[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Video 1:

>>I got to be too much, so I tethered her to the deck.>>

Interesting that she didn’t have quite the same commitment as usual when Rosie was out there! You had to be pretty perfect with position and connection, which is really hard to do. That might happen at trials too, so you can have Rosie out there sometimes and throw more rewards on the line so that Lily can amplify her commitment while ignoring other dogs 🙂

>>I couldn’t get the tunnel by layering the jump, so I went between the jump and tunnel. >>

She had some trouble finding the tunnel partially because you were turning away from it before she had locked onto the line, and partially because Rosie was standing there staring at her (subtle pressure 🙂 ).

She got it when you ran straighter to it for longer – so when you add more distance, run that parallel line so you are further from jump 2 and don’t need to turn away. If the layering jump is distracting, you can use a cone or wing so it is less of a visual distraction for her. Having less of a jump visual will help her learn that she can find the tunnel based on a verbal and not need as much support near her on the line.

Video 2:

Rosie did well on sequence 1 finding the jump!

>>She often does this spin at the beginning of a send, but then goes ahead and does the send.>>

When you were sending to the tunnel, she spun because of a conflicting indicator (2 cues happening simultaneously and they are saying different things). Voice and arm said tunnel! But motion (decel) and lower body said turn to the jump (watch your left leg step to your left at :21) She did not spin on the 2nd rep there – possibly because you faced forward for longer before stepping away.

She might do the spin when there is a conflicting indicator so her brain has more time to process things and figure out what you want.

Video 3:
Lily was on the way to the jump really nicely before her pee break 🙂 She got it nicely on the next reps – super nice connection from you on the exit of the blind!

To set up the layering, you can tell her about the tunnel sooner: as she is on the way to jump 2, you can be running on a parallel line (a little further away from 2 so you don’t have to turn to get past the jump) and already telling her about the tunnel. You had the straight line towards it on the first run, but at 1:04 and 1:12 your motion turned away too soon. She gets it when you run in close to it but then it makes getting past the exit much harder (she had to dodge around you at 1:27)

Because the parallel line motion is so important in layering, you can use a cone or wing to have as a visual distraction – that will allow you to set the line without having to avoid hitting the jump. The other thing you can add is a jump without a jump bar (just 2 wings or two cones) so you can stay on the parallel path through the uprights. Then you can run past the 2nd cone – but without a bar there, it won’t be as enticing as a jump so she is more likely to go to the tunnel.

And you can drop the rewards at the tunnel exit as you keep moving through, to help her focus on the tunnel and less on you and the jumps.

Video 4:
Rosie also did really well with finding the jump and the blind cross here!

You stepped away too soon at :28 (conflicting indicator) so she did not go to the tunnel She got it when you ran straighter to it. Her spin on the last run was for the same reason as when she spun on the other sequence: conflicting indicator of upper body saying tunnel but the decel and big step to your left cuing a turn.

Video 5: She found the backside of the jump really well here!
Adding the cones as wings allowed you to get the blind in sooner on the 2nd rep, which really helped her commit to the jump. You can also drop the reward in to the landing side as you move through the blind there, so she takes the jump more automatically and doesn’t rely on the timing of the cross.

She sent to the tunnel really well at :45 and :58!! Your motion really supported the verbal cues and arm cues, so she seemed to have no questions. Super! That same motion parallel to her line will be perfect as you move more and more laterally.

Video 6:
Rosie also found the backside really well on the first rep! She ended up in the tunnel at :22 but that was correct, based on the physical cue: you decelerated near 2 at :21, then accelerated again so she read the motion as a tunnel cue. To help not have to decelerate, you can start closer to 1 and run closer to the line to 2, so she can accelerate ahead of you.

The verbal at :34 turned her off the tunnel to the backside, and the line of motion on the last 2 reps was very clear, so she easily found the tunnel (no spins!). Yay!

Video 7:

>>I realized I was doing this wrong and not putting in the blind before the threadle wrap.>>

No worries! You were working it a a push wrap, which is also a really great way to handle the sequence.

Her questions about backside versus tunnel had to do with your position on the run. When she ended up in the tunnel (like on the first run and at :43 and a couple of other reps), she as responding to your line of motion: not enough of he backside was visible and it looked like the line of motion was cuing the tunnel. When she got to the backside like on the 2nd run and and 1:24, 1:37 and the reps after that, your line of motion takes you to where the wing and the upright meet so the upright and cone are fully visible.

So as you run up the line, be a little more lateral so you are heading directly to the spot where the bar and upright meet. That should take the tunnel out of the picture as she follows your motion and verbals. Then you can do the blind to your right arm as soon as she is lifting off for the jump.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

Looking at the Bang game – she is super confident which is great! To smooth this out, you can clarify the mechanics of the start of each rep. Have her lined up next to you, facing the bottom board, just at about the bottom of the board (with you to the side) so that you are both facing the target. Have a hand on her collar so you can give her a target cue to get on – she was not always sure when to start.

The other thing to add is a more visible target (like a white lid). I am pretty sure she doesn’t see the small black target all that well (neither did I am I have better color vision than she does LOL!) So the white target will be visible out past the end of the teeter, you will have her lined up and holding her – then you can say something like “ready, target!” And let her go to jump into position. That should help her know where to look (visible target) and when to start (when you take your hand off her collar).

