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Hi there! This video looks good!!! He is so fun to watch 🙂
His understanding of “stay on your line” is lovely. The two pinwheel reps at the beginning look good in general! My only suggestion on these is to give him his GO cue before he enters the tunnel (and say it a few times) – he is looking at you on the exit because he has not yet received info on what is next. That slows him down out of the tunnel and into the next line (it also happens on the reps with the crosses, he even zigs in towards you on the last rep) at the very end.
You can also play with handling these plain pinwheels by being closer to the tunnel exit, driving him into the pinwheel and staying really lateral, as if you had to serp or blind the tunnel exit.FCs:
:34 and :51 FCs: you are starting on time (woot!) but finishing late (not woot haha) – you were facing him as he is jumping the turn jump. I don’t think you can start any earlier, I just think that FCs are really hard to get done quickly on lines like this (which is why I use BCs here as soon as the dog understands to watch your upper body even when a tunnel is looming, which Enzo clearly does). I also think you were getting a bit too “into” the bar on the FC jump – going past the upright to end up slightly between the uprights, a bit too much exactly on the top of the diagonal which was causing him to jump wide. You can stay outside the upright and get on the good cross diagonal for him a few feet further down, that will show him the line sooner (you’ll be more lateral from the cross jump). On these, he was jumping and youwere directly between the uprights, so he jumped towards you and landed longer than needed. The FC at 1:07 – MUCH better getting done quickly with the rotation (done before takeoff!) and your position on the line was further down the diagonal and less between the uprights, so his turn was better (you even said “much better” on the video :))2 BC reps at the end – ah yes, this is a MUCH nicer cue for him on these. He doesn’t get swept away and lose his head when there is motion towards a tunnel, so he *easily* followed the BC cues and they looked really nice! And plus, the BCs are much quicker to get finished (compared to the FCs) so you were finished sooner and up the line sooner, which also contributes to a better turn (he didn’t see you between the uprights as you were turning).
Speaking of finished sooner… I believe you were actually too early on the BC at 1:31 – you were finished and re-connected before he landed from the pinwheel jump, and that is the timing I would suggest if you were about to do a Forced Front Cross (or forced blind). So with the BCs, you can be later 🙂 letting him land. And you can also Use your jump cue so he commits even if you are early.Great job here! Let me know if it makes sense!!
TracyHi!
On the 2 jump serps – when he was coming in properly on the 2nd jump (on your left side, his right) you started off by handling like it was a 180 (turning your shoulder) and then later on you made it look more like a serpentine. On the other side, his left turn, it looked more like a serpentine running line at the start plus you were a lot further ahead. At :41 you started being closer and more like a 180, so he got it. It seems like when you are far ahead with your arm way back, he is confusing it with the open door threadle if you have been working on those? So 2 things to help him out – stay closer, don’t be as far ahead. And angle the jumps so they are not as flat – make the serpentine side almost facing his landing spot from jump 1 (the 2 jumps will look more like a V and less like a line). Then you can practice serpentines on both sides moving through it, gradually shifting the serp jump back to a straight line. For now, just walk through the serps, no need for speed.
How did he do on one jump? You can work the 1 jump game with you far ahead so he learns to serp with you ahead and moving faster (rather than threadle or run by). That is where you can add more speed for now, then we can put it all back together. I have a jump grid coming next Tuesday that will help this too. Let me know if that makes sense!
TracyHi! She is doing better on this 5 jump grid for sure. It is a hard grid for balance, so on the first video when she lost her balance on the 1st rep, she came up with a creative solution on the 2nd rep of jumping really big hahaha! And on the 2nd video, you being a bit less ahead was very helpful for her and she was striding better and staying balanced. So the next time you play with these, I suggest a 2-prong approach:
to help her stay balanced when you are way ahead, let’s back chain the grid: with you out ahead, maybe 10 feet past it with the toy down, moving a step on the release – but start her right in front of jump 4, so she only has to bounce 4-5 then out. After a rep or two, you can try her in front of jump 3 and see if she can stay balanced… then in front of jump 2, then eventually back to jump 1. The goal is that she can see the stimulation of you ahead and moving, and she continues to stay balanced in her approach to the jumps.separately, place the toy out about 6 feet from the last jump, and you will lead out to 3 with her in front of 1: and release and move forward very slowly. I think this should help her to balance as well while also adding in motion. This should help her look for the intervals and stride in between them.
