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  • Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    >We have seen some of those veer around something to get to something. We had a hidden/recessed weaves entry at Run Wild where they had to veer around a tunnel to find a hidden set of weaves that felt new to me.>

    Yes, this new trend is in the early days and so far… it is giving me the big ICK. LOL!! I am hoping that, like threadle wraps, the course designers work out a way to get the challenge to make sense rather than make it feel like veering around things in the road. Time will tell!

    >And yes, on some really fast lines to a backside I have been looking to landing to help avoid drive-bys. >

    This is not a bad thing to do at all!! But… the better we train our pups, the less perfect we have to be. And on the backsides that require blind cross exits or lots of countermotion (or both), looking at landing can make timing late or delay you from getting up the next line. So this is a fun way to open up even more commitment skills.

    >Full disclosure, I had a pretty bad fall late Sunday at a trial and have injured ribs/intercostals and a tidge of pericardial inflammation so not able to run super fast or apparently tug right now.>

    Oh no!!! Ouch ouch ouch!!!! Hoping you have speedy healing.

    > So, toned the exercise down a bit and will ramp up with next steps you recommend as it hopefully improves the next few days.>

    This is a good exercise for this, because hopefully you didn’t feel the need to do a lot of twisting or anything.

    Looking at the video –

    The backside slices were almost perfect – you were able to cue the backside from pretty far away and keep moving, and he committed really well!

    There were 2 reps where both bars came down: at :29-:30 and 1:01-1:02.

    The only difference I could see on those 2 reps was that there was a sudden change in motion: you were pretty decelerated wen he exited the tunnel, then as he approached the next jump you accelerated and he didn’t quite recover his balance to extend then do the backside.

    He had no problem with the bars when your motion throughout was steady, even if it was walking motion or jogging motion.

    So ideally, you would always use this steady motion. But in reality, sometimes the dogs do see these slow-then-fast transitions so you can definitely show that to him on this setup. Do a rep or two on lower bars (16ā€) to show him how to be successful… then you can crank it back up to 20, 22, etc.

    Also, you can add more countermotion – send to the tunnel from further away so as he is arriving at the jump after the tunnel, you are already at the backside exit wing. Then as he is arriving at the takeoff spot for the backside, you are well past it. Start with fast walking and jogging, then you can ramp it up to running šŸ™‚

    Wraps are looking great – super excellent commitment, lovely jumping, no questions. SUPER!

    When your injuries are healed up, two next steps to add for the wraps:

    – Get ahead to the wing, decel, then suddenly explode to fast motion as he passes you. Then reward for the bar staying up šŸ™‚ The big motion changes are where we see questions on bars, so it is a good thing to show him.

    – Don’t get as far ahead but really race him through this, going as fast as you can šŸ™‚

    Excellent work! Hope you feel better soon!

    Tracy

    in reply to: Wendy and Grace #84101
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi!
    Holy wow, she is SO FAST and has lovely commitment – even at these early stages of training, she is flying! I think this session went well but you probably won’t have time to show her anything with your arms when you get into the bigger distances šŸ™‚

    Try these foundation games with you just running and pumping your arms (like a jogger or sprinter) – be connected like you were, that was great! And keep using your verbals! But rather than try to show her the line, let’s see what happens when you just run run run and don’t point at all.

    You can also start adding in being a little further away from the lines and wings for now – even though she is very small, we are going to build in BIG distance skills. The smaller the dog, the more distance we build in (because she will take 3 or 4 times as many strides on a line as a bigger dog). So we can start that now by having you try to cue the wings from further away laterally, or sending her ahead of you to the wing (rather than you going with her).

    Great job here! It is very fun to see her feeling good and running fast!

    Tracy

    in reply to: Stephanie and MissL #84100
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    She was really flying around the jump lines here! Nice job with your connection and your verbals!

    Her only questions were at the beginning, driving to the first tunnel at :06 and :12. She was seeing you decelerate and turn away, so she was not sure if she should go to it or go to the other end as you turn. You can move forward to the tunnel more, maintaining connection and not pointing at it because that turns your shoulders away from it.