She was also super confident here with the angled approach to the teeter! She didn’t really perceive the broad jump planks as something to go around not over, (at one point you said to her “it is not a jump” which made me chuckle because actually, it is a jump LOL!!)

So you can help her out in 2 ways:
Start on easier angles where you can handle her to go around the planks very easily without potential for jumping over them.

Then as you add harder angles, you can put a cone or barrel at the end of the plank for her to have a bigger visual to go around and straighten up. That will help her find the entry and not jump over the planks.

And when she does drive up the board, go with her to the top so she is more careful with the turning around and doesn’t try to jump off the side or top. If a treat might bounce off and she might jump off to get it (priorities! LOL!) then you can use a dab of cream cheese that she will lick and it won’t bounce off.

Nice work!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>He’s much better coming out of the tunnel than starting from a sit stay or even wrapping.>>

One thing that will help with this is if you get him into a higher state of arousal before starting each rep. To do that, add in playing with him before each run (especially at the beginning of each session) to bring up his energy and get him engaged. It can be tricks for treats (think back to the Volume Dial game from MaxPup 1) or a bit of toy play. Starting when he was sniffing made for a sniffy start – if he is sniffing as you are trying to start, he is not ready to start. So getting him engaged before each rep will help, then you will have an easier time getting him into the sit or going around a wrap wing.

>>I used a cookie on the nose to keep him with me while I reset bars this turn to stop him from sniffing and trying to mark. He wore a belly band today so no “accidents on purpose” but there would have been 3 or 4 otherwise.>>

Yes, that totally helped! Yay! It helped start him with engagement (like on video 4, versus video 1 where he was not starting with engagement). We definitely don’t want him wandering around in between runs or while you reset stuff especially if he will mark. You can crate him in the ring in between runs, or add a mat or station for him to go to when you are resetting something? That will also help you start with engagement for each run as you call him out of his crate or off his station.

>>I learned leading out to landing of 1st jump was more successful that starting with him or leading out to take off side.>>

Yes – being on the landing side of jump 1, you were able to connect and set the line better.

On the first video, 2nd run – I couldn’t see your lead out position but he didn’t see the line at :46 because you were not quite connected enough and he was ahead of you so he was not totally sure of where to be. Compare to the 4th video where you are ahead and connected and he was able to get it. Yay!

He had a lot of questions about that line of 3 jumps down to the tunnel, so one thing to add in the next training session is to throw the reward on the line there – you can randomly throw it after jump 1 or 2 or 3, rather than working the whole line each time or throwing it when he was done with the line. He was relying on your connection to be perfect – so when it was, he would get the line. But when it was not, he would curl in toward you to see more info and come off the line.

And if he misses a jump – that is your cue to connect more and keep going (rather than stop). Generally when a young dog looks at us or misses jumps, our connection is too ‘soft’ meaning that even though we can see them, they can’t see the connection so they look at us for more info.

Also – when that happens consistently, yes, you can amplify the connection but the bigger piece of the puzzle is building more value in the commitment so there is more value in driving to the jumps. That will also help build up more distance skills because he will be looking at the line even more so you can move further and further away.

And throwing the rewards randomly to different locations on the line will keep things spicy! If it is the same thing too many times in a row, both of you will lose focus. But if you are making the reward more variable? It will keeps things more exciting! That includes throwing the reward to the exit of the tunnel when he drives ahead to you – basically, the reward can be thrown anywhere on the line during the sequence but not near you and don’t always try to get to the end of the sequence 🙂

>>I’m thinking I’ll leave this alone tomorrow and then setup in the backyard on the other side for another session without the layer. Thoughts on how this went and any changes I should make?
>>

He has had a lot of jumping days lately, so give him a few days off of jumping and you can play with wrapping a wing and seeing how far ahead he can drive away to get to the tunnel (throwing the reward at the end of the tunnel). That is silly fun that is also super useful for building up distance skills.

Then when he is leaving you in the dust for a tunnel, start building up the line of jumps by randomizing the thrown reward out on the line so he drives ahead and stays on the line, even if connection is not perfect 🙂 Be sure you are hustling along the line too, so he doesn’t ask questions about decel and if you are wanting a turn.

When he is able to drive 2 or 3 jumps to a tunnel (or do a tunnel then 2 or 3 jumps), I think it will be very easy to add the layering. So for now, adding more value on the line will be most useful.

Great job here!! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>our ‘beautiful 100+ degrees summer’ decided to come back tomorrow and stay pretty much for rest of this week. Sigh. Hope this is last ‘heat wave’ this season!>>

Oh no!!! I am hoping it goes away soon!

>> we ordered set of weaves, “VersaWeaves” from AffordableAgility. Looks like those can be set as channel or 2×2. So we can get weaves class and will see which type of weaves Fly prefer>>

Oh wow, I didn’t know those existed but now I need to check them out! That is very useful and a lot less expensive than buying all the different kinds of weaves!

The Forced Fronts and Threadles are going well!!!

>>And this video is from ‘bad angle’ because my ‘little dog’ is blocking the camera’. But I hope you can see enough.>>

The angle was good, and it gives us a good view of what he sees too! On the first rep and then later at :31, he was set up facing the line from 1 to the backside of 2, so he was very fast and confident about where he was going on the forced front. Your position was really good too!

