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Hi!
I am loving the jaunty music LOL!
He did well with the 3 variations here! The tunnel and threadle cues looked very distinct in terms of position and shoulders. You can rotate more on the serp so your feet are facing the tunnel but the enter of your chest is facing back to him. That way you can stay closer to the bar and still get him to come in. And plan the verbals before each rep, because I think the only errors were sometimes saying the threadle verbal when you cued the serp.
>>Notice I’m trying really hard to remember to reward everything. I tend to go into analysis mode when I screw up. Then I focus inward and forget to reward the dog.>>
Yes! The was great! We totally get in our heads to plan the next rep… but the dog perceives it as punishment (negative punishment, withdrawal of the possibility of reinforcement). So it is important that we reward and then figure it out LOL!
You can also add in rewards for the stay while you are moving because he is moving before the release word on several of these – I think he is moving on the eye contact before the release. At :16 and the rep after it where you made eye contact and praised then released was perfect. On. The other reps, you were releasing when you did eye contact and so he was starting to release with eye contact. As you move into position, make eye contact the whole time, praise, then release.
On the 2nd side -he did well here too! Super!! He actually was following the physical cue and took the tunnel on the first rep. If you watch it in slow motion, you were in serp position with your shoulders open (they can be even more open to him, so the center of your chest points directly to him, it was pointing to the tunnel here).
Then you released him and as he started to move at :03, you closed your shoulders forward which is the tunnel cue. You kept your shoulders open for longer on the next rep and he did the serp 🙂 And the next reps were clear too, so he was very successful.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>>How will we know if our dog prefers a stand or a down at the start line? I’m asking Mason for a sit now and I’ve been resetting him if he gets up.>>
It depends on how they position themselves. He is very forward in the sit and his butt was coming up – I am not even sure if the dogs realize their butts are coming up. If you find yourself resetting him a lot, then he should do the grids in a stand stay and the down might be the better option in the sequence work. The down is not helpful for grids, because he’d have to start further back in order to be able to get up and balance, which changes the hind end use.
>>how does his form look? I don’t really know what to look for on this game other than that there are no extra strides between the jumps.>>
We are looking for how he steps into the grid (pushing immediately from his rear and not tapping his front feet before jump 1 or changing his leads), where he puts his feet between the jumps, his head position, the arc over the bar, and where he lands between the jumps (center is nice!)
He was stepping in well – the best start position was at :29 where he was closer to jump 1. He did stand up on that rep, it might have been before the release, so be sure to watch his butt as you lead out. Because of the MM being relatively close and your position was not fully out by the MM, it as harder to tell his jumping form on bars 2 and 3: he was lifting his head to begin to stop at the MM. That changes his spine position and hind end use.
So, rather than a MM being stationary, let’s go to the moving target (like he saw on the set point) where you are slowly dragging it. That will help him maintain form because he won’t be thinking about having to stop, he will be able to keep moving through it.
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning!
He is reading the rear crosses well! You can show more acceleration on both the GO line and the RC cues – that will get him driving ahead even better, making the RCs even easier. You can also be further ahead at the tunnel exit (a step or two ahead) so he can see you setting the line before he exits the tunnel). That will get him looking forward sooner and at you less.
>>He definitely did better on the GO when I threw the toy early, note to self.>>
Yes, and on the RCs as you mentioned too. As soon as he looks ahead, you can throw the toy. You can also have your dog-side arm a little more relaxed and pointing forward less – when you point it directly forward, he looks at you because the pointing forward changes the physical cue to the post turn line and not to the RC line. So less dog-side arm pointing and more RC line of motion will get even more speed through there.
>He decided to play the keep away game on his own>>
For the keep away – I think part of the keep away stems from that he doesn’t get to play with the toy a lot when you throw it as a reward, so it is less of a reward. When you throw the toy, let him have him party with it for at least 10 seconds… then call him and offer the cookie trade. You are throwing it and calling him back immediately so he is not feeling the full effect of the reinforcement. Instead, he is keeping it away to avoid going directly back to work (you asked him if he wanted to work or not at one point LOL but he wants to play, so you can make the whole session into more play with longer reward moments rather than going right back to the next rep.
