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Hi!
Yikes, that is some major heat for relatively early in the summer!!
>>The spacing is pretty tight and I only have 4 jumps. >>
You can make it feel like big spacing by setting the bars at 12” 🙂 That makes it harder (but better!) for you because the speed will feel like a real course, and it is physically easier for her so she won’t get hot as quickly.There are some things we can do to help with the heat – there are some nice cooling vests out there that are great, and you can have her in it the whole time except for a run then back into the vest. I’ve also seen one that the dogs can run in. I can look up the info!
Sequence 1 went really well!! Great connection from you!
Forward focus on 1 at :04 – lovely!
Nice FC 2-3 (:07)
She was a little wide on 3 but stay tuned for more stuff on that coming in the live class this week!!!!Looking at the next section of the sequence: I think it might be faster/easier turning her left on 5 and doing the slice backside on 6 and push through on the backside to 7 (rather than wrap to a wrap then push to the backside). It was hard to get into the wrap on 5 to turn right, and you were a little on her line. It looks like the sequence would work with the left turn on 5! It sets up a good slice jumping challenge 6 to 7 but I think she is ready for that!
Seq 3:
She seemed to take longer to look at jump 1 (hard to tell from this angle) – maybe it was you being a little behind her and leaning? We will keep an eye on that and you can play with it as a one jump setup to build the value more.This went well too! I love this sequence because it is like a puzzle that she has solved – same jump, a bunch of different turns. Super!
She was a little slower than usual in the middle section but it might be the heat, or it might be that your shoulder was a little forward (no place to run to so you might have been controlling that turns with a closed shoulder) so the connection was not as clear. But she was great on the ending line, SUPER nice turn at the end!
Seq 4: This also went great! She was staring at you instead of the jump here (I think, it was a little hard to see) so definitely we can get more forward focus when you are a little behind her. You can do it indoors with the a/c 🙂 using a food bowl or something to get it started!
I think you handled the sequence beautifully! You did the wrap turn on 6 (turning her to her right) – you can call her sooner (before takeoff for 5, maybe when she is halfway between 4 and 5) to get a better line to 6 (looks like she looked towards the off course jump).
And if you are feeling spicy, you can try a BC 5-6 and send her to the other side of 6, to set up a slice to 7 (and either BC n landing of 6 or do a RC on takeoff of 7).Seq 2 was last on the video here 🙂 The cone was great to set up the opening line!! Clever!
You did a spin at 1:20 and 1:38 on the 5-6-7 line – it can help change the line at 6 if you do it s part of the commitment cue from 5, so it is visible no later than halfway between the jumps and so it doesn’t delay the wrap info on 7.
I *think* you wanted her to wrap to her left and not slice to her right on the first rep? Good job with the poker face to keep moving!!!! The late spin caused your feet to set the line to the slice side. You got your feet more rotated on the last rep here, so you got the wrap – feet rotated to face the next line really help with this type of wrap.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! So much good work here!
>>She could not take the jump at all for any reason with it set to 16” >>
Maybe it was the panties? They might have felt weird on 16? She was focused and engaged otherwise! Or she had trouble processing the 16” jump with the reward out ahead? But 8” sure was good!!
Also… the stay!! WOW!!! Yay!
The warm ups looked good!
She had a long look at you at 1:11 – but a great stay! It is possible you were just a little too far away on the first true lead out. You can also rotate a tiny bit more towards the jump – you feet and shoulders were a little turned away so she had a question.
I am not entirely sure that jump is a powerful release cue for her yet… so you can say “jump break” for now then fade the break on these lateral lead outs 🙂 Saying break then jump will get the release but won’t help her understand that jump is also a release.
First full run: As you build up the lateral lead out, you won’t have trouble with the blind because you can release her with you closer to 3 🙂
For now – no need to go close to 2 or 3. You can support the line as you run to the wing of 4. That will make it easier to get the reconnection after the blind, and it is the reconnection which will keep her off that juicy off course tunnel behind you.
(Great job rewarding like it was NOT an off course)
2nd run:
Ready gets her to bark and do an adorable head toss when she is pumped up, so maybeOne thing I notice here and later in the session: sometimes you use your mark hand, sometimes you just kind of lean towards her. The mark hand seems more effective, so try to be more consistent and use it all the time.
You were later starting the blind (2:30) but quicker showing the connection (2:31) so got a better turn and got the jump. Yay!!!
3rd run – look at her looking at the jump at 2:42!! SUPER!!!!
