[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
The exit line connection sequences are going well – your exit line connection is super clear, even on rep 1 when the toy was in the wrong hand (you still showed great connection!) He seemed to have no questions on exiting those turns on 4 or on 5. Yay!!

His only questions were on the commitment to the jump 1 or 4 if you were not connected long enough in the cue for it. When you were very connected, he took the jumps there every time (like on rep 1, and at :24, :37, :43). For now, in those moments, keeo your arm out of the way and eyes on his face so you can also see his feet. He will cue you to move away from the jump by lifting his front feet 🙂 If you pointed forward and turned away too soon (:18 or :29 and almost at :50) he had questions.

It will get a lot easier to get the commitment as he gets more experienced, but for now you can be super patient (I hate that word hahahaha) by watching to see him lifting his feet as your cue to go the other direction. You can also keep going if there is a blooper – the more you stop, the more he starts to look at you. So keep going and missing a jump is a cue to you to amplify your connection more.

And you can adding sometimes throwing rewards to the landing side of any jump where there is countermotion (like the send to 1 or the FC on 4 or 5) to keep the value of commitment on those sends and decels high so you won’t have to be as perfect with the connection.

The running contact work is going well too!!

>>I put 3 of those puzzle piece floor mats on top of each other for the contact work. >>

That looked really good – he had more forward focus to it and really good hits! Yay! Keep using throwing the reward very straight out ahead of him (using your get it marker) so that he doesn’t want to look at you or curl into you.

>. I also have the contact trainer for the Aframe that Indy runs through. Probably not the same thing but thought I would try it.>>

That was really good for him to have to work on his striding independently while you ran. The aframe box does produce different striding (more of the leaping striding we want on the a-frame) so definitely keep using the mats (for the DW striding, which is more about running and less about leaping) but practicing both is really great for independence overall!

Nice work here 🙂 Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
He is definitely getting the idea of following the shoulder turn to get the jump and not the tunnel! Yay! You want to be early like you were at :04, but also add decel and a softer verbal – fast motion and loud verbals can make things harder to read, like at :16 when you were not as early with the shoulder turn.
And really nice balance on the go tunnel line 🙂 Yay Bacon!

Looking at the blind cross: because he is so fast, you can send to 1 from further away so you have time to start the blind sooner. At :33, he didn’t see it til after landing of 2. Ideally you can start it as soon as he exits the wrap at 1. You had great connection there at :34, really clear, which helped him read the blind to the jump! Nice!!

At :47 he went around 2, like it was a backside. That was because as you were running for the blind, you ran towards the fence first so he read that line of motion (he sees everything!) So be sure to move directly up the line towards 3 and not towards 2 at all (and that is safer for you because you won’t end up in his way) 🙂

He was locking onto the tunnel for a few reasons after the blind – mainly it was the cue you were showing, with the cues for the threadle wrap happening after he was in the air over 3 and looking at the tunnel. The distances were a little tight, so you can spread things out to give yourself more room (and more time, more importantly) to show the info. That way, as he is over 2, you are already decelerating and getting the threadle wrap/turn away cues going.

Also, since he is young and the threadle wrap is probably a relatively new skill for him, having the tunnel right there is really hard. You can take the tunnel out of the picture entirely so he is more likely to see your cues and not lock onto the tunnel, as you work out the timing.

Great job here!!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! These runs are looking really strong!!!!

>>Well I might look like a T-rex or some weird bird with my arms all spayed out when I run, but today we felt like a million bucks!!

You do NOT look weird LOL!!! And remember that the T-Rex ruled the kingdom, so that is a good thing to aspire to LOL!! There was only one spot where I thought your arms were flying a bit more than needed (see below) but other than that, I have only gold stars for you for arm use 🙂

>> I thought these went really well and we even had time and energy to clean up/push limits after 2 awesome runs!!>>

Yay! Great session!

Overall, the runs looked great. She has really developed that forward focus so nicely on the opening line!

2 places wehere you can be earlier on your timing:

On the turn on jump 3, you were starting the check and the decel as she was taking off at :10 and 1:09,so she was wide. Remember to start it as she is over 2 so she is seeing decel as she lands and can set up the turn.

