[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
He is organizing really well going into first jump on both set ups here, the motion or Oxer don’t seem to make a difference (yay!). I see what you mean about his hind end coming up a little higher than his front. Part of it might be Sheltie coat getting floofy, meaning the movement of his coat (of which he appears to have plenty) on his rump as he jumps. So I tried to NOT watch his top line, but instead watch his back feet – and yes, those back feet are coming a little higher than ribs so that does affirm that his hind end is coming up a bit high. I think he will set himself differently when there is height involved – instead of jumping forward on this easy jumping effort, he will have to set his rear and jump upwards – and that will likely keep the hind end more rounded and not coming up. So… let’s try 8” on that 2nd jump of the Oxer (and on the single) – first Oxer jump can be 6”. he is old enough that I am pretty sure we can work up to elbow height on these pretty quickly to see how he uses his rear. It is going well so we can add a but more power. Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! It looks like I never saw this video, sorry!!!! Not sure how I missed it. He did a great job here though – totally locking on to the jump and add more and more speeeeed on each rep. Nice!!! Tossing the toy and letting him watch it land helps in that is it stimulating but also adds challenge because the pups sometimes try to skip directly to the toy 🙂 He wears a perfect dude, though – excellent wrap commitment and then immediately finding the line to the jump on cue. Yay!!! So the next steps would be to have you start next to to the wing and stay next to it til he is all the way back around (rather than send and leave) so he can learn the joys of leaving you in the dust from even further back 🙂 You started that on the last 2 reps, so now you can ramp it up – be so close to the wing that you can touch it, so he is past you already as he exits the wing 🙂
Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! This is going really well, she is starting to put the bigger pieces together! Fun!!!! Her commitment on the wing wraps looks really strong 🙂 It looks strong enough that you can trust her more and start your tunnel cue sooner – as she came around the wing, she was looking up at you as if saying “what’s next?” So as you are seeing her approach the wing and turn her head – trust her commitment and start your tunnel verbal, so it is going as she exits the wing and she won’t need to look at you.
Maintain your connection like you had it here – it was great! That really helped support her lines. You had nice low hands and great connection, and that was especially useful for her on the exit of the tunnel straight to the wing.
You mentioned sometimes she stops or is not sure – it might be a connection thing? On one of the reps here, she didn’t take the tunnel – it looks like she was not quite fully committed and you took off (looking forward) so she decided to follow you. She is tall enough that she has to scrunch down for the tunnel, so you can wait to see her get low and put her nose in it before heading for the next line. I think a curved tunnel is easier but the straight tunnel here is helpful for her commitment – you can split the difference and curve it a tiny bit for a session and then straighten it back out 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! yes, she is doing well sorting out the verbals and the wheels were definitely turning 🙂 On the tunnel-wing set up, she is going on the verbals but she is being careful. Because she is accurate, we can get a little more speed – I think you can get that by starting with a gentle restraint with your hand on her collar or chest to get her leaning in, then start the verbal – then let go. That will get her to hustle a bit and also challenge her to process the verbal with more excitement (that is the hardest part – “hearing” the verbals when things get exciting :))
And yes, the left cue overriding handler position is important – turn left on the verbal and not just because it is the natural line based on handling. She did really well on the jump at the end – you can a tiny bit of help (a little hand flick) to get it started then it looked like she was able to sort it out on her her own. Nice!!!!
Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! The wing a little closer on the go line definitely helped, that line looked really good! The proximity plus the earlier motion/verbal with you in position smoothed it all out. She is committing nicely on all of the wing wraps and also the turns on the tunnel exits are hoping well. Try to get the tunnel verbals out sooner so you are naming the exit line as part of the commitment cue – she was generally getting the exit just after she was in the tunnel (or closer to the exit) so now the challenge becomes telling her when she is about 5 feet from the exit (I often lay a leash on the ground 5 feet from the tunnel entry as a visual for myself to be sure the cue is on time). The verbal plus physical cue that early will help the exit but also allow you to get up the next line sooner on a bigger course, because you are cuing and leaving sooner 🙂 I think she is ready for it!
T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! I think she is really understanding the form now! This is looking good – nice organization coming into the first jump, a good bounce, and nice head-down rounded form over jump 2. Wiggling the toy on the ground as part of the reward works really well – she kept her form and her focus but the toy was a more interesting reward. Perfect! This can go into ‘maintenance mode’ for now, where you revisit it once a week or so – the form is in place and she is too young for more height. Later in the class, we will will build it into another jumping game.
Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
The backside session is looking good! You gave him a little more challenge on the first part (where he wa on your right side) by being a little further away – you were a little closer to the line and wing when he was on your left, but I think that side is harder for him so a little extra help is good 🙂 You can start working a bit further away (laterally away and moving parallel to him). – as you add that, it does show the front of the bar more so be sure to start moving forward on the parallel line for 3 or 4 steps while he is staying – then say the backside word as release. That Will show the motion to help support the line – if you release and move at the same time, it makes the front side a little more tempting. And, mix in a couple of front sides (on cue, on purpose LOL!) just for balance.