    Speaking of pointing: She has picked up a lot of speed so you can point less and run more šŸ™‚ What I mean by that is you don’t need to extend the dog-side arm to point at the line or jump. You can bend the arm at the elbow and jog/run along the lines while connected – she will still see the line and that will allow you to move even faster šŸ™‚

    Her commitment is looking good on the wrap game too! You were waiting until she was at the wrap jump to begin the wrap cues, so the timing was a little late. Because she is committing so well, you can begin to cues the wrap earlier: stay in fast motion until she is at the jump before the wrap jump.

    Then as she takes off for that jump before it, you can start to slow down to begin cueing the wrap collection. Then as she approaches takeoff (you will see her begin to collect) you can do the FC rotation. Stay connected as you do this because connection supports commitment – if she pulls off the wrap jump, it is possible that you disconnected or that you rotated too early.

    Great job here!! It is fun to see her driving these lines!

    Tracy

    in reply to: Kristy and Ellie #84099
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    >But I guess I felt like I needed to get ahead because I’m assuming on a real course, I would want to leave her and get ahead to the next obstacle. >

    With her speed, wanting to get ahead is a definite YES! The cool thing about this threadle wrap is that even with a little bit of decel, you can still get significantly ahead of her.

    >But I guess I have to be patient and not take off until she has committed to the jump? >

    The decel is part of the cue that tells her which jump and how tight to turn – and her commitment will look like when she turns her head to the jump and is heading to the wrap wing (not the slice wing). I these early stages, it might feel like you are waiting for a long time šŸ™‚ but it will get easier as she gets more experienced with the behavior.

    >Or would there be a time when she is confident enough that we could do this with speed and she would understand to do the wrap?>

    Totally yes! There might always be a touch of decel to it, depending on how the course is laid out, but you will be able to trust her understanding and head away to the next line as soon as she turns her head to the jump.

    Looking at the serp video:
    She dd really well with her serps here – it is a pretty hard behavior and your foundations really shone through here!! Super!

    Because she is doing so well, you can keep moving up the line as she is doing the serp jump – you were waiting for her a little bit here and using your serp arm to guide her in and out, and I don’t think she needs that. You can show the serp arm and stay connected like you did, and keep moving to the next jump.

    She only had 2 questions here, and you made adjustments to help her out:

    At :41 she missed the jump after the tunnel – there was not enough of a visible serp cue so she (correctly šŸ™‚ ) ran straight. Showing her more serp arm (like at 1:24 on the same sequence) went great!

    >At .58 there is an example of her focusing on the frisbee. It didn’t help that I was flinging it in her face.>

    I think she was actually following the handling there and not going for the frisbee. As she exited the tunnel, you cued the next jump as a post turn by turning your shoulder without a serp arm (yes, frisbee was in your hand :)) so she was correct to drive towards you.

    Compare to 1:14 where you gave serp cues and she ignored the frisbee in your hand. Yay!

    About the serp arm:
    As you move up the line, you were using the cross arm to cue the serp. When using the cross arm, you don’t need to move it – that was creating a rear cross on the next jump, because it was looking like a tandem turn cue. You can put the cross arm up and hold it in position as you move up the next line.

    You might also find it even easier to use only the dog-side arm locked back and fully extended away from you. It is easier to run forward that way, and dogs read that cue really nicely. I definitely like anything that makes it easier to run LOL!

    Both arm uses require big connection so it is a choice of which one allows you to run up the line faster. You can try both and see how it feels!

    Great job here!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Joan & Judge #84098
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning! This went really well – excellent connection, excellent commitment. Yay!

    When you play this again – you can move the timing up to start the turn cues sooner. On this video, you were driving up to the wing and starting the decel then rotation as he was passing you. But based on how strong his commitment is, you can start to decel into the send & rotation as he exit the tunnel. That will get even tighter turns and give the next info sooner, especially on the spins. By starting the cues when he exits the tunnel, the blind cross element of the spin will be finished as he exits the wing, allowing him to see the next line sooner. This will also be closer to the timing you’ll want when there are jump bars added.

