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Hi everyone! Just a reminder, I am offline tomorrow. I am heading to a flyball seminar 🙂 See you all on Sunday!
TracyHi! I think the training technology has advanced soooo much in recent years that we now know how to convince the dogs to turn REALLY tightly with a minimum of handling effort 🙂 The head turns are a definitely first step.
>>We’ve done some more rear cross work trying to keep my movement simply toward the center of the bar and trying to see how timing and pressure affect Kips turning. He does turn more naturally to the left so we work the right side a bit more as well as do straight “go ons” which I didn’t record since Kip has no problem with his “go ons”!>>
I thought these were definitely better!!! And a nice by-product was that you were not that far behind 🙂 You can get on that line even sooner – I think the setup might feel awkward for that, because you have to wait for a long time at the wing. When you left earlier, you did a few steps up te line before putting the RC pressure on and that creates an L shape to your path. When you got on the RC line sooner, it was a nice diagonal. Here are specifics:
On the first video, rep 1 was my favorite, you were on the RC line the earliest there. The other 2 were good but can be even sooner.
On the 2nd video, rep 1 went well. Reps 2 and 3 (marked as 5 and 6 here) were late – this is where you left the wing a little too quickly and ran the L shaped line, which makes the info a little late and also puts you out of position on the other side of the jump (ending up further behind).
When he turned the wrong way at :18 you started to show the RC but it was too late – he was already center of the bar, thinking left and less that 6 feet from the jump so his jumping decision had already been made.
On rep 4 (marked as 7) – I liked this one MUCH better! You got right on the RC line at :23 and he looked to be about 10 feet from the jump so he had time to make the adjustment. The last rep at :30 was good too! So hanging out at the wing on this setup to be able to get right onto the diagonal for the RC will really help get him turning before takeoff.>>I want to do some more RC work to try to get a quicker, tighter RC after the bar. I feel like maybe the minimal pressure I used in this made me almost late creating a soft turn after the bar. >>
It wasn’t minimal, per se, it was just later than he needed. So you can get both the tight and the wide RCs on the same diagonal… and the transition/decel tells him how tight or accelerated you want the turn.
>>Perhaps if I think more about his commitment point, the result will be a sharper turn?
Think of it as more of a ‘need to know’ point for him so he can choose a commitment point with all of the info he needs. I think by the time you see commitment, it is too late: the decision has been made. But if you think of his ‘need to know’ point as being just after he exits the wing wrap, then can start giving the info to him then – and you can get him to commit with the turn you want and then he has plenty of time to make the adjustment for the takeoff. A big dog’s ‘need to know’ point is no later than exit of the previous obstacle (exit of tunnel or weaves, landing from a jump, etc). I start giving the info and then I left the dog sort out what he needs to do 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense! Nice work on these rear crosses!!
TracyHi! Yes, revisit that game. You can do it without the clicker if you like – let me see some video of it so we can help him sort it out 🙂
I can’t find any of the ‘before’ videos of the head turning with the less noddle-y dog, but here is what it looks like in practice a bit:
https://youtu.be/Clwprf2SJpM?t=22
I will keep looking, I know they are loaded somewhere!!!T
Hi! He is doing so well!! One thing I just thought of for your arena rental – do some sessions during your time without your training pockets on, so he can play the games without all the cookies right there 🙂
The elevator games looked great! Only one suggestion: when he is on your left and you cookie him with your right at the top of the board, keep yoru cookie hand low and forward – it was getting high and towards him so he was sitting. When he was on your other side, your hand position was much better and he was great (1:16 is a good example of that).
The full teeters looked terrific! Remember to use the paw cue on the one you cued – and he was a nut to offer the complete teeter without being asked, but it was a rather beautiful performance LOL! Good boy!!!!
I am exciting to start taking these games on the road!
TracyHi!
About the rear crosses –
He must have slept on it and came out ready to be perfect LOL! You handled them really well too and the cookie bucket out ahead also seemed to help.I was very proud of himfor holding his position on your fast moving fronts and blinds – he wsa a little forward but he caught himself! And that last rep was especially perfect!!!!
Keep me posted on how the rental goes tomorrow!
TracyHi! I agree, this is the most tip he has seen and you were smart to proceed slowly on this first rep. He has a ton of speed and confidence on the board so there was no need to risk that by going too fast, too early – I thought your pace was perfect!!! You let him lead the way in terms of speed and you are right – he was asking for more by the last few reps. YAY! Interestingly, he was also MUCH better about getting into target position when he was faster. I suppose on the first couple of reps he just needed to sort out the setup, then he was all like GAME ON. Ha! It was lovely.
So…. you can start the next session of this asking for more speed right away! And keep moving past the target like you did, stopping only after you’ve gone an additional 2 or 3 steps after he has stopped.
Great job here! Very exciting to see his progress!! We can stick at this level for a few sessions then get that table even lower.
Keeep practciting your elevator game, it gets really comfy when you play with it 🙂
Great job here!!
TracyHowdy!! If possible, replicate the indoor session with the teeter near the tunnel:
With the target still visible, start with a warm up of the normal elevator game on each side.
If that is happy, do the crazy elevator with Sly starting from a stay between the tunnel and the teeter.
If that is happy, start him by sending through the tunnel to the crazy elevator game.
If that is happy, do it again.
If that is happy, do a full teeter, jackpot the daylights out of it..
Then session over, go out for ice cream 🙂
Keep me posted!Good morning!
I think you were for sure throwing sooner! He did a great job of driving straight with a ton of speed 🙂
Little details to consider here:
You mentioned having too much voice – I have no problem with loud exciting verbals, and most dogs LOVE that! Just be sure you are yelling the right ones and yelling them early (I am an ‘early and often’ type of handler when it comes to verbals LOL!)
