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Hi! Lots of lovely work here! She is really fun!!!
Sequence 1:
Rep 1 – you asked if the BC was late – nope, for a backside BC, it was right on time and her turn was nice! You can re-connect sooner and with less arm (arms block connection on blind cross exits), which will help her drive into the turn even sooner.Rep 2 oopsie – can you get her to sit with her feet facing the bar? That will help! And it looks like she looked at jump 1 at the beginning of rep 3! You had decel into the wrap on 5 at :27 and a really nice turn!
Seq 2: nice forward focus on jump 1! To feel more comfy with the layering, you can get closer to 2 and 3 so you don’t end up too far ahead with no place to go and having to slow down. If you run closer to the line 2-3, you can send/accelerate her on the tunnel send, and not have to get too close to the tunnel at all.
Seq 3 – the first rep had a good backside on 3 then a bonus tunnel send 🙂
Nice timing on the FC at 3 at 1:06 and 1:17, and nice decel into it! I think you were a little too much on the center of the bar so she jumped a little long – if you tay closer to the perfect landing spot of a tiny little mouse, she will jump even tighter. In this case, it is more like where the wing and bar meet – that is more like where you were at 1:30 and 1:31 – you pulled her off by being too early at 130 but 1:31 was much better and she got it nicely! And that one extra step and connection at 1:37 helps her see 4 really well too.Interesting that she ran past 5 at 1:11! I think you had a parallel path for a few too many steps, so she was layering. Turning your shoulders sooner at 1:19 made a big difference for her!
The ‘here’ for the backside at 1:21 and 1:41 happened after she was locked onto the tunnel. Compare that to 1:51, where you started you ‘here’ as she was over 5 AND you used an arm cue and that got her off the tunnel! The jumping on bar 6 was not perfect but that is fine – she had a lot of cues to process there and did not go into the tunnel! Yay!
Seq 4:
She took the back of 2 on the first rep, possibly going a little wider to be able to expand her field of vision. She took the front really well on the 2nd rep and the rest of that sequence looked easy for her 🙂At 2:13 where you mentioned the zig zag start and also at 2:33, she was lokign at you and feet facing 2 when you released. Then she saw your foot stepping forward to 1 (good job making sure she had it before you took off down the line). Compare to 2:23 where you waited til she turned her head a little to look at the jump before releasing – that looked great!
She came through the 2-3 gap at 2:16 when she saw you looking forward, it looking a bit like a blind starting so she was really paying attention there!
At 2:26 you held the parallel line to get 2 and 3. To help tighten up the turn, you can start the blind when she is halfway between the 2 jumps but also you can use more connection by looking back to her eyes immediately (keeping your arms in tight to your ribs will help with the re-connection speed after blinds)
The blind was definitely earlier on the lat rep (yay!) which also helped you get your connection back to her sooner. Super!!!Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
He was a lazy game rock star! The heat didn’t seem to bother him and he was happy to try to figure out the puzzle 🙂
I think you did a good job of randomizing when/where you would throw the lotus ball. That can really increase motivation – you also noticed how sometimes he just went faster and faster when he didn’t get the reward 🙂 Love it!
You can time your throws to happen more when he is looking forward at the jump, rather than looking at you when he gets between the uprights.>>When he didn’t take the jump, I think I increased distance too much, or turned too soon? (Distance between me and jump, not distance between jumps – distance between jumps I didn’t change in this session)>>
I think when that happened, you had turned your line away too much so he was following your shoulders. Try to stay parallel to his line and I bet he can get it even with more distance.
>>2nd rep. OUCH! This is first time ever it happened, and I’m glad it didn’t scare him!!>>
Yes, OUCH! Poor guy! And I glad he was fine with it. In the rep before it, I was thinking that his head was too high and his center of gravity too high – he looked off balance because of it (1:19). And that is why he slipped off the side when there was more speed on rep 2. He definitely did not like slipping off the side, because he had a better weight shift and lower head on the reps after that.
So I think we can add a target to help him keep his head low and shift his weight back – not only will this be faster, but it will be safer too (probably more important than fast!)
About the target – that is what he can use as a focal point and that is where he can get the cookie. Without it, he looks at you and that causes his head to be a little too high or turned.
