turn immediately when you asked for the tunnel threadle versus the ‘go tunnel’!! Good boy! Two little suggestions: you can move more towards the tunnel entry that you are asking for – he was turning and lining up to the correct one each time, but then he was not totally sure if he should continue because you had decelerated. So keep moving towards the tunnel entry you are cuing til he is in, then have a big party 🙂 You don’t have to run yet, but staying in motion will smooth it out.
You are using the verbals on the wings, which is so helpful! One suggestion it so use a simple left or right verbal when you are going to ask for the ‘go tunnel’, and then use the wrap verbals (I think that is what you were using here) for when you want more turn to set up for the other side of the tunnel. When we replace the wings with jumps, you can envision it as saying jump or ‘go’ when you want him to continue straight, versus the tighter wrap cues when you want a turn. Let me know if that makes sense!
Great job here!
TracyIt is fun to see what each dog ‘tells’ us about their preferences! She definitely likes the connection and motion!
T
Hi!
These were definitely challenging for her, I could see steam coming out of her ears!! She kept changing how she wanted to do the last jump. Different striding, big strides, little strides… she was definitely reading it!! Your movement was fine – I think eventually we will put you all the way out at the end because it is the hardest thing for her: scoping distances with you way ahead.
Two slight adjustments to the mechanics of the grid:Start her closer to 1 so she cannot touch her front feet down before it – she has to lift off from the sit. It is a plyometric challenge to get her using her rear better (it is harder too :)) You had there in the right spot at :44 and it totally changed the picture, extra steam coming out her ears there!
You can also move the MM further away so it is about 15 feet past the last jump – that way she can extend between jumps 2 and 3 and not figure out how to collect to land decelerating for the MM.You cracked me up at the end – I just drove 5 hours in that rain and it was GROSS!
>>PS. How did surgery go??? Been thinking about you!
Thanks! It was a pretty complex surgery, but now I have a good understanding of why they were saying the rehab was going to take so long (remodeling part of the groove, adding a thing to better hold the patella, moving one of the other bones, and adding a thing and then another thing and wires and eek!!) The pupster is home snoring now, so we will be using lots of good meds to keep her very chill for the next several weeks as everything heals up. The surgeon seemed happy with how it went and prognosis is good!
TT
Hi!
>>I gotta say, these seemed easy. Disconnection comes naturally, lol.
Bwahahaha! Same here: disconnection is my strongest handling move, even when I should not be disconnecting LOL! I did some obsessing on why it can work, thus the 2 rules (motion + verbal).
She did really well on her dig digs!
>> We had one missed dig where maybe I just forgot to drop the ball>>
On the one that she missed, you were moving a little faster so she lost confidence that it was correct at the last moment. She never really even turned to look at the backside, so it was not a ball drop issue. You were a little slower on the others so she was perfect. The goal is gradually begin adding in more and more motion – plus in “real life” we would connect to the dogs on the first part of the cue and then only disconnect when it was time to run forward 🙂>>I actually tried one of these in a recent trial and it failed fantastically, with barking and lots of drama. I hadn’t practiced it in a while and it wasn’t really a good setup for it, but I went for it anyway.>>
My guess is you tried to run away from it when she is still in the stage of needing you to not run away yet? If you have video, post it and we can figure out why she got so mad lol
The push/slices and the backwards check check looked great! My only suggestion is that on the check checks, toss the reward more to where she would land and less towards the line near you, just to really help convince her to commit without you having to connect 🙂
>>This disconnect drill should be a good one to practice randomly every once in a while to help with that. For the backward sends I added a little motion to get Annie to take the jump since we don’t normally do those.
Absolutely! It is a good one to refresh. And I thought the motion you added was perfectly fine.
On the 2 jumps – the hsoulder position of the first rep versus the 2nd rep (and 3rd) made all the difference. On the first rep, you had strong connection but both arms behind you, so she curled in. On the other reps, you used a little bit of the outside arm to bring your opposite shoulder ahead of your body: she got it really nicely!! And she would totally tell us if she felt it was stupid LOL! It is a subtle difference to us, but not to the dog.
Her digs looked GREAT here!! You can totally add more motion in and out of these. Yay!!
The checks also looked really good – adding the motion here (I htink this is where you meant) was great – you still got your nice tight turns. You can leave even sooner on these, as soon as she passes you – it will be more challenging but I think she will be fine with it and that will give you more time to reconnect after the blind.The pushes to the slice also looked really great! And she is coming in to take the bar pretty independently – GOOD GIRL!!!! You started adding more speed on these towards the end – perfect! Keep adding more and more speed to both your pushes and your digs so yo ucan run in and out of them. Her turns also look lovely on all of these, she is setting up really nice collection without losing speed.
