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Good morning!
>> him. I dont know why I struggle so much with this with him!>>
Because this is a really hard game (we are all wrestling with it LOL!) and because he is really inexperienced so he can’t help out when you aren’t perfect 🙂
He is really getting the idea nicely, though! Your race tracks are going well – the hard part is that he is fast and needs clear info, so you have to be pretty perfect. It will get easier when we add bars to it and he practices it more. You can go in closer to the tunnel on the big lines, so you don’t get as far ahead – when we are too far ahead, we tend to break connection on the race track (speaking from personal experience hahaha!!!)
The blinds look GREAT!! Those are my favorites too 🙂 His commitment is good so you are showing the info early enough that he can commit and turn tight on the wing – very cool!!!!! I think you will find this to be super useful because he can bend so nicely that you will be able to blind and run up lines to stay ahead as the courses get bigger.Great job!!!
TracyHi! It sounds like you had a crazy week!!! But it is pretty cool when the sassy one doesn’t bark in a session 🙂 It is almost like she is giving you a click/treat 🙂
The session went really well! Verbals were clear with the mask (masks are here to stay for a while in my part of the country, at least, so good to train in them even if it wasn’t planned for training purposes LOL!!)
You did a particularly good job of keeping your feet pretty forward to the running line on both cues and not really stepping to the jump on the outs. Yay! And your out cue and your run-the-line cue were distinctly different in verbal and upper body, and it looks like she had zero questions 🙂 Happy dance!!
Connection also looked great (as you noted, that is NOT easy with a small dog and when wearing a mask!!). Onwards to adding the advanced level of the blind or front as soon as you see her turn her head away to the line 🙂
Great job!!! Stay warm and I hope your mouth feels better ASAP!!Tracy
Hi! He did so well on these, especially when he was in the neutral position!! Very nice over the bars – and I totally see where he was asking about the treats on the box 🙂 It was a great distraction for him to have to turn away from on the left turns! One thing I noticed were that the left/right turns over the bars were spot on and he did great! And then on the last turn towards you, he was not powering the same way. At first I thought it was because turning away from the cookies on the box was really difficult (left turns) but then I noticed it on the right turns too, where he would be turning towards the box – he was definitely hesitated after he landed from the last bar. So – we can add more power into that last left or right with a little bit of turn and burn – as he is coming over that last bar, turn and run at a 90 degree angle away (parallel to the first jump bar) so he chases you for the reinforcement. It could be that he doesn’t want to drive into you when you are stationary (respectful little dude :)) so the other option is to keep you stationary but as he is coming over the last bar, turn and throw the reward on the same line you would run on a turn and burn. Everything else looks great so this will help make it perfect as he powers out of it too. Let me know if that makes sense!
Great job! 🙂
TracyHi! It has been really bad with wind and rain here too, hopefully the bad weather is past!
Great job on this session – you kept your feet moving forward the whole time and the upper body was distinctly different on each cue: perfect! The hardest part is to NOT step to the jump on the away cue and you were great about that.
Your arm didn’t seem to be too high – I think in order to make it obvious like you did, your arm had to be at about shoulder height. It wasn’t over your head or anything crazy LOL!! I think belly button height might not be as visible as you move.He did make the one mistake as you described, but overall he was REALLY good about heading to the jump on the away cue. He seemed perfectly fine on both sides, too! His head turn to the jump was nice and early and he wasn’t looking back… so onwards to the advanced level where you challenge his commitment by adding the FC or BC as soon as you see him turn his head to commit to the jump.
Great job!
TracyHi! Sorry about all the rain 🙁
Nice run here!!!! You seemed REALLY connected and he was driving hard! Love it!!!!
Little details for you to tighten up a couple of turns, but it was overall a really lovely run:
You can turn sooner between 1 and 2 so he can collect more before takeoff: when he lands from 1, stay connected by start to turn your shoulders.
You had awesome position after the first tunnel at :13, so I think you can have your FC done before he even exits the tunnel! That will help tighten up his turn there (and call him right before he enters the tunnel too, that will also help).
The middle line looked great to the weaves then to the tunnel after it.
