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Hi! These are going well, overall! A couple of spots to look at:
On the first sequence, we can tighten up the blind cross line a bit to get a better turn:
– you can add more connection to the exit of the blind at :19 for Sammy and :54 for Jazz.– Also for both of them, you don’t need to get as close to the blind cross jump because it puts you past the mouse line (which widens the turn). You can head more towards the jump after the blind, which will show them a really good line.
On the second set of blinds – for Sammy, you can send to the tunnel from further away to get to the blind sooner at 1:35. It was a little late to start because you got close to the tunnel. To help him drive to the tunnel without you needing to slow down, you can start closer to him with very little lead out so he drives ahead of you to the tunnel and you can keep running without slowing down.
Great timing of the blind at 1:55 and 2:21 and 2:40 with Jazz! It is hard to see on the angle on the video, but he jumped a little straight which means you can be further over to the next jump and not running as straight past the blind cross jump.
Jazz was puzzled by my handling on the front crosses. He is much faster when I nearly not move. >
I see what you mean! The line when you started from the weaves and did the simple line was very fast!
And I do see him slowing down on the front crosses. He was going fast through the blinds, so I think it was the send to the jump for the front cross that caused the questions:Those were mainly starting on backside sends, and he does have questions about the backside send and slows down a little. To help him maintain his speed, you can add more connection to that cue with your dog-side arm back and eye contact, but delay the outside arm coming up.
When you used your outside arm you were beautifully connected but timing of it was early and caused you to rotate (like at :56 and the last run) , so the deceleration & rotation slowed him down.
When you didn’t use the outside arm, you were tending to look forward at the backside jump so the connection was not as clear so he slowed down to be sure he was on the right line.
It think he will be able to speed through it with the dog-side arm down and out of the way and lots of direct eye contact. The outside arm can come up as he is reaching the wing so you can rotate to the new line.
Let me know what you think! Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>it does get hot and muggy in that arena, so I think that drains their energy faster than if we were in a slightly cooler area with airflow.>
It definitely might be the heat – it is early in the season and we are getting summer weather already. It was 97 degrees yesterday at my house – ewwwww!
One thing that happened on all your blinds in the video: fabulous connection as you finished the blind! That is a critical element and it can make timing less important 🙂 So definitely keep going with that connection – you were really reaching back to both dogs with your eyes, and your arm was back towards them and out of the way so they could see the connection really well.
>But I was worried that if I did them too soon, my dogs would not quite be committed to the jumps in front of them and bypass them>
>I needed to go deeper to the outside, so she committed to jump 3, as I was initiating my blind for jump 4,>I think I understand what you are describing! And I bet it had to do with getting a touch too far ahead and lateral on those blinds, creating questions.
On the video, for those blinds through the boxes – your timing was really great with both dogs, and so was your connection. But to support the commitment with you that far ahead, you did go past the mouse line so the turns to the next jump were wide.
You can see that at :06, :28, :57, 1:31, 2:06, 2:41, for example.
When you did not go as far past the jump, the turns were immediately better (like at :45 and 1:19).
So how to get the timing/connection, tight turn, AND commitment? I think it will work well if you run in deeper towards the tunnel – then as they exit the tunnel, they see you accelerating forward up the line. That acceleration will cue the commitment. And you can be a lateral if you want to get on the great mouse line for the turns – and your motion forward will support commitment.
That will allow you to support commitment and have the same strong timing & connection, without having to go past the jump. Let me know what you think.
They both sent to the backsides really well! That was cool to see!
>I don’t feel like my timing was great, but the end result was what we wanted. If I had to guess, my timing with Kashia was better than Kastella, probably because Kashia is slower.>
The timing on the blind cross to the tunnel started a shade late for each dog on their first run (they were taking off for the jump before the tunnel) but then you were earlier on the next run with each of them (about halfway between the 2 jumps).
So yes, you can be sooner but your connection was SPOT ON. If you watch their heads as you started the blind – they immediately turned their heads to the new line on these runs, never really considered the tunnel when the blind was starting. Yes, your verbals really helped too! But your connection was so clear and that is what really got the line. Super!!!
