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Hello!
>> It is fairly popular to put it on the landing side in the middle of the wing. My opinion is firm on that one–hate it.
Agree: eewwwww!
>>I do think that this method has value when you approach it as a conditioning exercise.
Yes – there is are plyometric elements, bending, etc that we need to be including in the conditioning to be able to get these turns without injury.
>>Building the strength and muscle that it takes from those great turns and power out of them must be done, otherwise you are going to get muscle fatigue on some types of courses and perhaps injury. IMHO, it isn’t the Euro designs where you see this exclusively, sometimes it is super common on the USDAA/AKC designs. Two pinwheels on a course can give you a lot of that.>>
So very true!!! The wrap work can be working more than just wrap jumping!
>>In terms of her shaping those turns. I am not opposed to that. It might add a bit of yardage, but a slightly more forgiving angle can allow the dog to stay in extension some and actually be faster. I know you have thoughts and perhaps data on this portion of this. What do you think?
I am not opposed to it either 🙂 A stop watch will tell us. But I will mentioned that some of the fastest/winningest dogs to have ever run agility were NOT the tightest in terms of producing the traditional visual we expect on a turn. And some of the best looking turns produce times that are much slower.
T
Hi there!
>>These were fun fast little things.
You and Tokaji were HUSTLING!!! So fun to watch.
>> In general I think I can leave earlier in some spots.
Actually….nope 🙂 I think you were rushing in spots and it caused trouble LOL!! When you patient and connected, lots of lovely stuff.
>>Need to work on back side push on Nov 1 jump 6. I added more distance than I usually do for a push.
The distance was fine, positionally – you were pointing forward/looking forward so it pulled her in.
Here are more details and ideas 🙂
Course 1:
On the Blind 3-4 – a little late at :02, she had already made a takeoff decision when you started it, You will likely need to lead out further to be closer to 3 as she approaches 2, so you can start it when she is landing from 2 with a little decel into it to give her a heads up to collect.
You started it earlier at :19 but she still was surprised and went a little wide. She might also need a front cross there to tight it up more, or a long lead out very laterally so you do the side change on the exit side of the tunnel.Reach your connection more into the tunnel to push her away to 5 and move towards it at :05 & :23, more like a serpentine to get her to move to 5 more immediately rather than come into you then push back out.
On the push on 6 at :07 and :24 – you broke connection by pointing forward to the jump on the push cue so she came into you. Remember to talk to the dog, not the jump 🙂 especially on sends. She was a good girl to take the jump, even if it was the wrong side. You can be patient and connected there and still get to the line for 8 nicely like you did at :33
You took an extra step in there at :28 and also talked more directly to her and she got it.On the 10 jump, which way did you want her to turn? I thought you wanted the wrap based on the 1st run handling, but the 2nd run she did the slice? I like the slice better there (faster line). The difference in what she read was based on your feet: at :15 on the first rep, you turned your feet forward to the last jump really early so she wrapped. On the 2nd run at :34, you kept your feet facing the bar for a stride or two longer and she sliced.
Course 2:
Really lovely runs here! A couple of slightly wide moments but in general really nice!!
The opening looked great on all 3 runs – connected and fast. I think there are 2 places you can use the ‘soft brake’ arm handling here – 4-5 (to get a slightly tighter turn on 4) and also 8-9 (to get a tighter turn on 8). You can do the soft brake arm softly and from a distance and it should give her a little more collection in those spots. That soft brake involves turning towards her a tiny bit to show the outside arm – you were pulling away (like at 1:07, for example on jump 8) which tends to propel her wider.
At 1:35, you gave her a big chop arm and verbal as she was landing from 7 and then said tunnel really early, so she didn’t take 8. You gave a verbal but I couldn’t hear fully – what was the verbal there? Just wondering so we can sort out if it implied commitment or if it meant “turn now!”Great job on the wrap at 10 – connected and patient and smooth at :53 and 1:39!!! 1:12 was good there too, but not as calm – it had a lot more energy and SWOOOSH to it, so she was wider.
The ending looked good on the first run! – she doesn’t need to be tighter out of the 11 tunnel because her line set up a nice high speed line to the ending!
