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  • in reply to: Barb & Enzo #7734
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi!

    >>I think I don’t understand your comment about the stop-sign hand on the backside wrap.

    That was exactly it, actually – the first one was late but the others were pretty much correct. And they accomplish their goal of getting more collection before takeoff… but not the goal of getting a tighter wrap/less slice. He is trying to get organized with his front feet but there are two elements missing: weight shift into his rear and turning his head (he doesn’t turn his head til he lands!) I think the weight shift into his rear is important but the head turn *before* takeoff is even more important – and that is what we will train. Happily, it is exactly what I am teaching my youngster so I will get it on video today and pass it along. If we can get the head turned, the body will follow.

    >> I could use a prop (cone or plunger) but I don’t generally like to do that because the behavior disappears when the prop does.

    I 100% agree with you here. I have simply not seen a prop teach the understanding so the behavior is gone when the prop is gone. I think teaching him to turn his head will get us started – and if that doesn’t produce the weight shit, there are other ways to produce that.

    >>The one at :37 starts ok but he slips on his shoulder. This might explain why he is always slicing.

    That was a moment of him trying to turn his head faster when he landed, but it didn’t work out for him. Poor guy!

    He did a really admirable job on the zig zags – has he done them before? Most dogs take a while to sort it out πŸ™‚ He didn’t have it perfectly yet – he had to think about it – but he did far, far better than just about every dog I have ever seen try these (including my own – I will show this video to my Voodoo haha!!) Next steps, on the slightly opened up grid, is more running from you. And maybe start with a tunnel 18 feet before it so he has more speed. Then eventually you can raise the bars a bit.

    Keep me posted, and I will get that head turn video tonight for you!
    Tracy

    in reply to: LInda, Mookie and Buddy #7733
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi! Thanks for the update!!

    >>Skills set 1: I did this exercise at first with the jumps only 10 feet away. My Bad.

    We need you to be able to have time for your cues, so I suggest 18 feet or more πŸ™‚ You can even play with 21 feet!

    >>I used verbals with my younger dog but he seemed to relie on my body cues and motion more.
    Mookie seemd to relie on my verbals as well as my body motion.>>

    That is pretty normal, I have seen that a lot with younger dogs versus more experienced dogs.

    >>It was interesting doing this exercise from closer compared to when the jumps were further apart. There were less bars down with Mookie when the jumps were further apart, which to me says that my timimg was better with him when I had more time to think to give him cues.>>

    Yes! When they were closer, he probably needed the info for jump 2 before he even got to jump 1 πŸ™‚ He is a big-striding, early-decision-making kind of guy πŸ™‚

    >>Masters 1: For both dogs I could lead out between jumps 3 & 4. I also ran with a lead out to jump 2. I found that my young dog Buddy really knows his lines as well as Mookie.

    That is terrific! I love when young dogs understand lines πŸ™‚

    >>This course will be teaching me yet again that I need to show some, any motion to Mookie all the time on a course as well as verbals and be calm.>>

    Ah yes! Keep moving and be calm – sounds so easy, right? hahaha
    I tell myself to pretend to be calm, that seems to help πŸ™‚

    Keep me posted, sounds like the boys are doing well!

    Tracy

    in reply to: Nancy and Pose #7731
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning! These look really good, she is collecting so nicely πŸ™‚ Yay for all the verbals too! Question – do you have a different verbal for backside wrap versus backside slice? That can help! See more below.

    1st video:
    wrap left – these look great! I like the exit line you are getting with the running rewards where she chases you and gets the holler roller on the run – it creates a nice line and she doesn’t jam into a stop. You did these on reps 3 and 4 and it looks great! Nice job with the verbals too πŸ™‚

    right wraps – I think here and on the backside circles, she shows a slight preference for turning to her left? Is this something you have noticed? It is not a big preference and I only mention it because it can influence how we cue each turn. She is a little wider to the right, not as much organized collection before the takeoff. Not ugly, not problematic… but the left is just ever so slightly better. We can watch to see if there is a pattern in other sessions. Also, it could be the cue delivery – for example, on the 2nd rep – you were pretty stationary then exploded into movement, so the slow then fast might have created too much giddy up, causing her to collect less. So moving in and out with decel until collection then you get to run might help.

