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Hi there!
You are so busy – 3 dogs, agility, obedience, herding and puppy stuff! I love it 🙂 Makes for a great summer!Nice job on these sequences! Here are some ideas for you:
Course 1:
Good walk through, nice planning – I could see the connection and lines throughout!! On the parts where you were running, your speed was pretty darned close to the actual speed of the run when I played those sections side by side. That is great with such a young dog!
And I think part of your walk through was spend strategizing if you could get into the gap 8-9 for a BC to get the turn to the right (faster line) – yes I think you can 🙂
To do it – you can strategize 4-5 differently – use your plan to 5, but then send more to 6 and 7 (sending and verbals) so you can cut straight across to 8-9. And you can also keep her on your left 4-5 and RC 5, to set up 6-7 with you even closer to 8-9.
Your execution on the 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 part was good, nicely connected and good timing and turns! (Stopping for the bar at the very beginning, reset, tug, restart is a good protocol. Do you think it is more reinforcing to reward when she gets it right on the next rep, or keep going?)Wrapping 9 was the final plan, and I think your execution was solid on the run – you were already decelerating as she was jumping 8 and rotated when she landed, with verbal in place. She did not turn til after landing, though, so that is something that we can work on in terms of training – breaking it down so there is still all the speed from the tunnel, but then replacing the jump with a wing so she can find the tight collection with all the excitement – and you can then handle with a tight wrap exit rather than back to 10.
You did go back and try the BC 8-9, yay!!! And you actually were in a good spot at a good time to get it (relatively in position and head turn completed before takeoff for 8) – double yay! Being inexperienced, she was locked onto your motion (lower body) and did not read the head turn/reconnection of the blind – that is another fun thing to train, and that is where I would exaggerate the connection on the new side with a reward across the body to help her read the ‘upstairs’ info and not just the ‘downstairs’ (motion) info 🙂
I think it is great you were pretty much there – you can leave 6 even sooner to get there even sooner!Course 2:
On the 1-2 line, that is a pretty common spot for the bar down 🙂 You can experiment with what might help – to lead out more, or release while in motion to show extension, but also mainly to figure out what helps get her to read the bar better while you start moving. She was fine with the challenge on the 2nd and 3rd times there! It is more of a training & experience challenge than a walk through or planning challenge.
The backside on 3 was nice both times! Yay!
On the first run, you ran it liked you walked at 2:46 on the walk through – a little too much power forward to 4 after landing of 3 with the shoulder turn a little late, so she drove forward too much on the run at :33 (you said something to her but I couldn’t quite make out which verbal it was) On the 2nd round you were much earlier at 2:32 with your turn, and her forward cue to 4 was one little tiny step after landing from 3 – nice turn! And that is a good thing to remember – one step at landing then leave 🙂
I like the choice of the BC at the end! On the first run, you ran it differently than the walk through (2:50) – you were moving more towards the bar at 8 rather than forward on the line to 9, plus you were later on the BC. That contributed to the bar down. On the 2nd run, you ran it exactly how you walked it (heading to 9 and blinding as soon as she landed from 7) and it was perfect! So it might just have needed a few more high speed passes on the walk through to get it fully into muscle memory there.Course 3 -definitely not a trainwreck! I think the walk through was good planning, you had one little moment you can add to the list of things to remember but the other stuff was just training stuff (not handling or walk through stuff).
So the one thing to add: you have more time than you think to get to the FC at the 5-6 line, you were rushing a bit and that is what pulled her off at :53 (you were saying go tunnel as she exited 3 but had also fully turned and started towards 5 (which is exactly what you walked at 4:05) – and Go Tunnel is relative to body position, so she was being a good girl. One heartbeat of upper body turned to her and eyes on her eyes, and she will get that tunnel with you still having plenty of time to get the FC.
Small training detail: On the turn cue on 6, you were there and decelerated and connected, she still turned after landing – so you can play with just a wing there too, and running away for the reward on a tight line to help encourage her to put in a collection before takeoff (starting with a wing is easy and fun, then we can add back a bar).
For the jumping on 2 and 7: I was watching her set up on each of the reps, and I think she is just not sure how to jump those angles while you are moving – it is a bit of a sideways jumping effort on those types of slices, and very common for dogs to hit those rails (or hit the wings). You mentioned that she was looking at you over 2 – that is indicative of not being sure how to set the jumping on that slice relative to the physical serp cue you were showing (and you were showing it, otherwise I would bug you to show it :)) So, we can help her out! I have found that the zig zag grids are the absolute best way to help the dogs sort out this jumping angle while we are moving (although you don’t move at first).
