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Good morning!
Starting with Course 2:>>Your first comment is contrasting the throwback/spin on #3 versus a threadle forward exit. Or, I could even have done a simple forced front without the Jaako exit. I agree that my choice was too tight; not sure why I didn’t consider either of the others.>>
It is possible that in the moment you were considering how to best get up the line for the straight tunnel followed by a backside (that was intentionally daunting :)) And also, his ability to turn *that* tight is definitely a more recent skill – I think even when we start in June, he would not have turned that tightly on 3. You’ve worked on that and it looked amazing here.
>>I think the comment about the way I did the BC through 12-13 is giving me more credit for planning than I can do. Just getting there on time was the goal (fail).
You did get there on time! I am just bugging you to redefine your ‘there’. 🙂
>>For the runs, yes, I was THRILLED with how well he took the tunnel verbals; both of them, both times.
Heck yeah!! On the turn back to the weaves, in theory that is a “must be in position” moment, 3 feet past the tunnel entry… but the reality is that I don’t think any of us can outrun our dogs to get there so it became a test of how the read the intent of our line of motion and also the verbal – nailed it! Woohoo!!
>> The handling on 14 was kind of a shot in the dark. My friend, Andrea’s dog does this really well and I thought I’d try it. Worked much better than I expected.>>
You mean the backlap (I think that is the name) to 15? It looked like it was part of your toolbox and totally comfy! Wow!
>>And once you are in the bumpy water, it is really hard to recover!
I feel that pain! Ha! The only solution I have found is that the course is so well-rehearsed, that I can immediately let go of the bump and either get right back on plan or switch to plan B. And one of my favorite seminars to teach is about how to recover without skipping a beat – maybe one of these days we can put it on again when it is safer to do so. It is FUN 🙂
On to the next course!
Glad to know it was not a goat rodeo (I just like saying goat rodeo LOL)Going in with a plan is more trial-like and definitely saved time on the walk through.
The 5 tunnel entry is a doozy (3 tunnel entries there and 5 is the least visible!) but sometimes the best plan is to just run fast 🙂 Motion is the strongest cue!
On the walk through:
6:30ish is a really good length of walk through on 21 obstacles with all this yardage! I liked all of your choices in terms of which handling goes where. I could also “see” them all clearly in play, which is a good indicator of how the run will go. The 2 things I see in the walk through that might cause trouble are really the same thing in different spots: converging to a push through after a serpentine. At 16-17 and 19-20, you walked the 16 and 19 jumps on a parallel line to the bar, which presents ‘regular’ serpentine. But 16 and 19 have a push through, so you will need to show convergence into the gap before he makes a takeoff decision, so he can alter his striding to get the wrap exit (to get the 17 backside and the push into the gap for 20).Your planned BC line 12-13 looked really good, it was more perfect path and presented a tighter line.
On the run:
1-5 looked great! I watch his jumping effort on the backside slices now to see how the zig zags are transferring, I he did a great job on 3 especially with you getting out of there and trusting his commitment (:11)
You might have been one step closer to the entry wing of 6 than planned, but you still executed the 6-7-8-9 beautifully (I loved his turn to the poles at :20 – powerful, fast, but tight and with no question. He never looked at the off course jump ahead. Nice!
Nice RC on the poles (great skill to have) and the teeter is going nicely on the first run (2nd run, not as good).
SO CLOSE to perfect on the BC 12-13!!! SO CLOSE!! When you can be more laterally away from the teeter you will have the extra step to make it perfect. You can also try running up the line but turning your head sooner – rather than wait to get past 12 then reconnect, start the reconnection before he takes off so it is in place as you are passing 12 (using a jump verbal and his name to support commitment and the turn). I think that BC is definitely in play there! Your line was also strong so while the BC was a little late, he was able to predict the line and still find the jump.Nice job on the 14-15 send. And the parallel running line past 16 (regular serp line, rather than a converging line into the gap) is what caused the crash at :37
The RC on 13 looked great on the re-run, and it did not appear to put you behind at all – you still had the nice send to 15.
Look at the difference in your position at 1:45 as he was lifting off for 16 versus at :36 when he was lifting off:
1:45 had a definite convergence into the gap and :36 was a regular parallel path.Also freeze 1:50 as he is taking off for 19 – you are running parallel to the bar and not into the gap to 20 (converging) so he is jumping towards the regular serp line. (nice jumping effort there, btw!) He makes the turn on landing but lifts his head and has a zig zag over 20 to find 21.
That little convergence detail is something to watch for on course and build into the walk throughs 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>Thank you for the great comments and especially for making me feel better about Sequence 3.
I know how it can feel in the moment! But definitely not anything bad happening, just one question from Pose about a skill that happened to be needed multiple times on that sequence.