    Nice work here! Have fun at the Regional!

    Tracy

    in reply to: Lora and Roots (maybe Pick too) #84086
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    For the overlay, the walk through file came through but the run did not. Can you also send the run to agilityuniversity@gmail.com ?

    Thanks!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Julie, Kaladin & Lift #84057
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    >Started with a tunnel for Lift thinking it would be easier and she decided to go for bonus points and take the other end of the tunnel!>

    Actually, she was correct. Note how she exited tunnel 1 fairly straight, then looked at you… then decided you wanted the threadle. Freeze the video at :11 when she looked at you and you can see your arm was in giraffe-feeding position LOL which turned your shoulders and feet to the off course jump and other side of the tunnel. You were saying tunnel, so she chose the other side of the tunnel. Brilliant baby dog! Good reward!! She was very stimulated by it, which manifested by having a trouble yaering the tree.

    When you changed sides and she exited the tunnel at 1:14, you were looking ahead and getting ready to throw so she was confused, You had a clearer cue at 1:20 so she got it

    Back to the original side – at 1:29 your arm was still super high so she looked at you, but your feet/shoulders were facing the correct tunnel entry more so she went back out and took it.

    So for the tunnel cues, keep your arms nice and low so she can still see the connection and which way your shoulders/feet are pointing. And you can go in a little more to the end of the first tunnel to support her driving away to the 2nd tunnel.

    The toy throws to the jump really helped her and then she was quickly able to just keep going and not look back. Yay!

    Kaladin did a great job with the first tunnel rep! Even with the high arm, your feet and shoulders were facing it, so he got it nicely.
    When you changed sides, he also felt that you looking ahead and having the high arm was not as clear (he is in agreement with Lift there).

    At :42, he had the same thoughts as Lift about the very high arm šŸ™‚ – he was not sure which obstacle it was, but he was sure it was not the straight line to the tunnel.

    Try these without arm cues at all – the higher the arm, the more questions both dogs asked unless you were definitely facing the tunnel entry with them on your left. It is the type of thing that can be pretty much pure verbal – and I think the high arm was trying to help them go, but it was blocking connection a bit and turning you a bit, so they had some questions.

    The switch aways are looking good! I think you can get it from even further away by using hand cues more, so he doesn’t need to wait for your feet to pressure into the RC line. That way you can really by pretty far away (heading to the post turn wing, which can set up a big distance advantage) but using hand cues to differentiate the position and motion from the regular post turn. I use both of my hands and show them to the dog to kind of pull and flip. The more experienced dogs just need to see the 2 hands and don’t need to see the pull & flip (like Contraband in the demo video – the hand cues were smaller and more subtle). But less experienced dogs can totally see the hand cues as helpful to pull them in and flip away, without needing to drive into a RC line as much.

    You had the European high arm cue to the poles here: you were connected under the armpit šŸ™‚ He said it was perfectly fine to do that because it still showed the line he needed to see.

    Great job!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Jen and Muso #84056
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    Super nice job on course 1 – the walk through was really strong and clear. One handling option to consider is to layer more with a bigger send to 6 (jump after the weaves) so you can get the 7 tunnel and meet her on the takeoff side of the 8 jump, being stationary in threadle position. That will help get a tighter turn on the exit of 7, and making it very easy to get 10-11-12.

    Your timing and connection was very strong in the walk through, and you were running fast! Yay! Most of the verbals were on time, delivered to where she was on the previous obstacle (like the zip verbal at :33). The verbals a 3 and 11 were a little late in the walk through (but not in the run šŸ™‚ )

    Did you say ‘good dog’ to your invisible dog? I do that too LOL

    The run went REALLY well! Super nice opening, timely & connected, she knew exactly where to be. She exited the weaves early which caught you by surprise I think, but you still got the line after it. Especially nice was the little decel and brake arm used on the exit of 11 to get her to take 12, and NOT either of the 2 tunnels (or off course jump) that were highly visible. YAY!!

