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Hi! These are progressing nicely – she has a couple of questions but I think all she needs are little tweaks.
First serp:
She is so funny – she was jumping *next to* the last jump on a couple of the serp reps but not actually through the uprights LOL!!! I think a couple of things are happening – one is that she is still learning what a serp line is. And the other is that she is watching you and the toy, so coming in on the serp jump is going well but going back out is much harder! So, taking this 4 jump set up: leave jumps 1-2-3 the same in terms of angles. And take the last jump and angle it sightly towards her, so that when she lands from the middle serp jump, she will see the bar of the last jump right in front of her. That way she will commit to it with you having to help quite as much.
After a couple of rewards, you can start to gradually angle it back out, so it eventually returns to the ‘flat’ position here.2nd sequence – this looks great, she is a blur on the way to the tunnel!! At :48 and :57 she smoked you so you didn’t quite tell her about the last jump. As she is taking the middle serp jump, be sure to maintain connection very strongly to her eyes as you run forward- that will help face your chest/shoulders into the gap so she will turn back out.
At :51 and on the last rep you were hustling more so dropped connection and your arm dropped back so she read it like a threadle. I had to watch in slow motion to see it, she is moving so fast! One of the reasons this was happening was also probably because you were moving in a little too close to the jump after the tunnel then pulling away – so let her find it laterally while you stay connected and on the landing side of the serp so there is no in and out, just a parallel line. She did a great job finding the jump after the tunnel so it should help!I think should also add bars on these – low 4″ bars or 6″, just so you have an extra heartbeat to handle – she is running full out right now and that is making it harder for you to get up the lines (good news, bad news, right? LOL!!!)
Nice work! Let me know if this makes sense!
Hi! Poor Mad Dog, it is hard to get old! My Export is the same way – I think he has gone feral now at 14.5 years old, because is insists on being outside in all weather, under a bush. Gotta love the oldsters!!!
>>Last night I tried FC wraps. The right wrap went much better than the left. Then i switch to rewarding wraps on one jump and then went back to the two jumps and that stemmed to help. He is very one sided so I’ve noticed left turns are harder for him to take tight.
This was an interesting video! I agree, the right wrap went nicely! The left wrap – I thought perhaps on the 2 jump rep you were a tiny bit later in decelerating and turning… but then he went shooting off somewhere and it had nothing to do with handling LOL!!! It was almost like he saw something or he expected you to throw the ball? It is possible that there is something about turning left that causes him to predict a big run out: when you play ball or frisbee, see if you notice if you throw to the left all the time? Or anything where he might get lots of rewards for big runs to his left? We humans all have habits so it might be something in his life where big runs to the left are super fun 🙂
Wrapping on 1 jump to the left definitely helped! You can warm up his left wraps on 1 jump before putting them into sequences, then go to 2 jumps. That can help transfer the good wraps he did on one jump into the sequences.
Nice work here! Let me know if you think of anything that involves big parties to the left LOL!Tracy
Hi!
>>after 2 weeks and still so much pain, went to an orthopedist…radial fracture…
Wait, what? Didn’t they say there was no fracture??? Ugh!!!! I hope they get you on the path to healing ASAP!!!!!
Serp sequence 1 – dog on left was absolutely gorgeous! Nice job on the send and leave and connection. Perfect!
Yes, for some reason, he was wider dog on right. I don’t really know why – you had a good send, he collected just fine over the jump, he just didn’t come in as fast for the middle jump. It might have been something visal out there that caught his eye, or he is stronger turning to his right, the video doesn’t tell us 🙂 But you can call him more BEN BEN BEN!!! on that side, and the reward him for coming in. That can help him drive back harder!Serp 2 is a much harder sequence indeed! Your first rep going towards the tunnel looked really good! You ran a clear, strong line and he picked it all up nicely.
Coming back from the tunnel – it looks like you stepped in too much to help him get the jump after the tunnel, then that changed your line of motion because you had to move laterally to get past the serp jump – so he did come in and take it but he was surprised by the push back to the last jump. 2 things to help:
support the jump after the tunnel with connection and verbal (GO!) but don’t go anywhere near it 🙂 Stay on the running line that takes you parallel to the serp jump so you can run straight.
