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Good morning!
Sorry about your back! Hope you feel better asap – you were moving well here!!! And I am glad the massage therapist release Venture’s tightness. All good!>>He wasn’t engaged, didn’t even eat treats out of his lotus ball, and it was super hot and humid. >>
It was smart to bail. He might have been recovering a bit from the stress of you being gone (he was home, right?) – I am sure he had a great time, but still it is stressful when Da Momma is gone.
I am glad he was game for a serpy cheese fest later on!!! It went really well!
He was having a little trouble with the lead out at first, then he figured it out nicely after a couple of rewards. Then the dog-on-left reps went really well!
He got into the groove of the dog on right reps too. The next step would be to angle the jumps a tiny bit so they are not totally ‘flat’. He should be able to se the line a little between the jumps – that way you can add more motion and he can find jump 2 without you pointing ahead. As he is landing from 1, keep your serp arm back and big connection as you move to 2 – that will cue him to turn away on his own. If you point forward, you risk turning your shoulders past jump 2 and he might run past it.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>f I didn’t mis-read it, MaxPup 4 will run this fall, right? when and how we can register?>>
You are correct! I haven’t figured out the exact start date – October and November have a number of big events in a row, so I want to plan the dates correctly. You will get an email when it is published for registration, before it goes out to the public 🙂
>> injured my hand (palm/finger) so at least for a week, I’m ‘one-handed’. Can’t use left hand to hold/throw a treat and since I can’t fully open it, I’m worry that if I ‘handle’ with it, it might not ‘look right’ so it will confuse him – >>
Oh no!!! I hope your hand feels better ASAP!!!!!
>>am I overthinking it and should just try? UGH it’s 69F only now and still light outside >>
Ooh that is fabulous weather. What if you placed a reward or a manners minder at the end of a line, and worked on driving ahead? That way you don’t need both hands – just one hand to click the Manners Minder. Or check out the stays/lead outs – You don’t really need to have both hands for that, and you can change the sequence so the reward is in your good hand while the injured hand recovered.
>>–dogs were NOT at fault for this injury THIS time LOL>>
Ha! That is relatable. It is always good when they are not responsible for our injuries or bruises LOL!
Let me know what you think and I will figure out more games to do without needing both hands.
Tracy
Good morning!
I think he was really figuring out the paw touch here! Yay! And he was even starting to scratch at it a little, which is great – it adds a fun thing to the criteria and gets a great weight shift. LOVE IT!!
I think the rubber target is great – so you have a second piece of it, so it can go across the end of the board entirely? That would be ideal.
The next step is to attach his target to the end of a plank (non-moving, not a teeter yet :)) to transfer this concept to a plank. We will also get you to his side and standing while he is working the plank – that will make it easy to transfer to the teeter.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
She is doing great with the teeter!!My only suggestion on this session is to line up carefully right at the bottom on all reps – she starting jumping on higher up the board due to your position, so be sure to get her lined up before you release her – but don’t move her by the collar to get her into the right spot. Cookie lures for the win!
Next step is to apply the motion override concept of cuing the target behavior while you soooo sllowwwwlllllly walk forward then reward her for hitting and holding position. You can throw the reward back to her (“catch!” ) or you can release her to come to you for the reward. Don’t be too picky about a head bob at first – as long as she holds position while you move, reward.
Her stays are looking great on the lead outs here!! Great job mixing in tons and tons of rewards.
You had one broken stay on the lead out push as because you got to your spot then changed your mind then moved again… that looked identical to a release so she was not being naughty. She had another one later in the session when you were waling away – probably mental fatigue at that point. Lond lead outs are hard!Looking at the releases:
One thing to consider if the positional cue on the BC or FC 2-3. You were very close to 2, but you can be moving more laterally away to 3 the whole time. Connection and verbal and parallel line motion cue 2. And if she sees you already heading to 3, she will set up the turn nice and early.First release – you were too early on the blind, looking forward as soon as she took off for jump 1. That is the beginning of the BC cue so she correctly read it and changed sides. Good girl!
Much better on the 2nd run – you connected to commit her to 2 then did the blind and it was fast and lovely! The FC on the 3rd run looked great too – same lovely timing and connection.
