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Hi! Yes, the next course has more on tunnel threadles and also more handling ‘sequence’ type of games 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
This is going well! I really liked the early reps with the cookie, they were super connected, patient and really showed her the line! And then the toy changed the game 🙂 The toy play turbo-charged her, and that is great – she showed that she understood the skill with the cookies, so bringing out the toy was perfect to challenge her. When you were connected with your dog-side with your dog-side arm back so she could see your shoulders/face: lovely! Really really nice! She barked a bit at 1:29, I think it might have been a combination of excitement and also maybe you were blocking the line to the barrels. But she kept working! It is possible she will bark while she works, and that is fine 🙂
She jumped up on you a little at 1:57. Watch that section in slow motion – you were connected as she came around the barrel, then your turned your shoulder forward which blocked her view of the connection (even though you were looking at her, she couldn’t see it :)) So she “tagged” you on your back a little. That is a behavior I have seen a lot in full-sized Aussies so it makes sense we might see it in MAS too: jumping on the momma’s back when there is a disconnection. Now compare it to 2:13 – your dog-side arm was back so she was able to see the connection and she went to the wing, with no barking and no tagging you 🙂 And then compare it to 2:15, where you rolled your shoulder a bit forward like a 1:57 and she barked at you. So – for now, it seems that having your dog side arm back and down (fingers pointing down to her toes) will help keep the connection open. As she gets more experienced, it won’t be as important but it is pretty normal for puppies to need lots of connection.
Let me know if that makes sense! Great job here!!!
TracyGood morning!
>>I really want our engagement strong before we enter the ring.
This is a great priority – engagement is the most important piece of the puzzle, everything else comes later.
>>Question regarding jumping heights- he’s now 2 years old and will jump 20 for AKC. I rarely have him jump 20 because we’re still learning skills and I don’t want to make it too hard and I also want to preserve the impact on his body. Is there a time or age when you start jumping full height or do you rotate between lower bars and full height depending on the training season- ex. Prepping for a trial versus skill work?>>
I agree about preserving their bodies! There is no need to jump full height until there are trials on the horizon – then you start training it.
Also for the last 6 years, I *always* enter my young dogs at a lower jump height in their early trials because they have SO much to process that I want them to not have to think about bars. So y 20″ jumping dogs enter at 16″, and my 16″ jumping dogs enter at 12″. We can make the jumping effort easy for them while they learn the environment!
Plus, because I don’t really care about titles or moving up with a young dog but I am also a bit competitive LOL – entering them at the lower height where the Q doesn’t matter helps me be a better partner and trainer because I really don’t care about any Qs or titles or wins at the lower height, if that makes sense.
So when trials are on the horizon, I do several things to begin working on jumping skills. I am tinkering with this with my pup who is turning 16 months old soon:
first, assuming I have taught ALL of the young dog fundation body awareness AND my dog is pretty fit, I get a full work up from a rehab veterinarian. This includes a structure analysis, fitness analysis, etc. Some folks also do xrays to make sure growth plates are closed, but I probably won’t with Contraband because he really won’t do high impact stuff til he is 18 months or older, and his growth plates will be closed by then (based on his parents). Growth plates are not the only thing – soft tissue development and balanced fitness are also extremely important! When my rehab vet gives me clearance, I can start harder stuff.
Second, I revisit all of the baby dog jump grids (set point, balance grid, accordion grid, etc) and add height to the set point and to the accordion/striding grids. I might do this once a week.
Third, in sequencing – anything “easy” and well-understood will begin to see some height. For example, Contraband is at least 21″ tall and 15.5 months old. Earlier this week, I took a simple jump – tunnel – jump set up and showed him more height with 2 skills that I think he does well – extension and wrapping. I set him up at the exit of the tunnel, did a lead out, and showed him the extension line to the jump at 14 inchs, then 16 inches, then 18 inches. Then I did it from the tunnel so there was more motion. And then I repeated the process with the wrap (from the stay then through the tunnel). Then did little sequences at 16 and 18 inches. I will probably do something similar in a week or so.With any new skills or skills that I think are not well-learned yet, I start at 8 inches, get the skill looking good, then work up the height.
In terms of timeline, the current plan is to keep working on the training, and maybe enter him in some UKI trials to be able to train in the ring at 16″ over the summer. Maybe “real” trials in the fall at full height? Or not 🙂 The dog will guide me!
