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Hi!
>>I have only taken about 100 courses on-line and surely some of them would (you’d think) address core strengthening. And I’m sure they do but they didn’t pop out at me.>>
In my experience, the core strengthening stuff is embedded in just about every exercise.
> >• Sit to Kick Back Stand
Yes and also stand to tuck sit, and stand to rollback sit.
>>• Stand to Down
Yes, then down to stand, etc. An exercise given to me a while back for the dogs is that when they are good with down to stand… have them do it while you gently hold one front paw up. It is like a one-arm push up. And alternate which front paw you hold up.
>>• Bow>>
Yes but also good for shoulder stretches!
>>I also think about sit/sit-pretty/up and then back down. But he isn’t ready for that yet.>>The consensus from the rehab vets and sports vets is to NOT do the sit pretty. Any core benefit is negated by the possibility of unwanted spinal compression.
On the videos – His forward focus is MUCH improved! And he was soooo good with the ball 🙂 Yay!!
He is not quite ready for you to run yet, that is when he goes bum-over shoulders like on the last rep 🙂 I want to continue with a cone as the destination (or a wing) with the toy behind it, so he keeps his head down and better form (rather than lifting it to track the toy throw. So you can do two jumps to a cone/wing 20 feet away (toy behind it) first walking, then jogging, then running ver the course of multiple sessions. Stay at the walking level until he is very balanced and driving ahead. To get him driving ahead, don’t start from a sit – start from a wing wrap about 18 feet before jump 1, then move forward into the 2 jumps. You can send him to that first wing wrap so you are not too far behind, especially during the walking phase.
When he is balanced, we can go to jogging – probably progressing week by week.
Keep me posted! Nice work here!
TracyHi!
>>So, I’m thinking of playing around with her entrance. I watched Dudley and Jammy and she takes the leash off early. Jammy moves with her and dances around a bit. I thought I might try that.>>
I think Sprite would like that! I take Voodoo’s leash off as soon as we enter the ring. He jumps around and barks. Then moves nicely into the sit 🙂
>> However, this leash is an issue. It shouldn’t be hard to take off, but it’s getting twisted. Where did you get your quick release leash? I had one before from clean run that was great, but they don’t make that one anymore.>>
I got it from Robin Brown of Dog Dynasty. I will dig up her website. The one she made for me is pretty and soft and easy to also use as a tug toy. I will grab a photo of where the clip is and PM it to you.
>> But, it’s interesting about movement and self regulation. I feel like we are starting to build conflict so I need to change something.>>
Right! You don’t want to add pressure that will create more movement.
>>However, many commented that these courses had tight spacing for UKI. I’ve no reference so I’m not sure.>>
Most of what I saw on your videos were very typical legal UKI distances. One or two spots were a little shorter than expected. I think people are used to judges using illegal distances of 35 or 40 feet, and UKI is cracking down on that.
>>I need help picking running lines. Lots of people got in a blind cross and I choose the rear cross as I don’t trust myself and I really do NOT want to get taken out.>>
The rear is not the wrong choice! Neither is the blind. Since it is 10,000 degrees out this week, maybe print off one of the sequences or courses and draw your handler path, then send to me and we can discuss running lines!
>> Would she check her speed and avoid me? I’m not so sure. My knee is finally feeling better with a torn meniscus and I’m trying to avoid surgery.>>
She would as long as she had time to do it. We don’t want to surprised her and get a collision.
>> Unfortunately, I don’t know how to pick my best running line. There seems to be a pattern of running curves.
Draw a handler path on a class course, or a course from the Internet and we can discuss how to strategically plan your lines. We can do a lot while staying in the a/c!!
Tracy
Good morning! He did really well even though it was so hot!
>>overall, wow I think I can be pretty much be ‘standing in the same spot’ and he’ll do ‘all the running’>>
Yes, his commitment was great here!! Which brings to mind something to consider with verbals:
When you are supporting more from a distance, the verbals become more important so you can repeat them and also change the pitch/rhythm/volume of each one to help him differentiate.I suggest repeating them (like go go go!) so that he doesn’t miss anything while he is processing all the info. If you say it once, he might not catch it with everything else going on. But if you say it 3 or 4 times, he will definitely catch the verbal.
And if you make the verbals sounds different from each other, he doesn’t have to rely on the specific word as much. He can also process it from the rhythm, pitch, and volume. That makes it soooo much easier.
For example, when I use “GO, it is very loud and long: GOOOO GOOOOO GOOOOO which emphasizes acceleration. And saying it like that adds energy to my motion that also emphasizes acceleration.
But the opposite is useful for wrap verbals. When I use a wrap verbal, like check, it is very quiet, almost like I am telling him a secret 🙂 like checkcheckcheckcheck. That draws the energy in smaller and tighter… which is exactly what we want him to do with his stride to make a tight turn.
Your release sounds very different from the other verbals (higher in pitch, different rhythm) and it is very easy to differentiate. I like it!!!!
On the handling – all of this is going well!!
