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Hi! Both hands? hahaha just kidding!
If it is the exit of a cross or a serpentine, try to use the arm across the body. If it is a regular line, you reward with dog-side arm as long as you stay connected back to the dog 🙂Tracy
Hi! I think you are doing well here!
On the landing side BC at 3, there are a couple of challenges: getting there, starting on time, and getting the new connection… all at the speed of light because she is relentless (which is a VERY VERY good thing LOL!!!!). Looking at the first section (pink jacket reps :)):
Only 2 tweaks, really:
leave the tunnel sooner, turning your feet towards 4 rather than doing a full post turn to face the tunnel. This will help so you can get to the 3 sooner, and start the blind sooner so you can reconnect sooner). As soon as she is heading towards the tunnel, get outta there (keep yelling tunnel and watching her, but your feet can turn and leave. We saw her do it when we worked just the tunnel in MaxPup 3, so I am confident she will stay committed here too.
On the bigger lines to the FC or BC, trust her more to take 5 so you can start your FC and BC sooner. You were tending to wait til she was between the uprights so she was a little wide on those.
On the 2nd session here (pink t-shirt session) – you are rocking it! Note how you are leaving the tunnel sooner – at 1:03, you did exactly what I suggested above about turning your feet away and leaving, so you got the blind sooner. You did’t do it on all the reps her, but you nailed it there! It didn’t look totally comfy yet but it will be with practice 🙂You are also doing the BCs and FCs sooner – at :58 and 1:22 you were earlier on the crosses 5-6 and she committed and turned nicely! So I think this sequence is a matter of really testing her commitment because things need to happen soooo quickly. You might have a tiny bit more time when she is jumping bars, but not a lot more time. And she is relentlessly driving each line as fast as she can, which is just *amazing*!!!!!
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
On this one, getting away from the tunnel is even more critical, as you found out 🙂 You were doing a full post turn while she was tunneling, and I think that delayed you from getting all the way up the line. You can do a rotation on the tunnel entry: send her in and then turn your feet to the new direction (rather than towards the tunnel) – you’ll get up the next line a lot sooner and that should make everything easier 🙂
On the first rep, start the BC as soon as she exits the tunnel and then exaggerate the exit line connection (dog-side arm back, arm across the body with the reward) so she sees your eyes before she takes off. The timing was a little late but not the reason she didn’t pick up the side change, it was that she didn’t see the new connection. Better timing and connection on the 2nd rep really helped! The more she can see your eyes on the exit of crosses, the faster she picks up the new side.
On the other side, at :26, the same thing happened as on the first rep – not enough connection after the blind so she didn’t see the new side. You got it on the next rep, yay! Really nice. At :37 you closed your shoulder forward which broke connection, so she came off the line. The more you can practice the arm-back running and look for her eyes, the easier it will get. LOVED Your connection at :44! That was perfect!!!!! And then maintain it for the rest of the line for a super smooth ending.Onwards to video 3 🙂
THi!
Whoa, I am excited for you, she is SO FAST already!!! I also love how she is finding her lines! and turning!!!! On the sequences here – try to send her to the tunnel from further away and get up the line as fast as you can (while maintaining connection back to her). She was so fast that you were late starting your crosses. If you can be 2 steps further ahead by leaving for the next line before she gets into the tunnel, you will be further ahead in time to start the crosses.
On the FCs, you were still trying to get past the FC when she landed from the previous jump, so you ended up being a little late. You left earlier from the tunnel sen on the 2nd FC rep here and you were ahead enough to start the FC sooner (:18) so you were just about done with it before she took off – this is pretty close to perfect, so try to be just one more step further ahead and you’ll have it! On the exit of the FCs, be sure to look right back at her. You were looking ahead, so she was drifintg wide trying to find the next line. For example, watch the section :18-:19-:20 – she is chasing your line but you were looking forward, so she went wide.
