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Hi Kathy!
Sandy already jumped in – Novice Sequence or Novice Course 1?
For the Novice Sequence opening – 1-2-3-4 is dog on right, so I think that is not the one you mean LOL!
On Pack 4 Course 1: the simplest thing is dog on left, send to 1 – start as far back as needed so that you can handle it all dog on left: send to 1, support 2, run like your pants are on fire, and push to 4 (it is a get out cue, almost serping on landing side of 4). That 3-4 line is HARD if you are behind or don’t push him away.
>>Most frustrating is that my verbals seem to be of little use unless we start after #2. (Perhaps a quieter voice would be better than rape screaming.)>>
I have found that quieter, low energy verbals are very helpful to bring the high energy dogs in close! So I am pretty quiet when I run Voodoo (he is high energy) versus VERY noisy when I run Nacho (who is lower energy in agility). So plan the calmer softer verbals 🙂
>> Are there any good example videos here in forum?
Definitely keep an eye on Sandy & Benni – she is doing lovely work! Also, Elizabethanne and Riot (although I don’t think they’ve done that course yet either). Let me take a look and see who else has run it so far!
T
Hi Linda!
>>I worked on the default training for serps and backside slices more this week and it is me learning to get out of the way sooner and the uneven terrain of my backyard that has been causing the knocked bars. There has been less bar knocking the faster I react as Mookie reads cues quickly. He insists on going 200 mph even with backyard training. 🙂>>
Perfect! 2 words for you: “Leave Sooner” 🙂 What I mean by that is: as soon as you see him approaching the backside entry wing, trust his training and get outta there! That will allow him to set up the jumping a lot better.
>>He trains the way he trials so this work will benefit both of us.
That is awesome, I am JEALOUS!!! All of my dogs train with a lot less speed than they have at trials. Voodoo, for example, is a solid 25% faster at trials. Lordy! It makes trialing difficult because I am not used to the extra speed.
>>Buddy gets ramped at trials but trains slower, but I know how to change gears because of Mookie.
Same as my dogs, but Mookie has trained you well LOL!!
>>I really needed to work on the default exercises more for my handling.
Yay! You’ll find that the more you trust the default behaviors, the more you will find it easy to handle especially with Mookie!
Keep me posted!
TracyThanks for posting the links, Barb!
Kathy, the zig zag grids came up here because a lot of the dogs needed more education on the whole side-to-side jumping needed for slices, serpentines, and backside slices. It has been fun to see the progression as they sort it out!
T
Hellooooo!
Yes, pools are a pain but I hear they are worth it!!
>>Yes I know Leslie, she use to live here in CO. Interesting idea, is it $100 per dog? Zing is the one that I have my eye on right now. Her structure is a tad straight so I want to make sure we have her built to support all of that.>>
The package is $439 for a month – and I believe it is for one dog (I am only submitting video for Hot Sauce) although I will be teaching these exercises to ALL of my dogs! She is tweaking the form of what we are doing and has already added some amazing new stuff – and I am only 5 days into it LOL!
>>But I need to pay attention to this because once competition starts, doing a UKI 2 day trial might suck a bit. And my goal is still to go to Europe (not on a team) and run.
Yay! I would like to go to Europe as well to run – but also not on a team (for oh so many reasons LOL!!!) A 2 day UKI trial is easy to tweak to work, because you can skip the big yardage classes that don’t matter and stick to the important ones.
>>>Love the idea of the skills list. This is gonna be SUPER hard for me the obsessor.
Ha! It is not obsessing, it is planning 🙂 There is a difference LOL!!!
>>Perhaps 2 lists, what I need to get out of novice/open and what I really love my dogs to have?>>
Maybe – but I think the Novice/Open skils of ‘stay on your line and get in the damn tunnel’ are also high level international skills so you can get where you are going. What other Novice/Open skills would you *not* want in Masters?
T
Good morning!
Since the package this week has places to analyze line choices AND the handling to get it done – I think about the FFC at 2 versus the German on the 2nd go-round: it would be interesting to see which one is faster! The German appears faster but it is hard to do a comparison because he is coming in at a different rate and angle than 1-2. Same thing at 8: wrapping inside on the first go round versus slicing outside at the end – I think the slice outside would be faster on the way back to the beginning with the #2 backside because it sets up a real race car line with tons of extension and not a lot of turns. The switch that you did at the very end of the video there was a thing of beauty!!! Nice line and puts you in a very good spot!
The runs went really well! On the first run, he is reading everything really nicely! He is turning nicely on the threadle 5-6 when you turn your feet, which is fine for this sequence. And the spin at 6 works really well.
