[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Well, is the Prime truck was going to interrupt the session, the least Amazon could do is to bring you free dog toys, right? LOL!

This session went well 🙂 And no worries about also doing weaves in class… you are still in the ‘plenty of reps’ is fine stage because he is mainly running. In about a week, we are all going to have to be limiting reps and sessions because they are actually weaving (difficult for the humans but we also get to add the real verbal :))

So I think most of the angles were easy for him. He had a miss at the 3 o’clock angle, approx, where he got to the correct side but ran past the entry. That is the most common error I am seeing with all the dogs, including my own. We can tweak it: I isolated it by clicking that entry from up close and personal and then dropping the cookie between the 2 sets of poles, and we can also put the PT in between the 2 sets and then move it back out. That 2nd set PLUS the PT out ahead are pretty massive distractions and that angle is hard to begin with.
I see the misses you mentioned on the “easy” angles later on – hard to tell why it was happening: remaining distraction from Amazon truck? Mental fatigue as it was later in the session? So, you can go to those angles early in the next session and see what he says. My guess is it was a little remaining distraction so he will be fine next time.

>>And I might have missed part of step 6. Was I supposed to start angling the 2nd set while the first set was still at 1&7? Whoops! He did the 2nd set at 3&9 but at the “regular” distance from the first set at 1&7. Do I push that distance out again when I start angling the 2nd set or leave it in closer but keep the first set at 1&7 instead of straight?>>

Yes, ideally the first set stays at 1 & 7 while the second set gets closer and begins to angle. I would push the distance back out a little when you add angles, so only one variable increases in difficulty at a time (for example, Elektra saw 4 poles straight for the first time yesterday so I pushed the 2nd set out a bit to start the session).
You will probably be able to make adjustments within the session: if the 2nd set is a couple of feet away and he is all fine and dandy… you can bring it in a little closer (but not changing the angle, as only one variable should change).
Then when poles 1 and 2 are straight – we start the progression over, with poles 3 and 4 wide open and a bit further away. But because the progression is sooooo recognizable at that point, we move through it very quickly: bringing base in closer, angling, etc. And of course we can always move the base out a little if we feel that BIG challenges are coming up or if he has questions. Let me know if that makes sense!

Great job, have a great weekend!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! Lovely sessions here!
The indoor session looked great – she was really saying “I figured it out!” On those harder 3 o’clock entries. You can add in the bottom of the clock (4-5-6-7) and one of the other indoor games I like is when I stand near the MM and send to the weaves: puppy torture! They figure it out nicely though LOL!!!!

And the outdoor session was great. Yes, she needed a moment to sort out the reinforcement, and that is fine! The poles have taken on a lot more value so she didn’t seem to get stressed about it, she just had to think about finding the answer to the puzzle (weaves – THEN – PT). And she did! And then she had to figure out the bend from the 10-11 o’clock side of the poles to get into the weaves and STAY in them – that is why we click when left shoulder gets to pole 3, because I have clicked too many entries where the dog pops out LOL!! Oops! But she was able to sort out what was needed, you nailed the reward: boom! Got it. And good for you for NOT pushing for speed… let her think it through. We saw the speed blossom when she figured it out.
Your yard definitely has challenges!!! It is a bit of a blessing in disguise… if you could make a list of many of the top trial distractions, I think you have them available to you in your yard already! Weave training through those distractions is harder for sure – but I am sure you are doing focus/engagement training & rewards when those distractions present themselves (like you did when she looked at the patrol cars). It gets easier and then the rest will be easy. I used to live right on a road, and Voodoo used to chase cars… so a lot of early training was spent on “ignore the cars”. And now that it is spring, the whippet mixes had to learn to ignore the field mice that live on the edges of the field and inside the tunnel bags (those little bastards are eating my tunnel bags, but that is a different issue haha). So, just keep training through those distractions like you are – then when she is old enough to trial, you will have already worked through the harder stuff!