On the BCs – on the first rep, she needed a bit more connection throughouth – you were probably not yet comfortable handling the sequence at her speed (totally understandable) so you were looking ahead – and you can see her look at you after the tunnel at :26, then she hits the wing of the jump before the last tunnel (and looked at you again a little there too). You had more connection on the next reps and her lines were sweeter, she didn’t look at you. YAY! Keep trying to get your dog-side arm back to make even more connection with her on the exits of the blind – it was down by your side and that blocks her connection a bit. Both BC sequences looked really strong!
Onwards to the next clip below 🙂
Hi there!
Another fast and fun session with Mr. Spot!! The bigger distances were terrific, he got to really open up without losing his accuracy. And he was tugging on the toy like a shark grabbing chum! Yay!1st rep – nice opening! You got to the first BC nice and early- smart to wait for him because there was no place to go 🙂 He drove his lines nicelyl!
The FC can possibly be maybe 1 step earlier, but I thought the turn was nice (you were *almost* done with it when he was jumping, and connected!) He definitely needs the arm-back connection on the exit – even the arm across the body – to help him pick up the jump after the FC. No bark on this one 🙂2nd rep – you got a bark after the BC at :43 – he was more excited and you were a little in the way. And another one at :45 (FC) – you were definitely late there, still facing him when he landed and then there was a delay in showing the next line. You can see he was more over the center of the bar on that one than on the previous rep (:25).
3rd rep – nice BC! No complaints form him 🙂 And also the FC at 1:15 was really nice (no complaints from him about the FC :)) His complaint was at 1:16, after the FC, when you were stalled out a bit and looking at him… I think you had time to switch the toy and talk to him, but not in an informational way (it was something like “come here” or ‘good boy’ and he was all like “dude, I am obviously headed your way” LOL!!!) So after the FC – get the connection but drive out to the tunnel and tell him to jump. I think the arm-across-the-body for exit line connection as you drive away will make the most difference.
4th rep – same thoughts about his opinion at 1:38: you were praising and calling him, when I think he would prefer that you run the next direction and tell him what to do.
So, looking back to the first rep – just add in more connection and a jump cue, and I think he will be happiest. He prefers to not have you praise on course, because it delays directional/obstacle info. And when you are working him like this (on fire!) then you don’t need to praise to help him stay engaged! Cool!!!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I think all of these went better! The timing was either REALLY great or pretty good 🙂 It is hard to get timing with baby dogs because we don’t know exactly what they are going to do LOL!
2 general suggestions to try on these:
as you are doing the FCs or BCs, try to behind more towards 3 and less past 2, if that makes sense? Your running line was a bit of 90 degree angle before you headed to 3, and that was part of what caused him to jump a little wide and not always pick up the new side. Think of it as a send and turn, heading more towards 3 on a sharper angle.when you reward, keep running – you were stopping and throwing and that might dilute deceleration in the future.
Front Crosses:
You can be even faster with the FCs if you htink of them as dropping the dog-side shoulder back to get outta there, rather than bringing your new arm up to start the turn. That will make you one step quicker, which will be very useful 🙂
1st rep – This one was a little late (you were not quite finished as he was jumping) because you didn’t quite lead out enough and he caught up very quickly 🙂 He didn’t read the side change because you were trying to connect with the dog-side arm. He will make quicker adjustments with the arm across the body connection 🙂
2nd rep –
Being further ahead on the release really helped the timing and connection on the 2nd rep! It was great! I really liked this timing, so did he. And it gave you more time to emphasize the connection when he landed.3rd rep was good but not as good as the 2nd rep 🙂 And the last rep was similar to the first rep in timing (a little late) but your connection was much better! So the 2nd rep is the one to repeat – at :13, as he was landing from 1, you were ahead near 2 and already starting the FC so it was done before he took off at :14. Yay!!!!
Blind crosses:
1st rep was a tiny bit late but also emphasize that cross-body connection. If you emphasize that style of connection, timing becomes less important. The 2nd and 3rd reps were better with the timing and connection! You can continue to challenge him to see if he can commit if you start the cues when he lands from jump 1, like you did on rep 2 of the FCs (I loved that one!). When he lands, tell him to jump and start the blind – trusting his commitment 🙂 He is doing really well!>>On a positive note when Chapter was a puppy he would shut down at failure or confusion. I worked really hard on building his stamina to work and I was very proud how he hung in there despite my unclear cues!>>
Yay! This is awesome! He was definitely engaged. And you did a great job of making him feel successful: super fun and lots of rewards 🙂 Lovely work!
