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Hi! Thanks for the update!
>> was able to get through the Novice and Masters sequences with my dogs this past week.
My young dog Buddy had no issues for me ( he is slower than Mookie but runs steady and ha been reading my cues) (which I have time for 🙂 )Yay! Great job, Buddy!!
>>I could only do short sessions due to the heat here so it took me 3 days to figure it out.
He kept knocking the bar of jump 2 into the tunnel 3 when I showed decele, did a shoulder turn and used a verbal turn cue.>>
>>When I actually did a break cue with both hands and a verbal turn cue he got it every time and kept the bar up.>>That is good to know – he felt that decel and a shoulder turn was not clear enough, but the brake hands really helped! Great!!! And yes, glad to hear the verbal helps too!
>>I was then able to get it down to using one break hand with a verbal turn cue the next day.
Perfect!
>>I am so glad you listed the Custom Skill Sets just when I needed them to work on.
>>I can see now that Mookie needs a strong break cues while Buddy responds to less.
Mookie also needed a stronger cue as it was at the start. He had to turn at jump 2 and he takes off >>like a bullet from the start line.That is something that is pretty normal – different dogs needing different levels of intensity on the cues. And, for some dogs, the start line is SO HARD that the basically EXPLODE and need very strong cues… then they settle in LOL!
Thanks for the update, it sounds like the boys are doing really well!
TracyHello! Fabulous shirt, of course 🙂
Great job on these sequences: I loved his speed here – he was pushing hard, which I love!!! Some thoughts about the various reps:
Seq 1:
The timing on beginning the spin at 3 is pretty early – on reps 2 and 3 you started the physical cue (decel on rep 2, dropping into position on rep 3) while he was in the air over 2 and those were much better turns. On rep 1, you started the verbal only while he was in the air – and that was the widest turn.
On rep 2, the spin worked well – on rep 3 you were more in the ‘in your face’ position, almost shaping the turn – but there was not a really difference in the turn. I suggest saving that position for the tighter turns (wraps, reverse v-sets) so when he sees you there like that, it will always mean ‘exit SUPER tight’ – if he sees you there and then you exit on a wider line, he won’t do as much collecting (which is what was happening here).You can also play with a soft-brake collection to see if that can get a nice soft turn without needing a spin- the spin rotation can cause you to show too much acceleration to the tunnel – on your first rep, the turn cues on the tunnel entry were a little late. On the 2nd rep, you were earlier because there was decel and verbal happening and by the 3rd rep, he was turning nicely! You can work on getting your feet fully turned before the tunnel entry so he sees countermotion to the last jump before he enters the tunnel, to see how much of a turn he can produce on the exit 🙂
2nd sequence:
Really lovely opening!!! The spin on 4 (first rep) went well, but I think it delays you from getting up the line after the tunnel. You can add your verbal go cue earlier before the tunnel entry, then as you drive up the line: reach your connection into the tunnel more, try to make connection before he exits to help straighten up the line there.
2nd rep – another nice opening! You were a little late on 4 so he was a little wide but you were
further ahead on the tunnel exit to the end so that set the line better to the last jump. Try to turn your head a little more to your right side – that will make it perfect because he won’t have to check in at all.3rd rep – Your lead out position near 4 worked well for the line 1-2, but he had a question 2-3 (big slip) probably because you were stationary and he wasn’t sure if you wanted him to stay on the line or come in to 4, skipping 3.
As I mentioned on the 1st sequence – being right on the wing, almost shaping 4, might result in losing the strength of the cue when you want tighter turns (because it is paired with a moderate turn here) so I would save it for those super tight turn moments. You can do the spin in a similar spot without as much shaping and it will get you up the line past the tunnel like you did here! Nicest ending of the 3 reps on this one!I agree that the 7.0 times were due to better ending line on the last rep… also note that adding the stronger collection cue actually did not help more speed there – he was faster on the previous rep when 4 was a little late but you had a nice ending line.
Seq 3:
You can play with turning him on the slice line on jump 6 – when walking the distance from the tunnel exit, it is probably close to the same – and the slice will be very fast. However, I did think his wraps were really lovely!! I agree with choosing the slice line at 3: definitely fastest.Rep 1:
Nice timing of the turn cue before he went into the tunnel!
Moving backwards into the turn at 3 slowed him down on the way to 3 a bit too much (especially compared to rep 2) – you can rotate and leave to show him countermotion, which helps him produce really nice turns!
He needs a bit of a turn cue on 4 – just a send and go and matching verbal (left) will tighten it – you were a bit too parallel and the tunnel verbal was very exciting, so he was a little wide there.
Nice turn on 6 at :23! Good transition to get into it, and great job getting outta there to drive the next line!Rep 2 – I like this opening even better for 1-2-3 – you ran forward into 3 more. I isolated that section and it was faster than then previous rep where you were backwards and he slowed down.
As with rep 1, a turn cue on 4 will help him read the line 4-5 – he fell on his head there (which also shows how much faster 3 was if he had a spill and the overall time was still faster!)
You can call him a little bit (just a little :)) before he enters the tunnel so he is a little tighter on the way to 6 – and another nice turn at :47! Very nice!Great job on these – let me know what you think of the suggestions.
