Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi! Welcome and have fun with your boys 🙂 I am looking forward to hearing how they do with the challenges!
Tracy
Hi! Welcome 🙂
You can do the skills and sequences as much as possible at home, and then maybe apply them to the set up you find in your training center? I believe they don’t really let you move things, but we can get creative 🙂T
Hello! There is plenty we can do with you not needing to do too much movement here for now! I am looking forward to it!!!
T
Oops! For some reason it shows up on my computer here but not in the upload. It should be fixed now! I bet Watson can tackle some of these!
Hi there, hope you had a great weekend!
On the threadle training:
He is doing well, figuring it out! One thing to consider: use your “in in” cue as the release from the stay, rather than saying “break in in”. Using break first can be confusing – it means front of jump, in general, and that is what it meant on the serps. And that is probably why he took the front at :09 – he made the decision when you said “break” and it was too late to adjust when he heard the ‘in in’. So, just use ‘in in’ as the release (and yes, I would do that off of the stop on the teeter as well, for example).
One other thing to add: Have toy on the ground on the slice line after the threadles, for two reasons – it adds a nice self-control challenge! Also, he is twisting over the bar and watching you as you throw it and not really slicing to the next line – so the toy on the ground will smooth that out, get his eyes off you, and help him to set up his jumping earlier. Also, having to throw the toy is causing you to do extra shoulder movement that you don’t want in the threadle – you will want to keep your shoulders open.At this point, he looks ready for more: Add motion to the easier angles, using easy angles until you can run! And then go back and add motion to the harder angles, sloooow motion to start with 🙂 And speaking of adding motion: At 1:23 you did add motion, yay!! It was a good angle to add motion. As you add the motion, don’t rotate your feet. Drop the threadle arm back but not so much that your feet rotate. I think you were dropping the arm back so much that it was also pulling your feet back.
When you balanced with serps on one jump – very nice! They look good and you had lots of motion!!
Sending to the backside – good job working this on the verbal. One thought: Watch your feet position no these.
On the first one at :46, your feet were at an angle, facing perpendicular to the line (facing the tunnel). On the next rep where he didn’t get the backside, your feet were facing the jump (:50) and you got quiet too early. You were a little rotated out on the next 2 reps and you stepped, and he got them – so be sure to also have your feet forward and be closer to the jump so he can have a clearer understanding and not rely on foot position.
Also – is this verbal for your backside slice or backside wrap (or both?) The exact meaning will affect the placement of the reward. If it is backside slice, then toss the reward out on the slice line. If it is both, I encourage separate cues 🙂3 jump serp away from the tunnel: very nice! You might have been a tiny bit too far from the jumps, you can stay within one arm’s length. But your connection and running line were very nice!
Coming towards the tunnel: yeah, that tunnel is a big distraction at 1:34 🙂 Remember to call him! And also keep your left arm in closer to you, so it doesn’t accidentally push him out (like a get out arm). Don’t say tunnel til after he has landed AND turned to the tunnel you want 🙂
You got it on the next rep with a left on the previous jump but also calling his name can help after left.Serp away from the tunnel – also nice at 1:44 – but call his name before he enters the tunnel or give a left cue, so he exits turned.
Towards the tunnel at 1:50 – he did a great job of coming in to take the serp jump! You were moving directly towards the wrong end of the tunnel though 🙂 And at 1:51, as he was landing from the serp jump, he was looking at the wrong end, you were looking at the other end (disconnected when you should be looking at him) and you said tunnel… so he went tunnel 🙂 One of my personal rules on my tunnel verbal is to only say it when I see the dog looking at the line to the tunnel entry I want… Ha! Voodoo taught me that LOL!!!
Compare the connection and running line to 1:55 – you were moving to the correct tunnel entry AND looking right at him: much better 🙂 I still suggest calling his name there and not saying “tunnel” til he has landed and turned, just to be sure.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
OMG! Her zig zags look AWESOME!!!! She might have needed a little more help but she still bounced it beautifully! She is really turning into a talented jumper, I am impressed (the zig zag grid is REALLY hard and she is making it look pretty easy, actually.) It looked just about completely flat AND the middle bar was higher on that last rep – no problem! Happy dance!