However, I think he is too big and long for a 2 on, 2 off behavior so we can play with target position being maybe 6 feet past the end of the board, so he moves off the board looking at it and getting his reward. It might end up being more than 6 feet past because I don’t want the board to smack him in the butt as it returns to position, if he is standing close enough. So maybe 8 feet past it? Start it 8 or even 10 feet past and if the board is not close to hitting his butt, you can move it a little closer – having it closer helps with the weight shift.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I am using big chunks of cold string cheese. They are about the size of my thumb nail for the smaller dogs. I have small hands LOL but they are still pretty big chunks. That does mean a decent amount of cheese, so I kept sessions short with them and also cut back calories in meals so they wouldn’t get chubby 🙂Tracy
Hi!
Gotta love latent learning! Yes, he was definitely zipping around the 3 jumps really well! And he was balanced to be able to do it really well in both directions. SUPER!!! He was a little slower at the end (getting hot!) but overall he was super!
You can add more challenge by adding even more distance between the jumps, so he has to cover more ground (but you can still be lazy LOL!) But to keep him from getting bored with too much repetition, you can do the one step sends from the tunnel!Great job!! Fingers crossed for cooler weather!
TracyHi!
She seemed very happy to engage with the board here! I think it might actually have been too easy so she didn’t have to think about her feet that much.
To add more challenge, elevate the board a little with blocks under it.That way she will really have to differentiate the board from the grass and think about her feet and moving across the board rather than being half on the grass, half on the board.I agree that the toy on the ground does indeed make things more consistent! You can help pump up the value of the food by rewarding her with a cookie then sending her to the toy, then back to ‘work’. That way the cookie can really take on the value of the toy! And be sure to play with her with the toy, even with it anchored, so she keeps you in the picture as a teammate 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Welcome back, it is great to see you here!!!She did really well with the lazy game!
No need to point or help her with the middle jump, just keep causally strolling pat it then reward if she take it. You can definitely have her do multiple jumps in a row and spread out the distances.It was hard to hear if you were saying a ‘get it’ marker before the throw – I think you were saying search but it was after the throw. So say it sooner and then throw. Is search 1 cookie only, or is it multiple cookies?
>>I definitely need to use more visible treats
Chunks of cold string cheese work perfectly for this!
The plank game also looks great! She had plenty of speed and her head was forward and low for most reps.
Do you have some thing you can elevate the plank with, like blocks for each end? She is ready for more height and to hop on and off in the middle of he plank.>>I bought the self-study teeter class a while ago but have been waiting until Kat was older. I am planning to buy the weaves class as well.
Those both teach the skills pretty quickly. I generally start those around 14 or 15 months.
>>My question is what to prioritize based on what’s in this Max Pup 3 class. Do you think it would be a good use of my time to do the weaves class this summer and then go back and work on contact and teeter stuff once this class is over? >>
The class goes into the teeter foundation and some RDW and some stopped contact foundation, so you can start with these games here and then finish the obstacles themselves later in the summer. How old is Kat? Maybe start weaves in late summer/early fall so you won’t feel overloaded at all?
>>Or does this class not go into that much depth, so I should work on the those skills concurrently using the other classes?
This class gives a good jump start for teeter and contacts, but does not going into finishing the behavior at all. But I would do these games first before tackling the higher level games.
>>There’s so many things puppies need to learn, lol!!>>
OMG SO TRUE! LOL!!!
Great job here! Have fun!
Tracy
Hi!
Super nice work here!!!
Her forward focus is going well! We can transfer this to a trial if you can get to a UKI trial: do. The toy beyond the jump at a UKI trial! You can place toys in UKI (or throw them) so it makes it easier to transfer this skill to a trial.The sequence went well!
2-3 were not visible but it looks like she did well, and the FC to 4-5 looked good! On the first rep, you waited too long at 6 (bar down and refusal on 7). On the 2nd rep, you powered through there and she got the whole line with no problem. Super!
The middle section from 7 all the way through the weaves looked awesome! The layering looked great and then you easily got her to turn 10-11 (nice verbal and decel!) That is a really hard section and you made it look easy 😁
The flip to the weaves from 12 also looked great – she was a little surprised but then dove right into the pole. What made the flip to the weaves so successful at :57 and 1:52 was that you were right on the bar, so you could flip her away and step forward to how her the line. At 1:23 and 1:40 you were further back, and ended up showing ore of a parallel line (so it looks like she went to 2 and not to the weaves)/
Great job here!!!!!
TracyHi!
The dogs are both doing really well! And both tugging really well before the sequence too!! I know that the cats made things hard but they were really working hard to ignore the cats 🙂
Seq 2 – that in in on 3 will be easier with a turn cue on 2 (name or directional) to help set that up already turning before you cue the threadle.
A more exaggerated cue will help her see it too – you can really swing your arm back for the threadle. On the 2nd and 3rd reps, you turned your shoulder forward which brought her into the gap but I think your arm back will let you keep moving better there.