Compare to the 2nd rep when he was facing the same line as on the first rep, but you were on the other side of the jump. He was not quite as sure of which side (or if it was the front side) because of how he was lined up, so be sure to change his line up position when you change sides so he is always facing the correct line. He was more confident about that direction at :20 and :43.

He had some questions when you started with the tossed treat, because he did not always see if he should take the first jump or not (based on where the treat landed). So the stays worked well, or if you don’t want to always use a stay you can send him away for another jump or around a wing to start (as long as you can get up to the forced front or forced threadle before he takes off for the jump before it.

>> I didn’t turn on camera for ‘forced Threadles’>>

You did have a couple in there and your position was good! He was careful about coming to you on that though – I was not sure if it was because the cookie toss made him unsure of if he should take jump 1 or not, or if facing him for the threadle was too strong of a collection cue. How did he do on the part you didn’t get on video – was he driving in more? The stationary threadle can be too strong of a cue for a lot of dogs, so you can replace it with a forced front or even running into a forced blind 🙂

>>and LOL – I ‘practiced’ with Golden first before I tried with Fly. Golden says ‘thank you it was fun’ 🙂>

Clever!!!! Practicing with the experienced dog always makes it easier with the ‘baby’ dog!

>>I still can’t use my left hand as a ‘normal person’ so my handling is off and I’m throwing treats with ‘the only hand I can do it with’. I think I did try to throw thread with left hand once and oops it still hurts. Just saying that you don’t need to comment on that, I know it…>>

I thought you were good! The handling and cookie throwing went really well. You were maybe a little overrotated facing him on rep 2, but then you smoothed that out for the next reps. Definitely keep protecting your hand so it heals up fast!

Great job here 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

The very first rep of the decel game is the most telling rep – most dogs launch past us on that very first one, then they catch on. She totally nailed it on the first rep! YAY!! Her collection looked great!

She seemed to have an easier time on the right turns than the left turns, a slight side preference but nothing worrisome. It was cool watching her sort out her mechanics on the left turns!

Adding the tunnel was also really good – you were a little late getting into the decel on the first one so she was not as tight in her turn, but then you were earlier on the others so she was tighter. Super cool to see how well she understands decel!!

She had one error at 1:12 when she didn’t take the jump – you might have been a little far from the jump and also she was probably a little fatigued – the physical collection effort is really hard and this was towards the end of her session.

>>Taq says thinks for the chicken on the teeter. I limited reps but will do more since that really helped her drive forward.>>

Oh heck yeah, the chicken was magic! Definitely do limited reps so she can have BIG reinforcement – ideally she sees the teeter and starts to drool 🙂 because driving to the end is paired with incredible reinforcement. The teeter is one of the hardest behaviors for small dogs! So fewer reps with bigger volume/value rewards is key (I often use an entire meal) will be better than more reps with smaller or boring rewards 🙂

Great job here!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Nice work here!

Looking at the first sequence – he is reading that well!

Really nice collection on 5 at a distance at :31! Nice decel and connection! You had great timing of showing those cues. He might not even need the spin there when he reads decel that well!

On the 2nd sequence: He read 1-5 really well. Nice connection!!! A small tweak in position & motion will help get him to the backside: Ideally, you get to the spot you were in (fully showing the backside wing like you did) then decel and stay there, slightly sideways to the jump, until he passes you. If you step forward past the wing before he is passing you, it pushes him to the off course jump. That is what happened at :47, where you rotated towards him to pull him in then turned completely forward to the jump… that is what pushed him off course (also at 1:28).

At 1:06 you over-helped a bit 🙂 and turned towards him with big come come verbals and then it was too late to get him to the backside so he took the front.

You got the backside at 1:42 with that sideway decelerated position (yay!) but then you were in his way so he dropped the bar there and after it – try to get moving forward as soon as he passes you.

On the 3rd sequence: the ideal timing of the blind is to start it when he is exiting the tunnel. Because it is a clear line to the 4 jump and your motion supports it, you don’t need to show exit line connection on the original dog-ice arm (left side here) when he exits the tunnel – you can go directly to the new side (right side) so you are fully connected on the new side before he takes off for 4.

At 1:53 and 2:04 here, the blind started when he was already over 4 so it was hard to read the side change. He figured it out and the blinds at 2:13 and 2:30 was a little earlier but you can still start them as soon as you see his nose exiting the tunnel :). Starting them sooner so you are finished before he takes off for 4 will also allow you to begin the turn cues for 5 no later than landing of 4. That will help him adjust for the turn before takeoff and keep the bar up.

Those bars on 5 and the bar down on the backside were timing questions, so no worries there.

He had some trouble with the bar on jump 2 at :03 and 1:01 and 2:02 – he dropped the bar there when you turned your shoulders and looked forward a tiny bit early to head to the next line. Ideally, you would always be perfect 😁 but since we humans are often NOT perfect, you can play a game with him to reward him to keep the bar up when we do things like turn out heads a tiny bit early. It is a one jump game where we use a low bar and one jump – and show the dog our common human error while they are jumping. BIG rewards for keeping the bar up! And a chuckle and a try again if they don’t. And live by the 2 failure rule: if they hit the bar twice, it is too hard, so soften the challenge and make it easier. Here are 2 videos of this game for you to check out:

Great job here! Have fun!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>Mookie and Alonso had trouble with a threadle backside wrap out of the tunnel 5 to 6.
I said my threadle cue as they entered the tunnel and Mookie then got it but Alonso needed the verbal cue before he entered the tunnel and I had to meet him at the exit of the tunnel as well with an arm cue.>>

Instead of the threadle cue as they enter, try a turn cue for the tunnel exit (in this context, probably just a name call) while they were still 6 feet before from entering – that can get their attention on you, so you can either switch to the threadle cue while they are in the tunnel or keep calling their name til you have their attention. And be sure you are turning your physical cue (feet/motion/shoulders/hands) to be parallel to the threadle line and not moving towards the jump which can open up the front side of it.