Great job 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Nice session!!! I like the different color weaves too, always better to show the dog a variety of colors so they don’t try to guess based on pole color!
He did well here and I see what you mean about that 10 o’clock entry. You can isolate it by having a big obvious cookie to toss – start close, and when he gets in: click and drop the cookie right in the middle of bases between poles 2 and 3. Just because there are 4 poles doesn’t mean we need to wait til he gets all 4 to reward 🙂 He might just need a reminder to hit that entry. The others are looking strong! You can also work the bottom of the clock (8-7-6-5-4) because it really makes the discrimination of the entry more obvious (and by more obvious, I mean more challenging :))
So for the next session, you can do a little warm up with the 2nd base at 3 and 9 like here, add some harder angles, spot check & reward that 10 o’clock. Then after a minute or so, angle base 2 so he has more challenge there at the ‘top’ of the clock (11-12-1-2-3). You can angle base 2 a little before angling base 1.

Question – I woke up obsessing about weave striding (you’re shocked, I know haha) – the smaller dogs will easily get the bounce back and forth striding but the larger dogs or dogs the middle might need assistance to sort out whether they should ‘bounce’ or ‘weave’ the poles. Presto came to mind: how tall is he? The striding is based on size and structure – we want to get the fastest possible performance of course, but we also want a safe performance to protect shoulders. Contraband is 21” tall so I am going to detour him into striding games now that his 4 poles are basically straight. Based on Presto’s size, we might do the same detour or we might go with the bounce, depending on what he offers. Nikko and Sole are both smaller and both do the bounce striding? Looking forward to more obsessing 🙂

Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

I totally saw that map and immediately thought of this class. I really didn’t think the folks who ran primarily in AKC would have to concern themselves with that discrimination and those verbals any time soon…. I was WRONG! HA! I am glad we have started training it with these dogs, you’ll all be ready for when you see it at trials. This generation of dogs will have that skill in their toolboxes before they enter the trial ring. I was surprised that so many experienced dogs did not have it… we have seen it coming since 2015, so they should have all been training on it LOL!
And the course was also a test of the teeter independence: gotta really solid reliable teeter? Then you can get right up to the weave and help. Gotta babysit the teeter? Suddenly the course becomes MUCH harder 🙂

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! Very nice session here. He was making his entries really nicely overall, and the harder entries also allowed you to get ahead for some blind crosses at the exit (he did well with those!) When he has to think a little harder on your left side, he is gravitated a tiny bit to the far side of the weaves (that is what happened when he got clicked for popping out). Based on that, and also based on his easy success with many of the other challenges: you can delay the click now, to maybe left shoulder at pole 5, to help build in more of the ‘stay in’ decision. The early clicks definitely assist the stay in decision 🙂 But I think he is ready for more now, so try delaying the click. You can also go to 12 poles if you want, I think he is ready for that too.
When you ask for weaving away from the MM, you can send him back to it for the reward, or surprise him with a giant thrown reward on the other side. We will be starting to fade the MM soon, so we can start building in rewards thrown on the line.

Great job here!!! Let me know what you think 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good session here!
Were these 1&7 or straight? Either way – he was fine with finding the entries. Yay! The head checks were more about the transition into the send, I think: when he was jumping around and then you sent, he wasn’t quite prepared so wasn’t sure if he should go or not. So, add in a settle moment: party, bark, come to your side, take a breath…. then send him. That should take care of those head checks on the way to the poles.

Since these were straight-ish – you can add in even more motion, I don’t think that will be a problem. Then onwards to 4 poles! (The threadle session can be done separately :))
Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>.this video has two games so is 3+ min – is this ok or should I do a vid for each one?>>

The length is fine and having 2 games in it is also fine 🙂

Great work on these!
On your smiley face setup:
Very nice first rep! You can try rotating sooner, to challenge her commitment, but stay as connected as you were: super nice!!!

She ended up on the wrong side of you at :29 – that was a combo of a little bit of a late turn before she entered the tunnel so she exited wide, and not enough connection on the exit
as you stepped forward to the wing. You held the connection longer on the next rep and it totally helped. For the tunnel exit – we will be working on more of those here, but we want her to see and hear the turn cue before she enters it – so when she is 3 feet from the tunnel entry, let her see you do the FC and quietly call her (then reward her for maintaining her commitment while also turning on the exit :))

That rocking horse figure 8 moment towards the end of this game also looked good – you can rotate sooner here too 🙂 One way to be able to rotate sooner is to add more distance between the wings, and from the tunnel to the wings – that will allow for more motion and then you can decelerate as she is passing you, then rotate right before she reaches the wing.