On the 2nd run, you had a bit of a domino effect happening: the turn on 10 was wider so you had to wait to bring her back to the tunnel which made the left cue on the tunnel late – her nose was inches from the entry when you said it, so she was wide on exit and missed 12. You were at least 2 strides earlier on the on the ‘fix’ moment and she was perfect.On the last run – it looks like she took the wrong end of the last tunnel – I think it was just a product of you making sure she got the jump after the tunnel, so the threadle cue was late there. Compare it to the first run where you had a verbal before the last jump and a clearer threadle handling.
Course 3:
On the opening, being far away from 2 didn’t help get you to 4 as much because she didn’t see the line to 3 so you had to hesitate at 1:47 and 2:05 to get her back on the line before heading to the blind on the exit. You can play with leading out a lot less by very much on the line towards the wing of 2 and then you can set the line to 3 sooner which allows you to leave sooner for 4.4-5-6-7-8 looked really good! I don’t think you need the spin on the entry of tunnel 6 – it was late on the first rep, so she didn’t really see it 🙂 A verbal is probably all she needs there. It was earlier on the 2nd rep, but I still think she will turn nicely without it 🙂
It looks like she exited 8 straight and didn’t see 9 on that first rep – this is a spot similar to the first course #5 where you want to reach your connection into the tunnel and serp/push her back out before she exits.
Nice ending on the 2nd rep! 9-10-11 is HARD! Great job! You can keep your shoulders open in serp position on 11 to push her to the 12 tunnel as well.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!!
Tracy
Hi there! Very cool to see this!
On the first video – I think you didn’t give him enough time to make a decision on that first rep, but maybe he was not heading to it at all – it was hard to see where you were relative to the jump on that rep. 2nd rep – you were a bit on the landing side, you can be rotated with your right leg nearer the wing on takeoff side and I think it will help him commit! 3rd rep – you were in the slight landing side position but you stepped in to takeoff side with other foot so it helped him commit. The slice rep was gorgeous – well-handled and he read it well! Really nice!
>>. I thought he’d either take the back side of 4 or just bypass it if I did the slice, so chose the wrap the first time I did these. He did it really well IMO.
I agree!! If you are walking a course and think the slice line will be fast but might put him on an off course line – you can handle it as a threadle, in a way – on this one, you did a throw back to a blind – you can delay the blind to make sure he gets into the gap to the correct side, but moving forward while looking over your left side and when you see him coming to the correct side around the wing, then do the blind to your right side.
>> I think he’s turning his head when he turns, but what do you think?
Yes, I think he is! You can do the wing wrappy head turn stuff with him to really solidify it, it is great for your knee LOL!! And also good for indoors in the a/c 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi Mary!
Very cool, thank you for sharing, I have been ‘watching’ the nose target training to get a sense of how it works out long term both in terms of results as well as how it affects shoulders, how different structures of dogs, do it , etc.
A couple of observations (because I am in observation mode on this method, opinions not fully formed by any stretch of the imagination):
On the more successful reps, like starting at :21 and afterwards – she was giving us the head turn. On the weaker ones where she had more speed or didn’t really hit the target – not as much head turn. As you added more distance, she was started to shape her approach to the jump a bit by moving out to the center of the bar (like at 1:44 on the almost rep and 1:52 on the nice rep).
So it will be interesting to see how it develops as you add more speed and also as you fade the target, to see what the dogs are actually learning, how they incorporate their hind ends, how they transfer it to course work, how structure changes things, etc. I think Zing looks lovely on her turns thus far!
And, depending on the dog, what modifications can be made for individual dogs who do not have angulation in the front end. I might mess around with it with Nacho (who is built like a brick with a head haha) and teach my tiny puppy the beginnings of it (she is built like an adult BC in a 9lb body). Definitely will be interesting to see it all develop!And also, it is affirming to see this, to see that we are not the only ones realizing that the older/more traditional techniques can be improved upon 🙂 We need to get the dogs to turn their heads and it is fun to see the different ways of getting it.
Thank you again for sharing it and keep me posted!
TracyHi!
>>I tend to do AKC. Didn’t think of putting a towel over the jump bar!
Or a flat piece of cardboard LOL!
