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Whoa! That is awesome! !!!! Congrats! And that is a hard gamble with the a-frame sitting right there in the middle of everything.
“When I came to” hahaha hahahaha that is so funny! So she took the teeter with you still be the frame, figuring she wasn’t going to do it? That is so funny.
I am so excited for you! Do you have a video of the run, I see the map and the giant briefing here 🙂
I think the commitment work is TOTALLY paying off – I see a major difference in how she approaches committing in just the several months that I have been able to see your videos! And it is sooooo nice to get a reward from the agility gods for your work, in the reward of a big Gamble!
Great job, thanks for the update, it is a bright spot today for sure!!!!
TracyHi!
Great job on these!! I think you accomplished your missions of decelerating and leaving the spins sooner. Both looked great! And it is fine that you had a cocky moment and she ended up on the wrong side of the jump – it was the agility gods delivering a reminder about the power of connection LOL!!The first sequence here (sequence 4) looked really good! Nice connection to cue both backsides! I think you can leave the wrap backside at :11 and :27 and :43 and :59 sooner, in terms of more directly towards the tunnel. You did go to the blind side right away but you were heading more towards the jumps than the tunnel. When you cued her to the backside wrap, your feet were pointing right at the tunnel, so you can just move forward out of it as soon as she is past you, then reconnect as you move up the line.
The other thing I noticed was that she was getting progressively later in committing to jumping at the 4 backside (:09 versus :57). It could be that you were quicker to do the blind on the first rep and a little later on the blind on the second rep, and she is waiting for the blind to come in for the bar. Either way, we don’t want timing of the blind to be a factor because jumping the bar should be a default behavior – so you can isolate that jump and as you leave for the blind… turn your head and don’t actually do the blind (disconnect and don’t reconnect LOL!) and as she gets to the backside entry wing – toss the reward to the landing spot so she gets it as a reward for choosing to go to the backside. You don’t need to wait for a jumping decision, we are rewarding the decision to go to the backside of the jump – and that reward placement helps create the default of taking the jump no matter when you do the blind 🙂
Holy cow I feel the pain of the tripod falling over! That happens all the time. It happened today while I was trying to film something for the puppy class – then after I fixed it, the jump blew over. Poor dog!
Gorgeous blue skies, though LOL!Does she always jump into the tunnel like she did at 1:24? I guess so, she did it again on this sequence. HA! I hadn’t noticed that before!
This also looks really good. I think your surprise that she so easily went to the backside of 4 at 1:28 (nice cue!!!) that it took you a moment to set up for the turn at 5 (1:30) so she was still in extension. I think you said “I got excited” LOL! And yes, I could tell by the look on your face there 🙂
The next rep had a really nice combination of super connected, running when you needed to, decelerating into the turns, and patience to let her get the lines. It was lovely! Turns looked great and so did the big lines. And I am cracking up – right after I typed about how patient you were, you said something about being patient. Great minds thinking alike LOL!
On the next rep you were really trusting her at 4 to run through the backside more, which allowed you to set up an even better collection at 2:28. And nice patience after it to show her the next line. Same with the last rep too!
The only thing on this sequence that I am not sure she needs is your opposite arm at 3. She is doing jump 1 and the tunnel on your left, then you are bringing up your right arm as she is doing jump 3. It is working, she is turning well and jumping well – but she might not need it there and we don’t want to have extra things that might get desensitized for when we really need her to respond to them. You can try it without supporting that jump with the outside arm and see if she is still tight on the line with a good jumping effort.Great job here!!!
TracyHi!
Question: do you use didi as a turn away for rear crossy moves, like tandems or RCs on the flat or lap turns? If so… yes, a separate verbal would be more useful for the get out skill.
Also – when cuing the didi: with your dogside arm up high and pointing forward, she is not turning away unless you also turn your lower body and step to the jump. And you have to be perfect with timing (before she takes off for 3) or she will go wide or land on her head trying to turn when she lands (:27)
Now, that is perfectly fine of course… but won’t get you as far up the line as keeping your lower body running straight would. That is why I use the more extreme upper body rotation (and outside arm) so I can keep moving forward.
