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Hi!
>> I was thrilled with her commitment since she really didn’t have much at the beginning of your class!>>
Totally yes! Her commitment is looking really good!!!!
Your emphasis on connection here looked really strong and really helped support the commitment. Since she can drive on her line well enough to let you get ahead of her on the tunnel exit (:29 :50. 1:16, 1:46), you can use that connection to time the turn cues sooner: As she exits the tunnel start to decel and start to use your wrap verbal. That way she can collect before takeoff (rather than jump straight and turn after landing).
Your exit line connection on the exit of the wraps looked really good!!!!
>> added a couple of other handling moves towards the end. On the last rep, I tried to throw in a tandem turn but said “check” instead of “switch” and so she wrapped the wing instead which I interpreted as Tarot beginning to understand the verbal but it could also be something I was doing with my handling. I would love to hear your thoughts..>>
Adding the tandem at 1:01 and 1:57 – what happened there was that after the backside, you got too far ahead and close to the next jump – so there was not enough room to set up the tandem – by the time she saw it, she was right at the next jump. So to get the tandem to work, you can decel and stick closer to the backside jump, then turn to the line and flip her away for the tandem. The front cross there worked really well!
One thing I noticed on this video – she was pulling over the jumps, adding more strides, rather than powering from her rear. She might be tight in one of her back legs or her back, so maybe a massage person can get hands on her? She seemed to be a little careful about using her left hind in particular so maybe there is an ouchy somewhere.
>>In addition, Tarot does not have a “right” and “left” verbal cue. Can I use the tandem turn to teach this or would it be too confusing?>>
It depends on what you want your left/right to mean. If it is turning left/right on the flat away from you, then yes the tandem turn is useful for that. If it is turning left/right over a jump (and could be towards you) then I suggest the minny pinny from MaxPup 1 and 2 to add those verbals.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>I was wondering what height you think I should be jumping her. She is 17 months old and measured 16”. I have just started jumping her 16” and she seems to have no problem at all. I think I might have to jump 20 “ in UKI since she measures 18” now. But in practice right now what should I do?>>
Yes, the regular height in UKI would be 20, or you can do 16 select which is incredibly competitive! But for now – turf like that can be slippery so you can stick to 16 inches on any hard turns or new handling stuff. You can throw in 18″ or 20″ on simpler lines like go lines, with bigger distances (minimum 24 feet). When you are outdoors on grass or in good dirt, you can add 20 to the tight turns and AKC-distances. I don’t think she will have any trouble jumping 20, but I also don’t want her to slip trying to adjust on turf and potentially injure herself. That would really stink, especially as you are coming back from the knee surgery.
Looking at the video:
She is reading these decel exercises brilliantly! All of the initial games where you were basically stationary looked fabulous. One thing to note:
She also reads the rotation on the tunnel entry at :49 & :56 as a turn cue, so try to only do a post turn (not a spin) on tunnel entries that are followed by a straight line. You can see her exiting turned there and re-adjusting. And we don’t want her to learn to ignore the rotations/turn cues, if they are always followed by a straight line.Good job balancing with the GO cues too!! She did well with the verbal – nice job with the toy throws!
When adding the wraps on the 2nd jump – remember that decel and FC rotations are bad for knees… I worry about knees LOL!! So treat it like a distance send to the first jump and tunnel so you are standing there at the wrap jump when she exits the tunnel and you don’t need to hustle or decel or rotate at all for now. We don’t want to ask too much from your knee.
The less you move into it, the better the turn (1:22 for example) but keep your connection and don’t rotate too early (1:29) The decel should start while she is over/landing from the previous jump, not the rotation. And as you noted – connection does impact what she does, so when you disconnected at 1:36, she had a bar down trying to see if she needed to change sides for a blind.Leading all the way out on the line so you could be standing at the wrap jump worked great on the sectiom from 1:55 – 2:13! Really nice balance of speed and collection!!
On the yes tunnel- no tunnel game:
She had no trouble reading when you wantd the tunnel and when you didn’t – Super!!!
At 2:52 as you noted, you broke conenction so it was totally fair of her to go into the tunnel from the other side of you. She read the line and save your butt – Yay! I love when the dogs save us! Good job rewarding her there.
Sending from the other side (backside) of the tunnel was a good challenge for her – there is a lot of collection needed to get into the tunnel from that angle. She hit her head on it at 3:16! But sorted it out for the other reps.
When she had trouble finding the entry at 3:20, it was because your dog side leg was not stepping forward. As soon as you stepped forward, she got it and using the tunnel verbal helped too.
Sending her to ths start wing from further away helped you get ahead enough to show the wing behind the tunnel.
In this section she also was great about knowing when you wanted the tunnel versus when you wanted her to go past it – great conenction from you really helped!
