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Hi!
>She was heading to the weaves and we have been highly rewarding/working on weaves, so she was a very good girl.>
Good girl!! She definitely thought that is what you wanted.
>So I tried it and it worked! I do not have enough experience with backside handling….that is a new world but Indy does it so nicely when I cue it properly.>
Your timing on the 6-7 line at :12 was perfect! She had a great turn and read the threadle beautifully! You got the FC on the tunnel – a ‘get out’ to push her away would get the jump after he tunnel.
The other option is to stay in your threadle position on jump 7 and from there, send her to 8 (with turn cues and both hands on the send to get collection). Then try to get her into the tunnel on your left side 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi! It was great seeing you on Sunday! You and Roux are really coming together as a team!
>too hot to do more reps.>
Yeas, it has been a HOT week! But also, you ran this really well so no need for a lot more reps!
Her only real question was at the opening: she was sitting straight towards 1 which lined her up to 3. She needed the big send with your arm back, big step and BIG connection to lock onto 2, which is what you did at :34.
The serp line 2-3-4 looked good! As soon as she exits 4, start cueing the FC on 5. You were late there (she was already jumping) so she had trouble with the turn.
Gorgeous send and collection at 6!! Wow!
7-8-9-10 was really nice!She was mad about the front cross 10-11 and barked at you and looked at you – Maybe the FC was in her way or you were on her line? It was a little hard to see on the video. I thought it looked good but Roux had opinions about it LOL
12-13-14 went really well too – you can do the BC sooner (before she goes into 12) to get a smoother line on the exit. The backside on 13 was great – she pushed to it really well and committed to the bar without needing you to stick around to help. She was really good with the threadle to 14 too – you can ‘release’ the threadle sooner and indicate 14, because she looked at you there before going to the jump.
The turn on 14 was great!
Super nice timing of the tunnel cue while she was still weaving – she still looked at you when she exited, probably because you were not moving. So no need to get as far ahead there – stay more parallel to her in the poles so you can use motion as well as verbal to senbd to the tunnelThen tell her to GO before she enters the 16 tunnel (and keep saying it) so she exits straight to 17 – you got quiet so it looks like she curled towards you when she exited. 18-19-20 looked great!
Great job here! Hopefully cooler weather is coming!
Tracy
Hi!
Pop out 3 – this went really well and was a good rehearsal for trials!
Really nice opening line – you can set him up on a slice to 1 so he doesn’t have to turn much at all to find 2.
Nice timing of the FC on the 4 tunnel 🙂 He saw it all before he went in!
You did a spin on 6 which got a lot of collection and he looked at you over the bar… I don’t think he needs a super strong turn cue there. I bet a brake arm (opposite arm cueing alongside dog-side arm) as you turn your shoulders to the tunnel is all he needs there.
Super nice backside push at 8 and lovely ending line!!!
Pop out 2:
He ran the opening line well but you can give him more connection 2-3 (:48, 1:06, 1:34 and 2:45 so he doesn’t look at you. You were looking forward at the line more than at him, which turned your shoulders away from the line – so he checked in. Really nice decel into jump 3 there got a great turn there!You ran 5 as a front side on the first run, it looked good 🙂 On the other runs, you handled 5 as a threadle wrap – he needed one more step forward and less arm flip on the first one (1:11) but the other reps were really lovely at at 1:21 and 1:41 and 2:51!!!
The spin on 6 and 8 were getting some questions from him – I think in the small space, it is more collection than you need and also it doesn’t move you to the next line. By staying too close to the line on 6, the moment of the spin carried you a bit towards the tunnel so he looked at it at :56, and actually went to it at 1:44! And the spin on 8 at 1:00 and 1:29, for example, got him looking at you rather than at the line. So those are good spots to use brake arms and shoulder turns, starting as he is landing from the previous jump.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Good timing of leaving the wrap position to get to your next line! His commitment also looked really good – you didn’t have to do much at all to convince him to take the bar as you were moving forward.
