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Hi there!
1st rep:
Lovely connection and comitment to the circle wrap! Great job moving through it.
2nd rep – just not quite enough connection on the outside arm cue to the backside slice, but you fixed it really nicely on 3rd rep by cranking up the level of connection. Strong timing on that one too!
4th and 5th rep – the check wrap looked great! Connection, timing, rotation – really strong and he turned nicely in both directions. Great job leaving to get way up the next line.
6th rep (1:04) – backside slice the other direction – because he has such a long stride, you can experiment with giving the fly cue sooner when you are lateral. On this rep, you waited til he landed but he was landing straight looking at the front side (because or your position) so you had a bit of a zig zag. You can try starting the cue when he is taking off for the previous jump so he already knows what to do when he lands. This is mainly for the sends to the backside where you are lateral – on rep 7 where you were doing a wrap, you didn’t need to start that early because your running line was so clear. Your timing there worked nicely!Rep 8: the check check wrap on jump 2 was strong! Be prepared to go right into the next decel/rotation for the wrap on 3, basically starting the transition as soon as he finishes coming around the wing of 2. At 1:30 you told him to jump straight (so he did :)) and then rotated while he was in the air, so his turn was a little wide on that one.
The backside at the end was nice!Rep 9:
This was the mirror image of the previous rep 🙂 The timing on the first wrap at 2 was still good – then you were much earlier with the wrap cues at 3 (1:45) and he was much tighter! You didn’t get to the blind cross to your left side quick enough, so at 1:47 he was already on your right side – you were trying to get him to your left but it was too late, he had already committed to coming to your left (because the wrap cue looked like a FC exit based on where your connection was). If you are late on those FC/BC spins, try to make a more direct eye contact and get your dog-side arm way back, because that will help him find the correct side.
You owe him a cookie for that LOL!Last rep – 2 more good check wraps! And you were much earlier to get to the BC so he found the correct line there too. Yay! When doing the BC to get him on your left, you can have your left hand further back, pointing at his nose more, so he will be able to see the connection even more clearly.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi there! Good work on these (and great music!) – it gave us an insight into how he reads handling. He LOVES connection and also deceleration, they are very important to him. Here are specifics:
Sequence 1 session 2:
On your backside , there is a subtle tweak in when you can look forward:
on the first rep, you maintained eye contact with him until after he was past you and heading to the backside. Got it!
2nd rep – when he landed from jump 1 at :09, you looked forward to the backside. That breaks connection and turns your chest to the front, so he took the front.
3rd rep – you looked him right in the eye til he was past you to the backside: perfect!
Last rep (after you did a few front side wraps) – also great connection. Nailed it!
So remember to make and maintain connection until he is for sure heading to the backside.4th rep and 5th rep – front side wrap (check) – you can do a front cross here to be able to move away sooner (or a FC/BC spin) – that will get you up the next line faster than a post turn wrap. You could also do a send-and-go where you send him to the wrap and take off, rather than rotate while near the wing. Great connection getting into it!
And on all of these – start to run away, as if there is another obstacle out there – challenge his commitment by moving away to rewrd and see what he does 🙂
Seq 3: I love your dance moves here 🙂
First rep and at :55: on your back cue, you turned to look forward before he passed you, so he ended up on the front.
Second, Third, 4th reps: you maintained perfect connection from 1-2 and got it on all 3. Yay! Now, with his speed, you can get out of there sooner: as soon as he is passing you on the way to 2, you can be rotating and leaving – you did this on the 4th rep the soonest at :46, and he did well! It can be even sooner, ideally you are already fully turned and running the other way before he takes off.
On the last jump and bonus tunnels 🙂 On the reps where he did *not* take the tunnel (:33. :40), you had some deceleration so he understood there was a turn. On the reps where he took the tunnel, you drove in so he read it as extension and committed to the tunnel. You did a FC on the last rep and the side change helped, but you can also work the deceleration in so he sees it before he passes you and then you can rotate away up the next line – that should take the tunnel out of the equation nicely.Novice sequence: this one is trickier than it looks, right? On the 1st rep, you actually lead out too far – so you were stationary and then when he landed from 2 you accelerated, so he stayed on the line. Reps 2 and 4 were very similar (in a good way :)) – you were moving sooner so when he landed from 2, you slowed down and gave him a turn cue (shoulder turn and a little opposite arm, both very helpful) so he turned 🙂 Yay! I think rep 2 was a little earlier than rep 4, so the turn was smoother.
