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Good morning! Hope you had a good Thanksgiving! I agree that the wraps are looking really good! And the mechanics of cuing the slices are what was causing the issues – here are specifics:
Circle wraps are looking really good!! She is both turning her head to get the turn and collecting herself really nicely. On the last couple of reps. you changed the reward placement to follow your exit line, which is fine – but give her a litlle connection at that point so she knows which side of you to be on.
Slices: the one jump slices look great too – she is rounding the entry wing, clearly looking for the jump and not at you – perfect! That will really help the commitment and jumping effort. Great job with the reward placement on those.
2 jumps: this is where it gets juicy!
>> what I might be doing with my feet, chest, motion that causes her to take the wrong side of the jump – other than the fact that she is a little dog.>>
I agree that being so small, it is easier for her to end up on the front side because she doesn’t land out near the plane of the backside like a larger dog might.
But aside from that – the errors stemmed from how you were cuing the backside – you were using the verbal but running away so your motion/chest/feet shoulders/etc were all facing the front side. Instead, you will want to be moving forward, parallel to her path to the backside, until you know for sure she is heading to the backside wing, then you can turn and move away – and use the extreme commitment back to her so your shoulders/chest are pointing to the backside line rather than turned away from it. I also recommend *not* using your dog-side arm to send forward of your body on this, as that turns your upper body to the front side of the bar especially when your arm is high. Either have your dog side arm down & back, or use your ‘get out’ arm to get your upper body turned to the backside line.
On the video, here is what was happening:
on the first rep, you were using the verbal but the body language was saying something else: at :59 in the slo mo, she was landing from 1 and you were totally turned and in ‘regular’ connection so you got the front of 2. Same at 1:12 and 1:29. So the physical cue really did say front side not backside.At 1:06 she got it – you were still pretty turned but not moving as fast and maybe a bit more arm support, but she might also have been able to process the verbal better with less motion.
She also got it at 1:16 – I believe mainly because the 2 jumps were closer so she landed on the backside plane of 2. The same thing happened at at 1:20 and 1:27, it was more like a serpentine for her and less like a backside push.When you switched back to the other side, the jumps were a little further apart so she was not landing on the backside plane. At 1:35 you stood between the uprights to help her, which worked but we don’t want you to have to stay there. At 1:43, you had more of the parallel path I was mentioning above, yay!!! But you can be even clearer (and more patient with it, no need to blast away as early). You used the out out out cue there – you can still use your backside verbal but you can be using your ‘out’ body language of parallel path and upper body rotated towards her.
On the wraps: You were a tiny bit late rotating at 1:50 and then she back jumped – possibly just a young dog error as you moved away with speed – you can reward lots for NOT backjumping to keep that skill very fresh in her mind 🙂
She fixed the error on the next rep and you had less motion – and all the other circle reps looked great 🙂 The throwbacks to the backside circle on the last reps looked really good!! I think on all of these circle wraps, you can ad more motion now – she is rocking those.So let me know if the ideas for the slices make sense – the key is your line of motion first and foremost, and also how you connect as you deliver the cue to her.
TracyWow, thank you for all of your work in the past year!!! You’ve been busy – Demi looks fabulous!!! I think we are all going to have to sit tight this winter and not do much in terms of agility 🙁 But you have done an amazing job with Miss Demi!!!! And that is great news about Wilson… does that mean he can eventually go to 16″ Preferred for his retirement years? That is so great!!
Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving 🙂
TracyHi! I am quite competitive too, and I like to know the why and how behind the winning lines… and the losing lines 🙂 Video obsessing has been super useful for that!! I think we are obsessing down to the 1/10th of a second with Juno – but to be competitive with a large dog, that is exactly what is needed 🙂 Have a great Thanksgiving!!!
TracyHowdy!
Good stuff here, he was flying! So fun!!!
First video – He is doing well with the Go lines! What where the distances on between the jumps? He was really good on his go lines but the distances were hard with all the motion – spread ’em out so he can do a 1-stride stride. You can do 2 jumps, 15 feet apart, to begin with. Also, he was totally watching the toy and your running – so you can use the MM way out ahead on the line and trigger it nice and early so he doesn’t look back. You can also mix in having a toy placed out there. Do you have 2 tunnels? You can do tunnel-jump-jump-tunnel 🙂 Wheeee!
Looking at the rear crosses – I know I am usually a pain in the ass about rewarding sooner, but I think in this case I would like to be a pain in the ass about rewarding *later* LOL! He was not turning his head until you tossed the toy. So, delay your reward throw until you see him turn his head the new direction on the RC – then throw it. For example – :53 and 1:02 was more of the timing of the reward throw where you got him to turn to the new line and then threw it. Your RC cues were generally really good, so we can wait now for the head turn. Now at :46, you were just late on the RC pressure, so it is fine to just reward that (not his fault LOL!) and same at :56, here you were early and pushed him off the jump.
Adding in your ro ro ro (row your boat hahaha) wrap cue nice balance for the go and the rear cross work! – Add in some more decel as he is landing from the previous jump so he can collect more rather than rely on pure verbal.
