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Hi! I totally feel your pain about the shorter days – boohoo!!! I like summer!!!!!
He did really well here – nice form, hind end tracking nicely behind the front end. I think he might be a tiny bit too far from jump #1 so it is hard to organize for the liftoff and he is landing a little short (close to the bar) especially on jump 1 It is a game of inches, so maybe try to have him sit 3 or 4 inches closer to the first jump? That can help him land more evenly in each space.
We are building on this soon – he is looking lovely!
T
Hi!
>>This was definitely fun once I sorted out what I was doing.
Ha! It definitely is harder for us handlers than it is for the pups LOL!!
>> The tip in the video to hold the toy in the hand closest to the dog as you start and then just keep swinging it around to cross across your body for the exit line connection helped alot…until I did 2 in a row and realized I hadn’t switched hands on the toy!>>
I should have told everyone my secret: 2 toys, one in each hand LOL!
>>So I had always thought that blind crosses tended to cue extension so using them on a wrap was a bit counter-intuitive. Or is it if you start them soon enough and keep rotating around that it helps keep you in motion as you get out of dodge?>>
Blind crosses are amazing tools for tight turns (double blinds in threadles are SO FUN). The key to blind versus front is which gets your feet turned to the next line sooner – and in many cases it is indeed the blind. The key is timing (early, as you mentioned, but it is the same timing as we would need on a FC so it is not that hard), connection (the arm across the body is key) and verbals. I plan on doing more with the pups, and just added the Blazing Blinds class because blinds are misunderstood and feeling neglected haha!!
You can already see the tight blinds percolating on the first part of your video: the goal is to be finished before he gets to the wing and reward across your body. I personally try to keep my hands in tight to my body so they don’t swing out wide – it makes me quicker through the blinds.
In particular, look at the rep that started with the wrap to the tunnel at 1:12: at 1:17 you nailed the blind and he collected AND accelerated through the turn. YES! And it was tight 🙂 The reps that were wider were just you sorting out timing and where to put your arms 🙂 Overall I think this is going to be a really lovely tool!On your first race track, try to keep moving on the left cue in the center – you decelerated and turned forward a bit, so he almost didn’t take the next wing. You kept moving beautifully on the next rep to the right and he really drove the line – yeeeeehaw!
Great job incorporating the blinds on the 3rd run! Fun! He is reading them perfectly (nice connection from you!) so you will be able to get them earlier and earlier to get them even tighter. You can start messing with the timing by moving towards them and cuing the wing after he exits the tunnel – and when you see him looking at it and maybe halfway to the wing, you can start the blind. Motion plus the verbal should support it.
On your next race track to the left – you kept moving and you were connected and he was very smooth! Nice!!
And yes, he loved that frizzer LOL!!
Great job on these!
TracyHi!
The Go looks good on all the go reps! Fast and fun!
On the rear crosses, you are a little late 🙂 Watch your feets: as he exits the the barrel, you are stepping backwards away from it laterally, then rotating to face fully forward, taking 2 or 3 steps straight… then getting onto the RC line. So on most of the reps, he isn’t really seeing the RC info until after he has gotten to the bar – note how he is on the center of the bar and trying to figure out where to look. You were earlier on the rep at :50 and 1:04 and 1:08 and he was turning better. 1:35 was my favorite RC rep here – you were the earliest at getting onto the RC diagonal, so note how he is turned before takeoff and on the exit side of the bar. Yay!
So as he is exiting the barrel, stay close to it and try not to step back – and as you rotate, point your feet to the center of the bar so your hips don’t square up to the straight ‘go’ line at all… then as he is done with the wrap, accelerate to the center of the bar, very close to his floofy butt 🙂 As he accelerates ahead, you can cut in behind and you should see him approaching the jump already turned the new direction. And mix in tons of go go go lines so he maintains the driving ahead. Let me know if that makes sense! I think it will be an easy adjustment 🙂T
Hi! He did really well with you all the way out on the 5th wing! It involves a lot of body awareness from him and a quick handling dance from you – he was giving you some really lovely slicing approaches, quick feet!! He lost his rhythm a little on the shift to his right in the middle so the exaggerated handling at 1:30 really emphasized it and helped him, so he got it. Yay!! And yes, he might have just been fatigued by the end – he wasn’t quite as snappy on the intervals he did get right, so it was fine that he missed some. For the next session – yes stretch them out but go to 3 wings at 6 feet apart. That will set him up perfectly for the next level of this when it gets added.
