[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! You are not a slacker, you’ve been busy!!

The first video was overall super lovely!! I have a few tiny obsessive details 🙂 Exit line connection on the FC and the spins looked great! When you do the week 2 sequences with the shifting connection, play with a stronger connection to see if he can collect more. You shifted to the landing spot on the FC and I think we should try shifting to your hand to shifting to his eyes and see what he does.
The speed circle on seq 3 looks great! On the serp, the exit line connection arm can come a little later and actually, I think you can start to fade it – do a tiny arm cue and lots of eye contact. You did it really well and he reads it really well, so we can fade the exaggerated arm cue because your eyes and shoulders are in the right place 🙂

Video 2 – this was a good one to work out the FC exit line connection! You are correct, on the first rep you had the toy in the right spot but think of it as showing it to him and not just putting it on your hip. When you did that on the next 2 reps – he easily found the correct side. Yay! You were thinking about out so you were a little late on the FCs, but the showing-him-the-toy for the exit line connection really helped him see the line!

Video 3 – Seq 5 – this went well (until you started second guessing yourself, but even then you maintained connection nicely!!) Opening looked great and your ‘soft brake’ on 3 looked GREAT! On the FC on 4: when you do the week 2 shifting connection, try shifting more to his eyes on the FCs. And then show him the toy on the exit line connections and I think you’ll get a super tight turn. I know you kinda forgot the rest, but great job staying connected even when you were not sure if you were heading the right way!

Video 4 – Connection was great on both reps! On the first rep you got a little far ahead so he was parallel but didn’t have time to get ahead. On the 2nd rep, you planned really well to help set up p driving ahead… but he slipped in the tunnel so you ended up ahead LOL! You can start closer to the jump and send him away from the tunnel on it to do a FC then run in closer to the tunnel to make it easier to drive ahead. Or, maybe use a short tunnel so he doesn’t have as much yardage.
Great job here!! I am looking forward to shifting the connection on turns in week 2!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

He seemed to do really nicely with the distractions, and did a great job holding his stay while you reset the bar! Baby dog is growing up and doing adult stuff!!!

He is doing a great job on his lines!! Nice job on the opening speed circle – you can lead out more to establish a bit more connection before the release, otherwise it was perfect. The 2nd sequence was lovely too – the bar at the end was just you stopping short to throw the reward, so remember to run through the last jump for longer, for at least one more stride past landing. The last rep looked great too! He is really appreciating the connection and driving those lines so nicely!! You can try these on taller bars and see if it feels different in terms of the timing and such. Otherwise, onwards to the turns and exit line connections 🙂
Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

Sorry to hear about the crazy week and bad weather, but I am glad you got out to play! These are good choice for Tilly because they strongly put her into handler focus then ask for commitment – hard!!!!

These are hard skills for the dog because turning away is not natural for them. You did a GREAT job of connecting down to your hand on these so she wears driving right in to you. Nice!!! Looking at the reps where she was successful with committing versus the ones where she had questions – it was more about the legs than the arms. On the reps where you stepped forward too early with your outside leg by stepping forward with the outside/opposite leg before she was fully turned (:04, :19, :36

On the reps where you stepped back with the leg under your magic cookie hand, turned her and THEN stepped forward, she got the turn every time: :09, :27, :42, 1:13.

Also, she did better on the reps where you were facing her rather than when you were more facing the jump – I think on those reps where you were facing her, your footwork was more patient so the timing of the step forward was good.

On one rep she thought it was a throwback (:49) because you connected with the outside arm then switched to the arm closer to the jump – but by then she was committed to the slice. Good girl, that was an excellent choice because when I first met her, she might have barked at you and not committed to anything in that moment 🙂 At 1:02 you had a similar move but switched to your inside hand sooner and were patient with your feet – nice commitment and turn!!!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

OMG I need to gt to Walmart now and go to the boys section!! Running pants with pockets are like gold 🙂

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Getting the low arm and all of the little details takes practice, this connection stuff is probably a bit different in feel – I see you working it and it gets smoother each time! You are doing a great job, it is easy for me to see the successes!