When you added the line back to the tunnel – neither tunnel entry was really on a go line (one was a get out, one was a threadle entry) so I think he guessed and came to the closer one (which is my preferred guess over flicking away).
Because there was so many jumps on this session…. give him a few days off of jumping so you don’t accidentally over do it – he is a baller so he will keep doing it as much as you want but at only 8 months, we want to have maybe only one repetitive jumping session per week. He will try to convince you otherwise haha
Tunnel threadle video – fun! I will bug you about running more on the simpler lines – you can dial back the motion on the threadle moments but run run run on the rest of it. On the threadle moments: he is coming right in for it when you turn your feet to face him on the tunnel threadle. Yay! But now we want to strip that out to let you keep moving – he is relying on the feet to come in and also the arm cue to go back out. We can go to next steps where your feet are facing forward the whole time (turning towards the tunnel threadle side) and you do not use your arm to send him back out – you just keep moving towards the tunnel entry you want and then he will turn himself back out. You can see he doesn’t recognize that your feet will still be moving forward because he stayed on the straight line when you did that. And also, we want to take out the arm cue to go back out because when your timing was not perfect (you were early at 2:19 for example) he took the end of the tunnel you didn’t want or when your feet were turned away and your arm went behind you at 2:40, he had no idea what it was some came in for tooth hugs LOL. So basically that arm cue (plus your verbal) means to push da momma out of the way and go to the ‘other’ end of the tunnel as fast as you can, without needing any additional cues. That way you don’t even need to worry about rotating or timing the arm cues to go back out 🙂
At 3:00 you were starting the ideal cue of moving – just keep moving though, when you stop so far away he is not sure of what you want. 3:09 was MUCH better, that is exactly what we are going for – he had a really good line there and lots of speed. You had variations on that til the end, but still a little too much sending him back out with the threadle arm (I know how hard it is to not fling the arm back out LOL!! The rep at 3:09 was my favorite. Yes, you’ll need to stay in super chill mode as he is arriving at the wing before the threadle, but as soon as he understands, we can add back all the motion. Fun!One other little detail – when he exits the tunnel and you are facing forward with a high pointy arm… he questions and zig zags. So, make connection to him with your eyes and your arm low and back on the exit of every tunnel to get rid of the zig zag.
Excellent work spitting out all of the verbals, too! Yay! I think you only had one moment where you spit the wrong word out (you apologized to him lol)
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>What kind of proofing are you talking about in the proofing games?
The proofing class is a handling proofing class – designed to proof the different verbals and handling skills with distractions (backside verbals, wraps, threadles, go, etc) – I think all you need is a tunnel, one jump and a wing.
>>And also, is the mental prep course lecture or what is that about?
It is lecture/discussion with live discussion times too! So everyone will have their own ‘thread’ but can also discuss in person in the live lectures (twice a week).
Have a great Thanksgiving!
TracyHi!
>>It all makes sense, but a little frustrating that I just can’t seem to get it right by making the same mistakes.
Actually, you are making very few mistakes! You are just getting some of the newer ideas into your muscle memory and also trying to sort out exactly what Juno needs. Agility is such a highly personalized sport, and that makes it harder for us handlers 🙂 Your connection especially on that exit line has changed dramatically and he is looking amazing on lines and turns!!! I just keep bugging you about the tiny details LOL especially since you were obsessing on the same spot 🙂
>> So..I guess this is it for class. In addition to the lifetime access to the material, do we also have access to the forum, more importantly your comments?
Yes, you have lifetime access to all the things!
Have a great holiday weekend!!
TracyGood morning! Both dogs are looking good here 🙂 I have some ideas for Wilder!!
>>Wilder and I still struggle with BC wraps. We have made tremendous success this year on other skills (backsides, and turning cues…). Any advice to tweak what I am doing with him?
Do you mean the circle wraps on the backsides? Just making sure we are talking about the same thing LOL! I think it will come down to teaching him to love wrapping wings from any and all angles to the point where you almost can’t get him to *not* wrap a wing – that will help the BC wraps where you will need to leave pretty early, plus it will help him not to backjump the other spots where he found it easier to backjump. Here are more specifics for ya!
On the videos:
Video 1
Build the skill is looking good – great job with the placement of reward (and timing of tossing it) on the circle wraps, this will go a long way to getting him to commit. Gradually add more speed to these, because motion is what makes it harder. When you added motion on the slices, he wanted to follow your motion rather than get the reward at :27 so you made a good adjustment to make it more obvious for him (you can throw it sooner too)
The front side wraps are also looking good – lots of countermotion! He did turn to the RC line on one rep at :55, I think that was just him potentially mis-reading the wrap info from your feet and line of travel, the rest looked good!As he gets better and better with commitment on the wraps (front side, backside, BC) you can change the placement & timing of reinforcement so it comes outside the edge of the wing to encourage him to finish coming all the way around it.