Nice job on the post turns on the tunnel! She really reads that and came out straight every time. She sees *every* little detail, LOL!
Yep, at :19, you were SUPER early on the rotation for 4, looking at her… she did not collect. She collected when she landed from 4 LOL! So to help strengthen the response to the cue, you can turn the her, press towards her, ask her to sit (literally, sit) to engage her hind end. Then reward the sit, then release to take the jump. It might piss her off a little but it will remind her to collect into her hind end when she sees that cue.
On the FCs on the 5 jump to head back to the tunnel – she is turning REALLY nicely on those!! You were rotated nice and early and didn’t need to push too hard to get the collection. I believe it is because it is a FC that is on more of a slice line and less of a rollback line, as compared to the other FC on 4 at :19. That style of FC takes a lot of convincing for her 🙂
Nice job on the push at :51, and great job on the FC there!!! Nice turns throughout!
And fabulous job on the backside at 5 and at 6 at 1:04!!! Check out 1:05 as she is jump #6 – you are way ahead, blinding, setting up a great line. She did not even have time to bark at you, she was busy doing all the things. Yay!! You were even further ahead at 1:20 – so nice!!!
So overall one thing I am seeing here is that she does MUCH better when you strategically handle from a distance so you can then drive through turns: sending her away to 4 set up some amazing lines and turns while keeping you ahead. I wonder if we can strategically use distance on the #4 at :19so that as she lands from 3 you are on landing of 4 and then moving forward back to 5 as she passes you to get to 4? Let me know if that makes sense!
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Ooh, comments in the background, I am totally turning up the sound so I can hear them LOL!!!!
First sequence: Josie says RUN! LOL! You were not moving much so she was not sure if she should drive the lines or turn. She was giving you her opinion 🙂 And at :09 and :28 she guessed the other end of the tunnel because you were pretty decelerated. She cracks me up! The off courses there fall into what I call “The Voodoo Rule” – also known as “don’t give a forward ‘tunnel’ cue unless the dog is looking at the tunnel entry you want, or you are likely to get a very very fast line to the tunnel entry you do NOT want.” Ha! She was looking at you, on her left lead curling in, you said tunnel… and she took the one she saw.
At :31 and :37 and 1:00 and 1;42 and 1:46 you moved a lot more and insisted she get on the line you wanted – perfect! Yes, there was a bit of overcompensating but it got you connecting and moving so it was all good 🙂 She also read it nicely on that last rep too – at the very end you were not accelerating as much (2:08) and she gave you the look and verbal of “imma going into that other end of the tunnel now!” So you accelerated to get it done LOL! So – moving will totally help these lines, even if you have to move deeper into the tunnel to be able to stay in motion.
The turn at jump 3 at :26 was late so the bar came down, I think that was also a product of not really moving enough: you were already decelerated so you ended up facing forward to commit her, then turned over the bar. On the other reps through there, you were moving more so showed some decel – that was all she needed to set up really nice turns and keep the bar up. Yay!
The get out at :40 was good, she is reading it well! You can play with starting the cue right before she goes into the tunnel so she exits already knowing to turn away. -She read it nicely at :50 – you were a little too close to the wing, can be further. You can totally play with being further from the get out jump, heading directly to the 4 jump with your lower body and let her read the get out with upper body and verbal only. Same with the out at 1:02 – it looked really good, so try to point your feet to where you are going next and not to the out jump. That will put you in better position for the threadle. Her turn was nice and tight on the out jump!!
Your position and timing on the spin at :51 was great!!! I suggest a FC there because it sets up a better line back to the tunnel but use the same position and timing for sure 🙂Backsides:
At 1:17 I think she fell in the tunnel or went downstairs or something, I heard a lot of noise and it seemed like it took her a while to come out? She read the push nicely! She also read it nicely at 1:52 when she came directly out of the tunnel with no side trips LOL! So as with the get out – you can start adding distance away from the backside send. Stay parallel but see if you can be laterally closer to the next jump while giving that strong upper body cue and verbal.Great job!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi Janet!
I think you were getting the open shoulder – the FC exits looked amazeballs! Something about the spin exit was making it harder for your muscle memory – when that gets locked in, I am sure Juno will rock that line 🙂T
Hi there!
