[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
I 10000000% feel the pain of lack of patience – I would MUCH prefer to run fast and get a blind hahahah. We are birds of a feather in that way. I have used some lap turn and tandem turn stuff with Voodoo and I anticipate using the cues with this younger Kaladin/Contraband generation: courses continue to get bigger and we are training them to go really fast, so I can’t expect to always be ahead for the blind.

You showed great patience on most of these LOL! Tons of good lap turns here! On the 2nd rep where he didn’t read it, I think that was lack of experience but then he read it really well on the other side, then got it on that side the next time you went through there. This is not a ‘natural’ skill for the pups, so I do think they will make some mistakes even when we execute it correctly.

Just about all of your reps were solid: patient, arm & leg moving together, clear turn away cue. Nice!!!!

At 1:28 there was a little blooper: Your leg moved back but your hand did not. At 1:37 they moved together more, but the leg stepped towards the jump. Compare that too the next rep at 1:41, where the arm and leg went back together (not towards the jump) and he got it. I admit to chuckling when he sent himself around the wing there after the oopsie to restart it LOL!!

On the race tracks, be sure to have your arm back to make connection – when you pointed forward a bit at 1:00, he thought you wanted a blind. When you race tracked the other way at 1:55ish, your connection was great and he had no questions.

You can also send to the wings on the crosses and the race tracks from further back to set up the lap turn, rather than run backwards. Backwards motion is the same as forward motion – when you ran backwards at 2:17, he took the wing because motion is motion 🙂 When you moved a lot less on the next rep at 2:24, he easily came to the hand because the change in motion drew him in. You had some backwards motion at 2:52 and 3:02 but you were further from the wing and also stopped earlier. I think sending him to the other wing will make it even easier for you there.

Great job here!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
Yay for grass in the yard and not that white stuff!!

I think the zigzag grid was hard for him – I love how he had it almost sorted out by the end!! Good boy. To help him sort it out, keep the distances the same and slightly angle the jumps so he can see the bars more clearly (less flat, more of a channel). If you can get ut to be about 2 inches of visible bar, he can sort out the bouncing then you will be able to tighten it back up. And when you tighten it back up, start at wing 2 for a couple of reps and then back up to wing 3. It is a great conditioning drill too (the vet people tell me to do it twice a week and that is it, when we get to. this stage).

About the start line:

>> but when I’m leading out he is focused on me but not necessarily keeping eye contact with me if I am maintaining the connection with him. As I move out his eyes are flicking sometimes down to my feet and also to Nemo in my hand, but he’s not looking away in other directions. (If I lead out without a toy in hand, he will sometimes flick his eyes down to my feet and then back up again) Do you think that will cause an issue in lead outs in the future?

Nope, no issues 🙂 Dogs all work out their own shtick on the start lines in a way that allows them to hold the stay, control their arousal, etc. My Export never looked at me, he just stared straight ahead LOL!! Nacho and Matrix had to look away entirely until the release. So funny! I think Voodoo looks at different things too – the jump, the toy, I don’t really know – but he never fails to release correctly. I honestly don’t know where the other dogs look – but extended eye contact is not something they need to do on the lead out. You can add in games in the form of throw back rewards, jogging to position to keep things exciting (it does take me HOURS in dog years to get to my position, I am so slow LOL!!!)

>>>Asking because I am finding it challenging to play the ready-1-2-3 game with him with a toy in hand because he will flick his eyes down to the toy or my feet when I start to move.

I think that is fine in 1-2-3 game! It is possible that direct sustained eye contact has too much pressure (my 12 year old Border Staffy taught me that) so he looks at the toy or at your feet: still totally engaged but not comfy staring back at you. My 1-2-3 game criteria does not include sustained eye contact, for that reason. And if we demand more eye contact, we might accidentally add too much pressure and get less eye contact and make the game less fun.

>> I feel like his stays are strong for his age and he holds them without fidgeting about 98 or 99% of the time. (the squirrel running along the fence 15ft away a few weeks ago was the noticeable exception).

I agree – he has had such a strong stay that you were able to teach a lot of things very quickly! And he is pretty engaged – he looked away in one if your stay in yesterday’s videos but there was something going on in the environment and jump grid lead outs are not that stimulating haha

>>His Sports Foundation class instructor is concerned that his eye flicking (typically down to my feet or the toy) will lead to him being distracted by other things during lead outs.

