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Hi!
Hoping that the snow isn’t sticking!!!!On the first session, one thing I notice is that he is a little sticky going to the tunnels. On the tunnel cues, your arm was coming ahead of your body (pointing forward a bit?) so he was not as sure. At :08 when you didn’t really point forward, he was quite zippy to the tunnel! So try more arm-back connection on the tunnel cues and see how he feels about it 🙂
His wraps are looking really good! He is leading with his head AND driving around on the chase lines, nit clear exit line connection. The race track also looked really good, although you both looked tired there LOL! So much running!
On the 2nd video – I think he stayed out on the wing on the first rep on the power of the go verbal plus all the value lately of “find the thing after the tunnel” because, yeah, the cue was a little early LOL! Good boy 🙂
One other little detail on this session: as you exit the wing wraps back to the tunnel, exit on a VERY direct line back to the tunnel. Try not to step back out the wrap, as it sets up a wider line – you will be able to se it at :31-:33. The tight blind on this run looked GREAT and he was NOT sticky to the tunnel on the ending line – partially because you had arm back connection and partially because it was a straight shot to it.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! The fall colors look gorgeous up there!
On the jump bars – going to 10” here is fine for now. Question: on the set point, what height do you have him doing on the 2nd jump? We can show him height there. For example, if he is easily doing 16” in the set point, go to 12 then 16 in the handling games.The RC/Go/Backside video looks good! He definitely is jazzed up with the additional tunnels added all around – part proofing distraction, part reward on the lines! He is so good with the cues that his accuracy is not suffering because of the tunnels, and he is fast on the lines and bendy on the turns. Nice! The session was just about perfect. One oopsie:
At :28, I think you were saying ‘left’ but your body was definitely saying backside, so he didn’t have room to get in for the left turn/RC. The rep after it at :39 had a much clearer running line to the RC lines (so did the one after it). All of his backside wraps looked REALLY good!!!! He is turning so nicely AND maintaining commitment as you continue moving forward: perfect!!!
One suggestion is to make the left/right verbals sound different from the backside wrap verbals – not just in word, but in how you are delivering them. They sound a bit similar in delivery, in terms of rhythm, (quick/short words) so you can play with slight changes in that. For example, you can extend the vowels on leeehft lehft and riiiiiight riiiiight riiiiight instead of leflefleft That will help him discriminate the words in high speed moments.Hmmmm, I must have missed the the firs at video of finding the jump? Sorry! I will go find it! This one looks great 🙂 He is DRIVING, I love it! You can definitely add in the game i posted on Saturday, where you mix up go with RC on this as well as add a wing after the jump so he finds lines after RCs and also so you can add in a left and right turn on the jump after the tunnel – all with the goal of building it to sequences.
On the Diamond:
The blind crosses are looking really good, and you are doing a great job of rewarding across the body on just about every rep of those! When you exit the blind, try to keep moving on the reward – that also helps drive him into the new line and will help the muscle memory for when you add it to bigger sequences. His commitment is looking really good so now we can move into obsessing about timing 🙂 The first couple were a little late but then look at the rep that starts at :45 – That is closer to the ideal timing for him as you were already rotating before he got to the wing. It set up a nice tight turn! The rep at :50 was even better: You were almost done with the rotation before he even got to the wing – yay! And if you keep moving out of it (towards the next wing) to reward, you will get him to drive through the turn even more.
He was wide at :58, for two reasons – you started a little late there (he was already at the wing when you started) and you also had a ‘reverse transition’ where you were slow then exploded into fast then turned – the fast motion forward sent him wide. 1:07 was better but you used the inside arm to reconnect (rather than the arm across the body) – so you ended up then having to swing it forward to try to cue the next wing, which pushed him back to the tunnel.
