[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

Lots of great stuff here! In general, your running lines were good – The push to the backside can be on a different line (see below) but you had strong lines in other spots!

Seq 1: Jump to tunnel looked great, lots of drive into it and you also cued the turn on the exit without losing that speed. Yay! :15 and :28 were especially lovely in that respect!

Forced blind on 3: she reads the turn back to the takeoff side beautifully when you can convince her to come to the backside 🙂 So we will focus on convincing her to come to the backside! Your read my mind on the rep where you rewarded her – I think she needs more reps of chase the momma to the reward there, because most of her frame of reference in agility is “take the bar you see”. So you have permission to be late on the blind cross to the backside – hold your connection really long, call her name a lot (we will eventually replace that with a threadle cue) and reward a ton for coming to the correct side.
The other thing you can do it train it is to lessen the visual of the bar by using just one wing (the entry wing to the backside) then have the bar low and angled, kinda hanging off the jump cups – the wing becomes more salient and the bar becomes less salient – I have found we can raise the success rates very quickly this way, then we can add back the 2nd wing to make it look like a jump again when she has more experience with the cue.

You weren’t handling it incorrectly, it was more about changing her frame of reference there so she understands that we don’t want her to take the bar she sees. It is an incredibly useful tool, so totally worth the practice – she will end up loving it!

Sequence 2:
1st rep – Nice drive off the line 1-2! She turns nicely on the tunnel, so I bet you don’t need to decel – just run, give the verbal and leave. And, strategically, run closer to the tunnel so you aren’t as far ahead for the backside send, it had too much decel for her liking 🙂 She is picky about how much decel she likes LOL!
2nd rep – you had more acceleration off the line and no real decel and she read the tunnel exit nicely!! She also liked the motion of the blind into the backside push on the other side.
Great job with your connections on this!
I timed the difference between the 2 runs – the 2nd one was a lot faster overall. She turned a little wider out of the #2 tunnel on the 2nd run but it set up a great line to he backside. Also, you had more energy on the 2nd run in terms of the go go go back to the tunnel and to the last jump, that might have been a factor in it being faster as well.

Seq 3: Wheee! Fun!
On the backside at 3 – I like the dog path you chose on the first rep – I think this is the fastest line for all dogs, not just Winnie. You can push her to the backside from further across the bar – you were hiding the wing a little at 1:04 (your stuck your foot past the wing) so she was wide on a parallel path to yours. That made you a little late getting out of the way for the blind so she had to wait a little. If you run more to where the wing meets the bar, or center of the bar, you can cue the backside then get outta there sooner and she will have even tighter lines.

Loved your turn at 5 at 1:09 – you got in there, swooshed it, and left. She was able to set up a nice turn while maintaining a lot of speed in and out of it. Yay!!

At 1:13 on the circle wrap on 7 – you were in a really good position, showing her the wing, so she was able to have a direct line to it. You can be a tiny bit more rotated with your right hip facing the bar and left hip back towards the tunnel, feet facing the next running line, to set up more collection and to also get you outta there sooner (I put up a video on that in the custom skills sets package 2). She turned really nicely on it – great collection without losing speed in or out of it. Yay!

If you play with these again – try a slice line on that jump, it will be faster than a circle wrap – it maintains extension better and sets up a better line to the ending line.

Next rep – ah yes, at 1:22 you were looking forward so she read it as blind cross and ended up behind you. You were a little more connected at 1:27 and to be honest, it was better than at 1:04 when she did get it… I think at 1:04 you were moving more into the gap using body pressure and at 1:27 you were in a better spot – so increase your connection so you can get the better spot and do the serp/blind like you did on the first rep (you did a rear cross on takeoff at 1:34 and she read it, but the serp/blind will be faster 🙂 )

She had a refusal on the very end at jump 5 – I think you were a little disconnected and turned into her too soon. Strategically, you can run closer to the tunnel to set up the commitment. For training – proof that 🙂 You can do tunnel-jump and flail around and turn early – and if you are near the jump, pay her for taking the jump no matter what you do 🙂 I love when my dogs save me when my connection is poopy or I turn too soon 🙂

Great job here! Let me know what you think!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there!
Looks like you were out in the early morning here LOL!!

SO MUCH GOOD STUFF on this video. I am offering ideas on the tiny tiny details, which is pretty cool because so much is going well.

>>I still could be better at connection across the body and quieter hands for the tight turns.

Yes, connection across the body in a couple of spots. And only one spot needed a quieter set of hands – but that was more about the soft brake arm and not sending with the dog side arm (jump 5 on course 1, see below).

>>We need help on tunnel exit Seq 2. Should I be closer to the jump after the tunnel so she sees me earlier?>>

Well, yes, but that relies on outrunning her (and I am not sure that outrunning her is possible) and we don’t want her to make the decision when she sees you because her decision might already be made by then :)) The answer lies in what happens before the tunnel – strategically, you can hang out by 6, send to 7 do a tight blind cross so by the time she is at the 6 foot info line in front of the tunnel, you are past the entry, heading to 9 and yelling right right right (more below).

Course 1:
Good send to 3, stay closer to line on FC, don’t back up – possibly do it all closer to 3

Spin late on 5 at ;06 and :24 – send and leave rather than spin or start psin MUC Hearlier from closer to 3

You left out 8 on he first rep which is why it was so hard to get ot the BC 9-10.
but even late, connect across the body will get her back sooner – you did that more at :32 and it helped

I think you are saying “go”, or is it “To”? a lot, rather than wrap verbals, etc – the ending line is a good place for go but remember to mix in the directionals in the other spots.

