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Good morning!
Look at her looking at the jump on the stay on rep 1! Yay!!
The bark arm on 3 worked well! When you had the clear, almost chopped brake arm she read it better than soft or flowy arm cues.
For example at :09, the arms cues were too flowy and she didn’t read them.You had a more powerful brake arm and the spin at :23 and she got it – yes, she went a little wide (possibly assuming it was the tunnel before she realized it was not) but she still read the turn.
The rep at :38 got flowy again and the spin was late, so she didn’t read it (I like the spin here but I think the strong brake arms are the major part of the cue(.
The ‘chop’ of the brake arms got the info to her at :47! And REALLY nice at :56!!! So definitely use a big clear “chop” of the arms to help cue the turns.
After about the 1:00 mark, bars were down a lot. Part of it was that you were less connected and deciding to rotate or not (so she was not getting the info as early), and part of it was that she was trying to really sort out the handling: turn or go to the tunnel? And also possibly fatigue from doing a lot of jumps – even on a short sequence, the number of jumps can add up if she does a bunch of reps in a row. There were 10 or 11 reps here, with 4 or 5 jumps in each plus the tunnel. So that means she is at or over 50 jumps in this short session… so the fatigue is a real possibility! You ended on a good run but you can also shorten the sessions so you do 3 or 4 then give her a break and try again the next day : )
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi! I think these went well! And spreading it out makes it more realistic for what you will see at a trial.
Pop out 1 – good job staying in motion on these!
The opening looked really good – Nice send to the start jump, made the BC on the tunnel exit easy!
She kept turning right on ump 5. I think you wanted a left turn? So a right turn there was because of handler pressure, looking like a RC or a send to the right. Turning to the left sets a better line and gets you to better position for the next FC , so turn your your shoulders more to the left turn and keep turning until you see her change directions to begin turning left.She had a question at 3 on run 2 (:29) – a little too mcuch handler pressure towards the jump looked like you were sending her away to 5.
Getting the cross begin 6 and 7 worked really well!! Nice! Handling from the landing side of 7 didn’t work as well, you would need to be further across the bar to be able to turn her away but with her speed, it is hard to get there.
Sequence 2:
At 1:44 she saw the threadle arm before she entered the tunnel along with lateral movement and she got a really nice turn! It put you in a good position for the tight turns after that. On this sequence with the threadles,
Remember to keep running and not standing still and sending.Seq 3:
This had good motion from you, definitely keeping you moving which is great!
You can line her up on a slice at 1 so you don’t need a cross, that way you can cue her dog on right 1-2.
A strategy suggestion: The backside at 4 is easier and faster on the slice than the FC or BC to a wrap (2:41 and 2:44 and 2:56 had a bar down on the wrap).
Letting her stay on her line after the tunnel to do the 4 backside as a slice (slicing towards the tunnel) will also set up the 5 backside differently – you can BC the exit of the 4 backside and she can do the 5 backside from your left side, slicing away from the tunnel. That sets a really nice line to the end!
>>Is it possible to get a course map early for next live as have to get it printed out at a frieds when she is home and that can get interesting with time differences and her having a life…>>
I can get the setup map to you about 36 hours in advance, will that work?
Great job here!
Tracy
Thank you for posting this, I love these types of videos! It really helps us work out what is motivating/engaging for him in terms of rewards and motivators!
Looking at it with an outsider’s eye… I think he was motivated to do the wing and interested in the toys here… but only if they were moving. When the toy bounced on the first rep? He pounced right on it. When it was ‘dead’ on the next rep, or the next toy was dead? Not interesting. But he was still engaged because when you put the first toy on the top of the crate, he was looking at it like “maybe you can throw it, please?”
And yes, he was interested in food, which is probably more engaging when the toy is not moving.
So for the toys, like the first one here:
Attach it to something you can drag.. Toss it to the landing spot and then drag it for him to chase. I think that will be very motivating I think he was saying: I like these but I don’t like them if they are just laying thereThen he was distracted by the toy on top of the crate, which means it still had value.
