[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>On Sequence 3 Rep 1, I did not realize in the moment that she thought it might be a rear cross, but I totally see it on video. I have struggled with telling her the difference between a whiskey and a backside wrap; I think the main difference is where my feet are pointed?

Yes! It is about feet – and position, and also often some decel. But mainly feet 🙂 If my feet go towards the center of the bar (along with motion, and shoulders closed a bit forward) then it should read as a slice rc. If my feet rotate forward to the next line after the wrap, then the dogs read it as a wrap – and that is why she read the wrap SO nicely on the last rep – your feet were pointed to the wrap line way early enough for her to set up great collection.
On that Rep 1 where she thought it was a slice for a moment, I don’t think it was a foot issue – I think it was more that there was so much motion that all she could see was go go go – then she saw your exit line and was like “oh crap it is a wrap, gotta hurry back!” so she back jumped. That is why a bit of decel as you turn your feet, plus (if needed) a little extra connection and verbal, to basically say “hey, things are changing rapidly here, pay attention to the changes”. And she will pay attention, because I truly believe she wants to get it right – she is not a party-of-one type of dog haha!!

>>I also love that you pointed out that my physical cues aren’t matching up with my tunnel cues. All my brainpower goes to remembering to give her tunnel break (“HEY!”); I have to remember to reserve some for my shoulders.>>

One thing you can do is lay a leash on the ground 5 feet in front of the tunnel entry – and start your physical cue as she is arriving at the leash. It is risky – she might pull off the tunnel – but it is good to work on to see if she has any tunnel commitment questions. We can train any commitment she needs. I have added tunnel turn timing to the week 2 package here because I think a lot of the dogs will really benefit, and we need to make sure they understand the layers of cues and commitment.

>>Also, thank you for the alternate handling suggestion; I really need that. We took your Feet Forward class…oh, man, it was a while ago…and it was all about the blinds. Then we started trialing after that, and in trials I am nervous and Cheery is on fire and I tend to revert to wimpier handling (not that it actually reduces our faults, haha!).>>

Yes, that was 2 years ago maybe? One of the themes for CAMP this summer will be “Take The Risk” – try the crazy things in training so we can see how to get comfortable, what cues are strong and which ones need to be strengthened – then you will be more comfortable doing it at trials! Stay tuned 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! Welcome!!!

>>My goals with Cheery are to improve our verbals and just become a better, more aggressive, and faster handler for her because I am for sure our weak link, haha!>>

Great goals!! You are not a weak link! You are driving a sports car, so we just need to figure out to best show her how to get around the race track 🙂

Seq 1:
Lovely connection here!
Ooh, that soft brake arm is working beautifully at jump 3!! She whipped her head around and new exactly where to go. Yes!!!! I couldn’t hear if you used a verbal there or not – I suggest a ‘soft turn’ verbal such as ‘left’ there (I know, not a super creative word, but easy to remember haha!!)
You did use a verbal on the tunnel entry and the timing was good on it! She turned wide on the tunnel exit based on the physical cue of the full post turn you did. You can show her a spin on the tunnel entry (FC rotation at the same timing as the verbal, while she is still about 6 feet from entry and then a BC when she is in the tunnel) – that rotation will cue her to turn tight and it also gets you away to the next line faster. Being further ahead on this sequence isn’t all that important, but it is good to be able to do on a bigger course.

Seq 2:
Also super lovely connection on this run! Connection is a really powerful tool for driving Cheery!!!!
Little tweaks for you on this one – it was a really nice run overall! You can lead out a bit further up the line to get ahead to the tunnel entry more – she did stay on her line from 2 to 3 but she powered down a little, which is her way of asking if it is the correct line or not. If you are a little ahead of the tunnel entry, she can chase your line there rather than have to drive ahead of it, which wll be faster for you both.
She read your shoulder turns really nicely on 3 and 4! You can add in left verbals here as well.
Right before she goes into the tunnel, you can tell her that you will want explsovei forward dive out of it by yelling your go cue and then accelerating – all while she is still 6 feet away. You did accelerate when she was already in the tunnel, and you got quiet so she looked at you a bit. That can get her to power a little straighter and it will also get you further up the line to make an earlier connection – try to look at her while she is still in the tunnel, so she will turn before exiting to find the straight line to the last jump.

Seq 3 rep 1:
You can line her up on a slice for jump 1 so she lands on a straight line to 2 – that takes out the turn over 1 and you can lead out even farther ahead so you can show her 2-3 more easily. The verbal turn cue on the tunnel was well-timed – yo ucan match the timing of your shoulder turn to that as well – she heard the verbal but your shoulders and motion were still straight so she exited a little wide. She seems to have strong commitment to tunnels, so you can trust it and let her see your turn starting while she is still 6 feet away from it.
The RC/whiskey on 3 worked well here – if you handle it from closer to the tunnel exit, you can set that line with even more speed because you will be driving into it. It is a strong tool with her, she turns really well with it!

