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Good morning!
Looking at the threadle wraps:
The most important part was that your feet need to be facing a line parallel to his path to the correct side of the wing. When you did that he was spot on with finding the threadle! When your feet faced the wrong line, he was spot on with finding the line they were facing 🙂Here are visuals. On the first photo, he went to the other side of the wing. On the 2nd photo, he went to the threadle side of the wing.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dLsohB1WdEh3ETT11-F30l9YqDQLBO5WMGpwPoBKAMU/edit?usp=sharing
When you did the first rep with the tunnel. you were too far from the wing and converging to it, so he was not sure what you wanted. When you add the tunnel back to it, give yourself a bigger head start so when he exits, you are closer to the wing and also showing the line you want.
>He’s going wide on the threadles. I know it’s me. >
Easy fix: add decel! The threadle wraps are not a steady-motion, keep-moving thing. They should have decel as part of the cue, which will immediately tighten up the turn.
You had decel on the wraps on the 2nd video and he read the wraps really well!
Just be sure you are not blocking his view of the wing, especially on the wing after the tunnel – I think you were on his line a few times so he has no choice but to go wide to get to the wing (I mean, he can go through you, but it is preferred that he not do that LOL!) You can really see it at 2:50 and 3:48, for example: you are where he needs to be so he has to push out really wide around you. Let him see the full wing so he can drive directly to it.
His commitment is looking good!!! Great job here!
Tracy
She is doing really well with her stay and finding the line here!!! Yay!
You can definitely spread the distances out – she is ready for that challenge and it will give you more timing to get the handling cues in 🙂 Try for 7 meters between obstacles and see how she does!
For all of these options (BC, FC, lead out push) you can trust her commitment to 2 and be heading towards or positioned closer to jump 3.
For example with the blinds at :31 and :39 and :52 you were heading to the landing side of 2 before heading to 3, so she jumped straight over 2 then adjusted after landing. The line of motion into the blinds should support 2 while allowing you to be moving laterally up the line towards 3 – and your position nearer to 3 will help cue the turn even more easily.
For the FC – On a lead out, you can be stationary right at the wing of 3 (the exit wing) and start the FC as soon as she lands from 1 and look at 2. The position near 3 will automatically cue the turn on this type of lead out.
For the lead out push – you can get into position just past the center of the bar, feet pointing to 3 and upper body opened up back to her – and be stationary for a moment before you release, so she can read the line. These are basically lead out serpentines, so you can get into the good ol’ strike a pose position 🙂 When you were moving into it, you were releasing while showing straight line info, so she was jumping straight before turning after landing.
Showing the info and moving towards 3 sooner will help her turn before takeoff to 2.Great job!!
Tracy
Good morning!
He did well with the teeter on its own – still figuring out the added tip and being outside, so keep the tip here until he is consistently blasting up the board. The sequence of the tunnel to the teeter was hard and took out some of his speed. Without you ahead to set the line, he had some questions about driving to it and up the plank. Part of it is the a-frame blocking his view of the line, so you can keep it simpler for now to maintain the speed up the board.
The wingin’ it game looked really strong! He had a lot of handle in the background – all of the usual outdoor challenges plus the new added challenge of someone weed-whacking along the fence LOL!! It was happening during the teeter session too. His brain did an excellent job tuning it out.
The “Go” exits of the tunnel looked super – it appears that he was looking straight on all of them and not back at you.
For the “go” exits, you can show more acceleration and also add a wing or jump after it, so he locks onto the next obstacle.The right turn RCs looked great and he had no trouble balancing back to the “go” line too. You can add a wing or jump after the right turn RCs to have him lock onto that too!
The left turns were harder, as expected – on the first one and at 1:37 (and later at 1:51), I think your pressure on the RC line was really good but he didn’t see you on the new side before entering the tunnel. So he is not (yet) reading the pressure into the left turns and needs to see you on the new side. But that proved tricky on the next rep at 1:30, where you were TOTALLY on the new side… but he didn’t take the tunnel.
But I think he is starting to read the pressure as part of the cue – at 2:01 the wing was on a slightly easier line, yes, but he read the RC pressure and got it correct. Yay! And on the last rep at 2:15 he was able to commit to the tunnel even when you crossed to the new side before he got in – super!
