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Good morning! I saw something go by on FB about her toe!!! What happened? 2020 is just THE WORST.
On the videos – Look how nice your field looks! On the skills video – the disconnections are really hard with youngsters. You did a great jon heading towards the tunnel connecting just long enough to get her on the line, then disconnect and run. She was not completely convinced (slowed down and lifted her head) but the tunnel is a big target so she did it. Yay!
The line exiting the tunnel is much harder, so a couple of ideas for you:
You already started breaking it down to reward the jump after the tunnel. So you can keep doing that, strategizing at first to be parallel to here and in ‘soft’ connection (meaning she can kinda see one of your eyes) and reward – then ahead of her in soft connection. Then go back to parallel and try a tiny bit of connection when she exits the tunnel, then slide into disconnection. It will be such a useful skill for those upcoming novice runs when you are running for your life on big lines : )On the backsides – in general, going to the backside of the jump is something she did well here (especially the first rep). The default to take the jump (ratehr than run parallel to it and offer her thoughts up in song) is something that we can solidify – she did come in when you slowed down, but we can work the backside default behavior from last week’s custom skills sets so you can be ahead amd she takes the jump. Basically, it involves reinforcing her for going to the back side of the jump by dropping the reward in behind you – before she even has a chance to decide about taking the jump or not 🙂 It helps her automatically come take the jump after going to the backside.
She went nicely to the backside at 1:37 after the wing too! You can drop the reward in as you move parallel, as she is just about getting to the backsie. Right now she is reading a little physical cue and getting rewarded in front of you – in order to be able to allow you to run to the next line and get commitment, try to reward her behind you.This might be the type of thing that is easy to when the toe has been cleared: the custom skills sets on a jump bump to reward that default taking the jump after she goes to a backside.
Ti did really well on the sequences!
Seq 1: This overall was super nice. I think you can b eon the perfect path more, very literally – you were a step or two off the line so he turned wider than needed, looked at you, and then had to push back to get the next jump. What I mean by that is:
1-2-3 is a parallel path, so that was great.
4-5 is a serpentine, so you can get on/closer to the actual path you want him to run at :04 on the landing of 4
5-6 is a parallel path backside push, that looked terrific!
The exit of 6 to 7 is a pretty tight turn – so that is where you will want to get right on the line you want him to take as he is approaching the jump at :08
The same goes for 7-8 wrap exit at :10 – get right on his line to cue the tight exit line from 7 so she can more easily find 8.
He did well coming to the correct side of 9! You can use your threadle arm to help ‘flick’ him back out to 9 so he smooths that out.At :24, you were pushing in to get past the backside of 6 to get to 7 – perfect countermotion handling in terms of line and connection, and it showed us some dog training homework: he didn’t take the jump, he went to you. In that moment, you can send him right back behind you to the jump to be all like: dude, take that jump when I am here 🙂 then reward 🙂
At :42 you helped him take it by staying more in a serpentine position and showing an arm shake, so he took the jump – but it put you in his way and on his line at :44.
That is good to know – that he is very good at coming in when there is a normal serpentine on the backside so the only HW is adding the default to the countermotion like you were doing at :24.Sequence 3:
The opening looked really good on the first 2 runs, nice timing on the blind (he was in the tunnel and you had it done pretty much before his exit, which works nicely here) and set up a nice backside send to 5! You were on a good line so he ran a really good line to. He understood the independent commitment to the bar after the send at :56 so you were able to turn and leave. Yay! I think maybe you forgot there was a backside at 6? At :57 you faced the front side then as he was about to take off, you tried to indicate the backside. You were much earlier and clearer at 1:17! Nice low arm, great connection. One little detail is to run more on his line on the exit of 5 for one more step to set it: as he was jumping at 1:15, you were fully turned and facing the front of 6: so he turned to the front, then you pushed him back out. You can exit 5 already facing the backside of 6, so he will land also facing the backside of 6 there. That will make the push to 6 even easier and allow you to show 7 even earlier.
At 1:39, you rotated towards him as he landed from 5, which cued the front of 6 even though you did start saying push as you tried to open back up to the backside.