So try throwing a toy you can drag for him to chase as it moves and bounces. And when he gets to it, you can even toss it again so he can chase it a bit more.
Bear in mind that this will be a lot more energetic and therefore more ‘expensive’ for him physically and mentally. So do maybe 2 reps then tell him that he has to take a break (he will think that is *stooooopid!*) It is always better to leave him wanting more and then come back later for another one or 2 reps. That way he is always working at a high level of engagement and motivation, which then makes all of the sessions easier and more fun!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Yikes, it sounds so hot there! Is it any better at dawn?
Mountain climbers are going well – those salmon treats were very well-received LOL! He looked very excited by them!
>he would prefer to turn around and walk down the plank rather than be lifted off, goofy boy.>
Once they get used to the board, a lot of dogs prefer to turn around on their own and that is fine (it is actually good body awareness!)
>>He’s not driving as much tonight>>
It seemed like he was happy to go up the board, but he was watching your magical salmon hands so looking back to you if you were behind. Try staying ahead of him for now and see if that helps draw him straight up the board. It is possible that the salmon value was so high that it was distracting, especially before dinner 🤣. And you can also work on sending him to the reward at the top of the board without you moving at all.
Looking at the sequences:
The BC to the tunnel is going well, especially when you have momentum into it like at :45, that was super nice!
>>I know I accidentally did an FC in one direction when I back chained the blind crosses (0:27).>>
That was on the 2nd rep – he moved before the release which might have thrown you off, and the FC will feel more natural if you are pretty stationary – so it did work fine here 🙂
>>I chose to go ahead and do the longer sequence instead of re-doing the back chain. >>
I think that was smart – it adds the momentum into the blind and it is fun for him!
Looking at timing and blinds:
>>I have the bars set at 6″ and he knocked 2 of them during the session. Is that a concern? Should I drop them to 4″? He’s 15″ at the withers so he’ll be jumping 16″ and he’s 13 mos old.>>
The bars will sort themselves out as he gets more experienced (and when the world is not as hot as the surface of the sun).
I think one bar down (:45) was a late blind and calling him over the bar. He tried to adjust and didn’t quite get it done in time.
Compare to 1:08 were your BC started right on time (landing from the previous jump so yo user finished and re-connected before takeoff for the BC jump. He had a great turn and the bar stayed up 🙂 This was your best timing of the whole session, just lovely!!!
The BC at 2:03 was not quite as perfect in terms of timing (one stride later so the BC was in progress as he was jumping the BC jump but not finished yet) – but the info was still good and the bar stayed up there too.
The 2:45 (turning right) was also a little late but still he was able to read the info to organize his jumping.The other bar was at 2:44 on the pinwheel jump – maybe it was a little fatigue? The heat really saps all of us. It is also possible that he is still learning to organize the right turns. They seem less strong than the lefts, so he might be more of a lefty at the moment than a righty. But it all balances out as he gets experienced – he is working really well!
One thing about the BCs is that you are showing really nice connection on the exit of the BCs – low arm and eye contact really helped make it clear for him! Nice!
>>There’s a failed lead out at the far jump (1:41). >>
It was very close to being perfect! His stay looked good – the one thing you can do to support him finding the jump is when you start moving then release him, move on a parallel line to his line supporting the jump from a distance, and don’t turn to jump 2 until you see liftoff for jump 1. You turned to 2 right after you released at 1:43, so he came with you.
If that happens, you can continue the sequence as if he took jump 1 because it is a small blooper that can be fixed later. And starting that line without a stay worked great!
He got distracted by something at 2:19 which is why he came off the line and didn’t take the BC jump (it was one of those rare times where it wasn’t a handler error, but he appreciated the cookies anyway 🙂
The last line looked good – fast and fun! Excellent!!!
Great job here! Hopefully your heat wave breaks SOON!!!!!!!Tracy
Good morning!