>>All the dogs had a 1 hour massage today and she was really good, so there was nothing physical wrong with her. I suspected that because she was jumping nice otherwise. The dogs’ massage therapist is doing massages while I wait outside. I’m so glad that she and their chiro are both still accessible.>>
I didn’t mention anything physical because I know you had already thought of that LOL!!! I figured you were already ruling that out 🙂
>>I’m going to try the zig zag grids tomorrow or Friday. She’s done them before, but I didn’t raise the height. Could you do me a favor and repost the 5 jump zig zag? The 3 jump grid was posted twice.>>
Oopsie! Her ya go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvjkED-e7jw
She might need the added challenge of more height to help sort out the organizing (and hind end) she needs. I am also on a quest for more fitness ideas in terms of the plyometrics needed for pushing off for this kind of jumping effort, as well as for ‘sitting’ back into tight collection. It is possible that on the tight turn cues she is not shifting into collection before the jump because she doesn’t know how to get organized at that speed. She is lovely with it when she is coming in from less speed, so I will get some ideas from fitness people (I have a consult tomorrow! Woot!) and then build it into skills work. More to obsess on 🙂
>>Love that you pointed out the short step that got such a nice turn on sequence 2. I knew that I didn’t take an additional step, but noticing that small detail is great information.>>
Slow motion video being so easily available has been so helpful to see what is happening when the dogs are moving this fast!!! I don’t remember being able to see things this well when Lever/Voodoo were babies!
T
Good morning!
>>I’m self-diagnosing with “course map backside dyslexia”!
I totally relate 🙂 I often draw lines on course maps to make sure I see the backsides 🙂
>> We have NOT worked on threadles…yet…so no surprise he doesn’t understand them.
When you see a threadle line on course, you don’t have to handle it with threadle handling. You can do it with double crosses: FC-BC or BC-BC. I have complete confidence that you can execute those nicely!
>>Anyway, on sequence 1 for the “out” at the end….I guess I’m just trying to make sure he doesn’t curl into me which I understand if the obstacle is straight ahead, the “go” should work if given in a timely manner. I think I also questioned which was going to work for him and which was the correct verbal. So I will make a note of this. And you are right on sequence 2 ending…I didn’t know really if I would be ahead of him, if I would need an “out” or a “go”… I feel like it should have been a “go” but I didn’t do that.>>
This brings up really valid points. Something to consider: the verbal GO can name an entire line, so if he can read GO as ‘go straight for a couple of jumps’ then go is the correct verbal. If he has to push away from you a little bit, then you can add the out. The out cue (or go) can be done no matter where you are, when he needs it. If you are WAY ahead, you can straighten the line with your position (like a serp) but you can actually use an out cue there too (verbal, probably won’t need the arm) because the behavior is indeed an out.
For the tunnel exit, you can play with reaching your connection into the tunnel (looking back into the tunnel for his eyes as you run forward) so he sees the line before he exits – so he is less likely to curl into you there.
>>Sequence 3-
If I had done a BC 5-6, would I wait for him to come out of the tunnel to see it or have it done by the time he exited….I don’t quite get how to decide on that.>>It varies based on the exact set up, so I decide it in the walk through: *after* the blind, does my motion and connection support the line to the jump behind me when he exits the tunnel? If yes, and the jump between the tunnel and you will be obvious, then yes – you can do the blind while he is in the tunnel. If you do the BC while he is in the tunnel and then you would have to be on a crappy line or lean back to show the jump after the tunnel – then no, don’t do it while he is in the tunnel and wait til he exits so you can cue the jump then turn.
>> There are certain BC options that make me unsure and I default to where I can keep my eyes on him…even if the BC might be better.>>
Ha! That is certainly not a bad thing with a young dog 🙂 In training, you can start to take the risk and see what happens, which helps flesh out the specifics of what he will need on course in trials 🙂
>>And if I had actually done the backside of 2 as per the map…I’m picturing it would be best to push to the backside on the right wing so it’s like a German?>>
Yes – push to the wing on the outside of the course (on our right, looking at it) but technically not a German because you serp the exit – I believe the ‘official’ OMD jargon says that a German has a blind cross exit (although I am admittedly not up-to-date on my OMD jargon).
>>I have to say I was a bit nervous about this assignment on the walk thru/then running the plan all on camera! Oh and YES! He does vocalize on backsides even in lessons! Maybe it’s just exciting! LOL>>
This assignment is SO HARD!!!!! But I have found it to be the most enlightening thing I have done for myself so now I force it on my friends, family and students LOL!!! For example, the demo video with Voodoo showed the final walk through and the first run being nearly identical in pace. And that is directly reflected in our trial runs. When I first started this with him a few years ago, the pace and planning was so “off” from the reality… which also reflected in our trial runs (which were quite disastrous at the time LOL!)
>>>Wicked rain and winds swept thru, power outages all over, trees down everywhere blocking roads etc. Seems to have passed thru quickly and our power is back. Can’t complain compared to what other areas got. Hope you are safe down there!>>
Very glad to hear the storm is gone! We got super lucky here – it didn’t touch us at all and we had blue skies and gorgeous weather.
T
Good morning!
Modifying the course to fit is always fine! I should be able to tell what that course is based on your walk through 🙂 I will go by what you built and spaced on the ground, the maps are not as important 🙂Video 1: I like the modification!
Things I see in the walk through:
the left cue 2-3 is probably late, your invisible dog was ahead and committed to 3. So look back to landing of 2 to begin the cue.
Your #7 is the backside after the tunnel – great job considering the slice over the wrap, that will almost always be the best answer – and definitely the slice is better here. The other option is to consider slicing the other direction by bringing her into the jump from the inside wing (the one closer to the center of the course) then slicing away to the outside of the course. That is shorter yardage and a better exit line (more on that in the Custom Skills Sets that I posted on Monday :))On the run: WOW Peggy, this was a great run!!!! Runs like this with a baby dog are NOT easy to get because the success relies almost entirely on your planning and execution (baby dogs can’t save us LOL!!!) I loved it!!!! I especially loved your 4-5-6 section – great connection and handling to drive her ahead to the tunnel so you could be in position for the backside after it. Click/treat for you! Great connection throughout the run, especially when she was tempting to run past the backside jump and you convinced her to take it while also maintaining a great exit line. Keep working on the backside jump as a default behavior, that will make your job as a handler easier in the future.