Jumping foundations – he is having an easy time with these! Yay! What distance were you using? It looked good here – he is too young for us to add height but I have other games coming. The only suggestion I have for you on this one is to make sure the toy is on a straight line – as he was coming towards the camera, the toy was a little off to the side so he was zig zagging rather than going straight 🙂 You can also do this with a MM, not because the jumping needs it but because it will be useful for future running dog walk work 🙂

On the wrap proofing – I thought the first half went really well, where he was turning to his left. On those left turns, you can add a little more motion on the tunnel exit back to the wrap to sequence it all together. Now, for whatever reason, he is not as strong on his right side (this is also the case on the backside pushes). So – plan to help more right off the bat when he is on your right (turning to his left). What he seems to find most helpful is motion (a little FC on the wrap and a step to the tunnel). So while you can make the dog-on-right challenges a little harder, start the dog-on-left challenges with handling: do the full FC on the wrap and give him a big step to the tunnel on the tunnel cues (he does best with your dog-side leg stepping, gets it right every time). Then, as the session progresses, you can fade out the motion (rather than add it back in when he questions).

His smiley face games are looking good! Nice job with all the verbals 🙂 Yes, he is still building value for the tunnel but it is better than it was the last time I saw him on this style of set up!!! It looks like he is committing to the tunnel when he is in that last 3rd of the distance in front of it – on the reps where you pushed him that extra step, he got it right. When you turned to leave and he was not really looking at the tunnel yet, he came off (just a few times). So – as you drive to the tunnel, watch his head – don’t leave until he turns his head fully (not just one eyeball :)) to the tunnel then you can go. That is especially important when he in on your left, where he is a little stickier (as we see on other games to). That will balance out but for now the extra step(s) will help.
On the flip side of driving more – you can move the wings in close to the tunnel so the tunnel is right there and then you can drive less – one or two steps to build more independence. Then add distance gradually, with less driving from you. I suggest a little bit of both approaches 🙂
My only other suggestion is to make a stronger eye contact with him as he exits the tunnel and before you cue the wrap – when you go directly to cuing the wrap, the eye contact is not as clear so he is not as sure of which side to be on: so he zigzags behind you for a moment. So to smooth it out, make eye contact and get him on the correct side – then cue the wrap. You can also run in deeper to the tunnel so he gets the clear connection and then gets the chance to drive ahead of you to the wing 🙂

Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Keep me posted on the position on the set point and how he does with the added height – I am sure he will be fine. And if he doesn’t know what the frame is then he was probably not locked onto it, maybe he was just seeing that line from the tunnel exit and going fast 🙂 Moving the wing over to a more direct line can help, or calling him – it will be interesting to see what helps tighten up that line 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
The stays looked really good here so well doe to you with all of the reward to convince him to hold the stays! He looked keen to release but strong in holding it on these reps. It was hard to tell on my screen – where his back feet very tight under his body and his toes pointing forward? Or a little out to the side? I couldn’t tell is that was his coat or he was looser in the sit. If he was tight in the sit – perfect! If not – try to get him to sit nice and tight 🙂 so he can push off as we add more challenge.
The jumping itself is looking good! The 4’6” distance was easy for him, he was organized… it might even be a tiny bit too compressed but we will figure that out on a bit as we go to the bigger challenges. For now, 2 ideas for the next session: an 8” bar and, along with that, moving the cookie bowl further away. The taller the bar, the further away he will land so the more room he will need to drive to the bowl – my guess is the bowl will end up being 12 feet away. His form is looking good so we can add challenge 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
It is possible that the wing has sooooo much value right now that he doesn’t even ‘see’ the tunnel in the proofing game when there is not a lot of motion into it. Smart training move to have the upright in the vicinity but just keep working the tunnel. He had a little trouble with ‘seeing’ a toy when food was around for a little while, so I am confident the value will balance out and he will be fine with both 🙂

The Smiley Face is looking great! I could see him looking off to where the geese must have been (that is a big distraction!) but he was really terrific about staying with you and running hard! His commitment to the tunnel and the wing wraps are looking strong and also balanced. Yay! You can start to decelerate and turn earlier, to get a little more challenge on the wing commitment as you leave sooner and sooner. Great job on your connection!

The wind in your hair game is also looking good! He is getting the idea of driving ahead – the reward target out ahead is helpful because he stopped looking at you… but also challenging because he had a couple of questions about finishing the wrap and getting the jump, rather than driving directly to the reward LOL! But that is part of the challenge of this game and he had a ton of really lovely reps here. Getting him looking ahead was the goal and the ready treat really helped. The next step is to start yourself closer to the wing, so he starts to drive further and further ahead of you to the jump.