The other spot was the spin on 7 – that can start a little sooner (after she exits the #6 tunnel) so it is finished before takeoff to 7 and you are not on her line as much at :20 and 2:27. (you did a double blind of sorts at 1:17 by accident. I think, so we will ignore that one LOL!)

Super nice push to the backside on 9! You were miles ahead 10-11! I am doing a happy dance at how well she is processing the tunnel send versus the backside send in the same context there. Verbals for the win!! The handling was very similar because that was the only option… so the verbals have become a lot more powerful and that is GREAT!

On the first run, you were a little late on the turn cues for 12 (starting as she was lifting for 12 at :27) so the bar came down. Excellent adjustment on the next reps, though: she saw the decel into the wrap at 1:26 and she was much tigher. And SUPER nice decel at 2:35 – really nice turn there! Starting the timing of the decel as she was landing from 11 really helped her set up the collection.

She found her weaves really well here! You don’t need to call her at 15 on the way to the weaves (:33 and 1:31) – it causes her to look at you and might accidentally pull her off the weave. You can just give your ‘get ’em’ weave cue so she doesn’t look at you. At 1:59, you didn’t call her and just gave the cue: she had a beautiful weave entry and didn’t look at you at all 🙂

The ending looked great each time – she found a new gear of speed to the tunnel after the weaves and you still got that blind really nicely 18-19-20! Be careful to keep your arms in tighter on the blinds – the more you did the blind there, the more your arms started to float up like at 2:06. That will block connection and slow you down, Definitely keep your arms lower like you did at :42.

>>as it is supposed to rain here for like the next 2 weeks straight!>

Nooooooooooo! EWwwwwww! Maybe the forecast is wrong. But you are certainly finishing with a lot of great runs!

>>If you are looking for class ideas, I would love a class on just evaluating courses, etc. I’m a little canine…I don’t generalize well! 🙂 For instance in this jumpers run, I never would have seen 10, 11, 12 as a serpentine if you hadn’t noted it in the pop outs and feedback. Or a class where you can run a course/sequence different ways and then learn how to evaluate how each worked for the dog/yardage/time to help decide what works best for a specific dog. >>

That is on my list for small space winter camp – analyzing sequences different ways, running them, timing them… then seeing which is best and which skills need to be strengthened. That could be a TON of fun!!!!!! And we can do video overlays for comparisons so we can see exactly what makes something faster (or not).

Great job in class! You and Synnie are looking amazing!!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

All of the exit line connections on the FCs on the jump, BC on the jump, and FC after the tunnel looked awesome! SUPER clear connection so he knew where to be and could drive a fast, tight line. Yay!!!
The only hard part was getting commitment to the jump at the start, there were some refusals happening. I think part of it was starting from a standstill to go that direction with the rest of the course clearly behind him, and if you moved to the next line too soon, he came with you.

Moving to the next line too soon was subtle: if you pointed forward ahead of him on the send then rolled your shoulders to the next line, he didn’t commit. He did best when you faced forward to the jump with more connection for longer, basically until he was lifting off, before you moved away.

So definitely keep facing forward until you see his little feets lifting off for jump 1. Then you can peel away to the next line 🙂 Young dogs often ask this question when jumping away from the course like this especially when we humans are trying to move the next direction. No worries! Holding the send a bit longer to support commitment will help and as he gets more experienced with this type of start, he won’t need as much support and will commit more easily.

Great job here!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

I think you did a lovey job sorting out what she needed for this really hard course. I was super excited by how well she read the forward focus to 1 with you closer to 2! Nice!

She is also reading simple decel really well and turning beautifully. I think that surprised you on run 1 3 to 4 where you pulled her in too much, but then you had a nice adjustment to trust the decel and support 4 really nicely.

5- 6-7-8-9 went really well!!! Nice!!!

>>Pulling her through 11 to 12 is a bit tough and then I panic yell to keep her from going in the tunnel between 12 and 13 and therefore the bar goes down. >>

The spin worked better on 9 to get 10 and keep you moving and not too far behind. Another option to consider is sending to 9 from a little further away, then do a FC 9 – 10. That puts you further ahead and on landing side of 10, to serp 10-11-12 and either RC 12 or do a BC on the landing of 11.