When you leg is feeling even better it will be easy to power through the lines so she won’t have the little questions behind the tunnel but for now, sending her away to the wing before it from as far as possible makes it all easier.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Happy retirement!!! I am so excited for you! And it sounds like things are very busy/exhausting. No worries, we have several more weeks for videos here. And if Mitre is dealing with hormones, it is fine to not do too much. I am glad she was awesome in her training yesterday!
>>. I was also wondering if I ouldmask you some weave questio s. I am working through the AUweave course .so all in all I have taken the pressure off myself and Mitre for awhile.>>
Go for it! I love weave training!
Tracy
Hi there! Lots of great stuff here, plus we can compare threadle wraps with push wraps because both are really looking great!
Hot topics:
Comparing the threadle wrap (TW) to the push wraps: I think both of these skills are well-trained and you executed them really well here! So this is a good comparison to make, because we are not looking at a strong skill versus a weak skill. Yay!On the first TW, you were past the tunnel exit before he entered. That made it faster on that section than the push wrap! On this one, give him the get out cue for the next jump (verbal and arm) before he enters to smooth out the line there.
Compare to the push wrap :38 where you were just arriving at the tunel exit when he entered. The timing of the cue for the next jump was before he went in the tunnel so that line looked good!
Adding the blind on the threadle wrap worked even better for the ending line. On the TW, you were about 2/3rds of the way up the tunnel when he entered (:17). Compare to the push wrap at :27, you were at the tunnel entry when he entered it. The threadle wrap sequence was faster here – the TWs proved faster on this type of line because he picks up speed chasing your line when you are really far ahead 🙂
The full sequence:
Opening looked good! Comparing the blind-TW-FC on the 5-6-7 line to the push to FC there: the push to FC was about 3/10ths faster in that section, even with the wider turn on landing of 6. That is probably for 2 reasons: the FC after the TW was late, so that delayed a bit of info. The TW in isolation is not faster but where we pick up more speed is when the handler is miles ahead on the next line. In this case, there was no benefit from the TW in terms of getting up the next line.To get the push to FC even faster – decelerate into the wing and do the FC right on the exact line you want him to run on (then get outta there so he has room to land :)) Your position on these (like at 1:32 for example) was closer to the far side of the bar, so he jumped out to your position and that created the wider turn there.
Standard 1:
Because you are world-team-leve 🙂 we can obsess on the tiny details 🙂 This opening is hard!
I think you can promote more speed on the opening with a forward focus/lateral lead out for more speed/better turn 1-2. Starting with him didn’t have as much momentum and he had some questions. Then as you move away, you can call sooner/more urgently before the #2 tunnel (:04) to get a tighter exit line, as you move forward to get to the takeoff side of 3 to set a better line to 4 (:05 and 1:12). Being on landing side causes the wider landing and a harder line to 4.He had a little trouble with the threadle on 6. On the first run at :11, you had a cross arm up but perhaps your shoulders were not open enough? Your feet stayed in motion there, as compared to when you got it at :17 and 1:17 and 1:22, when you decelerated and rotated your feet a little.
That is useful info, that on the crazier threadles he needs a bit of help from your feet & motion to get it 🙂 plus staying closer to the jump so he could turn his head to it and commit before you took off for the aframe.
You had the bit of decel at 1:22 with a little extra support and I think a name call after it – he read that line and found the a-frame really well!
Looking at the send to the 9 backside on the other side of the DW – you can get in closer to 9 for 3 reasons:
– to help get commitment of course 🙂 The more you converged to it like on the first run, of course, the better he got it
– to get more on the precise line you want him to run (like in the hot topics) for a tighter turn
– to set up the layering line 10-11-12. When you were a little ahead on the first run and had to decel and send to the layering, he dropped the bar. When you went in closer to 9/10 at 1:37, that set the layering line better and he kept the bar up.The 12-17 section looked really strong! Good job maintaining/rewarding teeter criteria!
There was a bar down at 18 as you started the layer – for the same reason the bar at 11 came down earlier: getting a little too far ahead on the layering line the hitting the brakes/ losing a bit of connection and pulling away. You can go in closer to 17 to set it, so he sees a lot of acceleration into it. That is a good thing to remember: support the jumping line by setting your layering/distance work from further back.
That will also get you to 21 sooner because you won’t get have to move back around the DW. 🙂 Getting there sooner will allow you to show the TW cues for 21 – a lot of forward motion and being pretty far caused the off course at :52
Compare to :58 when you got there sooner and it worked GREAT.Based on where 22 is, a threadle slice is going to be the fastest line but working and rewarding the TW is a useful skill!
Course 2:
This opening will also be faster/clearer with a stay on the slice line & forward focus on 1, so you can be basically standing at the center of the bar of 2 all before he takes off for 1. With the post turn and motion, he was not sure if it was the weaves or the jump as he exited 1.
