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Hi!
His aframe is looking great! He is still trying to figure out how he wants to come over the top LOL!!! We can discourage the ski jump leaps into the yellow with a jump bump – my Hot Sauce was doing the same thing for a while LOL!You have a busy week ahead, fun! You can do straight tunnel and wing stuff on non-jumping days, it should be easy on his body.
>>>I was watching the RC video from my last post and noticed when I was rear crossing for a R turn, I tended to push with my R arm low across my hips but I did NOT do that on the RC L….R turns were better. Do you think the arm cue was helping him or he just turns better to the right? I don’t think I was aware that I was doing it differently. This is from video 4 on June 29.>>
I went back and re-watched so I could obsess with you 🙂 What you were seeing is that when he was on your left, you were facing straight for too long which resulted in starting the RC cue too late, so he turned a little wide. On the right side, your lower body started the RC cue much sooner – and that is why your right arm was coming across the body a bot more, there was more of a “lower body does the RC line and upper body supports the tunnel” and that led to earlier info and a better turn. So I think the arm difference was a product in the better timing on the right side – the arm didn’t necessarily create the better turn, but it was part of the earlier cue for sure.
>>>Then I have a question as I anticipate the sequence and course work and directional verbals. Do I use the obstacle cue combined with the directional? Example “tunnel right” or “jump right”.>>
That is an excellent question! 2 part answer:
First – it depends on how the dog has been trained and exactly what the verbal means. For example, we are training our youngsters that GO means “take the jump in extension”. And right means “take the jump and turn right”
If the cues mean “turn on the flat” then you would need to say the jump cue.
Second – I think on jumps, just the verbal is fine. But I like to give the dog a tunnel then directional cue because it is a different obstacle – it might turn the line in a direction that we don’t want, it is longer, they can’t see us, etc. So I personally don’t say “jump left” but I do say “tunnel left”. I think it also helps the dog find the tunnel if I am yelling tunnel 🙂 Now it might be superstitious to use the tunnel verbal but the dogs’ responses have been really good, so I think it is fine. I think the obstacle name on the tunnel and on running contacts indicates how to enter the obstacle and then the directional indicates how to exit – and the exit is at least 15 feet away on those! On the jump, the directional indicates how to enter AND exit, so the directional needs to be the first thing they hear. If they hear jump, it is not informational unless it is a reality massive distance away.>> I just wonder if the dog ever gets confused when you are running on course and gets ahead of you and you give a directional for an obstacle you are not near and not ahead to also give physical cue…would the dog ever turn before taking the obstacle?
This is where it matters exactly what the verbals mean and how they were taught. I no longer teach wraps or left/right on the flat, they are immediately applied to obstacles (well, wings :)) and I start them a tiny bit later than some folks (for example, my 15 week old puppy has not heard left or right yet, while other puppy programs do them at this age with spins on the flat). So I immediately train in the understanding of “take the thing then turn” so that the dog does not turn before the obstacle.
>>> I have a separate verbal for turning on the flat so that should help distinguish. >>
Perfect 🙂
>>Just wondering whether I just give the directional or the combined verbal of obstacle/directional.>>
On jumps, I suggest just the directional. On obstacles like the tunnel and running contacts – obstacle name and directional for exit.
let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>Can you clarify that? Should I raise some (or all?) of the bars (to 10 inches?) on this week’s sequences?>>
Start by putting one bar in a sequence at 10 inches – in a really easy straight line spot. If we get extension and speed, we can then add another or add one on a turn.
The goal is to maintain speed and reintroduce height so gradually that he barely notices it at all 🙂On the video:
The go reps at the beginning looked really good!
When you cue the wraps, I think the verbal sounded too much like Gogogo in that it was high energy and repeated (I thought you were still saying go lol!) so to help cue the turn, you can reduce the energy of the cue to a quiet almost whisper like you’re telling him a secret. The rear crosses were hard for him, he wasn’t comfy yet driving ahead of you on those. You can move the wing further away so he has more room and so you can accelerate forward for for longer, that will help too.