Also – make a bigger connection on the landing of the serp jump – you were looking forward a bit too much, so he missed the turn the first time and dgot it (but was wide) the 2nd time. That is a spot for exit line connection.Seq 4 serp: this is a pretty wicked sequence 🙂
The line towards the tunnel looks really strong!!!One of the keys is to show a turn cue before he enters the tunnel – not just the verbal, but the rotation. On the first rep at :04, you were straight and didn’t ask for a turn, so he exited straight and didn’t see the next jump.
2nd rep at :15 you had a good rotation but no verbal.At :39, you had rotation and right verbal (yay!) and he turned (also yay!) but you are too far ahead and hand way up high so he is just trying to follow your line.
The other key is that in order to be able to get the serp, you need to hang back near the tunnel, set the line to the next jump, then run on the mirror image path that you ran going towards the tunnel. Rushing and getting too far ahead is detrimental.
On the 1st and 2nd reps, you were rushing a bit and said jump with a high arm – he tried to figure it out but couldn’t find the jump. You gave a HEY or something at :18 – that is deflating to him (and the cue was not clear, so not his fault at all) so resist the temptation to do any negative marking during sequences.
He got it at about 1:00 and at the end, but it was a bit zig zaggy on the line back from the tunnel (the line towards the tunnel looked great each time)
So try to show the turn cues before the tunnel exit, and don’t rush away: hang back a bit near the tunnel exit, set the line by sending him away to the next jump and then run straight – that should make it smoother!
The bending grid looks really good! The 8 inch bar added challenge but he adjusted accordingly and I think it went really nicely! When he was going through the grid on your left, you did a good job of continuing the turn through the 3rd jump. On your left towards the end, you were finished a bit straight, so remember to keep turning on that side too. Overall – this can also go into maintenance mode and you can try out the zig zag grid that I posted yesterday!!
Nice job!!!
TracyHi!
I think this went really well, and I agree – terrific attitude and confidence!!!!! And some beautiful turns in there!!!
2 general notes about things I noticed here:
– You were working the connection so hard that you ended up running with your opposite arm up the whole time on a lot of these LOL!! You only need that opposite arm on the exits of crosses (to get connection) so try to just have the dog-side arm back and look at her eyes during ‘normal’ lines 🙂– When you were rewarding. you were tending to stop short and throw, which caused her to pull the last bar several times. Keep running! We want her to keep that bar up, so stay in motion.
Specifics:
Dog on left:
rep 1: the cues were just a little late so she was a little wide by a step, but more importantly, keep moving on the reward to avoid the dropped bar.rep 2: feisty at the start!!! Love it! I liked the timing and turn here. She is too big to ‘save’ you by turning tight if your info is poopy – this was a tight turn which means your handling was good! Same on rep 3 – nice!!!
Dog on right:
4th rep – you did a funky arm movement on the release at jump 1 (so she dropped the bar) then you converged in towards jump 2 as she was moving up the line at :54…she totally read it as rear cross which is what she did. Good girl! Remember to run forward to the wing that you want her wrapping, even if you are lateral. You don’t need to push in. You converged a bit on the 5th rep at 1:02, but not quite as much so while she jumped the center of the bar, she did not rear cross (keep moving here on the reward so the last bar stays up too)After that rep, she was so cute strutting with the ball lol 🙂
next rep (1:13) – You ran much better line, facing straighter to the wrap wing. Lovely transitions for the turn and you kept moving all the way through the end – which helped her nail it. Great lines, great turn!!
Adding in the Tunnel – not enough decel on that first rep so she was a little wide? You were probably sorting out the timing with the added speed from the tunnel. She was smokin’!
2nd rep – better timing, a little earlier – and she nailed the turn. Nice!
3rd rep and last rep – yes, having to do the blind then the go and the digdig – it all happens really quickly but she is getting it!! For the GO – you don’t need it as much. On the last rep especially, you were continuing the GO cue for too long – she really only needs it for the tunnel exit, so say it once before she goes into the tunnel then once as she is exiting.
She was able to process it all, though – her lines and turns look good!About the verbals. Yes, we will want lots of verbals… but you can emphasize the important ones of each sequence (like the digdigdig here) and you don’t have to work as hard with the ‘obvious’ ones, where your physical cue makes it really easy to see (like the go on this one).
Great job!
TracyHi there!
Pinwheels looked good! You can go deeper into the tunnel so you can keep moving – no place to go on the pinwheel if you get too far ahead. And if you go in deep to the pinwheel jump like you did at :43 (which is fine :)) be sure to accelerate and give early verbals. You got into the pinwheel then decelerated, so she looked at you.