My only nitpick is that yes, your left cue (physical and verbal) on 3 was late, she turned after landing. So that goes on the list of things to remember: When she lands from the previous jump, decel and begin the cue so she sees if before she makes a takeoff decision.
This is one of my favorite Demi runs ever!Wilson’s run was *almost* perfect! Yes, be earlier on the left cue at 3 as well – he landed then had to adjust for the turn, which caused a hesitation because he has more body to adjust.
Note how he takes the jump on the backside as more of a default so it was much easier to handle. You were prepared to help him if needed by being connected, but he nailed it.
At 7:14, he ended up on your left side rather than your right. That was a connection break. AS he was jumping, you took off, disconnected, and said GO. And Go means ‘go straight in the direction you are heading’… so he did 🙂 He never had cliear info to get in your right side. Oopsie! So that is a spot where you need to ramp up the connection (exit of serpentines) to show him exactly where he needs to be. And only say GO when you see him looking in the direction you want him to go to (I have learned that lesson the hard way LOL!)You fixed it at 7:42 – I think you overhelped him over the bar (too much connection and hand shaking caused you to slow way down :)) but you were very clear with your connection when he landed so he knew exactly where to be. Yay!
So the WIlson things-to-remember:
– be earlier on the left cues (same as with Demi
– maintain connection on the exit of serps (backside and front side)
– don’t say go until he is already turned the correct direction 🙂Video 2:
Walk through:
Good rehearsal of connection on your push on jump 2!
4-5 is trick and spaced a a threadle here
better line turning to the inside on 7
Last walk through looked like you were doing 4-5 as a backside on 5? Hard to tell if you wanted front or back.
Also, you can do a Demi walk and a Wilson walk, to plan for the differences between the 2 (good practice for when they are both in Masters)Demi run:
I htink she would like it if you ran into the opening more: less of a lead out to blast her through the tunnel. She was accurate but not as fast as she could be with you being pretty stationary on the release. Great job with the connection through the push on jump 2 – you rehearsed it and then you nailed it!
You can turn your shoulders a little sooner before 3, so she can set up her turn before take off to 3: as she exits 2, you can be starting a soft turn.7:02 and 7:35 and 8:27 on jump 5: you turned before her head gave you permission: she never looked a 5. Yes, you can keep going, reward, then sort it out.
If you can’t get it twice…. walk it again before running her.
7:59 – she thought you wanted the tunnel because you accelerated and yelled GO!…. which means go straight on the line you are looking at 🙂 And that is exactly what she did. Same thing happened with Wilson on the previous course. You were right to reward her.
Wilson:
At 2, same thing happened as on the previous course: not enough connection on the exit so he ended up on the wrong side. Own that the error is handler-induced when the dog ends up on the wrong side, and reward! And if you are not sure whose fault it is… reward anyway as a goodwill gesture 🙂
At 9:28 you got a little too close to the entry wing and he did not take the jump – possible because you were in the way of where he would need to be and he didnt’ want to hit you (understandable and appreciated :)) In that moment, send him over the jump and reward – never walk away.
By the next rep… you started to sound annoyed. You got it on 10:02 but you can it is all handling – so if you get an error twice – put the dog in the shade and re-walk that section or watch the video.Yes, that 5 jump for him is a little tiny wingless and also you were running on a parallel line at 10:05 which didn’t draw him in – so your 3am assessment is correct that wings would help, and also calling his name. And it was uncelar if you wanted the back or front based on body language (you would need to give more push to the backside, driving to it for longer). The other thing that is happening here is thst his rate of success has dropped super low, because there have been a lot of failures and you stop and turn away from him on each one. Yes, on some you did eventually give him the toy but the instant feedback was the turn away – and dogs read that. So the dogs then get worried and offer a variety of behavior.
So what goes on the list to remember for walk throughs and runs on this course –
Small details such as plan the connections on the exits of serp for Wilson as you did for Demi.
Move more on the opening lines for Demi to get the most speed.But the most important thing is a training thing:
if you get it wrong, reward the dog (either just reward or a quick fix) then plan what you are going to do next before you ask the dog to try again (that is why I ask people to talk to the camera on the 2nd rep and tell me what you are going to change in exact detail). If you cannot get it right on the 2nd try… reward the dog, stop the session, re-walk the course, watch the video – then try again. You were trying again and again without planning how to get it right, which is a lot of bang on the dog’s body )so much repetitive jumping, even at a low height) and also not good for the dog’s confidence because he is aware that he was ‘wrong’ each time based on your reaction (he wasn’t wrong, but withdrawal of reward/attention/flow is a punisher so the dogs perceive it as wrong).So – that is a biggie!! If I make one mistake… little red lights go off in my head. 2 mistakes? Doesn’t matter if it is my error or I am convinced the dog is wrong – I will stop and figure out how to get it right. If I can’t figure it out… I stop trying in that moment and then let the 3am lightbulb help me out (or I watch the video :))
Let me know what you think!! Nice job tackling this assignment – it is a really hard one but the lessons from the dogs help so much!