Great job with this game, especially in the heat! I think these 2 videos are the same, but with different titles? One might have gotten loaded twice (or you are VERY consistent in how you do things in a training session 🤣🤣)
I think his commitment is looking good and he seems very happy to end the wings and the tunnel! Yay! Your connection is really strong too – he is ready for you to add a little more distance between the wings and tunnel, so with the added distance make sure you add even more connection on the sending.
And great job with your verbals!
Only one suggestion:
Use a marker for the food throw, like ‘get it’ or something. Note how he drops his head to look for the cookie in places he has gotten it previously, like the tunnel exit or after a wing wrap. I don’t think he is stress sniffing, I think he is looking to see if you have thrown the reward 🙂 So adding the marker right before you throw will really clarify that for him: keep your head up and running until mom says “get it”, then look for the treat.
Great job here! Stay cool!
Tracy
Hi!
The plank work is going well! She is sorting out her balance (only fell off once :)) and moving pretty fast. So…. What have you decided to do with your dog walk contact? I think before you do more with the plank, you can work some dog walk end behavior stuff so she doesn’t practice leaping up a bit. She definitely seems ready for that!I think you still did really well on the sequencing – these are harder!
The circle to the tunnel had great connection, be sure to drive all the way to the tunnel. It is not her favorite thing yet, especially when she is on your left, so she is not leaving you in the dust for it. Driving her all the way to it then rewarding the exit will help build the independence.
On thing to ramp up is the exit line connection after the blinds at :47 and 1:52. You were looking forward for a little too long so she drifted wide waiting for more info. Try to look back to her with your eyes and dog-side arm pointed back to her, so she knows exactly where to be: that connection tells her exactly where to be!
You can see it was much clearer after the blind at 1:44, and it was perfect at :49 after the spin!
When you did more sequencing at the end of the video:
Be sure to stay connected on the sends and keep facing the jump at 1:29 until you see her lifting off for the jump. You were a tiny bit too early here to turn to the next line, so she pulled off. You can also throw rewards to landing spot of that jump to help get even more commitment and don’t look forward on the sends: look at her so he can see where you chest is pointing. That will help smooth out the line and keep her looking forward.
Nice blind at 2:05! I don’t think you can say “yes” or praise her when you are sequencing, it draws her off the line and focuses her on you (I learned the hard way not to say yes or praise by pulling my dogs off the line LOL!!) So keep connected and keep delivering cues (jump!) as the form of praise then you can praise/reward at the end of a sequence.
Looking at the teeter: the first 3 reps were good! Those had no wing and no running from you.
At 1:08 when you ran more – it was too hard and she bailed off. She did go back to moving up the board, but was watching you.
So for now, stick a little closer t support her and stick to 2 or 3 reps total: leave her wanting more!The other thing you can do is have a more mind-blowing reward at the top. She is eating the cookie but it is not a powerful enough reward to get her tp ignore everything else. So a dab of peanut butter or cream cheese can be perfect! A friend of mine was at my house using my teeter for her tiny dog and using fish skins at the top of the teeter. GROSS but incredibly effective, that 10 pound dog was driving to the top no matter what the handler did. Crazy high value rewards can make a huge impact!
Great job here 😁
Tracy
Hi!
>I had a second spinal stenosis surgery back in February. Don’t think I am fully back yet.>>
Hope you are feeling good – you are moving GREAT! I am sure you are acclimating to the heat, because it is REALLY hot out there now!
Video 1 – you are getting some awesome distance to the tunnel! To keep building it up… no rewards near you 🙂 All rewards can be throw way out ahead of you (like at the end of the tunnel) to really solidify the distance skills.
The parallel path leading into the distance send is really important for her – when you run a pretty parallel path til she is set on the line (like at :46 and 1:23 ) she nailed it! If you start peeling away too soon (like 1:02) then she comes with you.
She also finds the line really well when you throw up the outside arm! So she was on your right side here… every time you put your left arm (outside arm) up high, she got the big send! There must be something super visible to her about how your shoulders turn which supports the line with the outside arm, so definitely keep using it!
