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Good morning!
1st sequence – great send away to 3!! You had great position and timing on the BC. He needs more verbal info there – he was reading the “downstairs” (your motion and feet) and not the “upstairs” the change in connection and verbal. You did call him, but it was late and he was already on his way to the tunnel. As he is approaching 3, call his name and use your left verbal – be insistent! Then reward him for coming to you even if he misses the jump 🙂2nd rep – you called him a lot more on this one and he responded. Yay! Call him sooner – you started it when he landed from 3, start it before he takes off so he lands already turned. And try to keep moving so he comes in even while you are running. That tunnel is a delicious temptation so it is great to work him through ignoring it 🙂
3rd rep – now he is getting it! Yay! You called a bit earlier (I think you can call him when he is one stride before takeoff, rather than when he lands) but he is also learning to watch both upstairs and downstairs, rahter than just downstairs. Nice!!2nd video –
1st rep was the FC – very nice! Look at how nicely he is driving his lines!
On the FC: you started it on time, but the mechnics made you late to finish it. As you were front crossing, you brought your outside arm up to begin the cue (:08) and that pulled your body away from the line up (the arm was high) and it slowed your rotation down. To be quicker finishing the FCs, think of the figure skaters who do those fast spins: pull your arms in really tight to your body and drop the inside shoulder back (rather than bringing your outside shoulder up and out). Tjat will make you super quick to finish the FCs!2nd rep was the BC (building on the previous video) – very nice! His sends look REALLY good and that allows you to be in a great spot for the blind. Keep working to call him sooner. And as you do the blind, stay closer to the middle jump there so you can run forward and not block the line of entry to the tunnel.
3rd rep – I think the FC here was too early at :30: He landed from the previous jump you said jump and just started your FC with the outside arm coming up. You were looking forward too, when you said jump (rather than looking at him) and that is something that causes the youngsters to look at us and come off the line. So when you say jump, say it to him and then you’ll see him looking at the jump – then you can start the FC 🙂
The same thing happened (slight disconnect) on the last rep – but also I think he was anticipating the next part of the sequence and was heading to the middle jump and tunnel LOL!! He was being very helpful hahahaha Good job fixing it. I don’t think he was tired from a long session, I think he was just learning the sequence and trying to go faster hahaOverall, though, his sending and lines look TERRIFIC and now I am bugging you about timing and where you arms are LOL!! It is a champagne problem 🙂 Your timing is very close to perfect and you can keep your arms in tighter & lower for the FCs.
I agree that your teamwork is coming together, and he is still so young! And I also agree that your position on the lines will be VERY different than with MadDog 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
>>The bending grid height has always been consistently at 4″ (lowest jump cup).
OK perfect – let’s put the middle bar at 6″ for a session or two. The long term goal is that it moves to full height, eventually.
>>He’s a little whipper snapper. He cracks me up. Yes…more connection on the wing wrap lest he take his own path the wrong way! LOL Gotta love his enthusiasm.
YES! He is totally a “game on!” type of guy lol
>>So a few times over the past weeks you have mentioned for me to go deeper into the tunnel. I kind of get what you mean…sometimes it is appropriate to send to the tunnel and get out of there and ahead and sometimes I need to be more with him as he exits the tunnel. Is there a rule of thumb on this? I feel like I am trying to stay ahead of him to cue him but then maybe he isn’t seeing what he needs to see because of that.>>
The hardest part of small dog handling is knowing how to gauge the line: when to send and leave versus when to go in deep. It will depend on the sequence. So when you need to get waaaaay up a line for a blind cross, for example… send and leave. When you need to send him into a pinwheel or a wrap jump then turn and come back towards the tunnel, for example, run closer to the tunnel for a few steps so you don’t get too far ahead. It will come with more experience running him, and will keep changing a bit until he is working at full height.
>>>For sure, I have a very hard time with the transitions….this is not a new problem that I have! I’m hoping to get better at it with time.
You were getting it nicely! Review that part before your next session so you have it in your mind!