TracyHi there! Fashionably late, but still in time for the party 🙂
On the skills video:
1st rep – your rotation was a little too abrupt because you were not moving a lot on the release. You can move into it more – but also work the custom skill set (see below) so she will commit even when we are abrupt by accident. And then you can add a bit more connection to the backside to smooth it out.2nd rep – much smoother in your motion 1-2!! She committed nicely.
On jump 3: she probably would be fine with a send and go, just needs more connection to the backside than on the 1st rep. On the 2nd rep you did a spin there at :41. You can start it earlier by deceling so you can rotate as she is passing you, then do the blind element as she is gathering for takeoff. You started the fC as she was lifting off, so she had a zig zag on landing before the push to the backside.The RC at 1:25 and 1:57 looked really good, those are hard with very little momentum on 2 jumps!!
On jump 3 at 1:27 – it looked like you were going to rotate then changed your mind – but it lets us see that the send-and-go actually works really well with her! If you send sooner and go, she will be quite tight around that and then you won’t need to do a lot of rotating!
I think at 2:00 you were wanting the backside on 3 – more connection to her and less arm cue will help all that – the arm cue and looking forward turn your shoulders to indicate the front of the bar, which is why she didn’t take the back even though your running line was near it.You can work 2 of the custom skills sets to help some of the oopsies here: the independent backsides and the commitment when are connection is soft or we turn abruptly:
Sequence 1:
Rep 1: Nice connection on the opening! As she lands from 3, maintain that connection – she looked up at you a little there.
You had a little too much forward movement after 3 so she picked up 4 and an extra jump 🙂
Nice line and connection to the last jump!
Rep 2: Nice connection on the opening AND over 3 to 4! You had a clearer turn cue on 4 so she did not pick up any bonus jumps. You had a decel and earlier rotation going and a name call, it set up a really nice turn! You can start your tunel verbal as she is over the bar at 4 so she is hearing when she lands: she looked up at you as if to say “what’s next?” there. Nice ending line again there too 🙂Sequence 2:
set up on a straight line 1-2, GREAT turn on 3!
nice send and go at 4! I suggest adding verbals to all of that – wrap verbals for 3 and 4, and the tunnel verbal for 5. As you run away at :10, you got quiet and closed your shoulders forward, so she did not push away to the tunnel (good girl! Your body language did not indicate tunnel). Your connection & verbal on the redo at :18 were great! And she got it perfectly.
Really nice turn at :21 on jump 6, she is such a nice turning dog!!!Quote of the day from you at :36: “Holy shit, you’ve got a lot of speed on you. ”
HA! Yes! I love it, she is so fun!Last rep – nice line 1-2-3! As you indicate the wrap at 3, slow down so you can stop your motion a bit more – your momentum is causing you to rock back a little at 1:22. If you decel then you can turn your feet to 4 and move forward – which will help out for the send to 4 because you can send sooner (you will already be pointing that direction). You were a little late sending and leaving at 1:24, so she pulled the bar there.
You had a little decel going into the wrap at 6 and that allowed you to step more forward (while also getting a really nice turn).Great job here!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I feel your pain about the weather!!!
>>On Nov seq I couldn’t decide if I was going to do a slice of wrap. No time for indecision. I need to just pick one and do it.
Yes – she moves too quickly for any unplanned moments LOL!!!!
Nov 3: The verbal cue on the tunnel entry (right) was great timing, but the physical cue was late (all that was still outside of the tunnel was her tail :)) so try to match your turn with the verbal before she enters the tunnel.
And I think she ended up on the wrong side of 3, so you can be one or twp steps further down the line to set up being on the correct side nicely.
NICE send and go at 4!
Start your verbal cues for the tunnel exit to 6 before she enters 5 – we will definitely be making that a priority so she can come out more on the line you want.Masters 1:
GORGEOUS opening line 1-2-3 to the push to 4! WOW! Both reps!Perfect timing on her backside slice verbal at :14 to 6… but as yousaid it, you turned forward/broek connection so she took the front. When you are that far ahead (which is a good thing!) you can keep moving but turn your upper body back to her (dog-side arm back) to help her set the line to the backside). You were definitely clearer on the 2nd rep and she nailed it – great job staying in motion there to set a tight exit to 7!
Masters 2:
Strategically, I think the long lead out past 2 at :25 and :37 actually did more harm than good – you had to slow down to get 3, to let her catch up – which delayed your exit and made you late for the turn cue on 4. You can handle this opening more like how you handled the ending of Masters 1: less lead out so you can push her to the backside while also continue running forward. That will get you further past the wing of 3 so as she exits there, you will be ahead to turn sooner. You were a little late on that moment, and the turn was a little wide there.
Great job on the big ending line!!!Masters 3: setting the 1st jump as a rear cross to her right caused you to drive forward to catch up just a little too long, and caused the off course after 2. You exaggerated the pulling away more on the next rep at :53 and 1:03 and it worked but it put you pretty far behind on the next line. You turned her left on the last 2 reps, but I think that was even harder – you had to set the line to 2 for longer so she was off course on the 1st rep of it then landed long on the 2nd rep. I think turning to her right on 1 sets the best line 2-3, and more of a send-and-go approach of starting her on your left and sending then leaving can get you further ahead to control the line better.