On the video:
First rep was good! You can try it without the cross arm if you want? And maybe a shade too far from the jumps but when you are ahead like that, he can still read it. But great connection and running line!Second rep – at :24, he is landing from jump 1 and you are about 6 feet from the line. Then when he landed you used the lft arm (dog side arm) to try to get him to jump 2, which turns your shoulders away from the line so he went to the tunnel.
Compare it to the middle rep at :39 – note the great connection when he landed from 1 and motion along the line, getting a little closer – great!!>> the one middle rep he was determined to go into the tunnel so I’m not sure if I accidentally cued that or if it was a baby dog moment.>>
It was a handling moment, not a baby dog moment 🙂
Great connection out of the tunnel at :43!
He had a little too much giddy up at :47 and missed the jump, so you can slow down the motion and turn your shoulders soonerLast rep – more great connection out of the tunnel at 1:01 and nice shoulder turn to the last jump!
>> I switched over the weekend using different reinforcers- manners minder, toys and food. The first rep here I used the manners minder. >>
I don’t think he was targeting a specific reinforcer, I think he was reading handling. That is actually GREAT because that means he is paying attention and we like that!
yes, some young dog stuff happening – I think that serpentines are really hard for young Border Collies because they have to override their flanking instinct abd drive in directly to handling. Working the one jump to help him come in on the serp jump is something that can be a great warm up to the bigger sequences! And also, being closer to the jump will help him learn the serpentine skills – I like to be generally about an arm’s length away so the dog learns to jump in close.
And also the connection was a huge help to him! On the reps that were successful on the serps, you were super connected – that is KEY! Great job!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
This was a really fun session – being in that high energy environment and doing high energy things, with all sorts of rewards – he was pumped up! Yeah!!!! Pumped up enough to not overthink the teeter, but also he never lost his head or got too wild. Perfect! I only have 2 little suggestions for you on a slightly different approach to the first rep of each game:
with the teeter between the tables, he likes doing downhill better than uphill (for whatever reason, doesn’t matter why but it is good to know!) So for the first rep of that game – have him get on the high end and run down the teeter (rather than get on the low end and run up) – you did do the downhill later in the session but I think starting with it first will be even more fun because he prefers it. But make sure that the top doesn’t move when he gets on it, only the bottom moves.
And with the bang game – you can have the first rep lower and then raise it for each rep (on each side). When he was on your right, it was a little high and he started to think. And in the famous words of Yoda: “No think, only do.” LOL!He seems to be doing pretty well with his 2o2o on a lot of the reps there – how is he doing with it on a regular plank, separately from the teeter? If he is loving it and doing well, we can add in a target to the bang game. Let me know what you think!
Great job here. Stay warm!Tracy
Hi! The serps looked great here! Only 2 reps, right? I want to make sure I didn’t miss anything 🙂 He seems to have sorted out all of the back and forth with nice, rhythmic jumping. Yay! You can start to raise bars on these (along with bars coming up on the other skills too).
I think that is a good update about the dogs he interacts with and also about developing the end of run routine. All of those good skills will come together as he begins to get out in to the ring more and more 🙂T
Hi!
Power is back! Time to get things done before the next ice storm when we are forecast to lose power again. CRAZY times!
All sorts of good stuff on these videos 🙂 Bearing in mind that the decels and sends are pure training exercises, he was great with his commitment and turns! The send to jump 2 on the first rep was a brain scrambler but he got it! Yay! He had to think hard about which way to turn AND to commit with you hanging waaaaay back – good boy, he nailed it. Normally we would handle ‘for real’ and go in a little more but that level of commitment understanding is going to serve you well in the future! And the decel on the 1st jump was easy, he nailed it on the 2nd rep. And he also nailed the decel on the 2nd jump on rep 3. He seems to be landing ready to power out of the turn AND he seems to love love love when you give a little cheer as you take off the new direction.On the backside slice reps – he did really well pushing away to the backside wing on both! You looked to be around center of the bar for the send which set you up nicely for the next line. Yep, he didn’t remember to come in on the first rep but I think that is just because we haven’t really be focusing on that. You left with less speed on the next rep and he was fine 🙂 You can add backside slices into the rotation here and there to help maintain the skill 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! Do you mean 7:20? That is where I was sending Contraband from the tunnel to the jump. I was using an arm and leg cue (a one-step forward send) to indicate that he should leave me to take the jump (and a wrap verbal). You can see the army & leg move on those when I connect to him on the exit of the tunnel. Without the arm/leg send, you are correct – he should NOT go. But he had the arm and leg send, so he was right to go to the jump. And the verbal should be used too – this was a wrap, so I was using wrap verbals, but the should be whatever fits the line you want. Let me know if that makes sense, or if it was a different part of the video you were talking about.