>> I’m thinking about using the opposite arm as my default way to send to backsides from now on, without any intention of ever fading it. It seems easier that trying to get my opposite shoulder visible. What do you think about that? Any down sides? I wouldn’t be able to use the opposite arm for Get Outs, but I think I can use the dog-side arm for that.>>
I think eventually you can fade out your opposite arm if you want (or not LOL!) but for now, it is helping her. I see no downside to keeping it – I keep it with Voodoo, and he is the pushiest most opinionated dog, the first one to point out anything he feels is stooooopid LOL! I also use it for my get outs – it is a different context and different verbal, so he is fine with it too. And, it has not created any problem with any other cues that use that arm, like threadles or tandem turns. It is really different looking (and sounding).
>>For the “check-push”, I wasn’t sure I was really as disconnected as we were supposed to be. I felt like I had to look at Annie to get the push, which only came out ok.>>
I think they were really good! The disconnection can be somewhat casual, you were disconnected enough 🙂
>>I was really happy with the last two pushes with the first jump angled. It seems like I might not have done this sequence the same way you did it with Voodoo. I might have drawn it wrong in my notes, but I was still happy with what we did, even if I made it up. >>
Heck yeah! Much to be happy with! I think you did it right, it added all the challenges and she rocked it. Yay!
Great job!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>My mistake on thinking the PDF suggested a BC on sequence 1 for backside/wraps. The way my printer printed up the sheets made it look like that text went with the map of sequence 1. Oh well, maybe it was nice practice for me to try it anyway!>>
it was definitely super cool to do! I am sure the is a use for that move somewhere!!
>>I have to be honest and tell you I don’t think I am actually thinking about when his head turns for the backside! LOL I have to concentrate more on that.
Watch for the head turn – that, theoretically, is your cue to giddy up out of there. If you see the head turn and you leave… and he *doesn’t* commit then we have more dog training to do.
>>I’m definitely going to do a few reps of the toy drop for independent backsides on a regular basis.
That independent backside understanding is SUCH a useful skill!
T
Hi there! I think a couple of tweaks in the mechanics will help sort it out! Because it is connection-based, it helps to teach it to him from out ahead of him. So a slight adjustment to the order of festivities should make it easier:
– Have him hold his stay while you start moving up that parallel path towards where the wing meets the bar. Then connect with him… THEN release him with the push verbal. You will be 2 or 3 steps ahead when you release, and moving. You can also help jumpstart it by having him hold his stay on a parallel path to the backside (rather than facing the front of the wing) for now. And try not to say “ok” as part of the release, as that implies front side of the jump 🙂
When he was taking the front side, you and he were both moving so you were either parallel to him or a step behind, so he was reading motion and taking the front side (like at the beginning or at 1:55-ish) When he was successful, you were a step or two ahead (like around 1:00). It will be even easier when you are a couple of steps ahead, plus you can then also move up a parallel line with your feet rather than stepping towards the entry wing – you started this way (moving up the parallel path) but then adjusted the line of motion to add the step, to help him out.
That should make a big difference!
And good job dropping that ball in pretty early – keep doing that as it will continue to help build the default understanding of taking the bar after going around to the backside.>>I sent you a PM on FB Messenger.
I hope to get into emails and messenger tonight after I go through the class forums, depending on how much brain power I have left 🙂 It was a long couple of days! HS is home and on the road to recovery, thankfully!
Tracy
Hi there!
Good work on these!!
Sequence 1 (video 1): It was interesting to see how the timing and placement of the blind affected the jumping on those first reps! A couple of ideas for you:
The first thing that popped to mind is that because he can see the jump easily when he exits the tunnel and your motion support the line – you can do that blind cross a lot sooner. In fact it can be finished before he even exits the tunnel because you will be in the gap 3-4 and reconnected, so he will definitely take 3. If doing the blind that early might pull him off the #3 jump, then we would wait til he exited to make sure he committed to 3 – but I think he will commit to 3 in this case pretty nicely. When the bar was down, you were late doing the blind so he was adjusting the air. The last rep was a little late too, but I think he had figured it out by then 🙂Now, my only concern with you being that far ahead is that he might jump too early as sometimes happens. So when you had in stay on your right and turn to his left over 4, that was a good choice! You can also do a RC on 4 so he gets the straight line back to the tunnel, that uses one of his really strong skills. Another option I can think of there for him is to lead out less at 1, and run 3-4 on the other side – so he exits the tunnel on your left and you push him to 3 and 4, if that makes sense 🙂
The 2nd link is marked private so I can’t see it 🙁 Can you relist it?
