[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

The blinds are going well! These tight blinds do feel weird at first 🙂 and muscle memory is going to want to do a spin. You were doing a great job on these, turning the correct direction and she was reading them really nicely! The main suggestion on these is how to connect on the exit: try not to catch her with connection on the dog-side arm. Instead, have the dog-side arm back so she can see your face. I accomplish that by having the reward across the body. The toy is in the hand next to her before the blind, so it is then shown across your stomach as you finish the turn. that drops the dog side arm back and opens the connection which makes the blind very clear. You had the reward in the dog side arm after the blind, so she was exiting wide. You can see it at :10 and :26 when your back was to the camera – she is not sure of where the connection is as she exits the wing, so she drifts a little wide until she sees the line and toy. You can get it tighter, sooner, with the dog-side arm back (not being used as part of the reconnection) and more eye contact. When you put a tight blind in the bigger circle at :57, you had more eye contact and she immediately turned tighter 🙂 And later in the big runs, compare it to 1:39 where you were looking back but your dog-side arm was high and out to the side, so she couldn’t see the connection as well and ended up drifting wide.

I think she did like the race tracks!!! She is giving good feedback on the cues – when she could see motion and connection, she was super fast! When she couldn’t see enough connection, she would look up and slow down. an example is when she was on your left exiting the tunnel at :42, your arm was low so she could see connection and there was a lot of motion, she drove with a lot of confidence! At :46, you turned forward with a higher arm, so connection was not as clear, so she looked up and slowed down. On the last big race track, she was really good about responding to the turns versus the big race tracks! One thing to try on these is to not use your arms on the are tracks when you are moving along the line – you can shift to pumping your arms and just running with connection. Then you can incorporate a send to the middle wing, then pump arms and run back down to the tunnel. That can help her read the lines with more speed and also get you even further ahead while still showing motion, while also adding in big sends!

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Ah, perfect about that c/t head turn game for the RCs! It is a great training game for so many different things: stays, rears, isolating the head, etc. I am sure it will help! Fingers crossed that the rain goes way fast!

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!!

>>Funny how I think I’m doing the right thing until I have someone with your good eye to point out the minute handling details that can make it better!

You are doing so much right, and that is why we can dive into the minute details 🙂 Agility is a game of tiny details to obsess on LOL!

>>It’s one thing to know that you need to keep connection, and actually doing it?

I know that when I was learning about connection, I originally thought of it as a this vague thing – but not I think of it as a very specific handling cue (where to look. when to do it and how to do it) which helped me keep connection. There are also times where we *don’t* have to stay connected (whew!) stay tuned for more on that soon 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! He looks like he is moving much better!!!

On the FC exit line connections –
Your line of motion (close to the wing then directly back to the tunnel) looked great and so did your exit line connection!!! He knew exactly where to drive to after the turn!!
I agree that he landed out long on the jump on the first several reps – that was mainly a timing thing: you were facing forward and moving forward til he took off, so he made a jumping decision to jump long based on that. In the week 2 work, I added in transitions which are mainly about decelerating while he is maybe one stride our of the tunnel and looking at the jump so you can rotate and run the new direction as he passes you and before he takes off. That will change his takeoff decision and he will jump nice and tight. You were earlier on your deceleration at :30 and you had your verbal going so that was the nicest rep!! On the wraps, as you play with the timing of the transitions, have the bar super low. The low bar will allow for more reps while still honing your timing – but will save his shoulders if he lands long. Then when you are comfy with the transition timing, you can raise the bar again. A 26″ bar requires early info for a tight turn, plus 26″ jumping is really hard on the dog, so I like to rehearse on low bars before bringing them back up.

The driving ahead looked GREAT! I love how you put yourself further and further behind – but stayed connected and he confidently drove ahead. Yay!! The last couple of reps were great!!!!

Well done! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

Hi!
The 12 hour drive was brutal, I am looking forward to flying again LOL!

On the video –
The first rep with the FC looked good – I think you can accelerate into it more to show the transition better – she had a little question at :09 because the fast – to – slow was not that as obvious so she was surprised when you rotated. Nice exit line connection!

2nd and 3rd reps- lap turn – two little suggestions – call her before the tunnel so she comes out looking for you more and then use your leg (the one closer to the jump) to help draw her back and through the turn – you connected but then flipped her away and she had to think hard about committing as you left – setting the turn with your leg will help her turn before you leave.