I do not share that concern 🙂 As the game of agility gets more exciting, and as you begin to jog/run to your lead out position, then he will be even more engaged. And his eye flicks to your feet are legit (fat are part of the cue) and the toy (also legit) both involve you. Trying to control where he looks all the time my be a little too extra and too much pressure on both of you – leading to too much failure, lower rate of success, etc. His stay is far far better than 95% of the dogs his age (including mine haha) so I say just have fun with it and play 1-2-3 but don’t worry about where his eyes are looking.

>>I have to admit I’ve always played the ready-1-2-3 game as more of a fun build anticipation game and haven’t been strict with any of my dogs on them actually maintaining eye contact with my eyes.

Same here!

>>Because with lead outs on course, I want the dog focused on where I am headed but they also have to focus forward on the indicated line. >>

I agree – the dogs are multitasking a zillion things on lead out, so I don’t obsess on exact eye position 🙂

>>I have been trying to make sure I don’t release him if he’s fixated on a toy in my hand, but I haven’t been strict about him flicking his eyes down to the toy and back up to my face. Now I’m wondering if I should have been more concerned about this.>>

I think it is fine to release him when he is looking at the toy in a training situation, as a training challenge: yes, you see the toy but can you still read the line? That is a GREAT prep for trialing!!! It is basically a game to ignore the distraction in favor of finding the line. And then he earns the toy by ignoring it 🙂

I guess overall that I get concerned that waiting for too much eye contact might add pressure and reduce the rate of success, both of which make things NOT fun for pups. You have a really fun, high success, relaxed training relationship with him and that is why he is doing so well!

Let me know if that makes sense!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! Timing crosse can be especially hard with young dogs! I think a little more distance will help – and then totally trusting her that she will commit when he turns her head to it 🙂

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! This went really nicely! The outside arm worked really well – there was a major difference between the get out cue and the regular ‘with me’. Of course, you can use your dog-side arm to put her out: as long as she understands it and it is clearly different, it will work nicely. And it appears to work nicely for your other dogs 🙂
Good job on the advanced level: your crosse were a little late but I think that was because the wing wa close to the jump so you had very little time to do them after seeing her head turn. You can totally add more distance between the wing and the jump now – that will challenge the get out more and will also give you more time to do your FC and your BC. You can also add more motion to it – the running will jazz her up too 🙂 She seemed happy here but you were smart to keep it short for now.

Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! I was filming during a warm rain, it was not that impressive LOL!!!! It was still pretty warm 🙂

On the get out video
– on the ‘don’t get out’ reps right at the beginning, your very first rep had one step to the jump so he went. The rest were really good about moving on the straight line so he was really good about not getting out unless asked – except for :50 and :55 where the tiny stepped sent him to the jump. You were smoother after that being careful not to step that way at all and he was great 🙂 All of the get out cues were great! You can add challenge to those by moving the wing further away – which will make the “don’t get out” moments easier 🙂

Wraps: Your first transition was a little late but the second one was solid! The others were really good too and he turned nicely. The only little blooper was at :20 when you turned away and stepped back just a heartbeat too soon so he didn’t take it.
Looking at your thought about him not adding collection strides – when he was on your left and the transition was timely (you were decelerating as he was passing your or sooner) – he totally added collection strides. When he was on your right, he didn’t quite add them the same way. I think those transitions were later though, so he was reading the turn cue later – he was already past you on those. So next time you play with this, try the cues a little earlier on right and you will see more collection. And yes, when he has more bar to jump, it will be even more obvious 🙂

On the turn away video – One of the things we found in the Saturday class is what we were calling the 2-inch rule: the pup must be 2 inches from your turn away hand before you step back. At the beginning you were stepping back a little too early, which causes your foot step to cue taking the wing on the other side. When you were a little later like at :38, he totally got it. Then on the other side, compare the timing at :58 where you foot had stepped back before he got to your hand (he turned in a circle in front of you there) to 1:03 where he was almost at your hand and you moved your hand and foot together (he got it nicely there :)) He got a bunch in a row like that really nicely. At 1:22, you were too early on the step back and he took the other side of the jump. You were a little later at 1:287 and he got it. Then the 2 of your found the rhythm and he did really well! So it is most important on that first rep to be super patient: let him get 2 inches from your hand (keeping your feet together) then step back and draw him through the turn.