Tracy
Hi!
Looking at the skills separately:
The “GO” after the tunnel looks good, just reemmber to say the GO before he goes into it.
On the right and left out of the tunnel: the timing of your verbals and rotation was good! But it was a new skill for him, so he didn’t always turn tight and on the lefts, he took an extra jump 🙂 So let’s isolate the skill for now: rather than having a jump straight out ahead (it is too much of a distraction for now), just have a jump after the turn exit. And, rotate your feet and do the verbal before he goes in, but don’t run too far away yet: let him get his nose out of the exit, then you can turn and run, showing the toy.
The left was much harder for him (not sure why, but it was 🙂 ) and at :53 you stayed there and to get his focus at the exit and help with the turn. Yes! Taking away the distraction jump will help for now, but staying there also helps – but then use the running rewards rather than a dropped toy. You’ll get a better turn and more speed it the reward is moving and not stopping him. He will ‘hurry’ more to the chase than he will to the dropped toy. You did this more at 1:00 and it was great! He will be happy to see lots of reps of this to help him get the turning skills on the tunnel exit.
Because this skill is pretty new to him, I suggest you do a couple of sessions on just the tunnel before adding the turn jump back in – then do a session or two of that before adding the stright/distraction jump back in.
On the big BC up the line: at :29, you can be moving more laterally to the jump after the blind (rather than completely straight) because your lateral motion will help give him a really early turn cue. Timing and conneciton on that one looked good!!! Add in the running rewards though – you stopped, tried to throw the toy and ended up knocking over the wing haha! Keep running through that last jump and reward with him chasing you for it. The next rep (also the rep at 1:24) had a better reward but you can still add in the running rewards. He is reading the blinds REALLY nicely and powering up the line!
On the FC wraps – try not to get too far ahead. Go deeper into the tunnel before running up the line, because you were so far ahead you had a reversed transition: slow then fast then turn (because you were so far ahead, you had to wait for him). Try to show him a more distinct fast-slow-turn transition for two reasons:
first, he will get an even better collection (he did really well here but I think it can be even prettier!)
second – it will produce better footwork for you. By moving then turning without the clear deceleration element of the transition, your momentum pulled you out away from the exit line (back to the next jump). At 1:30, 1:36, 1:42 and 1:49 you can see it – and he looks up a little and comes out of the wrap a little wide (based on your motion). If you decelerate before you turn, you will be able to turn very literally on his mouse line (the path you want, back to the next jump) and get a really gorgeous turn. And then do the running rewards to make it perfect 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! The internet ate my first reply, so I will try again 🙂
>>It very similar to our plan here. a) Start off with him tugging/playing with me from car to start, b) start off with a step and then tug c) keep increasing amount of time from car to tugging…. all before he starts grabbing stuff.>>
Yes but also add in talking to him (having verbal cues that can get focus instantly are VERY helpful – I use “ready” for my dogs, for example) and tricks (both with and without primary reinforcement). That way it is not an all or nothing (tug or no tug) but more of a toolbox of things. Also, ping pong the duration because the toy comes out – sometimes short, sometimes longer, so it isn’t always getting more difficult. And yes, all before he grabs stuff – SUPER short sessions. Also, you can leave him in a stay and do a recall to where you want to start, to help build in the fast & fun element (recalls are naturally exciting!)
>>Do you think there is something I could condition him to grab instead of just stuff.
Yes – training alternate, incompatible behaviors are tried & true behavior modification exercises. Ideally the alternate behavior is “cheap” meaning easy and fun to train and execute, and also ideally it is incompatible with the undesired behavior – meaning, it is not similar and the dog cannot do both. For example, a classic incompatible behavior is teaching a dog to sit on a dog bed when someone enters a room, to eliminate jumping on people.
