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No worries at all! Sounds like a busy week – work gets in the way of resting up after the trial and the dog training! It sounds like she is doing really well on the games you played this week. Spring break will be so nice š I am looking forward to updates!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>I have discovered that she is much more likely to bring the toy back closer to me if Iām on the ground so Weds afternoon played tug/grab/toss with me laying on the grass. Fewer laps that way and she almost brings it to my handā¦>
This is great! Being low to the ground seems to help jumpstart the retrieve and also tugging in the new place. Yay!
>Later this morning decided to see how things went if I had Jack out first. I decided to move the āBacksideā set up so things looked different from the morning.>
It was fun to see the go versus push set up so you could switch back and forth! I am glad she had a good first part of the session – it is tempting to do multiple reps in a row but just doing one is the best route. Jack can do a few, Jazz does one (doesnāt matter how it goes well or not, stick to one) then Jack comes back out.
One thing video, she had 2 good reps then stopped on the 3rd. So a better approach might be to that you stop after the first good rep š
One of the reasons that alternating works well is because of the arousal shift it brings – it can center arousal enough that the dogs work with high intensity and focus! But that arousal will shift pretty quickly which is why one rep is great but longer sessions can end up with her stopping.
>She had an adjustment on Tuesday so thought it might be due to residual discomfort from that.>
Possibly! But then my question isā¦ why is she having discomfort from an adjustment? There could be no discomfort unless there was a big adjustment and/or something painful underlying it. Behaviorally, we definitely do see a pattern of one or two fast snappy repsā¦ then she stops wanting to do it. Chiropractically, there is a pattern of pain on the right hip the is recurring to the point that it sounds like Jazz reacted to it. So the question remains: why is it happening?
Since the rads ruled out orthopedic issues (yay!!) the next steps to figuring out the pain would be soft tissue specialist who can palpate things like the psoas or even do an MSK ultrasound, as well as considering a pain trial. A pain trial is 2 weeks on pain meds (usually NSAIDs) and look at what, if anything, changes. Those are very useful! Food for thought.
>I hope to set up another one of the games to try with her there. Thinking that my yard may have soured her on agility here.>
Let me know how it goes at the new place! Arousal and adrenaline might really support her wanting to play agility but keep it to one rep then take a break. It is possible. The yard has soured her on agility so keep that to just playing with favorite toys for now with single reps thrown in here and there to see if we can get the association back to being super positive in the yard.
Nice work her! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>As you have noticed, my timing is terrible and my mobility isnāt great. I canāt move fast enough or in a stable enough way to get where I want to be and in a good position. I had a complete rupture of my right hamstring three years ago and a high grade tear of the left hamstring and glute two years ago. I will probably never get my mobility/running back to where it once was. Hence my distance handling. Ugh!>
Ouch! The hamstring issues sound so painful!! But watching you and Scotch – I think you are selling yourself short! Your distance handling and his distances skills are making it so that you don’t need to worry about moving fast – he is reading the cues from wherever you are! So no worries about mobility or position: are you doing GREAT and I have no arguments with your position here – you used your distance skills to get exactly where you needed to be (on the other side of the tunnel). And look how well he is turning and how close to you he is working on these 2 videos!
He is becoming very responsive to your brake arms, so the main thing here is to lock into the exit of the tunnel. You were past it and finished with the blind on both of these videos – so as soon as you are past it, don’t worry about getting up to the jump wing for the wrap. Decel and lock onto the tunnel exit so as soon as he exits, you can cue the wrap.
On the first video, you were moving forward to the wrap wing so ended up being late. But on the 2nd video, your brake arm was in place and you were connected when he exited the tunnel at :15 – fabulous turn!!!! You did it as a FC – if you are further from the jump, I bet you have more time to exit with a blind so he is on your right side if you wanted him to be. It is not required but it would be fun to try because it will keep you ahead of him even more.
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
Leoās sequences went really well – he is responding beautifully to the brake arms! He turns really well with just a suggestion of the brake, even when it is late. So letās talk about timing!
One suggestion is that you donāt need to be at the turn jump to get a great turn. You were continuing to move forward to it even when it was time to decel and show the hands – he still got really good turns here but I think on a bigger course or with a tunnel, you might end up with off courses or wider lines.
The middle jump (tunnel replacer š ) is the key to the timing on this setup: when he is finishing that jump, the next cues should be underway. That correlates to the tunnel exit.
So you can drive hard to the turn jump until he is in the air of that middle jumper- then you need to decel and start setting up the brake arm and rotation from wherever you are. Continued motion to the jump will cause questions.