3-4-5 went well! You can experiment witha blind to the TW on 6 to get way ahead on the next line. Plus you will get more speed in the weaves if you take off for the blind 🙂 He was pacing himself a bit because you were decelerated.
7-8-9-10-11-12 looked great! Nice weave entry!
On the 2nd run, he got a bonus jump before 12 – mainly because at :36 you cued the tunnel then took off without a ton of connection… but at 1:36 you had a bigger connection and a big step which put him directly on the line to the bonus jump. The extra jump was basically setting up a bypass, and I use disconnection on bypasses 🙂Another place to play with a blind to TW is the 13-14 section, because that can also set up the threadle on 16! The push wraps worked to get the line there (ideally you show him a little more of the wing so he has a tighter line to the push wrap), but made it harder to show the line to the threadle at 16
When coming in at full speed from the sequence, he got the backside of 16 – it was hard to hear the verbals but the physical cue did look like a backside send. I think you were calling him to come in then indicating the jump, but it read as a backside cue. A threadle verbal and arm should be what he needs (just pretend the dog walk is not there LOL!) plus moving laterally away before he enters the tunnel.
When you did it in isolation, he got it partially because of the lower arm, softer verbals and the different angle of starting (you were more lateral from the tunnel entry). So coming from the previous jump, you can show him the angle of motion away from the tunnel before he enters, and give him a threadle verbal/arm cue so he sees it happening as he exits. And I think the threadle wrap might be the easiest way to set all that up, because you will be way ahead to do it.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Again, I am so sorry to read that you lost Crusher. It is always so hard when we lose them.>>
Thanks, it sucks, as you know. They are never here long enough!
>>. I think I might be going backwards as far as energy and stamina. But I did see the Doc and he expects me to gradually improve.>>
Fingers crossed that ‘gradually’ turns into ‘quickly’ so you are back to feeling energetic!!
And even with the grass needing mowing… what if I sent courses with the setup that is set to add additional challenges, so you don’t waste energy re-building courses? I am happy to do that! Cooler weather should help too, if that ever arrives. I learned about Corn Sweat last night – will wonders never cease.
>>The most recent estimate for “when Barb can drive again” is 12/11. I may go nuts before then.>>
UGH! What can we, members of your agility community, do to help you NOT go nuts? I wonder if someone can be your Uber to a class or trial?
>> Since my running is pathetic, I took a gigantic lead-out>
Your running is not pathetic but your bandwidth for running on these big yardage courses is limited… we can also approach these as working things with more verbals and distance, which will be hugely helpful! Bigger pieces for Enzo, smaller pieces for Casper – but both learn to work away and process verbals at high speed without needing motion support too. That can be fun!
>>At any rate, the first thing Enzo did was DW to tunnel; twice.>>
The forward motion/much hustle 2-3 plus loud verbals cued the tunnel, he never considered anything else and definitely did not process the lateral position or verbal as the backside rather than the tunnel. He might need a turn cue on the DW exit or an attention cue (quiet name then backside when he turns his head away from the tunnel).
>> I took a gigantic lead-out on the third try and at least managed to avoid the tunnel trap.>>
Well, you’ve got a well-trained stay and he understands the cues for the opening line, so you can lead out all the way to 4 if you want! If my dog had the skills, you’d find me out at 4 (my dogs do NOT have those skills LOL!) This rep allowed you to give a bit of a physical turn cue on the dog walk exit (slight shoulder rotation and decel) and he never looked at the tunnel.
>> In addition to the lead-out, I started closer to the DW and moved laterally towards the jump.
Yes – the lateral motion totally helped him plus you were decelerating while you did it which also helps. In defense of your original plan, it was a good plan! But with all of the momentum of the RDW plus loud verbals plus parallel path… he didn’t make the discrimination. You can set that up with a cone wrap instead of the DW, or start him on the down ramp, to isolate that skill. It was really the only skill that was hard for him on this course.
You did step forward into the ‘flip away to tunnel’ move for a heartbeat at :24 which caused a spin and delayed the RC.
When you repeated it at :56ish, it was even better – you seemed more prepared for him to pay attention to the cue so you got the blind 4-5! EXCELLENT connection on the BC exit there at 1:03!
>>After that run, I took some time to reconsider my plan for 4-5-6-7 and decided I HAD to get a cross in between 4 and 5.>>
The BC worked GREAT. You can also play with a flip-away RC on the takeoff side of 5 and send to 6.
The next part 6-12 looked great! Add a little collection cue for the exit of 12 to tighten that turn to the frame and it will be perfect!
Then you nailed the rest (12 through 19) with great connection, verbals, and as much motion as needed but without needing to sprint anywhere.On the 2nd run, you got to 11 really well then praised when he landed from 11, then turned away from 12 and said “come climb”… so he went to the frame 🙂 I think the praise puts him in handler focus too much and delays your cues, so no need for praise: the next cue serves the same purpose (continuing is huge praise and reward for him).