Great job!
TracyHi!
>>I loled at the thought of Lazlo having a personal epiphany hahahaha!>>
His attitude made me laugh too! I don’t know a ton about pointy dogs, but it appears they have these personal epiphanies between sessions. My Contraband had an epiphany about collection today – impressive! I don’t know who taught him how to do what he was doing – my plan was to use the session to teach him – but he just knew. Pointy dogs! LOL!!
On the send’n’serps… I watched the video straight through to see if there was a pattern. I think he was having a case of the “Go Fasts” (also a pointy dog thing) where he was not really thinking about the jump, but rather thinking about going fast to the RT (because you were also going fast LOL!) Your handling looked good, so 2 ideas for you to help him as you add speed, because we want you to be able to go fast:
– angle the serp jump ever-so-slightly so that as he comes around the wing, he can see the jump bar more. The exit wing of the jump will move away from you and the entry wing will move a little towards you. It will still be serpy but the bar will be more obvious, and you can just run like you did. If he still questions, make the bar more obvious by turning it to face the wing a little more. If it is easy – angle it back to the flat angle you have here. Let me know if that makes sense.– let’s take the RT out of the picture – you will hold a reward and throw it when he decides to take the jump. It is fine if he looks at you a little, we can always get the RT back into the picture when he is finding the jump while you are running.
On your rear cross session –
he was doing fine with the driving ahead without the RT, particularly on the 2nd rep. You can do more of those, and with a toy so he can find it more easily.
For the rear crosses – I think you were leaving the wing too quickly, then stopping/decelerating from the go side of the line because you were ahead on the RC. So on both the Go and the RC – stay so close to the wing that you can touch it, and stay there til he is finished with the wrap. Then accelerate. For the Go, accelerate straight forward and for the RC, accelerate with a little bit of pressure in on the line. And even if the RC isn’t perfect, throw the reward out ahead on the line you want. I think staying close to the wing for longer will help smooth it out.The Find The Jump game looked so fun! He especially liked the Go Fast section and did a great job driving ahead 🙂 Yay! You can now move that jump further away, building even more distance on driving ahead or finding the jump with you in different position. I think that he really likes this game!!
>>I’m also confused about when to use R/L or the wrap verbals. Like in the Send and Serp game, I think you use R/L, but I would have guessed to use the wrap verbals since they are wrapping the wing. I don’t know where I got this idea, but I had in my head that R/L was for softer turns like no sharper than 90 degrees. Did I totally make that up? LOL!
The left/right is to cue a moderate collection where the dog lands parallel to the jump bar but does not come back around the edge of the wing. A wrap verbal is to cue the dog to collect a LOT and come back around the edge of the wing, through the gap. I think it is easier to understand if you replace the wing with a full jump in a serpentine pattern. I will put the image up on the course syllabus page in the link for this game, so you can see it (at the bottom of the description). Let me know if you see it and if it makes sense – I will post it right after I send this.
>>And then does R/L take the place of an obstacle cue? So if I say “right right” does that mean to turn right and take that jump, or does it mean to take the jump and THEN turn right?
It is up to you to decide that – for my dogs, I train them to take the jump, turning right, on a right cue.
>>I’m also wondering if I need to work on going out and around wings like in the Diamond Game, but not in a sequence yet.