Course 2:
The opening line:
BC 2-3 is a great choice – she didn’t read something about it on the first rep – might need to see the connection sooner, or might need to be closer to the line (hard to see which line you were on from this angle but she turned after landing from 2 rather than before takeoff. The BC looked to have an earlier reconnection there on the 2nd rep and 3rd rep and it looks like she read it better, especially on the 3rd rep!

Jump 4 – a send-and-leave is good but don’t commit with a bit swoosh and GO at :43… she went! One step and a turn cue is all you need there. At :58 you didn’t say go but the physical cue was very go-like 🙂 so the outside arm soft brake would be very effective here. You also don’t need to send as much, you can move into it and use a soft brake and still easily get the 5-6-7 line.
At 1:27 you had more of a softer send and a turn cue and it was even better! You can be more dramatic with the outside arm as a soft brake, almost rotating your upper body towards her.

FC at 6-7 at :46 and 1:01 and 1:30: VERY nice! Great timing and position!

I suggest staying closer to 6, send to 7 so you can be further ahead on the tunnel and do a BC there on 7 rather than rotate – spin at :47 was late (jump 7) so as she entered the tunnel at :50 you were driving ahead and so she drove ahead.
And the kimye verbal might be too general… I believe it is the same verbal that you used on course 1 to indicate the exit to the next tunnel.
On the next time through there, you said ‘right right right’ and got a much better turn!
At 1:33 it was a little late so she pulled the bar but you had a nice right cue and got a nice turn on the 8 tunnel!

After the #8 tunnel – 9 should be a backside. You had her take the front side which sets up a threadle to 10 – you can give a little more collection cue on 9 but more importantly, try to threadle without rotating your feet or stopping your motion (or running way from the line back towards the tunnel like at 1:37): you got 10 but then you were too far behind and off the line to get the 11 backside. Staying closer to the line at 10 will help, as will more connection and less arm send on the backside push at 1:10.
You converged back in at 1:40 to get 11 but it would be easier to control 13-14 if you didn’t have to work quite as hard to get 11- you can stick closer to 10 and send to it, which puts you way ahead for 13-14.

The FC 11-12 looked good on the line at 1:16 and 1:40! The 13 – 14 line is a tunnel discrimination for sure – it looked like you were moving towards the 14 tunnel but then stopped and so she stayed on the serp line at 1:19. Depending on how you handle your tunnel discrims – you will either want to fully turn and close your shoulder forward to 14 (almost facing the #2 jump) or you will want to move along that line to 2 while opening your upper body back to her so she fully sees your left arm across the body. Which is your normal preferred tunnel discrimination handling?

You did a blind there at 1:45 (13-14) which is a great handling choice too! Strategically, sticking closer to the 9-10 line so you can set up a send to 11 will get you back down to the blind more quickly – which will then make it more timely. You got her to do it by catching her with connection but I believe we can get you back down to it sooner too. I love the aggressive choice, though!!

Course 3:
Very nice opening!! I think you had great connection and great lines all the way from the release to 6 so she also produced great lines and lovely turns.
On jump 5 – a smaller detail: at 1:56 you are giving her a serp arm – I don’t think she needs it (it was late anyway :)) it causes her to look at you rather than read your line, so you can try just staying connected and running there to set up the push at 6 to then get the blind. (although 6 is a front side, should be easier on the map lol) Using a serp arm there cues her to come in and we really want her to stay out – the ‘take the jump’ understanding at 5 is a trained skill – I believe she understands it but if not, we will train it 🙂
You can give her a go cue on the 7 tunnel a little sooner just so you can help 8 less – that will give you more time to set up the turn at 9 – I think the cues before 9 went really well! It looks like she needed to see more connection as you ran away, so remember to keep reaching back (arm across the body really helps here).
You can also do a wrap-blind (spin/ketchsker, whatever we call it nowadays LOL! to run the ending line with her on your right for 10-11 🙂

Great work on these! It is fun to look at the tiny details and obsess 🙂 Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! It is a perfect time of year to do swimmies!!

Skills video (tunnel turns) – she is doing really well here! A few ideas for ya:

The GO verbal looks really good at the beginning when you were also supporting with more motion. Towards the end, you were not moving as much so she was questioning a bit. Keep moving, make sure you are leaning forward and opening up your stride before she goes in – she is young enough that she is still pairing the verbal with the motion.

For the “Josie” verbal – it looks like it is a soft-turn-towards-me cue? You can also support that with motion away before she goes in, so she can follow the line of handling – name call is pretty general as a turn cue, so the line off handling increases in importance.

wrap cues – I couldn’t hear a verbal there, so if you were using one it was nice and quiet (yay!) If you weren’t using one, go ahead and add it, I think she is reading these well enough to slap the verbal on. And to get her to drive out of the wraps, run away so as she exits, she can chase you for the reward from your hand.
When you had the refusal on the wrap when you switched sides, it looks like she needed to see more motion into it after the wing wrap to get better commitment – you were decelerated as she came around the wing so she was unsure of her commitment there. You had more motion on the rep after it (1:25) so she committed a lot better!)
Question about verbals: I think on the wrap at 1:26 you said “Josie” – so that might be a bit too general because we don’t want all turns to be name calls. I suggest a wrap verbal here.

On the RCs: Your first one had good motion she just needed to see the RC pressure sooner (before the 6 foot info line in front of the tunnel). The 2nd one was spot on!! Yay! When you switched sides, you didn’t have as much motion into it so she wasn’t as sure – the motion is definitely a commitment cue for her! When you switched to the left, you can also show pressure sooner to get her to commit and turn.

And, the tunnel verbal helps too – as she is coming around the wing for all of these, you can be using your tunnel verbal then switch to one of the other turn cues – not just for the RCs, but for all of the various turns.