Your best exit of 5 and earliest push cue was at 1:55 – very nice! And as he was heading to the backside at 1:56, you were in a great spot on the other side of the bar and he took the jump. Yay!!
It was hard to see what happened on the 8-9 section – on the first time through there, he took the front of 8 then you did a threadle to 9. The video cut off just before the second time.So overall, Ti did really well here! He and Josie can both use that default to jump on the backside slice from the custom skills set. And when Josie is cleared, you can do the disconnections up the line almost as a lazy game, where you are trotting along – that should be toe safe. Let me know what her upcoming rehab is for that toe and I can send some of the games we play for concepts that would be OK for her 🙂
Nice work!
TracyYay, it works!
Loved the soundtrack! Trumpet and maybe a bit of part singing too?
You got nicely in the groove on this where he was touching the target and then you got him to leave it for the treat. Very nice! I think he was a little faster coming into the target when you did the cookie tosses rather than the stays for now, probably because of the excitement of you moving. But it totally looked good (ignoring theo ne dropped treat rep LOL!) so now you can proceed to the cookie hand lready being out and seeing if he will start to chain the touch-then-treat (also a good distraction!) and then you can move to a food bowl on the ground, for touching the target then going to the bowl (which you cn the plop the cookie into).Very nice job!!!
TracyHi!
Yes, it is posted on the Course Syllabus page, I will re-send the email 🙂We have time though, you can take a break then jump back into it!
T
Good morning!!
Oh yes, I relate to internet provider issues!!!! I think a squirrel on a wheel runs my internet, and that squirrel has been lazy lately 🙂
The video is looking great!
I think she rather enjoyed the go lines to and from the tunnel without connection 🙂 My only suggestion is on rep 2 (exiting the tunnel) to not connect at all. I know, I know… all those years of connection training 🙂 But in this spot, you don’t need it 🙂
Backside blinds – on the double blinds on a backside, we really can’t disconnect because the cue relies on connection – so good job staying connected! The disconnection here would be if you handled from the landing side of the backside like a serp/blind. On the reps at :23, :32 and :40 and third one at :32 and :40, you can stay closer to the jump so she can get it more easily (your connection helped her pick it up, which was great!) – you can slow down and hang out there if you get to the backside way ahead of her. You stuck closer to the jump at :50 and she had a tighter line.
Then 2 things happened at :26 – you had a slight disconnection, looking forward to the tunnel (which cues her to come to your other side like a blind), and you gave her the forward cue to the tunnel while she was looking at the other end. So…. off she went, good girl 🙂 Perfect connection at :33 and :43 and :51, she flew to the correct tunnel entry.On the blinds to the backside on the next section – she didn’t quite see the connection on the very first at :57 – I think it was visible but you didn’t have the early verbal that I could hear (it sounded like she was already looking at the front side when you said it, so maybe she is relying on the verbal more than we give the verbal credit for? It was earlier at 1:00 and early with higher energy at 1:05, which really helped too. At 1:05 and 1:15, this is also a spot to stay as close to the backside jump as you can, so she can commit to it more easily on the 2nd blind.
when you added the additional blind cross to the exit, you stayed closer to the jump on those so her lines to the takeoff side where great! And good job getting the timing on the blinds there – the first one was a little late (probably because it felt weird LOL!) but then the others were lovely!!
The last 2 reps (fast lines out of the tunnel) – terrific! You can disconnect more LOL!!! On the 2nd to last rep you were most excellently disconnected until it was time to do the threadle and she was great! She also really understood the line without the connection – motion + verbal for the win!
Great job!!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Knee surgery went well, though they found a few extra bits in there and also evened out some cartilage, so I was pretty sore last week.
Sorry you were sore! But glad it is behind you and you are healing up!
>>I’m not up to running quite yet, so we worked on the default backside serp skill.