>What is the next class you will be teaching? I haven’t seen any advertisements yet. >
The next one for your level is the annual CAMP class! It tackles all sorts of course work/competition-level subjects. It starts in June and lasts the whole summer, with new challenges released every 2 weeks. Here is the description:
Have fun!!
Tracy
Hi!
>a “Throwback” to get a tight turn on Jump 3 with the dog heading back to enter the tunnel on the right side. Is that different than a tunnel threadle? It looks like your handling had you between the dog and the tunnel for that?>
A throwback is a name for a rotated front cross where you never face the jump directly, when you have 2 front crosses in a row. It is an application of the backwards sends we did on the prop and on the cones/barrels 🙂 So when doing the FC 2-3, we never quite face jump 3. Instead, our feet remain rotated towards 4 and our upper body ‘throws’ the dog back behind us to the jump. It sets up great turn info while making it much easier for us to time the cues. And yes, I was between the dog and the tunnel – so it was not a threadle, it was a regular ‘go tunnel’ moment. A threadle there would be SUPER hard because the dog is landing basically looking at the wrong end of the tunnel 🙂 but you got it on the last rep! Yay!
On the video: this is going well! He was able to find the line 1-2-3 really well (with the blind 2-3) when you did not lead out that far and supported the line. But that made the blind a little late, so you were trying to get ahead but that was where he had his main question:
>Part-way through, at 1:02, I’ve moved jump #2 over more to the R – and this is understandably more difficult.
>I think it was a bit of him not knowing how to find that line from behind you. A couple of things you can do:
– at jump 1, you can line him up on a slice so he is facing jump 2 directly. That way he will see it better and won’t be as locked onto your line– you can back chain the concept a bit by starting him halfway between 1 and 2, then at the landing spot of jump 1, then between the uprights of 1 (take the bar out), then at takeoff of 1. The reward will be on the landing side of 2 each time
– be super connected with your arm extended back to him so he can see the front of your shoulders and your face. Your shoulders were slightly closed so it is possible, because he is small, that he didn’t see the connection and was coming to you to find it.
When he understands the value of taking that line with you ahead and a little lateral – everything else will be so easy 🙂 You will be able to start the blind sooner (when he is halfway between 1 and 2 for now) and that will help show the line 2-3 very easily too!
He had a small question at :16 where you said tunnel but turned away from the tunnel entry so he was not sure if he should go to it or not. Compare to :32 where you took one step to the tunnel and he had zero questions 🙂 That set up getting ahead of him for the Go line at the end! Super!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think.
Tracy
Hi!
Great job with the lap turns here! You were able to get rotated and stopped so she could easily lock onto the cues – she found the correct side of the wing each time except for the last one where you were late with the cue. No worries! Excellent hustle!
Her commitment to the wings and tunnel looks terrific, and those race tracks around the outside of the wings look amazing: no questions about the line and TONS of speed. Yay!
So with that in mind – onwards to the forward-facing tandem turns, where you don’t have to rotate or stop moving. You were starting to use your feet not fully turned towards her (more facing the line) and she did well! The hand cues become really important on those, along with decel and moving parallel to the line you want her to take – which is on the inside of the wing, not towards the wing.
She did really well with the teeter – both the normal run up to the reward as well as turning around. She did the turning around really well but did seem to think it was a little stupid LOL!!! She increased her speed running up the board after that – maybe it was her way of saying that stopping was silly so she would go faster therefore you wouldn’t be able to stop her 🙂
Just keep your hand as low as possible so her chin can stay low, which keeps her balanced. This is something to revisit here and there, it doesn’t need to be a lot because she seemed very confident.
You can keep adding more drop in tiny increments for the mountain climber game!
Great job :)
TracyHi!
Glad to see you were able to play some games!! And yes, it is crazy hot this week. Hopefully we get a break soon from this early heat!!
Looking at the video:
I was cracking up at her enthusiasm on the GO reps at the beginning. She was ALL IN because it was super fun 🙂 and she looked great! Well done with your line and verbals! You can connect with her a little more even when you are behind (look at her butt :)) because that will support the line even when get behind.>We then started with the backside wraps on the right side as she tends to favor this side, so figured we’d start easy. >
These were soft turns on the front – to get the backside wraps, you will want to push her to go to the other side of the wing and take the jump coming towards you.
