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Hi!
>>Ohh this rehearsal lessons made me tear up. I know I sound like a broken record but it’s just so nice working with you and having your knowledge/insight!>>
Aw thanks! The rehearsal lessons can be a pain in the butt, but they really take everything up a level in terms of being able to run the dogs.
>>I really undervalue the importance of walkthroughs with practice because I learn best by doing. I always have. I need a lot of reps to learn. In PA school learning anatomy, I’d have to write things over and over again. I’d have to pull up every cadaver to see the variations of structures because I can’t picture it.>>
This is good to know in many ways: you are already well-practiced and successful with rehearsals, and you have a system that does not rely on visual memory. Perfect! So you need to work out the system in the walk throughs too, because it will make all the difference. I think having the written map or video taping your walk throughs can help!
..I’m very lucky that Callie is my first agility dog because she can handle high reps. However, Fever is not a fan. I also was working with someone when he was young who was very unflexible to our needs.>>
I think that Callie’s way of not handling high reps is that she has variable speeds. And that is a bummer about not having someone be flexible!
>>I do need to remember to use my words. My initial agility instructor was anti verbals so I lost them for awhile. Having helped me add them back- now I have too many. But it’s made Callie much more confident in running also!>>
Yeah, we were all anti-verbals for a while – the Derrett system (where I started out) and the OMD system were all VERY anti-verbal for a while. But times have changed, thankfully 🙂
>>I do shadow handle at trials. That my marker for whether I know I can stop walking. If I can’t shadow handle it, It hasn’t been learned.
Add another marker: are you winded? Do you feel like you have just run it? That is your marker to know if you have worked the dog’s pace or not. That was one thing missing on your walkthroughs here: dog’s pace. I can do an 8 minute walk through and know the course… but it doesn’t mean I can run the dog if I have not worked the dog’s pace. When I did the demos for the videos here, it was 90 degree out and I had to run, and I was indeed winded LOL!!! But the courses ran well with the baby dogs, because of the extra rehearsal.
>> I have been struggling with the AKC courses that have multiple pinwheels in the middle- which seems to be really popular with some judges 🤷♀️.
Yep, it is a thing for sure! You can work having landmarks, that might help!
>>
This is a very interesting suggestion and thank you! I’ve never explored this personally in learning. I know that I have strong emotions tied to some scents so it’s definitely worth exploring. I feel like I’d need to read more to understand how to fully implement this.>>We know that smell is one of the strongest memory triggers (if not THE strongest) so simple pairing works: smell the smell during the walk through. And to re-ignite the memory, smell it again when you are getting ready to run.
>>How do you handle rehearsing speed for dogs that have a variable motor. This more so happens with Callie but Fever too. Do you plan for the run to be fast?
I plan for fastest possible dog, plus also plan for major connection so I can change things if I see the dog is in a different spot. Lots of verbals also helps jazz up the dogs.
T
Hi there!
Nice work with both dogs here!!Emmie’s runs: She looks fabulous!
One thing to consider is turning her to her right over jump 1 rather than to her left – it is a better exit line to the right, less collection on the landing spot, and probably same or shorter yardage: so very well could be faster 🙂The 2-3-4-5 section looked lovely!! You can gauge your line a bit and not always get too far ahead: you ended up a bit too far past the line at ;10 and :30 for the BC 6-7, so she was wide there based on your position. The ideal position/line of motion is right on her line, close to the 6 and 7 jumps, so you can stick closer to 5 and then decel a little into 6-7 to get the perfect turn.
That 7 jump is a decision making jump: You did the BC to the outside slice there – it was really good at :13 and even better at :31!! If you play with this again, a good comparison would be FC there instead of the blind (to see if there is a time difference or advantage to one move over the other) and also the inside wrap to her left: that is a better exit line and shorter yardage, so definitely worth it to see if it is faster!
That 9-10-11 section is tricky 🙂 What was happening was that you were showing too much lateral motion plus indicating ahead at the jump rather than connected back to her at :16 and :55 and 1:05 to get the backside of 11 (so she took the front). I think you had a better line at :36 but you had to step back to the entry wing of 10, and ended up getting caught on the serp line of that jump which cued her to land in extension (ideally you would be moving past the exit wing on the takeoff side, as she is taking off) and then disconnected as you cued the tunnel (looking forward) so she didn’t know which side to be on at :36 also at :47 (more eye contact and also less lateral motion across the bar there will really help).
