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Hi! Great news that he had no trouble!!! And yes, a big dog like Cody needs us to protect him from slipping if he won’t protect himself LOL!! Being tall, he has a high center of gravity so he is more likely to slip.
THi! It sounds like we have a theme of stepping away when you want to drive to a specific spot or stay on the mouse line 🙂 you can bring an extra leash and lay it on your running path so you have a visual to help get in the habit. Or, you can use a jump bar to draw a line in the footing to give yourself the line to run. That can help build the habit of staying close with visual guides in the moment.
Thi! The email that came through about these says there was a vimeo post – did you switch over to YouTube or did I miss something? Let me know so I don’t miss anything 🙂
Da da da dat daaahhhh, I want to come train at your house so I can get trumpet in the background and sing along!!!!! Ha!!!!
The serpy threadle video looked good!! He was able to hold his stays with your arm up (that is actually pretty difficult!) and I agree, he drove to the toy better with your motion…but also committed correctly to the serp or threadle as cued. GOOD BOY! He turned a little better going to his left than to his right on these. I am not sure if he is stronger turning left or if he is more confidently driving directly to the toy on those left turns of the serp and threadle. When he was turning right, he was coming in beautifully but waiting for permission to get the toy longer rather than going right to it. So, you can just give him his get it cue sooner when turning to his right to affirm that yes, he has permission to go directly to it 🙂
Since this is going well, the next thing to add is more motion: fast walking for now. And I bet you will be able to get your motion to a job and then a run within a few sessions.
Turn And Burn: whoa, bendy!!!! He is leading with his head through those turns (maybe goes back to clicking the head turn a few months ago?). He is doing a great job of setting up his turn so he can be super tight but also NOT touching the wing (yessss) and driving around. After the first couple of reps where he was sorting out the wing, he got faster and faster heading to it and really bending. That last rep was spectacular!!! I think you can do the rocking horses on 2 wings now – take a rep or two to transfer the concept to both wings with a cookie for each, then try the FCs and see how it goes!!!
Great job 🙂
TracyHi! Using his name on those helped set him up for success – that was totally the right choice! I think when he was heading towards the prop, he perceived it as being on his line enough that he should take it. Good boy! So moving away to make it most definitely not on his line was totally the right choice too 🙂 When it was too much on his line (like on the last rep) you helped by opening your shoulders, kind of like a little threadle LOL! He read that nicely, but from the camera angle I could understand his argument that the prop was close enough to be on his line (he didn’t have to really lead change or diverge away to get it).
Well done on the get out reps: your timing and mechanics looked great, he had no trouble. Yay! Looked beautiful. So on the next session when you re-visit this game – start him further away from the prop so the get out is a big distance away: partially to add challenge to the get out, partially so the ‘follow the momma’ moments are very clear as compared to the get out moments. And – I bet you can add more speed (jogging, running) to both 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! This is going really well!! He was happy to do whatever it took to get the magic ball LOL!
His commitment is looking really strong. Yay! And the turn and burn elements also look great. The forward sending on the rocking horses looked pretty perfect. As you add the rotated sends, you can make it feel less bizarro 🙂 by decelerating and shifting into the sideways/backwards sends as he is passing you. I think you were trying to go fast then send backwards, which makes getting into position really hard and ends up feeling like you have to slam on the brakes. And that is why he looked at you on those. So, you can slow down (while moving forward) then rotate – the rotation won’t be as early, but that is fine because the decel is an important part of the cue to commit & turn, and then the rotation will feel soooooo much smoother and less weird 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense! He is doing really well, so you can add more distance between the 2 obstacles 🙂T
Hi! I am glad you got a vacation in!!!! And a break is GREAT for dog training – the dog and human both come back refreshed and happy to get back to work 🙂 No need to rush to catch up, we have *plenty* of time in this course to let the puppies really blossom 🙂
I love that he was happy to get back to training, the woo woo must have been so cute!Onwards to videos!