On rep 3 – you disconnected a bit on the way from 2-3, your arm got high and you looked forward – so he almost came off the line – you saw it happening and pushed him back out, but that showed motion to the off course jump.
Rep 2 was my favorite here: connected, nice timing on the turn cue! And great connection to the last jump. Yay!!Hi! So nice to see you back here 🙂 with both dogs this time!
>> It looks like skill set 4 and 5 are identical.
Oopsie! I just got over-eager 🙂 Sorry! It is just a duplicate.
>> Is it two rounds for skills and two rounds for sequences and two rounds for courses?
Yes, basically 2 rounds for everything you would like to tackle.
>>Do we have to submit all video for each skill or sequence or course at the same time? Or can we space out the skills etc. over a couple days, by doing a few each day?>>
You can (and should) totally space out all the training so as not to overwork the dogs. You are welcome to submit all the video at the same time, but I think it is better to submit it in pieces as you work through it.
T
Skill 6: This had really nice decel to the first wrap! And to the 2nd wrap! Now on both of them, you can turn and go before he takes off, even before he has fully passed you. Same with the around – you can leave before he takes off. He is being a really good boy with his commitment!!
Skill 7 – this one is my favorite so far 🙂 On jump 2 at :09 , you sent and left much betterm so he landed and hustled up the line! At :12 on the next wrap, you decelerated early and started rotating away before he took off – so he was tight and faster up the next line (no slowing down to get info!)
And you sent and left on the last backside – terrific! He was fastest on this so far!Skill 8 run 1 – ok this goes on my list of favorites now too haha! You were pushing harder on this one, leaving earlier – so he was confident of the lines and his speed came up. I am sensing a theme to help build the speed!
Run 2 was also good – you were getting into the groove of sending and leaving, so he was able to jump tight and then power up the next line.So, overall:
Your connection is really lovely on every.single.rep. That is quite an accomplishment to do all of these and not disconnect at all. YAY!!!!As I get to know Ivan, I see a big difference in his response when you push and trust, versus when you are a bit too careful. When you push to leave early and trust his commitment, he drives the lines so much better!
So… on the tight turns, add your deceleration in sooner: when he has landed from the previous jump, you can start decelerating while you move forward – and then trust his commitment and start to rotate away before he takes offand idealy before he passes you 🙂 Stay connected like you were. This will help us build speed and will also allow us to find out if he has any weaknesses or questions on his commitment skills (no problem if he does, we can train those).Great job!! Let me know if this makes sense 🙂
Tracy
Hi again!
Skill 3 1st rep:
You can start your turn sooner with decel at :09 and :13 on the wraps – when you are late on your turn, he slows down and doesn’t drive up the next line as fast – this is definitely a spot that we can easily tweak to get more speed 🙂 Trust his commitment more so you start turning before he takes off and the tighter turns will also lead to more speed!2nd rep – you decelerated on the way to the 2nd jump for the wrap (note how your strides go from big steps to little steps) and you were turned a little sooner: the deceleration helped him a lot! He turned tighter and powered out of the turn better (more speed!)
The turn on jump 3 didn’t have as much decel so he jumped longer there tooSkill 4: You had a little deceleration going on this one but didn’t turn until he lifted off at :08 and at :10, so he landed wide – when that happens, he doesn’t power back up the line, perhaps being a bit careful and waiting for more info. So we will definitely make it a priority to have you turn sooner (more on that below, I will summarize after watching the next set of clips :))
Hi Eileen and Ivan! Nice work on these, he is a really cool dog!!!!! Bearing in mind that you are looking for more speed, I looked at these from the perspective of adding speed 🙂 Your connection is super on all of these reps and he is driving off the line really nicely!!