If you feel like you are running backwards, you can send to the wing then run to the next one then decel and rotate into it.

Great news about the comfort at TCOTC and also about the class at OTR!!! That is great news, and perfect timing!

Lovely work here!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
He was less gentle here 🙂 He seemed to recognize his barrel and the motion was really jazzing him up. Great job on the go versus wrap versus rear! I think your transitions were pretty crisp so he was reading the wrap really really well!!! He was being a bit gentle on using his hind end on those – I think he was sorting out the footing and trying not to slip because the mats have less grip to dig into.
On the circle backsides he had a question – I think it was a connection question because your arm was at your side and your eyes were a tiny bit forward on those reps so he was not entirely sure if he should take the front or the back. You were clearer on the backside slice connection at 2:11 – your arm was definitely further back and that helped! He looked up at you there, so you can give him more eye contact and that should make it even clearer (I know, it is so counterintuitive to look at them *more* to get them to move away, yet is works because they are reading shoulder position).
His commitment to taking the jump on the slice was really good! You had great serp position and connection there. On the circles, he was stickier to commit: you can get more commitment by dropping the reward to the landing side as soon as he turns his head to the wing: basically rewarding the decision to go to the backside by dropping the reward on the landing side as you keep moving forward. That should help him want to commit earlier.

Great job here, he transferred a ton of skills to a new place!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
I am glad you took him to a new training spot – he was being very gentle in his approach to the Set point 🙂 Form was good, he was focused – but not quite the same giddy up as he had at home. There was a lot happening (new footing, movement in the grid, new environment) so I think the session is really good! He held his stay, he maintained his form! That is great because those are the first two things that go out the window in new places or new footing 🙂 So many dogs either get suppressed or wild – he was focusing for sure, but working beautifully. Stopping short of the ball was probably the main sign of him figuring out the new environment – he hadn’t quite loosened his tie yet 🙂 He will continue to relax into the new footing & environment and then you will see him being a bit more powerful into the grid. For now, do another session just like this when you can get back there again, my bet is he will be more like he is at home.

He was a really good boy on the ladder grid too! He was gentle here too – which translated to a little more up & down over the bar rather than forward, if that makes sense? But as with the set point, he was thinking his way through it, which is a better choice in a new place than being a complete wackjob. Yay! He held his stay, was fully focused, and maintained form – perfect first session in a new place. Next time you get there, I suggest a ladder session like this one and see how it goes before adding challenge – he had no issues with height or distance, so I am thinking adding more motion would be the next step.
Great job!

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
I think the questions he had on the lap turn had to do with timing of your leg movement – you were moving it too soon, so it looked like a cue to take the jump.
The lap turns on one wing at the beginning went well on your right side – he was relatively close to the hand when your hand and leg started to move back. When you switched to your left side, you were moving your leg a bit early and I think that is why he was taking the wing: the motion of the leg moving back was cuing the commitment, plus you were looking at him more than at your hand. When you got it nice and smooth at 1:17, you looked down at your hand more and had a slight delay on the step – so your leg went straight back and he read the turn. Yay!
When you added a bit of motion, the same thing was happening to cause the ping to the wing on the first rep. The leg step happens just as he is arriving at your hand like at 2:00 and 2:16. I think in the Saturday live class we established it as the 2 inch rule: hold still with the arm extended, feet together, til the pup was 2 inches from the magic cookie hand: then the hand and foot can move back together (that sets the foot to be straight back rather than to the side) You got him to close to the 2 inches on the very last rep, so he read it even with the motion! Nice!
On the 2nd video, I think you have the rhythm of the lap turn on the first rep but your foot was too early on the 2nd rep. 3rd rep was good too and so was the last one: note how all of the good reps have him a little closer to your hand before you move the hand back and the leg step back is a bit later – which also means the leg steps back straight and not towards the wing at all. He read it perfectly every time you did that.
Let me know if that makes sense – the movement in the lap turn is pretty delayed (I find it hard to be patient, I am pretty twitchy haha!)