The first video was all the FCs – I think your hands were good here! It is informational in terms of what helps her the most!
Rep 1 was good, it looked like a shift of connection to the landing spot, a softer connection. Rep 2 was also a softer connection but a little later, so she took off early. Rep 3 had the connection shifting very strongly to her, she said perhaps it was a little strong but definitely helpful for a better turn! On rep 4 and 5, I think you unlocked the right amount of cue for her – it looks like it was definitely towards her eyes and very clear! Those were both really nice turns. Also you were making very clear connection on the exit so that exit lines looked good too!

2nd video, spins: picking up where you left off shifting connection to her eyes on the FC – these start the same way as a FC would start. I think you were saying you were too abrupt and needed to be smooth like a fresh jar of Skippy? Lol!
Your conversations were so funny!
Yes, you were beginning to shift more strongly to her eyes and it really helps – the last rep was fabulous!!! And it might feel abrupt because it is a very strong connection but dang she likes it and turns so nicely!

3rd video – throwback – you had great shifting connection to her eyes (and more good conversation LOL!) – after you connect to her eyes and see her collect, don’t need to then shift to the landing spot – you can start to just move forward to the next line without looking back at the landing spot. At :41 and at 1:07, you shifted connection directly to her and did less looking back at the landing – you can probably strip out looking back at landing event more! The connection to her eyes like that is also the commitment cue, I bet she will commit without you needing to then also support the landing spot. She is a smaller version of my Voodoo (the big black dog) who needs the connection directly to his eyes but no support of the landing spot.

You mentioned not liking your arms on these, but I think your arms were great – low so she could see the connection, but also natural so you could move freely. Yay!

Sequence video:
1st run: you risked your life in the name of connection and almost took out a jump! LOL! You were beautifully connected – you can mark your running line off the tunnel exit, lining yourself up to the outside edge of it, so you can stay connected and end up in the right spot. Other than that – great connection on the lines! And you can start your decel transition into the FC sooner – as she is in the air over the jump before the FC, you can start slowing down to then slide into the connection shift to her eyes when she lands.

2nd run – this was also really nice, so we can obsess on the little details: you were in a good spot on the bubble for the jump after the tunnel, so you probably don’t need the outside arm to help the jumping effort on it – which frees you to up to use it help with the connection shift when she lands. Then, to be able to get to the spin after the tunnel – your lower body can be leaving for the jump and upper body staying connected to cue the send to the tunnel, so you end up running less to the tunnel and more to the wrap jump. You don’t need to stay within the bubble for the tunnel send and I think the good connection shift to her eyes on the jump after the tunnel will solve any bubble issues 🙂

She did well on the wrap at :46! We can challenge her commitment skills now: as soon as she passes your feet, there is nothing more you can do… so move forward out of the wrap to show the line to the tunnel. This is harder for her to maintain commitment but I think she can do it! You mentioned needing better exit line connection there and leaving forward sooner will give you the time to do it. When she jumps tight and efficiently like she did there, you won’t have a lot of time to reconnect so leaving early helps.

3rd run: you are really mastering the connection! For the FC, anticipating the landing from the previous jump will help you slow down into it, so the collection cue will be earlier and she will be tighter. And on the wrap after the tunnel, you got there beautifully! As soon as she has the commitment…. giddy up 🙂 You are waiting til she lands before you leave, but you can leave before she takes off.

4th run: you started your transition earlier for the FC so she saw the decel sooner – already a tighter turn. Yay! You are getting to the wrap perfectly so I will keep bugging you to leave sooner and not watch her land there (you can see her landing, but it shoulder be after the blind part of the spin :))

5th run – I call this a ‘comparison’ run: you were a little later on the wrap cues so she was wide, and you did landing spot connection on the spin – definitely wide 🙂 You can totally reward that – she was following the cues perfectly. Compare it to run 6 – you had the earlier decel into the FC and the connection to her eyeballs on the spin – so much tighter! yay!!!