Left and right looked really good!! And the ending was funny 🙂 the rear cross pressure plus the right cue equaled turn right there before the tunnel 🙂
I think the rear crosses were by far the hardest for him – you can even shorten up the tunnel and throw sooner to help build the love of driving ahead on those rear crosses. He will get happy with them really soon because the ball is involved 🙂And yes, tunnel games with the straight tunnel and wings are not concussive, as my PT vet would say, so they are fine for non-jumping days. I personally think they are great fun for building speed 🙂
Nice work here!!!!
TracyHi!
Thank you for the waterskiing clip! Love it!
>>1. Straight behind the boat, smoothest path that travels exactly where the boat is going
That is dog agility – and we use connection to show the dog which side so they don’t just stay directly behind us. When in doubt, they either line up directly behind us or choose a line (usually the one we didn’t want LOL!)
>>2. In the “wake”, the miserable, bumpy part where no one wants to ride
My terminology might be wrong then – is the wake the bumpy part or the smooth part, or both? LOL! I don’t get out much.
>>3. Outside the wake, in the mirror smooth and flat area where the boat and its traveling is not noticed.
Ha! You said the hot shots go there on the water – we don’t want the dogs there, usually that results in massive off courses LOL!
>>I made a pretty picture; but I couldn’t figure out how to upload it from my PC, so I made a short video. A lot of energy to be a wise-guy… 😉
Love it! Your energy is appreciated 🙂
>>Under skill sets, we found the tunnel skills. Was there supposed to be a practice set with lines and crosses? I was watching a video showing you and the nose working on handling on the line and creating sharper turns (eliminating the zigzag). But now I can’t find it. Maybe it’s someplace else…?>>
Those videos are in the Overview section, and the line sequences are in the Sequences For Success section. The skills sets are just the tunnels – fuller sequences will make the lines easier (or harder, depending… :))
>>At any rate… We worked on the tunnel. We have mostly been reliant on
(1) ”Go-on” or no verbal – this is the default and means go straight
(2) Variations on a tunnel break (“chk-chk-chk” noise with sharp rhythm change and hand facing)
(3) I depend on a rear cross to work but I’m not going to insist on a verbal with it.>These are all good ones! For the RC, you can use directionals or the name of the next obstacle or even just a name call, depending on the course.
>>So we haven’t used “left” and “right” with the tunnel. But it will probably be a good idea so we tried it. Temperature is 89 and I didn’t have much dog. I’m going to go to the barn later and that might work better.>>
Yikes! Hot!
About left and right: I would not bet a dollar that my dogs truly understand left or right as stand-alone words… but I have managed to train myself to say them in a certain way that the energy changes so they are recognizing it as different than the high energy GO GO GO or the more intense but very quiet wrap cues – and that is producing the left and right turns. The name call can also be used this way: a medium volume slightly elongated “ehhhnzoh”.We started by warming up a stationary left and right. Left was fluent; right seemed a bit stickier. Then I did some reps from a sit in front of the tunnel. Then wrapping the 8” jump. He seems to mostly get it.
On the video:
The warm ups looks good – left seemed very solid – first right looked REALLY good but then he lost his train of thought for a moment. You have a tiny bit of upper body movement helping him but it is so tiny that I think it is fine for now!On the standstill reps – nice job! One of the keys will be super consistent placement of reinforcement to match the verbal, and you totally had that going. In my perfect happy world, we will always be able to show the body language too – but it turns out that most of the time we are just running as fast as we can so the verbals take on more importance on the tunnel entry – and that solid placement will help solidify them. The wrap looked REALLY good! The go was harder because there was not a lot of motion and I am super please with the left and right!
When you added motion:
The go on looked great, he was driving straight on the exit of the tunnel.
On the wrap – he was definitely turning – let him see countermotion away to the new direction and I think it will be even tighter – at 1:18 you cued it nicely but stayed there: if he sees you running the other direction, he will tighten up the exit (gotta chase da momma!) and it is also a great commitment challenge.SUPER happy with his response to the right cue at 1:24! He was turning right before he exited the tunnel – lovely! Your verbal was spot on. Your handling was decelerated but forward – so the decel had an impact. You can also keep moving but motion away to the right turn line sooner and see if he can still create such a lovely turn.