3rd sequence (video 3):
1st rep – A couple of little details on the opening: you can line him up on a better line to 2 so he doesn’t turn when he lands from 1. You can also start your get out just before he takes off for 3 so he lands already turned. The distance on his get outs was *fabulous*!!
Watch the :11 – :14 section in slow motion. It falls into the category of “Wilder is paying close attention to all the cues” LOL:
When he landed from 5, you were connected. Your right arm was a little high and moved forward, and then you looked forward, just for a heartbeat. It looked like the beginning of a blind cross and the bar of the 6 jump was obvious…. so boom! Blind cross. Good boy 🙂You were more connected on the next pass through there so he stayed on your right side, no blind cross – also, good boy 🙂 You over-helped by putting yourself into the gap, so it was harder to get the wrap – as he landed at :27, you stepped forward before he completed the wrap so he back jumped it.
2nd full run – at :34, he had a good line up to the tunnel, just needed one more step of motion to support commitment. He knew you were leaving and wasn’t sure if he should go take the tunnel.
Very very nice 5-6-7 section!! Great connection and line! That get out looks awesome, he is doing so well with that!! And nice job getting the slice on 6 – that is the best line for sure. I bet you can play with getting further across 6 to get in for a blind on the landing side of it.Great job! Let me know what you think, especially about the options for Sequence 1 🙂
TracyHi!
Most of this is going SUPER well – there is one dog-training element that we can improve. It was the same thing that was causing the almost all of the oopsies on these 🙂Seq 1 – Super nice! Good connection throughout. As long as you are connected, you can keep moving on the last jump to the tunnel and don’t need to cue her with an arm to come in and take it (:11 & :44 were connected and you had a little extra arm swing that you probably didn’t need) By connected, I mean ‘serpentine’ shoulders like you did 1-2 and at :11 and :44, where your upper body rotates towards the jump (center of the chest points to center of the bar) while you keep running forward. Your shoulders were closed forward at :28 so she did not come in – but that also shows us that more training is needed on the backsides to create the default behavior if ‘always come in and jump the bar on a backside push’ so you don’t have to be perfect. It turns out, this training thing is what bit you on the other sequences too. Here is more:
Sequence 2: Mostly going well, but the one training question is what was causing the oopsies. I am sure there is a fancy name for this type of BC on a backside, but I just call it a backside blind LOL! A German turn has more of a wrap exit to it.
At :58 & 1:52, you had a good push cue and you were timing the blind nicely… but more training is needed so she understands to automatically come in and the the jump so you can move through it. At
1:12 & 1:33, I think you were trying to help and the push was not strong enough so she ended up on the front side.something distracted her at 1:49 – maybe someone came in the door? It was not a handling thing. And you got it at 2:11 – you were a little later on the blind but that is what she needs for now.
Sequence 3:
On the backside blinds, she did come in… because of handling not because of default understanding:
At 2:26 – you got the blind after the backside and it helped her come in – but she wasn’t coming til you did the blind. So the handling helped her come in. On the exit of that rep, at 2:30 you went in a little deep and starting saying GO before she was looking at the correct line… so she correctly did the go but didn’t take the jump 🙂
On the 2nd rep
2:44 – she came in on the backside here too, because you maintained connection on your right side til she was jumping then did the blind – so the handling brought her in over the bar. Adding the
name call helped get her on the line and then the tunnel cue was spot on for the last line. Yay!Last rep was really good in timing all the things! Nice!!! For now, your handling is what is creating the full backside (going to it AND taking the jump). So, keep isolating that skill of taking the jump as you leave on a backside. Even in the middle of a sequence, you can push her to the backside and plop the toy in as she is heading to the entry wing, as you disconnect and leave. That will really help solidify the backside understanding, so that way you don’t have as much responsibility to be perfectly connected or perfectly on time – that is too much pressure LOL! It is much easier to train the pups to take the jump 🙂
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Sequence 1:
Good timing on your left cue and your backside! Good connection on the exit of the wrap, he looks super tight! My only suggestion is to add a “go” and a tunnel verbal on the ending line.