She was turning nicely out of the tunnel here because your rotation awas nice and early!! She didn’t take 4 on any of them, though, but I think it was more because you read the 5 jump as the one after the tunnel, maybe? Your timing of the rotation for the wrap at 6 was GREAT at 1:08! But too early at 1:21. Both of the rotations happened as she landed: The difference that I see if that at 1:07. you had one more step of commitment with your right leg and arm – more of a lean, than a step – and you looked back to where you wanted her to go. At 1:21, you looked at her the whole time and tried to move forward and look forward to the next line immediately – she needs that one moment of leaning back and looking back – it was really perfect when you did that at 1:07.
This sequence does go back to #8 (the far end of the tunnel) so you might choose to turn the other way at 6 to see if that is the faster line back to the tunnel.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHelloooooo! And welcome!
>>My girlie was a bit slow today, more trotting than normal. She’s also in season, that doesn’t normally bother my girls, but maybe this time?
Nope, I don’t think it was a season thing, I think she was making a point about something – more below 🙂
On the video, some thoughts for you:
1st rep – backside circle – yes, it looked really good! You can leave sooner , it looked like you hesitated for a heartbeat but she was committed nicely.2nd rep – backside slice RC – your decel and position looked a lot like the slice she just did, so she offered it again 🙂 On those backside slicey RCs, you can keep moving and turning to face the bar on the takeoff side, so your feet face the center of the bar – that should help set up the RC slice.
The next 2 reps of it were better for sure, you can be even more exaggerated on the turn to face the jump. At :17, your shoulders turned to face the jump and that really helped her! Your feet can follow that line as well.Wrap left – yes, really nice wrap!! You can lead out on your right to make it easier – you led out on your left and had to do a quick side change to get to the other side between 1 and 2.
Wrap right – she turned left at :31, got the backside at :35 – I think you were actually too early on the rotation (I know, right? LOL!) so you ended up pressuring in towards her line to get commitment… which pinged her away to the left turn or backside.
:39 had the least pressure in towards the jump and she did well. You moved pretty far away from the jump to get it, and your running line on the other reps were good, so we can focus on the transition more – as you move up the line, emphasize your deceleration more as you face forward, and rotate later. That should smooth it out (and you will see the transitions outlined more in the Custom Skills Sets section).
Smart training to add some straight lines in 🙂Speking of transitions: you did a nicer one at :47 and :54 and 1:03 – running forward then decel more before the rotation, and she read the right-wrap really nicely! After the wrap, reconnect more to tell her about the jump at :56 – connection and a verbal will help so you can do the blind cross there.
At 1:04 you handled jump 3 as a ‘throw back’ – facing her as she came towards it to create the turn: she said it was toooo much collection cue and she went into a trot. Good to know, Winnie, thanks! So you can run forward longer and rotate later – I am sensing a theme that she does not love it when the rotations are too early.The same thing happened at 1:15 on the next set up – she read the wrap well and she committed to the turn at 3 when you were facing her… but she trotted into it. So after the wrap, face forwad longer and turn later and I bet her speed comes right back up. She was a little faster on the next rep at 1:25 as you faced forward – on these 2 jump skills, you can stick around at the previous jump a little longer so you can accelerate more towards #3 – she prefers the chase, that is when she seems to be at her fastest. You can see it at 1:28 when you send her to the backside of 4 and take off running, she really picks up speed again.
Good turn at 1:18 to get the RC on the backside, you are getting clearer about the rotation there and she is reading it nicely.Nice job on skill 6 – you really drove into the first wrap at 1:33 and she was speedy AND tight on the turn. On the wrap on jump 3 at 1:37, you faced her and she slowed down. I bet a forward send-and-go moment will be worth a try – it involves less facing her and more chase!
The slicing RC at 1:41 looked good- you were way ahead there, so you can also look at doing a blind cross on the takeoff side (forced blind cross) – more chase!Skill 7 – nice drive into the first wrap! Then when you faced her early, she slowed down. This is useful info! And she really liked the send and chase on the backside!
Skill 8 – this also had really nice drive into the first wrap at 1:59 and 2:14, nice transition! She once again mae her point about the rotation at 2:03 (trotting) and 2:18 (backside) on the 2nd wrap here LOL! Noted: she does not like you facing her too early.
On the last backside, you had a little disconnect at 2:06 getting up the line so she wasn’t sure which side to be on. On the very last one at 2:25, stay connected like you were, but move a little further over so she can see the backside wing to drive toSo now going back to this:
>>My girlie was a bit slow today, more trotting than normal.
She definitely does not like it when you are facing her while she is moving forward to a line. She is a chase-and-go girl! So when you did the rotations later, following a decel: perfect! Fast and tight! When you rotated early and faced her for too long, she either trotted or pinged off the pressure to the backside. Good to know!!! So you can play with using more send-and-go (fewer spin rotations) because she is a really nice turner and doesn’t need a lot of rotation. And when you are going to do a rotation – emphasize the deceleration as the collection cue and rotate then leave – she seemed to prefer that. And on sequences where you might get too far ahead, you can strategize to stay closer to the line so she sees more motion on that line and a later rotation. I appreciate Winnie’s help in letting us know what she needs 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Lovely job getting this to fit, it worked out perfectly!! It gives you a chance to get more speed going !