Perfect! And I had to laugh that your video title was BS Serps, because while my adult self knows you meant backside, my inner 12 year old giggled about it being Bullsh*t hahahaha
On the video:
You are moving beautifully for someone who just had knee surgery!!! Wow!I think you can drop the toy in sooner – you were taking a heartbeat for switch hands as she came around the wing, which delayed the drop – just drop it in with whichever hand it is in like you did at :28 and :51, for example. But overall, I think she was doing really well with her default commitment, it looks like you were not hanging out there helping her. Yay! And the balance reps were smart: her backside wraps looked good (and good job with the toy throws for the default jump-taking). At :54 you wanted a front side and she took the back – yes, partially because of all the backside rewards but also partially because as she came around the wing at :53, you hadn’t turned forward to show a line to the front side (you were already sideways and in the center of the bar) so she was right to consider that to be more of a backside cue. You were further over at :59 which totally helped (and had your front side verbal going) – so a heartbeat of facing forward will help her she the difference between front and back.
>> I’m worried I’m still too far across the bar to get the push to the backside, but she did great when I dropped the toy at the right time (and in the right spot).
Yes, she was great!!!! So now we can add challenge in the form of countermotion, which means we have to get you passing the exit wing while she is just coming around the entry wing – which means getting the push from really far across the bar. Your connection really helps (and the verbal will continue to take on value) – so using the wing wrap, send her from the inside of the wing to the outside, so as she exits the wing wrap she is on a parallel line to the backside: so you do not need to step to it, you can just connect and move forward from pretty far across the bar, to get the countermotion going (dropping the toy in behind you nice and early for now :)) Set yourself up to be pretty lateral so you don’t have to do anything more than walk fast 🙂
>>Also, I was able to really work in keeping my eyes on her little laser beams, and holy cow does that make a difference
Yes! The dogs read how the chest turns there and they move to the backside while we can keep moving forward.
>> (duh! – how many times have you told me this??).
Ha! Probably the same amount of times I have to re-tell myself hahaha 🙂 We have to relearn this with each new dog!
Great job! Let me know if the suggestion to add the countermotion makes sense 🙂
TGood morning! I bet the humidity is crazy! We have a ton of it up here. I am thankful for being able to get outside at 6am LOL!
The courses here are looking fabulous! Your adjustments were awesome and I award you the title of Most Awesome Blind Crosser 🙂
Course 1 – great job on the opening! Setting him up further back allowed for a lot more speed. The double blind at 3 worked beautifully: fast and tight. NICE!
He seemed to have no trouble letting you be further away on the a-frame, which set up the earlier blind 6-7 and you were also on a good line there.Good send at go to 9 and good hustle to get past 10 at :22, but you were not really connected so he read the new line a little late
The middle section from 11 all the way through to the ending looked really good! Your timing on the BC 15-16 was excellent. You can be on a slightly tighter path to 16 there at :31 – you were tighter than the round 1 runs but I think you can be even tighter – when he is committing to 14, stay connected like you were but run directly towards 16. Let your connection and verbal be the cue for 15. Then it will be perfect! I believe he has the commitment for that.
Course 2: definitely better rotation on jump 2 at :42! He was tighter and you could turn sooner. If you play with that section again, try staying on takeoff side or parallel to the wing, You were a little on landing side and I bet he will be fine if you push the edges and get a little further ahead.
The middle line looked great. As with Course 1 – he did a lovely aframe with you being lateral. Freeze the video at :53 – he is landing from 7 and you are both connected AND starting the blind. Then freeze it at :54, he is about 6 feet from takeoff of 8: you are done with the blind, arm back and connected and on the perfect path. That allowed him to produce a really tight line while maintaining extension. YES!
He took the bar down at 9. Since bars are unusual for him, I think it was mainly due to you hitting the brakes/decel a little late, so he was adjusting. Deceling then pulling away to handle on the landing side of 10 was actually harder and you had to whip out a RC on 11. I think in this situation, driving through to a forced blind on takeoff side of 10 would be more effective based on where you came from 7-8-9. Yes, it is risky because there is an off course tunnel right there 🙂 But it will get you ahead without having to slam on the brakes.When you re-did that section, you did the send-and-leave for 9 earlier and that helped with the bar – but you still had to do a lot of hustle to get past 10 🙂 And you did! But feel free to try the forced blind and see how it goes there 🙂
Great job moving through the threadle 11-12 – you kind of had to on the first rep because you were coming in from a rear cross, but when you were ahead on the 2nd time through there, you kept moving forward, used your verbal & upper body, and he nailed it. Nice!