Tracy
Hi there!
You are so busy – 3 dogs, agility, obedience, herding and puppy stuff! I love it 🙂 Makes for a great summer!Nice job on these sequences! Here are some ideas for you:
Course 1:
Good walk through, nice planning – I could see the connection and lines throughout!! On the parts where you were running, your speed was pretty darned close to the actual speed of the run when I played those sections side by side. That is great with such a young dog!
And I think part of your walk through was spend strategizing if you could get into the gap 8-9 for a BC to get the turn to the right (faster line) – yes I think you can 🙂
To do it – you can strategize 4-5 differently – use your plan to 5, but then send more to 6 and 7 (sending and verbals) so you can cut straight across to 8-9. And you can also keep her on your left 4-5 and RC 5, to set up 6-7 with you even closer to 8-9.
Your execution on the 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 part was good, nicely connected and good timing and turns! (Stopping for the bar at the very beginning, reset, tug, restart is a good protocol. Do you think it is more reinforcing to reward when she gets it right on the next rep, or keep going?)Wrapping 9 was the final plan, and I think your execution was solid on the run – you were already decelerating as she was jumping 8 and rotated when she landed, with verbal in place. She did not turn til after landing, though, so that is something that we can work on in terms of training – breaking it down so there is still all the speed from the tunnel, but then replacing the jump with a wing so she can find the tight collection with all the excitement – and you can then handle with a tight wrap exit rather than back to 10.
You did go back and try the BC 8-9, yay!!! And you actually were in a good spot at a good time to get it (relatively in position and head turn completed before takeoff for 8) – double yay! Being inexperienced, she was locked onto your motion (lower body) and did not read the head turn/reconnection of the blind – that is another fun thing to train, and that is where I would exaggerate the connection on the new side with a reward across the body to help her read the ‘upstairs’ info and not just the ‘downstairs’ (motion) info 🙂
I think it is great you were pretty much there – you can leave 6 even sooner to get there even sooner!Course 2:
On the 1-2 line, that is a pretty common spot for the bar down 🙂 You can experiment with what might help – to lead out more, or release while in motion to show extension, but also mainly to figure out what helps get her to read the bar better while you start moving. She was fine with the challenge on the 2nd and 3rd times there! It is more of a training & experience challenge than a walk through or planning challenge.
The backside on 3 was nice both times! Yay!
On the first run, you ran it liked you walked at 2:46 on the walk through – a little too much power forward to 4 after landing of 3 with the shoulder turn a little late, so she drove forward too much on the run at :33 (you said something to her but I couldn’t quite make out which verbal it was) On the 2nd round you were much earlier at 2:32 with your turn, and her forward cue to 4 was one little tiny step after landing from 3 – nice turn! And that is a good thing to remember – one step at landing then leave 🙂
I like the choice of the BC at the end! On the first run, you ran it differently than the walk through (2:50) – you were moving more towards the bar at 8 rather than forward on the line to 9, plus you were later on the BC. That contributed to the bar down. On the 2nd run, you ran it exactly how you walked it (heading to 9 and blinding as soon as she landed from 7) and it was perfect! So it might just have needed a few more high speed passes on the walk through to get it fully into muscle memory there.Course 3 -definitely not a trainwreck! I think the walk through was good planning, you had one little moment you can add to the list of things to remember but the other stuff was just training stuff (not handling or walk through stuff).
So the one thing to add: you have more time than you think to get to the FC at the 5-6 line, you were rushing a bit and that is what pulled her off at :53 (you were saying go tunnel as she exited 3 but had also fully turned and started towards 5 (which is exactly what you walked at 4:05) – and Go Tunnel is relative to body position, so she was being a good girl. One heartbeat of upper body turned to her and eyes on her eyes, and she will get that tunnel with you still having plenty of time to get the FC.
Small training detail: On the turn cue on 6, you were there and decelerated and connected, she still turned after landing – so you can play with just a wing there too, and running away for the reward on a tight line to help encourage her to put in a collection before takeoff (starting with a wing is easy and fun, then we can add back a bar).
For the jumping on 2 and 7: I was watching her set up on each of the reps, and I think she is just not sure how to jump those angles while you are moving – it is a bit of a sideways jumping effort on those types of slices, and very common for dogs to hit those rails (or hit the wings). You mentioned that she was looking at you over 2 – that is indicative of not being sure how to set the jumping on that slice relative to the physical serp cue you were showing (and you were showing it, otherwise I would bug you to show it :)) So, we can help her out! I have found that the zig zag grids are the absolute best way to help the dogs sort out this jumping angle while we are moving (although you don’t move at first).
First on 3 jumps:
then on 5 jumps:
nice and low until she is very comfy and then with motion… then you can help raise the bars 🙂 She is probably athletic enough to do it at full height or close to (Voodoo doesn’t have enough angulation in his front, so I stay at 16) but even without full height – very helpdul for sorting out how to jump those lines.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHello there! This is a pretty complex course to walk in 8 minutes! I think you had nice clear plans developing, the only things to note in terms of plans are:
– the throwback/spin exit of 3 might be a little too tight, you might consider threadling to 3 then staying forward so you can accelerate to 4 sooner and set the line (he will still be on a great line)
– 7-8 is a threadle, not a 180 🙂
– On the BC through the box at 12-13, you were going between the uprights of 12 which sets a longer line than you want (more to the back of 14 than to 13) so keep looking for the perfect path on those crosses through the boxes, like 12-13.
