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Hi!
>>I think what happens when I’m farther away from the tunnel is I am waiting to see her to make connection. That’s not necessary for the verbal. >>
Yes! You can totally use the verbals early and often 🙂
T
Hi there!
>> I think my arms were a tad quieter here.
Yes! I think you looked really good here!
>>Eden turns better to the left but I’m better to her right.
Yes, I agree 🙂 But at the end, she got her right turn too! I think on the first couple of right turn RCs it was just a matter of being a little too late then a little too early. The RCs on the other side looked great – nice patience at the wing then you drove her into it and she read them well! You transferred it to the left turn really well and she nailed it 🙂 All of the GO reps looked great – she was really flying, so awesome to see her having fun!
Great job!!
TracyHi! I think the trick to verbals is to add them in gradually so it is easy to remember them all 🙂 You can add in a switch to mean ‘turn away’ and then match your rear cross body language to it. It is a very useful verbal!
For the other set up – you can see it on the video where I am on the landing side of the jump near the wing closer to the tunnel. I will also get the drawing program open and see if I can draw it 🙂
Tracy
Hi! She did so well here! You did a great job helping her out – she is so young that she needed the handling 🙂 She got the ‘lay of the land’ here in this session (great stay!!) so that you have the 3rd wing in, you can work to help her be quick in her back and forth on both sides.
Great job!!
TracyHi!
About the hand across the body on the exit of the blind – yes, I will still use it a bit even with another obstacle coming – it helps keep me from flailing my dog-side arm on the send or cue to the next obstacle LOL! As the pups get more experienced, you won’t need to use much arm across the body but it is good to keep the arms down in general.On the Diamond – so connected on the wraps into the tunnel! Nice! As he exits the tunnel, that is a spot to make more connection with the dog side arm way back – he was coming in a little off the line and looking at you – it is clearer to see when he is on your right at :24, for example. So reach your eyes back into the tunnel and that will help him be able to find the line on the exit. And that in turn will help you be able to turn sooner because he will commit sooner. Some of the blind crosses were harder because they started a little late but you were definitely getting the idea of the timing, like at :33! Really nice! And you had your arm back there so he drove directly to the next wing. At :43 your timing was also good, and you had good connection when he exited the wing – but you pointed forward to the wing after it before he passed you… so it looked like a blind and he ended up on the wrong side of you. Keeping the dog side arm back will act as a send (sounds so counterintuitive, right?) You had more connection after the blind at 1:00 and he sent really nicely 🙂
Nice rocking horse front crosses at 1:10! I think he ran past the tunnel at 1:13 simply because he was coming out of handler focus at high speed and was just running fast. Wheee! I don’t think you were in the way. He found it nicely on the next rep, no problem! You were a little on his line on the FC out of the tunnel at 1:28 but in a much better spot for it at 1:39 and 1:54. Those were complex moments and he did well! When you did the rocking horse with the blinds, you can see how nicely he is picking those up! And you had really great connection there, and also when you did the blind between the 2 blue wings at 2:23 and 2:37 NICE!! He committed so you could be timely and connected so he had a really nice turn! That set up really nice ending lines on those 2 reps and also the last rep. I think he had the toy on those so he was faster, but you also drove harder through the handling and it looked really good!
On the RC versus Go versus backside video – he did well! Ideally the wrap on the wing is a FC, but it is OK if it is not 🙂 a post turn there is fine as long as we set him up to drive the next line.
On the Go reps, these are looking good! You can throw a little sooner, he was looking up a bit rather than forward. He did really well on the RCs! You can’t really throw sooner on those (because he has to get past you) but he read those really nicely! He still wants to look up at you but I think it has more to do with the ball than with the RC line 🙂 You ran a really strong line there and he seemed to read them all perfectly! On the backsides: when he was on your right, it looks like you were showing more of the wing so he didn’t go as wide to the backside. When he was on your left later in the video, you were driving harder to the outside edge of the wing, so he was going wider there. He still committed to the backside, but try driving more towards the center of the bar so he can see the whole bar, and see how he does in terms of staying in nice and tight to the backside wing.Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHoly cow, that sounds like a CRAZY time with the BC pup!!! Oh my! I hope Flurry’s rehab is going well!
Any sequence work is worth posting, I am glad you got some video! He was fast and happy 🙂
On the first video, he just needed you to be a little earlier on the FC at 3 (:05) – you were looking ahead at the jump when he exited the tunnel so by the time you reconnected you ended up being a little late. You decelerated, though, and he found that helpful and still did a really nice turn!! You had nice exit line connection there too. The right on 5 could be a little sooner, but everything was nicely connected and smooth! He was moving really fast so it put pressure on your timing 🙂
The second run also looked really good! You were quicker to reconnect after the tunnel (#2 here) so that set a nicer line to #3 and 4. The FC on 4 at :14 was a little late (that was why the bar came down) but the exit line connection was great! And nice FC on the ending line!So this was totally worth working as a last minute thing – they were very close to the class sequences and the challenges ended up being the same: staying connected in and out of crosses, plus a bit of the serp line too! Great job!!!!!!