Who knocked over the camera at the end? LOL!!

So overall – your arms are looking good: low and natural! Don’t worry about them too much 🙂 Connection to her eyes is the way to go on the tight turns, but you can leave sooner rather than wait to see her landing.

I didn’t want to jinx it while watching and typing the comments… but her jumping effort on ALL the videos looked great, there was only one big takeoff and that was on a late cue. You are definitely getting close to your goal of commitment with a good jumping form too! YAY!!!!

Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! I am so excited that Wilson gets to jump 20! Does that mean 16 when he is in his senior years? So cool!

So about the verbals – I think trying to all ALL the verbals is brutal. Maybe just concentrate on the 2 or 3 you think at most important, such as wraps? That way you can integrate them without obsessing 🙂

First video – very nice opening run! You are emphasizing connection and she is picking it up beautifully. So back to verbals – you can add your connection verbal here to support the connection. Nice exit line connection!
2nd run – you were super connected but the transition into the turn didn’t have enough acceleration into it: you were a bit decelerated then smelled on the brakes. I think she said a bad word there! LOL!!
3rd rep – you needed up a bit too far up the line which made the turn a little late – so the bar came down.
Wow, nice job on the lap turn!!! The connection in and out of them looked great!! My only suggestion on those is to quickly call her name before she enters the tunnel, so she exits turned and looking for you rather than looking for a line. You were calling her but it was after she was exiting.
One more thing to add now that your connections are getting so solid: more running on the line! You were emphasizing connection so you were not moving as much as you can on the opening lines. You can add more acceleration (as long as you keep connected) and that will actually help the commitment to the FCs and the spin jump: you will be accelerating more so then the transition from acceleration to decel will be clearer which will help commitment.

On the throw back video – bearing in mind that you and she are so excellent at the lap turns, that is harder to get the throwbacks! When you leaned in on the first rep, it did indeed look like the lap turn. But when you were more upright and shifted your connection to the landing spot – perfect. Nice rewarding to get it started!!! Then is was easy. As with the lap turns, a quiet name call before she enters the tunnel will help her exit looking for your line.

I love that she has gotten sassy and is adding bad words to her vocabulary 🙂 It is a sign that she is really loving the game with you – you have worked hard to develop it and it is so cool to see it!!!!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
A couple of general thoughts as she continues to find new gears of speed! Her commitment is looking really good so we are now in the phase of keeping you moving more aggressively up the lines (because she is going to move aggressively regardless of what you do, and keeping you in motion and showing connections will allow you to drive the sports car :))

One thing is to be sure to take a moment and praise her before the stay release, I think she might have been trying to anticipate some releases and you do not want to lose the stay on such a fast dog 🙂
The other is to use your time wisely on course while she is independently doing a line, like sending to a tunnel, so you can get to the next spot (this is in keeping with our “watch less run more” theme from earlier this week LOL!). One the earlier reps it is about accelerating to the next spot for a tight turn, but on the later reps where you had the speed circles going, it is more about keeping in motion, using motion to help commit her and not getting to one spot for too long.

Also, try to exaggerate the arm-across-the-body for exit line connection, it will help you get the turns AND keep moving.

Here are more specifics:
On the FCs – use the time while she is in the tunnel to accelerate to the next spot, so your transition can start as she exits and you will be in a great position. Connection was good at :06 but you decelerated too soon then had to swoosh her to the jump and ended up a bit off the line for the send back to the tunnel, so she was a little wide.
Same with the spin at :22 – you were standing still and then trying to spin really fast as she was exiting the tunnel. She had some opinion on that and looked at you and said some bad words LOL!
Staying in motion while you are sending to the tunnel also keeps you in motion more which makes it easier to drive the big lines on bigger courses.

