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Welcome back! Your little guy is all grown up now! He is doing great!!!
>>One thing we’ve been struggling with in general is slice jumping. >>
That is a hard skill for all the dogs! We will be focusing on that the summer for everyone so far – lots of dogs having questions on that. I am working on a surprise for everyone too!
>>I’ve been working on rear-end strengthening with Eidle’s exercise from her jumping class. >>
She’s great! Is it a conditioning exercises, or a jumping exercise? There is an entire library of things we can do to help the dog 🙂
>>I’ve also been working on the backside exercise you shared where you send him to the backside, have him sit to square up, and then push off from the rear. >>
Are you doing that on a circle wrap? I now use a Cato board to get the sit where I want it, and I also use it for slice jumping. But first: what does his tight sit on a small-ish platform look like? That is the first step.
>>He didn’t know what to do with all that body when we started at 16″ and he’s now better at 20″. >>
Yes, it is also a mechanics thing for the dogs, to organize and sort out the mechanics at high speed. The more experience he gets, the easier it will be 🙂
>I’ve also pulled out the zig-zag jump picture. Any ideas you have in this area, handling or helping him, are appreciated>
Awesome! I love the zig zag grid! That helps slice jumping a whole lot too because it helps condition the dogs AND it helps with the quickness of mechanics.
Ae you doing any grids, once a week or every couple of weeks? I add excitement and motion to grids, and also angle the jumps so the dogs learn to approach them as slices and not just straight.
For now, keep the slice bars lower than the rest of the bars as he sorts is mechanics. He can do the at 16 and the rest at 20. When he is reading handling AND trying to slice jump, he is levitating/hoisting over the bar more than jumping it 🙂 You can see that at the very beginning, when you were warming up the threadle then the cross on 4 (:02, :17) – watch how he is lifting his hind end, tucking it up under himself, rather than using it to push off and follow through. Without speed, he cleared the bar and didn’t touch the wings. But with more speed and harder angles, he will be less stable in the jumping effort.
When you ran into it like at 1:21, he levitated more than jumped
You can also angle the jump so it is less of a severe slice – all of this is to help get the form and not rehearse form we don’t want.
One other general thing that will help all the jumping: throw the toy reward low and a lot sooner – he is looking up at you as you throw and since you are tossing it kind of upwards, it keeps his head up. That is getting more head-up jumping. Throwing sooner and lower will help that a lot: throw before he jumps but while he is on the line looking forward, so the toy appears sooner and he looks at you less. You can also use a toy that rolls more like a hollee roller so he is continuing to look forward as it lands.
On the full sequences:
Nice forward focus on 1! Good rewards!!>>Overall, he read a backside at 3. >>
Because the line is to the backside, so he was correct 🙂 On the demo, you cn probably hear me saying “close close” 2-3 which is my threadle slice cue. It is a bit of a hidden ‘hot topic’ – finding where the dogs might see a line as a backside line and we want the front side 🙂 We are seeing that a whole lot nowadays, and dogs that are trained to stay on the line will find the backside if we don’t change the line. As you walk the sequences, take a look at what he sees on the lines and if there is a backside possibility, you can change the line to show the front side.
So he probably needs a turn cue before he approaches 2, then a threadle cue for 3.
You moved the jumps a bit at 1:05 which helped a bit but at 3 he did the ‘hoist’ jump and sounds like he hit the wing or bar. So he is still reading it as a threadle slice line. And without cuing the turn, he read the backside at 1:35 on the speed circle line 🙂
That is a good place to stop and look at the video – he got rewarded (yay!) but it was 2 incorrect responses so the video can show you what is happening:
At 1:35 for example, you can see that he has basically a straight line to the backside so even as you turned your shoulders (he looked at you), he stayed on his line. That straight line indicates that a threadle can be used. And if you watched the video and saw he was moving away from the straight line (flanking out or flicking to the backside) then you can change your motion to help (but that was not happening here).Turning sooner didn’t help too much on getting him off the backside – at 1:47 you dropped the support of 1-2 sooner so he ended up pulling the bar on 1 and still found the backside (still correct :))
Sequence 2: He was processing a lot of info here (good boy!) so on the first rep he hit a couple of wings but fixed it on the second rep. He read 1-2 nicely and you can set a tighter line on the FC at 3. Rather than back away from it, stick close to the line you want him to actually run on. On that line, you can send to 3 and decelerate so he collects more then lands on the line, which sets up a clearer line to 4 (and he won’t hit the wing making the adjustment to 4).