Turn and Burn: This is going well! The one big thing is… you are too exciting 🙂 Ha! Bearing in mind that whippets have a super strong chase instinct, when you did the really loud YES and started to run when he was not finished, he got excited and chased your party 🙂 So it wasn’t the timing of you leaving, it was the excitement level. Welcome to Team Chill (I am a founding member haha) where we have to pretend we are calm until the dog makes it all the way around. Now, you can leave pretty early in terms of making the FC and moving away when he is halfway around – but be quiet and smooth and maybe a little slow (for now). When he finishes the wrap even with you leaving, that is when you can turn on the big yes and the running and excitement. He got better and better as the session progressed and you did a great job of reminding him of the value with the tossed treats at the exit! So you won’t need to be a member of Team Chill forever, just for now 🙂 You are probably used to being super high energy with your RR but staying calmer for now will help him. Let me know if that makes sense 🙂Serp game: super awesome!!!!!! I am impressed with the accuracy for your cookie throws LOL!! In the first part, when he was coming to your right hand – pretty darned perfect. In the second part, when he was coming to your left – not as perfect but I think that had more to do with the cookie throw ending him on a threadle line, so he was offering a threadle behavior (smart dog!). You fixed it by altering your cookie throw and then he was fine. It was hard to tell if he was turning back out to the ready treat before you clicked it or if the click was creating it: on the first part, I think he was turning himself back out but on the 2nd part, I think the click was creating the turn out. it is all good though, because you can now delay the click a heartbeat until he turns towards the ready treat… the click it to reward the turning back out of the in-then-out chain. And if he is fine with that (and I think he will be), then you can add motion: I posted the video on Saturday with motion added. When you add motion, *definitely* be on Team Chill, motion is hard for pointy dogs LOL!!!
Rocking horses also looks great! He is bending his body really nicely! Little details to consider:
As you finish the FC, hold your arm back a little further to make a very direct eye contact, before you indicate the next wrap. That will help him find the correct side of you to be on when we add more speed 🙂 Think of it as a moment of connection before the send, no need to send to the next one until you know he is coming to the side you want him on.
2 ideas for you to build on this:
First, with the 2 poles nice and close like this – add in a toy. At first, maybe just have the toy present, in a pocket or hand, and all the reward is with food. Then you can build to tugging before the game (with food rewards) and then eventually it can all be done with tugging 🙂 This is to help him understand how to commit and wrap even when he is more excited/stimulated! I use this progression to teach high drive dogs to focus on “work” and not slam me or bite me or bark at me LOL!
Second, separately from the toy: start to add more distance between your poles, so he can go faster 🙂 You can move more too.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I love your enthusiasm when she gets it right here – very affirming and FUN!!!!
Nice job on this. Her regular tunnel send looks great, of course – that is easy for her now 🙂 The tunnel threadle (I think you were saying ‘far’) is going nicely too, she is thinking about it more but getting it right. I wonder if the hand cue is a bit too low and strong, stronger than she needs for now? It was a bit of a stop sign so she didn’t seem sure if she should go past it. When you softened it and moved it out of the way a bit at approx :51 and the last rep – she was MUCH faster going to the tunnel. Now, that could have also been because she was really getting the hang of the game 🙂 but you can also play with a higher, softer hand cue – she listens really well so we probably don’t need anything more than the verbal and slightly different visual.
As the session progressed, your feet were facing forward more and more which also really helped. Yay! I think she is ready for you to add challenge in 2 ways:
First, a bit more motion – run to the end of the tunnel so you can move forward on the threadle cue a little faster 🙂
Second, if more motion goes well – you can move forward until she makes the independent decision to turn away (and then you can have the big party) – that will build to allowing you to threadle and trust her independence while you just get outta there on course 🙂
Great job!!!!