I think you can add a soft brake arm and left verbal on jump 4 – she was a bit wide on the line after it to the tunnel. Yo ucan handle that from the same position you were (or even further away) so yo ucan get back up the line for 6.
Speaking of 6: she was surprised that it was a wrap at :30 🙂 Your position was good and your connection and running line were also good! But you can tell her more about the fact that you want collection: decel will help (as she exits the tunnel, slow down a bit) and a wrap verbal (couldn’t hear if you had one going or not). We can also add a brake hand here (left arm) but I am not sure she needs it – the deceleration for a heartbeat might be all she needs!

The fix rep at :37 affirms that all she probably needs is a bit of decel there (and a wrap verbal will help) – you did a little decel and she was already tighter 🙂 Good reward!

2nd full rep: you were earlier on your verbal and shoulder turn on the first tunnel, and her turn was definitely better on the exit. Nice! She turns SO NICELY!!!! I thought the timing on your rotation was really good there on the wrap/FC at :43 – you were basically turned on time so she ‘ran acros your feet’ and set up a lovely turn! A tiny nit pick would be to step out of it more directly to the 4 jump so her exit line is perfect (it was almost perfect :)) Also – use a wrap cue if you weren’t here (you might have been using a soft one).

I didn’t time the difference between the wrap on 3 and the slice from rep 1, but the slice will almost always be faster if you can get ahead of her… so since you mentioned a goal of being faster – you can lead out further, leaving her on the slice line 1-2. Release and then when she is on the way to the tunnel, let her see you do a blind cross before she enters the tunnel so she exits the tunnel on your right side – then you can send her way on the slice line over 3. That is a fast, aggressive handling choice that can be the winning line and keep you way ahead (ahead is better, for the most part, because we can show lines better :))

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi Mary, she looks *awesome*!!! You should indeed be happy!!! Goosebumps for the baby dog!! I have little tweaks for ya to help make it even smoother – so fun!

First rep: the timing of starting your left cue over 3 was really nice and she had a lovely turn there! She looked at you on landing there and bought some time by drifting a little and didn’t quite power to the tunnel as early as she could – could been caused have been one of these two things or both 🙂 You can start your tunnel verbal earlier (while she is still over the bar, so she already hears it when she lands) and also keep your dog-side arm back – by pointing forward, it turned you away a little so she needed to ask the question by looking at you.
You were the tiniest bit late on the turn cue on the tunnel to the last jump, she was just about in the tunnel by the time you rotated and already in the tunnel when called her so she was a little wide on the exit til she found you. You can play with seeing if she can tolerate seeing/hearing that starting when she is about 5 feet from the entry.

Rep 2: She had a little question on jump 3 – you can lead out more laterally on 1-2 so you are further up the line to help her see that weird angle from the tunnel to 3. Just a lack-of-experience moment, I think she will be fine with it in the future 🙂
On the turn from the jump to the tunnel – you said ‘left tunnel’ over the bar, before she landed and you held strong connection until you saw her lock onto the tunnel – she seemed to have NO questions on that line to the tunnel! NICE! I think the left element was a tiny bit late (she had to gather herself when she landed but that was probably because you were helping her sort out the line to 3. So combine the timing of the cue from rep 1 to get the turn and then the early tunnel cue/great connection of this rep, and it will be perfect 🙂 You were way ahead at the end which is great and set the line really well! You can still support it with a GO verbal before she goes into the tunnel.

3rd course – You had a really small lead out and she smoked you 1-2, which made for questions 2-3 – definitely recommend a longer lead out, not sure if you were taking a short one to set her up for success on the stay there. For the acute angle RC at :24, being closer to the tunnel exit so you can set it and move forward into it will help by keeping your feet facing the center of the bar longer until she changes to her left lead – your feet were rotating a bit forward and you were decelerating behind the jump, so that overrode the left cue. It is a hard skill for a youngster!! You can also play with getting ahead enough on the start line so that you can get a BC on the tunnel exit and send to 3.
The verbal on the tunnel entry was a little late but she saw the line of motion, plus we don’t want too tight of a turn there.
GAH I really liked her turn on the 2nd to last jump! Good job getting your feet turned so she could read it (it is a hard turn!!) Look at her turning her head and setting such a lovely turn around the wing so you could just leave! Happiest of happy dancing!
Great job!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>On your video – I put it up on the larger screen and slowed it to .25 speed and stared. Very hard to see. It seemed to me on .42 that he turned his head early but then flipped it around and down as he was over the bar.

He – he turned his head to face the turn and not look at the slice angle on a really hard wrap line, so he was able to land and power out facing the new way, as opposed to land – adjust – then power out (I think there are some example of crap handling on this clip too where you seem him have to do that, thanks to late cues)

>>Hope you can get one either closer or with the pointy nose

Heading out to get some more close ups with the ‘trained’ dog and try it with the pointy puppy on a bigger wing (the pointy dog is very easy to see because of his color, his lack of speed at the moment, and his general pointiness :)) Stay tuned!