You will find these are even easier if you are not as far ahead – that way you can keep moving, plus you won’t have to step to the side to get around the wing. That is what happened at :12 and 1:16 where he dropped the bar: you had to step the side to get around the wing then stepped forward, so he had to change his line over the bar. Going in closer to the tunnel entry means you won’t be as far ahead, so you can actually keep driving forward more (he will pass you before you get locked into the position at the wing).Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
These are going well too! He is finding the line really well, so it was all about exactly when to begin your decel.As you begin the decel, be sure to maintain connection to his eyes. At :09, for example, you looked ahead at the jump when you started the decel and wrap cues, so he looked up at you.
On that rep, you can be one stride sooner with the decel so he can collect before takeoff: when you see him land from the middle jump, start decelerating while still facing forward.
On the other dog-on-left reps:
I liked your timing at :58 the best! It started earliest! You broke connection there by looking forward so he pulled off the jump, but I bet the turn would be perfect if you decelerated at that same time (just after he landed from the middle jump) and kept looking at him as you said the wrap verbal.The timing at 1:22 was also good, plus you were connected so he collected before takeoff. This was his best turn on the video!
Looking at the dog on right reps at :34 and 1:38 – these can have the decel start sooner, like you did when he was on your left. He was seeing the cues when he was almost at takeoff of the wrap jump, so he did the turn after he landed and was a little wide. So with this side, you can start the decel when he lands from the middle jump too.
Nice work!
TracyHi!
>She’s very impressed with his foundation training so she signed up for Max Pup1!>
That is so fun! Max is looking fabulous indeed 🙂 Thanks for the referral!!! I am excited to ‘meet’ her here 🙂
The timing and connection video looks strong!
On the first side (dog on left) your cues were very timely!
On the 2nd side (dog on right) you started off with timely cues and then the last cue for the last jump ended up being a bit late (he was already at the jump :)) And you can use your ‘get it’ marker and throw the reward sooner so he doesn’t look back at you – you can throw it as soon as he looks at the last jump! Your connection was spot on so I am sure you will see him looking at the last line.Great job!
TracyHello and welcome!
The one step sending to the middle jump went well!
Video 1: On the first 2 reps where she was on your right side, I think you were too pointy 🙂 meaning you were pointing ahead of her at the jump with a high arm. She took the jump but the pointing ahead can break connection and cause questions on harder sequences.
When she was on your left, though, you kept your dog side arm out of the way and used connection and a big step: those 2 reps were super!!!!
On the 2nd video – is starts with a question due to a pointy arm cue 🙂 You ran forward after releasing with your arm up, so it was not a send and she went past the jump. You lowered the bar right away – but it might not be the bar height, it might be the cue so look at the video and see if the cue is clear before lowering the bar 🙂
When she did take it at :58, you can see how much wider the pointy arm cue plus motion sends her over the jump (as compared to :58 on video 1, for example, where it was a really nice send cue and she was turning really well too!)
Nice work here! You can move forward to the next set of games posted yesterday!
Tracy
Good morning!
Millie is like the Lazy Game Spokesmodel. She loves it so much and that is hilarious! She is pretty explosive here on the sends to the wings, but also accurate in terms of finding the wing and turning really tight – she must find the stay as a fun anticipation for the sending. Perfect! And you can add your wrap verbals here to begin using them with her too.
She only had one question here:
The send at 1:17 didn’t have much connection so she was careful but went anyway – she saved your bacon there! LOL!Note the difference in speed at 1:30 and on the next reps with great connection. Fast and confident, but still really tight around the wing!
Adding the tunnel was easy peasy and just as much fun for her. I love it!
> Her first tell is that she just can’t hold her sit. It’s like the amount of effort that she has to put in just completely wears her out.>
The hard stuff does deplete glucose and oxygen in their brains, so they can be fidgety and not as focused. This is clearly NOT that hard for her, just very motivating which is why she was so fast and engaged the whole time.
Her success here leads right into the games posted yesterday, where we get to do some real handling and timing of cues! Great job here and have fun with the handling games!!
Tracy
Hi!
She did REALLY well here, especially on the 2nd part of the session! This is hard and she had a lot of success!During the first part of the session:
She had trouble finding the jump in the face of the tunnel – good job rewarding the jump even when it was the backside then using the wrap cue to help her out too. The wrap cue seems like a more powerful cue than the ‘jump’ cue.The 2nd part of the session had even more success. Yay!