TracyGood morning! Perfect timing on the serp video! She is doing a great job on finding these serp lines, and you are staying in motion forward (rather than rotating towards her with your feet): perfect!!!! My only suggestion has to do with your upper body on that serp jump in the middle of the line. You were turning a bit forward so your shoulders were perpendicular to the serp jump as she was coming to it, and it didn’t cause any issues here but it can cause trouble when there is more speed in the heat of the moment, or when you are farther away (or not as far ahead). Ideally, as you run forward (your running line here was perfect), you would rotate your upper body back towards the serp jump a little, so you were kind of facing it – shoulders parallel to the bar, rather than perpendicular. That will help cue the inland out of the serp and the next jump from all position on course. Open up the center of your chest to the center of the bar, dog-side arm back behind… but only enough that you can keep your feet perfectly forward like they were here. Let me know if that makes sense! Great job!
TracyHi!
>>Seq 1 – 3 things
1. I have to say my least favorite opening was running in for the BC 2-3. I much preferred to stay on the inside line of the tunnel to cue either the RC or the wrap R. My tunnel has a bit of water on the openings and I think he slipped or something. I dried it up after that happened.>>Agree about the BC 2-3! I found it was difficult to get all the pieces in on time and I much preferred the left turn on a RC at 3. The right turn is nice but not as fast as the left turn.
>>2. I did see him check in with me as he exited 4….however, when I thought about what “GO” means out of a tunnel and the fact I wanted a left turn at the next jump…I felt as if saying “go” would give him too much extension and then have to put the brakes on for the left turn or else he would land long and then turn left. So I didn’t say anything. If I had said his name he would have come out of the tunnel and looked at me anyway…so what is the best verbal here?>>
Because he is young, part of this is experimenting to see what works best. Bear in mind that the GO verbal would happen before the tunnel entry to tell him what to do on the tunnel exit (but not on 5) – so it could be the right choice and should not change what happens on 5 – because as he exits the tunnel looking straight, you can then cue the turn on 5. A name call for some dogs is helpful in that they know where you are so they don’t have to look for you.
>>3. 6-7 jumps…I looked at 6 as a wrap because he was taking it and coming back to me…it’s not a 90 degree turn so I didn’t think using “left” was good…initially I just said “jump” and then I changed it to “tight”. In my mind his path from 5-6-7 is pretty much a U turn so that would mean “tight” to me.>>
One thing that might help know which verbal to use where is to exactly define the turn in relation to the jump (and not in relation to you or the handling you are using). For example – my wrap cues all ask the dog to come back across the plan of the jump they just took, so the are wrapping the wing and passing the plane of the wing again on the exit. My left/right cues ask the dog to turn tightly enough that they end up running parallel to the jump they just took but *not* coming all the way back past the plane of the jump. The dog is coming towards me on both cues but exactly what happens relative to the jump is very different. That can help clarify which cue is needed and when.
>>Seq 2
1. line 4-5-6 By the time I push him to the backside which I don’t feel like I would get without pushing in on the line 4-5…then I don’t see how I would get to the gap 5-6 without some movement parallel to 5…I feel life if I moved in a diagonal line between 4 and 6, he wouldn’t stay out for the backside…does that make sense what I’m describing?>>You can be a bit further away from the line laterally on the backside push, running towards center of the bar – which makes it much easier for your first step to be a convergence step. Teaching him to stay out (and cuing it with connection) is part of the skill. And even if you end up closer to the entry wing, you can still converge into the next line, stepping towards the exit wing as you head for the gap. So you are parallel but then you step into the convergence. And using a strong, connected upper body cue to get the backside will help you set up the convergence more easily.
>>2. Do you remember early in the summer we had a course and I was trying to lead out pretty far and also laterally and move in on the line before releasing him and it did not work well. I was kind of thinking about that for the opening on this sequence. If I start out more lateral, would he take jump 2. I also feel as though I never did do the BC and get out of his way quick enough…he had to veer slightly around my feet to get to jump 4. Hence why I felt more comfortable with the RC on the flat even though it wasn’t the most efficient way. I know myself and if I were at a trial, I would not risk the BC…that’s not to say I shouldn’t practice them to feel more confident about them.>>
I think his understanding of parallel lines has grown a lot so it is worth a try! It is an incredibly useful skill. You can run this sequence clean on a RC in the opening, but you will encounter courses at trials where it is really hard to do that and the BC has a tremendous advantage. So it is worthwhile to get commitment to 2 with you moving parallel on a lateral line (and you can reward his commitment with a thrown toy :))
>>Seq 3
1. I guess I tried the spin because I did the sends on seq 1. However, I didn’t realize the spin was so late….>>Trying the spin is good, to see if it has an advantage! The decel has to start as he is landing/making a takeoff decision so that you can then be rotating and leaving before takeoff.
