[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>Oh my gosh Cricket did an RC without a verbal
Command. You told me to lay off the rv with Taq but I couldn’t let is go so I practiced with mom!>>

Yay Cricket!!! And we want latent learning to kick in with Taq so a few days off will work wonders!

Looking at the video:

She is doing well with the get out game! And no errors of grabbing the jump when you didn’t want it. Super!!!!

You can turn your feet to the jump even less on the get out – you can move up the line like you did on the non-get-out reps and exaggerate your upper body more: BIG eye contact and lower opposite arm so she can see the whole arm pointing at the far wing of the jump.

That will help the timing of the BCs because you will only need to switch connections and turn and run the new way – when you were stepping to the get out jump a little, it made it harder for the BCs (and the FC) to be on time. They were a little late on the first few reps but you had a straighter line for your feet at 1:04 and look at how tight the turn was already! YAY!

You were a shade too early at 1:09 (she hadn’t really had a chance to look at the jump) so you pulled her off, but all you need there is to let her take one more step to the jump and then it will be perfect 🙂

On the mission transition game: Your transitions were clear in terms of the acceleration and deceleration looking really different! You can do the decelerations sooner:

At 1:17, the decel was late (she was getting ready to take off) so she stumbled after landing – and then when the decel was late at 1:27 and 1:38, she went wide after landing, possibly to avoid stumbling.

At 1:47, you rotated sooner but didn’t decel, so she didn’t know to collect before takeoff.

Even though she is small, her decel cues can still happen at big dog timing! That means when she has exited the start wing, you can start your decel. So send her to the wing and run run run… then when she exits the wing, decel but keep moving forward. When she gets close to the jump: rotate (you can wait for her feet to be in the air in these early stages).

I found a small dog video (my 11” tall Papillon) working this skill with markers on the ground. It uses 2 jumps but the concept is the same: the red cone placed just past landing of jump 1 is the same idea as being just past the exit of the wing wrap. So I decel pretty early (when he gets to the red cone) and keep moving forward til he is close to the jump (blue cone) then I rotate. You can see that the timing of my decel at the red cone is the same, no matter if I am ahead, parallel, or behind him because he makes his takeoff decision at that spot, not too different from the big dogs : )

Great job here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Yes! The next MaxPup 3 will be in June (which allows this one to finish up and give everyone catch up time and a break :)) Stay tuned for exact dates!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
Rear crosses are one of the hardest handling moves because they are not ‘natural’ for the dog (or for us haha).
The key is to make the info look different from the first step around the barrel

Starting at the end of the video at the backside wraps: when she exited the wing wrap, you were showing the line to the backside so she found it easily (and on the other side at 2:08) On that rep, you sent her past you (moving your arm forward when she was still behind you) which turned your shoulders to the front of the jump so she took the front. On the other reps, you kept your arm back til she was past you and that worked beautifully!

So now looking at the RCs:
The first several steps as she exited the barrel wrap looked the same as the Go line handling, so she committed to the same takeoff as the Go lines. The RC info started from the Go wing when she was a few feet from takeoff – so she looked at you (“something is changing!”) but was not able to adjust takeoff until after she landed or she she doff the jump with the pressure coming into her (1:36)

The placed toy will help (like at 1:29) but you want the info to match so she is not just going to a placed toy.

So to help her see the difference between the Go and the RC lines:

On the Go lines, do what you did here which is send to the wing and take off up the line, staying on the outside of the wing.

On the RCs, stay closer to the start barrel so you are not ahead more than a step when she exits it. And as soon as she exits the wing, you can be running forward to the center of the bar until she passes you (which will be near the bar) and then you can cut in to the new side.

Start this with her doing a right turn on the RC, as that seems to be her side preference and it was easier for her in this session. Then you can do the left turn RCs in a separate session, emphasizing the RC line starting as soon as she exits the barrel wrap (same as you start the backside info here 😁)

Nice work!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Oops! That is because I forgot to post the recording – this week has been nuts LOL!! It is posted now so you should have no trouble seeing it.