>>Could I train Skye to come grab a cord on my bait bag instead of dirt and rocks? Of course, this wouldn’t work for in the agility ring . .. He needs a mouth occupier, maybe having a cord/fire hose thing from his harness or end of his leash to grab. Or, maybe a leash that he can tug on. He could just turn and grab the leash instead of stuff off the ground.>>
I am all for tugging on a leash as it is a great way to bring reinforcement into the agility ring… it is “cheap” but it is not incompatible because grabbing is grabbing… it is similar. Anything you teach him to grab “instead” becomes a discrimination exercise and you will have to tell him he is correct or not based on what to grab. That can be stressful. And what if he grabs the leash AND mulch? So the leash can be used as a toy, but I don’t think it is a good incompatible behavior. I prefer things like barking (cheap and incompatible) or getting on a raised dog cot or platform – both of which are useful for agility and are not a discrimination, if that makes sense.
On the tunnel exits:
He ran by the jump on the first rep – it was a disconnection moment. Don’t point at the jump, make a very direct eye contact to him as he exits the tunnel. You were looking forward and pulling out the toy, so he came into you. You were much more connected on the 2nd go rep here and he took the jump! Yay! He wasn’t entirely convinced but your connection really helped.
The first turn looked really good! You had your feet turned long before he went in and he was able to read that turn really nicely! he wasn’t as speedy driving out on the 2nd turn but I think it was more because you changed your handling in the middle of it so he hesitated a little bit.
Nice connection to get him to take the jump at 1:35! The bar was high and the toy throw happened while he was jumping, so the bar came down. None of that is a big deal… but then watch what happens when he landed. He slid trying to grab the toy, turned, looked at you, slowed down. picked up the toy… dropped it and started eating mulch. There was a 7 second time span between his landing and your engagement, during which you had turned your back to reset the bar – my guess is that he perceived this as a negative punishment and that caused stress and that caused mulch eating. So – a common handler error is to throw the toy but not engage and instead turn away to the jump. Even though there was a toy presentation, the engagement was withdrawn so it become a bit of textbook negative punishment which increases stress.
Simple fix – always stay engaged, never turn your back on him, always play play play be happy. Then you can put him in a crate to go fix a bar, or on a platform, or in a sit stay for more rewards.When you did re-engage him with food after that, get the food moving – tricks for moving treats, like the treat was a tug toy (he likes that!) That will bring him back to focus faster. He did do the last rep, but then I think he left? The video was over 3 minutes by that point, which is pretty long – plus he was not fully “back” yet from the stress. You can also make the toy throws more engaging by throwing then continuing to run and have a big party, or even having him chase you for the running rewards! I really love to have the dogs keep running after the jump, it is such a fun way to continue to pump up the excitement.
So on the next session, try a super short one-hit wonder session, then a break, and all rewards are super high engagement. You can do several sessions spread out over 10 minutes but you won’t want to do 3 minutes in a row yet.
Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
The backchaining on the 5 jump grid is going well! He was fine on 3 jumps, not as certain on 4 (he wasn’t sure about the release) and definitely not as sure on all 5 (changed his style on 4 and 5). No worries, it is just a matter of experience – so I suggest doing this exact same session in about a week. Start with the backchaining and then work your way back to jump 1 as you did here. He is doing really well so the minor adjustments he is making are perfectly fine 🙂 We don’t need to do the grid til it is perfect – he is more balanced now so it can go into the maintenance rotation to help keep him balanced as he does more sequencing.Bending looks good!!! He seemed slightly better turning to his right but it might have been the camera angle or the angle of entry to the grid. But no really big noticeable difference and definitely no struggles. I suggest revisiting this in 2 ways:
same session as here, but with a 4 foot distance to see if he can bounce it now (I bet he can!)