Sending to the tunnel with layering looked great!!!
Arram did really well too! He was easier to bring into the 3 jump – when he is thinking about the environment like he was here, he seems to prefer to stick a little closer to you and that is fine 🙂 And you were good to not try to layer: your motion really supports him and that helps overcome the distractions in the environment too!
Arram sequence 3: definitely some focus issues here, the barn is hard! I thought you did a great job free styling a sequence to get him moving: the movement brings up the arousal and gets the endorphins going so then he was more successful when you tried the sequence for real. When the barn environment is really hard, you can totally simplify the sequences into something line big speed circles where he doesn’t have to process a lot in terms of cues, and he can go fast and find simple lines 🙂
Lanna seq 3 video 1
She did well here!! It is possible that you were powering through it with a lot of intensity to help override the cat distraction (it worked!). A little more decel into 3 for the FC will help tighten the turn there, and a brake arm after 3 as she is approaching 4 with tighten that turn too.She has really strong commitment so you can start the BC 5-6 no later than when she is halfway between the jumps even if you are not in perfect position yet. You did it a she was taking off for 5, so she couldn’t make the turn til after she landed .
Video 2: The cats seemed like less of a distraction on this one! You had a little more decel into 3 at :15 but stepped a bit too far across the bar, which set up a wider line 1:03 was better
The back for 6 didn’t happen til after she was already landed from 5 and locked onto the tunnel (:20) You called her sooner which turned her better on the next rep add go the backside nicely!
At 1:07 you called her name but then kept moving on a parallel line so she took the tunnel You mentioned on the video that you you could not look at her – what was happening when you made a big connection was your shoulders were turning to the tunnel line. When you made less connection and turned your shoulders forward, she got it every time. YAY!I think a directional might be better than her name (left) and a brake arm to get a turn on 5 – that can make it all easier too!
>>Also you can blame Shelly for the landing side rear on Sequence 3. She suggested I do the landing side blind and well to say that ran into some issues is a bit of an understatement.>>
Ha! I think the landing side rear then flipping her away is a great skill! The landing side blind doesn’t make as much sense here, because the takeoff side blind is much more effective.
Backside wrap work: the turf building is a much easier place for him! And he did really well with the circle wraps!
Looking at the landing and dropping the reward behind you might be the double whammy to help him nail this skill. It looked like he got it each and every time!!
You can add a little more countermotion: lead out less so you are moving the whole time. He will pass you to the backside and you will shift connection to the landing side as you continue moving forward. You started doing this right at the very end of this video and he was GREAT!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
Yes, we don’t want to readjust her a lot on the start line. So you can put yourself in as perfect a spot as possible before asking for the line up, to help get the best possible spot. And I agree she’s doing GREAT with the lateral lead outs!!!!!Also yes – I think Sprite is more of a hands-towards-her brake arm dog, similar to my Voodoo and Hot Sauce, and Diana’s Prism from the live class. What do they all have in common with Sprite? Fast, driven, powerful dogs that commit big and love extension. So they need a little extra power to collection cues to get the turns processed.
Voodoo grew out of needing that by the time he was 4 or 5. I’m sure Sprite won’t always need it but it is a great way to communicate turns for now.
Have fun!
TracyHi!
Yes, I’m happy to help!I think the first thing is to NOT worry about running clean or not. You’ll probably have more oopsies at the beginning but that is great – it is a sign that you’re going for it 🙂 And if there is a blooper, just keep going and fix it in the next run.
Also, before running the course, read the hints in the other document – that will give you ideas for lines and crosses that will be more independent, so you can try those ideas out.
Video everything! Let me know how it goes!
TracyNice lateral distance on that first rep! He had great forward focus on the line and that allowed you to be up past 3 and rotating to 4 really early so he read those really well.
You can add a little decel and a brake arm on 5 at :08
2nd seq – this is where getting him to look ahead of you at the 1st jump will help – he was looking sideways to you and leaning at :11, so you had also step forward. A brake arm (like we did in the live class) at 2-3 will be helpful to tighten that line!
The lower bars are helping him sort form (like at :18) He is still working it out but definitely has better form on the lower bar.Seq 3: nice forward focus on 1!!
On the first rep at :27 you were indicating the takeoff spot ahead of him on the FC at 2 but I think that sends him long (looks too much like a slice cue) Rotate more and have your hands going towards him to help get more collection. You had more decel on the second rep at :39 so there was more collection and a better turn (yay!) so you can still add being earlier with the arms to him to indicate collection (start that halfway between the two jumps at the latest).
