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Hi!
>Our weather is perfectly terrible right now. We had a nice day yesterday. Today cold and raining. We’re supposed to have rain for pretty much a solid week. I don’t foresee any outdoor jump grids in the immediate future. The “grass” is also very squishy and not growing yet (we had a snowstorm a week ago). Next month we’ll be outside.>
Fingers crossed for the grass to dry out fast!
Looking at the video:
The warm up blinds looked good on both sides!The first full rep was very informative! At :34, he saw you decelerating into jump 3. That was a strong turn cue which curled him into you and took the send jump out of the picture (ended up with a fancy threadle wrap!). He got it on the other reps but was still turning to you when he saw the decel (good boy!) Accelerating into the line will help him send out to 4 better – more on that below 🙂
You had more acceleration on the other side which got the 4 jump better – but also took you too close to 4 which made the blind late at 1:49. The blind at 2:03 had better timing because you didn’t go as far up to jump 4.
One thing that will make handling different from handling his big brother Lennan is that because he is small and has to take more strides, you can change your strategy to not get too far ahead on sends. You were a little too far up the line which is why you were decelerating on the first few reps.
At the end of the video, you had 2 reps where you went in closer to the tunnel entry so you could keep moving and not decelerate: that totally helps set the line. Getting in closer to the tunnel entry and even running along the curve of the tunnel will cause you to accelerate up the line – that makes the send easier (and has more distance) which also makes the blind easier 🙂 As he gets more experienced, you won’t have to set the line quite as much but there is a definite strategy difference between bigs and smalls on sequences where we need to send and run back to a blind. The smalls do best when we go in closer to the previous line and accelerate them into the send – especially smalls like Aelfraed who responds really well to decel!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>We are adding lots of rewarding for staying again!>
Yay! She will like that! And train yourself to lead out, look at her, smile, praise, count to 3 in English and French… then release 😂 That way you won’t get into the rhythm of releasing at the same time that you look at her.
She did really well on the sequences even with the fun match noise going on!
The brake arms for the middle jump looked great on the first 2 reps! When she hit the bar ther at :35, it was likely because you hadn’t also turned your shoulders (facing straight) til after she made a takeoff decision. The other reps looked good too – just keep turning your shoulders 🙂
Getting the timing of the wrap cues were a little tricky at first – I thought the first one was maybe a little late. She got it on the low bar but it would be harder when she eventually is at full height. She almost didn’t take the wrap jump at 1:50 – I think that was because there was too much decel 🙂 You were decelerated before she took off for the middle jump and you were starting to rotate a bit too soon. It is rare that we are early, so it is fun to celebrate it LOL!
The ideal timing on this would likely be where you run in closer to the tunnel so you can accelerate more as she exits. That acceleration will make the transition into decel more obvious as she jumps the middle jump – which will also help commit her to the wrap jump.
Looking at the 2nd video: the first full rep was pretty perfect! Yay! Being able to send to the middle jump gives you plenty of time to get the blind there (:46).
And to prove it was no fluke: 2nd rep was gorgeous too! Nice timing on the blind!
>There was a few times I pushed into her line on our tough side and she started going around the jump instead of through it. That caused me to start hovering around that jump and then our issues started with the BC!>
Yes, she was definitely asking questions. One thing when that happens: keep going and reward the next part of the line. I think part of what was happening was she was not getting rewarded even though she was following the cues, so she was not sure of which line to be on.
At 1:26 – you were a shade too early for the blind and also not as clearly on the line as you were on the other side (she could see you through the gap moving to the tunnel and connected on the new side). So she was pretty correct to come off the jump, especially if there had been questions on the other reps. You can keep going to the tunnel and reward her. Stopping and withholding reward assumes it was her error (it is really never their error, always our error 🤣😂) and she had a BIG MAD and was jumping for the toy.
