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Super nice session here, so fun to watch! Yes, a couple of the errors were because the handling didn’t help him as much as needed because he is an inexperienced dog, but as he gets more weave experience you’ll find that he will get those entries too 🙂 Yay!!!! You set up the session really well to get the added challenge of speed/running/harder entries while still getting correct weaving and striding. He seemed really pumped up and also didn’t lose his accuracy or striding.
One little detail is that sometimes on the harder entries you decel a little and hang out by the entry before running up the line again – you’re probably watching the entry and don’t even realize it. So think of the poles now as a tunnel… stay connected like you did but run run run 🙂 That will add an additional layer of challenge but will be very useful on course!
For the next session, you can replicate what you did here but with 6 poles 🙂 I think 4 straight and then poles 5 and 6 a little open is the right place to start but if he has questions, you can open up poles in any spot where he has a question.
I also love how he is handling himself on the turf (and also grass) so the more you can get on the turf or grass, the better!Great job here! Let me know what you think 🙂
TracyGood morning! She looked great here! She is being thoughtful about the entries on the harder angles, but I prefer that over just blasting past them 🙂 One thing that she is way ahead of the game on is finding the weave poles on course. Many young dogs struggle with that, and from the looks of this: it will not be a problem for her. Yay!!!
I agree about going to 6 poles. Introduce them a little open, let her sort it out before you add more speed. One thing to try to do (and I say try because it is very easy to say and much harder to do haha) is to throw the frisbee or lotus ball really low, almost bowl it. When she has questions driving in, she is lifting her head – but it might not be a weave question at all, it might be a toy tracking question! So if the rewards are bowled low and long, she will get in the habit of the lowered head which makes the entries easier in terms of weight shift 🙂
So to set up 6 poles – spread out your sequence so there is a TON of room, maybe 21 feet between obstacles. At first just have her go through without anything before or after, so she is not surprised by poles 5-6 🙂 And the 21 feet will give you room to bowl the reward after the exit (the lotus ball might be easier than the squirrel for this).
If she is a happy camper on poles 5-6 in terms of accuracy, then add them into little sequences but with the side open distances and bowling the reward right after the poles.My guess is the introduction of poles 5-6 will serve as a warm up and then you can do a few reps of them in sequence, in that same session. If my guess is wrong, just stick to the poles without sequence.
Keep me posted! I am pretty sure we are not at the stage where 6 poles will be easy, she’ll have them straight in a couple of sessions, then we will be adding the rest of the poles shortly too 🙂
Great job!!!!
TracyGood morning!! Really strong session here.
Excellent choice of frizzer! And good catch about the Nemo-on-the-ground question he has. Definitely love your idea of working through it with simple stuff, and also you can have it behind him in a stay and you release forward to a jump – very useful for future trial experiences (how did his seminar go yesterday?)The weave session went well. Looking at the session *after* the first two reps, I think you can add in the harder angles now too, which will put you further ahead and might either help the exits or add challenge – we shall see LOL! But he was excellent on his speed/accuracy/striding.
Now the first 2 reps where he missed the exit – I think it was friz related, in that he was wound up (yay!) and you might have twitched a tiny muscle to prepare to throw (which is really just something they will learn to let us do otherwise it becomes impossible to be perfectly still).
I want him to be successful on those first 2 reps, but I don’t want you to have to slow down and I don’t want you to have to run in fear of twitching too early… so perhaps when you are running hard early in the session and carrying the friz, the PT can be out there as a focal point to get the ball rolling? He was looking at you and the PT can help him when he is stimulated and you’re both going fast, without dialing back the stimulation or speed. Then it is easy to fade the PT. Getting that first rep accurate while he is fast and stimulated is important for the youngsters as they get into trialing.Let me know if that makes sense or if I need more coffee haha! For the next couple of sessions – your idea of doing the same exact setup is a good one, with similar challenges, trying to get the first reps accurate and fast, and then if it starts well, add crazy angles and handling challenges.
If that goes well, then for the next session, let’s just go to 6 basically straight poles (they can have the tiniest wiggle room kind of like 1-4 do here) and see what he says – dialing back the other challenges and just walking for that first session.
Keep me posted!! Tracy
Hi everyone! Just a reminder, I am offline tomorrow. I am heading to a flyball seminar 🙂 See you all on Sunday!
TracyHi! I think the training technology has advanced soooo much in recent years that we now know how to convince the dogs to turn REALLY tightly with a minimum of handling effort 🙂 The head turns are a definitely first step.
>>We’ve done some more rear cross work trying to keep my movement simply toward the center of the bar and trying to see how timing and pressure affect Kips turning. He does turn more naturally to the left so we work the right side a bit more as well as do straight “go ons” which I didn’t record since Kip has no problem with his “go ons”!>>
I thought these were definitely better!!! And a nice by-product was that you were not that far behind 🙂 You can get on that line even sooner – I think the setup might feel awkward for that, because you have to wait for a long time at the wing. When you left earlier, you did a few steps up te line before putting the RC pressure on and that creates an L shape to your path. When you got on the RC line sooner, it was a nice diagonal. Here are specifics:
On the first video, rep 1 was my favorite, you were on the RC line the earliest there. The other 2 were good but can be even sooner.
On the 2nd video, rep 1 went well. Reps 2 and 3 (marked as 5 and 6 here) were late – this is where you left the wing a little too quickly and ran the L shaped line, which makes the info a little late and also puts you out of position on the other side of the jump (ending up further behind).