FCs – you actually have more time here than you think you do 🙂 You have time to send, then turn towards the tunnel and move away, and then start the FC – it doesn’t need to start until she has landed from the pinwheel jump. Your first rep was the best one:
first rep – really nice! Yes, you can do a bit more arm-across-the-body to connect but you were really working the connection. Timing was good! You can play with being more lateral, towards the tunnel entry, and see if she can stay on her line.
2nd rep – too early 🙂 At 1:14, you did the FC just as she took off for the pinwheel jump, so she was 100% correct to come into the gap.
3rd rep – you started to over-help here, I think 🙂 At 1:25, you left too early for the FC and didn’t actually send into the pinwheel – I think this might be the first time that she saved yer butt based on a verbal! Woot!!! Note how she almost did go then sent herself back out. Then you were too soon on the FC and moved backwards a bit – she picked up the 3rd jump but was barking/squeaking at you.BC – good job sending her into the pinwheel! As you connected and moved away at 1:40, your motion took you directly to the off course tunnel. As you did the blind, you were still moving to the off course tunnel – she looked at you – barked – and went with the line of motion.
At 1:52 and 2:06 on the blinds, you were really working more of the connection (yay!) and so 2 things happened: you got her to the correct side of you AND the added connection caused your running path to be more directly to the tunnel entry you wanted. Yes!!!
So keep working the running line towards the correct end of the tunnel, with the super connection you had here.Very nice work! Let me know what you think.
TracyGood morning!
Holy cow, 4″ of rain!!! Eek!!The slow motion videos looked good all sped up here LOL!!!
One overall suggestion is that, as you sort out the timing and transitions and he learns to read them – don’t use a displaceable bar. Either use a jump bump or “lock” the bar into place by sticking the edge of the jump cups into the open ends, if your jump cups allow for that. The reason I suggest this is that he was dropping a lot of bars here, and we don’t want the rehearsal of dropping bars. Now, he was dropping the bars because of your timing, he was trying to adjust! So we don’t want to get mad or withhold reward… so the best course of action for now is to make it impossible to drop a bar 🙂 That is something that I do all the time with my young dogs! You’ll still know based on his turn or if he ticks the bar/bump if you were on time or not – but he won’t get used to dropping bars. As he learns more, he will begin to predict the turn based on the deceleration and verbal, so you won’t have to be quite as perfect with the timing (thankfully, because perfect is so hard!) and then the displaceable bars can come back.
On the videos:
Your decelerations were clear and generally on time, but you can shift into the rotations sooner to help give him in the info:1st video:
1st rep – the deceleration was late so the rotation was late and he was wide.
2nd rep and 3rd rep – timing was definitely better and earlier! Here is a spot where the rotation was a little late and he pulled the bars. So you can try to decelerate one stride sooner so as he is getting into that last section before the jump, you are already turning.2nd video, from the tunnel:
first rep – timing definitely better here! The deceleration then rotate were distinct and he did a nice job on the turn.
2nd rep – you decelerated early but the rotation was late (after he was lifting off) so he was wide. He is a baby dog so he isn’t predicting yet based on deceleration. That will come, I promise!Last rep – best timing so far – you slowed down earlier and then your rotation was earlier at :18, he was still far enough from the jump (in that last section) and he looked great over the bar.
FC BC video –
1st rep – the decel then rotation were a bit too late, so he pulled the bar. The other 2 reps were a bit late as well – partially because you were actually a bit too far ahead, so you slowed down really early… so the deceleration got lost as you kept moving forward, if that makes sense. You can drive in closer to the previous line/tunnel so he sees you shift from fast to slow, which will help prepare him for the rotation that will follow. \I think if you emphasize that ‘fast then slow’ transition, he will be better prepared for the actual rotation – which will allow him to set up the turns. He is still learning that decel means a turn will follow, so he just needs more experience 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I agree, this went really well! Serpentines are hard in general, and the sequences added motion and distractions. Some ideas for you:
1st rep of the first sequence – very nice handling! The middle jump at 16″ was too hard, so you can ‘warm up’ the jumping by having the middle (serp) jump a little lower on these because there are so many other challenges. The other jumps at 16 seemed fine.
The 2nd and 3rd reps looked really good! Try to keep moving past the last jump so he lands long then gets the toy. You were stopping a bit short so he was not jumping the last jump in full extension.tunnel sequences:
The angle of the jumps after the serp jump and the tunnel out there add plenty of distraction 🙂 So if he struggles and runs past the serp jump, try to dial back your motion rather than change arms. When you were changing arms, it got his attention but it also rotated your feet, so it changed what the cue looked like.
