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Hi!
He did well with the lap & tandems here and gave good feedback on timing and motion.His wraps on the wings and tunnel sends looked great! By the last several reps, he was hot and going a lot slower and wider… as the temperature heats up (his first real summer of working outdoors!) be sure to shorten up the sessions into one or two reps, then let him get into a baby pool or under a hose. And stop a session before he gets hot & fatigued. His heat tolerance will build up, but we can do ti carefully so he doesn’t run when hot/fatigued.
Back to the lap and tandem turns: You are going to chuckle! On the reps where he didn’t turn away or find the wing?
You were going too fast and/or you were too early. Usually we handlers are slow and late, so fast and early is a new adventure!
The lap turn and tandem turn (and eventually the threadle wraps) are decelerated moves, where we decel our motion and change the line (facing him on the lap turn, or puling away a bit on the tandems). Then we have to let them get almost to our hands, then we turn them away (the threadle wrap is a bit more independent but still a decelerated move).
The first few reps were too quick and too early, so he was confused.
Look at :56 – :59, where you were decelerated and waited til he got almost to your hand, then you were relatively slow (this is a good thing) as you drew your hand and leg back. Worked really well!
Compare to 1:06 – 1:08 – too early and quick so he did turn away but didn’t see the wing.
1:16 was better in terms of letting him get to your hand. But then your turn away was super quick so he didn’t turn away (he turned towards you there).
Driving into your hands for a cookie was good – he was happy to do it! You were at a hard angle relative to the tunnel exit on those, so he had to come back to you but definitely came back pretty quickly.
On the other side, at 1:25 he took some time to get to your hand because you accelerated straight as he was entering – you did call him, but the acceleration overrode that so he exited straight.
The cues were earlier at 1:31 for sure an he got it!The tandem at 1:42-1:43 was nicely decelerated and well-timed (letting him get almost to your hand) so he did really well there! He did not find the tunnel after it, probably because the tunnel was not really on his line (he would have had to turn really tight to get into it – I don’t think it was the toy throw anticipation). Changing the angle of the wing so he has a better line to the tunnel will fix that question.
He had questions on the last 2 reps at 1:55 and 2:08- your hand was up for a tandem but you were moving sideways towards the wing – so he looked at you (for clarification) then followed the motion and went to he other side of the wing. Good boy. So for a tandem, having your hands up and turning your shoulders away from the wing and away from him will help draw him to you before flipping him away. I let the dogs get pretty close to me on both the tandem (a foot or so away, or less) and the lap turns (2 inches from my hands 🙂 ) as that gives me the chance to show a really clear (and slow 🙂 ) turn away cue.
Let me know if that makes sense! Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
The smiley faces are looking good! After the very first rep where he had a question, you ramped up the connection then he had no more questions 🙂 He was very fast and also committed brilliantly, looking ahead. You can get a feel for his speed even more by spreading things out even more: you might find that you don’t need to hold up an arm to support the line; it might be easier to have low arms and lots of connection.
The accordion looked great! He was actually jumping for real 🙂 And he looked balanced. No worries about not bouncing the 11 foot distance – it didn’t look like a super comfy one-stride, he really had to shorten it up. So as he matures and gets confident with his power, we will start to bounce.
When you are feeling more secure with his stay (which looked good here), you can start moving the toy to help get even more power.
The very first wing send on the wind in your hair game (:51) was not that connected (from you) and he was thinking about the toy on the ground behind him 🙂 The next rep was great and so was 1:05 (we forgive him for scooting off for the toy at :59 LOL!)
The RCs are going really well!!! He committed to the jump and turned correctly on all of them, which is impressive because that means you got all of the info to him before he turned the wrong way. That is HARD to do! Yay!!!! So now keep trying to get on that RC line sooner so he drives forward and you can cut behind him before he takes off – you can get on it as soon as he exits the wing wrap, even before he passes you. While running forward to the center of the bar so you don’t push him off the jump by accident. That will help tighten up the turn, and experience will help too, so he can read it sooner.
The backsides are also going really well!!
>>I felt I needed to be over near his wing to keep him off frontside but then I don’t know how he could see wing>>
Yes, we want him to see the wing as much as possible – so try to run to where the wing and the bar meet. That way he sees the wing but doesn’t have an easy line to the front. On the successful reps, you were a little too far over but he still knew it was the wing (and yes, don’t get too excited like on the last rep LOL!).
On the rep at 1:51 where he went to the front side, you were running the correct line but closed your shoulder a little too early to maybe try to send him past you – and that shoulder rotation showed the front of the bar. So keep your arm back and eyes on his eyes until he is going around the entry wing to the backside.
Great job here!!!!!