First on 3 jumps:
then on 5 jumps:
nice and low until she is very comfy and then with motion… then you can help raise the bars 🙂 She is probably athletic enough to do it at full height or close to (Voodoo doesn’t have enough angulation in his front, so I stay at 16) but even without full height – very helpdul for sorting out how to jump those lines.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHello there! This is a pretty complex course to walk in 8 minutes! I think you had nice clear plans developing, the only things to note in terms of plans are:
– the throwback/spin exit of 3 might be a little too tight, you might consider threadling to 3 then staying forward so you can accelerate to 4 sooner and set the line (he will still be on a great line)
– 7-8 is a threadle, not a 180 🙂
– On the BC through the box at 12-13, you were going between the uprights of 12 which sets a longer line than you want (more to the back of 14 than to 13) so keep looking for the perfect path on those crosses through the boxes, like 12-13.
– 17 is backside, which should make for an prettier ending line 🙂Looking at the runs versus the walks:
On the first run, you got a littler further from 3 than you walked, so when you cued it you had to push back a bit – that delayed your reconnection as you scrambled to get away, and drew him off of 4. You were in a great spot on the 2nd run and it looked great (I also really like how he took #2, plus your walk and run were almost identical in that section, very nice!)
The throwback was too tight on this run – it was better on the 2nd run because you were closer to 2 and connected better on the exit – but you can probably get out of there sooner without the throwback, making the reconnection earlier, without sacrificing the quality of the turn.– nice around after the straight tunnel on both runs, even coming in from a rear cross! Yay!
On the 6-7 line:
>> One thing I learned is he needs some training in following my hand. If I drop my hand and look at it, I expect him to come in to my hand and follow it. He doesn’t appear to know that (6-7-8).>>
Yes, more reaction to the hand cue will help, but also show it sooner – when he is on the way to 6, start showing it to him before he takes off, so he adjusts before takeoff and lands already driving to it – that will allow you to set the turn to 7 sooner.
Taking 8 as a 180 was actually harder in terms of the tunnel-tunnel-weaves section… but he nailed it!!!! I think you chose the best option for handling there, which also relies on trained verbals because, frankly, it is hard to show perfect physical cues there! Your threadle verbal on the 9 tunnel was good the first time (so he got the 10 tunnel) but PERFECT the 2nd time (and his turn on the exit was perfect the 2nd time too!) And your left verbal helped him know how to turn on the exit – ideally you would be past the entry to 10 already, but that would require roller skates 🙂 So I was very excited to see him read the verbal and the running line without needing to be in perfect position 🙂Things got a little zig zaggy on the 12-13 section, and I think it has to do with your position on 12 when cuing the blind – going between the uprights of 12 causes him to track the wrong path, so he loses the perfect path to 13 – this created wide lines (bumpy ride for the water skier :)) so he ended up on the wrong side of 14 on the first rep. You were further across on the 2nd run (1:51) so he was wider there to 13, but you compensated with a clearer turn cue on 13. In the walk through, you did a throwback/spin on 13 (walked it at 8:24, discarded it at 8:58 :)) but that might have been a good plan – tighten up the turn on exit of 13 and set you up nicely to handle 14 from the landing side without getting too deep across the bar, which would make it easy to step to 15.
Your 14-15 worked nicely! I would not have thought of it, thanks for adding it to the list! He clearly understands the turn away element on 14. You needed one more step of acceleration on the 2nd run, he had a tiny question on the way to 15 – but it did give you good turns while also putting you in a great spot for the ending line!
Speaking of the ending line – you can decel sooner on 15, use your wrap cue – then trust him and get outta there sooner 🙂 You waited a bit too long to leave which made your BC late at :46 and 1:59, which made the FC on 17 late as well (and caused a bit of scramble on the first run, where you ended up past the wing of 17 which pulled the bar on 18. I think this might also be a good spot for a FC (16-17) because you are right there and relatively decelerated – you can cue the FC and then go right into the next FC.
I think the smoothness of the ending line goes back to the line you get 12-13. If you can set a smooth line there, you are in control of the lines all the way to 18. When you got off kilter there and the zig zag started, it became harder to control the rest of the lines. It is an easy fix – adding more perfect path walking to the walk through plan!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi there! I hope you aren’t getting too much hurricane action!!!!