The wrap FCs looked really good – very nice collection!!! The timing of the rep at :22 was great for this setup (no or low bars) with good decel and lovely connection. The timing of the rep at :31 was a tiny bit too soon for low or no bars (he looked at you to see if he should commit or if he should not take the jump) but will be great timing when he has a taller bar. The taller bar will of course have him landing closer to the next jump so the earlier timing will deliver the info really nicely.
>>On the last FC rep, I ‘screwed up’ with cue, I told him ‘Go’ first – Oops. Just mentioning that I know that>>
No worries! It shows that he is listening to the verbals. At :39 you said ‘over go’ for the middle jump and he almost continued straight t the tunnel under the DW there. Good boy!!!
You had tremendous distance at :50 which made the BC too early like you mentioned. He is really paying attention! Love it!
On the last blind, I think you can give him even ore independence: Draw a line in the dirt for yourself to *not* go past. Have it going from the middle pinwheel jump to the center of the curve of the tunnel. See if he can commit to the blind cross jump without you going anywhere near it. That can really help you send him out to a line while you cross and stay ahead for the next position.
Also, I think your connection was strong on all of these reps: when he was close or working at a distance, he could still clearly see your upper body and eyes, so he had no questions. Click/treat for you!
Great job here!! Let me know what you think.
Tracy
Hi!
>>No she will not trade a toy for a cookie – she will release a toy when less aroused but not yet in agility context. I thik this will start to happen once she realises that sooner she releases sooner she gets to do agility again.>>
This is a great game to start working on away from agility, in gradually increasing levels of arousal: tugging on a medium-value toy and trading for a high value food item then back to tugging on the toy. Then do it near a jump wing. Or a cone. Then do it near a jump, etc etc. It is an extremely valuable skill to have and we don’t want to skip that step as she is learning about agility.
She was great on the seesaw. Good job NOT pushing! If you have access to a lower teeter, or you can lower this one, you can play this game on a really low teeter too which can help build up her confidence.
On the handling video:
The FC wrap is looking great – she turns really well!
I think the RC is possible in this smaller space! On some reps you were trying to do it as a flip away with your hands (like on the first rep and at 1:16) so it was not that clear for her.You can use your motion to move up the RC diagonal to the center of the bar on the RC jump instead which should be able to cue the RC.
You were closer to that at :27 – you can send to the tunnel from further away so you can get on the RC line sooner, and I bet you can get it 🙂Backside push was lovely at :33! Great connection and line of motion!!!
Go lines were looking good too! She didn’t really perceive the target as a target, so you might need to use more valuable food in it. Also, be sure that your verbal cue and your physical cues match. When you were saying go and running? Perfect! When you were saying go but walking and decelerating? She had a big question and turned to you there.
Having the other dog out there towards the end was making it too hard for her to process the cues (he was drawing a lot of processing bandwidth away because she had to devote significant attention to NOT running into him – he was placing himself in her way or chasing her line). So if a visitor joins the training session, you can have him return to his kennel before continuing 🙂
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
>I’ve been struggling trying to figure out why he goes around obstacles. I knew it was me, but this really helped.>>
Yay! All of it gets much smoother with experience and as his brain grows up. He is doing great!!!
This was an excellent first session on the teeter! At the beginning, you were feeding him too far forward so balance was hard (weight was shifted forward). Remember to help him off the teeter by helping him turn around. Nice bounce back after he almost fell off!
Since he as pretty darned confident to go up it, we move to the next step (which involves some duct tape and arts & crafts 😁)
We need to create a target at the top of the board so he can go up to his reward without looking at you or getting the reward from you hand. You can use duct tape to tape a soup spoon to the underside of the board, so it is just past the edge of the board. And angle it up so he has to lower his head to get it and weight shifts back a little… but keep it high enough and close enough to the end that he doesn’t have to lean forward to get it (which shifts weight forward, and we don’t want that).
Then you can smear some cream cheese on it and send him up the board to it (cream cheese won’t bounce out if the board bounces). And when he understands to NOT watch you and run up the board to his target? You can add in moving past the board, moving laterally (at a walk to begin with), wing wrap before the board, rear cross the board entry, etc. We can start getting fancy!!
He was offering slamming nicely but I agree, he had some concerns. So for the next session, reduce the tip and add some towels under the teeter where it is resting on the jump wing, and under it on the ground to reduce the noise. When he I no longer concerned, we can fade that out and add more tip too.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Then the cats came over to see what they could scavenge. >>
Ha! Cats are helpful like that LOL!!!
Having her work this skill with Nox on a board right there takes up a lot of bandwidth for you both – the brain can only manage to do one thing at a time LOL!! So for her, as an adolescent dog, I do not recommend having another dog nearby watching – that adds too much pressure and takes up too my valuable brain bandwidth (adolescent dogs do NOT have a lot of that on any given day). That way she can devote all of her mental energy to the task you are training and not expend any on trying to tune out the other dog watching or moving. As an adult or late adolescent, it will be easy enough to add the other dog back in 🙂 I know there is a big trend in agility to have other dogs “stationed” and nearby or even running around while a puppy/adolescent is training… that simply does not take into consideration what we know about their brains at this stage and makes it harder for the young dog.