    Gorgeous timing of the threadle wrap physical and verbal cues at 1:14, exactly how you rehearsed them in the walk through. And great job driving that ending line.

    The only question here was staying in the weaves: do some practice of you running away like that and throw rewards to the exit of the weaves. And, with Nationals coming up – also practice NOT running away as much and still getting the sequence. You can be 10 feet or so closer to the weaves here and still get the 6-7-8 line. Yes, it is protecting the weave exit a bit but that is appropriate to do for upcoming trials as the training solidifies.

    Course 2 walk through: Also looked really strong! Connected and clear throughout. Just a couple of spots to consider:

    On the lead out: Can you be more laterally behind on the opening to be further up the line nearer the weaves when she is in the straight tunnel? That way you can send to 1-2 and layer the 7/12/18 jump to get up to be able to help a little with the weave entry (even if it is just with a bit of decel as she is arriving at the entry).

    The blind to threadle might need to happen sooner 7-8, it looked like it was late relative to where the invisible dog was.

    The turn from 18-19 might need stronger cues – it is a threadle line so she might end up on the backside without a cue to bring her in to the front. And it looks like you walked a spin on 19 to get to 20, I don’t think you need to spin there – if you want to add collection, a brake arm will work great.

    Looking at the run – on the start line, you can let her get settled into the stay for a few more seconds before you begin the lead out. She moved with you at first because you took off pretty quickly.

    Once you did that and stayed connected, super nice lead out!

    Running with her had a lot of acceleration and she couldn’t quite get the weaves
    She got it on the 2nd run but she was expecting the weaves there šŸ™‚

    You did a pull to a flip away on the 7-8 line and I thought that was a really good adjustment because based on where she was, the blind to threadle was going to be late and potentially get an off course.

    She went past 14 at 1:55, probably looking at the a-frame. That is something that can totally happen because the motion as you ran around the tunnel did open up that line – so a brake arm can help override that motion when you need to run into a box but motion might open up an off course line. The other option is to send to 13-14 while layering the tunnel šŸ™‚

    Side note: she had a lot of weave misses in this session on both courses (entries and exits) so be sure to get her into a massage person and/or chiro to make sure nothing is tight. She has been trialing a lot and doing a lot of weaves.

    Once she got the weaves, the next section went really well!

    You got 18-19 with a spin then a threadle, that is a lot of dance moves in one spot šŸ™‚ You can do a RC on the takeoff side of 18 then the threadle is easier, or if she is on your left as she is exiting 17, do a brake arm followed by the threadle. That is less rotation and will get a nice turn there.

    Having to show the handling 18-19 also showed that she did not need a spin 19-20.

    >And here’s the link for the trial analysis, if you have time.>

    Added!

    Great job here!

    Tracy

    in reply to: Kristy and Ellie #84050
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    >I also let her watch and listen as my other dog did the full teeter so she could hear it bang. She definitely noticed the bang but it didn’t scare her. >

    That is cool! There is definitely learning that happens from observing another dog doing it, and also from seeing your other dog looking so confident and happy to do it.

    >She gets pretty distracted when she sees the frisbee. I can put it down my pants but then the reward is delayed. I tried using a tug but she isn’t nearly as excited about the tug. >

    The visual of the frisbee might definitely be challenging! Frizzers are THE BEST and also it means it will be thrown… which can be tilted her behavior more into running fast and less into collection. So a less exciting tug toy or even highly visible food rewards are good. And you can also have the frisbees hidden then whip it out at the end – a delayed reward can still be very useful here!

    The session went well – she had a lot of success here! Super!! You were setting the line really well and she was able to find the correct side of the jump and turn away really well.

    >Today, on the few reps where we were successful, her wraps were a little tighter.>

    When she was a little wide, she was seeing steady and fast motion from you. When you added a bit of deceleration later in the video (like at 1:12), her wrap immediately tightened up.