Loved the schnauzer visitors in the walk through LOL!The next sequence is a doozy indeed, with a lot off handling options. 🙂 Based on your walk through, I think you made good choices even if they didn’t work yet – more below:
Backside push after the tunnel on these: The extreme connection on this (moving on a parallel path and not having to use your arm or a big step to the backside wing) will make this much easier to get ahead on these lines and get commitment. Leading out less so you can move into it will help. When he sees you relatively stationary on the tunnel send, he is going to automatically want to turn to you. Plus, if you can use the extreme connection rather than the big step, you can get out of there faster (disconnect!) so make it to the blind on the exit (2:08 and 2:19). That will all help you get further across the bar.
Also, as weird as it sounds, try to disconnect sooner: as soon as you see him heading to the backside wing of 2, look ahead so you can get to the blind faster. At 2:28, you were still looking over your right shoulder as he jumped and ideally you would be looking over your left shoulder there.
The other thing to consider here turning him to his left on the wrap jump, as it might set a sweeter line to the jump before the last tunnel.
Here is the most important thing that was giving you trouble:
At 3:42 & 4:01 & 4:13 & 4:17 & 4:33 – he went to the backside but did not jump, running past it as you tried to hustle to the next line. That shows us that we can totally put more dog training in place – it is not a handling moment, that is a dog training moment! You can isolate that backside push where you send him away and then as he is heading for the wing to the backside entry, drop the toy in on the landing side as you run through the line. Do this on a low bar, as there are a lot of reps involved in getting this to be a default behavior (you can see demos in the course syllabus section).
Training the backside jump default will help in the spots where he did take the jump but it made the rest harder: when you were still between the uprights, he generally would take the jump but there were errors:
At 3:48 – so he came in but you could not get the blind
At 4:06 he jumped into the wing (ouchie!)
You did get it at the end – yay!!! But I think getting more training on the take-the-jump default on the backside as well as sending him away using the big connection but not the big step will make it smoother and easier 🙂Everything else is going really well, so it is mainly a backside training game at this point 🙂 Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
On that first sequence, I think the choice to turn her to her right on the slice line is the correct choice in terms of best line. Turning her to the inside wing is harder on her body, harder to cue and will be slower. So, let’s get a tight turn on it!
At :03 you were a bit too accelerated and facing forward, so she jumping in extension. At :13 and :19 you rotated sooner and it was better! So depending on where you are going for 4 and 5 on these drills, you have options: when going back to the tunnel #5, you can be closer to the tunnel and send to 3 (still doing the spin) and get outta there to 4. When going to the wrap on 4, you can lead out less, send to the tunnel more and layer the middle jump – so as she exits the tunnel, you are at the wing, showing it… and leaving. It all falls into the Tokaji Strategic Cue-And-Go handling system 🙂
The wrap on 4 at :14 and :22 was good – you cued and left! It was a bit of a v-set where you set the line around your legs – and I liked it!
2nd set of sequences:
The first sequence was nice! I don’t think you needed to hang out at the tunnel exit as long – she barked at you and slipped a bit at :26. When you moved through the tunnel exit at :34, she still barked but didn’t slip or slow down and still had a nice turn! She was real mad at :44 when you stayed there for too long.Good job with the cue-and-leave on the wrap at 6 at :50! Nice turn!
Sequence 2 looked good, my only suggestion is to try to send to 2 from further across the bar – you were closer to the entry wing at :57 with a high arm, so you didn’t get out of there as early as you can – at :59, you were at the tunnel entry when she was entering, when ideally you would be another step or two past it. She made the turn by turning after the exited (you can see her hind end kicking out at 1:00) but if you get past the tunnel entry by leaving 2 sooner, she can make the turn before exiting the tunnel.
Sequence 3: to best use the strategy that gets the best turns from her, I think leading out less and moving into the wrap at 2 so you can leave sooner will make it a tighter turn (rather than waiting there, she drifts wider when you wait there). You did that more on the 2nd and 3rd run, turning her to the outside and she had a nice turn there – you can move away even sooner, her commitment will support that On. the backside at 5 at 1:13, you had good position sending her in! Try not to let your arm get too high, because it causes a weight shift which makes it harder for you to get off her line (she ticked the bar because of the delayed exit). She didn’t tick the bar on that turn on the last run because our position was better and arm lower (shoulder height rather than above the shoulder), so keep reminding yourself to keep your arm from getting too high on those sends 🙂 On the next rep at 1:23, you still had the high arm but left earlier because the blind – the lower arm will get you one step further ahead getting out of there, which is always a good thing with her 🙂
The rest of it looked really good, nice turns out of the tunnel and she stayed on her lines perfectly, of course 🙂Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyNice work here! I notice a trend in the cues that help her go fast (versus where she slows down). When you move, she goes fast (that one was obvious haha) – if you are standing still for too long, she decelerates too much. So you can gauge your line to be moving into deceleration rather than getting to a wing too soon. In this case, going a little closer to the tunnel will help create that.