On the sequences:

Sequence 1 – very nice! Nice early timing on the blind, strong connection, good line! You can drive out of the BC even more – stay connected but explode up the line (don’t run into the wall, of course :))
2nd rep even better! Yay!

Seq 2: great connection, loved your line on the wrap 3-4-5! The timing looked good to me – she barked and didn’t quite collect as much as I know she can, but I think it is more lack of experience there at :25 (high speed then super tight then high speed) and she will continue to get tighter and tighter on those. She was turning her head, so you can also keep working on getting more of that head turning going in and out of the wraps.
On the last tunnel – give the GO earlier (6 foot info line) and run more, don’t dilute it by slowing down

2nd rep – you basically showed all the same info on 2-3-4-3 (maybe the transition was exaggerated a little more?) and you definitely rotated sooner – LOVED her turn here! Another great running line from you, nice job! Keep running at the end, especially before she enters the tunnel, she is looking at you on the last bar.

Seq 3:
You can run down the line dog-on-left and RC the tunnel, that worked nicely! And good job with your early wrap verbals for 5, she was turning really nicely! But by doing the RC on the tunnel entry, it put you so far from the line (1:03 and 1:18) that she had an entire conversation with you as she came around the wing to head back to the tunnel #6 LOL!
Very nice job on the ending line on the first rep, nice timing/connection/line in and out of the blind.
On the 2nd rep, you had a bit of a domino effect that caused a refusal on the last jump:
You were further from the #4 tunnel on the RC – which put you further from the wrap at 5 at 1:18, so you had to stay there for one more step to get her back to 6. That put you later on the BC there (still pretty good timing but not as early as the first rep) and then on the way to the last jump, you looked forward and it pulled her off the line. Tiny suble details starting at 4 which ended with a refusal at 9.
So – because the RC on the tunnel entry makes 5 much harder to get in and out of, other options on that opening are: put the RC between 2 and 3 which puts you closer to the 5 line so you can get the turn and leave earlier
or
do a lead out for a BC or push line, so you are on landing side of 2 on the perfect path line before you even release her from the stay. Those will also set a great line, get you close to 5 which means you get to leave 5 sooner too 🙂

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Great job setting it up, you preserved the challenges while getting it all to fit. You can keep 13 as a low jump or even just a wing – she did well with it as a jump here.

On the video – excellent job!!! Lots to be happy with and a few ideas (only one of which is crazy LOL!)

Opening 1-2-3 –
First rep: you can be right on the line 2-3 so she turns before takeoff, she was center of the bar on 2 at :13.
On the 2nd rep: LOVED the BC between 2-3, she was a straight line blur facing 3 over jump 2 at :59.

First rep: I think she did a great job on the 4-5-6 line! That 4-5-6 section si a series of really hard turns and she drove right back in for 5 AND turned nicely to 6 🙂 And you did a great job showing it her 🙂
On the 2nd rep – with all of the speed on the opening line, you were a little late on the FC and she was a little wide – I think you can start the FC as she is taking 3. You can also lead out a little less, do the BC and handle from landing side of 5.

Teeter and weaves look lovely <3

Great timing on the FC 8-9 (after the weaves) at :25 and 1:11. One step across the line too far though on both of these, she had a tiny zig zag on landing.
10-11-12: wheee! Good layer.
But... I have an idea :)
To get both the perfect path AND all the way up to 13, try handling from closer to jump 8 (jump after the weaves): same timing, better line (basically just at the wing)> Do the FC there and don’t accelerate out of it, maybe take a step or two: but then when she lands, turn on your GO juice and send her up the line with verbals… while you handle from the *pther* sie of the tunnel and head directly to 13. Basically you will be running from 8 directly to 13 with lots of words 🙂

About that pesky 13 jump: a few ideas 🙂
You got quiet as she was entering the 12 tunnel at :30, so she exited looking for you on both reps (good to know that quiet is a turn cue, because sometimes breathing is a good thing!) So try to be yelling GO GO GO GO as she is entering.
For the opposite arm – a tweak in technique should help get her to stay on the line: you were ultra connected but your outside arm was back. Stay connected like you did but use your opposite arm to point ahead of your body here (pointing it to the center of the bar) so that your right shoulder actually comes forward of your body. Pointing forward is fine with the opposite arm LOL! I think she will really respond to it because even a subtle forward ‘pop’ with the ouside arm was getting a great response like at :56. You had it even more forward at 1:17 and she got it!

I think you got happy for the turn at 13 at 1:21 so didn’t quite turn for 14, so she ended up on the line to a tunnel which is fine 🙂 You fixed it beautifully at the end.

So about that opposite arm – here is a discussion/demo video from the opposite arm class, this might give you more of a visual of what I mean about arm position? Let me know if it makes sense.

Great job!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>And another thing… I once promised myself that I would not get to the point of planning strides for my dog agility. I am remembering that…>>

Oh heck yes – I don’t plan strides, that is up to the dog. I just try to pick the fastest tools for the job at hand – and these obsessive conversations really help! Enzo is allowing us to learn a TON from him! Very cool 🙂

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Yes, it has been really weird seeing facebook pop up all the memories of the summers in Winnipeg 🙁 I am bummed about your knee, I hope it feels perfect again very soon!

Great job these runs, sooooo much lovely handling! I have small details for you to obsess on:

In the order of the videos:

1st video – He is committing beautifully but I think we can get more collection on the 3 jump (the backside wrap) – he was slicing it a bit. You cued and left early perfectly – you can ask for a bit more collection by going to your other arm (right arm) sooner, before he reaches the backsie wing, and using it as a bit of a soft ‘stop sign’. Keeping him on your left and swooshing him to the backside set up a bit more of a slice line. In the Package 1 Custom Skills Sets, you will see a video about the brake hand for the backside circle wraps 🙂
Send and leave on 4: good timing! We can tighten that up a bit, with a verbal collection cue, or a spin rotation if your knee will allow it. And, with his big stride and the distances here: turn your head for the blind 5-6 almost immediately as he is taking 4 immediately, so the blind is done before he makes a takeoff decision and he can set up a tighter turn 5-6.