>>Ahh…ok…so the name thing has been kinda a crutch…a bandaid to get her to think about her jumping. It does seem to be effective, but perhaps it’s not actually her name, but my handling that supports her more? While I’m using her name, it’s not the name per say, but how I am actually handling that has changed? I have used her name basically when I want her to think extra hard about jumping…especially coming out of a tunnel…it also helps me to remember to re-establish connection (which prior I was bad about). Does this make sense? I know it’s not ideal…
Otherwise…yes, remember the verbals you spent all that time teaching Rebecca! Ugh!!!>>Yes, it is a bit of an attention cue on the turns toward you and I also think it helps with collection on those turns… so try not to use it on the turns away from you like the get out and the backside pushes. Otherwise you are asking for attention and then sending her away, which can delay her from seeing the bar to jump.
On the video:
Sequence 1
First rep looked good – she did take off a little early for 3. The serp connections on 1 and 5 looked good! On the 2nd rep, there was really not discernible difference in your position or posture, maybe you were accelerating a bit more as compared to rep 1? But I think you were outside the bubble on both, so she rushed rep 1 a little and rep 2 a lot. She changed her approach on the 3rd rep but that might have more to do with the lowered arousal after the 2nd rep. By the 4th rep she had the rhythm 🙂 At 1:10 you were closer to her for jump 3 and she jumped it a lot better!
At a trial, because you want to support the jumping on the first rep – go deeper into the tunnel after 1 so you are moving up the line and not too far ahead or outside the bubble for 3.Your brother was so funny, sneaking in there!
Squence 2:
Run 1 went well!
Her commitment to the backside looked really good – you can start the blind before she gets there though, so you can whip around to the new connection. You were doing it as she was jumping at 1:31 so she ticked the bar there. 1:44 was much sooner, right on time, and better jumping because of it. 2:02 and 2:15 were also good but not as good as 1:44 🙂 1:44 was nice and early!Seq 3:
Whoa she read the backside push at 2:26 perfectly! Great timing, great execution! That allowed you to get way ahead and the timing of the blind was great. You might have been distracted by her brilliance there LOL! It was impressive!
2:46 on the 2nd rep was just as good to the backside and you really showed a great transition into the spin. I think you can leave the spin sooner there, she landed and looked up at you.
On the ending line you were too much out of her bubble!
The rep at 3:04 was also great on the backside push. And you moved forward out of the spin sooner so the turn was better – but then you did get out of the bubble so she jumped big on the jump after the spin. So split the difference and move out of the spin early like you did, but not that fast and toward the next jump so you can get the great turn AND stay in the bubble. You did this naturally at 3:21, pretty much exactly what I was picturing – yay! The whole line was so nice!Great job on these!! I am loving the independence on that backside in particular.
And Gypsy is SO CUTE!!! Is she a mini Aussie? My dogs all got excited and ran over to watch her LOL!
>>One last question…the thought of disconnecting on a straight line makes me concerned. Should this be an exercise to table? As for the GO…Kindle loves that word…maybe too much. She definitely knows it, but loses her ever loving mind when I say it. It’s like go means to JUMP NOW. However, I did spend some time today with GO off the DW to a jump. Because of her jumping, I hadn’t worked that in a while…previously she was having a very hard time with take off point off her RDW. I’m happy to say that today her jumps were great! Not a single bar, and she judged take off well…so I may be able to start adding GO back into our vocabulary. Thoughts?>>
Gooooood question! It might be too much pressure on the jumping at this point (my demo dog was having trouble with the jumping on an 8 inch bar in the video!!) It is very stimulating 🙂 So you can just walk up the line with less connection or no connection and reward commitment. You can use a generic jump verbal rather than GO GO GOGOGOGOGOGGO 🙂 We don’t want her head to explode after all!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I think there was a TON of good stuff here and you will see how he reads the open shoulder versus the closed shoulder.
