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Hi!
>Okay I have been experimenting I think the issue is that neither of my dogs understand their turn cues on a verbal so when I am not on the same side as verbal they go for where I am – so been doing some work on this slow progress. This is worse when I am moving less or coming out of a tunnel.>
That is pretty normal – you can add physical cues like arm cues to help turn them away. Practicing on the flat first by saying the verbal then doing the arm cues will really help.
On the first video:
That was a nice distracting environment and In Synch did great! It looks like she was even holding her stay! Super!
She found the opening line really well.
>In Synch weave is coming but she still struggles so didnt really expect alot as not done weaves as part of a proper sequence before.>
Is it possible to open up the weaves in the sequence, so they are easier? Or you can reward before them then do them separately. That way you don’t help with body language, and she doesn’t get frustrated by getting them wrong a lot.
>But I was pleased she seems to be starting to understand backsides even if we got a slice instead of a wrap sometimes.>
Yes! On the first video, it looks like you pushed a little too hard to it so she went past the jump before it. In that case, you can keep your dog-side arm open and back like a serpentine, so she still takes the jump as you move to the backside on the next jump.
On the second video, you got the slice on the backside because you were all the way across the bar (which is the slice position). To get the wrap, you will want to be closer to where the wing and bar meet (like you were on the 2nd run here). She read that wrap really well!
>Maybe that sun session training with friends so spent quite abit of time looking at lines- another sign should walk courses more in training.>
Yes! The more we do that in practice, the easier it gets at trials to find the lines correctly and plan the handling.
> But also amazed at how focused both my dogs have got when lots distractions- people, dogs, horse poo, horses rabbits etc.>
They are being fantastic! In Synch really wants to do agility with you and doesn’t seem to be concerned with distractions at all.
Great job here! Safe travels to go see your dad!
Tracy
Hi!
The rear crosses went GREAT!! She is very confident with her lines and she doesn’t mind the pressure of you getting close to her for the rear cross diagonals. So fun!
And she had no questions when you did the balance rep, or the RC on the jump after the tunnel, or the left turns. That means all of the info was very clear! Super!
I think you were showing the RC info sooner on the left turn side later in the session than the right turn side. It seemed like you were facing straight as she was approaching the jump after the tunnel on the right turn side – and on the left turn side you were facing the center of the bar immediately. Your timing at 1:16 was perfection!
>Then we revisited the blinds and… if I turned earlier she tended to skip the jump. >
The timing is tricky with small dogs for sure!
The rep that went the best was at 1:27 – this is where you were connected until after she landed from the middle jump (1:28) then started the BC cues.
Compare that to 1:40 and 1:46, where you started the disconnection as she was over the bar of the middle jump so when she landed, the BC was already in progress (from her perspective). In other words – you were too early 🙂
I think you ended up with the FC at 1:56 and 2:05 because you were really being connected to help her stay on the line and ended up near the jump, a little decelerated – so the FC seemed more natural.
Your connection at 2:05 was really good – you maintained it until she was landing from the middle jump without getting too close to the next jump, so that would have probably been a good BC there too!
Nice work!!
Tracy
Good morning! Did Judge get to herd? How did it go? I don’t think I have ever seen a Malinois herd!
The serps are going well! You did a great job of staying in motion and connected and having your serp arm back. Yay!
The first part (dog on left) went great! I think the 2 jumps might have been a bit too close at first as you mentioned, but he also needed to sort out the striding because that side-to-side jumping is hard!
At :13 he hit the wing of jump 2 pretty hard – I couldn’t see exactly why other than he might have been watching you start to show or deliver the toy? I am glad it was a light PVC wing!
He had one more bar at :16 – it looked like more like a ‘not quite enough room’ to set up takeoff and landing on that severe of a slice but he was able to figure it out after that and the other reps looked good.
The dog-on-right side where he had to turn left was definitely harder. Do I remember correctly that left turns are harder for him in general?
When you started giving your left verbal before he entered the tunnel (:40), he was much better at turning (plus he had seen it a couple of times so better knew what to expect on the tunnel exit). But finishing the left movement was HARD with you running! You can still reward effort there – a cookie for lining up, or for taking the next jump.
Dialing back your motion totally helped. For this side you can also angle the jumps more to make the line easier to read while you run – they were a little angled but angle them both even more (and more than you did on the other side at the very beginning).
He was totally getting it by the last 2 reps (yay!) but also, it looked like a harder effort than the right side jumping. This is normal for serps and slice jumping, so it is helpful for him to leave the easy side in the harder position and open up the harder side to the easier position.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
OK I have to share my chuckle:
At the very beginning of the video, you were so compelling in the connection and handling of the lead out that I legit thought you were running the dog… until he did not appear after the release LOL!! Well done!! I didn’t even notice that the bars were on the ground.