Lovely job on the ending line – just enough rotation on 14 to get 15 without a loss of speed. And great job moving through the backside of 18, trusting his commitment!
Course 3:
Wheeeee! Great job on the opening!!! He had NO trouble with the forced blind on 2 and the blind 3-4 was lovely (which also set up a great line to 5). Just add in your verbals and it will be perfect (I suggest a threadle verbal on the BC at 2 and just his name 3-4.
Nice job on the backside at 7 – he is really strong with those! If you play with that one again, try it just with verbals and upper body, see if he can send without you even needing to take a step to the backside. Your position was perfect so if we can eliminate the need for a send step on the parallel path backsides like this, you can get even further ahead (and his backside commitment was perfect here too). You were able to move through it all early enough to keep him driving in extension.Gorgeous blind 9-10! Nice timing and connection! And nice job setting the Rc on the jump before the poles – I don’t think he is as comfortable with that move (he looked up at you a little), but it is the best option here so it is good to practice and his turn on 13 was really nice!
You had a little bit of quick foot rotation on 15-16 (threadle) so keep convincing yourself to run forward through those. As you are getting more comfy with that, you can also try threadles as double blinds: BC #1 before he takes off for 15 and you keep moving up the line – BC #2 when his head comes through the gap/passes the exit wing of 15. Your BC skills are looking great so I think you might like the double binds more than the threadles!
You were a tiny bit late on the connection exiting 17 (backside serp) so remember to look for his eyes there. He slowed down right at 21, but I think that had more to do with you feeling the humidity! On those ending lines, you can throw the ball sooner to keep him driving ahead 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think! Stay cool 🙂
Tracy
Yes, I hear your neck of the woods is like an oven!!!! We have had something line 28 consecutive days over 90 degrees here… but the mountain breeze has helped clear the humidity so it has been fine.
These binds are looking good! I like his commitment and you can use them to get waaaay up the course – note how easy it was for you to get be able to send him to the 2nd cone after the jump. Easy! He took the front side of the jump after cone 1 on these, so for added challenge on the double blinds: get him to take the side closer to you (backside for him) on that jump – it is like a threadle but using double blinds. Two tricks to it: start the first blind just before he gets to cone 1, and maintain connection on the exit. And, hang out by the entry wing of the jump. If you move across the face of the jump, he might read the motion and jump it rather than come to the other side. So, you will be connected over your left side here and near the entry wing (either not moving much or being stationary) til he is almost at the backside – then do the 2nd blind so he takes the jump and heads to Cone 2. Let me know if that makes sense!
Have fun, stay cool!
TracyGood morning! It is a beautiful day in New York for course walking!!!! Also, love your shirt.
Great job on this video!!!
>>However, I don’t trust Demi’s commitment skills to let me move away like that.
Since we are in full on training mode, try to walk all of the courses with 100% trust – and we will let the young dogs tell us what they know. 2 reasons for that:
first, either we will be happily surprised with the understanding or we will easily be able to train more understanding 🙂 A win-win!
second, it allows you to know where she might need more help and support on courses at trials – in other words, which skills are really strong and which are still a ‘work in progress’. Now, for Demi, you might not have trials coming up soon, but it is still fine to think and plan! And for Wilson – it gives you the chance to inventory his strengths and also find any weaknesses – to either work on or to acknowledge that he needs extra support in those spots at trials when you see them on course.On the walk through – great job walking the dogs’ perfect path – seemed accurate! And if you find that part is easy, you can shift it to your ‘preparation’ part before the walk through so you don’t have to walk the full course, you can just walk some of the lines (saves time on bigger courses).
Handling walk through: I see connection and hear verbals! Love it!!!