    But overall… these wraps are just about perfect πŸ™‚ One thing to play with – as you are moving into them and working connection, start the wrap cue (physical and verbal) directly to her eyes, then shift to the landing spot – that can help collection even more when coming in at full speed, and it will also set us up for the next frontier with her – being able to cue and strip out the connection element of looking behind you while you leave, but still getting commitment. Her commitment looks great so I think we can go to the next step πŸ™‚ The reason for this is that we need to be able to handle her speed – she also turns well, which means you have even less time πŸ™‚ So, to help with that, a Pose Handling Goal is to be able to disconnect and leave in certain situations so you can move more easily to the next important spot on course.

    2nd video, backside wraps – on the first rep on each side where she went to the front – yes, the rewards for the front might have been fresh on her mind πŸ™‚ And also using a little more leg to step to the backside, one step – can help.
    She was better turning to her left here towards the end of the video, but it might have been due to the extra intensity of the connection used to cue the backside as well as your rotation (but, you were indeed rotated on the right wraps too!). On the right wraps, looking at :16 – it looks like you had your hand past the upright over the bar, so she sliced a little more than wrapped. I think the hand through the uprights over the bar stimulates the slice (presenting motion in that general area) so you can move that hand (right hand, in this case) to just before the entry wing so she passes it as she is heading to the wing, like a tiny stop sign – that has helped dogs set up the circle wraps better and they slice less. It is an element of the soft brake hand which she already reads so well. I also like it because it gets me out of there even sooner.
    About the verbals – a backside wrap verbal versus a backside slice verbal can help too (or we can add a collection cue to a general backside verbal but I like distinct verbals better).

    Lovely work here! Let me know what you think! Fingers crossed for good weather ahead, we have had rain rain rain rain rain….

    Tracy

    in reply to: Nancy S. Training Thread #7708
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Ah! I knew I recognized your face!!! She is definitely not looking like a beginner dog any longer, she looks great!!! And the 3 months off have not done any damage – you two look rested and sharp! Very cool to see!!!

    T

    in reply to: Eileen and Ivan #7707
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi! I use iMovie to edit from my iPad, and then save them to the Photos section of the ipad. Then I use the YouTube app to upload them, and copy/paste the link here.

    in reply to: Barb & Enzo #7700
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi!
    I agree – Enzo has talent AND you are doing a great job with his training, so exciting times are ahead!
    We have cold weather here, I can send it your way LOL!

    On the video:
    On that first rep, you and I both said “OOH!!” at the same time!

    >> I included a slo-mo of that part but I don’t have to if you don’t need it.>

    I am always happy to have slow motion!

    I didn’t see anything in the handling that caused him to jump into the wing. Sure, you didn’t have to be *quite* as close to the entry wing, you can be further across the bar… but that would not be the cause. Connection, verbal… all fine. Based on how he pattered his feet as he was coming around the wing and then it looked like he pulled from his front and hoped for the best, and then on the next rep you were there to decelerate and shape his line (so he jumped it without a crash) – he doesn’t know how to get organized for this! My first recommendation is the zig zag grid – starting on 3 jumps then eventually going to 5 – and eventually adding height (not in these videos) – start off easy with the line pretty open so that he doesn’t have to add strides. Experiment with the distances so he can bounce. We can add motion and all of that too!

    3rd rep was a FFC – he read the handling well! Your cues were timely, connection spot on! He still didn’t quite know how to organize the jumping, note his butt goes higher than his shoulders at :32 πŸ™‚

    4th rep – in in – looked really nice!! His jumping effort seemed organized better on this one and also he did a great job executing the threadle even while you were moving forward πŸ™‚

    5th rep – backside circle: your timing and connection on the push were great, position was great, foot rotation was great, and you did a great job of ‘escaping’ up the next line as early as possible. One tweak to tighten it up: At :42, you put your right arm out over the bar (from the landing side) and he jumped pretty much on the center of the bar (not very tight). On the 6th rep at :50, you didn’t really have your arm over the bar, you left earlier but his turn was the same. So rather than put your right arm out over the bar (which promotes the wider turn) or use leaving sooenr to tighten it (not that leaving sooner is a bad thing LOL!), shift the position of that arm to the edge of the backside wing, so he is passing your hand like a little stop sign before he gets to the entry of the backside – that cues very tight collection πŸ™‚ I have video of it that I will dig up for you!

    7th – 11th rep – threadle wrap – I think the verbal is zip? I like it! On reps 7 & 8, you had the arm and verbal but all of your motion was forward to the facing side of the jump, so he couldn’t override it yet. Great job breaking it down to help him out and then on rep 11, you could do it from jump 1 again. You had a slightly different running line on rep 11 versus 7 & 8 – on 7 & 8 you were directly forward and on11 you more more lateral & parallel to his actual path. That running line really helped him out (plus you didn’t have as much motion/speed, which also helped).