Video 2
Backside slice – these look good! One little suggestion: start moving before the release, I think it will make it even easier to set the line. The timing and position of dropping the reward was causing some of the bar ticking, so you can drop it sooner and further from the bar (rather than later and closer to you). That will continue to help solidify the commitment, he is doing well! The further the reward is from you, the less he will bypass the bar to chase your line of motion.Video 3 – I think these were the blind wraps you were mentioning? The disconnection and countermotion are enough of a distraction that you will not want to add as much motion yet – when you were moving at a steady pace, he did well! When you changed speeds as you disconnected – that is when there were some errors (backjump at :16 and :26, bar at :56) So keep disconnecting nice and early, but don’t change your pace much – stay nice and steady. You will be able to keep adding more and more motion as he gets more comfy with the disconnection.
He did really well when you stayed connected (that is where you also had more motion) but you can dial the motion back a bit and disconnect sooner – an example being on the last 2 backside slices: you were moving with really good speed but you were also pretty connected 🙂 You can challenge him more by looking forward and not at him starting just before he gets to the backside entry wing – but move slowly through it.Video 4 sequences
General suggestion on sequences 1 and 2 is to line him up on a more severe slice over 1 facing 2, so he doesn’t have to turn on 1, he can just go straight.Seq 1: This looked really good, my only suggestion is to keep moving through 5 to 6 as a serpentine (on the line to the tunnel) rather than deceling to pull him in then send back out at :10.
Seq 2: Good timing of the blind at 5 and lovely exit line connection! Nice !!!!!
Seq 3: Nice push to 4 on the first rep!! The FC started with really good timing! But it set him wide and you had to call him back – the FC exit takes a while to finish (the rotation) so that is why he read the wider line on the exit.
On the 2nd rep at :57, your dog side arm got high and forward on the push cue, which broke connection and turned your shoulders to the front of the jump so he went to the front.
3rd rep – you had a low arm and a lot of connection to 4 so he was perfect finding the backside! I like the BC you did here better than the FC, it is faster to finish it (no rotation) and he read it great! You can start it sooner, it started just before takeoff at 1:07 (you were a little sooner starting the FC, before he got to the entry wing on that rep, which was really great timing) which will get the line to 5 even tighter. So combine the BC of this rep with the timing of the FC rep 🙂 Because the distance to 5 was pretty big, I think your FC then RC the tunnel worked best there! He was moving too quickly to be able to get far enough ahead for a BC to get him back on your left side for the tunnel.Seq 4 –
For the backside at 3 after the tunnel on the opening: the first rep needed a stronger connection on the tunnel exit and clearer upper body cue. It looked like ‘regular’ connection so he came to the inside of 3.On the second rep, you had more connection and more motion to it, both of which really helped him – keep moving as he gets into the tunnel so you don’t get behind on the send when he exits – he was really driving 🙂
He had a back jump when you did the RC at 5 – you were a little late on switch and then I think he saw you between the uprights so backjumped… but I think more wing wrap training like we did with Lit’L Bit will teach him to finish the wrap no matter what (rather than backjump) so you don’t have to be perfect 🙂The outside arm on the 3rd rep helped get the 3 backside, you can give that cue sooner so he moves away to it sooner too. You kept moving through the RC at 5 so he didn’t backjump bacause he saw you outside the wing there (not between the uprights). Plus, the cue was much earlier so he turned better – nice!!
Last video:
Go lines – first rep – nice! Just keep the verbals going to support the disconnect. But, after watching this, I have ideas for you about those verbals and disconnects.
2nd rep – you were nicely disconnected but also really quiet, he did well on the line – nice reconnection or the wrap. After the wrap, you did a sudden acceleration and disconnect and got loud… and he dropped the bar after the wrap.rep 3- On the wrap cue, you did a decel & rotate all at once at :28 so he came off the line – as you mentioned in the video, it was too much 🙂
rep 4 – Nice job with the transition on the wrap! But then same bar down after it at :40 plus next bar at :42. You were accelerated, disconnected, and using strong verbals here. More on that below 🙂
rep 5: you were a little more connected and also more quiet on the line back to the tunnel so bars stayed up, nice jumping effort!
Seq 3 – you can turn on the push cue and extreme connection for 3 sooner (before he takes off for 2) so he is already landing facing that line to 3. He did nicely finding the entry to the backside but you don’t need to wait til landing to start it. On that first rep at 1:09 – he was showing us needs more work on the default taking of the bar with countermotion – you were connected but he was pinging away from the motion. So you can set it up in sequences where you are moving (maybe not as fast to start) and as he rounds the entry wing, you drop the toy in on the landing side of the bar (not anywhere near you :)) and keep moving forward to the next jump (that next jump is a big distraction!). He had no problem o the other reps, but that first rep is always the most “telling” – and your handling was good, so it is a dog training thing not a handling thing 🙂
He did take it at 1:21 on the next rep but you were helping a little more, which delayed the blind exit, which made the next push a little late. Then at 1:23, as your lower body leaves, keep upper body open on the push – he was so close to having it! I liked hw you were leaving, he just needed one more moment of extreme connection 🙂You helped a little more at 1:42 but I think you can use the distance you were trying for on the previous rep, just leaving your upper body open for a little longer.
Next rep at 1:54 – better commitment to both backsides. Nice! On the line back to the tunnel – you were disconnected and quiet, that might be the magic formula!
