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Hi!
>I started with cheese and when I saw the concern I changed to chicken and it solved the problem.>
Perfect! Excellent decision!
> Question: As far as pressure. Should I start low and work up. Meaning first run have couple people in the ring. Second run add people behind him and third run have dogs out of the crates?>
I think start with the normal, higher pressure he will see at trials: people, noise, dogs, etc. And have the ‘ring crew’ or judge or instructor in the ring with a reward hidden in their pocket. When you are on the course moving away from the exit gate/reward area, you can ask the other person to throw the reward. This will surprise him in a good, good way: when he moves ‘upstream’ away from where you left his rewards, he gets MORE rewards! Yay!
>No food. I believe the difference was someone was standing in the corner of the building after the jump after the dog walk. (note person had a bright yellow hoddy on) Also the dog walk was on a slight angle. The only thing though he was not his normal speed going up the dog walk. So maybe between going the direction front to back of the building and then when he reached the top of the dog walk he saw the person standing in the corner. I was happy though on the second run he did do the full dog walk and that person was still in the corner.>
He might have scoped out the environment and that contributed to the more relaxed mulligan runs. Also, did you feel any difference in yourself: less nervous in mulligans, maybe? Dogs sometimes read that. So you can try to make yourself nervous on Sunday: pretend it is a real trial and you are doing for a Q!
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
I am glad you are feeling better – sounds like an icky 1.5 weeks!!!>I still think having more spicy games at the beginning would be helpful, but I just am not creative enough with the those ideas. I tried to teach him to bark, but it I couldn’t get him to do it! So weird that I have a schnauzer that is hard to get to bark, I mean, c’mon!!😂>
Seriously! LOL! I am sure we can convince him. Can you name it when he is already barking, such as say “who’s there?” then knock on the door, then give him cookies? Then start saying “who’s there” or anything that triggers even a little huffing noise, then reward. I cue barking with the word “ready” and pair it with exciting things 🙂
> I think he thinks spins right and left are stupid>
Can you have him spin then chase a treat or ball? That might be less stupid LOL
> He’s very “handsy” so we do “Gimme 5” on both paws and I move a bit back and forth and he likes that.>
That is good! I think he will like the other stuff too if it is paired with higher value stuff or moving rewards.
Tossing rewards is good, like you did at the beginning of the video – you can also have him pop up to get the cookie from you hand. Front feet should come off the ground for his, and maybe you can convince him to leap up (all 4 feet) to get it. That pumps up the heart rate (think about plyometrics at the gym :)) and is a great pre-run way to reward in a small space.
> We had extra time to wait than I thought on the first round while the bars were having some difficulty gettin set off camera so we just had some chill. Maybe I should have been doing more there to pump him up??>
He did well ignoring the dog and bar setters as he entered. Since this is early in his training for this, you can totally use food rewards early and often. He did get a cookie for a high five but you can raise the value for ignoring people by rewarding earlier and more frequently. You can see that he was not all that pumped up by the time the leash came off that he was not all that engaged. You got him back in gear which was great! More rewards early on will keep his engagement and then you can fade the rewards.
He had a couple of treats in the 2nd round too, but you can do more tricks and less chill as you wait 🙂 it is the higher arousal from the tricks at that help with ignoring distractions.
>In Round 2 I decided to leave the leash closer to the end. Should I have been more fun and engaging getting back to jump #1?>
I think you were pretty engaged and he seemed happy to move with you. You can ask for more tricks like spins, but also it is good that he can move with you like that without tricks. The sequence after that looked great! He is looking really good with his sequence skills!!! Nice weaves!
>Did a little exit practice with my “Let’s Go” which means we’re gonna leave and get a jackpot, which he got right outside the ring.>
That looked good! He seemed perfectly happy with that!
Great job here. What is coming up on his training/trial calendar?
Tracy
Hi! I am glad everyone is recovered from their ops!!!!