You can tug with him when he brings it back, but tug as a game rather than tug back to the start for more work. Or you can throw it and let him run around with it for 10 seconds while you praise him – then offer the trade and keep playing with the cookie after that. Remember that is should be play for him, and not work.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>>Did you just call Prism an “adult”??? I was thinking he was still an adolescent….;-)

He might be late adolescent LOL but definitely has a lot more experience and brain development than his baby brother 🙂>And again when I realized I was using his release word on the threadle reps. His training minutes were up, so I didn’t do any reps with the threadle verbal cue. >>
Good for you for not doing more just to add the verbal!
>>He doesn’t know it yet anyway, so that would be a whole new training session. He is not as “wordy” as Prism (yet/for now/too young to say).>>
I think the “yet/for now” is probably correct. He is still learning and processing them, and I bet he will end up having great verbals!
>>And again when not remaining parallel with the bar on the SERP reps. I feel pressure from the tunnel. Can I separate the wing farther from the tunnel?>
Yes, you can add a little more room but also yes – there is a definite “I am going to run into the tunnel” feel to this game LOL!!!
>> I appreciate the support telling me it’s all fine—-Baby dog issues.>>I wouldn’t even call it “issues” – he is doing great work with normal baby dog questions.
>>Congratulations on the newest pointy dog. SPOINTY (speedy and pointy) or SHPOINTY (sharp and pointy). You’re going to kill it in Flyball. Is that the idea?>>
Thanks! Right now he is sharp and pointy with his little teeth LOL! Definitely hoping to play flyball but also going to do agility! As far as I know, there are no dogs from these lines doing agility so the breeders on both sides are excited to see him do agility. Fun times ahead!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Casey pointed out in our last class that she thinks he really likes me to keep my distance, lol, and it seems that may be the case. >>
It might be the case for now… but I highly suggest you don’t train to that preference because you are going to want to be able to be tight to his line and have him still commit to it. This is not just for rear crosses (see below) but for everything we are seeing in current course design for AKC, UKI, USDAA. Yes, we want some distances skills but a lot of what we do requires us to be right on the line or moving in tight with handler obstructions (darned obstacles in our way LOL!) and we want him to be able to read lines when we are close.
>>In one particular case on Sunday we were doing a tunnel to a big,slightly arcing sweep of jumps to another tunnel and jump (basically a speed circle.) On the first attempt he went way wide of the obstacles. Casey had me pull way back from his line and he nailed it. I was REALLY far away (well, more so than I am used to being!)>>
Yeah, I would want to work that so you can be anywhere on that line and distance is not required. If you are that far away, you will be limited in what handling you can choose (blinds will be really hard!) and you’ll be behind a lot. It is possible he is drifting wide because he needed more connection in a very direct way – a lot of BCs will drift wide trying to get a better look at our handling cues. Or it is possible that he doesn’t have the mechanics at speed to process all of the things coming in: your speed, your verbals, his footwork, his jumping, etc etc. Bear in mind that he is in full adolescent brain (just turned a year, yes?) so the processing part of the brain is not fully developed yet and the parts of his brain that do a lot of that work actually talk *less* to each other in adolescence than they do in puppyhood and definitely in adulthood LOL!!
So what to do? Break down the skills and run shorter sequences with lower bars so you can developing the handling the way we want it. Trust me, you will not want to retrain this in a year LOL!!! And because he is learning and processing so much at this stage, two suggestions:
– take off the verbal directionals and just use a general ‘jump’ cue. The left/right etc can go back on when he is on the line more
– dial back your motion. My progression is walk-jog-run. I start by walking through the sequence and rewarding for finding the line with me needing to adjust my position. If he can do that? I will jog. If he can do that? I will run. That takes multiple sessions with baby dogs, so take your time. And if he drifts wide, don’t change your position along the line (unless your position is incorrect but on a speed circle it is probably just fine 😁) and did back your speed instead.
And reward more frequently on the line and use shorter sequences – eyes on the big prize of the future where you can do anything you want in handling and not be restricted to having to handle a certain way. That means a less-is-more approach now of shorter sequences and helping him process.
Looking at the rear cross video, being so far away from the line is what is causing the questions.
The Go lines all looked great and he was finding the jump without you being that far away. Super!!!
>>A few times he went wide of the jump, and I am wondering if it’s the pressure of me being too close or something else.
Actually, he read you really well there 🙂 That was at :09 and :24 – you were pretty far as he exited the tunnel then turned on a lot of pressure pushing in to him. That pressure looked like backside push pressure so he was correct. You can reward when that happens because when they go to the backside, it is because we pushed them off the RC line) and if possible, stop and look down at you feet: you will see your feet facing the backside entry on the wing he went to.