>>Buddy was fast and perfect with all my cues and nailed it first run. I was like “who is this dog” >>

YAY BUDDY!!!

>>The backside to 9 had gone down for Mookie’s first run but I was using all wingless jumps. >>
>>Alonso did better with the threadle cue going into tunnel 2 to 3 but he was knocking bars. I had to say easy jump and he worked to keep them up. He was extra speedy in the yard knowing his tug was being thrown at the end>>

For the jumping: These are hard angles on the backsides, so wingless makes it even harder. Do you have wings or cones you can put on the backsides so the dogs can have the visual of a wing? Also, these slices might need earlier cues so that is a good challenge: how early can you give the cues so they have more time to adjust?

On pop out 4:

>>needed the threadle cue in the tunnel and for me to meet him at the exit of the tunnel again for a backside threadle to 9 out of the tunnel with an arm cue. H>>

That makes sense – he would need to know at the tunnel exit, at the latest, which means starting while he is in the tunnel. And meeting him at the tunnel exit might have meant you were turning to the line sooner, which totally helps!

Great job here! Thanks for the update 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>> He hung out in the shade and then totally crashed in his crate. He’s wiped!!!>>

Awwww, good boy! He really worked hard, physically and mentally.

>>It also makes total sense for the AKC distances, he’d need to see the tighter distances more at 24”>

Two other options come to mind:
– start him in regular AKC at 20 so he can ease into the environment and distances (24” jumping is really hard for every dog, no matter what the distance is).
– look for AKC ISC classes. Those distances should be a lot better and they have level 1 classes with a lot of flow!

>> Is it harder for them to switch between venues once they have seen the distant difference? ie Is it a lot easier for them to stick with one type of distance?>>

In my experience, for the fast big striding dogs: yes it is hard to be faced with shorter distances if they are used to more room. This is especially true when the dog is inexperienced because the dog has to process a LOT in the trial environment. I personally never begin my dogs’ careers at full height so they are able to process all of the things and jumping is a bit easier.

>>You think you would get use to it, but it’s a bit nerve wracking bringing out the youngster. >>

This is so relatable! I was just lamenting this on Facebook LOL!! Bringing out a youngster is a LOT more nerve wracking then running an inexperienced dog! My youngster will probably debut in about 10 days, so I will spend that time talking myself off the ledge LOL!!!!

Have fun 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Teeter: Starting from the climb gave her more balance for sure!

When you were adding the lateral distance and being behind her: put something yummy out on the target (similar to the mountain climber game) so she can drive to it and ignore all of your changes of position 🙂 A bit of cream cheese or anything that will stick to the target will be an excellent focal point!

With the different positions you were adding, she is focusing on you and not driving ahead to the end of the board (either slowing down to let you get parallel or ahead, or coming off the side towards you). She would sometimes hit the target on the 2nd cue, but ideally she goes directly to it . And releasing her to a thrown reward got her looking at you a bit more (watching to see your position to see where/when the throw would be)- so put a yummy on the target so she completely ignores you 🙂 It is easy to fade the reward when she is looking ahead more. And you can also mix in some releases ahead, but I think a placed reward will work better (like the MM or a toy already on the ground) so she doesn’t watch you or your positions.

Layering: She is definitely getting the idea! Yay! And we will for sure be adding more and more of it, because it is just o popular on course right now.

When she had questions here, it was because you were not on the parallel line (like at 1:02). And when you were on the parallel line to hers? She got the layering really well! I think the reps where you came off the parallel line were when yo ended up a bit too close to jump 1, so you can send her to 1 from further away so all you need to do is turn and run up the parallel line (rather than pull away from the line to be able to layer).

Good adjustment in timing to get the balance rep with the turn and NOT the layer! The name call at 1:32 was late (she was in the air already looking at the tunnel) and you didn’t turn so she was correct to stay on the line and turn after the tunnel. At 1:39 you called sooner and also turned, so she found the new line really well. Super!!!

The next timing challenge would be to start those cues as she is landing from 1: either the go go go tunnel plus parallel line acceleration, or the turn cues (name or left verbal, plus shoulder turn).

>>Are there other general exercises that we should do?

Did you get a chance to do the exit line connection stuff I brought over from the CAMP class? Those are fun and will be great for building up course work! I will go find your other thread to see if there is anything we missed.

>>I had a question on max pup4. There do not seem to be regular working spots just audit and full live session ones. >>

MaxPup 4 is only regular working spots – the live stuff is not working, it is a discussion/chat (no live dog training :)) The format is very much like here in MaxPup 3, except we have those live discussions every 2 weeks.