>>I asked Jess if she had separate verbals for backside slice vs backside wrap…she does not. And I do not at this point. She did ask me if I would use a “tight” for one scenario and I said no based on where Benni would be landing and going next…she agreed. So I try to use my verbals when appropriate to get in the habit of it.>>
I only added the backside slice versus backside wrap verbals recently – my big dog is MUCH happier with that now because he gets the notification earlier 🙂 And the youngsters are doing well too. I took a while to add it mainly because it was a lower priority in that I needed to get my act together on the other verbals first 🙂 I know Jess has put on a lot of verbals and super skills – she moves faster than I do so she might not need the additional verbal 🙂 but her dogs are wicked fast, so maybe n the future, who knows 🙂 I am a “More is better” person… as long as it doesn’t get overwhelming – prioritizing is key. For example: I know dogs who have nice backside slice and backside wrap verbals but do not understand go and cannot run a straight line.
>>Good idea to set up a section of the full course. I’ll try that
Cool beans, keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi Barb!
>>First, THANK you for watching out for Enzo’s shoulders and youth. He is SO easy to work with that I tend to just keep blasting along. I will make a note to pull out the zigzag drill about once a week.
Sounds good! I am perhaps too obsessive on protecting shoulders and such, I admit it 🙂
>>Also, it is hard for me to look at him doing that drill and not think “gosh, that looks great”. So, I’m glad to have your more sophisticated eye on it.>>
Well, it DID look great – I have worked this grid with my dogs and students, and it takes a LOT longer for most dogs for it to look as good as it did with Enzo 🙂 It is pretty darned cool that the main thing was that he needs to settle into his rear a little more – usually it is so much harder than he made it look. I think it might really help with his backside slice stuff, I am looking forward to putting it into play!!
>>Next Friday or so, I’ll just repeat at 16 and see if it is getting better/smoother/…>>
Perfect! Post video!!
T
Hi!
>>I thought it might be easier to have a new thread for zigzag work and if others want to join, we can all be together.
Brilliant! Love it! Thanks!
>>The line is not quite straight and the jumps are 10 inches. We worked on adding my motion until we got to a (very) slow run. Then I put the jumps up to 16 inches and went back to being stationary. That went really well; I was thrilled.>>
I agree – he did really well and is REALLY thinking about how to have a clean jumping effort on each jump. Good boy for not touching bars, not touching wings, and also not falling on his head – it is an incredibly difficult grid.
>>Next session: add motion to 16 inches. Do we then go on to full height (20 inches)?
He was having just enough steam-exiting-ears at 16″ that I would hold still at 16 for longer – until he has more control of his hind end. He was doing a bit of ass-higher-than-shoulders on 16 as he made the big effort to jump cleanly. That shifts his weight forward to his shoulders. As practices, you should be able to see more of the weight shift backwards to the hind end – it is hard to see in the moment but when he gets it, he will pick up speed (not that we need speed, but more hind end on this will result in more power which builds speed). So, keep things stationary at 16 for now, maybe show hi a 16″ stationary zig zag once a week. You can warm him up on the grid, though, with the lower bar and motion.
Eventually, at 20″ – I would start with stationary and 2 jumps. We want to protect his shoulders and keep the hind end engaged, so I err on the side of slowly introducing height to this 🙂He is doing impressive work on this!!
T
Hi!
>>Question – do you think it’s worth purchasing a panel jump? I have to order some jump cup strips and possibly another wing jump so I was just wondering if getting a winged panel jump instead of regular wing jump would be worth investing in. I know it presents a different challenge on course work.>>
If you are planning on AKC as your main venue, then sure! The other option is a towel hanging from the jump bar, to create the visual of a panel jump 🙂
>> I got to work backside slice and backside wrap on a sequence with Jessica today. She helped me hash out the German turn (slice) to get me to trust him more and take off…wow, it was amazing.
VERY FUN!!!!! Trust and go go go! Also, hopefully she bugged you about verbals too 🙂 I believe that Jess and Perry have strongly moved into teaching verbals, which is great.
>> He did awesome. His commitment and sends over jumps into tunnels while I leave in the opposite direction was very good too. We owe it all to you! Love it!
I am so happy for you! You did all the homework on it, great job!!
>>And in our pre-novice class, just by chance she had a 5 jump “go” line (grid) and then we practiced turning 90 degrees at jump 3 so I got to practice my turn cue. I didn’t do the rear cross exercise…I haven’t put much time into training RC yet and it was hot so I chose to do just the “go” and then next rep cue a right turn. He read it great.