He was getting the RC turns but it was deceptive about what he was reading: if you watch it in slow motion, he was approaching the bars turning towards you based on the handling cues (lateral distance on the line, which should cue turning to you) and then over the bar he was watching your motion and watching the reward throw… so he was flipping the new direction either over the bar when he landed. You can see it at :17 and 30 and :44 when he was turning right on the RC, and at
1:01 and 1:09 and 1:18 and 1:34 when he was turning left.So two things there to support the plan of teaching him to let you get close: when you are on the post turn side of the wing, we don’t want him to think that a RC turn away is a possibility because then he will start offering them when you are wanting a post turn or a FC/spin on the wing. Also, the RC from that distance puts you really far behind on course, and my goal for every RC is to get ahead again LOL!!
So using the walk-jog-run progression, you can be a lot closer to his line on the tunnel exit and walk forward as he exits, moving directly to the center of the bar (that is the RC cue). Keep your feet moving to the center of the bar until he basically is getting ready to take off, then you can finish cutting in behind him. A placed toy is fine to help him on those. And you can move up to jogging if he can do it at a walk, keeping your line to the center of the bar. And, BIG connection on all of these will help support the line forward.
Let me know if that makes sense! And let he know how he does with you on the RC line – having you get nice and close is going to open up a new world of handling opportunities 🙂 Nice work!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>I spend a lot of time with machine learning models and AI and I highly doubt it! But Gemini is going to get a boost soon in terms of how much data it can process, so we could give it a try with a couple of videos with feedback from you as input and ask it to comment on a new video 🙂>>
I bet Gemini is my retirement plan LOL!!!!! The Agility U of the future has Gemini built in…. hmmmmmm…. LOL
>>I actually do like using Perplexity a lot as great way to get context on new information/ask questions, it searches the web and also gives you references/links to where the info came from. Works really well for science stuff.>>
That is good to know! I am often searching specifically for the links, so that will be helpful.
>>p.s. I had a complete revelation as someone new to using recording for troubleshooting – I played the video at .5x speed and I could see my cues/Obi’s decisions etc SO MUCH BETTER. What a *duh* moment ….>>
Yes! Not a duh moment at all – it is really cool how our editing apps and YouTube can let us slow things down to see things better. I often watching things in slow motion. And to train your eye: try watching things in 1.25 or 1.5 times normal speed and see if you can still see what happened. I do that all the time, or go up to 2x normal speed. It makes seeing things in ‘real life’ a lot easier!
Have fun 🙂
TracyGood morning! She was great at the park – fully focused in a wide open environment!
The two rear cross reps were not a mess 😁 The first one (:05) was late showing her the RC line (you ran forward like the GO line then started pushing into the RC line when she was almost taking off), so she did turn to her right but the late pressure pushed her off the line. The second RC at :09 was better! Because of her speed, I think you will need to be a little further ahead of her to start the RC pressure (I know, sounds weird to be further ahead to do a RC LOL!!)
If you are one step ahead of her when she exits the tunnel, you can be moving to the center of the bar sooner – she will go past you and then you can cut in behind her to finish the RC. That means more of a send to the tunnel (or to the wing before it) will help.
The diamond looked great! The first rep to the left was perfect!
>>Not sure why she missed the last wing when on my right.>>
I think it was a subtle connection change and side preference: At :03 when she was on your left, you had BIG connection coming from the top wing back down the line to the tunnel. Compare to :12 in that same spot on your right, where the connection was a little softer, so from behind it might have looked like the beginning of a blind. Also she might have been defaulting her easier side (turning to her right). So for the left turns, make the BIG connection and I bet she stays on the line.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
The zig zag grid is going well! Since she has a solid stay here, you can lead out more and use a moving target – that is her toy on a long line (like tied to another toy or a leash) so you can drag it as she is jumping. That will get her to look at the line more and up at you less. You can lead out about 5 feet past jump 2, put the toy on the ground (holding the other end of the line) then release and drag the toy forward. And if she is happy with that, you can then flatten the angles a bit more 🙂
The turn aways went really well! She is driving to your hands and flipping away around the wing really well. For the tandem turns, you can get a little closer to the tunnel exit so you are moving up the line more when she exits – that will get even more speed on those. The lap turns (where you are facing her) were spot on – those are a lot more decelerated with less motion.