TracyHi! Having the weaves there adds big handler challenge, I love it!
Looking at it in sections:
Nice 1-2-3 line! He is doing such a nice job with the jumping effort!!One thing we see is that Enzo likes info on the tunnel exits as earlier as possible – so try to give a verbal before entering and also get a little further past the exit to make a strong connection while he is still in the tunnel, to get the best line on the exit. At :03 and :18 he is curling into you and has to go back out. He didn’t really curl in at :46 and 1:06 (maybe a little head turn?) but you were also a little further ahead and you showed a really good line away from the tunnel entry which helps support the exit.
In the middle:
At :05 the left on 4 was a bit late/ wide which led to the RC on 5 looking like a weave cue. Switch needed to be followed by more info plus handler decel.
The FC at :18 on was nice – timely, connected, in a good position. A little more exit line connection where the left arm is out of the way so he can see your eyes more will get a faster line back to 5. :47 was good too, but not quite as early as :18 so the turn was not quite as good. The FC at 1:07 was REALLY good getting into it, you were fully rotated and leaving as he was lifting off! Nice! More exit line connection (eyes strongly back to his eyes, dog-side arm way back) will get rid of the drifting you see on landing at 1:08 – he almost went to 6 there. At 1:38 you also had a nice FC and as he was exiting at 1:40, you did reach back to connect with him and that was the moment he drove back in on the line.On the rotation at 5 at :22 and :51 you were backing up as you did it – backwards motion is the same as forward motion so he almost weaved. That caused a bit of wideness on 6 and 7 but at 8 (:28) he just needed you to leave one step sooner to get a better turn there – send and leave so you were facing 9 before he took off for 8. You left sooner at 1:16 and it set up a nicer line, just be sure to then continue leaving rather than running a parallel line towards where the teeter is (1:49 had too much parallel line).
As you approach 5 at 1:09, you gave a strong connection shift to his eyes – totally helped!! It got his head turned a lot more so he turned to 6 much sooner after landing. He still had questions though, flipping his eyes longingly at the weaves 🙂 A stronger exit line connection there will help( more eyes on his eyes and your left arm back behind you, even using your right arm across your body to open up the connection)
At :54 you didn’t fully finish the rotation to 7 so he flipped away to the weaves (I think he really loves to weave LOL!) but your feet were pointing that direction.
Going back to the #5 jump – I think the strong connection to his eyes at 1:09 got the best collection before takeoff. For handling ideas – you can try these and see which one(s) work the best:
– get to the exit line connection on your right side sooner and a more exaggerated exit line connection (left arm back, right arm across the body ).
– reverse v-set it more, by shaping the line with you in the middle of the bar (I would probably reverse v-set it with Voodoo) so there is no motion at all towards the weaves as you cue it
– you can delay the blind and do it more a sort of a flip: For a heartbeat, as you move away, make a connection on your right side (like a FC) til he lands and his head most definitely is NOT going to the weaves, then do a quick BC to your right side.The other side is the training side: stronger wrap verbal (you did say “easy” but I am not sure if that is your wrap verbal or just a general collection cue?). And also working a ‘proofing’ game of wrap versus other obstacle as distraction. We are doing that proofing in the current puppy handling class if you are interested in seeing the game? Let me know and I can dig up the video – it is not something we did with the Enzo generation but I have added it to the next generation because it is so useful 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! It is always good to send in the videos you don’t like, because it gives us great stuff to look at!
FC sequence – you can do it sooner so he already sees you just about finished at :05 and :13. He was in the air when you started it. He was anticipating the turn based on decel so he still had a nice turn – the earlier rotation will make for a better exit line. Heck yes to the better timing at :23! I totally agree 🙂 And it wasn’t just better timing – you shifted your connection to his eyes more which also set up a nicer collection AND you had a clear exit line connection. As he was jumping at :24, you were fully rotated and moving the next direction, but also making fabulous connection back to him. Click/treat to you! Such a nice turn 🙂
Spin sequence – this looks good, not as late as you might have felt!! The first two at :31 and :40 were nice – good timing (can be a little earlier but you spin fast so the connection when he landed was clear) and nice line. But the last one at :48 was my favorite – you were earlier on the timing, a bit more shifted to his eyes, and more tucked into the jump so he had a better line back to the tunnel – really nice!!!
On the spin on the other side of 3 – I liked these but I also think they can be tighter. You can get them a little tighter with a name call right before he goes into the tunnel and a very strong connection shift to his eyes as he is exiting the tunnel. You were looking at him then connected to the landing spot, which gave him a little too much swoosh and he was a little wider on the exit there.