Perfect. And we will be sure to work RCs here more so you have them – you did some in MaxPup 4 and they were going really well, so I bet you are better at them than you are giving yourself credit for 🙂
>>How lucky that my lessons incorporated my weaknesses from the novice sequences in package one 🙂 I’ll see if I can re-try some of the sequence work with the suggestions you made and maybe the drill for soft turn. I don’t have the room to set up the full course…and I stink at course building anyway!>>
You can also grab sections of the courses and set them, rather than the full courses. Maybe sections with a tunnel and the 4 or 5 jumps before and after. Each course has plenty of challenging options.
>> By the way, he did all jumps at 10″ today. Jess said he didn’t have any problems with it but I think I heard a tick or two…could very well be adjusting not only to the height but the longer distances between obstacles as we know he was sorting out the progressive striding grid. Maybe that is one thing I should set up this weekend as well?>>
Don’t worry about the ticks, he is new-ish to 10″ and the distances were big. Jess was there and she seems to be pretty obsessive. If she wasn’t concerned, then we don’t need to worry 🙂 You can set up part of the courses with a tunnel/jumps and 20 foot distances and see how it goes! You can choose the opening sections of each course, for example. Or the ending lines (last 5 of 6 obstacles)
>>His A frame is looking awesome! We tried it at 5′ 3″ today.
Perfect! So cool to see it coming together!!
Good morning!
>>Ok, what I think about “chase-and-go”…
About 7 or 8 years ago, in CAMP, you told me something similar about my other Malinois, who happens to be Winnie’s momma. So I changed things up and we were all happier! That time it was embracing BLIND CROSSES when they were part of the evil empire (or something!). Seems like a million years away, but obviously there is some consistency with me and my dog family.>>>HA!! I remember those days… I figure that there is nothing in handling that will ‘ruin’ the dogs. So if we try things like crazy crosses or fling-and-run, and it DOESN’T work, then we reward the dog and try something else 🙂
On the video: She really loved the excitement of this session!! You were connected and FUN!
It starts with Skill 2: Both turns looked really good, and they were both very tight (especially the 2nd wrap) and no pinging off the wrong way! The transitions looked good and she set herself up beautifully.
Skill 3: another really tight turn! I think she slowed up because there was a bug in her ear or something, note how she shook her head between 2 and 3. But everything looked very clear in connection and transition for the turns! As you accelerate out of it, you can also call her name urgently so she chases you more to 3 (bug or no bug haha) some dogs really love that urgency.
Skill 4 – also great job on the transitions here! The turn verbals looked good! You had some ‘atta girl’ between the jumps – you can try her name to see if that is more informational. Some dogs like the praise, some prefer the name calling – she will elt you now based on her speed. And yes, you had a quick oopsie where you almost forgot the blind to 4, but you got it in and she was fast and happy to chase you out of it too.
Skill 6: first rep – wraps were good, I think she has a harder time turning to her left, and these were both left turns – so she needed a moment to size the 2nd on up on jump 3 (then a bit of an oopsie for the backside, the cue definitely looked front side :))
2nd rep – wraps were good here too and you also had a great connection getting her to the last backside. It almost looked like you were going to do a forced front cross on the last backside there, so y oucan definitely add that in.
3rd rep at :43, she pinged to the backside – I think maybe there was one extra step of pressure in from you and an earlier turn, but I think mainly she might have been getting fatigued (wrapping is hard) and it was easier to do the backside to the left than set up the front side wrap. You took off the pressure by being further away at :46 and she got the front sides, but not with the same power as the 1st rep here so i will chalk it up to fatigue on the left turns – she wasn’t pushing off her rear as much. The backside is a right turn – total power and speed!Skill 7 – the rotation here was quick and early at :57, but definitely NOT quick and early at :59 and 1:12, and she went to the backside on these, At 1:02 and 1:18 you were far away and she took the front. When I went back to compare to the reps at the beginning, you were pretty far on the dog-on-left wraps at the beginning, so we can work to convince her to let you add being closer to the wings on the right wraps and not ping away 🙂 Run forward increasingly closer to the wings and decel for the wrap but no need to turn too early, and reward her for not pinging away 🙂
The backside slice looked really great at 1:09!
I do think there is an element of fatigue on the pushing away to the backsides when you want the front sides – on the left turn wrap at 1:21, she got it but definitely didn’t have the same power as earlier in the session.