Great job on these!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Wow, he was Mr. Perfect on this! Great job!!! He seemed to understand the difference between your tunnel cue and your wrap cue (they are very distinct) and nailed it, even in those mini sequences. I have 2 little training suggestions for you then you can move that wing a little closer to add challenge:
– on the wraps, you can rotate your feet into the front cross sooner, so he can wrap even tighter. He is very literal: when you are facing forward, he goes forward. So, if he sees you rotate, he will set himself up to wrap tighter. Try to start the rotation just before he passes you for the wrap and just before he gets to the wing.
– he seemed to be not that interested in the toy while there was still “work” to be done – and when he was ‘done’ he totally got on the toy 🙂 So, to keep the toy an important part of the game, you can run a bit and get him to chase it a bit after each little sequence. He wants to lock onto the obstacles which is great because it means he is enjoying them and enjoying the game – but keeping the toy value high during the game will help you be able to help him maintain value for your handling and not just the obstacles 🙂

Let me know if that makes sense! Moving the wing a little closer to the tunnel entry will add good challenge here, I think he is ready!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
The wing to jump looks great! The training you’ve already done with him understanding how to get the toy is shining through here, it appeared that he had zero questions about doing the wrap with the toy out ahead past the jump. The wrap looked terrific and his drive to the jump also looked lovely. You can challenge the wing wrap by leaving sooner: on the last couple of reps you were rotating sooner, so keep doing that and then add in running away sooner 🙂

Good job on the set point. He is using his body really well and he is looking at line/toy rather than at you – perfect! He is holding the stay – but he is so keen that he is leaning forward a bit (his head is between the uprights of the jump LOL!!) so two things to consider: moving his start position back about 6 inches or using a stand stay rather than a sit. Moving him back for the sit can work as long as he can still get organized for the first jump (I think he will be able to do that) but you might find the stand stay is really balanced for him and you might end up preferring it!
When that is sorted – you can add a little height to jump 2. He is old enough to see a bit more – 10 inches perhaps? What height was this jump on? And, have you shown him height on other jumps in other games? Let me know and we can play around with it.

Smiley faces are also looking good! He was shooting out long on the tunnel to the far wing, not quite seeing the wing out there – I wonder if he was eyeballing the a-frame? The tunnel exit was pointing there, and if you have done any a-frame work he might have been heading that way? If not and he is just wider that direction, you can add a little name call before the tunnel entry going that direction and that can help. On the far wing when you turned him right to start a rep, he was nice and tight so he was not looking at the a-frame on that line up!
On the wing closer to the tunnel… nice! Perfect commitment and he is turning really nicely! So now you can add in more challenge by rotating sooner and leaving (back to the tunnel) sooner. As he exits the tunnel, connect like you did and use your verbal like you did. Add in a deceleration and then as he is passing you, start to rotate into the FC so he can see your rotation before he reaches the wing. Keep your strong connection throughout and I think it will be fine, but let me know – if he doesn’t commit, you can slow down the motion so he can process it to get it started.
Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

hi! These are also looking great! Yes, these games are designed to get everyone thinking about which verbals and when – the sport is evolving so fast that one of the ways I am trying to keep pace is with more verbals 🙂

She is especially good at her left exits on the tunnel – that is hard for bigger dogs in particular and she had it mastered very quickly. On these left turn exits, your timing of delivering the verbal was really good! You can also show her the handling before she enters, meaning to let her see you turning your shoulders and/or stepping away to the new line. You were moving forward, so she was turning left but then looking at you for more info on the exit. If you also show her the physical cue, she will begin to look forward to the next line (the wing, in this case).
The wraps on the wings looked good, and she is paying attention beautifully to when you want wrap front crosses versus the race track versus that figure 8 you did. The around cue for the wraps is also working well (and then you can add in a left or right cue for the race track/non-wrap moments).
On the Go on the tunnel exits – you can give that cue sooner. As she is looking at the tunnel and definitely heading toward it (her commitment looked good!) you can switch to go go go so she exits straighter: that will make it easier to get that wrap wing after it. When you were ahead of the tunnel exit, your motion totally helped suppler the line to the wing. When you are not as far ahead, you can ramp up the connection and that will help: look at her when she exits, rather than point forward. You will find that going that will point your shoulders to the line you want, which will propel her to it. The other thing you can do to build more independence on the Go line is to bring the wing in closer to the tunnel exit, so when she exits it is basically right there – making it easy to commit to 🙂 So on the GO verbals, she can drive right to it… then you can gradually increase the distance to it.
Great job!!! Let me know if the suggestions make sense 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! I think this whole set up looks good!! She is bouncing it properly – the toy is making a difference 🙂 You can start to get the toy to the ground, maybe 3 feet past where you were on this set up. We will stick with this for a couple of sessions and then we will be building on it 🙂 No rush to do a lot because she is so young, now that you have the form 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! The 2nd rep is what we want 🙂 She will ‘grow’ into the skill, but we can also add 2 things for impulsion:
– what is her favorite toy right now? Flirt pole? She has a great stay, so we can to a more exciting reward target: lead out, let her see you plop the toy down, then release. I have found that food-based reward targets get a more ‘relaxed’ approach from the pups, so we don’t get the bouncing as much, but a toy is stimulating enough that they will bounce 🙂
– and in conjunction with the different reward target, you can try back to 5 feet to see if that is the sweet spot 🙂 It will be clear sailing as soon as we find the sweet spot for distance and reward!
Let me know how it goes 🙂
Tracy

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