And great job with all the verbals!!!

In the Wind In Your Hair section:
She is doing a great job figuring out the commitments! The main thing here is connection: as she exits the wing wrap, make a connection to her eyes and say the go cue directly to her cute little face. Resist the temptation to look forward at all, as that causes a connection break and she had questions:
At 1:10 and 1:48 you were looking forward which turned your chest past the jump, so she also ran past the jump. You had more connection at 1:29 and 2:25 and 2:52 and last 2 reps but she still looked at you because the connection was a little forward and not direct enough to her eyes. So because she is so inexperienced, exaggerate that connection – talk to her when you say the go cue, and don’t talk to the jump out ahead haha! The most important connection moment is when she exits the wing wrap, as it sets the line to the jump.

On your next session – add in staying closer to the wing til she finishes wrapping it, and them move forward to help her drive ahead of you to the jump (rather than find the line parallel to you or from behind you).

Great job here!!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Ah! I thought she might be a doodle but I wasn’t 100% sure. She is adorable! And I love her toy drive 🙂 I’ve met a bunch of doodles in agility and in flyball… they are awesome! Fun, smart, athletic, driven.

>>Almost too much toy drive if that’s possible, haha. Working on finding that balance 🙂>>

The balance will swing back and forth for a while (like a year or two lol!) but you are well on your way to finding it 🙂

>>Good call on the connection loss. I assumed it was her heading for the toy that was on my right side instead of the left that I wanted her on but we have been doing quite a lot of different crosses including blinds.>>

That connection is a big piece for baby dogs. It often looks like they are being naughty-toy-grabbers 🙂 but when we freeze the video – it is a connection break.

>>Looking forward to doing the other games this weekend and adding more challenge to this one!

Have fun! Looking forward to videos 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! This was a good session!
The start location was good, she was striding right into it. And excellent self-control in the stay, allowing you to put the cookies in the bowl 🙂 One little tweak: move the reward bowl further away, so she can land and take one full extended stride to it. Will she hold the stay like that and drive to a toy? If so, you can add the toy instead of the cookie bowl, but also really far away (12 feet is my guess) from the 2nd jump.
She is totally getting the concept! She is still sorting out her body – the front end is a little more coordinated than the hind end at this point, but that is normal 🙂 At 6 months, it is a matter of just helping her sort out all her feets and balance – she will continue to sort it out as she mentally matures. This setup is something to revisit maybe once a week until she is old enough and mature enough for us to add bars 🙂
Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>What is the theory for throwing the toy back to the dog vs. going back to treat? It certainly is easier on me (saves steps). Does it matter if I throw it TO the dog or BEHIND the dog?>>

The theory is two-fold:

it builds value for remaining at the start line (or wherever the dog was left) while the handler gets further and further away. Going back to treat builds value for the handler being close to the dog. So in order to build a great stay, we teach the dog that the further the handler gets from the dog, the more value there is in the stay 🙂

And the other thing is that when we go back to treat, the dogs (especially puppies) almost always move – either stand up, move forward, move their front feet…. and we end up either then withdrawing the reward (which reduces the success rate) or we end up rewarding movement. You can work through the ‘don’t move when I come back’ but that is best done separately from jump.

With the throw backs, it is better to attach a cue which means “the reward is coming to you via throw” so the dog does not move til they hear that cue and then if they move, it is actually back away from the jump to get the reward – they are allowed to move after I throw the reward to them.

>>Does it matter if I throw it TO the dog or BEHIND the dog?>>

I aim for generally throwing it to the dog as it is hard to get it behind them without them trying to catch it.

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Hooray for lots of play and tugging and tunnels!

>>. Because I’m losing my start line outside!!! OMG. She don’t want to sit…OR stay.

That is pretty normal, you can do a couple of sessions of back-to-basics of short stays, high value rewards, no jumps or tunnels involved. And in the actual training sessions, you will probably end up doing more pizza and catch rewards for the stay than actual reps on the jumps: but that is fine 🙂 And that is totally what I had to do when I started this too!