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
The zigzag with bars went really well! He seemed to have no issues at all incorporating the bars into the set up – he was legit bouncing rather than trotting and using his leads really well. He didn’t always “see” the 3rd bar but that is no biggie, that was more of a handling moment where he was locked onto the toy 🙂
So, to add to it – you can add to it in 2 ways but not at the same time 🙂
1st thing to do is simply add another wing and another bar to the same set up with the same distances. It just adds an additional balance challenge because he has to do one more lead change.
The other thing to add is, using this 3-wing set up, less distance: have the bar touching the wing of the next semi-jump so there is not space between them. It adds a bit more challenge because he has to be quicker on his leads changes – but I really don’t anticipate this being that much harder for him, I think he will do really well with this.
Let me know if it makes sense! Thanks!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>**That rear crossy move is a real winner in your toolbox – she just is beautiful. Do you have a verbal cue on it?

I do! I call that ME. She knows that one well. 🙂>>

Perfect! Handling plus verbal is making for a really great line there.

>>Agree! I felt the spin to be more natural and since flow and smoothness is so important for us both, felt the spin produced that more naturally for me.>>

Yes – one thing I am learning about Kindle is that getting behind and rushing to get to the next spot is NOT going to produce a good outcome. Staying in flow is super helpful for her.

>>Got it! I always think about how I will use my dog’s names like that when selecting my names…Kindle is Ki-Ki-Ki (like key)!>>

Ha! That cracks me up! I was just telling a friend the same thing last night – she is picking a name for her puppy and I told her to think about using the first syllable on course and how it will sound. I learned that the hard way: my dog Export was called “ExExEx” on course, which sounded like SexSexSexSex. I am a slow learner, though – my Voodoo is DooDooDooDoo on course, which sounds like Doodoo. Ha! My younger dogs all have better names for on course yelling LOL!

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>I really worked on keeping more connection with Juno coming out of the previous obstacle and found it awkward. >>

You were 1000% connected on these and yes, it does feel weird at first 🙂

One thing to know is that we are looking at tiny details at his point because the big details look great 🙂 The overall shape of your teamwork with him looks FABULOUS here which is why I am looking at things in slow motion to see exactly what tiny details are affecting his lines and how we can get it all as smooth and fast as possible. This is not because I think there is anything wrong – more like there is so much that is RIGHT that we can isolate the tiny details 🙂

And also, as the courses get bigger, there are spots where you can be softer in the connection and run more (the stuff we do next week focuses on that more directly), which might be what you are describing here:

>>My natural instinct is to make initial contact after the previous obstacle, and then cue the next obstacle while supporting it with my eyes on take-off and landing. I have found this to work well with Juno, so I’m not sure what you’re seeing that I can do to make it better? >>

What I was seeing on previous videos was that either his turn was starting in the air or it was not as tight as it could be, or he was looking up to you ever so slightly for more info. I will add more context about that below, relating to these videos 🙂 It is a matter now of the smaller details to get things are beautiful as possible 🙂 He is really looking great which is why we can lock into the tiny details. I don’t see anything big going wrong at all – so now we look at sorting out his exact needs on course vecause he is doing so well.

>>When I try to look at his eyes longer than I normally would, it feels too long and I feel it causes me to cue later than earlier>>

Looking at the first sequence with the FCs here: your timing was actually spot on – perfect – on each rep. I could see from your expression that perhaps all that connection felt a bit weird LOL but timing was great and he was turning before takeoff and landing tight on each rep. On the actual turn cue, he was shaping the line a bit to set up the turn. So an idea for you, using this FC set up as an example:
Do 3 reps in a row and we can time the difference:
One rep is the way that feels more natural to you.
2nd rep is exactly what you did here
3rd rep splits the difference – a bit of a softer connection shift on the turn cues, maybe to your hands more than his eyes.

That way I can time them and we can compare to see what is fastest for him. I timed your FC reps here and they were all within 1/100th of each other – impressive that you were able to reproduce the turn each time!!!!

On the second video – lap turn:
First rep:
when I freeze it at :03 as he is exiting the tunnel, you are rotated and fully connected: he absolutely nailed his line into you for the cue.
He was a bit wide on the exit line after landing at :06 (note how he lands then turns), which was likely due to 1 of these 2 things:
– needing a bit more deceleration through the turn cue (a lower, slower hand cue with more looking at his eyes to cue the turn and jump) will tighten up his collection so he will then land on a better line. You were quick and looking at landing, so he went wide.
– needing a bit more exit line connection where you reamin connected (rather than looking forward) but this was probably not the source, I think it was more about how he took off for the jump.