[Tracy Sklenar]

Glad to know that I am not the only one who doesn’t love multi-wraps! My plan on this head turn adventure is to fade out that 2nd wrap VERY quickly.

>>Rarely, rarely on the first rep of the multi-wrap do you see a great performance.

That is what I have seen in my experience as well.

>>I have a much different approach that I am working on with Zing. It isn’t a finished product yet, but I can post video if you wish. I have my reservations about this method, but figure life is an experiment so lets see how it goes.>>

Always interested in seeing your experiments! And since we don’t train with barbed wire or electric cattle fences, there is no harm, no foul if you decide you don’t like it 🙂

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there!

I have been obsessing a little (surprised?) on how to explain this and how to best get the dogs to understand it. I have *never* liked multi-wraps, because I felt they were mindless and not accomplishing anything – but I admit to never fleshing out WHY they made me feel that way. So, I gave myself a kick in the bum to finish the thought process on it:

On one wing or a single jump, most multi-wrap training is about looking for the dog just going around the wing several times – it is mindless imo, and slow, and puts the dog pulling from his shoulder rather than pushing from his rear. Bleh!

On a course or sequence, I have seen multi-wraps cued where the dog is asked to wrap a jump *again*. This has made me itchy for 2 reasons: it almost always happens when the dog has been wide on a turn, and it really ends up being a punisher for the dog (“that wasn’t good enough, do it again”). And then the dog would get rewarded for a good collection on the 2nd or 3rd wrap… but it accomplished nothing in the grand scheme of things because there was speed involved. So it was a bit useless both in that it could potentially be unfair to the dog (I mean, how was he supposed to know how tight to wrap when my cue was bad, and why should he have to do it again and again?) and also only got collection when the dog was slowed way down.

Also, I think all of this multi-wrap work was not specific to the actual skill we wanted to build! People were marking what looked like collection, but the dog was coming in so slowly at that point, that the dogs were not actually learning how to collect and make a great turn when running full out.

So the next step of obsessing was… what DO we want to mark, and how is this going to be different than multi-wraps?

Well, yes, we want to mark weight shift/collection! And with the dogs who need more head turn, we are getting weight shift and collection but not really getting the desired turns. So, what is missing? The turn of the front of the body away into the wrap, towards the jump, that is led by their heads. They are slowing down into collection, shifting weight but not turning until after landing. So this is more about focusing on the head turn away to approach the bar, not about coming back towards the handler.

When I look at video of dogs who are producing those slinky slithery turns versus the dogs who are not (all of similar structure, so ruling out structural differences) what I see is the head turning away towards the bar (or not). I don’t mean rear-cross-turn-away, I mean turning their heads tight around the wing to look at the part of the bar they are approaching and need to jump – which bends them through their middles while also weight shifting into the rear.

So we need to isolate the head turn away around the wing! Get the head turned with a dog who understands weight shift? Boom! Great turns. It is something that I have worked on a lot with my Voodoo – he is not super angulated so turning at speed was hard. He also struggled with bars on slice jump and all backside jumping – the head turns really helped.

And I have started it early with my youngsters, so I plan to get and post more video. I think you can see the head turning here on these turns – hard to see on a black dog but I don’t have anything recent that is more close up. You can see it happening on the wraps at :01 and :42 and :49. I did a bad job on some of the other cues and you can see he didn’t turn his head til after landing resulting in wider turns.

Seeing several of the dogs in this class having the head-turn question, along with having 3 young dogs in training… now I have a plan that I can articulate more clearly that can hopefully be helpful.

Now back to your questions:

>>Question1: do you want me to use my wrap verbal cues?

Not yet. Let’s get the behavior first then the verbals can be added back.

>>I am not a huge fan of multiple wraps but was convince by Jennifer Crank to work on them. Enzo will do multiple jump wraps but not, as I’m sure you can guess, very tight.

I am a huge fan of Jennifer Crank, great handler and trainer. I don’t know her approach to multi-wraps, though. I don’t want to approach these as traditional multi-wraps – I want to approach them as a starting point to teach the head turn away behavior and then we train to get the head turn behavior on the *first* approach to the wing, not the 2nd or 3rd. On the video of my youngster, his best head turn at the end was made on the first approach to the wing, which made me very happy.

>>Question2: Do you want multiple wraps of the pole?

Nope, I want head turns away around the wing (not back towards the handler) 🙂 So send him around it (he will probably not yet turn his head away that well on the first approach, but if he does: click and reward) – and use a hand cue to help get the head turn away on the 2nd wrap. C/t the head turn (I don’t care if he finishes the 2nd wrap or not).

>>Question3: Do you want to see his multiple jump wraps?

Sure! I have custom skill sets coming later today, so I am happy to look at them!