– 17 is backside, which should make for an prettier ending line 🙂Looking at the runs versus the walks:
On the first run, you got a littler further from 3 than you walked, so when you cued it you had to push back a bit – that delayed your reconnection as you scrambled to get away, and drew him off of 4. You were in a great spot on the 2nd run and it looked great (I also really like how he took #2, plus your walk and run were almost identical in that section, very nice!)
The throwback was too tight on this run – it was better on the 2nd run because you were closer to 2 and connected better on the exit – but you can probably get out of there sooner without the throwback, making the reconnection earlier, without sacrificing the quality of the turn.– nice around after the straight tunnel on both runs, even coming in from a rear cross! Yay!
On the 6-7 line:
>> One thing I learned is he needs some training in following my hand. If I drop my hand and look at it, I expect him to come in to my hand and follow it. He doesn’t appear to know that (6-7-8).>>
Yes, more reaction to the hand cue will help, but also show it sooner – when he is on the way to 6, start showing it to him before he takes off, so he adjusts before takeoff and lands already driving to it – that will allow you to set the turn to 7 sooner.
Taking 8 as a 180 was actually harder in terms of the tunnel-tunnel-weaves section… but he nailed it!!!! I think you chose the best option for handling there, which also relies on trained verbals because, frankly, it is hard to show perfect physical cues there! Your threadle verbal on the 9 tunnel was good the first time (so he got the 10 tunnel) but PERFECT the 2nd time (and his turn on the exit was perfect the 2nd time too!) And your left verbal helped him know how to turn on the exit – ideally you would be past the entry to 10 already, but that would require roller skates 🙂 So I was very excited to see him read the verbal and the running line without needing to be in perfect position 🙂Things got a little zig zaggy on the 12-13 section, and I think it has to do with your position on 12 when cuing the blind – going between the uprights of 12 causes him to track the wrong path, so he loses the perfect path to 13 – this created wide lines (bumpy ride for the water skier :)) so he ended up on the wrong side of 14 on the first rep. You were further across on the 2nd run (1:51) so he was wider there to 13, but you compensated with a clearer turn cue on 13. In the walk through, you did a throwback/spin on 13 (walked it at 8:24, discarded it at 8:58 :)) but that might have been a good plan – tighten up the turn on exit of 13 and set you up nicely to handle 14 from the landing side without getting too deep across the bar, which would make it easy to step to 15.
Your 14-15 worked nicely! I would not have thought of it, thanks for adding it to the list! He clearly understands the turn away element on 14. You needed one more step of acceleration on the 2nd run, he had a tiny question on the way to 15 – but it did give you good turns while also putting you in a great spot for the ending line!
Speaking of the ending line – you can decel sooner on 15, use your wrap cue – then trust him and get outta there sooner 🙂 You waited a bit too long to leave which made your BC late at :46 and 1:59, which made the FC on 17 late as well (and caused a bit of scramble on the first run, where you ended up past the wing of 17 which pulled the bar on 18. I think this might also be a good spot for a FC (16-17) because you are right there and relatively decelerated – you can cue the FC and then go right into the next FC.
I think the smoothness of the ending line goes back to the line you get 12-13. If you can set a smooth line there, you are in control of the lines all the way to 18. When you got off kilter there and the zig zag started, it became harder to control the rest of the lines. It is an easy fix – adding more perfect path walking to the walk through plan!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi there! I hope you aren’t getting too much hurricane action!!!!
He looked good on the 12″ bars here! And the walks/runs are going well – many perfect spots, and a couple of things to remember. We do this exercise for the things to remember, so the perfect spots are FUN and feel great, and the things to remember are more useful 🙂
Very nice job on course #1! You can probably spend a little less time on the lines so you have more time on the walking of your plan – you had about 90 seconds on the lines out of 5 minutes, and I bet on the simple lines you can just spot check the hard parts.
Your handling choices were really good, my only question is about the ‘out’ on 9 – it is a pretty straight line from the exit of the 8 tunnel (or, if it isn’t totally straight, he is leaning towards you) so you don’t need the out which will cue him to push away.
Your connection in the walk through looked really strong! And that is why I could see your blind cross was late 🙂 You were connected to an invisible dog who was taking off for 7 before you started the blind, and ideally the blind starts shortly after he lands from 6 so you are finished before he takes off for 7. The blind is a really good choice there, it just needed to be earlier.
On the actual run – really nice opening! I think you were maybe a little more laterally away from 2 and the pushed back in (he vocalized). The 3-4-5-6 looked great. The blind at 7 was late 🙂 It was timed the same as you did in the walk through, so the reminder there is to think more about the exact timing of the cue in the walk through.
When you redid the run – the opening was even better, you were closer to the line at 2. He vocalized at 3 – he might vocalize when you push in a little. The 4-5-6 part looked great. You switched to a FC on 7 (also a good option) and it looked great – mainly because your timing was SO much better on the FC. Yay!You did the ‘out’ on 9 as planned, but I think it is not needed in that spot.