This course was a lot of distance and parallel line work, meaning that setting the parallel line can get the desired line, even at a distance.
The walk through looked great. I liked the plan! 2 suggestions before watching the runs:
– Handle 11 (jump before DW) as a threadle wrap (you’d be rotated towards the DW) instead of a lap turn (where you would be facing him) – it can get you up the line even faster because your feet would already be facing the DW.
– I couldn’t really see 20 relative to 19 but maybe the slice is better than the wrap there, in terms of being faster?
The runs went really well overall, most of it was lovely! Some details we can play with fine tuning and a couple of options to explore with that 16 jump!
Opening:
I like you lead out position!!! He was wide on the turn on 2 at 1:19 and 1:51, then less wide at 3:30 (but he might have known where he was going). We don’t need a lot of collection, but a little more would be good 🙂 – you can see if he will commit if you start stationary on the release without taking steps towards the #2 jump, and also if you release with 2 hands instead of 1. For my dogs – one hand on the release means extension, 2 hands on the release means collection.He had a question on 4-5 at 1:23 – I think it was a parallel line blooper. You were stationary saying “go weave” so it set a line to the backside of 5 and he was looking for weaves maybe somewhere out there, paralleling your line.
You were rotated facing him at 1:53 and the other reps, which pulled him in a little too much. You can play with a brake arm and keep turning your shoulders, or a spin to stay in motion and getting just the right amount of turn.
Weaves: on the first run, he left the weaves right as you said tunnel but I think he might have been popping out anyway? (1:59) He seemed to have no regrets LOL
Good reward there on the next run, then he was great in the weaves.He did have a question on 11 at 2:32 – I think it mainly had to do with the lap turn position probably being too far from the wing. The rotation pulled him in to you, but then he was not sure where to be. You can put the lap turn position closer to 11, but that might put you further behind on the RDW.
Other options to play with are: threadle wrap where your upper body is pulling him for 10-11, and lower body rotates to show the parallel line to his path 10-11 and feet face the DW. That also opens up more options for 16 (more on that below).
Yo ucan also do a FC or BC at 10 (which will be nice for tightening up that turn) and a push wrap to 11. If you do the FC or BC close to the wing of 10, then you can send him past you to 11 and leave for the next position almost as early as you can with a threadle wrap (and also opens up more options for 16).
The ending looked great each time (17-20). He is wrapping really well! It would be fun to time the difference between the wrap and the slice there – you were in a great spot to be able to handle any of it really well.
Looking at why 16 was such a pain to get:
>From the dog who I always say won’t turn out of a tunnel, it seemed like he wanted to do anything except go straight.>
On the rep you left in, he was convinced it was a right turn on 15 and not a straight line to 16 because of what he saw before entering:
At 2:41 you got in pretty deep to the tunnel then as he was approaching it at 2:42, he saw you decel and peel away.
(I will point out that you are rocking your verbals even if his responses are not perfect in terms of overriding motion!)So to handle it with him on your left from that side of the DW, you can be closer to the end of the DW and jump 13 – then from as close to the end of the DW as possible, sent to 14 and 15 while setting up a parallel path from 15-16 as you run past the end of the DW. That should get 16 and the right turn, and easily get you back to 18 for the 18-19-20 line.
Handling it by getting him on your right at 2:52 got the jump! He did not get the right turn but it was still clean and fast on that sequence – putting him on your right was a clever approach to it!
I think he saw you RC at 3:59 so he turned right and did not take 16, but you nailed it at 4:12 AND he turned right!
He definitely did NOT see a RC there before the tunnel entry but he might have seen it as he was heading to the jump, which might have produced the right turn.One other option is to handle that sequence with him on your right on the DW. This would mean a blind cross exit from 11 (from the threadle wrap or push wrap or even the lap turn, you can get him on your right pretty easily). Then turn him away to 13 and support the parallel line 14-15… and you will be waiting for him near enough to 16 when he exits 15 that it is easy to get that and easy to get the 17-20 line too. I think the ideal position to be in when he exits 15 would be paralleling his line with him on your left – and setting that parallel line from the other side of the 17 tunnel (where the numbers are on on the map :)) so you can FC 16 and be miles ahead for 18-19. This would be similar to what you did 2-3-4.
If it is still set up, try it and let me know what works best! The tricky part is actually the exit of 11… what you do there will set up the entire ending of the course.
Great job!!