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

He is looking great on these!! I love seeing the first reps because it is fun to see the pups respond to the cues 🙂

>>I felt like we had better connection than other sessions where we played at the drill one day and filmed the next. Is he learning how to learn? Am I learning him?>>

You might have felt the pressure of the camera being on LOL!! I also film first sessions as those are generally the most important 🙂

For the wraps:

The timing of the very first rep was your best timing for the deceleration! You started the decel as soon as he exited the barrel wrap so not surprisingly, that was his best turn.

On the other wrap reps (:12, :17, :23), you were later: he was more than halfway to the jump so the turn didn’t really happen until after he landed. So keep the timing of that very first rep!

The GO reps all looked great!

On the ‘out’ game:

>>I was very unsure of the verbal cues for the NON-OUT line, so I didn’t use one, but it felt weird.

Saying nothing is great here to see if the pups can follow our line. You can also use his name. Eventually it will be a ‘go’ verbal or whatever cues the next line on a course, but for now the name or silence is great.

>>And on the FX I did not use a verbal because I wanted the handling to be pure. >>

A wrap verbal on the FC is fine to because both the out and non-out reps start with it, so it is not tipping him off as to what comes next 🙂

For the out cue – we want your footwork/line of motion to be basically identical to the non-out reps. You were stepping to the jump when he was successful so he was reading motion to the jump. For this skill, we want to create as much independence and distance as possible without stepping to the jump, so try adding your outside arm to replace stepping to the jump. That can really exaggerate the upper body cues and will help you not step to it.

For the ‘out’ reward – yes, throw sooner and also throw to the landing side of the jump. Have the toy in your hand so you can have it flying very quickly and he doesn’t get rewarded near you for the out cue.

More about rewards:

>>Should I have tossed the reward sooner on ALL of these?>>

Yes 🙂 Mark and throw the reward pat the jump the instant he turns his head to it, for two reasons:
1. we want to mark & reward the decision to turn to the jump
2. Everything between the marker and the reward gets built into the behavior… so if he is looking back at you when you throw it, you are also reward & building in looking at you which we don’t want

>> I’m struggling with Reward vs Lure where the late throw is a reward and the early throw is a lure (sort of). Can you explain the desired goal/timing?>>

The timing of the throw is not early or a lure here, because we are rewarding the specific behavior of looking at and that first step to the jump. It is a timely reward 🙂 Waiting to see the dogs get to the jump is a late reward at this stage 🙂

Don’t worry about luring, it is not a dirty word LOL!!! Technically, a lure is when we place something out to help create a behavior, in advance of beginning the cues for the behavior. We do that all the time! This can be a target or an object to shape on. Or it can be a toy or treats: People don’t call it a lure anymore, they call it a ‘pre-placed reward’ or some such… but it is the same thing and it is fine because it enhances where we want the dog to look and go, while jump starting the behavior. In the past, there have been “big name” agility people who have been on anti-luring crusades but the reality is that there is nothing wrong with helping the animal get the behavior (and *not* helping can create a lot of frustration sometimes!)

For the reward timing here, you are marking the decision that we want from the dog which is to look at and turn to the jump, rather than waiting for a giant lump of behavior of going to the jump… which in this case often results in the dogs looking at us when they get to the jump and the toy is still back near us. By marking and rewarding sooner, we get the best of both worlds: the pup has clarity about what we are training AND we train them to look straight over the jump and not at us.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Strong session with the serps versus tunnels! He is reading the cues really well when he is on your right. It was harder when he was on your left, so you can move the jump away from the tunnel by a foot or two and see if that helps on that side.

For your mechanics on the release, my only suggestion is to get your arms and shoulders into position and *then* release a couple of heartbeats later. That way he can see the cue before having to process it while moving (so he will be more successful, especially when he is on your left) and also it will protect the stay. You were moving your shoulders/adding connection at the same time as the release, so two things happen when we do that: he is going to start releasing on that movement
(I was typing this at :22 when he did self-release on the movement) and also, he won’t process the cues before moving and will be a little less successful. Adding that gap in time between showing the cue and the verbal release will help smooth it all out 🙂

On the ladder:
He thinks the re-connection is the release. It was indeed that on the 1st two reps. Rep 3 you reconnected but didn’t say the word and he left on the re-connection. You had the gap of time between the connection and release on the next two reps, and it was much clearer! So you will want to always have that gap of time t keep the verbal separate from the physical cues – you can even add in a bit of praise 🙂

For his next ladder session, add in the moving target to help lower his head. He did great with the moving target on one jump later in this video!!