As you built the tight blinds into the bigger sequence: 1:19 was a little late but 1:28 was much earlier and tighter! 1:38 was earlier too. But a transition into them will help tighten them up – drive deeper into the tunnel by a step or two, so he sees you accelerate as he is exiting – then when he is out of the tunnel, decelerate then start the blind. He is seeing that reverse transition of slow then fast (fast as you start the blind) so if you flip it to fast-then-slow it will be much tighter!
The FC at 1:46 and the BC at 1:53 both had more of a nice transition with decel and they were both really nice!
The race track looks good! He drove long on the first GO but I think it was mainly because he had just been rewarded there on the end of the previous rep. The pass through there looked really nice!! On the next full rep – he is moving SO FAST (and potentially looking for more obstacles?) that turning your shoulder sooner after each wing will totally help.
You had a brief disconnection at 2:41 but the rest of the connections were good! Looking more at turning sooner:
On the last race track, at 2:57, he was nice and tight too the wing after the tunnel. He found the next wing perfectly but at 2:58 as he rounding it, you were still facing out on the wider line so that is where he went 🙂 Ideally, as he rounds that middle wing, you would already be turned and headed back down the line to tunnel. That will help tighten it up 🙂He did a great job on the zig zag grid! The warm up on 2 jumps was good but he was happiest when you did the 3 jumps – he had more speed but also easily did his lead changes. Yay!! And good job with all the stay rewards, I love how he doesn’t even really leave the area when you throw the rewards back to him LOL! Good boy 🙂 More coming on Saturday for this grid! Stay tuned!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Your connection is really nice on these, so I have ideas for you on the smaller details!
Sequence 1:
Very nice connection! On the right turns in the middle, you don’t need to have your opposite arm showing (right arm when he is on your left side) – yo can just maintain the softer ‘regular connection’ and turn your shoulders. The connection and verbals were good!! On the FC – I think the stronger connection to his eyes on the 2nd and 3rd reps helped him bend his line better than the 1st rep. the 3rd rep at :28 was the earliest (cues started as he exited the tunnel) so his turn was really nice! Great exit line connection on all 3 turns.Seq 2: The lap turn is going really well!!! The main thing here is to give his tunnel exit cue before he enters – he didn’t get turn info before entering the tunnel, it was happening after exit, so he was going wide then coming back. The lap turn itself is a hard move and you did a great job on it!!!
Seq 3 –
I think more transition in and out of the turn will tighten it up: drive in more with more speed, then slow down then turn. On the smaller drills, you might have to run closer to the lines to get the speed going – you were in a slower speed so it was harder for him to see the decel which begins the turn cue: he was a little wide on the turn at 4 at 1:00 and 1;15 and then at 1:24 you were too early in rotation so he stopped, but it was a good dog training moment to ask him to take the jump anyway and reward.
The turn was better at 1:40, you shifted to his eyes but a little later but also moved forward for longer and you were closer to the jump. So powering in so he can see the changes in motion will help with that for sure.
On the regular lines, try not to have your opposite arm showing across your body like 5-6. Just connect and run 🙂Seq 4: as with the lap turn sequence, give him an exit directional before he enters so he turns tighter on the tunnel exit. That will help him come out looking at the new line.
When you rotate on the throwbacks, don’t move backwards – it caused him to stay locked onto you on the first throwback rep and he took the wrong side of the jump on the 2nd one (because you were moving backwards sooner there).
You had less moving backwards at 2:13 and it really helped!
At 2:21 – the tunnel exit cue will totally help tighten that up and also that is a spot you can shift connection down to your hand to help him drive right to it. You were calling and showing the hand… but looking right up at him so he stayed out on the line. This is especially important when you are in good position near the jump – when you got it him to come in on the next reps, UKI changed the position a little so you were not as neat the jump, which makes the throw back harder.On the last part, I think the turn back lap turn to the tunnel versus the throwback on the jump at 3:27 looked pretty similar, so he was confused about which you wanted at 3:27. You an make them very distinct based on your feet and your connection – on the lap turn, have your eyes follow your hand as you turn him. On the throw back, you connection can go from his eyes to your hand to the landing spot like at 3:33 and 3:50.