On the very first rep it looked like he needed you to move closer to the line to 2, which you did really nicely on the next reps. At that point, 1-2-3 became really easy.
On your fly cues, turn up the intensity of your connection to his eyes, be very direct to his eyes 🙂 and keep your arm a little bit further back. In the context of a bigger sequence, he was locking onto the front side more so you needed a stronger connection to his eyes at :11, :25 (he almost took the front but then did get the back there) and :33. Your arm was turning your shoulders forward a little there, so even though your position was good, he was picking up the front side.
On the reps where he did get the backside at 4 (:22 and :46, your position was strong, heading to the backside wing and that really helped .
On the backside at 6 at :25, :38 and :49, you were working your way further across the bar there and that really helped. On the last rep (:49) you were furthest across the bar, which sets the nicest exit line. Great connection on all of those backside slices! So you can increase the challenge now by seeing how far you can be across that bar while still getting backside commitment:
as you exit the FC at 4, don’t go too close to 5: stay conencted like you were and send him away to 5 then use connection and verbal (maybe outside arm too) to get the backside of 6 – your running path the whole time will be to the center of the bar of jump 6. That will put you way ahead, which is useful for future challenges.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>I have a 10 foot tunnel so I think my distances were different from the map and may have affected the choices I made for handling but anyway here goes
I think it was set up well and the handling choices were good ones!
>>Maybe my set up at jump 3 had too sharp a left turn to the tunnel for sequence 1
Nope, you set it up correctly, it was supposed to be challenging in that way 🙂
Rep 1 – really nice connection here all the way through!
On the turn on jump 3: I think you were correct to originally consider it a split step and a left verbal – he might need a soft brake arm there to solidify it? I put the soft turn cue into the Custom Skills section, but here is the visual:
It is possible you were late and it is also possible he was reading just a shoulder turn/split step to stay on his line, so the soft brake might help that. On the video, you used the wrap verbal and rotated towards him – so he turned, but then you had to rotate back out onto the line. Ideally, you would be able to kee moving along the line, so this will be a good one to sort out.
The timing of the rotation and verbal on the tunnel entry was really nice!!
And he seemed perfectly fine on the 10″ jumps.Rep 2:
You asked about the verbal on this line in the context of sequence 3, but the same question is relevant here: backside or turn cue on jump 3? Of course it depends on exactly what you want your backside cue to mean – but jump 3 was right on his line here after 2, so I would not use a backside verbal. I save those for when there is more of a choice, and it usually means “push away to go to the other side”. So on this opening, don’t call his name, let the tunnel turn him – but you can just say “jump” if you want.You did a spin here on jump 4 to get the turn to the tunnel which is definitely an appropriate place for it. The left verbal would go with it. It started a little late, he was just about taking off so he went wide but he DID read it as a turn cue! The soft brake will get you away up the next line sooner – spins take longer – so it is worth it to play with that concept to help him understand it. Then you will have more time to get the GO verbal started before the tunnel entry at the end, and be even further ahead there too!
Seq 3: also really nice! You are nailing the connection and that is truly the most important element. Yay!
Little tweaks for you:
I loved your lead out position – you can straight his line over the first jump by moving forward for a few steps like you did (on a parallel line to his line) and then release, so he sees the parallel line a little sooner. You moved a step then released, so he did a little zig zag from 1-2. Moving forward 2 or 3 more steps would help smooth that moment out..>> I was saying “back” on jump 6…is that correct or should be “tight”….I felt like he would have to find the backside coming out of the tunnel.
2-3 is a mirror image of this moment – you used tight and it worked great! I can see why you considered the backside cue on 6 – in the process of figuring out how he reads lines, if you think he might have a choice of sides of 6 when he exits the tunnel, then yes, use the backside cue. But he is exiting this tunnel on the exact line to 6 and you were in a great spot to support it, so the backside cue wasn’t really needed – tight tight would be fine.
Also – great send-and-go on 4, to help you get back up the line to the tunnel! He read it wel and had a great turn, and you were able to get to a great position for 6.Well done on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>On Sequence 3 Rep 1, I did not realize in the moment that she thought it might be a rear cross, but I totally see it on video. I have struggled with telling her the difference between a whiskey and a backside wrap; I think the main difference is where my feet are pointed?
Yes! It is about feet – and position, and also often some decel. But mainly feet 🙂 If my feet go towards the center of the bar (along with motion, and shoulders closed a bit forward) then it should read as a slice rc. If my feet rotate forward to the next line after the wrap, then the dogs read it as a wrap – and that is why she read the wrap SO nicely on the last rep – your feet were pointed to the wrap line way early enough for her to set up great collection.
On that Rep 1 where she thought it was a slice for a moment, I don’t think it was a foot issue – I think it was more that there was so much motion that all she could see was go go go – then she saw your exit line and was like “oh crap it is a wrap, gotta hurry back!” so she back jumped. That is why a bit of decel as you turn your feet, plus (if needed) a little extra connection and verbal, to basically say “hey, things are changing rapidly here, pay attention to the changes”. And she will pay attention, because I truly believe she wants to get it right – she is not a party-of-one type of dog haha!!>>I also love that you pointed out that my physical cues aren’t matching up with my tunnel cues. All my brainpower goes to remembering to give her tunnel break (“HEY!”); I have to remember to reserve some for my shoulders.>>
One thing you can do is lay a leash on the ground 5 feet in front of the tunnel entry – and start your physical cue as she is arriving at the leash. It is risky – she might pull off the tunnel – but it is good to work on to see if she has any tunnel commitment questions. We can train any commitment she needs. I have added tunnel turn timing to the week 2 package here because I think a lot of the dogs will really benefit, and we need to make sure they understand the layers of cues and commitment.