Good job on the RCs! The right turn RCs needed to be visible a little sooner, but that is easy to do by adding the wing wrap before the jump. That will give you more time to show the RC line (to the center of the bar) and he seems ready for it!

I think the target placement here was good so you can totally keep it there when you add in the wing before the jump too. He is still learning to move to the target there but it will make it easier in future RC sessions.

On the zig zags:

The oopsies here were handling-related in terms of how he is reading the cues – because he is so small, he is cuing off of your feet more than your upper body. If your feet were moving forward and your upper body cues not as visible, he was a good boy to stay on a parallel line.

So with that in mind, you can reward him even if he goes past a gap and on the next rep, add more lower body help of stepping towards the gap to push him to it, or rotating towards him to pull him in to a gap. He was very successful when you used a bit of extra footwork on those last 2 reps! Super! And you can keep the reinforcement flowing while you sort out what cues he needs 🙂

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

She is looking good on the bumps and I am glad she liked the moving target! The moving target can quickly become the release when it goes to the ground (as you saw) so build in a bit of a pause after putting it down and before the actual release. And you can also throw back a giant treat after you put the toy down.

Right at the end you were saying that 4 feet might be too big of a distance and 3.5 was good… and that is exactly what I was typing in that moment LOL!!! So stick with 3.5 feet for now 🙂

>>Had some feelings about lining up to sit (we’re working on that separately and inside)

Yes, probably just the pressure of sitting that close to a relatively big visual of 3 jumps like that and you at her side. You can see if it helps her if you are on the other side of jump 1 and facing her in the line up? That might be a little less pressure because she has a little more space around her.

>> We did a few sits and lead outs to the moving target (no jump) and then I switched to cheese for the get-outs going the other way since she had already done the ladder grid at lunch and going left is the harder direction.>>

Perfect! And this is a newer, harder skill so starting it on food is a good way to go.
She was so cute on the first rep on t he get out video: correctly going straight but looking back and forth like “HUMAN THERE IS A JUMP THERE DO YOU NOT SEE IT” hahaha

I think she really liked this puzzle though: after she took a bit of time to get her treat at about :49, she exploded back to you and then was fast and perfect on the rest (including looking straight down the line even though there were no obstacles on that very last rep). Super!!! Onwards to the advanced level!!

>>Had a hard time keeping my feet pointed down the line on some of the get outs, but don’t think I crossed the leash on the ground.>>

You were good! Your feet were very well-behaved hahaha

>>For the Zig Zag part 2, should I use a bar with Lift or the small jump bump?>>

The bumps for the zig zags – but you can add the bars in the set point and ladder because she has seen those already. I don’t think we have looked at bars yet on those?

Great job here 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Wow, good boy turning away! And he looked really comfortable – it is so fun to see the development of mechanics with the pups!!!! Great job!!! This is something to revisit in both directions, maybe put it up for him once a week? That way he can keep rehearsing the mechanics and latent learning can work its magic too 🙂

Looking at the deceleration video:

>>or the deceleration to wing wrap Obi was turning wide and going more into the center of the jump.>>

I think on some of those slightly wide moments, your deceleration was a little late so he was already committed to a takeoff point and turned after landing. My 2 favorite reps in terms of deceleration timing were at :26 and :41. On both of those, you showed the deceleration when he was maybe halfway to the jump, so he collected before takeoff on both of those! Yay!

About the center of the bar versus moving over to the wrap side: your position plays into that too. On the rep at :26, you were running to the FC on the outer edge of the wing so he was able to move over to the wrap side of the bar. Yay! On the rep at :41, it looks like you were more in between the uprights, so you were on his line a bit and that pushed him over to the center of the bar more. So as you decel, maintain your connection like you did here (it was strong!) and stay outside the edge of the wing so eh has room to move over.

You can also add more distance between t he wing and jump (maybe 20 feet if you have that much room?) so you have time to show the decel. He is fast and has a big stride, so using competition distances will help sort out the timing.