When you repeated it at 1:29, it was higher energy in verbal and there was more forward motion: he *did* turn before he exited (I do spend a lot of time freezing and blowing up the video to see their faces in the tunnel LOL!) but it was not as tight as the previous rep. So the higher energy will need to be supported with a clear lateral motion away to be able to duplicate the turn. But I am really liking that the right verbal has some power behind it already!
Also loved the wrap response at 1:33, good boy! As with the wrap at 1:18, let him see you running the new direction 🙂
The last go rep had a bit of turning as he exited – verbal and line of motion were good, but you were decelerated so he was looking for you (which makes sense because he had just done a bunch of turns). So you can balance this back in more frequently when it is not 900 degrees outside, with more acceleration. Or you can work on getting the verbal more independent by having a toy or manners minder out there alreayd so you can cue it from waaaay back and then he can focus on the reward.
Great job here! Let me know how it goes indoors – I am sure the RCs will be lovely too.
Tracy
Hi!
>>I think that positive punishment I got associated with a fc without a good decel will be enough to remind me not to do that again! Ha!
YIKES! Ouch!!!! You’ll get really good at blinds and rears!
>>I think I might have torn that cartilage a little more. Sigh… No way to avoid surgery when it gets stuck like that.
I guess the upside is that I know so many folks who have had the repair and made super quick and full recoveries.
>>BUT, this dog will send like a dream with all the work he’s going to get with me not moving much. Only thing I have to figure out is how to get him to bring me the dang toy back when I throw it.
TRUTH about the sends! And great verbals too!
About the toy… long line of course for the toy LOL!!! And some 2 toy games – when he gets the first one, encourage him back to you with another awesome toy (or a treat, but I think that might put him into food mode?) And you can also use lotus balls or treat huggers – gets the rewards thrown without the victory laps haha
>>Was looking at the tunnel stuff for this week. Do you think I can do this with my tunnel shortened a good bit so I can be more stationary? Do young dogs need the time it takes to go through a longer tunnel to process the info they get before going in?>>
Yes, you can totally do it on a short straight tunnel – 6 feet is usually perfect! Pull up a chair, grab a beverage, grab some rewards (you can even use big pieces of food if you have decent aim) and just work the verbals. I think the shorter tunnel might be better in terms of processing it? But he will let us know – you can always adjust the length of the tunnel to get it where it works best in terms of processing. But if you are early on the cues and super consistent with the reward placement, you’ll see he learns it really quickly 🙂
Keep me posted!
TracyHi Linda! Thank you for the update about the boys!!
>>I was unable to do the full courses for the first group of exercises in my backyard due to lack of space and lack of equipment but was able to do pieces of them which I defintley learned from.
I did the first tunnel skill set for this new set of exercsies and it really opened my eyes.>>Perfect! That is why we do them, even if they are done in smaller pieces.
>>Mookie my 5y/o really knows his verbals.
He did great when I said them 6 feet from the tunnel entrance and turned out of the tunnel correctly and more exactly every time and also did nice wraps back.>>Awesome!!!
>>My 2 y/o Buddy needs work.
He knows the “Go”command out of the tunnal but was weak on the turning with a verbal and forget the wraps.>>That is pretty normal! 2 year old dogs are still very early in the learning stages of ALL the things LOL!
>>He did not stop going into the tunnel when I said the commands from 6 feet away which was a good thing but he came out looking confused.>>
I am glad he continued to commit! You can squish up your tunnel so it is a lot shorter, so he can turn almost immediately – and also the shorter tunnels have a little less speed, which helps him turn (it is easier to turn when there is a little less speed). You will be able to add more speed and lengthen the tunnel pretty soon.
>> However, he can also turn right and left and back without motion from me with just verbal cues over a single jump in front of him.
That is a great start!
>>What other exercsies should I be doing to aid in his learning the tunnel cues ??