At :26, you gave the dig cue but stood still fo a bit too long – then as you pushed in to try to convince him to take the backside of 2, you had ‘normal’ connection which pointed your chest/shoulders to the front of the bar. When you are that far away, you will need an extreme connection to his eyes, pointing your shoudlers to the backside line – high intensity! When he is more experienced, the verbal alone will support it but he just turned 2 so the verbal needed more connection/motion support.
That spot is why we do these double whammy runs – to see if we can get the cues to the dog even if we end up someplace unexpected. On the fix moment at :33 and on the 2nd run at :57, you totally had the big connection going! So the backside was no problem at all. Very nice!!!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyI totally just learned a new way to help the dogs with this type of skill from a rehab vet! I am going to make sure that I have the form correct and then I will post video 🙂
T
Good morning!
>>Verbals require lots of repetition, so we’ll be doing more of this!>>
1000% agree with this!!! Verbals that need to override motion need a lot of reps to help the pups understand.
That first rep was so funny – she touched your hand , you clicked the MM and she was like “seriously, *that* is the prize”? LOL!! It was smart training to switch to the lotus ball with cheese – definitly higher value but also more difficult distraction.
This session went really well! You got her to the harder angles and then she a big lightbulb moment at :53 – she was next to the lotus ball to start, and then note how she picked up speed coming towards you there: “AHA! I think I have figured this out!!” Perfect 🙂 This is something to revisit (we will be building on it this week). The bulk of the reps can be on the ‘easier’ slice: partially because this is the angle of most threadles, and partially because she will be facing the reward and will have to resist the urge to go grab it 🙂
Great job! I am so excited with the lightbulb moment at the end!
Tracy
Hi there!
Your barrel racing looks really good! She definitely did not have any trouble with the wing 🙂 Because you were able to get distance between your barrels so easily, you can add 2 things:
– more motion! You can move in and out of the barrel more, since her sending is going well. That will add challenge because you will have to connect at speed so she knows which side to be on, and then decelerate and turn so you can get the FC nice and early.
– a turn and burn at the end – after a couple of front crosses, you send to the barrel and exit on the more severe line for her to chase you out of it (on this set up, you would be close to the barrel and running towards the camera, for example)
I htink she is ready for the added speed and excitement – and it will challenge her commitment more too! Great job!
TracyGood morning!
The serps are going well, I am really happy with how nicely she is reading the commitment to the jump from all sorts of different angles and on both sides of you. Yay! Your position is looking really good too. She is getting better at going back out but she is still not 100% sure she has permission LOL!!! You can give her the get it cue sooner: just as her front fet are reaching the bar 🙂 and you can bring the reward closer if you think she will drive to it better 🙂 We will be building on this soon, which whill also help her drive back out.
Great job here!Tracy
Good morning!
There is something in every Differ session that makes me laugh out loud. In this one, it was at :59 where she was a little distracted and went to the toy rather than over the bar, then caught herself and went over the bar LOL!! And then for the rest of the reps, it was as if she was thinking “crap, I’d better pay attention here!” and she nailed it LOL! So funny!Yes, she as a little interested in the woods but there could be cool critters and overall, for being in season – very very nice session!!!! She is coming in over the bar almost perfectly 🙂 Now we need to convince her to make the body bend – and the reward on the ground on the next line is the key. When it is in your other hand, she is coming in a bit straight. So – we need something on the ground as the destination focal point. If the toy on the ground will possibly be too hard, we have over options: empty food bowl, pet tutor or Manners Minder, or a target of some sort – can even be the Cato board! Anything that you think will help direct her back out away from you with a verbal cue will work – and then we can really start adding motion. And when you start adding motion, you will automatically not hold your hand as low because it will feel too weird 🙂
Nice job here! Let me know what you think will work best as the exit target/reinforcement placer.
T
Good morning!
Rear crosses are going well – I am thrilled that we can even get this much rear crossing going with such young dogs!! Yes, he has more trouble turning to his left than to his right, but that is fine for now – at :40 you made a big deal to cross in soooo early on his line and t hen you made a massive big deal of the reinforcement 🙂 That rep and the next rep were very clear rear crosses to the left! And then gold star for him: after getting two big parties to the left, he immediately read a rear cross to the right 🙂 YESSSS!!! Very happy with this! So on the left rear crosses, be as early as you were starting at :40 to help him out.
>>He isn’t entering the turn with much speed, but maybe that’s okay at this stage. He definitely comes out of it with more enthusiasm.