I figure if you can play with these once a week or once every 10 days or so, it will be perfect!
Let me know what you think 🙂
Have fun!
TracyAh, that’s a bummer about the camp 🙁 but probably the absolute best decision. Wager is indeed a critter of specific tastes hahhaa!!
That is weird… maybe they used last year’s form???? Odd! Did they cancel the camp because of the pandemic or is it still a go?
Hi!
On the wrapping games:
Rep 1 was a little too early on the deceleration, you started it before he got to cone 1 and then you were a little sideways – the turn was good but I think he slowed down into it more than he needed to.
You really powered into it and decelerated later on reps 2,3,4 – NICE! Rep 2 was good (you got a little too excited after it and he bypassed the next jump, just a combo of your excitement and his inexperience).
Rep 3 was GREAT – if you freeze it at :17 as he is lifting, you are basically turned and moving away, while maintaing connection. Same at :27 – really nice!Right wrap – trying to do this from parallel/behind him caused him to ask questions – he looked at you over jump 1 because you were looking ahead. Then go things happened after the wrap – you only made a sorta-connection (technical term haha): you were looking a little back at him but not enough at his eyes. And you said GO GO GO before he had turned into the gap… so he went went went haha 🙂 Good boy! Remember to make a big connection so he can see your eyes/chest. And we had talked about what to reward – in this case, there was a verbal, so you brought him back to get the jump then reward – perfectly fine 🙂 It would have also been fine to reward the go, because he was correct (I have made that mistake with Voodoo on more than one occasion by yelling something like GO TUNNEL and not having connection, so he stayed on the straight line to an off course tunnel. Oopsie! Verbals are dangerous! It is hard to think fast in that moment. Either way, he gets rewarded, life is good 🙂
2nd rep – you were too early with the decel. You were deceling and saying right at the instant his front feet hit the ground, so he looked up at you and didn’t drive forward as much.
Then at :17, you said Go right as he was deciding to come in or not… so he went towards the tunnel. A bit too early on the Go LOL! Also, this is a perfect example of a place to use the cross-arm for exit line connection – you are trying to get his attention on your with your dog-side arm. Sogs really don’t read this as well as we would like them too (case in point, :17 here). The arm across the body here owuld pop your right shoulder back, reveal the connection/upper body and I am sure he would come right in. Having the tunnel there is a great real-world distraction and it shows us what he needs in terms of connection.At :32 you had Aunt B standing in front of the tunnel and you had the jolly ball in your dog side arm… note how he still needed a moment to find the new side. Definitely try the cross-body connection to help him see the line sooner.
I liked your timing here a lot better: you were ahead and driving, decelerating after he landed into the transition. The very last rep (:38) was too early – I think you might be trying to get to the other arm to cue it, too soon – it is causing you to slow down and move a bit sideways up the line, which causes questions and slows him down. Powering into it will get more speed and a great turn. At :39, you made a very clear connection (right arm back) as he came around the jump, so he read the line better! Connection is key. By using the dog-side arm there, though, it delayed you moving forward so try running awya with the arm across the body and see how quickly you can get out of there and still get the great turn.On the 2 bending videos: he is getting it by the end of the 2nd one. What you are seeing is “baby boy dog bending” where he just has a lot of body to bend and not a lot of life experience on how to bend it LOL! He was trying to use his front end on the first video and beginning of the 2nd video – but by the end of the 2nd video, he was beginning to use his hind end! YAY! You were also good about holding the reward until after he landed, which helped with the last bar. On the next session, you can start him at your side and turn your body as he does it – that can help with a bit of propulsion too. He is sorting it out and I know he will have it fully sorted out as he gets older and more experienced. This is the kind of grid to do maybe once a week or once every 10 days – you’ll see pretty significant progress!