4th and 5th rep – throw back – I think a transition will be smoother here – you can be moving forward as you slow down, then rotate to throw back. She was looking at you here waiting for a commitment cue, and I think the motion forward will help – and then the arm cue can come as you rotate. At :34, you had the arm cue up as the first element so it looked like a tandem turn for a moment. One other thing to consider – the decel wil help you turn your feet, so you can already be facing the new direction on the throw back which makes the exit line connection smoother because you won’t have to spin as fast 🙂

At 1:24 you went back to the lap turn but this can also have a clearer transition – she is reading your motion but deceling and rotating earlier to face her and draw her to your lap turn hand will make it look pretty different than the throw back.

Blind cross sequence: at 1:37 you had great exit line connection on the blind! Yay! You can now start it sooner so it is finished one stride earlier 🙂 I think she will commit nicely – when she exits the tunnel, cue the jump and when she looks at it, slide into the blind. That will allow you to finish it sooner which then gives you more time to decelerate into the spin after it – she caught up pretty quickly at 1:38 so she had to go around you. Great exit line connection after the spin!

On the shifting connection sequences – it was a little hard to see where you were looking from this angle – but the turns were nice on the spin at 1:51 and FC at 2:00! I think you can move out of the FC sooner – as she is passing you, start moving forward, rather than waiting til she lands. Great exit line connection on both!
On the wrap to the other side of 3 – leading out more laterally will help yo get the BC started before she enters the tunnel so you will be finished with it before she exits – you were a little late there, which made the spin a little late starting. But you got outta there really fast and had great exit line connection, so the wrap was lovely!
On the FC – I would say that cue is too soft for her at 2:15 – you had a soft outside arm cue but she was wide on the FC. So, a bigger transition into decel and more connection to her eyes will help her collect more. Unless you were trying to cue an in? It is hard to make out the verbal cue.
Same thing at 2:20 – you were there and rotated but she was a little wide – so try shifting more directly to her eyes, including your hand lower and on the takeoff side of the bar to see if she can collect more – then as soon as she passes you, move forward to the tunnel rather than wait til she lands.
At 2:28 you had a better in cue! You can get it even tighter by calling her name before the previous jump rather than saying jump – the jump verbal is not really an attention verbal or a turn verbal, but a strong name call will get her ready for the turn cue for sure!
And at 2:29, this is where you can use your inside leg to help set up the turn before you leave – you left fast without setting the turn, so she hit the wing of the jump then dropped the next bar (you were looking forward there, not as connected as you normally are). You were more connected on that line at 2:43, but as funny as this might sound… move more slowly through those lap turn type crosses LOL!!! They work best when set on the flat before indicating the jump, and by leaving so quickly, she needed to set it by herself on the jump.

On the bigger sequence at: this is a spot to drive into the tunnel more in the opening, so you can show transition on the wrap at 4 at 2:57 and 3:13 and 3:30 rather than being decelerated already when she exited the tunnel. Also, keep driving forward on the line to the wrap wing – you were pulling at at 3:46 so she wasn’t sure if she should commit to it. All that will tighten then turn on the blind or the FC, whichever you choose there 🙂 And then I think the staying in decel bit you at 3:05 where she didn’t read the turn and ended up in the tunnel. By cuing the big lines while decelerated, she missed the turn cue – so make sure you power into acceleration for a couple of steps before decelerating then shifting connection to her eyes. You definitely had more transition and shifted connection to her eyes more at 3:18 and 3:36 in that spot and got a really nice turn 🙂 Yay! At 3:52 she read the turn but you did not shift to her eyes, so it was not as tight as the other reps – good to know that the shift to her eyes with your hand on the takeoff side is very effective!!