On the speed circle line, this is a place to strategize moving in closer to the tunnel so you can move out of it – not too much but just staying in motion. At :37 you ended up standing still on landing of 3, which makes it harder to rotate so she looks at you and barks. Then on the serp ending, you reconnected late and realized the train was coming right at you at :40 LOL! So as you move up the line to the serp jump, because to lock eyes to the tunnel exit: if you look away and then try to look back, you will be surprised by the red train bearing down on you and the exit line connection will be late (1:06). On that wrappy exit there, showing the exit line connection before she takes off will help set the turn on landing.
Then… Keep running LOL at 1:22, I totally felt your terror (I feel it with Contraband and Voodoo) – so keep running away and toss the reward so you don’t get hit LOL!

On the blind at 1:33 she doesn’t need a send if you are moving up the line and then you can start the blind even sooner! And, especially because she is young, be sure to really exaggerate the exit line connection: at 1:34 you had the reward in your right arm (dog side arm) so she didn’t see the new connection. The reward in the left arm there and being shown across your body will help get the new side even if you are late.
When you did get the correct side at 1:56 and 2:14 with the dog-side arm, you were having too shake it and over-rotate, which causes you to stop moving which can cause trouble on bigger courses
Check out the opening of the last rep: you got in motion, stayed in motion , and had a great opening line including nice turns!!! You also easily got ahead of the speedster there for the blind before the tunnel 🙂 On that last blind at 2:42 were trying to pick her up with the dog side arm – which causes you to stop moving forward and over rotate so she came a little close to the off course tunnel entry. That is another spot to emphasize the exit line connection.

“You don’t need more treats”. -that cracked me up 🙂

It might seem hard to figure out where to keep running in closer to the line and where you should leave her to accelerate to the next line – my general rule of thumb is to send and leave when I need to get somewhere to set up tight turns (like the FC and the Spin at the beginning) and when I need to commit to a line and do a softer cross (like the blinds later on) then I can drive in a little deeper. Playing with these variations will help you sort out what she needs and when she needs them, kind of like developing her own handling system.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
One of my favorite things is to obsess on gauging lines in small dog handling (totally different than big dog handling!). This first sequence gives me a good opportunity for obsessing for Wilder LOL!!
I think that he does better when you have 2 things happening:
You send him away on the big tunnel lines to get closer the line on the tight turns
And verbals, he likes verbals a lot 🙂
On the FCs – your connections were all great! Regular connection, exit line: fabulous. By driving to the tunnel, you were not as close to the line in the FC so he had to send into it – that was a little harder for him to read. At :09 he ticked the bar and was a little wide on the exit. At :23 the verbals totally helped him! He had a little question on the way to the jump but the exit was super nice. At :37 he was a little wider, trying to find the exit line connection with you pretty far away. Now, contrast that to the first spin rep at :47 where you moved to the jump more: lovely! He didn’t seem to have any questions. But when you hung back at 1:01 – he collected nicely (verbals and transition were clear!) but he was not sure about the exit line so he hesitated rather than power out of the turn.
So, based on his feedback 🙂 In this scenario, you can try sending to the tunnel more so you can get closer to the turn jump (FC or spin) and get the best of both worlds – tight turn in and tight turn out of it. You can still make the nice transitions that you had, but it will be a bit further ahead of him rather than sending him into it.

On the speed circle moments, your connection looked lovely! Keep moving on the tunnel exit 1:18 (he knew you deceled so he came out turned) but other than that, your connection looked great.

At 1:47 and 1:59, on the blind – you were close to the line so he read it all nicely, he just needs the blind to start sooner so you are showing exit line connection when he lands. You were starting it as he took off – you were impressively quick with your new connection (wow!!! I aspire to be able to turn my head that fast!)
but it was still a step late starting so he was wide. Start it before he gets to the entry wing of the jump so he can see it as he is taking off.
He had a little question at 1:50 when he landed from the jump after the BC jump – that is a spot to keep your arm a little further back as you leave and you can start the verbals sooner to lock him onto the line. On the next rep at 2:03, you had more connection and a slightly earlier jump cue, so he powered out better.