If you wanted a distance challenge: get the weave entry at 10, *don’t* try to get up to 11 – hang back by pole 8 or something. Send to 11 backside, FC to 12, send to frame… all while you are still on the other side of the weaves. I bet that he can do it and that makes 14-15-16 even easier. And a second distance challenge would be to get 15 then send to 16-17-18-19 while layering the frame! The 19 would be a ‘get out’ and definitely challenging but he is ready for high level stuff like that!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Yes, Synnie is running. We have a little team, just 2 handlers and 4 dogs, and because of that, Synnie has had to run Senior from the get-go. >>
Very fun! She can totally handle Senior courses. And getting her ready with 2 ring trial experience and pattern games while waiting is great!!
>>The great thing for my control freakiness is that there is no reason to overhandle out there. No titles on the line, blah, blah, blah. We are going to run our best and strongest.
Exactly! Just go out there and tackle the courses. It will be super fun!
<>And the nice thing is, since Flurry and Synnie jump different heights, that I’ll get a walk through for each of them.>>
That makes is soooooo much easier 🙂
>>We’ve been having some trouble with the contacts, especially A-frame, in trials, so hopefully this helped her to remember that this week! >>
Definitely be consistent all the time with contact releases – getting her front feet into the 2o2o is the ‘button’ she pushes to cue you to release her. On this video, you were releasing early from the dog walk each time (she was in the yellow but not in 2o2o). She didn’t self-release here, but she was slowing down, possibly looking for the release point on the down ramp. If it was not as hot or she was more pumped up, she might self-release 🙂 So be super clear and consistent with the criteria.
On the video:
Nice opening each time!!!
She got to the backside really well for the backside wrap on 4. Try to decel into it and stay near it, rather than back up away from it – that will set the line better to 5 and also help the jumping. The backing up is why she dropped the bar at :18 (trying to follow your motion).
The middle section looked great each time! Nice 5-6-7-8 line, lovely independent weeks, great job with 9-10-11!
>> We struggled a lot more with the layering on this course.
The layering is definitely hard on this course! On the first one (11-12-13), being parallel to the line really helped – you were pulling away and facing 13/14 on the first reps at :41 and 1:50. When you faced it more at 2:48, she stayed out on the line a lot better. Also, I think the addition of the jump cue really helped – at 2:48, you were saying jump jump jump after the go cues (the other reps just had go cues) so the jump helped support commitment to the jump 🙂
>> I couldn’t get the backside after the tunnel, no matter what I tried.
This is definitely a really hard section! When she was on your right, you had too much turn cue on the 16 tunnel, at :54 and 2:01, so she turned and was looking at the other tunnel when you gave the next cue. Accelerating her with motion and go verbals before she enters the 16 tunnel can help! Having her on your left go her out to the jump really well at 2:58. To help her get the backside, you can teach the skill by rotating the jump so the backside is pretty obvious (rotating it 180 degrees to start), then over time you can gradually rotate it back to the position it was in here.
>>I do notice some fatigue/frustration come into play (on both our parts) with these longer courses>>
There is a lot of yardage for handler and dog on these! One of the ways I tackle these big courses is to turn on a pop song (usually those are 3 minutes or so) then do as much as I can. When the song ends? Session over 🙂 So in those 3 minutes I can try to run it all the way through once, might work on a section, then either be finished or if I still have time, try it one more time all the way through. It makes limiting my time more fun too!
Great job here and have a fun trip! Send updates!
Tracy
Good morning! The sessions on this video looked fabulous!
He only had one question here, on the very first rep. You rotated on time but didn’t decel into the turn, so it was a bit like slamming on the brakes on a sports car 🙂 so he didn’t take the jump.
The next reps had you running closer to jump 2 so he committed but the rotation on those reps was a little late (he is already jumping when you rotated.The rep at :22 had the decel as he landed from jump 1, and it was great in that the decel allowed him to commit in tight collection and you were able to rotate before takeoff. So definitely remember to transition into decel before you rotate, to support commitment and timing.
The rest of the sequence looked strong – the cross worked on both the takeoff and landing side of 4. You can add a big go go go verbal for the ending line so he gets permission to drive ahead of you.
Looking at the forced fronts and forced threadles – nice position next to the jump on these! He had very tight lines here.
Good connection the force front crosses! He read it really well. And his stay looked great! One small detail – have your feet together a little more so then it is easier to step back to the jump with the leg next to the jump, as you exit the FFC. Your leg was back on most of the reps before the release, so you stepped back with the opposite leg which might make things less clear when you exit for a jump after it.
You did the forced threadle in the next session here and he did great too! Then you built the forced front into the sequence – excellent! You had just the right balance of patience to let him commit to the backside at 2, but turning before he reached the backside so you could show the line to 3. You nailed the timing!