Skill 1 red 1st & 2nd
Very nice send to the around, great connection! You can trust him more – as soon as he is heading to the backside wing, move off to the new direction. You helped more than he needed by putting your right arm between the uprights, so he slowed down and had to wait for you to move away 🙂 Trust him, stay connected like you were, and run forward (no need to help with the right arm there). The other thing to add is get him to chase you more for the reward – he is food motivated (so am I :)) so you can keep running til you get the cookie out then have him do some chasing of the cookie 🙂Skill 1 black 1:
His around is very nice! You can give him his around cue a little sooner, and also be a little further across the jump, letting him see the full wing. But, most importantly: cue it and leave and run 🙂 Your connection looks *terrific* so maintain that connection but you don’t need to help with the opposite serp arm or anything – send and leave so he chases you for the reward 🙂On your second rep you left sooner and he was faster. Good boy! If you leave your left arm back as you leave and maintain connection (like you did, it was great) then you won’t need to use your right arm as a serp arm – the right arm isn’t incorrect, per se, but it slows you down and he doesn’t appear to need it. So if you go faster, he will chase you more and go faster too 🙂
Skill 2 red & black: he is driving off the line nicely on both of these! You can add in a transition to get a tighter turn while maintaining his speed: as soon as you release him, accelerate in a big way for a few steps. Then right after he lands, decelerate (still moving forward, just slowing down) and then cue the turn. That deceleration will allow him to collect and drive out of the turn, plus it will allow you to turn even sooner. On these 2 reps, you drove forward for a little too long, so he jumped big and then had to turn on landing (which slowed him down).
I will scroll down and put the ideas for the other sequences just below them 🙂
Hi!
>>I think I don’t understand your comment about the stop-sign hand on the backside wrap.
That was exactly it, actually – the first one was late but the others were pretty much correct. And they accomplish their goal of getting more collection before takeoff… but not the goal of getting a tighter wrap/less slice. He is trying to get organized with his front feet but there are two elements missing: weight shift into his rear and turning his head (he doesn’t turn his head til he lands!) I think the weight shift into his rear is important but the head turn *before* takeoff is even more important – and that is what we will train. Happily, it is exactly what I am teaching my youngster so I will get it on video today and pass it along. If we can get the head turned, the body will follow.
>> I could use a prop (cone or plunger) but I don’t generally like to do that because the behavior disappears when the prop does.
I 100% agree with you here. I have simply not seen a prop teach the understanding so the behavior is gone when the prop is gone. I think teaching him to turn his head will get us started – and if that doesn’t produce the weight shit, there are other ways to produce that.
>>The one at :37 starts ok but he slips on his shoulder. This might explain why he is always slicing.
That was a moment of him trying to turn his head faster when he landed, but it didn’t work out for him. Poor guy!
He did a really admirable job on the zig zags – has he done them before? Most dogs take a while to sort it out 🙂 He didn’t have it perfectly yet – he had to think about it – but he did far, far better than just about every dog I have ever seen try these (including my own – I will show this video to my Voodoo haha!!) Next steps, on the slightly opened up grid, is more running from you. And maybe start with a tunnel 18 feet before it so he has more speed. Then eventually you can raise the bars a bit.
Keep me posted, and I will get that head turn video tonight for you!
TracyHi! Thanks for the update!!
>>Skills set 1: I did this exercise at first with the jumps only 10 feet away. My Bad.
We need you to be able to have time for your cues, so I suggest 18 feet or more 🙂 You can even play with 21 feet!
>>I used verbals with my younger dog but he seemed to relie on my body cues and motion more.
Mookie seemd to relie on my verbals as well as my body motion.>>That is pretty normal, I have seen that a lot with younger dogs versus more experienced dogs.
>>It was interesting doing this exercise from closer compared to when the jumps were further apart. There were less bars down with Mookie when the jumps were further apart, which to me says that my timimg was better with him when I had more time to think to give him cues.>>
Yes! When they were closer, he probably needed the info for jump 2 before he even got to jump 1 🙂 He is a big-striding, early-decision-making kind of guy 🙂
>>Masters 1: For both dogs I could lead out between jumps 3 & 4. I also ran with a lead out to jump 2. I found that my young dog Buddy really knows his lines as well as Mookie.