On the lead out push: think of these as serpentines, and handle them pretty much the same way. You were a little too far on the other side of the 2nd jump, so she did get it but it widens the turn and puts you out of position. On the last rep, you were moving through the line better but didn’t have a serp shoulder open, so she came around past the jump (also correct, as that would be a cue for a forced front for example).
So you can lead out kind of center of the bar on jump 2, with your feet pointing to 3 and serp shoulder open back to her. And as you start to move as she is landing from 1, see the serp arm way open to support commitment to 2. There is a lot of countermotion on that, so you can do it with less running at first and see if slowing down your motion helps her – then we can add back your running.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi! I am happy to hear he is being such a good boy around the agility environment – that makes everything sooooo much easier. Yay!!!
On. The serps:
I agree that he had trouble with the toy on the ground but then he did great! And on the other side, he missed the first rep then had a lightbulb moment and was great 🙂 So the next step is to keep moving, just walking, slowly the whole time. Have your arm in serp position as you start moving, and release him when you are nearing the exit wing (that way the arm moving does not become part of the release). And you can also start to add the 2nd jump – feel free to angle the jumps if needed!
I think the ladder is going well, it is one of the hardest games! I think you were doing well with NOT blocking the wings (you caught yourself blocking and moved over a few times :)). The hardest part was the countermotion and the tunnel distraction (plus the toy in your hand :))
You moved a little quickly out of the decel on the very first wing but the he nailed it really well on the 2nd run.
The wing before the tunnel was a little harder for him – ignoring tunnels is HARD! So you can slow down through there – rather than run out of it, do a slow jog out of it for now.
One other small detail:
Try not to switch hands with the toy- that was distracting you both, like at :53 LOL So you can either leave it in one hand or leave it in a pocket (or have a toy in each hand) so the hands are only used for handling. The toy switching draws his attention up to you and away from the wing, so not having the toy move will help him commit too.Great job here! See you this weekend!!
Tracy
Hi! Did you find your phone? Hopefully yes!
>> I found that I couldnt manage the jump tunnel sends without a verbal – she either stopped and came back or went straight over the straight ahead jump. So I cheated there.>>
No cheating allowed LOL!!!! If she didn’t go, that was either a transition issue (not decelerating) or a connection issue (high arm blocking connection) or both 🙂 Or if she continued straight ahead, she needed a turn cue. So add more handling rather than more verbal for now – that will make it so much easier when we do add the verbals back 🙂
Tracy
How is her toe today? And I noticed the tunnels were moving a lot too, and saw it on the livestream for the UKI event too. Sigh.
Hi!
Apologies for the delay – finding internet on the road here has been hard!>>And then I big time geeked out trying to figure out what was fastest!>>
FUN!!!!!
The first run was super connected – really nice! Nice decel into the wrap at :11 and :32 and :48 on jump 5! And nice connection on the exit of the FC there!
The slightly slower time form the tunnel exit to 9 on the 2nd run could have been th extra stride on the tunnel exit. You didn’t call him before he entered the tunnel there so he exited wide. It was slightly faster on the last rep there because he saw your line and was able to read it, so the first and 2nd reps where the more legit numbers 🙂 They are pretty close in time, which is REALLY cool! I bet they will be equal or the wrap faster if you call him before the tunnel entry and also if you get closer to his line on the backside wrap, so it is a tiny bit tighter. I believe that is the shorter distance for him, plus the entry of the slice backside has a really hard turn so it is similar to the wrap in terms of collection.
>>Threadle Wrap: 4.8
That might be partially a product of it being a newer skill, and also partially because you were so far ahead that you decelerated through the ending? It is not on the video so I am guessing 🙂
Great job here!!
TracyHi! Sorry for the delay! I am on the road in Iowa and internet is hard to find.
On both runs: Do the BC 3-4 closer to this line so he doesn’t jump as wide.
Nice weave entry!!!!!
The In in cue on the entry of the tunnel at :12 and 1:07 was a little late but also a name call might be more effective there just to get his attention before the threadle (he was wide on the threadle jump 7 on the first run but much nicer line on the 2nd run where you had your arm up sooner too)
You were really locked into connection on the 7-13 line super nice on both runs! Great job getting him through a really tight section there!