    So to get the tighter wraps, you can send to the tunnel from further away so that as she exits the tunnel, she can see you go from moving fast into moving slow as you begin the threadle wrap cues. I bet that is what you did on the video where she was tighter.

    Great job here!!

    Tracy

    in reply to: Lora and Roots (maybe Pick too) #84049
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    >I like the ā€œtreat myself like a studentā€ thing. It goes beyond just the rote ā€œbe kind to yourselfā€, which just doesn’t feel genuine.>

    Yes, there are 3 things I really don’t like for this self-talk stuff:
    ā€œBe kind to yourselfā€ is one of those. The other two are ā€œit is part of the journeyā€ and ā€œif you are not successful, you are learningā€ blah blah blah hahahahahahahaha! Those really don’t vibe with me because I like more concrete things to do, plus sometimes I don’t want to learn something and that is ok too šŸ™‚

    > But to treat myself like a student is to acknowledge that I do know things (the teacher side), AND I’m still learning things! >

    Both of these are incredibly true: you are a highly skilled professional, both in how their bodies work and in how their brains work, which has led to plenty of excellence in agility. But also – agility is a fast-moving, wildly complex, and high failure sport, which means this is still plenty of learning to be done (even when we are not in the mood to learn things LOL!). And being able to self-assess is a hugely important skill, as well as develop a small network of folks who can help with that.

    >Leaving a course for a whole month is tough because I have to move everything to mow any way, at least up until about this point in the summer. >

    Yes, it is hard to leave it up for a month but even if it is just a couple of days, I think you’ll find big benefits. I’ve also done some UKI At Home stuff which has really stretched the comfort zone because it is not course designs of my choosing and it is time-limited. I don’t really care about the Q but my competitive streak gets me wanting to run clean LOL

    > but this year was quite wet and we’ve had fast growth throughout.>

    This year was like living in a tropical rain forest. It was GROSS. And it is not over yet – hurricane season is just picking up.

    >In other news Pick’s home fell through, so once I sort out my feelings about that (sooo much inner conflict lol) he may return to some agility training as well.>

    Ugh that is a bummer!!! I know it must be really hard. He is a cool dog – if you end up keeping him and you do MaxPup 4 with Beat in the fall, you can put him through the transition to trials stuff and we can see if we can get him trialing successfully!!

    Tracy

    in reply to: Kim and Sly #84048
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    >So very sorry that you have lost VooDoo. One of the things for sure is that no matter how long they are with us it is never long enough.>

    This is so true. There is comfort in that so many people completely understand!

    >It’s one that’s been ā€œon the listā€ for awhile, now it’s at the top šŸ™‚ The layer is a skill we have, it’s the switch away that we didn’t.>

    This skill is getting popular in course design and is super useful!
    This session went really well – your work in the previous sessions really set him up for success here!

    Only 2 suggestions:
    As you are cueing the switch, you can begin the cue with bigger arm movements – when you did that like at 1:34, he was very sure of what to do. When you were more subtle like at 1:15, he had questions and ended up dropping the bar.

    The other suggestion is to do lots of balance reps where you do a plain old boring post turn to the right on that jump, or the tight RC or even a tight FC back to the tunnel (rather than doing the switch to the left to the weaves) – that way he is still processing cues and not turning to the weaves because he has learned the sequence šŸ™‚

    Great job here!!!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Barb, Enzo and Casper #84047
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    >Her more favorite exercises are the sit/down/stand (in any order) on a narrow plank. This is hard. And doing it with one foot elevated is very hard. We have also been working on balancing on 2 feet. First the diagonals and then both feet on one side. And crawling. Enzo crawls forward pretty well; backwards not yet. >

    These are all so good!! And doing it on the plank is great because it really requires control from the core.

    Here’s another fun one! It isolates the quads, which my PT vet says can be quite ā€œpunyā€ on sports dogs LOL!! I was doing this here as a surgery rehab for a patella, but it remains in the regular rotation (slight higher bar to step over now).