So there is definitely progress on the harder side! When you revisit it, you can start with the wing in the spot it was here, then inch it back out to a harder line. And you can totally place the reward at the tunnel exit, slightly visible in the new direction, to help him get it on the first couple of reps (then we fade it out pretty quickly).
Great job here!
Tracy
Easy answer: Yes! You’ll need another set of poles. There are a lot of ways to train 2x2s but you can add the new set slightly open either before the 4 he already knows, or after it. And until you get the new set, you can train a lot of independence on what you’ve already got: he does his 4 poles while you move away laterally, send from crazy angles, rear cross, etc.
Do you ever train with channels? I really like them to help build to 12 poles and train a ton of independence – without having to do a lot of actual weaving/bending which is hard on the body. I am guessing Jess trains with channels but I don’t know for sure. With my young dogs, I train both (channels and 2x2s) in these early stages – it helps create the understanding and independence, without needing wires or gates or anything. Then the dog usually indicates a preference for one type over the other, and I ‘finish’ the training with that type – 2 of my current dogs preferred the channels, and 2 preferred the 2x2s. It guess that is just what made sense to their brain and they all ended up with good weaves 🙂
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
He did a fabulous job driving up the board with the added tip! I didn’t really see a difference in his drive up the board here versus easier sessions. No angled approaches needed for a while after you add more tip (multiple sessions of the new tip) because our interest in getting a ton of speed up the board at first overrides the need for angles. So rather than angles, you can add cone or wing wraps before it. And then at some point after a few sessions, you can show him the angled approaches. So far there have been no questions from him and that is GREAT!!
Lead out video 1:
FCs –
Your position near 3 really helps him see the line and the turn on the FC. You can step directly back into the FC (dropping the dog-side shoulder back) rather than step forward then back . Your timing was good so stepping back into it will prevent any delays in him seeing the FC.On the lead out pushes: Super nice connection, super nice arm & foot position!
Small but important detail: Releasing later (when you are past the halfway point on the bar of 2, heading for 3) will give him earlier turn info and set up a better turn.
At 3:24 you released him just before you got to the halfway point so he thought you wanted him to go straight (and turned as he landed. Being further across the bar will get the turn before takeoff.
At 4:50 you released before you got to the halfway point then really accelerated – that closed your shoulder forward and pushed him off the jump. At 5:11, you released after the halfway point and dropped your arm back (like a serp, because this type of lead out is indeed very serpy :)) and he read it perfectly. The last rep was my favorite of the lead out pushes: you were past the halfway point AND really connected with your arm back – that produced a lot of speed and a great turn. Yay!
Leads out 2, other side: it is really fun to see that he is strong in both directions – no obvious turn side preference!
On the FC at 1:58 and 2:56, you can be even closer to 3 and definitely drop back into the FC rather than step forward . The step forward was more obvious than on the other side, and you can see how it pushes him onto a straight line over 2 rather than support the turn.
Lead put pushes: he is reading the handling really well on this side too! As with the first video, you can release him when you are at the halfway point across the bar of 2 or past the halfway point. You were releasing him on a straight line so he was jumping straight over 2 – being further over will cue the turn sooner.
> On the second video I did not maintain good connection and he broke his stay. Lesson learned. He really wanted to go on one of the reps but he stayed!>
That was at 1:10 on video 2 – yes, always be perfectly connected on the lead out 🙂 But also… don’t worry about being perfectly connected all the time because it is impossible to be connected all the time. Instead, make sure that he doesn’t think eye contact is the release. What I mean by that is as you lead out, look back at him and praise and wait for a heartbeat or two or 3…. then either release or throw the toy back (great job with all the stay rewards!) And sometimes look back, praise, keep moving, don’t release! Mix it up so the only thing that is the release is the actual word. That way he doesn’t predict your behavior as lead out, connect, release in a rhythm. That predictable rhythm is what causes the dogs to start to thing the connection (when you look back at them) is the release. Same goes with arm raising – separate it from the release, flap it around, etc, so he doesn’t think the arm is the release 🙂 His stays are strong and we are going to keep them strong as the sequencing gets more and more exciting 🙂
Great job on these!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Should I try the volume dial outside the ring before my turn at class?>
Yes, that is a good place for it along with as you enter the ring for your turn. Generally, the volume dial is a short blast warm up because it is a high energy game. Less than a minute is all you need, and usually 30 seconds is more than enough. So if you are waiting outside the ring for a couple of minutes, the pattern game is better to get engagement because it is calmer and won’t be exhausting if he does it for 2 minutes. Than as you enter the ring, you can ramp it up into volume dial so he is 100% ready for his turn.