Very nice opening to the next sequence – great connection 1-2 and he never looked at the tunnel behind you. This is another gauge the line moment – you drove in deeper to the tunnel entry at 2 so it was hard to get back up the line to the blind (he was flying!). You can lead out less and then send him to the tunnel, which should position you perfectly for the blind. The exit line connection on the blind is the magic to getting the nice turn, so we can strategize to make it easier to get there and start it. The cool thing about your strong exit line connection, though, is that he finds the right lines even when you are a little late – nice job getting the connection then carrying on so nicely to the end!
You made a clever adjustment on the last sequence to gauge the line: rather than try to foot race him to the blind (we humans ALWAYS lose the foot races haha), you handled with a rear cross and it worked beautifully! He saw the connection very clearly and he could think about his line and jumping. Nice! I am not sure if it is faster in terms of course time than a good blind would be – so you should totally try more of a tunnel send and see if you can time the blind sooner and we can compare 🙂

Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! It is fun to try out these different tools with her!!! Your shifting connections were really strong here, she was responding beautifully.

First run – lovely speed circle opening line! You were a bit too early on the wrap cue at :07 – you were rotating and had your arm up as she exited the tunnel causing you to run backwards, it was kind of like hitting the brakes on a sports car – she responded immediately. Note the difference on the 2nd run – at :22 you had a the fast forward – slow forward – rotate transition and she nailed it! Nice! She said she liked the info on the 3rd rep even better: at :38 you had your outside arm up sooner which caused you to decel sooner and look at her more directly and sooner: her turn was even tighter.
Nice job on the lap turns at :49 and 1:00 and 1:09! You both did a great job especially considering it is a new tool!! Two suggestions to smooth it out: call her right before she enters the tunnel so she exits expecting the turn. And, look down at your hand more – it will draw her right in and make it easier to turn her away.

I also had a big chuckle of how she was all leaning forward in her stay at :56 – game on! Or she was caught in the act of sniffing the ground. LOL!

At 1:25, I can see why she thought it was a lap turn and drove so confidently back to the tunnel 🙂 She had just gotten a whole bunch of rewards for going that way! And as you sent her back for the throw back move, you did lean in ever so slightly towards her, so it read as lap turn. At 1:33 it was smoother for sure – when you send her back on the throw back, try not to step towards the jump bar, just step backwards one step and use your arm and eyes to look at the landing spot, more like what you did at 1:44. Her commitment looks GREAT because there is so much rotation/countermotion on these and the lap turns and the FC – yet we are just sorting out how tight to turn her, rather than trying to convince her to commit. Happy dance!!

On the blind crosses – yes, finding the small dogs after a blind is NOT easy (it is so much easier to see the big dogs). What you are doing is a little bit of a shoulder dip and you are looking directly down – it looks really good on the exit of the blind and the spin on the next jump! Having your dog-side arm a little further back as you dip your dog-side shoulder down should help you see her even more there. The other thing that will make it more comfy is to start the blinds sooner: when she exits the tunnel here and you see the small blur heading to the jump – do the blind. You were waiting a little bit longer to make sure she was committed, which made the blind a little late (2:19 is a good example of that) and then it is harder to reconnect on time. It will challenge her commitment a bit – but your motion and verbal will support the jump. The goal is to start early enough so that you finish the blind in time to see her jumping. The trick with the smaller dogs to help get commitment is to stay closer to the line – I thought you were doing this really nicely, so you can play with starting the blind just after you see her exit the tunnel – as long as you keep moving along that nice line and using your jump verbal.