That 3 and 7 jump might need a little more support, based on your slower walks. You had a little more support as you added speed to the walk through – the flat angle of that jump often requires us to drive on a more parallel line so we don’t pull the dog off.
One cool thing is that I could “see” your invisible dog on the last walk through – very nice use of connection in your planning!!
You mentioned being worried about the FC – you can isolate that section and walk it a few times nice and fast to help get more comfy with it – what exactly was making you itchy (commitment?) and how can you help help make sure you get it?
The first run was really good! 1-2-3-4 looked great. I think the little blooper on the 5 jump was nothing more than finding your rhythm with her: you were ‘ahead’ in the timing and she had a lot of yardage to cover, so you ended up slowing down more than you planned which pulled her off – part of that is baby dog inexperience and part of that is your lack of experience with her because she is a baby dog 🙂 When you compare the timing of your ‘left’ handling at 4:15 and the actual run at 5:43, you were handlin what you rehearsed, but it was too early for when she would be actually exiting the tunnel.
She had nice commitment on the FC!!! You can add in more exit line connection on the exit of the FC. On the rehearsal at 4:41, you connected on the start of the cross but then looked forward too soon on the exit of the cross (she would not be there yet, plus you would want to stay connected all the way through the tunnel cue rather than look ahead). When you did the FC at 5:57, you were working the connection but you had your dog-side arm up and blocking it a little – so she was a little wide.
So for the next Demi sequence – two things to add to your plan are:
considering the yardage she has to run in and out of tunnels, so you will actually have more time to handle 🙂
adding more exit line connection rehearsal to the exit of FC and BCs.I gotta say, this is PRETTY FREAKIN’ AWESOME for what is probably the first time you have done this with her! I need to pull up videos of my early tries with Voodoo and Nacho so you can see kust how much I sucked at it hahahahaha
Wilson’s turn:
I like that you did NOT re-walk it for him – it is a good mental challenge for you and it is actually realistic to what will likely happen down the road at trials, when they are both in Masters.And running him at a low height adds a lot of challenge too 🙂
It turns out that your timing on the left turn at #5 was rehearsed at Wilson’s rhythm it looked great! And the FC timing at 7 was rehearsed at Demi’s rhythm – you were late with Wilson. The rest looked really good (I couldn’t see a lot about why he dropped #1 (he was probably just rushing because he had to watch his sister work!) and the bar at 7 was due to the timing of the FC.So now the challenge for you becomes walking the course and acknowledging what you might get in terms of speed differences: On a wicked hot day outside, Demi might be slower than Wilson. But on a cool morning, indoors? She might be as fast or faster. You can definitely build that in to your walk through, making sure you lock into the connection especially on tunnel exits and be ready to stay connected/be patient OR go into super hustle mode based on what happens out there 🙂
Great job on these!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>! I silently chuckle during this game because he truly looks surprised to see me on the other side haha!
Yes! He is SO FOCUSED ON HITTING THE TARGET: “momma I AM DOING THE THING oh wait how did you get over there??” – just an adorable puppy response. LOL!
Wing wraps – looking great! He ‘has’ this game now. So in the familiar location of your training room, pull the ing back in closer and we will change the picture/add challenge in two other ways:
with you in this position, get some toy play added in before, just to start adding in toy play 🙂
Without toy play, cookie only – start to stand up
When you are standing, start to reward from your hands
The wing should be pretty close to you because the other changes will be challenging at first so we want to keep the go-around part of it easy 🙂And, you can take this wing game on the road – different places, even if it is just in your home or yard 🙂 When you go to new places, start off with the wing close and you on the ground like you did here, so the only added challenge is the new location.
The ‘other’ object wrapping went really well – he only gave you one or two whippet judgey looks LOL! And he was adorable when he offered a nose touch to it. LOL!! Do you have something free-standing like a pop-up laundry basket or something? Nothing too huge, but something to shape that is a little wider than your jump stanchion and that you can stand up with (I am planning ahead for the games coming on Saturday :))
And hooray for another strong tunnel session! You and Lazlo are on a roll with great sessions!Great job here!!!