    Pop Out 1 went great! He was brilliant about finding the weaves of course, even when you were laying the #2 jump.
    2 small details:
    – because there is a wrap on 1, you can release with both hands up. This helps the dogs differentiate the wider turns on the opening jump (release with 1 hand) versus the wraps on the opening jump (release with both hands). It could be either in the current trend of forward focus on jump 1, so seeing the cue with 1 or 2 hands helps before the release.

    – After sending to 2 and 3, you can rotate to face the weaves as a spin on the tunnel entry (as opposed to the post turn). The spin will get you immediately moving to the line of the weaves and will cue a tight turn on the tunnel exit (taking out the line back to 1). It should feel pretty natural in the moment and doesn’t need to be a fast rotation.

    Pop Out 2 went really well too!
    On the first run: The switch on 3 looked great – you can call him sooner as he is taking the 3 jump to get a faster line to 4 (he was a bit wide with some questions there). As he was approaching 4, he saw a lot of acceleration on- that is what contributed to the wide turn on the wrap at 5.

    On the 2nd run, you turned to the right (FC wrap) – this also looked good! He is collecting really well and your decel cues and timing are looking great!

    Looking at the differences, because lead changes are not always a predictor of what is faster/slower:

    I didn’t think the right turn on 3 would set up as good of a line as the left turn would, but I timed it two different ways (landing of 1 to landing of 5, and landing of 2 to landing of 4) taking out the turn from 5 to the tunnel. Timing it like this came to the same results you found – the right turn wrap was faster.

    It might have been slightly less yardage, plus he more immediately knew the line 4-5. The switch might have had more yardage and also he didn’t as immediately know what the line to 4 was (several extra strides there). I am interested to know if calling him sooner would change the outcome of the timing because it would take out the extra strides & yardage.

    For Casper: 
>We did both the front side wrap and slice, I think they look pretty good. We’ll move along to backside wraps next. >

    I agree, he is doing well! You can see him really engaging his hind end here in preparation for sitting and collecting to get over the jump.

    As you add in the backside wraps, you can also put an empty bowl on the ground to give him a focal point to lower his head (otherwise his head if up and he watches you). On the slices, the bowl would be one stride past where he would land (so about 6 feet past the jump. On the wraps (front and back) the bowl would be past the wing on the exit side so he completes the wrap and goes to the bowl. Yes, he will have to pass the bowl to get into the wrap šŸ™‚

    The bowl is empty and then you drop the reward into it as you move away. You can also add more of your motion, plus take it outside to see how he does on grass (that is the first step to fading the plank :))

    >I left in the last weave runs; if I carry it in my outside hand, he has better success than in the nearside. We’re working on it.>

    He can probably see it very clearly in your nearside hand šŸ™‚ He is doing great though and I know he will be able to ignore that toy very soon šŸ™‚

    Great job here!

    Tracy

    in reply to: Chaia & Lu #84046
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi! Nice job here!

    I wrote the thoughts about the previous session before watching this one:

    I think you arrived at a similar thought process about slowing down your motion on the runs here! The slower pace in handling for now was effective – she did a lot better and you did the handling more like the walking agility. The trick is going to be applying it everywhere for now, even that ending line.

    For example, in the walk through at 1:15 – 1:22, you had a steady pace that was closer to walking/vert slow jog. She was very successful! Just try not to stand still near the jump after the tunnel – we want to shape her to take it while you are moving.

    Our goal of course is to eventually have you run full out, but we can get her on board with that plan by slowing the pace.

    She found 1-2 no problem! Yay!

    Based on how this is set up, I think the 2-3 line could be a backside for her so using a brake arm and even a threadle cue to get it can help get her on the line. The spin you used in run 3 was great too: it got the turn while not using a ton of motion. Yay! That way you won’t have to pull really fast to your right – that burst of motion was contributing to her going past 3 on the first 2 runs.

    Staying in a slower steady pace helped her find the middle section – then the burst of speed contributing to running past the last bar.