Should I use a shorter tunnel ??>>Yes to the shorter tunnel! And keep playing these games, he will learn it pretty quickly: show him the turns and be very consistent about where the reward comes (straight out for go, on the line for softer lefts and rights, back on you for the wraps) – the placement of reward really really helps. I think he just needs a little more practice 🙂
Keep me posted! Have fun!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I want to think more about running lines closer to the jumps before tight turns. Agreed that I don’t want to get there too soon. Anytime I’m just “hanging out” at a jump wing bleeds off speed, doesn’t it. I was thinking about that, even if not perfectly executed.
Choosing running lines is one of the things we focus on in the 2nd training package! It is mainly about lines in and out of turns, but we can also look to choose your running lines to get to the turns without having to slow down or wait. Shorter lead outs and staying closer to the wings almost always help us to drive the dogs in and out of the turns and lines.
Seq 1 – this was a great example of you choosing a great line to drive into the backside at 4! Speedy!! You were a little too far across the bar of 4 so she dropped the bar as you set the exit line. Try to be closer ot the entry wing, literally on the line you want her to exit on, as you do the cross then move away from it.
Seq 2 – on this opening, you had a big lead out so had to wait for the RC at 3 and for the wrap on the next rep – which slowed her down (too much decel). You can lead out that far, do the BC to get to 3, then do a forced (backside) blind on the takeoff side of 3 to keep the flow going 🙂 Or, lead out a lot less so you aren’t as far ahead on the RC or the wrap
Bringing her in to 4 then turnin away (a threadley-RC moment) had too much facing her – I tend to think she would prefer a slightly late blind there because there will be less facing her (and more panic as you are running to try to get it done; dogs generally love when we are in a panic LOL!!) She was better able to power through on the 2nd rep where you send to 4 and left for the next line.Aha! You did do the RC to BC at :39 – she definitely liked it better than the threadle-RC there! But I do think her favorite cue was the rep at about :47 – you didn’t lead out quite as far, drove to the wrap then sent to 4. That was the fastest!
As part of the slices-are-generally-faster-than-wraps mantra with the big dogs, you can also play with replacing the slicing RCs with a BC on the takeoff side (like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHuX-lMu-EY), and also turning her to the slice line at 4 (to her left) rather than the wrap line (to her right) – the wrap line does set up a slightly better ending line 5-6-7 but as we work through these courses, we should definitely compare because she can make the subtle turns pretty easily on the slice lines – and she absolutely LOVED chasing you up the big line at the end!!!Seq 3 – the first rep was really spot on from the exit of the #3 tunnel to the end – you did indeed move in closer to the lines and showed a lot of motion, so she powered! The turn at 6 was tight with speed in and out of it – yay! You were not quite moving on 1-2-3 and so she read it as deceleration and slowed down too.
The 2nd rep had more motion on 1-2-3 so she had more acceleration too. Nice! You can start really close to 1 and drive even harder to 2 – she is very responsive so it is unlikely she will go off course 2-3. I REALLY liked your turn cue on 6 here – nice blind to get to it, and you used decel/facing forward as the cue more than rotation – and she was both tight and fast. That was great!!!!I could totally see the difference in the lines you chose to run, really eliminating any ‘hanging out’ especially on the 3rd sequence. Well done!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! You’re off to a good start here!
Go on – this is a good one for her, I think she wants to turn back to you a little more than she wants to accelerate ahead out of tunnels when you are behind. You absolutely did a great job of showing the GO physical cues and giving the verbal with fabulous timing! And great job getting the reward out there. You can sometimes place it out there too, ahead of the rep, so that she can lock on it wicked early 🙂 She did a great job of going straighter and straighter as the session progressed.
2nd video – ‘soft’ turns – the verbal “here” and the arm cue was perfectly timed, but the motion overrode it because you were moving forward and moving fast 🙂 (especially if it happened after the Go session where she was well-paid to go straight 🙂
As she was hitting the info line, the physical cue had a lot of motion forward so that is what she was reading. She was finding you on the exit of most of the reps, but you can show her the physical cue earlier and that will really support the verbals – as she is approaching the info line, let her see you turn your shoulders to the new line and also turn your feet – make it dramatic 🙂 That will help her set up the turn in the tunnel.3rd video – RC/turn away: excellent!!!! It shows us how tight she can turn on the tunnel! Your verbal and your physical cues were very clear before she entered the tunnel, so the exits were awesome!