You can start with the race tracks that we did around the outside of the rocking horses in the first class. When he gets the hang of those, the Diamond will be much easier 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>I’m so used to the summer camp videos coming out on Tuesdays! We are still on week 1…
No worries! I changed up the release days because of the live classes – it messes with my brain too LOL! Plenty of time to get it all done 🙂
>>Benni got 1st place in novice JWW today and his second leg so far. We also did T2B for training.>>
His T2B looked terrific!!!!1 The first frame looked really good – 2nd frame was good too but a little higher, I think he was chasing you because you were a little disconnected looking ahead. He is driving his lines and doing his weaves just like he does in class!!!
On the JWW runs – his high five at the start absolutely made me snort in laughter LOL!!! He was all like “ok fine get on with it” LOL!!! He might not like being lifted/put into the sit, maybe cue the sit in a more hands off way? But some dogs just cannot look at us on the start line, and it is fine: I have 3 dogs like that and they all do fine in the ring.
What was his time on that run? 4 seconds? I blinked and it was over LOL! Great job!!! I love that you are going for the blinds rather than handling cautiously. On the first blind, use exit line connection – get your left hand across your belly – then he will see the new side even sooner.
The second blind looked good and the rest looked good too! I am so happy for you! Benni is doing so well!!!!!T
Hi there!
>>I couldn’t find a “maximum minutes of video” guidance so I just sent all that I would if there weren’t any. This is the week 2 short sequences
I didn’t put a maximum # of minutes in the Class Overview (I find that people either over-track it or generally ignore it LOL!) but here are the general guidelines from that doc:
“There are 2 rounds of video submissions for each skill set, sequence or course:
When you submit your Round 1 videos, please submit a maximum of 4 reps total for each game/drill/sequence. These 4 reps should include:
Your first rep- this is the most important one! Let it all hang out, warts and all!
Your last rep – this will show us a lot about your session progress and what we need to build on for the next session
Any 2 middle reps that either needed help or you want to discuss (or were fabulous and you want to show off a bit!)
After you get feedback on your video (within 24 hours, unless I post that it might take longer), you can do another session and submit your Round 2 videos: another 4 reps of that skill, sequence of course with the same structure as Round 1: first, last, and 2 middle reps. Please wait for feedback before posting your next session – that will help you make faster progress and will also allow your dog to have built in rest days.”On your video – overall, a really terrific job so I went into looking at the finer details 🙂 Your ‘regular’ connection was spot on throughout! I have some ideas for the connection and stuff on turns:
>>Set up 1: Front Cross
For the first rep, I used the in-your-face connection and got a nice turn. Then I tried it with less and got a wider turn. For rep 3 I went back to the stronger connection for a lovely turn.>>Yes, totally agree with this! And I was trying to think forward to being back out on grass or at a trial on turf… in-your-face in that moment will be needed because he will be flying!
More specifics: 1A – looked good in terms of connection! He had a little trouble jumping #3, probably just the angle. The FC connection looked really good! It is a bit of overkill for mats where the dogs can’t go quite as fast but it will be perfect for grass/dirt/turf. As you exit the FC, slide forward to tunnel instead of stepping backwards – the backwards motion drew him a little wide even though he had a really nice collection. Great exit line connection!
1B had a softer collection cue – arm further away, a little less eye contact – he turned nicely here but I like the stronger cue from 1A for when he is out on grass and in bigger extension coming into the turn. But also, as with 1A, step forward to the tunnel and not backwards out of it at :29 – that backwards step widens the line. Backwards motion is still motion and so he is cuing off of the motion there.