2nd video – Nice opening! I don’t think he needs the leg slap between 2 and the tunnel, maybe a slightly earlier name call – but he didn’t appear to look at the off course jump (he was running in extension so you can also try a soft turn cue at 2 but that might bleed off speed).
Remember to tell him to go jump before he enters that 3 tunnel, you got quiet so he had a little hesitation there.
The 4-5 line is hard – a ‘soft brake’ arm at :07 (before he takes off for 4) will help tighten up 4-5 – it is gently bringing up the outside arm to cue a little bit more collection (it is also in the Package 1 Custom Skills Sets :))
You can play with hanging back near the 5 jump to set the decel into the RC at 6 to set up the wrap away, and tighten that up a little. Very nice turn cue on last tunnel, he exited nice and tight!

3rd video – very nice! He was tentative coming off the line, not sure why, couldn’t see you LOL!! Your position can be slightly further across the line 2-3 to set a better line, and more on the perfect path 4-5 to set up a tight turn there. What I mean by that is stay closer to the entry wing of 4, almost exactly where you want him to land to send to the 4 backside – do the cross on that spot then get out of there 🙂 You were a couple of steps across the bar so he jumped out to your position which sets up a slightly wider line.
Good push to the 6 backside! You don’t need to handle 6: when he is heading to the backside, trust his commitment and leave for 7 – you helped more than needed so you were a little in the way at :15 when he landed.

4th video- really really nice! Super connected! GREAT timing on the push to the backside for the FC! Stayed connected as you exit, keeping the dog-side arm behind you. His turn was good here but I think we can get it a little tighter.

5th video – same sequence as video 4, but different handling choice 🙂 Also looked great! The threadle cue is VERY strong for him – I couldn’t hear a verbal but I am guessing you did one. He collected beautifully on it and on the backside!

So, I timed the backside push versus the threadle/RC: almost identical (I would need electronic timers to know for sure, I got them at about 4/100ths apart). I am pretty sure that would change when you are back to full steam running and you can power up the line on the backside push: you were decelerated there so he had a little bit of speed reduction on that one. It will be good to see when your knee is feeling better!!

Last video – also very very nice!!!
Your timing on the push to the 3 backside looked great (good connection too!!) He seemed to have no questions so you can just leave directly to 4. You don’t need to handle his commitment to the jump on the backside at 3 – if he doesn’t self-commit (is that a word? haha!) then we will teach it :)) You handled it a bit as you ran through so the blind was a little late.
On the wrap jump at :08 – great job getting there, great job with the verbal! Go to the left arm sooner – when you cue for too long with the dog side arm (right arm here) then you don’t rotate enough – it is the foot rotation that helps with the collection, and turning to get your left hand in front of the bar will get an even sweeter turn there.
On the backside at 7 (:14) – as with the 3 backside, you can help him commit to the bar less and do the blind sooner. You are getting to the takeoff side beautifully, so now you can play with NOT watching him come around to take the jump, but rather drive forward into the blind – you’ll get waaaaay ahead! (I know, I am telling you to disconnect LOL!!)

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! Thanks for the comparison!!

>>I did notice that the striding was sometimes different between the online and parallel options. I think running on grass will help figure that out.

Totally agree – it was hard to know what was true striding and what he was remembering from having done it already.

>>Not saying this is the handling I would use irl; just handling to try out our discussion. 😊

I appreciate it!! IT will let us know what he needs and when he needs it, and how you can strategize to have the best positions on course.

>>And the answer is:
Circles Parallel: 8.7
Circles On-line: 8.5
Squares On-line: 9.8
Squares Parallel: 9.1>

I timed it a little differently to isolate just the lead out differences (landing of 1 to landing of 4, timing the slow motion)- still a bit imperfect – slightly different lead out positions and on the Squares he was, for whatever reason, faster off the line on the parallel and slipped on landing after the RC on the OL rep. But – the RC handling and the FC after it affect the times based on that handling (the slip and handler position on the FC on the OL rep for squares changed the timing on the last line)

>> the on-line run is about a half a stride faster at the FC between 5 and 6 and that carries through to the end.

That is what I got too – slight advantage to OL.

>>Looking at Coach’s Eye for the squares, once again it was during the FC between 5 and 6 where the difference showed up. It looks like I got in his way during the on-line run and the parallel run is about 1 and a half strides faster.>>

Agree – I think that the slip on landing from 4 might’ve thrown off the timing of the FC, and that was what cost time. When I isolate 1-4, it was much closer, pretty equal, with maybe a 1/10th of an advantage to OL to landing of 4 because he caught up between 3-4. He did come off the line faster on the parallel and I think it might be because you really exploded up the line after the release on that one? So on big openings like this, with whichever handling you choose: definitely explode off the line!!

Let me know what you think!
T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! It looks like he made you RUN on these, yay! Tons of lovely stuff on these runs.

>>I set jumps 1, 3 and 13 to ten inches for the first course and left them there for the second.

He didn’t seem to change anything on the 10 inch bars, he seemed happy on all of them. Yay!