Looking at Jake’s lines there, he is more experienced at setting himself up in front of the jump – and better collections created the better exit lines. With Jake, he sets up the turn with you shifting connection to look at the landing spot, so I think Juno needs a slightly different cue on those: longer eye contact for Juno til he collects, and with Jake you can swoosh more to the landing spot 🙂 Jake also read the switch away from you really nicely!!I think you did a really nice job on this video!! Yes, there was some things that can be a hair earlier but you got earlier and earlier on each rep. For the next session, you can play with trying to get the timing so early it is almost too early and see how he commits – and definitely more shifting connection to Juno’s eyes, he seems to find it really helpful 🙂
TracyHi! The beginning of your videos always crack me up! I will be heading to Walmart to get the $7 pants!!!
I think your first run was pretty rockin’! The entire opening was picture perfect in terms of connection and timing, and her response tells us that she read it easily. My only little nitpick is that you can start the spin sooner so that it is finished sooner, but that is a TINY nitpick LOL!! She did really well.
I agree – 2nd rep is my favorite too. Perhaps a tiny bit earlier on the cue for the tandem turn in the opening and then your spin was earlier too. Nice! Rep 3 and rep 4 had slightly later cues but we are talking in tiny fractions here and nothing to really obsess on – everything was on time and fully connected. The 4-5 turn is hard for all dogs and she read a really nice line on it!!! The only thing to try would be to replace the spin with a ‘soft brake’ arm, meaning a post turn but with your opposite arm also up as a bit of a “whoa” to add collection. It is a ‘gentle’ cue LOL! But it might be easier to time than the spin because it is up the whole time and also smooth and subtle. Let me know if that makes sense.
And don’t drive yourself crazy about your arm on the spin – it was low when it needed to be and she says the connection was fine (Kindle will not let you off the hook for bad connection :))Great job!!!
Tracy
Hi!
I think her being high and excited is so fun – remember when she was having her health issues and she was sad? She has grown up to love agility, yay! Some of the bonus tunnels here were handling induced… and some were crimes of passion 🙂 No worries, she was having a blast and going fast, which is helping you ‘up your game’ in the handling. You are more connected than ever, which is GREAT and you are getting the verbals out. So while it isn’t perfect yet because she is young, I think she looked great here.First rep – the opening looked really good! I think that Demi has reached the stage where you will need to drive her harder and not babysit lines – after the FC, you can send and leave and at :11 you pushed in pretty deep, so she guess that it was the tunnel.
Something similar happened on the second rep – GREAT opening! 1-2-3 was nicely connected and smooth and you started the FC sooner at :28 so got a nice turn! You kept moving through 5 and the FC at 6… but then over-helped at :36 on jump 7 so you got bonus points for an extra tunnel 🙂 I liked the spin you added there at :54 but she is really powering now… so start the spoon sooner: when she lands from the 6 jump, you can be decelerating so the spin is starting before she is passing you.Good job working through it to be able to reward NOT going to the tunnel!! You got a gorgeous turn there at 1:42!! And the opening of the last rep was also super nice – one little step to deep into 5 got a bonus tunnel right at the end.
So overall – no worries about the bonus tunnels 🙂 Your connection is looking strong and now it is a matter of driving her hard and being early rather than being careful and helping her (she leaves you in the dust when you try to over-help LOL!). On your next session, try to push her as hard as you can, without breaking connection, and see if you can get the timing in place! Fun times ahead! Nice work 🙂
TracyHi! I replied this morning and it didn’t go through, darned internet!!!! So I watched it again 🙂 This is looking really good!! Thinking back, this line of jumps is a MASSIVE improvement in getting her to drive ahead! Yay!!!! I think your connection was really nice on all of the straight line reps, I could clearly see your eyes which rotated your chest to support the line. One other thing can help too – lean forward into the run rather than run upright. On the very first rep, I thought you had really good connection but you were a bit upright as you ran, so she was not sure about driving ahead. When you leaned in on the other reps, especially when you had her on your left – she did so nicely! So lean forward a bit as you do this (like an Olympic sprinter, dropping shoulders down and forward :))
Her backsides looked good too! We actually work on backside stuff starting Saturday too. You were using connection to get her to commit to the bar. If she is doing well, you can fade out the connection and arm rotation and just run through it, to teach taking the jump on those backside serps as a default behavior. Let me know if that makes sense – more coming soon 🙂Great job!!!
TracyGood morning!
She did really nicely on these. One overall thing I noticed is that she had more speed into the jump when you were closer to the tunnel exit when she was exiting as opposed to being closer to the jump. That showed more motion and your earlier on your verbals (she was faster too when you said your verbal as she was exiting).