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

ood morning! Lots of great stuff on these videos!! He is incredibly responsive and clearly knows his lines (you’ve done a great job training that!) so a lot of his responses are super subtle – I had to put it up on the big screen to watch his head to see what he was thinking in different situations 🙂 I have some ideas to add to what you are already doing to make it even smoother 🙂

Video 1: Juno really turns like a dream!! Love it! On the FC, I think you can push your timing up sooner and see what he does in terms of maintaining commitment. He had a really nice turn there, so you can cue it as soon as he is out of the tunnel and be moving out of it back towards the tunnel sooner, as he is passing you – there is not really any place to run to on this particular sequence but it will be useful for bigger courses :)) The connection looked really nice! I liked both of your spin reps but the 2nd one was REALLY nice! You can totally push the timing up sooner too – as he is passing you, rotate away and leave and see what he does, rather than watching for takeoff. With blind crosses, there is always a moment we do not see the dog. At this stage for Juno, we can play with the timing of seeing him pass you and seeing him looking at the jump – but not seeing that last stride to the jump because you are rotating – and being done with the spin in time to see him taking off 🙂 It will feel wicked early 🙂 but I think he is at the level we can try it, because it will keep you way ahead of him on those big courses.

On thing to incorporate more of is leaving your arm back and lower on the simpler lines, so he can see your eyes/upper body a bit more, rather than using the arm to support the line next to you or out ahead. When the arm is forward, he sometimes does little tiny head checks or slows himself down to figure out the line. Sequence 3 starts with the little speed circle – your arm was coming a bit forward of your body, which blocks connection so ideally you keep it lower and behind you. That will also make it easier for him to set up the serp at :40 – with the arm back, he will see the connection and shoulders better so he can commit to the serp jump while turning – he got it at :40 but had to rotate a bit on takeoff to set himself up.
And if you have your arm further back on the little pinwheel opening you can also look at his eyes more to send to the tunnel, which will make it easier to get the serp at :50 (with the wrap exit). You were a little late getting up there so he had a little trouble setting the turn. However: Your connection over the bar looked GREAT at :51, though, and that really helped him find the next line!! Yay!

I love the extra sauce sequence LOL!!! Great connection here! And since you connected so nicely coming into it and his commitment looks good… we can break connection for the blind sooner 🙂 When you are around the wing and you see him looking at the bar… break connection to do the blind sooner rather than waiting for him to take off to then start the blind. That will make these blind cross exits even easier!
Nice connection after the blind here, he totally knew it was the tunnel and not back to the jump.

2nd video – no worries about not taking #7 on the early reps, the rest is looking good!
I liked your line for the FC the best on that first rep at :08 – he didn’t really have to go around you and go go directly to the next jump for the spin. You were a little more in his way on landing of the FC at :18 and at :54 so he had to slow down more (still a good line especially at :18, I am being picky LOL!) He as able to keep looking forward to his line after the cross, which means the exit line connection was clear.
On the lap turn at :31, good connection and it set him up nicely for the jump! This is clearly a very strong skill of yours and definitely useful to have in the toolbox!!
On your exit of the spin at :10, :21 and the send after the lap turns at :33 and :46 and 1:08 – to look back to him more, dog-side arm back. You were looking forward and that was causing tiny hesitations from him (again, I am being picky 🙂 but he is ready for that!) Your connection after the lap turns on the send was better than after the spin – but the FC was faster than the lap turn so having a bit more arm back so he can see the connection will make it perfect.

When you added 7 – be sure to connect more to him at the tunnel exit – he is looking at you at :58 and 1:11 (you were a little more connected there at 1:11). He reads the lines based on your motion and verbal, so the added connection is mainly to get it even faster and will make it easier when you have to time a tight turn or something.

Video 3:
Nice connection 1-2, arm back and a bit of eye contact. Yay! That is ideal for him, he doesn’t need anything stronger in this type of situation. At :09 you were looking forward (not connected to him when he exited the tunnel) and so the turn cues were late (over the bar at :10)
Good connection on the lap turn! You do such a great job with those! After that
you looked forward at :14, turned the shoulder away – that caught his attention, he was not totally sure of the next line, and the bar came down. Of course in a perfect happy world, the dogs should not hit the bar 🙂 and I do proof for my disconnections as a distraction, but the connection break is a source of the distraction that causes them to hit the bars. Keep connection there to support it (and I will be adding the proofing games to the class in coming weeks :))