So 2 ideas for that: start with tall bars but then lower them as you repeat stuff, especially wraps.
And, when you get closer and closer to the wings to convince her to let you add a little pressure, start it on low bars so she can look at it and say “oh, that is easy!” and take it. Then we can build the height back up!Great job here! Let me know what you think 🙂 And I love the loud birds!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I’m excited that he has already gained speed and it is only week 2.I totally agree! It allows us to spend the summer maintaining the speed, building the bars back up to full height, adding skills and in general planning to get this speed into the trial environment (things are always different at trials!)
On the videos:
REALLY great job here!! I only have little suggestions for you about a couple of handling ideas and some timing.1st video – LOVELY opening. Great job on the around cue – do the blind instead of the FC to get to 5.
2nd video – GREAT job on the 5-6-7-8-9 section! He sent to the tunnel beautifully (tunnel #6) – for now, send by also keep running towards it, so that when he is exiting, he sees you running hard and not decelerated. He didn’t lose steam on the complex section 9-10-11-12 and you were brilliant to reward him!!
3rd video – at 12 (:05) I think he doesn’t need the spin on that jump – you can try the old fashioned move of “fling and run” haha! The spin asked for collection and he is so precise on his running lines that I bet he gets that line in full on extension to the 13 tunnel. If I am wrong and he picks up the off course jump because he is running so hard… that is actually great news LOL!! I would reward ANY off courses he drives to – because he is driving. He is definitely NOT naughty, so an off course would be legit! We can always use a soft turn cue there (decel, because he reads it so well) but I think fling-and-run would be the first option LOL!
After the tunnel, you can give the around cue sooner and as soon as you see his head turn to the backside, do the blind – you were a stride late at :10 so he had to land and adjust, which bleeds off speed a bit and isn’t as much fun for him. As he gets to the backside, you should be finished with the blind. I think you were trying to serp him in and then blind… but his skills are pretty advanced, so I think you can cue the backside and then when you think he is heading that way, just do the blind, Trust him to take the jump. And, if it turns out he doesn’t understand, we can train it. So far, he seems to understand *everything* 🙂The full course on the last video looked great! So happy with how he is doing!!!! If you play with it again, try the blind after 4 . You did the fling-and-run at 12 and he went a little wide – I think if you adjust your running path to fling to 12 from further away, staying closer to 11, you will be able to run and he will not take the wider path.
I liked keeping him on your right for 14-15-16! You can cue the backside and leave, letting him chase your line even sooner – and not having to worry about the blind rakes out any timing of a side change and puts you far enough ahead to control the line at the exit of the a-frame. NICE!Lovely work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Really nice work on these – hard courses!!!
>>I didn’t feel like Demi was ready for any coursework yet, so we broke things down.
It was a great set of sessions for her. You made it so she had a lot of success while you worked on hard stuff!
>>On the first sequence I was disappointed that I couldn’t get the turn.
Nothing to be disappointed about – it was a Goldilocks situation – too early, too late, just right. You had to sort it out and you kept it fun for her!
>>My FC was super icky,
No it wasn’t LOL! Just a little late for now.
>> I couldn’t get her to take the jump while I did the blind. I will def be working on the “commitment” skill set!
Yes! More commitment games in new places and a verbal jump cue to help her will really make it easier.
>>In the second video, I tried Wilson in the master stuff. I really tried to be conscious of my verbals and their timing.
Mission accomplished, so much good stuff!!!
>> So much for the connection I thought I had! What’s up with that? What am I doing wrong?
I don’t attribute the slipping to a connection issue. He was just struggling with the footing – he might be out of practice with running on turf. Or might have a hard time on turf in general.
Here is more:
Demi, first video – that opening line is super nice – great lead out! The cross to the tunnel is hard one – first rep was a little late (FC, bar down because she tried to adjust in the air), second rep was a little early (sorta, not really – she is just young, so a verbal jump cue will definitely help and more commitment games. Young dogs often lose a little commitment in new places or new situations, so that plays a role here too). 3rd rep lovely!!! Look how she drove through the blind!!When you broke it down to 1 jump to begin the next section, you never really connected on the very first attempt so she didn’t commit. The next attempt at much clearer connection and that set up a really nice line into the next part of the sequence. Lovely job showing her that line and rewarding.