And, at the 3.5 distance, add in the wing before it for a bit more speed coming inTunnel exits – he did well when you turned your feet and dragged the toy! I played the clips in slow motion and he was most definitely turning on the tunnel exit when he saw your feet turn (:26 & :37, for example on the first video and :34 and :43 and :50 for example on the 2nd video). His turns were fast and accurate on those. No need for the turns to be tighter on that particular line. In the moment, they might have flet wider maybe because he was banking the outside of the tunnel 🙂 But that is fine, it is a fast way to do it 🙂
You won’t need to stay there and plant the toy, because it doesn’t get your feet turned before he enters and that is a critical piece. On the first video at :45 and :52 , you got the toy planted but didn’t get your feet turned as erly so he didn’t turn as well. On the 2nd video at 1:16, your foot rotation and vebal didn’t start until after he was in the tunnel, so he was wider on exit and you didn’t reward… I recommend rewarding that because he wasn’t ignoring you 🙂 Any time a dog turns wide, I just assume it was late information and I reward them – then I look at the video to figure out how I was late 🙂 On the next 2 reps you for the toy in his face but it is really more about letting him see the rotation and hear the verbal before he goes in.
Nice work here! Hope your wrist continues to feel better!!
Tracy
Hi!
Yes, you can use the cue combo FC/BC (spin/ketchsker/Jaakko/ass pass :)) there – the FC would give you a side change and the cue combo would get the tight turn and allow you to continue on the same side you started on (right side on this case, or left side in the mirror image).T
Good morning Jill and Watson!
I hope your rains aren’t too bad, we just finished up 4 days of rain and it was horrible!!!
The straight line grids are going well! His stay looks really good, that is SO important!!!
He is powering in, getting a tiny bit off balance (not too much) then regaining his balance by shifting back on the last 2 intervals. He got better on each rep, so I don’t have any changes to suggestion in terms of your motion, he just needs to see it again maybe once a week. The only suggestion is to make sure he is close enough to the first bar that he has to push off out of his sit over the first jump, rather than have room to tap his front feet down on the takeoff side of the first jump. That will help him figure out how to be more organized as he comes into the grid. He dropped the first bar at :07 because he couldn’t quite get organized AND go fast LOL! He will sort it out with practice – nothing to worry about at all.The bending looks really solid!! My only tweak now is to keep him bending on jump 3, so keep turning back to jump 1 to reward (rather than rewarding straight). He is ready to see the more difficult angle of entry and also the wing wrap before it. Great job!!!!
Tracy
I do a lot of ‘freeze frame’ on the moment when the dog’s nose enters the tunnel, to see the very last thing he saw before entering. As we are working to strengthen the verbal cues, we can use a lot of physical cues that they read easily 🙂
Good morning!
>>. I can’t get much done very quickly this way, but it’s making me learn to get it right on the first rep which is a bonus
You’ll actually get more accomplished – more efficient training, higher rates of success – fewer reps needed. YAY! You don’t need to do a million reps of these – you can do a couple then move on.
The first rep here looked really good. He was on fire 🙂 Nice send for jump 3 so you easily got the blind in the right spot at the right time. I think you were surprised at how well he read it!
When you sent him back through that middle section, he just needed more connection at :32 for the blind. Your dog-side arm was at your side and low, but it needs to be back and out of the way so he can see the connection to make the side change. Keep emphasizing the arm-across-the-body to help with that connection.3rd rep – also very nice! I was going to suggest that you do the blind sooner based on your position, he can see you already being done with it when he exits the tunnel (because your position was very clear). But I don’t need to suggest it because that is exactly what you did on the 4th rep! Yay! On both of these – he did a great job driving his line on the jumps and tunnel, and you were super connected! My only tweak is to keep getting your dog-side arm back on the re-connection after the blinds, so you can make that immediate strong eye contact.
It looks like his tugging and engagement were spot on (no pun intended :)) throughout the session! Your handling doesn’t have to be perfect the first time, your handling was really strong here and you created a successful, high value, speedy session. Perfect! You’ll find that these types of sessions build skills better than more frequent sessions. Great job!
Now… spread out the distances for the next session to see what happens when there is more distance and more speed 🙂 Have fun!
Tracy
Hi!