2nd rep – you were amore connected peripherally so you were also earlier on the turn cues at :23. Nice!!!
More lovely connection on the lap turn at :25 but a bit late stepping forward, so a bar down. You held longer at :37 but you can also play with moving away sooner to see if that helps him maintain the speed and the jump form. Meaning – after you have turned him and committed him to the jump, as he is passing you, you are already moving up the next line.
Nice connection on the speed circle line at :41!! You can start that spin sooner at :42 so you are finished with the exit line connection before he lands. You nailed it on the next rep:
Check out your connection on the jump – tunnel line at :54 and :55. Nice low arm, lovely connection – perfect! Also at :57 – nailed it!! That allowed you to see the timing better, which set you up for a fabulous spin! Yeah!!!

Great job here!! Let me know what you think! The next steps would be to now spread it all out, giving him 20 foot distances or more between the jumps to challenge the connection and commitment at higher speeds.

Let me know what you think!! Nice work!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

First rep – yes, you can turn sooner on the post turn at :05 – you can run deeper into the tunnel so you don’t end up standing still
The takeoff collection on the wrap at :08 was beautifully connected!! Freeze the video as she is jumping at :09 – your right shoulder is closed forward. Even though you are looking at her and talking too her, the connection is blocked because your right shoulder (dog-side shoulder) is closed forward. She landed and looked up at you to sort out the line, rather than just drive it. This is where exit line connection is so important to show the landing line and opening up your right shoulder back to her with show that (arm across the body patterns us humans to do that :))

The tandem turn at :16 and lap turn at :24 are also looking good on the entry of it! You can start your tunnel cue sooner and stick to the line more on both. – she had a tiny hesitation at :17 and :25 to figure out what the next line is, so you can be telling her to take the tunnel as she is in the air but also keep your shoulders more open to the line there. It might seem simple on easy lines but it becomes more important on harder lines.

The connection going into the throw back at :30 looked good – I couldn’t see what she did on landing or over the bar, so we will just assume it was perfect 🙂 Your arm was back to make connection for a moment at :31 but then you pulled your shoulder forward as you said tunnel – and it set up a big zig zag. If you want to keep her on the right there, keep the shoulder back and move to the tunnel. Pulling your shoulder changes the connection and line, which she is reading (good girl 🙂 )

Last sequence – yes, on the backside push at :38, you can keep your arm down and make more connection. Connect to her as she exits the tunnel and she will get it, plus it will allow you to keep moving up the line which will help with a better turn on the wrap because you will have more time to set it up. On the wrap turn: she has lot of power coming into it, so when you want a tight turn try to resist the temptation to match the power and rush through it. Instead, shift to a slower more intensely connected mode and then you will feel that you have plenty of time to make the transition. As she lands from the previous jump, slow down, shift the connection to her eyes more directly (use your hand there in front of the jump rather than swooshing to landing) and then, maintain a very clear exit line connection back to her (exaggerated with arm across the body). At :41, you accelerated away from the wrap without connecting back to her so she drifted wide to get a look at your position then came back in to pick up the line.
So for the transition, start to anticipate it – as she is over the previous bar, start to shift into the “I am slowing down and looking at you!” And then it will be easier to feel the transition when she lands. You don’t need to be near the wing to do it, you can do it from wherever you are.
And over-exaggerate the exit line connection for now – I think you will find it makes a big difference on all of the turns.
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
On the first video, with the tandem turn and the lap turn: the turns on the jump itself looked really good! I couldn’t see the tunnel exit on the angle of the video – but you can definitely give her more info before she enters the tunnel. A verbal or body cue can help! I am not sure if it is needed on this first sequence, but might be needed on the next video – see below 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
She is doing really well on this!
One suggestion is to release with the word for the behavior you want, rather than the OK cue – she seems to make her decisions very quickly, so the OK cue might be cuing the line when you don’t want it 🙂 For the threadle, she did better on the 2nd rep when you released with the in in rather than ok in in. And on the rep where she took the tunnel instead of the serp, it might have been because on the previous rep, the OK cued was followed by the tunnel cue, so she was anticipating and trying to go fast 🙂 And since we like fast 🙂 rather than use OK for all 3 releases, you can use 3 different releases on this game: in in for the threadle, tunnel for the tunnel 🙂 and ok yowza for the serp 🙂 That way she is more likely to be correct on the first rep of each new thing.