You can really see it at :46 when she lands: the motion and cue were parallel the bar rather than forward to the tunnel, so she lands wide and in that moment after landing she sees your line of motion to the tunnel. The connection is not super strong so she is confused and goes for the toy when she ends up on the other side of you. Compare it to 1:09, where you had a better line and a MUCH better connection and she got it 🙂So, ideas to make it easier:
To handle from the landing side, you can run a more parallel line into it so when she lands from 9, you are moving forward to the tunnel and setting up a parallel path entry to the backside so you can both cue the backside and also pass the exit wing with connection to the tunnel without showing any slice/extension. You would set that up from the exit of 7 by sending more to 8 and 9 so you are moving more towards the 11 jump and 12 tunnel the whole time, so there is little or not lateral movement on your line.
The other option there, since you were able to get pretty far ahead, is to do a forced front or forced blind on the takeoff side (you had time to get there) and a throw back exit for a tight turn on the exit to the tunnel. I think that might be easier for you because it keeps you in motion the whole time!
This is another spot where you can also play with wrapping 10 on the entry wing but I think the slice will be faster overall.The rest looked REALLY strong, particularly the send-and-go elements that allowed you to both get great turns AND get the BC in to show the line to the weaves! NICE! She responds to the send and go moments sooooo nicely!
Kippy also looked terrific!
You can also consider going to the right on jump 1 with him, he was wide on the left turn based on your position so the right turn might be dramatically faster. He tends to really explode out of tunnels, so remember to call him before he enters the tunnel so he is tighter on the exit to 3 (especially on the first run – he was great on the 2nd run but I think it was because he already saw where he was going 🙂
Send and go at 5 looked good! He read it really well! Same as with Emmie, you line was a little wide on the 6-7 BC at :09 and :26, so you can run closer to 5 and then decel into 6-7 and stick nearer to the jumps to set up a better turn. (You can also play with t he left wrap at 7 to see which is faster 🙂 )
You had a little blooper at :13 on 7, I think you might’ve forgotten the line for a heartbeat, no worries.He read 9-10-11 really well the first time! I think it went better than with Emmie because your line getting to 10 and to 11 was better – the big acceleration across the bar did get him thinking it was a slice turn at 10, so use more of a parallel path to get down that line rather than lateral motion should help. Or, run to the takeoff side for a forced front or forced blind 🙂
Also a nice ending line! You had to do some serious hustle to get the BC before the weaves -I think you went too close to 14 at :36 then you had a footrace to get back – BC was a little late but you got it and he nailed the rest.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyOh crud about the older device!!!!! I did a short video on my oldest device that hasn’t been updated in eons. I am importing the videos differently, that might be why? Here is a short video showing where I find my 3 dots in an older version of iMovie.
Do you have an iPhone? This can also be done on iPhone, I believe
Tracy
Good morning!
The skills sets are interesting to watch – there is nothing tricky at all about the actual dog path or handling… but those dang obstacles in the way change the picture entirely! It is such a common trend on course right now, though, that we have to address it. He seemed to share my opinion of it: it is annoying to have to go around all that stuff LOL!!! It seemed like he barked more than usual but maybe not?
He did have questions and was zig zagging a little. Part of that was the question of “why are we running past this perfectly fine tunnel, human??” And that is a valid question. As he sees more of this, he will find it less annoying (he was already improving in this one session!)
The other part is that if you were too vague with the verbals or your dog side arm was parallel to you too much, he couldn’t quite see the line. When you said “come jump” rather than just jump, he seemed to find that very helpful! So earlier directional then obstacle names will smooth it out a lot. And when you are ahead, a way to exaggerate the connection without slowing down will be to have your dog side arm with fingers pointed back and down to his nose and elbow locked by your ribs (not extended away at your shoulder) – that should let him see the connection better without losing any of your foot speed.
Plus, the more we show him this, the better he will read it – and hopefully on real courses, the obstacles won’t be as close together as we have them here in the skills sets (hopefully LOL!)The threadle wrap is going well! On the last rep – you did have an arm flick but your lower body kept moving forward at a good pace and I think that was really effective. You can keep a bit of arm flick as long as the lower body doesn’t change pace and doesn’t turn to face the jump (that will look like a slice cue). On the 2nd to last rep where he didn’t take the jump, I think you had a sudden acceleration – and that overrode the upper body and verbal because the threadle wrap cue is relatively new. A steadier pace helps – plus one bonus to the threadle wrap is that it gets you waaaaaaaay ahead, so there is time to be patient and not rush through the line there.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Both dogs did well here! I think Kaladin did especially well with the tug toy! Yes, they are still looking up at yu before executing the threadle wrap – I think it is because it is still a new cue and they are processing it. It is a cue with not a whole lot of physical cue support and also a bit opposite of what the lower body is telling them: so I think they are just taking a moment to check. That is fine, you’ll see them get more and more fluent as they see this more. The little sequences balancing front versus back looked great!