The lower bar on 3 on the 2nd rep helped! The full height bar at :29 on the first rep was a little too much for processing all the things that need to happen there.
He hit the wing at :31 on 4 – that was a handling blooper. You got him to the backside and closed your shoulder so he was turning right at takeoff, following the physical cues. Then you kept moving and said tunnel, so he tried to twist in the air to adjust and hit the wing. To get him to turn left better there, keep your shoulders open like it is a serp. On the 2nd rep, you lowered it and definitely opened up your shoulder more (yay!) but then keep that shoulder open as you add the tunnel verbal – the open shoulder of the serp is what cues the full line. If you close the shoulder forward too soon, he will watch you for more info.
Last sequence – he read the opening line really well! You can duel into the FC at :52 because the change of pace will cue the collection. You were steady in your pace then quick with the FC so he touched the wing there trying to adjust.
Add the brake arm from the live class to the turns like at jump 4, so he doesn’t go as wide on the send and can set the turn before takeoff. The rest looked lovely!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
I love your notes for the session! Turns out you didn’t need to watch the video – things went really well!
The opening line line looked really lovely, smooth and connected. You needed one more step to 4 (she knew that it wasn’t quite right thus the barking, but good job free-styling back around so you would get back in gear, then get 4 and keep going.
One of the good parts of continuing rather than stopping was how quickly she was able to bounce back and how she didn’t hold any frustration for later in the run.
The middle section also looked really good (4-10)!!! So nice!!! Yes, the RC had a question: you can stick a little closer to the tunnel exit til she just about exits, then move up the RC line o she can drive ahead. I think you got a little ahead and had a sudden decel which caused her to stop. And yes, turning her left then back to her right ws fine to keep going. Note how she got right back on her line and nailed the weaves! Super!
The ending line looked really good too. I think the threadle after the weaves went well – you can be a little closer to the jump but you were still close enough there to get her to the correct side and over the bar quickly.
>>I can see why the dog might perceive that as a punishment even though I have used it differently than a lot of people. I’ve never yelled “down” at her like some do, and I always verbally praise her and throw cookies at her when I reset the bar. I then will often do a cookie scatter when I release her on the way back to restart. I didn’t put all of that in the video, but even with that, I suppose that it would still be negative to a dog who finds moving her body to be very rewarding.>>
I think of punishment as being on more of the biology side of things – the reward there is ‘less than expected’, meaning her neurons thought her behavior was going to garner either staying in motion (expected) or the more-than-expected cookie through. When less-than-expected happens, there is likely to be a dopamine drop out, meaning her dopamine level falls below baseline. And that also might be part of why she would run the fence and bark after a stop.
And that is where frustration (and other things like it) can come from. We haven’t stuck electrodes into the brains of agility dogs 🙂 But they have seen this in other mammals so I would say it is a good bet that dogs have the same thing happen too 🙂 That is why we either keep going or reward in those moments.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
Thank you for all of your great questions last night in the live class!!!!
>>it’s supposed to be 103-108 so maybe not.>>
Ewwww I hope the forecast changes!!!
>>the middle jump that was so conveniently in the way. >>
You’re welcome. LOL!!!!
To get her looking more at 1, you can have her feet pointing at it more. But she committed to it beautifully and never touched the bar!
>>Should have looked at the course maps. I made it much harder for my self starting on the wrong jump. Oopsie!>>
It gave you extra brake arm practice! Brake arm on 1 was good! She looked great 1-2. Interestingly, when you did not use the brake arm at 1:11 and 1:38, she landed longer and harder, so I think the brake arm is useful on those types of openings for her.
>>I set her on a slice which got the back side of 3 as I didn’t control the turn from 2 to 3.>>
Yes, controlling the turn of 2 to make an easier threadle, it looked good on all the other passes through that line.
Back to the layering:
The trick to the layering is to get close to the 3 jump (3 as you had it here, 2 on the map) so you can propel her to the tunnel and run a parallel line to the jump after the tunnel. You were getting too far ahead and caught behind the wing of the layered jump. If you get ahead and she sees you turn because you get stuck behind the layered jump, you will get a turn on the exit like at :35 and 52
Sticking closer to the wing of the 3 cup sets up a better line to the jump after the tunnel. You did this on the “seq 1” rep at 2:52 and it worked really well!
But even with the miscommunication there after getting stuck behind the wing, you still got a great turn at :54!!!! The turn at 1:15 there was a little late in terms of starting the cues, and I also think that the break arms can be more directly to her and not towards the jump. That can get a tiny bit more collection and that is all she needs here.
