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Hi! She did really well here! Finding the entries with the challenge of more speed from the wings? No problem 🙂 Nice! I think the next session should be with the 2 outer wings moved down a bit – if they were at 10 and 2 on the clock, you can move them to 9 and 3 and then to 8 and 4.
>> No limping, though she did do a lead change or something like that coming around the wing for the first run.>>
Yes, I see what you mean and then also a little something something on the 10 o’clock wing too – but it might be nothing because the more I stare at ANY dog moving, the more I can find “something” wrong LOL!!!! If there a way to et her to a massage or PT person, just to be sure she isn’t sore? That way you will know if it is ok to close the poles more: at this stage, she is doing more brain work than physical work. But as the poles get tighter, it gets more physical. Her brain is ready for that challenge but I want to be sure her body is too. Covid has made it really hard to get the dogs into the hands of the folks who can tell us how they are feeling, though. Keep me posted and let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! He did really well here – there is actual real weaving happening!!! The side wings for the ‘harder’ entries were not harder at all LOL! Those were easier because he was already bending. So for those 2 side wings, you can move them further away so he has more speed between the wing and the entry, to challenge him to go fast then shift his weight.
And his questions on the straight approach… that is exactly why we practice those approaches LOL!!!! Yes, obsessing on the crazy angles is great but we also need the straight approaches 🙂 I think on the misses, there were a couple of variables causing them: you were moving fast and also swinging the toy as you ran (you might not have realized that you were swinging it). The double distraction was too much, so you slowed down and did NOT swing the toy. He got it – so then you added more speed – he got it. Then by the en, you were going fast AND swinging the frizzer – and he got it. Happy dance!
So definitely watch the toy swinging – add it separately from the motion early in your sessions, then build it back together. But that is a big distraction because the straight entries make it MUCH easier to run past the poles when the dog is stimulated! And then bring the ball back into the picture, because it adds a trial-like state of arousal 🙂
You can also add in sending him waaaaay away to the 12 o’clock wing so he has to ‘find’ the entry behind you because you will be passing pole 4. You can start it from a stay and lead out, and at a walk, if you think it will be a head-exploder 🙂
>>I have to say, I am so impressed with his head position, footwork, and exits/forward drive with returning to the 2×2. I did all the clock games in his initial training about a year ago and it looks SO MUCH better this go round. I’m very impressed with the progress.>>
I agree, the progress is impressive!!! Part of it is of course the training being slow and systematic – but also, he is more physically and mentally mature than he was a year ago and that makes a massive difference! My 2 ‘older’ puppies (17 months and 2.5 years) are flying through the progressions and the one year old dog is mentally and physically immature, so I am going much more slowly.
Great job here! Let me know what you think. And what was he doing at the very end? Rolling in dirt? LOL!
Tracy
Hi!
His tugging looks really good, I am glad he felt comfy enough there to tug 🙂 Was he able to tug when you arrived?I like the race to the TnT as a “this is where the reward is”! You can mix in tricks and reward from your hand, then race to the TnT. For the hand touches – when I am using them to try to get engagement, I reward differently than ‘normal’ hand touches: if he touches me hand, even politely: I run and get silly and have him chase me for the cookie. That gets the dogs more engaged than regular hands touches were we feed them standing still. And you can also do the hand touches then tug, if the tug is fun for him at that moment.
Yes, he definitely was acclimating quickly, I agree that you can do another session in the same area.
Have fun and keep me posted!
TracyHi!
>> Ok you’ve convinced me to work more more with verbals. I certainly don’t want to be stuck in the old generation! Lol. Do you think for wrapping left and right just increasing the repetition of the word left/right could signal a tighter turn for the dog. I.e. for a send soft turn it would be “right——— right” but for a closer tight wrap turn the verbal would be a stronger much faster “rightrightriririright”? And same for left. Easier for me but rather is it advisable to have totally different words as you do have?>>
It is possible to do it like that if you can very consistently make them sound different in the heat of the moment: riiiiiight riiiiiiiight riiiiight in a slower, lower tone for example, versus ririririri in more of a soft choppy tone. I personally didn’t want the dogs to rely on my ability to be quiet delivering verbals (that is NOT a strength for me LOL!) so I have different words.
>>As far as the come in- go out nature of the parallel chest I’m not totally clear. Am I correct in thinking that in the backside send we are emphasizing more the “go out” element of the cue
In that particular context, the line from the tunnel to the jump takes car of the come in element so it is easier to get it. And yes, we are emphasizing the go back out. On the more traditional serps, we need both the come in-go out because the dog is not on a direct line to the come in part of the jump, it is much easier to run past it on a parallel line (where in the Lines class sequences, very few dogs would consider running past the jump after the tunnel and before the backside.