You were lower & slower (in a good way LOL!) and looking at his eyes more at :19 and when I timed the difference: he was about 3/10ths faster in that one section on this second rep (welcome to my world of obsessing haha). The third rep was also super connected to his eyes and I could hear the verbal better: also faster than the swooshier first rep. You looked at landing as part of the cue on rep 1, you looked at it after he commited on rep 2, and I don’t think you looked at it at all on rep 3, you just ran forward. You looked at landing on the last rep at :52 after you got the great connection on the turn cue – also super fast. That connection before takeoff is key for him on this move, to getting the tightest lines. (and your timing was great on all of the reps :))

Nice connection to the tunnel exit of 6 to set up the timing for the spin at 7 at on all reps!

You mentioned feeling late on the timing but so far, you are rocking it. It might feel weird – and it might feel late when you have to run bigger lines more? But so far on these 2 videos it looks like you are super connected in all spots and spot on in your timing.

Sequence 3: also spot on in connection! Some of the timing was reall fabulous, some was a little late but you can disconnect in some of that and also not need to get to specific position as much (see more below fo specifics :))

Opening line:
great connection on the landing of 1 to set the line an he powered away perfectly, no questions at :02 and no questions at :23. He ticked the bar on run 3 at :43 – I watched it back a few times in comparison to the first and second runs and I don’t see anything really different other than perhaps you turned your head forward a microsecond earlier? I did not look disconnected to me and you didn’t do anything like fling your arms around or yell something – do you find that he has trouble with bars before tunnels? We can do proofing if needed but I think this was just a random moment of not quite jumping high enough. He had no questions and did not touch the bar on the last rep.

The FC 4-5 looked good on the first run! You had more decel at :27 into it and it was even tighter on rep 2 (it is a really hard turn and he is setting up so nicely!!) Be sure to power out of it, though, like you did on the first rep so you can get your timing in place too.

On the first rep You started the spin at :07 (for 5) really nicely! I think you can drive out of it sooner to get him to your left side – as soon as he passes you, do the BC to your left. At :08 you were looking over your right side, which made finishing the spin late. This might be one of the places with him that you don’t need to look at landing: his commitment looks strong so you can cue the turn then just leave for the next line.

On the 2nd run – you stayed at the FC at 4 for too long then drove to the spin at 5, so he didn’t see the spin starting til one stride later at :28.
And, because it was slightly later and you were looking at landing as he was jumping at :29 – he almost came to your right side as he landed at :30

3rd run – you got out of the FC at 4 really nicely like you did on the 1st run – and started the spin cues at the same good timing! Yay! He was wider here at :48 than he was at :07 because of how you did the transition – on that first run, you decelerated then turned so your turn cue was not really moving. On this rep, you turned as you were decelerating so you ended up moving backwards. Backwards motion reads as forward motion to him, so he jumped a bit longer as compared to when you were not moving backwards.

4th run – this was the same timing as the 2nd run, a little later starting so the turn at 5 was not as strong. I think you were trying to get to position near 5, but his position will help dictate the timing – so when he lands and turns to 5 like he did at :07 and :47 you can start the transition into the spin even if you are not right near the wing.
You can also be a little further away from the 4 jump to cue the FC and see if you can get the same nice turn and be in a more comfortable position for 5.

Your turns at 6 and 7 were good on all the reps but I REALLY liked them on the last rep at 1:12-1:14! Connected and you were fully rotated before takeoff on both. NICE!!!!! Freeze the camera as he is jumping 7 at 1:13 – he is already turning his head to the new line and you are gone heading for 8. So nice!

Tiny detail at :12 and :32 and :52 and 1:14 – this is where you can be more on his line to drive forward to 8 and maintain your exit line connection for one more step before relaxing it. When I freeze the video with him over jump 7 at :12 and :32, :52, 1:13, you have perfect exit line connection but your running line is not quite directly towards 8, your path was more on a parallel line to the bar at 8: this causes him to land a little wider following your motion, then goes back out to find 8. You were starting the timing early on each rep for that spin (1:16 was really nice!) but setting a running path from the exit wing of 7 directly to the exit wing of 8 will help him pick up the direct path to 8 without any zig zags.