OK so let’s talk about that. Bearing in mind that every dog is different:
When I disconnect and run a line, with my Voodoo dog for example: I MUST be loud and high energy on my verbals or he questions the line. Now, Wilder might be the opposite: when you disconnect and run a line, when you were loud and high energy, he consistently dropped rails. But when you were silent or very mellow/quiet on your verbals, almost casual: he was a rockstar. Hmmmmmmmm….. so when you need to disconnect and run a line you will need to be quieter/lower energy to let him focus on his jumping. That is great to know, because all you need to do is run! YaY!!!! Let me know if that makes sense 🙂On the straight GO lines for Lit’L Bit – she was not anticipating the dig on the last jump on the line on the 2nd rep, so was looking for the toy that she had gotten on the first rep LOL!
Also youthful inexperience caused her to curl in on the line back to the tunnel when you got behind. More experience will fix that – you can break it down so she learns the line and gets more comfy driving ahead, and you can also support with more connection like you added for now – the dog training plus the handling will meld together when she is more experienced (it is not a problem for Wilder who is super experienced).
We can see that same thing coming towards the camera, she gets to a certain threshold ahead of you then is not sure if she should keep going straight and curls in (youthful inexperience :))
She was a good girl on the 3 backside!! It looks like she read your arm dropping back as the cue to come in so keep working those without any arm movement so you can disconnect early 🙂 She is looking fast and happy! So cool!
Great job on these. Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Lots of good stuff here!
Some general ideas for you to build on this:
You should now put a bar or bump on the jump so he has a frame of reference for front versus back, plus the bar is a nice distraction because it has value!When you are rewarding for the backside, plop the toy in closer to the entry wing and plop it in sooner, before he gets all the way around and before he makes a decision to come in the gap (or not :)) There are two reasons for that: we can get him turning his head to look at the bar sooner with the timing (rather than looking at you) and we can also change his commitment point by having the toy in closer to the entry wing: that will help him want to jump closer to the center of the bar. The rewards were coming close to you, so he was watching you and committing near you – which is why it was hard to get past the exit wing and also why he was so close to the exit wing (hitting it at 1:59) when he did come in to take the jump. Placing the reward off of you will help him have a better jumping effort there when we do ask him to jump a bar.
I loved that you ran little courses and mixed it up so he doesn’t go on autopilot LOL!!! Be sure to plan each drill with verbals and connections so you can be earlier – I think on some you were thinking on your feet so info was delayed, like on the tunnel exits or at 1:40 where you looked like you were stepping to the tunnel but then said the wrap verbal. Give yourself little walk throughs so you can plan the timing and verbals LOL!
You were doing a really nice job of getting your crosses/handling in on the backsides on time, before he was getting to the entry wing! Nice!!!!
He is developing some real independence on the backside pushes, very fun to see!!! And that is why we can get the bar in, so you can mix it up with front sies and make sure he is not going on autopilot 🙂
When he was gong on autopilot a bit, you made good adjustments to connection – you intensified the connection around the wing, which really helped him find the lines there!!!
Countermotion – as with the slices, you can drop the toy in sooner – no need to wait for a decision about coming into the gap or not at this point, you can drop it as soon as you walk past the wing. And, drop it behind you rather than across you – that eliminates the need for him to see a cross arm like an old school serp arm (I think he was waiting to see that serpy arm) but we will want you to be able to just run run run through it 🙂 So – drop almost immediately for a couple of sessions, then gradually delay it to give him more of a chance to make a decision.
And wow – super nice distance to the backsides at the end! You were all the way across on the exit wing, that looked GREAT!!>>in your starfish video I saw you working on backside wraps. Did I miss those training videos?
Those are sprinkled in the rocking horses and the wind in your hair games.
>>Also did miss backsides where the dog flips away from you?
They are in the turn aways games 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi there! Great job on these! Mostly perfect with some shared obsessing on sequence 4 🙂
Sequence 1: great timing and connection on the push to 4! You might be able to disconnect for the blind even sooner – just before he gets to the wing of the backside (the ultimate in trust :)) You turned your head when he rounded the entry wing, and you will find it easier to handle exit lines if you turn your head to the new side before he gets to the entry wing. Nice wrap at 5, lovely turn and he powered back down the line!
Seq 2 – loved this one – You had a great push to 3, very clear exit line connection, awesome wrap and exit line to the threadle on these reps. So nice! Turns at 3 and 4 looked awesome. If I was to nitpick, you could run more to the wing of the 5 (threadle) jump and pull away less – that way he can have even tighter lines (especially on the 1st rep) – he seems to really understand the threadle cue!
Seq 3 – On the opening line with the delicious off course tunnel straight ahead, start your turn cues for jump 3 when he lands from jump 2 – I like to give a directional for the jump (I would use a right verbal here) followed by the tunnel threadle verbal. The shoulder pull and verbal happened when he was over the bar here at 3 so he landed wide. That first rep had a ‘closed’ shoulder and the second rep had more of an open shoulder (more connection) – that looked better, plus you were a little earlier on the cues on the 2nd rep there.