4th video – tight turns – this also had a very clear difference in the physical/verbal cue before she went in, so she was able to turn. She was reading your deceleration and also the softer verbals. Question: do you have a different verbal for wraps versus one for soft turns? We can use them here too! To get these even tighter, let her see your feet rotate (like you are doing a wrap front cross) and let her see you moving away from the tunnel (back towards where she started), all before she enters the tunnel. That will tighten the turn and will also be a great commitment challenge.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Good morning!
First video –
Ooh! I am happy with how he read that rear cross!! I don’t mind that he took a moment and read it on landing… you had a really clear physical cue and a clear verbal, so getting him to read it went well! As he sees more of it, you will be able to tighten it up even more.>>So this is not a skill that we have apparently.
Actually… it appears that you *do* have the skill now! Yay! It is not an easy one to cue because it is not entirely natural for the dog, but I am very happy with how it is going!! We will have to do more of them to get it comfortable – he is continuing to get faster and faster, and he is jumping nicely so there is no hang-time for you to catch up… which means we will want your rear crosses to be solid 🙂
>>Also, on the tunnel soft turns, I saw that you had wings to either side of the exit of the tunnel (even though they were not pictured on the map) so I put cones there. I think Benni believed it was his job to go around the cones when I did the right/left turns so on the next video after that I took the cones away.>>
Yes, I left the wings there because I was wanting my youngster to look towards the next “obstacle” rather than at me, so it is fine that Benni thought he should go to the cones. Good boy!
1st video – GO – looking good! The physical and verbal cues were very clear before he got to the information line. Great job with the toy throws!
2nd video: the soft turns are really hard – I think your verbal left and right cues were really good – you can make a more dramatic physical cue. When I freeze the video when he is at the info line – there is a subtle turn of body but there is a lot of forward motion. So for now, you can dramatize it – decel and make a sharp angle of stepping away, then reward. I don’t think the cone was a distraction for him, I think it was the forward momentum of the physical cue.
You started to get more dramatic at :38 and :44, and his head was turne to the left before he exited – perfect! Those last 2 reps were the best ones.3rd video – the RCs are going well! I liked the 2nd rep at :14 where you were right on his tail 🙂 On the next rep at :21, you were facing straight for longer so while he did turn left, it wasn’t as sharp.
The RCs to the right looked *great* – definitely very clearly early info! Esrlier than the RCs to the left for sure. And possibly he is slightly better turning to his right than to his left at the moment? Or perhaps he solidified the RCs on the tunnel after working them on the other side? Or all of the above? LOL!!>>Is it my imagination or is he looking left on the exit but running straight before he actually turns?>>
Yes, a little bit indeed – but he has turned his head to read the cross, so I am happy 🙂 Try to get more up on his tail as early as possible for these left exits like you did on the right exits and see how he does! And good job balancing with the soft turns at the end – keep dramatizing those turn cues like I mentioned above.
Wrap exit video – the timing of the beginning of the cue and the verbal – great! But then turn and run the other way – you continued moving forward along the tunnel, which creates a wider-than-desired exit line. Motion forward is motion forward and creates straightness, even if we humans are running rotated 🙂 He was turning his head, he knew it was a turn cue – but he wasn’t necessarily wrapping due to your motion continuing down the tunnel. Basically, as he is entering the tunnel, you will be fully running the other direction already 🙂 It is a wrap cue and also a significant challenge to his tunnel commitment (because it is easy to turn around and come back out of the entry :))
>>Note – the yellow thing on the ground is my 6 foot marker (it was an extension cord with a work light attached so I definitely did not want to step on it. It was more visible than a leash on the ground)
Perfect!! It was easy to see the timing and his commitment looked good.
>>I looked at the upcoming course work….yikes!
You’ll do fine with it – the emphasis is on the lines, so work through those first and the rest will fall into place. Nice job on your tunnel skills!!
Tracy
Hi!