No worries! Thoughtful is good with this whippet line in the beginning – let’s get him thoughtful on how to use his body and then you will have more speed than you know what to do with LOL!!! He is a little younger than his cousin, my Contraband (10 months old), who is now layering the speed because he understands what to do (and it is terrifyingly fast LOL!!!!)
The first session went well – he is showing really nice understanding of commitment! And by the last rep he was already adding in the speed. The second session also looks good – thoughtful and accurate with is *exactly* what we want right now (too many pointy dogs think it is all about speed and then they cannot control their bodies).
I think with this game, the next step is to add more running with you, with treats. See how it goes when you run faster on the exit. And then we will get the toys involved, so help him learn how to use his body with thoughtfulness even when he is more stimulated 🙂Lap turns –
>> It feels so clunky and weird – any advice? Do I need to move the prop?>>Lap turns in general feel clunky 🙂 The lap turn itself i looking good, but yet, move the prop: have it near him when he starts, so he has to move past it to get to your magic cookie hand. Then when you turn him – you can move forward and the prop will be right on his line. The prop hit is on a parallel path cue (you will be moving forward) rather than a send. The prop here was out to the side, and you were sending, which might be why it felt a little weird 🙂
Your hand looked great here! He drove right to it (and he also did really fast driving in when you called his name!!
>>We also worked on the concept transfer serp game, and he did pretty well, but he wasn’t making contact with my hand, he would come in close and then continue on for the reward. I decided to just review touching the card in my hand, and he did that great, but then once I tried the serp game again, he wouldn’t touch it all the way. My treat tosses were also really bad and the treats blended into the carpet too much, so I need to redo it, hence no video LOL! I’ll clean up what I can and then see what you think 😉>>
Question – have you gotten to having the reward on the ground yet – either the empty food bowl or a manners minder? If so…. move to the advanced level where he comes in towards you hand and swipes it then goes back out. It sounds like he is already offering an approximation of the desired end behavior (where he comes in then goes back out, rather than stopping to t ouch the target – we will be fading the target this week) so you can move ahead! The reward does need to be on the ground for it, so an empty food bowl is a great way to get it started 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! Oh yes, these are looking good! He is just about perfect turning to his left (starting on your left). It was harder for on the right turns – I scrolled back to see if we had figured out that right was harder in general but I can’t find it. It might have been that right was harder here because he had gotten reward turning left first (and both primacy and recency in play, and that is powerful!) and/or that right is just a little harder for now. But, he figure it out REALLY nicely!! I am super happy with both his drive forward AND his rear crosses (I think your timing was good!!!!). Yay! Onwards to striking a pose 🙂
Have a great weekend!
TracyHi!
>>I will use the same verbals that I use with Pose
Doing so will make life so much easier 🙂
Great list of verbals!
Question – how are ‘turn’ and ‘get out’ different? Just curious.
>>Generic lead change/Soft turn away: Turn
>>Get outT
Hi!
>> I like the ones I picked for her so think I will keep them for Kaladin.
Perfect! Using the same verbals will help preserve your sanity 🙂 Less to remember!
>>Hup- jump in collection and turn (eg: Hup right)
Left/Right – turns up to 90deg-ish>>Question: does hup left produce the same turn as just saying left? If so, you can save hup for very specific commitment things (like crazy bind crosses :)) and just say your left or right cues.
>>Flip – sharp turn left
>>Turn – sharp turn rightAre these different than you left/right cues, or wrap cues? Just curious 🙂
>>I haven’t done much with tandem or lap turns with Min so am debating whether that will use flip/turn (left and right sharper turns) or something else. I hope flip/turn will work (swing is used with the dog going in the same direction as me and flipping away/back so I don’t think it makes sense when dog is coming in and then turning back)>>
The tandem and lap turns can be decided based on the context of the course – for example, a lot of them are threadle/rear crosses, so you can use the threadle and then a directional cue. I tend to name the directions of the line and not the handling, if that makes sense.
>>I guess flip/turn could also work in place of check-check/swing so that the dog has an absolute direction instead of in relation to me, but I’m pretty used to the latter and in my mind (not sure if the dog always agrees but usually I think Min does), check-check and swing are take the jump and then wrap while flip and turn are more instantaneous and used on the flat.>>
Ah! That answers my question, then. Flip & turn are on the flat, and check & swing on jump commitment cues.
>>I also did a bit of teaching Min Zaza for a blind cross but I don’t use it consistently and I don’t think she needs it when I am not late and stay connected>>
It might be too general? Blinds have varying degrees of tightness on the exit, so I have found that the corresponding directionals are more useful for the dogs.
T