You can definitely turn your head to start the blind sooner at 1:02 – you did it after he was in the air so he landed on the wrong side for a moment. At 1:16, he also drifted a little on the way to 6 because you were looking forward more than connected back to him, so he was not as sure of the line. You can also reveal more of the 6 wing, you were blocking it a little at 1:04 so he was a little wide finding it.Seq 4 – so watching where his turns were amazing on this sequence and on the previous sequences, versus the drifting we saw here on 3: when you really dig into the cue on the takeoff side and stay there as he is taking off… he always drifts wide on the exit especially of spins. The more you dig in and stay there, the more drifting you get. That is what was happening on 3. When you cue and leave, like you were doing on 4: no drifting (and that was a spin too!)
So on the reps on jump 3 at 1:29, 1:40, 1:52… you worked the takeoff side a lot but emded up not showing motion or connection to the next line so he drifted after landing (his takeoff spots were fine, it is the landing drift that was widening them). At 1:52 you tucked in more like a reverse v-set (same with Jake at the end) so that did improve the line but still not as much as we can for both boys.
Now on 4 here at 1:32 and 1:42 – you cued and left and he was tight 🙂 When you did the reverse v-set on 3, you ended up amost getting the backside of 3 but also you were on a different line at 4 (2:09 for example) so that widened the line of exit at 4.So what does it all mean? Cue the collection at 3 and then before he passes you… get outta there and head to 4, so you are blinded before he lands and making a big exit line connection. Then before he passes you for 4, you are already moving away again there.
Let me know if that makes sense – that cue-and-leave seems to consistently produce better turns and lines than staying at the takeoff spot and adding more collection cue.
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
Good work on all of these! You’re going to laugh… I think you are so connected that you are actually using your opposite arm too much! LOL! On regular connection, like exits of the tunnel or on the way to a jump or on the way to a serp – you don’t need the opposite arm across the body, you can just have it in a natural position at your side. You only need to get it involved a little as you exit the FCs or spins or blinds or serps, not before.On Flint’s runs:
Your exit line connection looked really good here!
On the FCs: He will turn a little tighter and more smoothly if you don’t go past the jump on the FCs (and spins too) – stay on takeoff side to make your transitions and do the cross. He is a really nice turning dog, so if you go past the jump he will turn a little wide.
He did start to question on the last couple of reps from the tunnel – when you were looking ahead on the tunnel exit, he was looking at you – so remember to look at him (regular connection) when he exits the tunnel.On the spins – exit line connection was also good here! Yay! I think you were focusing on the connection and on the spin, so there was a little too much deceleration on the way to the jump and so that was drawing his focus to you more than you needed. At 1:20, you were accelerating towards the jump more so he committed really nicely there.
He had an oopsie at 1:31 – you were not connected when he exited the tunnel (looing forward at the jump) so he came off the line and came to you – so be sure to connect on the tunnel exit especially when you are ahead of him. He had one other question here – at 1:45, you had a little too much opposite arm use on the exit line connection, it almost looked like a threadle back to him so he almost came off the line to the tunnel. Because he pays attention so nicely, your exit line connection arm can be very subtle, almost just on your belly with your hand on the opposite hip so he can see the connection.Serps – He did really well on these too! Remember to keep moving as if there is one more jump out there, to get the 2nd turn. You had your opposite arm up the whole time as part of the come in cue – some folks do handle serps like that, so that is fine. If you would normally handle a serp all on the dog side arm, you can do that too (that is what I do) and you can slide in the exit line connection arm as he is over the bar (in the same subtle way as I mentioned above).
keep moving
Serp after the tunnel – he also did really nicely! He has a lot of great skills and your connectin looked really good 🙂 As with the single jump serp, keep moving as if there is another jump out so he can work the turn over the jump and so you and work the exit line with more speed.On to Zuzu:
FCs –
She is also a nice turning dog! Fun!!!! As with Flint, try to stay on the takeoff side of any wrap jump – at 3:00 you did stay on the takeoff side and that was the best turn 🙂 And trust her commitment – decelerate and rotate on the FCs and spins before she passes you. You tend to wait for her to takeoff before you finish the FC – At 3:07 you were facing forward til she took off, she landed a little wide. The same was happening on the spins, so you can play with how early you can decelerate and rotate and still get her to commit (I bet she does really well with it :))
On both the FCs and the spins, your exit line connection looked awesome!!! Nice!!!Serp jump: Great job staying in motion here! That allowed you to work on the turn in and out of the serp, and the connections looked great. When you added the tunnel, you were not moving as much – maybe the camera was in the way haha! Ideally you would be running right to where the camera was 🙂
Your exit line connections looked really good here! As I mentioned with Flint, you don’t have to use the opposite arm as part of the cue to come in for the serp – it is a preference thing. It can come up later to help with the exit line (and gets faded eventually :))
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
You got in lots of good work here!!!I have grouped them by topic 🙂
Get out 1 & 2
These are hard connection exercises! She watches every little thing, which is the good news and also the bad news 🙂
1st video – At :09 over the bar, you were connected. As she landed at :10, you were turning forward (dog-side arm at your side rather than back) so it looks like a blind starting… plus you said “tunnel” so you got the closer end of the tunnel.
Compare it to the connection you had on the 2nd video – no question in her mind which end of the tunnel you wanted. Yay!