The pup to backside on the 2nd video looked great! She read that line very naturally based on your motion, and your blind cross exits were awesome: SUPER connected!
She also did well when you ran in for the blind – your timing on the last rep was the BC starting just as she was taking off for the jump before the threadle… she read it perfectly and had a fabulous tight line! Yay! She has strong commitment and your connection looked great, which made the blind cross there very effective.
Video 3: wraps
Also looking great! First run was perfect.
The 2nd run had too much turn from you so she pulled to the front but then run 3 had the perfect line again so she got it really well. Very nice tight turns!!You did throw in the threadle slice on the first BC rep (it was lovely) but then you did get her to do the BC to the threadle wrap – on the first run, she gave you a “you’re crazy” look but did it. On the middle run, you urned your feet away too soon so she turn. The wrong way. The last 2 reps showed really great info: she is reading you feet on these and that last rep in particular had very clear footwork (showing the wrap) so she was super tight! Love it!!!
Great job here! Hopefully the forecast is wrong and you don’t get too much rain 🙂
Tracy
Hi there! Really nice work here!! Connection and teamwork is looking lovely! I think most of my ideas are mainly how to get even more speed from tighter turns.
Opening line: he read it really well each and every time, and your handling choices were spot on!
He didn’t seem to be going full speed 1-2 – was there a placed toy there that he was thinking about? He was faster at :48 when you started closer so there was more acceleration from you – if the generally doesn’t accelerate on those openings, you can definitely start closer to 1 to get more speed because your backside send there didn’t need any extra support.The 2-3-4-teeter line was super lovely each time! Nice teeter, makes me think of ice cream LOL!!
The way the 7 jump was angled here, the threadle slice was extra hard. You had good timing on the verbals on that first run but the motion overrode the verbals. When you added decel on 6 (the jump after the teeter) to get the turn there, the threadle line was soooo much easier for him! Yay!
Speaking of decel, the 8 jump is a spot where we can tighten up that turn and shave off time: You can decel and use brake arms to get collection on 8 (:33 and 1:00) and probably a spin too – even a little bit of collection there will save some clicks on the clock!
The 9-10 line was one of those hidden-threadle moments that are getting so popular! It doesn’t look like a backside line that needs threadling, but that is how the dogs read it. The turn cue on 9 then the threadle cue was perfect, especially when it was in flow at 1:05!
The dog walk- tunnel (11-12 line) was great. Wheeee! Fast and fun! I think you powered up the line to 13 more than needed: hanging back can show the decel and get more collection there, which will tighten that turn up too. And check out the live class brake arm stuff we did, I bet that will really help these turns!
Looks like you ad him on your left for the weaves and let him drive ahead. He did it nicely but another option is to FC 13 to put him on your right, drive ahead of him (speeds up the weaves) then flip to the tunnel and layer the weaves to get to the 16 jump.
Either way, you can add more turn cue for 16 – he almost over-corrected on the way back to the frame after the wide turn. I think decel + brake arms are something worth trying in these spots!
He did a good threadle wrap at 1:24 – Nice timing of the cues starting!!!! I think on this line the threadle slice on 18 might be the fastest line to 19 and 20 – makes it kind of a speed loop with less turning. If the course is still set up, you can try 16 through the both ways (threadle wrap versus threadle slice) and we can time it!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyWow, this was so cool to see with the gorgeous land and sun in the background!
>>Oh my gosh- so proud of my connection!!!>>
Yes! You should be proud of it – you rocked it!! It was just about perfect!!! She has a harder time on the left turns here (might be a slightly harder angle finding the middle jump on this setup) so you can really use that awesome connection to support her line on the left turns. Her commitment was strong, so this suggestion is more about amplifying the connection as you run so she doesn’t have to peek up at you at all 🙂
I think you figured out the only other suggestion I would make: to face tunnel for a couple of steps until she is really locked on. You moved away a little early on a couple of reps s she had a little zig zag step, not sure if she should go…
At :40 you turned too soon and she came with you (good girl). So then at :52 and after that, you stayed on the path to the tunnel til she was fully locked on the line, no questions. SUPER!!!!She is really looking great with her liens and jumping here! The tight turn also looked good. And yes, you can totally add the crosses. And also yes – feel free to move these out to 20 feet apart.