Course 2:
I think your prep was really good in the walk through! Connection, verbals, etc – all in place at speed before the run. The only thing that seemed a bit uncertain in the walk through was the very ending line: you placed yourself a little further ahead than you ended up (good reminder that we can’t outrun him LOL!) and also you were not as clear as to whether the last 2 jumps were a ‘go’ or an ‘out’. The run started off really well – great connection, great line, so he never looked at the off course tunnel. And then – surprise! Baby dog reminds us that he needs a SUPER exaggerated backside cue. Your cue was good, your verbal was timely, your line looked good… but in the heat of the moment he didn’t read it. I chalk it up to his relative youth and lack of experience 🙂 So – a good reminder for courses with backsides: over-exaggerate the cues for now to help set him up for success. You did that beautifully on the re-do and also go lots of rewards in – nice!
The rest of the run looked great – I think the 4-5-6-7 section went perfectly to plan. The hustle needed for the ending line looked like it was faster than you expected, so that is another good thing to remember for future walk throughs.Course 3 – another good walk through in general! Keep in mind that 2 should be a backside 🙂 But running it as a front side certainly presented challenges! Looking at that section – that is where getting to know his pace on course will really help. In the final walk through at 3:57, the pace was a little too fast in terms of where he would be, realistically – so you looked forward before he would have been at 2. And that is what “bit” you on the run at 5:20 – you looked forward before he was at 2, so as he was jumping, he was reading a blind happening. When he landed from 2, the connection was forward and so he blind crossed to the other side of 3. That is the type of thing that I put on my list of things to remember in walk throughs – if there is a front side of back side choice, I need to have a lot of connection to the dog’s eyes to make sure I show it – and on a lead out, the dog will still be behind me so I need to look back and not ahead (which is what you did really nicely on 1-2 on course 2: look back to his eyes, not ahead to the tunnel).
You had MUCH better connection at 6:11 on the redo bu you were a little off the line, so he was not quite as tight.
The rest looked really good and went pretty much according to plan! I bet you can get a blind cross 5-6 very easily, the RC there required you to wait 🙂When you redid the opening trying a threadle… because he is young and you had only walked that plan a little, things went wrong when you went directly into it – he was responding to the threadle and then you pushed into the jump, and that motion pushed him back out to the backside of 3. So… he was correct but then he started guessing when it wasn’t right. The 2 things to remember on that one are that the upper body and verbal of the threadle does the work – don’t use motion in towards the take off side because it might open up the backside. And, don’t roll into an entirely different plan without walking it fully or looking at the video to see what went wrong 🙂 It sets up too much failure and then he stops coming in on the cues (just gets on a line).
Really nice job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I think he must have been thinking weaves when he turned the wrong way after the jump because he did it a few times!
Ah! That could be it! You can isolate this skill and put a toy on the ‘wrong’ side and cue him to turn away from it, in order to get it 🙂
>>One of the best things for me about this camp is getting your feedback on handling choices. Often I see the different options but I don’t feel I always pick the best one.
Good point! You can ask yourself questions about the choices:
– does it create the fastest line?
– does it keep you moving forward to the next location?
– are you trusting his training?If you answer ‘yes’ – then it is a great choice! I think on course you will find several great options rather than only one ‘best’ option 🙂
T
Good morning!!
Nice work on this session. I have an overall observation and then ideas on how to make it work 🙂
Overall – I think if you can do one or two or three more go-rounds on the course during the walk through, at full speed or as close as possible – then your first actual run with Ivan will be more like the second run you did here (which was freakin’ awesome!!). What I mean by that is: your first run with Ivan was good, but it had some bobbles that we can work out in the walk through, so those bobbles happen during the walk through and then your real run can be just about perfect like the 2nd actual run here was. Hopefully that makes sense LOL!!!OK, into specifics:
I think it comes down to a couple of planning details and then using the 8 minute walk through a little differently, to emphasize the speed/timing of what the run will be, more than the lines/choices. You have enough experience in agility and running courses that you can spend less time walking the lines on courses (it was about 2.5 minutes here of looking at the lines) – maybe decide most of the lines in advance, and spend less than a minute spot checking certain areas to confirm or change your mind. Then, go right into adding the handling you want – so within a minute of the walk through starting, you are already walking your handling choices.Your choices were really strong, and your planning of your connections was also really strong (as evidenced by how well your choices worked and how well you executed your connections! The only choices that didn’t work as well were the line up spot on the 16″ bar (adjusted for the 2nd run, but something to remember during the walk through) and at 10 – remember to account for how long it takes him (and all of the dogs) get to to a big tunnel and then through it. You got there earlier than planned and changed plans. So you can think about leaving him in the tunnel with would definitely help get to the takeoff side of 10, or if you want to handle from landing side, go in deeper to the tunnels so you are in motion and not too far ahead when he exits.
One other thing to remember is that on threadles, in the heat of the moment, you tend to turn your feet 🙂 On the walk through, you did not turn your feet but on both runs, you did. Now, it totally worked to get the threadle 11-12 but what happened was it changed your timing and position on the next line because you were not as far ahead as planned (because the foot rotation delays getting up the next line). So in the walk through – either plan on the foot rotation so you have an accurate of idea of where you will be on the next line, or walk it a bunch of times at speed without the foot rotation to get it into your muscle memory.
