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Hi!
>>Should I proactively do the pattern game through the mulberry detritus right at the beginning?
Yes – this is an ongoing distraction for him, plus it is a delicious distraction 🙂 So yes, I would do specific sessions just to focus on getting engagement and not doing sequences. When you have him fully engaged, you can add in more like sending through the tunnel and have him chase you for rewards 🙂
You definitely were able to move more here with the added distance, which really helped him move more too. He definitely had mulberries on his mind, so it in those moments you have to abandon mission on the sequence and just work engagement. What starts to happen if you try to do sequences over the mulberries is that you keep having to move him away from the distractions, which doesn’t really build value for the sequence work and he ends up moving more slowly through it. And it can be a little stressful because if he doesn’t know how to ignore the mulberries, then he will end up not getting rewarded as much and getting unsure.
You can see that here a bit here in his movement – he was a bit up and down in his gait rather than reaching forward in his striding, which I take to be as sign of split focus: half of his mind on sequencing, half of his mind on mulberries 🙂 You might feel that you need to be super energetic to keep his focus, which is why I think working the engagement til he doesn’t want to look away becomes important: he will be at normal speed and his mind will be centered on one task – and you can also just focus on handling and not engagement at the same time. It will be easier and more fun for both of you 🙂I have done this “engagement only” stuff in my field with several of my dogs: Nacho the Papillon had to be on leash for a LONG while so I could keep him from running off to pursue rabbit poop. And same with Contraband for a while: had to work on ignoring critters that he wanted to hunt. But that work was worthwhile because now the dogs and I can just focus on the handling because they no longer get engaged with distractions. And if I think way back, I did the same with Export as a teenager (but that was 150 years ago so it is hard to remember). I don’t really remember what his distraction issues were, but I think he was distracted by ALL the things LOL!
And now that I am thinking about it: I worked Voodoo on leash as a teenager when I lived closer to a road, to teach him to NOT chase the cars that drove by (even thought the field was fenced, he would run the fence line to chase cars). So sometimes the agility gods gift us with dogs that have perfect focus and engagement (Matrix, Hot Sauce, and probably Min too) but most of the time – we have to teach it 🙂
On the sequences with Min:
>>There’s still a lot of “yes”‘ floating around but the “toss” cue to go get the food on the ground at the end sounds a lot like yes on the video so the “don’t say yes” program is slowly starting to work.>>
I feel the pain of the yes LOL!!! One still sneaks out of me every now and then. I have changed the name of the reform program to “Don’t Say Yay” because “don’t say yes” sounded like we are anti-Susan-G’s training school (Say Yes) which of course, is not true LOL!! We fully support her training school, and we are also fully supporting ourselves to stop yelling YES on course LOL!!!
On the first reps with the wraps – a good timing challenge would be to replace all of the yes moments with the next cue – she looks up at you the tiniest bit so I bet you can shave off even more time by yelling the next cue 🙂 We are talking fractions of a second – but she is running at the highest levels and a fraction could make the difference in a placement!
On the 2nd sequence you didn’t really have time to “yes” anything so that was great! One thing to try with her is starting the front or blind cross as soon as you see her land from the jump after the tunnel, so then the decel into the rotation for the next jump starts as soon as she lands from the next jump – the blind and front were both still basically in progress before she took off, finishing when she landed… which made the next cue late so she was a little off balance landing. They were about equal in time (and faster getting around the wing than the wrap), so now it is matter of how early you can start the FC or BC to be able to cue the collection so she can adjust before takeoff.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
They are both doing really well here – finding the correct side of the wing and then they are doing REALLY well with completing the wrap without help! Yay!
When you were using the stay – starting the in in then throwing in the release then back to the in in cue worked pretty well! You can use that to get further ahead as you add more motion and speed. Using the thrown cookie works well, but to make it easier you and put yourself further ahead for now – start with your position closer to the wing, toss the treat and send them to get it, so that way you’ll be further ahead when you cue the in in. When you were close to the them and started moving up the line and they would have had to drive past you to it – that was a little harder for them and so we will keep you ahead for now and add the concept of driving ahead to the threadle wrap later on.
And they had no trouble when you balanced in wrapping the front side and going to the in in after it. Nice!
You can keep building this up: Next steps would be to add even more motion (maybe a tunnel before so the dogs are going faster but you can still be moderate speed, or starting from a stay or cookie toss where you start to jog a bit) as well as a jump bar so they get used to the jumping effort that goes with it. We put it in sequences in the next games package.
Great job here!