One thing that helped both dogs was when you were laterally a bit further away from the jump on the threadle wrap – moving to a more lateral position gave the verbal and arm cues more physical support! And on the reps where they missed, I think they physical line/position was straighter and less lateral when they made the decision after coming around the barrel. So, keep staying lateral (which is also how we are seeing these in the context of courses!)
Min is beginning to look VERY fluent with them on both sides, which is great with the UKI event coming up soon!
About driving ahead – I agree that the dogs do better with the handler at least parallel to the wing or slightly ahead of it (not too far ahead, not too far behind). It is unlikely we will even need this when we are way ahead – but being behind is a possibility. So going back to the initial setup where you were not moving, change your position for the cue on just the wing to being increasingly further back from it. Using just the wing to start will reduce the chance of errors as you change the variable of position, and taking out motion will also help. Stay a bit lateral so they have room to get past you. Then, add in motion and the bar, both gradually coming back in with you being not ahead (a stay or a cookie toss is a good way to start, but without a longer lead out).I think you will find opportunities to use these in the courses in Pack 4 and the sequences and courses in pack 5 – I don’t think Kaladin needs to see a lot of this in course (we want the baby dogs to take the thing in front of them!) but trying them with Min will be useful, even if you think you can get to other options.
Great job here!!
TracyHi! He did well here!!!
>>Biggest distraction was his Nemo which I had left on the dogwalk middle section back by the phone so it was up in the air staring at him as he was doing his 180. >>
Yes, that was hard for him – you can train that separately to be able to reward when he passes it (have a friz or meatball hidden on you). For figuring out his timing and pace and needs on course, it will be easier to run with Nemo in your hand 🙂
>>I really overestimated his speed in the tunnel for the walk through.
I think you were doing something a lot of us do: cue a send or finish a cross, then immediately look forward. That gets us too far ahead in the timing/pace because the dog actually has to do the yardage and doesn’t magically appear ahead of us LOL!! Guilty of that here for sure. We tend to not do that with our adult dogs, because we are more used to their timing – but it really throws things off with the young dogs. So as you walk the courses, remind yourself to watch your invisible dog enter and exit the tunnel, and that he is still behind you after a blind cross, etc. That will put you at a pace that is more realistic.
Other than staying connected to the actual line behind you for longer, my only other suggestion is to get more to the takeoff side of the wrap jump at the end s he can tighten the turn a bit and also have a tighter line to the last jump (small detail). Everything else looked good!!! Your experience with Tari and Min will transfer really nicely to Kaladin 🙂
Other than for his Finding Nemo moments (understandable!), I think he ran really well! Your choices and connection looked great. The volume dial warm up was also great, he was speedy and turned really well too! The pace threw you off a little (partially because of the toy distraction) but that will get easier with more practice.
>>but went straight into decision making since those 7 or 8 min go by so quickly.
Ain’t THAT the truth! LOL!
>>I also often run out to the middle of the course to get ahead of the crowd.
Same here! I always wonder why everyone starts at 1 LOL!
Great job here! I think he would be fine doing more of this with the full sequences!
TracyHi!
Good work on all of these courses! Some of the distances were a little tighter, on purpose, so we can look at the lines/timing you might be seeing on course during AKC weekends. I think there were no really major things of concern on any of these: just little details of timing, verbal and position.Course 1: This ran really well, just a couple of small details:
I thought you had a nice lead out push on 1-2-3 but he did not turn well. This opening mirrors the opening of the Standard course you posted on July 28, so I looked back at what worked best on that opening – the front crosses. So I think moving into a FC might get a better turn here? You can move away sooner on your lead out push here but I do think he will read the FC better.
2-3 he didn’t turn well despite good info (what did he do on the stnadard course? )You might call him more than he needs on these courses, getting too much looking at you. An exanple is right before the straight tunnel #7 – you called him at :21 and you can just give tunnel cues there.
>>Looking at the video, I should have hustled to get further across the bar on the #12 serp.>>
Yes, that will help! But also you can start the come here verbals sooner, before as soon as he looks at 11, to draw him back to you faster.
Course 2 also ran well!!!