On the video:
These runs are going really really well: handling choices, connection, skills, etc., so I am going to bug you about the small details that will get more speeeeeeed. He is running hard so any reduction in speed on these runs had to do with timing or line – and that is what I call a ‘champagne problem’ because he isn’t worried, he just needs to know info sooner and needs you be one step in a different place here or there.
Specifics:

Course 1:
On this first run, we can get all of your FCs started sooner – when he lands from the previous jump, send into the FC and start so you are finished before takeoff: this includes the FC 4-5 (which will then set up a better turn at 5), 8-9 and at 13 at the ending.

On the 2nd run – you were earlier at FC at 4-5 but off the line – so keep trying to stay right on that perfect path. Being earlier did indeed set up a better turn at 5, though!!
And you were definitely earlier 8-9 and on a really good line!
Even with these being earlier, I think he had to shorten up and wait for you to finish rotating. 2 thoughts on that:
start & finish the FCs even sooner!
or
replace them with blinds. Blinds can turn him just as tight and they are MUCH easier to start and finish sooner/quicker. Definitely worth it to try blinds in those spots!

On the last turn, the wrap at 13 – that can be earlier in terms of starting the transition earlier so the rotation comes sooner: Lock onto the exit of the tunnel as you are running down there so you can start decelerating as soon as he pokes his nose out of it 🙂 You don’t have to be near the wing of 13, you can handle it from anywhere. I think the FC here is a better option than a BC so I don’t suggest a blind (which would require a decelerated transition anyway :))

Course 2 –
On the first rep, he turned pretty tight on the straight tunnel even though you said go at 1:14, so almost didn’t get 3 – give him more go and an earlier around cue so he extends more out of the tunnel. He was better on the second rep in terms of extending more, I think you had more motion and he might have remembered the sequence a bit 🙂 You can also work on releasing in motion: tell him to stay, stay to jog, *then* release then run run run 🙂 Leading out more will help too, just 2 or 3 steps so the exit is supported more and the cross is easier to get to 3-4.
Speaking of the FC – the running line was good but the timing was late getting it finished and getting out of the way… so this is another great place to try a blind cross intstead of a front cross.

A bit of strategy for the middle section: Run closer to 4-5-6 so you can drive through 7 without decelerating and drive 8-9-10 from ahead. You send to 4-5-6 and ended up too close to 7. Staying closer to 4-5 then sending more to 7-8 also gets you up the line better to the BC after 9 (or on landing of 10, that would work too if you could get far enough across the jump)

I think you can get the blind 9-10 if you send to 7, give a very loud and repeated “go tunnel” cue (which I think he will enjoy hahaha) and leave without hesitation. You will be running towards 9 and NOT towards the tunnel exit, so even if the BC is late, he won’t collide with you. You hesitated a bit at 1:21 so the 9-10 line was delayed. You left the line sooner at 2:05 and were just about there for a blind but being further ahead definitely set the line to the weaves more clearly and with more speed.

The Slice line at 11 (jump after the weaves) is the best choice in terms of line and speed. You got is done with threadley/forced front rotations… which I believe is too much collection for him, facing him too long, so he slowed down there – let’s do double blinds for more speed. Wheeeee!!!! The Customs skills sets this week have a game for the backside (forced) blind – try it as a single blind first. That video also addresses the double blind, which is easy when you and he are comfy with the single forced blind.

On the FC 14-15 – on both reps, thatFC can come sooner and also stay closer to the line to set a tighter line – you ended up a bit past the line at 14, so don’t let yourself go past the wing. I ike the FC there, I don’t think a BC would be effective – but definitely send to 14 and rotate and leave as early as possible.

Super good drive to the last tunnel – you sent beautifully and great timing on your right verbal! I really love how he drove ahead of you on the 2nd rep too! To set a sweeter line to the last jump, give him a bit more connection at the exit of that last tunnel: reach your connection into the tunnel at the exit of 16 so he turns before he exits.

Great job on these! Let me know what you think of replacing a lot of the FCs with BCs 🙂
Have fun, stay cool!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Ha! My youngsters say that self-control is highly overrated and does not need to be worked on!

Here are some training ideas on the wing to serp (it starts at about 2:24, the first half is more fundamental) – but you can start on that angle then change the position of the wing so it simulates jump 4 more – and yes, we do leave the toy on the ground as a distraction for running parallel LOL!

>> I was thinking through this and trying to figure out verbals if either a) what if this was mid-course and I was behind (so no handling help) b) if the tunnel was a RDW. At this point Zing would not go out to #17 (I don’t think), but Hoot would.

Interesting! Hoot must have a really strong go – my dogs would possibly go wide on 3 if it was mid course but they wouldn’t go to 17. I would have to keep yelling GO. If I wanted 17 – I would be yelling go the whole time. For 3, I would turn it off at the 6 foot info line.

>> So I think that I would do tunnel-go-left and then when they are perhaps 5 feet out of the tunnel it would be left-left-left.

It will be fun to experiment with! Set it up with Hoot, I wanna see what she does!!

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Thank you for the update!!!

>>I really like the “Backside Wing Brake Hand”. I tried it out today and was surprised to see a much better approach to the backside.

I think that it helps the dogs see the difference between a wrap and a slice. Also, I added a bit more on the backside circle wraps to the skills sets I posted on Monday. Backside circle wraps are HARD jumping efforts!

>> Juno has a pretty nice “wrap” but has a tendency to go out too much for my liking on the approach to a backside jump/wrap. On his first attempt I did notice him coming in a little closer to the wing on approach.

Yes! Good job, Juno!! And different dogs need different ‘brakes’ – my littler dogs just need a tiny stop sign. My big dog needs a massive cue back towards his nose LOL!!

Keep me posted!! I am interested to keep hearing how Juno does with this!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

Last things first 🙂

>> On the master course #2 for this week. 1 through 4, what are your verbals and when do you deliver them? It is the jump tunnel jump jump sequence.