He looked good on the 12″ bars here! And the walks/runs are going well – many perfect spots, and a couple of things to remember. We do this exercise for the things to remember, so the perfect spots are FUN and feel great, and the things to remember are more useful 🙂
Very nice job on course #1! You can probably spend a little less time on the lines so you have more time on the walking of your plan – you had about 90 seconds on the lines out of 5 minutes, and I bet on the simple lines you can just spot check the hard parts.
Your handling choices were really good, my only question is about the ‘out’ on 9 – it is a pretty straight line from the exit of the 8 tunnel (or, if it isn’t totally straight, he is leaning towards you) so you don’t need the out which will cue him to push away.
Your connection in the walk through looked really strong! And that is why I could see your blind cross was late 🙂 You were connected to an invisible dog who was taking off for 7 before you started the blind, and ideally the blind starts shortly after he lands from 6 so you are finished before he takes off for 7. The blind is a really good choice there, it just needed to be earlier.
On the actual run – really nice opening! I think you were maybe a little more laterally away from 2 and the pushed back in (he vocalized). The 3-4-5-6 looked great. The blind at 7 was late 🙂 It was timed the same as you did in the walk through, so the reminder there is to think more about the exact timing of the cue in the walk through.
When you redid the run – the opening was even better, you were closer to the line at 2. He vocalized at 3 – he might vocalize when you push in a little. The 4-5-6 part looked great. You switched to a FC on 7 (also a good option) and it looked great – mainly because your timing was SO much better on the FC. Yay!You did the ‘out’ on 9 as planned, but I think it is not needed in that spot.
Course 2:
I think your prep was really good in the walk through! Connection, verbals, etc – all in place at speed before the run. The only thing that seemed a bit uncertain in the walk through was the very ending line: you placed yourself a little further ahead than you ended up (good reminder that we can’t outrun him LOL!) and also you were not as clear as to whether the last 2 jumps were a ‘go’ or an ‘out’. The run started off really well – great connection, great line, so he never looked at the off course tunnel. And then – surprise! Baby dog reminds us that he needs a SUPER exaggerated backside cue. Your cue was good, your verbal was timely, your line looked good… but in the heat of the moment he didn’t read it. I chalk it up to his relative youth and lack of experience 🙂 So – a good reminder for courses with backsides: over-exaggerate the cues for now to help set him up for success. You did that beautifully on the re-do and also go lots of rewards in – nice!
The rest of the run looked great – I think the 4-5-6-7 section went perfectly to plan. The hustle needed for the ending line looked like it was faster than you expected, so that is another good thing to remember for future walk throughs.Course 3 – another good walk through in general! Keep in mind that 2 should be a backside 🙂 But running it as a front side certainly presented challenges! Looking at that section – that is where getting to know his pace on course will really help. In the final walk through at 3:57, the pace was a little too fast in terms of where he would be, realistically – so you looked forward before he would have been at 2. And that is what “bit” you on the run at 5:20 – you looked forward before he was at 2, so as he was jumping, he was reading a blind happening. When he landed from 2, the connection was forward and so he blind crossed to the other side of 3. That is the type of thing that I put on my list of things to remember in walk throughs – if there is a front side of back side choice, I need to have a lot of connection to the dog’s eyes to make sure I show it – and on a lead out, the dog will still be behind me so I need to look back and not ahead (which is what you did really nicely on 1-2 on course 2: look back to his eyes, not ahead to the tunnel).
You had MUCH better connection at 6:11 on the redo bu you were a little off the line, so he was not quite as tight.
The rest looked really good and went pretty much according to plan! I bet you can get a blind cross 5-6 very easily, the RC there required you to wait 🙂When you redid the opening trying a threadle… because he is young and you had only walked that plan a little, things went wrong when you went directly into it – he was responding to the threadle and then you pushed into the jump, and that motion pushed him back out to the backside of 3. So… he was correct but then he started guessing when it wasn’t right. The 2 things to remember on that one are that the upper body and verbal of the threadle does the work – don’t use motion in towards the take off side because it might open up the backside. And, don’t roll into an entirely different plan without walking it fully or looking at the video to see what went wrong 🙂 It sets up too much failure and then he stops coming in on the cues (just gets on a line).
Really nice job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I think he must have been thinking weaves when he turned the wrong way after the jump because he did it a few times!
Ah! That could be it! You can isolate this skill and put a toy on the ‘wrong’ side and cue him to turn away from it, in order to get it 🙂
>>One of the best things for me about this camp is getting your feedback on handling choices. Often I see the different options but I don’t feel I always pick the best one.
