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Good morning!
The ladder grid is going really nicely! The hardest part for him is the stay, I think LOL!!! He is super keen to do the jumps, even in the semi-boring grids 🙂 Good job balancing the grid rewards with the stay rewards, especially the stay rewards when you were all the way out at the target. He looks really consistent in his striding in the grid and organized, and good form too! There was really not much difference in his effort on any of the reps, they were all strong. I take that to mean that he is feeling comfortable with the puzzle the grid presents and is having no really trouble with is. So next time you visit it – a little challenge because he is “of age” 🙂 This is one of grids we use to show a height challenge – so you can keep the 1st bar at 4, then have the 3rd bar at 4 – and the middle bar at 8. That will ask him a slightly more challenging question about how to set up for a taller jump.Find the jump – with the advanced technique of tunnel under the dog walk – that is actually a great visual for him to see! This was another session that he found pretty easy no matter what the challenge was – yay!! On the reps where you were near the jump or you were ahead – easy peasy!!
One question he had was at 1:07 and the reps after it – you were pretty lateral and keeping connection. When he exited the tunnel, you ever-so-slightly moved your left arm back and for a heartbeat it looked like a threadle cue. He saw that and considered threadling, good boy! Good to know he sees everything! So you can have your arm low and back but in a more relaxed, less-back cue. Subtle difference: on the reps where he considered threadle (1:07 was a good example of this), your arm was high and opening up back. Compare it to :17 and the rep after it, where you were beautifully connected by just running forward (:43 is another good example) – great connection and arm back but lower and not opening up back. Let me know if that makes sense, i might need more coffee LOL!Great job on these!!
TracyHi! Great job on all of these, things are really coming together! When you are able to get back to running, it will be so easy to put it all together. Paco looks really fast and focused on these!
First video – go versus RC
When you are able to run, we will add more running to the go cue. But he is driving ahead really nicely on that line for now! Your rear crosses look really good – you can add more acceleration to them, even if it is a faster walk (until you can run again :)) He is reading the RCs really nicely because he is perfectly happy to let you get right on his tail as he moves up the line – literally! You are giving very clear early cues and he appears to have no questions on this side. You can add more distance between the wing and jump here, for more challenge 🙂2nd video – other side – also terrific! He seems equally strong on his left and right sides, which is great (and unusual :)) Great job with your verbals here! You can add more loudness to the go verbal, and een without running – let him see you going from slow at the wing to fast as you drive the line (both the go line and the RC line) – for now, a fast walk is going and then when you are ready, we will build in the running. He looks great!
You can totally also add in the advanced level backside wraps, I bet he will be fine with them too.
Blind Cross Diamond:
Yes, these blinds are a bit weird at first but I think you will find them useful – you did a great job with them, especially the connection on the exit – he was really tight on the turns!!! I am impressed! For now, don’t move too quickly – just plan which way to turn and what your connection will be. Then we will gradually increase your speed til you are super comfy and then you won’t even have to think about it.2nd diamond video looks really good!!! His commitment is strong now and your connection is really clear. Not being able to really run at the moment is actually a good thing for the training, because he has really expannded his commitment skills. Plus, you can move through the blinds carefully to get the mechanics right, and then they will become second nature.
Race track
OMG the happy look on his face as he was going around the race track – love it! He did an AWESOME job of staying out on the line. Even though you are not supposed to be running, you made this game look nice and easy. When he didn’t turn at the very end, you were a little late telling him with the body cue and he was totally in ‘race track yeehaw!’ mode 🙂 A little bit of earlier deceleration will help tighten that up.Overall – most of this feedback is boring, in the “that looks great!” category LOL!!!! Your connection is looking lovely and other than accidentally throwing in spin here or there, your mechanics are also looking good. You can add more distance and the advanced levels of all of these games – he looks ready! And when you are able to run, you can of course add in the running.
Great job!
TracyHi! Mouse gives very clear feedback and he also does it with great timing LOL!!! He must have been a top level dog trainer in a past life 🙂
When he feels the connection is good – he is perfect with his lines and turns. YAY! But the instant he feels that perhaps the connection is not clear enough – feedback in the form of discussion and jumping up. LOL!