Great job here!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

I am excited that you will be joining MaxPup 4! The weather should be better (I hope) and it is good timing as you begin your trial runs 🙂 And I am sorry to hear your hand is still bothering you – I am hoping for speedy healing!!!

The videos look really good! He was definitely happy to be playing 🙂

>>I didn’t reward startline by throwing treat back to him, because when I tried, it was ‘confusing’ him. >>

No worries! He is probably finding the ‘work’ to be very rewarding, so the reward for the start line can be the release as long as you maintain criteria 🙂

>>this ‘jumping up’ is his favorite trick, so that’s what we do at startline.>>

Fun! Little tricks at the start line are SUPER useful!

>>I’m also in-front of him since this seems to work better for him vs trying to position him on my left or right.>>

This is perfectly fine – as long as you have a line up that both you and Fly are happy with, then it is great! No need to add anything that is confusing or annoying to him, as long as he ends up in the correct spot and holds his stay!

He was lovely with his line finding on the blinds, excellent timing of starting the blind! You were not babysitting jump 2, so he had to commit independently and he did. YAY!!

As you exit the blind, you can add a little more connection back to him at :15 and :22 – your arm was in perfect position, low and back to him, but your eyes were looking forward so he was looking at you to see more info. You had much clearer connection back to him at :27 – great arm position, and your eyes on his eyes. That really opens up your shoulders to show him the line.

>>“Front Cross” – I guess you can see that I wasn’t exactly sure what I should be doing and which way I should be turning…>>

On the initial ones, I think you were doing more of a lead out push which is basically us humans being almost done with the front cross when we release the dog 🙂

He read the line really well on the lead out push at :38. You had really nice timing and connection and position on his line. As you exit it, don’t step backwards: step directly to jump 3. That will give him the turn info to 3 sooner, which allows him to set up the turn on 3 better too (at :41 you can hear his feet touching the ground bar because the info was late)

Compare to the next rep where you did not step backwards (:49) and he had earlier info for 3, so he had a tighter turn and did not touch the bar. Super!

You revisited this at the end at 1:14 and 1:29. Your lead out position was different on those reps: you were a little too far away from the line on your lead out push so he was not quite as sure about the turn 2-3 there. When you released him, you were on the straight line side of the jump so he was not quite as fast as he was at :49, when the line was very clear because you were closer to 3 the whole time.

The FC to the right wrap at went well – good timing of turning to 3! At :58, don’t go past the takeoff side (that will cause him to jump in more extension than you want for a wrap). If you are ahead, you can decelerate and then stay near the wing of the wrap without going past it.

Note how at 1:00 as he exits the wrap, he slowed down a lot. That was because he did not see connection – even though your head was turned, your arm was high (blocking his view of your face & front of chest) so all he could really see was your back. So he slowed down until he could see what you wanted next, then he sped up again. If you keep your arm back to him and eye on his eyes like you did on the exit of the blind cross at :27, then you will see him running fast the whole time, because the info is clearer.

>>Tandem Turns – at first I though “we’ll never got it” LOL But looks like he did get it!>>

You totally got it! He did great! What made it work was when had big obvious cues to get his attention on your hands, then you let him get relatively close to your hands before you turned him away.

When you were not as obvious and then too early trying to turn him away like on the very first rep, he stayed out on his line.

When you let him get closer to your hands like at :11 and :27, he nailed it!

Then you had really good timing of starting the cues with a big obvious hand gesture, like at :50 and 1:02 and 1:09, then also let him get closer to your hands when you flipped him away (literally a couple of inches away). So he got it really well! As he gets more experienced, you can turn him away sooner but letting him really drive to your hands sets the line super nicely.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>Patella are fine. He back wasn’t tight. >>

Yay!!!!!!

>>Not really sure what he might be doing. We’re going to begin more conditioning as the temps drop – mostly walks at first along with some basic sit-stand, down-stand, and posture work.>>

Teenage dogs might just have some shenanigans so they get tight. Or maybe in the heat he is not hydrating enough, which might lead to tightness? Whatever the cause, it is great that you’ve got a massage person seeing him – both to work out the tightness and to have him used to getting ‘worked on’ as he begins his career 🙂

>>Do I back chain, take out the layer jump entirely first, or some other approach?>>

Layering is definitely hard and I think it is harder for smaller dogs because they have to take more strides to get out on the lines.

The beginning stages of layering rely on motion into the line and understanding to stay out on the parallel line at a distance, so here are ideas on how you can break things down to get that going (disclaimer, these steps will take multiple sessions over a few weeks, so he can sleep on it and build it up):

The angle of 1-2 here caused 2 to be a little off the line, so he needed a bit of a ‘get out’ to get the 2nd jump here. In the bigger space you can move the #1 jump so the 2 jump is more directly on his line. In smaller spaces, you can use a wing on a smoother line to start so he can propel out on the line more easily.

To pump up the ‘stay out on the line’ understanding, throw all rewards on the line, even if it is not perfect. If he stays out on the line but doesn’t pick up the jump, that is still rewardable out past that jump: think of it as a reward for staying ‘out there’ which is still rewardable! You can also totally place the reward out on the line (landing side of the jump, or near the entry of the tunnel) – no need to keep going to the last jump for now and reward near you, because that is causing him to be more drawn to you (which makes staying out on the line have less value). So you can keep moving as if handling the ending line, but throw the reward out onto the distance line to pump up that value.