    Nice go rep!!! Good balance! And the on the last rep, you had more speed but kept most of the lateral line – and he did a great job! I think that line will be important on that cue.

    Let me know what you think:
    Tracy

    in reply to: Heather and Desmo #7696
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi!

    >> So do you think I should set them up at 12 or 16? Thanks

    Let’s try 16″ and see what he does πŸ™‚

    >>For the other sequences, 3 through 8,
    # 3, so it on to 2 and you want him to go the right on 2 in order to get to 3 right?>>

    Yes – turn right on 2 then turn right on 3.

    >>If that is a yes, then, I think I will be follow the others lol.

    The arrows suggest the dog’s line – I was trying not to give toooo many hints about handling LOL!

    in reply to: Nancy S. Training Thread #7677
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Skill Set 8 Run 1

    Skill Set 8 RUn 2

    Skill Set 8 Run 3

    The first rep on run 1 was really interesting! You were pulling towards the right turn, and she read the pull of your shoulders as a set up for the switch away. It looks like your shoulders were facing the same direction as the switch cue you used on the Skill 6 Run 2 video, so try to keep your shoulders turning (your right here cue was good, she was reading something in the body language).

    2nd rep and 3rd reps, they were really similar – you had a REALLY nice shoulder turn here at the beginning and she read the cue for 2 nicely on both. You were a little late on the FC there, but I think it was because you were being sure to get the turn in the correct direction (she gave some opinion on it LOL!)
    Great connection going into 3 on both reps! You can give her a little bit of deceleration to tighten up that turn even more. Very nice independent backside at the end!

    So overall – terrific job! She does best when you are really connected and your arm is back. She is also great at commitment, so you can play with decelerating and turning sooner for these – I bet she will let you get out of there really early!

    You are off to a fabulous start! Let me know what you think!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Nancy S. Training Thread #7676
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Skill Set 6 Run 1

    Skill Set 6 Run 2

    This one was fun! The first run had a good switch the left and then you switched it up to the right on the 2nd run. On that 2nd run – your first switch looked great! Physical cues were on time. Yo ucan give her the switch verbal sooner (give it at the same time as the physical cues), it was happening while she was already jumping.
    On jump 3 (the 2nd switch) – you gave a big pull (towards the teeter) so at :04 she thought she was turning right. She heard & saw the switch cues over the bar, so turned her head and turned to her left when she landed. So you can give her those cues earlier (I think when she is halfway between 2 and 3 should be fine) and because she is so responsive, you don’t need as much pull towards the teeter – comparing it to the switch on jump 2, she didn’t need any pull there at all to set up the rear cross.

    in reply to: Nancy S. Training Thread #7675
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Skill Set 5 Run 1

    Skill Set 5 Run 2

    1st rep – LOVED your clear, early rotation on the wrap on jump 2! If yuo have a wrap verbal, feel free to use it there (you might have been using it quietly :)) You were not quite as early on the wrap on the 3rd jump so she was a little wider AND gave you her opinion πŸ™‚ Backside send and go looked great! It is a really strong skill for you!

    2nd rep – ok, I LOVED your wrap cue on this one even more than the 1st rep here LOL! On this rep, you showed her the transition into deceleration then the rotation: gorgeous!
    On the 3rd jump, you can be earlier on the wrap for sure – she was jumping and you were facing forward so she was a little wide (she gave you her opinion twice there LOL!) Because of her speed, be prepared to start the decel and rotation as she finishes coming around the wing of the previous jump – you might not make it all the way to the wing of #3, but I don’t think you need to – you can send her into it and still get a great turn.

    in reply to: Nancy S. Training Thread #7674
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Skill Set 4 Run 1

    Nice job here too! On the switch on jump 2 – you can play with being closer to the wing you want her to turn on so when you cue it, it is easier to get past the wing for the FC (that is a HARD move, doing the RC to the FC!) You were about 2 steps too far over, which meant the FC was delayed so she was a little wide.
    There are 2 other options there to play with:
    You can lead out with her on your left and switch into the RC like you did – but you can pull her in on yoru right side and RC 3 (no need to do a FC to get her to your left). The other option is to lead out on your right side and do a FC to get her onto your left and send back to 3.
    You had the decel at 3 and she was able to pick up a really great line to 4! Yay! Then at :09, note how early you turned and moved away while maintaining great connection – she was able to commit and turn tight. Lovely!

    in reply to: Nancy S. Training Thread #7673
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Skill Set 3 Run 1

    She did so well here!!
    She reads your deceleration beautifully – as she landed from 1, you used your ‘right here’ with nice connection and low arm and then added some decel: she had a really nice turn at 2!
    As she rounded 2 to 3, you can give her a little decel there too to get a tiny bit more collection on the 3rd jump – she was a bit wide going from 3 to the backside wrap at 4; We don’t need to much tighter, just a little – so I think decel is all she needs there.