Good point! You can ask yourself questions about the choices:
– does it create the fastest line?
– does it keep you moving forward to the next location?
– are you trusting his training?If you answer ‘yes’ – then it is a great choice! I think on course you will find several great options rather than only one ‘best’ option 🙂
T
Good morning!!
Nice work on this session. I have an overall observation and then ideas on how to make it work 🙂
Overall – I think if you can do one or two or three more go-rounds on the course during the walk through, at full speed or as close as possible – then your first actual run with Ivan will be more like the second run you did here (which was freakin’ awesome!!). What I mean by that is: your first run with Ivan was good, but it had some bobbles that we can work out in the walk through, so those bobbles happen during the walk through and then your real run can be just about perfect like the 2nd actual run here was. Hopefully that makes sense LOL!!!OK, into specifics:
I think it comes down to a couple of planning details and then using the 8 minute walk through a little differently, to emphasize the speed/timing of what the run will be, more than the lines/choices. You have enough experience in agility and running courses that you can spend less time walking the lines on courses (it was about 2.5 minutes here of looking at the lines) – maybe decide most of the lines in advance, and spend less than a minute spot checking certain areas to confirm or change your mind. Then, go right into adding the handling you want – so within a minute of the walk through starting, you are already walking your handling choices.Your choices were really strong, and your planning of your connections was also really strong (as evidenced by how well your choices worked and how well you executed your connections! The only choices that didn’t work as well were the line up spot on the 16″ bar (adjusted for the 2nd run, but something to remember during the walk through) and at 10 – remember to account for how long it takes him (and all of the dogs) get to to a big tunnel and then through it. You got there earlier than planned and changed plans. So you can think about leaving him in the tunnel with would definitely help get to the takeoff side of 10, or if you want to handle from landing side, go in deeper to the tunnels so you are in motion and not too far ahead when he exits.
One other thing to remember is that on threadles, in the heat of the moment, you tend to turn your feet 🙂 On the walk through, you did not turn your feet but on both runs, you did. Now, it totally worked to get the threadle 11-12 but what happened was it changed your timing and position on the next line because you were not as far ahead as planned (because the foot rotation delays getting up the next line). So in the walk through – either plan on the foot rotation so you have an accurate of idea of where you will be on the next line, or walk it a bunch of times at speed without the foot rotation to get it into your muscle memory.
The tunnel-tunnel section and the ending line (16-17) were places that more high speed walk through time will help: you got quiet and looking ahead on the first run there, so he had head checks there on the first run. You were probably consciously focusing on the course there. When you ran it the second time, you were more connected and had more verbals going, so he did not have the same questions – and it was probably because you had already run it once so you were focusing on it subconsciously, if that makes sense 🙂 Same with your timing on the double blind sections (2-3-4 and 14-15-16) – EXCELLENT choices that were a little late on the first run but really lovely on the 2nd run (especially 14-15, WOWZA!)
To get that first run looking more like the second run, going into the high speed walking sooner and doing it more will help you have the course in your subconscious so you can nail it the first time out. Focusing on timing, connection, etc – I think you just need to do it a couple more times, 4 or 5 times total, as if running him and really ‘seeing’ him (and doing less line walking in the first part of the walk through will give you time to do it).
Now, in the summer heat AND wearing a mask AND being first on the line 🙂 there are too options to do this extra emphasis on high speed rehearsals without burning your legs and lungs out before the run:
you can either do the high speed rehearsals then give yourself a 10 minute recovery before the run (just like at a trial)
or
you can do high speed rehearsals in sections, so you aren’t full out running the whole thing several times (this is what I do at trials when I am going to have to be early in the running order).Let me know if this makes sense! Your first run was really good and your second run was AWESOME so you are definitely on the right track!!
Now about getting this speed into the trial setting – I think we need to teach him how to predict the good rewards, where the rewards are located, how to ignore them while running and how to run fast even when there is nothing in your hands or pockets 🙂
I use a couple of games for that, so I figured it might be easier to steal the full length videos from other classes and let you see them, then we can start planning specifically for Ivan 🙂 Here they are! Let me know what you think!Talk to you soon! Great job!
TracyGood morning!
So true about the disconnection – after all this time of learning to connect, adding in a bit of disconnection is really hard!Seq 1:
The opening line looked great on all reps! She also came in beautifully on the serp at 4 each time – I don’t think you need a serp arm across your body, you can just keep your shoulders open to the bar and move up the line, and she will read it. If you feel like you are getting too far ahead, you can run closer to the tunnel so you are able to maintain acceleration 4-5. You went in a little deeper on rep 3 and both of you stayed in extension more there.