Let me know what you think! Overall – this really looks terrific which is why I am digging into the tiny details to see how perfect we can get it 🙂

Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
This is going well! You effectively used your tunnel send to be able to get up to the jump to shift conneciton. You can also practice is with more motion for the transition, to prepare for courses where you won’t be able to use a tunnel send as much to get there that early.
On the 2 spin reps – being rotated that early is all she needs as a turn cue. Her commitment looks really good, most small dogs cannot commit with strong rotation!
I liked your FC rep at :20, you had a bit more connection to her eyes and also great exit line connection and motion back to the tunnel – really nice turn!

>>When I did the blind into a spin it looked like Skipper didn’t know about the turn until she was in mid-air over the jump >

I agree – she thought the info was a little late. Not super late, but a little late: It was a bit of a chain reaction – the BC on the tunnel to change sides was late (it started after she got in at :30) – so on her end, she had to find the new side a stride after she exited. And from your side of things – being late to do the blind meant you were late starting the spin – at :32, she is in the air and you are just starting it.

Same thing happened on the next rep: blind started after she got into the tunnel at :38, so she made the side change one stride after exiting, and then you were late starting the spin at :40 so she made the turn on landing. The close up slow motion is cool to see it all!

The key is the timing of the blind on the tunnel entry 🙂 That will give her all the info sooner and you can set up the spin sooner. It all comes down to one stride: Lead out more, both ahead and laterally. Release and cue the tunnel but start your blind before she enters (she will still be a solid 4 or 5 feet from the entry) so you are fully done and making eye contact before she exits – then decel into the spin so as she is passing you, you are already rotating.

Your ‘here here here’ (or is it ‘hear hear hear’? LOL!) as a verbal tunnel brake is working beautifully! Great timing plus you are showing her your magic cookie hand really helps. Doing the lap turn on the backside was MUCH harder because the front of the jump is so much more obvious but she was getting it! Part of it was the exit of the tunnel: she was coming to you and not locked onto the jump. Great job working the tunnel brake verbal!

Well done here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! She is doing well here – I can totally see the wing on her left to start as the more ‘fluid’ side. She did well with the wing on her right but especially on that first rep, I can see that she had to really think about it.
She seems to have figured out the concept now, so let’s get more bouncing sideways and less trotting. Start at wing 2 so she can just bounce over 1 bar, then fling the reward out to the side rather than near your for a session or two – let’s see how she reacts to that 🙂 This might also be a way to work her through her heat – a more bite-sized chunk to get her going with. Then we can move you back to wing 3.
And for the spacey days, you can see if she wants to play by doing some really easy stuff that involves chasing the momma, which I think is her favorite 🙂 She should be feeling back to normal really soon 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Thanks for the trial videos!! Lots of good stuff here for sure 🙂

On the standard run:
Your opening looked good, smooth and connected. About the dog walk: He slipped and lost his hind a little at :17 as he was turning towards the DW and couldn’t recover his balance in time. He aborted mission rather than twist or fall – smart boy!! So that was more of a turf-slipping thing – does he get to do classes or lessons on that turf? Practice on that footing at high speed will help him be able to control the lines and not slip.
The rest looked good!!! You are getting really connected and that is so nice! Two turns that you can tighten up – turn and call sooner on the jump before the frame at :53. When he lands from the previous jump, you can start that gentle shoulder turn.
Also, on the 3rd to last jump, you can do a decel or a soft brake arm so that he gives a little collection. You did a normal fast-moving post turn and so he thought he was supposed to jump wider.

JWW:
I don’t think you looked lost! You did look really connected 🙂 I agree about the FCs here – this is NOT a FC course. I think you could have gotten to some of them… but all that rotation on this course was not optimal. It is 100% a blind cross course – it would have been much easier to blind and go (which is why the RCs felt better but the RCs put you behind him when it is easier to handle from ahead on this type of course). I did hear last week that Derrett handlers are starting to use blinds? Is that something you have heard? This is in the midwest so maybe it is in different parts of the country.
About the weave entry – this is something to work on the turf for sure – he was pattering his feet trying to grip and shift his weight to get in, he was really looking at them: and with you being parallel, he kinda gave up. You didn’t really rush him – but you were not standing still waiting. So like the DW entry, this is something to work on with just 4 poles – you moving while he is entering. You were not sprinting or disconnecting, but he is figuring out how to use his hind while you are moving so working it on a short set of poles will help him. And, that will keep you ahead in the weaves to be able to get your planned FC after it. I think you could have gotten to your next FCs with some major running but the RCs were smooth! I liked that choice better than FCs. There was one bobble – on your send at :25, I loved your timing (he got a nice collection) – he barked because it looks like your arm came forward and connection broke so try to keep you arm back and look at his eyes as you send. Then trust his commitment – you came back towards him to help out which is what changed his line after it and caused the bar at :31. Bummer! So trust the boy and keep moving 🙂 Your video person said it looked like you were lost – I don’t think you were lost, I think you were helping and thinking on the fly LOL!!!