Nice work! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
Lots of good work here, sorting out how to show her the cues! The rears and backsides are all cued behaviors. The precision of the motion on the rear crosses is what she reads very strongly, and I think your shoulders/upper body are a big component of that, plus how your arm moves is going to change the line of your upper body. If you pull by turning your shoulders or pointing forward, it shows her a go line – and that is great when you want the go 🙂 but when you wanted the RC or the backside, it was causing oopsies. Here are specifics:
– on the first 2 rear cross reps you had a bit of pull with your shoulder and flick in to the rear cross, so the pressure into the path for the RC was a bit abrupt and she ended up not being sure what you wanted. But then at :14 – you were smoother and moved forward up the RC line with your feet facing the bar longer and not big arm cues: she got it! Nice!
At :20 and :29 she had a bit of confusion: your upper body is pulling to the go line by turning your shoulders/arm coming forward, but feet showing RC line. The feet were spot on, so try to keep your dog-side arm back and not swooshing forward, which will also keep your shoulders supporting the line you want.
Breaking it down totally helped!! It helped her see what you wanted, it helped you rehearse setting the line nicely. And :51 on the full line, you set up a good line which you then were able to repeat as you added the wing back.

When you switched sides, the upper body moving to help showed her the go line so she had questions: you showed go line at 1:08 and cut in too late at 1:16. When you broke it down there too, you showed it all nicely, then showed it nicely again on the next RC line when you ran the full line.

So definitely keep your shoulders from pulling or straightening out, that is making it harder to show the RCs. Your RC lines were really good, so I think just letting her read the motion without needing extra help from your shoulders or arm to turn will get it all very smooth 🙂

Staying closer to the wing, practically touching it, til she arrives back at your side will help set the RC line more immediately too. It will feel super weird to wait that long 🙂 but it will help you step right into the RC and not show any motion on the Go line.

On the backsides: First push looked good! Nice!!!
On the circle cue at 1:30 – this is another spot where your shoulders were over-helping 🙂 You had her on the line to the circle wrap than at the last moment, you pulled your shoulders forward: so she read that as a front side cue. On the backsides for now, keep your arm back, no shoulders needed – you were clearer at 1:37 but leave your arm back more. It can move with her nose as she passes you, but using it to send her past you is making her think your want the front because your shoulders move. For example: at 1:48, your arm moved forward with her rather than sending her – perfect! But at 1:54 it was too early, move of a send so she wasn’t sure there. Think of the arm as support rather than a send – motion and connection are the send cues. She is doing really well on commitment to the backsides!! They are really hard turns – you can throw the toy sooner on the reps when she is on your left side, and you can also move through a little slower to allow her the time to think about organizing for the wrap.

Let me know if the ideas about shoulders make sense. Also, you did a great job with ALL the verbals here – so helpful!!!!
Nice work 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
So funny that he likes squishing balls! But it is a useful reward so I am glad he is having fun 🙂 I think he has found the rhythm of this set up here – I can see the lead changes percolating nicely and he isn’t having to think too hard about this at all. YAY!! Doing it with 4 wings was perfect – he got stronger and stronger as the session progressed. The first rep was good – but then later reps were super! On the last reps, he was very quick with his leads and also I didn’t see a real difference turning to his left versus turning to his right. And the 6 foot distance worked perfectly too, with enough room to get it right but also close enough for challenge.
Yes, feel free to put this one away until we build on it. This is also a good strengthening exercise so keep it in the rotation for his fitness as he grows up too – I learned the basic outline of it form a conditioning specialist and then tweaked it to fit our needs for jump foundations 🙂
Great job!
Tracy

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