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Hellooooo! I am just going to call her PTG (Pop Tart Gilley) LOL! Terriers are a little different than, say, BCs hahaha but you will love every moment of it! I am looking forward to more about PTG. And best of luck at EOTT, we are cheering for ya!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! What is the pup’s name? Bonnie did MaxPup work with Edward when he was a pupster too 🙂 Keep us posted if you have any questions about how to work through this online class stuff 🙂 And have fun!
TracyHello and welcome to you and Demi! It will be super fun to see her, she is a perfect age to get started with *all the things* 🙂 Yay!!!!
Tracy
Hello Amy and Clover! This will be great fun to see her blossom 🙂 I do think there are some differences between girl puppies and boy puppies, and definitely differences between breeds!! I am looking forward to your videos!
Tracy
Good morning!
These are good – they are more in the category of reminders for your routines and run reminders, so we can tweak them a bit to make them into more forceful affirmations.>>I will continue to find and visualize the good from a run – there is always something good to remember – it’s what keeps me coming back for more.
can be something like:
Today I am brilliant at finding the positive in each run>>I will wait until Monday to analyse what went wrong, only positive thoughts on trial days
can be something like:
I am a positive partner to my dog and fellow competitors on trial days>>I will do my best to avoid letting him know about mistakes, I accept that I probably own 100% of the mistakes and the no’s, damns sighs and other expletive’s coming out of my mouth are probably doing nothing to help him with his confidence – they are hard to control though.
into
I always look forward in each run and let go of any bobble immediately>>I will avoid celebrating until we are done done with a run. I continue to visualize me shouting you did it while he was on his way to the finish jump, seeing him look look back at me and then taking down the finish bar.
ha! Don’t visualize the error 🙂 Visualize you running hard all the way to the leash then celebrating. The affirmation can be something like
I will add the leash as the last obstacle and drive all the way to it.T
Good morning!
>>EX: jump hard turn to weaves but a Tunnel is facing the jump before the weaves.
scene: Tanner takes jump turns to weaves enters correctly but pops out of weave 4.
run reminders: ( hard turn, pause )or Tanner LUVS tunnels I need to Turn hard pause for a couple sec as I go forward to the weaves.
Performance Goal :Tanner not taking tunnel and just entering weaves ( turn, entering and completing weaves)>>Bearing in mind that performance goals are *your* performance (and not his), I would tweak this to be a performance goal if timely cuing of the turn to get the weaves in view and take out the tunnel possibility. That is a performance goal specific to that course.
A general performance goal (run reminder) can be staying patient while enters the weaves, don’t rush, be stationary until he is entered and has made the bend back to the next pole, then moving forward.
>>Outcome Goal: Tanner turns
paused long enough for Tanner to realize we are turning and enters weaves correctly Both outcome goals were achieved !! while at the same time other areas were not and that is what we need to continue to work on in Training : instead of handler racing him to weaves ( to make sure he see’s the entrance) Handler needs to trust dog & training Then should have slowed down my momentum and steps. So Tanner will slow down enough to get his backend positioned better to be able to stay in the weaves to complete them.Yes – keep working in training so you don’t have to slow down to help him get in. But the run reminder of “be patient an let him enter the poles before moving forward” can stay on the list as you train him to fluency.
>>Periodization: I never knew there was a word to what I did before we left for natls but this is very close to what I would do. Especially the week of natls ( packing car, traveling ect) Toby would not do any agility 7 days before natls. I always thought this was the time for him to just be a dog has much as he could especially with us traveling on a few of those day. Appreciate you adding this in definitely can do further research on it.
Yes! And periodization should allow for rest. No last minute cramming needed 🙂 But rest is important!
Keep up the good work!!!
Tracy
Hi! This is a great update! I think the number 1 tool right now if going to be planning at the speed of Tessa 🙂 Your FAST run experience really brought it home – your plans are good but then we need to add in her speed (especially how quickly she will get out of tunnels).
Try to overestimate her speed for now – practice things where she is going faster than a living creature can actually go 🙂 I think this might actually help you feel like you have time to get things done on course, because decisions will be based on her immense speed (and yes, rear crossing is a very good thing to work on with her!)>> During my last JWW run, a lovely, flowing, Sunday “everybody goes home with a green ribbon” course,
I have found that when you run a powerhouse like Tessa or my Voodoo, there is no such thing as an “everybody goes home with a green ribbon” course 🙂 Every course is a game of inches at a zillion miles per hour, win it all or blow up trying 🙂 So fun!
T
Good morning!
Really good stuff and lots of detail in your routines here!
Some thoughts & ideas for you:>>I try to feed the dogs but on trial morning my dogs are to excited to eat so they don’t. Even special delicious breakfast will not be eaten. I do try to get them to eat some extra cheese or other treats frequently during the day.
hmmmm, this is interesting! I definitely want my dogs to eat something to help power their brains and bodies – it is easy to get terriers and papillons to eat (piggies!) but much harder with BCs. Can you try getting them to eat first thing before they figure out it is a trial (if you are at home?) . Or maybe do a shaping session with a bit of breakfast as reward? I would think that eating a good breakfast is as important for the dogs’ physical and mental endurance as it is for our physical and mental endurance 🙂
And I agree with the concept of a good warm up being 10 to 15 minutes long – I have gotten the same advice from the professionals. It starts with walking, then trotting, then active stretching, then builds to explosive behaviors right at the end before the run.