On the ‘out’ video:

He found the ‘out’ jump well on those first 2 reps! And then of course the jump was “in play” so he was gravitating towards it especially if your shoulders pointed to it for a heartbeat.
Your physical cue of closing your shoulders forward was good at :29! And reset cookies are fine for coming back to you after an error.

To get him to *not* take the jump, close your shoulder and you can call him (which is a good contrast to the ‘out’ cue) and the reward from your hand. And if needed, you can walk through it so he can see & hear the difference. For the next session, you can start with the not-out reps to establish that *not* taking the jump is a possibility too 🙂

Great job here!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>You had mentioned that a down stay is an option for the start line, but not for grids. Many of the MaxPup games start with a wing wrap. Would you use a down to start these, assuming without the collar grab? Or would a down only be for times that you lead out? >>

Yes, a lot of the games start with a wing wrap. That is partially because we can add the verbal for the wrap before we send the dog to the wing, and with a collar hold we can do it without motion at the same time. Verbal *then* motion will create a stronger verbal than verbal *and* motion. And it is partially so that we don’t have to worry about the stays & releases because young dogs have a limited mental bank account for stay behavior – we generally can’t ask for a lot of stays.

The stay requires a clear release, which is fine… but the problem we humans have is that because we are thinking of the other parts of the game, we tend to release while at the same time use a hand motion or connection or foot motion. And that causes the release to become the movement or connection and not the verbal, so the stay behavior degrades (in our eyes) because the dog begins to move when we move a hand or look at them, for example. But we humans think the verbal is the release and the dog thinks the movement is the release. That creates the cycle of broken stay – marked as incorrect/negative punishment – lack of clarity – stress in the stay. And we definitely don’t want that!

So if you use the down stays with the games that start with wing wraps, you will need to be hyper-careful that you are not starting to move at the same time you say the release word (the release word can be the wrap verbal). And if he starts to break his stay, he is telling you that he thinks the release is something different than what you think the release is 🙂

>>What about for this week’s Zig Zag game? Would a down stay work there? If so, where would I start the dog to make sure he has room to get up without knocking the bar?>>

The start line is a good place for the down as the stay position because the dog has 15 feet to move out of the stay and organize for the takeoff. I only recommend sits or stands for the grids because with those positions, you can start him nice and close and get his hind end engaged immediately.

There are extra mechanics when moving out of a down stay: standing up often has a little weight shift forward and then to jump he has to shift his weight back. If he is in a down, he can’t push off from his rear immediately and is likely to hit the first bar with his front feet. And putting him further back from the first jump will bring him into the grid on his forehand more than his rear – so the easiest answer is to use a sit or stand 🙂 You might be able to use the down on the wing-only zig zags but he won’t have time to organize from the down when a bar is there.

Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

She did well here, the bowl does make it a little different! You can move the bowl further away (3 or 4 feet away from the edge of the board) so she doesn’t have to have quite as much self-control to ignore it and stay on. The board 🙂 Then when she hops into position, you can reward her on the board, then release her to the bowl for a 2nd reward. That will help her look forward more and less at you. In another session or so, we will be having you move a bit too so she will also look forward more then too.

>>Can we start learning the weaves along with this MaxPup class or do you think it will be too much?

You totally can! She is old enough, and the weaves don’t need more than a couple of minutes a couple of times a week.

>>I signed up for your independent study weaves class but if you are going to offer a video class, I’d LOVE to do that! >>

The weaves class will remain independent study for now, there are not enough hours in the day to add video review to it LOL!

>>I definitely plan on taking MaxPup4 to give her the best foundation to be ring ready.>>

Yay! That one will probably start in June.

>>doing FEO with her in May but I wanted to see if you think it is a good idea or if it is better to wait until we take MaxPup4. I am having ssecond thoughts about the FEO plans, but I think the tunnels fun match might be a safe bet.>>

The main thing about FEO is: will she play with a toy in that environment? If so, you can do some FEO. But if she won’t, I suggest waiting a little longer because without toy play, FEO can be a little stressful! For the tunnel fun match you can check and see her toy status and also maybe they will let you use food?