1C was more like 1A where you got in to the takeoff side and shifted connection to his eyes more – nice collection! As with the other reps, slide directly out to the tunnel rather than stepping backwards, to get the best possible landing line.>>Set up 2: Lap Turn
As I said, I had to teach it. I still don’t like that he won’t come in close to me and turn more tightly – advice welcome.>>Yeah, my Voodoo agrees with Enzo about the lap turn being stooooopid hahahaha!! (And I got off easy with all the small dogs because I never ever need a lap turn – but I am in deep trouble with my year old big dog, so lap turn training, here we come!) It was hard to see where you were looking but shifting connection down to your hand will definitely help him want to drive in. The way I convinced Voodoo to drive in faster (as opposed to acting like I was going to beat him with a stick) was to get him to come in with a toy in my hand (looking down at it) – and then just as he was arriving, I threw the toy straight back so he could chase the toy (not over the jump or anything, just straight back as a ‘thank you’ for coming into my hand). I then mixed in different things to train it more fully: throw back the toy on some reps, on other reps I would drop it so he could grab it right there. On other reps, I had my empty hand bringing him in and the other hand threw the toy back behind me. And then I added the turn aways, with the toy then thrown over the jump after he turned away. All of that has vastly improved the driving in on the lap turn, it almost looks like he enjoys it but I know the truth hahaha! Enzo is similar, so I think the thrown toy method will work nicely 🙂
When you did convince him to turn, it was a thing of beauty! So the training to get him to drive in will be worthwhile.
>>>Set up 3: Slice
Well, this is exactly what he wouldn’t do on the lap turn – it was easy. 😉 I did include a lap turn to make sure we were straight on the difference.>>1st rep was a slight shift of connection to the landing spot at 1:40. Same with the 2nd rep at 1:55. I am being nitpicky here, but I think the turns were too wide qnd he had to adjust after landing. Thinking ahead to grass/dirt/turf, he would have been wide – so on these throwback style exits, try shifting your connection down to your hand (hand in front of the bar, your eyes following you hand) and I bet that is perfect. You won’t see a huge difference on mats but you will in a bigger ring.
You can call him sooner on the tunnel entry on these reps, so he is tighter on the exit – a directional or name call before he enters, then I think your jump threadle cue is appropriate because he is threadling there.
Nice balance with the lap turn at 2:05!! He was listening, good boy!
>>Set up 4: Blind/wrap
I thought this one went well; did 2 reps.>>Sequence 4:
On both reps, you can challenge his commitment by starting the blind sooner (I think he will be perfectly fine with that) and that way you can be fully finished so when he lands, you can decel and start the spin. The spin was a little late so he had to land/adjust/turn and then wait for reconnection – you can see he looks up at you. You can start the spin sooner to be able to be reconnected before he lands 🙂>>ps: PLEASE include CRCD codes for your courses.>>
Will do! I thought I was giving people more leeway by not saying more than ‘here are general distances’ but turns out, it was not helpful. Oopsie! SOrry!!!
Great job on these 🙂 Let me know what you think!
TracyHi there!
Your dad is so funny, completely ignoring the agility. And I loved hearing the rooster’s opinion LOL! And Kindle at the beginning of the first video: the noises, she has no patience LOL!1st rep – very nice opening! Then you stood still at jump 3 (:28) then took off, so she didn’t know how to process it and dropped the bar. You can gauge the line to run by moving in closer to the tunnel, so then you won’t be too far ahead on the line after it. She did a MUCH better job on the lines on the 2nd rep – I would definitely reward it because it was pretty independent (you were not moving a lot) and she did a good job! I think you didn’t reward because she didn’t take the tunnel – but you were standing still praising, so she probably thought you didn’t want the tunnel 🙂
You were really good about staying connected and near the line on rep 3, and that is her favorite handling – so she jumped nicely at 1:08 and again at 1:24!
Looking at the different turn cues for the FC: It was a little hard to see exactly what was happening so this is what it looked like. Do you remember where you were looking when you ran these?
at 1:12, it looks like you shifted connection down to your hand. At 1:26, it looks like you shifted connection more directly to her with your eyes on that last “Kindle cha” and I really liked that collection! Nice exit line connection with your eyes really reaching back to her eyes!
OMG the rooster! HAHAHAHA! Heralding the start of a fabulous sequence 🙂
At 1:49, it looks like you shifted connection to your hands, like 1:12- similar turn as 1:12.