>>I think this may historically come from the One Mind thing where you run up to the wing and get low before the dog gets there or at least that is how I perceived it
Possibly! They did emphasize getting to the wing and getting low, plus they used the dog side arm which caused issues with the handler’s rotation and the dogs’ ability to read wrap versus rear cross.
>> Would it help to set the jumps a bit further apart to give me room for the fast/slow down/cue the turn. I feel like he smokes me and then I don’t have time to do the slow down part hence “slamming on the brakes” (which is a good way to put it, by the way!)
Yes, you can totally do that! Also you can put the cones out for the lines he would be passing, for when he would need to see each cue. The slowing down is hard when the speed demons are coming at us!
T
I feel your pain about the rain, we had record rain this month so far with more coming. My field drains well, thankfully, but I admit to being tired of wet socks 🙂
T
Hi there!
>>I have always tended to err on the side of rewarding too much! I sometimes get confused about when NOT to reward, so I end up making mistakes. The struggle is real.
I don’t think there is such a thing as rewarding too much 🙂 And in general, I believe that in agility, people don’t reward nearly enough! So here are three simple guidelines for handling:
successful rep? Reward.
Unsuccessful rep, but no verbal cue? Reward either immediately or ask for a trick
Unsuccessful rep, with a verbal cue (like you said the backside cue and he took the front)? Fix on that one jump immediately, then reward.So basically – keep looking for ways to reward. Assume all handling errors are human error either in the moment as a handler or in general as a trainer, and find something to reward very quickly (going back to the beginning of the sequence is not a quick reward).
Skill training is a tiny bit different, like a 2o2o: one error? Ask the same question again. 2 errors? Reward a trick, something different, then try again but make it easier to be successful.
>> On the “go” “Ro” question, I am using his name, but I say “Robie” and not “Ro.” I think I emphasize the first syllable, so that’s likely what you’re hearing.
Yes, that is probably it – but because we want him to respond immediately to the first part of the cue: either replace the GO cue with something like RUN, or change his name call on course to BIE instead of RO.
>> I am so so bad at the verbals, that I don’t think there is the slightest possibility that I’ll ever be able to replace “go” with anything else.
You’re not bad at verbals, you are simply new at verbals. There is a difference 🙂 If you pick them and work on making sure you plan them before every sequence, you will find they come a lot more easily 🙂
>>I moved the jumps up to 12″ for some of the easier stuff. Did that look ok?
Yes, I think he looked good! Yay!
Have fun 🙂
THi!
Very nice on the bending grid at 4 feet! He seemed to adjust to it perfectly well, along with starting on the harder angle. What were the heights of the bars, particularly the center bar? On your next revisit to this one, I suggest raising the center bar 2 inches. You can revisit sometime later this week, no rush, he did really well.Wing wrap – just remember to get connection after the wing LOL! He did really well on this one too – the wing wrap added a lot of speed and he was really working to roganize himself coming into the little grid. Good boy!!! On the next revisit… put the spacing at 4 feet. Leave the middle bar where it is for now (it will be higher without the wing wrap) because we only want to change on variable, not two here – and the speed is a big challenge).
Wrap FCs from the tunnel – the first go line looked good! Yo ucan drive in deeper to the tunnel so he sees more acceleration. It won’t make a difference on the Go cue by itself here, but it will make a difference on the transitions.
On the wrap with 2 jumps – this is where he needs to see the clear transition from acceleration to deceleration. You ran medium speed then rotated – so he turned after landing and not as much before takeoff. He was center of the bar at :19 and also on the last rep, which means he didn’t see the info early enough to make the adjustment. The slow-forward (decel) element of the transition if the key. Your connection on the exit was terrific and it really helped him drive right back around the jump!At :28 – he didn’t see the fast-slow elements of the transition, you rotated as soon as he exited the tunnel then started moving forward back to the tunnel, so he came off the line. The next rep had a much clearer transition so he committed nicely!