    Her commitment on the wrap was great, lovely turn and your were able to get way ahead!

    Skill Set 3 Run 2
    https://youtu.be/CdZWSQVXtl
    This one is marked “unavailable” so you might have to go in and re-list it as unlisted – you can do that by clicking on “Edit Video” when you go the video page.

    in reply to: Nancy S. Training Thread #7672
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Skill Set 2
    Run 1

    Run 2

    Run 3

    Run 4

    This one was all about connection and arm position! On the first rep, your arm was parallel to your body and you were looking ahead, so she stayed out on the parallel line to the backside.
    On the 2nd rep, your connection was clearer but your arm was still parallel to your body, so you got the backside here too even with the here here verbal.
    On the 3rd rep – your arm was back and your eyes were on her eyes until you knew she was coming to the front of 2 – NICE!
    On the 4th rep – low arm, a little bit back behind you (kind of pointing to her nose) and great connection plus timely verbal – perfect. Yay!!
    So definitely a thing to remember for her: keep your arm low and a little back, so she can see your eyes looking at her eyes. Your motion was good!

    in reply to: Sandy and Benni #7667
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi! Welcome to Benni’s first CAMP!!!!

    >>Meanwhile, I have a question. I don’t have a video to show you, but in class last night we were doing some tunnel games…one was the tight turn which I call β€œdig”….well he turned tight alright…U turn rignt back into the tunnel! LOL I finally got him to run to me by tossing a toy on a rope closer to where he exited and ran while dragging the toy. I had done a FC cross so my chest was facing back at him but also perhaps to the tunnel instead of keeping him all on the same handler side entering and exiting. Well, I don’t know, but I wondered if you had encountered this before and what you would suggest. He did it twice even with the instructor telling me to move more as he exited. >>

    Well, the good news is that he understands the tight turn cue LOL!!! He just needs to learn how to wrap tunnel exits, he is probably really inexperienced with that. Start with a VERY short tunnel, give the wrap cue and let him see you moving away when he exits – on a slight angle so it is not directly back towards the tunnel he just exited. Reward like you did, with the toy on the rope. He will get the idea – and yes, we have totally seen this before LOL!! We are working these skills in a tunnel class and several of the dogs did the same thing LOL!

    Have fun!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Heather and Desmo #7662
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi Heather and Desmo! Great start on these!!!

    On the skills games:
    First video, wraps to both sides – play with how early you can turn and leave, kind of like the Crazy Commitment rocking horses πŸ™‚ Run forward, decelerate, rotate – and see if he can commit and turn nice and tight πŸ™‚ He turned really well so now we can see exactly how early you can leave for the next line πŸ™‚

    2nd video –
    good stay reward!
    1st rep – back cue, 2nd rep – dig cue. Does back mean slice and dig mean wrap? If so…. great! On both of these, you can try moving yourself a bit further from the entry wing. For the wrap, being where the wing meets the bar is perfect. For the slice, you will want to work your way over to the center of the bar – might take a few reps or sessions, but it will be worth it!
    3rd rep – Your back verbal and send was well timed, when he landed from 1! Then you broke connection and looked forward (which turned your body to the front) and got quiet so he ended up on the front of the bar. You fixed it on the 4th rep – MUCH better connection!! You were really looking at him, and he went directly to the backside. Yay!!

    Novice sequence 1:
    VERY nice! Great reward for the stay! And you executed the sequence beautifully. The bar at 3 was down so while he turned really tight, it was hard to see if the timing of the cue would be early enough when jumping more (I thought the timing was good, but he gets the final answer LOL!) You can try these at slightly higher bars (doesn’t have to be full height but high enough to jump) so we can see how the timing works with his jumping decisions. I thought your connection looked great! Be sure to keep moving through the last jump so that he doesn’t pull up short when the bars are in.
    Great job! Let me know what you think!
    Tracy

Viewing 15 posts - 18,226 through 18,240 (of 19,003 total)