Great job rewarding him for coming in!!
On this set up – Going towards the tunnel and going away from the tunnel, step more on the line in towards the jump *after* the serp jump – the angle means it is a bit of a push through after the serp, so running parallel isn’t a strong enough turn cue. You can see at :42 he had trouble finding the last jump. At 1:31 (right at the very end) you stepped more towards that last jump and it set up a MUCH nicer turn. Yay!!Good hob breaking down and rewarding the turns on the tunnel!
He isn’t quite ready for all the motion on the serp jump coming out of the tunnel – you were having to change your arms and that changed your feet too, which changes what we want the cue to look like. 2 ideas for you:
try his name “GRIZ!” rather than left there. His name might be stronger!
And, as you add in the running with the arm back and no foot rotation: take out the 3rd jump for now – it is a massive distraction with all of that motion, so you can install the motion then add back the jump when he comes in with you running hard.It sounds like you started calling his name at 1:16 – I think it really helped! Resist the temptation to add the other rotation with your upper body, because it turns your feet and adds a deceleration that we don’t want him to need. The arm across your body there is causing you to turn your feet and run sideways and we don’t want that to be part of the cue. So keep your arm back, eyes on his eyes, but feet moving forward – we want him to read the cue like that rather than need the arm across the body or any rotation/change in motion.
Great job!!!! Let me know what you think.
TracyGood morning!
I am super happy with the progress on all of these, even on the ones where they weren’t perfect (see below) – save perfect for trials! Let’s get all of the oopsies taken care of in training 🙂
Flat game was great – now make it a triangle – he is facing you, the ball is on the ground on one side of you, you have your arm in serpentine position on the other side – and have him come in and touch your hand. Pretend there is a jump there that he is serping. It is just a value building/self-control game to do it on the flat, to keep the “drive to momma” high in value even with something exciting out ahead.
The wing work is going well! He did a good job and was hitting your hand pretty hard on all but one rep. My only suggestion is to change your hand position, so is it more open and back like a serp – the back of your hand wll be on the same plane as your back, rather than the same plane as your belly – not sure if my words are making sense 🙂 Basically – turn your hand around so it opens your shoulders more towards him and is is coming in away from the ball, not torwards it.
And now… onwards to a jump on this! Then onwards to motion!
The other thing that will really help are the zig zag slicing grids I posted today (they are in the week 5 package) – it is another way to teach serps by angling the jumps so it is more about finding the line and less about handling.
First pinwheel looked (and sounded) good. You made the RO sound a little different from Go. An option for a name call on course is to use BIE rather than RO. I use DOO for Voodoo and Sauce for Hot Sauce.
FC 1st rep: Your timing and line were strong here and he blasted through it, no slowing down and not wide. So why was the bar down and why did he end up in the on the wrong side of you to the tunnel? A couple of reasons:
One of the things you might not realize you are doing is switching hands with the toy at :18, which throws the cues off kilter a little and draws his focus (so he pulled the bar). He was definitely turning correctly over jump 3 and he definitely know which tunnel entry you wanted, which means he read your line nicely. He ended up on the wrong side because as he landed, you were connected with the dog-side arm down and at your side and turning your shoulders forward. That broken connection and read line a BC (like a spin) so he went back to your left side while reading the line to the tunnel properly. Remember to keep your arm back and make direct eye contact and maintain it as you cue the tunnel – talk directly to his eyes 🙂2nd rep – excellent send to the pinwheel jump at :33! And you started to blast away… but then switched the toy hand which delayed your motion and caused you to run a line towards the wrong end of the tunnel. Freeze the video at :34 as he is jumped the 3rd jump and you were right on the line to where he went and moving a bit sideways towards the off course – motion is king! You ran a similar line on the last rep at :52 nut had a stronger connection, so he got it, He is an honest young man, he gives you very strong feedback.