On this one, you sent to the tunnel layer. She did great on the verbal!!! Strategically, to get more acceleration and not dilute decel: run in closer to 2 and accelerate to 3, taking out the lateral distance. That way you get her flying to the tunnel and you don’t end up decelerated at 3 waiting for her to pass you (2:46)4th run – she also did great looking at the 1 jump at 3:11!
She did not take 3 on this one… I think it is because it looked like you were about to do a BC. Play it in slow motion from 3:14 and you will see that as she is landing from 2 at 3:15, you are decelerating and turning forward: aha! Looks like a Blind! Sure enough, it was, and she was correct to change the line. You were just a shade too early.
Good rewards! She was really paying attention!5th run – she did not look at the jump on this one… I think you missed your window (she looked at it as you walked away then went to staring at you). It was probably one run too many so you were totally correct to just do one quick rep to get the cookie and be done. Nice!
Super great job here!!!
TracyHi!
Working for 10 minutes is plenty! You can split it into even shorter time chunks – the heat is brutal this year! It is great that the sequence fits in the shade and she was so good staying in her down while you walked it!
Super job here on seq 4! Lovely connection throughout your runs!
Only 2 suggestions for you:
Her line up spot can be on a slightly more ofslice line at 1 on the first rep and also at 2:30. That way she is looking through the uprights of 1 on a as straight of a line to 2 as possible, which minimizes the turn to 2 (and makes the handling easier too!
You walked a blind at :06 between 5 and 6, and I think it is a great plan! So in your run, send to 4 and power to the blind. The send to 4 is the critical element of getting to it.
Or, if you feel behind and you can’t get the blind, you can push to the backside on your right with more eye contact and less arm coming forward (1:04)
She read that blind well at 1:28 when starting closer to it! And then when you ran it again, you really drove to the blind and it was great!
Strategically, you don’t need to be as close to the exit of2 or jumps 3 and 4… you can be maybe 1 meter further away and she will read the line perfectly (commitment looks great!) and then you easily have that blind!
Lovely job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
>>a bit more space and her excitment and arousal levels higher here.>>
Perfect!! You can spread things out more and that way you have to also run more, like a trial.
Overall, I think the sequences went REALLY well. Your connection was almost perfect! My suggestions are mostly about which way to turn her and some handling ideas.
Looking at sequence 1:
>>I got myself lost a few times- Fusion says how can she get it right when human doesnt.>>She makes a valid point there 🙂 Make sure you walk all the sequences several times before you run her so you can stay on course.
Keep going or reward – do not just call her back because that indicates error For example at :27, you stopped and she eventually got a treat… but you can just keep going, find a flow, then reward.
Here in training, she stops and freezes in those moments when you top for an error. That will translate to zoomies (I saw a little of that here when she grabbed a couple of jumps after a stop when you said “oops”) or other things in the ring so really emphasize staying in motion – no stopping for errors, no fixing. And if there is an error like an off course… take more time before you send her into the next rep. What I mean by that is that you should re-walk the sequence, figure out what needs to change in the handling. And if it is not obvious in the re-walk, you can watch the video. Running it again without assessing changes can be frustrating to her and ends up with too many reps.
She has a ton of good skills, so staying in motion and finding the flow no matte what happens will make a huge difference!
For the handling: I like the send to 1 and FC 2-3! Keep moving through the FCs at 2-3 though –
You are stopping until she gets to your leg which negates the advantage of getting ahead for the Fc and puts you in her way on the line (:19)Then also keep connected as you exit the FC, she stays on the correct side (:08).
When you had the flow after that, it went well. The wrap cue on 5 really helped keep her away from the off course #1 jump as she was heading to 6.
Seq 2:
The serp line at 2 looked good! I suggest a left turn on 3. The right turn makes 4 super hard of a line (it is on the other side of the jump from the way you sent her)On the 6-7 line – turning to the right on 7 is fine if it is an easy line to 8 – you can do it as a FC 6-7 to a FC wrap on the exit of 7. That FC 6-7 can happen before she takes off for 7, starting it when she is halfway to 6 after landing from 5. You were starting it when she was in the air which made the 7-8 line harder to cue.
Great job rewarding her when you didn’t support the line there enough at :30!
Seq 3:
Super nice getting this one on the first run! Yay! It is a brain puzzle and you nailed it!Seq 4: This also went well!
I think the 2-3-4 line will flow better for her if you turn her to her right on 3 – it sets up a really fast simple loop. Turin to her left over 3 sets up a harder turn to 4 then a harder turn to 5 and a harder turn to 6… which is also harder for you because you have to handle all of those turns.