He did well on these sequences 0
First rep was strong, he is doing well reading these more complex lines! Your blind 2-3 was really nice. Try to be a bit further over to show him the wing of 3, you were blocking it a little bit so he went wide. The ideal position is where the jump bar meets the wing, so the entire wing is visible to him – it will feel like you were running more towards the center of the bar. I think on the 2nd rep the timing was good but you were a little in the way on the line at 2-3 so he pulled the bar at 2.Good send on 4 on both reps – not sure which is more comfortable right now in terms of your knee, both went well and time will tell us which works better for him. At :21 he came off the last line little bit because you were behind and looking forward, which broke connection – when you get behind, exaggerate the connection to the back of his head so you can propel him up the line. But I think the main reason he came off the line was he started to chase Wager who was running by. You were a lot more connected on the 2nd rep there (and no Wager running by :)) so he did well! When you get behind, you don’t want to point ahead try to pump your arms to run and lock into more connection to drive him ahead.
2nd video –
nice soft brake 2-3! He is reading those nicely! Your first rep was really nice on that! 2nd rep was a little late so he was wider.After tunnel 3 to jump 4
at :07 and :13, you did a spin on the tunnel entrance which cued a turn then called him, so he turned out of the tunnel and came off the line to 4.
at :32 you didn’t spin and you had no name call, so he exited looking right at 4. You were a little too far past the line 4-5 so he had a little zig zag at :34 but you had connection nicely so he found the lines.
Yes… knees and front crosses are not good friends 🙁 OUCH at :39!!! I could hear the pop 🙁 Yikes!!!!! He was happy to do a fun thing at the end but definitely we are going to make sure you don’t do any high speed FCs. I think FCs are really best when there is a decel into them anyway – otherwise, do the blind. I hope your knee isn’t too angry right now??? Let me know!!!Tracy
Hi Denise!
Skills videos, Lit’l Bit is up first 🙂
Push to slice was great!
Push to dig – you can give the dig sooner, so she hears it before she gets to the backside and can set up a better turn
Left and right soft turns also look good – you can play with seeing how much earlier you can cue and leave with her.Push FC then wrap then push – really nice! She has great commitment and you had lovely timing especially on the push FC
Dig dig wrao looked great at :30, nice and early – she had a great turn and then the send on the jump 3 to the push on 4 also looked great!
Spin on 2 at :40 was not quite as nicely timed as the wrap at :30 🙂 You faced forward longer so she didn’t turn as well as she did when you rotated earlier. You can time it to be exactly the same timing and verbal, but add the BC after it instead of staying on the FC side. The send into the FC at :44 on jump 3 looked great again, nice commitment and timing!! It sets you up to be really ready for the push on 4 there.
At :51, this spin was similar to the one at :40, a little late. Interestingly, you used “go” on both of them when I think digdigdig would be the better verbal. The send at :54 on 3 set up a great line to the backside, her backside lines look great!
On the last rep at 1:02, you did a post turn instead of a spin on 2 – she liked the spin better 🙂 She was a little wide on 2 then looked at you because the post turn was a little later in showing where 3 was. Good to know that the spins make more sense ot her!
Wilder:
Yay for the hunting wabbits LOL!!
His backside push looked great!
And same as with Lit’t Bit, yo ucan say your dig cue on the backside wrap sooner – he was hearing it but was already at the jump, so try to get it in before he gets ot the backside wing.
His left and right timing will need to be earlier than Lit’l Bit’s is – he has more body to turn! Try to start those cues when he lands from 1 so he has more time to process them and turn.On the dig wrap at :31 – you can rotate sooner – at :32 as he was landing you were still facing forward so he read it more like a left cue than a wrap. Decelerating will help that too, and trusting his commitment more
When you did the switch there at :42, you can decel and give the dig sooner too – he can handle all of that info coming really early and that will help tighten up that wrap. And this might sounds nuts – but a blind at :43 instead of a front cross (after the switch) will be quicker and allow you to set up the send on 3 earlier too!The timing of your verbal dig and rotation a :53 was great! You cued it while he was maybe halfway between the jumps and fully rotated when he took off for 2, Yay! Great turn and made the send to 3 easier. I like the BC 3-4 there, you can also start that blind before he takes off- motion will support commitment there.