That is terrific! I love when young dogs understand lines 🙂
>>This course will be teaching me yet again that I need to show some, any motion to Mookie all the time on a course as well as verbals and be calm.>>
Ah yes! Keep moving and be calm – sounds so easy, right? hahaha
I tell myself to pretend to be calm, that seems to help 🙂Keep me posted, sounds like the boys are doing well!
Tracy
Good morning! These look really good, she is collecting so nicely 🙂 Yay for all the verbals too! Question – do you have a different verbal for backside wrap versus backside slice? That can help! See more below.
1st video:
wrap left – these look great! I like the exit line you are getting with the running rewards where she chases you and gets the holler roller on the run – it creates a nice line and she doesn’t jam into a stop. You did these on reps 3 and 4 and it looks great! Nice job with the verbals too 🙂right wraps – I think here and on the backside circles, she shows a slight preference for turning to her left? Is this something you have noticed? It is not a big preference and I only mention it because it can influence how we cue each turn. She is a little wider to the right, not as much organized collection before the takeoff. Not ugly, not problematic… but the left is just ever so slightly better. We can watch to see if there is a pattern in other sessions. Also, it could be the cue delivery – for example, on the 2nd rep – you were pretty stationary then exploded into movement, so the slow then fast might have created too much giddy up, causing her to collect less. So moving in and out with decel until collection then you get to run might help.
But overall… these wraps are just about perfect 🙂 One thing to play with – as you are moving into them and working connection, start the wrap cue (physical and verbal) directly to her eyes, then shift to the landing spot – that can help collection even more when coming in at full speed, and it will also set us up for the next frontier with her – being able to cue and strip out the connection element of looking behind you while you leave, but still getting commitment. Her commitment looks great so I think we can go to the next step 🙂 The reason for this is that we need to be able to handle her speed – she also turns well, which means you have even less time 🙂 So, to help with that, a Pose Handling Goal is to be able to disconnect and leave in certain situations so you can move more easily to the next important spot on course.
2nd video, backside wraps – on the first rep on each side where she went to the front – yes, the rewards for the front might have been fresh on her mind 🙂 And also using a little more leg to step to the backside, one step – can help.
She was better turning to her left here towards the end of the video, but it might have been due to the extra intensity of the connection used to cue the backside as well as your rotation (but, you were indeed rotated on the right wraps too!). On the right wraps, looking at :16 – it looks like you had your hand past the upright over the bar, so she sliced a little more than wrapped. I think the hand through the uprights over the bar stimulates the slice (presenting motion in that general area) so you can move that hand (right hand, in this case) to just before the entry wing so she passes it as she is heading to the wing, like a tiny stop sign – that has helped dogs set up the circle wraps better and they slice less. It is an element of the soft brake hand which she already reads so well. I also like it because it gets me out of there even sooner.
About the verbals – a backside wrap verbal versus a backside slice verbal can help too (or we can add a collection cue to a general backside verbal but I like distinct verbals better).Lovely work here! Let me know what you think! Fingers crossed for good weather ahead, we have had rain rain rain rain rain….
Tracy
Ah! I knew I recognized your face!!! She is definitely not looking like a beginner dog any longer, she looks great!!! And the 3 months off have not done any damage – you two look rested and sharp! Very cool to see!!!
T
Hi! I use iMovie to edit from my iPad, and then save them to the Photos section of the ipad. Then I use the YouTube app to upload them, and copy/paste the link here.
Hi!
I agree – Enzo has talent AND you are doing a great job with his training, so exciting times are ahead!
We have cold weather here, I can send it your way LOL!On the video:
On that first rep, you and I both said “OOH!!” at the same time!>> I included a slo-mo of that part but I don’t have to if you don’t need it.>
I am always happy to have slow motion!
I didn’t see anything in the handling that caused him to jump into the wing. Sure, you didn’t have to be *quite* as close to the entry wing, you can be further across the bar… but that would not be the cause. Connection, verbal… all fine. Based on how he pattered his feet as he was coming around the wing and then it looked like he pulled from his front and hoped for the best, and then on the next rep you were there to decelerate and shape his line (so he jumped it without a crash) – he doesn’t know how to get organized for this! My first recommendation is the zig zag grid – starting on 3 jumps then eventually going to 5 – and eventually adding height (not in these videos) – start off easy with the line pretty open so that he doesn’t have to add strides. Experiment with the distances so he can bounce. We can add motion and all of that too!