Nice job!
TracyHi!
>>Spot, Spotty Body, Spot Bot, Spot Wat (Watson) will be 1 year old in 1 week.
Happy birthday, big guy! A Gemini, like me haha!
>>That is when I have started letting my dogs really begin obstacle training with my other guys.
Yes, slowly but sure, things can started getting real 🙂 Wheeee! A priority is muscling up and core strength so now that his joints are grown, the rest of the body can catch up.
>>Any thoughts on how I begin to raise bars or if I should yet as I progress with these exercises? I’m assuming I’d start with jump grids and more straight line stuff and then start to raise them for wrapping drills after he learns to just get over higher bars. Not sure if that’s correct or not.>>
Just put ’em all at 26″, let’s go! HA! Just kidding 🙂 Yes, that is pretty much the way to do it: introduce gradually higher bars in the set point exercise from MaxPup 3. If that goes well, introduce it in the striding grids and according grids (last jump moves up in height when it is 15″ feet away and beyond). The ladder grids always stay super low.
The middle bar of the bending grid from last week also start to go up (not the outer bars).Then – the bars go into sequencing. I gradually raise bars on “easy lines” like extension lines when I am pretty sure that I will be there to handle it with connection. Then separately, wraps and backsides and the harder efforts.
At some point in about 6 to 8 months, you will likely have all of the bars where you want them.
And I personally start trialing all of my dogs at a lower height. For example, my Hot Sauce did her first trial runs at 12″ as I was getting her to full height (16″) at home. I do this to make the trial experience easy, fun and successful! If there wasn’t a pandemic happening, I would have been trialing her at 16″ by right about now – she is 22 months old.>>he doesn’t have a middle name yet – was going to see what you came up with during Stacy’s camp, but
He needs a middle name! I wasn’t schedule to be at Stacy’s camp, so we can choose one. Hmmm now I need to think it over lol!
T
Hi!
The first rep started off so perfect! Then you closed your connection forward so she read it as a blind and popped in behind you.
You were perfect in your connection and upper body at :08!
You were strong also with the connection and lne of motion on the next rep at :12, I think you were too close to the jumps so she popped the to the backside at jump 2. The next rep looked perfect!!When you send her into it at :20, you handling it more as a 180 (turning your shoulder away from the jump) rather than a serp (keeping your chest facing the jump). She read 1-2 but that would make it hard to find the next jump (#3)
Lovely job at :27! Perfect serp.
Now compare it to the next rep at :31. When she landed from 1, you closed your shoulders forward so she zipped right past 2. You were better with your upper body at :36 but I think you can exaggerate it as you move through – make a more dramatic eye contact with her when she lands from 1, which will point the center of your chest to the line you want her to take. It is hard with little dogs – you will have to look downwards rather than just back to her. Your feet are perfect on these 🙂
Nice job on the full serp at :40! Note how you worked to keep yoru upper body open to the jumps (center of the chest facing the center of the bars). Now compare it to the next reps: :49. :57, 1:01: On those, you got 2 but then closed your shoulders forward, so she did not take 3 (that is the line your shoulders were showing her).
So, looking back at :40 and the other successful reps: you were doing what we affectionately call “t*ts to target”, meaning turning the center of your chest to the target (the jump bar/take off spot) so it looks like your upper body is facing the jump and both of your shoulders were pointing to the jump (your feet were quite perfect on all of them). On the reps at the end, you were pointing your left shoulder to the bar (right shoulder was out of the picture). That changes the line you are showing her, so she was correct to not take 3. Adding in more intense connection back to her eyes and a bit more rotation at the waist will help fix it 🙂Let me know if that makes sense! You have a ton of good reps on the serps here!
Hi!
Bending 1 – he was thoughtful about the 6″ jump in the center and seemed to sort it out pretty well! Definitely start these on an angle, it helps him set the line better- the first rep was a little straight on the first jump but all the others were angled and he did a better job figuring out the turns on the angled reps.