The tunnel-tunnel section and the ending line (16-17) were places that more high speed walk through time will help: you got quiet and looking ahead on the first run there, so he had head checks there on the first run. You were probably consciously focusing on the course there. When you ran it the second time, you were more connected and had more verbals going, so he did not have the same questions – and it was probably because you had already run it once so you were focusing on it subconsciously, if that makes sense 🙂 Same with your timing on the double blind sections (2-3-4 and 14-15-16) – EXCELLENT choices that were a little late on the first run but really lovely on the 2nd run (especially 14-15, WOWZA!)
To get that first run looking more like the second run, going into the high speed walking sooner and doing it more will help you have the course in your subconscious so you can nail it the first time out. Focusing on timing, connection, etc – I think you just need to do it a couple more times, 4 or 5 times total, as if running him and really ‘seeing’ him (and doing less line walking in the first part of the walk through will give you time to do it).
Now, in the summer heat AND wearing a mask AND being first on the line 🙂 there are too options to do this extra emphasis on high speed rehearsals without burning your legs and lungs out before the run:
you can either do the high speed rehearsals then give yourself a 10 minute recovery before the run (just like at a trial)
or
you can do high speed rehearsals in sections, so you aren’t full out running the whole thing several times (this is what I do at trials when I am going to have to be early in the running order).Let me know if this makes sense! Your first run was really good and your second run was AWESOME so you are definitely on the right track!!
Now about getting this speed into the trial setting – I think we need to teach him how to predict the good rewards, where the rewards are located, how to ignore them while running and how to run fast even when there is nothing in your hands or pockets 🙂
I use a couple of games for that, so I figured it might be easier to steal the full length videos from other classes and let you see them, then we can start planning specifically for Ivan 🙂 Here they are! Let me know what you think!Talk to you soon! Great job!
TracyGood morning!
So true about the disconnection – after all this time of learning to connect, adding in a bit of disconnection is really hard!Seq 1:
The opening line looked great on all reps! She also came in beautifully on the serp at 4 each time – I don’t think you need a serp arm across your body, you can just keep your shoulders open to the bar and move up the line, and she will read it. If you feel like you are getting too far ahead, you can run closer to the tunnel so you are able to maintain acceleration 4-5. You went in a little deeper on rep 3 and both of you stayed in extension more there.
On the backside at 6:
She reads those nicely with the left arm back and a bit more connection on the push. At :10, you turned fully forward and your left arm was at your side, so she took the front. At :18 and :32, you were basically in the same spot but had a bit more connection and your arm was a little back – so she got it beautifully 🙂You were actually a tiny bit early on the blind cross 6-7 🙂 at :19 and :33 To get the best exit line, you can keep moving forward and do the blind when you are past the exit wing so you will actually be on takeoff side by then, not on landing side.
This is one of the spots to totally practice the disconnection, so you can get past the exit wing more quickly: as soon as she is just about at the entry wing, disconnect and run in past the exit wing to make the reconnection on the blind to 7.
The ending line looked good! She might not need the spin, you can play with a send and go on 7 – but the spin was well done in terms of the transition to decel being the cue you emphasized and not the rotation. Nice!!!
Sequence 2 begins the same way as Seq 1 🙂
She is so responsive to accel versus decel – on the opening, you had a ton of acceleration 1-2-3 so she was flying! You deceled a little too soon on the tunnel on the first rep, so she responded which produced more deceleration than you needed.
Nice job on the push to 6 (the blind is a little too early here too 🙂 ) and YAY for the threadle 8-9!!!! You can leave sooner for the serp of jump 10 to 11: at :53, when she turned her head to take 9, you can leave and run through the serp to show the line to 11. You had a moment of hesitation which made the serp at :56 a little late. She loved chasing you on the ending line!!!Seq 3:
Another fast and fun opening on all the reps! Yay!
On this 4-5 line, you can do the blind rather than do a serp of 4 then blind – the line is slightly different with 5 being the backside, so you don’t need a serp there.
Very nice spin on 5, each time!!!
The first rep is the rep where she had the slip on 6: it appears to be a combo of her left hind not getting enough grip on the grass (slipping) and your motion up the line, so she was trying to adjust. As you exut 5, take a look at your running line: at 1:11 you are running a serp line towards the entry wing of 6. At 1:12 you do a quick decel and change direction, heading towards the #3 end of the tunnel. She prepares for takeoff. As she is lifting, you push back in towards the 7 end of the tunnel. And since her left hind never was able to get grip/slipped, she couldn’t adjust. Poor girlie!!!! I am glad she is fine and not sore. For the running line, run parallel to the bar for the serp jump rather than pulling in and out – that parallel running line directly towarsd 7 will help her set up for the in-then-out of the serp.You were a little more tentative there on the next rep at 1:24 (understandably!) so she read your decel and slight pull away as a threadle.
On the last rep, you did the pull away from the 6 jump but her hind end did not slip, so she was able to adjust to get 7.The 8 jump is a backside, if you want added challenge on this sequence 🙂
And – your connection overall was *awesome* – it looks like you had strong connection and she was able to drive her lines so nicely!!! Great job! Let me know what you think 🙂
TracyHi again!
I agree: Strike a pose transfer went really well!! A slight tweak to your position – place yourself less in the center of the bar and more on the exit wing (more like where you were at :55 and 1:08 and 1:25) and then extend your hand less towards her and more towards the center of the bar.