On the right wraps – on the first rep at :08, you slammed on the brakes (not showing the transition) and he didn’t turn that tight. That slow-forward element is the important one (and you added it later in the session and it was GREAT!)
At :41, this was the best turn you’ve had so far on both videos – he was on the wrap side of the bar and made the collection before takeoff. It was because you were forward for longer, showing him fast then slow then you rotated.
You were almost perfect on your transition at :49 too (2 jumps) – maybe one stride too early on the decel, but he committed and turned really well!!! Note how he was on the wrap side of the bar, not the center. Yay! For the timing – you decelerated as he was in the air over the 1st jump. You can drive in fast forward til he lands and then decel. But the transitions on this rep and the previous rep were really good!
And to get him into the tunnel entry out ahead, stay connected, look at him. You turned forward and that caused him to come into the closer entry (I don’t think that was the one you wanted…)Go – more connection and more running will help keep the bar up there – you were looking forward (getting ready to throw, probably) and not really accelerating. You can reward him from the thrown target – he was really good at jump 2, and the “what happened” plus withdrawal of the food tube won’t correlate to the dropped bar (it might add confusion to the bar he kept up). So you can praise and reward and then fix the bar on the next rep with clearer connection, like you did!
When you play with the wraps again, add in more of the transition from running really fast to slowing down for a step or two, then turning. Because it is a small space set up, you can go in deeper to the tunnel so you don’t get stuck waiting at the wrap wing. Your last 2 reps were really strong!!! And you are doing a great job with the exit line connection too.
On the 2 jump work – you were running fast forward then slamming on the brakes – it can work if you are ahead of him at the wing but he barked at you on one rep (too much, he said LOL!) and then he was not quite as certain on the other reps and was zig zagging his line. Keep adding in the slowing down element and it will be lovely (like the last 2 reps of the previous wrap video
The running rewards look really good here, I think this is something you have been doing a decent amount of already with your connection practice. Now try to do the running rewards everywhere 🙂 Yay!
Nice job on these!!
TracyHi! Conceptually she is nailing this, especially when she is in the grid at jumps 2 and 3. Her head is straight and the added motion doesn’t seem to be changing much of her style at all. The first rep where you didn’t say tunnel, she was fine to not drive ahead because you were not moving fast yet – and we like that she is paying such good attention to your deceleration! She is having a little bit of challenge stepping into the very first jump though, choosing different styles and takeoff spots on each rep. Interesting! So, definitely revisit this one – I think she can see a low bar on jump 3 for now (as low as it goes but a notch higher than the jump here) – you can use a low bump or a pool noodle too – just to give her more challenge. That visual might help her sort out how she wants to move into the first jump too! But overall, she is doing a great job so we can play with a little more challenge : )
Nice work!
TracyHi! She is doing really well on the bending grid here! She is spot on where we want her to be on the 1st 2 jumps and she is bouncing them. She is a bit wide/straight over the 3rd jump – but that is because you were facing forward, so she is going to the line you are showing. Good girl! So, as she is doing the grid, keep turning back towards jump 1 as if the grid is 1-2-3-1. That will cue her to turn on jump 3 as well. I am sure she will be just fine with this 🙂 And then you can add in the angle and have her jump in from further away.
Great job!
THi! These are going well! A couple of little details to smooth out some of the moments:
1st rep – really nice! Lovely transition, so her line was terrific.
2nd rep – she didn’t take the jump here and it was because your transition was a little muddy:
you were slowing down while turning, so you ended up running sideways not forward. All of your other transitions were NOT like this, so we will throw this one out 🙂
3rd rep perfect transition elements of fast then slow then turn – she committed and was super tight! You are making the transition elements crisp and clear.
On your run cues in the middle and on the 2nd to last jump – you were a little upright and looking ahead, so she looked at you – drop your shoulders down like an Olympic sprinter and connect to her more, to exaggerate the difference. And when you see her looking ahead, throw the toy and keep running, to help her not look up at you.
at :33 – a little late starting, so you were a little late to the blind, so she looked at you – but then found her jump nicely on the reconnection. Yay!