So on the throwbacks, I think the good position out by the middle of the bar of the jump is key, and shifting connection to your hand then the landing spot – and it is all made easier if you call him before he enters the tunnel and then don’t move backwards through it.
I don’t have a preference about how to structure the videos – when you do a number of sequences, it might be easier tp group each sequence together so you can find the time markers more easily? I am happy with whichever you prefer 🙂 And the jump grids look good! It is always good to bring these out and refresh sometimes 🙂
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
More good tunes blasting!!
On the first sequence, a couple of handling ideas to make it smoother/easier to get in and out of the line with his speed:
For the FC on the exit, lead out a bit more so you can already be over by the jump #3 as he is entering the tunnel (lateral lead out) and also, just before he goes into the tunnel – start the FC. You waited til he exited at :03 and :16 and that caused a bit of a zig zag. Then to indicate the jump, you will find the post turn easier since the FC is already done, but you can also play with a spin there where you [ass him behind you and do that rotated blind to pick him up in your right side.
The other option is to do a BC instead of the FC at the tunnel exit, but also start it before he enters so it is done before he exits.
Your connection looks fabulous and so his lines are smooth and super fast on these first 2 reps!!!He did well reading the threadle rep at :25! Nice clear threadle! The next rep didn’t have as much rotation but then :37 and :44 were clear too on the threadle.
He took the jump after it there and :26 and also at :40 because that was what the line of motion and connection both said (even if you were saying tunnel, your were showing the jump line and in his way to get to the tunnel) – definitely reward that because he was correct. You showed the different line really differently at :46 – and he nailed it. Yay!
One other idea to play with on that line: you can do a FC on the threadle jump exit, connect on the FC as you run away to the tunnel… and as soon as you see his eyes on the turn, do a BC on the flat as you stay in motion 🙂 It is a tricky move at first but great for staying in motion and definitely useful!
Your connection is looking lovely, so you can play with these different options!! Great job!
TracyGood morning! She is such a nice helper, giving you the frisbee as you are setting up LOL!
This is going well!! You were pushing more but also really keeping lovely connection throughout!
On the these runs – very nice connection, you are really working it and it is really supporting her lines! Looking at it in sections, it is more about seeing the timing at this point – you were able to see her a lot so we can obsess a bit on timing now too 🙂On jump 1, you can play with handling it all dog-on-right with your right arm back as a serp arm, rather than using the left arm across your body as the main cue at :23. The reason is that with the right arm, you can slide out of there sooner and with the left arm, there is extra rotation that takes longer to leave. If you want add the left arm as a bit of exit line connection, you can soften it now by having it on your belly and not fully up and extended.
Good exit line connection on the exit of the FC at 4-5! You were in a great spot at :27 and :57, just past the jump when she had exited the tunnel, so that is where you can start the FC. You took one more step and that caused the FC to be happening in the air, so she was wide on landing at :28. You were earlier at :58 and 1:39 so she was definitely tighter!
At 1:21, you were in a good spot but for some reason she chose a REALLY early takeoff point on this rep, so she landed wider (physics of the trajectory) despite you actually turning earlier than you did on the other reps. I am not sure if she was questioning the rotation: you were rotating but moving sideways through the rotation, or if she was fatigued (efficient jumping fatigues the quads & hamstrings and core pretty quickly). The good exit line connection brings her right back to the correct side.
On the last rep, comparing the commitment cues: at :222 you moved forward then turned (rather than moving a bit sideways like the previous rep) so she had a MUCH better takeoff and turn! She seems to think the transition where you move forward then rotate is clearer than the transition where you are moving into it sideways.