>>There is a trial in May that the location/setup most matches our practice location (yard). It is 1 ring, on grass, no cover. It is a fairly small trial. She has been at this location before and we have used the practice jump there. I was thinking of doing 1 FEO class and just doing maybe 2 jumps and tug & get out. >>

That is a possibility – do a morning class (it will be HOT in May with no cover and that will impact her more than usual because of the other things in the environment). And don’t ask for a stay – just do some tricks, some jumps & tunnels, be finished and have the toy visible the whole time.

>>but I want to get her crate-to-ring routine more established before the trial. If I don’t have that ready, I think I should hold off.>>

I am not a believer in a crate-to-ring routine because the environment is way to fluid to have a routine. And if the environment changes and you can’t do the routine? We don’t want the dog to stress. I am a big fan of having a toolbox of things to use to support the dogs, because we know the environment is always different and always changing. It is much easier to be able to help the dogs that way 🙂

>>The other trial is our Boston Terrier Nationals. It is here in FL and they have a tunnels only fun match. Just all tunnels & fun. It is indoors and on mats. She has been in the building but only once.>>

Fun! And if she is happy and will play? Cool!

>>I really need to get her in a group class so that she has more experience at other locations.>>

I suggest doing this or taking her to a seminar or two before doing any FEO at trials – in classes or seminars, you can use food and toys to help ease into the different environments. And in classes and seminars, you can use other people as ring crew and judge to help prep her!

And when preparing my young dogs to trial… I always put them in a seminar or class that is a level or 2 below what they can actually do. I want them to be on fast, flowing courses as youngsters and not doing crazy backside threadle international stuff to prepare for novice LOL!

>> I have been making the most of the trials that I bring her to. We use the practice jump at all the trials we go to and I have been asking friends to stand near the jump or walk near the jump like a judge would do, and she does not seem to care about them. So that is a start.>>

This is a good start for sure! The hardest part of trialing is being able to move through the start gate, take the leash off, and eventually NOT have the toy or treats. MaxPup 4 addresses that very specifically to transition into that 🙂

The other thing to look for are UKI trials. They are MUCH more user-friendly for the FEO experience: smaller, flowing courses for baby dogs, you can do FEO in any run (so you can pick a cool time of day), and also a lot less expensive LOL!! I know there are a bunch in Brooksville 🙂 and also some great ones in Georgia, SC, and NC if you are in a mood for a road trip. My whippet baby Ramen is almost ready for FEO so we can meet up for a baby dog road trip!

Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
The lap turns looked great! I think a bit of latent learning from the tandem session has kicked in, plus your position of being stationary and facing her was powerful!

She drove right into your cue hand: perfect! My only suggestion is to be sure to keep your feet together til she arrives at your hand, then step back with the hand & leg next to the and *then* turn her away.

On some of the reps your other leg was back, and on some of the reps you were stepping back *and* turning her away at the same time (which turned your upper body to the wing before she was past it). That is why she sometimes went to the other side of the wing.

Great job here! Let me know how she does with the tandems!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

SUPER job breaking this down and building it back up to help her out!

I think she was having trouble processing her mechanics & striding with all the speed on the first run (plus the big visual of the a-frame on the way to 5). She had a little trouble stepping in to 1, had trouble with the 1 stride and took the bar at 2, then when she landed from 4 – she looked at 5 and went around it, perhaps not able to figure out the mechanics with all the speed.

She sorted out the 1-2 striding better on the next rep but still had the question about 5. Breaking it down helped everything! And you can approach each sequence like that: moving more slowly, just doing a light jog so she can process her mechanics with less bandwidth devoted to your motion. And you can break it down first before trying to run the full sequence, to help her out. And be aware of big visuals in the environment, as that definitely draws bandwidth away from her processing her own mechanics. That way you will be able to get to the smooth, fast, finished product more quickly 🙂

Great job!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Yes, doing it before she enters the tunnel will help too!