    >am adding my third because I liked to see the comparison of what I actually needed to do to get a good rep (early cues, less movement).>

    I am glad you did – the 3rd run was the best! You did not stop moving, but also you were super connected and moving at a slower steady pace. Just add that to the last line too, so she can drive ahead and find that last jump.

    I am also curious to see how she does when there is no toy in your hand. These sequences don’t need a precision reward, so you can have a toy in your pocket or use food for now.

    Great job here!
    Let me know what you think!

    Tracy

    in reply to: Chaia & Lu #84045
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi! Thanks for your kind words about Voodoo. Those boy dogs totally will do anything for their moms!

    Thanks for posting the video – you were really great about making a big happy fuss when she got it right!

    Yes, I can bug you about giving stronger turn cues earlier on the tunnel entry (like using both hands) but also… the jump was right there and she was actively going around it.

    Same with jump 1 – she did better when you were closer on the release (as opposed to closer to the tunnel exit) but also… the jump was right there.

    So three things to consider in training:

    – always get her in high arousal with tugging beforehand (you might already be doing this) so she learns to find the jumps when she is more stimulated

    – but to balance that: slow your motion. Do some walking agility on these sequences! You will be in motion the whole time, but not moving fast yet.

    Moving fast plus arousal are resulting in going around a lot of jumps, so we can keep the arousal (because she needs to be able to execute in that arousal state) and dial back the motion for now (then gradually work it back up). Why this is happening? Probably a processing question where her brain cannot process taking the mechanics of taking the jumps, running fast, seeing you run fast, seeing the toy, etc. She might not even “see” the jumps! But the ‘why’ only matters in how we figure out how to help her.

    If you are still get regular running past the jumps: lower the bars a bit especially on jumps after a tunnel.

    The other suggestion is to not have the reward on the ground behind her – that was definitely splitting her focus a lot. I think she did better when you were holding it, but you can also go to no visible toy or food rewards. It is entirely possible that the visible toy is splitting her attention enough to cause her to run past the jumps.

    Let me know what you think!

    Tracy

    in reply to: Patty and Indy #84035
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi! I am glad your vision is better!!!

    Yes, Indy is definitely enjoying finding her weaves LOL!!! One of the ways you can balance finding the weaves with watching handling cues is to tell her that she is very clever to get the weaves… but not cue them or reward them if you were standing still and cueing a tight turn šŸ™‚ If we are late on a tight turn cue, maybe the dog picks up one extra jump then turns – I would argue that you were not late (and you were pretty stationary and you had two hands out) and she was simply locked on the weaves. We don’t need to reward it, but you can also do a lot of balance for the finding weaves and also finding turns and not the weaves šŸ™‚ She probably went to the weaves the 2nd time because she was rewarded the first time LOL!

    On the 3rd rep, you were more compelling as you got the turn cues going – the name call is effective as a “HEY SOMETHING’S HAPPENING HERE” as she is approaching 2 and the turn cues are starting.

    The weaves to the jump layer to the tunnel looked great! You got the 8 jump to the 9 tunnel from the landing side of 8. She was a little wide on the tunnel exit because you were blocking the wing – another option there is that you can also stay on the takeoff side of 8 and handle it as a threadle out of the tunnel, so she is on your left for 8 and the send to 9

    >. I think I need to teach a come in or threadle verbal, not sure if this calls for that or not.

    I think the 10 jump after the tunnel is almsot a ‘freebie’ for her because it is so easy šŸ™‚ And yes, that makes 11 a threadle slice, handling it as you did at the end of video (this is also how you can handle jump 8, too!)
    Using the right verbal for 10 (when she exits the tunnel) then the threadle verbal slice verbal will be great there!.

    > To be honest, this type of course is still so new to me.>

    You are doing awesome! And teaching her to stay on her line like you are doing is going to be REALLY helpful for the big crazy courses, as you can see here on the section from the #5 weaves to the 10 jump after the tunnel!

    Great job!

    Tracy

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