On the way to the weaves:

You had a little too much push to 15 which sent her to the tunnel at 1:25. Nice adjustment to support the line without over-helping on the next reps 🙂

>>We also had a little trouble getting the weave entry. I think I need to keep myself more parallel to her instead of moving laterally away toward the far end of the weaves. >>

Yes – you can totally face the weave entry longer, moving towards it, til she is in before you turn and move to the next line.

It was a little hard to see the 18 jump – looks like she ran past it on the first run through there but then was lovely on the other runs! And the ending looked great.

Excellent work! This was hard stuff!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
He did well on the teeter. I think the approach when he was on your right was a little straighter, but you can move the wing wrap more in line with the teeter so when he exits the line, it is totally straight to the teeter.

On your left, the line had him coming on the board a little sideways, so that wing can move more in line with the teeter to make it totally straight.

For the mat work:
He definitely seems to know it is something with the mat, and is stronger when he is on your left. So when he is on your right, you can slow down a bit so he can look at the mat more.

Two other things that will help direct his focus to the mat:
– you can attach it to something like a foam board or small plank, so it is elevated. That will make it more salient.
– rather than say yes then throw the lotus ball, say your “get it” marker and throw a big cookie (something visible like white cheese). The Get it marker will keep him looking ahead (the yes marker gets hin looking at you), and the thrown cookie will solidify that (he can drive to it without you).

Nice work here! Let me know what you think.

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

The teeter plankrobatics is going well! He seemed perfectly happy to noodle around on the board, no concerns about it moving . He was moving at your speed because you are holding the food 😁 so you can place the food on a target at the end, then race him across.

He looked to his left and froze for a moment at :17 because there was a sound he heard – car radio close by? It didn’t look like he was worried, but rather listening to something.

A-frame jump teeter sequence looked good – he is finding the angle nicely! As you add more speed and more drop, straighten the angle of approach so he is getting a straight line entry to the teeter to he has the best approach, speed, and balance.

The decel sequences are looking good! He gave you great feedback about the connection. Right now, he needs a lot of connection because he is pretty inexperienced. It will get easier when he has more experience under his belt, but for now give him a lot of clear connection.

>>He missed a jump one or two times on the decel but we just kept going.>

It was great to keep going – in those moments, he had good questions.

That happened a couple of times on the opening line:

He missed jump 2 at 1:19 – the way it is set up, if hs ie facing #1 straight then 2 is a lead change away to the left to take the jump. On this rep, you were running straight and looking forward (not connected) so he correctly ran past it. At 2:25, you released him and ran but didn’t show him connection, so he ran past 1 and 2.

Compare to the opening lines where you were showing connection? Lovely! A good example of that is at 1:39 and also at 2:36. Yay!

Nice job adjusting the timing of the decels. When you were moving into it, you were a little late at 1:56, with t the decel happening when he was halfway between the 2 jumps. He did get a pretty good turn there, but the earlier timing of the decel at 2:42 (you decelerated right as he was landing from previous jump) was fabulous!!! Great turn and great commitment!

Both of those had really good connection, and so did the rep at 1:23 when you were stationary at the wing of 4.

When you were looking ahead at the jump and not showing him clear connection (2:02 and 2:12) he curled into you to get more info and did not take the jump. You made a good adjustment to add more connection at 2:49 and he committed really nicely – connection is a very powerful element of the commitment cue!

>>He missed going around the wing behind the tunnel on one or two of the reps so I tried to reinforce what he was supposed to do.>>

It was hard to see on the video (the tunnel blocked my view LOL!) but it might have been the same connection question: you were handing back but pointing ahead of him, which turned your shoulder past the wing so he might not have read it as a commitment cue. More connection as you send him to the wing can make a big difference. It is totally counterintuitive to look at the dog MORE to get better sending, right? But it works really well because it turns your shoulders to the line you want and supports his line with eye contact too.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>Weave pole question – what age do you generally start weave pole training?>>

I wait til 14 or 15 months old, just so the brain and body can be a little more mature. It doesn’t take that long to train the weaves and it is a lot of unnatural repetitive movement, so no need to start too young.