>>2. RC on jump 7 – should I drive closer to the jump? Do I need to be saying something before he exits the tunnel?
You can call him as an attention cue before he enters the tunnel – I don’t think you need to get closer to the jump, but a bit more decel after he exits to cue the tight turn and attention on your hands to flip him away will tighten it up a bit.
>>Do you think he is good on the 12″ jumps for all scenarios now? Is there and grid work you think might be helpful to revisit?
I think he looked great on the jumps! He might need lower bars on some scenarios (threadles, for example, or maybe backside wraps) so if you see him questioning anything, you can drop the bar back down for a moment. I think you can revisit the balance grid (5 jumps, super low bars) to keep him in balanced form now that he is running courses) as well as the striding grid (3 low jumps then one full height jump, at different striding distances). Also, sometimes the zig zag grid but at a low height. You can whip these out maybe once a week or every 10 days, on days where he isn’t doing any other jumping. Now that he is at full height and running courses, it is extra important to limit the # of jumps he does 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
TracyHi! Great question! I use a directional cue or attention cue of some sort of the approach to the obstacle (usually a jump) before the tunnel threadle – I think that is probably where you use the sprinkler (or any appropriate directional), so I totally agree with that 🙂 Since we aren’t using a jump before the tunnel yet, you can save that for when we add a wing to this (which we will be doing :))
About “here-tunnel”: I have defined my threadle cues to include the commitment to the obstacle. So, “Close” (jump threadle slice) means “come in and then go back out to take the jump” so I don’t say “close-jump”. Same with the tunnel: Tunnel means ‘stay on your line to the obvious tunnel entry’ and ‘kisskisskiss’ means “come in and automatically take the other end of the tunnel” so I don’t need to say “kiss-tunnel” (although that would be funny LOL!!)Part of my reasoning behind that is to train more of a default/automatic commitment so the dogs don’t have to wait on my timing, they can just go and I can just get outta there.
The other part is that if we say ‘tunnel’ at the wrong time, they might pick up the wrong tunnel entry! I’ve certainly done that, oopsie! So, the 2 completely separate cues have clarified that and helped eliminate any questions.
I am not sure what H360 is doing lately in terms of adding the tunnel word after the threadle word? I don’t think it is wrong to add it… I just think it is easier and faster to NOT have to use it 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense 🙂 I am taking the dogs to the vet this morning so I will be watching the videos later today 🙂
Tracy
It is funny how one area of ‘out’ can change so many things! I am grateful that you had a chiro appointment today and got him sorted out!!!!!!!! yay!! A bit of rest then back at it 🙂
T
Hi! Lots of really good work here!!! So much great connection and good handling choices. The comments below focus on the little details that can help make it feel smooooooother and easier 🙂 while eliminating the little bloopers.
Sequence 1:
Run 1On the exit of 2 heading to 3: your rotation is too early, you were rotated before he exited the tunnel so he never saw a commitment cue (forward motion then decel is the commitment cue). You can move into it so he can see the commitment cues in the transition.
2nd rep – he fell or something in the tunnel at the exit, that made the rotation too early but he still committed. You held your position to help that. Nice!
On the exit of 4, I think he needed a little bit of a verbal, either a go verbal or something so he doesn’t hesitate on the exit – he looked for you there and slowed down.
Add a little more connection on the landing of 6 at :23 and be closer to the line to tighten it up and less motion to 7 – good send and leave at 7!!You added more connection at :33, it already looked better 🙂
3rd rep – turning right on 3- nice transition into it! It is hard to compare to rep 2’s opening because he fell a little on rep 2, which adds time.