These are all relatively subtle details that make a pretty big difference as the his speed comes into play! Those details plus the jump work will come together nicely to create great work on course 🙂
Great job!
TracyWelcome back! We are having so much heat here that we will happily take some of your cold and frosty temperatures!
She did super well here – the forward focus is looking really good! And she kept the bar up on all of them too.
>>she got pretty good except if I was directly behind her trying to layer jump 4, lol. She kept turning round. Practice for another day.>>
She might have thought it was a rear cross cue, seeing you slightly behind her?
On the sequences:
Seq 1:
On the first full rep, you were a bit too early at :09, not enough backside cue so she read it as a threadle. Good girl!The next rep at :20 was GREAT! Much clearer backside cue and she was great about not looking the tunnel. The push to the backside followed by a rear cross worked great. You also got a nice turn on 5 there!
>>I am not sure if you did a threadle on jump 4 in your demo?>>
I did a blind cross there because it kept me moving better to get the turn and also move up the line to 5.
You got in for a FC there at :49 and it went well, she really responded well to the handling on the turns! She had a question about going to 5 at :50 – you were started to turn to the tunnel a little early so she was not sure if she should keep going straight (you can see her almost come off the line there). So one more step there will help and that will also keep connection clear – the question contributed to the bar coming down. Doing the FC might have slowed your footwork down enough that it caused the question on 5: the FC itself on 3 to 4 looked great, but then you will need more acceleration out of it to show the line to 5.
Speaking of bars down: it is really all about connection for her! For just about everything here, your connection was spot on. The 3 spots where you turned your connection forward to the next thing too soon resulted in bars down (:28, :41, :50).
So keep working to have perfect connection and separately you can practice softening your connection or disconnecting on one jump and giving her BIG rewards for keeping the bar up (because being perfect with connection is really hard!)
The race tracks looked great of course 🙂 so they are good practice for keeping the BIG connection which supports her jumping.
Great job here! Onwards to the next sequences!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! Hopefully your heatwave goes away fast! Crazy start to summer!
And yes, using a bowl to assist in the focus forward is great!!
Have fun 🙂
TracyHi!
>>I’m not sure what to do from 5 to 6 on pop out 3. I can try to send with DOL from the 3 tunnel to 4 and either BC or FC 5 to 6. But, I suspect that will buy me an off course tunnel. I could try to threadle wrap 5 to 6 with DOL, but that’s a very weak skill. What would you suggest to set that line?>>
Ah yes, it is a juicy one! Two things to try:
– yes, the threadle wrap 🙂 It is more of a tandem turn because you both turn the new direction but that might be the easiest handling. It is tricky because the timing of the turn away is hard. You can first try it as just a threadle slide so she goes over 6 but goes on a slice (landing by the back of the tunnel). And if you can get that, try the threadle wrap!– you can try working the BC line. It is kind of to where the wing of 6 is (depending on exactly how you set it) and is a great discrimination exercise!
The jump is approximately 8 feet from the tunnel on the map, but to get started you can set the jump 12 feet from the tunnel and see if you can get it, then move it in closer.
Let me know how it goes!
TracyHi!
You might feel rusty but the sequence on the video is looking good! We will get you feeling lest rusty. Your connection was really strong 🙂 If you point to the first jump before the release, will she look at it (and hold her stay)? If so, you can then get more and more lateral!