>>she’s forgiving of my silly mistakes sometimes so that’s nice!>>
Yes! She was reading the lines really well. You were very connected and she didn’t need you to be 1000% perfect. And she is driving through deceleration now, which she used to think was sooooo stupid LOL!!!
Looking at the last Wingin’ It video:
This went really well too! All of the physical cues looked great – the race tracks, tunnel sends, tunnel threadles, and flip aways on the wing. YAY! The connection was really top notch, and I felt like you were communicating all of the cues directly to her (rather than looking ahead) so she read them really easily. The only spot to add more connection is on he tunnel exits: remember to keep your arm back and eyes on her as she exits the tunnel so she can see the next line without you needing to be right with her.
About the verbals:
>>I don’t have any verbals for these things yet. I wasn’t sure how she’d do so I didn’t want to add a verbal until I knew she understood it. >>
Yes! We don’t want to make the verbals confusing or add them to the wrong behavior by accident! So it is good to wait. She was super though so you can pick your verbals and add them 🙂
>>I also didn’t know what verbals to come up with. Everybody uses such random words and noises which is just so bizarre to me.>>
We are a bunch of weirdos LOL!!!! I choose my verbals based on 2 things:
– making sure they are all pretty different from each other and from obstacle names (the word and how they are delivered)
– making sure they make sense to me and I stand a chance at remembering them LOL!! So my tunnel threadle word is “kiss kiss” because I tell my dogs I will give them a big kiss if they get the correct end of the tunnel LOL!! And my wrap verbals are noises that cannot be delivered in a loud way, because loud words do not help collection and I can be a bit, um, loud hahahahaSo as you decide: Use what is intuitive for you! You were using ‘out’ to stay on the line and ‘here’ to bring her into your hands for the turn aways. That worked great!
I highly recommend a tunnel threadle word because ‘tunnel’ means take the one on your line in front of you and the other word will mean ‘take the other side’ even if you are not in perfect handling position. I know a lot of people who say “me me me” for this, as in “take the side near me”. That is very useful because using a compound verbal like “come tunnel” will ultimately rely on the perfection of timing and delivery – if tunnel could potentially mean either side of it, if we are not perfect then she might end up in the wrong side of the tunnel. And agility is way too hard to be perfect, it is easier to remember another word 🙂
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>>It has noodle vibes! PT! PeeeeeTeeeee!>>
OOH PeeTee might just be his nickname! I was trying to come up with an easy nickname. His breeder calls him PT Cruiser LOL!
>>Maybe I should teach her to do a scratchboard while I’m at it so she has that skill too?>>
Yes! Great idea! And worse case scenario is that you don’t use it on the teeter but she can file her own nails on the scratchboard (I use it to get my dogs’ front feet nails done easily LOL!)
>>So my specific question is – does the tandem turn move morph into Threadle Wraps? Or will the Tandem Turn be it’s own move (where we both turn together & go in the new direction together) and the Threadle Wrap will also be it’s own move where she comes in to me & takes the jump from the other side, wraps the wing and I keep going & she completes the wrap & follows me? >>
They are cousins for sure! The Threadle wrap is almost always a circle wrap on the threadle side (backside between you and the jump) and you will almost always use the threadle wrap cues as you keep going forward (but sometimes you do turn with her). So the threadle wrap gets its own verbal cue because it is soooo specific.
The tandem turn does have us handlers turning with the dog and go the new direction together. It can be used on the front side or backside of the jump – when on the front side, it is almost like a RC on the flat and the verbal will dependent on what the turn should be on the bar. When it is on the backside, using the threadle wrap verbal will fit because it will be the closest verbal without having to add yet another verbal 🙂
>>My bigger question is what is the best way (other than putting it to use) to figure out when these moves are best? Is there a general “guideline” for each one? Like Rear Cross = when the dog is ahead and you need to make & turn & change sides?The threadle wrap is easier to sort out to answer this question: when she comes in between you and the jump to go to the backside of the jump, and exits on the same wing she enter on… threadle wrap verbal. And nowadays we are almost always moving forward in true threadle wrap style.
The tandems on the front side are most like RCs on the flat, where we have to turn the dog to find the line first, then flip them away with the tandem turn. A true rear cross is easily done by running forward to the center of the bar and a tandem turn will need you to pull her in first to set the line before turning away. And on a RC, you will cross behind her line to get to the next position on course but on a tandem turn you don’t really cross behind her line to get to the next position after the tandem turn. Let me know if that makes sense!