He is reading the 1 and 2 jump exercises really nicely! He is responding to the turn cues of both the FCs and BCs the very instant he sees them, and that is great! 2 things on the 1 and 2 jumps:
– try not to go between the uprights of the turn jump, stay parallel to it or laterally away. Staying away form between the uprights will help get the turn and show him the next line.
– turn sooner 🙂 On the 1 and 2 jumps, the easiest thing to do is have him hold his stay about 15 feet from the first jump, so you can lead out and then release – and then turn almost immediately. On most of these reps, he was very close to the jump so you were going to be late no matter what you did LOL!!On the 3 jump games – setting him up firther back will help too but also being more laterally away will really help!
For timing – try to send him to the middle jump then he lands from jump 1 and do the turn immediately afer that ( a longer lead out will help too 🙂 On the FC at :51 and the BC after it, you started it as he took off, so he landed wide. After the FC, he couldn’t quite find which side of you to be on – that is where the toy across the body will really help because you can connect and run forward. You made a much clearer connection after the BC, so he found the correct side. YAY!! Starting the FC or BC sooner will also give you more time to get that connection on the eixt – it is gonna feel weird at first but eventually it will feel really smooth 🙂15 foot grids- very nice! He appeared to have no trouble here, in fact I think that the 15 foot distance required him to collect a little! And I don’t think the motion bothered him at all. My only suggestion is to set upm up closer to the first jump so he has to take off from his sit (so he will be less than a foot from it) . That will challenge him to balance off his hind end even more!
What height was the last bar on these? You can do the same session with a slightly higher bar. And, you can also leave the bar low and extend the distance from 15 to 18 to 21 feet on successive reps and see what he does 🙂Great job!
TracyHi there! He did really well here and thank you for the special guest appearances by the hummingbirds LOL!! They are my favorites 🙂
He was perfect focus on his lines, commitment, and speed, plus you were really connected so all we need to do is look at this in terms of what his timing needs are! Yay!
One thing first – feel free to skip ahead to the Week 3 Running Rewards – this will help to build even more confidence, speed and drive on course as we keep adding turns. I didn’t think of it because of his session on this video – he was fabulous! I thought of it because you had mentioned back at the start of MaxPup 3 that he was not as confident in a trial setting, and it would be so awesome to get this gorgeous behavior at home transferred to trials! Running rewards can help that because it is so fuuuuun!
Onwards to timing:
The blinds on one jump at the very look great, both reps! Great timing, you were done & reconnected before he took off for the BC jump. You can show the reward across the body but you can soften the presentation (less rotation) so you don’t end up turning your feet also.The FCs on one jump: FCs are harder to get finished on time, so try to start them even earlier. The FC at :29 and :51 were late, you were beginning the rotation as he was beginning his jumping. The 2nd FC had better timing at :40, you started and were finished with it much earlier! You will likely find that BCs are faster and easier in these situations for him – he is speedy with no hang time so you have to be quick!
He read them all perfectly, which means your connection was strong.3 jump BC work: rep 1 blind: perfect! (:59) You started it when he landed from the 1st jump, he had strong commitment, so you finished it before he took off and he nailed it. This is a spot where you can be a little less exaggerated on the exit line connection (toy across the body) because you ended up turning your feet back to him more than needed.
The next 2 reps you were not quite as early starting/finishing the BC: you were a little late on the 2nd at rep 1:06 and he was a little wide. On the 3rd rep you were later, starting it as he took off for jump 2 (ideally it would be finished by then) so he landed pretty wide – your great connection showed him the line though, which is great!!! We will just blame the hummingbirds for the timing on that one haha!
So definitely keep working to get the timing from the 1st one on every rep!On the last 2 FCs – they can also come sooner so you are done before he takes off for the FC jump. You were a little late on the 2nd to last one and then on the last one, the FC started as he was taking off. He reads your lower body rotation beautifully and you had strong connection, so he drove right back to the line. You can try starting him further back so you can move, release, and start the FCs as he is moving towards the jump but still 12 to 15 feet away.
Great job! I love that all we need to do is think about timing because everything else went so well 🙂 Feel free to move to the sequences now!
Tracy