It is very dog-dependent, but with jump 3 being almost 20 feet away from the tunnel exit (and knowing how my dogs would respond to the different cues) – I want an extension exit on the tunnel. So I would lead out somewhere halfway up the tunnel, parallel to the 4 line, release while jogging and say:
Break
Tunnel tunnel (after the release, landing of 1)
GO GO (before the 6 foot info line in front of the tunnel)
Sauce Left (after the tunnel exit while I BC 3-4 but my guess is she would see it anyway)

Bearing in mind that the GO before the tunnel means “take the tunnel and exit straight” , I am not concerned about any off course here because the other obstacles are not straight except 17 (which is 7 miles away) and she will be exiting on her left lead, so will easily pick up 3. I would do the same with Voodoo. I would keep yelling GO GO GO with Nacho because he would have a hard time finding 3.

On the video: baby dog did really well!!!! The opening is pretty hard! She did well on it!

On the 1st rep – you trusted her to find 1 a little too much LOL!! I think when we are disconnected and leading out, the youngsters watch us – so a moment of reconnection before the release helps them look at 1. You released and reconnected in the same heartbeat so she zipped by 1.
She found 2-3-4 really nicely!! Not an easy line at all.
It was hard to hear what verbal you were using on 4 – that is probably one of the hardest turns on this course.
She had a little trouble driving into you when you were running the parallel path on the serp at 5. I know you were calling her (heard verbals just couldn’t make them out LOL!) so I tend to think it was a young dog training moment (particularly with the tempting visual of the teeter out there!)

2nd rep – she read the opening much better 🙂 You can be one step further over on 2 when you release to indicate that perfect path (:14) – you were passing the outside wing as she was making her jumping decision, so that is the part of the bar she jumped on. Ideally she would be center of the bar or further over towards 3 on the tunnel side of the bar.

She did a better job on the turn at 4 at :16, even though the bar came down – she drove back to you much faster and was trying to sort out her commitment to 5 as you moved forward through it at :19. It looked like you were using more physical help with your other arm but she had trouble with the countermotion when you released it (and definitely heard verbals in there too!)

Some ideas on training this – using just the 3-4-5 set up (maybe hide the teeter for a bit LOL) – 3 is a jump and 5 is a jump but 4 is just a wing. Sen from 3 around the 4 wing then move along the landing side of 5 as a regular serp. Using 4 as just a wing will add in the conditioned wing response of “wrap & hurry back” and so she is more likely to drive in for the serp. Start with slower motion if needed. Then using the same set up, when she is happy with 5 as a plain old serp, you can add in the countermotion of moving forward past the exit wing – still on your left and not very fast – and perhaps also tossing a reward back to the landing spot to solidify the commitment. Then you can add more motion/speed to it… then add the disconnection of the blind cross (that is hard).
When it is easy peasy…. make 4 a jump again 🙂 Jumps have different conditioned responses, but hopefully by then she will have sorted out how to drive right back to you for 5.

After the weaves:
FC 8-9 timing and line at :27 looked really good from this angle, she had a nice turn and landed exactly on the next line as far as I could see!
On the middle line: switch to a go verbal or your jump verbal sooner, before she enters the last tunnel – you were either saying tunnel or come (hard to hear) and she looked at you on the exit so you had to push her back out which made the wrap a little late on 13 at :35. That caused the next part to come off the rails – she pushed back in, you turned forward and lost connection, she wasn’t sure so she drifted out to find the connection and line.
On the redo at the very end – you used GO, she was perfect on finding the jump (you were a little further ahead too, but when she is more experienced you can play with layering the 3 jump to get down the line more, but I don’t want to do any layering until she is very comfortable coming right in on 5). That made the wrap on 13 much more timely! You were one step or so outside the line through, so she had to push back in. Being outside the wing as she does the wrap here widens the line, so you can strategize to stay inside the wing until she is on the line to 14 (which can actually also create a nice line 14-15!

Nice job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>I realize I was using the wrong turn verbals on the tunnel exercises. Sigh.

Oopsie! Were those your wrap verbals?

>> Self-control requires a lot of bandwidth,

Truth! There is a study about self-control depletion and choices. Interesting, and gives us insight into why our dogs do things sometimes.

>>so I am upping the distractions at home when we train in the hope that when we get to do the class exercises on the rental field, with others present, he can focus. A work in progress.

That will help! And being sure he is well-rested before you take him into the difficult situations is important, per the science.

On the video:
Overall, I think he is looking great!!!! These are ideas focusing on the smaller details:

Tunnel fun:
On the Go lines – the cues before the tunnel looked good! To help him drive away and not look back to you, you can move the MM in closer to the end of the tunnel and click sooner – when he enters the tunnel with his head straight, click it. You were waiting til he exited, so he was looking at you more than we want.
We can gradually move the MM away and delay the click to keep building the turns.

Loose turns: He is doing well! I think you can use a more obvious step away on these, leaving sooner more like what you did at :32 – timing of the verbal seemed good! So the motion can come sooner to help solidify it so it doesn’t look like GO motion.

Sequences: SO much good stuff on these!