>>In your previous comments you noted that it’s the exit line that is the element to focus on using eyes and shoulder position to connect to the exit line. I knew when I was doing it, it still was not right because I wasn’t getting the tighter turn I wanted or expected.>>
After looking at this video many times, I think it’s my “closed” shoulder? In my mind, I’m thinking that if I pull my shoulder in I will pull him in tighter/closer but the opposite is happening.>>Yes – it was the closed shoulder versus the open shoulder you were showing in other spots.
>>So..it appears that what I need to do is to “open” my shoulder while looking at him and putting my arm down and behind me to turn my upper body toward the preferred line? >>
Yes! Exactly. You are quite excellent at this on the FCs on this video (and the threadle exits). The spins where he was drifting wide were where you can do more of it (that is where you still had the closed shoulder).
Here are details about the video, then an idea for you for the spins:
Overall –
Your collection cues and connection for them look really great, he is turning so nicely! Part of that is the connection is revealing the upper body so he knows exactly where to go. Really lovely turn cues before the jumps.Isolating moments: Look at :11 – :14. At :11 you are giving a lovely timely and very strong collection cue. Nailed it! He is jumped so tight over the bar. As he comes around, your shoulder is closed forward so he looks up at you at :13 before heading to the tunnel. This is where you are expressing frustration with him being a bit wide. Let’s compare:
Now on the W3 Seq 2 redo at :22 an :30 and :40 and :49 – nice tight collection! Pause the video as he is over the bar at :22 and :30 and :40 – your eyes are on his eyes and your left arm is back, opening your shoulder to him. He does not drift wide there at all! That is the open shoulder/exit line connection. It allows your upper body to show exactly where he needs to be.
You also had an open shoulder on the exit of the wrap at :24 (can be more open but it was definitely not closed forward) and he drove straight to the line, no drifting out. You can step out the wrap cue there more directly to the tunnel (you stepped back a little, which widened it) to get it more perfect 🙂
When you did the throwback at :32 nice strong collection cue before the jump! Pause the video when his feet touch down from the throwback jump at :33. Your eyes are on his eyes and your left arm is back, opening your shoulder. You held that connection while you moved away til he came around the wing – perfect. Gorgeous tight turn!
When you repeated it at :40, you showed more of the landing spot so the collection was not as good on the throwback jump but at :42 your exit line connection was also opened up back to him, so he still ran really tight around the wing.
:51 also had a strong collection cue and good connection on the exit line and he had a great turn there too.
All of your turns were high quality and super close in timing – I would need electronic timers on the jumps to know which was fastest!
Sequence 3:
You repeated your lovely cues on the get out jump, so let’s look at the FC on the jump before the tunnel – even with a moment of forgetting on the first rep – pause the video at 1:01 as he is lifting off for the FC jump. Note your timing (FC is already done, perfect!). Note your line (on the most direct possible line to the tunnel – perfect!) and note your exit line connection: eyes on his eyes and your left shoulder is back, revealing where your upper body is pointing, yay!!!!
Same thing at 1:10 🙂
The turn at 1:10 was not quite as good because you had more motion into it, so he was jumping with a little less collection. But you nailed the exit line connection so the collection before the jump didn’t matter as much, he still had a great turn.. On the next rep at at 1:18, you were rotated away on the FC even sooner (nice!!) and maintained your connection as he was over the bar, You can keep the arm back all the way til he is past you and closer to the tunnel, or he might end up drifting wide if connection breaks.So I think you had really lovely exit line connection on the FCs here – you can hold that for a couple more steps before relaxing back to ‘normal’ handling but it was really cool to see how nicely it set the line for him.
At 1:26 you had a question in the video about you looking at him but your shoulder being closed – yes (at 1:35 too) it was closed. Compare it to the exit of the FCs at 1:31 and 1:41 where it was more open. So I think you are getting really good at the exit line connection on FCs and now we have to match it on the spin exits. When you do the spin, you can create the exit line connection like you did on the FC 2 different ways, whichever resonates and is more comfy:
You can open up the dog-side shoulder by showing him your other hand across the body (casually placed on your opposite hip) while looking at his eyes. On this sequence, it would be your left arm across your belly on the right hip while you look at his eyes. Or another way to think about it is to think of your dog-side arm having a string that goes from your fingers to his nose – don’t break the string by moving your arm or shoulder forward 🙂 This will help get the shoulder back.Let me know if that makes sense – the FCs look great so now we just match the exits of the tight spins to it and you will have great turns on each 🙂 Great job!