The right turns are going well – the MM really helps! At 1:18, you looked forward a bit which broke connection so she pulled off the jump. Baby dogs need extra connection like what you did at 1:39 – that really helped! So definitely keep that connection. I think she would turn left really well too when you handle like this, but it was smart of you to take a break since it was soooo hot.Only one suggestion with the left and right verbals: say them at a different volume than the GO verbals, because the volume and rhythm is something that helps the dogs differentiate all the darned words we teach them. So your GO can be nice and loud like it was here: perfect! And left and right can be quieter. Now, I am pretty loud so being ‘quieter’ was really hard!
What I do now is I say left & right as if they are questions: left? Left? Right? Right? That puts them at a quieter volume and a different rhythm than the GO – and I am sure that is a big factor in why the dogs learned them so easily 🙂
Great job here! Fingers crossed for some cool weather!
Tracy
Hi!
It has been crazy hot! We had 97 degrees here yesterday 🙁 Hopefully you get cool weather soon!
He did well on this session too! After each reward, you can line him up at your side again so he is not always turning away from you to do the left and right – sometimes he is turning towards you.
And, if you line him up on your side (facing the first bump), you can add in a front cross: cue the directional so he starts moving, and you can do a front cross when he starts. The FC will move you on a sharp line back towards where he started from, kind of like the Turn And Burn game we did on a barrel – in this case, you line would be parallel to the outer bump and towards a wall (not towards the door).
Great job! Let me know how he does with the front cross added!
Tracy
Hi!
He is definitely liking the minny pinny and I think he is doing fine with he feet there on the cavalettis. There was an occasional tick of the bar but that was often when you were presenting the reward.
I think you were saying the verbals (hard to hear fully) – great! You can add doing a FC and going the other way for some countermotion on these. To help the verbal support the line, you can hold his collar and say it 3 or 4 times, then let go – so that way he has full processed it before you both start moving.
>I use 1 arm (dog side) with Ripley for these continuing forward ones and I am not smart enough to do different things with different dogs in my old age, >
I see it differently – you are plenty smart, to know that it is insanity to do things differently with 2 different dogs 🙂
He did really well here – nice balance of the easy FCs and the TW thrown in here and there. He is finding the TW even with you behind him – that is a great skill!!!! You can add in more excel and being closer to the barrel to get the right turn wraps, and of course rewarding him for coming to you sometimes too (then throw the reward straight forward because I think he will like that the most).
You were a bit far from the barrel on some of the reps, so you can get a little closer to the barrel – just to be sure he doesn’t rely on you needing to be far from the barrel to get the TW.
>he’s not a come in tight to momma for no reason puppy>
Correct! But also I think he is figuring out that coming in tight to you is also part of getting to turn himself away and ‘do the thing’ which he appears to really like! So I think ultimately he will end up with a lovely balance of distance but also handler focus when asked.
That was so funny! Teenagers have no concept of accountability LOL!!
On the rocking horse video: a great opportunity to work with fabulous distractions!
You can start your FC rotation sooner, which will allow you to be moving away sooner and do the blind sooner too!
For example, at 1:49 – 1:51 – 1:53 you started the FC when the arrived at the barrel. I think he will maintain his commitment so you can try starting the FC when he has passed you and is still a few feet away from the barrel. That will make everything else earlier and get you to better position (eventually) on courses. If that got well? Start the FC as soon as he is past you – I bet he can do it!
Compare to the turn-and-burn you did at 2:48 where you were running the other way before he got to the barrel.That was pretty awesome commitment and he was basically saying that he will maintain his commitment even with you taking off the other way.
He cracked me up when he took the toy around the barrel before bringing it to you LOL!!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
The rocking horses on the cones went really well! He worked beautifully outdoors and there was good distance between the 2 cones.Going past your treat bag was the hardest part of the session at first! Your connection was lovely. The FCs and the spins both looked awesome. And he was super happy when you whipped out the toy 🙂
Wen the toy is in your hand, it worked really well for you to amplify the connection by looking more directly at him – he went to the toy when the connection was not as clear so the toy was the more obvious visual. But then on the next reps, you connected more and he had no questions.