The teeter outside went well – I like that you were rewarding a whole lot of effort of moving towards the board even if it was not super precise hind end backing up.
One of the things you can add now to get the hind end isolated it so start her on a the board in a 2o2o position (luring her into position is fine :)) Then lure her forward so one or both of her back feet come off the board – then let her step a foot or two back on, and reward.
On the handling video:
>>I think I’m just going to make sure I never ever have to do one in a course. I’m just going to get ridiculous distance and layering skills on my dogs and not do any rear crosses. That’s a legit strategy, right??>>
HA!! I am sure you will be in good company because so many people don’t like rear crosses LOL!!!!
Go lines: looking really strong! As you add them into the bigger sequence, watch her more (so she will watch you less) and throw the toy as soon as she looks ahead to the last jump so it is landing before she arrives at it.
On both the wrap FC and the RC, you can think of them both differently. Think of it as a 3 step process in the cue:
Fast forward, slow forward, side change. The difference between the two is that on the FC, you are running to the FC wing. On the RC, you are running to the center of the bar (and not all rear crosses need the ‘slow forward’ decel).
The 3 step process will make them both easier, and will make them look distinctly different so you don’t have any confusion.
On the FC wraps, as she is landing from the previous jump, you start decelerating while moving to the outer edge of the wrap wing (slow forward). Then as she approaches the wrap wing and crunches into collection, yo do the FC. That is basically what you were doing, but the decel can come sooner (no need to try to get the FC part of it done as quickly as you were doing it. The decel at 1:23 and the timing of the cross there was spot on and doubly cool because she drove ahead of you into the wrap. YAY! Be sure to connect to her eyes on the exit of the tunnel to get her to the the last jump on the sequence (1:29)
When you added it to the big sequence, you cued the tunnel with a verbal but not physical support to get commitment at 1:08 (turning her to her right there requires you to step back to the tunnel to set the line) so she was correct to not take it. That is rewardable (handler error). Stopping and turning away from her punishes her following of your line… so reward reward reward immediately or keep going. Don’t stop and go back without a reinforcement.
You adjusted the handling on the next rep (1:22) and she got it. That also supports the theory that it was handler error on the previous rep 🤣😂because changing the handling got the behavior 😁
For the RCs, same concept BUT different line:
The fast forward and slow forward happen on a line to the center of the bar of the RC jump (not on the line to the wrap FC wing).
Then as she approaches take off for the RC jump, you finish the side change.She did turn to her left away from you at :30, but that was more of a tandem turn cue where you pulled her then turned her away while you stayed near the FC wrap side of the jump. That pul & flick might conflict with a FC wrap, so I think you will find the rear cross diagonal line pressure easier for clarity.
So to get that cue visible – using the full sequence as the example:
As soon as she is committed to the tunnel, take off and start running to the RC diagonal line. You never actually have to face forward as you pass the jump after the tunnel, you can already be heading to the center of the bar on the RC jump. By facing forward at :38, you delay the RC info so she locks onto the FC side of the bar.The other thing that locks her onto the FC side of the bar was your dog-side arm turning to indicate the jump – that turns your shoulders to the left turn/FC wrap side of the jump. So as she was approaching the jump, all info said left turn. Reward her! Again, there is a 99.99% chance she is reading you correctly so even if the moment did not go according to your plan… don’t frustrate her by indicating she was wrong (resetting and withholding reinforcement is the indication that she was ‘wrong’). Plus, resetting on one jump doesn’t give you handling feedback based on what went wrong previously.
At 1;53, you are moving up the outside line and using your hands to indicate the jump ahead of you (she is looking to her left over the jump after the tunnel). That doesn’t really give her turn info, so she went straight (then tried to catch a bug, which might be bug-related or frustration-related or both. Reward that! Remember that stopping and walking away is a punisher, which the adolescent brain is doubly sensitive too and frustration can build quickly.
So to get the RC here, don’t use your arms to send her ahead to the jump. Keep your dogs side arm pointing to her nose, eyes on her eyes, and move forward to the center of the bar on the RC jump. She will pass you and turn to the RC line 🙂
Good job working out the backside cues on 2 jumps!
At :36 and :44 – you let go of the cue before she was committed (but looking forward and moving your arm forward). so she curled into the front side
That turns your shoulders to the front side of the jump which is why she curls in to it.Compare to :53 which was great!! Low arm, connection maintained til she just about reached the outer edge of the backside entry wing, lovely!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I am not sure about doing a backside to threadle wrap when she is halfway thru a course – just not sure she would respond at speed>>
We will build up to it so you have the skill in your toolbox! The course design around the world is beginning to require this skill, which is why I am throwing it in everywhere this summer 🙂
The big lines looked really good! You can use more verbals and even less motion to help her be even more independent.