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Looking at the first rep:

>>The blooper rep was totally on me. I mean all bloopers are but I just had sloppy handling! Should I have been running closer to the tunnel so she would drive ahead on the last two jumps? >>

On the first rep at :06, you were looking forward and very lateral, so she didn’t see a cue to take 4. Compare to the 2nd and 3rd runs where your connection and lines were much clearer! Do you need to be closer to the tunnel or jumps? For her, not on a simple line like this unless you were setting up a rear cross. You can stay connected back to her and take off up the line to get ahead 🙂

>>I should be doing that or having her figure out how to drive ahead of me after she comes out of the tunnel>>

This is also a good skill to work on, so you can use the setup as a training opportunity to make sure she knows how to drive ahead as well.

>>they definitely need me close in some instances and I want them to have the confidence to go ahead or take something ahead.>

Yes – in some cases (like really tight turns or weird lines) being closer is best so you can show the lines. But these lines are pretty straightforward, so you can play with being way ahead, as well as getting in close to the tunnel so she drives ahead (for when you can’t get ahead :))

The blind cross reps were also really good here especially at :50 and 1:13 – those were your earlier BCs, where you were finished before she took off for the jump. The others were good too – she was flying up the line there and your connection after the BC was clear so she changed sides really well!!!

On the 2nd video – great job working each element separately!

>>The first exercise I clearly could not figure out my hands and upper body. >

This was at the beginning when you worked the tight turn on jump 2 to the tunnel and it went really well! You can lead out more so you are at the wing sooner, which will make it easier to get her on your right side to go into the tunnel. Having to move into it was probably what was making you feel like your arms were moving too much.

The blind on the landing side of 3 looked great! So did the cross on the takeoff side (it was a FC and that worked well). Because you want to drive her to the tunnel and then get to your next position without having to run backwards to get it, this is a spot to actually lead out less! Maybe lead out to the jump and send to the tunnel when you are doing the BC on the landing side 3 after the tunnel. And for the FC on the takeoff side, you can lead out even less so as she arrives at the tunnel, you are still on the takeoff side of the jump, making the side change very easy.

Yay for the RC!!! Those reps looked really strong, super clear RC lines and nice drive back to the tunnel.

The full sequence looked fabulous! Nice distance on your send to the tunnel at 2:16 (great connection and verbals while you were peeling away to the blind at 2:17) – that got you to the blind with great timing and position. She was flying!

The BC start on the next run looked great. The RC and the side changes after the tunnel also looked super strong, and your connection was very clear on both of these runs. Super!!!

My only suggestion is to add deceleration into the wrap jumps at 2:22 and 2:47 – a tiny bit of slowing down as you move forward when she lands from the previous jump will help her collect for the wrap. She was a little wide on those because you were accelerated, so the decel will get the good collection there too. You don’t need to do t he FC sooner, just adding the deceleration will naturally get the collection.

>>On the plus side, she stayed dialed in when the Amazon Prime delivery driver stopped at our house. High five to Kashia for that!>>

Haha, yes!! I was distracted by that but she did not look at the delivery at all. Yay!

Great job here!!!


Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
I think what happened here was that the session progressed from almost no motion (hers and yours) to a lot of motion too quickly for you both – she could do it if you were stationary without the tunnel and at the end she got it with you being stationary after she exited the tunnel.

We can break it down a bit so that he can get it when you are both moving:
– before adding the tandems, help her process turn info on the tunnel exit by doing two things: call her loudly when she is still a solid 6 feet before the tunnel entry. And, do a BC so she exits and you are connected over your other shoulder and she changes sides rather than lock onto the wing. That will help her to learn that the LOUD name call before she enters means “something happening on exit watch the momma!” And you can be moving while this is happening – we don’t want lack of motion to be the cue.

When she can do that:
– add your motion first, with her in a stay at the tunnel exit and you are walking up the line with steady slow motion – no stopping to get her to come in. And you can use a tug toy as a reward for coming to your hand, that can be really exciting for her!
– when she can do it from the tunnel exit and come to your hands with you in steady motion, you can add sending her into the tunnel. Your motion will remain the same (slow and steady, lots of rewards for coming into your hands – the tug toy might be more motivating and also more visible)

When she can do that, you can add more and more of your speed! It might take a couple of sessions to build it up with motion but that is fine 🙂

Nice work here! Let me know how she does!

Tracy

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