He sent really well to 13. You can keep moving past the backside jump so you are on the takeoff side before he takes off to get a nice line from 13-14 at :22 and 1:17. It was bit of a zig zag there – he has really strong backside pushes so I don’t think you need to stop and wait for him to commit or come back to the bar there.
Handling 16 from landing side is great but you need to trust more and get outta there and not be in the landing spot when he is taking off at :26 🙂 He was like WHOA! And that caused him to jump wide on 17 and 18.
Definitely better at 1:21 but handling from landing side then means a turn cue needed on 17 to show 18, so you might consider handing from takeoff side.
Much prettier line 18-19 at the end! Nice!The 2nd course started off fantastic!! On both runs!!! Too much left left on 6 pulled him off 7 on the first run, but you nailed it on the 2nd run. Yay!
Even though the 10-11 line here ends differently than the 16-17 line on the first course, I think it set up the turn on the 11 jump much better to be on takeoff side of 10. On the 2nd run, you did a FC on the landing side of 10 and that send him wider on 11.
SUPER nice countermotion on 13 on both runs!
Nice wrap on 14! You might find the the 15 backside is better as a push wrap to the inside (he turns right over the bar) rather than the slice to the outside. The slice t the outside like you did here might work best if you turned him to his left over 15 – that is a good section to try several different ways and time the differences.
Turned away from 17 too soon at :27 and 1:04 so he came off it. You don’t need to go all the way to it but tay on a parallel line to his path til yo user him lock onto the backside, then you can turn away to 18
I am sure you will have your energy back 100% soon! It looks like you ran super well on both of these!!!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! Sorry for the delay! Turns out finding good internet in Iowa is challenging!!!!
The runs went well! I think the jumping towards the dog walk was really hard, because it was sooooo close so she was showing some good self-preservation 🙂
Looking at the first course, both videos:
On the opening cross at 3-4 you can tighten that turn by getting more on her line – the exact line you want her to take. When you moved past it at :07 on video 1, she followed your line and was wide. You can ealier timing and better line on the 2nd video so you had a better turn there at :09 on video 2! You can be even closer to her exact line, literally on it… as long as you keep moving and are gone when she needs it 🙂She was GREAT about finding the weaves tucked between the tunnels!!!
And the 6-12 section went great! On both videos! That is a tough tight section and you navigated it really well – she was not looking at any of the off course jumps. Nice connection and attention to running lines!
She just needed a clearer backside cue at 13 (:25 on video 1). You got it really clearly n the rest there and at :26 on the 2nd video – try cuing it from further across the bar, so you are heading past the exit wing before she takes off. You were a little close to the entry wing so ended up on landing side when she was jumping, which made the line to 14 a little less clear. Cuing the backside from further across the bar will make it much easier to cue the 14-15 line.
The 15-16-17 line was also really good! Moving into the wrap at 18… add decel 🙂 You were moving fast then rotated, so she did not see the turn cue til she was past the jump on the first run. She found it more easily when you walked into it at 1:04 but the better rehearsal was on the 2nd video when you did run into it (you can decel even more there, starting when she is over 17, to really communicate the turn cues nice and early.
Question: is her push wrap verbal around, and is her go behind you bak verbal around? They sounded very similar but I might have mis-heard it.
She had a little trouble on 19 – part of that might have been the proximity to the DW. And I like the option of the brake arm there, just keep moving forward: at 106 and 1:22 on the fist video, you were moving sideways while doing it which contributed to pulling her off. The 2nd video went a lot better (she was fine to detour under the DW, it was really close 🙂
Course 2:
On this type of opening, you can release her with the in cue if you are up by 2 – the ok then the in delays the in a little, so it is fine to release her with the directional.On both runs: Fabulous weaves! Nice blind to 5! WOW!!!
She definitely needs that brake arm to get the turn on 5. On the first run at :11 the natural line is indeed a line to the backside.
On the reset at :27 you were decelerated and did a more obvious brake arm – let her see that even more when you are running, showing her the opposite hand fully there and also a little more at 1:07 on the 2nd run. That way you don’t have to decelerate at much (or at all) because staying ahead will benefit you getting her through that tight box.