Tracy
Laps on one wing very strong in both directions (these are precision rewards, so the food in your hand was great, because you are rewarding the instant turn away)
Adding the wing before: You might have been a ting bit early on the first couple, which is why you ended up sideways on some of them (stepping back too early can produce that) After 1:01 you were actually later in a GOOD way by letting him get almost to your hand then doing the lap turn. He read them all really well, especially after the FCs and the race tracks.
Strategically, when setting up for the lap turn, sending him further away to the wing before it helps you get into position for it (facing him and nearer to the lap turn wing) without having to back up. 1:56 is a g good example of that.
Tandems –
He is really great at reading the difference between sends around the outside of a wing and the tandem turns. All he needed to see was the the 2-hand cue starting and he zipped right into the tandems.SUPER!! Like with the lap turns, you were able to add the FCs and more speed really easily. Happy dance!So the next thing to think about here is a threadle wrap verbal 🙂 Yes, sometimes tandems are done on the front side of a jump (similarly to a rear cross on the flat) so that could be front side directionals (left, right, wrap, etc). We are seeing these moves a LOT nowadays as ways to pull the dog to the backside and do a turn away (including a full 360 degree wrap). So, new verbal needed!
I say “close” to mean enter on the wing closer to me and exit towards the other wing (threadle slice). And “in in” to mean enter on the wing closer to me and exit towards that same wing.
The different verbals are very helpful for speedsters like Jackpot so he can set up his jumping with knowledge of the exit from 18 feet away.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>that’s been a huge weakness this whole class. Cleaning up my reward system is at the top of my list.>>
Overall, your reward system is pretty solid because he is learning things quickly and he does not appear to be frustrated at all. There are a couple of things to do to make things easier, but in general you are doing great! One suggestion as you sort out where hold rewards: decide if you need a precision reward (a toy or treat that needs to be placed in a specific spot at a specific time to get the best behavior going) or a ‘hooray’ reward (a ‘good job we are finished with the sequence’) reward. A precision reward should be in your hand the whole time so you can get it to the placement as fast as possible. A hooray reward can be in your pocket or in your waistband and come out with a couple of seconds of delay, as you praise him.
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
The zig zags went well! No problem with the wings and bars touching. He seemed fatigued on the last couple of reps where he missed the first jump, so now that there is more actual jumping involved fewer reps are good to keep him feeling powerful 🙂 You can add the last wing on to the end of the last bar, so it is all jumps & wings now (we are slowly building up to a really hard jump grid 🙂 )
On the tunnel threadles, he definitely reads your feet as a BIG part of the cue! On the very successful moments where he went to the threadle side of the tunnel (:54 and 1:16 for example), your feet were turned and facing the correct side before he exited the wing wrap before it. Super!!!! On the reps where he went straight rather than threadled (like at :47 and 1:01), your feet were facing the straight-ahead tunnel entry so that is where he committed to going. Good boy! So the earlier you turned your feet, the better his line was.
One other detail in this session: he did best on the lines to and around the wings when you kept your arms low and back, so he could see your face. When you were pointing forward, he would slow down and wait for more info (like at :35 and 1:07) or almost go behind you because it looked like the beginning of a blind cross (like at 1:13). Pointing forward ahead of him changes the line of your shoulders, which changes the cue. When you had lower arms, your shoulders faced the line better and he had no questions 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Thanks for stopping in and have a blast in Europe!!!!
I found a bunch of really good places that I think will be close? Hopefully I got the correct geographical area LOL!!! Here are some options. If any look interesting I can put you in touch directly. All are really good!
Canine New England in Walpole
Kate Biggar at High Fidelity (just outside Boston)
Agility Rush (Uxbridge) and John Nys
Andy Winther (not sure of which town exactly)Tracy
Hi!
The get out is going well! I think the clearer cue was when you used your outside arm at the beginning and at :38 – that was a really obvious get out cue compared to the dog side arm reps. That can help you take out the small step towards the jump.You can also turn the jump 90 degrees, so the bar is parallel to your running line. That will add challenge by asking him to slice the jump moving away from you.
Minny pinny is also looking good!
>>Not sure if extra step is collection or due to spacing?>>
I think it was because you were standing still 🙂 And that is fine because it is a collection game for the soft turns and he was bouncing on the first part of it. The spacing is good, s you can emphasize getting the verbals more independent. Have him start next to you and gently hold his collar. Then start saying the verbal 3 or 4 times, then let him go so he starts moving (and keep saying the verbal). That way he is hearing the verbal separately from handling cues and he will propel himself into it.
He seems to be listening to the verbals: It was interesting on how the one rep where you had the wrong verbals it was also the one rep where he touched the bars!
Nice work here :)
TracyHi!
The get out is going well! You were really good about running as straight as possible and letting your upper body do the out cues (and she was also really good about NOT doing an out when you didn’t want it 🙂 ). You can keep adding distance away from the out jump – you might find using the outside arm pointing to the jump is useful as more distance gets added, and that can also help you get the FC or BC on the jump because you have more time to start the turn when she looks at the jump.