Tracy
Hi!
>. I think I got confused with the last pinwheel exercise.>
This is possible, they might all start to look the same LOL!!!
Tracy
Hi! Super nice session here!!
I like how you broke it down – the Go line at the beginning but then showing her the harder skills on the jumps starting just from the jump. Then adding more speed from the wing wrap – she was really strong with most of the skills here!!
She really only had trouble with one element: when you reached to pull the toy out before she was committed, she came off the line.
You can see it at 1:26 (toy grab from pocket plus decel drew her back to you from the Go line to the tunnel), at 2:05 (toy reach pulled her off threadle slice), at 2:14 (she curled into you on he slice cue). That is really good info!
So 2 ideas for you:
– when doing the handling, either have the toy already in your hand, or pull it out after she is committed to the line you want
– separately from the handling, you can play with one or two jumps where you are pulling out the toy and even praising… but keep handling then reward her for continuing and for ignoring the toy moving 🙂Everything else is looking good! For the in in threadle, the further back your threadle arm is, the better she read it is a slice s you moved along the line. For example, at 2:39 it looked like you were trying to bring her to your side with your arm down then send her back out, so the slice was not as smooth.
Compare to the last rep at 3:46 where you had your threadle arm back more and she immediately came to the correct side of the jump and sliced out over the jump. That was lovely!Another small detail: for the threadle wraps, you can keep your feet facing forward to challenge her to commit to the line even as you keep moving forward.
For the next session, you can start closer to the wing wrap to see if she can read the cues (especially the go tunnel and backside push cues) when you are not ahead of her.
Great job!
TracyHi!
Lift’s video:
Overall, this went really well for a young dog with a super hard skill!!The beginning was hard for her but then moving the jump out of the picture and showing her the weaves from the easier angle jump started it and then things went pretty well. It is definitely hard! Dog on right seemed a little harder for her, maybe it was the angle of entry, so you can soften that angle too. But even after you did a couple of tunnel balance rep, she was able to get into the weaves. Good girlie!!!
>Definitely should have started with the weaves further from the tunnel. >
Yes, distance can help. You can also have the tunnel very close there but with both ends turned down, so it is an exciting visual but no entry is available LOL!
Kaladin’s video:
>Surprisingly had trouble getting the tunnel…maybe because he had less momentum going into it? When these things come up on course he loves sailing out to the tunnel>
Could be that there was not a lot of momentum into it! And also I think the tunnel is so hidden on the side with the weaves that he didn’t register it (like he did on the other side on the first part of the session). I thought he had a lightbulb moment at :40 when he was like “who put the tunnel there?” 😂🤣 but it was still hard. A little extra motion helped him sort it out later in the session too.
Finding the poles went great – he was not accelerating as much because there was not a lot of momentum and you were sending him past you without moving – great skills for him to practice!
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
>She does like running after a frizzer but doesn’t have great skills to bring it back so if I use that at Animal Inn I will probably spend my whole time trying to get it back after the first throw. >
When I use a ball with Hot Sauce who is great about bringing it back, but does not let go of it 😂🤣 I always have a 2nd ball to show/bribe her with to make fast transitions. Perfectly fine in UKI and USDAA. And you can ask someone to go get the other frizz if she drops it on the way back to you.
>Does the Master Class just run for a year after you sign up?>
Access to it is lifetime. The working spots go for a year after the first post, so people can start whenever they like. And of course I am flexible because sometimes life gets in the way: dog injury, human injury, winter, etc. So we ‘pause’ the year and pick it up when the person is ready.
Onwards to videos!
T
Hi!
>What spacing did you use.>
I used 24 foot distances, approximately.
> I have tried it from about 14’ – 18’. >
Might be too small for her big stride – is it on grass? Also, what height is she running at? If the bars are 16” or taller, the smaller distances will be harder.
>I’m getting a pretty wide turn off of 2-3 and wonder if I should space it more. >
That can totally help, by giving you more time to show the handling and giving her more time to adjust the striding.
>She seems to really have to crank to get to the turn to 4. She has no trouble with the layering, so I’m wondering if I should focus more on her turning tighter around the pin wheel.>
You can look at the video and see if you are cueing early enough in terms of turning your shoulders. Also, you can use a ‘brake’ arm (opposite arm joining the dog side arm) as part of the cue to get her to add a collection stride.
Let me know how she does with the bigger distances and if you try the brake arm!
Tracy
Hi!