On your video:
He is whipping his head around the wing to come back to you, which is good! But I want to have him make that head turn sooner on the wing, as he is entering the wing, on the way to it, as if taking off – doing it as he exits the wing simulates finishing the turn after landing. We want him doing it on approach to the wing. So, have him do a wrap but don’t c/t when he is coming back to you – use a hand cue to have him wrap it again – and c/t the moment he turns his head back to the wing (not looking at you) to slither around the entry side of it rather than the exit side of it. Let me know if that makes sense!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>I really struggle trying to follow the lines you drew. If I can’t a suggestion for a better way, I’d be right out with it.

Sorry about that, it was an experiment with just did not work out too well – I think it created a visual mishmash for people. I will be doing it differently for the next ones – fewer lines, better explanations. Sorry!

>>I will put the head-turn in the separate thread.

Perfect! I am heading there next. I didn’t really comment on his head turns on these drills, because he is not turning his head before the turn so even on the best collections, we are not always getting the best turns – and I have a game plan. I think it will make a big difference!! He is such a good dog that I know that he will be happy to do it when we have told him how to do it 🙂

>>I hope to work on the novice sequences later today and maybe the master’s ones also. I see Novice 2 and Novice 3 but not Novice 1?? (So happy they are the same build!!)

It is on the 2nd page of the PDF right below the course map with the coordinates. It should be there, I just checked – let me know if it is still not showing up for you.

On the video, lots of good stuff!!!!

1st rep – You can drive out of the wrap more – you stuck around so he asked about going back to the jump he just took, mainly because his toy was out there.
On the FC/BC (ketchsker/k-turn) at :08, you can go to the blind sooner – ideally, you turned your head forward when you see him gathering for liftoff at the latest, so you can be looking over your left (new) side when he lands. You were looking over the right til after he landed and turned so he had a zig zag looking for the new line to the backside there.

2nd rep – much nicer job moving up the line to 3, he didn’t have a question there. You were earlier getting to the blind after 3, but not early enough – if you play it in slow motion as he lands at :24 through :25, you can see him look at you rather than drive confidently to the backside. Subtle! So you can totally play with turning your head forward before he takes off for the wrap to be reconnected on the blind before landing – he will either think it is the best info ever, or he will ask a commitment question (and then we train it, no problem!)

2nd video – good job on the first rep! I will keep bugging you to turn sooner on the k-turn at 2 so the reconnection happens earlier – I there there are some good opportunities for that in the sequences if you want to move to them, or we can add them 🙂 You can also increase the challenge by rotating sooner on the FCs (and the k-turn beginnings): for example, at :06, he is passing you and you are beginning to rotate. You can see if you can already be rotated as he is passing you and moving the next direction. This gets tighter turns and better position! He will let us know if he has any commitment questions. This will be most useful to you, I think, when you are not ahead of him – on this drill and also on drill 7, you got really nice turns from ahead with a bit of ‘pushing down’ into the takeoff spot with your cue, he really reads that nicely!!
And great connection throughout on rep 6 and 7.

Rep 8 – FC at 2 looked good! As he is coming round 2 from the FC, start your collection verbal and physical cue sooner – it can begin the moment he finishes wrapping the wing (verbal and decel before the rotation). You said ‘ready’ on the first rep and ‘good boy’ on the 2nd rep and kept moving forward so he didn’t see the info or hear the cue until he was pretty close to the jump at :34 and :44. He jumped a little wide on both and it made the blind cross exit late so he looked at you on both. So that asks the question about whether to use praise/ramp up words or directionals with him on course: some dogs LOVE the praise and ramp up words on course and go faster faster faster (my papillon is an example of that). Some dogs prefer informational verbals and slow down or look up during praise/ramp up moments: Enzo appears to fall into that category. He slows down in those moments – not in a “omg this is so not motivating” way, but in a “waiting for the next cue” way. So on the sequences. try running with only the info for the next line and let’s see what he does!

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>“doing a handling”>>

OMG that made me snort LOL!!!!!! Yes, I feel that! The voice in your head should be yelling something different, though, more like ” RUN AWAY SHE IS COMING FOR YOU RUUUUUN!!!!”. It will feel a bit like a scene from Jurassic Park haha!

Video 1:
On the first wrap, your rotation looked really good, she wrapped 2 beautifully. You can turn your head away for the blind sooner – as soon as you see her collected, assume she will commit and do the blind. You were connected on the original side til she landed at :06 and :22 so the blind/next line was a little late.
Your feet, running line and verbal on the push were good! Add more connection directly to her eyes and see what she does with it. That was what you did on the fix moment at :17 and it helped!
At :25, you were pointing your chest to the backside line and looking at the backside line and she got it… but I think it was mainly because you rotated and put more motion pressure on the line too. So try moving up the line like you did on the first rep (feet facing the bar) and looking at her eyes very directly (almost like she has been naughty LOL!) – that will rotate your chest by bringing your outside shoulder forward, without rotating your feet.