So now to answer you question about this course:

>>For the last course, what’s the decision process to determine the best handling? I tried two options. The BC seemed to get me further up the line. Also, if I’m trying to time both options to see which is faster, how much of the course do you include for effective evaluation?
>>

My decision making process is about which turns my feet to the next line sooner: FC or BC? So on the turn on 4-5, the FC will turn my feet to the 5 jump sooner than the BC will. So I basically ask my feet! And then you can confirm it by timing it, I generally time starting from the previous line to at least one or two more jumps after it, to get the full picture 🙂

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>I wonder if time wise it would be faster to slow and take off closer to the mump and get a tighter turn or jump the way she does ?>>

You can try it different ways and time it to be sure! Generally the good turns are faster because there is less yardage and the dogs don’t have to re-balance and turn again on landing.
I think there is a specific style for each dog to get the best turns, we just have to figure it out – for her, I think it is a combo of very direct eye contact and stopping your motion (from wherever you are :)) Here are details:

Looking at the tunnel sends on the 1st 2 sequences. – your body language looked identical (you were running away to the far end of the tunnel on both) so I can see why she chose the same end. 2 things that will help answer the question of when to let go (which I take to mean as when to give the ‘forward’ cue such as go tunnel) – 1 thing to remember is to make the cues look distinctly different, like driving the different lines. The other is to watch her head – only give a forward cue when she is looking the direction you want her to go. Otherwise, keep handling the turn to get her to look the direction you want.
So the main thing on the tunnel entries here is to run directly at them for longer rather than pull away. You had better connection on the next 2 reps but then you pulled your shoulder away at :28 and turned away from it, so she didn’t take it. You used the same body language at :36 and did flip her back to it so she took the tunnel but she said a curse word LOL!
On the serp at :38 and the push at :45, try to connect back to her more – you were looking forward at the jump a bit, so she barked and had a question on the line.
Nice job on the shifting connection at :48! I really liked the turn!!! And it set you up for a really nice turn on the next jump too at :50!!!
On the FC wrap at :55 – One thing to try is as you shift connection, also stop moving – moving backwards overrides the rotation so she was a little wide there. Your timing and connection were good but that one or two steps back (along with your right arm moving back) propelled her a bit too much. Nice exit line connection at :57 there and you drove a great line back to the tunnel!
On the next rep at 1:03, I was surprised that she had a better turn even though you were moving backwards more… but it was because you had a guide there LOL!!! So… don’t use a guide, let her give you feedback on the handling 🙂 You were moving backwards there too so the turn would not have been as good without the guide 🙂 You drove out to the tunnel with great exit line connection and running line there!
On the RC rep – you can still make the strong connection to her eyes and stop moving on the RC line – this one had a lot of swoosh so she was a bit wider than she can be on these.
On the very last rep, you did a great job of stopping your motion! You shifted connection to the landing spot, and it was a little too much propulsion – so shifting to her eyes plus stopping your motion should be the right combo!

Nice work! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! You are not a slacker, you’ve been busy!!

The first video was overall super lovely!! I have a few tiny obsessive details 🙂 Exit line connection on the FC and the spins looked great! When you do the week 2 sequences with the shifting connection, play with a stronger connection to see if he can collect more. You shifted to the landing spot on the FC and I think we should try shifting to your hand to shifting to his eyes and see what he does.
The speed circle on seq 3 looks great! On the serp, the exit line connection arm can come a little later and actually, I think you can start to fade it – do a tiny arm cue and lots of eye contact. You did it really well and he reads it really well, so we can fade the exaggerated arm cue because your eyes and shoulders are in the right place 🙂

Video 2 – this was a good one to work out the FC exit line connection! You are correct, on the first rep you had the toy in the right spot but think of it as showing it to him and not just putting it on your hip. When you did that on the next 2 reps – he easily found the correct side. Yay! You were thinking about out so you were a little late on the FCs, but the showing-him-the-toy for the exit line connection really helped him see the line!

Video 3 – Seq 5 – this went well (until you started second guessing yourself, but even then you maintained connection nicely!!) Opening looked great and your ‘soft brake’ on 3 looked GREAT! On the FC on 4: when you do the week 2 shifting connection, try shifting more to his eyes on the FCs. And then show him the toy on the exit line connections and I think you’ll get a super tight turn. I know you kinda forgot the rest, but great job staying connected even when you were not sure if you were heading the right way!

Video 4 – Connection was great on both reps! On the first rep you got a little far ahead so he was parallel but didn’t have time to get ahead. On the 2nd rep, you planned really well to help set up p driving ahead… but he slipped in the tunnel so you ended up ahead LOL! You can start closer to the jump and send him away from the tunnel on it to do a FC then run in closer to the tunnel to make it easier to drive ahead. Or, maybe use a short tunnel so he doesn’t have as much yardage.
Great job here!! I am looking forward to shifting the connection on turns in week 2!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

He seemed to do really nicely with the distractions, and did a great job holding his stay while you reset the bar! Baby dog is growing up and doing adult stuff!!!