On the rear crosses – yes, it is hard to find the wing after the jump, the pups are used to turning tight on the jump. You can angle the RC jump so it is facing the wing a little more, and also start your RC diagonal from right next to the tunnel exit – that will add more acceleration which creates the wider turn. As soon as the pups recognize that yes indeed, something happens after the rear (not just the reward :)) then they will easily find the wing and we can get it moved further away.
It looks like she read the difference between all the cues really well!
On the backsides, I did see speed differences but I don’t think it is a side preference thing, more of a handling & value shift thing. Some subtle tweaks to help her power into them even more. When you cue the backsides, she is at her best when you cue with your arm back, looking at her and not with your arm moving ahead before she passes you. For example at :38, your arm was back til after she passed you: she zipped directly to the backside. At :45 and :54 and 1:20, your arm was forward before she passed you, so she slowed down to look (the arm forward changes the line of your shoulders, so that presents the front side and often draws the dog’s eyes up to the handler to double check the info. She was also getting a little sticky on the commitment to the circle wraps as you were moving forward – we want you to keep moving forward like that, so you can maintain her commitment to the jump behind you by tossing the reward back to the landing area as you move forward, rather than out ahead of you as you run by. The sticky moments often come when the value has shifted to being closer to the handler, so reward tosses back behind you can refresh her value for taking the jump without you needing to be there.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
I hope the house repairs are moving quickly, I bet you are ready to be done with all of that! We will just pretend that the left/right session didn’t happen: if the video doesn’t exit, the training never happened LOL!On the first video:
The first several serps looked great – he drove right in AND turned the new direction. Perfect! He had a question at :21 when you released and he didn’t take the jump – I think that was more about the connection (you were looking forward and he was looking at you), so more connection to his eyes there before the release will help. A similar thing happened at :34, for the same reason. Compare to the next rep at :39, where you connected strongly then released: perfect again. The next couple of reps also had the connection before the release and he nailed it. It is common for baby dogs to just run to da momma if we don’t connect enough before the release. His backsides also looked good there!!When you switched sides – perfect connection before the release, perfect serps. Yay! After all the jump value, he needed one more step to support the tunnel (the independent tunnel verbal is still percolating, which is fine, so one more step will help, like at 1:54 and 1:58).
Great job on the different verbals for the wraps – they are distinct in both tone and delivery, and he ‘read’ them so nicely! The little sequence cracked me up at 2:10… you had to HUSTLE hahahaha and he nailed it.It took him a moment to remember to come in on the jump for the push with the tunnel out ahead (that is actually a game we will be doing in the next couple of weeks :)) – nice job breaking it down. You can also reward the decision to go to the backside by plopping the toy in on the landing side while you move away more, that will add even more of a ‘default’ to coming in and taking the jump. Adding in the blind on the landing side was a great challenge because the motion for a heartbeat takes the line towards the tunnel, so he had to pay attention to your upper body (and he did! good boy!)
The mini sequence at the end was also good 🙂 Try to start your spin rotation sooner so that you are done and reconnected before he gets all the way around the wing on the way back to the tunnel (to keep his line smooth). You were a little late so he had a little zig zag.On the 2nd video – the GO lines are looking good! It will be a little easier to get the straight line to the jump with a FC on the wing (on the post turn or spin reps, he was a little on the outside of the jump and had to come back in). He did a great job driving ahead! The first RC to the left at :30 was great! The 2nd one was harder, he was trying to sort it out and you ended up pushing him off to the backside line by being a bit early. GREAT job supporting the RC line for longer at :40 – he was able to think about ALL the things and find the jump and the turn. You did get 2 good RCs to the right in at the end – I think your line going to the right was a little clearer for the RCs than the line to the left – good pressure without crowding too much. He was surprised to know that something could happen after the RC on the first one to the right, but then found the tunnel on the 2nd one. – that is a fun way to reinforce a good rear cross too!!
Great job on these!!
TracyGood morning!
The Go lines looked great here, both of you are moving FAST 🙂 Yay!
On the rear crosses, the first RC reps did indeed have the L line so he went straight. Then your line got much better! I think on some of the reps you were leaving the FC on the barrel too early, which made the info for the RC line a little late because you ran straight a few steps before showing the line. :29 and :46 are examples of that – he did get the RC there but the next RC rep at :35 then again at :58 you had a better line because you stayed closer to the barrel for longer, to set the line sooner as he exited it.
The backside wraps looked great! You showed him the line clearly and his commitment looked really strong, allowing you to continue moving through. Yay!Wow, the serps looked great even with the distraction of the bowl being right in view!!! I don’t think he even looked at the distraction of the reward bowl, he was locked into the serpentine. Happy dance!! Yes, you can add in the other side when more coffee is on board LOL! And also move the barrel further back so the jump becomes a backside 🙂
Great job on these!
Tracy