At 1:05, you asked if it was a push or not for jump 6: it depends if you think Demi will have a choice on which side to take. If you think she will exit 4 and most definitely no matter what easily see the side you want without having to move away (she will easily pick it up while turning towards you) then no, it is not a push. If you think she has a choice of which side to take when she lands from 5, or if she would need to push away from you to get it… then yes it is a push. The way this was set up, especially with a low bar where she would naturally land very tight on your cue, it might indeed be a push for her (at 20″ it might be a different story, because she lands in a different spot).
It cracked me up when someone (Christine?) said she was not qualified to answer that LOL!!!!You handled it nicely though!
>>You can hear our “go” discussion relative to the tunnel to the jump. What do you think? Obviously I think it is a go go go, but we are not all in agreement.>>
I agree with Kris – it isn’t a GO to 5 because you don’t want her landing out on the other side of the planet in full on extension 🙂 You want a turn on 5, so a ‘jump’ or left verbal would fit better.
Next section: speaking of the jump verbal, you used it for the jump after the tunnel at 1:35 – perfect spot for it. Great connection and line-showing there!
And great reinforcement for the jump and then after the tunnel on the next rep to build the sequence.Nex line – lovely connection from the tunnel up the next line! You were a little late on the turn cue on the jump before the tunnel the first time through (bar down) and a little early on the turn cue for the wrap jump on the first time (refusal). So yes, be earlier and later haha! But also the customs skills sets have little games for both of these as they are both common oopsies that young dogs make: proofing the jumping and committing anyway when we are early but near a jump.
You nailed it on the second time through there. Just lovely! The future is bright with your teamwork! You are really focusing on connection and timing, excellent priorities. You tend to get quiet when you are that focused on those elements, which is fine – we will add back the verbals more when you aremore comfy running her (it takes a while to get comfortable running baby dogs!)2nd video – hellooooo Wilson!
>> When I reviewed the video, I was discouraged to see how much wilson was slipping and falling.
Yes, he was struggling with the footing so he was running with a more ‘up-and-down’ motion and trying to avoid slipping, which affects timing and connection for sure!
On the opening line: try to push to 2 from further across the bar – at least from the middle of the bar 2 – so as he is going to the backside, you are passing the exit wing and heading to 3. At :06 and :21 you were at the entry wing so as he was approach takeoff for 2, you were still trying to get away from 2 – so he landed looking at the frame (correctly). That made the threadle to the 4 tunnel a little late (bar down at :12, off course at :24). For the off course moment, remember to turn towards him on that threadle and not away, and use your threadle verbal. You had a much better threadle physical cue at :30 (looking at him with fists of fury!) and he nailed it. You did a strong “WIL HERE” at 1:05 and turned away, but I think that makes it iffy – the upper body towards him at :30 was a much clearer cue.
You left sooner on the push to 2 at 1:01, and it set up a nicer line! Trust him more to be able to do that on his own and play with sending to 2 from further away – the goal is that you can leave sooooo early that when he is on takeoff side of 2, you are also on that side of the jump, heading to 3 🙂
Really loved your connection and line on the entire middle section form 4-11!! Nice!!!! Twice!!! As you sent to 11 at 1:21, you turned forward a little too soon and he dropped the bar on 10. That is a really hard sideways jumping effort required for 10, and he liked your connection and finesse on the first time through better.
Nice job getting the wrap on 12 at :48 and 1:24! . If you call him right before he enters 11 (tunnel) he will have an even nicer line there (he was wide on the tunnel exit). You can also play with turning him the other way on 12 (to his left) because it will set up a better line over the bar and to the tunnel.
And the toy throw at the end (:54) is why the bar came down – be patient on those, let him land and then throw the ball (be late LOL!) You were patient and connected on the next rep at 1:28 and it was so lovely!
Course 2:
Nice opening! You had a little extra motion on the push cue at 1:46 to jump 4: your intent to send him from further away was perfect, he just didn’t need the motion into it – you can probably just use your upper body and a more intense connection (the naughty dog glare LOL!) and he will get it. He was so proud of himself, getting the target position there LOL!!! Good boy.