So any time he is quiet and on a line, take that as a sign that you are rockin’ it!!!On the video:
Just about all of your opening lines were perfectly connected and lovely!!
1st rep – a perfect opening here! On this rep as well as some of the others, your connection when he exits the tunnel that 2nd time should look the same as it did when he exited the tunnel the first time: arm back, eyes on his eyes. Then decel and turn for the wrap. On this one, you were using your arms to cue a lot and it ended up pulling him off the jump. The arms are only useful after you start to rotate on the crosses.2nd rep -Your opening was lovely again! Yay! On the exit of the 2nd tunnel, you pulled your shoulder forward and away at :36 – it closed off connection so he gave us his opinion there 🙂 the connection before the turn cue match your gorgeous connection when he exits the tunnel the first time, and take your time shifting connection. You were gorgeous at :43 with the connection to the cross! You were looking at him more so it was more of a shift to the landing spot? I think he will end up being more of a soft shift to your hand – he turns really nicely on these!!
At :53 – you pulled your left shoulder forward a titch and your arm pulled forward – so he came in at you to let you know you broke connection. Have you ever played the lazy game with him? We thank him for his feedback in that tiny moment of connection break but we can also teach him to cover you sometimes too 🙂
I think that little break threw off your rhythm on the way to the tunnel – your shoulders turned forward and towards the other end of the tunnel and he couldn’t see your connection so he took the tunnel exit at 1:00. All of the other reps were lovely, so it was cool to see the contrast! He definitely likes his connection!When you picked back up after that – your connection was lovely and so was his commitment! He is a nice turning dog, naturally, so we probably don’t need to obsess toooooo much on getting him to collect, so it is more a matter using your transition to commit so you can turn and go (Carl might need a more emphatic connection, it will be fun to see!)
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi there!
First rep was lovely! You can turn sooner/faster on the opening line as long as you don’t sacrifice your connection on the jump before the tunnel at :05. The wrap FC looked good! If you try that one again, I think putting the bar up to full height for it would give us a better idea if it is correct for her. The exit line connection looked FAB there!Your lap turn session mirrored my training with Voodoo on this! He was doing the exact same thing. The causes of my errors look to be similar to yours: the dogs are going balls-out to the jump, they know what throw-backs are, slices are easier… and the handling was accidentally cuing the slice. She was driving right in to your hand (good girlie!!!) but then your connection/arm/leg were shifting to the jump before she is turned on the flat – so she sliced. With confidence and complete commitment that she was correct. LOL! :35 is a good example of that. Compare your motion there to your position/motion/connection at :48 when she got it right: your connection stayed forward in the area in front of you and nothing indicated the slice jump.
The things that I found to be helpful when the dog is going a zilliom miles an hour like Mochi are to move a little further from the jump to give yourself more room to set it up, and also follow your hand with your eyes – and move slowly through the cue. Any fast motion will cause them to think “SLICE” and the slower motion, focused on the hand, will slow the her down into the lap turn.
On the throwbacks – She likes these and is really good at them! You can try this on a higher bar and see how she does. She was questioning the commitment a little at 1;14 but only because I think she was trying to figure out if you wanted the lap turn or not. You helped by shifting your connection back to the landing spot (like at 1:20) and that really helped commit her!
Great job! And your exit line connections are looking great 🙂
Let me know what you think!Tracy
Hi!
>>Regarding not going backwards – apparently that is an issue I really need to work on. It came up in the Zoom and again here. When I look at the video, especially the FC, I want to scream “Stop bending over!”.
LOL! You can place a leash on the floor as a line to mark your running line, to have a visual to stay on. That can help with moving forward.