>>Also, thank you for the alternate handling suggestion; I really need that. We took your Feet Forward class…oh, man, it was a while ago…and it was all about the blinds. Then we started trialing after that, and in trials I am nervous and Cheery is on fire and I tend to revert to wimpier handling (not that it actually reduces our faults, haha!).>>
Yes, that was 2 years ago maybe? One of the themes for CAMP this summer will be “Take The Risk” – try the crazy things in training so we can see how to get comfortable, what cues are strong and which ones need to be strengthened – then you will be more comfortable doing it at trials! Stay tuned 🙂
Tracy
Good morning! Welcome!!!
>>My goals with Cheery are to improve our verbals and just become a better, more aggressive, and faster handler for her because I am for sure our weak link, haha!>>
Great goals!! You are not a weak link! You are driving a sports car, so we just need to figure out to best show her how to get around the race track 🙂
Seq 1:
Lovely connection here!
Ooh, that soft brake arm is working beautifully at jump 3!! She whipped her head around and new exactly where to go. Yes!!!! I couldn’t hear if you used a verbal there or not – I suggest a ‘soft turn’ verbal such as ‘left’ there (I know, not a super creative word, but easy to remember haha!!)
You did use a verbal on the tunnel entry and the timing was good on it! She turned wide on the tunnel exit based on the physical cue of the full post turn you did. You can show her a spin on the tunnel entry (FC rotation at the same timing as the verbal, while she is still about 6 feet from entry and then a BC when she is in the tunnel) – that rotation will cue her to turn tight and it also gets you away to the next line faster. Being further ahead on this sequence isn’t all that important, but it is good to be able to do on a bigger course.Seq 2:
Also super lovely connection on this run! Connection is a really powerful tool for driving Cheery!!!!
Little tweaks for you on this one – it was a really nice run overall! You can lead out a bit further up the line to get ahead to the tunnel entry more – she did stay on her line from 2 to 3 but she powered down a little, which is her way of asking if it is the correct line or not. If you are a little ahead of the tunnel entry, she can chase your line there rather than have to drive ahead of it, which wll be faster for you both.
She read your shoulder turns really nicely on 3 and 4! You can add in left verbals here as well.
Right before she goes into the tunnel, you can tell her that you will want explsovei forward dive out of it by yelling your go cue and then accelerating – all while she is still 6 feet away. You did accelerate when she was already in the tunnel, and you got quiet so she looked at you a bit. That can get her to power a little straighter and it will also get you further up the line to make an earlier connection – try to look at her while she is still in the tunnel, so she will turn before exiting to find the straight line to the last jump.Seq 3 rep 1:
You can line her up on a slice for jump 1 so she lands on a straight line to 2 – that takes out the turn over 1 and you can lead out even farther ahead so you can show her 2-3 more easily. The verbal turn cue on the tunnel was well-timed – yo ucan match the timing of your shoulder turn to that as well – she heard the verbal but your shoulders and motion were still straight so she exited a little wide. She seems to have strong commitment to tunnels, so you can trust it and let her see your turn starting while she is still 6 feet away from it.
The RC/whiskey on 3 worked well here – if you handle it from closer to the tunnel exit, you can set that line with even more speed because you will be driving into it. It is a strong tool with her, she turns really well with it!I think you can add a soft brake arm and left verbal on jump 4 – she was a bit wide on the line after it to the tunnel. Yo ucan handle that from the same position you were (or even further away) so yo ucan get back up the line for 6.
Speaking of 6: she was surprised that it was a wrap at :30 🙂 Your position was good and your connection and running line were also good! But you can tell her more about the fact that you want collection: decel will help (as she exits the tunnel, slow down a bit) and a wrap verbal (couldn’t hear if you had one going or not). We can also add a brake hand here (left arm) but I am not sure she needs it – the deceleration for a heartbeat might be all she needs!The fix rep at :37 affirms that all she probably needs is a bit of decel there (and a wrap verbal will help) – you did a little decel and she was already tighter 🙂 Good reward!
2nd full rep: you were earlier on your verbal and shoulder turn on the first tunnel, and her turn was definitely better on the exit. Nice! She turns SO NICELY!!!! I thought the timing on your rotation was really good there on the wrap/FC at :43 – you were basically turned on time so she ‘ran acros your feet’ and set up a lovely turn! A tiny nit pick would be to step out of it more directly to the 4 jump so her exit line is perfect (it was almost perfect :)) Also – use a wrap cue if you weren’t here (you might have been using a soft one).
I didn’t time the difference between the wrap on 3 and the slice from rep 1, but the slice will almost always be faster if you can get ahead of her… so since you mentioned a goal of being faster – you can lead out further, leaving her on the slice line 1-2. Release and then when she is on the way to the tunnel, let her see you do a blind cross before she enters the tunnel so she exits the tunnel on your right side – then you can send her way on the slice line over 3. That is a fast, aggressive handling choice that can be the winning line and keep you way ahead (ahead is better, for the most part, because we can show lines better :))
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi Mary, she looks *awesome*!!! You should indeed be happy!!! Goosebumps for the baby dog!! I have little tweaks for ya to help make it even smoother – so fun!