You can add in the 2nd wing to start from, and also does she have a go-around-behind-your-back start? For some reason I remember that she does – you can use it here to get her moving before the wing wrap, so you can start the verbals even sooner.
Try to mix things up each session so you can also swap positions – tunnel is closer and jump is further. And then add the weaves 🙂 You can revisit the game as a mental warm up a couple of times a week, using short sessions and different obstacle positions.
Great job!
TracyGood morning! These runs went really well! I liked your course strategy and you set up really clear, fast lines. My feedback is only on some subtle stuff:
The opening looked really good both times! You can set her up on more of a slice a 1, so there is more extension and less turn. That will make the line even speedier!
The blind after the a-frame looked really good! You can do the blind sooner on the landing side of 6 (:20 and 1:25) – she was over the bar and had to wait for you to clear the line, which slowed her down. So when you exit 5 and see her looking towards the backside of 6, you can start the blind so it is finished and out of the way before she takes off.
Another option there is to keep her on your right 5-6 and handling 7 as a rear cross. You can flip her away and even play with layering the 6/18 jump while she is on the dog walk!
She had a really nice weave entry both times after the dog walk! On the first run, lovely blind to 10-11. The FC there at 1:38 worked too but blind will be earlier and quicker info for her if you are waiting to do it til she exits the weaves.
The 11-12-13 line looked good too – you can play with layering the 10 jump while she is going from the tunnel to the 12 jump. Another really nice blind after that, this time to the teeter. It set up the backside at 14 really well!
You handled the 14-15-16 line two ways, which was fun to see. The first way was as a threadle wrap on 15 – on the first rep through there, you can turn to face her line more (and away the front of the jump) at :41. You sounded urgent there, so maybe she was looking at the wrong side of the jump? You turned away from the jump and set up a better parallel line to the threadle side more at :55 and she had a smoother line.
> The first run I forgot what side of the jump before the tunnel.>
Yes, 16 should be the front side/threadle side – when you handled the line before it as a backside send to the other side of 15, that set it up really well and *might* be the faster option (is probably the faster option). I couldn’t do a direct comparion with a timer because it looks like she went to the backside of 16 on the first time through there.
She had a small question exiting the 17 tunnel, so you can tell her what you want there before she enters – the backside verbal can start before she goes in, so she extends more on the exit and doesn’t slow down waiting for more info.
The rest looked great! The only thing to note there is that 20 is a backside not a straight line. Working it as a front side, though, set up really nice layering and a super fast & smooth ending line!
>Taq did ok on the parts I ran but was sticky and not wanting to take obstacles. I will try it again with her this morning.>
It is hard stuff for a youngster – you might have to ramp up the connection to help clarify the cues. There are so many obstacles everywhere that she might need more support. And you can tweak the sequences to have fewer backsides (for now) because she might think they are weird 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
He did really well with the lazy game! You can definitely move on to parts 2 and 3 where you do more sending and a tunnel gets added in 🙂 And you can add more distance, he is ready for that too.
He is doing the teeter but he is a little concerned about it. Most dogs are a little concerned early in the training, so a less-is-more approach will help 🙂 Do only one or two reps for incredibly high value food… then be done with the session and go do something else. When we do too many reps, the dogs start to over-think it and get more concerned.
The high value food can be his entire meal or a giant meatball 🙂 Then after he gets off the teeter, he can have his toy.
He will quickly associate the teeter with amazing things happening and begin to really drive up the board – but still only do one or two reps and then be finished. Leave him wanting more 🙂 It takes some time to build up the teeter love but then it turns out really well!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi! She did great here! I agree, she likes the lazy games and is happy to work hard while you can be a nice lazy handler LOL! Gotta love the working breeds!!
>The whole session was about 4 minutes long, everything on the video and break (that I cut out) to reload treats. This was a long session for her. I kinda lost track of time and reps because she was so into it and she is very clear when she’s running out of gas/brain/energy/motivation/focus….and she never showed any of that. I might have to start setting a timer for her! Never needed one before this today. >
Yes – she never showed any signs of physical or mental fatigue here. She was a perfect combination of fast and accurate with a lot of stamina. Was it because of the super high rate of reinforcement? The clarity of info you were delivering? It was very clear in terms of your sends and connection and verbals! Was it because it was the right balance of short bursts of speed on fun lines and little moments between where she could catch her breath? Was it because there were no really hard turns where she had to slow down and bend? Was it because she is maturing and has more physical/mental stamina?