I think the main area for improvement is the opening: in run 1, the 1-2-3 line was very zig zaggy based on his line up and your position. You can set him up on a slice for 1 (not square to it) and position yourself for the release closer to the line (closer to 2) so it is more of a serp and be moving as he lands from 1: you were stationary and far from 2, so he jumped towards you.
Run 2 had much better line up position so 1-2 was virtually straight which is good! You can add more of a serp position on 2 will get a nice line 2-3 as well – and since you would be leading out less and moving more, it will actually be easier to leave to show the line to the weaves (rather than needed to step him to 3 after he is turning towards you over 2)On the exit of the tunnel before the weaves, this is also a place you can call his name less so he doesn’t look at you – he is doing really well with his turns on tunnel exits! So as long as he can see your position before he enters, you don’t need to control the exit as much.
That section 6-9 does have a ton of options! You ran a FC 6-7 here, which makes getting the switch to 8 harder because there is not as much time to finish then decelerate into th eswitch at 8 (or do a BC or FC 7-8. The line was bettr on the 2nd run at 1:00, but the left cue was late because the FC takes a while to finish. You can probably do the FC while he is still weaving and see if it makes it easier to show the decel at 7!
He was wide from 10-11, especially on the first run – it was a really subtle detail that he was reading correctly: you gad a really good push to 10 but then you ran a parallel line to his landing line to 1.. and he almost took 11 as a backside at :27 because that is what the parallel line of motion supported. You turned more and sooner at 1:06, but he still had a “front or back?” question about 11. So, even though I am don’t love a lot of spins: this might be a good spot for a spin exit to tighten up 10-11 and also turn your feet to the next line sooner.
The rest looked lovely, just one tiny detail (but since he is very competitive, the tiny detail can be 3/10ths on the clock and the difference between 1st and 5th):
you can cue a tight exit of the last tunnel with a hand cue into the exit, but you gotta get outta there sooner 🙂 he had to hesitate at :36 to wait for more info. I am not sur that he needs that hand cue: I think he saw where you were before he entered 16 so you didn’t need the additional hand cue. You definitely left sooner at 1:13 and it looks like he did not have to hesitate there, smoother line to the end!!Skipping ahead to today’s obsessing on the 6-7-8 section:
>>1. Blind 6-7; hard decel; whiskey #8 and pull — — 6.6
I thought this one had the best decel out of the blind, so he had the best line into the whiskey turn.
>>3. Blind 6-7; blind 7-8; and pull — — 6.7
4. Blind 6-7; blind 7-8; and pull — — 6.6>>These were good too but the blinds were a little late – based on how good his weaves are, I bet you could simply leave when he gets the entry to head to 7 – do the blind when he is at about pole 10 (I bet he will have no problem finding 6, especially if you say your jump cue and connect) and that will either make the 2nd blind sooner and give you time to set up the jaakko exit – or do a FC 7-8 to the send or jaakko. The trick is getting that first blind so early that the rest is easy 🙂 And since he is so independent with his weaving, I bet you can do it!
Now back to course 3:
Good opening! Nice left turn on the #2 tunnel exit!
He looked up at you a little 3-4, so keep talking, tell him to jump. When you get quiet, he looks at you.
I liked the rotation for 6 to get the tight exit: but once you rotate: decelerate, stop moving backwards – backwards motion is still forward motion so he jumped wider than needed at 6 (:08) because of that.GREAT job on 8-9! I couldn’t see his exact tunnel exit but I cannot imagine his line being any tighter and he appeared to never consider the off course entry to the 9 tunnel. Yay!
From the exit of 9 to the 10 jump to the weaves: I think you can start your switch cue sooner, you don’t need as much attention or come cue – that way he doesn’t have to look at you, he can drive directly to the jump.
This ending was definitely designed to have a tighter feel to it, kind of like what you are seeing in trials – so considering his big stride, you can start your easy/decel cue as he is taking off for 13 so he can adjust as soon as he lands to set up the right turn at 14 – you started it as he was landing, which is a little late on these distances. I find that the forward, big striding dogs need us to cue them as the takeoff for the previous jump on a lot of the turns, when the distances are a bit tighter.
>>what software are you using to do the overlays? Years ago, Guy Blanc had software to do overlays but it was wildly expensive. Maybe it’s come down in price??