You are doing a great job with her – it has been such a pleasure to be able to watch her turning into an amazeballs agility dog. The future is exciting, I cannot wait to see you two in the ring!!!!!!
Great job 🙂
TracyHi! So much good stuff on these videos!
Sequence video 1: Lovely first rep! Smooth, connected, fast!
Lovely second rep! Good transition – you can tweak your connection to have your left arm after th rotation more towards him as a ‘brake’ on takeoff side, so he turns tighter. As you rotate, drop the arm more in towards him and on the takeoff side of the bar – you were tending to have your arm extending to the landing spot on these and that is more “swoosh” than he needs.2nd video: nice first rep! The toy was definitely a good incentive to get him to drive back faster on the wrap! You also stepped into the gap more (and on the 2nd rep too) and that really helped! Comparing to the running line on this exit of the first rep, the stepping in really helped. (and I suggest dropping the ‘new’ arm in towards the takeoff spot and towards him here too :))
The 10″ jumps looked good!
3rd video:
1st rep
An idea to get you up the line sooner: Send to the tunnel and move away on a sharp angle, rather than curve your line to match the tunnel curve: run directly into the gap 3-4 for the blind. Think of it as a send and go – one step to the tunnel then turn away to 4 with more of a sharp angle of running line. That will get you there sooner and show him the line sooner. The rounded line put your a little in his way on landing of 3. Nice wrap on 4! Good job getting back up the line to the tunnel!2nd rep – On the opening, this is a place to do the send and go on the tunnel that I described on the first rep.
I think you were trying to threadle or open up back to him too much after you did the spin at 4 – the spin should create the turn, so you don’t need to threadle – just run towards 4 (connecting on the new side). Your running line was good on the last rep but it still looked like you were rotating your upper body towards him more than needed (he was responding really nicely!!)
All of your connections look terrific, you two are looking like a smooth fast team!!
Zig Zag 1: look at him bouncing like a pro!!! Same with zigzag 2!!! My only tweak is to remember to not face him as he is doing those, face the direction he is going. But he looks REALLY good with his bounces on these, and they are almost flat!
Before you flatten them completely, let him see a few more sessions of this to really maintain the bouncing -then flatten them in tiny increments so he barely notices the difference.>>Should I try the progressive striding grid again with the 12″ jump?
You totally can! He will do fine: first session will be a little off balance and then the second session will be perfect, that is how he rolls LOL!
Great job! Fingers crossed for good Monday weather!
Tracy
Hi!
>>We took a few days off agility this week to work on Nosework
Nosework is fun!!!!
>>and learning how to behave in the world lol.
Wait, what? Are we supposed to teach that? hahaha just kidding 🙂
>>Chapter also ran into our piano and smacked his leg pretty hard on Tuesday. He limped for a outlet minutes and then seemed fine but I wanted to play it safe.>>
Ouch! Poor Chapter!!! Smart to play it safe. He looked good here!
On the serp sequences – the trick to getting the serp jump in the middle and that pesky last jump is about your running line: very close to the middle jump and not pulling away from it – so then you as run past the middle jump, you are running almost directly towards the last jump. That also means he needs to find the first jump (or the jump after the tunnel) pretty independently, which is a good skill for a young dog! When he didn’t read the line, it was because you were pulling away.
On the first video –
On the first rep – you were pulling away from the middle so he came into the gap.
2nd rep – better line to middle jump, less pulling away!
3rd – good!! You stayed pretty parallel to the jump the whole timeOn the 2nd video, to be able to get up the line to the last jump – when he exits the tunnel, be connected but running parallel (and close to) the middle jump so when he lands from the middle jump, you are on your way to the last jump.
1st rep – you had a pull away moment there
2nd rep – a little bit of a disconnect caused the oopsie, but better line as you ran past the middle jump!