With that in mind: To build up the layering, first you will want to build up more distance to the tunnel to strengthen the ‘stay on your line’ concept. So take the layered jump out of the picture for now, and work on driving to the tunnel as your line is more and more lateral. This should work well in both the bigger ring rental space and also at home! Put a leash on the ground for you to run along, to be sure you stay on your parallel line and are not converging in towards the tunnel.

Can he find the line with you 5 feet away? 8 feet? 10 feet? 12 then 15 feet? And so on. All rewards thrown on the line 🙂 And of course use your verbals 🙂

When he can stay on her line with you about 15 feet away, you can add a jump wing to layer (not a full jump, just a wing – that way it is a visual distraction but not as enticing as a full jump).

When adding the layered wing, start the whole progression with you closer to his line so maybe it is only 8 or 10 feet of distance… then move the wing (and your line) further and further away til he can layer it at about 20 feet. When he can do that, go back to the closer position and use 2 wings, set up like a jump, but without a bar. Repeat the process – start closer then move it further and further away.

You work that level until you’ve got him layering at a bigger distance, then the bar can go back in with the jump with the same process: low bar on the layering jump, starting closer – to maintain the parallel path and support the layering, it is also perfectly fine to step over the bar of the layering jump as you are running, as long as you don’t trip on it and fall!

And if something goes wrong, and he doesn’t take the obstacle on the line? No problem, throw the reward out past it anyway as big thank you for staying out on the line (and so you don’t reward near you, which already has a lot of value). And don’t stop or indicate he is wrong (by stopping or walking away from you) – he was running fast on a lot of the reps, but when he was not quite right you didn’t reward/turned away, so he slowed way down.

Generally having a lower arm/more connection helps the young dogs stay on the line on the distance lines, and also starting further from jump 1 so he can propel over it will help him keep that first bar up too!

To keep him running fast, keep the 2-failure rule in place: if he fails twice in the session, make it easier. Even if you throw a reward out on the line when he has missed the jump, you can still count it as an error and if you get that twice… change things to make the line easier. And definitely keep those effort rewards flowing as he learns this new skill!
Working the distance first before adding the layered obstacle can totally help! Having the reward already placed out on the line is a good way to jumpstart the behavior too. And moving the jump closer to the tunnel like you did at 3:21 also helps!

And the more motion he sees, the more he runs like you did here – you can see that at the beginning, at :58, 2:15, 2:38, and after that. Your motion made it fast and fun! He had a bar down at :58 as he turned on the acceleration, mainly due to you taking off into acceleration as he was jumping. I think in the bigger space and/or with a wing to start, you will be able to accelerate sooner and that won’t be a problem at all.

Nice work here! Have fun at the rental today!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>Took both pups for a massage yesterday afternoon, Ven had a tight tendon in his back right leg. Not sure what he’s doing to cause that but it’s the second time she’s found that leg tight. I’ll be keeping an eye on it and checking it regularly.>>

Interesting! Which tendon? Same one as last time? You might need to give him more warm up before running sequences and a longer cool down so he doesn’t get tight. Was his back tight at all? Sometimes that can cause tightness in the leg, or a patella that is going somewhere it shouldn’t go LOL!

>>So here is another round of the forced front and forced threadle.

This went really really well, he read the lines really nicely! He knew to come to the backside and take the jump, so the throw backs were easy. Nice job with the reward! Perhaps the backside stuff went a little too nicely on the lead out push at the end, where he did the backside with gusto LOL!!!

You were clearly between the uprights there at 5:14 but he might have just been anticipating the forced front cross there? He self-released on the last one anticipating it too! So when you get there, Mayne look down at your hand to help direct his focus there and shake it a little, so he knows that it is not the backside. He was probably a bit on “this is backside” autopilot 🙂 He did the previous lead out push really well – you can start moving sooner on that one so you are passing the wing just before the takes off.

>>I realized about the time this video ends that I hadn’t done any rewarding the start line stay so I actually did about 3 rewards after I stopped the video.>>

Good for you! Perfect!

>>Goodness that boy knocks bars everywhere;

In this session, he knocked bar 1 a couple of times because he was set up very close to it. Try moving him back so he is 10 feet away from the bar, so he can get more power into it on the release. I don’t think he dropped bar 2 at all?

>> I counted 5 times he knocked the bar the other day just in one turn. Does he not see it or is his brain just not processing that it’s there? >

On some of the other videos, if I recall correctly, there was not a lot of motion so he was running in collection/trotting so that contributed to the bars down. Try to give him a lot of motion so he can respond with extension over the bars. And if a bar does come down (especially more than once) you can look at the video before the next rep so you can make the adjustment: was there enough motion? Connection? Was the timing early enough? All of the can contribute to the bar coming down. (And making sure he is not tight anywhere).

>>even when he’s just coming back to setup he manages to knock them.>>

That is just him being silly coming back to you 🙂 so try to get him to come around the bar not over it in those moments 🙂

>>I’m starting to worry when he just walks over the bar taking it out with his chest or a back leg.>>

If is he walking over it, then definitely add more motion to get him jumping and that should totally help!

Nice work here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>Yesterday went well:).

Looks like the whole weekend went great – he is all business in the ring. What a fantastic debut weekend!!!!