I use iMovie on my ipad. When you click the video, you’ll see the 3 dots – click on those for more options: The blue-green screen option is how I get the overlays, and the split screen option is how
i get the top & bottom side by side comparisons. It is really easy and cheap 🙂 The old software is Dartfish, which is available is the App Store for a few dollars but I have not looked at it in years.Great job on these courses! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>I didn’t think layering was a good choice for him.I agree, it was not intended to be a layering sequence – dog on left out of the tunnel is the best plan, and lots of connection and running 🙂
>>Here, I truly felt like the line I needed to set required me to be on the other side of the off course jump. This was HARD for me to learn. I needed my essentially entire 5 minutes on the walk through. You can see me struggling with where I need to go. I almost crash the jump once without my dog.>>
This is a course to work the process more specifically, then: come in with a plan (I watch courses get built at trials or obsess on the map so I already have the outline of a plan) Then make the decision and stick with it, adding faster pace to the walk through. That plus the connection plus the verbals will really help get you ready to run it.
>>With that being said, I knew it would translate to a problem with the dog. The actual line itself was fine but then we bobbled at the backside after.>>
Right – the rehearsal was too isolated on the one spot without enough tempo/connection, so things go wrong with other parts.
>> I do feel like with either dog if there is a spot that mentally takes a lot of focus for me in course walking or handling, that usually will be where runs fall apart (Probably not unique to me). Whether that be due to the complexity or after because it just took so much of my concentration.>>
I don’t think it is either of those: it is rehearsal process 🙂 Complexity and concentration are all good – but you also need the rehearsal process to help you be able to get the whole sequence, not just the one spot – make the decision then rehearse it to the point where you can run it all the way through, as if you have the dog with you.
And I think having the course map on hand and videotaping your walk throughs to watch before you finish the walk through will help – you missed jump 10 in the plan and in the run 🙂
And if you have not gotten all the way through the process of the walk through, extend it in practice before you run the dog – it is more important to rehearse the run than it is to actually run the dog. And if time is up at a trial and you are still feeling un-rehearsed? Don’t run it with a young dog – run an FEO or NFC portion instead. I might consider running it with an experienced dog who can cover my *ss more, but not with a youngster.
And since we are really focusing on rehearsal and we also want more of the “All In” from him: rather than set up and run him again, you should let him chill out and you rehearse it again – Less is more with young dogs. The ideal with a young dog is that you run them as little as possible and as successfully as possible – and the rehearsals without him will help that, especially if you are going to change your plan. By setting him up and going again without rehearsing, he changed his behavior: ran into the tunnel after jump 2, then after that started to check out. That is rehearsal you don’t want, so it is better to do it all without him 🙂 I often will test drive things with my older dogs because they are happier to repeat things than the youngsters.
>>I did keep rolling here because I really want your thoughts on this backside thing. What I can’t sort out is if it’s a gap in our training or if it’s just the pressure of me moving and he wants to flank in some situations. His backside going the same direction before the tunnel was beautiful in this run and in course two. Independent, lovely. It’s the same direction so I don’t want to categorize that side as a weakness as opposed to the opposite side. What should I start doing to make this stronger because it seems to be an error that pops up sometimes? Should I stop and reward these every time for now? Is continuing rewarding enough?>>
It is a training gap: he does not understand the default behavior of coming in to take the jump on a backside while you move fast and parallel to it. Pressure might be the cause, but the understanding is what you can change. When you decelerate or when you rotate, he gets it. so isolate the skill – send to the backside and walk parallel to it (no decel, no rotation) and reward the decision to go to the backside wing by dropping the toy on the landing side of the jump while you continue to move. You are not rewarding the choice to take the jump, you are rewarding the choice to go to the backside wing – and by placing the reward on the landing side, you are creating the default behavior of taking the jump as well without needing extra handling. Do this for a whole bunch of sessions til he is 100% with your walking… then move to jogging, then build to running.
As you develop the understanding, you can rotate backside jumps like this in sequences so that it is more of a 180-ish approach, so he can take the jump while you continue to move.>>Also his stays were pretty bad here. I let them be bad because Roulez is screaming and it tends to make him pop up. I should fix it. Another problem that I’m admitting I have and need to continue the other 11 steps towards. My favorite part of this whole video is where I say, well… he broke his startline… Tracy is gonna bust my ass for that>>
Yeah…… LOL! Since “All In” is a main goal, broken stays will move your further from the goal because of lack of clarity. Sometimes it is ok to do, and sometimes he gets stopped and told he is wrong. Which is it? In all fairness to him, it can’t be both because he will totally want to check out every time he is on the start line if there is lack of clarity or the potential for getting in trouble for a behavior that is sometimes reinforced by running. And also you don’t want him to pop up then you fix it, because that is negative punishment and also doesn’t help increase motivation – ideally, you would reward the daylights out of the stay when Roulez is barking – tiny bits of the stay so the start area is rich with reinforcement. This means planning for and rehearsing short lead outs for now, but a high success rate is much more important.