At 1:09, you were a little later on your dig dig timing of the verbal and rotation as compared to what you did at :53, so his turn was wider. I liked the timing at :53 so much!!!
He is really doing a great job of finding the backsides!I also really liked the timing of your switch-digdig on the last rep – you did it when he was about halfway between 1-2 and he committed and turned perfectly! I think he is doing a great job with his commitment so you can keep the timing of the cue as early as here and at :53 🙂
Sequences:
You are a brave soul to run at 6:30am!!! Anything to beat the heat!!Seq 1 – I think he broke his stay on this one and you had to scramble a bit, which you did! Nice job on the push to 4 and 6 – you can be more lateral on the push to 6 to you can get to the exit wing sooner as well. By going to the entry wing, you ended up a little behind there.
2nd rep was really nice!!! You had control of the start line and that made everything easier. Your push at 6 was further over by a couple of steps and it made things much easier on the exit.Seq 2:
Nice push to 3! You were about 2/3rds of the way across the backside bar and he got it! Nice job supporting him to come in on 3. You were actually too early on your switch cue at :44 – he hadn’t yet seen where 4 was so he was not sure which jump you meant.This sequence has more handling options to choose from – I think your idea of the switch on 4 is a good one as it might be shorter yardage and he certainly can make the turn nicely! He liked the 2nd run where you turned him to his left on 4 – nice turn and smooth! It had more yardage so it would be fun to compare which was faster!
Seq 3:
First rep – it looks like you went in a little too deep on jump 2 as you were doing the right, so he picked up the wrong line, You had a much better line on the 2nd rep there, staying more on takeoff side and giving him a stronger turn cue at 1:50 – nice!
When you repeated that again at 2:35 – I really liked the FC 2-3 and RC on the tunnel, it had more motion and he was faster!
At 1:59, you can start setting the RC 5-6 sooner. He looked up at you there, thinking you wanted a right turn because you were pulling that way (towards the side of the jump with the dog walk) – the RC info was a little late so he was on the center of the bar and turned on landing (might have touched the bar there too, I heard a tick but it is hard to tell for sure). So to set that line, you can actually get in closer to jump 4 and then stay closer to the wings as you drive up the line, so he will have mre motion and then see the RC pressure starting sooner. You got caught a bit laterally and a bit ahead so it was harder to show the info on the RC earlier.At 2:45, you handled close to the wings and easily got a blind cross! Nice! You can begin the actual cross sooner – as he lands from 4, you were in the perfect spot for it so you can just get the head turn element of it started. You were waiting til he got closer to 5 and he didn’t need yo uto wait there, he had it 🙂
On the ending line, you seemed concerned making sure he stuck with you, so it caused him to come in too tight and take the wrong end of the tunnel at 2:04 and then it was a little too controlled on the last rep. He semeed to be really driving the correct line, so I bet you can call him and keep moving – I don’t think he would flick away to the off course 2 jump? He seemed to be really watching the line of the motion.
Great job here! You were also really connected through all of these and that helped both dogs!!!
Tracy
Holy cow, he is doing so well Eileen! Yay, Ivan!!!
It is super fun when the dog is running that fast, with so much focus and showing off his great skills (as an aside, his a-frame is looking great because the speed is helping that too!!)Great job rewarding the opening line 🙂 He liked that – he LOVES the ball!!!
The 2 runs looked lovely :)The first run was a little bit better on the exit of the blind at 3 and and 6 because you made better connection with him (more eye contact and less arm – the eye contact sets the lines better). But you were hauling ass, scrambling, driving him – and not being careful at all 🙂 He appreciates that! Taking the risk and not trying to go clean are making a biiiiig difference 🙂 My only other tweak is that at the very end, throw the ball after he lands just to make sure he doesn’t kick the bar as he is driving for his prize.The 2nd training package has been posted, so you have new things to play with now 🙂 In these 2 weeks, I think we will continue to work for speed while gradually increasing the bars (very gradually because I want to protect the speed_ and also continue to surprise him with rewards spread out everywhere on course. Take a look at it on the Course Syllabus page and let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
She is doing really well here!!! I have little tweaks for you, really fine details because she is doing such mature work 🙂
First video – this is going well and I think the only thing to really focus on is seeing how early you can give the cues. Her commitment is really developing nicely, so you can work on an earlier transition into the wrap cues, to ideally be rotating before she is passing you. I believe she can handle this (see below :))
#5 – 1st rep – the wrap transition was a little too late on the spin on 2 so she slipped, then you were a little late on the 2nd one so the connection to the backside line didn’t quite get established.