>>I heard there was a newish 2×2 approach that shapes the dog finding the entrance from the end of the poles instead of the start of the poles. Do you know anything about that concept?>>

I have not heard of it (but I am not exactly paying a lot of attention to all the various weave methods LOL!!) There are a lot of ways to train weaves that are really successful, so if this is a thought-out back chaining approach where you start with poles 11 and 12, then start with poles 9 and 10 in front of 11 and 12, and so on… I am sure it will be good.

2x2s requires a dog willing to offer a lot of behavior and a handler with good timing and throwing skills (it is a good method, several of my dogs are trained with it). Dogs don’t always figure out the footwork with 2x2s though. Channels are very popular now too, and that is easier for the humans LOL!!!! There are so many options – and you can be very successful with any of them 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>It is clear that anaylsis is not my forte! I never even considered timing it between the obstacles rather than just the sum total sequence. >>

It is not that you are lacking in the skill, it is more that you haven’t needed the skill til now!

>>I would love to see a side-by side video comparison or one of those overlays like some people do for the big events!! However, I am unwilling to pay for that software >>

The software is freeeeeeee 🙂 I do it in iMovie 🙂 If you have the raw video, send it to me from http://www.wetransfer.com and I can try to get the overlays.

>>I’ve never had a dog that ran at a consistent speed, so timing handling choices has never been on my radar. >>

I think with Muso it will be, and also smaller dogs are often faster with different handling than what we might do with a big dog. So your choice for River might be different than your choice for Muso. At some point we will also set up sequences for Muso and see which is faster: insisting on a tight turn or letting her set up her own turn. She is a little young for that, but we are getting close. I did that with my Hot Sauce when she was a little over 2… showing the turn and getting out of the way so she could set it up turned out to be a lot faster, even though it looked “wider” 🙂 But every dog is different and the timer is what will tell us.

>>Thank you for your thorough analysis.>>

Thank YOU for submitting 3 options so I could obsess LOL!!!!

>>Moving forward, do I now adopt a new ‘rule’ about longer distances but straighter lines as our preferred handling, or are we missing too much data to make that generalization at this point? >>

No rules yet. We need more data and also I have no problem sometimes being like “HEY MUSO YOU NEED TO COLLECT AND TURN PLEASE AND THANK YOU” even if it is the slower line 🙂 So right now we are in the data collection and turn practicing stages 🙂

>>For the front cross on 7, what should I have done to straighten that line out more? >>

The first thing to do would be to walk the exit line you want her to ru, then put the FC exactly on that line and add some decel to it to show her how much collection she needs to be able to get on that line. You will be a little closer to the entry wing of 7. But then because you are on her line, you need to be moving up the line to the weave entry so you are NOT on her line when she lands. And to set it up as a RC on the weave entry, you will want to stay in decel and step off the line the tiniest bit so she can slip by you. That is why decelerating into a spin on 7 to tighten that a tiny bit will be less tricky: requires less precision and can ultimately be the fastest route.

>>I thought the concept was that further ahead was always better>>

Only if we are showing the lines enough for the dogs to read them, and if we are sprinkling deceleration in where needed too (or rhythm change, decel has a lot of aliases nowadays 🤣)

>> but for the backside wrap from the dogwalk to 4, you had said to hang back more because I was pushing her off the line by being ahead. >>

Yes, for a push wrap, she needs to see the positional cue of you heading to where the wing and bar meet until she is able to pass you. If you move to your next line too early, you will end up pushing her off her line at 4, so hanging back was to let her get past you enough to see the direct line.

>>I wouldn’t hve tried for a blind cross to 4 since the turn away to 4 didn’t strike me as the clearest line for the dog, even if it put me further ahead. This is a whole new world for me.>>

Blind to threadle wrap is the hottest trend in agility lately, and the course design is making it easier for the dogs. In this context, you would need to be basically finishing the BC and setting up the TW as she is getting to the top of the down ramp on the dog walk… I think it could work really well! But not really needed on this course because you don’t need to be super far ahead.

>>Additionally, she is starting to miss her weave entry and just working her way over and under the weave guides so that she doesn’t have to slow down – LOL. >>

Ha! Clever. Time to fade the guides! Even if you go back to 6 poles for a bit, the guides need to go 🙂 And do you give feedback when she skips? If it is becoming a thing that has happened more than very rarely, then you can give feedback in the form of simply stopping. But that is a negative punisher so you only get two of those (2 failure rule!) total in the session. If she gets to 2 failures, then you will want to simplify the skill.