On the last rep of the FC/BC – NICE!!! You had a bit more lead out and you were able to show a perfect transition – her commitment and turn were awesome! And you had time to reconnect so she found the 3rd jump without having to look at you. Very nice! You really have lovely transitions going!!Well done!
TracyGood morning!
On the Wraps
you have all the elements of the transition going (fast, slow, turn) really nicely!! And she is reading them – great job on making them SO clear. I am happy with what she did here! You can make the timing come sooner by leading out more. If you are ahead, you can see her landing from 1 and start the decel more easily. The first one was late because you were starting pretty close to her. The others were earlier and she turned much better, but the short lead out definitely made it harder for you. Try to lead out another 2 steps past that first jump and you should have it perfectly. If you get to wrap wing before she does, no problem, just rotate and stay there (don’t move past it). Good job remembering your verbals! And when you work the Go – you can exaggerate your shoulders dropping forward and throw the toy really early.
>> Also I have been having some trouble in all the games remembering to put the toy in the correct hand!I feel that pain LOL! I always take a moment before the drill to plan where the toy is 🙂
Good work here!
Hi! Hours to upload, I feel that pain!! Eek!!!!
Lots of good stuff here with him!!!
Bending grid left – this was hard! He was trying to figure out the leads, he was trying to bend, so many things in the multi-tasking department and he was touching bars and the wing. So two tweaks for you: use food for this, not the toy. The food will probably not be as exciting so he will not be in a rush to get to it… which means he will look at the grid more. Also, start him on less of an angle for getting into the grid. Have him close to the first jump and almost straight (tiny angle). We can change that when he sorts it out and add the angle back, probably in 2 or 3 sessions of this.Bending grid right – this was less difficult for him. I like where you were setting him up on these on the first bar, it was helping! He was changing his style on each rep, so this is also a good one for revisiting. On both the right bends and left bends, angle the outer jumps in towards the middle jump by a little, so the distance between the center of the bar is shorter. Is looking like it was 6 feet here? If so, try 5 feet center to center so he can sort out the bounce bending. Then we can move the, back out to 6 feet.
Tunnel Go – were you saying Ro on the turn and Go on the go? They sounded alike so I couldn’t figure it out and he came out looking at you on the first Go.. I think you had mentioned using a different word for Go? I will go see if I can find that discussion, He read the Go really well when you were moving forward as he went in. He read the turns beautifully! Nice!!! Your physical cues were really clear on those.
With all of the verbals… repeat them 🙂 Rather than just once before he goes in, say them before he goes in, as he is in it, and as he exits. Repeating the cues helps guarantee that you are on time and that he will process them (with all the other things he has to process while running.On the sequences:
speaking of physical cues before the tunnel, always make sure that the last thing he sees before he enters is what you will want on the exit. On the first rep, he saw a bit of a serpentine path but not the blind from your motion. He picked up the line because you were able to reconnect quickly. But at :12, he could not pick it up (not enough connection). So showing him the blind before he enters will make it much easier for him to see the exit line (and get the reconnection). Was it Brenda on the video who asked if you were looking at him? She was right lol
When an error happens in handling and you had not given him a verbal cue: reward him anyway. He was correct here and there was a Go verbal but he was long out of the tunnel by then. If you give a verbal and he doesn’t get it, fix it on the jump then reward (but in this case at :12, you can just reward). Rewarding for handler errors helps keep the speed up and engagement high.
Your connection on the FC rep at :26 and the RC rep at the end both looked really good!
Be sure to also do some regular straight lines of tunnel-jump-jump so he doesn’t pattern – this will help you on the first sequence of the last video. You had just gotten all of this prizes out on the last jump there, so when you hd a tiny bit of pressure on his line and turned your feet (:05) he was already on the far wing heading to the last jump out there.Now, in this case, you were giving a left verbal – so you can call him back, have him turn left on that one jump – then reward. Then start over.