You did a spin on the tunnel entry on the 2nd video, so she turned a little too tight on the exit, so a post turn escape from the tunnel works better there.
First video – At :15 she was not sure about taking the 3-4 line- looks like you deceled and stood up a little and called her so she came in (she was paying attention!) On the 2nd video, a little distraction plus a little decel and she almost didn’t take it but then got it – I think the distraction was more of the issue than the decel, you were closer to the line on that rep.
Nice ending line on both!Get out 1: Nice 1-2-3 line! You didn’t spin on the tunnel entry so she had a better exit to 3. She was having a little trouble reading the get out – when you were indicating with the dog side arm, it was causing your chest to face straight forward so she thought you wanted her on the straight line so didn’t shift away until you stepped in. On the 2nd rep – your motion supported the out better, but you had to move in a lot to 4. If you use more exaggerated extreme connection, you won’t have to step in as much.
The wrap on 5 to the ending line looked great!Get out 2: The same thing happened on the first rep here as happened on the first rep of the first run – you looked forward and said tunnel as she was over jump 1, so she took the most visible tunnel entry. The out is getting better and better on each rep, yay! You can still emphasize the connection more so you don’t have to move into it as much.
Her commitment to the backside looked good!!! She is really doing nicely on those!!2nd video – much clearer connection 1-2, she just needed one more step to the tunnel to make it perfect (you tried to leave a little ear, before she was really locked onto it).
On the out, you can try having yoru dog-side arm back so the extreme connection turns your chest more to the 4 jump and not as much to the straight line after 3, to get her out with needing to step in as much.Very nice opening on the 2nd rep! Then at :40 for a heartbeat you had the extreme connection and outside arm came up a little, turning your chest to the out jump: She shifted away without needing as much motion to the jump. NICE!!
Her backside push looked really good, I think the BC is the best bet there as it will get you out up the line sooner.Get out 3:
Yay, this went well! Your opening line was very connected, give her one more step to the tunnel and you can also tuck yourself in to the tunnel so you don’t block the entry.
Her backside sends are looking really good! You can try sending her away to 6 from one step further across the bar (you will be more in the center of the bar on 6 as you send her when she lands from 5), then I think it will be even easier to get the BC on the exit of the last jump. You got it but she was hot on your heels and had to wait for a heartbeat when she landed 🙂 Her commitment looked great on the bar on both backsides here, though!!!Go + cow poop 🙂 Videos:
Go 1 – very nice! She had a small question on the way to 4: she did great just needed a little more connection on landing of 3 to help support the line to 4 so she could commit (she was looking at you a bit and you were looking forward).Go 2 – also really nice – at :07 you slammed the brakes a bit too much, so rememeber to decelerate until she is passing you then you can rotate and leave. She had a tiny question on jump before the tunnel at the end – I think she saw you pulling away on the jump before the tunnel and you were quiet, so keep yelling tunnel tunnel to support her line there.
Go 3 – really nice! The 2nd rep was really the indicator (rep 1 was interrupted for cow poop drive through haha)
Really nice job on the backside side on 3! And also nice job on that 2nd rep of staying in motion so you didn’t really help her come in and take the bar… but not so much motion that she was tempted to run past the bar there.
Nice send to the backside at 4 and the drive back to the tunnel looked great! She looked really mature running & jumping on this one!!!Wk 5 seq 1
First rep went really well! She barked at you on the send to 4 – I thought it was because you were pushing in more than she needed and blocked the wing a little (which delayed you getting out of there too) but it might also be that she just barks on pushes? Your 2nd rep had better position on the send, you totally showed the wing, timing was good – and she barked any way. LOL! She has opinions LOL! But she is doing nicely on these backsides so I don’t mind opinions. The rest looked really good – nice wrap and exit line!!Haydn’s turn –
He is so tiny that no spin is needed on the tunnel, he turned too tightly on the exit reading the spin and needed to be pushed back out to the jump after the tunnel. When you didn’t spin, he was definitely on a better line to the jump. The backside is not intuitive to him at all! You can angle the jump so the entry to the wing is easier to see – the entry wing gets pulled towards the previous jump, so it is harder to see the front side. You got in and really helped him on the last rep so he did it (yay!) so I think it will be even easier if you angle the jump so he lands and can run to the backside on a pretty straight line. The rest looked good!!!! He did a great job on the lines there.Seq2, Lanna’s turn again:
The cue for the back on 3 was late – you did it when you got there to the wing but she was already committed to front, so remember to cue it before she exits tunnel on this sequence.>>I was consistently late with Lanna.>
Actually, I think you are doing generally well with the timing of the backside pushes, this was the only one that was definitely late. The 2nd rep on this one was earlier and better! And the last rep had all the elements for a lovely run: nice backside send and exit 3, nice wrap on 4 and you got the double blind! She is newer to those double blinds (she looked at you like you were nuts on the first one LOL!) so just remember to exaggerate the big connection back to her eyes on the 2nd blind to help support the jump.
Last video – She has a little question on the first backside push: you said “go back” so she was confused – she started to go straight on the GO then switched gears on the back. More proof that she is listening! Yay! You can do the spin at :12 sooner (you should already be doing the blind as she takes off, trust her commitment :)) to get back to the double blinds sooner. On this double blind, good connection on the exit of the 2nd blind!