So the oopsies where were not really about verbals, I think those are going fine! The 3 details on this type of sequence are:
– don’t switch that toy around! Either shove it into a pocket or make sure you don’t switch hands (I tend to just shove it down my pants LOL!!) You will find that you are much quicker and more connected when you don’t have to multi-task the toy hand. I don’t think you are doing it actively, but it is taking up space in your running and he is too fast for that 🙂
On your connections – you are doing a great job of keeping your arm down. Remember that it is back and down, not just down. Exaggerate the back element and the connection to his eyes. Because he is so young, he is very very literal so he can’t yet read the cues like an experienced dog would. And run your lines like you did on the 1st rep – that was awesome!!!Overall, the training is going well! Don’t be defeated! These sequences are intended to hone the running lines and connections and tiny details. You did a great job of making sure he got rewarded!!
Le me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>> I’ll try today. If he’s bouncing the two jumps, should I add the third one back in on the next session tomorrow maybe?
If he is bouncing the 1st 2 jumps, do several sessions for at least the next week to install the new muscle memory. After that, you can add in jump 3.
The serpentining is going well!!! Really strong on just about all the reps: you were really working your connection and line. That toy was cracking me up – it was so HUGE LOL! But he was happy 🙂 He had 2 little questions: at :34, on the way to jump 2, you looked forward a bit too early and he didn’t pick up the 2nd jump. You fixed that on the next reps and had great connection, so he nailed it. On the first rep where you sent to jump 1, you didn’t quite have enough connection and open shoulders, plus you didn’t call (you were probably thinking about the handling and how to throw the giant toy lol) so he ran parallel to the serp jump. But you fixed it on the 2nd rep – called him, connected more, opened you shoulders more – lovely! Very nice job on these, I am sure he will continue to get better and better with finding these lines. Great start with the baby dog!!
Tracy
Good morning!
The tunnel turns looked great! You showed him the info before he entered on the turns and on the go rep – and it looked terrific. You also had great connection on the exits, so he was easily able to drive into the next line. Super nice!On the running rewards – the first rep went really well – nice timing on the turn 2-3, connection, good turn cue with your rotation before the tunnel. After he exits, give him a lot more connection – your arm was back but you didn’t get his eyes, so he wasn’t sure where to go.
The 2nd rep had a broken stay (more on that below :)) which threw off your timing so he dropped the bar at 2. The next 2 reps were really nice and you really emphasized the the connection on the tunnel exit, so it got really smooth.About the porridge:
>> I tried a couple different rewards. The first rep is ball on a rope which Chapter didn’t seem too into last night (too cold) I switched to the frisbee which he was WAY too into (too hot) and his teenage brain couldn’t handle it. So I went back to the treat ball which is what I use most of the time.>>Yes, sometimes frisbees are a bit too stimulating, and the youngsters go into “THROW THE FRISBEEEEEEEE” mode 🙂 My 8 month old puppy is totally in that mode at the moment LOL! So yes, keep experimenting with what seems to produce great porridge LOL! And you can use the frisbee in situations where we do want him to think even when he is highly stimulated – it will be great for teaching him how to handle the excitement of other dogs running agility or being at a trial!!
The other thing I was going to mention is that Maddy is getting a little too involved now that you are running sequences… she was in his way a few times and also in his landing spot at one point in the running reward sequence. You probably don’t see it while you are running, but I was nervous for her safety. Chapter does a great job avoiding her, but it draws his focus away from the jumping and if he makes one wrong move, she could get hurt. She probably needs to watch from the sidelines now that the agility is getting exciting!! (Sorry, Maddy!)
>>but I’m not sure I’m getting the excitement at the end like we’re aiming for.
He was really smooth and fast here, so I liked it 🙂 We don’t want him to be insane, we just want the speed that he was producing – it was nice!!!
>>Quick question about startling stays. Since Chapter was having some Goldilocks moments with the change up in toys I opted to ignore startling issues to preserve enthusiasm. In some reps not shown I did go back and reward good stays but if he broke early like in the videos I just went with it. What are your thoughts on whether or not to stop at rep for a broken stay at this stage of our training?>>
I personally never ever run the course when the dog has broken the stay – it is actually a bit unfair to the dog to do that because it reinforces broken stays. We humans allow it sometimes because we want to keep the dog happy and fast… but dogs perceive it as “she is good with it because the reinforcement of continuing then the toy was presented, so I will keep offering that behavior.” And then it becomes grey to the dog: sometimes we allow it, sometimes we tell the dog he is wrong to do it. That leads to lack of clarity, which leads to stress – which leads to less enthusiasm. So, I never run when the dog breaks a stay.