2nd rep – he got the left turn on that, good boy! Try to make a clearer transition so he can collect more and be more prepared to turn. The key element of the transition is the slowing down while moving forward to the wrap wing. At :14, you were running fast then as he landed from the first jump you slammed on the brakes a bit so he committed but didn’t really collect. Part of the reason is that your feet were sideways rather than rotated fully. As he is jumping that first jump,, you can decelerate so he is more prepared for the rotation that is coming and set up his collection in front of the jump. And even if he is wide, keep moving out of it, with the reward across your body, so he can drive back (and not back jump).
You had the same sudden stop on the 3rd and 4th reps here – you are close to the jump so he committed but he didn’t make the collection on it. Geat job moving out of it and then a really nice running reward. Wheee!So – you might need to put markers on the ground like I had in the demo video 🙂 run fast forward til he lands – but then don’t rotate/stop, try to decelerate then rotate – this will help in 2 ways: it will give him a heads up that the turn is tight and it will make it easier to rotate your feet fully (nice sideways) which is a stronger collection cue. That will help him see that it is coming and sort out his mechanics.
Nice work here! Let me know if the ideas makes sense!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I feel like I have a hard time connecting with him because I have this freight train barreling down on me. When I can start adding some height to the jumps it might be better
I feel that pain! It all feels soooo different with each new dog. It gets easier and easier with practice though!
On the video: I like the short sessions with him, I think he has more energy and focus in general for them which is exactly what we want.
Two general notes: try to have your rewards either ready in your hand or easily accessible, so you can do the running rewards – take off and get him to chase you out of each sequence for the reward, to add even more energy to the end. You were stopping to reward and then running him back to the xpen, but ideally the running rewards come in the sequence itself.
Also, use more of the arm-across-the-body rewarding and reconnection – that will help tighten turns and get him on the lines you want. It will open up your dog-side shoulder so he can see the connection better. Trying to connect using the dog-side shoulder closed your connection and caused a couple of errors.
1st session working on the wraps – the transitions were a little late, so he was wide (the decel and turn happened after he made a jumping decision. You can use the arm-across the body more here to get him to drive back even sooner.
2nd session – much better transition here! You can see how much better his turn was! You were running a little sideways, so remember to decelerate facing forward for a step or two then rotate, so you aren’t sideways. And use arm across the body to get the connection after the cross.
3rd session – nice job getting up the line to the blind and he picked up the line after the tunnel nicely! After the blind, he needed a stronger connection to pick up the next jump. You were trying to indicate it with your dog-side arm pointing at it, and it closed off the connection. Yes, the arm across the body to reconnect at 1:27 will totally help him pick up the jump after the blind 🙂
>>On the second to last one, Flurry barked at him as I took him out of his expen which got him rattled. Of course, it’s the one time I waited two steps to play with him. Maybe he looked at her. She absolutely does not want any dog to have fun with me. So, The second I asked Skye to give me the toy, he grabbed leaves. I left the part in on how I handled it. >>
It could have been Flurry barking, or depletion from the other mini sessions, or a combination of both. If she is doing to bark at him and it creates stress, you can countercondition it with food or toys in that situation (separately from agility) and also in some instances, avoid it by throwing a handful of kibble down for Flurry so she is busy when he is coming out.
Good job getting him back a bit – you can stick with the tricks for treats and toys for longer, before trying to get him back to the toy chasing or into the sequence. By doing tricks for treats or toys, his head is up, he is doing simple stuff, he is not eating. When you tried to get the chase going on the toy near the obstacles, he was still interested in grabbing things. I think tricks for treats (or toys) are behaviors that are incompatible with grabbing things more than agility. Plus, he didn’t have agility on his mind, so it is fine to recognize that, do a couple of paw tricks then run him back to the crate and re-start the session later on.
>> The last rep he went behind my back. I’m pretty sure I was indicating where to go, but I wasn’t connected with him.