Balancing with the lead put push looked great, and the forced threadle on the other side at 2:20 and the last run (with the FC exit) looked great too!
One thing that made this session wildly successful is that you were SUPER connected throughout. That helped him see the lines and also helped you have great timing here. Click/treat to you!
Terrific work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Yes, working in the a/c is niiiiice! You have had a brutal summer with the heat! Thinking about it, when you are indoors there you can also tweak any of the sequences to pull out a jump so you can get a 21 foot distance or more, so he gets to run run run 🙂
>>I can’t let him run around the room, he pees on equipment if I don’t stay right with him.>>
Gotta love teenagers 🤣😂. I personally don’t let my young dogs run around the ring between runs either – it is just not a great rehearsal for youngster. Masters level adults? Not a problem. But teenagers? Yeah…. there is too much trouble to be found LOL!
It is also important training to chill in a crate there – will he chew a bone? I also use the music between turns to tune out any puppy protests LOL!!!Looking at the video:
>>1. Is the angle of the jumps correct? I walked off a 6′ arc matching the distance he was working in the straight grid.>>
For his size, I think 5 feet center-to-center on the bars might produce the best distance (he will let us know based on his striding). He bounced here, no problem, but it was a little collected which might mean the distance was shorter than needed.
You can have the wings closer to the camera touching so which makes it easier to flatten the angles. As the angles get flatter, you might end up overlapping the wings to maintain the distance.
For the line up as the angles get harder, you can change his start position: he should still be nice and close to the bar like you had him here, but more on an angle at the outer wing (so his left hip is parallel to the wing here). It mirrors the zig zags we did on the wings in MaxPup 2 🙂 That way he is jumping on more of a slice and not as much of a straight line, right from the start.
>>2. I set the bars at 6″. He’s been mostly jumping 8″ with recently starting to see 10″. He’ll jump 16″ AKC/ASCA and hopefully 12″ UKI/USDAA. He is 15 mos old.>
6 inches for this grid is perfect! We keep the bars low like this until the grid is completely ‘flat’ then we inch up the bars a little. No rush on that at all, it is REALLY hard and so we don’t generally get it fully flat til they are fully adult.
>>3. Is this camera angle ok or is there a better one? Should I remove the inner wings to make it easier to see him?>>Camera angle was great! It was high enough that it was easy to see his feet and form. The only thing we couldn’t see here is the reward placement, so be sure it is on the ground before you release him, and 10 feet or so from the 2nd jump so he can power through it without slowing down or looking up.
>>4. Next time we do this exercise, reverse the angle so he’s jumping to his left instead of right?>>
Yes, that would work! Or you can do a ‘back-and-forth’ approach where you alternate start sides in each rep.
Nice work here!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Nice job on this course! It is a BEAST and a lot of yardage, but it went really well with very few questions. I am particularly excited about how well Synnie is doing with the layering – she was really reading the lines and processing the verbals. This will be so useful!!!Opening:
She was layering great on the first run – you might not need a more than a name call then a thereadle cue to get 4-5 (getting the correct side of 4 makes getting the correct 5 tunnel easier>
Got it on the 2nd and 3rd runs, she is getting really good at working at a distance! She understands to stay on the line so you can be giving all of those cues before she lands from the previous jump so she doesn’t look back at you.
Getting the 5 tunnel worked great there when you had the correct side of 4
>>I just was looking over the course notes for Course 2 for tomorrow morning and I realized that we (I) did 6 wrong on the first course. Synnie actually tried to/succeeded running it as a backside several times but I MADE her take the front side, thinking that was correct!! >>
No worries! And the way it was set, it might have been best as a threadle wrap – the threadle slice puts her on a line to the off course jump. But you can walk it after setting it and make the decision.
For the front side (because that is a challenge you will likely see in AKC!), try using a brake arm to get the moderate turn. So as you are cuing her from the tunnel exit to approach 6 and turn, add in the opposite arm so she can turn before takeoff. At 1:45 you did a sharper physical cue and she dropped the bar. She didn’t drop it t 2:51 but was a bit wide, so I think the brake arm will be the answer.
Nice BC 8-9 after the weaves each time!!! Nice turn on the tunnel! She can get her “out” cue to the jump sooner at :51, say it as soon as you see her head exit the tunnel, so she doesn’t look at you. 10-11-12-13 went well each time!!