However, you do need a plan of what to do when it happens, because it might happen! When my dog breaks a stay in training, I just laugh, tell him he is a cheater or super cute or just call him back (really happy), jog back to the start, reset the sit… then on the next rep absolutely find a way to reinforce either by throwing back a reward or releasing into the sequence *before he breaks*. I do my absolute best to NOT allow a 2nd break of the stay. I also never get mad at the dog: never say “uh oh” or “eh eh” or “Oh MY!” or “NO!” or any of the negative markers (the NRMs actually now have some science behind them that say they hurt more than they help).
If I am greedy and lead out too far and *don’t* reinforce or release before the dog breaks on the 2nd rep (or on a rep shortly thereafter) – then I repeat my happy self – maybe do a couple of tricks to get some reward into the dog. Then I go bang my head against the wall for allowing it LOL!!!!! Then on the next 5 or 10 reps over how ever many sessions I do, I absolutely do not allow it to happen again by early rewards and releasing before I get a break. Tons and tons of reinforcement goes back into the stay.
The clarity builds the behavior, and it is one of the most important behaviors we have in agility (and it is hooked to contacts and the table and even the weaves) so I like to be super clear in a happy, reinforcing way.
Let me know if that makes sense! Great job on the sequences!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>>>>>So did you have to give yourself any time outs from electronics? LOL!
I received 2 penalties. One was time out from electronics, one was picking up shit in the backyard. My wonderful husband typically does that, and he was certainly lovin you that day!!>>>HA!! You’re welcome, Doug LOL!!!!!!!
>>>Also, she really likes the ball as part of this game. Super high value rewards. Yay!
The tennis ball is Wilson’s fav. I tried it early on with Demi and she hated it. I never went back. Guess I should have! It has been awesome in weave training.>>>I guess she likes it now LOL!! She was SO FAST. It was super fun to watch.
>>>>you are bending over a lot and I think that is slowing down your running.
I will try to address this. I have always done it, and it bothers me. Time for a change.>>The key is going to be finding what feels comfortable for you, while allowing you to stay connected – if you run more, you will find that zone. I think you were hovering a bit 🙂 and not running a lot, so ended up a bit bent over. Now, if you are comfortable running and you are connected and you are bit bent over… that is perfectly fine. Some of the best handlers in the world run a bit bent over! So find what makes you comfy and go with it 🙂
T
Hi!
Bearing in mind that everyone can define their verbals differently:>>’m a little confused on right/left verbals….I thought they were more for soft or 90 degree turns. On the serpentines the dogs are doing more of a wrap as they send away and come back in for the serp. So I am trying to decide what the verbal should be for my handling vocabulary or at least understand when/when not to use a directional cue.>>
I define my left and right verbals as “loose turns” where the dog makes roughly a right angle of turn (L-shaped). The dog does NOT come back around the wing in a tight angle on my left and right turn verbals. So, on a 3 jump serpentine, I send him away on my right – he turns left (L shaped) over jump 1, then right (also L shaped) on jump 2 to 3. He never crosses the plane of the wing he just took, so he isn’t wrapping.
I use noises (tststs and choochoochoo) for my wrap verbals, which as U shaped turns and the dog comes all the way back around the wing in a tight collection (very close to the wing, not eventually coming back around it). So on a 3 jump serpentine – he is not wrapping because he never comes back around the wing into the gap. I might use the wrap verbal on a threadle, though!
Let me know if that makes sense.
TracyGood morning!
So did you have to give yourself any time outs from electronics? LOL!
Holy cannoli she was BLAZING on the Go lines. And on the turns! You’re going to need to go shopping for roller skates lol
She pretty much nailed everything here – she lost her line and ended up backside line at :52, you might have been a little closed forward in the connection and blocking the jump a tiny bit – you were further over on the next rep and she nailed it.
On the turn cue at 1:20, when she went straight – your shoulder was closed forward so she did not see the line change. It was a moment of you seeing her but not connecting to her. Scroll back and compare it to what she saw at :34 and :44 -arm back and lots of eye contact and she saw the turn clearly. You had more connected at 1:27 on the next rep and it made a big difference to her.Also, she really likes the ball as part of this game. Super high value rewards. Yay!
On these tunnel turn games: now add in more of your motion so that you get used to driving her in and then driving away on the lines, while maintaining your connection.