For example on the first couple of reps, your verbal was “Robbie jump”
Then you went to Go on but it was late (he had exited and looked at you because you were decelerated near the tunnel exit) and I think the last rep was just ‘jump’. So try to define your verbals super specifically and get hyper-consistent (easier said than done LOL!!)For example, if I say “Bandit Jump” that means I would like a soft collection on the jump and he should pay attention for more turn info coming. And that would mean the reinforcement would be on a turn line. So for this game, I like the GO GO GO or GO ON verbals because we want that straight line full on, pants on fire extension 🙂 And start saying it before he enters the tunnel so he exits in extension and doesn’t wait for more info.
About the beginning – his speed exiting the wing to the tunnel was fine, he was running and driving straight and you were exciting. If you want more drive to the cone start him in a better position: facing the cone, a little further away, at your side. He might also like it if your hand is on his collar gently, or on his chest, and you start a little quiet “ready……. set……………” and then when he tenses up, explode into the motion towards the cone. Because he is starting from a standstill, it will feel slower than when he is already starting at a run, but he was definitely not slow running to the tunnel here!
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Thanks for the kinds words, I love obsessing on the little details of handling. And rear crosses are under-trained around the world but yet we use them all the time.
Great job on the find the jump exercises, Kip was utter perfection on the driving the line. This might be his favorite thing, ever LOL!
Plus, the distance skills are going to be “The Thing” for 2021 and beyond – that is the current trend in Europe and it will make its way here soon enough in all venues. Distance and layering and fast moving blinds to get where you need to be on course are all the ‘in fashion’ challenges at the moment.
So yes, keep playing with that, but let’s turn our attention to his wrap turns:>> I’m primarily working the initial wrap in these exercises as Kipling is still trying to learn to wrap tightly and use his rear power to blast out of the turn.>
Watching him work the wraps here, I don’t think it is a hind end thing: he is not leading with his head to start the turn. By that, he is not turning his head/neck into the turn so he is not fully bending. He is squaring the turn more, if that makes sense. That is why he is not yet tight and not powering out, because he is moving his whole upper body as one unit. Not sure I am explaining that correctly LOL!
But it is an easy fix. The ‘leading with the head’ shaping exercises are the answer to reinforce him for turning his head into the turn. If he turns his head, the rest of his body will also turn and then you will see him bend like a noodle.
I will pull up the link to it from the Max Pup 1 class – I think this is a good one to start with you using just a wing and no motion, to really isolate the turn of the head. My 2 demo dogs are both high percentage of whippet, so they found it easy to slide around like a noodle – so I will also go find the videos of my non-whippet dogs so you can see what they used to do and then how it changed by teaching them to lead with their heads into the turn (my Croatian/BC mix is a great example of it – he is NOT built to slither but by getting him to turn his head, you’d think he was highly angulated 🙂 )Nice work here! I will go find those links and be right back.
Tracy
Good morning!
I think people don’t realize that NADAC skills require some serious foundation – I cannot imagine how to handle those courses without verbals and massive commitment skills. And yes, Indy is brilliant too 🙂
>> My tunnel verbal is END, I purposely stayed away from IN, but your point might still be valid.
I run around my field and yell my verbals to see how they end up sounding at speed. My neighbors think I am insane (correctly hahaha) But it helps with the quest for different-sounding verbals 🙂
>>The handler has issues with determining where the exit is on the barrel, ie just a pass by, a 280 or a 360, so was trying to keep it simple with one set of commands.
That is totally relatable. I think of the exits as shapes: U or L or O. It helps me keep things straight without over-obsessing 🙂
>> My other thought process was that with a wing, the dog needs a directional, but I also like the dog knowing there is more to it (must jump as well, especially for the back sides). Where as the barrel, is simply dig and get around it in the correct direction and drive to what is next. So I think I want to keep the cues distinct.>>
Right, but in the interest of sanity and trying to spit out all those words at high speed: I have never seen a dog have any questions about whether the cue was for a jump or barrel or tunnel. It takes the pressure off because we can use the dog’s amazing skills to differentiate. The only time it might be an issue is if you ever see a jump and barrel very close to each other, as a discrimination – but I don’t think that ever happens, so no worries 🙂
>>>I am favoring the outside arm in and bent when the dog is behind me, but what happens when we are driving the DW and need the far end tunnel at the end and I am behind. Will she be able to see it.>>
Especially on a running dog walk, if you are behind and she might not see the physical cue…. it is alllllll verbal directional at that point. If you have a stop, the dog needs to wait til you are in the picture. But on a run? All verbals delivered pretty early. That is why RDWs take a long time to train because the end behavior AND the verbals must all get trained up.
>> An extended outside arm (lower) seem like it would be better. (Been working on thumb down in that position – helps keep arm lower and palm up, arm higher for NADAC turn aways). I need to decide and stick with it.>>
As I sit here playing with my thumb directions LOL…. yes, if you can do that, it will definitely help. It is hard to have a high arm with your thumb pointed down!
>>>I suppose it is good that I am thinking about this stuff and that my life is blessed, if this is what keeps me up at night!!!
This is SO TRUE lol!!!! My 3am obsessing was how to combine 2 toys to create my dog’s favorite toy into more of a tug toy LOL! It is a good life 🙂
T
Oops, sorry that I left out an important detail! Move them all to the half inch width at the same time. I think he needs them to remain in that one spot for a while so he can sort out the final details of the striding 🙂
And hooray for the full height dog walk! That is so fun!!!
Tracy