Rep 1 – you left a tiny bit too early and definitely too quietly 🙂 Before he was committed, you got quiet, turned your head and left, so he chose da momma (good boy, considering all of the other possibilities LOL! You were one heartbeat more patient and more connection on reps 2 and 3 and he was perfect.
2nd rep & 3rd rep – good job committing to the tunnel and the BC looked really good! Nice running line! You can actually start the timing of it a tiny bit sooner on rep 2 (on this type of line, you can do it while he is in the tunnel because your motion and blind support jump 3). And definitely sooner on rep 3, the BC was a little late there. But the running line was great and he read it perfectly. You can also throw the reward at the end to get him driving past you (he is not comfy doing that yet). He might not bring the reward right back lol but that is fine for now 🙂

Seq 2: Wheeee nice job! A small detail: The decel for your wrap transition can be one stride later on the transition at 1:25 – start it as he is in the air over 3 or as he is landing, you did it as he was taking off so he had a little question (just a nit pick :)) The wrap itself was really good, little guy is turning!!! And nice drive back up the line to the end. This is another place to throw a reward so he drives past you at the end except the DW was a little in the way)

Seq 3: Very nice opening line! Timing, running line, connection, verbals – LOVELY! The future of Riot in agility, right there! After the #4 tunnel, you hesitated and that made the timing of the wrap at 5 late – you were not really moving but still moving forward and rotated as he was taking off. I love how he did find the tunnel entry though. So, as he is heading to the tunnel run like mad so you can show a transition similar to what he saw on Seq 2 (it might feel awkward coming out of a tunnel). The wrap redo at the end – slightly earlier but still late – you were rotating/slowing as he was taking off so you ended up sideways to the jump. But overall – he is really reading the cues and I am so happy with how he is doing!

In the custom skills sets, check out the exit line connection and pop offs, both of those will be fun to play with for him!
Nice work!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>Video 1 Course 1- I was saying tight at 7-8 however I noticed I say way too many directionals for the tunnel exit and I’m still saying right after he exits…so he hears that and then right away hears tight…need to cut my habit of saying something 3-4x especially when the tunnel is only 10 feet long…

Yes, good thought – plan the verbals. Turn off all verbals before entry/takeoff so you are not still saying them on exit/landing – this is especially important when the words are similar like “tight” and “right”. For those verbals, also, I suggest different patterns of saying them: emphasizetje “t” in tight: TighTighTigh and repeat the word short and fast. For the right: emphasize the vowel/dipthong and extend the word: riiiiight riiiiiiight.

>>I think the spin at 5 just kind of happened in my mind because of the angle of jump 4 and not thinking a send would work?

Sends got a bad reputation a few years back, they were bullied on the internet LOL!!! Sends got a reputation of ‘not working’ but sends work like a charm! The ones that don’t work are just poorly executed 🙂 I mean, I screw up blind crosses all the time with bad execution but I would never say they don’t work 🙂 Send and leave – so useful and can set a great line for dogs that know how to turn (and Benni knows how to turn).

>> Just found it really hard but quite amazing that he followed what I wanted despite the mess!

It wasn’t that much of a mess haha!! Just a little less smooth than it could have been.

>>Yes, the “out” on the last jump makes sense…now that I know “out” is a good verbal to have…I think Soshana and Jess don’t use it anymore…that must be who I was thinking about instead of you! LOL>>

Ha! It is possible they don’t currently have it: we all had it YEARS ago (as in, back when I was running my Dalmatians in 2002) and then in about 2014 or so, OMD came in am so many people stopped using verbals… so now those folks are putting verbals back into their systems (yay!) and might not have (or need) an out verbal. I need the out because my Voodoo (the big dog) is so fast and needs very very clear info that is also super early… so either I had to outrun him (yeah… wasn’t happening, which is why systems which relied on natural/physical cues simply did not work for him & me) or I had to put on as many verbals as I could. I am not sure my smaller dogs will need the out cue, but every time I think I can outrun the Papillon, for example, he reminds me that I am slow. I am 100% sure that BorderWhippet will need it. So, all the dogs learn it! Plus it is GREAT for gambles & FAST!!!
There are places where you can outrun Benni when you send him away and turn on your rocket boosters… but he is young and not yet running at his full speed (takes the dogs til they are about 3 to get to full speed :)) And I don’t want you to have to rely on your footspeed – we can train a tool for every situation, prioritizing the ones you will use the most 🙂

>>Video 1 Course 2: So I THOUGHT he would need that step to see the turn from 2-3. When I did the do-over in video 2, I actually stood in a different lead out spot thinking that was the problem. So I’m not picturing what I would do without taking that step to jump 2…just do a pivot or position myself with dog on left from the get-go?

Yes, one option is to just position yourself there, release, tell him to jump 2 then move away. I like to be closer to the start of the line (closer to the landing spot of 2 but still on the line) and then move away.

>>I didn’t feel it was a good spot for me to do a blind so I did not try that.

Those are great places for blinds! Give it a whirl!

>>Video 4: Course 3 How would I run from the tunnel to get the BC between 3 and 4…would I run between the inside wings of 3 and 4 or run past the outside wing of 3

You could leave with him on your run and run between the wings of 3 and 4 then blind to your left. Of you could leave the tunnel on your left and do a serp on the landing side of 3.

>> And with the lead out 1-2….is dog on left the best way or could it be done a different way?

I like dog on left, it produces a good line and a ton of speed. If you are going to do the BC betwee 3 and 4, lead out less so he passes you and you can leave sooner.

>>All things considered, I was very pleased that he is able to follow my handling despite the imperfections that abound! >>

Yes! There was a TON of great stuff in there – and agility is an imperfect sport, which is why we look at those tiny details.

>>Any “custom” work we should try to do before the next package comes out?

Try out the ‘anchoring your running lines’ skills set. You are good with the exit line connection, just need to remind yourself when you walk the courses. You can also play with the pop offs to get tighter turns!

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>Most important question: Did I do this they way you are saying?

Yes, pretty much spot on!

>>I ran both the original setup and a mirror image. If we call the two methods Yours and Mine we could become crabby and entrenched, so I’ll say Online and Parallel.

Ha! One thing I have learned about handling is that it is always better to NOT get entrenched, because my innate stubbornness might cause me to miss something important 🙂 So, thank you for setting this up!!!