Threadle wraps – good job working out the mechanics of the cue!! And moving into it from a blind looked really good at :57 and after that
On the other side – when she sliced, what was different was you feet. Your feet were facing the slice line (center of the jump bar here at 1:35 and 1:44). You were facing her on the release after the blind, which is why your feet ended up facing the slice line.
Compare to the other side, where you feet were facing forward (towards the tunnel) after the blind – which is what is a big piece of cuing the wrap. So reminding your feet to face forward past the wing (and not at the bar) will show the wrap instead of the slice.
>>What often confuses me about these me is: which side of you the dog takes off from and which side of you they take up when they land.>>
The which side for take off is easy: they are on the side of you that is next to the jump. For the threadle wraps, they have to slide in between you and the jump. So if the jump is on my right side, they take off from my right side.
For the exit – that will change entirely based on whatever is next – you can keep them on the same side if that is what is needed for the next line, or change sides with a blind, or turn and face a new direction. So that will depend on where the next line is after the threadle wrap.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
I am so impressed with how you both did on these giant UKI courses. They are really different than AKC where she has most (all?) of her experience so far, in terms of sheer size and speed and striding.>>I apparently have a RC problem. >>
I think it might be that you are running curves with her which makes it hard to set up the RCs. She can run the curves of the course… but you can strategically run sharp lines directly to where you need to be, putting you closer to the motion & positional cue info when she needs to see it.
Standard:
She left the start line on the re-connection. If I didn’t know it was not the release because you mentioned it was not… I would have thought it was the release 🙂 So did she.Resetting her was fine but you need to be 10000% sure you do not use that re-connection paired with a release consisntely, because then the reconnection and rhythm of your release will become the release (not the verbal)
She also left the dog walk at the same rhythm as yesterday so be careful there too!
Mix up the release timing – sometimes it is pretty quick, sometimes it is a long stop & praise, etc.
Great job in gamblers – she seemed to not be concerned about some weed guy yelling things or loud horns. Super plan and super gamble! Congrats on the win!!!!
>>Going in the ring is still a problem. She’s not focusing on me and dancing around back and forth. It’s hard to get her leash off either the movement back and forth.>>
Looking at the start line in jumpers: I don’t see it as a problem because she does sit and hold the stay. I think that you don’t love it because you’d prefer a different picture of engagement at the line 🙂 But, her picture of engagement is just fine and it only took a few seconds to get the sit.
Then she held the stay perfectly and absolutely nailed the opening line. WOW!
We just did a brain camp in Chicago this weekend and during the lecture on Dopamine from Dr. Murphy, she reminded us that dopamine was a neuromodulator that has a big role in motivation (yep, knew that) but was also closely linked to movement. Wait…. What? Well that makes sense: if the brain is motivated to do something, the brain is gonna tell the body to move to do it.
So what you might be seeing here when she paces around a little is that she is actually self-regulating her arousal and dopamine through, yes, movement of a few steps. You can see from her facial expression she is not really focusing on any particular thing, she is just moving a bit and processing the internal & external environment and your cue to sit.
But the reason that it is not a problem is that she is doing it!! She is self-regulating!!!!! Most dogs cannot do that. How do I know she is self-regulating? Check out her performance on that stay and opening line. Check out the weave entry!!!!!
So let her tell us what the picture of engagement is on the start line, and give her the ‘space’ to self-regulate. And yes, it is a pain to get the leash off over her head so you can change the tool in that moment. My whippet also needs that self-regulation movement so I got him a leash that is a French martingale but has a quick release clip on the next loop. So as he is moving a little, I just touch the clip to open it and voila – leash is off.
Now can we tell for sure that she is regulating her arousal state and bringing her HPA axis int a better state and dealing with dopamine spikes really well? Not without electrodes or brain slices under a microscope 🙂 But we can infer it based on the studies on humans/rats/primates as well as the behavioral outcome in the ring 🙂
One side note about the start of the jumpers course here: you released simultaneously with the reconnection. Take the sound out and the release here and the non-release in standard look pretty identical. Be careful that the release doesn’t get paired with the same physical motion each time.
What a gorgeous run the jumping run was. She had a spectacular jumping effort in this round too, because she was striding the big distances well and then when the distances got shorter (before the accidental backside wrap) she adjusted without bleeding off speed or struggling.
So back to rear crosses: at 2:12 you send her to a tunnel. Note how then your handler line is a gentle curve, following the curve of the course. So then at 2:16, she has passed you on the jump before the RC jump and you are facing forward and you said “go!”.
That also happened to be one of the shorter distances where she had t odd a one-stride so the RC info started after she took off for the RC jump. So, a little late.
How to be early? Take out the curving line after the tunnel send at 2:12. Send to the tunnel and then take a sharp direct line to the RC line, so you are on that RC pressure line when she is taking off for the jump before the RC jump. As long as you are somewhat connected, she will get the line after the tunnel.
At the very end you said go on at 2:22 but were decelerating and looking forward – that cued a turn so she looking at you over the bar. You never said tunnel, so she assumed a turn cue and did not take the tunnel. Good girlie 🙂
Speedstakes also looked great!