The strike a pose game went great! She was great about driving fast to the jump as you added the countermotion. Most of it was very easy for her. Things got harder as you added getting to the front side before the release: she had a question at :49, had to think deeply about it at 1:20, and was smoother at 1:45. Be sure to look at the landing spot to help her when you release (it was hard to see where you were looking) and also, as the countermotion gets harder, you can throw the reward further behind you so it lands on the landing side of the jump and not near you 🙂
> did her stays – I think she got tired for the last two or maybe more rewarding! I always panic about stays at about this time and feel I haven’t done enough work on them. >
Her stays looked strong! You can reward a lot especially when doing games that have a bit of movement on the release – she might have been anticipating the release a bit when you arrived in position.
>Still switching happily between food and toys (bonus!)>
Yay! She has really good balance between food and toys!!
Great job here 🙂
TracyGood morning!
This went really well! Great job with serp position near the jumps, staying connected, and keeping your shoulder open so he serped jump 1 and also found jump 2. YAY!!!
You can be moving even more before the release – walking through serp position and as you arrive in serp position, release him while you keep moving (that way release and motion are not simultaneous). 1:18 was almost like this, but you can take out the stop before the release. The rep at 1:37 was more like it – moving the whole time! He seemed to have no questions. So since his stay is looking strong, you can work on doing what you did at 1:37 but adding fast walking, then jogging… and build up to running 🙂 FUN!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
> I now have a dogwalk (well something close to one). Last night she pranced the whole way across and this morning went half way. Realised looking at the video I didnt keep up with her so she stopped. Currently seems to need me beside her but at the rate she is now progresssing that will not stay true for long.>
Can the dog walk be lowered? That can help build her confidence to go across it without you. Also, is she targeting something at the other end, so she doesn’t look back at you?
And I am glad the weaves are going well!
> it is easier to throw a ball as when I throw a treat she doesnt always make the effort to find it.>
Yes, the ball is really visible and fun – and the treats are hard to find and not worth the effort LOL!
Keep me posted!
TracyHi!
> Agreed!! I’m thinking that the visiting is being driven by his need to get rid of his pressure buildup from the cue and startline,>
Yes – which is why I like the idea of getting him off the start line as soon as possible. And you can be verbally connected to him – talking to him, even saying something like “ready ready”. And talking to him as he has to go past ring crew can help too – you are often quite in those moments.
> so more patterns and more chill to help him. I think he’s often on the downslope of the backside of the arousal curve when coming to the line and is really taxing his brain trying to keep his act together. When he’s like this, does volume dial help or hurt?>
I don’t think more chill and more patterns help – volume dial can help by optimizing arousal to the point that the distractions disappear!
>A run from yesterday – had a ring person in place, he checked her out, I rewarded the next obstacle once he took it and then life was good!>
Yes, that was good! And you can talk to him there, and stay a little closer to him can’t hurt (I think your instructor was saying that). But definitely rewarding immediately after can help because it can make the ring crew person into a cue that good things will happen if he focuses on you 🙂
He did well ignoring the other dog exiting on the 2nd run!
Handling without verbals is good for handling practice! Really nice run – tons of connection really helped and your cues were really clear for the most part! Super!
There was no ring crew person there so we can’t test the ‘talk to him as he is passing the person’ theory so try it next time when you are allowed to talk to him again 🙂 It can be jump verbals or his name.
I do think that staying verbally connected to him on lead outs is a good thing – when you silently walk away, he looks around a lot. You can try quiet praise, or you can try ramping him up with ready ready and see which one produces the right balance of focus while also holding the stay 🙂
>I have an opportunity Saturday for a couple of runs in a full floor agility match with ring crew – same venue that we run CPE in. My thoughts are to concentrate on passing the ring crew – obstacle, pass ring crew, obstacle reward. Repeat and if it goes well, up the challenge by having two people sit side by side – your thoughts on how to use my time – I’ve got 2 4 minute slots.>
What a great opportunity! Are you allowed to use food? If so – for the first run, you can definitely reward when he passes the ring crew. And on the 2nd run, you can have the lotus ball in your pocket (or have nothing with you), but also maybe helpers can have hidden food in a lotus ball in their pockets too and throw it past the next obstacle when he is past them and ignoring them. That way he can ignore people even when you don’t have the ball in your hand or pocket!