Timing was better at 1:47 but she needed to see you a little more between the uprights, especially if there were questions carrying over. So you can drive forward a little straighter to get commitment to the jump before doing the blind, then have someone throw the toy to the landing of the BC jump as you move through the BC. You did throw the toy at the very end of the 2nd video – doing that will definitely help commitment!You drove straighter for an extra step or two on the first rep of the 2nd video and she found the jump nicely! Yay! That would be a good place to end the session and let her sleep on it 🙂 Doing more ended up having more errors through the session, so you can totally rely on the magic of latent learning 🙂 That will be especially true on the harder turn side.
The plank confidence went great and the jump bumps added a bit of wobble – perfect! To add speed and angles, you can put a wingless upright or cone on each side as a visual aid, then send her from all sorts of angles. That will challenge her to line herself up to go straight across the plank (and you can totally have her buddy Aelfraed do it too :))
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>although one can always work on him more. He has had prelim rads done at a health clinic on hips, elbows, stifles and spine (always get those to compare to down the road). He also had a full baseline eval with joint angle and muscle measurements at the local rehab vet (again to have for comparison later if needed). And she also checked patellas.>
That is great to have all of that done already! Yay! Were the patellas checked in a lateral recumbent position? Standing patella exams (including the OFA exam) might not show anything with strong dogs – and I am guessing he is pretty fit and strong!
Looking at the lazy game video: I would say he has a really strong understanding of the game! He had some questions about driving to the tunnel but I think that was mainly because you were not running. He was lovely finding the lines and doing the wraps! He didn’t always see the thrown cookie (like at the end), so now that he is doing longer sequences you can use a lotus ball or treat hugger.
Keep checking him for soft tissue restriction – even with a great understanding of what you wanted, he is still carrying his back feet together (bunny hop) and not running even without the bar in the middle jump. The lower bar really helped! And you can leave in the in-between moments so we can see if he is off-loading anywhere. It looked like he might have been off-loading his right hind coming around the middle jump to his left at the beginnng, and then possibly at 1:07 but it was hard to tell for sure.
He is doing a really good job with the set point! A couple of things to help him get more hind end power:
On some of the reps, it looks like his back foot is set outside of this body, a bit abducted? Those reps were not as good in terms of hind end push as the rep at :10 where he had the best foot position in the sit, and the best hind end push over the bars 🙂 So you can ask him to tighten the sit and see how he feels about that 🙂 I got screenshots of what I mean in case my words are not describing it correctly 🙂
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1psFkq0xh12eYIcfK46250o4zZmiLSObuxHXfR5zIC5Q/edit?usp=sharingAnd, add in the moving target (can be a lotus ball on a line) so he powers out after landing. He was stopping short and doing some shifting of his back feet after landing to stop for the treat, so we can get the hind end push between the jumps and after landing if he is driving to the moving target.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! Lots of things going on here – some I will give you a click/treat for, and some I will bug you about 😂🤣
>The video seems long but lots of toy play, rewards and stay rewards mixed in. >
It is indeed too long for a baby dog… even with different things mixed in, it is a lot of work and it was mainly running the sequence with no real breaks. Try to split it into 3 or 4 shorter sessions with 10 minute or longer breaks in between, rather than one long one. You will get faster learning and more motivation that way! He totaled at about 55 jumps which is a whole lot for a baby dog (or any dog!) in one session. When counting the strides, he was adding more strides by the end – running slower for sure. It might have been that he was tired or he was being careful, but we want fast and happy the whole time. He asked for a break at about 3 minutes when he took off with the toy. His attention was wandering at about 6 minutes. In the last 90 seconds, he was really delayed bringing the toy back, a little sniffing, and a shake off. Definitely take a less is more approach! And of course, you can run it without him so that you are not sorting out the handling while he is also trying to figure out the cues.
When you had the clear connection – it went really well! He was reading the lines well and committing really well too! You can be a little further from the jump after the tunnel laterally, running more on the line towards the middle jump, so it is easier to get the blind. That will give you more time to finish it and do the post turn after it.
The turn on the jump after the blind is definitely tricky! When you did the post turn with connection on jump 5, he turned the correct direction on both sides. When you were facing the jump and didn’t do the post turn, he read it as a rear cross. If you turned but didn’t connect, he didn’t take the jump. So definitely keep the post turn and stay connected to his eyes there.