Staying connected a little more helped her see the 7 jump on the 2nd run. Yay!On this ending section, you were rounding the line with her more than needed so she was running big round lines, based on your line of motion.
To get a better turn on 11, you can send her to it and leave to 12, rather than rounding the line with her at :35. Strategically, you can do the BC closer to the tunnel exit then decel a little so you don’t get too far from 10.
That also gets you further across the backside of 13 – you were blocking the entry wing at :38 and 1:20 which made it hard to get across the exit wing. She read the exit as a slice so being further across will allow you to be past the exit wing when she takes off, creating a wrap exit at :40 and 1:21.
Super nice connection through all of that, so I think the send-and-leave will tighten the lines and she will read it really well.
It was hard to hear what you were saying on the approach to 14, but I think a wrap cue will help – both a wrap verbal and a send to it as she is exiting 13. That way she will jump directly to the line to 15.
You were much better about staying in position t 1:23 – she was able to find the 15 backside nicely! On the first run, she was coming to the 15 backside then you moved laterally so she almost went to the off course.
For the ending line – this is another place where you don’t need to round the one with her 🙂 You can send to 17 and go directly to 18, then decel into the wrap. That will allow you to get a better turn and use countermotion – which can get her on your right for 19 -20. The RC on 19 was hard to get commitment on, but a BC on the exit of 18 will be no problem.
Great job here!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>can’t believe you’re suggesting that I might sometimes be late with my verbals! I don’t think that’s ever happened before! >>
Me neither! I am never late. And I never use the wrong one. Also, I never use the wrong dog name on course 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
>>I’m thinking I should start with the tandem turn game and then go to the threadle wrap? >>
Yes, you will want the tandem concept to be comfy before adding the threadle wrap – basically, a threadle wrap is a tandem but with a ton of countermotion 🙂
And you can start Nox on them with a wing only – she totally thought you were NUTS on the first couple, then hit the bar, then had to take a bunch of strides… all of that means she was sorting it out and we can teach the turn away concept separately from the jumping. Then adding the jumping back in will be easy!
The push wrap went great and so did the straight lines!
The all sequence was almost perfect! You were really emphasizing your exit line connection which makes a MASSIVe difference for her: great lines, no barking, no bars down. SUPER!!! Giant click-treat for 1:39 on the exit of the backside at 6!
The one spot to smooth out is on the backside wrap at 1:47 – you were blocking the wing/on her line/moving forward so she could not quite get past you to get to the jump (and she told you all about it :)) So as you set up the push wraps, be sure to tuck in where the wing and bar meet until she is past you so she can commit.Reward placement is definitely better here! Crazy long throws are still good in this context 🙂
>>I was still getting a lot of barking and stopping from her.>> you said to throw it as soon as she turns away to the jump as I move forward, but she doesn’t ever turn toward or even look at the jump.>>
That was from a general lack of knowledge on the threadle wraps. Breaking them down will help that a lot. Start with just the wing and a tandem turn. Then use the wing and a threadle wrap. Then you can add a bar bar – on al of those steps, you will see her starting to turn her head away and step to the jump more independently.
Great job here!
Tracy
Poor Sprite, poor you! How is her foot feeling??
Looking at the video – she was jumping the triple and double a little funny compared to how she usually jumps it… then the distance from the weaves to the double to the panel was poooopy. BIG extension into this tiny little distance? Poor Sprite. She might have given her foot a smack trying to get over the panel. She was not jumping her usual way in the next run (adding a lot more strides).
>>She didn’t read my turning cue snd dropped the panel and dropped the off course jump.>>
You would have had to give her a collection cue from the weave exit to shorten her stride up for the double, then another one for the panel. It was just a gross distance to ask a fast dog to do, coming in from a spread jump, with an off course right there too. POOPY.
>>In jumpers she popped the weaves to go into the wrong end of the tunnel. >>
That might have been “ouch my foot is a little hurty and distracting me” or she might just need more practice on weaving directly towards a tunnel 🙂
Fingers crossed she is fine! Let me know!!
Tracy
Hi!