He is doing a great job on his lines!! Nice job on the opening speed circle – you can lead out more to establish a bit more connection before the release, otherwise it was perfect. The 2nd sequence was lovely too – the bar at the end was just you stopping short to throw the reward, so remember to run through the last jump for longer, for at least one more stride past landing. The last rep looked great too! He is really appreciating the connection and driving those lines so nicely!! You can try these on taller bars and see if it feels different in terms of the timing and such. Otherwise, onwards to the turns and exit line connections 🙂
Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

Sorry to hear about the crazy week and bad weather, but I am glad you got out to play! These are good choice for Tilly because they strongly put her into handler focus then ask for commitment – hard!!!!

These are hard skills for the dog because turning away is not natural for them. You did a GREAT job of connecting down to your hand on these so she wears driving right in to you. Nice!!! Looking at the reps where she was successful with committing versus the ones where she had questions – it was more about the legs than the arms. On the reps where you stepped forward too early with your outside leg by stepping forward with the outside/opposite leg before she was fully turned (:04, :19, :36

On the reps where you stepped back with the leg under your magic cookie hand, turned her and THEN stepped forward, she got the turn every time: :09, :27, :42, 1:13.

Also, she did better on the reps where you were facing her rather than when you were more facing the jump – I think on those reps where you were facing her, your footwork was more patient so the timing of the step forward was good.

On one rep she thought it was a throwback (:49) because you connected with the outside arm then switched to the arm closer to the jump – but by then she was committed to the slice. Good girl, that was an excellent choice because when I first met her, she might have barked at you and not committed to anything in that moment 🙂 At 1:02 you had a similar move but switched to your inside hand sooner and were patient with your feet – nice commitment and turn!!!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

OMG I need to gt to Walmart now and go to the boys section!! Running pants with pockets are like gold 🙂

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Getting the low arm and all of the little details takes practice, this connection stuff is probably a bit different in feel – I see you working it and it gets smoother each time! You are doing a great job, it is easy for me to see the successes!

The first video was all the FCs – I think your hands were good here! It is informational in terms of what helps her the most!
Rep 1 was good, it looked like a shift of connection to the landing spot, a softer connection. Rep 2 was also a softer connection but a little later, so she took off early. Rep 3 had the connection shifting very strongly to her, she said perhaps it was a little strong but definitely helpful for a better turn! On rep 4 and 5, I think you unlocked the right amount of cue for her – it looks like it was definitely towards her eyes and very clear! Those were both really nice turns. Also you were making very clear connection on the exit so that exit lines looked good too!

2nd video, spins: picking up where you left off shifting connection to her eyes on the FC – these start the same way as a FC would start. I think you were saying you were too abrupt and needed to be smooth like a fresh jar of Skippy? Lol!
Your conversations were so funny!
Yes, you were beginning to shift more strongly to her eyes and it really helps – the last rep was fabulous!!! And it might feel abrupt because it is a very strong connection but dang she likes it and turns so nicely!

3rd video – throwback – you had great shifting connection to her eyes (and more good conversation LOL!) – after you connect to her eyes and see her collect, don’t need to then shift to the landing spot – you can start to just move forward to the next line without looking back at the landing spot. At :41 and at 1:07, you shifted connection directly to her and did less looking back at the landing – you can probably strip out looking back at landing event more! The connection to her eyes like that is also the commitment cue, I bet she will commit without you needing to then also support the landing spot. She is a smaller version of my Voodoo (the big black dog) who needs the connection directly to his eyes but no support of the landing spot.

You mentioned not liking your arms on these, but I think your arms were great – low so she could see the connection, but also natural so you could move freely. Yay!

Sequence video:
1st run: you risked your life in the name of connection and almost took out a jump! LOL! You were beautifully connected – you can mark your running line off the tunnel exit, lining yourself up to the outside edge of it, so you can stay connected and end up in the right spot. Other than that – great connection on the lines! And you can start your decel transition into the FC sooner – as she is in the air over the jump before the FC, you can start slowing down to then slide into the connection shift to her eyes when she lands.