When something unexpected happens, or getting the turn the wrong direction) – keep going! Those errors are handler error 99.9% of the time and he is correct, so stopping is going to confuse him. Plus, if you keep going, you learn to think on your feet with him and save the run 🙂
One super important thing to remember is that his reward should not be contingent on whether you get the handling right or not 🙂 He can only get it right if you get it right (especially at this age) so if something happens on course, either reward right away or keep going and reward the next thing – this is critical for young dogs! Stopping or punishing him is going to cause him to stress (some of the barking at the lineup was stress) which we definitely don’t want.
For example, at the beginning: be sure to set him up and get him ready for the first jump before you start, to make sure he is ready and you are in the right spot. At :13 he was not lined up, you were blocking his line (standing where he would need to go) so when you stepped forward to start, he took the backside line (that was correct based on where you were standing and the lack of lineup, nice try baby dog!). He was trying his best! That was a pretty significant physical correction he got there at :18 – lifted by the collar, turned around by the collar with his front feet in the air, then pushed over the jump by the collar. You can either call him back and reset with a cookie, while assessing your mechanics and position (“oops, sorry dude, I am standing in your way”) or keep going and fix it on the next rep.
At :23 is a good example of where you can keep going and reward: you said ‘go tunnel’ and turned to the other side of the tunnel. He looked at you for confirmation then went to where your motion was going. Good boy! Reward that! Walking away like that is also a punisher. Then when you reached for him, he barked at you and moved away – he had just gotten that big grab by the collar so he was not really wanting to be touched again.
There were a couple of the bloopers where you got that rear cross after the blind instead of the turn to the outside, including 7:28 where you showed frustration when you pulled him off the jump (not enough connection there)… I am pretty sure you were frustrated at yourself but it is definitely a punisher to the pup! So keep going rather than stop and mark it then re-start. If he thinks he is going to get in trouble, he is going to slow down and get careful. But if you reward him for reading the cues as best he can – he will stay fast and happy! The reward can either be the toy/treat or continuing with the sequences.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>Honestly, I think sometimes it’s my state of mind and focus too that affects things.>
Yes, I think they can tell if we are not in a great mental state and it affects them. I often turn on silly music to sing and dance around, which helps get myself in a better focus for training 🙂 Figuring out what helps get you ready and focused to use during sessions can be really fun!
She was very into the toy here at the start, didn’t want to give it back LOL! And wow, it was REALLY weindyq1 The session went really well and she was picking up the lines really well! You probably didn’t want to throw the toy because she might have taken it on a prolonged victory lap 🤣😂 so you can use really good food for the next session and toss treats for finding the line. She definitely seemed to have an easier time turning to her right than to her left, so when you add the wraps – be sure to begin with wrapping to her right so she can get the feel of it all.
>At the start she was missing the jump >
When that happens, continuing to the next part of the sequence and rewarding something else will keep her in the game. Then you can come back to where she missed the jump (like at :39 and 4:46 for example) and add in a much stronger connection to her eyes. That is usually my first adjustment in handling when there is a blooper: add in more connection. Usually the blooper happens because my connection is too ‘soft’, meaning I can the dog peripherally but they can’t see the connection because my head is turned too far forward.
When the connection is soft and we look forward, either they look at us and go past a jump (like at :39) or we accidentally turn our feet & shoulders away from the line and they correctly follow us (like at 3:50 when she did not take the tunnel – you were turning away from it). In that tunnel moment, rather than stop even though you took the toy out – you can keep going to the next jump and then either reward that or come back around to the tunnel again.
>so I slowed down and really tried to not use a lot of arms and hands and stay turned toward her. I think that helped.>
Totally helped! It might have felt like you slowed down but actually you kept moving and added VERY strong connection after the tunnel at 4:53. Even though your back was to the camera, it was clear that you were looking directly at her so she accelerated to the jump with zero questions. You also had stronger connection to her at 4:57 on that rep to drive her straight into the tunnel. Then you had lovely connection on the last rep and she was perfect!