So the shifting connection winner is: 1:26 🙂 Your hand was back by the jump on that one, but your eyes were most certainly on her eyes 🙂 You can use your hand to be lower and towards her (your right hand) but the added connection also added rotation and you got really nice commitment in collection.2nd video:
Wow that first ME (lap turn) was great!!! So were the others except for the 2nd one. Your connection was to her eyes the whole time, and that was super effective so don’t change it 🙂 Her turns on the jump were really good. So why did she not come in on the 2nd rep? I watched the video a few times to play “which one of these is not like the other” and it looks like she is watching your feet. On the successful reps, you connected then stepped back with your left foot a little then your right foot to help set the turn. On the one unsuccessful rep, you didn’t move your feet at all. So…. move yer feet 🙂 She is reading that as part of the cue and it looks great, so we don’t need to mess with success!3rd video:
NIce job on both the first and 2nd rep! Yes, on the first rep, your position and motion did indeed cue the jump and you made the adjustment on the 2nd rep to get the tunnel instead. Nice!
On the in-to-spin element: She is reading your feet on the in cue here too, so that is good to know!
On the spin/throwback element: On the first rep at :08, you had a big arm swoosh and connected to the landing spot – she was a little wide. On the second rep at :20, note your low hand and direct eye contact: LOVELY turn!
At :33, you handled the throwback similarly to how you did at :08 with a swoosh arm and a connection to the landing spot: she was a bit wide – you can see her land a little long then have to balance and adjust when she lands.
The last rep at :51 was more like what you did at :20 – lower hand, more connection directly to her eyes…. NICE turn!So on this sequence and also the FC sequence, the direct eye contact and the lower hand are very effective for cuing collection! On the FC, your hand can be a little lower and more towards her nose. Let me know what you think!
Great job on these!
TracyHi! I think once you get into the bigger sequences, you will be moving faster so your spin timing will feel more fluid. Also, Juno seems like we can really press our luck with early commitment and still get great turns!
>>And I like the idea of fading the hand across the body for serps…it definitely slows me down.
Yes – the goal is to establish the connection then strip out as much hand/arm motion as possible so we go to eyes/shoulders more than anything else 🙂
Have fun!
TracyGood morning! Great to see you back in action here! These sessions look really strong!
>>This first session felt a little awkward, but it was ok for a first attempt.
It might have felt awkward but it looks really good. Some ideas for you:
One thing I notice on your videos (this one and the next one too) is that you can increase your connection to her on the tunnel exits. You were looking a little forward so she she exited, she would zig into you then zag back out at :03 and :15 as well as on the serp reps. So as soon as she enters the tunnel, resist the temptation to look forward and shift your connection to the exit so she sees it when she exits.
Your exit line connection work is looking great on both the FC at :06 and the spin at :16! On the serps, she had a little trouble staying out on the line after the tunnel – your connection was definitely improving on the tunnel exit and I think the out verbal was helping her – try saying it sooner, before she enters the tunnel, so she exits wider. That is why the bar fell on the last one – she was zigzagging a little and didn’t quite get organized to jump.>>I’m not sure exactly how to use the exit arm for the serp and I’d actually like to get rid of it and reserve it for threadles.
The serp exit line connection looks really good – and yes, we can fade it out the arm with the cookie 🙂 You can fade it by first just putting it on your belly and using eye contact as she is jumping and landing. Then fade it out entirely and just use the eye contact as she is jumping/landing from the serps.
>>I was really happy with our second session. It felt a lot smoother and I thought Annie was very enthusiastic about her commitment. I loved that we didn’t have any refusals or barking on the wraps/front crosses. Normally we lose a lot of speed on wraps and sometimes Annie lands hard on her shoulders as if she was surpised the wrap was coming. These looked like confident, happy wraps to me. 🙂>>
Yes, I agree with all of the above!! It was faster but also smoother – you are really nailing the exit line connection and I think that is making the difference: regular connection is getting rid of refusals and exit line connection is keeping them tight. So nice! I have some thoughts about timing but that is also a focus of our week 2 work 🙂
On the Session 2 video – I will keep bugging you about connecting to the tunnel exit more (like at :02 and :12) so there is less of a zigzag when she exits and tries to find connection and the line. You did a super nice exit line connection on the FC at :05! Yay!!! And another beautiful one on the spin exit at :14!!