TracyHi!
>>his was my fault. The ground was a little wet. By the time I got to the last few sequences I had, created a mud traiL, and it got slippery. My sneakers were slipping. I’m pretty sure I was hesitant on my feet because of it. I was more concerned about watching Demi.
Ah! That makes sense. It is also good excuse to go shopping for shoes you feel comfy running in especially because she is driving so much – I have waterproof Salomons with cleats for grip so I don’t fall on my ass hahahahaha
>>Anyway, looks like the yard is becoming less than desirable. We will get some videos to you this week from another location.>>
Stupid winter! At least you have good indoor options 🙂
>>Should I go to week 4, or finish the sequences in week 3?
If you have good access to indoors – finish week 3, it will make week 4 easier. Then plenty of time to do week 4 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi! I am glad you snow melted, it is tooooo early for snow!!
Lots of nice work on these sequences! Small details will iron out any of the oopsies. They questions were not particularly connection related, more about timing and motion.
First video:
Yes, it was pretty straightforward and looked really good! Little details for you:
Rep 1: Look at her collecting so nicely on the decel on 3 on rep 1! Nice! You can probably leave even sooner there.2nd rep – it looked a little bit the same as rep 1, I thought it was a redo and I think she did too 🙂 Show more transition here so she sees the decel sooner and so you can rotate sooner. At :20, she was about 6 fet from the jump, almost taking off and you were slowing down but not yet rotated. It was a good turn but I think it can be even gooder with earlier info 🙂
Rep 3 – you were too chill on 1-2, so the FC after the tunnel was late (she was already in before you started getting over there to the exit for the cross). You were still rotating and moving backwards at :29 so she was not sure if she should commit or not. You had a good training moment by getting her to take the jump even with you kinda sideways so she learns to commit even if you are a little late.
On the 2nd rep, you were a lot sooner getting to the tunnel exit… but still a little late because she was like a speeding missile LOL!! Ideally she sees the FC starting before she enters (while she is still 3 or 4 feet from the entry) and then the FC will be totally finished before the exits to set up the transition to the spin. You were still finishing it as she blasted past you at :40 so it was a little wide – in that moment you can also shift connection more directly to her eyes so that you are cuing more collection even as you finish the rotation.
To get to the tunnel exit sooner, lead out more laterally 1-2 and line yourself up with where you want to be on the exit of the tunnel – then you can release from way over there and start the cross before she enters.Lap turns – These do require a lot of patience, letting the dogs get pretty close to the hand before stepping back. Doing it as the backside on the first couple of reps was harder because the entire front of the jump was visible and very tasty 🙂
On the first rep, she was not quite on your hand and then you stepped back, so she read it as a throw back (you were a little too close to the wing too). I thought the 2nd rep was better but you were a little too close to the front and she had a hard time passing it. At :16 you drew her further back and it was easier for sure! So I think the difficulties were more about being a little too close and not quite patient enough to let her come to you past the front side of the jump. When you did the other side at :23 – nice! The distraction of the wrong side of the bar was great reduced because of the angle so she read it really nicely! You can work the distraction of doing it as a backside by adding a little more room for her to bypass the jump, being laterally further away from it,Sequences:
First sequence – the #4 jump is a little bit of a backside here, so you can push across 3 sooner at :04 and :13 to set that line before she takes off – that will allow you to shift connection to her eyes as she lands and set up the turn on 4 sooner. Sam with Badger on his video – at :03, you were a little stationary and turned towards him for 3, so really had to push him back out for the FC at 4, which made for a slightly wider turn.