Great job working through all of these! Much to consider and discuss! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
This was a good contrast in the walk through! You came in with general plan and immediately were able to start getting things rolling: you were definitely more comfy with this course and had a better tempo especially towards the end of the walk through – that seems to make a really big difference in your runs!!! Now, add in more emphasis on looking to the line or obstacles where the dog would actually be rather than looking ahead, and add in the verbals in the same way you’d use them in the run. The tempo was good and you can see that it really helped you handle the sequence! The connection is where you had the error – on the jump towards the end after the last tunnel, you were looking forward with a closed shoulder in the walk through – that is also what you did in the run, which didn’t show him the serp line, so he ran past it. So since you won’t see the invisible dog, you can do things like remind yourself to look at all tunnel exits, then look back at the serp jump, etc – giving yourself very specific visual landmarks to get the connection in the walk through and that will transfer to the run itself too.
Onwards to #3!
T
Hi!
This game is where you are all subject to my 15 years in musical theater to torture everyone about the fine art of great rehearsals. I think we are seeing things here that we can immediately improve. This will help the handling, of course, but will also move you towards you “All In” goal because he loses arousal when you stop/start or there are errors. When that happens, it causes the overall rate of success to not be high enough, which contributes to why he is not always fully invested in driving hard on the course.>> I panicked and thought I missed a whole two weeks worth of work 🤣. I’m glad to know I’m not behind>>
Sorry! That is what happens when I am sending the email with one hand and editing the package 5 videos with the other. Oopsie!
>>So… a fun fact about Jamie is that I don’t have the ability to visualize things in my head. No imagination, no mental picture, none.. just blackness when I close my eyes and try.
I bring this up because it does make the way I learn courses (and navigating) a bit more challenging. I have to depend on memorizing- which I acknowledge everyone does, but spacially it’s just a bit more challenging for me because the actual walk through and the map are my only tools.>>Aphantasia is more common in agility than you would realize! One of the other people in this class also has it. And it is more challenging, mainly because SO MANY of the teaching tools are built using visual memory. So, it is up to the teachers to use other tools, so you can have the same success! There appears to be no way to create better visual imagery except possibly just before you go to sleep (which is pretty useless for agility except for the mental prep of reducing ring anxiety) but we have been successful helping people by using auditory, olfactory, visual and kinetic memory cues. (Yes, olfactory LOL!)
Basically, walk the course exactly the same way I recommend, but with a few variations:
– rather than try to picture the dog, look at the obstacles behind you or between where you and the dog will be, because those are visual cues that are actually useful. Keep reminding yourself to look for the line on the ground and the jump bar where the dog would be – those are specific locations and even though you won’t see an invisible dog, you will still be rehearsing connection into your muscle memory and it will help Fever when you run him.
– focus on the muscle movements of running fast, crossing, talking to the dog in loud or soft voice, etc – that can all be done without needing to visualize.
– in the moment when a highly visual person can close their eyes and picture the course, you can use the actual course map (hold it and look at it while you shadow handle and say the verbals) or look at the course while you do the shadow handling – muscle memory really helps and you’ll still get a great rehearsal.I have found some folks do well with pairing muscle movements with particular smells: for example, the mechanics of the run paired with the smell of vanilla (or any smell you choose). You carry something that smells of vanilla for the last couple of reps of your walk through to make the pairing. Then smell the vanilla while you pull out your course map and shadow handle it. And take a sniff of vanilla right before your run. Smell is one of the BEST memory aids available!
And one other idea: video your walk through for 3 minutes then go watch it – that will give you a really good direct visual of what is happening so you don’t need to rely on visual memory.
>> It also makes winning mindset books hard to follow because step one is to usually visualize your success>>
There are other ways to work mental prep without visualization, but rehearsing the walk through is a good start. And it becomes even more critically important to videotape your walk throughs so you can see them as they actually were without needing to rely on any visual memory.
The other thing you can do is have Carrie watch your final walk throughs and see if she can tell where your invisible dog is. In the final walk through, I could not tell where the dog was because you would send him to something and then immediately look forward when he was still behind you. I have had people watch my walk throughs (especially in international team events where it was important that I didn’t screw up LOL!) if I am unsure about something, to see if they could see my invisible dog. That also allows a friend or coach to give you feedback on your handling choices in the moment, based on your pace and connection to the dog.