On the serp rep – the serp was really nice, I think coming into the tunnel with more propulsion from the previous line helped her find the line nicely plus great connection from you sealed the deal!
On the bigger sequences:
FC sequence is going well! She reads your turns REALLY nicely on the FC at :35 – you can start your transition of decelerating for the FC on the blind jump when she lands from the white jump. Moving forward as you decelerate will commit her as long as you stay connected, which allows you to rotate sooner too. The exit line connection was great!
I had to watch the opening of the next sequence 5 times in slow motion LOL! She did a funky dance on the first jump at :43, then landed looking to the tunnel behind you then switched it up to the correct tunnel entry. I think she just needed a more direct connection over 1, more eye contact in that moment, to convince her of the line 🙂 And it might have also been she needed to be lined up on more of a slice to #1, she might have been sitting facing the wrong end.
Excellent tunnel connection at :46 when she exited, that was my favorite tunnel exit connection that you did on any of these reps. Yay!!
When she lands from the blue jump at :48, you can be decelerating then start your rotation – at :49 you were beginning the FC as she took off, and ideally you would be finished by then. That made you rush out of the FC and you didn’t get your exit line connection, so at :50 she briefly looked up at you. You got right back on track, though, and you were brilliant til the end! She still would like for you to give her more connection on the exit of the tunnels (at :53 you were looking a little forward so she looked at you at :54) but you had a really nice FC back to the tunnel at :58! Great exit line connection there!Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Wow, super nice work on the front crosses!! I think the hardest part was remembering which hand to have the toy in LOL! You were nailing the connections and he looked stunning! Your exit line connection was very clear.On the spins – very strong clear connections, so now we can see how early he will commit so you can get outta there 🙂 It looks like you can start & finish your rotation sooner, with the goal being that you reconnect and you see him taking off 🙂 You were rotating and watching him take off on your left side which made you have to go really fast on the reconnections, so when you start the rotation you can go right into finishing it – the first couple were a tiny bit late and the next one (:35) was really good! You gave him a strong collection cue on the rotation at :4 and :460, but that made the reconnection late after the spin (:41) so he waited for a heartbeat before powering out of the turn. If you start your rotation sooner, you will have an easier time getting it done and moving away. Plus, it allows us to stretch his commitment and also asks him to set up his own collection without you needing to be there to set it up, if that makes sense. He appears to be able to do this quite brilliantly (his turns looked great!) so we can give him more independence and see what he does with it 🙂 Kind of like giving him the keys to the Ferrari LOL!!
The serps look lovely – he is jumping them beautifully because your connection is spot on! Yay! That is a hard jumping effort for big fast dogs and he is making it look easy. Nice! The next step is to fade the hand on the exit line connection and just use your eyes here – everything just like you did, but with slightly less arm across the body. We fade out the hand being so obvious when it looks this good, because you will be able to run faster without it 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>I see that I am late, but there have also been times when I was too early and pulled her off the jump (not shown in this video). It’s hard to find the sweet spot. >>
I think sometimes we pull them off because we run fast then slam on the brakes – the deceleration is the magic in the commitment, so try decelerating into it. As she exits the tunnel, you slow down but go forward then rotate into it and see what she does. She might need you to shift your connection to the landing spot as you do that? We will find out, it is one of the main focus points of week 2 🙂
>>Also i feel like I get too far ahead of her out of the tunnel and then I have no room to show decel and I end up right on the jump. Maybe this is because my obstacles are pretty close together?
You can try adding in more distance, and also running in closer to the bend of the tunnel (it will feel weird but keeps you in motion without getting too far ahead LOL!) And with the smaller dogs, it is part of gauging the running line – which is the HARDEST part of running littles!! With big dogs we can generally just fling them somewhere and run – but small dogs are completely different, so running closer to the line will help in terms of commitment and timing.