This was a great session because I think you were getting some trial-level excitement from him which helps build up the skills!
He did best when you were very connected and not trying to run faster than him 🙂 Slow and connected is. The best way with super fast young dogs, so emphasize the eye contact as you run but there is no need to run super fast yet – lots of handler speed makes the info harder for the dogs to read and also makes it harder for us to stay connected.
True, you can’t always get way ahead but that will come ore easily as he gets more experienced.
As you take the toy away to start the sequence, ask him to sit and stay so you can lead out – he was circling a bit which doesn’t help arousal levels, so you can cue the sit right away.
Be sure to be calm and connected on the send away starts like this on one jump 1 – you sent but didn’t really connect and also started backing up, so he was not sure if he should take the jump at :11. It was a legit question so you can reset with a reward (you can have treats and a toy with you) and start over. He got frustrated so got leapy.
Hold the send and face the jump until he lifts his front feet for now, more like what you did at :43. You can start moving way sooner as he gets more experienced, but for now stay there til you see his front feet in the air.
Nice connection from the tunnel exit to the jump pt :19 and he found that line nicely! Compare to 1:21 where you were not connected so he did not take the jump after the tunnel
Maintain that very direct connection through the next line – you were looking forward and so he was trying to jump and figure out where to be and it didn’t work you so well for the jumping (he dropped the next bar on the first 2 runs). So this is a good place where the BIG connection but running slower will really help!
His only other question was jumping the backside jumps – he dropped the bar on almost all of them! For the sequences, you can have backside bars (push wraps and threadle wraps) set lower so the jumping effort is not as hard. Separately from that, is he doing a conditioning program to get his core and hind end all powered up? You can definitely use the games that Stefanie showed us in the special guest class (posted on the course syllabus page 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
I hope you found your phone! That is hard to be without it!!
On the tunnel-wing video:
If she goes off course, remember that is it more than 99% handler error causing it, so reward her as you reset her. That is what was happening especially at the beginning – the connection was unclear so she was guessing, and the motion supported the tunnel so off she went to it.
When she got the lines correctly with good turns, you were connected and moving. Yay! When she had wide turns or didn’t get the lines, you were stopping or had high arms, which block connection so she can’t see the line you want. Low arms are especially important since she is so small.
So…. You can curse at me…. You have the same homework with her as you do with Fusion: no verbals 🙂 What was happening was you were yelling ‘here’ or ‘here here’ and stopping to get the turns and lines. But on a bigger course, I don’t think that is viable so we need to get you in the habit of staying in motion and connected. Taking the verbals off is the best way to do it 🙂 I know, I am mean LOL!!! But it will be a great way to smooth out the handling with her!!!
Nice work here! Let me know how it goes without the verbals 🙂
Tracy
Hi there! Welcome back!
On the wingin’ it video:
I think she really likes the GO cues but look at how well she was responding to the turns cues too! SUPER! The timing was lovely and also the style of delivery was radically different (and supported by motion).Look at :40 for example… she was in handler focus with your nice quiet turn verbals and turning til you said GO GO GO and took off all before she went into the tunnel – she turned on the rocket burners! Yay!
And hooray for the rears! She got them in both directions – that is super!
>>I really hope to have a dog that can obstacle focus and work more at a distance.>>
I truly believe she will be that dog!!!
The teeter is going well!
She is doing well with the target on the end of the board, it gives her a clearer spot to be. You can add in slowly walking past the end of the board as she is leaping into position (soooo slowly, just like how you started the motion override game) and then run back and reward when she holds position even for a second.>>Remember she does not like collar grabs (I have tried to work on this … ). I had to angle my body so it would be impossible to go around.>>
For the collar grabs, you can make it a happy thing:
Lure her into position, feed her there. Stick a finger under her collar while she is eating the treat, feed again, then go into the game (ready target!). She will barely notice the collar grab and also really associate it with tons of treats 🙂>>I have no idea why she would not release without my movement maybe the sl concern over the collar?>>
She seemed pretty happy about the whole thing, so honestly I think that she was hoping for more food at the target (she was offering more targeting :)) Also, the break cue is not that strong yet in this context (which is totally fine :))
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