>>Working on the dog’s mental warm up is something I really need. Normally I ask for a right/left, sits and downs. But I don’t think this is enough.
Yes, you might need to expand the toolbox to whip other things out. You can add tricks like paw lifts, barking in cue, backing up, chin holds, etc – this tricks offer a variety of ways to help focus the dogs.
>>Depending on who is ringside with me, I am usually trying to calm down Rolex.
You can do precision tricks for him (paw lifts or chin holds) as he will have to center himself to be correct. Or you can experiment with letting him alternate between precision tricks and wild releases to see if you can find the balance. My highest dogs needed this balance of a bit of precision and a bit of go-wild to get the right focus in the ring.
>>Psychic I need to keep his nose off of the ground. So their mental warm up is different.
Sniffing might be his way of coping with the excitement/pressure of the environment, so you can build in tricks alternating with permission to sniff and see how he does. My oldest dog, Export, would almost always sniff at the start line for a moment as we were moving in. I allowed it, and mixed in some tricks so I could help him be ready. He was great about being focused on course!
>>Prior to entering the ring I connect strongly with my dog. One relaxing technique that a vet told me about is stroking the dog from the top of their head to their tail set as this has a calming effect.
The dog will tell you if it indeed has a calming effect LOL!!! There is no real science on that, so it is purely based on the likes/dislikes of each individual. I have seen MANY dogs (especially BCs) really hate this LOL! They are fully focused on the work ahead and are kind of like, “dude, why are you touching me?!?!?!” I am like a BC in that way – if I am about to go into the ring and someone comes up and starts stroking my back, I would shy away from it too haha! So when you do it, watch the dog’s reaction – does he lean into it? Or does he crouch away?
>>When entering the ring, I ask the dog to sit and wait as I enter the ring first. I head directly to our set up mark, ask for a sit while I remove his collar, if we have a tunnel first I mark the tunnel and tell the dog to stay as I move to where I want to be to start our run. While leaving my dog I always talk with the dog as I feel this keeps our communication going.
>>After our run we celebrate and take a walk while I mentally review our run. After the dog has been rewarded and cooled down I put them back in the crate. As soon as I can I like to review our video looking for things we did well and things that I need to set up and work next week.These are both really good!!
TracyHi Nelci!
These are very good agility-specific affirmations! I suggest you also have general affirmations, not related to agility handling 🙂 Base these off of things that might make you nervous or things you are not confident of. The handling affirmations are good, but try to balance with affirmations that can pump you up and have nothing to do with handling.
Looking forward to your thoughts from the UKI trial!T
Hello and welcome to the Aussie-fest LOL! Looking forward to meeting Spot!!!!
Here’s how to change your photo:
Our LMS software pulls profile images from a popular profile image service called Gravatar. You can create an account at Gravatar.com using the same email address that you use on agility-u.com. Then follow these instructions to upload your profile photo over on Gravatar:
https://en.gravatar.com/support/activating-your-account/Has it really been 6 YEARS??? Wow! Welcome back! I am looking forward to seeing sweet baby Voltie in action!!!
T
Hello and welcome! I am glad you hopped in first 🙂 I am looking forward to seeing Josie in action!!!!!
Tracy
Hi Tom!
Did you feel the music was able to fade into the background as you did the walk through? Or did it remain in the foreground? Maybe too distracting of a choice?>>One thing I’ve started doing with course maps is looking at them one run at a time. When I would look at all 3 or 5 at once, I would have too many plans bouncing around in my head.
Yes! One at a time is a great plan, especially when you don’t need to walk more than one at a time. The learn “3 or 4 at once” is a skill for big events and is something to tackle *after* your routine on one course is solid and comfy 🙂 Then you can try adding another course to it, especially when you might have a 2 ring trial on the calendar. The most I ever had to learn & walk at once was 6 courses in 6 rings, and it was definitely brain-bending LOL!!!!