>>I was trying to get out to cross in speedstakes and sent her impressively across the field to another tunnel.>
Yes, she just needed some good yelling (I mean turn cues LOL!) there at 2:40 as she was approaching the jump after the tunnel. You were quiet and running parallel, so she stayed on her line. Good girl! If there is a blooper, you can send her back to the previous line (like back into the tunnel) to adjust the handling and also to gt the flow going. UKI lets you do that once per course.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! Nice sessions with both dogs here!!
Maple video 1:
>>Also, Tina mentioned she often drops bars when there aren’t wings and she did do this here. Dont know if it the heat, my handling or other?>>
Mostly handling 🙂 Heat might exacerbate it but she jumped everything else really well.
She needs a lot of impulsion to get over a 24 inch jump in a small space so to add impulsion, go closer to the tunnel and accelerate up the line.
And stay connected. If you freeze the video at :05 as she is taking off for the wingless jump, you were decelerated and disconnected (looking forward) – bar down.
Compare to the next rep at 1:14 where you went closer to the tunnel so you were accelerating more (cues extension) and more connection – bar up! Yay!
As you move through the landing side slice of the backside jump and she is passing the entry wing, shift your connection to the landing spot by looking back to it behind you (and pointing at it). Keep moving like you did but don’t look at her
At :13 you were looking at her as you moved past the bar, which kept her out on the line.
At 1:22 you were looking at her but moved your arm back to indicate the landing spot and she took the jump. So why did the bar come down? As she was taking off, you were in her landing spot so she either had to shorten up to avoiding hitting you (and ended up hitting the bar instead) or she would risk smashing into you Good decision Maple, thanks girlie for NOT hitting the moment! You can see her head come up in a “oh crap” moment there as she was avoiding hitting you.
At :12 you sent to the backside from further away, so you were not in her way at all. That is a better positional cue, and she had no trouble finding the backside, she just needed you to shift connection to the landing spot.
At 1:22 you send to the backside from such closer to her line which is what put you in her way.
2nd video – take off side slice:
She dropped the wingless before the tunnel for 2 reasons – one was that she thought maybe she was going straight after the jump before it (she was looking at the weaves) and then you disconnected – watch your pony tail swing back and forth as you look back and forth.That draws a lot of bandwidth away from trying to jump 24” (which is the HARDEST height to jump) because part of her brain is seeing the connection changing and trying to figure out if she needs to respond to a blind cross cue or not, and part of her brain is trying to organize the jumping without being fully sure if there is a turn or not. Add in the less prominent visual of a wingless jump and yes, you might get more bars down on wingless. So plan to stay connected everywhere but ULTRA connected on wingless jumps.
>>For Mae, I was very late on my FC but got it done. What can I do to get some more time to be earlier?>>
I didn’t think you were very late and neither did she 🙂 She had enough time to make the turn and jump the bar cleanly. Yay! Your timing here was more of a forced front cross, meaning you were doing it when you arrived at the backside and when she was approaching the backside.
While it was technically not late, it might have felt late to you for 2 reasons:
The timing of a cross on the takeoff side is a little later than if it was a regular cross. And, a FC takes longer to do than a BC.So 3 ideas to make it look and feel earlier:
– do a blind instead of a front because you can finish it faster 🙂
– Send her away to the line before it using more distance, so you are further ahead
– You can start the cross before she takes off for the previous jump and then do a threadle slice cue to help her be sure to come to the correct side.
That cross-to-threadle is the more updated version which will feel a lot earlier and smoother!Look at Huck doing grown up stuff! He looked great! And so fast!!
On the first video, he also told you that he needed more connection on the wingless jump! If you watch that section from :07 – :10 in slow motion, you can see that you disconnect at the last moment and he actually jumps *next to the jump* and does not jump the bar. LOL!!! Then he lands looking at you because there was not enough connection.
So a good training game for both dogs is if you run without arms pointing and without verbals – just use connection and motion and work on committing them to the lines with connection.
He was 100% correct to go to the tunnel at :15. Your motion totally supported it You ran in close to the line with him, so as he was on the jump before the backside jump, you were right next to him running forward. Totally cued the tunnel! It was great that you had a chuckle and rewarded him 🙂
To get that takeoff side slice with him, you will need to cue him to do the 3 jumps before it at more distance so you can get to the backside sooner and start turning not later than when he is jumping the previous jump. He is smaller than Maple and has less hang time, so you will actually have to get there sooner with him 🙂
On the second video at :09, you were more connected and indicated the wingless jump more clearly, so he jumped the bar and not next to the bar 🙂
Nice job getting him to the backside and not the tunnel here! You over-helped him come to the backside, which means that you were in his way as he was jumping. You can be sending him to the jump before it from further away, and cuing the backside by moving more to where the wing and bar meet (not going outside the wing closer to this). Then as he gets more experienced, you will be moving to the center of the bar. The more lateral you are away as you cue the backside slice, the more you will be past his landing spot when he needs to land which sets up a nicer exit line too!