It was hard to see the timing of the FC with the jump out of the frame, but it looks like her head was up and she was waiting for you – so you can do it sooner. Or you can try a blind there too!
One other thing that can make it smoother – run with the toy in one hand (changing hands slows you down and draws her attention to your hands) or have it in your pocket 🙂>>Be prepared for really ugly next time with first try scenarios>>
Bring it on! It is those scenarios that give us the most info to build off of 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
Yes, you can go last to get less heat! I know Jana has a working spot here in the Forum but I don’t think she has a working spot in any of the live classes.
See you soon!
TracyHi!
>>Course 1 we did 1 through 13 and replaced tunnel 9 with a winged jump. Mookie nailed it X2. Buddy nailed it X2. My young boy needed a big “out “verbal with an out arm to support him to go from 4 to 5 as I layered the tunnel. >>
Yay for all of them! And it makes sense that the youngest/least experienced dog would have questions about the out – that is challenging. I am glad the verbal and arm helped him!
>>He also tended to knock bars as I layered and I really had to watch him over every jump with more focus then the other 2 dogs. >>
That is normal – he was probably trying to process your cues and the distance and the lines and and and all the things… so he lost a bit of his jumping mechanics. No worries, he will sort it out with more experience with the big layering!
>>To get the backside at 13, I tried both a forced front and a backside circle and ass pass as they used to call it and all 3 dogs read either method and both methods flowed as we went to the backside of 13 to end on 8. >>
Perfect! It is good to be able to do things several different ways – the slices are generally faster.
>>The pole blocked anything else as the jump was close to the pole. Good practice though since there are trials at this building.>>
Yeah, the poles are annoying but since they are permanent, it is great to practice around them!
>>Course 2 we did 1 through 10. Not one of my 3 dogs looked at the tunnel hole staring them in the face going 5 to 6 as I thought they would >>
Superstars! Good boys!

>> Mookie and Alonso did well. Alonso read the out jump with arm 6 to 7 to avoid the tunnel now that he had done it in the other direction in Course 1. >>Great!
>>Buddy needed an extra out arm push 6 to 7 but was also telling me that this stuff was hard for him. He did well for his second run. >>
Yup, this stuff IS hard! For the dogs that love love love agility, they are motivated to figure it out. For the dogs that only kinda like agility? They will wonder why we are making it so darned hard hahahaha
>>Moo and I are now soulmates in agility and Alonso and I are still learning each other. >>
This is the circle of life, agility-style. Remember when Mookie was so hard to handle, with all of his speed? You’ve done a great job locking in the handling with him, and I am sure you will lock things in with Alonso too!
>>Alonso’s stride length is so different then Mookie’s and I need to account for that as I cue him. Mookie is a huge gentle bird flying through the air with a huge stride length while Alonso is a flying squirrel taking many more steps >>
HA! That is a hilarious way to put it but also true. One way to deal with running two very different dogs is to set up an easy sequence and run them back to back, so you have to make the adjustments FAST! Then make the sequences harder and harder. You will get used to switching back and forth between them.

Have fun at the trial and keep me posted! Thanks for the update!Tracy
Hi!
>.1. We do grid work (could always do more)>
It might not mean more grid work… he might need slightly different grid work 🙂 The two things to consider:
~ add more speed and arousal, with the handler running/yelling directionals/moving arms 🙂 Grids can be very sterile without that and that can reduce the value! So take an easy grid like a set point and more of a handler and see what happens
~ You can modify grids to target the skills that need help, such as building the zig zag grid to full height with you running (did we ever do that? I am over-caffeinated at the moment and can’t remember LOL). And we can do ‘normal’ grids with a wrap or crazy slice at the end, to work his mechanics along with reading it with motion.>>2. We do conditioning work (we could always do more)
Same, I can always do more too. I have added 2 things that have pinpointed weak areas: mountain climbers for quads (quads are really helpful but under-used in conditioning dogs) and also some popping from a sit (on a Cato board) to a disc then pop back to the sit (for hind end strength, core, back strength, balance. My dogs found it really hard! But then as they got better at it, some other weaknesses in their form in agility/flyball improved (not surprisingly LOL!)