First rep: the timing of starting your left cue over 3 was really nice and she had a lovely turn there! She looked at you on landing there and bought some time by drifting a little and didn’t quite power to the tunnel as early as she could – could been caused have been one of these two things or both 🙂 You can start your tunnel verbal earlier (while she is still over the bar, so she already hears it when she lands) and also keep your dog-side arm back – by pointing forward, it turned you away a little so she needed to ask the question by looking at you.
You were the tiniest bit late on the turn cue on the tunnel to the last jump, she was just about in the tunnel by the time you rotated and already in the tunnel when called her so she was a little wide on the exit til she found you. You can play with seeing if she can tolerate seeing/hearing that starting when she is about 5 feet from the entry.Rep 2: She had a little question on jump 3 – you can lead out more laterally on 1-2 so you are further up the line to help her see that weird angle from the tunnel to 3. Just a lack-of-experience moment, I think she will be fine with it in the future 🙂
On the turn from the jump to the tunnel – you said ‘left tunnel’ over the bar, before she landed and you held strong connection until you saw her lock onto the tunnel – she seemed to have NO questions on that line to the tunnel! NICE! I think the left element was a tiny bit late (she had to gather herself when she landed but that was probably because you were helping her sort out the line to 3. So combine the timing of the cue from rep 1 to get the turn and then the early tunnel cue/great connection of this rep, and it will be perfect 🙂 You were way ahead at the end which is great and set the line really well! You can still support it with a GO verbal before she goes into the tunnel.3rd course – You had a really small lead out and she smoked you 1-2, which made for questions 2-3 – definitely recommend a longer lead out, not sure if you were taking a short one to set her up for success on the stay there. For the acute angle RC at :24, being closer to the tunnel exit so you can set it and move forward into it will help by keeping your feet facing the center of the bar longer until she changes to her left lead – your feet were rotating a bit forward and you were decelerating behind the jump, so that overrode the left cue. It is a hard skill for a youngster!! You can also play with getting ahead enough on the start line so that you can get a BC on the tunnel exit and send to 3.
The verbal on the tunnel entry was a little late but she saw the line of motion, plus we don’t want too tight of a turn there.
GAH I really liked her turn on the 2nd to last jump! Good job getting your feet turned so she could read it (it is a hard turn!!) Look at her turning her head and setting such a lovely turn around the wing so you could just leave! Happiest of happy dancing!
Great job!!
TracyHi!
>>On your video – I put it up on the larger screen and slowed it to .25 speed and stared. Very hard to see. It seemed to me on .42 that he turned his head early but then flipped it around and down as he was over the bar.
He – he turned his head to face the turn and not look at the slice angle on a really hard wrap line, so he was able to land and power out facing the new way, as opposed to land – adjust – then power out (I think there are some example of crap handling on this clip too where you seem him have to do that, thanks to late cues)
>>Hope you can get one either closer or with the pointy nose
Heading out to get some more close ups with the ‘trained’ dog and try it with the pointy puppy on a bigger wing (the pointy dog is very easy to see because of his color, his lack of speed at the moment, and his general pointiness :)) Stay tuned!
Glad to know that I am not the only one who doesn’t love multi-wraps! My plan on this head turn adventure is to fade out that 2nd wrap VERY quickly.
>>Rarely, rarely on the first rep of the multi-wrap do you see a great performance.
That is what I have seen in my experience as well.
>>I have a much different approach that I am working on with Zing. It isn’t a finished product yet, but I can post video if you wish. I have my reservations about this method, but figure life is an experiment so lets see how it goes.>>
Always interested in seeing your experiments! And since we don’t train with barbed wire or electric cattle fences, there is no harm, no foul if you decide you don’t like it 🙂
Hi there!
I have been obsessing a little (surprised?) on how to explain this and how to best get the dogs to understand it. I have *never* liked multi-wraps, because I felt they were mindless and not accomplishing anything – but I admit to never fleshing out WHY they made me feel that way. So, I gave myself a kick in the bum to finish the thought process on it:
On one wing or a single jump, most multi-wrap training is about looking for the dog just going around the wing several times – it is mindless imo, and slow, and puts the dog pulling from his shoulder rather than pushing from his rear. Bleh!
On a course or sequence, I have seen multi-wraps cued where the dog is asked to wrap a jump *again*. This has made me itchy for 2 reasons: it almost always happens when the dog has been wide on a turn, and it really ends up being a punisher for the dog (“that wasn’t good enough, do it again”). And then the dog would get rewarded for a good collection on the 2nd or 3rd wrap… but it accomplished nothing in the grand scheme of things because there was speed involved. So it was a bit useless both in that it could potentially be unfair to the dog (I mean, how was he supposed to know how tight to wrap when my cue was bad, and why should he have to do it again and again?) and also only got collection when the dog was slowed way down.
Also, I think all of this multi-wrap work was not specific to the actual skill we wanted to build! People were marking what looked like collection, but the dog was coming in so slowly at that point, that the dogs were not actually learning how to collect and make a great turn when running full out.