She also powered into more speed when your dog-side arm was a little back (when she was behind you) rather than pointing forward to an obstacle.
On the first run, for example, when you cued the first tunnel she saw the arm back and went fast. Then on the wing after the tunnel at :06 and :15, your arm was a little too far forward so she slowed down to process it.
You can also see it at :10 when she was exiting the tunnel – great connection there and she flew!
We see it also on the tunnel-to-wing line on the 2nd run: looking at :37 versos :42. At :37, your arm was forward before she exited, so she slowed down to figure out the line. At :42, your arm was back until after you made connection when she exited the tunnel: she flew to the wing.
And your last run with the wraps was fully arm-back in your connections – she was fastest yet on those lines. Very cool!
So that is a good thing to remember – arm back to make connection on new lines. The arm doesn’t need to stay back, it can move with her, but that first moment of connection when you are ahead is really helpful for her to drive on the lines.Great job! Let e know what you think!
TracyHi! This is looking really good and accomplishing the goal of NOT having to give a big step to take off! Look how far across the jump you are able to get!! It is setting you up for great serpentine exits. You can also do a “German” exit (switch sides to a blind cross as you move past the wing). And she did a really good job of committing to the jump – keep throwing that reward in nice and early to continue to reward that because that will help use reach the ultimate goal of being able to cue it and then just run through it. Yay! She was committing nicely both on the backside pushes and on your counter motion session at the end. I think the countermotion was easier for her – it looks like she had to think about committing to the bar after arriving at the backside while you kept moving, but that is fine – she got it right 🙂
A 2 next steps to play with:
– add more speed 🙂 Try jogging while giving her the cue!
– add balance to the front side. On some reps, cue a wrap on the wing then call her name then cue the front side of the jump. Alternate that with doing the backsides just like you did here.Great job!!
TracyGood morning! Her lap turns are looking really good! On the first couple of reps where she was coming in to your hand on one wing, you were really patient to let her get close to the hand before turning her away. When you added the 2nd wing before the lap turn – 2 little tweaks that will help her come right to your hand:
– try not to back up as much (or as fast :)) the backwards motion still reads as forward motion so she was looking at the wing more than at your turn hand. You can send her to the other wing from further away so you can get to the lap turn wing without having to do too many backwards steps.
– you can fully extend your hand towards her, locking your elbow, as if offering her an invisible cookie. That will draw her right into your hand 🙂 I often look down at my cookie hand with young dogs, that helps bring them in nice and fast 🙂
She was really getting the rhythm by the last couple of reps, and your cookie throws were great LOL! She was turning and then BOOM there was a cookie LOL!
The ‘regular’ wing wraps also look really strong – there was one moment where you might have blocked the wing a little (1:06) so she didn’t quite see it, but the rest were really strong and she is using her head to lead through the turns: nice and tight!!!!AU023 is the beginning puppy class, so definitely not the next step 🙂 I have a couple of postings coming up – you’ll get them in an email in the next day or two. I am a little detailed because I am out of state for a dog having surgery (getting a luxating patella fixed on one of my youngsters). But the things to look for are:
Blazing Blinds Boot Camp (the registration form is here: https://forms.gle/tyg9rMupzfdU33zb8Being posted soon:
MaxPup Teamwork Series: Want To Stay – Ready To Go (for teamwork going to the start line and great stays/lead outs)MaxPup Teamwork Series: Putting It Together (this will be the fuller next step after this puppy class as soon as I finish working out how to tweak it to make it work for indoor winter training LOL!)
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Hi!
I loved seeing the rehearsal here! On the backside push for 4, you can try to use that great connection from further across the bar, to make it easier to get to 5.
The run was just about perfect! You ran it basically exactly as you walked it, which is AWESOME 🙂 The only thing you can add in is more exit line connection on the landing of the backside jump – he was a little wide because you were looking forward. When I looked back at your walk through, you walked it the same way (not enough exit line connection there) so it is a good thing to add to your list of things to remember: plan your exit line connection. Everything else looked great! And doing the straight line at the very end proved that the lovely backside at 4 was not a fluke, it was based off your strong cue. Yay!! Great job!!
Tracy