She did well with the zig zags! Nice power!! When you flattened it out a bit, the distances changed it looked like she couldn’t find the sweet spot there and had some trouble with the bounce. So yes, you can use a shorter bar (weave pole works great!) and you can overlap the wings in the middle more (it was hard to see if they were overlapped or not).
The bang game on the teeter is off to a great start!!! She was really working to balance her weight and get into position – super!! She was turning to face you a tiny bit which can change her balance, so you can put an empty food bowl out ahead (maybe 3 feet past the board) so she can focus ahead on it. You can reward her for hitting and holding position, then release her to get another cookie from the bowl. If that helps her stay straight, then we can add a bit of handler motion too!
Great job here :)
TracyGood morning!
The sequences here went better than the 2 jump drill here – it was probably easier for you to show the line and for him to read the line in flow. The extra speed was no problem – YAY! And great job rewarding him even if it was not perfect. After the very first rep, he came in VERY well for the serp jump! As you add more speed, you can keep that jump angled: speed is more challenging and so we can make the visual of the jump easier.
The one question he had here was finding the front side of jump *after* the serp jump. You were releasing the serp upper body and pointing forward to that jump a bit, which actually can turn your shoulders to the line that goes past the jump. Or if you point too much, it pushes the dog to the backside of the next jump. So to help him find the jump, you can maintain the clear upper body serp position you had as you keep moving forward to the next jump. Keep serping with your upper body and moving along the line until you see him turn his head away and take that first stride to the next jump (and waiting to see that before relazing the serp position will also amp up connection, which helps too!)
Great job here 🙂
TracyHi!
>>1) I saw you are coming to MN in June and I’m really bummed it’s those dates because that’s the Midwest Cup so I won’t be able to make it. Are you planning on coming back sometime this year?>>
It is such a bummer!!!!! I won’t be in MN again this year, but I will be in Quad Cities in August and possibly in Middleton WI in July if you want to come play!
>>2) Do you know when/if you’ll be opening another Maxpup class for puppies? My friend’s mom just got a puppy and she was wondering about classes.>>
I think the next one will be in the usual spot in November, but I will keep you posted if something starts sooner!
Tracy
Good morning! Nice hoodie 😁
Good job on the RCs! I think the info was earlier when she was on your right in the 2nd half of the video, like at 2:29. You were closer to the RC line so the pressure to the center of the bar was earlier and more visible. She was able to look forward a lot better on those! On the other side, earlier in the video, when she was starting on your left, you were a little further from the line so it was harder for her to see the RC line. She was looking to her right for a few strides before switching to her left over the bar. Getting closer to her as she exits the tunnel will help set that line even more smoothly.
>>So she seems to be good with a toy outside for 3-4 reps and then the poprocks go off. Should I try just stopping at 4 reps? Or maybe mix in food to give up the toy between reps to see if that calms her down so that she can do 5 reps?
A couple of ideas for you:
Since it might be a processing/arousal regulation thing we are seeing and we don’t need duration on the toy play (that will come as she matures), you can end at 2 reps with the toy so there are no pop rocks opportunities or even getting close to pop rocks zone. Or end at 1 minute, which is 2 or 3 reps with the toy. And in between toy reps, you can let her walk back to the start without tugging – tugging back to the start might be over-stimulating for now and might not give her adolescent brain a moment to bounce back.Also, when the toy play is in the picture, don’t stop or reset if there is a blooper – that also makes arousal levels change and harder to self-regulate. In this session, the leaping up happened after a couple of little bloopers at the wing and the RC at 1:22 pushing her off the line (you were a little too far away starting it there). You did reward her at 1:22 and on the next RC, but I think the frustration management (resilience) was the struggle there from the wing questions. So you can add freestyle “I meant for that to happen” moments where if he ends up on the wrong side of you, you just go with it and run her into the tunnel and reward. You did stop asking for the wing at one point and just started at the tunnel, which is great.
I think when food is in the picture, you can do the longer sessions or reset after a little blooper. The food is just easier for her in terms of processing skills and arousal regulation. Her toy play is really looking great so you can do it in the shortest bursts for now and it will totally build up even more over time.
>>Question on the advanced level with the standards for the next “obstacle”, if you are curving to the inside standard out of the tunnel should you be using the verbal turn cue instead of Go?>>
Yes – you can use your soft turn verbals when you want the turn and mix in GO GO GO and reward straight 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
The layering looks fantastic! She is fast fast fast, jumping really well, and getting a tight turn to a tunnel. SUPER!!!! This is especially important for small dogs because they have to run the same big layers and big distances as the big dogs, and she is nailing it.