>>3. He drops bars mostly on slices and wraps but also on somewhat softer 180 type turns when he knows where he’s going next and is hugging the wing the turn is on and taking an efficient path to the next jump.>>Pop in as many clips as you might have so I can obsess I mean so I can look at it and see what is happening 🙂 We will be able to find patterns and sort it out. The video below is already very helpful.
>>4. Very often it is actually his freaking tail that is hitting or wrapping the top of the standard, causing it to wobble and the bar to fall>>This could be due to him needing more power in his jumping (JUST GO A LITTLE HIGHER, DUDE!) or that the info is a little late and he can’t save the bar (or both). Video will give us insights.
>>5. Often I know that’s what happens because the bar drops much later than an actual hit>
Darned gravity!
>>6. This is tons worse on light/flimsy wings>>Possibly the heavier wings/bars help him out but holding the bars better?
>>7. The jumps I’m using in these exercises are the ones he wobbles the most so I made a point of buying a set of them a couple of weeks ago at a show to see what we could work out>>You are a dedicated dog momma! Yay!
>>8. In the past I’ve mostly ignored bars but its not improving so I’m trying to become more aware of when he’s touching wings/bars (using the bells) but also trying to pause when a bar is down and assess before continuing 9. I’m generally on the fence about marking dropped bars but think at this point stopping for a second at least makes us both aware of what happened and maybe able to adjust something in the moment>>
Yes, bells and stopping are tricky – the bell might be good for you because if you hear the bell but don’t see the jumping, then more connection can be added 🙂 And stopping (which is a Negative Punishment) needs to be precisely marked/timed to be effective, in terms of marking the mechanics that drop the bar (it is annoying that punishment has to be more precise than reinforcement, darn it!) And it has to be 10000% consistent or the dogs get frustrated with us because they really don’t know why we are stopping, or they habituate to the bells. You might see some improvements in the moment because he might slow down or get careful, but we don’t want any slowing down of course!
Onwards to the video:
The first sequence looks good! And the handling in general is looking good – there are a couple of really subtle things we can smooth out to help with the bars in terms of handling.
He was a little delayed in looking at bar 1, perhaps because he was far from it and the tunnel and the jump nearer to you were both very visible. So it was a good rehearsal for looking at the jump you were indicating!
Most of the video was looking at the tail brush moments. 3 things I see here that we can totally work on. I will describe them then scroll down for ideas on how to tackle them:
First thing:
– some of what is happening is due to conflicting indicators: for example at 2:06, you were very stationary on the release, then dropped your hand and leaning forward when he was jumping and then had him stay on the line to 2. He sees all of that and was possibly trying to process it all and that resulted in less-than-ideal jumping form.For stopping him, the stopping was late here: You cued jump 2 then marked to stop him when he landed from 2 and he realized what was happening after landing from 3 (and 2 & 3 were both clean jumping efforts)… that won’t correlate to what happened at 1.
Same thing at 2:24 (similar movement& cues from you , this time your hand was going down then back up, same tail brush from him) and you stopped him sooner (after you cued 2 but indicated he should stop before he took off – but it was too late to not take the jump – but he was frustrated (we got some trash talking there LOL!!)
Doing it from a standstill on an easier line at 2:39 or walking into it at 2:52 is a reinforcement but also it is not the same question as he had on the original line, or the same handling or the same speed.
Second:
– he was having the tail hits more when you were really moving countertops the line, shoulders closed, looking back at him. That happened a few times here and I think it was what you were describing in other contexts as well. So something about that motion is also a conflicting indicator (meaning, he is seeing more than one cue and trying to figure out which to follow).
Third:
The other thing I see is that he is taking off relatively close to the jump, and that causes his hind end to lose some control – either rotating or going too high. This causes the tail to flag high (balance!) and that is what hits the wing. Aha!