The line coming into the tunnel looked good, but I think you were focused more on keeping his attention and ended up clapping, leaning over and looking forward at 3:21 – that caused you to turn yur back on him a bit, so he lost connection and probably read it as a blind cross – which caused him to drive into the other end of the tunnel. It is another place where dropping your dog-side shoulder back will really help him see the line you want, rather than trying to show him the obstacles. So, driving into the tunnel there, you can call and urge him on, but keep your left arm back behind you so you can make eye contact and he can see your connection and the correct tunnel entry.
Nice job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! In general, your arms were fine but they did get high a few times and that caused errors.
>>We struggled to get obstacle 4 each time. I tried throwing the toy for her before she got to the jump, and that helped a little.
That was where the arms would sometimes come up too high – throwing early actually kept your arms down and connection, so keep planning to throw! You can also carry something in the dog-side arm (like a bottle of water) so you can feel where you arm is more while you are running.
>>As always I struggle with timing.
Your timing is going well! There were a few reps here where it was spot on! And there were few reps where it was not as perfect but still really good!!!
>> Omg – need to stop the drama when we don’t get something. She easily shuts down.
Yes, this, 1000% this. Looking at the science of it, there is punishment happening whether you intended it or not. There is a clear difference in her speed at the beginning versus the end, based on the punishment. Now, I don’t think you are actively trying to punish her – but marking it,, stopping the running, not reinforcing, and turning away from her create a strong negative punishment (withdrawal of the activity, the reward, and your attention, all of which are valuable to her). So from now on, you need to be REALLY aware of this and have a plan to not accidentally punish her when the handling goes wrong. If she comes off a line, just keep going or reward her happily – and then on the next rep, fix the handling. More on that below.
I also recommend a penalty for yourself every time you punish her, whether you intended to or not 🙂 The dogs don’t read our intentions with reinforcement or punishment, they just read whether they were reinforced or punished. So having a penalty (punisher!) for the human will make you far more aware of it: I suggest something like you lose 30 minutes of access to your cell phone or ipad to TV during prime hours (not at 2am haha) for every time you punish her, accidentally or not 🙂 So if you punish her 4 times here by accident, your devices all go away for 2 hours. Eek! Or something equally valuable like that, if devices aren’t valuable.
On the video:
1st rep FC – good connection, good timing, good verbals, good reward! She had strong lines and a lovely turn! And speedy!!!!
One tweak on this one is to NOT use her name out of the tunnel (and on the next reps too) because we don’t want a turn on the tunnel exit, we want her to go. So, use GO 🙂
2nd rep – you had too much of her focus on you out of the tunnel (the repeated name call) and then a big disconnection over #2 and 3, so she turned with your shoulder and came off the line.
When something goes wrong, it is far far better to either keep going or reward her. You stopped and turned your back on her here – and she immediately left.3rd rep – BC here was good! Better connection than the previous rep and you are really getting the crosses started much earlier! That is setting up nice turns and she is driving through them.
4th rep -at :47 you did a spin, then just rewarded – totally the right thing to do because she read you perfectly and I don’t think your plan was to spin LOL!
5th rep – mirror image FC – a little alte on the FC here at :59 (the timing on your FC on the other side was earlier, so you can trust her here and start the FC when she is halfway between the 2 jumps. Then on the reward, keep moving and have her chase you for it – you tossed it one direction but moved the other direction and she pulled the bar. So moving through the jump and then engaging with the toy will help her carry through with the jumping.
6th rep – at 1:14, you were pulling away, arm high and called her name (“Dem!”) so that is why she pulled off the line. Think of supporting the line with your motion and connection, not your arm – so look at her on landing, keep moving towards the line and use your jump cue there. And then reward her for *something* – withholding reinforcement assumes that it is the dog’s fault. And in agility handling – it is the handler’s fault 99.999% of the time. Marking it by saying stuff like “so close” then turning away from her is a punisher, even when it is cheerful, so you will want to avoid that as it squealches drive for the game.