Video 2: Her commitment on the wrap turns is terrific and the timing of your rotation is great! Her turns look lovely! On the spin on jump 2, you can turn your head sooner for the blind (as she is collecting for takeoff, assume commitment). The FC wrap at :08 and :17 and :44 were sweeeeet! So tight and nice!
You had good connection on the push at :09 and :18 but you were rotating and running sideways (and :18 you ended upbackwards to the wing) so she ended up on the front. Compare that to :26, :36 and :48 when you were running forward with great connection and she nailed it. I loev how she is turning her head on the tight turns (esp at :35) – it helps create such nice turns over the bar!

The bar at :27 was just the excitement of the toy coming out, and the bar at :33 was her keeping you honest – you were a little late on the wrap rotation there so she was trying to adjust after taking off.

Video 3:
Very first rep had an accidental spin on 2 – but you turned your head sooner for the blind (while she was taking off rather than as she was landing) – yay! It can be even sooner, before she takes off.
On the 2nd rep – she had the bar down at 2 on a slightly late FC wrap cue – we will add a custom skill set to help her not touch the bars even when you are not perfect. So yes, try to be earlier and also remember your verbal – but stay tuned for a custom skill set for this because this is something that I notices she does (also happened on the previous video).
You were perfect on the next rep and the bar was not a problem at all. Good wrap on 3 on these and your send to the backside at :21 was realy strong: great connection and running forward. The last backside at :30 was a little more sideways and rotation was happening while she was jumping… so the bar came down. Definitely something we will work on with the custom skills set 🙂 The handling isn’t utterly perfect, could be maybe one heartbeat earlier? But it is indeed almost perfect… so we will emphasize teaching her that almost perfect is just fine. I am fine if the dogs don’t let us get away with totally sucking in the handling – but this is NOT sucking at all, so we will do a bit of dog training.

4th video – 1st rep – as with the other sequences, the blind on the spin and be sooner, definitely something to try for the next session. I think you had an accidental backside at :04 but the physical cue was exactly right for a backside.
On jump 3, you were rotating into her like you were going to start a spin then you opened back up to a post turn – so you can finish your rotation to complete the spin which will put you ahead on the line sooner.
At :29 she found the backside nicely (yay!) and there was rotation as she was jumping so she pulled the bar. I see a pattern here and I am excited to help her out with it!! Try not to reward immediately after a bar comes down, get one success then reward – like one more jump or even a trick – just so we don’t pair the bar down with getting the toy.
The last rep looked great!

>>Our backsides are a little hit and miss, but it went better in the later session, so I think we (me) are learning.

I agree, they definitely got better as you hashed out the running forward with the connection! You play with the wraps more to test the theory but I am happy with how they went. Nice work here!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Yes, we will do some games to help out with the commitment when you turn forward – it is one of the most common handling errors in dog agility (oopsie! We all do it) so we just train the dogs to save our bacon LOL!

>> It is really hard to rev her up when she gets hot. I shoulda tried her ball maybe.

Yes – fewer sessions for a ball! And also I like to try to get the dogs out for big runs in the heat. Not agility… just running run run run run run 🙂 It helps that mine will chase each other, so you might need to borrow a dog LOL!! Your oldsters don’t need to do it, heat conditioning is for young dogs only.
I also teach mine to bark on cue to get them revved up and break through any potential stress. Sure, my life is a bit noisier right now, but totally worth it 🙂

>>I hadn’t noticed how my timing helped her bend til you said that!! Gives me something to work towards.

Yes, her turns were LOVELY and the best turns that I have seen her do, ever! Yay!

>>Also should I be doing more verbals? She has a handful that I think she truly understands.

Yes, more words 🙂 Start with the ones you think she finds most helpful and then we will build from there!

Stay cool!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! These are going well – I think the wraps will be even better when there is more speed coming into them. With just 2 jumps, it is harder to get the real acceleration going – but you are doing a great job of showing an obvious transition into decel. When he had the refusal on the 2nd wrap on the first rep, it is possible that you turned just a tiny bit too soon, slammed on the brakes a bit too much… but we can teach him to cover you in the moments where you are a heartbeat too early (because otherwise it falls to you to be perfect all the time, which is impossible!) You did a good job of convincing him to take it (and then rewarding) in that moment – good dog training! You can warm him up before you do the sequence by stepping back to the jump with one foot and rewarding him for taking it – kind of a reminder that *any* indication nears the jump means to take the jump 🙂
The next 2 reps looked good on the wraps! As you exit the 2nd wrap, you are blocking the line to the backside (which is why he drove to whatever it was that you tossed out there on the 2nd rep LOL!) So as you step out of jump 3 to head to 4, anchor your running line from the wing of 3 that you can see and run towards the center of the backside bar (not towards the entry wing).