Warm up 2: You had great timing of starting the wrap cues and she had a good collection at 1:43! And it was even better at 2:02, she is totally sorting out the collection. Plus you easily got to the backside of 6 each time!
Wam up 3: SUPER nice tunnel turns!!!!! Especially after all of those straight line exits – lovely timing and cues, and her turns were spot on. YAY!!!!
Seq 1:
At 2:54, your brake arms had good timing but they were forward towards the jump. Try them pointing more to her, more like at 3:08 – that was a better collection because the brake arms were more emphatically towards her.Nice collection at 2:57 and 3:14 on the wrap!! She was REALLY working her booty to get the collection there and you did not have to work that hard to get it! She was not yet totally sure what to do on the next line, so yes: it is like a split step for you and you can also call her as you run up the next line. It is very cool to see her picking up the collection so well!
Seq 5: nice wrap on the backside, she was LOVELY on both reps! Also you had a really nice “go” on the tunnel exit there. Yay!
>>I’m still not sure I’m seeing the collection and leaving correctly. It’ll take some time to figure that out.
You are seeing it based on your good timing of leaving for the next line, so I think it will get easier as you get used to cuing it that way.
>> She was amazing!
AGREED!!! She basically nailed it, which means you nailed it too!
>I even did the post turn. I. It’ll be better to get up field if I figure it out. Is it sort of a split step?
Yes, the collection there looks really good – that brake arm really supports it so that even if your decel is not perfect, she still collects for the turn (no off course tunnel! Yay!!) So you can start to leave even sooner, as you get comfy using the brake arms. Your decel into it will make it feel easier to leave, you won’t have to scramble as much to get to where you want to go on the next line.
Great job!!
TracyHi!
Maine must have been SO NICE!!! And yes, it is hot and steamy down here LOL!! He did well in the heat here! You did a great job remembering the sequences!
>>I don’t think I’ll ever be able to layer that middle jump.>>
You can do three things to help build up the layering:
– tighten up the spacing so the tunnel is not as far, and it is easier to pass the jump t get to it. Then do lots of tunnel sends 🙂
– take the bar out of the jump and run between the uprights as you are heading to the jump after the tunnel. That will allow you to kind of half-layer and introduce the concept 🙂
– You can put the whole jump kind of up next to the tunnel for him to pass, so is is very hard to get the jump and very easy to get the tunnel.>>Also probably too strong on the threadle 1-2 but we’ve been working on it after last session’s pop up sequences and I noticed that was a hole in our training as he was often taking the wrong side of the jump.>>
Yes, at 1-2 he doesn’t need too much of a threadle the way it is built, he can see a pretty straight line to 2 (or to 6 at the end). You can change the angle a bit so it is less of a straight line and he can work the threadle more.
First sequence with the straight line tunnel exit looked really good!
2nd run – SUPER nice whoa and arms while you moved forward, great timing and great commitment and turn!!!
>>He’s also sticky on the release today. >>
Yes, I noticed that too. Try releasing while you are moving rather than standing still and see if that gets him off the line on the first release.
>>The first rep was fine and the second one I used the brake arm for the 180 4-5. 3rd and 5th attempt I pull him off the wing wrap.>>
I think the connection was the make-or-break here. Connected? He got the jump every time. Disconnected/looking forward? He would look up at you for more info and was far more likely to come off the jump.
On the wrap rep at 2:34 and 3:55 – not enough connection as you moved forward o he looked at you, then he started to go forward but you started moving backwards so he came off the jump
Keep moving forward as you decel and use the brake arms til you see his feet lift for the jump, to help support commitment. You had much better connection and commitment at 3:14! He still looked up at you on the tunnel exit, so be sure you are looking at him on the tunnel exit to support commitment to the line.
2nd video:
Nice commitment to the wrap on the opening, you got up to the backside on 6 really nicely too! He went past the bar on 6 the first time, so you can have the toy ready to throw to the landing spot t help him look at the bar
>>This is where I feel I don’t have jump commitment. I could have sworn, especially on 5th attempt of first video, that he was moving forward and committed to the jump before I moved down towards 5,>>
This was at 1:29 – definitely not enough connection, he totally was looking at you and that caused the refusal after the tunnel
A little sticky on the last rep even with good connection, but he as probably hot at that point. He did commit, he just wasn’t as fast. But overall he did really really well and the main thing is to add more connection as you drive up the decel lines with the brake arms, to support his commitment.
Great job! Stay cool!
Tracy