On the 3rd and last rep, you were pulling away from the middle jump, which is why he did not read the turn back to the last jump.
So you can try to send him into the tunnel, use connection and a verbal cue (like “jump”) to support the next jump and run past the middle jump (serp jump) close enough to touch it, which opening your upper body up – feet running to the last jump.
You can break it down so he can read it, then work your way backwards until he can do it at full speed 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense! I think the tweak in running line is all he needs 🙂Tracy
Hi!
Good work on the sequences, it is fun to see him doing grown up stuff 🙂
1st video:
Jaakko turn – bearing in mind that the motion is more of a commitment cue than the step-back or rotation, you can actually wait longer to begin the rotation (which, as strange as it sounds, will end up allowing you to leave sooner LOL!) Here’s what I mean: On the first rep, you stopped your motion early in order to rotate – but it ended up making a bit sideways and your feet were facing the RC line – and I think a bit in the middle of the bar – so he committed then rear crossed as you stepped through. On the 2nd rep, the motion was much better in terms of moving forward longer and towards the wrap wing , so he committed nicely and turned the correct direction. And you seemed to have no trouble getting out of there for the next line. So the fast-slow transition element will cue the commitment, then you can basically turn and run away 🙂2nd video – Remember that the threadle cues the line so you don’t need to manage the line 🙂 On the first rep, you were managing too much – you changed motion, pulled and then tried to send back out so it set the line to the tunnel. Keep moving towards the next jump and only use your upper body (and verbal :)) You did this much better on the next 2 reps, and he found it nicely 🙂 You caught yourself using a jump cue after the threadle (not the end of the world LOL but not really needed) as the in in cue also cues the jump. The rep at approx :35 was REALLY nice – good timing, you kept moving, and you moved to the jump (not to the tunnel). The last rep was good too! I think he had learned the sequence by then, so remember to balance it with keeping him out on 180 or backside line rather than the threadle line.
On the zig zag grid – interestingly, on the first couple of reps he added a stride on the first interval but then easily bounced the 2nd interval. That was likely due to him having to figure out how to get organized to step into it properly (it is a really hard grid). So you can open up that first interval a tiny bit until you get the bounce back. Then as you flatten the grid – do it really gradually so he always bounces. If he adds a stride on one rep – ask for the same exact thing on the next rep. If he still adds a stride… open it back up a little til he bounces again. Then keep that configuration in place so he can bounce it several times in a row, then tighten a tiny bit. You can also play with shortening the distances in the intervals, with the goal being bouncing. There is no specific recipe that fits all dogs, so feel free to play around and see what keeps him bouncing. It will likely be a game of inches and it takes a while to get it flattened while keeping the bouncing.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>I want to go back and revisit those serp exercises on the flat and on the wing, but I am not fully understanding the mechanics. You explained in detail in my comments, but I don’t think I’m getting it right. Is there any chance you have video you could post?Let me know if this helps with the visual:
(starting around 2:37)
Hi! These are 2 of the hardest skills and he is starting to really figure them out 🙂
On the threadles – keep your motion nice and sloooooow for now, so you can walk without rotating your feet, but you can also let him really see and process the hand cue and the verbal. You can get the hand cue even higher and repeat the verbal, starting before he takes off for the first jump. I think that will really help! On the reps where you were not moving as fast, he really did well with you moving forward. When you tried to go fast – he wasn’t quite ready for that speed and couldn’t quite get the threadle rolling. So keep your speed slow and you can gradually increase it while keeping your feet moving forward.He did a GREAT job on the first part of the zig zag grids!!! It is such a hard grid! The dropped bar was because of the toy dropping in early, but the opening reps were terrific. He will need you to tighten it more gradually – starting with the rep at 1:15, he started to add steps rather than bounce, so that flatness was a little too hard. On the next session, start back to where he was able to bounce it so nicely – and then maybe tighten it by an inch 🙂 If, at any point, he stops bouncing, open it back up. He has a lot of body but I am confident we can convince him to bounce this grid 🙂
Nice work!
Tracy