>> I’d like to do some of the course work consistently at 10″ (not the drills but the actual courses). So far I’ve only put certain jumps at 10″ like the first jump or an extension jump. How do I prepare him for the increase to 10″ on wraps and backsides?>>

If he has been seeing the wraps and backside at 8″ thus far, you can pick a wrap (not a backside, those are harder) somewhere on a drill or sequence and put it at 10″. I would show it to him in th drills first a couple of times, then do the sequences. And, in all fairness considering the amount of multi-tasking the dogs have to do, show him that jump before you start the drill or sequence. I think he will be fine with it! When the easy jumps and wraps are fine at 10″, then add in a backside slice. If that is fine, add in a backside wrap (I think those are hardest :)) I don’t see any jumping issues happening, so it is a matter of just not surprising him as you ease the bars up to full height. We can make it a goal to have him consistently running courses at 12″ by the end of CAMP! And, if possible, be sure he sees massage people or body work people as you are doing this, so we can be sure he isn’t feeling any soreness at any point.

Great job here!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! This went well, and I agree about getting the turn out of the last tunnel a little tighter. I thought rep 3 was the best one for that tunnel exit – which one did you like the best?

1st rep – You chose the fastest lines here and created a racetrack – nice turns on 1 and 6, but she could maintain extension the whole time. Speedy!!
The “right here” from 2 -3 worked well, it looked like she had a nice line to 3! You didn’t need it on the exit of 3 – it pulled her into you then you had to push her back out. She turns nicely on the exits of the tunnel #3 on this sequence because you are doing a spin on the entry and she sees it (you are close to the tunnel entry too, which helps her), so I don’t think she would consider driving away back to #1 – so all she likely needs here is a jump cue to get the best line, and then you can leave even earlier!
The RC to turn left at 6 worked really nicely! It st up a great line back to tunnel 8. Let her see you moving forward to the next line before she enters the tunnel there – she thought it was a straight exit based on the last thing she saw, so she went a little wide on the exit there.

2nd rep went smooth on the 3-4 exit! And The RC on 6 also went well! You tucked in more on the tunnel exit, but I think she needs to see & hear a more aggressive turn cue on the entry – the rotation you did on the entry of 3 helps set a nice turn, so earlier rotation on 8 and also a verbal nice and early will help.

3rd rep – you turned right on 6 – she was a little wide because you were facing forward for a bit too long. When she lands from 5, you can be slowing down so you are rotating as she is passing you, which will set up an even tighter turn there at :10.
At :13 you were earlier on your tunnel rotation (definitely happened before she went in, she was at least 3 feet in front of the tunnel entry, yay!) and you made a big connection on the exit. She was still wider than I think she can be, which means there is still more info she would like. You can add your verbal to the timing of the turn rotation – well before she enters the tunnel (you can use a wrap cue instead of her name).The other option to tighten up that line is to send to 6 more to get further ahead back down the line, so you can be closer to the tunnel entry to show her the cue in a more up-close-and-personal fashion – then reward her for turning tighter.

4th rep – handling 1-2 as a rc switch actually put you a little too far behind, and she was wide over 2. Good to know! You sent more to the RC at 6 and got closer ot the tunnel entry, which is great! So you can start letting her see the rotation even sooner – you might be facing forward too long for her, so she is seeing a lot of acceleration into the tunnel (and stimulating anyway :)) You probably don’t need to turn your shoulders quite as much to the tunnel entry – when you see her looking at it, you can start to rotate so she sees the rotation (and hears the verbal) while she is maybe 6 feet from the tunnel! It will be fun to play with how early you can show that while still getting commitment 🙂

Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>> How much longer do we have to post? I just had cataract surgery, and it’s been raining like crazy!

Hope you are fully recovered from the surgery!!! We wrapped up on the 16th (CAMP started on the 15th); I am glad I checked in and found the serps!

>> I guess that’s not so uncommon with BC>>
Yes, a lot of dogs, particularly BCs, like to run parallel to our motion so driving in towards us on serpentines proves difficult for them in the early stages.

Your body cues are looking good, this is more about the dog training element of it. He is doing really well on both sides on the one jump videos, so 2 ideas for you:
His turns are going really nicely, so you can isolate the driving-in element and have him come in, touch your hand… then throw a reward *behind* you so that it is more about driving towards you and not making the second turn away.
And, add motion now (rather than more angles) – start him on a slice and be walking slooowwwlllly the whole time, almost shuffling. You can have him come in and touch your hand while you are moving. Then keep adding motion so, eventually, you can run! When he is super happy to drive in to you, you can shift back to rewarding the second turn.

On the sequence – when you ran it the first time here, it was too big of a leap forward for you to run, so he ran parallel. He did well with it when you were stationary, so the next step is to send to the tunnel from further away so you can be moving (slowly) the whole time. When you are not moving or barely moving, the sudden motion after the serp jump is what pushed him to the backside of the 2nd jump. So consistent steady motion will help! Angling the 2nd jump also really helped! As you add more motion to the serp jump, you can angle it towards him so it is easier to take (and harder to run past) – that way you are increasing the difficulty (by adding more motion) without adding too much difficulty on the jump. When you can run through the serp, it will then be easy to angle it flat again. I do recommend LOTS of verbals here – for now, name calling nice and loud. And don’t let Brenda scare him with the toy throws hahahah!