I think you will find getting the BC to be a lot easier if you start on the jump before the tunnel, send her through the tunnel, then send into the pinwheel. She is SO FAST that starting on the jump before the pinwheel jump just put you in a hard position to get far enough ahead to get the BC started early enough.At :26 and :37, the BCs were starting when she was already over the BC jump. You had SUPER connection as you finished the blind, so she found the line. YAY!! Note how you looked back at her as you finished the blind, moving the right arm back a bit to show more connection. That worked really well!
>left side was a struggle. >
Yes, that was harder for her – you fixed it by using bigger connection and a step to the jump. But that made it a little harder to the BCs, so they were a little late starting too.
The exit of these blinds did not have the same connection as the blinds at :26 and :37 – your dog side arm was at your side and so she didn’t see connection directed back to her.
I really liked your timing of starting it at 1:15!!!! Super! Adding more connection back to her with exit line connection: dog-side arm points back to her and your opposite arm (right arm here) can be across your body to really open up connection.
Using the toy helped especially on the last 2 reps but connection will get it done even better 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Here it is! You are the first to see it!
[AU-081] MaxPup 4 Transition To Trials: To The Line – And Beyond!
Hi!
>I think I inadvertently taught him to touch it with his front foot instead of his nose. >
That paw smack was actually very cute 🙂 No worries about it – the paw smack will go away as you get reward in fast, and as he realizes he doesn’t need to do it 🙂
The bowl is good to use as a target for now – put it a little closer to the end of the board so he doesn’t have to reach for it. Less than 6 inches is probably a good distance so he can basically step his front feet off the board with his weight shifted into his rear. If he has to move forward a lot to target the bowl, he will shift his weight forward and come off the plank.
>Should I teach a nose target/chin rest on an object first and then add it to the teeter or is just having the bowl okay?>
I think going to the bowl closer to the board will work great! You will that he naturally give you a head-bob towards the bowl. A nose target is not needed, as long as he is looking down at the bowl as he is doing the teeter and not up at you – and we don’t want a chin ret because that can get his head too long and also possibly change his breathing (a lot of dogs either hold their breath or breathe really fast through their nostrils in a chin hold, neither of why we want).
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>I just honestly don’t think I will ever be able to do them. >
I think you will totally be able to do them! Part of it is getting comfortable with doing them and really trusting her commitment to lines (very hard to trust a baby dog LOL!). And also as she gets more experienced, she will read them very easily so timing gets less important. Young dogs need to see the whole picture, including the re-connection after the blind. More experienced dogs (2 years old or so) will read that you are doing a blind cross as soon as you begin it, so you won’t have to be as perfect.
On the video, you can this all of this already happening:
You were much earlier on the blinds and your connection was great, so she read it well!My only suggestion is to be closer to 3 at :11 when you are moving up the line, so she sees it sooner (that will help keep the bar up).
Looking at the next sequence:
>I was really impressed with her on this set up. >
Totally agree! You two looked fabulous!!!!
>Of course we are at the stage where one day she is brilliant and the next day she is less than brilliant. LOL.>
Teenage dogs LOL! I can totally relate with my 18 month old dog 🙂
First run: Perfect! Great connection and excellent timing on the FC after the tunnel (2-3), the wrap FC, and the RC at the end. SUPER!!
2nd run – the RC worked really well 2-3! You almost had the BC there at 1:31, just needed to maintain the connection and not point forward.
But to get that BC easier, you will want to lead out less 🙂 You were a little too close to the tunnel so didn’t quite make it back in time. If you lead out to the wing of jump 1 and send her past you to the tunnel – then as soon as she is heading into the tunnel, you can do the BC and be in a great spot already on your left side when she exits.
>I thought she handled 5 well both with the front and with the rear.>
Absolutely! The wrap to the inside (to her right) set a pretty perfect line back to the tunnel. The RC to the left was good too, you can cue it even sooner by going to the center of the bar on 5, then giving her a BIG connection on 6 to get her back to the 7 tunnel (like you did on the 2nd RC rep there).
>And in on rep, I was going to try and get a blind in after 7 and failed miserably.>
No worries! The RCs worked great there. The BCs will be easier when you are more comfy using them in general, but your RCs look fabulous so you can totally use them there.
Great job!!
Tracy>I learned that Gallican jumps have a right way and a wrong way to set them up to prop up a teeter! >
Ah! Who knew?!?!! I haven’t used the Galician jumps for this but now I will be sure to use them the way you had them when they didn’t move. I am glad it didn’t bother her!
>“how on earth do you expect me to work under these conditions?”>
Ah yes, whippet judgement! Ha!
I didn’t see any fear or anxiety in those moments, or struggle to coordinate. It was almost like she was waiting for something? I agree that she was happy to go up the board when she perceived it was time to go up the board. And even after the wing moved early on and she kinda hopped off sideways later in the video, she was still super happy to run up the board. Yay!