3rd rep was a FFC – he read the handling well! Your cues were timely, connection spot on! He still didn’t quite know how to organize the jumping, note his butt goes higher than his shoulders at :32 🙂
4th rep – in in – looked really nice!! His jumping effort seemed organized better on this one and also he did a great job executing the threadle even while you were moving forward 🙂
5th rep – backside circle: your timing and connection on the push were great, position was great, foot rotation was great, and you did a great job of ‘escaping’ up the next line as early as possible. One tweak to tighten it up: At :42, you put your right arm out over the bar (from the landing side) and he jumped pretty much on the center of the bar (not very tight). On the 6th rep at :50, you didn’t really have your arm over the bar, you left earlier but his turn was the same. So rather than put your right arm out over the bar (which promotes the wider turn) or use leaving sooenr to tighten it (not that leaving sooner is a bad thing LOL!), shift the position of that arm to the edge of the backside wing, so he is passing your hand like a little stop sign before he gets to the entry of the backside – that cues very tight collection 🙂 I have video of it that I will dig up for you!
7th – 11th rep – threadle wrap – I think the verbal is zip? I like it! On reps 7 & 8, you had the arm and verbal but all of your motion was forward to the facing side of the jump, so he couldn’t override it yet. Great job breaking it down to help him out and then on rep 11, you could do it from jump 1 again. You had a slightly different running line on rep 11 versus 7 & 8 – on 7 & 8 you were directly forward and on11 you more more lateral & parallel to his actual path. That running line really helped him out (plus you didn’t have as much motion/speed, which also helped).
Nice go rep!!! Good balance! And the on the last rep, you had more speed but kept most of the lateral line – and he did a great job! I think that line will be important on that cue.
Let me know what you think:
TracyHi!
>> So do you think I should set them up at 12 or 16? Thanks
Let’s try 16″ and see what he does 🙂
>>For the other sequences, 3 through 8,
# 3, so it on to 2 and you want him to go the right on 2 in order to get to 3 right?>>Yes – turn right on 2 then turn right on 3.
>>If that is a yes, then, I think I will be follow the others lol.
The arrows suggest the dog’s line – I was trying not to give toooo many hints about handling LOL!
Skill Set 8 Run 1
Skill Set 8 RUn 2
Skill Set 8 Run 3
The first rep on run 1 was really interesting! You were pulling towards the right turn, and she read the pull of your shoulders as a set up for the switch away. It looks like your shoulders were facing the same direction as the switch cue you used on the Skill 6 Run 2 video, so try to keep your shoulders turning (your right here cue was good, she was reading something in the body language).
2nd rep and 3rd reps, they were really similar – you had a REALLY nice shoulder turn here at the beginning and she read the cue for 2 nicely on both. You were a little late on the FC there, but I think it was because you were being sure to get the turn in the correct direction (she gave some opinion on it LOL!)
Great connection going into 3 on both reps! You can give her a little bit of deceleration to tighten up that turn even more. Very nice independent backside at the end!So overall – terrific job! She does best when you are really connected and your arm is back. She is also great at commitment, so you can play with decelerating and turning sooner for these – I bet she will let you get out of there really early!
You are off to a fabulous start! Let me know what you think!
TracySkill Set 6 Run 1
Skill Set 6 Run 2
This one was fun! The first run had a good switch the left and then you switched it up to the right on the 2nd run. On that 2nd run – your first switch looked great! Physical cues were on time. Yo ucan give her the switch verbal sooner (give it at the same time as the physical cues), it was happening while she was already jumping.
On jump 3 (the 2nd switch) – you gave a big pull (towards the teeter) so at :04 she thought she was turning right. She heard & saw the switch cues over the bar, so turned her head and turned to her left when she landed. So you can give her those cues earlier (I think when she is halfway between 2 and 3 should be fine) and because she is so responsive, you don’t need as much pull towards the teeter – comparing it to the switch on jump 2, she didn’t need any pull there at all to set up the rear cross.