Nice work! The serps are coming along nicely!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Sorry for the delay, class wrapped up last week so I was just heading in to make sure I didn’t miss anything one last time.
Good job moving forward with the serps:
Reps 1 and 2 coming towards the camera looked good, he just needed one more step in towards the last jump which you gave him on the 2nd rep.
Going away from the camera towards the tunnel – 2 things will help get jump 3: run a very parallel line past jump 2 towards 3 (you were pulling away from it a bit and he was reading that motion). And, when he is taking 2 and you want to show 3: make a very strong, direct eye contact with him to show him the line. Looking forward turns your shoulders so he reads it like a blind cross and ends up behind you.

>> with the SERP timing I can’t be too far ahead. I did notice on reps when he didn’t do the SERP it was because I did not indicate come in with my inside arm ( like on the last rep).

Yes, he is still learning the positional cue of the serp so openng up to help him come in with definitely help there on that last rep! Also, when there is that much motion and speed, he is more likely to run parallel – so being further ahead so you can not use toooo much speed yet is helpful for him too 🙂

The serps are coming along nicely! Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there!

I think both dogs looked really good and your connection looked really good throughout – of all the reps here, there was a grand total of one spot where I thought connection could be better (in one rep of Ti’s skills). Because those were so good, I will totally be bugging you about what your verbals mean, exactly 🙂 I couldn’t figure it out LOL! Particularly dig versus push. Josie is mainly reading body language because she is young, but Ti did ask a VERY valid question in his skills video (thanks, Ti :))

Here is more:

Josie’s skills video:
Push push backside wrap – she had trouble on the first rep when you tried to leave fast, good job dialing back the motion and rewarding on the next 2 reps. Be sure you aren’t blocking the wing on the circle wraps!

Digdig at :42 – those turns were very similar to the push then at :51 it was a front side wrap, so what does the verbal mean? She turned really nicely on both so it is more about making sure you are consistent for the future when you might not be in the picture, physically, to help her as much.
At :51, rotate sooner so you are moving away as she is passing you – this will help get you up the next line sooner and also cue more collection when the bar is higher.

At :56 and 1:01, you used push push push for a slice and then something different at 1:06 (it couldn’t quite hear what it was, maybe ‘around’?) The physical cues at :56 and 1:01 were very clear! At 1:06, you were out on her line so she took a wide line – try to run more in towards the center of the bar (you might need to add more distance between them to have time to do that :))

1:10 had post turns (backside and front side) so you can rotate sooner on both of them: send and turn on a sharper angle. You used a digdig cue on both here, but they are different turns, so I will keep bugging you about clarifying the verbals 🙂 Compare that to the next rep at 1:20, where dig dig was backside and then I think you cued a push but the turn/FC was the same as the dig dig cue. Then at 1:33 you had a right wrap on the front side (she was nice and tight zipping around it!) then a right backside slice (both were dig digs) then push push for a tight turn around the backside… to the right LOL!

Last rep – the FC wrap on the first wrap looked really good at 1:43! At 1:44 for the next wrap, you started to turn into her like you were going to do a spin then you opened up again – I think following through with the spin there will get you up the next line faster. Those were both digdigdig then you did a push push to the bacskide.

Ti:
He did a great job on these too, it was really easy to get him to turn! You can stretch the distances for him to add challenge for your timing. On the first backside wrap, he might need you to set up the collection a bit with a little bit a of an earlier cue – he turned but brushed the wing. So you can put pressure on that line sooner and see if it helps. The front side wrap at :12 and :18 was a little wide, you can turn as he is passing you to set up an earlier collection (he turns so well that the tip off there is that he hadn’t turned his head and had to adjust on landing of the jump).

The backside push at :25 was a strong physical and verbal, but he didn’t engage his hind end on the jumping so pulled the rail, he seemed a little surprised? Maybe he hasn’t see a lot of backsides lately and needed a moment LOL! He did it again but to a lesser extent at :32 – so you can angle the bar so it is lower on the jumping side and have him come around the wing, sit, then takeoff to help him engage his rear.
Next rep at :41 – this was nice, he turned nicely, your connection was nice! Spread it out to see if you can do it with more motion too 🙂
On the FC at :59, rotate sooner. Even without a lot of motion, you will still want to be fully rotated as he takes off. At 1:02 he is lifting of and you are a bit sideways so he has to adjust on landing and is not sure of the next line. Then you can power out of the backside FC at 1:05 to show him the next backside sooner 🙂 He was polite and waited but we don’t want polite 🙂
Next rep at 1:15 – on the first 2 FCs, you are facing forward for a bit too long, so he ticks the 1st and 2nd bar (I like that he is honest LOL!). Then do more of an arm back connection as he comes around the wing at 1:18 – you were pointing forward so he got REALLY polite and slowed down to figure out the cue. Josie won’t be nearly as polite hahaha!

At 1:34, 1:46 and 1:51, he asks a question about what digdig means – you wanted front but he took back – but digdig has been used for both so it was a valid question. At 2:22 you used it for a backside, so I can see where he was coming from LOL!