That would mean a FC or BC between 2 or 3 to get her on your left for 3-4-5. That is something you can totally do, similar to what you did on sequence 1!The other spot to turn her the other direction is on 7 – if you turn her to her right, she exits 7 facing 8 and the line to 9, which is much easier for both of you! Turning her to her left ends up making the backs at 8 harder and she landed looking at the off course. She didn’t take the off course, but when you walk the sequences you can look at the different options for turn directions and see how that affect the lines.
Great job here!!
TracyHello and welcome! Auditing is great – that way you have no time pressure and no video pressure, but you can still update and make a lot of progress 🙂
>>We worked some of the hot topic in Pkg 1 with Jamie. It was a disaster!! He could not get the concept of the wide 180* (1-2) in setup 1. He kept cutting in and trying to take 2 as a threadle slice.>>
Maybe he needed a backside cue? as well as a little more motion support? He is still a baby dog 🙂 You can also angle jump 2 to face him more so it is less of a 180, and then reward LOTS for taking it. Over time we then gradually angle it back to that flatter angle.
>> Which is crazy because in the few trials we have done, he powers through with tons of distance.>>
He is probably in a more optimized state of arousal in trials… higher! Try getting him higher (tugging, being sill with tricks, etc) and see if that helps!
>> Then when I set him up to take the 3-4 as a threadle, he kept taking the front side of the jump.
That is likely more of a handler timing issue – you were probably early with a young dog.
>>Interesting enough, I find him much more focused in the trial setting (indoor, turf) than in practice. He is obsessed with eating grass.The smallest disconnect or failure and he wants to graze.>>
Arousal! Get him higher in training. And also… simply do not let him know there has been a disconnect or failure. The grass eating is a stress behavior – so if something goes sideways, the two options are to either keep going like it didn’t happen (freestyle and make up a course if you need to, in the moment LOL!) or stop and reward like you have just won the world championships.
Separately – do you remember the Find My Face game from MaxPup 1? That is one of the golden tickets to eliminating stress behavior when there is a blooper. You can revisit it!
Keep me posted 🙂
TracyYes, that could be the difference! If you feel her arousal is pretty optimal in the trial ring, you should try to duplicate it in practice because the science tells us it is important 😂
If her arousal is not optimal in the trial ring, we can try to dial it in! It is fun to do it.
T
Hi!
>Am I correct to assume that you just put the Cato board back a bit from the jump so he has more room to take the actual jump after siting?>>
Not really, it is pretty close but the bar starts really low. It is usually a couple of inches from the bar.
>>How do you use it for slice jumping. Do you put the Cato board at the slice point, have them sit and ask for the slice jump from a static sit position?>>
Basically yes, it is a big progression 🙂 but they learn to organize to do that sideways jumping required for the slicing.
He is doing well with the tight sit! You can feed a little lower I think so he doesn’t have to lift up to get the treat, and be careful with the cookie release so he doesn’t torque himself getting off the plank.
The sit to stand is a good one, both the rock back and tuck variations.
>>I also included a zig zag grid session for your thoughts. I’m still getting ticks when the speed increases slightly. Should I lower the bars more? other changes?>>
Some ideas for you on the zig zag:
Only change one variable with the grid at a time. If you tighten it, don’t move. Or if you move, don’t tighten it. Otherwise we are asking him to process too much at once and you will get ticks.
What is the distance he is working? He is pretty tall.
I don’t think you should lower the bars, but you can use fewer jumps. I get this really good on 2 jumps, then 3 jumps, then so on. I think the video had 5 jumps? It might be too hard for now because as he was gathering speed and momentum, he was not able to control it and was ticking the bars a bit.
Also, I don’t really use a stationary target on grids anymore (because the dogs are trying to prepare to stop) but if you do, put it a lot further away so he doesn’t have to prepare to stop til he is 2 extension strides past landing.
I know that everyone else is using stationary targets but we have had amazing results with the moving targets 🙂
>>Yes, I’ve noticed he started doing that. I’ve seen it before with the Tervs. What can I do to help him with the follow-through form?>>
Those bars should definitely be lower so he has an easier time processing the mechanics (12” for now to start) and so he doesn’t rehearse the hoisting mechanics.
Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
She is looking great and you are doing a fabulous job of really driving through the handling! Yay! Things are coming together so nicely! And she had plenty of tight turns – anything that was wider than wanted was more due to handling info.>>you need to trust her on the 180 and get moving up the line!>>
Yes! And also sometimes consider a rear which is also very effective (see below). I have won plenty of classes with a nice rear cross when everyone else was trying to get blinds and ended up with wide turns or off courses.