>Also inside ring for break between reps?>
Yes, if he has been working his brain hard 🙂 and also if you took a minute to talk/plan with the instructor and need to get him ready again.
He was super happy to tug before his game outside!! He almost folded himself in half going for the first reward LOL!! Baby dog moment!
You can move your line over a bit, so the cone is more visible as he moves up the line – the first line to move to it where the bar and cone meet. And since he was doing really well, you can keep moving your line over: each rep can start a step further away from his line. You will still be moving along a line that is parallel to his, just further over to add more distance.
> The 1st side was easier for him but pretty sure I messed up the one rep.>
That rep was at 2:11 – the handling was not messed up, but I think he was chewing and looking around when you released him. He can’t quite multitask chewing AND backsides yet – I can relate, if I am chewing I cannot do anything else haha!
Then there was something distracting in the grass. That is a great place to add some volume dial game: when he is a little distracted or too ‘chill’, you can pump him up again with the volume dial game. You can also add the volume dial when you switch sides, to keep the arousal level optimal and engagement high.
After a bit of tugging at 3:34ish, you can see he was already far more engaged for the next reps. And he was able to tune out whatever smell caught his nose previously, and ignore the wind blowing stuff over! Good boy!
Excellent job here! He was faced with a lot of interesting things in the environment and was terrific!
Tracy
Good morning!
The serps were really strong here! When she started on your left to turn to her right, you were easily able to keep moving on most of them and she found the jump brilliantly. Since that is the easy side, you can now start to go faster: from a steady walk, try a steady slow jog and see if she can still be successful.
> I did notice this time that it is mostly when she is turning left and on my right. It’s her and my bad side.>
Totally see what you mean!! She was sending to the start wing nicely – smart training choice to move it in closer to the jump! She was not really turning to her left fluidly here (totally normal side preference in play) – so what you can do to be able to keep moving on the harder side is angle the serp jump a bit. Instead of the flat angle, you can take the wing that is closer to the MM and push it away from your line. That way the bar is more visible for her to lock onto. Everything else remains the same: the start wing, your line of motion, position of MM. Angle the jump enough so that she will take it without you having to stop moving – for some dogs, we angle it a full 90 degrees. And you’ll see her left turn coordination feeling smoother very soon so the jump can start to moe back to the original position and she will serp it like she does on the other side.
Looking at the minny pinny:
>In the minny pinney, you can see it a bit more. >
Totally! I thought overall the session was actually very clean and smooth with LOVELY bending. The exception was the one rep at :48 where she wanted to turn left AND go faster (because ball is life 🙂 ) and it didn’t work out for her. She slipped and fell – the higher center of gravity in breeds like Dobes (and Pointers too, among others) can make it harder for them to do these soft turns. But then on the last rep, you were very careful with your movement on that left turn and she was beautiful! All of the right turns looked strong.
> I don’t have the strength to hold her on my right side for this exercise so she was turning into me quite a bit.>
We don’t want her pulling into the collar on your right side in particular, so we can tweak it so you don’t need to hold her: ask her to sit at your side, take a breath so she settles into position, then use the verbal as the release word. That way we still get the nice settled approach but she won’t pull on your arm or back by accident.
You can also ask her to sit and gently place a hand on the back of her neck: not holding her, just having your hand gently there – then say the verbal a few times followed by lifting your hand off: than can be the same cue for her as holding the collar would be, but without needing you to hold the collar. She might think that is weird at first but lots of treats will help her love it 🙂
And having her sit at your side will also allow you to set her up in different positions to add more challenging angles of approach as well as getting her to turn away into the minny pinny.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>My girls had zero energy. I have no idea what was going on with them. Maybe the unexpectedly warm temps? Maybe half the afternoon with their grampie instead of their usual napping while I’m working? Who knows. They were soooooooooooo painfully slllooooooooooowwwwww.>
I see what you mean – both girls were not running their usual speed, especially Kastella. It looks like a bit of the heat and a bit of too much partying with Grampie 🙂 But there were still good things happening in the session!