All of the above? LOL!! It was a really terrific session and clearly it was not too long.
But also yes, for harder skills you will want to have a shorter session. Setting a timer helps! Or, if you need to stop to reload cookies – take that opportunity to take a break of several minutes or more. I also turn on music – most songs are about 3 minutes long, so I use the end of the song as my cue to stop 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>One step sends, that some aren’t sends…>
Yes, the hardest part here is slowing ourselves down so we are stopped at the tunnel exit and then just take one step to send. You were sending sooner and sooner without moving to the wing as much, and he was committing really well!
:35 was GREAT in terms of how you stopped yourself at the tunnel exit and just took one step. Super! You took just one step at 1:11 too – not quite as close to the tunnel exit but it was only one step and he sent really nicely.
1:24 was good in terms of being at the tunnel exit and taking just one step to send, but you were looking ahead and not connected, so he was looking at you and didn’t go to the wing. So definitely remember to look at him as you send (and don’t look ahead to the obstacle).
You can also apply that ida of hanging out at the exit of the previous obstacle to set up a one step send when you added the middle wing: as he is in the tunnel, go to the first wing (you can go right to it, no need to send to it). Then as he is going around it, take one step to send to the middle wing then do the FC. I bet he can do it!
And you can add even more challenge by adding more distance – have all the wings further from the tunnel by a few more feet, and further from each other too 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
He is looking super strong on the dog walk here! He wants to look at you as he exits the down ramp, which could cause him to pop over the contact. So to keep him looking straight, tell him where you want him to go next before he leaves the ramp (or throw a reward). The ideal timing is to give the next cue no later than when he is at the top of the down ramp. And it might end up being even sooner 🙂 But that will help keep him looking straight and hitting his contact.
Nice job!
TracyGood morning!
Kaladin’s video:
Yes, there was a little tipoff in where you were facing at the beginning, but only a little (he had to curl in front of you to get the jump, after which you were turning too). That was fine because it was happening afterwards. He had a couple of questions early in the session but then he did really well! He has some good experience with jump-tunnel discriminations, so while he had to think a little he was able to be very successful. It was cool to see him get all the way through to the last one where he did jump and tunnel in the same rep! Yay!
Lift’s video:
>I think starting her stationed on the cot did help.>
The cot station then release into the session takes out her bopping around on the way to the start of the session.
Because this was new and hard, it was great to start in a calmer mode, and also introduce the concept that it could be either a jump or a tunnel (and not just whichever was closer to you). That went great!
>She also has different treats in the fur lotus tug (I need to get some different tossable treat toys since she thinks the pull apart wallet-style ones I have are pretty hard to get into – she seems to like the lotus style opening better) >
How does she feel about a treat hugger or clam toy?
>She is still not a fan with me starting her while holding her collar so I ditched that after the 2nd rep and moved to the wing wrap (not too much better in her book so I wasn’t picky about which way she decided to wrap and just went with what she offered).>
That was smart!
As the session on the first side continued, she had more arousal going (you were not restarting from the cot) so she was doing her bopping around more and at 1:49 when she was not entirely sure, she jumps up (and might have vocalized a bit, hard to tell). Then she processes the tunnel verbal and goes to it! Yay! Yes, it happened to be the tunnel she saw over the jump but who cares – she overrode the arousal and processed the verbal. You rewarded it happily which was exactly the right thing, and the next rep went even better.
>Probably should have stopped while we were ahead. >
Yes, stopping the session there would have been good, or after the first rep or two on the next side where she was successful. This kind of work uses up a lot of brain juice (<—— scientific term) and by about 2:43 she was not able to maintain an optimized arousal state when the info was not clear.
Remember that she is not as experienced as her big brother 🙂 so is likely to not get as far in the skills stuff. And that is fine of course 🙂 So try to just work one side, maybe 2 minutes, and if it goes well? That is your signal to stop and revisit the other side on a different day 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