Zig zags are looking good! She wants to bounce through them, which is a good thing, so we can help her do that by having the end of each jump bar touch the next wing. That will shorten up the distance and you will see her start to bounce rather than add strides.
Mission transition – more distance between the jump and the wing will make this a bit easier to time the transition to be sooner. Because they were relatively close together, your decel was happening with her closer to the jump. It was fine with the lower bar and she got good collections (:11, :26, :38, :45), but as the bar starts to get higher, the decel will be ore helpful for her if you start it just after she exits the start wing. And then keep moving forward/facing forward until she lifts her front feet for the jump – rotating too early will pull her off like at :18. As she gets more experienced, you can rotate sooner but for now you can wait til her feet are lifting to guarantee the commitment 🙂
The lap turns and tandems are going well!
>>I think my arms were a bit flaily (apparently that’s not a real word, lol), especially on the tandem turns. She still figured out what I wanted for the most part as long as I was not on her line>>
I think you arms were fine, not too flaily 🙂 What was happening was that you were too early (yes, too early!) on the lap turns when she went to the wrong side of the wing. Your arm and leg were stepping back to soon, so it looked like a cue to go to the other side.
After :21, though, you were great about letting her get almost to your hand and then stepping back into the lap turn. Nice! When you add more motion from a wing before it, you can send to the wing from further away so you don’t have to run backwards 🙂
On the tandems, your arms were good! She went a little wide because you had a lot of forward motion, so be sure to decelerate into it to tighten up the turn. You had decel on the last rep at 2:18 and that was lovely!
Great job here :)
TracyHi!
>>I think it’s more likely pressure than something sore. I’m not finding anything on her or seeing any change in her gait. If anything she is boing-ing around more lately. >>
Yes, quite possibly it is pressure and not soreness. I am glad she is getting a bit of a massage next week to confirm. The pressure could be a stack up of all the details her brain is being bombarded with and has to process. So in this session, it was handler motion, verbal cues, arm movement, toy/food, her own mechanics, running, ignoring the sights/smells/sounds of the outdoors etc etc. There is a LOT for her brain to process, and the adolescence brain is not that good at that. Plus if she has been doing a lot lately AND if she might be coming into season… yes, it adds up 🙂
Have you done any decompression stuff with her, like a snuffle mat? That might be something to add in between each rep in training!
I also think she doesn’t have a lot of frustration tolerance right now, so if something is not perfect and she doesn’t know exactly what to do, she copes with the frustration by leaping up (more on that below).
>Anyways we’e been playing with toys in the house and doing some tricks. >>
Yay! Tricks are great! And shaping in general – you can shape lots of different behaviors. Shaping is a great way to improve resilience to any uncertainty and to improve frustration tolerance too.
>>Had some mixed results with the smiley faces. Sometimes she likes the race track and other time she boings up at me partway through and I’m not seeing a pattern for why this happens. >>
I watched it in slow motion to look for a pattern. It might take a few sessions to see a pattern, but here is what I see so far:
Jumping up (looked like frustration) at :47 and 1:31 – your left arm went up then down, slight disconnection lots of verbal. Toy in use at :47 and food at 1:31. Right turns. (toy) right turns
Compare to the smoothness of 1:52 and 2:30 – she is on your right side, steady arm (no up and down), clearer connection.
It is SUPER subtle but when she is in your left side, the up/down of the arm and slight disconnection might be enough to trigger the frustration. It didn’t seem to be toy related because she did it with food too.
Is keeping your arm steady and showing a TON a connection, more exaggerated, the answer? I don’t know, but it sure won’t hurt 🙂
>>There are lots of things I wanted to circle back to in MaxPup 2 but maybe I should just give her a break for a week or two and only do really easy things like toss a treat and have her chase me for a toy/treat.>>
Yes – a break from handling stuff so you can do really easy things and also do some shaping – like back foot targeting, or behaviors with a box, etc. The behaviors themselves are not important but the resilience/frustration tolerance from shaping will be really helpful. And when you do the shaping, be sure to get her more stimulated before starting – you can do this with tugging or tricks for treats!
And build in decompression and see how it goes!
>>I think I successfully submitted for the last 3 live classes for Kaladin in summer camp, but now I’m not seeing a confirmation email or a charge so just want to make sure I actually remembered to hit submit on that form.>>
You did submit it! I will go through it on Tuesday when I get home and send confirmations.
Nice work 🙂 Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
His tunnel threadling is going well! He is able to read the cues best when you turn on the wing nice and early, so you are fully facing the correct end of the tunnel bu the time he exits the wing wrap. The one blooper he had when he ended up in the wrong tunnel entry was when you’re not quite turned as early as the other reps.