>>I also REALLY REALLY struggle when I course build from coordinates and then try to learn/walk the course. For some reason this is much more difficult for me than just showing up and walking a course. I do feel like I tend to make more errors in these small sequences because I am building them. >>
After the build, do you go right into the training session or do you take some time to go into the house, look at the map, etc. – mentally ‘cleanse the palate’ before trying to learn the course. That might help!
>>He took the off course tunnel which I didn’t notice would be an option because it’s not on the map so I didn’t think about it.>>
Ah yes – any extra obstacles are in play, even if they are not on the map. Good boy Fever!
>> I think you can hear it. I do tend to course walk with carrie (my emotional support human) and we plan together so I’m discussing with here handling here.>
Is this during the actual walk through, or before? I think most of this can be done before the walk through to maximize your time during the walk through itself. A discussion takes 40 seconds to a minute, which adds up and can take away from other sections of the walk through.
Looking at the walk through video – I think you can definitely add in more connection back to where he would be, move verbals and definitely more of the pace/tempo he would be running (or faster than the tempo). I somehow have ended up going faster than the actual dog, which is more helpful to me than going more slowly. When I am faster than the dog in practice, I feel like I have more time to get everything in. When I used to be slower than the dog in the walk through, I was scrambling and rushing to try to handle the course.
When you went from your last walk through to your first run – because you had not fully rehearsed the connection, verbals and speed – your first run with him was that rehearsal, so you had errors. Then things got better and better as you practiced it and on the 3rd run – that was really good til you said “Better!” and he was like “huh?” LOL!
So ideally we want that 3rd run to be your first run 🙂 That will be better for trialing, and also better for his “All In” approach – it is so much more fun that way for both of you!
So when you look at the overlay, look at 2 things and listen to the 3rd:
– look at your head position on the walk versus the run – on the run you were definitely connecting back to him. But because it was the first time you were working it, you had to actively think about it – which leads to errors. If you have rehearsed it a few times, then it will feel like second nature during the run, leading to fewer errors.
– look at your tempo – the run was much faster than the last walk through 🙂 Try to get it so your walk through is faster than the run!
– listen to the verbals – the walk through verbals are quiet versus the run verbals sounding totally different 🙂 Rehearse those verbals at the same volume & energy of the real run.Rehearsing all of those together will really get you in the mode to nail the first run with him! And also you’ll be able to change plans if needed, because you will feel if it not a viable plan.
Onwards to course 2!
TracyGood morning!
He did really well here! 100% perfect on the ‘don’t take anything’ moments. He was really quite strong on the threadle wraps – having the bar there opens up the slice possibility, which opens up having to pay more attention to your footwork: he was 100% successful when your feet were facing forward (which is the ideal footwork). When you feet faced the slice line exit (:19,:45, :49 and :55) – he sliced like a ‘normal’ threadle. It was a valid question from him, since the threadle wrap verbal is relatively new and the physical cues are still important. So be careful to keep your feet coming directly forward to the exit line (towards the camera in this situation) as that is going to be really important in attaching the verbal. By the end, he was not paying attention to the foot position as much and getting the wraps correct – but that is good news, bad news LOL! Because we will eventually be balancing it with regular threadle slices, so for now keep your feet moving straight on the line. We add that balance in games package 5 in a little over a week – so for now, add two things here (along with feet facing forward on the wrap exits): more motion, working up to jogging/running (you can toss a cookie back rather than use a stay so both of you are moving more into it) and also cue the front side of the jump as well as the bypass and the threadle wrap.
Let me know if that foot position makes sense, or if I need more coffee 🙂 Great job here!
TracyHi! Thanks for the idea! I am working up a ‘live’ seminar version of that concept (train it, then put it into various sequences) based on course design trends that I am seeing which require dog training not just handling.
We do have a fair amount of that here in this class, but the problem might be that the skills are then put into the sequences and then into the big courses, over the weeks (the threadle wraps appear in the package 4 sequences and then in the package 5 sequences and courses, for example) – and if there is not as much access to the sequences or big courses, the skills do not get revisited as much as needed. So a good variation might be a class that looks at a handful of specific skills (threadles, for example: wraps, slices, tunnel threadles, weave threadles) and works on training then putting them into sequences in different scenarios. We have certainly done that with natural handling moves like blind crosses, but probably not as much with the trained skills like backside commitment, send & go commitment, threadles, etc. Let me know if that is what you were thinking and if it makes sense!T
Hi! These are good comparisons!
For Kippy:
>>or Kippy, the 180 was hard. I really liked the BC for him on that.