He is super responsive to the decel and arms like at :23 ad :34 but those can both be starting as he is over the middle jump so he has more time to prepare for the turn.
Same with the throwback: drive hard to the wrap jump until he is in the air over the middle jump, then decel wherever you are. At :44 and :55, those cues started just before he took off for the wrap, so he had a wide line coming into it (but responded immediately when he saw them! Nice!)
You can also start the backside wrap cues when he is in the air of the middle jump: no need to decel hen he is at the middle jump! Stay connected keep moving to the backside wing (where the wing and bar meet) and as he is landing from the middle jump, you are showing him the backside cue.
Being behind from the decel at the middle jump and looking forward almost caused him to take the front of the jump. He still turned nicely, so I am very excited to see how responsive he is to turn cues!!
Scout gave us good feedback about the timing of the cues š Because he is less experienced he was a true mirror of the timing:
On the first rep, you accelerated from the middle jump until he took off for the wrap jump. The decel and rotation were late so he was wide on the turn. You had your brake arms up so he was only a little wide, but the decel as he is exiting the middle jump will really help. You had a stronger rotation at :15 so the turn was better, but you can decel into it as he is landing from the middle jump. The forward motion at :30 almost sent him to the backside then he ended up wide on the front side.
The timing of the FC at :20 was good! Spot on! When you start it, then you can decel and do the brake arms. You were running backwards a bit here so he ended up wide.
The timing of the throwback rep at :46 was not quite as nice as at :20 – a little late but he still saw the decel into the brake arms before he had to make a takeoff decision: nice turn!
So I think what was going on with both boys was that you were working the cueing of the middle jump more than needed then trying to get to the wing of the wrap jump, which ended up making the turn cues late. For that jump (or for a tunnel) you can end to it then trust the commitment – and head directly to the turn jump. You might not get to perfect position, and that is fine š If you are in decent position when you start the decel, you will get great turn because the decel leading into the brake arms are very powerful cues.
Applying that to the backside wraps: you can send to the middle jump and head to where the wing and bar meet on the backside jump. When he is in the air over the middle jump, wherever you are, you can decel and use a brake arm. Then hold that position til he passes you to set up the turn.
At 1:04, you got close to the middle jump then accelerated to the backside wrap, so he accelerated too and almost went past it š You were there at 1:17 sooner and had some decel, soHe was not sure about committing to the jump as you moved forward, so you can shift your connection to the landing side (and point back to it with the left hand in this case) as you keep moving to support his commitment.
Great job here!
Let me know what you think!Tracy
Hi!
>YouTube decided Iād uploaded too many videos today. >
YouTube has been having a weird week!!
>For the get out cue, what might I use that for in AKC? We will work on it but I couldnāt picture when we might need it.>
I can be used ay tie there is a lead change away from you (which there are plenty of in AKC) – a weave entry that is offset, for example, or trying to cue a jump across the box and you donāt want to run to it because you have to get to the next line. And it is super useful in FAST sends too!
The advanced serps went great! She gets a double gold star for the first rep on the 2nd side because she almost ran past the serp, then caught herself and fixed it. Yay! I think the left turn side is harder for her (where she is coming to your right hand) but she was still super successful on that side too.
The Treat n Train is useful for this! On the first side you were moving your shoulders as you were indicating the Treat n Train but you kept your shoulders more āfrozenā on the second side – that was better because we donāt want her to think shoulder movement is part of the cue.
She is ready for you to put a jump bump or pool noodle in as a bar for her to go over.
She is doing well with the pivots! You can add in keeping yourself in one spot and throwing the treats off to the side, to see if she can get on the bowl and pivot back to center, which will add more steps to the pivoting. And you can also add something low for her to step over in the Advanced level.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
The milk bones box was a good challenge! He did really well with it!>I found his noticing of the distraction and then quickly returning to task, even when he noticed it multiple times,>
He was really great with the food jar and bag of treats too! I think he showed a bit of interest in them because he saw you putting them down, which makes them more interesting. To add challenge, you can have something already present in the room then bring him into it and immediately begin the game, to see if he can ignore it from the start,
Interestingly, you had a side preference with the rewards: when he was coming towards your left side, you were seeing engagement (him looking toward you) and rewarding. When he was coming towards your right side, you were actually a little early: the reward came when he was moving towards you but before he looked at you. So you can delay the reward on that side a bit so it matches what you did on the left side by rewarding after he looked towards you. You can also add a āget itā marker on the cookie tosses.