Bending video 2:
The reps where he was bending to his right looked really good! The first rep on the left bemd caught him by surprise a little on the first jump but the 2nd left rep was good! He seems a little stronger turning to his right here than to his left – the right turns are tighter and easier looking; the lefts are a little wider and a bit ‘heavier’ in style. So, when you revisit this one – for the right turns, put the center bar at 6! But then change it out back to 4 for the left turns, til the left turns look as smooth as the right turns 🙂 Revisit it over the weekend, maybe, when some latent learning has had a chance to works its magic 🙂FC/BC videos:
>>I’ve watched the FC BC videos a couple of times. Am I going too much inside the wing to cue the turns? Should I be staying lateral/outside the wing?>>
Yes and yes 🙂 You were pressuring in towards the takeoff spot, which he won’t need unless you are way ahead and have to set a SUPER tight turn (picture almost a 360). And even then, he might not need it. By pressuring into the takeoff spot, it delays the other turns cues and might muddy the waters when you try to show RC pressure. So, run to the outside of the wing and the transition will show the turn info.
1st video:
1st rep – you can see the pressuring in towards the takeoff spot here – going straight will set a better line. This rep was a bit late (he ended up wide) but the other reps here were all strong with timing! You have really nice exit line connection on your FCs!2nd rep – This one had better timing of transition – you can play with trying the decel sooner and turning sooner – it might get an even tighter turn but also will give you time to get your exit line connection to the next side sooner: you were a little late re-connecting and so he zigged and zagged. You will want to do an exaggerated exit line connection like you did on the FCs so he can drive back to the next jump.
2nd video – first rep – Nice! On this one and the next rep, you can try to slow down sooner and bigger, so it is easier to turn sooner – I am happy with his turns so it is mainly to see if you can get reconnected sooner – not on the FC here, but more on the next rep of the BC. The second rep and 3rd rep are where you need to make more connection back to him, you were tending to look forward after the blind element, rather than back to his eyes. On the last rep you had a strong verbal to the last jump, which totally helped!
>>I set up the cones for the fast/slow zones…I hope it made a difference in my timing? If not, I will keep practicing.
I think they did help! Did you feel like you had a better idea of when to do each section of the transition?
Great job!
TracyHi!
1st 2 reps: on 1-2-3, turn sooner between 1 and 2 so she doesn’t slip on landing. You were facing forward til she took off for 2 on these, so she landed straight and then slipped/scrambled to turn.
Your best turn at 2 was at 1:22 when she didn’t take the first jump and you were kind decelerated and turned – perfect! LOL! It looks like she didn’t take 1 on that rep partially because you reconnected and released at the exact same moment so she was surprised, and then you pushed into the box and that pushed her around the jump. She read the RC well on the last 2 reps – she looked at you exiting the tunnel, so to help smooth it out you can keep running to the tunnel then be moving up the line to the RC, rather than waiting for her to pass you then move.
The last rep had connection *then* release and you didn’t push into the box, so she took the first jump beautifully again. And at 1:35, she was in the center of the line between 1 and 2 and you were already turning your shoulders, which set up a much nicer turn on 2. Yay!
You did keep moving with the reward til she caught up with you rather than stop or drop it, but yes – run run run hoot it up and get her to chase you 🙂Tunnel exits are going really well! On your GO exits, you were starting the verbal after she exited, so she came out looking at you and then picked up the line. Try to start the verbal before she goes in, like what you did on the name-call exits – those were right before she went in and her turns were nice!! Especially the last one – perfect!
Well done!!
Tracy
Hi!
I am glad you had a chance to get these loaded! It sounds like things have been really busy!!! What is it about Memorial Day weekend that makes it so busy? I have a bunch of guesses lolI think she did really well with the 3 jump grid! The motion didn’t seem to be an issue and she actually got better when you added more motion on this video. Are the jumps 4 feet apart? Hard to tell from the angle but I think that is what they are – it seems to be a good distance for her. She looks ready to handle the wing wrap into this 3 jump grid – it will challenge her to stay balanced like she did here!