>>In the driving ahead sequences I also was getting ahead of her so was trying very hard to hold back. She did a few head checks out of the tunnel at first. I think it’s hard to see it on the video. But she was driving well at the end.>>
I think this session went beautifully – you saw that you were too far ahead and you did a really nice job of NOT accelerating. And that actually adds tremendous challenge for her driving ahead, because your commitment cue and connection had to override the lack of sprinting 🙂 And she got it! Yay! She was really sailing ahead by the end – nice connection from you! You can totally move the jump as far from the tunnel as possible on this one, and also run in close to the bend of the tunnel so you are right next to the exit as she comes out. I think some of the initial head checks were her seeing/hearing your deceleration so you wouldn’t get too far ahead, but it was great to see her commit to driving ahead anyway. Yay!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Welcome back from vacation!! Hope you had a blast 🙂
The dogs are looking good on the videos!!!
First up, Lit’l Bit:
Starting with the FC wraps – she turns really well!! You can be sooner on your rotations so she sees the exit line connection sooner too. You were rotating when she was pretty close to the jump, let’s see if she can maintain commitment if you decelerate when she exits the tunnel and start to rotate when she is still 10 feet from the jump 🙂 You were earlier on the 2nd rep and last rep, but we can keep challenging her to see how independently we can get her to commit. Also keep moving up the next line as you do the rotation so she can be even tighter to the line especially when you are not right near the wing. Your exit line connection on the FCs was SUPER clear which is why I want to see if we can get her to commit even earlier as you rotate.
That earlier timing becomes more important on the spins at :17 and :24 – rotating sooner so you can be finished and showing the exit line connection before she lands – you were still finishing the rotation when she landed, so she waited and looked up at you.
Everything else looked really strong! She only had one other question – when she exited the tunnel at :29, you were looking ahead so she looked at you – so remember to connect to every tunnel exit.Wilder’s video:
Nice release on the first rep, nice connection throughout! About the start lines: Some dogs prefer that we stay connected on the entire lead out, and they hold their stays better. He might be one of those? I noticed throughout the video that when you stayed connected, he held the stay AND looked at the line. Nice!
The 2nd rep also looked really good in terms of connection! So did the release and rep after that!
When you get way ahead, you can move your arm a little more back to him (magnet fingers :)) so he can still see the line.On the FC reps – rotate sooner at 1:17 and 1:25 (he was over the bar when you started the rotation). Same was with Lit’l Bit, we can challenge his commitment to see if he will let you decelerate as part of the commitment cue so you can start rotating for the FC and spins when he is still a solid 6-8 feet from the jump. Your FC at the end of the video (2:28) was the earliest and worked really well! Your exit line connection on all the FCs looked fabulous 🙂
On the spins at 1:38 and 2:08, you started the rotations earlier so he was already turning over the bar (yay!!) and that allowed you to reconnect sooner with exit line connection – so he had a sweet fast line back to the tunnel because he could easily see the connection. Nice!!! At 2:23, you were late (he was already taking off) so he hesitated a little, waiting til he saw connection. The timing at 1:38 and 2:08 definitely worked so keep that or try to be even earlier 🙂
The exit line connection also looked great here.He broke the stay at 1:49 because I think he was anticipating the rhythm of it – you asked for the sit, looked away to plan the course, looked back, took a breath, moved your leg…. oopsie he broke LOL!! So plan your course before you ask for the sit, then you can stay connected throughout the lead out.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!!
I love the music and the dance groove 🙂
1st run – nice start!!! He looks at you after 2 at :09, so a bit more arm-back connection will smooth that out by showing him more connection.
:13. :23. :26 – no handling reason why he is hitting that bar there – you look connected and smooth. It is something about how he is organizing for takeoff. There is nothing weird about his spot relative to the jump. At :33 you stood still longer after you released and at :38 you only moved a tiny bit on the release til he cleared the bar, so perhaps he needs to see some jump grids with you moving more so he can get organized to keep the bar up when you move on a release? But also, he might be sore somewhere as he was not really pushing off with his hind end and it took him several tries to get it.