Mochi seems to be needing a softer connection to her eyes there at :05 and :14 rather than a swoosh to the landing spot to set up a tighter collection. Her turns were good! But she is very bendy so I think you can ask for more collection on the takeoff side to get them even tighter 🙂
You had good exit line connection – you can fade off the line sooner but I think the main thing that pulled the bar at :06 was the tunnel verbal while she was jumping. It is a good proofing game because she can learn to let you talk over the bar and not let it distract her jumping 🙂 You were super connected and quiet at :15 and her line was lovely!Lap turns:
A couple of ideas for you:
bear in mind that backwards motion is the same as forward motion – so backing up as you set the lap turn at :24 (and backing up fast it was pretty impressive! I would have totally landed on my ass!) will cue a throwback line. You backed up less at :32 and :47 but still backed up and stepped back as she landed, so she did another throw back.Also standing will with the hand out and feet together til she basically gets to 2 inches from your hand will allow you to get the collection that sets up the turn.
This is why she still did a throwback at :53 and :57 – you were trying to get her on your hand by your leg was back – cuing the throwback. Darned leg LOL! The mechanics of the lap turn especially with young dogs need the feet to stay together til the dog is literally about 2 inches from our hand (patience is brutal! LOL!) and then you can step back parallel to the jump, turn her, then step forward.
Badger was showing his experience when he got the lap turn. Your cue was similar to the cue you gave Mochi – at :17 and :26, freeze the video as he is taking off for the 4 jump – he is totally facing the throw back landing spot. Then he sees you step forward so he turns his head in the air and finishes the turn when he lands. It was wide but he got it. Good boy! So setting it with less backwards motion and feet together will help him tighten it up. Mochi doesn’t have his experience, so she landing on the throwback line.Get out: I can see why she didn’t know how to NOT take the jump LOL! You were close and it was the only thing out there, so…. LOL!! It was much easier when you moved further away and that added a bit of challenge to the get out. When you moved towards the camera – you had great reps of the line versus the don’t get out. Yay! I think when you put it into context on sequences, she won’t need the bypass/tapping. So…. onwards to sequences!!
>>We are supposed to have decent weather this week, so I should be able to get some more work done in an attempt to try to catch up a bit! I am loving this class though, it’s really helping me think about connection in chunks, which is good for my wrinkled brain.>>
Hooray for great weather and I TOTALLY feel the whole wrinkled brain thing haha!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>I don’t really understand the difference in outside arm position for out vs backside. Also, I had not been using outside arm for a backside cue so that obviously didn’t happen the way it should have. To me the “out” and “backside” outside arm looks the same except maybe the pulsing of the arm towards the jump for the out. So maybe you can help me decipher this.>>>>
The shoulder position is one of the keys, and there is not much difference in the actual position. The difference is in handler position, context/line, and verbal cue. The upper body is basically the same. The pulsing is just part of running, not a deliberate or necessary element. Let me know if that helped clarify it?
T
Good morning!
I would say you nailed the connection on the first one! Did you feel you could see his really well? You can add shifting connection very strongly to his eyes at jump 3 (as he land sfrom 2, to get better collection – either a spin or a soft brake arm) and aso the jump after the tunnel at :09 – he has such a big stride that the extra collection cue will set up the turn sooner. Nice wrap at :13! He didnt drive around the wing but I think it was more about the footing (mats making it harder to exit wraps) – his hed was turned before takeoff! Nice!2nd run – connection looks really good here too! Nice opening line! He was totally expecting to go to the same end of the tunnel as the first run – so as he lands from 2, you can decel and start the threadle cue to the other tunnel entry. Nice cue for the wrap at :25! It looks like you shifted connection to his eyes and that helped! You can put the arm cue (right arm) more on the takeoff side and less on landing, then it should be perfect.
3rd run – nice opening and the in in to the far end of the tunnel looked GREAT! The back line with the dog walk and after the DW also looked really good – it is hard to see the exact connection but based on Cody’s response, I would say it was really good (he seemed to have no questions!)
He had a little question at 1:03 on the jump befor the teeter – he was looking at the blue tunnel because you were a little late in the turn – that can start when he lands from the jump after the FC so he commits while already turned.>> The confusion after the teeter was 100% me, forgot the plan.>>
He did appear to be wondering what was happening LOL!!
The line from the teeter to the frame looked great! After the frame, you looked really connected but you can give your turn cues sooner: When he lands from the double jump, send to the green wing jump but then immediately leave for your cross – you took an extra step or two so he was wide (plus you can use your right verbal there too).