>Also have 2 more UKI opportunities in early March if I can talk myself into the 2 hour drives.>
Yeah, 2 hour drives are easier in the summer than in March LOL!!!!
Nice work here!
TracyUgh those temperatures sound terrible!!! Yes, do easy stuff in class so she can at least get out and run around 🙂
T
Hi! Thanks for the maps!
> I did the pattern games on the outside of the ring and he was a little concern by the look on his face, but he loved doing the pattern game with me. >
I am glad he was able to do the pattern game! What type of food were you using? Him showing a bit of concern outside the ring is something to note – we can go to more volume dial games, or higher value food, or both.
On the first run video:
>. Yes there were a few people at the entrance so I kind of believe this was the problem.>
Yes, the combination of running towards the crowd and not having food in the ring was HARD! An idea for future runs is to bring him to the middle of the ring to start (carry if he likes that) and start the course in the middle of the ring – further from the pressure of the crowd.
And in classes, he needs to see people right there with pressure and dogs right outside the ring. I know it is hard to get people to do that LOL!!! At first you can have food with you, but then you can fade out the food and get him running with all the pressure. That can mean starting in the middle of the ring in those scenarios too!
Looking at the maps and your descriptions… I think there is a pattern:
he seemed to be struggling on the sections moving towards the back wall (away from the exit gate and food) and did well when he was running sequences towards the exit gate and food 🙂 Is that basically correct? That is not unusual and we can definitely help him out.
For the mulligans:
>I did do a mulligan with him on this run started at the dog walk again and he just flew. He did the whole course at his regular speed.
I did do a mulligan on this run also. He did do the dog walk all the way this time not his normal speed, He was concerned, but when completed it he turned around and went back at his normal speed and finished up the run again full speed and happy.>What was different about these runs: Some places allow food in mulligan runs, did you have food with you? Or were there fewer people? Or were you more relaxed? We can look for a trend there too.
Great job!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! He did well here with the NFC runs! He is starting to look more and more ‘at home’ in the ring, which is great!
A couple of themes in both runs to think about in class and the next trial:
– you can run the lines harder when handling him 🙂 Yes, focus on being connected but also drive the lines. You were laying back a bit, I think, and he was not always sure which line to pick up. You can support the line more by pushing closer to each line.
– you can bring him in tugging on his leash, or with a toy (totally legal even in ‘real’ runs in UKI!) He was a little distracted in the first run here, but very focused running after the famous Leeroy because he was able to tug on his leash! Yay!
– when you add in the stays, be sure to face the direction you want to go, then release. On the first run, you moved and released all at once, and we don’t want to build movement into the release. The lineup and forward focus on the 2nd run was great, a much ‘cleaner’ smoother stay process 🙂
– try to get the toy in after he was successful on a line, not after he misses a line. So if he misses something, keep going til he is on a line then whip the toy out 🙂
>He dropped a bar in the back (still jumping 16″ and I think the wall, etc., was a lot of pressure) and looked slightly shocked but kept going. The bar before the tunnel might have been excitement, because I was yelling ‘go go go.’ >
No biggie, I think it was a combo of those things and also he was going fast – the more experience he gets driving those lines, the easier it will be for the jumping 🙂
>We have a month before another trial, where I plan to continue to do NFC and just make the sequences a little longer (unless you think there’s other/different stuff I should be doing?).>
Stays 🙂 You can enter lots of things and just work stays and lead outs! You can use a platform in NFC or any aid that can help him – putting short, successful stays in now is going to be good for the future! And he won’t start to think that trials are stay-free zones. The stays don’t even need to be in front of an obsacle – you can do a simple stay on the flat at the front of the ring.