Tracy
Hi! These are looking really good! The mechanics are very comfortable for you on these, I think the hardest part was that she was getting ahead of you as you mentioned – feel free to toss the cookie away to get a head start like you did on a couple of reps, or you can use the stay! Your stay looked really good on the lap turn video so you can use the stay here too to get ahead.
Your attention hand was super clear for most reps – when it was smooth and lovely, you were using the dog side hand as the attention hand then the opposite arm was coming across to help with the turn – those were nice! Towards then end, she was jumping up a bit – one those, you were using the opposite arm as the attention hand, which made it hard to turn her so she was confused. So definitely keep going with the dog side arm as the attention hand then the opposite arm as the turn hand.
Great job!
TracyHi! This is going well! All of the reps at the beginning when your left hand was the MCH looked really good – nice and patient with your timing, good use of arm and leg, and she turned really well. When you switched sides at :37 – I think you were doing it well but she is not turning as well to her left at the moment… so you need to slow it down so she can follow the hand to turn away.
And then things went a little crazy LOL When the other hand got involved with the throwing as you mentioned, you lost the mechanics for a few reps and when you reset it – you stopped using your leg to step back and set the turn. That is why it felt weird – that step back with the leg is really helpful. So remember that when she arrives at the MCH – to step back with your leg, lead her back with the hand, and then turn. And after the turn, you can throw with whichever hand is easier 🙂This is off to a good start, all you need is that big step back with the leg 🙂
TracyHi! Usually jumping up and nipping are arousal/frustration behaviors that happen when there is a combination of not enough rewards, too much motion, and not enough connection. When there is a little bit of frustration, more speed and lack of connection – we get jumping up and tooth hugs 🙂 So we settle the pup down by slowly down and emphasizing connection a LOT plus rewarding a lot. That almost always solves it!
T
Hi Jill! It worked! Yay! He looked really good here – he is shorter than I thought he would be now that we can see him in a wider frame! (Also I am jealous of your warm weather LOL!!!)
Yes, he was a little distracted here but it is still good to work him outdoors – there must have been something really good and stinky near the white barrel, that was the tempting spot. The only other moment of distraction was the leash. But overall, he showed us *fabulous* commitment and speed, especially in a new place! Yay! great job with your connection – you were really working it and that helped him a lot. You can play with turning sooner on the crosses to add challenge to his commitment, he is ready for that.
The other thing you can do is reward very frequently on the first couple of reps: that can help get his thoughts more on you and not on the distractions.Great job here!!! He is doing well!!
TracyAwesome!!! yes, you can totally start from wicked angles – for example, sending to the backside circle wrap from all the way across the other side of the jump adds a double distraction: the tunnel AND the jump bar of the front side of the bar. You can totally make the game as crazy as possible as long as the success rate stay high 🙂
Have fun!
TracySmall and fast – I love that! If you are going to be behind, then yes to the directionals. If you are blind and just use a name call, it might not be enough info.
One other thing I forgot to mention – I do have a general “jump” cue while is for that in-between collection – it means take the jump on a slight turn (not straight, not 90 degree) and then I can say it again to mean “take the next one on your line too”
That might be a helpful addition!
Tracy
Hi!
Adding the toy was great here, it was a good challenge to see if she could still commit while she was more excited (her answer: YES! Good girl!) And tugging before starting totally get her to wait for you and not start without you LOL!
She did really well! She was DEFINITELY more excited because there was growling on the toy and barking while she runs. I don’t mind the barking as long as she continued to work. And she did! If she started barking and then her head exploded and she barked at you or jumped up at you, we can settle her down.>>. I didn’t know what the race track was. But I think I figured it out. Just go around the outside?>>
Yes, just around the outside, like a speed circle. She was great! It adds a lot of speeeeeeed 🙂 She had little questions when you pointed forward on those, while she was still behind you – so if you feel her touch your hand, that means you were disconnected. So make sure you keep connected while she is behind you, even as the arm moves forward.
As with the previous video… you can spread these out when you are at Bonnie’s plus you can put wings in too.
Great job!
Tracy