>> He dropped a bar where he tried to bounce. It was just a bit too far and his back leg took it down.
>>This morning I was wondering what I did that got him off? Also if he gets off like this, should I keep going or stop and reset?>>

Welcome to the joys of AKC distances at 24″ (I think he was jumping 24 here?) Yesterday’s bounce distance caught him by surprise probably. And on this run, your first blind was a tiny bit late (reconnection was after he landed) but then he was unable to re-balance because the distances where he dropped bars were collected one-strides for him. And the RC at :11 was a little late but then he had a collected one -stride to the next jump.

So basically those distances were brutal for a dog his size and power and speed – he tried his heart out but couldn’t catch his balance (plus probably a little mentally tired on day 3). Most of the high level 24″ handlers with super fast BCs like him don’t do regular AKC because of the distances.

So if you want to do regular AKC (especially Excellent/Masters), you will need to show him those little distances in training (the ones here are typical of what you will see). So take relatively simple sequences and set them on 18 or 19 foot lines so he learns to regulate his stride and work in collection to get around the courses. Or, stick to UKI and USDAA where his stride and speed is an asset 🙂

>>Also if he gets off like this, should I keep going or stop and reset?>>

If there is a way to reset and keep it fun and in flow, then sure! Maybe send him to a tunnel or have him come to you for the toy if it is FEO. Otherwise, just get more connected and help him out more and keep going – he was working so hard! And stopping tells him he was wrong, and I don’t want him to be frustrated – I think he is just inexperienced with these smaller distances.

Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
This was a great video because it highlights what he is reading versus what he is not reading.

>>You can see that I lose faith in my verbals quite quickly. It is a simple 90ish degree turn and should be LEFT. >>

True, but it was not working, so it was fine to abandon them for now.

>>At least I didn’t use any naughty words…but it quickly became LEFT, LEFT COME HERE. >>

Ha! At one point you did say COME HERE NOW which made me laugh because it was so relatable LOL!!!

>>That is, if you wanted to create a turn you needed 19+ feet in which to do it. On an AKC course, that might be BEFORE takeoff of the previous jump. Yikes. Alas, I might be finding that out for Casper. >>

Yes – a 19’ distance with a big striding dog usually does mean that the cues come before takeoff of the previous jump. But I don’t think the question here was timing – it was motion! It didn’t matter what you were saying, he was reading continuous motion as the cue to go to the tunnel and stopped motion as the turn cue. The steady motion moments did look similar enough that I can see why he thought it was the tunnel.

You can see it throughout the session, but here are some pinpoint moments:

:44 (steady motion) versus :51 (motion change)

You can also see it at 1:24 versus 1:29.

He had several successes in a row at the end (like at 2:08 and 2:26) but you can see the decision to turn relates more to when you stopped your motion (after he landed) than to what your verbal was.

This also supports my theory that it was not the tightness of the setup… he would have gone to the tunnel if you had not stopped your motion on those reps.

So that is great! He responds to decel!!!

But also……… We really don’t want you to depend on having to decelerate or stop moving to get a turn, especially when a tunnel discrimination is present (because that is everywhere now in course design). He is too fast for that!

A few years ago we would have done a spin there, but I hesitate to recommend that there because it is a LOT of handler rotation when you will want to be moving up the next line. I really only do spins if the rotation turns me to the next line – and in this case it does not. But you can show him a spin to see how he responds to it, because basically it says to him: “DUDE! It is NOT just about motion!”

So then what tool do we have in the toolbox to keep you moving forward but still getting the turn you want? The brake arm! Huzzah! I bet that will work: As he lands from 1, your motion remains the same: steady, no decel, not stopping. But your opposite arm comes up to join your dog side arm as kind of a WHOA YOU NEED TO COLLECT cue 🙂 as you keep turning your shoulders to the correct line. The brake arm will override motion, which gets collection and allows you to keep moving.

He is will probably outgrow the need for it over time, but it is SUPER useful for now and will help attach the verbals (and saying the verbals quietly helps too, as the different ‘energy’ actually helps attract the dog to turn). And at first, you might need it to be REALLY obvious as long as you don’t stop moving. You can see more about the brake arm in live class 2!

I used it when my Voodoo was a youngster to teach him to turn (he was very much like Casper at 2 years old – all go go go :)) He needed it less and less as he got experienced and then when he was 4 or 5 years old, didn’t need it much at all.

The brake arm is fashionable right now too (so people won’t think you are insane to use the outside arm 🙂 )- because so many courses require the dogs to turn with cues that need to override forward motion. I don’t know what other people call it or how they explain it, but it is the same concept 🙂 I think Jen uses it too for some things so definitely ask her when you see her in person next!

Great job here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

These are super challenging sequences/course and I think they went well! A couple of ideas for you as you keep working on the hard elements (she’s pretty perfect on all of the easy elements and all of the sorta-hard elements 🙂 )

Looking at the hot topics sequences:
Because she is young, the hardest thing right now is the conflicting indicators: when verbal says one thing and physical cues say another. Youngsters almost always process the physical cue over the verbal, and that is what was happening when she had any questions here. When we look at the very experienced, highly successful fast dogs – they are able to prioritize verbals over motion because they have the exposure, learning history, and experience to be able to do it. She is ready to start on that path!