The spin looked good on all the reps! The Fc on 6 sets up the next line: at :31 was a tiny bit late, half a step – but in a tight line, that little lateness caused the off course. When she landed from the white jump at :32 you were just about fully rotated (and definitely connected, yay!) so then as soon as she lands, you need to cue the next rotation. You had a big step forward, swooshed her to the jump…. she thought you wanted tunnel at :32. I always reward those off courses immediately even if it felt like she should not have done it in the moment, because it always turns out that I caused it by being late 🙂
The FC at 1:02 and 1:25 were later too, starting as she was landing from 6. To start earlier, watch to see her looking at the white jump when she lands from 5, and then decelerate into the rotation before she passes you. You gave a softer step into the takeoff of 7 at 1:02 and 1:26, so she still landed long but was easier to call off the tunnel.
The rotation at 1:42 was earlier so you were fully turned and connected when she landed so then you immediately got into the next rotation – great turn there at 1:44! Yay! The last rep at 2:27 was good too!She was a bit high in her jumping on the 9 jump at but it was not too bad – plus the decision to take off how she did was made at 1:30 and the verbal feedback/withhold of reinforcement happened at 1:32… too much delay to have an association with the choice point. So while she might change something on the next rep, it would likely have more to do with a bit of being suppressed from the no reward moment and will bleed over into other things as well. Also, similar takeoff choices get rewarded a lot with the frisbee and with continuing, so it might get inconsistent if some get rewards and some don’t. So…. reward her even if it is not her best choice of jumping efforts because it was too late to mark the moment and also because it was a workable effort. She had a similar takeoff choice there at 1:48 – much earlier mark (more obvious because she touched the bar) so the likelihood of an association is better. Good reward when she got it right! I think she needs you to hold on the exit of 8 to help set up the line 9-10 (like you did there 2:12 to stay inside the bubble – she was more parallel to you there and had a better takeoff point, so it is something to plan for in your walk throughs. You stayed in the bubble there at 2:33 and she was also really lovely over the bar!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
It must be so nice to have classes again! And masks are becoming normal now in agility, the dogs don’t seem to mind them at all.First run – connection looked great, especially on the big tunnel send as you supported it with connection and rotated away to get the blind!!! You can give him a little soft brake arm when he lands from 1 to get a tighter turn over 2. Nice connection after the blind to the teeter! Yes, a tiny bit late but I think that was more that you needed to call him sooner on the tunnel exit – by being a little late on the call, you had to wait til he turned to the jump before the teeter before you could start the blind.
On the send to the tunnel after the in in at :18, I think what happened was you were connected to watch him, but as you switched arms and sent to the tunnel with your right arm, that caused your chest and feet to rotate away from the tunnel and he went right past it. In that situation, something to try: you were doing the in in on the tunnel with your left arm at :17, so send him to the tunnel also on your left arm (shifting connection as your left arm sends him, from his eyes to the tunnel entry).
On the wrap at :32 after the dog walk) – I thought you had good position and good connection and good verbal going, and you were on time… but he still jumped wide. Hmmmmm! It is possible that he needs to you shift your connection more strongly to his eyes, including having your left hand there extending towards him (so you hand will end up 2 or 3 feet in front of the jump) rather than having your hand right near the bar. That can help him shift into collection. Let me know if that makes sense – it is what I do with my big black dog to convince him to turn 🙂
From the table: great connection out of the blind – gorgeous line to the tunnel!
NICE early timing on the wrap at :51!!! And Cody read it so nicely AND you had lovely exit line connection. You had to be super early there and that really helped him make the collection. Nice!!!Great job here!
TracyHi!
Ah yes, I have seen that serp exercise – if the dogs don’t have a lot of foundation on it, they think it is NUTS. We added it to the puppy class on just a couple of wings to help teach it to them.This serpy session went really nicely!!! Little details to smooth out a spot or two:
– you can delay the arm across the body on the exit line connection a bit, he doesn’t need to see it til he is getting ready to land. You don’t need to use it to help bring him in (just an arm back is all I think he needs, and good connection) – if you bring up the exit line arm to soon, he might cut in on the line and take the wrong side of the serp jump. For example, at :21, the arm was up a little early so he considered coming in on the wrong side. Compare it to :28 and :35 where you brought it up later and he was really good about staying out on his line from the tunnel to the serp jump.