Run 1 starts after the release to 1, so we will assume she was perfect 🙂 Nice blind 2-3! Nice layering and keeping her out on the line! Nice threadle!
2nd run – be careful on how you use your hands on the mark and on the releases. If you move your arm fast and high on the release, and do it the same way on the mark… she is going to release thinking that it is indeed a release to begin (:14)
You were better with the arm at :23 but she has some confusion (movement and not looking at the jump)
It is entirely possible that she is one of those dogs that will not stare at the jump (um, whippet… LOL!) so if she doesn’t look at it you can release her and see if she takes it, then reward. She didn’t look at the jump at :40 and took it perfectly. The staring at the jump is something that Border Collies and field dogs do, but Whippety dogs are not really into staring at things that will not be moving LOL!
On the tunnel on the 9-10-11 line, she might need her tunnel threadle cue as you move up the line (:45) – you did it at :56 and it worked great
I think that the BC on the tunnel exit here is not needed… it is brutal to show on time with a dog of her speed and also the RC here is just as effective to show the line to the jump and probably MORE effective to get the turn on the jump, because you don’t have to decelerate or manage a turn cue.
At 1:11 you got her attention on the blind but the turn was a little wide and so was the turn on the jump. You can use your tunnel left and then slide into a lovely rear cross… great turns and you will still be ahead! On the 2nd run, she was tighter on the tunnel exit but she had already seen the sequence 🙂She is doing well with her weaves!! That is a hard entry and a hard layer! She got it and read the threadle after it. Super!
1:54 – she read the handling correctly. The FC at 2:09 was definitely better! And the left/tunnel on the jump looked GREAT at 2:10!
Full run 1 and 2
Why not layer? You went to the other side of the tunnel on the 5-6-7 line and I think it put you a little out of position. On the first run, you had. at :19 bar down at 8 – not enough turn cue there on the jump before the tunnel. And her line was a little wider on the 2nd run. It might actually work as a backside verbal, based on her size and the line!
On the 2nd run, the threadle was wider on the 7 jump because you were pushing in around the tunnel.1st full run: Good turn on tunnel exit with the blind but wide on the turn after it – you can consider a brake arm or a spin there. Or a rear cross LOL!
2nd full run – she as wide on the blind cross tunnel exit and then you were on her line so she took the backside of the jump. I mean, the rear cross there would be easier and get a sweet line too 🙂 If it is still set up, let’s play with the rear cross!
I think the rest was pretty fantastic – the only wide turns were on the jump that landed her looking at the DW. Even with it blocked off, it is a big visual draw for her, so no worries about that. Everything else was great!
You left the threadle after the weaves too soon on. The 2nd video so she didn’t take the jump – wait in the threadle spot until she turns her head to look at the jump. And then by the end I think yo were a bit fatigued because you were pulling her off things . So good job recognizing that and finshing up – there was SO MUCH GREAT STUFF here that you didn’t need to keep working it.
Great job!
TracyGood morning! She is looking great here!!! And I agree, she is looking for that first jump better. We will be seeing that challenge more and more, so we will really solidify it this summer.
She had a little trouble with her middle cue. There were some banging noises in the background that maybe were worrying her? Gunshots or fireworks or something? But after that she was great with her lineups!
Yes, as you mentioned, you were a little too early looking forward so she read it as a blind cross (smart girl!) Good rewarding!
The 2nd run looked fabulous – great job getting the opening line and layering on the tunnel send! She has lovely speed so we will want to use a lot of layering to get you way up the lines.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
It was great seeing you too!!!!>>Saphira’s training has been a patchwork. If you remember we struggled a lot when she was younger. So we’ve probably got quite a few holes in our training. >>
I think these sequences went really well!!!! Most of my ideas are handling suggestions, such as timing or connection things. Yay! The only training thing to add is more forward focus on the jump, as a cued behavior when you arrive in your lead out position. Ideally, she goes directly to jump 1 rather than zig zag (:15 :43 on seq 1. :10 on seq 2, :18, :31 on seq 4, etc). You can really see how important it is on Seq 4, but I think it is also important on th simpler lines so she is looking at the jumping and sorting her jumping, all before the release.
It is easy to add indoors if the weather is poopy: with her in a sit stay, you can put a toy on the ground or a food bowl. Then lead out a tiny bit, use a slow-moving arm/leg to point to it, and when she looks at it: release her to it (or use a marker for it, both are great for this stage).
Then we add it to a jump but putting the toy or food bowl on the other side of the jump. Then we fade it and use the jump and throw a reward.