>>Another thing I’m working on with him is starting our run setup outside the ring, having him come thru the gate with focus, and maintaining that focus to the start line. I’ll set him up and ask for a jump up or hand touch before the lead out. Having him working while coming in is seeming to help him ignore his ghosts.>>
Yes! There is plenty of good science behind having come in doing tricks and playing with you. Mainly, it changes his state of arousal that is more likely to help distractions fade into the background. For dogs that find people or “ghosts” to be worrisome, we have found that higher energy tricks like jump up or hand touch or even bark-on-cue are GREAT for kicking those ghosts to the curb!!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Okay to be sure I understand it correctly : Run reminders ( #3 goal setting – C ) would be a specific list like – Tanner = distance ,verbal cues, body specific cueing , A – frame contact verbal cue ( rrrrrrr)Run reminders in #6 g : ( general reminders for me) before releasing from start line – eye contact, release word, dog moves then I move. or Buddy : bar setter close to jump 9 talk to buddy keep his focus
or is it the same for each # just perhaps more specific on the specific course I am running. >>I think you can have 2 lists of run reminders:
list #1 is the list of specific things you need to help you remember for each dog: such as, remember to use your verbal cues with Tanner. This list also serves as the basis for list 2:
list #2 can be “in the moment” based on your performance goals for the specific course. For example: execute the connection on the exit of the blind cross 3-4. Stay connected at the start and talk to Buddy after tunnel #10 because the bar setter is very close.>>Which then thinking about example I used for buddy ( above) made me think that 1.) this would be a trial distraction ?? in the fact that and this would include my mind thinking : “ooohh fantastic bar setter is sitting so close to jump 9 Buddy is going to go visit” “How am I going to handle this one if I can’t keep is focus” ( which would be bad mind preparedness thought before the run because I have already started visualizing the negative in that are. Instead I should think ” woohoo a chance to work on his focus by talking more to him in that area” therefore my visualization is already thinking positive and remember what Buddy needs from me to help keep his focus when we get to that area.
Yes, good point – it is a trial distraction for you but a training distraction for him. And since we aren’t training him at a trial (we are just seeing “where” he is in the training) then you can work on the bar setter situation, for example, as just a distraction for you: you can’t control the bar setter being there, but you CAN control your reaction and you can set a performance goal of how you are going to help the dog.
Plus, yes, in visualizations at home – practice having a bar setter or leash runner being waaaaay to close and visualize successfully working through it! I practice this at home in terms of having intimidating people or big crowds watching my runs!
>> Which then would also include performance goals ( if he has been learning what we have been practicing with not visiting people) he will stay focus on me…Outcome goal ( what ever choice Buddy decides to do) ,,
Performance goal would be something *you* can do… talk to him, cheer him, a specific handling move, for example. But he may or may not respond 🙂 That has nothing to do with the performance goal. A successful performance might be that you remembered to stay connected & talk to him! Yay! But his training might not be ready for that, so you still might have an outcome fail that causes you to keep training it. It falls into the category of “the joys of working with dogs” LOL!!!
Here’s an example: at the US Open, there was a really hard weave entry where the dog had to push away from me on the flat out of a straight tunnel & then the dog had to stay in (turning away from me) while I moved laterally away to the next cross. My performance goal was to send to the jump before the tunnel and really convince him to leave me so I could get past the tunnel exit and cue the weave entry. I did it! He went and took the jump and the tunnel and I got him into the weave entry! Yay for the handling!
But, it was a really hard skill and his training was not fully ready for it – so he got into the entry then questioned himself so he popped out at pole 4.
Was it a performance goal fail? Nope! I nailed the performance goal of the handling choice & execution (I was very happy with myself for that haha!)
Was it a training fail? Yes, absolutely. Which means it is still totally my fault because these dogs try SO HARD and he just didn’t fully understand the question I was asking. Good boy! I will train it. And I will give myself a high five for nailing the performance goal of the handling execution. Yessssss 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense!
>>Now when I through out Buddy example ( which is the story of my runs with buddy LOL) I noticed my breathing changing which I would need to remember to adjust while in my warm up to the line.
That is really cool! So my question is… when your breathing changed here at the computer, what did you do? You recognized it, which is great! You can then use breathing methods and release valves and reframing to bring your breathing down, or do a quick visualization of a successful moment to help bring your breathing back to center. Do this at home or anywhere you feel this change, so it becomes automatic – and you can do it at a trial easily without having to think about it 🙂
Is that about right in what we have been learning thus far???>>okay now on to BRAVE REMINDERS: I honestly never thought that a list I started years ago on quotes would really come in handy for a class. I refer to many of them , some I have already memorized.. but woohoo lol!!
ALL the wonders you seek are within yourself – Sir Thomas Browne
We do not remember days we remember moments _ Cesare Paverse
Faith doesn’t get you around trouble , it gets you through it. — touch by angel
Sometimes endings are just opportunities — touch by angel
The shortest distance between two points is always under construction — Leo Aikman
Nothing is impossible the word itself says ” I’m Possible”!! – Audrey Hepburn
The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid. – Psalm 118:6 >>I LOVE these! Goosebumps!!!!
here is one that I use all the time for myself. It is from the Bible, I believe, not sure exactly where:
“If not now, when? If not me, who?”
It is a good one for bravery too 🙂>>Another quick question I print out a few days ahead so I can read them in my free time or time I have allotted for study. Is there Suppose to be something written on Day 21 “Practical routines summing up” ? Cause there is nothing there.>>
Hmmmm, let me go look! There is supposed to be something there!
>>I can’t get it figured out how to upload just the picture. IT keeps asking to enter to the url of the image and its just a jpeg image. MMM.. any other ideas.? ooh wait I just remembered that we are friends on fb I will send you a message with the picture of You Toby and I there.
Thank you for the photo! I will ask the tech guru behind the scenes how to do it 🙂
T