>>Is this a training issue where he needs a little more independence on his obstacles?>>
Yes – it will all be easier if you send them away to the line before the backside. Now, I bet Maple has the skills you just need to cue them. And Huck might have those skills too, so try sending him from more of a distance (and throw lots of rewards!) and see how he does!
I love your enthusiasm and joy in rewarding him (and Mae too!) That is why they love playing this game with you ❤️
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
>>I hope you are having a blast in Chicago at the Brain camp this weekend.>
Thanks! It was fun! Jayne from Skidmarkz was here and she says hello to you and Levy 🙂 She said you are one of her favorite people to work it 🙂
>>My first question is the big Lines with Levy. I was able to get him out to the second jump with me starting 1/2 down the tunnel. >>
Nice!!!
>>Then for kicks I tried reversing and having him start at the end and take the two jumps 1st and go out to the jump from the other direction. He was not able to go out to that jump even though the distance was about the same as the other direction??? I was a bit further behind but not by much.>>
It might not have been the distance. The three factors I can think of (ok, 4 factors 🙂 ) beside distance that might cause his question are:
– side preference – maybe the line was harder because it was to his harder turn direction? Which way was he turning when he was missing the jump? For example, when the distance lines are to the right, Ramen gets it every time. But if the line requires Ramen to push away even a little to his left? MUCH harder and he needs me closer to help him out.
– More speed coming from more jumps might have meant he could not quite organize in time to take the jump, so he went past it.
– You being a little further behind (whippety dogs are very visual and it might make a bigger difference to them than it would to Watson)
– Connection might not have been as visible.You can try moving the jump in closer to the line so it is more obvious and lower the bar a whole lot, so it is much easier to organize. And you can also place a toy on the ground as a focal point to help direct his gaze. Try that and report back!
>>We have also been reviewing the threadle wrap this week and it’s not going all that well. I have been using the outside arm to cue this turn, but I noticed Teri and Moon. She is using the same side arm, and her cue is very clear. Perhaps I need to make my motion cue more distinct?Yes, Teri’s threaded wraps with Moon looked freakin’ awesome!!!!!! Also yes – you want it to be SUPER clear. It is possible that using both arms is turning your shoulders *towards* the jump bar, which indicates taking the side he is facing and not the threadle side. So with either the dog side hand or both hands, turn slightly away so the line up shoulder supports the change of line for him.
Also, add in a decel. If you are moving forward too fast, he might not see the upper body at all because motion is overriding it.
The other thing that can help jumpstart the behavior is if you take the bar out and do it on a wing at first. Sometimes the value of going over the bar is sooooo high that the dogs cannot ignore it to go to the other side. They might not even realize that is an option! So doing it on just a wing can get the lightbulb moment, and then you are able to set things up to add the bar back in.
Let me know if that makes sense, and how it goes!
Tracy
Good morning!
Great job on the course here! Most of it went super well. There were a couple of spots where she needed to see something in a specific context, and you needed to change a cue delivery, but overall I think it went really well.
The opening here looked lovely! The serp-to-threadle on 3 and 4 worked really well.
>That’s a really big step for me just so you know, lol!!)>
Yes! No need to re-do it when it is 100 degrees out 😁 Click/teat for you!!!
And also yes – the ribs being out might have been a big piece of why she didn’t hit the weaves the first time. Your timing of leaving for the next line was better on the 2nd send to the weaves, where you held your position until she got into the weaves then moved away.
Finding the tunnel under the DW after the weaves might be more of a dog skill she needed to see – it is possible she has mostly only seen tunnel-to-weaves under the dog walk and not weave-to -tunnel. You helped her see it and that delayed getting the backside a 7, but that backside will be easy when she recognizes the context.
But you did a great job of continuing and getting the run back on track!
She recognized the weaves-to-tunnel on the 2nd run and that put you in range to get the backside! At 1:32 you had the verbal going but your arm was high which blocked connection and turned your shoulder away, so she took the front. At that distance, it sounds so counterinuitive but keeping your dog side arm back so she can see your connection and shoulders will help a lot (I also use my opposite arm there too, because it is similar to a get out in the moment).
>>We got the threadle wrap the first time,
That might have been a product of being behind and decelerated, with your shoulders turn a bit forward (as if facing the a-frame). So the cue was correct in that you had turned to face parallel to the bar, which is the part of the cue that pulls the dog to the threadle side of the bar (and off the backside). And the slight decel in threadle wraps is a big help too. The turn and decel help her lock onto the hand cues.
>>I also couldn’t get her to look at me for anything, lol. She was like “I got this! Go fast!”>>
She was correct 🙂 The cues indicated the side of the jump she drove to.
On the other reps there, you didn’t have the turn and decel so motion towards the front of the jump overrode the hands and verbals:
At 1:41 you had a lot of forward motion and your feet/shoulders were facing the front of the jump.