I mention the good jumping form because often if the pup has questions, they will have a head-up or flingy jumping form. Not here with Taq! She had lovely form while working at high speed and at a distance. Happy dance!
You can mix in going straight after the layer jump and NOT always coming back to the tunnel, so she doesn’t think every tunnel she passes is a tunnel to come towards 🙂
Looking at the rears: the hardest part for us humans is to not use any forward commitment cue that involves squaring up her line to the jump. What I mean by that is any shoulder turn or foot turn to face the jump straight on will also commit her to a straight line (and not the RC). I think you might be trying to send her past you and then show the RC, but ideally that happens simultaneously. If you send her past you to the jump, she is going to commit turning the direction of going straight on that first rep and the RC info will be late.
You can see that as she exits the tunnel at :36 and :44 and :50 (upper body and left arm swinging forward which turns your feet forward and which indicates straight line/right lead). She turned right on the first rep – and she turned left (RC) on the others because she figured out the context 🙂
So to consistently get the RCs especially to the left, keep your dog-side arm back and as she exits the tunnel (or even just before it), you can be immediately moving to the center of the bar without squaring up to the jump at all. Your motion on the line will tell her to go past you, and that same motion will tell her to turn away for the RC. Let me know if that makes sense!
>>Maybe it was the camera angle? The same one that adds 50 pounds.>>
HA! That would explain why I look so slow in videos LOL!!!
Nice work here 🙂
TracyGood morning!
>>AI never tires, but sure it gets confused!>>
So true! LOL!!! But will eventually figure it out and I am sure it will replace me in the future LOL!!
>>Edit: I rewatched your runs with Elektra in and cleared it up that it should have been soft tur cues.
Yes – soft turns on those because they are doing more of an L shape of a turn and not a C or U shape around the wing. It will be easier when we add bars in so you can see the turn he is doing over a bar,
>>Seems like I’m not yet there to goof around on the spot with verbals, and I just need to stick to a pre-determined concrete plan so I don’t muddy those for him. (like going out and practicing blinds for the figure 8 before getting him out to play).>>
I always do a quick walk through to plan verbals before I add the dog – it might happen when the pup is running around with a toy and it gets easier as we practice it 🙂 You are doing great!
The figure 8 with the crosses are going well! There was a small question from him on the very first rep but then you increased your connection and he was great with all of the other reps. You were also adding some decel into the wraps and that helped tighten them even more. Super!!! Both the FCs you did and the tight blinds looked terrific.
The race tracks look awesome! Great job maintaining connection while running and then still getting the tight blind and exit line connection after it! You are making that exit connection super clear and so he is able to go fast, turn tight, and know exactly where to be. Click/treat to you!!!! You can make up courses on this setup to mix in the big race tracks with wrap FCs, soft turn FCs and BCs, etc. It will have all the speed of running a big course with him!
Great job here 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
CM did well with the layering! The placed reward really helped him out. I think starting the session with the tunnel entries turned down so the tunnel itself is there but he can’t get into it will help eliminate the errors – running past a tunnel entry is HARD for all dogs especially baby dogs 🙂 And then if he does well, you can open the entries up again in that session to build to the next steps.Zig zags are also going well! You can turn the wings 90 degrees so the jump cups are facing each other – picture jump bars being there like on a giant serp 🙂
He got it really well when you used your leg to step to the line but without the super big clear step (like at :47 and 1:03) he did not lead change away from you. That is just bay dog stuff, of needing a really dramatic cue to break through all of the visual processing (the wing, your position, etc) and mechanical processing (how to use all of those fast legs!) that he is doing in that moment. Prism won’t need that because he is an adult who has learning history and strong mechanics to rely on, so it probably felt a lot easier when you did it with him 🙂 CM will get there for sure, but feel free to use big dramatic cues for now 🙂
The serp versus tunnel versus threadle looked great! It sounds like you were using your release word on the threadle reps – since he did so well and your position/arm cues were so clear on the threadle, you can switch to releasing with your threadle slice cue on those.
My only suggestion is to make the serp more obvious with upper body rotation before you release him and keep moving parallel to the bar and not away from it as you serp. Everything else looked super strong!!!!Great job here!!
Tracy