On the backside at 6:
She reads those nicely with the left arm back and a bit more connection on the push. At :10, you turned fully forward and your left arm was at your side, so she took the front. At :18 and :32, you were basically in the same spot but had a bit more connection and your arm was a little back – so she got it beautifully 🙂You were actually a tiny bit early on the blind cross 6-7 🙂 at :19 and :33 To get the best exit line, you can keep moving forward and do the blind when you are past the exit wing so you will actually be on takeoff side by then, not on landing side.
This is one of the spots to totally practice the disconnection, so you can get past the exit wing more quickly: as soon as she is just about at the entry wing, disconnect and run in past the exit wing to make the reconnection on the blind to 7.
The ending line looked good! She might not need the spin, you can play with a send and go on 7 – but the spin was well done in terms of the transition to decel being the cue you emphasized and not the rotation. Nice!!!
Sequence 2 begins the same way as Seq 1 🙂
She is so responsive to accel versus decel – on the opening, you had a ton of acceleration 1-2-3 so she was flying! You deceled a little too soon on the tunnel on the first rep, so she responded which produced more deceleration than you needed.
Nice job on the push to 6 (the blind is a little too early here too 🙂 ) and YAY for the threadle 8-9!!!! You can leave sooner for the serp of jump 10 to 11: at :53, when she turned her head to take 9, you can leave and run through the serp to show the line to 11. You had a moment of hesitation which made the serp at :56 a little late. She loved chasing you on the ending line!!!Seq 3:
Another fast and fun opening on all the reps! Yay!
On this 4-5 line, you can do the blind rather than do a serp of 4 then blind – the line is slightly different with 5 being the backside, so you don’t need a serp there.
Very nice spin on 5, each time!!!
The first rep is the rep where she had the slip on 6: it appears to be a combo of her left hind not getting enough grip on the grass (slipping) and your motion up the line, so she was trying to adjust. As you exut 5, take a look at your running line: at 1:11 you are running a serp line towards the entry wing of 6. At 1:12 you do a quick decel and change direction, heading towards the #3 end of the tunnel. She prepares for takeoff. As she is lifting, you push back in towards the 7 end of the tunnel. And since her left hind never was able to get grip/slipped, she couldn’t adjust. Poor girlie!!!! I am glad she is fine and not sore. For the running line, run parallel to the bar for the serp jump rather than pulling in and out – that parallel running line directly towarsd 7 will help her set up for the in-then-out of the serp.You were a little more tentative there on the next rep at 1:24 (understandably!) so she read your decel and slight pull away as a threadle.
On the last rep, you did the pull away from the 6 jump but her hind end did not slip, so she was able to adjust to get 7.The 8 jump is a backside, if you want added challenge on this sequence 🙂
And – your connection overall was *awesome* – it looks like you had strong connection and she was able to drive her lines so nicely!!! Great job! Let me know what you think 🙂
TracyHi again!
I agree: Strike a pose transfer went really well!! A slight tweak to your position – place yourself less in the center of the bar and more on the exit wing (more like where you were at :55 and 1:08 and 1:25) and then extend your hand less towards her and more towards the center of the bar.
She was mostly perfect with her brain-rattling strong touches to the target!! But even when she was not perfectly hitting the target, she was still driving in over the jump and lining herself up to make the turn for the in-then-out behavior: and that is *exactly* what we want. and I am VERY happy to see it in her already! And the angles, and the added excitement of the toy did not diminish the behavior, she still rocked it. Yay! So – the next step is to, on the flat, get her to do this with the reward on the ground. A toy would be ideal, but it might be too hard as a starting point to get her to ignore the toy in favor of her her touching the target 🙂 So you can start with a less exciting target like an empty food bowl. When she can play this with the reward on the ground on the flat, add it to the jump (which should be easy) and then you can move to the Advanced Level.Great job!!
TracyGood morning!
Her commitment looks awesome on this, good girlie! And I hear your collection cue getting added, super!!! She seemed to be just fine starting with the collar hold. Your connection looked great and your timing to leave looked great. She was slipping a little on your jump pole, so you can try a leash next time or something she won’t slip on.