The next part had the stays: I don’t think you failed the stay challenge 🙂 He normally has a lovely stay! He wasn’t really into it but that might have been because all of his energy was used up in the more active game.
He was looking around a bit (windy!) and it took him a couple of moments to find the cookie in the grass. All of that takes up brain energy to ignore. Was this after the cone session? He might have been a bit brain-tired 🙂 Because he is big and such a great worker, we forget how young he is and that he can get brain tired (like when he lined up backwards – adorable but definitely brain-tired). He definitely perked up when you used the toy as. reward!
He might also be predicting the releases a bit, based on how long you usually wait after you stop moving, before saying the release. For example, if you lead out, stop moving, looking at him, then within 1 second you say the release: he will pick up on that and self-release at that 1 second mark. So keep moving up the timing of the release and add in praise before you release, so he doesn’t anticipate.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
He seemed a little more excited by the treat n train today! And I think he has figured out the game here: do a threadle, go to the reward. SUPER!
One early click caused him to not finish the threadle but that was the only time.
>I forgot to reward him at my hand. I can see how that will be more helpful because he does seem to bypass my hand unless that is okay.>
Actually, that worked out great because that is what we want: the hand is a cue to both come in AND go back out, he no longer needs to touch it 🙂 So rewarding from the treat n train was perfect.
Since we have faded out touching the hand, my only suggestion for the threadle is that you can extend the serp arm more, almost 90 degrees away from your shoulder. That will make it more obvious when you add motion.
You can also add th e game that alternates between serps and threadles, so he learns to tell the difference. And then adding motion will come right after that.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
Hopefully the weather forecast changes! 97 degrees here today and soooo dry. Send us some of your rain!
Lead out 1: gorgeous! You can try leaving him in the dust more when he gets into the tunnel. Run hard up the line and see if he can find it (as long as you stay connected).
Lead out 2: really nice timing on the blind! You can lead out more, releasing when you are past 2 and more lateral, heading to 3.
He had a small question at 2:21 on the lead out push – rather than release when you are passing the outer wing of 2, you can stand at the center of the bar in that serpy lead out push position. Take a moment to let him see it, then release. You were more on the center of the bar on the 2nd rep pf that and he read it much better!
Adding the countermotion on jump 2 on the 2nd part of the session:
He did really well with the countermotion when you did it on 2 jumps! No commitment questions there. When you did it as a full sequence, you can try leading out all the way to 3, staying at the wrap wing – then release and handle right from that position without having to run into it. Running into it makes the timing a little – you were starting as he wa lifting off for 2, so he was jumping a bit straight and turned after landing. That made the throwback wrap timing on 3 a little late too. If you are already standing at 3, he will read the positional cue and set up a great turn on 2 with little effort. Then you will be able to step back into the wrap cues, super easy 🙂Great job on these! He is halfway to being able to run a full novice course!
Tracy
Hi!
>Not shown on video but there was lots of extra yelling upon resets for next reps.>
Ha! He has big opinions on how things should be done LOL!
The tunnel-wing session went well, overall. It is possible that introducing the rear crosses has tuned him into the handling a bit, so the go straight moments were not quite as strong as previously but overall, they are still really good!
In figuring out why he pinged away to his right on a straight line at :28 – I think he saw you pressure into the line and that pushed him off the wing to his right. You can see it if you play it in slow motion – pretty cool that he saw it! You can stay on a parallel line and he will find the line nicely. When you pressured in on the next rep he looked up at to be sure, meaning he still saw some line pressure.
He had a question on the left turn wraps at 1:16 – I think he is still getting comfortable driving ahead when he can’t see you in the tunnel, with the other handling options added. He did great with it when you were not quite as far behind on the rep after that.
The timing on the left turn rear crosses was super! I think that timing would have gotten the turn but I am glad you had the placed reward to really solidify it.
Looking at the lap turns:
He did great with going into your turn hand when you were rotating and able to stop the motion. The backwards motion is what sent him to the other side of the wing on the one rep where he went to the ‘wrong’ side.