Ah, much more finesse on the next rep at 1:56!!! Nice! And if you freeze the video when he takes off at 1:58 – you are basically done with the blind and in a great spot. Click/treat for you! SO NICE! And it set up a really great line through all of that crazy middle section: I think you did a great job of showing him 5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12!! Great connection sprinkled with verbals.
So far, the bigger dogs are telling us they need more of a turn cue on 12 to head back to the 13 tunnel. So you can use a bit of a soft brake arm and decel (and a little bit of his name) and that should get him landed looking at the tunnel (and keeping the bar up at 12).Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>> First, my stupid computer is doing many weird things.
Tech difficulties drive me crazy! Fingers crossed that your computer gets back into good behavior 🙂
>>On sequence 1, reps 1 and 2, I tried to “release in motion” (running!). I admire this technique and I have seen lots of people (including you) use it with great success. But. It is just not going to make it in to my handling system at this time. Perhaps after E has been showing for a few months and we have a rhythm going, I can try it again. Right now it makes everything too late and to difficult.>>
That is fine, of course! 🙂 You can gently ease it in by releasing while walking. It produces a lot of speed for dog and handler, which indeed is a good news (speed! Yay!) – bad news (speed! eeek!) situation. Plus it changes the mechanics of movement for both of you. It can go on the back burner for now.
>>Not sure about more turning cues at 4 – I guess I was late…
At this ‘learn your dog’ stage, you can play with just how early you can give info and get the turn, without pulling him off and without being so early he loses the info. When we get a bit of wideness, we always try earlier info and see if it helps. If not, changing the choice of cue or adding a dog training layer are on the agenda to.
>> I agree that the wraps on #6 were both very pretty. Hmmmm that is almost (not quite) the turn we’ve been looking at in the head turn section.
Yes – 100% agree on this that we were getting head turns!!!
On to the novice courses.
Course 1:
very nice opening on this! Smooth, connected and fast 1-5. The slicing R on 5 worked nicely!
On t he around at 6 – you can stick a little closer to the wing and decel to start your rotation sooner to tighten up that FC, he was a little wide because you started your rotation as he was already in the air. You can be closer to the wing to start it and then move off the line as you rotate out of it to set the line to the tunnel.You were MUCH clearer on the come-flip cue at 8 – the first time he only saw a shoulder turn. He might drive through it more if you used the outside arm, more like a tandem turn. Same thought for the come-switch at 9-10-11: turning to fae the parallel line a la tandem turn and an outside arm can help him come in to 10 then set the flip away.
2nd run – Another nice opening line! Lovely! I liked your timing of the rotation for the FC 6-7 a lot better, yo uwere rotated before takeoff. He was a little tighter but not much, mainly because of your running line: he jumped directly out to the line you ran (something we tackle in the week 2 package!) So you can try to be right on the outer edge of the wing (not past it), don’t go past it, to start that turn, then rotate through it getting off his line as you rotate away, that will help set it up better.
I liked your handling of the come-flip & come-switch moments on 8 and 10 – more obvious shoulder turns helped him a lot, you can turn even more (especially on 10) for that.
He dropped the last jump there –>> I’m inclined to think it is just carelessness, since he knows the stop after the last bar is the toy.
Agreed! I think he was rushing for the toy, took off a little too soon (really locked onto the toy) and it looks like he hit the bar on the way down. I also say “oh honey!” to my dogs when they do that haha! So that is a great proofing game: drive towarsd a toy, but only give permission to get it if he doesn’t touch the bar. He definitely had a better jumping effort on the re-do!
I like the aggressive strategizing in the next run! He was a little wide over 3, my guess is because you were very fast through the FC? You were on time for sure but there was a sudden explosion of motion 🙂 Definitely keep working on rewarding him turning on that because it set up a nicer line to 5!
Also a you can do a blind on this because you won’t need as much mtion to do it and that can create en even tighter turn.You were further ahead on 4-5 and that is great (definitely faster there!) except it put you way ahead on 6-7, so you set a wider line. Strategize to hug that wing of 6 to set the turn to 7. It is posssible you were also planning ahead for the blind after the tunnel (love that!) but having to take the step to push him back to 7 is what made you one step late for the blind (definitely living on the edge there, and that is great!) You can also play with a tight blind 6-7 because you can keep running forward to the next blind – rotation is slower but it is a matter of if he can see the line.