You can start to leave even earlier now, leaving before she even arrives at the barrel 🙂 Her speed to it and to you seemed really balanced: fast both directions 🙂
Only one suggestion for you: change your exit line so it is a tighter path on more of a 90 degree line away from your starting point. On almost all of the reps, you were doing a FC to go back to your starting point. But on the rep that start at 1:07, you started her on your left and ran towards the pink jump: that was more of the correct angle of exit: think of it as sticking very close to the barrel almost touching it on the FC, so the pup is doing almost a full circle and not a U-turn. That allows us to add even more countermotion understanding to the behavior 🙂
Great job here!Tracy
Good morning!!!! Hope it isn’t too wet up by you!
Awesome draw! Add in: teaching Stark to pull the game from the bowl 🙂
The game looked super good! Nice clear early blind crosses, he got right onto your hand to decel and turn and nice drive ahead! Yes, we can build more excitement into the dead toy, see below. I am happy with how this game is going, so now it is a matter of taking it to different places (and building up dead toy drive).
>>On the first rep of this game I forgot to feed him and it didn’t seem to matter and he dove to the toy. So maybe I stop feeding now and maybe that is why he didn’t dive to the toy?>>
It might have something to do with the food, or not, I am not entirely sure – but we can build it separately, no problem 🙂
>>I bought 2 pop up laundry baskets as I guessed where this was headed.
Haha, yeah….. 🙂 Filming a little thing with 2 baskets yesterday almost put me on the injured reserve with big pointy lol
Wing wraps – you can be a little less exciting until he has fully finished coming around – move when you did (which was AWESOME!) but hold the yes yes yes verbal party until he has gotten to the exit line around the basket. We don’t need to install the excitement into any of these games yet LOL!
I think his commitment is looking awesome!! But… don’t drop the toy for now. Let him chase you with it, flyball style. If we need to drop a reward back to the exit to solidify commitment, we can use food for now until the dead toy is more reinforcing for him.
Love how you are able to leave so early on the wraps!!!!! So nice!!!! I will be posting a mini game later today to add to it sometime this week, should be easy peasy for him.Tunnel threadle foundation:
>>Wow, the light bulb came on for this game. He was like check! Got it!! His head was already turning to the tunnel before I said the word.>>
That is what I am seeing with these whippets and whippet crosses: the “got it!” on the next session if there was a question on the first session, or the incredibly retention of a newly learned thing. If you have free time to scroll, check out Lazlo in this class. His is a whippet that is closely related to Stark. And also in the live tuesday class, Teresa’s big BorderWhippet is also related (more closely related to Contraband and almost exactly the same age, but also related to Stark). REALLY fascinating to see them learn and process. This session looked great, you are correct: he was already turning his head, he understood the set up 🙂 Yay! Time to start thinking about a tunnel threadle word.
OK, on to dead toy. 3 things:
first, don’t use it as a reward for now because he doesn’t think it is a reward at the moment (dead toy). You can have him chasing a dragging toy and tugging, or throw it and run to it then tug – but don’t ask him to pick it up or get it because he does not yet see the glory of it 🙂 For anything ‘dead’ we can use food for now.Second – you can shape a retrieve on a dead toy, that will totally help. It is a clicker/cookie game for picking up a toy. It is not a play with the toy game, it is a shaped retrieve as in pick it up and bring it. The play element can get added back when he likes picking it up – shaping it will transfer the value nicely!
Here are a couple of little shaping sessions I did with Nacho, to build the retrieve which also helped his toy drive. Stark has a lot more toy drive than Nacho did at the time, so I think it will be easier.
Third – I build more “grab” of the dead toy with toy races. In toy races, I never ask the pup to pick up the toy… either the pup picks it up and wins, or I pick it up and win. It is a toy *race* after all, someone is the winner (and the other is the weiner haha)
I try to get to the toy first and I grab it and I win and party without giving him the toy – I engage the pup, I tease the pup, I make the pup wild and rude – then immediately do another rep where the pup is likely to win (no cheating LOL!) The pups usually grab the toy at that point – if he needs to have a zoomie with it, let him (don’t insist on a retrieve) and helps the pup learn to go grab the toy. Here are some visuals:
https://youtu.be/QVS3w-WcsgQ?t=226 (the video starts right when I am trying to win and tease him)Also, here, with Crusher as a wee baby:
and HSM as a baby:
All 3 steps work together to get a dead toy to eb very exciting 🙂
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>“…when you are planning a FC or BC, strategizing how to get there so he sees you in position and slowing down, rather than accelerating to get to the position for the cross…”Well, yes – that would be true! And I really should know that. 😊>>
Well, we all totally know that, and our adult dogs see our nostril twitch or something and they pick up the very first inkling of the cue… but our baby dogs see us accelerating and they say, “wheeeeeeee we go faaaaaast” LOL!! So, more planning needed with youngsters for sure 🙂
I think your walk through looked really strong! And the run was great, you have every reason to be delighted 🙂 It was very fun to see your handling choice at 10 percolate and develop into something really clear – wow, he powered through that!!!