The FC worked at 1:46 but a blind will be easier and give you more time to decelerate into the threadle – you powered out of the FC so the threadle to the tunnel was a little late. That is where connection is so helpful though – you stayed connected and helped him get on the right track before taking off. Yay! The ending line lookd great!Well done here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
No worries about being behind, things are nutty and this week (tomorrow) will be busy for all of us – there is time to get things done, no rush 🙂
On the video – good work here! In general, all of the get out cues were great and he was already moving to 4 before taking off for 3. Yay! You don’t need it on all of the reps but it looked really strong.
On the first sequence:
The opening looked really good! The FC at :11 was late, he was taking off on the slice line as you were starting it, so he brushed the wing. You can use a brake hand as he is passing you to the backside there as you rotate, as well as earlier timing: Based on the backside commitment line, I believe he is committed to the backside when he is halfway between the 4 and 5 jumps there, so you can set up the FC sooner.
Compare your timing to the next full rep: at :37 you are already changing the info, and at :38 you have started the FC and he is still 5 or 6 feet from the entry wing. Reaching the brake hand across the bar helped too – you can wait one more heartbeat right on the line to get one more collection stride before leaving then I think it will be perfect.I love that you tried all the things on the 6 jump! Wheee! I of course had to get out my handy dandy timer to compare 🙂 Here is what I found, from fastest to slowest:
German
Japanese/threadle
Whiskey/switch
backlap
reverse wrapNow going back through, I think the japanese/threadle one can end up being fastest (no spin needed, that is tooooo much rotation. I agree that the spin would not be my first choice, but the BC to threadle might be, because of how fast it can be and how I can get to better position after it! More below). I will go through in order on the video:
The switch/whiskey was really well done! You can maybe add a little more decel as he was approaching the backside, but I am not sure this is needed nor will it get the line faster.
>>– On all reps of the last sequence, I would have been better off it I didn’t need to babysit the #5 backside as much.
– While I did pull off the German, I wasn’t very well positioned.>>Yes! And these are related – and I don’t think you need to babysit 5 that much – when you give the big connection as he is exiting 4, you can hang out kind of in the center of the ring. On the backlap at 1:4, you would then head to the center of the 6 bar, using connection/verbal to send to the 6 backside when he is taking 5. You went a bit too much to the entry wing so it was hard to get a tight line across the bar at 6 with some decel and an earlier turn-back cue.
Same for the German at 1:35 – you can send more to 5 and head straight to the exit wing of 6. He definitely kicked in a higher gear of speed when he saw you drive through the german!! And heading more directly to the exit wing (as if you are running more towards the tunnel entry) will tighten the exit line.
Both of these can also be done with less get out to 4 and more motion towards it, so you don’t get too far ahead 4-5 and end up standing still.
On the BC to the threadle at 1:53 – you were too helpy on the backside send to 5 so the blind was late – he read it but had to slow down a lot there. You can definitely cue/send to 5 sooner and get up for the BC before the threadle earlier. Then you had a bit too much power & acceleration to the bar at 6 – try to step to the center of the bar and don’t go past it, then leave for the tunnel. That will make for a tighter exit without needing a spin. You can take off a couple of tenths in each spot, which is why I think this will end up being your fastest option because it was only 1 tick slower than the German (also gets you further ahead if something crazy was after the tunnel)
The wrap is good to work of course 🙂
>>– I don’t love the wrap but based on my possible positioning and motion, it was pretty good.>>I agree! You can send to 5 and leave sooner, to get up to the position where the wing meets the bar as he lands from 5: then hang out t here, slightly rotated to your next running line, brake hand to help get collection – and don’t move til he passes you. And when you do move, move directly to the tunnel – at 2:18 you stepped back away so at 2:19 when he landed, he looked at you for a while until you stepped back in to the tunnel. You can cut off a good chunk of time by moving directly forward. In this scenario, I don’t think it will be faster than the german or the threadle, but it does get used in other scenarios so getting it nice and tight is good to practice 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>For the ladder grid, I had the bars at 8″. At what height should they be to add more jumps?>>
Start on the lowest setting you have, 4 or 6 inches for the first session or two, then you can raise them up. 8 inches will be ‘full height’ on this particular grid 😉
>> He seemed to totally have the idea of get out or no get out though so that was super cool.