For example, she was reading the backside cues and the tunnel cues really well on the first video when the motion really matched up with the verbal. She took the tunnel instead of the backside when you had a conflicting indicator at :39 – big arm movement when your verbals were saying “tunnel”.

Similarly, when you were staying in motion for the threadle, she took the backside of the threadle jump (because the threadle verbal/arm should override motion) but when you decelerated/rotated, she got it… but that put you behind on the line.

She didn’t have any bloopers for the pushes to the circle wraps, because your motion supported the circle wrap… but also kept you on landing side of that jump for longer than needed.

So I think we can start emphasizing verbals overriding physical cues for layering and backsides (carefully, so we don’t get too much failure or frustration). 3 ideas:

-You can set her up further from 1, so she can really stride into it – this is unrelated to verbals versus motion LOL!!

-Start by keeping your motion and line exactly the same, regardless of whether you are cuing the tunnel or the backside. The only difference(s) will be the verbal(s). If you are walking up the line for the backside cues? Walk the exact same line for the tunnel cues. Same speed, same line, same arms. Verbals differentiate. To make it easier at first, you can rotate the backside jump so it faces her line more and is easier to find. When she is successful with you walking… add jogging! Build up to running!

-When she can can do successfully with the motion being the same, we can add more challenge: like an arm fling while you are cuing the backside. Or a big decel on the way to the tunnel. Think of what the physical cues for each would be, and apply a small bit of them to the opposite verbal cue. That will really help her prioritize the verbal in those contexts.

When doing this, live by the 2-failure rule: if she fails twice in the session, it is too hard so you will need to dial it back to make it easier. It takes a while but it is totally worth it! Did you ever play the games where you sit in a chair and do verbals only for front of jump, back of jump, wrap, tunnel, etc?

The same will go for the circle wraps too, so ideally you can drive into position and use more countermotion, even with the tunnel right there.

For the threadles, I think the turn cue for the jump before the threadle will also really really help – just going into the threadle verbal here did not get the line. But compare it to what you did on the 2nd video, with adding the ‘left’ verbal and she was VERY successful getting the threadle! Your timing got better and better and at :54 you gave her a left as soon as she got to your right arm and as you were sending her to the 4 jump: that was great timing. When you were later with it, she was later processing it and picking up the threadle (which is why she dropped the bar at :35)

Also on the 2nd video – a small moment of physical cue overriding verbal – she missed the threadle jump at :55. I had to watch it a zillion times to figure out why… looks like your threadle arm swung back extra as she was sorting the line, and that is what pulled her off the line. She sees everything! The other reps had a more stable threadle arm so she got the threadle. But with the emphasis shifting to verbals overriding physical cues, she will get it. And that will allow you to run like mad to the next line, like at 1:07 for the blind – that was your best timing so she had a great turn!

Looking at the full course – this went really well! There are a couple of spots where I think you can trust her line & commitment more, which will then set up ways to more easily have your motion and verbal support the next thing. The little blooper spots were all motion overriding the verbal.

She got the layered threadle really nicely at the beginning!! :03!

At :09, did you want a slice or wrap on 6? It was hard for me to tell because upper body said slice, I think your verbal was slice, but change in motion said wrap – and you had a complete poker face and kept going (click/treat for YOU!!!) Motion there can help support the verbal – keep moving across the face of the 6 jump and turn your feet towards it, so she doesn’t see lower body wrap cues.

Since she is weaving really well… as soon as she gets the entry, get outta there 🙂
She had a bonus jump on the layering because at :14 the left verbal and brake arms were late on tunnel entry 9, she was just about in – and all motion was forward, which sent her forward on the exit. So, if you can send her to the weaves and head directly to the blind, you can do the BC starting when she exits the weaves and then as she is landing from 8, start the tunnel turn cues. The earlier timing will give you a lot more time to get the motion and verbal to line up to deliver the turn cues (yes, eventually verbals will override even if they are late, but we can work on earlier timing too 🙂 )

She had great lines 10-15!!

Two other spots where she had conflicting indicator of motion versus verbal:

At the exit of 15 weaves at :26 – she is following motion of your lower body converging even with the upper body doing a threadle, and that is what pushed her to the backside. Ideally your motion would be parallel to the bar of 16 (more like what you did at :37, yay!!) so you can get the info to her starting sooner (before she exits the poles, really trusting her to stay in) by getting up past the exit so she is not seeing convergence motion when she exits, and start the threadle verbal and upper body sooner (before she exits, no later than pole 10 for now) with your motion going more straight towards the teeter (clever to replace the frame with the teeter here!!!)

And I think you wanted a wrap not a slice on 18 at :54? It looked like your upper body, your decel, and the verbal said wrap but feet/motion said slice (you were facing the slice line, not facing parallel to the line to the dog walk). But again, you had a poker face and kept going so click/treat to you 🙂

In these instances, she had to choose motion versus verbal – motion won out, which is fine, because we can totally tweak the physical cues. But we can also isolate the the verbals so she is less reliant on the physical cues too! For example, you can start her with someone holding her – you say the verbal cue a few times as you are walking forward, then she gets released to start moving – you keep saying the verbal then add the physical cue to support it. The goal of that would be that the verbal cue predicts the physical cue… so she just starts the response without waiting for or needing the physical cue. It is a super fun way to prioritize verbals!

Great job here! Let me know if this makes sense!

Tracy

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