Ok, so what to do about it all?
Since conflicting indicators are part of what is happening, and also since we humans will never ever be perfect… show him conflicting indicators in his grids and one jump games. Have your hand up then drop it as he is taking off. Or turn and run the other direction. Or as he is going forward in a grid, you are backing up or running away or moving laterally… all the things that might conflict with staying on the line or setting up the turn. Add them bit by bit, slowly at first so he can be successful, then ramp them up! And you can mark a bar immediately. And then it gets easier to apply to sequences.
For the pelvis rotation/butt position that is causing the tail rudder to come up high, you can pinpoint the things that get more power & reach (such as quad exercises, those pop off sits/discs I was describing, extended tech cavalettis) as well as stability (core and spine while in motion, especially side to side – I learned a good one recently for that too!). I am definitely *not* a conditioning expert but I can show you some of the stuff we do specifically for these target areas. Let me know what you already do with him and we can figure it out from there!
Great job here!
TracyHi! Nice work on these sequences!
Seq 1 – she can be on more of a slice so there is less turning on jump 1 (you will see this is a theme I bug you about LOL!)
The BC 3 to 4 was fantastic! Not risky at all there!!!!Seq 2: This was perhaps the easiest sequence she has seen in a while LOL! She was great 🙂 and you were very clear o the lines without having to move much at all 🙂
Seq 3a: she can be on more of a slice at 1 here too, rather than facing straight to the bar
This is a straightforward sequence for her too – so rather than use decel at 4… try to power through it and get really ahead to go VERY FAST and see if she can still find all the jumps!Seq 3B – she is getting more and more rotated away from the line on these LOL On this start she was facing 2 🙂 She did look at the jump but definitely keep moving her over to the slice line so she is basically doing a straight line over 1.
The FC worked great 5-6! This is another place you can send to 3 and power away up the line, to show her a lot of acceleration and see if she can still find the jumps.
One other thing to be careful of: since she sometimes goes around jumps, try to not reward with her going right past a jump like at 1:04 and 1:31 and a couple of other spots (that might be rehearsing an unwanted behavior) – either use a marker and get the reward in right after the tunnel, or have her take one more jump on the line then throw the reward.
Seq 4a: She found jump 1 nicely at 1:10! You can release with her directional too: you said “ok” (which is when she moved) then her “bye bye bye” directional (which was late so she was wide). So you can say “mark” then when she looks, “bye bye bye” to get the turn info to her even sooner.
On 4B, you said “way way way” on the same start, then as she was looking at 2 you said “GO!” So she went. And that resulted in a wider turn on 2 because the left verbal happened on takeoff. Definitely plan those verbals 🙂
The FC 3-4 went well! She is getting lots of experience with crosses in this context here and doing really well!
Sequence 5: this is more of a serp opening and she did well here too! As with the other slices, she can be on more of a straight line facing 2 here rather than facing the straight line to 1 (and 1:52 in Sequence 6). That will take out 2 turns and make the lines smoother.
I think the sequence 6 is where you started her on the other side of 1, it creates a more challenging opening but you got it done nicely!
She had more of a slice over 1 at 2:10 and did really well there. You had her more on a straight line to 1 a 2:20, so she had to turn more over 1. At 2:37 she was almost facing past 1 so had to go back a bit and get it. Ideally, she is on the first wing and can see the slice line between the uprights. She is doing well with the jumping, so you can definitely add more slice to these openings.The 2-3 line went well and she went to the backside really well! She did not take the backside at 2:15 or 2:26 (even with a decel, which we don’t want you to have to do). You got it at 2:31 by standing completely still and further away.
At2:44 you were able to stay in motion AND she took the backside – YAY! That is what we want – staying in motion 🙂 So 2 ideas for you
– on the backsides as you move through, keep moving but as you run past, shift your connection to the landing spot behind you (and then drop a toy behind you too to help draw her focus there over the bar and to reward her for taking it).