>>I am reading that as a baby dog ‘need for speed’ move rather than a catastrophic training hole. What are your thoughts? >>

Need for speed errors could be a training hole. Not catastrophic at all (pooping on the top of the a-frame regularly would be more catastrophic LOL) but something to sort out at this stage. Get those guides out ASAP 🙂 even if you have to go back to 4 poles or slightly open channels/2x2s etc, the first thing to do is take the guides out. There are 2 reasons: first, she is currently using them differently than you want her to. Second, we do not want guides to be the cue for the behavior, and it is very easy for that to happen if aids are left in position for too long (same in flyball – get the props out of your box turns ASAP!)

>>Her chiro adjustments have always been minimal, so I’m not really concerned about an injury.>>

Does she also have a massage/trigger point person who sees her regularly? You will definitely want to have a soft tissue person as part of Team Muso along with the chiro. These whippety types spend a lot of time trying to break themselves LOL!!!!!!

Keep me posted!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>Last weekend’s trial was fun but he knocked a bar on each run >>

One bar isn’t too bad, that can often just be late info from us humans 🙂 But also keep working the conditioning skills and jump grids – all of that strengthening and education can help him keep the bars up even when the info is not perfect.

>>and he didn’t want to do the weaves. I think the problems in the runs were caused by him stressing over the weaves.>>

That is possible! He might need NFC/FEO runs with a toy so you can just play in the weaves and get him to a more relaxed place with them in the ring.

>>I had real problems figuring out how to do the hot topic in pkg 5. The only way I could be successful was if I started with jump 2.>>

He is making a line decision as he exits the wrap at 1, based on your line of motion and shoulders/feet. So if your motion and feet/shoulders are facing forward as he is approaching takeoff, then he continues straight into the tunnel. When you broke it down to start at 2, you were turned towards 3 before he made a takeoff decision, so he got 3 really well. Yay!

So you can add earlier turn cues to get it from 1: as he exits the wing of 1, you can be using a strong turn cue to inform his takeoff decision for 2! That can be a big strong brake arm (both arms pushing back to him, with the outside arm highly visible) or even a reverse spin. A reverse spin might be what is needed for now, and then as he gains experience with these turns in front of a tunnel, you can fade it out in favor of the brake arm and shoulder turn.

I grabbed some visual of what he was seeing when he was off course versus when he was successful. And then scroll down below it to see screenshots of what I mean by how early the timing should be:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tvUaKhrHLhJdbj42NHPf5knK7KRpP1TlyC6wgU2yEEU/edit?usp=sharing

You will want to do the turn cues so early you almost pull him off 2! And you can also make the tunnel less of a big visual distraction by turning both ends of it down to the ground. That way the tunnel is visible, but the entry & exit are not visible or accessible, so he will be a little less stimulated by it.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! Sorry for the delay, it has been a busy morning of dealing with waterfalls inside the RV thanks to slide issues and hard rain. And you are correct, waterfalls inside an RV are not a good thing. Ugh!

And hooray for going to a trial this weekend!!!!! The socializing is truly the best part 🙂 The runs are fun too, but I’m betting it will feel great to see everyone!

Looking at the video: the opening looked really lovely!
Telling him to go weave before he entered the tunnel really helped on the 2nd run. You he was in the tunnel before you said anything on the first run, so he had a big question.

Yes, 8-11 is super challenging! It has decisions on which way to turn the dog, then how to handle the decisions, then executing.

>>The simplest, successful way was leave out the FC between 9 and 10 and RC 11. That was the way that was ultimately the best.>>

It totally worked and didn’t put you too far away from where you needed to be for 12-13- 14! Using the jump verbal on the 2nd time through there (1:26) locked him onto the correct obstacle sooner than saying “Go” at :44.

>>I also tried doing 7 as a backside R to L and 8 as a backside L to R. That should have made 9 easier and potentially could get me down the line for the send to 10-11.>>

Yes, definitely important to consider sending him to the other side of 8 (the far wing)because it will set him up to land facing the correct side of 9 and keep you further ahead. So how to make it work?