This is a great game to take on the road to different locations! I think he I read to see it in new places. It helps the pups figure out all sorts of new environments.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
I think she really likes the tunnels š That is a super long tunnel and she was really zipping through it! Great job holding her so she could hear the verbal before letting her go – that also allowed you to change her position.
She was having a little trouble ignoring the dog barking but was super clever to find the other end of the tunnel when you were pretty far from the entry you wanted. She had to sniff it out to deal with the barking dog in the distance, but then she finished really strong at the end: finding the entry from really far away AND ignoring the barking dog. SUPER!!!!!
You can definitely add in the threadle side entry where she is between you and the tunnel o she turns away to get into it.
And, since she is small, we want to throw a reward further so she blasts out of the tunnel instead of turning really tight towards you. I want small dogs to have really big commitment so we donāt have to run close to the obstacles with them š So to get that, you can throw a toy or a ball, or even a lotus ball to be able to throw food so it easy to throw and easy to find.
She was brilliant with turn and burn, in both directions! You got a little too excited at 1:52 and pulled her off, so you can do the FC nice and early like you did there but try not to have big praise until she has completely the wrap š
The only thing to add here is that you can step to the wing as you say the push verbal ,so she as that physical cue to support starting. She did move on the verbal but the physical cue of stepping to the wing will get even more propulsion to the wing.We are building on this soon and she is definitely ready. Great job!!
TracyHi!
>m I understanding this correctly, the only cue we are giving the dog is the Release cue? >
Yes, for now. We are getting the offered sit then uses releases.
>We never say Stay (or Wait is what I have been using when she needs to wait before exiting her crate) When does the Stay cue come into the picture? Once they know it then we start saying it? Or are they learning this position (sit) means stay put until I release you?>
They are learning that sit means stay until released! With that in mind thoughā¦ the stay words are more for us humans LOL so when she is reliably staying, you can add it is you want to. It helps us humans stay connected and it is perfectly fine to add it š even if the dogs donāt exactly need it š
The catch game is going great with the cookies! You can fade out the clicker now – all you need is ācatchā then throw the treat. She only had one blooper where you tried to move away fast. Moving away a little more slowly was successful every time. Super!
On the second video:
She did well here too with the āokā release! You can take the clicker out of this one too – one less thing to worry about and then there is no confusion about if the clicker is the release or not. The click doesnāt provide information past āthat was correct!ā So it can indeed be a release. Using āokā and ācatchā is better because they both has the same āthat was correctā info as the click and they also tell her what to do next :). You can do both in one session, and mix in some quiet praise too.
>When I release her from her crate I am sometimes in this position (drive to handler) to do a hand touch, sometimes I face her & she does a hand touch. Most of the time she gets a cookie for either the HT or ādrivingā to my hand. I donāt know if this carries over into this, but I thought I would mention it! >
She night be thinking that the click is the release, and that is fine because we are going to maybe be using verbals rather than clicks. I am sure her understanding of the release from the crate is carrying over to this in a positive way!
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>but didnāt get to eat all my snacks because I had a gall bladder attack!!>
Oh no! Ouch!!!! I had my gall bladder out when I was 49 (emergency surgery) and I am so happy it is gone!!!
Plankrobatics at the beach looked great! He did a lovely job balancing on the plank and hopping on & off. Turning around was hard – I am guessing the plank was too narrow so he couldnāt quite do it. But it was really fun to see him off leash and training/playing with total focus, in a new environment!
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
>Bloody hell you make this rear cross look easy!!
They arenāt easy but I have a lot of practice being behind my dogs LOL!
The turn away hereās are big well! You can lean forward and make your arm cue even more exaggerated, reaching the magic cookie hand directly towards him so it is very visible when in competition with the prop At :33, for example, the prop was more obvious so he didnāt realize you wanted him to come t your hand.
For the tandem turns, you can make the outside arm more visible earlier too – as you slow down when he catching up to you, you can let him lock onto the outside hand joining the inside hand before you start turning him away. I think he is reading the outside arm as the main cue, so letting him see it sooner will help him lock onto it. On the reps where he didnāt turn away, the dog-side arm was the main cue and that didnāt make as much sense to him as the reps where you also had the outside arm turning him away.
> But I do manage to rhyme armpit and shit when singing to the Baz.>
That was excellent LOL! The singing is super important š
Tracy
Hi!
The threadle flatwork is going well! He was happy to come in and hit the target hand. You can be more precise with the cookie delivery: deliver the cookie in exactly the same spot that you delivered the toy (in the other hand so he turned in front of you) – that was great!
And I agree – that was lovely self-control on the toy!!! It was hard but he did it. And you let him have a victory lap which was a smart and fun reward. One small blooper and then he was great And I also love how well he went back and forth from the treat to the toy. Super!