Speaking of the line from the tunnel to the serp jumps – he did a GREAT job on those! You can soften up the arms a little more (use them less) and just try it with a little chest rotation and lots of eye contact. Less arm motion will get you up the line faster now that he is reading them so nicely!!!When you reversed the line:
He had a little trouble finding the line because you were “outside the bubble” 🙂 on the first jump – so he ticked the bar and then at 1:10 dropped #2. You can take a different approach to that challenge: you can lead out facing the tunnel, in motion with your right arm back – basically showing the serp line before you release him – then when you are getting to jump 2, release and keep moving and see how he reads it. Then if he is fine with that, you can work on being further and further ahead before you release: then work up to being stationary so you are out nearer the tunnel, and he can read the serp line with you all the way out there, facing the tunnel, but upper body doing all the cues. Let me know if that makes sense – it is like long distance serp position LOL! But because it is outside his bubble of distance where he can still see you, try not to work up to big distance too fast or he will ask questions (probably drop bars).Let me know if that makes sense! Great job!!!
TracyWow, lots of great work on this video!! I agree, she is processing both the physical AND verbal cues really nicely and she doesn’t lose any of that as you add more motion. Yay!
The rear crosses on the jump are looking good! It is a hard angle on the wing to jump and she is reading them well. I think you can start your verbals sooner and repeat them once or twice (turn turn turn) so she get the verbals blanketed on the line. That will help support her drive forward and commitment on the RCs. Your RC lines were nicely on time! :28 was a little late so she was jump over the center of the bar there, but the others all looked great on the jump! She did well on the backsides too – her facial expression seemed to say that she thought we were NUTS hahahaha but she did it and you rewarded with a lot of excitement, which she seems to really like 🙂 You can say the back cue more than once too and see if it helps her explode to the backside.
All of your GO cues on the wing-to-jump looked good too.The line from the tunnel went REALLY well – the tunnel adds more speed and so you got more speed on the lines here as well. The RC at 1:07 was good, but 1:22 and 1:38 were terrific and she was getting nice, early turn info. Plus, there was more motion so she drive through it harder too. Same with the backsides: more motion helped her drive to the backside more too! And of course she loved the go lines.
I couldn’t see on the video angle if there was a wing out past the jump on the tunnel section – if not, definitely add in a wing past the jump so you can do the RC and then show her how to stay on the line to the wing. And on the backsides, you can continue your running line forward to create a circle wrap (although she certainly seemed to like it when you did a FC back to the tunnel after the backside at the end :))Great job here!
TracyHi Abby! Merlin is looking really good! He seems like he is going to be really speedy, so the more he drives ahead to a jump, the easier it will be to handle him on course. You did a great job rewarding him out ahead! At :27, you got in behind him four a rear cross (yay!!). Good reward! Question about your verbals – do you have a left/right verbal started? Or a switch verbal? The ‘go jump’ you were using can be for when you want him to drive ahead and either go straight or turn back to you. And a switch or left/right can mean for him to drive ahead and turn away (rear cross). Let me know and we can get it going on these! He is ready for it 🙂
On those rear crosses, you can cut in behind him even earlier to see if you can convince him to turn his head to the next side before he takes off for the jump.2nd video – nice stays, god boy! He was fabulous about reading your cues (jump on the first rep, tunnel on the 2nd rep, jump then tunnel on 3rd rep). Yay! He is ready for more challenge on this now 🙂 Start him in his stay on the takeoff side of the jump with his feet facing the entry (the entry that is next to the jump, but he is on the other side of the jump so he has room to take the bar, if that makes sense). Then you will lead out to landing side with your feet facing the tunnel but your upper body rotated back to him (you’ll be about 2 feet away from the jump) – Stand there in the serp position and release him to come over the jump and see what he does 🙂 He should come in, turn tight, and land between you can the jump. This will add in more tight turning skills that will be useful on course. Let me know if this description makes sense LOL!