I think what might be happening is that the stepping into the takeoff spot then moving away from it with a lot of motion has desensitized him to collection cues, maybe? On the first rep, you decelerated, stepped in and even rotated towards him: no collection from Kippy, he stayed in extension. It is possible that he doesn’t read the stepping in as a collection cue so it is better to use position as a collection cue more – you can trust he will stay on the line and that you can be a lot more lateral and heading to the serpentine jump – use position, connections and verbals to let him power through that 180 and then your serp will be even better. Bearing in mind that the goal on a serp exit with a wrap (on a front or backside) is that you are on the takeoff side when the dog is on the takeoff side (countermotion): the extra step into the 180 jump before it is delaying that, so it widens the turn there too. It would be interesting to see what he does when you just cue the line and leave (connection, position, verbals) to get past the exit wing of the serpentine before he takes off. You probably will find that you don’t need to control his lines – he can do it faster as long as he knows where to go nice and early 🙂
2nd run – this is also a spot where you can play with controlling the line less, and just telling him where to go so he sets it all up himself. After the tunnel, you positioned yourself almost on the backside line at :14 so it shaped the line into the 180 – and he did collect there (it was bit of a v-set) but then you had to show motion into the wrap so he ran a wider line (position plus motion cued it) and had some questions about the wrap. You can use position to help that too – show him the first jump of the 180 with a lateral position near the wrap wingand let position/connection/verbals and make a little brake arm do th cueing – and then keep yoru feet faing forward to the last jump (rather than moving over to the wrap jump) and moving forward as soon as he is past your feet (and connection and verbal support commitment to the wrap as you run to the last jump.
3rd rep – This was the fastest rep by a small margin and it might support the theory of ‘tell him where to go and don’t try to control the turns’ (this is a big conversation I have been having with some colleagues as well as my rehab vet and what we are seeing is fastest times plus best physical health is NOT trying to control the turns, just letting the dogs sort it out while we give info as early as possible). So with the BC – it can be earlier 🙂 Motion and verbals support the line, so as he is in the air for the jump before the BC jump o nthe 180, you should keep moving forward (position) and tell him the directional (verbal) but you can start the blind even before he lands to get the earliest possible info to him. And if you can add in a little decel? Even better!
Emmie
For her, she reads those moments when you step in and decel on the 180s – I am not sure if she needs it though 🙂 and controlling that turn put you in her way for the serpentine – So it is a good experiment to try the position/verbal thing with her too – not going close or managing the turn on the 180, but rather getting to the takeoff side on the serp as she is getting there – that can pr0duce the fastest line for her too!2nd rep – You were earlier on the BC here with her than you were with Kippy, she read it well – and then you can decel into it so the next jump has more of a send and go element to pick up time there.
3rd rep – As with the first rep, she reads the collection when you step in towards takeoff but I still don’t think you need it, it might be faster without – on the wrap, that step of collection for the previous jump delays your wrap cue and caused your feet/shoulders to be facing the slice line. That delays your exit a little bit (ideally your feet would be turned forward to the last jump so you can run forward as soon as she passes your feet – that creates a lot of speed & power in and out of the wrap). Also, but facing the slice line but doing the wrap, it might end up diluting the slice/rear cross cues for when you need those if it looks the same as a wrap cue. Since she reads changes of motion so well, you can do it from lateral position (nearer to the wrap jump) to get the best of both worlds: a nice turn into the 180 and a great position and exit line on the wrap.
The serp rep and the BC rep were almost identical, I would need to get the electronic timers on it – and they were both a stride faster than the wrap.
On your next comparison courses, it would be fun to see what would happen when you control the turns with turn cues, versus when you just give the cues as early as humanly possible then move on to the next one, letting the dogs set themselves up to turn. The trend we are seeing is that if the cues are early, letting the dogs set it up themselves is faster. There are spots here and there that the dogs need some training on to be able to do that, but that is easy!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>Can you give an example of what you mean by straight line to a wrap? Do you mean like if she had to take the backside of the second jump in this sequence and then continue forward? In that situation consider both slice vs wrap because it could be similar for her?
If you move the jump after the tunnel over more to the left side of the screen, so when she exits the tunnel she can see a straight line over that jump to the backside wrap wing/line – that might make it the faster line because she would not have to add turns to get to it, where if she was sent to the push line on the other side she would have to add turns to get to it (I think my demo had the jump in more of a straight line to the inside wrap wing so it was surprisingly fast when compared to the outside slice on the backside.
And, if the jump after the tunnel was a backside then yes – it might mean the next backside is better as a wrap because that is the fastest line of entry and also it is too many turns to set up a good slice line.
Tracy