>>while the SERP/threadle situation emphasizes the entire come in then go out elements of the cue.>>
yes – because the context in these puppy games actually presents a harder “come in” while also challenging the go out element.
>>But then againWe also use can use the outside bent arm threadle cue to emphasize “come in”.
Yes! A serpentine is “come in on the jump, go out on the flat” (although ideally our use of shoulders cues the dog that the go out is coming so the dog can adjust before takeoff). The threadle is the opposite: come in on the flat, then go out on the jump. And the use of opposite arm (or the dog-side arm, as many folks do in the ‘open door’ threadles) is different too, which changes the shoulder position. On threadles, the opposite arm (if that is what is being used) it higher (near the dog side shoulder) and goes to the dogs eyes, which rotates the chest to the dog more (not the jump, like in serps, or to the line, like in the ‘get out’. And when we use the opposite arm for the get out (like convincing the dogs to move away for a backside) – it is out ahead of the body, more at waist height, and pointing to the line or wing of the jump we are pushing the dog out to. Plus, different verbals 🙂
Back when the shutdowns started, we did an opposite arm class: all the different ways the outside arm can be used! It is fascinating that it can be used 6 or 7 different ways, and the dog reads them all easily!
Let me know if that makes sense! There is a lot to obsess on here LOL!
TracyHi! Great job getting value on the wing so you can leave sooner!! I think she is a righty so the right turns on just the wing were easy peasy for her. The left turns were a little harder, so feel free to support the send with a step to the wing. Your right leg was back so you can step forward with it to help her find the left turn. You can do that too on the right turns (step forward with the dog side leg) but you can also start further away on that side. The left turn side will catch up quickly and then you can add distance too 🙂
The wing to jump is also looking good! The right turns were also better than the left turns here – so on the right turns, you can start her closer and step to the wing, before turning and moving to the jump.She did really well finding the jump! You can add a little more distance between the wing and the jump, and also move the wing a little to one side so you can wrap her and then keep moving fast the wing (it looked like you were getting a little stuck in front of the bar :))
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi Heather!
I agree, less is ALWAYS more in training, especially with baby dogs.
I love how you came into the session with a lot of play and engagement! It made the skill training sooooo much easier because you had his complete attention 🙂 And it is smart to include the leash because getting the leash off is a critical part of the sports future 🙂The first rep looked great. As you start the second rep, you left the send to the wing a tiny bit too early so he came with you – but then nailed it right after that. He is driving ahead nicely and your toy throws are spot on! Must be all the disc throwing?
My only suggestion is to keep moving as you say go and throw the toy, so he doesn’t begin to ignore deceleration (spoiler, we add decel soon LOL!). So keep running until he lands form the jump (but keep the same toy throw timing, I know, I am a pain haha :))On your next session, you can play with starting next to the wing and waiting there til he gets around it: then you can start driving forward to teach him to drive ahead of you.
Great job building the stay in front of the jump into it, so he had a 3 obstacle sequence. You nailed it twice with beautiful connection and also patience to let him commit. Then… session over. Perfect!
Great job here! The other thing you can add is more distance between the wing and the jump: he looks ready 🙂
TracyThe lockdown rules are a bit confusing! I was trying to follow along on Facebook. I hope the floodgates open for the vaccine like they did here and the Canadians can come through this quickly!!!!!! I had my 2nd vaccine yesterday and I am definitely having a reaction. Oy.
I am excited for the equipment going outside! When he sees the teeter outside for the first time, assume that it is like the very first training session and make it a really small tip – maybe it is too easy, but that is better than getting him concerned. I think he will be fine, but better to be sure 🙂
Keep me posted!Hi! Excellent news about the one hit wonders. And yes, they do begin to recognize the tripod and camera!!! Buggers LOL!!!!
Yes, the elevator game can be a pain in the patootie because 3 arms are required LOL!! How much does he weigh? He is probably right on the cusp on being too heavy and only kinda heavy LOL!!! For the 2 hand hold, you can smear a little tiny bit of cheese right at the end of the board so when he leaps on and your hands are busy – he can leap on, lick the smear (peanut butter is good too for this) – then you can do your countdown and let go of the board. When he arrives in target position, you can whip the reward out (you might be able to hold the reward in one of the board holding hands? But to get the mechanics started, I am perfectly fine if the reward is pre-placed on the target 🙂
The video here is his lovely weave video – can you repost the elevator game video and we will sort out the mechanics 🙂
Tracy
Hi! I think we are all in the same boat after this long hiatus from going places! But I am confident Cowboy will work through the distractions 🙂
Question – when the video started, what happened before to get him engaged? Or did you bring him right into training?