> The good news is that he’ll be 18 months then so I added Jumping too. He doesn’t (and won’t) have weaves,>
Cool! And be sure to make a plan that doesn’t require him to run past the weaves, that will make weaves harder to get when we want him to take the weaves 🙂 You can also enter Gambles and Agility, and find some fun contact-free lines 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi –
Looking at the decel:
” Hurt my heart with her falling on her face”
Yeah…. she was not falling on her face, she was losing her shoulder which is just as bad 🙁 It is not her fault – the footing is slippery for her on both the straight toy throws and definitely on the turns. To protect her shoulders, you need to learn to wrap her feet with powerflex for grip as you train. And wrap her every time so if she jumps wide or turns or slips, she can grip and doesn’t get hurt. She was not that wide here, she was not going that fast, the bar was super low… those were big slips. Time for Powerflex! Here is how I wrap:
For agility, wrap from her toe pads up to the dew claws.
(I don’t run my dogs on turf without wraps)
She did adjust and turn really well after the big slips (because, OUCH!) but we don’t want those big slips in the first place especially as you add more and more speed.
The 360s are going well! You can add more motion to show her the countermotion element of it, getting right behind her tail and walking forward (but continuing to reward behind you). You can replace the mouth click with a placement marker (‘get it’ or something similar) so she looks forward for the reward ( she looks at you with the click and we don’t want her looking at you here :)) And more movement will give her more room too, so she won’t hit the barrel as she comes around. I think she will also like more rewards with the toy and more tugging between each rep…the food is nice but it will be more fun with the toy!
>I say it was a 50/50 team struggle on this lol!>
Ha! Nope, still all on us humans LOL When she as turning to the right and you wanted left ( 2:25, 3:15 and 3:32) it was because you were not connected on the send and not setting the line with motion. Looking forward to the barrel turns your shoulders to the right turn line, so that is where she went 🙂 Connection and stepping to the side you want will smooth that out.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Double whammy is going well! I think he really liked doing 2 tunnels in a row LOL!!
He is ready for the next step, which asks him to find the threadle entry without as much help from you: meet him more at the exit of tunnel 1 (you can call him before he enters so he turns nice and tight) then move forward, using the tunnel threadle cue… but don’t flip him away to the tunnel with your hands or feet 🙂 Let him drive to it on his own, then you can turn and reward him. That will help him be even more independent with his response.Looking at the backside slice video:
>If you see him dropping his nose on the way over the jump bump it’s because I put a dot there to try not to drift toward the barrel. He checked it out the first couple of times.>
Ha! That is funny, he probably thought it was a target of some sort 🙂
He did really well here too! Your connect, verbals, and line of motion looked good 🙂 You can move your line even further across the bump, so you are heading to the center of it then eventually the opposite side of it. You definitely are wanting to gravitate towards the barrel, so you can even put a line or long piece of tape of on the ground so you are moving forward the whole time and not moving to the barrel at all.
Threadle wraps: He is sorting these out nicely! Try to have your cues more forward-facing, as if you were walking up the line, meaning don’t turn your shoulders/ feet to him or the barrel as much because that created a few questions by pressuring the line:
On the first rep his start position was not quite far enough past the barrel and your leaned in/turned towards the barrel, which pressured the line and pushed him back around to the other side of it. He got frustrated and jumped up – you can reset any errors with a treat, especially since errors on a new skill like this are usually caused by handler errors 🙂
The extra rotation towards him also pressures the line on the exit of the wrap – he was not finishing the turn at 1:01, for example, because you were leaning into his line which cues him to go back around.