On the running rewards sequence:
first rep – she had to collect on jump 2, tried hard, didn’t quite jump high enough. Same thing happened at 3:12 – but I think you were stopped then suddenly pulled away there, so she tried to adjust in the air. Then you turned too much and closed your shoulder forward and a bit too lateral from the line – and you said tunnel to the tunnel, not to her 🙂 Your feet were also pointing to the end of the tunnel she took. So she ended up in the wrong spot. This also happened at 2:50. You were good to reward her! I know you were not fully on board with the reward there LOL! but still be happy because handling errors are always human errors… so happily reward her and don’t beat yourself up 🙂The reps at 2:38 and 3:00ish were GREAT – you were connected and moving along the line, rather than trying to pull away. And she nailed it. Yay! And wowza, she has a new level of speeeeed, I love it!
Speaking of speed… you are bending over a lot and I think that is slowing down your running. You are probably bending because you are working the connection a lot, which is great! You can play with being able to be a little more upright and connected – whatever feels most natural. Having your dog side arm way back, pointing to her toes, when you are ahead might allow you to be more upright and stay connected – play around with it and see how it feels!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
I am glad you posted these! I love serp training and there are about a million ways to do it 🙂 Feedback from the dog is always welcome and we can tweak things to help him see what we want 🙂
I am not a barrier girl – I find that barriers make us think the dog is understanding but then when the barriers are gone… dog doesn’t understand LOL!!! We tend to use barriers to try to get the full behavior when we will be better served to go back to earlier steps and figure out what the dog isn’t understanding. So I don’t use barriers at all. I agree, though, that we don’t want the mistakes, so here are a couple of other options:
Using the pet tutor was 100% the right choice for him on the 2nd video. The ball was just too stimulating – motion is stimulating plus the ball, so as a Border Collie, he didn’t know how to drive into you and resist the ball. It is an impulse control struggle for sure! So –
A couple of things to build the joy of serpentines:
take it to the flat, away from wings/jumps/barriers. Put a toy on the ground on your right side, and ask him to do a nose touch to your left hand. Your body can simulate serp position but it doesn’t have to – basically, it will help him understand the impulse control of – come to the hand, not the ball, in order to get the ball. If the ball is too hard, start it with the pet tutor. Then go back to the ball after a couple of successful sessions.
If he can do it on the flat – take it to a wing. Add motion while on the wing – but he will need to touch your hand in order to get you to hit the PT or cue the ball grab.
No worries about having him touch your hand for now – it is just to build value for driving in. The chain in in-then-out will be super easy when he loves to drive in.The other thing you can do is one jump without a toy or PT out ahead – just come in towards the momma. I suggest having him touch your hand on the first couple of sessions as he comes in – I think he will appreciate the very clear ‘thing to do’ at first. You can reward that with a cookie then swtich to a toy from the other hand after he is happy to drive in. Then it will be easy to fade that and add in the reward on the ground out ahead.
After a wing with motion, the skill can go back to a jump. And then 2 jumps, When he understands it on a wing and one jump with motion, the rest will be easy peasy! If you are tempted to get out the barriers… go back a step LOL!
The first rep of the big pinwheel tunnel sequence was lovely!! Connected, all the good verbals, FAST!! And a nice turn on the tunnel exit. Yay!
I have no idea why he left after the tunnel on the 2nd rep – something caught his nose and smelled good? Go and Ro sounded too much alike, he realized there was an error and needed to sniff? I do plan to keep bugging you to use something different than Go and RObie 🙂
FC rep: speaking of bugging you about Go versus RO – you said a clear GO and he exited looking at you at :37.
On the FCs – you were actually too early 🙂 Early is good though as long as you are driving forward! But being early slowed him down for a couple of reasons here: by working to get the outside arm up so early – you ended up moving in a bit of a parallel direction towards the 3rd jump rather than a diagonal towards the tunnel – so he went wide over the pinwheel jump, matching your parallel motion. Also, by being a bit too early you ended up facing him and stationary, so he didn’t drive in. On your swing at :37 and :52 – send him to the pinwheel, turn to the tunnel and run forward for a couple of steps – the send to the pinwheel happens when he lands from jump 1, so you will send then leave (with connection of course) – he will see the acceleration cue and 2 thngs will happen: you will drive back towards you faster and you will get to a better position. Then when he lands from the pinwheel jump you will be able to execute the FC – still nice and early but with more speeeeed 🙂 and you won’t end up standing still. You’ll still be on the new arm nice and early and get a great turn but with speed in and out of it. Let me know if that makes sesne – it will still involve the outside arm coming up as you were doing.Nice running rewards on the exits of the tunnel on these – wheeeee! Great job!
Tracy