I see big improvements in her backside sends and also on her reading the normal lines 🙂 Turns are looking really good too, all at full height (I think) which is pretty exciting!!! Great job here 🙂 Onwards to blind crosses!
TracyHi!
These are looking really good!! Some little details for you but overall they were quite smooooooth and fast!Seq 1 – super nice!! – he was a little wide on the first tunnel exit, so you can add a name call right before he enters it or a left verbal.
And – when you see him heading to 4, turn your head and disconnect sooner to have more time to reconnect and set up the tighter turn on the wrap on 5 – the earlier disconnection to get the blind there on the backside push will make it feel like you have a lot of time to make the adjustment.
2nd rep – he was not quite as early to commit to the backside cue on this rep – when I compared it to the cue on rep 1 here and your other cues on the other videos, I think this one was not as direct to his eyes so he was not as quick to get out there to 4. Your other backside cues were *very* direct to his eyes and he got himself out to the backside REALLY nicely!
On this 2nd rep, it looks like you got away form the 5 wrao faster and gave a clear out on the line back to the tunnel (also supporting with motion) and he had a great line there.Seq 2 – nice backside to 3!!! Wowza – very emphatic cue delivery and he was great about going allllll the way out to the backside 🙂
On the first rep, he turned to his right for a RC on 4: The transition at :08 took your feet/pressure to the center of the bar at 4 so it looked like a RC to him. You decelerated and rotated all in one motion, which flipped him away. Yu can get the wrap more smoothly by decelerating but continuing to move forward to the wrap wing, then rotate into the FC as he passes you.
The RC on the takeoff side of 5 look *great*!!!! But you mentioned the double blind – the first blind comes on 4 so he exits on your right side – and the 2nd blind starts as he is getting to the backside commitment line which is a 45 degree intersection of where the wing and the foot of the wing meet – and definitely before he passes you. You will be moving to the wing, and then when you do the 2nd blind, be sure to exaggerate the connection as that is what will help him read the turn to 5.Seq 3
The timing and connection in and out of the FC was spot on! Nice! You can lead out more so you are off his line to the tunnel – he has a great stay so I think it will be no problem for him. Really good backside cue! On this backside, you can also disconnect a lot sooner- you were a little late getting him to your left side because you didn’t change sides til after he landed (he almost stayed on your right side). That disconnection feels weird but as soon as he is heading to the entry wing, turn your head so you can be quicker on the reconnection to your left side. The ending looked awesome!Seq 4 –
Really good strategy on the start to get up the line – spot on timing and connection in and out of the wrap at 3, you produced a great turn and he never looked at the off course tunnel 🙂
The switch at 4 totally works… but pulling laterally to set it up puts him on a wider line as he follows your path – I bet you could easily do a spin to get him on your left exiting 3 for the tightest possible line 🙂 When he is passing you to take off for 3, turn your head to your left side and move to 4 and see what he does 🙂Really nice job on these sequences!!
>>I see you have a long list of courses for the winter. Is there anything in particular you recommend for us?>>
We do have a lot of stuff… Blind Cross Boot Camp 2 will address the harder blinds like the double blinds. And the super independent backsides will be good but honestly, after seeing these videos, you have most of that already 🙂
The proofing games will be GREAT fun and helpful!!
And I think the mental prep class will be great, because he is looking ready for lots of fun trials in the spring (or whenever it is safe to trial again :))Great job!
TracyHi there!
>>That’s a great way to think about it…and that brings me to the last 2 sequences. I am super proud of the last rep of sequence 7. I cued and left and the turn was great!
YESSSS 100% agree – my favorite rep!!!! And also by not over-helping on the turn cue, you shifted connection forward a bit (rather than to the landing side) so she put in a great collection!
Here are some details:
On seq 7:
Strategically, lead out less, send more to 2 so you are more done with the cross before she can see you in the curve of the tunnel. You mentioned this as well – these types of lead outs are harder because there is not exact positional cue, it is all specific to the individual dog. So, you will want to be done with the cross before she can see you (to keep you off her line when she exits so she has a straight path to 4) but also not standing still at 4 (see more below on that). And that way when she exits, you can decel, rotate, leave. You don’t need to keep moving to the wing of 4 as that will send her a little wide.Wheeeeee you really nailed the 3rd rep!! At :32, perfect strategy on the lead out to get you past the tunnel exit, nice timing on the turn and excellent getting outta there!! Lovely!