She was mostly perfect with her brain-rattling strong touches to the target!! But even when she was not perfectly hitting the target, she was still driving in over the jump and lining herself up to make the turn for the in-then-out behavior: and that is *exactly* what we want. and I am VERY happy to see it in her already! And the angles, and the added excitement of the toy did not diminish the behavior, she still rocked it. Yay! So – the next step is to, on the flat, get her to do this with the reward on the ground. A toy would be ideal, but it might be too hard as a starting point to get her to ignore the toy in favor of her her touching the target 🙂 So you can start with a less exciting target like an empty food bowl. When she can play this with the reward on the ground on the flat, add it to the jump (which should be easy) and then you can move to the Advanced Level.Great job!!
TracyGood morning!
Her commitment looks awesome on this, good girlie! And I hear your collection cue getting added, super!!! She seemed to be just fine starting with the collar hold. Your connection looked great and your timing to leave looked great. She was slipping a little on your jump pole, so you can try a leash next time or something she won’t slip on.
You can start to leave even earlier now, leaving before she even arrives at the barrel 🙂 Her speed to it and to you seemed really balanced: fast both directions 🙂
Only one suggestion for you: change your exit line so it is a tighter path on more of a 90 degree line away from your starting point. On almost all of the reps, you were doing a FC to go back to your starting point. But on the rep that start at 1:07, you started her on your left and ran towards the pink jump: that was more of the correct angle of exit: think of it as sticking very close to the barrel almost touching it on the FC, so the pup is doing almost a full circle and not a U-turn. That allows us to add even more countermotion understanding to the behavior 🙂
Great job here!Tracy
Good morning!!!! Hope it isn’t too wet up by you!
Awesome draw! Add in: teaching Stark to pull the game from the bowl 🙂
The game looked super good! Nice clear early blind crosses, he got right onto your hand to decel and turn and nice drive ahead! Yes, we can build more excitement into the dead toy, see below. I am happy with how this game is going, so now it is a matter of taking it to different places (and building up dead toy drive).
>>On the first rep of this game I forgot to feed him and it didn’t seem to matter and he dove to the toy. So maybe I stop feeding now and maybe that is why he didn’t dive to the toy?>>
It might have something to do with the food, or not, I am not entirely sure – but we can build it separately, no problem 🙂
>>I bought 2 pop up laundry baskets as I guessed where this was headed.
Haha, yeah….. 🙂 Filming a little thing with 2 baskets yesterday almost put me on the injured reserve with big pointy lol
Wing wraps – you can be a little less exciting until he has fully finished coming around – move when you did (which was AWESOME!) but hold the yes yes yes verbal party until he has gotten to the exit line around the basket. We don’t need to install the excitement into any of these games yet LOL!
I think his commitment is looking awesome!! But… don’t drop the toy for now. Let him chase you with it, flyball style. If we need to drop a reward back to the exit to solidify commitment, we can use food for now until the dead toy is more reinforcing for him.
Love how you are able to leave so early on the wraps!!!!! So nice!!!! I will be posting a mini game later today to add to it sometime this week, should be easy peasy for him.Tunnel threadle foundation:
>>Wow, the light bulb came on for this game. He was like check! Got it!! His head was already turning to the tunnel before I said the word.>>
That is what I am seeing with these whippets and whippet crosses: the “got it!” on the next session if there was a question on the first session, or the incredibly retention of a newly learned thing. If you have free time to scroll, check out Lazlo in this class. His is a whippet that is closely related to Stark. And also in the live tuesday class, Teresa’s big BorderWhippet is also related (more closely related to Contraband and almost exactly the same age, but also related to Stark). REALLY fascinating to see them learn and process. This session looked great, you are correct: he was already turning his head, he understood the set up 🙂 Yay! Time to start thinking about a tunnel threadle word.
OK, on to dead toy. 3 things:
first, don’t use it as a reward for now because he doesn’t think it is a reward at the moment (dead toy). You can have him chasing a dragging toy and tugging, or throw it and run to it then tug – but don’t ask him to pick it up or get it because he does not yet see the glory of it 🙂 For anything ‘dead’ we can use food for now.Second – you can shape a retrieve on a dead toy, that will totally help. It is a clicker/cookie game for picking up a toy. It is not a play with the toy game, it is a shaped retrieve as in pick it up and bring it. The play element can get added back when he likes picking it up – shaping it will transfer the value nicely!
Here are a couple of little shaping sessions I did with Nacho, to build the retrieve which also helped his toy drive. Stark has a lot more toy drive than Nacho did at the time, so I think it will be easier.
Third – I build more “grab” of the dead toy with toy races. In toy races, I never ask the pup to pick up the toy… either the pup picks it up and wins, or I pick it up and win. It is a toy *race* after all, someone is the winner (and the other is the weiner haha)
I try to get to the toy first and I grab it and I win and party without giving him the toy – I engage the pup, I tease the pup, I make the pup wild and rude – then immediately do another rep where the pup is likely to win (no cheating LOL!) The pups usually grab the toy at that point – if he needs to have a zoomie with it, let him (don’t insist on a retrieve) and helps the pup learn to go grab the toy. Here are some visuals:
https://youtu.be/QVS3w-WcsgQ?t=226 (the video starts right when I am trying to win and tease him)Also, here, with Crusher as a wee baby:
and HSM as a baby:
All 3 steps work together to get a dead toy to eb very exciting 🙂
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