Same with the giant groans of defeat at 1:24 when you threw the toy and she went around the jump to get it. Watch that section from 1:22 – 1:27 and look at her facial expression when you turn to her and she is bringing the toy to you: ears back, postured lowered… she is perceiving that as a punisher and that can really bubble into a loss of passion for agility. Note how on the next rep, she trots into the tunnel (1:28) She pretty much stayed at a slower speed for the rest of i, even with the rewards (and the punisher at 2:24) now go back to the beginning of the video and watch her speed there on that first rep. You can see how the punishers are slowing her down at the end versus at the beginning.
So think about how you can keep working the timing and connection like you did here (you are doing really well with that) and plan to reinforce her when the handling goes wrong. Assume that the handling caused the error (which it did) and don’t worry about the reinforcement caused her to not take jumps (she will still take jumps with correct handling). You will see an increase in her speed, which makes your handling much easier too!
Let me know what you think 🙂
Tracy
Hi there! These sessions had really lovely work in them!!!!
Seq 1: For some reason, he was going really wide on the jump after the tunnel. Birds? Or maybe looking for the toy on the ground? It wasn’t anything you were doing as a handler, so it was probably some type of distraction. He was coming in when you did the FC and called him, so try calling him sooner. When he went around the cross jump, it was the distraction not a handling error. Calling him earlier seemed to help (like on the BC rep) and also he got better as the session continued in the PM session.On the exit of the FC – to get the side change, get connection and hold connection that connection as you rotate. When he ended up behind you – you released it at :16 by looking forward so he never changed his line. You were perfect with getting and holding connection at :25! And at :46 after the BC! And at 1:11, that turn was GREAT! Really terrific!
At :59, you did indeed get connection and hold connection… but you ran a line directly to the tunnel entry so that is why he took it 🙂 Motion is king! LOL! So keep running towards the jump like you did at 1:11.
Overall, I think your timing is looking really good here – it might have felt weird because he was wide on the jump after the tunnel, but I think that was just a distraction causing it.
Sequence 2 – On the first rep, just a little more connection needed on the jump cue – look at him more when you say it, try not to point forward. I liked your timing though! And the 2nd rep was great – a lot more connection and also nice timing! Yay!!
Nice work here! Looking forward to seeing more 🙂
Tracy
Hi! Both hands? hahaha just kidding!
If it is the exit of a cross or a serpentine, try to use the arm across the body. If it is a regular line, you reward with dog-side arm as long as you stay connected back to the dog 🙂Tracy
Hi! I think you are doing well here!
On the landing side BC at 3, there are a couple of challenges: getting there, starting on time, and getting the new connection… all at the speed of light because she is relentless (which is a VERY VERY good thing LOL!!!!). Looking at the first section (pink jacket reps :)):
Only 2 tweaks, really:
leave the tunnel sooner, turning your feet towards 4 rather than doing a full post turn to face the tunnel. This will help so you can get to the 3 sooner, and start the blind sooner so you can reconnect sooner). As soon as she is heading towards the tunnel, get outta there (keep yelling tunnel and watching her, but your feet can turn and leave. We saw her do it when we worked just the tunnel in MaxPup 3, so I am confident she will stay committed here too.
On the bigger lines to the FC or BC, trust her more to take 5 so you can start your FC and BC sooner. You were tending to wait til she was between the uprights so she was a little wide on those.
On the 2nd session here (pink t-shirt session) – you are rocking it! Note how you are leaving the tunnel sooner – at 1:03, you did exactly what I suggested above about turning your feet away and leaving, so you got the blind sooner. You did’t do it on all the reps her, but you nailed it there! It didn’t look totally comfy yet but it will be with practice 🙂You are also doing the BCs and FCs sooner – at :58 and 1:22 you were earlier on the crosses 5-6 and she committed and turned nicely! So I think this sequence is a matter of really testing her commitment because things need to happen soooo quickly. You might have a tiny bit more time when she is jumping bars, but not a lot more time. And she is relentlessly driving each line as fast as she can, which is just *amazing*!!!!!
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