Bending grid – this was a good challenge for her! She did well on the first rep, the tick of the bar was more about the timing of you presenting the reward. On the 2nd rep, she was lined up a little straight and had to balance, and on the 3rd rep I think she was a little distracted (there were some good noises LOL!) When you revisit this one, start her on more of angle so she is turning as she is coming into the grid – that should make it even more balanced!
On the single rep on the next video – that is more of the angle to start on! It is a good challenge for her – she seems to want to go FAST and this little bending grid is asking her to turn and keep turning – so she is having to think about her body and that is GREAT! She will keep getting better and smoother on this, it is the kind of thing to show her maybe once a week.FC wrap video:
Poor girl slipped on the bar on the 2nd rep, so yes to having the bars in the jump cups. Better to knock the bar than to have her slip on it, plus she is doing well with her jumping. And when she had a bar to jump on the last one, I think her turn was actually better!!
On the 1st rep, sending her to the wrap worked nicely but she drifting coming around the wing because she wasn’t sure which side of you to be on – that is a good place for the arm-across-the-body reconnection to help her see it.
2nd rep was going really well, nice transition and timing, and she slipped but thankfully it didn’t seem to bother her.
3rd rep – from the tunnel – she liked the speed 🙂 she had a couple of head checks – looks like you decelerated a bit too soon (as she was exiting the tunnel and heading to the first jump) so you can accelerate more to get ahead (and stay connected of course :)) – no need to start the transition until after she lands or hold back to send her ahead. Her commitment looks really nice on all of these, and that last turn was her best one!Well done on all of these 🙂 Looking forward to the other videos when you have a moment to load them.
Tracy
Good morning!
1st sequence – great send away to 3!! You had great position and timing on the BC. He needs more verbal info there – he was reading the “downstairs” (your motion and feet) and not the “upstairs” the change in connection and verbal. You did call him, but it was late and he was already on his way to the tunnel. As he is approaching 3, call his name and use your left verbal – be insistent! Then reward him for coming to you even if he misses the jump 🙂2nd rep – you called him a lot more on this one and he responded. Yay! Call him sooner – you started it when he landed from 3, start it before he takes off so he lands already turned. And try to keep moving so he comes in even while you are running. That tunnel is a delicious temptation so it is great to work him through ignoring it 🙂
3rd rep – now he is getting it! Yay! You called a bit earlier (I think you can call him when he is one stride before takeoff, rather than when he lands) but he is also learning to watch both upstairs and downstairs, rahter than just downstairs. Nice!!2nd video –
1st rep was the FC – very nice! Look at how nicely he is driving his lines!
On the FC: you started it on time, but the mechnics made you late to finish it. As you were front crossing, you brought your outside arm up to begin the cue (:08) and that pulled your body away from the line up (the arm was high) and it slowed your rotation down. To be quicker finishing the FCs, think of the figure skaters who do those fast spins: pull your arms in really tight to your body and drop the inside shoulder back (rather than bringing your outside shoulder up and out). Tjat will make you super quick to finish the FCs!2nd rep was the BC (building on the previous video) – very nice! His sends look REALLY good and that allows you to be in a great spot for the blind. Keep working to call him sooner. And as you do the blind, stay closer to the middle jump there so you can run forward and not block the line of entry to the tunnel.
3rd rep – I think the FC here was too early at :30: He landed from the previous jump you said jump and just started your FC with the outside arm coming up. You were looking forward too, when you said jump (rather than looking at him) and that is something that causes the youngsters to look at us and come off the line. So when you say jump, say it to him and then you’ll see him looking at the jump – then you can start the FC 🙂
The same thing happened (slight disconnect) on the last rep – but also I think he was anticipating the next part of the sequence and was heading to the middle jump and tunnel LOL!! He was being very helpful hahahaha Good job fixing it. I don’t think he was tired from a long session, I think he was just learning the sequence and trying to go faster hahaOverall, though, his sending and lines look TERRIFIC and now I am bugging you about timing and where you arms are LOL!! It is a champagne problem 🙂 Your timing is very close to perfect and you can keep your arms in tighter & lower for the FCs.