TracyGoooood morning!
>>I did a little bit of the collection game this morning and Stark is having a hard time transitioning from food to toy. He doesn’t want to go get the toy when I throw it b/c he just got food from my hand for collection part.>>
This is actually an exciting development, because if I am recalling correctly – that food drive was *built*, the food app did NOT come installed automatically hahaha! So that is pretty cool.Also very normal.
>>Maybe I will just play the games separately?? Also work on needing by my side then send to toy??
Yes, play them separately so there is a ton of value of each game (there probably already is, but it can’t hurt to do them separately).
Yes, feed at your side then send to the toy. A couple of ideas to help re-balance food with toy:
use the lowest value food that you have, have only one boring-ass cookie in your hand – and the most amazeballs toy that you have.
Send him to the toy while it is still moving, before it hits the ground.
Work this food-toy balance when he is not hungry (I do most of my food training *after* the puppies have eaten, so they are interested but not obsessed :)) A slightly smaller meal leaves room for treats. I know, it sounds backwards – feed then train. But if the pup is hungry, he is less likely to be able to ignore food in order to play with toys. I feel that pain – when I am hangry, I mean hungry, I can focus on almost nothing other than food LOL!I think we will continue to see the pendulum swinging back and forth until these pups are over a year old: some days the food-toy drive will be balanced, some days it will be all about the food, some days all about the toys. No problem, it all works out.
Oh, one other thing that I thought of – they are full on teething right now. Elektra wasn’t really grabbing a toy the other nice – then stopped tugging to spit out a molar. LOL! So use super soft toys (you probably already are) and you can also skip some of the toy stuff for now, because his mouth might be ouchy. He has naturally terrific toy drive, so I am not worried about losing it.
Let me know what you think, and feel free to post up a video where he was having a question, in case there is anything we can add to help him out.
T
Hi!
Ditching the clicker is fine once the ball is rolling and clearly it is rolling LOL! Throwing the ball so he sees it moving is perfectly fine and yes he was TOO cute tunneling with the ball LOL! Good boy 🙂 I liked that he was turning to look at the tunnel on the verbal just before you released him to it, that really helps to develop focus forward without obsessing on it or pressuring the pup. Also, if you are considering a running contact or channel weaves – this is a great place to introduce a remote feeder like a manners minder, because of the concept of “do the thing then the cookies will appear” 🙂
Because he is offering the tunnel a lot, feel free to reward lots for coming to you and staying with you before the send (will he go back to Nemo ball after a low value cookie?) The tug toy also looked good – not as exciting as the ball but you were able to time the throws so he saw it moving and drove to it. Yay!
I think he is ready for the threadle-foundation version of this where he is between you and the tunnel, near the entry (these were all ‘normal’ tunnel sends LOL!)
One little mechanics detail to consider – now that he is starting to really want to explode away to the tunnel, you will get the most powering out of the restraint if you gently pull back (or push on his chest) so he has his weight shifted into his rear) – try not to lift his front feet off the ground, as that causes a weight shift to his front end and less power in the rear, if that makes sense 🙂Great job!
TracyHi again!
It cracks me up that two folks in this class have had trumpeting in their videos – you and Melissa w/ Pirate. Musicians are the best!This video is doing something weird – for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, it is frozen on your getting ready to throw a cookie. Then it comes alive for the last 10 seconds of you doing one really nice rep of the game 🙂 I don’t think it is my bad country internet, as all the other videos are working this morning. Can you check it and see if it works for you? I will check it again in a few minutes.
TGood morning!
He is looking really good here, it looks like he had no trouble finding the line at all and is not really looking at you – looking forward to the line. NICE! The ball might be a little too exciting for indoors – not in a bad way, we want the excitement, but we don’t want the slipping. So maybe save the toy for outdoors only (I am in the exact same boat, anything exciting with a toy has to be on grass right now to avoid slipping). On these 2 sessions, you worked positions that were parallel to him and also behind him (he drove ahead nicely!!). So one more position to add – after the cookie throw indoors, before he gets to the cookie, turn and move up the line so when he turns to look for you, you are waaaaayyyyyy ahead – can he still find the line to the bump? This is a good foundation for, say, when you send to a tunnel and get way ahead of him, will he still find the jump after a tunnel with you that far ahead? Many young dogs struggle with that, so we are laying the foundation for it now while things are still calm 🙂Great job!