I think the easiest thing to do is to add motion 🙂 Standing still is weird, but if you are walking forward you can more easily have your feet pointing straight and arm cues visible – but like with the tunnel double whammy, see if he can find the turn away to the barrel without your hand cues flipping him away to the barrel.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyOne more thought – since you can’t work outside right now, you can use a wing or two to replace the tunnel for the rocking horses. It would be a FC wrap on a wing, then a ‘race track’ moment on the other side of the middle wing/tunnel replacer, then a FC wrap on the next wing. Let me know if that makes sense!
T
Hi! The countermotion looked really strong! He had to think extra hard on the 2nd side (dog on left) because you were releasing when you were on the takeoff side – that was a lot of countermotion! But he got it really well 🙂 Nice job with the reward placement!
The only thing I would add here is to look at him more as you move around the jump. When you were moving around the jump, you were not really looking at him so he was really locked into looking at you (dogs look at us more when we are disconnected). So if you look at him more then do the connection shift to the landing spot when you release, he will look at the line more 🙂
Since you are a bit constrained by weather for now, you can change the barrels to wings for this game. And if he is happy with that… add more motion! Go faster! Build up to running – and you can also sometimes run all the way around the jump without releasing and reward the stay instead.
Great job! Stay warm!
TracyHi!
The SS run looked great!
Rehearsing the transitions in and out of the food box made this run look fabulous! She was on fire!!!!!! Nice handling! She knew exactly what to expect so she seemed to be very relaxed and in that optimal arousal state for awesome agility!>(I did ask for it twice because she looked at me like I had a 2nd head when I asked her to sit the first time).>
Nah, I think she was bathing in her own glory in that moment and didn’t hear the first cue LOL
>She got confused running to her leash at the end since I did run her right by the food box but she quickly ducked back out of it and over to me for her leash.>
She had a question but was not stressed by it.
>I had told the barsetters not to bother with changing the broad jump and then had to laugh when she went wide and checked it out.>
Ha! When you watch the video, your motion indicated it: sideways on the cross exit without exit line connection so she was like “ok, I will go to whatever that is” LOL!
She recovered from it really well – in the past, she might have been a leaping lizard but she simply adjusted her line here and carried on. That is a big win! And the rest looked super strong too – she didn’t quite understand the turn on the exit of the short tunnel to find a jump that close, so it is something to show her in training.>She was tired enough after this to actually fall asleep in my lap while I was scoring even with all the human & dog traffic going by. >
It is exhausting to be brilliant! And it was smart to not ask her to do the snooker class too.
>Dean commented that this was by far the best debut he’s seen. >
That is excellent feedback!!!! I mean, I think it was pretty excellent but he has seen all of the debuts so it really puts things in perspective.
>I told him this was the debut that had the most preparation!>
Yes, in terms of what to expect in the ring. Kaladin didn’t have the benefit of that, thanks to being a covid era pup!
>The photographer said she did get a shot of Lift coming straight at her from yesterday’s run!>
YAY!!!
>Tomorrow is going to be a lazy day (maybe with a short jaunt to run around the yard. I’d take her for a leisurely walk except that the high is neg 4 for tomorrow.>
Yay for lazy but seriously, winter can be finished already.
>She is entered in an OTR UKI Trial in 5 weeks (2 classes, 1 day). I’m undecided on whether to enter her in a USDAA trial at On the Run in 2 weeks. (it closes on Wed 2/19). She has been to OTR to spectate and to do brief stints in the warmup jump area (which has the new turf), but she hasn’t been in their big ring. Plus she would be jumping P8 and there’s no food reward box so I would probably do something like her 2nd run today with a short sequence while holding her toy, toss it at the end, leash & out.>
Who is the judge? If it is a user-friendly judge, then yes, why not enter and have some fun in Jumpers or something easy. Even if it is a short run, it is a great opportunity to have fun on the turf in the big ring. And great prep for the UKI there too! I don’t see 8” as a problem for her at all.
Great job here!
Tracy