>>Thanks for the hints about training the lap turn. My Belgians just didn’t have this much trouble with it.>>
I only have trouble with my very herdy BC types – the other breeds are happy to drive in and pummel me 🙂
>>I’m not in full agreement with the wideness of the turns at 1:40 and 1:55. Any tighter and the wing would be down.
looking at 1:40 an 1:55 again, I think it was my explanation – he had a nice collection but did not fully know where the exit line it – he was a little wide on the exit and looked at the off course jump before completing the turn. So while they are technically not wide, I think one more dial up of the connection will tell him before takeoff just how much tighter the turn is than he might be expecting 🙂 Plus, a quicker exit line connection will totally help, it took you a couple of steps to reconnect. Since I am totally obsessing – if you look at his eyes rather than back at the landing spot, you can make the new connection quicker because you have fewer head turns – when you are looking at his eyes, you are already looking forward so all that is needed is one turn to your left, boom, done – connection on the new side. By shifting to your right to look at the landing spot, you need to turn your head forward and then to the next side… which is where the delay is happening. Subtle yes – but he sees everything which makes it really interesting 🙂
>>Any tighter and the wing would be down.>>
I don’t think he will hit the wing, I think he will have a sweeter exit line.
>>Now, a better exit from the tunnel would be very helpful.
Yes, the pre-tunnel cues will help for sure.
>>Thanks! I hope to be able to work on the longer sequences on Thursday. 😊 Maybe you could just put the CRCD code for that in your reply.
>> Here ya go! Two sets of CRCD 🙂
Begin Course Designer
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End Course DesignerHave fun!
TracyHa! Yes! One of my current mantras with the young dogs is “Don’t be a helicopter mom!” meaning: don’t look at the dog sooooo much that I end up hovering and not moving. When I am a ‘helicopter mom’, Elektra bites my foot. LOL! So – connect but ruuuuuuuun!
Hi!
Exie says thank you for the birthday wishes, he had a nice roll in the mud and is now asleep in the bathroom LOL!!This was a really nice session on the sends and serps! On the first side (turning to his right) – it looks like on the first rep you thought you had some time and wanted to be calm and help him but not moving too much… but he was all like “I GOT THIS LET’S GO FAST” hahahaha! He powered through it and then you appropriately ran faster on the other reps on that side 🙂 He did really well turning to his right that you can add a little bit of distraction by moving the toy slightly to the other side of the jump, so it is visible as he is deciding to serp (or not serp :)) The verbals (saying right right right) definitely helped him orient to the serp as he exited the wing – when he is looking at the jump, you can switch to left left to support the turn over the bar or switch to his name for general support.
When you switched to the other side so he could turn left, things got interesting in terms of seeing what he needs:
The first rep did not have a strong enough send, as you let go your chest was rotating to the jump (not the wing) so I can see his argument for going to the jump there at 1:01 (you were saying left and he did turn left…)
2nd rep at 1:21 had a good send, you took one more step and connected more – but then he didn’t come on in the serp jump. He did look at you but you were quiet and maybe not as connected so he stayed parallel to your line.
3rd rep – you continued the left verbals AND had a stronger connection – nailed it! The continued verbals really helped and so did the connection. The next reps also had that and he was great,
even when you were way ahead. Yay!It is possible that he is not as good at turning left as he is at turning right (you were quieter on the first right turn rep and he got it right) so definitely keep the verbals and connection going, he seems to really find them helpful!
Great job here!! I love your big parties when he gets it right!!
TracyHi!
The connection is the make or break on these blinds, and when you connected back to her, she totally got it! Yay!
For example, my 2 favorite reps: at :12 and at at :57, you did the blind and imediately looked at her eyes and your dog-side arm was back. Nailed it! She didn’t even have time to bark her opinion there LOL!
On the reps where she didn’t make the side change (at :07 and :41 for example) you looked down more than at her, so she didn’t see the connection (your dog-side arm was blocking it a bit).
So the key is the eye contact and the dog-side arm being back: but if you think too much about the arm being back, you will end up over-rotating and turning your feet like on the first rep, which makes it hard to keep running forward. The easiest way to get it is to put a cookie in the arm next to her – then as you do the blind, show her that cookie using the arm by putting it across your belly and looking at her eyes. That will get the great connection while also allowing you to keep running forward. You were basically doing this on the reps that went really well, and having a cookie (or toy) in the hand will make it easier to remember.