Great job!!
Tracy
Hi!
<>> I made Venture take tonight off and he was NOT HAPPY!
Sorry buddy!!
>> That is until the BOOM cookies starting flying in all directions in my office. Every time fireworks went off, freeze dried chicken breast was tossed in the air. He was so disappointed when the booms ended, LOL. >>
That is great! Ha!!!! We are supposed to get big rains tonight, so I think all of the local fireworks have been canceled… HOORAY!
>>I think we’ll try for a 2o2o for the teeter. Will the steps be covered in MaxPup or am I going to need the self study teeter class?>
We do a tiny bit of it here, but the full program is in the teeter class.
>>I set the 3 jumps up tonight for the concept transfers. I walked off the dogs path and I was able to get about 19′ from one jump bar to the next one. Does that sound far enough apart? >>
That sounds good! And if that distance is too easy, we can play with leaving out a jump so there is a lot more distance too!
Have fun!
TracyHello and welcome!!! Great to see you here!!!
Unfortunately, no live sessions here in MaxPup 3. The ‘at home’ webinars were originally done as live webinars, but that was back during covid times when it was easy for people to be home for 4 hours on a Saturday morning or Wednesday afternoon. So now that things are back to normal, the live sessions are at home webinars that people can do at their own pace.
Have fun!
Tracy
Hi!
>>AND takes the first step in the new direction.>>
The ‘new’ direction is the key, or better yet: replace the word new with the word “correct” 🙂 So if she has a left turn threadle wrap to do, she would ideally turn her head to her left and take that first step to the left (the correct & new direction) before you move forward again.
>>Do you ever use the Cato plank to help square this up like we did with the backside wrap?>>
Yes, I have used the Cato plank a bit for this. It is really a variation on the backside circle wrap with a change in handler position. But the handling does have to be super clear about waiting for the head turn and correct first step, with or without the Cato. Plus placement of reward on that wrap landing side is super helpful too.
>>Also, I noticed in Stephanie’s presentation for the slice jump exercise she had the mat and disc at an angle and we had the Cato plank parallel to the bar. Great talk last night!>>
Yes, it had so much good stuff! Using the mat & disc gives the dog less space and really isolates takeoff mechanics (love how she uses a klimb to avoid hard landings) The Cato board has more room so parallel to the bar still can show the dog the same takeoff spot, but the disc adds more specifics for sure and the unstable surface element is just a fantastic conditioning element too. Fun!!
TracyHi!
What kind of bird/animal was making those noises at the beginning? My app couldn’t figure out what it was LOL!
>>The threadle jump was an issue so I moved it.
1-2 threadle is definitely hard for her in terms of the jumping! She had a more thoughtful approach to it at :50
Some of the ideas from Stefanie from last night can help too! I will be posting the recording shortly. More ideas about handling for it below.Very nice brake arms at :54 on the wrap!!! The cues at 1:03 were a bit later and not as obvious, so the bar came down as she tried to adjust . The very obvious cues and a motion transition like decel and rotation will be very useful too!
At 1:18 you showed her a rotation sooner too and it really helped Nice job doing that at a distance and getting the backside at 6 easily!