He got mad at you at :23 LOL! Big bark! It was because of the position of the FC: you were moving between the uprights towards the center of the bar, so he took off thinking he was going straight. When he was in the air, you started the FC. He landed then turned – a position cue with you nearer the next jump will be clearer for him there, so he can set up his turn before takeoff.
Ending line looked great! You were both flying!!
Great job 🙂
TracyHi!
That is funny that the other day she couldn’t take the jump, and now she couldn’t NOT take it LOL!!! I think it had to do with her line up position. On the first part of the video, when she was on your right, she was far enough from the jump that it was a significant lead change to go take the jump (it was most definitely not on her natural line). When she was on the other side (on your left) – she was set up closer to the jump so I think it was easier for her to take it because it looked like it was on her natural line, so she didn’t have to work hard to get it – it was right there 🙂 So I bet if you move her 6 feet away from it, she will be able to take it only when asked and not take it when you want her to follow your line 🙂
She did well on the get out! I think you can soften the outside arm send so that your feet can keep moving straight (and not stepping towards the jump). If the outside arm cue is too strong, it will cause your feet to rotate and step to the jump. So on the next session, try to keep your feet moving forward on both cues, same exact line – and let your upper body and connections show the different cues. That will allow you to get even further up the course 🙂
Nice work!!!
TracyI think you are pretty darned hip to handling trends! Anna is a great teacher and it is so cool that she comes to your local school! I can’t wait for things to go back to normal so we can all obsess on these trends in person 🙂
Hi!
>>**I liked your big parties when she got it right!!
My sister makes fun of me! I don’t care…I’m honestly boring without my dogs! LOL>>
Ha!! I think there is some scientific support for these parties 🙂 And also, if we can pair the verbal parties with the frizzer, then the parties become reinforcement that we can take into the competition ring!
>>I struggle with this. I like to RUN…I’m not patient…I want to run aggressively, I don’t want to run safe…but I think my baby dog needs me to dial it down…for now at least. My older dog and I were such an easy team…we loved driving each other, and I loved to run balls to the wall with her. But she is a different dog, and we didn’t start that way…I need to keep reminding myself this.>>
I totally relate: we get used to really driving our experienced dogs then we forget how we can’t drive the next dog until they are a lot more experienced. I like the phrase “dial it down” – that can go on your list of things to remember!
>>She has a TON of skills…which are trial ready…it’s me I think. For example…last weekend I was doing a blind and she flanked the jump. She flanked the jump because I should have turned my head WAAAAAY earlier…I know this! I want to bang my head against the wall and scream at myself! But that’s an example of me wanting to run with the blinds, not wanting to play it safe…but also worried about her jumping and not thinking about MY job.>>
So you can put that on your list: commit to the timing. Take the risk 🙂
>>>1. CONNECTION
2. Not to pull away laterally suddenly on jumps
3. Maintain her “bubble”
4. Remember her verbals and use them (my older dog went fairly deaf at the end of her career…I got used to running quiet)
5. Be smooth, not frantic, but also not hesitant…she totally feels that>>>You can make these as specific as possible. “Stay in the bubble” is pretty clear, but you can also add in specifics of how to stay in the bubble (run closer to lines), how much to connect to her (lots! and also exit line connection), plan your verbal and practice them in walk throughs.
>>Skill wise…honestly…what doesn’t she have? The ability to judge the take off of a jump under a variety of circumstances. Everything else is strong except this…it’s a big one.>>
That can go into the stay in the bubble/closer to lines/look at her eyes category, she does well with the jumping when you do that!
>>OH! Another…collection. We aren’t strong in collecting over jumps LOL. With that…I will leave you my video! HAHA!>>
Actually… she is doing well!!! She does best when you are connected and set up the lines without rushing – so she sets up her own collection nicely. Here are specifics:
First of all: OMG your videos are so funny!!! I didn’t even realize your were barefoot!
Seq 4
1st rep – very nice! You can start the spin on 3 even sooner, be decelerating when she exits the tunnel. Your position was good on that jump to start it sooner. The backside looked really good! You can start your backside verbal before she enters the tunnel and keep repeating it as she exits (try not to call her name then say it – the name curls her towards you and we want her to stay out)
2nd rep – you started the spin when she exited the tunnel – so that goes on the list of specifics for trials! The turn looked good there!