4-5 at :53 – probably too much outside arm for a soft brake on the left cue, it was up the whole way from the exit of the tunnel – so when he exits, you can be running forward then as you decel/cue the left, you can added a soft brake. His turn was generally good on 5, so I don’t think you need an extra cue there.
Nice connection landing of 6 at :57!
Nice send and leave at 7!4th rep – you did the RC on 3 here and I timed it to be a tiny bit (.04) faster than the wrap to the right. He was not powering through it as much here because you were very decelerated – to get it even faster, you can lead out less so he is driving 1-2 with more speed and then exits with more speed – then you can decel and set up the RC. That will be very fast!
At 1:13 I liked your position on the line the best of the reps so far. One thing to think about here – you are saying tight for the left turn on 6 and you also say it for the wraps (like the exit of 7)… it might get confusing for him to have it attached to 2 different behaviors.
At 1:15 you sent and left without a connection so he pulled the rail, as compared to :58 where you left with connection and he was fine over the bar.Seq 2: I think the main thing on this sequence is to cue more laterally away and with more connection, so it is easy to get to the next spot on course.
1st rep – remember to cue with connection 🙂 You said jump and moved away with no connection, so he thought you were doing a blind cross. Also, it will be easier to get commitment if you lead out a little less and move into it.
2nd rep – much better connection and motion on the 1-2 line! You can do this more laterally on a parallel line, so it is easier to get to the BC 3-4 on time.
The 4-5 line (backside at 5) is another place to cue with connection – you were looking forward at 5 and not back at him so he took the wrong side. You fixed it at :16 by staying at the entry wing longer and showing more motion to it… but that made you late for the convergence at 6.
At :27 you were definitely more laterally away so you got to a much better spot to push to 6!
On that push at :29 – the convergence/push here should start before he takes off for 5, but him seeing your feet/motion moving to the gap between 5 and 6 and eyes on his eyes. This should all be happening as he rounds the entry wing of 5 (before takeoff). You were 2 strides late and started showing it as he was over the bar, so he couldn’t adjust til after he landed.3rd rep – the RC on the flat to 4 at :39 works nicely but I think it adds a lot more yardage as compared to the blind (it is definitely slower).
At :42 – try to not take any steps parallel to the bar at 5, only move forward to the gap so he sees the convergence the whole time as he gets to the entry wing (you started it as he was in the air here so he could only adjust after landing).
4th rep – you set a nicer line on the RC at 4 at :58! Yay! Still a little slower than the BC.
At :59 you were MUCH closer to the bar at 5 which really helped – but you did take those parallel steps. I think that position near the bar plus getting your feet directly into the gap will make it perfect!Seq 3: no worries about jump 7 🙂 It gave us the chance to compare the front side decisions to see which way was faster!
1st run (video 1) – really nice!!! Nice connection and lines throughout, especially the 4-5 serp! 2 little details for you: I don’t think you need a spin on the 5 jump – you can decel as he is landing from 4, send to 5 and leave. That will get you out of there really quickly and also allow you to cue the turn sooner – you started the spin as he was taking off, so it didn’t really help the turn.
He had a little question on the switch at 7 (went wide and had trouble jumping it because he was trying to change his line at the last minute): you can set that RC line sooner by decelerating/getting on the RC diagonal right after he exits the tunnel)2nd video – another nice opening, yay! Same thoughts on the spin at 5 here as with the first run – I think a send and leave will work really nicely if you decel as he lands then leave – you can try starting the spin sooner so he sees it before he takes off – that can also give you a better idea of if it helps or not (right now it is starting after he takes off).