Ti Sequences:
Seq 1:
First rep: he had a little trouble on the slice a 2 for some reason, probably just the angle. You can turn and cue the tunnel at 3 sooner: he looked up at you waiting for info when he landed. He read the decel nicely so you can be calling tunnel before he lands there.
Because of the angle of exit on the tunnel, you can do a spin there to get up the line even faster (more useful on a full course). You did a post turn which takes longer to get out of. He turned nicely but I think he will be even tighter & faster with a spin!

Seq 2: really nice opening line on both reps!! He turns nicely out of tunnels, so the name call on the first rep actually turned him too tight and he ended up on the wrong side of 3. The 2nd rep was perfect! Then one thing to note: because he naturally looks for you on tunnel exits, give him a big GO cue before the last tunnel and then accelerate and give a massive connection (keep yelling go) so he drives to the last jump without a little zig zag. You were clearer on the 2nd rep but he still had a little zig zag – feel free to be boisterous!

Josie Sequences:
Opening line 1-2 looked good! Commitment to 3 was good – you can give a left cue and turn sooner. You were facing forward as she took off and you deceled nicely so she collected, but decel then turn so she can power out on the landing (she slipped a little making th adjustment there). Then I think you had carry over from the otehr sequence and pushed her to the next jump – but that is fine and she got rewarded 🙂

Seq 2: She has a lot of giddy up and the bars are low: so the challenge is for you to maintain the excellent connection here and the strong running lines… while you run faster 🙂 You were being a little careful and it slowed you down, so she asked questions. Better to run fast and risk the connection break 🙂 You can lead out more (her stay looked great!) and then accelerate immediately to 3 (she smoked you a little there, so while she got it, there wa sa zig zag line). If you can get to 3 sooner, you can leave for 4 and turn sooner so she lands facing the tunnel – then use your tunnel send to cue it then leave for the ending line. When she entered the tunnel at :20, you were still supporting it and I don’t think she needs that 🙂 It put you behind for the tunnel exit to the last jump. And also use your loud GO GO GO to help propel her up the line.

So with both of the dogs on the sequences: your connection looks great, your handling choices are spot on! Now… push more and drive them 🙂 Trust the commitment, cue and leave (while staying connected of course!)

Great job here! Let me know what you think (especially about Josie’s verbals :))

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there! Good stuff on this video!!

She does have a little trouble driving by your rotation (1st rep), so the reward on the 2nd rep (nice and early) set up for a really lovely 3rd rep and 4th rep! You can also lead out less to show more acceleration into it, that can help with commitment. She turns really nicely so that is not a worry at all!
On the backside at :42 – you are connected a bit down to your side and not driving ahead as much – I think you can drive out of jump 3 more and then turn up the connection as she is maybe halfway between the 2 jumps (these have a lot of distance there) – the acceleration will help with commitment there too! You had more acceleration forward (less sideways) and a clearer connection to her at :54 and it helped!

Sequence 1:
You have a good grasp of the sequence and connections and lines, which means yo uare walking it really well for that… now add in walking with the verbals said out loud a few times – my guess is you aren’t rehearsing those enough which is why her name and “go” are the ones that pop out under pressure 🙂
On the first rep, lead out a little less on that big distance so you can show acceleration the whole time – that way you won’t have to slow down then speed up again, and she won’t see deceleration as she enters the tunnel (it caused her to look at you on the exit more than needed). You had a good jump cue on jump 3 and that is one to use rather than GO on the turns. It can mean ‘take it in mild collection’ which will work nicely on 3 and 4. The Go cue is appropriate on the tunnel to the last jump, so plan to yell go go go and not her name there.

It was interesting that she went past the jump at 1:23, she was really unsure. Hard to tell at this angle, but my guess is she needs to see that slightly angled release on a lower bar more and get rewarded for it (she was still not totally confident on the next rep or at 1:44) and then you can raise the bar again.

Rep 3 and 4 – the physical cues look good here! It is now a matter of hashing out the verbals – you had a GO on 2-3-4 on rep 3 (but quiet on rep 4, which worked nicely) but then went to digdigdig on 4 to the tunnel… is that a wrap cue or a soft turn cue? It was “here” on the first rep of this sequence 🙂 She looked at you there, asking if it was a wrap cue. Great job committing her to the tunnel then driving up the line! I have a challenge for you: to do all of these sequences with using her name at all 🙂 She almost never needs her name, and you called it here on a straight line. So, try to break the habit of the name calls and replace them with informational cues, like obstacle names or directionals.

Overall, the physical cues and connections on the sequence work really look strong! That is why I can bug you about the verbals 🙂 If you can match the verbals to your strong physical cues and connections… well that would be the icing on a perfect cake!!

>>Yes, I have the same verbals, but they are very weak.

That is great, even if they are weak: it is MUCH easier to remember just one set of verbals for both dogs, and they will get stronger with Wilson as you use them more (and I will keep bugging you to use them more LOL!!)

Great job! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

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