I am agree that the slice at 15 would probably be the fastest line. The handling would either require the amazing threadle that you walked, or a BC 14-15 and a push to blind (super early leaving). Or, push then RC 16 would work too provided there was a lot of acceleration to 17.>>– At the #11-#12 threadle, I thought about your advice to collect him before the threadle but couldn’t really think of any appropriate handling to make that happen, so, again, I depended on the verbal cue.>>
It would be a verbal cue and not a physical cue – your tight collection verbal before the threadle cue would help it.
It was SO FUN to see the run turn out so nicely, especially in comparison to the walk through.
On the walk versus run, a couple of details:
You add more speed to your last couple of passes on the walk through – you were moving at a nice pace but he was flying during the run, so there were some moments where I felt it put you a little into scramble mode – for example, he drove through 10 with a lot of speed and also on the 16-17-18 line (the teeter) where you got caught behind a little and scrambled to catch up.On the opening 1-2-3 – I like the handling choice! One small suggestion – you don’t have to be as much between the uprights of 2, as it puts him too straight over 2. You can lead out to 3 (very close to it) and stay there, trust his understanding so ideally he is on the side of the bar closer to 3 and not center of the bar. (You walked it and ran it the same way).
Your rhythm on the opening section (1-9) was pretty darned close (walk versus run) so even though you were not running on the walk through, you had strong sense of where you would be on the line. Very cool!!!Real live Enzo was much faster than walk through Enzo at 10 (particularly in his understanding of commitment to the backside bar, which resulted in a lot of speed), so the threadle 11-12 was a little late and you had to rotate/wait to get him back into the gap. I think the same thing happened on the 15 wrap, you ended up a little behind the pace so didn’t feel comfy about the turn to the teeter. In those spots, you can rehearse his speed (or faster) so it feel really comfortable in the actual run.
One other handling note – on the backside wrap at 15, you cued it nicely in both walk and run with your left arm – and you used your right arm to indicate the bar before you left. I don’t think he needs that at this stage – he will let you just leave 🙂 If you want to use a hand to help tighten up the turn, you can use your right arm, but use it as a brake arm before he gets to the backside (right in front of the entry wing) and then as soon as he passes you – get outta there 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! He is definitely getting the hang of the 12″ bars! That triple looks so long! His first rep on each (the double and the triple) was a bit of him carrying his rear and then he got better on subsequent reps. Have you shown him a 12″ bar on a straight simple line in a sequence? I think he should be ready for that now. Also, on the oxer, you can add some movement (leading out less and walking as he is doing the set point). No need to revisit the triple on the set point until you can show it to him on a striding grid (I believe AKC requires 23′ before the triple on course?). So the next steps would be to add in a 12″ bar to some of the simpler spots on a sequence (straight lines and gentle turns) and putting a 12″ bar into the striding grid – looks like he is ready for that now. Yay! Have fun!
Tracy
Hi!
Great job on these courses! You use a lot of your strengths (I have pointed out some spots where you can trust him even more)! Some ideas for you:Course 1: Nice opening line, he really read your position and threadle 2-3 beautifully It looks like he crept then maybe self-released the a-frame which made your BC 6-7 (tunnel a little late) but you were very quick to get the turn cue on the tunnel entry and got a nice turn on the exit! Yay!
He seems to have very strong independent weaves, so try to get further across by the exit of 9 so when he exits the poles, you can threadle and start the FC the instant he turns his head to 9 (I love the plan!) At :22 you started the threadle from closer to the entry wing of 9 then you had to accelerate into the FC – so it drove him long. Being closer to the exit wing will help you be able to decel into it and then rotate earlier. Another option is a blind cross there – decelerated like the FC and starting as soon as he turns his head towards 9.At :26 on the way to 11, your arm said to take the jump but your lower body never turned towards it, so he had a question. (You can also play with slicing him away over 11, which will set up a faster line and get you further ahead).
The RC on 13 worked nicely!
The ending section also looked really strong! 2 details for you to smooth it out:
When you do the BC 15-16, run it with your arms lower and tighter to your body so you can finish it sooner. You started it beautifully on time – but your arms were high and out fully extended, which delayed finishing it – so as he was over the bar, he had not yet turned. Arm low and tight will make the BC very quick (without having to run faster) plus it was also help you run faster for the ending line.