Last rep – you had less explosion of motion on the FC at 3 (1:41) and he put in a turn stride, producing a lovely AND fast turn!
You did play with the blind 6-7! It worked nicely to help get you up the line. He was a little wide over 6 here too – not because of a FC or a BC choice, but because of the running line. You will want him to jump on the very inside corner of the bar next to the wing closer to the 5 jump, so you will nee to set that line by being right on it, not going past it.
Nice job getting the blind to 8!! You were making sure yo ugot connection so your shoulder turn was a little late so he wasa little wide… but it actually set up a good racing line to 10!I timed the difference on the ending lines (switch versus wrap) and the switch was about 2/10ths faster, coming in from 8.
Course 2: very nice run here!! Little details:
Love the lead out! Makes things easier for sure! You can send and leave 3 a little earlier and that will tighten up the turn to 4. You stayed parallel for him a bit too long there.Based on your position and connection on the 5-6 line, you did not need any sort of come or threadle – he was over 5, looking at 6 so all he needed was the tunnel cue. Great running line and connection set it really well!
He also completely understood the exit of the 6 tunnel to the 7-8 line, so didn’t need as much of a verbal Enzo Come Here Dear (which is so sweet <3) - good to know that he follows the line so nicely!
Great line 7-8-9 and he knew exactly where 10 was, so yo ucan start that cue and rotation even sooner.
And on the entry of the 11 tunnel, you stepped forward and gave him the swoosh noise, so he exited in extension - a step way and right cue or name call will set a prettier ending line.So it was a really lovely run and basically about hashing out what he needs on big lines versus what he doesn't need. A lot of this falls into the "good to know" category to be filed away for future courses.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>> I sort of feel like I am behind on this work, although I’ve been working hard on it. Not sure how it compares to how others are doing.
You are doing an awesome job! You are actually a little ahead 🙂
Run 1 – I liked the way you chose to handle the opening line – she really knew which lines and turns you wanted! The switch worked well and it put you ahead to control the tunnel discrimination and the line after the a-frame.
I think I can see why she turn right on that 11 jump on course 2, based on how you handled 6-7 (the tunnel discrimination) – you gave the verbal cue and pulled away, strongly, then flicked her back. It was a similar physical cue to the pull from 11-12 on the previous course, so she might predict that the strong pulls mean to be prepared to flick back out. Let me know if that makes sense! She did much better on the softer post turn on11-12 on course 2.
On the send to the 7 tunnel, try not to get quite as close to the tunnel entry, it will help you get back up to the 8 backside after it more easily. And for a verbal before the tunnel entry, add in giving the backside cue right before she enters so she comes out moving away rather than towards you.
The 8-9-10 choice is is difficult, in terms of which lines to choose. You chose the S-left on 8-9, but because of her turning ability it would be fun to try to do the S-left on 8, then a circle wrap on 9 so she lands facing 10, or the S-left on 8 and the S-right on 9 (towards the tunnel) to then push her back over 10 – she turns really well so the only way to know which is fastest is to time it from the tunnel exit all the way to 11.
You can decelerate a little earlier (landing of 11) to get a slightly tighter wrap on 12, but otherwise all of those lines are good!
She ended up on the backsie of 16 because as you were moving to position, you pushed in and opened up connection strongly to her, which pinged her off to the backside. It would be fun to try to give her a GO cue before she entered 15 then layer that 9 jump as you drove to 16 (based on how you set it here)Video 2: Another really nice opening! Yes, you were a little late on the cue for the 2nd tunnel but also you said something different – on the first run you had a really strong threadle verbal, and on this run you were quieter with the cue (and a different one, I think) so she didn’t really process it)
Video 3:
Another really nice opening, you really “own” those skills 🙂
You had the strong physical cue again for the 2nd tunnel discrimination, but I think you had a different word this time too (‘come’) – which is your cue for the discrim? I think you were saying “see me” on the others.
Nice middle line on the 7-8-9-10 section!! You were earlier on the cue sfor the wrap at 12 – super nice turn! At :23, before she took off, you were already rotated – but still connected so she committed and turned beautifully.
Watching the last jump here – yes, it is the running line required to get past that 9 jump that is causing her to push out to the backside – you can play with sending her to the backside jump at 14 from further away, so you can use verbals to commit her to the tunnel and layer that 9 jump. That should work! Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
Great job here!Tracy