Doing it as a turn away without a side change on landing of 7 and running him across your feet (:51 – :56) is actually a threadle wrap. I think he was confused by the around verbal, which is a push so he was offering pushing away but not really sure where to go. And we do often flip them away to the tunnel in this scenario, so I can see why he offered the tunnel at :58. When you put him on your left with connection, he got it right away.

The easiest way to handle 7 is as a German so he exits on your left. He has great independent weaves so you can put to 7 from pretty far across the bar, making the German turn exit relatively easy. You were in great position at 1:21 for it.

Then you can push to the backside of 8 on the outside (far) wing and do a FC after he commits to 8. That will get him landing from 8 and looking at the the line to the correct side of 9 and you will be able to move out of the FC and up the line very easily. And that will not be slower (might be faster!) because you have an extension line 7-8 and less collection 8-9.

Handling 9 as a slice sets a bit of a zig zaggy line to 11. So another option is to do the super trendy 😁 threadle wrap 9 (he is wrapping to his right rather than slicing to he left). That can set up a pretty straight line 9-10-11, on your right or even on your left if you exit the threadle wrap with a blind. We are seeing these pesky I mean popular 🙂 threadle wraps a whole lot lately so it is something to consider!

>>The final (correct) run included a wildcard at #14. I don’t know if it was a byproduct of how I built the course but I was completely out of control of which way he would go around 14. I just showed him the jump and reacted to how he did it. A strategy which worked but which I generally do not recommend. >>

It might have felt out of control, but your physical and verbal cues did cue the slice on 14: facing the slice line, stepping to it, saying ‘go’ as you sent, then turning towards 15. He read it perfectly and it was definitely cued even if it did not feel cued.

SUPER nice timing on the wrap cues for 16!!! As he was over 15, he already was seeing what was coming next and produced a nice turn there!! And that set up a great ending line. Yay!!

Great job here! Let me know what you think about the ideas for 7-11. And have a great time this weekend with agility and potluck 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! This was great fun to see and compare the differences! I timed each option 4 ways:

Total time from landing of 6 to exit of weaves
Landing of 6 to landing of 7
Landing of 7 to weave entry
Weaves entry to exit

The handling choice affects the time for each section!

Here is what I found:
Not surprisingly, the threadle option (rep 1) was fastest landing of 6 to landing of 7 (shortest yardage). The other 2 options were about equal, (option 3 was second fastest, option 2 was slowest).

Also not surprisingly, option 3 was fastest landing of 7 to the weave entry, and that carried through the poles and option 3 was fastest through the poles. Extension Iines creating more speed through the poles too! The collection 6-7 and landing not facing the weave entry caused those 2 times to be the slowest option for rep 1.

There is a caveat, through – option 2 (FC 7 then RC poles) was only a 10th slower than option 3 – and you were in her way on that option so she landed behind you, then had to find the correct stride then turn again to find the weaves. That might be at least 2 extra strides added… That also slows down the poles because she was in collection zig-zagging to them.

So I think if you can set a better line and not be in her way 🙂 option 2 will ultimately be fastest overall! Any time lost 6-7 on the longer yardage will be made with the great turn onto the extension line to the weaves and the faster weaves. The other way to get option 3 faster is a tiny bit more decel into the spin on 7, to take out some of the yardage from landing of 7 to the weave entry.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Katniss being really fast is a champagne problem 🙂

I think part of what was hard here was you were going to the other side of the middle wing and trying to get her to take it then do t he 2nd blind. Ideally, the double crosses are on the ‘takeoff’ side of the first wing and bring her past the middle wing. Your timing of tarting the first blind was betting really good! One thing that will help is to keep your wings (arms) in a lot tighter. You don’t have time to have them extended, re-extend them after blind 1, then bring them in to blind 2, then re-extend. Keep your wings in tight the whole time so your blinds will be all connected based and super quick, like these:

And it will get easier as she gets more experienced. That way she will be able to predict the blinds based on seeing the very beginning of the cue rather than needed to see the full cue.