Looking at the 13-14-15 section to the 15 weaves:
You might need a spin on 13 – it was a little hard to see what she did when you did the post turn on the first run, but she dropped the bar on 14 so it is possible the line got too slicy with the post turn and your speed, or you needed more connection as you drove to the weaves, or both 🙂 That might have affected the angle of the weave entry too (where she missed on this run). You got it cleanly the 2nd time at 2:03 with more connection. And had a little more decel on the other reps and it looked good.After the weaves, you can move through the line to 16 as a threadle slice – you did a ‘here’ and held her focus too long on the first run through there. You released her back to the jump sooner at 2:09, but I bet you can keep moving through there and she will get it perfectly. At 3:16, you had a lot of motion while you cued it and it was the best line of all the runs 🙂
Nice threadle wrap before the DW the first time through! On the 2nd time at 2:16 she hit the wing – she might have been fatigued (it is a hard jumping effort). Or you might have been too quick to move through it? I compared it to the threadle wrap at 1:18 and didn’t really see a handling difference, which is why it might have been a fatigue question (this course is BIG). You gave her more room to set up at 3:25 and it worked for her, but I do think there is a fatigue element: she is turning really tight to her let there, which is her harder side (I think she is a righty?) plus it is the hardest turn on course. No worries, part of the joy of these big yardage courses is the dogs do get a bit more conditioning 🙂 plus you won’t see a threadle wrap multiple times on course for her (not yet). So she nailed it the first time and that is what we need 🙂
Ending looked good! Her contacts are looking really strong, keep on maintaining that lovely 2o2o criteria!
>>We are headed to AKC League Nationals at some stupid hour on Wednesday morning; >>
Have a BLAST!!!!! Is Synnie running too? Please send updates!
>>hoping to get another video of the other course to you tomorrow cause that will be all for the week, but it depends on my time!!>>
Cool beans, I will look for it if you get a chance to post it. If not, no worries: remember to tackle those courses with the same connection and clarity that you used here!! And practice all that in your walk throughs 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I think if she didn’t turn in to me and scream at me, it would be a lot easier to make something up on the fly, but I feel like I’m going to trip on her, and it’s so hard to get her to look back at the obstacles once things go poorly. I’ll keep working on it, though!>>
You can always turn and run away from her to any random obstacle 🙂
>> She took the dog walk instead of the 2nd tunnel, and that made it really hard to keep going>>
In those cases, you can reward the dog walk like it is the end of the course, then restart somewhere.
>> No, she does not have a separate verbal for wrapping. Nox is the first dog I’ve had who even had a backside, and when I learned it, I didn’t know anything about having two verbals. Katniss is learning both. I do want to transition to having separate ones for Nox, but when I’ve tried just sneaking the new verbal in, she is like, “What the hell does that word mean??” and gets mad, lol. I need to break it down and teach the cue outside the context of a course. I’ll be adding that to the list of things we’ll work on this fall/winter.>>
I think we can add it now! Since Nox says “wait what” when you add in a new verbal, we can ease the transition using the new-cue-before-old-cue method. For example, with puppies, we train a sit by luring or shaping it with some type of cue (hand signal, cookie lure, etc). Then when we are pretty sure we can get the behavior, we add the new cue (verbal sit cue) just before we do the old cue (hand lure for example) . Then the new cue predicts the old cue so the dog does the behavior… and we fade out the old cue.
In this case, you would say your new cue (digdigdig or whatever you want to use) then switch to the current cue (back). Then we fade out the back cue.
>>We ran in an AKC trial this past weekend and had a BEAUTIFUL FAST run (78 points!)!
Wow, congrats!!
The excellent standard run was gorgeous!
Sorry about the dog walk fall but I am glad you got her into the chiro right away! And very glad she is ok. I watched that a bunch of times, in slow motion, on a large screen… I don’t see what caused her to lose her balance but her decision to jump off is better than falling!! It seemed liked it happened at the top of the up-ramp.
>> the reason I’m including all of this in my post is to say that I had multiple people approach me throughout the day to tell me what a difference they have seen in Nox and to say they can tell how hard we’ve been working. I owe so much of that credit to you.
Thank you for that, but really you have done all of the work & training! I am simply on the Team Nox Support Crew 🙂
Looking at the courses:
On the first walk through, definitely add more verbals. That will help the physical cues too, if you say the verbals as you would say them in a real run.And the last jump is offset enough that it would make more sense to rear cross the jump before it, to put her on your right for the last jump. You would need to be pretty far ahead to get a clear push to the last jump on your left here, which is hard on this course because of having to handle 15. Other than that, it was a really strong walk through and my only nitpicks would be to add a bit more connection out of the weaves and on the exit of 15 🙂
On the run – the opening looked great! She didn’t look at the tunnel after teh DW and found the backside really well. She drove ahead really well to the 6 jump!
By leading out and being stationary while she was on the teeter, she did get the 8 tunnel but being stationary before she entered it cued a turn. That, plus not showing parallel line motion to the 9 tunnel or yelling go go go caused her to turn on the exit of 8 and get on the DW. Good girl!
Compare to 1:50 where you were moving and yelling and she got the tunnel no problem 🙂 Yay!!
Nice BC to the poles! And nice patience on the backside after the poles to let her commit before you moved away!