When he turned the wrong way at :18 you started to show the RC but it was too late – he was already center of the bar, thinking left and less that 6 feet from the jump so his jumping decision had already been made.
On rep 4 (marked as 7) – I liked this one MUCH better! You got right on the RC line at :23 and he looked to be about 10 feet from the jump so he had time to make the adjustment. The last rep at :30 was good too! So hanging out at the wing on this setup to be able to get right onto the diagonal for the RC will really help get him turning before takeoff.>>I want to do some more RC work to try to get a quicker, tighter RC after the bar. I feel like maybe the minimal pressure I used in this made me almost late creating a soft turn after the bar. >>
It wasn’t minimal, per se, it was just later than he needed. So you can get both the tight and the wide RCs on the same diagonal… and the transition/decel tells him how tight or accelerated you want the turn.
>>Perhaps if I think more about his commitment point, the result will be a sharper turn?
Think of it as more of a ‘need to know’ point for him so he can choose a commitment point with all of the info he needs. I think by the time you see commitment, it is too late: the decision has been made. But if you think of his ‘need to know’ point as being just after he exits the wing wrap, then can start giving the info to him then – and you can get him to commit with the turn you want and then he has plenty of time to make the adjustment for the takeoff. A big dog’s ‘need to know’ point is no later than exit of the previous obstacle (exit of tunnel or weaves, landing from a jump, etc). I start giving the info and then I left the dog sort out what he needs to do 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense! Nice work on these rear crosses!!
TracyHi! Yes, revisit that game. You can do it without the clicker if you like – let me see some video of it so we can help him sort it out 🙂
I can’t find any of the ‘before’ videos of the head turning with the less noddle-y dog, but here is what it looks like in practice a bit:
https://youtu.be/Clwprf2SJpM?t=22
I will keep looking, I know they are loaded somewhere!!!T
Hi! He is doing so well!! One thing I just thought of for your arena rental – do some sessions during your time without your training pockets on, so he can play the games without all the cookies right there 🙂
The elevator games looked great! Only one suggestion: when he is on your left and you cookie him with your right at the top of the board, keep yoru cookie hand low and forward – it was getting high and towards him so he was sitting. When he was on your other side, your hand position was much better and he was great (1:16 is a good example of that).
The full teeters looked terrific! Remember to use the paw cue on the one you cued – and he was a nut to offer the complete teeter without being asked, but it was a rather beautiful performance LOL! Good boy!!!!
I am exciting to start taking these games on the road!
TracyHi!
About the rear crosses –
He must have slept on it and came out ready to be perfect LOL! You handled them really well too and the cookie bucket out ahead also seemed to help.I was very proud of himfor holding his position on your fast moving fronts and blinds – he wsa a little forward but he caught himself! And that last rep was especially perfect!!!!
Keep me posted on how the rental goes tomorrow!
TracyHi! I agree, this is the most tip he has seen and you were smart to proceed slowly on this first rep. He has a ton of speed and confidence on the board so there was no need to risk that by going too fast, too early – I thought your pace was perfect!!! You let him lead the way in terms of speed and you are right – he was asking for more by the last few reps. YAY! Interestingly, he was also MUCH better about getting into target position when he was faster. I suppose on the first couple of reps he just needed to sort out the setup, then he was all like GAME ON. Ha! It was lovely.
So…. you can start the next session of this asking for more speed right away! And keep moving past the target like you did, stopping only after you’ve gone an additional 2 or 3 steps after he has stopped.
Great job here! Very exciting to see his progress!! We can stick at this level for a few sessions then get that table even lower.
Keeep practciting your elevator game, it gets really comfy when you play with it 🙂
Great job here!!
TracyHowdy!! If possible, replicate the indoor session with the teeter near the tunnel:
With the target still visible, start with a warm up of the normal elevator game on each side.
If that is happy, do the crazy elevator with Sly starting from a stay between the tunnel and the teeter.
If that is happy, start him by sending through the tunnel to the crazy elevator game.
If that is happy, do it again.
If that is happy, do a full teeter, jackpot the daylights out of it..
Then session over, go out for ice cream 🙂
Keep me posted!Good morning!
I think you were for sure throwing sooner! He did a great job of driving straight with a ton of speed 🙂
Little details to consider here:
You mentioned having too much voice – I have no problem with loud exciting verbals, and most dogs LOVE that! Just be sure you are yelling the right ones and yelling them early (I am an ‘early and often’ type of handler when it comes to verbals LOL!)
For example on the first couple of reps, your verbal was “Robbie jump”
Then you went to Go on but it was late (he had exited and looked at you because you were decelerated near the tunnel exit) and I think the last rep was just ‘jump’. So try to define your verbals super specifically and get hyper-consistent (easier said than done LOL!!)For example, if I say “Bandit Jump” that means I would like a soft collection on the jump and he should pay attention for more turn info coming. And that would mean the reinforcement would be on a turn line. So for this game, I like the GO GO GO or GO ON verbals because we want that straight line full on, pants on fire extension 🙂 And start saying it before he enters the tunnel so he exits in extension and doesn’t wait for more info.
About the beginning – his speed exiting the wing to the tunnel was fine, he was running and driving straight and you were exciting. If you want more drive to the cone start him in a better position: facing the cone, a little further away, at your side. He might also like it if your hand is on his collar gently, or on his chest, and you start a little quiet “ready……. set……………” and then when he tenses up, explode into the motion towards the cone. Because he is starting from a standstill, it will feel slower than when he is already starting at a run, but he was definitely not slow running to the tunnel here!
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