TracyHi there!
>>In the first transition to trials game, Maia grabs her leash and starts to tug as soon as I start to run to the treat bowl. It’s not even a tug/leash, just a plain ole’ leash.
You talk about using the leash as a tug reward in the ring, but making sure we are clear about when it is used for reinforcement. Maia is all about the tugging until we get close to the cookies, then she switches her focus. Am I going to far from the cookies?>>I think it is great to use the leash as a toy (and plenty of shopping opportunities for tug leashes too LOL!). When using the leash as the toy, treat it as a high value toy with some rules attached LOL! I highly recommend a specific word to cue her to get it and also a specific word to cue her to out it. So, you can tell her “get it” so she knows when the leash is in play as a reward, otherwise, reward her for ignoring it. That is mainly so that she doesn’t veer off a line in the middle of a course to grab her leash 🙂 and be sure to leave the leash on the ground for her to get used to running past and ignoring it til she is cued to get it.
>>What do you recommend here? Let her play tug with the leash until we get to the cookies?
You might not be going too far from the cookies – after all, in the trial ring, those cookies will be pretty far away! So I think the leash might end up being a bridge from the marker to the cookies, and that is fine AND useful for trialing 🙂 So yes – cue her to tug on the leash, then when you want to switch to cookies, ask her to out it and then give her a cookie.
>>Also, I saw that you are going to the quad cities in a few weeks for a clinic. I’m sure you are booked for young dogs and we have some things going on, but can you provide the contact info? I could make Sunday if that’s the day for young dogs and someone can’t make it at the last minute.>>
I am not sure which days have spots and what topics are available, but here is the email for Dawn Ecker (she is handling all the registration). She can give you all the details. Plus, she is an excellent instructor, if you ever wanted to hop into one of the clinics she teaches 🙂
>>Do you have any other clinics scheduled in the same general area? I live in the far northern suburbs of Chicago. Do you have an email list you can add me to for clinics?>>
Covid has really made the calendar go a bit nuts… I think the only other clinic in the general area will be in Muncie, IN – maybe in October but no firm dates yet. I have taught at The Farm which is pretty close to you – there are lots of good people who go teach there too, if you wanted to check out their offerings. When things settle down a bit, I will update my Facebook group with the seminar calendar:
https://www.facebook.com/tracysklenarseminarsIt has not been updated in a while because things have been so crazy with Covid.
Hope that helps!
TracyInteresting that copying the link without it being ‘live’ brought up the video – I think the key is taking out anything extra before the https://
Hi! It worked! Sorry it is such a pain in the petunia but I am glad it worked.
I think in the Link section, getting rid of the extra characters helped.
And the other way to do it that works is to copy/paste the link into the body of the message like this:
And then double click to highlight it, and then click on the Link above, it will appear and then click on Add Link at the bottom to make it live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAdk9ZphbGIOn the run here:
She is very keen to run, and that is great! She is also super fast, which is also great. Remember to reward a ton of start line stays so she doesn’t try to start before you are ready 🙂Nice opening! Connected and quick!!! So fun!!!!
On the dog walk and a-frame, I think she is depending a bit of you being down at the bottom to help cue the position. But she is really fast, so when you get behind her, she curls off to look for you. Because she is fast, I suggest using a target or something to help her drive ahead to her end position and not have to wait for you to get there (plus, then you can totally go to the next spot on course). How are you training on her contacts – 2o2o? Let me know and we can brainstorm to get them more independent.
It was a little hard to see the middle section, the person was in the way 🙂 She was concerned about the teeter, so that obstacle still needs to be a bit more isolated as you teach her to do it at full speed. You can do something like a wing wrap to the teeter, with lots and lots of reinforcement, then gradually build it into sequences. And using a target is useful there too 🙂
The back line looked good, the handling is all going well! Your connection looked really strong. The only thing to add on is a target for the a-frame so she can hit and hold position when she is ahead of you.
Great job here! When is your next run through or trial?Tracy
Ha! The crazy travel happens every couple of weeks: 2 weeks on the road, 2 weeks home. Having flyball back in the mix makes it a bit crazier 🙂
Good morning! These were fun to see! And I noticed which dogs were running too, thanks for labeling LOL!
Kippy:
First run – nice send to the backside, super tight and that line sets up a nice line after it too! The blind to the threadle for the jump before the tunnel worked well to (:10) – you can give the threadle cue a little earlier and decel out of it rather than keep moving forward. You kept moving forward towards the fence line, so he jumped a little long and skidded making the turn to the tunnel. On those threadles with wrap exits, you can use the center of the bar as a marker – get the threadle but decel and don’t go past the center of the bar: step away immediately to the tunnel and the turn should be great.