The arm cue was very clear! And it sounds like you have a noice for the threadle verbal, which is also very distinct. Super!
Since this went so well, you can add more motion: spread the wings out a bit more so there is more distance, and see if you can run into the turn more and still get the great responses 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
His stay looks great and he has great commitment to the line. Super!!!When you release to send to the jump, keep your dog-side arm lower and you can use it to point to the takeoff spot (along with step to it with your leg). That will help you get the big end and lots of connection, and also it will help you be able to push off to run to your next position 🙂 He read all the cues really well, so now you can play with stepping to the takeoff of 2 as soon as he lands from 1, and then starting the FC before he arrives at 2 (starting it no later than halfway between 1 and 2)
He had one question at 1:48 – on the serp lead out/lead out push, maintain connection and arm back all the way through the line until he takes off for jump 3. It is the connection and serp shoulders staying open that cue him to turn away to the next jump.
Outdoor part of the session – your arm was able to move more freely without holding the toy so connection was automatically better 🙂 Yay!
Moving up the line on the parallel path was easy peasy, and maintaining connection through the threadles looked great and really helped him find the line. He did great!!!
Nice work on these!!!
Tracy
Hi! He did really well with the backsides too! And the tunnel was not a distraction for him at all. Yay!
The main suggestion here is to have your dog side arm supporting his line more as you connect, rather than pointing ahead.
When you point ahead he looked at you more especially at :44 (he took the front of the jump there). Pointing ahead and looking ahead turns all of the physical cues to the front side of the bar, and that overrides the verbal especially with young dogs.
Compare to :57, for example, where you had a lower arm that was following his nose and not pointing ahead and a lot more connection to him – note how he looked at you lot less and just zipped directly to the backside. Lovely!
When you were on the other side, we have a better visual of how the high arm changes the body language and turns you away from the parallel path so he looks at you a bit more (like at 1:51). He did go to the backside here because of the learning history of “this is a backside game” 🙂 but in a novel setup he might end up on the futon side. At 1:58 you were much more connected and on a better parallel path, so he didn’t have glance up at you. So allow your hand to follow his nose as you move up the parallel line and make connection, to help him find the backsides without any glances towards you 🙂
The FCs on the landing side and the circle wraps looked good! It sounds like you were using the same verbal for the slices and the circle wraps. Something to consider is one verbal for the slices and a different one for the wraps (I use “back” and “dig dig”). That helps the dogs differentiate the collection required, especially for when we are not ahead of them to help them with physical cues.
The countermotion exits looked strong! You can add more motion coming up the line so you can get ahed of him more for the countermotion – that will challenge him to maintain commitment even as you pass the wing before he. Takes off.
Great job!
TracyNice work here, he found the correct tunnel entry on every rep! Yay! The straight entries to the tunnel all looked great 🙂
The threadles are going well – his line is much smoother when you look at him as he comes around the wing and as you cue the threadle (for example at :14, :35, and 1:30 – great connection, very smooth lines!) When you looked at the tunnel more than at him, he looked up at you to double check the info, then he would turn back to the tunnel (:07, :31, and 1:20 for example). So keep up with the strong connection and it will be very smooth and fast.As you add more speed to this (like the race tracks before the tunnel threadle) – have the toy tucked away so you can use your arms freely 🙂 I know, I am a pain LOL!!!! But you will feel the difference in how much easier it is to run and connect 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
He did really well with the collections here, and the GO lines looked great too!
You can time your deceleration to begin sooner. Remember that the decel can start as he is passing the first cone (regardless of where you are) – it looks like you were starting it when you were arriving at the 2nd cone, more than based on his position.Looking at the timing: At :17 and :41, you were at the 2nd cone and he was approx halfway between the 2 cones, so he got a nice collection there! Compare those to the reps at :23 and :47 – you decelerated when you reached the 2nd cone but he was also at/passsing the 2nd cone, so his turn was wider. It was a low height bar so he was still able to turn, but it was more after landing. So you can start the decel when he passes cone 1 and ee if he can both commit and turn before takeoff.
Like with the diamond game, this is a game where the toy will be easier in your hand – having it in your armpit is restricting your dog side shoulder and inhibits connection, because you can’t look back to him without dropping the toy. And seeing him better will help you be able to decelerate sooner!
Nice work!
TracyHi!
Get out is looking good! He is responding super nicely to the use of the outside arm! You can amplify the connection as you start the outside arm cue to get an earlier response – as soon as he exits the start wing, you can look at him *very* directly while you do the rest of the cue (the arm and motion like you did here). And he was SUPER about *not* taking the jump when you ran past it. YAY!!! You can definitely move to the advanced level now, where you add the cross after the get out cue 🙂
Nice work!
Tracy