So the next step of obsessing was… what DO we want to mark, and how is this going to be different than multi-wraps?
Well, yes, we want to mark weight shift/collection! And with the dogs who need more head turn, we are getting weight shift and collection but not really getting the desired turns. So, what is missing? The turn of the front of the body away into the wrap, towards the jump, that is led by their heads. They are slowing down into collection, shifting weight but not turning until after landing. So this is more about focusing on the head turn away to approach the bar, not about coming back towards the handler.
When I look at video of dogs who are producing those slinky slithery turns versus the dogs who are not (all of similar structure, so ruling out structural differences) what I see is the head turning away towards the bar (or not). I don’t mean rear-cross-turn-away, I mean turning their heads tight around the wing to look at the part of the bar they are approaching and need to jump – which bends them through their middles while also weight shifting into the rear.
So we need to isolate the head turn away around the wing! Get the head turned with a dog who understands weight shift? Boom! Great turns. It is something that I have worked on a lot with my Voodoo – he is not super angulated so turning at speed was hard. He also struggled with bars on slice jump and all backside jumping – the head turns really helped.
And I have started it early with my youngsters, so I plan to get and post more video. I think you can see the head turning here on these turns – hard to see on a black dog but I don’t have anything recent that is more close up. You can see it happening on the wraps at :01 and :42 and :49. I did a bad job on some of the other cues and you can see he didn’t turn his head til after landing resulting in wider turns.
Seeing several of the dogs in this class having the head-turn question, along with having 3 young dogs in training… now I have a plan that I can articulate more clearly that can hopefully be helpful.
Now back to your questions:
>>Question1: do you want me to use my wrap verbal cues?
Not yet. Let’s get the behavior first then the verbals can be added back.
>>I am not a huge fan of multiple wraps but was convince by Jennifer Crank to work on them. Enzo will do multiple jump wraps but not, as I’m sure you can guess, very tight.
I am a huge fan of Jennifer Crank, great handler and trainer. I don’t know her approach to multi-wraps, though. I don’t want to approach these as traditional multi-wraps – I want to approach them as a starting point to teach the head turn away behavior and then we train to get the head turn behavior on the *first* approach to the wing, not the 2nd or 3rd. On the video of my youngster, his best head turn at the end was made on the first approach to the wing, which made me very happy.
>>Question2: Do you want multiple wraps of the pole?
Nope, I want head turns away around the wing (not back towards the handler) 🙂 So send him around it (he will probably not yet turn his head away that well on the first approach, but if he does: click and reward) – and use a hand cue to help get the head turn away on the 2nd wrap. C/t the head turn (I don’t care if he finishes the 2nd wrap or not).
>>Question3: Do you want to see his multiple jump wraps?
Sure! I have custom skill sets coming later today, so I am happy to look at them!
On your video:
He is whipping his head around the wing to come back to you, which is good! But I want to have him make that head turn sooner on the wing, as he is entering the wing, on the way to it, as if taking off – doing it as he exits the wing simulates finishing the turn after landing. We want him doing it on approach to the wing. So, have him do a wrap but don’t c/t when he is coming back to you – use a hand cue to have him wrap it again – and c/t the moment he turns his head back to the wing (not looking at you) to slither around the entry side of it rather than the exit side of it. Let me know if that makes sense!Tracy
Good morning!
>>I really struggle trying to follow the lines you drew. If I can’t a suggestion for a better way, I’d be right out with it.
Sorry about that, it was an experiment with just did not work out too well – I think it created a visual mishmash for people. I will be doing it differently for the next ones – fewer lines, better explanations. Sorry!
>>I will put the head-turn in the separate thread.
Perfect! I am heading there next. I didn’t really comment on his head turns on these drills, because he is not turning his head before the turn so even on the best collections, we are not always getting the best turns – and I have a game plan. I think it will make a big difference!! He is such a good dog that I know that he will be happy to do it when we have told him how to do it 🙂
>>I hope to work on the novice sequences later today and maybe the master’s ones also. I see Novice 2 and Novice 3 but not Novice 1?? (So happy they are the same build!!)
It is on the 2nd page of the PDF right below the course map with the coordinates. It should be there, I just checked – let me know if it is still not showing up for you.
On the video, lots of good stuff!!!!
1st rep – You can drive out of the wrap more – you stuck around so he asked about going back to the jump he just took, mainly because his toy was out there.
On the FC/BC (ketchsker/k-turn) at :08, you can go to the blind sooner – ideally, you turned your head forward when you see him gathering for liftoff at the latest, so you can be looking over your left (new) side when he lands. You were looking over the right til after he landed and turned so he had a zig zag looking for the new line to the backside there.2nd rep – much nicer job moving up the line to 3, he didn’t have a question there. You were earlier getting to the blind after 3, but not early enough – if you play it in slow motion as he lands at :24 through :25, you can see him look at you rather than drive confidently to the backside. Subtle! So you can totally play with turning your head forward before he takes off for the wrap to be reconnected on the blind before landing – he will either think it is the best info ever, or he will ask a commitment question (and then we train it, no problem!)