Overall, really lovely runs!!! You are soooo close to just being a perfect team 🙂
Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>Video 1 at about 29 and 40 sec for the BC to the spin….am I positioning myself correctly…seems like he is taking the middle of the bar or is that okay?

You were in more of a reverse v-set position where he was shaping the line around you – which is fine. He will be more on the exit side of the bar with less swoosh to landing and more connection to his eyes. The collection stride will help get it even tighter.

>>Sequence 2: yes, he was kind of setting up sideways…but then he sort of does that at trials which you said was okay for some dogs so I let it be. Might as well see what happens at home when he does it…less than optimal for sure and I prefer him setting up straighter. So next time I will correct that.

Ah! Yes, makes sense – you don’t want to fight with him on the start line about exact position. You can totally practice lining up at your side so he can be in the best place possible on the start line.

>>As for the BC….I thought we were supposed to get the BC completed PRIOR to entry to the tunnel or does that “depend” on what happens next?

Depends on what happens next (agility is pretty complicated, there is a “depends” attached to almost everything!) Two general rules for that:
– if there is a turn on the exit of the tunnel, then it is ideal for it to be finished before he enters (this does not apply to this sequence, because it was a straight line)
– if there is not turn BUT you can easily be in position to show the next line without any questions (like fully on the landing side of the jump), then we can usually do the BC before he is out of the tunnel – this is more of what happened on your first early moment.

>>In video 1 (find the 4) with the last game where I did the BC before he entered the tunnel, it was better early because the spin was coming up next.

And that was excellent, because there is a turn on the tunnel exit and you had to be there to get that AND set up the next one.

>>Different here in seq 2 because it was essentially a straight line over the jump after the tunnel.

Yes, the line of exit dictates when you can do the cross.

>> So I was doing it very early on purpose because I thought that was the correct way. I need clarification on that particular handling scenario apparently…when to complete BC prior to tunnel entry vs when to do it as he exits the tunnel.>>

See above about my two rules and let me know if it makes sense.

>>Sequence 3: Hmmm…I am not all that comfortable on how RC are supposed to be done. I thought you wanted decel to get a tighter turn?

Yes – but only as part of the transition into the turn, rather than decelerating the whole time because the it ends up being slower. I like to run like mad (and I think you do too, and you train with Jess who is great at running like mad hahaha!) – so if I have to wait and decel before starting the RC, it is not something that I will choose over a FC or a BC. If I can run like mad into the RC… then yes, it is a good option 🙂

>> Not sure I will be setting that up again right now. I need to get better at seeing options rather than getting one idea in my head.

You can play with this on the next set of sequences too! Whenever you see a RC option, ask yourself if you can get in for a FC or BC. And if you see a BC or FC option, as yourself if you can get there in time or if a RC is better (you will almost always be able to get there in time – you run fast and he has tremendous skills to commit to a line so you can move to your next spot).

>>I think my habit has become shift connection to the landing side…perhaps from past training OMD style.

Probably true. I had to de-swoosh myself by running with an open bottle of water in my hand, and transfer it to the next hand as I did the rotations.

>> It is NOT natural for me to look him in the eyes.

It will feel easier with a bit of rehearsal – then it will feel really smooth 🙂

>> Well at least I am remembering the exit line connection better than I used to so there must be hope that I can do better on the eye connection.

I am confident that you will make the change to shift connection to his eyes because you have really mastered the exit line connection!

>> I know we are going for optimal performance but I think even with my mistakes he is doing so well and showing progress and understanding. Always room for improvement.<>>

Holy cow YES! Things are really close to optimal and that is awesome! That is why I call it ‘obsessing’, which also means “that was really great so now let us look at each tiny detail and see where we can get it even greater”. You are not making many mistakes at all – the shifting connection to his eyes is not a mistake, it is a learning process – in the moment, it is hard to tell what works best in terms of the shifting connection, but watching the video a few times in slow motion gives me ideas on how we can get it even tighter for him 🙂

Tracy

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