>We took a break and then tried to do wing wraps, but it was so windy and I also think she was ready for breakfast so she wasn’t supper into it and we stoped quickly because I’m really trying not to push things.?
Massive click/treat to you for that decision! It was a really successful session and soooo tempting to keep going! But it is always better to end on a high note and wanting more, than to accidentally go for too long. Really smart decision to revisit the wraps another time.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
What a bummer that the closest site to your home had poopy footing 🙁 And the course design sounds even worse than the footing! PM me the name of the judge so I can AVOID – I don’t want to be on small crunchy courses either! But you were smart to just do NFC to work on other stuff without risking him on those courses.
> very few other dogs/people and very chill (especially compared to what he was seeing our month on the road with bigger Run Wild, AZ Festival, and Chicago Invitational.>
Vibe was probably wondering where everyone was hahaha
> Last time I showed him that holler roller toy type a few weeks ago he wasn’t into it but now he’s really liking it – I think it’s because baby teeth are all gone.>
This is good! The hollee roller is a really useful toy so I am really glad he is liking it now! Also good that the baby teeth are gone 🙂
The trial site is absolutely lovely – what a shame that the runnng surface and courses were poopy.
Vibe did great working his games with 2 rings behind him and dogs running in those rings. I love that they had a practice ring where he could do his puppy sequences! He was was fast on the lines and tight in the turns – perfect! Your connection was spot on which really helped too. And it lokos like he was tugging for real! Fun!
His big purple mat workl at the beginning looked good too – is that also going to be your RDW mat? He was hitting it with the split-rear-feet and that is what you were generally marking, so I figured that would be the eventual goal. You can bring it into the practice ring (I think that is allowed?) and do wing-to-mat-to-wing, or tunnel-to-mat. It is never too early to teach the pups to continue looking ahead and not at us after the mat!
> this is the weekend he also discovered that he can just spring up onto our kitchen counter and dining room table from a standstill (just to see if there’s anything interesting up there – not specifically trying to get anything). 🤣 Good times advanced puppy proofing ahead.>
OMG! Somehow I am not surprised LOL!! He must be part cat 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! Hope you had a great weekend!
>I did start working on backing up on a low platform. Tribute is doing really well with it.>
Awesome!!! You can add in backing up to a low board that moves a little now too.
Looking at the video:
He caught onto this really quickly! He was adding more and more speed – I was about to suggest that you can jog or run too, and then you started running. Super! I think he is about 10 months old now? So he is a good age for expanding his understanding.When you add more of your movement, be sure to emphasize connection and not your arms. In other words – you can look at him but you don’t need to point at the jumps or line. You can just run 🙂 And you can add ‘jump’ verbals here too!
Only one suggestion: remember to use your ‘get it’ marker when you throw the reward, so he continues to look forward and not at you.Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
The weirdness gauntlet was great! She did care about it, and investigated the room. You can see her circle a couple of times, a little sniffing… then she was fine and went up on the couch to see what was next 🙂 She was not worried or startled, which is great! We basically want to challenge her brain and body to assess and discard new things in the environment without getting nervous in any way. She was perfect!
Looking at the play session: getting the food bowl away and getting the toy really active was great! She was really engaged with the toy!
She did a bit of face bopping at the beginning as her arousal state changed – so to protect your face as she learns to regulate her arousal: don’t bend over at first 🙂 Swoosh the toy away from her on the ground or throw it, so she can engage without face bops
She also didn’t quite want her collar grabbed – this is normal when pups are stimulated. The cookie line up then back to the toy went well! You can also cue a line up or reach for her collar without touching it, the throw the toy.