>As I watched it back I realised I didnāt release him from the wait>
Yes, you should release the wait š and you might need to do a session where you reward waits when you put the hand in position so he learns that the hand is not the release cue.
>Iām just gonna blame perimenopause.
>That is legit! Perimenopause does cray cray things to be brain LOL!!
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>I switched from his harness to his tiny made-for-a-kitten collar and it was hard to hold him without pulling his fur. >
Can you split the difference and use a cat harness? That way he can pull but it will be less restrictive and heavy with more freedom of movement.
Great job with both the tunnel sends and adding the threadle cues! He was really funny in the middle when he kept trying to get to the left turn tunnel entry. Maybe the draw of the TnT was pulling him there but he didnāt actually go to it? So maybe the harder angle made him think about going the other direction. No worries, he will sleep on it and then be able to do it to his right as well š
He most definitely loves the clicker sits! He reminds me of my Hot Sauce: all sits, no duration at the early stages LOL Two things to add with him to get duration:
When you cue the sit, continue to click it right away – but you are in motion the whole time, slowly walking away. So as you say sit, you are already moving away (but click and throw the catch cookie immediately). That introduces the motion very early on, and it doesnāt require him to see you start to move while he is in the sit (which might entice him to move with you).
When he can do that, add in the next step which is to delay the click. You are moving the whole time for this too, but clicking a little later then tossing the treat back to him.
You can see it a bit here starting at 1:34 where I am moving away as soon as he starts moving into the it, but click pretty immediately (before he gets his butt up).
Great job here! Have fun this weekend!!
Tracy
Hi!
Looking at the set point:
I think he looks great with the new height and he had no questions. Super!!!!
>You can see clearly in this video how he slouches back in the sit position when I walk away.>
It looks like his back gets a little curved perhaps, and on a couple he ends up with his hind too far under him, like at 1:31? Since the jumping looks strong, can you get video from the front so I can fully see his front feet? The jump was blocking the front feet but it looks like he was not really even with his front feet on some of the reps in the sit. The jumping looked good so I am not worried, just curious. You can also try a stand-stay and see if that looks more balanced.
>Rain, rain, rain today. So lateral lead out in the basement. Worked both sides dog on left and dog on right:>
Bummer about the rain but the session went great! He had a pretty easy time finding the jump on both sides – great job with your lead out, releases/stepping to the jump, and also mixing in lots of rewards for the stay š
Before trying the advanced level (which will be easy for him), we can add in getting him to look at the jump on cue before the release. That will help you add even more distance!
Using a toy on the ground, you can replace the jump with the toy: he is sitting and facing the toy. You lead out laterally. When you get to position, you turn to face the toy and slowly raise an arm to point to it. Watch his eyes: the instant he looks at it, release him to get it.
When he can do that reliably with the toy without breaking the stay when you raise your arm, you can add the jump back in. To bridge the gap and get him looking forward, you can put the toy on the landing side of the jump for a few reps. Then fade it out to see if he will look forward to the jump when you indicate it with your arm.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! Sounds like you’ve had a crazy week so far!! It must be nice to see your grass again!
Nice sessions with both dogs here! They were virtually identical sessions: on the first couple of “get out” cues, you were migrating towards the jump but then fixed it as the session went along. The last part of Kaladin’s session (where you were moving towards the camera) had a perfect line – no convergence towards the jump at all. Yay!
Interestingly, both dogs had a little trouble ignoring the jump when you were just going straight. They seemed to assume it was the jump and headed towards it, even though you were not cueing it. That got ironed out with a bit of practice, and I am sure the sequences will make it more obvious to them too.
They are both ready for the sequences, just keep reminding yourself not to gravitate towards the get out jump š
>Also ā how do you throw the reward with your opposite arm if you are not supposed to be flapping it? If I throw it on the first arm movement isnāt that a bit of a lure?>
You can flap a little, in the name of toy throwing š I thought your throws were good – the toss movement was happening after both dogs were on the way to the jump – definitely not a lure.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi! He did super well with the toy and the stay! I think the toy made it more exciting – he seemed very pumped up in a good way! And getting these stays when he is excited will serve you well at the agility start lines in the future! He really loves the line up between your feet š
Since this is going really well, and you want him to focus forward: when he is in the sit, you can place the toy on the ground about 6 feet in front of him: can he hold the stay? And you can release him to the toy when he focuses forward on it š Start by releasing pretty immediately when he looks at it, then go to adding some duration and quiet praise before the release.
Great job!
Tracy