Seq 8:
Yes, that opening is tricky – on the first rep, you can get across the tunnel exit sooner. I think you were smoother through there on the 2nd rep, getting in and out of the turn at 4 but maybe a little less “swoosh” to the landing spot will make for the perfect turn. She does best when you look at her on the takeoff side but don’t indicate the landing side.>> I think I was going too far towards #2 in all the reps, but finally got it more on the last rep of sequence 8. Only problem…I didn’t leave as soon on jump 4 that time…ugh! >>
Yes – on the last rep, your FC was done before she even entered the 3 tunnel! Yeah! And you were right at 4! And rotated! Yeah! But she did not collect as well as on the previous reps… I din’t think it was because you didn’t leave early enough, I think she just doesn’t really turn as well when you are standing still as she does when you are transitioning in and out of the turns. It is the same as we saw in the previous video where you were standing still at 2, and she did not turn as well as she did when you were moving into it. So be early like that with your cross on the tunnel exit, but closer to the tunnel exit so you can move in and out of the turns – those get you the best turns. I mean, the turn on the last rep here was not a BAD turn and most people would kill for it! But we know what she can do (saw it at :32!) so now it is a matter of being able to consistently cue it,
>>>This will likely be our last video for the class! 🙁 I’m sad it’s ending…we had some much fun and got sooooooooo much out of it, THANK YOU!!! Seriously…it was great!
You rocked it! Great job working through all the things 🙂 And thank you for the greetings at the end of the video, even if Kindle would have preferred to be doing dog walks hahaha
>> We signed up for the Blinds Boot Camp Part 2…I REALLY need to get some schoolwork done, and figured a couple week break wouldn’t hurt! You get a break from me too! HA! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Again!!!>>
Thank you for all the hard work!! See you in a couple of weeks 🙂
TracyHi!
Yes, this is definitely building the skill! You are getting further across the bar for sure – and your feet are a little turned towards the entry wing, but only a little (especially on the 2nd rep) and you are pretty far from it! You looked like you were center of the bar on the 2nd one. You can have your outside arm look , more towards your hip, so that way your lower body won’t rotate as much and it will feel more comfy. Then as he is approaching the entry wing, you can add in stepping away on a slice/serpentine line (still dropping the reward in line you did here).
I think it will get easier and easier each session!! Great job!
TracyHi! These are looking really good, I only have small tweaks for you (and most involve pushing her commitment harder haha!)
A general note: you can line her up in front of 1 on a more severe slice, so she has a straight line facing the tunnel and you don’t end up with an extra turn on landing from 1.
Seq 1
Look awesome! She was powering through AND turning tight, exactly what we want. You can probably leave sooner at 3 – sending and leaving, staying connected but pushing to see if she will still commit. The post turn is the right choice for her – you got a tight turn without bleeding off speed. Yay!Seq 2: This also looked good, both variations you tried.
Little details –
On the opening line at 3, you started rotating at 3 like you were doing a spin, then opened up again at :31 – you can either complete the spin or do the post turn/send like you did in seq 1. Either of those will be easier for you. The post turn created a great turn on 3 in the first seq, so it will probably get a perfect turn here too.She committing nicely on 4 on all of the reps, while you were rotating! :34 looked really tight. At :42 on 4 you were running backwards – backwards motion is the same as forward motion, so she was a little wide then it took you a moment to get outta there.
You can push her harder at 4-5 ( :35 & :44): Take off to 5 as you reconnect after 4 so she chases the line rather than hesitate for a moment to make the connection. It is a big trust moment but I am sure she will be fine.Doing the 2 FCs on 3 and 4 looked really good on the next rep! You rotated in and out of them quickly and she was chasing your line nicely. On the FC at 3, you can decel a little sooner to tighten it up a bit more, but it was really quite nice.
Now, I timed the first rep of seq 2 and the last one (double FCs) – they were almost identical, which means that you have lots of flexibility to choose which one you like better! Yay!Seq 3:
On the FC at 3, try to be decelerating sooner so you can be rotating and leaving for 4, before she passes you to take off. At 1:00 you were facing forward til she took off, so she was wide on landing. You were earlier on the rotation there on 2nd & 3rd rep were sooner (1:09 & 1:16) and it looked tighter!
The Go lines looked great on all reps! I love how she was driving ahead 🙂Seq 4: This is indeed a wicked sequence 🙂 You can lead out more so you are able to get way ahead and be done with the cross at the tunnel exit (a blind will be easier) so you can be off her line and into the rotation for 3 sooner (1:24 & 1:33 & 1:42)
Her commitment at 3 and her turn was *fabulous* on all reps! She was able to commit and turn while you were really rotated and leaving. GOOD GIRLIE!!!
Her exit line to 4 looked best on the last rep, you were pushing in towards 4 sooner. You can also add more exit line connection to keep the exit tight – she was drifting on the 1st and 2nd reps there trying to see the line.
The backside cue is tricky for young dogs. Watching this, I think she is reading a combination of connection and motion:
You started the backside cue on time at 1:27 but didn’t connect strongly til 1:28 so she needed a moment before committing. You kept moving in towards the backside wing and you ended up turning your feet, but she got it.
You gave the connection earlier so she was much smoother at 1:36 to the backside! Yay! You gave some pressure to the backside entry wing and ended up turning your feet. On the last rep I thought you were nicely connected but you did what I would consider “perfect running line” where your feet were forward and running to the center of the bar, and she took the front. Hmmmm…. LOL!! SO for now, keep that great connection and keep your feet facing forward (not rotating) but also keep the pressure of the running line to where the wing meets the bar on the entry side. That will help get her more independent and then you will be able to work on getting further and further across the bar.
Great job here! You have done such a lovely job getting her to commit to her lines and turns, so now we are in the ‘fine tuning’ stage – so fun!!!!!Tracy