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
We will just ignore the first rep, it was just a warm up haha 🙂
Yay, the rear cross line was much stronger here and he easily picked up the rears! On the first RC to the right turn and first RC to the left, you were a little gentle about getting right behind his floof but then on all the others, you got right on the floof and he had really nice turns! Yay! So, remember to get right on the floof LOL! And you can then add more acceleration too.>> I am seeing him lead with his head going in to the turn on the barrel but is he swinging a bit wide coming out of the turn?>>
Yes – you were hanging laterally away from the barrel, so he was moving to your position. I think it was mainly because you didn’t want to run into the wing of the jump on the go lines (totally understandable :)). You can move the barrel so it is not centered – move it so it lines up with one of the wings, which should make it easier for you to stick close to it but still set the Go line and the RC line.
Great job! Let me know what you think,
TracyHi! I think it is perfectly fine for us to do a happy danc ewhen a sheltie chooses a toy over high value food 🙂 I was going to say that I was really glad he likes his balls, but somehow it sounded wrong LOL!! Interesting, though, that he has switched from Nemo to Mickey? LOL!
He did well on the serping with motion – he did indeed have to take a closer look at it on the first rep LOL!! Very nice clear difference in your handling cue for the serp versus the tunnel in terms of where your upper body was. He definitely does better when you have a movement of your upper body on the serp to swing back a tiny bit. On the rep where he took the tunnel on the serp cue, there movement was there but it was super subtle. The others were clearer (and he serped). I personally liked the super subtle movement 🙂 Thinking ahead to when you will be running full out, I think your serp will be subtle in movement – so rather than add more movement, maybe add more words (yay! More words! haha!) – it can be something as simple as “Kal” right after the release or a left/right cue. That way you can keep the subtle upper body as you add more motion – it is pretty easy for us to yell things and I bet you would likely be saying something there anyway (I sure would be talking on a big course during serps, even if it was just the dog’s name).
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! She is such a smartie!!!!
Very nice patience on your part to walk past and let her offer! Nice job marking the moment she chose the jump and tossing the reward. Yay!! She got the idea very quickly 🙂 It is hard to be calm about it and not help the pups, but you were awesome and allowed her to make decisions. Then she figured it out and you easily added speed. Yay!
As you add speed and distance, you can shift the moment when you toss the treat: when she comes around the wing and looks a the jump and is heading towards it, throw the reward. That will keep her from looking back! You don’t have to wait til she is through the uprights, you can toss it as soon as you think she is heading for the jump.
You can easily add more distance here and more speed too – she is soaking it up like a little sponge! And yes, add the FC on the wing. It was fine to do it with just a post turn, but the FC will add challenge to go from handler focus to line focus, plus it will set you up nicely for the RC games 🙂Yay for adding the tunnel! I think she will love the smiley face games!
Great job!
Tracy>>Hmmm, it seems like we could really benefit from better tunnel exit connection.
Ha! Yes, indeed 🙂 She likes to look for you when she exits the tunnel, so it is important to connect to set the line 🙂
>>I have a nagging tendency to want to see where I’m going, but hopefully we can nip that in the bud, lol.
I find that I have better peripheral vision when I look down to the dog (rather than up), for some reason it expands my field of vision so I can see the next obstacle better. We can also work on finding lines ahead of you in terms of knowing where the next obstacle is without having to see it and without having to disconnect.
>>Seriously though, I think this crazy connection stuff is going to be HUGE for us.
Yay! I think some of the things you describe as struggles are connection-based so you will likely see an immediate change!
T
Hi!
>>With the jump coming down, The last rep when he cleared it, I had moved him closer and I thought the issue was I was setting him too far back for where he likes to leave from.
I was thinking that was a possibility! It was more the jump at :55 that made me think he might be sore and maybe that is why the first jump was hard for him.