The reason I suggest a slow-moving arm/leg to become the indicator is that if you do a fast point, she might break her stay. Your releases here also had arm movement involved so we don’t want to confuse her or set her up for failure.
Seq 1:
2-3 is definitely a natural line to the backside (a common trend nowadays) so on the 2nd rep you had more decel and pulled away a little to help her adjust the line. Yay! But that bought the off course tunnel when you started moving again – I think you wanted the backside at 4 based on handling, and I couldn’t hear a tunnel verbal? But great job rewarding her so it was hard for me to tell 🙂
You can also stay in motion more by using a verbal turn cue between 1 and 2 (so she approaches 2 turning to you) and then the threadle cue for 2-3. That can make handling 3-4 a lot easier!Seq 2:
This went well! I am pretty sure you wanted the tunnel on this one 🙂 You were really lateral as she was approaching 3 so if you want to get the layering with the tunnel, you can be closer to 3 so she accelerates past you and you don’t decelerate and have to wait for her. There is a lot of strategy in this layering thing!Seq 3:
She read the serpy opening line really well! You can decelerate more as she lands from 1 and heads to 2, partially so you can a turn before takeoff on 2 for the rap, and partially to put you on a great line for the FC to 3.You can also stick closer to 3 and 4 to set up the layering to the tunnel if you wanted to layer the jump rather than run into the gap between them.
I think she broke her stay on the 2nd run here – you can totally stop and bring her back for a re-start, because there might be some confusion about when she should release if you run. And, because things happened sooner than you expected, the cues for 2 were late and she hit the bar.
Nice job driving into the blind at 1:05! You can start it sooner, she seems to have really strong commitment. Looking at 1:04, she is locked onto it just after she finishes 4, so you can start the BC so the new connection is visible to her before she takes off for 5. The connection at 1:06 was a shade late which is why she was a little wide (she aw it after she landed). You can also call her so she is expected the turn there – verbals really help in these jump/tunnel discriminations,
Seq 4 – this I where the forward focus can really help get you into great position! Without it, she is looking at 2 like at :18, :31 and :44, even with the step to it at :31 and :44. You did a great job trying to help her out, like showing her the jump at :44 before leading out, and at 1:01 staying closer. At 1:23 she had it (you pointed at it before you lead out a bit). At 1:51, you didn’t indicate the jump before the lead out and also were further away and she said he was not ready for that by taking 2 instead of 1 when released. Staying closer at 2:10 helped!
The connection element of the BC can happen sooner at 2:14 – the side change was almost complete as she was lifting off to the jump which is really good timing! But the visible eye contact (with your arm back) came at 2:15 when she was locked onto the tunnel.
Because she is young and relatively inexperienced, the connection has to pop out sooner – one way to do it is to keep your arms in tighter to you and in your back pockets 🙂 so that as you start the turn, the eye contact is very quick and easy to show. When she is more experienced, I think she will read the cue you did here.
Good job on 2:31 showing her the jump before the lead out, and keeping the lead out short! I LOVED your BC timing here at 2:37! Really timely and her commitment was great. Freeze the video at 2:38 as she is over 3: look at that connection! YESSSSSSS!!!
Seq 5: the first minute or so of this is the same as sequence 4.
When you picked up sequence 5, it started at about 1:17.She found 1 very nicely! At 1:27, the commitment cue for 2 is keeping your arm back in serp position and maintaining connection until she turns to look at the jump. You turned forward too soon which cued her to go past the jump. You moved into the blind on the 2nd rep and it worked well – you had great connection to 2! I think the serp plan you started with was slightly better because you can get the serp and the FC on 2 sooner without having to also do the timing of the BC 1-2.
The wrap exit on 2 looked really good – nice decel and rotation coming into it! And the cues from the tunnel to the backside also looked great!
Seq 6: this one went well too!
On the collected exit of 3, add a little more decel and turn verbal so she collects before takeoff. My only other suggestion is to keep your shoulders open to her more (like a serp) for the 4 backside to support the jumping line there.Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyOmg that will require a lot of caffeine for times when you run them both LOL But it makes sense that you should both use the same verbals 😀
Hi!
<> I think a lot of it is me but some of it is arousal related.>> When training, do you get her into an arousal state that is similar to how she’ll be in the trial ring? You can use the toy to get it and then it will be help prep for you both!
>>I do better with the full out running on regular courses but the small courses I get stuck in the between because I feel like I get out of her way, so I’m glad I’ll have plenty of practice with small space stuff.>>
Yeah, I agree that tighter smaller courses can actually be harder to handle with a powerhouse dog like Sahweet!!
T