The zigzags went great! Using the forward focus here really helped 🙂 Yay! You can raise the bars to the next jump cup! Only one suggestion is to change the placement of the reward to having it more on the line past the last wing, so she has an additional turn over the 2nd jump. So for example, at :33 she jumped to her right over 1 then to her left over 2, then it was a straight line to the toy. If you move the toy out past the last wing (same distance, 12 feet away or so) then she will jump to her right over 1, to her left to get 2, then turn to her right again to get to the toy. Let me know if that makes sense or if I need more coffee 🙂

>>I had a question about the self-study Max Pup classes. I know that you update and add to the classes each time you run them live. Do you ever replace the ones available for self-study to reflect the new content? I>>

I do sometimes manage to update the independent study classes, and thank you for the poke to put it on my to-do list LOL!!! I also allow people to switch over to newer versions – no change fee if the cost is the same, or a small upgrade fee if it changed.

>> have a friend who is hopefully getting a puppy soon, and since you are getting ready to run Max Pup 1, she won’t be able to do it live until the next time it goes live, which will be a while I would assume. >>

Yes, it is every November and usually becomes the independent study class in the spring when it is finished.

>>Another friend (Kristin with Tala) wants to do the Max Pup 3 as independent study, but I know she was hoping for the updated version rather than buying the older one (I compared the list of lessons to this current class, and there do seem to be quite a few differences, at least in the names so I’m presuming content as well). >>

She can send an email to support@agility-u.com and request to be get into the current version! This current MP 3 will probably go up as independent study sometime in November. Thank you for telling them about it!!!

Great job here!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! I am so glad your hand is feeling better!!! And hopefully the weather keeps cooling down. It has been a crazy hot summer!

>>this ‘animal’ was walking over jumps and knocking bars down>>

Ha! That was very helpful of him LOL!!!!

>>I did some rep with him sitting before first jump, but ‘sitting is a lot of work’ so we did some without ‘startline’.>>
>>Most of the times this ‘animal’ just walks, I think because spacing for him and how low the bars are; but few times he did ‘jumping’ too!>>

The best jumping reps came when he was either in a sit stay, or when he was looking forward already before you started moving (not in an official stay, but looking at the jumps). When you started him when he was facing the MM and had to turn to find the jump, he always walked/trotted into that first jump (or over both of them). So to maintain the jumping, you don’t always need a stay but definitely have him facing the jumps for a couple of seconds before you start moving towards them.

You can also have the MM further away, 15 feet or so, to help him stride out of the 2nd jump. If it is too close, he will be trying to slow down over jump 2, which will produce trotting rather than jumping.

I think the distances are good for now – he definitely thought it was hard when you ‘flattened’ the angles after :40! But he did well sorted out which leg had to go where 🙂 As he gets better with this jumping puzzle, you can raise the bars a bit (I would probably only ask him to do 16” on this grid eventually, because of his size). And as he builds power, you will see that he is going to need a shade more room so we can expand the distances.

Great job here!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Yeah, back to school is hard when there is agility to run!!! But at least the weather has been great lately.

>>I videoed at least a couple of “walk” throughs for each of the 4 sequences, so the video is a bit longer than usual. >>

It was great! I could ‘see’ Nox on just about every step of every walk through. And that carried over to the runs, which went really well.

>>I didn’t include because the video quality wasn’t good (was getting dark), so technically we didn’t do the one-and-done on that one. The issues we had from the reps not included were dropped bars. She was taking them ALL out. Unfortunately, you really couldn’t see enough detail to see why.>>

My guess is that if the video was not clear enough to see details… then it was too dark for her to see the jumping lines too. Speaking from human experience: seeing detail at dusk is HARD for me. Sunlight? Sure! Nighttime? Not too bad, I can see pretty well! But in that transitional time at sunset as the light is changing? REALLY hard to see anything. It sucks getting old hahahaha!

But that might be the reason why she was hitting a lot of bars there (and not having a lot of bar troubles here, even when it was a little into the sunset times).

On the runs: overall, you did a great job making connection to your invisible Nox 🙂 Your pace of movement along the lines was pretty spot on (I think there was one spot where you had to run harder than planned to get to your next spot, and you did with no problem and without breaking connection). Practicing the pace of handling at home will make trials easier because your brain & muscles will be so familiar with how it feels that you can produce the same pace at trials, even if you cannot do this fully at a trial walk through.

More good rehearsal: Your verbals were good in the walk through. Your exit line connection was looking strong – I think there was one spot where you could have shown it more in the walk through and so it would be clearer in the run. You were patient along the lines and showed your invisible dog each line, and that transferred to your runs really well.