2nd run – this was also really nice, so we can obsess on the little details: you were in a good spot on the bubble for the jump after the tunnel, so you probably don’t need the outside arm to help the jumping effort on it – which frees you to up to use it help with the connection shift when she lands. Then, to be able to get to the spin after the tunnel – your lower body can be leaving for the jump and upper body staying connected to cue the send to the tunnel, so you end up running less to the tunnel and more to the wrap jump. You don’t need to stay within the bubble for the tunnel send and I think the good connection shift to her eyes on the jump after the tunnel will solve any bubble issues 🙂

She did well on the wrap at :46! We can challenge her commitment skills now: as soon as she passes your feet, there is nothing more you can do… so move forward out of the wrap to show the line to the tunnel. This is harder for her to maintain commitment but I think she can do it! You mentioned needing better exit line connection there and leaving forward sooner will give you the time to do it. When she jumps tight and efficiently like she did there, you won’t have a lot of time to reconnect so leaving early helps.

3rd run: you are really mastering the connection! For the FC, anticipating the landing from the previous jump will help you slow down into it, so the collection cue will be earlier and she will be tighter. And on the wrap after the tunnel, you got there beautifully! As soon as she has the commitment…. giddy up 🙂 You are waiting til she lands before you leave, but you can leave before she takes off.

4th run: you started your transition earlier for the FC so she saw the decel sooner – already a tighter turn. Yay! You are getting to the wrap perfectly so I will keep bugging you to leave sooner and not watch her land there (you can see her landing, but it shoulder be after the blind part of the spin :))

5th run – I call this a ‘comparison’ run: you were a little later on the wrap cues so she was wide, and you did landing spot connection on the spin – definitely wide 🙂 You can totally reward that – she was following the cues perfectly. Compare it to run 6 – you had the earlier decel into the FC and the connection to her eyeballs on the spin – so much tighter! yay!!!

Who knocked over the camera at the end? LOL!!

So overall – your arms are looking good: low and natural! Don’t worry about them too much 🙂 Connection to her eyes is the way to go on the tight turns, but you can leave sooner rather than wait to see her landing.

I didn’t want to jinx it while watching and typing the comments… but her jumping effort on ALL the videos looked great, there was only one big takeoff and that was on a late cue. You are definitely getting close to your goal of commitment with a good jumping form too! YAY!!!!

Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! I am so excited that Wilson gets to jump 20! Does that mean 16 when he is in his senior years? So cool!

So about the verbals – I think trying to all ALL the verbals is brutal. Maybe just concentrate on the 2 or 3 you think at most important, such as wraps? That way you can integrate them without obsessing 🙂

First video – very nice opening run! You are emphasizing connection and she is picking it up beautifully. So back to verbals – you can add your connection verbal here to support the connection. Nice exit line connection!
2nd run – you were super connected but the transition into the turn didn’t have enough acceleration into it: you were a bit decelerated then smelled on the brakes. I think she said a bad word there! LOL!!
3rd rep – you needed up a bit too far up the line which made the turn a little late – so the bar came down.
Wow, nice job on the lap turn!!! The connection in and out of them looked great!! My only suggestion on those is to quickly call her name before she enters the tunnel, so she exits turned and looking for you rather than looking for a line. You were calling her but it was after she was exiting.
One more thing to add now that your connections are getting so solid: more running on the line! You were emphasizing connection so you were not moving as much as you can on the opening lines. You can add more acceleration (as long as you keep connected) and that will actually help the commitment to the FCs and the spin jump: you will be accelerating more so then the transition from acceleration to decel will be clearer which will help commitment.

On the throw back video – bearing in mind that you and she are so excellent at the lap turns, that is harder to get the throwbacks! When you leaned in on the first rep, it did indeed look like the lap turn. But when you were more upright and shifted your connection to the landing spot – perfect. Nice rewarding to get it started!!! Then is was easy. As with the lap turns, a quiet name call before she enters the tunnel will help her exit looking for your line.

I love that she has gotten sassy and is adding bad words to her vocabulary 🙂 It is a sign that she is really loving the game with you – you have worked hard to develop it and it is so cool to see it!!!!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
A couple of general thoughts as she continues to find new gears of speed! Her commitment is looking really good so we are now in the phase of keeping you moving more aggressively up the lines (because she is going to move aggressively regardless of what you do, and keeping you in motion and showing connections will allow you to drive the sports car :))

One thing is to be sure to take a moment and praise her before the stay release, I think she might have been trying to anticipate some releases and you do not want to lose the stay on such a fast dog 🙂
The other is to use your time wisely on course while she is independently doing a line, like sending to a tunnel, so you can get to the next spot (this is in keeping with our “watch less run more” theme from earlier this week LOL!). One the earlier reps it is about accelerating to the next spot for a tight turn, but on the later reps where you had the speed circles going, it is more about keeping in motion, using motion to help commit her and not getting to one spot for too long.