2nd run – also looked really good! A bit of strategy on the jump after the tunnel: by getting that far ahead and so close to the entry wing at :17, you had to wait there and then the motion he saw was parallel to the bar when ideally it would be straight forward to the next jump. The parallel motion caused him to slice the jump more than wrap the exit so he was a little wide and had to adjust after landing, which changed the line of the next jump too.
So strategically, you can run in closer to the tunnel then your line can be further across the jump to cue the backside: at worst, be running towards the center of the bar on a parallel path to him. At best? Your parallel line to his path takes you to the exit wing 🙂 And either way, you can then run directly forward and get a nice tight exit to the next jump.
You gave the threadle cue earlier here so he powered through it more too! And on this one too, you can play with not going past the center of the bar to let him set up the wrap to the tunnel.On the overlay – so cool to see! The faster entry line to the backside after the tunnel put Kippy Run 2 him ahead even with the wider turn on exit and then Kippy Run 1 just couldn’t catch up – and I thought you were able to get really tight lines on that opening in Kippy Run 1! It goes into the pile of data saying that tighter is not necessarily faster! Finding the straight possible acceleration lines is tending to produce the fastest runs, whether we are tight or not. Good to know for the US Open 🙂
Emmie Run 1 to faster backside line: same ideas as with Kippy about strategically not going to the entry wing, but rather setting the line parallel so you have a better turn on the exit. This is where we can really compare: how much of an advantage does getting the better turn there produce? My guess is that is cuts out yardage but doesn’t slow the dog down, so it is worthwhile.
At :11 you did the thing I mentioned above about exiting from the center of the bar of the threadle jump and not moving towards the fence. She set herself up for a great turn without losing speed! Yay! Compare it to :24 of the second run where you moved to the exit wing of the threadle jump and had a wider turn there. The rest of Emmie Run 2 (faster exit line of backside after tunnel) looked great.
Last run (backside wrap) I think the wrap was well-executed and might have put you a little too far ahead for her? The bars might have been, in part, her chasing you to catch up because you were miles ahead. Now, being miles ahead is NOT a bad thing LOL! It is a good thing to show her in training so she can maintain her good jumping form without rushing to catch up.Question – did you walk the yardage between the tunnel and the next 2 jumps?I am curious to know because my guess is there is extra yardage when the dogs have to turn from the tunnel to get to the backside and that extra, plus having to turn, is what is making the difference.
Comparison of slices – yep, same as with Kippy – faster entry line to the backside after the tunnel put her miles ahead and that lead was insurmountable. Now, the Emmie Run 2 almost catches up on the 180 because there is flat out ground speed there (same thing happened with Kippy) but you also had a better exit to the tunnel after the threadle on Run 1, so Emmie Run 2 was a couple of strides slower.
Slice versus wrap comparison: makes it really obvious why we want to find the best slice lines! Soooooo many people choose the wraps over the slices but you can see how much faster the slice is here. And I think you did a great job with the handling, so it is not a case of crappy handling. And she wraps beautifully… so it is just a great reminder to try to find the best slice line.
Great job here, and thanks for the overlays! They provide a great visual of what works best 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
Huey was great at this – he seemed to think it was all perfectly normal LOL!! This game cracks me up – some dogs think we are nuts and some dogs think it is totally normal HA!
I like how you ramped it up when he was successful early on – and it is really great how he was able to do the sit while you were being really crazy and jumping around. So now you can take him to the next step: the motion override, where you are walking (slowly lol) forward in a straight line, and asking for the behavior. In this game, he was sitting in front of you, so motion override asks him to NOT come in front of you but to sit wherever he is: that might be much harder so start by going really slowly. If it is easy? Add speed. And you can also add more tricks in, if he knows tricks like spins or high 5s or something.What did the other dogs think of this game? Did they think you had lost your mind? LOL!