Your timing was overall really good!!!! That really helped set up a lot of good blinds here. A small detail that will set better lines: you can run forward to the jump after the blind rather than parallel to it. What I mean by that is with Kastella at :06 & :16 and Kashia at :27 & :37 on the first sequence, your line was more of a line parallel to the jump bar – going to your left moving laterally rather than forward ot the jump after the blind. They were both a little wide plus exit line connection was not quite as clear (your right arm was sticking out rather than back behind you so she could see your eyes, so Kastella was landing centered behind you rather than on the line to the next jump.
To tighten that, you can be closer to the jump after the tunnel to start the blind, then move forward on the line you want them to run, to the next jump.
>I included Kashia’s “oopsie” rep. In slow mo, it looks like maybe my connection was a split second too late and that’s why she didn’t commit to the jump right out of the tunnel. Is that accurate?>
This was at :54 – you started the blind just as she exited the tunnel so it was finished too early 🙂 We are rarely early in agility! I think it was simply hard to predict when she would exit because she was definitely moving as if we were interrupting nap time 🙂 The reps at 1:08 and 1:28 had better timing because you let her exit and look at the jump, then did the blind. Those worked really well!
On the blind after the tunnel on the 2nd sequence:
> Either way, they both knew what I wanted when they exited the tunnel so I guess that was good?>
Yes – that was because you had GREAT connection at 1:20 and 1:41 and 2:00 and 2:17! Great connection helps make perfect timing less important. Both of the girls have really strong tunnel commitment, so I think it will be easy to start the blinds before they go into the tunnel.
One last suggestion: on the 2nd sequence, you can add a little decel into the blind with Kastella (at 1:50 & 2:10). You were moving at a steady pace so she didn’t know how tight to turn. A bit of decel as you are starting the blind will tighten the turn up a bit. Kashia might need it too but she was naturally tighter on the turns here.
Great job!!! Hopefully they got their naps 😂🤣and will be back to full speed next time 🙂
Tracy
Hello!
Looking at the teeter video:
>When practicing with the teeter, I backed her up to the end of the tunnel exit and told her break she understood I wanted her to go teeter. When I added the tunnel and said go, she immediately peeled in front of me. I feel like now she thinks go means go straight, but I chase ball immediately after.>
I think a couple of things were happening here. When she was starting in the stay, she was going up the teeter but not fully blasting up the teeter yet – she was taking a lot of little steps. That tells me she was still sorting out the confidence with the moving board and all of the distractions in the outdoor environment (there are a lot of new distractions and I don’t think she was even born yet at this time last year :))
When you added the tunnel – there was more speed through the tunnel plus when she exited, you were still near the a-frame so she did not know where to look. Until that point, you’d always been in the picture to help with the teeter plus she didn’t quite seem to know how to organize to go up the teeter with more speed. That blew her mind a bit, so she had another question after that (how to get on with more speed). So it might not be a question of what Go means, but more of a question of finding the teeter with more speed. You can add a cone or wing wrap before it to add more speed and you can be running – that will help build up her understanding.
On the first tunnel video with the go exits: I don’t think she saw the next wing – she exited straight, looked at you, and you threw the toy. So if you want just the straight exit, you can throw the toy before she exits so she doesn’t look at you. At this stage, you can add in getting her to commit to the wing after the tunnel – you can send her away more so you are a little ahead of her, and also move the wing closer. Be connected and keep moving to the wing, then throw the toy after she gets to the wing.
On the outdoor tunnel-go video, we see the looking back at you and the shock on her face that the toy was there and not thrown by you 🤣😂 Adding the jump after the tunnel was a big help – you can turn it so the bar is on a straight line which should make it easier to throw the toy. But she was looking forward more and that was great!!
>She’s becoming very very reliant on the ball, she’s now starting to spit out treats if ball is out.>
This is not that unusual at this stage with a young BC – you can reward eating by giving her the ball and the ‘work’. For example, you can give her a cookie and when she swallows it, you can release to work then get the ball. Or reward with a treat followed by the ball. That all helps the value stay high for food, as the value for working and toys continues to increase.