>> I supposed I just need to keep working at it with the distractions outside. I need to stay really really fun and keep her attention. I keep really good treats on me outside too.

Also totally normal! Baby dogs don’t have much experience with these fabulous smells and mud and all the things that spring brings 🙂 Keep going with the super rewards and short sessions, balanced with the opportunity to explore all the new fun things 🙂

The session went well! When she was on your right and you led all the way out to the MM – those were the best reps! Nice! When she was on your left and you didn’t go out to the MM (like at :15) she was not as sure of what you wanted, so she was a little more “hoppy”. I think she was generally more hoppy when on your left, but that was probably because you were not as close to the MM as you were when she was on your right… and that MM provided a nice strong point of focus for her. Plus, the distractions were hard so she was not 100% thinking about jumping yet.
I think the distance was good for now – she is actually really little! As she matures, I am sure we will expand it but we have some time to let her develop physically before then. She was definitely catching onto the concept and that is exactly what we want.
Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! He is *totally* digging this LOL!
The first couple of reps were good intros to the warm him up. Then it looked like he totally loved doing it from the tunnel and wing. It looked like the middle section did not have the cookie on the target, so he was slowing down and looking at you more. When you went back to the cookie on the target, he was fast and furious, driving to the end like a teeter fiend! So definitely keep placing the cookie there in advance – that will keep him driving forward to the end until we replace the cookie with his eventual end position. When you put the cookie back, he was awesome and didn’t appear even notice the added tip. Yay!
So, keep on adding tip, and keep on going with the ‘think less, teeter more’ approach because he is doing great and it is helping embed teeters into course work!
Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! I agree – very solid session, he was very happy to leave you in the dust hahaha! Good boy 🙂
It was hard to tell if there was a treat pre-placed on the target – he was looking at you a bit at the end, so definitely keep placing the treat in there for now before sending him up the board. If it bounces around, you can use a little bit of ‘cookie glue’ like a dab of peanut butter to keep it in place. And when he is not really looking at you, you can add in the challenges: moving past, adding crosses, even adding the wing before it and rear crosses.

When he is happy with the various challenges (will probably happen in one session) – add a tiny bit of tip. Yay! He is moving forward nicely!! Great job 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>hopefully I can recruit some manual labor this weekend.>>

Good help is hard to find LOL!!!

The friz as a revver-upper is hard because it elicits the running like you had on the first rep – you slowed things down a little after it and he did great! This is going well!

>>he one issue I had was when the teeter slammed down the cheese went flying off the plate but he keep his 2on 2 off>>

You can use some ‘glue’ in the form of a little dab of peanut butter or cream cheese to hold the cheese in place, I am sure he won’t mind haha

He did well with the added drop here! You can do another session at this level and add in more challenges as he is driving to the end (more motion, more independence, maybe some moving away laterally) and then if that goes well like this, you can add a little more drop too 🙂

Target position on the wobble board was probably a weird new thing for him 🙂 So you can d a quick warm up with easy stuff before layering in the challenges – that can help him really look for the target and target position. One major thing on the target position is to not have yourself too close to it, in terms of standing next to target position – try to send him ahead or step past it, or step away – just so your feet are not near the target and won’t get built into the cue.

Great job here!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
He is doing really well running this all the way to the ground. I don’t think he was looking for the pivot or stopping early. Let’s isolate the mechanics and slow down the start of each rep… which will result in a faster overall rep. What I mean by that is: have him hop up onto the very end of the board, turn and face the target, get excited for a moment… then give him his target cue and start moving. What was happening was that he was trying to hop on while the board was moving (like at 1:19) so he had to balance and tip, then run, then balance and tip again. I don’t think he was looking for the tip, I think he just starting running down the board before he was fully balanced. Smoothing out the start of each rep will solve that!
The other thing you can do is have big, super high value reward and toss it back to the target as soon as he hits position. And, sometimes mix in a release out of position to chase a toy or cookie: as soon as you know for sure he has hit target position, release and throw a reward straight forward.

I am super excited about how well he is doing here!!!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

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