>I did feel her energy/interest change a bit toward the end of my video so I stopped before she completely tapped out.>
When she sees you reaching to your cookie pocket, she stops tugging. Poor starving girlie hahaha So be sure to ask for the toy back before involving any cookies. That was probably where you felt the energy change – she was still engaged but saw the potential for cookies so let go of the toy.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>And I can use less arms or stop pointing at the jumps. >
Yes, I think that is the most important thing: pointing at the jump blocks connection while turning your shoulders and feet away from the line, so he would look at you or come off the line. You can see it at :07, :25, :30, :46 for example
When you are not pointing at the jump and just running, looking at him, and saying verbals: the sequences look great! Examples of this are from the very beginning to :06, :49 – :56 (he was so fast there that the wrap cues were late because he found a near gear of speed), 1:07-1:23 (only a little bit of arm after the FC), 1:37 – 1:41, 1:46-2:00. So many lovely flowing moments here!
>I should also cue something or throw the toy when the unexpected happens – instead of stalling out, making weird noises, or throwing up my hands (all punishers to Skizzle).>
Yes, ideally we humans either keep going or reward like it was 100% what we intended. But also, if you do stop and make the weird noises 😂 – do what you did at :37 which is pair it with a toy. When I was prepping for the first international event I was taking a dog too, I taught the dog that when I stopped and dropped the F bomb, it meant I was going to throw a frisbee (which was his favorite toy). I would screw up, drop the F bomb, throw the frisbee. The F bomb became like a click LOL! So if you do have a human moment like at :36, throw the toy and he will be fine as long as you don’t do it a lot.
>When I’m decelerating to cue the wrap, should I also use my verbal for the wrap? >
Yes – say the verbals directly to him. That will add verbals to connection to help support commitment.
>Was the Mission Transition lesson without the verbal – to try to help the dog learn that the cue IS the decel?>
Yes – it emphasizes that decel is a commitment cue too. We want the dogs to be comfy to commit in collection, so we can slow down and don’t need to be right at the jump.
You can use your verbals because you can tell yourself to say it to him (and don’t say it to the jump 🙂 ) and that will help connection a lot.
Nice job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Looking at the sends:
>Still working on the timing though.>
The timing was good! It was more about getting your feet and shoulders to face the line to the jump rather than peel away.
When he is over the jump after the tunnel, intensify the connection as you send him. The arm send with soft connection turns your shoulders away which is why he had questions at the beginning and at :47. At :18, you had very strong connection to his eyes and he sent beautifully!
And being even further lateral will get he blind more easily 🙂 For example, at :52 you were pretty close to the jump after the tunnel so as he was landing you were disconnecting to turn away to get to he blind. He did take the middle jump but you will have both the commitment and the blind timing if you support the jump after the tunnel from a line that heads direction to the middle jump (about 6 feet from the jump after the tunnel)
>I tried some of his sequences during the fun match and he didn’t seem bothered about the extra activity.>
I could hear activity in the background while you were doing the speed circles: he was aware of the activity and responded by going faster (but maintained his accuracy). Yay!
How is your weather lately? It would be good to do some jump grids on the grass – I think the dirt in the barn is hard so as he gets tired, he changes his form to levitating over the bar 🙂 rather than pushing from the rear (2:07 is a good example of the levitation). Grass might be easier to grip and push off of.
The timing of the blind at 2:08 was the best of the session! Note how the earlier blind allowed you to show the new connection earlier, which set up a nice turn!
He back jumped the wrap at 2:12 – might have been that he didn’t want to jump towards the wall there, or a bit of inexperience showing: he was not sure which side to be on when he landed, so the fastest route back to what he though was correct based on motion was the back jump. No worries, that is not something he usually does.
One other thing I noticed here: he looks at you over the jump, when you are driving the straight line to the tunnel. You seemed pretty accelerated and connected, so he was probably checking in because the distances are growing. You can set up some fun jump-tunnel stuff with the jump closer, and the reward at the exit of the tunnel. It can be placed in advance at first to get him looking forward.