At 2:07 you added decel (yay!) so she looked at you… then you moved forward to the jump so she said ok, I will take the jump 🙂
At 2:14 you turned your upper body more but you were still moving towards the jump rather than turning to move to the parallel line
The reason the touch cued worked at 2:23 was not because of the touch cue… it was because when you said ‘touch’ you also turned your feet/shoulders to the line for the threadle wrap and decelerated. That was the physical cue of motion and line that indicated threadle to her, so she got it 🙂 Yay!
>>I can take full advantage of her stopped contacts to get forward focus on the next obstacle just like a start line. >>
Yes, that can totally work and she will start to anticipate it! For the line after the dog walk here, it was harder to get the turn away on 14 when she was focusing forward (she was thinking it was a right turn at 1:12 and 2:38, which if why you got the spins there). You can cue the forward focus then handle it like a rear on the flat so she turn away to the jump.
After the tunnel, 16 is a threadle wrap for sure, so adding a little more decel will help you be able to turn her away. She is still needing the hand cues to turn her away after she goes to the threadle side, so decel will help her to collect to prepare for it
The ending line looked lovely! She was tired by then so her commitment was not as fluid, but she still did it and it looked great!
Great job here! I hope you are going on a vacation!!! Enjoy!
Tracy
Hi! I am so glad you came to Puppy Brains! He was a rockstar!
>>is finding this whole adolescence discussion very interesting.>>
The adolescent thing is VERY interesting and also has changed my approach to training my adolescent dogs (I am much more chill about it now LOL!!!!)
He seemed super happy to play the bang game!!! And yay for the decompression, he had a happy little grin 🙂 Ideally you can end him on that loop before he needs to take that victory lap 🙂
Since he was super confident, we can move to the next step! First, a question: are you doing a 2o2o or a 4 on? We add the end behavior into the bang game at this stage, but we can show it to him first on a plank that doesn’t move. So let me know what end behavior is on your radar and we can plan!On the lines videos:
The go line looked great, nice job getting the toy out ahead before he looked back.
FC wrap – nice transition into decel! That is hard to do on only 2 jumps but you did it and his turn was nice!
Rear crosses – his question there had to do with connection. On the first 2 rears, you turned your head to look forward and that was the exact moment that he looked at you. Looking forward makes a subtle change in the info, so he was checking to see what you wanted.
When you broke it down, you were connected the whole time then when you added the 2 jumps into it again, you looked at him the whole time too (when he was behind you, as he was passing you, and as he drove ahed) so he got it. SUPER!
And super clear strong connection got him to push to the backside very easily. YAY!!!
And nice stay on all of them!
Adding the tunnel on the 2nd video:
The ‘run’ and the wrap FC were both really well-connected and nicely timed! Try not to have a big party while he is jumping the last jump – that is why he pulled the bar on. The first 2 reps.Super nice connection on the RC! You were actually a little too far ahead, but decelerated while staying connected and showing the RC line, so he nailed it. The RC party was so fun 🙂
And the backside push a the end was great too – clear connection and excellent line of motion. Nailed it!He did well on the winging it too! I think you might have been too far away fro the wing on some reps: he started to go and then was not sure. The sweet spot of distance seemed to be when you were about an arm’s length away from the wing – he got it right every time. When you were 2 arm’s lengths away, it was too far so he was not as confident So for now, keep to an arm’s length away and shift your connection back to the wing (like you did here) and then gradually add more and more distance, inching your way further from the jump.
He was very happy to do the race track at the end (wheeeee!!) just stay connected all the way around. A little disconnect caused hm to miss the last wing.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! These looked great! The distance and speed on the UKI lines make things a little different 🙂 and you had a ton of control on the lines, lovely turns, independence, and some really impressive jumping efforts!! Lovely weaves, strong contacts (including you running past and blind crossing exits). And she was SO FAST OMG!!!
>>I knew I’d have issues in SS as the second jump after the tunnel was offset and I was behind. I didn’t trust that I could FC before the tunnel, but the RC put me too far behind.>>
It looks like you did pull out a ‘get out’ to try to save it – so you can plan to use your get out even sooner as she is approaching the previous jump, to shift her back out on the line!
>>Jumpers I was super happy either her weaves. That’s a hard entrance for her.>>
Yes, she was great!
>> Danika thinks I caused the first bar by yelling go on. >
Possibly! But also she was basically being asked to accelerate on a go line into the fence in the corner of the ring – pretty intense visual distractions could contribute to a bar down with a youngster, especially as she is processing UKI distances.
>>I’m not sure why she turned the wrong way on the RC. It’s an issue with her. >>
If you freeze the video at the takeoff point at 1:03, she is not yet seeing RC diagonal info. So in other words, you were late 😁 But how to be timely there? Looking at the line before it, you can commit her to the red jump and tunnel with connection and verbal (like you did) then immediately head to the RC diagonal (rather than round the line with her). That means as she is approaching the jump after the tunnel at 1:01 you are already facing the RC diagonal (to center of the bar of the RC jump) and that will get the info to her sooner. You were facing the straight line there and turning with the cure of the course, but you don’t need to do that: you can converge directly on to the RC diagonal.