She did well with the soft turns on the tunnel exit – went straight on the Go cues with the toy out ahead, but turned really well when you asked for the left turn. Your timing was very strong! The last part of that video was a frozen moment, let me know if there were more reps on it 🙂
> In the outside tunnel videos, she seems very frantic moving. Or is it me that’s making her move like that? She had a few tumbles in the tunnel, which she’s never done before. Is this just her getting used to grass?>
Part of it is working on grass – the movement will look and feel a little different. And she might feel a little more frantic, with her brain handling the bombardment of all the outdoor sites and smells: grass, traffic, wind, birds, etc. She did well! Just be sure to set her up 3 or 4 meters from the first jump so she has plenty of room to take off, and give her a nice long warm up before she starts working outside.
I think the tunnel slips were a combination of her brain processing the environmental distractions and possibly the surface of the tunnel felt different or was a little wet. That should go away when she is more experienced working outside and as the weather gets better.
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Wow, that sounds incredible and I love that photo of him. It looks like he was having a blast!!! Yes, a couple of days to rest sounds good 🙂
T
Good morning!
The angled entry on the teeter went really well – he definitely is having fun with this game. You can revisit it after adding more tip each time.
>I have that foam pipe insulation on the cross bar where the see saw hits to cushion the tip and reduce the sound. Should I keep using that?>
Yes, using it works really well to control the noise and cushion the tip. We can fade it out pretty easily when he has more experience.
He did well with the zig zag grid – the 6” bars seemed like no problem. He was more amped up on the last one where you were moving more, but still found good form after you released him. You can use the moving target (dragging toy) on the one too. Onwards to the advanced level!!
Blind cross lead outs:
He is doing a great job responding to the shoulder turn of the blind, and you are connecting really well after you finish the blind! Super!As you and Brioche get more comfortable with these, the timing of the blinds can be more consistently earlier.
On the last rep, you started it when he landed from 1 and that was the best timing! The goal is for it to be finished when he is still a stride away from taking off for jump 2.One thing that will help set the line even better:
Be sure you keep moving towards jump 3 rather than between the uprights of jump 2. Moving to 3 sets the line better and creates a clear turn cue. Moving between the uprights of 2 puts you in his way and doesn’t show the turn as well until he sees the new connection. Moving on a parallel line towards 3 will tip him off much earlier that 3 is next and he isn’t going straight.
The 6 inch bars were no problem at all. Maybe put a bar or two at 8” next time?
>Except for the last sit/stay I was using food to line him up. I know I shouldn’t get him reliant on that…but we were outside and you know….birds were flying etc…>
You can fade it out by having it in the other hand to start then throwing it back as a reward. Then you can fade out that initial cookie entirely (and keep throwing the toy back sometimes :))
Great job here!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! Thanks for joining us!
You’ve registered for auditing, so feel free to ask questions here. The working spots with video review are not currently available but will be available again in the next round in the fall.
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
This went really well!
The interactive play with food here went better when you had it in your hand to reward her – that was when she was at her most responsive and most engaged. When you were tossing the treats out into the grass, she didn’t find them as easily and lost of train of thought so the responses were not as snappy. It was almost as if the the food coming from your hand increased the energy in a good way, and the food on the ground decreased the energy.
>When I tried to get her to turn L & R you will see she went to her fav – MIDDLE! lol!>
The ‘left’ and ‘right’ cue needs the obvious hand cue to help – when she went into the middle, there was no hand cue with the verbal and she loves the middle cue. And she probably considers that foot position to be a middle cue 🙂 so the hand cue is helpful to show her exactly what you wanted. When you added the hand cue, she did really well!
You can also try this with a toy, and with toy & food in the same session.
Great job!
TracyHi!
> I’m still frustrated with her lack of interest and focus with the toy. She is super into it until I try using it as the reward for agility… then no interest. Goes off and finds pieces of bark to chew on.>
OK, so I read this right before I had to hop into a shower and I had a thought (I do my best thinking in the shower LOL!!!)