Turning him right on the 7 jump worked pretty nicely – I think a little more decel, a little sooner can tighten it up a bit more. I timed the difference between the right wrap FC here and the left wrap RC on the previous video – the right wrap FC is barely faster here… which is good to know because the turn on the left wrap RC was pretty wide! If you can tighten up that turn to the left, it will definitely be faster 🙂Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyKeep me posted! It could just be a passing thing – a wrong step or he got himself a little dehydrated and was ‘off’. Rest is always the first answer 🙂
I am sure Jen has a lot of ideas for the lead change work. The running a-frame is complex indeed!!!T
Good morning!
Yes, they are slightly wicked courses in that “lull you into a false sense of security” way hahaha!!! But in general, you did a great job. There were one or two hard parts but the overall flow looked great!
Course 1:
Run 1: You can give a little more connection on push to 3. When he landed from 2, you looked forward as you pushed to 3. Try to look him right in the eyes – that connection really helps with the backside sends In training, if it goes wrong – you can do a quick fix-it in the moment by re-cuing the backside, reward, then start over. As you push to 3, try to be further away from the entry wing so you can get to the blind sooner and out of the way of his landing spot – he is polite about waiting for you, but we don’t want to make him wait 🙂A couple of little details:
On tunnel 6 at :41 – give your verbal and start the turn before he enters so he can already be turning on the exit.
On the 8-9 line at :49
stay more open on the backside serp at 8 and talk to him, you were a little disconnected so he guessed and pushed himself back out to the other side of 9 (he was being an over-achiever LOL!)2nd run – this was a more connected moment in the opening resulting in a better send to 3, you were further away at 1:17 and got through the blind faster. Nice!
Other little details here:
I think he will be fine if you commit him to the a-frame and leave – you were a little careful on the 10-11-12 section so he wasn’t sure and slowed down 12-13 at 1:38Good threadle after the weaves at 1:42! Nice job keeping your feet facing forward! I bet he doesn’t even need you to move away from the 15 jump, you can probably maintain your line and just turn your upper body there and he will get it. It set up a nice ending line!
Course 2:
Run 1 – nice opening! A little more connection 4 to 5 will get him to move to the backside a 5 sooner so you can move away sooner too.
Nice weave entry! Spot on!On the 7 jump (backside) after the weaves – you were a tiny bit in the way when he landed. It was a good choice of line, so you can send to the entry wing from more across near the exit wing to get one or two steps further ahead. Or, if he will stay in the weaves, out run him and do a forced FC or BC on the takeoff side, which will also put you further ahead for the a-frame tunnel discrimination. a forced FC or BC will also need a FC or BC on the exit of 7 to get him on your left, but that is a skill that you totally have.
I guess he saw the off course tunnel solidly on his line instead of the a-frame! You also used high energy exciting forward cues, which might have propelled him to it. An attention cue on the approach to jump 9 (I generally use the dog’s name) and then maybe a ‘right’ cue plus an arm change can get his attention off the tunnel there.
Run 2: another nice opening! I think you did a really nice job of sending to 7 at 2:53 from further away so you were all the way past the wing when he landed – he powered out nicely there!
On the tunnel-a-frame: you did a strong COME COME then scramble, but he had already come in too far and took the other end of the tunnel.
On the redo – you were REALLY terrific at 3:05 sending to 7 and getting WAY ahead!
A 3:09, another come come scramble got the tunnel – I think part of it is that you were turning your shoulders fully forward, so it is pulling him in too much there (plus the strong come verbals)
You got it at 3:35, yay! It looks like you were a little closer to the a-frame and that helps. Looking at your line there, being closer helps for sure – and I think his name plus and opposite arm (kind of like a threadle arm) can allow you to be moving in close to the frame while also pulling him off the outside tunnel entry.
Great job on the backside after the frame and the convergence immediately to the next backside! Your feet were pointing right into the gap and he nailed it, allowing you to get to the blind. You can start that blind as soon as you see his head turn towards the backside to make it even smoother. Nice connection on the exit of the blind!
Lovely ending line – that blind is really nice between 16-17!!So the only really hard part on course 2 was that darned discrimination – that is a matter of being like Goldilocks and knowing which cue is too hot (the first run) and too cold (come come scramble) and just right 🙂 The rest looked really strong!
Well done! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