– if you need to fix something, be sure to keep your motion in there. You can perhaps move a little less fast, but don’t stand still. Use a connection shift and a dropped/thrown reward to help solidify the line while you are still moving.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Can you clarify what you mean by ‘response cost’?>>
Response cost is the amount of effort it takes to get the reward. So if she goes *past* a jump, you can circle her back around to the start (might take a while and be a bit clunky), so there is a lot of cost before she gets the reward (toy or continuing the fast line). If she takes the jump, you can immediately reward with a valuable reward or send to a high value speed line 🙂
>>It worked great, but I’d be nervous to plan for it – one moment too late and she’d be in the tunnel.>>
The more you expose her to the blinds in this context, the less risky it is because the dogs begin to recognize the cue and respond sooner. A very inexperienced dog will need to see the full cue before really starting to responding. But with experienced, she will be able to respond on the very first turn of your head or shoulder movement, making it far less risky 🙂
>>Are you still planning to come to that Flyball tournament in July? I was planning on coming out if you were going to be there.>>
Sadly no… my team didn’t want to go, and you can’t play in the MultiBreed tournament unless it is your regular team. Bummer!
Tracy
Welcome back and congrats on your success at the Cup! Yay!!!!
Hope you are going somewhere fun! You will have plenty of time to catch up over the summer because Mother Nature has promised to be well-behaved 🤣🤣Tracy
Hi!
>>is it possible to list courses enrolled in in order most recent to last as I have done too many courses and need to scroll to find latest – >>
it should be sorted most recent to most distant on the My Courses page:
For the Forums, you can use the arrows next to the word “Forum” to change the sorting: click on the down arrow to get the most recent forum to the top.
T
Hi!
>>still have been doing away from equipment just not in agility context.>>
She might be ready to do it in a really simple format with a high rate of reinforcement!

>> Then by the time I realise she has gone wrong she is in zoomie mode as she realised first. >>Yes, the dogs are likely to process the issue before we humans do but you can still reward! Even if she is zooming, you can toss the treats out or deliver the toy – that will both dissipate the stress from the error and also help stop the zooms!
>>some of those call offs look tricky for my timing.>>
They are not tricky if you set the lines laterally 🙂 They are definitely tricky if you run near her because she will get there sooner than you 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
You are so right about it getting really hot, really fast!!!! It is great that this sequence fits in the shade 🙂Seq 3 opening was really nice! He reads that serp opening with no problem when you are ahead on 2 like at :10 and :39
SUPER EXCELLENT timing of starting the BC 5-6 at :15 – so why did she end up in the tunnel? 2 reasons:
– it is a little hard to see from this angle but it looks like your motion and line on the BC was too close to tunnel and too far from jump, so it put her directly on the line to the tunnel
– Connection not clear enough to override the line of motion: your dog side arm needs to be back so you can make a more direct connection and so she can see itYour timing was :42 to start the blind was even better (NICE!!!) and note your connection at :43 – arm back, bug eye contact, so got it 🙂 Your motion sent her a little wide, so try to skim the wing of 5 as you start the blind and don’t go more than a half-arm’s length away from it
Seq 4: She didn’t look ahead at 1:18 but was great about finding the jump when you released her!
On the 2nd rep at 1:46 you were much further back… so it opened up the line to 2 based on your position. You split the difference on the 3rd rep, being further than rep 1 but not as far as rep 3 and she got it 🙂
>>Would it be okay to put her in her startline stay, walk out and place her tug and then release her to her tug while moving my placement each time, or is that too much of a lure and not enough of a reinforcement>>
Yes, you can totally put a toy out there! It is a reinforcement as well as a lure on the first couple of reps… then you can start to move it further and further off the line and eventually back to your hand/pocket. When placing a toy, I try to fade it pretty quickly. Usually within 3 or 4 reps.
>>In all of the starts, I’m struggling to get her to look away from me and to the jump.>>
You can use the toy placement for all of them: start each different one with the placed toy, then go to a thrown reward after a couple of reps. Isolate it on one jump for now til you see her first glance away, then fully look away at the jump 🙂
On the 2nd part of this sequence, the FC worked great at 1:20!