But on the 2nd rep – you were earlier on the transitions, her turns were better and it set up a MUCH better connection on the last backside!! Nice!#6 – You were facing forward a little too long on the FC wrap here (rotation was late) on 2 which got you a little behind on the next one too.But on the 2nd rep – REALLY nice timing!!!! In particular, note your timing on the first wrap at 1:59 – you decelerated pretty early so as she was passing you, you were rotating away – she committed and had a stunning turn. That set up the next wrap to be really nice too! So, I believe she is ready for you to push your luck on how early you can turn: as long as you do it as a transition (fast, then decel, then rotate) rather than slamming on the brakes (fast then rotate), I believe she will continue to commit and also turn brilliantly.
Backside video – this is also going well – not an easy skill for a youngster! On the one jump games, try moving then releasing with the verbal, so the physical cue is in place before the release. When it all happens at once, she is assuming front side and didn’t always make the change. When you added the wing wrap, the physical cue was in play much earlier and she was great on your right side! You can add more lateral distance on that side, with you moving more towards the center of the bar.
For some unknown reason, it was much harder when she was on your left – hard to tell why, perhaps closer to the wall so adding pressure? You can help with emphasizing the extreme connection there – you were really connecting which is great – just be sure your opposite shoulder goes out ahead of your body, not back – that shoulder ahead (almost pointing to the wing!) will help 🙂Great job here!
TracyHi!
The wrap skills sets looked *awesome*!!! You did a great job on your transitions and look at how nice his turns were!!! Happy dance! You can slap on some wrap verbals now – you start them during the decel portion of the transition. And you will get even better turns when you run away so he chases you for the rewards 🙂 You did some of that and he really blasted back to you. You seemed a little more comfy doing these on your left than on your right, so exaggerate the decel on your right so it is just as clear as on your left.On the soft brake arm – 2 tweaks for you: do it a little sooner and do it more back to his nose. It can start just after he comes around the wing, and the arm position can be across your belly, close enough to feel your arm – you had it a little too extended away which might confuse him with a ‘get out’ arm we might add 🙂 I loved your different verbals!!! And he was definitely reading the soft brake arm and turning nicely – I think you will find it really helpful!!
Whn you balanced with the GO – you were close to the cone wrap and then moving laterally to get past the first jump, which is why he was thinking you wanted the jump on the first couple, but then he figured it out. Sending to the cone wrap from further away will help createa a straighter running path.Great job on these, I really like how he was turning!!! And yes, since he is doing so well at home, you can take it to bigger fields so there is more challenge because of the distances and speed 🙂
Tracy
Hi! He was a very good boy here and yes, you can be sloppier LOL!!! To isolate the hitting-of-the-wing, you can keep track of instances where it happens – type of turn, if you are late, etc – then we set it up deliberately at home and reward reward reward for him not touching the wing in those instances 🙂
T
Hi!
>>This “zig zag” happens quite often. Wilson always saves me, and still makes it over the 24″ monstrosity! But I’m not quite sure where you want me to be. Are you saying that I should be closer to the wing? You said to get “closer to the wrap”. Does that mean the wing on the take-off side? So don’t really hide the wing, but get close?
The to set crosses, you will need to run on the perfect path that you want him to take – the most perfect possible path any dog can take, really 🙂 So yes show the wing but then turn and run away on the path you want him to run – which, in that case, was closer to the wing. Happily, that perfect path is one of our topics for the 2nd training challenge package that is now live! It will help you sort out where to be and how to get rid of the zig zaggery 🙂
T