I was thinking about why she loves the toys but doesn’t really want to tug during training that much (or at all). It is entirely possible that she is not that into tugging right now because it has all that weight shift into her hind end – where her knee is possibly feeling unstable or weird. And maybe it doesn’t hurt now, but aybe it has in the past and she has a memory of that, and is avoiding it. That would explain why she seems to love the toys but does not want to tug in that context.And, you’ve not had a lot of time to strengthen her knees/quads because you’ve got a zillion other things going on – that is entirely understandable!!!!
So maybe, for now, we don’t worry about tugging during training because it might be the pesky knee – and we bring back tugging when you’ve had the time and energy to strengthen the quads.
But we can still do things like throw the milker which she is bringing back:
> If I have treats in my pocket she will bring the rubber “milker” back and drop it at my feet. If I don’t reward that then it’s zoomie with the toy time.>
That is basically a retrieve – dropping it on your feet is a good start! I think it is ok to have treats and reward her for dropping the milker at your feet! That worked well on the video. And if she will do the same with a disc or her flying squirrel – cool!
>Switch to food and she seems to be all in, but not with the drive that we used to have with the toy. She still seems to be not totally committed to the wraps so it is difficult for me to keep moving on with the counter motion. I noticed that I have a tendency to slow down, and even take a step backwards in order to help her stay committed to the wrap. >
On the video – she committed to the wings really well with the food (bettr than she did with the toy) as long as you didn’t step backwards away from it. She had a question here and there about the countermotion, so you can toss food to the other side of the wing when she goes to it and you are trying to move the the other direction (like at 2:01 and 2:10, for example). You can be moving forward and throwing the treat behind you because she thought it was hard to finish the wrap withtyou moving the other way.
She is giving good speed with the food but not as much with as with the toy or ball. Since she commits to the wing better with food but goes faster with the toy, you can reward a wrap or two with the treats then break it off and fling the milker. That can bring the excitement and speed up even more (because, toy!) while maintaining the commitment you are getting with the food.
I really really want to get the balls involved:
>Also try taking her to the park on a long line and throwing one then reeling her in, give a reward and throw again. She hasn’t caught on to this one either. >
Do you mean she still needs to be reeled in? But when you reel her in, is she trading for a treat then happily chasing the ball when you throw it? We can totally use that! She can be in a very light line like a light piece of rope and we can use the ball while she drags it around wings and/or through a tunnel – we can test drive it and see if it will work. You can also have a ball with you and use treats for all of the reps til the last one: then she gets the ball because we don’t need her to bring the darned thing back 🙂 Then Jack can join in and the session ends with the balls. The visibility of the ball might pump up the speed even if she only sees it for the first few reps while getting treats.
Does she like any huge balls, like big jolly balls or soccer balls? That can be super stimulating but very hard to run away with: you can reward and roll it around, but easily pick it up because she can’t easily run around with it 🙂
>Anyway, can you feel the frustration coming through?>
Totally! And it is fine to be frustrated because that is where we will find the answers – if it wasn’t so darned frustrating to crack the code of her reinforcement, we would not be as far along in figuring out that puzzle.
>Leaving for Seattle tomorrow so may not be posting till things are settled and treatment started. hope I get in a better head space.>
Safe travels! I am glad they are getting this started. I will check in if I don’t hear from you and if I get any other thoughts baout Jazz while I am in the shower 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>Ball is life…she dropped the entire tricky treat ball onto my lunch plate the other day, but at least it kept her busy cleaning all the nooks and crannies. And if I don’t remember to put a specific ball away the night she is loose, she wakes me up repeatedly squooshing it in my face. So, yes Ball IS life.>
OMG that is hilarious especially because it is not my lunch or sleep being interrupted by a ball LOL 🤣😂She is a big personality!!!
>but I think I rushed her reps here. I am not giving her the time to focus or get set up correctly.>
Overall these reps went well. About giving her time to focus & get set up – yes we can always be extra precise with that. When you felt like you rushed her reps, do you mean it felt like she was thinking about going past the serp jump? You were stopping to help her come in which does mean she was considering going past it. It doesn’t mean you were rushing – just that she needs you to move more slowly (sloowwwww walk for now) so she can process the upper body cues without you needing to stop. You can also angle the jump a bit towards her line so the bar is more visible – that will also help you be able to stay in motion.
She found the start wing very nicely with the sends! Good job with the verbals on those too!
Nice work!
Tracy