She dropped the bar after the a-frame. Maybe you were too far ahead coming off a stopped obstacle? Or maybe it was just a random bar, which happens to all speedy dogs here and there. She didn’t quite organize for it as you started moving again, but I don’t recall that being an issue off of contacts
She did have questions on that last line because it was so hard to get way ahead, so if you see something similar on a course, try the RC and see if that helps her.
>>I was training with friends, and I didn’t want to video them walking the course,>>
Ha! That makes it more realistic 🙂
Looking at the walk through: I think most of it was super clear!
On 1-2-3 you were too far off the FC line 2-3, so that will set her jumping on more of a slice over 2 which sets up a wider turn on 2 to the weave entry.
The rest was pretty darned cleasr (but too quiet :)) so add more of your verbals 🙂 Nice exit line connection on the walk through!
On the run:
Look at her forward focus on jump 1! Yay!Your position on 2 did indeed create a wider turn. Ideally, you would be doing the FC on the exact path you would want her to take, because dogs jump pretty much directly at our position. So in this case, that position would be basically on the inner wing, where the wing and bar meet.
The rest of the opening went great, no problem with the layering!
You needed to step in more to 7 to set the right turn on the first run – but compare to 1:53 on run 2 where you stepped in more and nailed it (this 2nd run looked more like what you did in the walk through to set the line)The rest looked great! Super!!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>HA! I knew I was going to get called out for that as soon as I did it, lol.>>
Teehee! It is my job to bug everyone about that LOL!!
About the double blinds:
>> I still couldn’t get the timing right. I’m going to try to fit in one more session of the game this week, which I will post if I get time to try it again. That is a HARD game!!>>
It is hard but I think I see you on Friday? So I can show you on Friday!
The serps are going well!
One jump: super nice serp position and reward delivery! It looks like you have a system going of toss the bumi reward then come back for the tug. My only suggestion on those and on the 2 jump reps is that you can be closer to the serp jump: close enough to casually reach out and touch it with a slightly bent elbow. That sets a great serp line!
She had one off course tunnel blooper – nice adjustment to add a left verbal! Plus I think she needed to realize that it was still a serp, not a tunnel line there.
Adding the tunnel went well too. Your are consistently showing great upper body info and connection! She had no real trouble with the harder jumps angles. Super!
On the line going away from the tunnel, try not to decel – to stay in motion, you can go in closer to the tunnel and then drive up the line with that good serp position you had going. That way you will be ahead without needing to decel or get too far ahead.
Going towards the tunnel will be even easier if you are further ahead on jump 2. You can set that up by starting next to the wing of jump 2, and sending her to jump 1 from there. That way you will be almost past exit wing as she is getting ready to take off. For example, at 2:00 you were passing the exit wing as she was getting ready to take off and she had no questions. Yay! When you were not as far ahead (going to the tunnel) like at 2:05, it was harder to show her the line to the tunnel and it was a bit zig zaggy.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
Nice handling session here!
Did you have a dish out for every possible exit? LOVE IT!The turns looked great – she was super tight and fast on both the left turn and right turn exits. Yay! Nice timing of your cues, click/treat for you!
More impressively, she got the go line, even after 2 turn reps! Yay! Her head was straight but a little high on the first one, as if asking “are you sure it is straight” LOL The 2nd go rep did not seem to have that same question, she came flying out (same as the last rep).
She had one commitment question on the FC at 2:12, so I obsessed a little to see why she committed so well at 1:56 on the mirror image of that challenge. Nice exit line connection there! And good job continuing when she had the question at 2:12!
On the rep at 1:56, you had a clear step or two of decel and rotated a shade later. At 2:12, you rotated when she was at the same spot she was in when you decelerated at the other side… so definitely the decel was part of it (the connection looked similar on both reps – you can give her a bit more connection but I don’t think that was the question from her).
The rep at 2:28 sealed the deal that it is the decel as the critical factor: you had a definitely clear decel there and rotated at the same time you did at 2:12… but the decel committed her. The rotation might have been a shade early (she did give you a look as she went past you) but she committed with a nice turn. So definitely emphasize the decel as part of the commitment and delay the rotation til after it.
On the teeter video:
>> I’m going to bring her little scratch pad with us to Canada so that we can do more work just targeting and scratching the pad when it is flat on a surface.>>
Perfect! I was going to suggest pumping up the value for it a bit more, maybe even elevating it a bit so she can step up on it and get to scratching 🙂
She seemed very happy to pop onto the end of the board! Yay! Pumping up t he scratch pad plus not not leaning over her quite as much should help get her more into the end behavior foot position.
How is she feeling about being held/restrained lately? Her hop ons are good, but she was getting mad when you were not letting her jump on by herself LOL! Since she likes this game, you can do a line up, hand on collar, then instant release onto the teeter. And gradually build up to a longer restraint (which can also build even more drive into position).
Great job here! Safe travels to Canada and have fun!