If you are in the mood to run 🙂 you can even make it a jump-tunnel toy race! If you get there first, you win! He won’t have time to look at you AND beat you to the toy 🙂
Looking at the teeter video: bread and butter for the win! He will even allow other people to interact with him because bread and butter is the BEST! Ha! We will definitely need lots of it for the new game added this week 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
> I had an agility trial yesterday and we used this backside push and get out for one of the obstacle sequences in Master Standard and Fast and it worked beautifully!! >
YES! This is great and exactly what we want: something that is immediately useful and doesn’t need months of training 🙂
>My girls responded super well to it!>
Which means you executed it well too. Well done to you all!
> I didn’t see many people using that outside arm to push the dog like you taught but it worked so smoothly for us and not as smoothly for many of them. >
A lot of folks are being told that using the outside arm is ‘bad’ which is why we jokingly call it the evil arm 😈
>For your next blind camp session or whatever it is called, can we do two dogs under one working spot like this course where I just split the videos into 1 min segments for each dog?>
Yes, you can split it between the dogs like you did here.
Looking at the videos:
The warm up on the layering went great! You were very clear with your cues and they both got the layering even with starting from a standstill.
Building it into the sequence went great too: the jump was a little hidden, sandwiched between the tunnel and other stuff but they still got it.
The only bloopers were on the same jump: at :53 where you were moving away from the jump before Kastella took off. In that scenario, you were correct to want to move away before she took off. To support commitment, you can shift your gaze to the landing spot behind you rather than look at her face 🙂 Kashia read that info as a rear cross cue at 1:21 – you were a bit in her way on the takeoff spot and then when you stepped forward, it looked like a rear cross line.
Threadle wraps:
The reps were you were facing her (lap turns) and visible were really good! When she was on your left to start, you were visible and the cues were very clear. On the other side, you were not visible but when she went to front side of the jump – I bet you moved too early 🙂 The reps where she was correct were lovely!
Backside one jump video: Your connection was great! And I think both dogs like the energy of the verbal.
One small tweak: use your outside arm to point to the backside entry wing, not to the bar. When you were pointing to the bar, they took the front of the of jump. When you were pointing to the backside entry wing, she went to the backside every time. The big connection and arm pointing to the backside wing make a big difference on the line!On the sequence video: These went really well!
Rep 1 looked good until the end, when the cue was late so she didn’t see the backside line til after she had committed to the front side line (:24). The balance rep with all the front sides looked good!
Nice job pointing to the backside entry wing at :52
Nice arm and timing at 1:07! On all of the sequences with Kastella at the end, you used your opposite arm to point to the entry wing every time – and she got the backside every time, no questions. SUPER!!!Great job on these!
Tracy
Good morning!
These are definitely challenging courses – they look deceptively simple!>I am finding this course to be small for Copper – he is kinda trotting between jumps because they are close>
To get more momentum, you can run in closer to the tunnel which will also get you running up the next line more. Some of the trotting was when you were walking, so he was not sure if he should decelerate to turn.
Looking at the wrap video:
Good timing at :41! That had both the decel and the connection. That was my favorite rep!
The biggest challenge in the other reps was disconnection. You were looking at the jump and not at him, so that threw off the timing. You might have been able to see him peripherally (as a blur :)) but the direct connection of looking right at him is a huge help.
When you were looking forward, he was looking at you (like at :51 an 1:26), not sure if he should commit, which is part of what pulled him off.
He did take the jump at 1:48 and 2:10 because you had more motion – but without the direct connection, the decel was a little late so he was wide and had a bar down at 2:10.
So to get it smoothly, be connected directly otherwise his eyes, saying the verbals to him 🙂 Then you will see where he is exactly, which will automatically help the timing. You will probably find it easier to not use your hands to point much at all – just motion, connection, and verbals.
Speaking of bars down – there were a couple of reasons why he was dropping them. Mostly it was when he didn’t see connection so he was trying to look at you to see the cues and the timing. More connection will help that too. And the other instances were when he was asked to jump when he was too close to the jump (like on jump 1 of the fluffy BCs and FCs, or when fixing a refusal). Giving him more room too approach a jump by starting further back (10 feet or so) will really help too.