I agree that your teamwork is coming together, and he is still so young! And I also agree that your position on the lines will be VERY different than with MadDog 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
>>The bending grid height has always been consistently at 4″ (lowest jump cup).
OK perfect – let’s put the middle bar at 6″ for a session or two. The long term goal is that it moves to full height, eventually.
>>He’s a little whipper snapper. He cracks me up. Yes…more connection on the wing wrap lest he take his own path the wrong way! LOL Gotta love his enthusiasm.
YES! He is totally a “game on!” type of guy lol
>>So a few times over the past weeks you have mentioned for me to go deeper into the tunnel. I kind of get what you mean…sometimes it is appropriate to send to the tunnel and get out of there and ahead and sometimes I need to be more with him as he exits the tunnel. Is there a rule of thumb on this? I feel like I am trying to stay ahead of him to cue him but then maybe he isn’t seeing what he needs to see because of that.>>
The hardest part of small dog handling is knowing how to gauge the line: when to send and leave versus when to go in deep. It will depend on the sequence. So when you need to get waaaaay up a line for a blind cross, for example… send and leave. When you need to send him into a pinwheel or a wrap jump then turn and come back towards the tunnel, for example, run closer to the tunnel for a few steps so you don’t get too far ahead. It will come with more experience running him, and will keep changing a bit until he is working at full height.
>>>For sure, I have a very hard time with the transitions….this is not a new problem that I have! I’m hoping to get better at it with time.
You were getting it nicely! Review that part before your next session so you have it in your mind!
>>I think this may historically come from the One Mind thing where you run up to the wing and get low before the dog gets there or at least that is how I perceived it
Possibly! They did emphasize getting to the wing and getting low, plus they used the dog side arm which caused issues with the handler’s rotation and the dogs’ ability to read wrap versus rear cross.
>> Would it help to set the jumps a bit further apart to give me room for the fast/slow down/cue the turn. I feel like he smokes me and then I don’t have time to do the slow down part hence “slamming on the brakes” (which is a good way to put it, by the way!)
Yes, you can totally do that! Also you can put the cones out for the lines he would be passing, for when he would need to see each cue. The slowing down is hard when the speed demons are coming at us!
T
I feel your pain about the rain, we had record rain this month so far with more coming. My field drains well, thankfully, but I admit to being tired of wet socks 🙂
T
Hi there!
>>I have always tended to err on the side of rewarding too much! I sometimes get confused about when NOT to reward, so I end up making mistakes. The struggle is real.
I don’t think there is such a thing as rewarding too much 🙂 And in general, I believe that in agility, people don’t reward nearly enough! So here are three simple guidelines for handling:
successful rep? Reward.
Unsuccessful rep, but no verbal cue? Reward either immediately or ask for a trick
Unsuccessful rep, with a verbal cue (like you said the backside cue and he took the front)? Fix on that one jump immediately, then reward.So basically – keep looking for ways to reward. Assume all handling errors are human error either in the moment as a handler or in general as a trainer, and find something to reward very quickly (going back to the beginning of the sequence is not a quick reward).
Skill training is a tiny bit different, like a 2o2o: one error? Ask the same question again. 2 errors? Reward a trick, something different, then try again but make it easier to be successful.
>> On the “go” “Ro” question, I am using his name, but I say “Robie” and not “Ro.” I think I emphasize the first syllable, so that’s likely what you’re hearing.
Yes, that is probably it – but because we want him to respond immediately to the first part of the cue: either replace the GO cue with something like RUN, or change his name call on course to BIE instead of RO.
>> I am so so bad at the verbals, that I don’t think there is the slightest possibility that I’ll ever be able to replace “go” with anything else.
You’re not bad at verbals, you are simply new at verbals. There is a difference 🙂 If you pick them and work on making sure you plan them before every sequence, you will find they come a lot more easily 🙂
>>I moved the jumps up to 12″ for some of the easier stuff. Did that look ok?
Yes, I think he looked good! Yay!
Have fun 🙂
T