Also, try to exaggerate the arm-across-the-body for exit line connection, it will help you get the turns AND keep moving.

Here are more specifics:
On the FCs – use the time while she is in the tunnel to accelerate to the next spot, so your transition can start as she exits and you will be in a great position. Connection was good at :06 but you decelerated too soon then had to swoosh her to the jump and ended up a bit off the line for the send back to the tunnel, so she was a little wide.
Same with the spin at :22 – you were standing still and then trying to spin really fast as she was exiting the tunnel. She had some opinion on that and looked at you and said some bad words LOL!
Staying in motion while you are sending to the tunnel also keeps you in motion more which makes it easier to drive the big lines on bigger courses.

On the speed circle line, this is a place to strategize moving in closer to the tunnel so you can move out of it – not too much but just staying in motion. At :37 you ended up standing still on landing of 3, which makes it harder to rotate so she looks at you and barks. Then on the serp ending, you reconnected late and realized the train was coming right at you at :40 LOL! So as you move up the line to the serp jump, because to lock eyes to the tunnel exit: if you look away and then try to look back, you will be surprised by the red train bearing down on you and the exit line connection will be late (1:06). On that wrappy exit there, showing the exit line connection before she takes off will help set the turn on landing.
Then… Keep running LOL at 1:22, I totally felt your terror (I feel it with Contraband and Voodoo) – so keep running away and toss the reward so you don’t get hit LOL!

On the blind at 1:33 she doesn’t need a send if you are moving up the line and then you can start the blind even sooner! And, especially because she is young, be sure to really exaggerate the exit line connection: at 1:34 you had the reward in your right arm (dog side arm) so she didn’t see the new connection. The reward in the left arm there and being shown across your body will help get the new side even if you are late.
When you did get the correct side at 1:56 and 2:14 with the dog-side arm, you were having too shake it and over-rotate, which causes you to stop moving which can cause trouble on bigger courses
Check out the opening of the last rep: you got in motion, stayed in motion , and had a great opening line including nice turns!!! You also easily got ahead of the speedster there for the blind before the tunnel 🙂 On that last blind at 2:42 were trying to pick her up with the dog side arm – which causes you to stop moving forward and over rotate so she came a little close to the off course tunnel entry. That is another spot to emphasize the exit line connection.

“You don’t need more treats”. -that cracked me up 🙂

It might seem hard to figure out where to keep running in closer to the line and where you should leave her to accelerate to the next line – my general rule of thumb is to send and leave when I need to get somewhere to set up tight turns (like the FC and the Spin at the beginning) and when I need to commit to a line and do a softer cross (like the blinds later on) then I can drive in a little deeper. Playing with these variations will help you sort out what she needs and when she needs them, kind of like developing her own handling system.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
One of my favorite things is to obsess on gauging lines in small dog handling (totally different than big dog handling!). This first sequence gives me a good opportunity for obsessing for Wilder LOL!!
I think that he does better when you have 2 things happening:
You send him away on the big tunnel lines to get closer the line on the tight turns
And verbals, he likes verbals a lot 🙂
On the FCs – your connections were all great! Regular connection, exit line: fabulous. By driving to the tunnel, you were not as close to the line in the FC so he had to send into it – that was a little harder for him to read. At :09 he ticked the bar and was a little wide on the exit. At :23 the verbals totally helped him! He had a little question on the way to the jump but the exit was super nice. At :37 he was a little wider, trying to find the exit line connection with you pretty far away. Now, contrast that to the first spin rep at :47 where you moved to the jump more: lovely! He didn’t seem to have any questions. But when you hung back at 1:01 – he collected nicely (verbals and transition were clear!) but he was not sure about the exit line so he hesitated rather than power out of the turn.
So, based on his feedback 🙂 In this scenario, you can try sending to the tunnel more so you can get closer to the turn jump (FC or spin) and get the best of both worlds – tight turn in and tight turn out of it. You can still make the nice transitions that you had, but it will be a bit further ahead of him rather than sending him into it.