If he came right into the training session, you can start each session with an engagement game: basically, you ask for a trick and then give a high energy reward. You do 5 or 6 in a row, then assess his readiness. Is he looking at you? Little tail wagging? If so, then you can go into the more complex tricks known as ‘weaves’ 🙂If you did bring him in with engagement games, you might need to go with more action and get him more pumped up. My youngest dog needs to dance on her back feet, bark, spin, chase me… then she is ready to focus in a new environment.
And the more you play these engagement games, the easier it is to get engagement 🙂 If you did start like that, let me know what you did and we can figure out what works or what needs more excitement.
You were very smart to break the session down and make the weave game easier: the environment was REALLY hard so making the weaves easier was smart 🙂 And it helped him! I think adding the wings here actually helped get the engagement, because he really likes the action of zipping around the wings!
So with the youngsters, especially after this long year, engagement will become top priority. And for skills, always start him off several steps easier than what he can do at your home base. If he struggles with the environment, having the skills be easier will set him up for success. And if he does NOT struggle, the easy skills are a great jumpstart and then you can quickly make it harder :
Great job recognizing this and setting him up for success – being able to ‘read the room’ like you did is a sign of excellent dog training skills!!!!
Tracy
Hi! Great job on this session – really high success rate, super smooth line ups and sends! I think his only question was weaving poles 1-2 the opposite direction, but that will get fixed as you angle them more. You can definitely angle poles 1-2 more so they are 1&7 and look very similar to ‘real weaves 🙂 Poles 3-4 can stay where they were at the end of the video as you start with the harder angels of poles 1-2. Then I bet he will be happy as you tighten them up 🙂
He did well with you carrying the frizzer and also with you running. Yay! So start the next session similarly, adding in the motion, and every now and then use the friz for a reward (not on all reps, just maybe one out of every 4 or 5). That will ramp things up and also make the reinforcement value higher, without his head exploding 🙂And then when he has a good session with poles 1-2 pretty tight at 1&7 and poles 3-4 where they are now… you can add in the find ‘em game with the wing as that solidifies the entries with more speed.
Great job! And have a blast at nosework!
TracyHi!
Yes, he is so fast that crosses at the end of 4 poles is pretty impossible unless you send from the 6 o’clock position LOL!
He did really well here! Question – how far apart were poles 2 and 3? It is hard to tell here – if they are normal distance, great! If there is extra distance between the 2 bases, you can move them together.Did very nicely with all the handling challenges (backwards motion was HARD lol!).
Thinking about. The next session(s):
He was starting to show striding when both bases were pretty angled, and that is great! So you can do another session where poles 3-4 are a little more in the 1&7 position (or even a little tighter) and do two things: one session where you add your verbal weave cue (because he will be weaving :)) And a session or two of the Find ‘Em game with the poles both slightly open.Separately – pick up where you ended off with poles 1-2 straight and poles 3-4 wide open. Get the bases closer (if they are not already pretty close) and work through the progression of getting poles 3-4 closed up. Yay! Then we will be going to 4 straight poles!!! He wasn’t quite perfect with poles 1-2 being straight but we don’t need him to be perfect. As long as he is close to 90% successful, then we can move forward in the progressions.
Let me know if that makes sense! Great job here!
TracyHi! Usually NOT confusing but I am in a bit of a post-Moderna-vacc-#2 haze thing morning. The first 30 minutes of the day were the sickest I have been in YEARS (decades!) but now I just feel like I haven’t slept enough and my arm is a little sore. Crazy! I hope it stays like this, I will consider myself lucky if my reaction was only 30 minutes long.
Looking at the zig zags: it is magical sometimes, where the really amazing session never makes it to film. I feel that pain!!!! Glad he rocked it!
I think in the minny pinny he was a righty – I see that here too! Getting him to turn to his left when he was going left to right across the screen was a little harder on the first couple of reps, and the shift to his right (going right to left across the screen) was easy peasy. He did a great job of figuring out the left shift though (you were helping him and that was perfect!) So on the next visit of these, give him massive help on the left shifts to jumpstart his memory 🙂 And then maybe help a little less on the right shifts, smaller steps and hand movements, and see how he does!
This is a coordination game for the dogs, and he is off to a great start! I look forward to building on it 🙂 Nice work!