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
Yay! He was a good boy here! And I am glad he was willing to offer interaction with the teeter here – it is NOT an easy obstacle! One thing I notice here (and I am sure you have noticed it too) is that he seemed happy to put his front feet on but really was not as thrilled about putting his back feet on. And since we will eventually be wanting him to shift his weight into those back feets, I have some ideas on how to convince him that back feet on the teeter is worthwhile 🙂
Away from the teeter – how does he feel about wobble board and stuff like that? You can do shaping sessions on things that move, marking back feet touching (not just front feet). One of those bigger wobble boards would be perfect because it is easier to get the back feet on. And if he has questions about using his back feet, you can shape him to put his back feet on a dog bed or something even easier, so he has a reinforcement history of offering his back feet on stuff. My guess is that you have done stuff like that already so now you can use the skill here 🙂
How is he doing with his backing up skills? If he can back up on the flat, and back up onto something like a mat or dog bed – ask him to back up onto a wobble board and then we take it over to the end of the teeter. I start with all 4 feet on then lure the dog off, so he puts his 2 front feet off then steps back on. Then work up to all 4 feet off and back feet stepping back onto the thing. When you put the skill onto the teeter, start with the teeter NOT moving because the board is so narrow compared to everything else, then add a tiny bit of movement – we don’t need to increase the height/amount of tip until he loves putting his back feet on.
On this game with the teeter – as soon as the board got to a certain level off the ground about halfway through, he was getting creative about how to pull it down with his front feet LOL!!! Good boy!!! So, next session can be back foot focused: lower the board back to where it was easy (maybe an inch or less off the ground?) and start the way you did here as a warm up. Then get really close to the board and wait an extra heartbeat after he puts his front feet on: when a rear foot hits the board, mark it and party! If he only puts front feet on, still reward, but you can do the biggest parties best reinforcement for back feet 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyOoh nice foggy morning! Cool view on the video!
This went well! Right away, he got his right turns and then you were able to send and rotate away as he was passing you. Very nice! And you continued that trend throughout the session. The next step on this little game would be to sen him behind you like you did… and then start moving to the next wing before he even arrives at the wing you just sent him too 🙂 That adds even more countermotion. I am not concerned about being a bit bouncy in between the wings – there is not a lot of distance there for you to really run. You can try adding more connection back to his eyes between wings (I thought you were connected, though) but I don’t think you’ll see the bouncing when you get onto sequences and courses 🙂
And speaking of Countermotion, the game from the live seminar that has the 360 wraps is also a really good game to work countermotion. I have found that these games make it really easy to transfer the countermotion skills to jumps and sequences.
Great job here!!!
TracyHi!
>>Is this the correct timing?
Dog is in sit and I start moving to the wing
I cue In In. This releases the dog
I use a small outside arm for the flipor should I cue and then move?>>
Move-then-cue, so you will already be moving up the line before you show the hand (the hand goes into position before the verbal cue) – and then give the verbal to release him 🙂 If you cue then move, the motion might distract him from the processing.
>>Min got into your OTR Event Prep on Sunday in Sept!
Yay!
>> I was debating the young masters dog on Thursday for Kaladin since he has good skills, but I wasn’t sure if he would fit with that group if he decided to be Distracto-Boy.
I am not worried about him with distractions at all, but the young masters dogs is more for 3 and 4 year old dogs who have started running in Masters. No rush to put our youngster in that type of seminar, whether we have the skills or not. My Contraband is the same age as Kaladin, and I would not put him in a young masters seminar LOL!
>> Kaladin is on the wait list right now for Friday.
Fingers crossed!!!!
T
Hi! Finally home and on the computer to find these 🙂
Here is how I teach left/right:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhGGjbribPgAnd the zig zag grid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTswJ78fI6QHave fun!
TracyHi!
>> I was wondering in general where you should set your timing points when evaluating turns.
When timing off video, I liked to try find landing spots because it is easier to see landing than it is to see takeoff or tunnel exits. And I time in slow motion too, which makes it even easier 🙂
>>As you mentioned I think it is when I stop moving and ask for more collection when she is dropping bars. The drop bars were actually scattered amongst her runs. I just put them together at the end on the video to compare and see if I could see a pattern on each handling choice.
Got it! So then yes – it was when you stopped moving and ended up in the way 🙂
>> Here’s my question ;). When walking courses is there a way to help see more of these options or things you think through to not miss them? the BC/FC is probably the last one that would come to my mind so I’m not sure I would think of it in a trial?
I literally keep a written list 🙂 I jot down and update the current list of strengths and weaknesses for each dog and each handling choice, as well as things to remember. It is on my phone so I take it with me. Without an actual written list, I would forget all the things LOL!
>>Connection is starting to just come without me thinking about it :).
You’ve worked hard on it, and it really shows! Yay!!!
>> Verbals still hurt my head, but I’m getting more of them. LOL
Ha! I feel that. More on remembering verbals in the next set of games 🙂
Tracy