>>However, I will get him with my Chiro. I struggle with him telling me if he is sore. He is so tough compared to a Schnauzer…the Schnauzer would be limping and crying at the smallest pain and Desmo is the complete opposite. He doesn’t like to tell me if he is sore.>>
Yes, so true!!! My Voodoo will run til he rips his feet off then insist he is fine. My BorderWhippet youngster hit an 8″ bar with his toe and there was MUCH DRAMA with screaming and limping and requests for amputation and SO MUCH DRAMA for about 30 seconds (he is perfectly fine LOL!)
>>Knowing where to be is something I am still getting a feel for so that I can give him good information.
I have 2 rules of thumb for that:
1 – the tighter the turn you want, the closer to the jump you want to be (lateral distance produces wider turns)
2 – we generally want to put ourselves right on the line we want the dog to run on crosses (then get the heck off of it before the dog gets there LOL!!)>>He did herding yesterday so he is on a off day today, I will get some good stretching in Tuesday might rain so I probably will not post until Wednesday but that will give him some time and I will try to get in ASAP with Chiro.
That makes sense, we have plenty of time here and next week is the ‘off’ week.
>>When we are back out, I was thinking I would work the line where I wasn’t keeping my hand back and the drive ahead portion again…. any other ones I should try again before I start week 2?>
That is a good plan! You can move the #1 jump further from the tunnel on the drive ahead reps so it is easier to NOT be ahead LOL! Then onwards to week 2 🙂
T
Hi there! Welcome back! Baby girl is growing up 🙂 TONS of nice work here – you are going to laugh, though, there are places where I think you were connecting too much LOL!
Going through the video:
On the first regular connection sequences:
seq 1 was really nice – you can move faster through the line here while maintaining the connection. – n
seq 2 – this is the beginning of where I think you can watch her a tiny bit less, and turn and go on the pinwheel more. By turn and go, it is more about staying in fast motion while still keeping your arms low and good connection. You were watching a lot, so you were not really moving, so she was heading checking a bit.
seq 3 – same thought here as on sequence 2 – she is head checking at :32 because you were ultra connected but not really moving, so she was looking up at you 🙂 Move faster 🙂 but keep the clear connection.On the next sequence, at :48, you can give her a GO on landing of 1 then start the tunnel verbal even sooner so she doesn’t look at you there too (and run more LOL!!!) your connection is really strong but if there is not enough acceleration, you will find her looking at you (especially because she is young).
On your wraps – the connection in and out is looking good! And the week 2 games of shifting connection will help figure out if she needs a slightly different style of cue. On these reps, you can be earlier on the FCs and spins. As she exits the tunnel, try to decelerating then sliding into the rotation so she collects sooner and you and can leave sooner too. That will help tighten up the FCs and will also give her a clearer line to the tunnel on the spins. Ideally, you are rotating before she passes you and before she takes off. At 1:39, for example, you are just beginning to turn and she is already in the air so she has to wait after she lands. We can challenge her commitment by starting it all sooner – the deceleration part of the transition is the magic there, so be sure to add that element in.
Serpentines:
serp one jump at 1:49 – nice!! Lovely connection and line!
The reps with more speed at 2:36 and 2:42 were also super nice. At this point, you can soften the exit line connection on the serp and lower the hand to be on your belly. You had it high and shaking a bit, and it will look a bit like a threadle arm like that 🙂 Plus, we can fade that exit line connection down to just eye contact as she is landing and it will work nicely 🙂On the FC at 2:50 – these can also come sooner 🙂 She has a ton of forward drive to lines, which is great! So it will be fun to play with how early you can cue and leave on these crosses. As long as you maintain this nice connection, I bet she will let you leave pretty early! So as she exits the tunnel on the FC and on the spin too, you should be decelerating and getting ready to rotate into the turn so she is seeing it before she passes you. AS long as you are connected and not abrupt (no slamming on the brakes!), I think she can do it. On the FC, as you exit, try not to step back – step directly forward to the tunnel with that clear exit line connection and you will get a really sweet line to the tunnel too.
Really nice work! These are all smaller details to fine tune things. Let me know what you think!
Tracy