Tracy
Yes, I needed the leashes on the ground for a while too 🙂 Smaller dogs are a BLUR sometimes, so the leash on the ground really helped.
And yes, I am in MN a couple of times a year and TOTALLY would love to meet Ruby in person!!!!!!!
Hi!
I agree – connection is really critical to get the good turns and also tell her what is coming next. She is really fast… so you don’t need to be fast 🙂 You can moderate your speed in places so you can produce the turns, then send her on a line to get where you want to go next. If she is always chasing acceleration, she won’t really know when to turn.About bending over – I think that dipping a shoulder a little with a small or medium dog is fine, but we really don’t want you bending too much. Try rewarding with the arm across your body and I bet you will be able too get the great connection without needing to bend over.
We will also be adding games to help her ‘see’ the turn cue coming more, which will make it all easier 🙂
I don’t run fast enough to be able to bend over, so I do more of the ‘connect across the body’ when I need to really run and that allows me to connect and stay in motion.
>> don’t care what I look like as long as the dog understands what I want. If I got turns like that in the ring I would be super stoked!
I agree! Take a look at the German handlers with their amazing Shelties… they are practically dragging their hands on the ground and yet they win ALL the things 🙂 Those dogs are exquisitely well-trained, so a lot of the inspiration about the verbals and such comes from them.
>>I just hope I don’t have to run to every obstacle. I also get told off for babysitting, because it makes her slow. Send and go gets drummed into me.>>
Heck no, you can’t run to every obstacle and we don’t want you to 🙂 Yes to the Send and go… but with training and proper cues before the send. Babysitting is NOT good as it muddies the waters.
On the Smiley face games – nice!!!! She is turning really nicely on the FC wraps on the wings! Yes, there is a little more bending over than needed here: as you are connecting on the exit of the FCs, you are trying to make connection with the dog side arm and bending down to do it (plus it is causing your motion to stop). Try putting the dog side arm behind you and showing her a bit of your other hand across your body (if she is exiting the wing on your left like at :04, have your right arm visible to her, across your belly, so you can stand up and keep moving.
You had a bit more standing up and dog side arm back at :16 and :32 when she was exiting the wrap on your right – you were able to connect AND be standing up and moving.Yes, the FCs on the tunnel exits were a little wide but that was because they started after she was in the tunnel (:35, :39, :47, for example). You did get a tighter line when you picked her up closer to the tunnel exit at :52, but you can’t always be there so you will need to use your verbal and show her the FC before she enters the tunnel. Yes, the new game from last week focuses specifically on that 🙂
The zig zags went really well! These are designed to teach independent lead changes and she was doing well! The only issue was how quickly you had to show her the lines on the 5 wings LOL! Try to be moving for the next send before she exits the previous one. Or, you can back chain it on 5 wings: start her at wing 3 and do 3-4-5. Then start her at wing 2, and do 2-3-4-5. Then work back to starting her at wing 1! That way she will learn the pattern and you won’t need to handle as much.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
The set point is definitely going well! She is striding it nicely and focusing ahead on the line. She will continue to develop the skill as she sees this more and as she matures physically. My only suggestion is to always be right out parallel to the reward target, next to it – you were placing the reward but then standing still halfway between the 2nd jump and the reward so she was not sure if she should collect (because of your position and decel) or if she should drive past you in extension. Putting you out at the reward will help her go in more extension which is what we want here. And her stay is terrific so it will be easy for you to get to the reward target.Serp practice: there is a lot happening in this game – dog training, handler training, etc LOL!
On the serps, try to keep your feet pointing towards the target as your upper body rotates – and go slowly like you did at :29. That helped! The dogs have to multitask and read the motion and watch that the upper body is doing something else. When you tried going faster at 1:04, it was to hard and she couldn’t read the upper body. You helped at 1:09 by stopping, but I think the best compromise is to go sloooooowly 🙂 We don’t want her to rely on stopping to come in. You can also have an empty target out there, so the cookie is not as distracting.On the front crosses- feel free to include the bloopers! Based on your description, it was probably a connection question – she didn’t see enough of your eyes so she was not sure where to be. So as you do the FC, remember to have your arms back and look at her eyes very directly (pretend she is a naughty terrier LOL!)
Wind In Your Hair game:
This was more of a moving set point so she was moving ahead – but the cookie target there was pretty close so she was preparing to stop for it. She was not looking up at you – she was focusing on her line really nicely! So on the next session, change the setup a little: have her wrap a wing and then go forward to the jump with no cookie target out there: as soon as you see her looking ahead, you can throw a reward really far.That will open up the speed and really get her driving ahead.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