By the middle of the session, she was happy to run up the board without stopping at the cavalettis.
And you were able to be moving as she was getting on it.
So maybe something about them was eliciting a “stay” response or she was waiting to be asked to do something else? Or the visual was just different enough that she needed a moment? Hard to know, but what ever the question was, she answered it herself. She didn’t necessarily ue them to straighten herself up LOL!! But you can try harder angles next time and help her go around them – or use something bigger that is harder to trot over.
And you can be relatively stationary for the first rep or two, and if that goes well you can add slowly moving the whole time.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>The seminars were so much fun! >
I am so glad you came! Both dogs looked wonderful, and Lift worked brilliantly in a new place. Yay!
>Jump grids – I agree about dropping the adjustable grids for Lift. I can do some other grids that aren’t straight since I she doesn’t do the weird right-drift if she’s turning and sprinkle in the jumping toolbox stuff for the slice jumping. >
Sounds good, and if they start to produce any weird behavior – abandon them LOL!!! I don’t think the toolbox stuff will produce weird behavior because the plank position prevents that, but ya never know!
>I’m not in any rush to get her comfortable jumping 12in. She’s running perf 8in for now when we do USDAA and I might just leave her there for it. Eventually I’d like to do AKC ISC with her so she’ll be a 12in dog there, but I’m in no rush. >
You’ve got time on your side, I think she will do well at 12”. It is still below her shoulder height, so I think she will find it easy when she is more experienced.
>There’s a day of ISC locally at OTR in mid-October that I will enter Kaladin in, but probably won’t enter Lift.>
Can you do Level 1 as FEO, making up your own course without weaves?
>She’s doing great with the “going down” teeter games (it’s almost horizontal) so we’ll start the elevator game soon, but I havent’ started on fading the target on the plank yet so I’m not expecting that we’ll be doing elevator games in public for a while.>
I believe that in UKI you can place a target on the ground as long as it is not on the teeter (I have done it for the RDW stuff) and also you can touch the equipment to play teeter games – but double check it because it is a while since I have done that.
>She’s 5pts away from her Novice SS title so I think I am going to NFC SS even if it’s a perfect course for her since I don’t want her in Senior yet. >
I feel this pain 🙂 My little Elektra is still in Novice, needing 1 point that I refuse to get because I don’t want 4 dogs in Senior. I am way too lazy hahahaha! And Elektra doesn’t care at all 🙂
Also, Fusion’s footing is not as good as the turf stuff and the grass at home, so she might not have an easy of a time getting on lines and turning!
>For all of the classes, I’m waffling on whether I should try a short course with no toy and then run out for a party or if I should do a few short sequences and use the reward box (either with or without a toy as a marker).>
Maybe do the first class as short sequences with the food box to acclimate to environment and footing… then see how it goes and decide about the next run after that? She doesn’t need super short sequences so you can run longer NFCs or the whole course, depending on the designs.
> Both are outdoors in Animal Inn’s fenced ring and she’s entered in 2 classes on 1 day for each of them so she’ll stay home the other day to decompress. >
You might consider bringing her both days even if she doesn’t run, so she can be in the environment to being extending the duration of handling the environment. Even leash walks and pattern games can help with that – decompression can be on Monday LOL!
>The UKI one has the reward box so I’ll probably use that since outdoors is still harder for her. For USDAA I can run FEO but I’m not sure how much it benefits her for me to throw a toy which she will chase but probably not pick up and then run to her leash and out. I think if I throw a toy with no food in it more than once in public, she’s going to start to get really pissed. She’s in P1 Jprs & Snkr for USDAA so chances are it’s all jumps and tunnels.>
If the UKI trial is first, you will have good info about how much you will want to do at the USDAA trial. All of these decisions should be on your radar now, but no final decision needs to be made until you are actually in the moment.
>So the Fall is definitely going to be mainly about working on contacts & weaves with some jumping exercises mixed in. I saw that Shape Up has their RDW level 2 class starting up in mid-Sept and I am considering auditing it.>
That is a good time to start getting weaves and contacts ring-ready!
>What do you have planned for the Fall/Winter?>
I think most of the folks from CAMP will move over to MasterClass: Timing which starts with drills then moves up through course work then into full courses. You got a small taste of it in Iowa but it is actually a lot of material 🙂 that can be done at your own pace. I am trying to decide on a topic for winter camp but nothing is springing to mind that will fit in around the major agility events and before the snows come. I will keep you posted!
Tracy