On the speed circle moments, your connection looked lovely! Keep moving on the tunnel exit 1:18 (he knew you deceled so he came out turned) but other than that, your connection looked great.

At 1:47 and 1:59, on the blind – you were close to the line so he read it all nicely, he just needs the blind to start sooner so you are showing exit line connection when he lands. You were starting it as he took off – you were impressively quick with your new connection (wow!!! I aspire to be able to turn my head that fast!)
but it was still a step late starting so he was wide. Start it before he gets to the entry wing of the jump so he can see it as he is taking off.
He had a little question at 1:50 when he landed from the jump after the BC jump – that is a spot to keep your arm a little further back as you leave and you can start the verbals sooner to lock him onto the line. On the next rep at 2:03, you had more connection and a slightly earlier jump cue, so he powered out better.

Very nice opening to the next sequence – great connection 1-2 and he never looked at the tunnel behind you. This is another gauge the line moment – you drove in deeper to the tunnel entry at 2 so it was hard to get back up the line to the blind (he was flying!). You can lead out less and then send him to the tunnel, which should position you perfectly for the blind. The exit line connection on the blind is the magic to getting the nice turn, so we can strategize to make it easier to get there and start it. The cool thing about your strong exit line connection, though, is that he finds the right lines even when you are a little late – nice job getting the connection then carrying on so nicely to the end!
You made a clever adjustment on the last sequence to gauge the line: rather than try to foot race him to the blind (we humans ALWAYS lose the foot races haha), you handled with a rear cross and it worked beautifully! He saw the connection very clearly and he could think about his line and jumping. Nice! I am not sure if it is faster in terms of course time than a good blind would be – so you should totally try more of a tunnel send and see if you can time the blind sooner and we can compare 🙂

Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! It is fun to try out these different tools with her!!! Your shifting connections were really strong here, she was responding beautifully.

First run – lovely speed circle opening line! You were a bit too early on the wrap cue at :07 – you were rotating and had your arm up as she exited the tunnel causing you to run backwards, it was kind of like hitting the brakes on a sports car – she responded immediately. Note the difference on the 2nd run – at :22 you had a the fast forward – slow forward – rotate transition and she nailed it! Nice! She said she liked the info on the 3rd rep even better: at :38 you had your outside arm up sooner which caused you to decel sooner and look at her more directly and sooner: her turn was even tighter.
Nice job on the lap turns at :49 and 1:00 and 1:09! You both did a great job especially considering it is a new tool!! Two suggestions to smooth it out: call her right before she enters the tunnel so she exits expecting the turn. And, look down at your hand more – it will draw her right in and make it easier to turn her away.

I also had a big chuckle of how she was all leaning forward in her stay at :56 – game on! Or she was caught in the act of sniffing the ground. LOL!

At 1:25, I can see why she thought it was a lap turn and drove so confidently back to the tunnel 🙂 She had just gotten a whole bunch of rewards for going that way! And as you sent her back for the throw back move, you did lean in ever so slightly towards her, so it read as lap turn. At 1:33 it was smoother for sure – when you send her back on the throw back, try not to step towards the jump bar, just step backwards one step and use your arm and eyes to look at the landing spot, more like what you did at 1:44. Her commitment looks GREAT because there is so much rotation/countermotion on these and the lap turns and the FC – yet we are just sorting out how tight to turn her, rather than trying to convince her to commit. Happy dance!!

On the blind crosses – yes, finding the small dogs after a blind is NOT easy (it is so much easier to see the big dogs). What you are doing is a little bit of a shoulder dip and you are looking directly down – it looks really good on the exit of the blind and the spin on the next jump! Having your dog-side arm a little further back as you dip your dog-side shoulder down should help you see her even more there. The other thing that will make it more comfy is to start the blinds sooner: when she exits the tunnel here and you see the small blur heading to the jump – do the blind. You were waiting a little bit longer to make sure she was committed, which made the blind a little late (2:19 is a good example of that) and then it is harder to reconnect on time. It will challenge her commitment a bit – but your motion and verbal will support the jump. The goal is to start early enough so that you finish the blind in time to see her jumping. The trick with the smaller dogs to help get commitment is to stay closer to the line – I thought you were doing this really nicely, so you can play with starting the blind just after you see her exit the tunnel – as long as you keep moving along that nice line and using your jump verbal.

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

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