Because he was going fast 🙂 it was really hard to get fully rotated in time to get a smooth line for the lap turns.This is a good reason to be a little late: dog going too fast! Yay!The tandems worked much better because you didn’t need to be rotated – he locked onto the hand cues as soon as he exited the tunnel. You can show him the cues and call him sooner – he should be hearing his name and seeing the hands come up for the tandem right before he goes into the tunnel. That way he will exit on a nice tight line heading to you.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
> Get it basically is go so it should be your toy is ahead. That’s how he interpreted it. So thag one I am trying to get away from get it.>
Is ‘get it’ not supposed to be a toy-is-ahead marker? Or are you accidentally using it for other things too? I am confused, might need more coffee 🤣😂
> Bite is his you can get the toy from my hand- this one he struggles with and I’m sure motion triggers it. At home I have worked the verbal the waving it all the things and he’s ok. In training he’s not. So is it a marker cue issue or an issue of he can’t process the cue because I paired it incorrectly or he’s too stimulated to make good choices ?>
From what I see, it is a marker cue issue – he doesn’t seem to understand to NOT grab for it until you say ‘bite’ because you don’t often say ‘bite’ 🙂 When I went back through the 2 videos, there were 3 rewards where you delivered it without a marker, 4 times where you delivered it with praise, and 4 times where you said ‘bite’. So he is guessing based on context – and most of the time it is fine. But then sometimes he bites your hand, oops! He doesn’t seem to be struggling to process anything, it just seems that he is unaware that there is a specific marker because it doesn’t get used consistently here.
I think we generally don’t have to be perfect with markers and it is often fine to let the dog figure it out based on context (they are happy to do it). The exception, though, is when there is confusion or frustration – like when they grab for the toy and get flesh instead. So for this marker, be insanely consistent – include using it in your walk throughs and try to say ‘bite’ before you even move the toy. being super consistent with it will really help him understand what you want him to do.
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! This went really well – it is pretty complex handling and you pulled it off in a small space (which requires things to happen faster). Super!
I knew it was going to be a really good session when the very first tunnel threadle was great! You ran a really clear line and he had no questions.
I think on some of the moments where it felt a little less practiced was that you were having to think about the mechanics of the moves while also running, and that is normal – you were able to keep connection and show him the line (and rewarded for any little blooper – but there were not many of those).
> especially since I kept trying to block his path (didn’t seem like that in the moment, but it sure looks like it on the video).>
On most of the tunnel threadle reps, you are driving the line really well (just remember to be patient and keep moving to the tunnel entry until he locks onto it, don’t stop moving before he gets past you). He followed your line of motion really well and was forgiving if you took one step the incorrect direction before adjusting to the threadle line. That means any momentary step the wrong direction was adjusted immediately so he still had time and room to adjust as well.
An example of a really strong rep with the tunnel threadle is 1:10 – 1:14. This rep had great wraps cues then you took off to the tunnel threadle and kept moving towards it until he drove into the tunnel. Perfect!
One other small detail: when exiting a front cross, keep your arm back to him and eyes on him as you step to the new line until he passes you. At 1:24 you had strong connection on the tunnel exit so he knew to come to your right side but before he got past you, you pointed forward. From his low-to-the-ground perspective, that changes the line and potentially cues a blind, so he stopped and looked up at you, then did a blind. You are really grat at keeping your arm back and big connection going as he exits the wing wrap and heads to the tunnel, so the same practice applies when exiting the tunnel and going to a wing.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! SO WINDY!!!! It looks like Canada skipped spring and went directly to summer? We are experiencing that too: going to be 36c/97f here today! EEK!!!
The lap turns looked great when you were stationary near the wing. Lovely job getting yuor hand nice and low, tons of connection, and being patient to let her get to your hand before stepping back to turn her away. Super!!!
With her speed, it was much harder to do that when she was doing the wing-tunnel-lap turn sequences. She is FAST 🙂 so what was happening was at :55, 1:04, and 1:11 you were rotated but moving backwards towards the wing – and it was that backwards motion which supported her line to the other side of the wing. You were able to get there soon and be more stationary (no backwards movement) at 1:20 and 1:29 so she got it. Yay!
But since it is so hard to out-run her and be waiting in that stationary position as she exits the tunnel… onwards to the tandem turns! That way you can cue the turns while you are facing forward and won’t need to rotate to face her. And those get used more on course anyway – I think it will be easier for you both.
Great job!
Tracy