Yes- that was outstanding – he had no questions at all!!! Good boy!!!
T
Good morning!
>>Good morning!>>We played with the Rear Cross/Turn and Burn over the weekend and I felt it with this too…..not the same drive out of the turn around the barrel as we went on. I’m thinking he’s telling me that the sessions are getting too long and/or too much thinking so I’m planning to play some of the handling games where he’ll get to run a little more….like the Diamond Game or something similar. Your thoughts?>>
Yes, could be that the sessions are too long – do you run a timer on them or limit the # of reps? Also, since he is a full-on foodie, you might be seeing the effects of food rewards – food rewards can often be calming 🙂 Yes, adding more running games for sure! And also adding different reinforcement styles where the food is more toy-like. For example, with my Papillon who is one of the biggest food pigs on the planet: I tied a line to his lotus ball and when I tossed it to reward, I swung it around like a toy using the line, so he would chase it and grab it like a toy. Then he started tugging on it too! It was definitely NOT calming hahaha
And there is also the flyball style of rewarding – run and whoop it up and run and then deliver the reward. Wheeee! That can reduce the ‘chill’ factor that the food brings. And it is a good workout haha
On the RC versus GO – One thing I notice is that he is not powering into the Rear cross, which makes it harder for you to show the line – so he sometimes gets it wrong because you are late (you can still give happy feedback there – a ‘good boy, you are cute, your reward is over there!” can help him learn to make the RC turn even if you are late for whatever reason.
So the reason I think it probably felt sticky and was late on the first rep has to do with the Go reps: On the Go cues, you are leaving the barrel early enough that he is not driving ahead, he is chasing you. He is fast and driving, but behind you. So when you move towards the jump with less acceleration for the RC, he is uncertain about driving ahead. A-ha! So if we get the go to be more about driving ahead, then the RCs will be muuuuuuch easier! He is reading the RCs but it probably feels sticky in the moment, right?
So on the go reps: stay close to the barrel until he is all the way around, don’t move, let him get to yoru side (he can even look up at you like, what the heck, human?) Then accelerate towards the jump. And to encourage driving ahead, you can have his reward placed out there already for a few reps, then go to throwing wicked early – throw as soon as you start driving and saying Go. When he is smoking you and gets to the jump 10 feet before you do, you can add in the RCs again 🙂I just put this video up for the Crazy Commitment class to get more GO on a jump – it is in the context of *not* having to connect but it can also give you another way to approach getting more drive ahead to the jump (without a barrel):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EXRG7Q4GsgThe backside circles look great! He found the backside really nicely and double gold star for committing to the bar while you kept moving past it – yes!!! You can add in your verbal for these circle wraps.
>>And oh yeah…… on the next to the last rep of the rear crosses to his left I forget to use his Left verbal and on the next one I remembered. I don’t like that I forgot but I sure did like how it helped him understand the cross on the next one when I remembered>>
YES! That was so cool to see – the verbal being helpful is perfect because it really helped him nail it. Yay!!!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
This is going really well 🙂 He did a great job discriminating the 3 different cues! Only one suggestion: on the threadle in particular (and on the serp too, but I don’t think it is as important as on the threadle cue): show the body position of dropping the arm back and then release with the threadle word (‘come’). When you said the word and *then* did the arm cue, he has to wait a moment to see/hear the full cue (the word is not fully independent yet). And when he wants to react fast like at 1:14, if the arm cue is late after the verbal, he might consider the wrong side (that was the rep where he almost took the serp side then saw the arm cue, stopped, came in. Good boy!!) So the order of festivities would be: you move then do arm cue then do the verbal cue 🙂 Then it will be easier to get the understanding using the physical cue. After a couple of sessions: move him further back and switch the order: move, verbal, then arm – that way the verbal predicts the arm better and will help solidify the understanding, if that makes sense 🙂
The serps looked good and so did the tunnel cues! The only tunnel question he had at 1:44 I think was because he needed more connection – which you gave him on the last rep and it was perfect.Great job!
Tracy