You got the turn 3-4 with the BC at 2:19, but as with the previous sequence your line brought you closer to the tunnel so she was wider. Great connection to show the side change!!Sequence 5: Also super nice opening! Since she understands these serpy openings so well, you can try it without stepping towards jump 2 – just moving along the parallel line – and see if she can still get it.
The FC 2-3 at 2:44 and 3:10 was really strong! Taking the step to 2 out of it will allow you to start it even soonerSequence 6: This went well too! Looking at your lead out position at 3:40, I think your position was close enough to the off course jump that she looked at it after 2 on the way to 3. For her, this sequence might not require lateral distance at all: you can stay closer to the exit wing of 1, send to 2, and get the FC to 3/send to the 4 backside and still be miles ahead for the tunnel without getting a look at the off course jump 🙂
Great job on all of these! It is really great that you are basically nailing them the first time and we are just looking at the smaller details!!!!
Tracy
Hi! Welcome back!!!
>> Big issues is bars – he mostly knocks them on tight turns when he turns tightly around the wing and hits it with his rear or wraps it with his tail, makes it rock and then the bar falls, >>
Tight turns as in wraps or slices? Let me know and we can make a plan! For conditioning, what plyometric stuff is he doing? Along with training, we might be able to target some specific strengthening things and see if that helps
>>2nd most common is when he’s in chase mode when I’m pretty far ahead to get a blind or layering with distance and speed.>>
We definitely have big lines on the courses, so you can pop out those sections and worked them in a disconnected way – first walking, then building to sprinting so he learns to continue processing mechanics while things are fast and furious. Do you do jump grids with him? You can do running (and disconnected) grids!
>>We’re also transitioning to running contacts – so there’s that new fun.>>
FUN!!!!!
>>Startlines at shows are also sometimes a thing so we’re still trying to be very consistent about that at home and shows.>>
The forward focus might be able to help that by inserting another behavior before the release! That way hopefully there won’t be any accidental pairing of the arm up or reconnection with the release, so he is less likely to leave the stay early.
>>With the heat I’m trying to get into doing a quick training session early in the morning. The only issue is that it is PRE-COFFEE and pre-food. So, I’m not always quite awake or smart yet. >>
Pre-food, ok. PRE-COFFEE?!?!?! Terrifying! HA!

Here’s the first Hot Topics Sequence 1. I watched the demo video a few days ago and didn’t realize you had done a blind on 3-4. With the lead out a front was pretty easy and I felt like it made the turn tighter for us so hope that’s okay.
He read the opening line really well on all of the runs! No problem! On the last run, he got the jump but asked a valid question about whether he should go to 1 or 4 (because you were so close to 4). So in those moments you can leave him closer to 1 while you lead out to 4.First run looked great! The FC 3-4 made sense there because you were already there and decelerated. The BC only makes sense and feels right if you are in motion the whole time and less lateral
2nd. 3rd and 4th runs – the FCs were even better! You were in a great spot for it on all of them!
Getting the turn on 5 was a little harder to gt a great one: the best ones were the last 2 reps which had the earlier decel. I wonder if a brake arm (opposite arm cuing the jump along with the dog side arm) as you decel into the send will help? The 2nd arm will help override the forward-facing-ness of the send and get even more collection.
However, he didn’t hit a single bar here so I am not sure we need to change anything!
>>Do me a favor and listen with the sound off if you don’t want to hear exactly how slowly my brain was firing. >>
Ha! Of course I had to listen with the sound on – but the traffic noise drowned out your verbals LOL!!!
>>I’m literally not always giving verbals or using the wrong verbals at times.>>
That is the pre-coffee thing. I don’t know how you did it LOL!
>> Rip’s perfect anyway here.
Yes he was! Looking great! Nice work here 🙂 Let me know what you think!
Tracy