On the next sequence:
She had trouble looking ahead at the jump with the arm cues – you can build up the cue with something placed on the ground (like a toy she likes, or a bowl of food) so the arm cue means “look at it” then release her to it when she looks. Then you can transfer the arm cues to a jump, releasing when she looks at it (and throwing a reward on the landing side).Back to the threadle handling:
She had some trouble finding the correct side, like at 2:14 and 2:24 – the in in verbal was good but she needs a bigger physical cue: Maybe she needs the brake arms to get a better turn on 2 (jump before the threadle) then open up your shoulder back and face the center of your chest to her. If the shoulders are closed forward, she reads that as a ‘stay on your line’ cue.She responded well to shoulder rotation at 2:36! Ideally you don’t also rotate your feet – at 2:57 your shoulder cue was more subtle and she still read it, and on that rep you did not rotate your feet. 3:07 had a subtle foot rotation towards her, but then you were not able to move up the line as well. So you can split the difference: exaggerate the shoulder rotation but don’t turn your feet 🙂
Great job working out the timing of the tunnel exit turns! The best one was 3:11: you got the brake arms, verbal, AND rotation in all before she entered so the turn was great! You had the verbal at 2:39 but it was a little late, and you were too quiet at 3:02 so she exited wide. The combination of the verbal and arms, nice and early, worked like a charm!
Great job!
Tracy
Hi! Lots of good stuff here!!
The layering went really well… she did best on the tunnel sends when you had a BIG LOUD verbal and maintained the parallel path (like at :09 and :17 in the first video, then she was perfect on finding the tunnel line after that!)
I think her threadle slice is going well too – my only suggestion on those is to continue to toss a reward to the landing side even as you move away (rather than have it near you after she exits the threadle). That will solidify her looking at the jump and taking it, and eliminate the run by on the landing side you got on the first rep. She is doing GREAT with the blind-to-threadle-slice!!
On the pushes to the backside on the 2nd video: like with the layering, she needs BIG LOUD cues to help process this challenge of finding the backside and not staying on the line to the tunnel 🙂
Also… try not to say “go” on the line coming into it at all. A “go” or two snuck in there and she took the tunnels on those 🙂When you were too quiet (like a soft left or her name) she didn’t process the info in time.
But when the cues were BIG and LOUD like at :45, she was able to get it! Yay!
On the backslide wraps, use the big loud cues but also let her see the entire wing. At 1:01 you were blocking the line so she took the tunnel. You rotated to her after that but I don’t think you need the rotation: you can use the verbals (and a brake arm if needed) and position yourself where the bar meets the wing, decelerating into that position. That will show her the circle wrap easily.
>>We have learned a Zip Zip (turn away backside wrap), but I’m struggling to clarify it for her. She often slices instead of wraps. How do I make the correct jump clear to her and how do I clarify that she should always wrap on this cue?>>
Three important elements to consider at this stage of training:
– Decelerate! This cue has plenty of decel to it (just like any wrap cue) and the decel is a huge part of differentiating the wrap and the slice. So decelerating into it will really help her out. Your feet were facing the right direction but you were moving fast and leaving before she processed the cue, so she either sliced or didn’t take the jump. You had decel at 1:58 on the 2nd video and boom! She got the wrap immediately 🙂 How much you need to decel in the future entirely depends on the course and the training but for now, definitely add it.
– As you decelerate, at this stage of training, don’t leave for the next line until she gives you permission to go. That permission comes in the form of her looking at the bar of the threadle side of the jump AND taking the first step in the correct new direction. So on the left-turn threadle wraps here, for example, you would stay in decel until she turns her head to the left to look at the bar AND she take a step to the wrap side with her left leg.
If you leave on just the head turn, she will slice.
If you leave before the head turn, she won’t take the jump.– I also think she needs a more obvious hand cue, maybe even both hands. If you are doing dog-side arm down low, I think it gets a little lost in the bigger picture. So maybe 2 hands down low will help and it is definitely different looking than the threadle slice! I also look at my hands on this cue, which also makes it look very different!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyWow, look a Casper!!! OMG his weaves!!! He is really fast and doing a lovely job controlling all that speed and power on the turns. So fun!
>>Not sure why he dropped bar 1>>
I chalk it up to young dog crime of passion 🙂
I think he came flying over 1, assuming it was the front side of 2… then saw and heard you cue and was like OH CRAP. Tried to adjust, didn’t quite get it done. So letting him see you there in position for another 2 or 3 seconds before the release should help eliminate that error.Great job with him!!
Tracy