2nd video – good job on the first rep! I will keep bugging you to turn sooner on the k-turn at 2 so the reconnection happens earlier – I there there are some good opportunities for that in the sequences if you want to move to them, or we can add them 🙂 You can also increase the challenge by rotating sooner on the FCs (and the k-turn beginnings): for example, at :06, he is passing you and you are beginning to rotate. You can see if you can already be rotated as he is passing you and moving the next direction. This gets tighter turns and better position! He will let us know if he has any commitment questions. This will be most useful to you, I think, when you are not ahead of him – on this drill and also on drill 7, you got really nice turns from ahead with a bit of ‘pushing down’ into the takeoff spot with your cue, he really reads that nicely!!
And great connection throughout on rep 6 and 7.Rep 8 – FC at 2 looked good! As he is coming round 2 from the FC, start your collection verbal and physical cue sooner – it can begin the moment he finishes wrapping the wing (verbal and decel before the rotation). You said ‘ready’ on the first rep and ‘good boy’ on the 2nd rep and kept moving forward so he didn’t see the info or hear the cue until he was pretty close to the jump at :34 and :44. He jumped a little wide on both and it made the blind cross exit late so he looked at you on both. So that asks the question about whether to use praise/ramp up words or directionals with him on course: some dogs LOVE the praise and ramp up words on course and go faster faster faster (my papillon is an example of that). Some dogs prefer informational verbals and slow down or look up during praise/ramp up moments: Enzo appears to fall into that category. He slows down in those moments – not in a “omg this is so not motivating” way, but in a “waiting for the next cue” way. So on the sequences. try running with only the info for the next line and let’s see what he does!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>“doing a handling”>>
OMG that made me snort LOL!!!!!! Yes, I feel that! The voice in your head should be yelling something different, though, more like ” RUN AWAY SHE IS COMING FOR YOU RUUUUUN!!!!”. It will feel a bit like a scene from Jurassic Park haha!
Video 1:
On the first wrap, your rotation looked really good, she wrapped 2 beautifully. You can turn your head away for the blind sooner – as soon as you see her collected, assume she will commit and do the blind. You were connected on the original side til she landed at :06 and :22 so the blind/next line was a little late.
Your feet, running line and verbal on the push were good! Add more connection directly to her eyes and see what she does with it. That was what you did on the fix moment at :17 and it helped!
At :25, you were pointing your chest to the backside line and looking at the backside line and she got it… but I think it was mainly because you rotated and put more motion pressure on the line too. So try moving up the line like you did on the first rep (feet facing the bar) and looking at her eyes very directly (almost like she has been naughty LOL!) – that will rotate your chest by bringing your outside shoulder forward, without rotating your feet.Video 2: Her commitment on the wrap turns is terrific and the timing of your rotation is great! Her turns look lovely! On the spin on jump 2, you can turn your head sooner for the blind (as she is collecting for takeoff, assume commitment). The FC wrap at :08 and :17 and :44 were sweeeeet! So tight and nice!
You had good connection on the push at :09 and :18 but you were rotating and running sideways (and :18 you ended upbackwards to the wing) so she ended up on the front. Compare that to :26, :36 and :48 when you were running forward with great connection and she nailed it. I loev how she is turning her head on the tight turns (esp at :35) – it helps create such nice turns over the bar!The bar at :27 was just the excitement of the toy coming out, and the bar at :33 was her keeping you honest – you were a little late on the wrap rotation there so she was trying to adjust after taking off.
Video 3:
Very first rep had an accidental spin on 2 – but you turned your head sooner for the blind (while she was taking off rather than as she was landing) – yay! It can be even sooner, before she takes off.
On the 2nd rep – she had the bar down at 2 on a slightly late FC wrap cue – we will add a custom skill set to help her not touch the bars even when you are not perfect. So yes, try to be earlier and also remember your verbal – but stay tuned for a custom skill set for this because this is something that I notices she does (also happened on the previous video).
You were perfect on the next rep and the bar was not a problem at all. Good wrap on 3 on these and your send to the backside at :21 was realy strong: great connection and running forward. The last backside at :30 was a little more sideways and rotation was happening while she was jumping… so the bar came down. Definitely something we will work on with the custom skills set 🙂 The handling isn’t utterly perfect, could be maybe one heartbeat earlier? But it is indeed almost perfect… so we will emphasize teaching her that almost perfect is just fine. I am fine if the dogs don’t let us get away with totally sucking in the handling – but this is NOT sucking at all, so we will do a bit of dog training.4th video – 1st rep – as with the other sequences, the blind on the spin and be sooner, definitely something to try for the next session. I think you had an accidental backside at :04 but the physical cue was exactly right for a backside.
On jump 3, you were rotating into her like you were going to start a spin then you opened back up to a post turn – so you can finish your rotation to complete the spin which will put you ahead on the line sooner.
At :29 she found the backside nicely (yay!) and there was rotation as she was jumping so she pulled the bar. I see a pattern here and I am excited to help her out with it!! Try not to reward immediately after a bar comes down, get one success then reward – like one more jump or even a trick – just so we don’t pair the bar down with getting the toy.
The last rep looked great!>>Our backsides are a little hit and miss, but it went better in the later session, so I think we (me) are learning.
I agree, they definitely got better as you hashed out the running forward with the connection! You play with the wraps more to test the theory but I am happy with how they went. Nice work here!
Tracy