He was reading the lines on the fluffy BCs and FCs, but the bars were coming down as he was watching you. This is a good setup to run to the tunnel more to accelerate up the next line and into the blinds and fronts. The hardest part is to run forward but watch him the whole time (except for when you have to disconnect then reconnect on a blind cross).
A fun challenge is to run without pointing to the obstacles: point to his nose the whole time 🙂 That keeps your arm low and is great for connection & timing, because it turns your eyes to him!
The trotting you mentioned was happening on the front cross session – he might have needed more breaks (it is hot to run in a fur coat :)) or he was being a bit careful to get it right. That is where adding more connection to his eyes and running into the tunnel more will help too. And that will also make the timing of the crosses easier because he will be accelerating more. But I think you will find timing falls into place nicely when we add more connection.
A good example of where connection can help more is the cue to go into the tunnel: you were saying tunnel and pointing at it, but he had a question on those. That was because you were looking at the tunnel and pointing at it, which actually turned your feet and shoulders away from it. The connection turns your feet and shoulders to the line you want, which is why he reads the lines really well with connection.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Nice job with the connection on the exit of the blinds! That really helped her see the next line: you were pushing your dog-side shoulder back to make eye contact. Super!
And good timing when you added the blind to the full sequence (:58) – you started it when she had landed from the jump after the tunnel, so it was finished and you were connected before she took off for the middle jump.
The FCs went well too! The connection and timing of starting them were both strong. The blind is quicker to finish, so that is a more optimal move here 🙂
One thing I noticed is that there is a little hesitation as if you don’t really trust she will take the jump after the tunnel, so you are waiting a bit at that jump. You can use more verbals (like Go because it is straight after the tunnel, or jump) and to stay in motion, you can go closer to the tunnel then move up the line laterally. Both of those will support commitment so you can keep moving to the cross.
On the send and go video: the warm up blind looked good and so did the first blind to the tunnel!
This is also a sequence where it is good to fun in closer to the tunnel at the beginning – by being stationary, you it was too much of a decel cue at 1:05, which created a domino effect: she collected, didn’t have a lot of speed into the send, then you turn your back on her at 1:07 so when she landed from the middle jump she only saw your back with both arms out. She was already cued to be in collection, so she stayed collected and came to you. When you finished the blind, she changed sides. That is entirely rewardable (handler blooper) so you can give her the toy there.
The next rep had more motion from you so she stays on her line better, but in these smaller spaces, you can add more extension cues by running to the tunnel at the beginning, running along the curve of the tunnel and the running forward into the jumps. That will get a lot more momentum for the send which makes the send and the blind easier.
The blinds all had great connection which is a hugely important piece!!!! Well done!
Tracy
Hello!
Looking at the blinds (and the front as well):
You can start them sooner! Ideally, the blind is starting no later than landing of the jump after the tunnel. So you can be further away from it laterally as she exits the tunnel. You can be moving toward the middle jump and when she takes off for the jump after the tunnel – start the BC so it is finished before she takes off for the middle jump.
Most of the blinds started as she was taking off for the middle jump so the turns were a bit wide. On a couple of them, you started it when she was halfway between the 2 jump and that already set better turns. Yay!
The side change in a blind is basically cued by clear connection on the new side, so be sure to exit the blinds with exit line connection where you look back at her and the opposite arm comes across your body.
When you finish the BC and try to indicate the new side with the new dog-side arm, she doesn’t see it for a few steps (:05, :18, :34 for example).
We don’t want her to think it is the toy that is cueing it, so use connection and empty hands 🙂On the send and go video:
>My Send N Go needs some work!>
At the beginning you were sending but not going 🙂 But you added moving away better after the send when you were doing the full sequence. She was finding the line nicely!
When you added the blind at :27 – that was the best timing so far of any of the blinds! Yay! You started it when she landed from the middle jump so the blind was finished and fully reconnected before she took off for the blind cross jump. SUPER!! That is the ideal timing.
At :58 and 1:12, you started the blind when she took off for the blind cross jump so the turns were wide (she couldn’t adjust the line until after she landed). So lock into the timing you did at :27, the was great 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