The backside verbal was earlier and she went to it from more distance. Yay!!!
The next reps were almost identical (and good!) – nice early timing on the spin and also good backsides! Your verbal was quiet at 1:26 and either very quiet or you didn’t say it at 1:40 – but connection was super clear so she went to the backside nicely each time.Seq 5:
This is going well, consistently! Little details: on the approach to 3 at 1:54, 2:17 and more strongly at 2:41 and 3:02, you softened your connection and ‘swooshed’ her to the landing spot more than you did on sequence 3 (1:05 for example) so she was wider on 3. On sequence 3, when you looked more directly at her for longer, she had a better turn. Your timing was good here so as you are setting up the spins, get strong connection to her eyes and maintain it as she is passing you to reproduce that nice tight turn.
The backside push connection looks really good and then you maintained a really strong connection to the slice jump after it: that supported her jumping effort perfectly each time! Yay!I really see a big difference in her ability to find the jumping effort on these videos – it is VERY cool! It takes some patience in handling but if that is what it takes, then that is fine because you do it really well!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHa! Sorry for the swoosh word, that was too much coffee talking hahaha! It means too much arm moving to point at the landing side. Looks like a swoosh to me 🙂
And based on his feedback, I think looking at his eyes worked best!T
Hi!
This is going well, she is really reading the difference between going straight or going to the jump! She is reading your lower body on these, I think: at :17 and :24, she is moving to the get out jump as she came around the wing because your feet were generally pointing that way. Then she was able to NOT go to the jump when your feet were forward. Nice! The upper body cues looked really clear so now you can see if you can keep your lower body even straighter – the goal is that your lower body is the same on all reps, and the upper body shows the difference between the get out and stay on your line.
Nice work here!!
TracyHi! He did really well here, even with the oopsie moments!
The serps and backsides at the beginning looked great – he was SO funny on the wraps trying to get to the cookie bowl! I think on those you can feed from your hand for a while to help him shift the value away from the line on that move and back to your hand for the tight turns. It was pretty funny to see his expression: he would wrap then leave for the bowl and look at you like “Nailed it! Where’s my treat?” LOL!! You did get a reward in from your hand and that helped (:59) so he was able to make the turns after that.
On the backside slices after that, you can move the bowl back to the landing side position to help him want to come back in on the jump. He didn’t get to the backside at 1:22 and 1:32, and 1:41 it looked like you turned your shoulders away too soon – you can keep your connection to him very directly there as you give the back cue – that opens up your shoulders to point to the backside line which helps with commitment. At 1;45 and 1:54 and 1:58, you were more connected and more parallel which helped – and that connection carried over into the last 3 backside reps where you were moving away sooner but also super connected and he got it each time.
And wow, food has such an impact on him – the one cookie from your hand on the wrap changed the game and he retained that so the wraps at the end also looked great! Good boy!!!Great job here! I am planning a MaxPup 3 – I am trying to figure out how to make the “Putting It Together” level work for winter in a way that folks can do things in smaller spaces too. I hope to have it sorted out this week 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
I think the get out session looks really good! Yes, he is not quite as fast following you on the line to nothing LOL but he is doing it and not flicking away, good boy! Your get outs looked really good! Yes, he was surprised on the first one when you added the cross (he did not know such a thing existed! Ha!) but then was great on the rest. You asked if you were on time or not – I think it takes a moment to trust that he has actually turned his head and then start the cross so it might feel late. But when I freeze the video with him over the bar: at :35, your blind is basically finished before he took off. I would call that on time! Same at 1:03. At 1:17 and 1:43 your FC was basically done before he took off. Same with the BC at 1:30. So the timing is great! He has a lot of value on the landing side for this skill, so you can shift the value for chasing you out of the cross by running and calling so chases you for the reward. Super nice session!!About the 1-2-3: if he is looking at your body but just not at your eyes… makes perfect sense to me. If he needs to release and take a jump and read a line, then we really don’t want him thinking about looking up at your eyes – it makes it harder to see a line. If he is acknowledging your position while also looking at a line? Perfect!!!
Great job 🙂
Tracy