And, if the heat ever gives you a break, I would be interested to see this on grass because he will stride it differently – which is important when we are timing to 100ths (which I was, which also I am sure is no surprise hahaha)

>>Regardless, there did not seem to be a significant difference.

I saw 3 things that might end up being useful!
On the parallel option, he consistently adds one more stride in the gap between 1-2 and/or 2-3 *unless* you leave really early and really fast – his commitment is strong enough to allow for that.
And when you did that (left early and with acceleration, it did get a less slicing line over 2 (between line to 3). That is when the times were most similar. On the online option, he had more tendency to one-stride 2-3 naturally but better timing on the parallel option helped smooth that out.
The other thing I noticed is that on the parallel options where you left your lead out position earlier & faster… you also ended up deeper to the tunnel. On the online option, the line to the tunnel was set sooner (landing of 2) so you didn’t have to go as deep. On this sequence… it didn’t make a difference because there was no place to get to. But it is definitely something to consider on bigger courses – shaving 2 steps off your line in the opening can put you in a great spot further up the course.

>> I was afraid, with the online method, that I might actually get the wrong end of the tunnel,
>> since I was not running parallel to the dog’s path but diverging from it.

You handled it well, even though it was less comfortable – you are parallel (on) the dog’s path for long enough to set it… then bye bye bye you are outta there 🙂 Feels like divergence because you run on/parallel to the line for less time, perhaps? But Enzo appeared to have zero questions.

>>although I’m not sure when I would be bold enough to intentionally start on the line and run a diverging path.

Well, that is what training is for 🙂 Get all the tools comfortable so you know just how long you would need to set that line – then decide what the best tool is for the situation. On this sequence, I am not sure it makes a difference – the times were very close on the first couple of reps, maybe a slight edge to online? But by the end it was pretty even because I think he knew the sequence LOL! But if the course continues to, say, some type of CRAZY threadle line on 6-7-8, then I would want to handle with the online version. Conversely, if I needed to get down to the tunnel entry and handle a tight exit, I would consider the parallel version because it allows me to deive in hard to the tunnel entry.
The other thing to consider is that comfort zone tools will be faster at first. In the past, I always handled these openings with a blind cross 2-3 (I often still do). They were wicked fast! When I added this push line tool, I timed every session: the blinds were faster at first by a whole lot, then things equaled out and they are just about identical now.

Food for thought! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

Version1 was cropped to allow short comparisons: https://youtu.be/tZZxeIPcKB8

Version2 was cropped a bit longer: https://youtu.be/HLpMU-JU1qY

If I were more agile with Coach’s Eye, I would be able to compare them more accurately. If I have time later tonight, I may tackle it. When I just read the time off the iMovie, they were always within .1 which is less than the accuracy of that eyeball method.

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Ugh, the heat! It certainly is not much fun 🙁

>>Next, from between my legs, he cannot choose “left” or “right” with any accuracy (even with hints). At least I can practice this inside and get it trained up.

Perfect indoor a/c training! I recommend doing it on a jump or very short tunnel (he is facing a jump between your legs, so the left and right applies to “take it and turn” rather than on the flat)

>>The setup is so that the target jumps are on a soft 90 degree turn.

Looked good – happily he was already turning while in the tunnel, so the jumps were not luring the turns, just giving him something to drive to.

>I don’t think he is paying any attention to the verbal cues on these tunnel reps. My motion is 100% predictive of what I want. Is this what you wanted me to do??

For the moment 🙂 It is a start! It falls into the “get the behavior” category.

>>He was basically perfect leaving the tunnel each time. The only one which I thought was at all questionable was the last “go on”.

Yes, totally agree, I think he did REALLY well here! In past session, he was not as good on the turns with you doing ‘soft’ turn cues on the tunnel entry, even with the motion being super predictive. So… next step: verbal needs to be strengthened as a something that predicts the motion rather than happens during/after the motion.

When he hears the verbal, I would like him to predict that the next thing that will happen is that you will begin running that direction, so he doesn’t need to ‘wait’ to see the physical cue: he can think ahead and set himself up for the turn.

The way to get that is a specific order of conditioning (because it is really now about classical conditioning with a little bit of operant thrown in – I call it ‘predictive cuing)

So we need the verbal to happen *before* the physical (slightly separated in time) so he learns that “left” means the momma is about go thataway and that is where the reward is (toy, jump, etc). So you can start with him in the between-the-knees set up: start saying ‘left left left’ – let go, he moves, you then step the left. So it is the same order as Pavlov’s bell/food pairing:
left verbal then left motion/reward. Your motion and the reward will help condition the left verbal, so he will automatically turn left.
So we start without motion, but then we can add motion – you are running forward, saying left very early and *then* showing the physical cue.

Eventually when the verbal is highly conditioned, the physical cue will be less important.

An example: right now I am teaching the puppy what the release “break” means.
So while she is in a sit, I say “break” and *then* tap the floor and then she moves and then the reward comes out. The reward is not necessarily contingent on the movement but she doesn’t hold position when I tap the floor – so I can ‘get’ the behavior and then a toy follows, which produces a positive conditioned response AND is a positive reinforcement, operantly.
Yesterday, I did not tap the floor: I said Break and she immediately moved out of the sit and came to me. It was a conditioned/reflexive response (“that word is followed by good things happening near that crazy lady”) and now it shifts over into the realm of Skinner where the toy is also a positive reinforcement. The 2 types of responses (conditioned and operant) are so closely tied that they might be almost inseparable, and it is how I get the dogs to respond to verbals as well – reflexive AND operant.
Let me know if that makes sense!

Tracy

begin saying your left cue while moving forward

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