There were also a couple of spots where, during the walk through, I thought she might need slightly different handling or a different position. Nope! She read all of your handling great in those spots, which is an indicator that you are really learning what she needs on course! YAY!

Click/treat to you!!! The session was very successful!!!

I have some details and ideas for you, but they are small details mainly because overall, thing went great 🙂

Sequence 1:
Your plan was very clear on jump 1 (wrap to the right) in the walk through and the run, but you can also consider turning her the other way (wrap left) so there is a better line 1-2-3. Turning left will get her taking 2 facing 3. Turning to her right on 1 will get her facing 8 and adds an additional turn to 3. As she was jumping 2, you can see her going straight towards the 8 jump then turning after landing.

Watching the walk through, I was thinking maybe she needed a brake arm at 6 to get a good turn to 7? Nope! She didn’t, she read the shoulder turn and connection really well in the run.

The entire run looked great!

Seq 2:
This is a spot where I was thinking in the walk through that she might need you closer to 1 to set the line 1-2-3… nope! She read it perfectly.

Handling choice moment: In the walk through, you did a FC 4-5 and didn’t really set up a turn cue on 5 (decel and wrap verbal). So in the run she had the bar down on 5 at 1:56 and jumped long there at 2:14. I this scenario, you can try a blind cross instead of a FC, which gives you more time to set up the decel and wrap cues for 5 as she is landing from 4.

She also had the bar down on jump before tunnel – she was jumping on an angle away from the tunnel and tried to adjust over the bar when you cued the tunnel. On the next rep at 2:18, you turned a little more and waited til she had turned to say the tunnel verbal and that worked great!

Seq 3:
In the walk through, at 4-5 (getting the front side of 5) it looked like you ha your right arm in play as a threadle arm but I don’t think that she would have been able to see it (it was in front of you at 2:31 and 2:58). You can make it more obvious by showing her more of it.

You also had some really good brake arm action here to set up the soft turns, with great connection!

In the run – this also went really well. There was one spot where you had to add extra hustle (getting 7 to 8 which is the exit of the first tunnel). You did it and got where you needed to be, and it is good to know that his context is an ‘extra hustle’ context 🙂

Nice distance on the backside push! Lovely connection! She read that jump really well as the front as 5 and back as 10. It was supposed to be a challenging section on this sequence but you made it look easy peasy 🙂

You got a little tentative and decelerated too much at the end (bar at 3:44, you can see she was hesitating and barking at you). You had your brake arm planned and great connection, so you can keep powering through there.

Seq 4: This also went well!

The opening went well! It looks like you were planning layering when sending to the tunnel – to set it, you will likely need to stay closer to 1 to set the line into the layering. At 4:19 you are pulling away and I am not sure she would get the tunnel there. You stepped in more at 4:40 to send to the tunnel, which would probably work to get the layering.

On the run you did it without layering, you stayed in motion along the line – and it worked great! She had no questions.

For the exit of 4 and the wrap on 5, be sure to a decel as soon as she is exiting the tunnel, so she gets the wrap cues on jump 5. On the first run the decel was happening as she was approaching takeoff so she didn’t have time to adjust at 5:02. You were earlier at 5:26 but she still rubbed the bar (she had it figured out at 5:46). Moving up the timing to start the decel when she exits the tunnel is ideal, even if you are not totally at the wing of 5 (you don’t need to be).

Good job working the threadle wrap to keep building up the skill. Adding more decel will help – you can send to the tunnel and get a little further ahead, so you can decel and still get into position. She thought this context was *weird*. And the left turn to the jump was hard! If you see this in a trial soon, you can do a blind to set up a push wrap there. The threadle wrap will be easier in different contexts where she won’t be so annoyed by it LOL

Be sure you are running straight on the last line not pulling off to the side (she did have a question about the line at 5:12). You can use an ‘out’ cue and opposite arm to push her back out when she is on that line)
If you end up on the other side of the TW jump to help her commit to it, you can run the last line dog on right too.

Really great job here! She had very few questions (and zero off courses). YAY!!!!!! Fingers crossed for more great weather so you can keep working her like this!

Tracy

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