And on the very end, 17-18 – the exit of the tunnel requires a lead change away from you to get 18 – try to tell him before he goes into the tunnel and make a massive connection to his eyes on the exit of the tunnel – that will open your chest to 18 and he will turn away. At :38 when he exited, you had a softer connection so he came into you for a couple of strides before turning back out.Course 2
I thought he turned really really nicely over jump 2! Your upper body turned almost entirely to face the jump to get the turn – and while it got a great turn, you end up twisting the wrong direction in terms of the next running line. So, strategically, play with seeing if you can get him to commit to 2 with you more rotated towards 3, almost running him across your feet a little and transferring him from your right arm to your left arm to have less upper body rotation – all with an eye towards getting you further up the line, sooner 🙂Very interesting that he turned left on 5 at :14…. I watched it a bunch of times and the only thing I think might have caused it is your shoulders were a little open for a little too long and your right arm was moving a lot, so maybe he thought it was a RC on the flat? You can turn your shoulders to the frame sooner. He might have also been thinking about the poles?
Good job having someone to reward him at the frame 🙂
It made my giggle that you turned him entirely away from the tunnel off course at 9 LOL!! Yes, it worked… but it was so much slower 🙂 I bet you can get him to turn to his right over 9 and not get the tunnel – right verbal or a spin perhaps, or a rear cross on 9?
Great job on the backside at 10! I bet you can disconnect to run in and get the blind cross sooner – you watched him jump the bar on your left side, but your verbal and motion support it so you can stop looking to run forward more as soon as you see him heading to the backside.
He pulled the bar at 13 (:33) and I think it was a product of you slowing down a lot on the threadle cue 11-12. He got the threadle, but the big decel caused him to start looking at you, plus you ended up behind on 13. Try to keep moving at a fast steady pace on the threadle – I bet he can do it (the dogs in your region have BEAUTIFULLY trained threadles) and it will keep you ahead for a nice serp line 13-14. You did a big arm motion over 13, maybe trying to pull him in? But I think you can just serp it and he will read it.
14-15 is ugly, sorry!!! (True confessions: it is actually a typo LOL!) But is a good skill to work. The FC to threadle works really well when you turned your feet forward to the correct tunnel entry – when he was heading to the exit, your feet were moving towards the exit. The other option is to do a spin on 14 to get him on your right, then use your bypass to get to 15.
When he is in 15 – you can show the tight exit but get outta there – staying there for too long put him right back in the tunnel at :56. You can be halfway up the tunnel and moving to the poles to get the turn.
Lovely weave entry!!! And nice ending line! You probably don’t need as much of a serp arm motion on 18 (2nd to last jump) – just stay connected with your arm back and I am confident he will let you blast through it and still commit nicely.
Course 3 – I LOVED your opening! Yay! Perfect job at jump 2 (:09) of leaving as soon as you saw his head turn to the bar and going directly to the blind 3-4 (:11) with spot on timing! You probably don’t have to open up that far back to him as he lands – just look for his eyes and keep your arm back, that is all he needs 🙂
Getting to takeoff side of 7 definitely works there – you might find it even easier to send away laterally 5-6 so you can handle 7 from the landing side (serp/blind): less running for you and no rotation on the takeoff side, you will basically be able to run from the wing of 4 directly to 8.
Nice blind cross 9-10. You can stay more on the perfect path (not going as far across 9 and heading more directly towards 10) so he can finish his turn before takeoff and not need to do one more turn when he lands.
Very nice rear cross on 13 to set up the poles! And check out how you were able to keep running through the threadle 15-16 so nicely there (which is what you can totally do on 11-12 on course 2 :))
Darned off course jump so close to the end LOL! I think the rear cross on takeoff side of 17 is a viable option (not sure it if was your Plan A, but it certainly got the turn on the jump!) you just needed your verbal wrap cue and a little decel there to get it. You can also play with getting more laterally away from the weaves so you can get the 15-16 threadle from way ahead, which gets you to 17 a couple of steps sooner – and sets up a throwback on the takeoff side.
On the ending line – keep your go verbals getting louder and louder so he can drive that line with no questions as he gets further and further ahead. You can also drop your shoulders forward and pump your arms more to help push him up the line (I also stare at the back of the dog’s head when I get behind, because they can generally see how it turns my upper body to the takeoff of the last jump.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