>>Standard I’m not sure where she was going at the end. That left turn seemed obvious. Maybe she had tunnel on her mind? But, she won that class.>>
I think as she was jumping the double after the a-frame, she was seeing you near her (1:42). Possibly she rad it as a bit of RC convergence with you running so close? Then when she landed, you pulled your shoulder to the left but didn’t turn your feet, so that might have looked like a RC cue – if you pull to show the line then converge, the dogs learn that the pull predicts convergence and we get accidents rear crosses. pPlus it sounds like you said “Sprite” or ‘right’ so that might have added to it?
You can take a look at successful rear crosses and see if there is a shoulder pull that might look like this.
Overall though, she is looking GREAT!!!!! So exciting!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>For the wrap on 2 the threadle wrap definitely got me ahead more than the push wrap.
Great to know!!!! And useful 🙂
>>Mookie did it on the threadle wrap verbal backside cue while Alonso needed the threadle verbal and arm as well as backside verbal but he flowed through it nicely.>>
That sounds pretty normal – Mookie brings his experience to the game and Alonso is still learning, so needs more help.
>>OM Goodness Tracy you out did yourself designing these >>
Haha!! Yes, they were intended to challenge you 🙂

>>Seq 1. I learned from this course that Alonso can both decelerate and accelerate on a dime and can follow what I tell him.>>This is awesome! You have put that into his foundation and it is exciting to see it show up on course! YAY!!!
>> Mookie due his huge stride length he cannot decelerate on a dime well and seemed lost when I tried it >>
Right! He needs cues sooner and probably in a bigger way (like brake arms along with decel) so he has time to sort out the mechanics of the turn.

>>Seq 2. 12 to 13 I did a backside blind on 3 to a backside slice on 14 to 15 for Mookie as he wanted to flick to the dummy jump. >>It is possible that you on his line a bit, if he was convinced to move away to take the dummy jump? Also, dogs of his generation are not used to staying on lines with off course jumps nearby like young dogs are.
>>I eventually worked this out with Mookie also. I learned that Alonso reads threadles beautifully while the impulsive Mookie doesn’t respond even if I stop for him to come to me. Mookie didn’t even follow my close, close verbal cue and arms for his first run today which he usually does.>>
This might also because of the generational differences. When Mookie was a youngster, we didn’t need to train these threadles 🙂 But now that they are a big element of course design, Alonso learned them from the beginning of his training and that might be why they are easy with him.
. So proud both dogs did well and showed nice skills. The puppy is catching up to Mookie on his skills. I will have to remember their differences when walking courses for them >>
Sounds like they were both super successful and also that you were able to sort out the cue needs for each. Yay!!! And yes, definitely talk the courses with this in mind… which is what the next games package is all about 🙂
Thank you for the update!!! Great job!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Yes, it has been weird summer heat this year! Hopefully things will settle a bit for the rest of the summer (but I doubt it LOL!!)
This course went really well!!!! She had some of the best distance work and commitment I’ve ever seen her do! Yay!!
Opening – super nice forward focus on 1 to let you get the 3-4-5 line both times!!!
That set up the next line to be really nice too. Small detail for a tighter line: You can give the get out cue with the upper body and opposite arm on the jump after the a-frame as soon as you release from the frame so she turned directly to it, rather than going stride for a couple of strides then turning to it.
At :26 and 1:54 on the 10-11 cross, you can be closer to the line to 11 rather than get across the bar at 10 – that cued a wider line and you had to stop moving to send her back. If you stay closer to the entry wing of 10, you can stay in motion, cue 11, and be further ahead after 12.
The tunnel verbal was very clear bur physical cues overrode it at :28 because you were fully turned and facing the weaves. You stepped in more when you sent again and it helped her by adding more connection. And on the full run at 1:56, you made sure you kept connection there too and she got it really well!
Nice weave entry each time! She is really owning that skill now!!!! YAY!
On the tunnel entry under the DW at 16 – at :58 even with the distance, there was motion support and visible connection so she committed really well.
When you went back through there, the connection was not as strong – you accidentally pulled her off the jump before the tunnel without connection at 2:05 and 2:29 – she thrives on connection as being a huge part of the cue. And then took off without connection at 2:08 so she did not take the tunnel. That is great info that she is able to pull off big distance work a long as there is connection support. Without it, she correctly changes her line into handler focus.
I think you were wanting to get to 17 (understandably haha), but she will give you permission to leave by looking at 15. If she doesn’t look at 15, that means you have to help with more info.
She had a question on the RC at 17 at 1:02 – the cue looked like a decelerated FC wrap then you pushed in and she was confused (and gave her opinion 🙂 This was where Katniss was turning to the wrap direction. Not just yells at you instead 🙂 So she also needs the clear RC diagonal that you showed her on the reset at 1:13.
And you also had a rear cross diagonal at 2:34, but being so far away from it (getting around the DW) she checked in but then found the correct line. YAY!!! With Nox, it must have been clear info when she checked in because if it was still unclear, she would have continued to rage about it. But the RC diagonal was clear so she got right back on the line.
Nice ending line each time too!!!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