Great job here!! Let me know how it goes!
TracyHi!
I think the only real difficulty he had on these sessions was recognizing the threadle. After the first couple where he missed and you changed his line up a little to help get success, he was good at them but seemed to need a moment to gather his thoughts before you released him. So it is possible that he needs to see the threadle in this set up independently of the cues – meaning, so and entire session or two of threadles versus tunnels (no serps, it might look too similar for now). Start with an easy threadle position where he is basically on the takeoff side, then start to angle him back around into harder positions and still work the threadle, and add motion too. If he can do 2 successful sessions on that, you can mix in the serpentine versus the threadle and then it should be much easier.
He was generally really good on the tunnel versus serp – he needed a moment right at the beginning to remember, and then there was the one miscommunication later on where the body said tunnel but the verbal was not as clear – but overall really strong!
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyWow, he had zero trouble transferring all these concepts, very nice!!! Yes, when you set the diagonal really sharply on the RCs, he is turning over the far side of the bar rather than the center of the bar, like at :35 and 1:15.
All of the GO and left/ right where he had to turn towards you and where he had to find the wing after the jump – fabulous! Nice extension when you wanted it, and nice collections on those too when you asked for it.
My only suggestion here it so add more distance between the jump and the two wings, so you can add challenge to him finding the line after the RCs. And, you can add in pushing him to the backside wrap on the jump (then the wing after the backside circle wrap.
About where to point your shoulders – center of the bar, same as feet 🙂 If you pull them to face the inside (non-RC wing) then he might get confused as to when you want the RC versus when you want a go or post turn. And if you face the next line too early, you might push him onto the backside line. Let me know if that makes sense!
Great job!!
TracyHoly cow, I totally feel the pain of all the wings blowing over!!! It has been crazy wind here this weekend!
On your first rep, he was a little sticky, perhaps wondering what the heck you were doing. But as soon as the toy came out, he was all like GAME ON! So funny! The 2nd rep was MUCH faster (and the wings were totally blowing around LOL! You did a great job of running with connection. His commitment looked great and he is turning so nicely!!! Looks great! Fingers crossed for better weather so you can try this again without the wind 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
Thanks for the 2nd video! After watching it, I think the thrown reward (or a placed non-PT reward) is the best idea. The PT seems to stimulate her to run run run which makes sense if you are using it for RDW training (it is associated with running behaviors for now) and the serp is not as much of a running behavior. She did come in on the serp when you helped her – at first with some decel and bigger arm movement and by the end of the clip she did MUCH better and you had faded a lot of the help of the physical cues. But without the PT there, I think you will be able to add in going very fast 🙂 For now, I don’t suggest changing the position of the PT, because I think it will actually hurt not help (stimulating running AND easier to see). We can always come back to it later on when she has more value on the serp while you run 🙂 Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
She did a good job on this one too! For your threadle in in, try to swing your ar back and then hold it open, rather than bring it forward to cue the jump – keep it there til she sends herself to the correct side of the jump (and then party :)) this is so that we develop the default “come in go out” and you won’t have to worry about the timing of the in and out cues. You were early on the go out of the very first rep so she ended up on the wrong side. The tunnel send looks great of course 🙂 And the OK Yow serpentine release, especially after a tunnel cue, you can be a little further across the jump – between the uprights and closer to the 2nd wing with your arm already opened back before the release to help her differentiate on that first rep – that can help her get it right the first time. And that way you can really challenge the proofing by doing a different cue on each rep.
Great job on all of these videos!!!Tracy