There was a bar down at :41 but was the toy throw 🙂 you slowed down and threw the toy as he was lifting off, so keep moving through til he lands – connection looked good til there! You moved through the end til he landed on the other reps really nicely 🙂
Next rep – perfect!
When you turn the angle around and he is jumping away from the camera, we can see his jumping form, he might have a bit of soreness as I mentioned earlier. Watch him jump the blue jump at :55 in slow motion – he is not fully using his hind end there, similar to what was happening when he was dropping the #1 bar. There is nothing happening in terms of the handling that would create it, the handling looked good! And I think that bar was the lowest of the 3, so definitely something to look at – maybe a chiro visit if you have one you like, or a massage therapist to make sure there are no tight spots. He worked out of it later in the session and didn’t seem to have any more trouble, but it is something to keep an eye on.
The only other thing I can think of is that he has trouble sorting his hind end out when he is jumping towards a tunnel. So if he isn’t sore anywhere, you can add some jump grid work with a tunnel out ahead to see how he does.
Nice connection there and he gets a double gold star at 1:01 for taking the pinwheel jump with the toy in his mouth LOL!
On the next reps, a small detail that will help timing: you can keep your arm further back when you are way ahead – at 1:09 and 1:14 and 1:21, as he is exiting the tunnel, your arm is perpendicular to your shoulder and that blocks connection a bit. You are about 15 feet or so ahead at that point, so drop your hand back and point it towards his nose so he can see the connection more easily. Compare that to 1:11 when he approaches the pinwheel jump: arm back, gorgeous connection to his eyes, perfect!
At 1:14 if your arm is further back, you will see him more clearly so you can start the wrap timing sooner: at 1:15 you started it when he was already committed to jumping straight. So, when he exits the tunnel, start to decelerate so then you can rotate sooner and get a tighter turn there. Very nice connection after the FC there!!!
On the next FC rep at 1:22, you can stay closer to the FC jump wing to create the line back to the tunnel – you moved away laterally here so he thought for a moment that you wanted the other end of the tunnel (and also decelerating into the FC will help tighten it up).Check out the difference at 1:29! Your arm was lower, I think you probably could see him better when he exited the tunnel and he could definitely see your connection better. You added the decel and earlier rotation at 1:31 and he had a MUCH tighter turn. NICE!! You can start moving away up the next line to the tunnel as soon as you rotate, he should commit to the turn on the jump even though you are leaving.
When you did the post turn to the other side of the tunnel at 1:40 all the good things were happening! You had a lower arm as he exited the tunnel which translated to better connection and better timing – you did the decel and then post turn nice and early and he collected beautifully. Yay!
On the driving ahead reps at the end: you might have to cheat a little and stay closer to the tunnel, so that you don’t get too far ahead LOL! And that way you can really lock into the connection to get him to drive ahead. You were ahead as he exited the tunnel, so he drove the line nicely but didn’t have a chance to drive ahead of you 🙂
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I think 14 and 16 will be basically the same for her, no problem in terms of form. I like to do a “low height” tour with young dogs in their first year of new places/trials on sequences, so they can sort out the jumping and the speed before we ask them about full height. I am 99% sure that I am in the minority with that approach LOL! But it helps smooth out the transition into the trial ring. But definitely keep working 14/16 at home – she is already sorting it out and the misses are more likely to happen on the first run (or last run if she has had a long work session, when she gets mentally tired).
For the pinwheel jump – yes, try 10 on the inside and 14 on the outside to help draw her eye to it. And yes, I would move a bit more slowly around the sequence (I mean, I am not exactly setting any land speed records anyway for my running hahaha) and let the her speed come up – then you can bring your speed up. For a dog like Lanna, we definitely do not need to ask her for speed – we just need to let her sort out all of those fast-moving legs LOL!
If she is more confident left, you can ask for the higher heights on the left first, then on the right do lower height, then bring the height up on the right after that. And for a newer concept or a new place – yes, start on the left then emphasize the right then maybe end on the left. That will also balance out too!
Plus we can work on figuring out what she needs in person next week! I am excited to meet her for real!
Tracy