Tracy
Hi! Thanks for your kind words about Crusher… it sucks to lose them, as I know you understand.
>>It really is all about the correct parallel line, isn’t it?!?! And Sly is SO clear about when I’ve got it and when I don’t
Yes – parallel lines make it sooooo much easier (as well as a great tunnel verbal LOL!) And not getting too far ahead helps too so the motion of the parallel line helps propel the dog out to the layered line. Thank you to Sly for the feedback!!
The backside reps went really well here, I think those were easier for him than the tunnel reps. The backsides looked very independent and you were very lateral, so he could jump the line with a ton of speed too. Nice!
The tunnel reps were harder here – it might sound counterintuitive, but the closer you started to 1, the easier it seemed to set his line (like at :08 and :33). When you were too far ahead at :21 (where you were running a bit rotated) and :28, he found it harder to choose the tunnel over the jump.
Not getting too far ahead for layering is a definitely less-is-more approach from the start of the line, because getting too far ahead puts us peeling away (like at :21) before the dog might be on the line, which can potentially lose the parallel line and open up the other obstacles. Started closer to 1 but already on the parallel path so you are running forward the whole time can smooth out the bloopers.
Sequence 3 looked great!!
>> Warmed up our blind/threadle wrap a couple of times>>
Looks like he never considered the tunnel! Yay! You can use your hands a bit more perhaps, to help get the collection for the wrap, but he did really well!
>>Took 3 tries to get the threadle slice with the layer but once I paid more attention to the connection on landing of 4, >>
Getting it in only 3 tries is great – this layered threadle stuff is a new skill and the dogs are going to have some questions at first LOL!! But then I think when they know to expect that it might happen, they will do it really well like Sly did here. Happy dance! And it put you in a great spot for the threadle on 7, no problem at all.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi! These went really well. A connection idea (below) will smooth out the blooper spots 🙂
On the first rep, one small detail – when sending to the tunnel, do a post turn exit. You did a spin at :15 which cues a turn. So he exited turned and then was confused for a moment: “where did she go?” He exited straight at :25 (post turn) and that is more of what we want on this sequence
You did a spin at :52 on the tunnel entry where there was a turn on the exit and it was perfect, because the turn is what you needed there.You can start the wrap rotation sooner at :34 – it started as he was lifting off, so you can move into the FC and decelerate when he lands from the previous jump, then do the rotation to the tunnel before he takes off.
The bigger sequence went really well too!
The rep at :39-:44 looked great – low arms, great connection, good running lines from you so he was fast and accurate on his lines!
Right at :46 you broke connection with him still behind you and pointed forward to the next jump. That changed the line of your shoulders away from the jump so he did not take it
:49 to :57 also looked really good! You gave him a bit more connection at :58 so he did find the jump, but you will see even better commitment if you keep you dog-side arm back to him and eyes on his eyes as you step to the jump and say the verbal.
It is counterintuitive 🙂 but works really well because it points your shoulders and your motion to the takeoff spot, while pointing ahead of him turns your shoulders and feet away from the takeoff spot. That is basically what you did at 1:18 and 1:31, and he committed with zero questions. Yay!!!
He came off the line at 1:20 because as you ran down the line, you looked forward and then to your left… that is exactly what a blind cross looks like so he did a blind to your left side. You both tried to save it (you re-connected to your right side, he tried to find the jump) but you were both moving too fast and couldn’t quite save it.
He also had a question at 1:33 on that line. You were looking at him more and could see him… but your dog-side arm was pointing forward. That blocks his view of the connection and turns your shoulders a bit away from the line, so he was looking at you and trying to sort out where to be. At 1:34 you dropped the arm a bit and gave more connection so he took the jump.
You can see that same question at 1:50 when he is on your left, heading to the tunnel. The arm points forward changing the info, so he looks up at you for more info.
Ideally, in both of these spots, your dog side arm points to his nose the whole time. That means your arm will be way back to him when he is behind you, so he will be able to see your connection and stay on his line without looking up at you for more info.
That is what you were doing more of on the lines he read beautifully (like on the BC between 5 and 6 on this sequence, at 1:44 for example) so adding that to the sending and when you are way ahead will smooth out those lines too.
Great job here!!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
These are looking really good! Look at her fabulous stay!!! She had no questions about which side of the jump to go to, even on the hard angles.
The forced fronts are going well – one detail as you finish the FC is to maintain connection to her eyes. That will point your shoulders/chest to the jump so she will commit nicely. You were looking ahead so if you tossed the reward early, she got it. But when you did not toss the reward early, she went past the jump (which is the line your shoulders were indicating).
The threadles went really well too! You can be closer to the jump, and more tucked in behind the wing – basically the same spot as the forced front cross but facing her in the threadle position. Then as you release, you can look at your threadle hand to help guide her to it. Being close to the jump will help with commitment too so you won’t have to cue her to take it – it will be right on her line.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