THi!
He is off to a get start here on the set point at 12 – not totally comfortable with it yet, but definitely percolating on how to get over it effectively and efficiently. On the oxer, he was a bit ‘springy’ meaning a little upwards rather than extending over, especially on the 2nd rep. The triple was a bigger picture for him, so he was more forward in the front end and carried his rear more – just not used to such a long jump! He is sorting it out, though, so you can show him this again in a couple of days and also add in a 12″ jump on simple lines on course to see what he does (I think he will be fine with it). I would do 2 or 3 sessions on this before going to a striding grid – just to be sure he has a consistent form on the set point before adding challenge.His backside default commitment looked great! Using the cross arm to drop the toy might have looked a little like handling, so you can test his commitment in the next session by having a lotus ball in the dog-side arm and plop it in as you run through without a cross arm. I think he will be fine with it! But you can also challenge him by adding more speed and more countermotion by getting even further ahead on the exit wing 🙂 He was almost perfect getting to the backside – only one oopsie on each side, when you were looking forward and not very connected. That is good to know – he is relying on your connection a lot along with the verbal (not on a pure verbal yet). That is normal, though, and he will get more and more on a pure verbal as he gets more experienced. His commitment going to the backside with some connection in the cue was excellent!!!
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
The BEST sessions happen when we forget to turn the camera on LOL!!!! At least you have a nice photo, right?
He did a terrific job on the wraps – lost his train of thought for a moment but you were like ‘hey, dude…’ and he got right back into it with the treats. You can be as exuberant with the treats as you are with the toys – you were very chill with the treats LOL! I think he likes the silly voices! You were so funny!
In the next treat session: try to get standing up (I don’t think this will be a problem for him) and if that goes well, shift the cookie delivery to your hands (also, I don’t think it will be a problem). If he can do the wraps and get the cookies from your hand, then you can fade out the bowls. This sets us up for what we add on Saturday 🙂
With the toys – I think he would like to more if you were moving the toys more, so try it standing with toys, then explode and move when he does the wrap. His offering looks good with the toy, so you can be calm til he gets around the basket then go wild with the toy for him to chase it a bit.It is perfectly fine for him to do this with food for now, because we want him to be thoughtful and it will be VERY easy to get speed when we need it 🙂
Rear crosses/parallel path – when you win a big event, I want to see you on the podium with a box of wine as your victory prize LOL!!! He is doing really well with his prop hits, looking directly forward until after the click. Super! You can add in toys to this and you can also move to the next step of parallel path to between the uprights (I used a flyball jump slat on the ground for Elektra so she got the concept without jumping).
Countermotion looked GREAT!! He is making big progress in the concept of hitting the prop while you move away!
When you added the ready ready dance breaks before the sends here, he seemed to understand the transition better. When you were calmer, he was offering sits to get the treats, being polite? So being silly was good! And you can also do some tugging then send then use treats as the reward (or driving back to the toy).
Re-watch this section of the video so you can hear the conversation that Kevin and Sizzle are having: SO FUNNY!!!!He did well reading the rear crosses! At 3:28 and 3:32, you had really nice lines on the RCs. There were a couple of pull/flick moments but I think that had more to do with starting a little too close to the wine box 🙂 So you will probably need to start a solid 12 to 15 feet back so you can get right up on his tail sooner – when you did those, he was perfect! When you were a little later, he found the RC but it was a little later than on the reps where you were early.
He did a great job on his sits! Nice snappy response at the end when you said it and he sat instantly (he is no fool, he knows the treat will be tossed out that way :)) How is he doing with letting you walk away without you facing him? Keep adding more distance and duration while also ping ponging some rewards for “easy” short reps.
Great job here, he looks awesome!!!
Tracy
